From Brent NEU
PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS OF NATIONAL EDUCATION UNION, PARENTS AND BARRY GARDINER TO PRESENT PETITION AT DfE
NEU members at Byron Court Primary School are continuing their strike in a fight to save their local community school which is threatened with a forced privatisation by the huge Harris Federation chain of academies. STRIKES CONTINUE TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY this week. On WEDNESDAY the campaign group will present their petition of nearly 2000 signatories to the DfE.
Staff at Byron Court Primary School in Wembley continue their strike action this week to save their local community school from a forced “academy order” following an intimidating Ofsted inspection which has left some staff fearing for their mental health and their futures. They are hoping for a reprieve and pause in the academy order process due to government guidelines on the pre-election “purdah” period.
NEU MEMBERS, PARENTS, COUNCILLORS AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY HAVE BEEN TURNING OUT TO SUPPORT THE PICKET LINES AND PROTESTS FOLLOWING A HIGH PROFILE PARENT CAMPAIGN WHICH IS ALSO SUPPPORTED BY BARRY GARDINER LABOUR PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATE FOR BRENT WEST.
Meanwhile a live complaint lodged with Ofsted is now with the external adjudicator following the internal complaints process in which Ofsted “mark their own work” and there is also a formal complaint lodged with the Chief of Operations of Ofsted. It is hoped this may halt the takeover.
2000 signatures from random people on the Internet who know apparently get more of a say than the whole parenting body - as in not just the loud voices. Large parenting body; small numbers of campaigners. Dwindling presence of parents at protests. Majority want an improved school; who cares how that happens. Total joke.
ReplyDeleteLots of parents on the protests today- we're divided between two entrances!
DeleteAnd you are.....? Who are you, making such comments. I am a parent of a child at Byron Court School, and I fight against accademisation. I sighed the petition so did a lot of former students and parents of children at Byron Court School. The school is to stay a community school, and can and will improve as such. Despite you not liking it.
DeleteSome parents are not against academisation yet every post pretends that the campaigners represent everyone when they clearly don't. As for former students, they don't have skin in the game. It's current pupils who will lose out either thru strikes or by receiving an inadequate education. There's like 1000 parents and the dissenting voices aren't being represented. Some parents just want a good school for their kids and to not miss school. It's not a community if you ignore the opinions you don't like.
DeleteAt least under an academy it will have better leadership
DeleteThe children deserve to feel proud of their school and to get an outstanding education. Of which academies are better equipped to deliver due to economies of scale. Privatisation isn't ideal but the only option when the tories have favoured austerity and underfunded education for years. Meanwhile public money props up schools that don't deliver good enough results. Every child deserves to have good results as well as a well rounded primary education. It cannot be good to miss so much school - hard to justify that an academy is worse than what they are currently receiving.
DeleteA bit of consistency wouldn't go amiss. If Ofsted internal process is "marking their own homework" then what do you call it when an outsider gives the school a poor rating but the school self declares that they are actually very good based on their own stubborn self belief and the fact that a poor rating reflects badly on everyone including staff in denial. Why is that logically also not marking your own homework? Oh because it doesn't suit the narrative... Where's the evidence that ofsted was unfair or different to any other inspections?
ReplyDeleteThe school is too big, it really needs being split up with the kids sent to some of these better schools which are closing due to low numbers
ReplyDeleteAs reported previously in Wembley Matters the policy of forcing schools which fail their Ofsted Inspection to become Academies was introduced by the Labour Government which Barry Gardiner supported.
ReplyDeleteCan Barry Gardiner please explain:
1. Why the Labour Government introduced this policy.
2. Why Barry Gardiner never opposed this policy until now.
3. Why Barry Gardiner now thinks that the policy was wrong just because that Labour policy is impacting a school in his constituency just 5 weeks before the General Election.
Over the years dozens of schools have been forced to become Academies as a result of the Policy introduced by the Labour Government after the 1997 General Election - the General Election in which Barry Gardiner was elected to Parliament for the first time.
Why is it that Labour MPs only oppose a bad policy when it impacts a school in their constituency and because they suddenly feel that if teachers and parents realise who is responsible it might cost Barry Gardiner votes.
Is Barry Gardiner's sudden interest in the plight of Byron Court School crocodile tears or breathtaking hypocricy?
The Academies Act 2010 was introduced by the Conservative Lib Dem coalition not the Labour Party.
DeleteBarry Gardiner had nothing to do with the proposals, which were devised by Michael Gove. The Labour Party voted against them at the time. Academies did exist under the Blair government but were very few in number and “forced academisation” was a Tory policy.
Source: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/642
I'm not a labour member but am aware that labour policy was city academies in deprived areas that were sponsored by the private sector to help fund them. Tory changes to the policy included no private funding, and actually forcing schools to change to academy status. Labour policy is against only the forced academisation which is what is happening at Byron court
Deletebecause people are unable to take responsibility for there stuff, even if you make mistakes it's best to own up and then start working to put it write, far easier to brush it under the carpet.
ReplyDeleteAaaaah I see the hyper-critical anonymous trolls are out in force again!
ReplyDeleteDisagreement isn't the same as trolling. Many parents are simply worried sick about the impact that the ongoing disruption is having on their children's education and are allowed to express their concerns as much as anyoje else. Meanwhile the schools that have been academised seem to be doing better, achieving above average results and getting good ofsted results. The public info online about the academised schools shows that they continue to have trips, sports, fun activities - so it's difficult to understand from a parental perspective the justification. If there is a greater push to deliver better outcomes for pupils, so be it. It's all about the children at the end of the day.
DeleteWe've just been sent a copy of Barry Gardiner's election leaflet - full of quotes from his best buddies please don't believe the hype 😡
ReplyDelete