"Brent school system works. Don't mess with it." say teacher unions

Brent Pupils ate Carbon Reduction project

 Against the background of some Brent schools considering opting out of the local authority system, the local teacher unions have issued a strong defence of that system as one which has put Brent schools in the top 10% nationally:

A report by Think Tank 'The Centre Forum' has published a list of performance of schools in all local authorities across England. Of the 152 local authorities looked at in the report Brent came in at 13th, putting it firmly in the top 10% in the country.

To quote from the Report, “Indeed, pupils of all types – including the poorest pupils and those from typically under-performing ethnic groups – perform better in London than in all other regions of the UK.”

The Brent joint teacher unions believes that this vindicates their belief in the state system. Shane Johnschwager, NASUWT secretary said, “This report proves that for Brent's schools, and their pupils,  co-operation is better than competition. Brent schools have the evidence now to show the successes of a decade of school improvement. For the academies programme to break apart the family of schools and jeopardise this process would be lunacy. If it ain’t broke don't fix it.”

Hank Roberts, ATL Secretary said, “Contrary to what Michael Gove proclaims private is not always best. Local authorities can work as Brent's case amongst others proves. Brent

Authority can be justly proud of its achievements and the Brent population should stand by its retention as opposed to it being dismantled through the government's academy and free school privatisation scheme.”

Jean Roberts, NUT Joint Secretary said, “Teachers in Brent schools work very hard to provide the best education for the wide range of children they teach. The overwhelming majority of them want to remain as local authority schools not to become Gove academies.”

The report should give ammunition for a concerted campaign locally of councillors, teachers, parents and pupils, for a defence of democratically accountable, comprehensive, local schools.

Parents urge support for strike rally

A message from Kingsbury parents campaigning against academy conversion:

Mr Waxman, headteacher of Kingsbury High School, has today informed parents that the school will be closed Thursday due to strike action re the academy proposal.

This means a large number of teachers are striking and a large number of teachers are opposed to the academy conversion. So are ALL the local councillors and a large number of parents and many others in the community.

Although the school will be closed to children, the rally in support of teachers will go ahead as planned to show them our support. Please turn up in Princes Ave any time from 7.45am and preferably by 8.15am to come and stand together to show our opposition.

The government plans to privatise every school in the country; primary, secondary and special schools. Mr Waxman himself understands, as stated in his letter, that we all need to demonstrate to show our opposition to the government's policy which is trying to force all schools to take this step.

Please be there. See you Thursday!

'Democracy key to academy decisions' say Brent teaching unions

Save Our Schools from Jason N. Parkinson on Vimeo.

The three main teaching unions (NUT, ATL and NASUWT) have written to headteachers and governors in Brent putting forward their negotiating position on conversion to academies. The letter follows Claremont High School's decision to convert to an academy from April 1st despite 70% of staff voting against the proposal.

The unions say they are opposed to academies because they are a 'large step on the way to privatisation of the management of state education',  will undermine hard-fought for national pay and conditions and will 'undermine the local family of schools and the role of the local authority'.

In a key passage they state:

Our position is one of democracy. It is that, before any application is made for Academy Conversion, there is full debate, with arguments from both sides, ending in a ballot of all staff on the question, 'Do you support ________ school becoming an Academy?'

The unions point out that Governors will want to ascertain the views of staff before any application and that this is the 'best. most democratic, clearest and most unequivocal way of doing so'.  They claim that consultation is often conducted in a way that distorts or glosses over the views of consultees so propose a secret, independently overseen ballot. They stress that it is important that parents know the views of staff before forming their own views on any proposals. The unions say that they will be looking at ensuring 'all legal avenues are explored and that parents are properly informed and consulted'.

The unions conclude:

We know that as Governors you will feel that you have to take tough and hard-headed decisions. As part of the largest volunteer workforce in the country you are also custodians of the system as a whole and we ask you to consider both the short-term and the long-term consequences of Academy conversion.

The letter comes at a time when it is believed that many Brent secondary schools are reviewing their position following Claremont's decision and seven Harrow Schools are consulting on becoming academies.