Chalkhill demonstrates its 'Get Up and Go' at community event

Willow plans - will Chalkhill residents lose out?

Chalkhill residents displayed a 'get up and get things done' attitude yesterday when they met for their AGM and Community Information fair.   The regeneration of the estate and the recent positive publicity around Chalkhill Primary School's excellent 'good with outstanding features' Ofsted report fed a mood of optimism, although the impact of cuts cast a shadow over the future.

On the optimistic front we were told that there was a meeting in a few days to consider the bids for the work on constructing the new Chalkhill Park and work should begin within 4 weeks. It is hoped to open the park by June 2012 but things could be delayed in the event of severe winter weather.

Winston Small, the new manager of the Poplar Grove Youth Centre told the meeting he had already taken action to restore the MUGA (Multi Use Games Area) at Poplar Grove.  Along with a possible restoration of the BMX track at St David's Close and installation of a skateboarding area, the shared community/school play area at Chalkhill School, and the new park with its two children's playgrounds, adult exercise equipment and 'kickabout area' much needed facilities for children and youth seem to be taking shape.

Barry Gardiner spoke about his work with youth and particular concerns about disproportionate use of stop and search of black youth. Gardiner and Chalkhill youth had raised the issue of lack of respect and transparency in the way stops were carried out with the Borough Commander. A new App had been adopted as a pilot in Brent. This will allow youth to record the reference number of the stop, the officer's number and whether they had been treated respectfully.  The information would be publicly available making the process more transparent and accountable.

We applauded Elmi. who had worked on this issue with Barry Gardiner,  a member of the CRA and the Chalkhill Wanderers football team, who has just been awarded a Masters degree. He said that he would not have been able to achieve what he had without the support of the Residents' Association. Louisa, another young member who works with local youth spoke about the success of the Chalkhill Sports Academy, which is funded by Ward Working. She said, "We're all neighbours but we don't know each other. Working together lets you know that we have issues in common and we can do something about them".  She paid tribute to the support they received from Barry Gardiner and Shafique Choudhary, one of the local ward councillors.

Among issues that residents felt needed to be addressed were confusion over the new recycling arrangements and the 'cyber inequality' experienced by residents who could not afford land telephone lines.  I told residents that we had 20 free (15 hour) nursery vacancies at Chalkhill available for any children who have their 4th birthday before August 31st and some residents said that full-time places would be really appreciated by the community.

The current consultation on the future of the Willow Children's Centre was a concern. There was some confusion over what the proposals might actually mean for local families.  It was strongly felt that the Willow was a resource that formed an integral part of the regeneration of the estate and a route to tackling deprivation. If the number of places was reduced because it was switching the priority to providing for disabled and special needs children this would impact on the community.

The information note to parents and carers states (LINK):

Nursery services will continue at Willow but the focus from 2012 onwards will be towards providing places for children with disabilities or children in need. Although there will no loss in terms of the number of places at Willow, the allocated places for children with disabilities and children in need will increase. The current children will not be affected in terms of places but in the future this will lead to a reduction in the number of general fee paying and NEG (15 hour free entitlement) places. In addition to this as a result of the proposed restructure your child’s key worker may change

It is not clear what proportion of the available spaces will be taken up by children with SEN or disabilities and how many ordinary places will be left for local children. The proportions will also dictate whether the Willow is mainly a 'special nursery' or an integrated provision.

Full consultation details are HERE. The consultation ends on December 14th and decisions on the reorganisation of the Willow Children's Centre and closure of Treetops and Hamony nurseries will be made in January 2012.

MUGA Battles

Residents of the Chalkhill Estate, and particularly local youth, have recently protested that the Council has dropped plans for a MUGA (Multi Use Games Area) in St David's Close.  They see this as an important facility for young people in the area who lack such provision. The Council claim that there were never any plans for a MUGA on that site.

Meanwhile, just up the road residents near Preston Manor High School are protesting about plans to build a MUGA in the school grounds as part of the changes associated with the construction of a primary school on the site. This MUGA will be floodlit and that is the aspect particularly vexing the school's neighbours.

The planning committee originally attached a condition to the planning application that would prevent harm to local amenities from light spillage. The Council is now seeking a 'non material' variation that would allow 'restricted light spillage' to neighbouring gardens.

Residents are concerned about how late the MUGA will remain open and worried about noise.  They claim that the plans are a result of pressure from Sports England to compensate for the playing field space lost through the building of the primary school. They suggest that a sports centre for secondary pupils has been smuggled through on the back of the primary expansion with residents kept in the dark (not for long!). They suggest that a grassed area for primary school pupils to play on would have been a much better use of the space.

MUGAs are a great resource and I support school facilities being open out of hours for the community but there are clearly issues around whether this facility is of the right type in the right place. It is important that the Council, school and local residents engage in a dialogue to find a solution that is satisfactory for all parties.

Chalkhill is on the way up

Anyone involved with schools knows that it takes years to build up a good reputation in a community but that this can be destroyed by a single event. Unhappily a bad reputation can hang around for years becoming an unquestioned assumption locally despite any evidence to the contrary. Unfortunately a single event cannot change this overnight. Things are worse if the community around the school has a historically determined 'bad' reputation even though that community may have been transformed.  Restoring a school's reputation is a long hard slog that requires dedication from staff and governors and a group of parents who believe in the school - and a local authority that will back it.

That enormous effort  is paying off at Chalkhill Primary where I am one of the governors. Ofsted visited at the end of the summer term and deemed it a good and improving school with some outstanding features. A few years ago it had been a  'failing school'  and in special measures.

The extract from the Ofsted Report below indicates the substantial gains that have been made:

Chalkhill Primary is a good and improving school. Pupils achieve well and thoroughly enjoy learning. It is very popular with pupils, parents and carers. There is a strong commitment from all staff to provide each pupil with the best possible education. Parents, carers and pupils appreciate the excellent quality care provided by the school and good quality learning opportunities. One parental comment summed up the views of the majority saying, ‘Chalkhill has improved a lot in recent years. The school is welcoming and children are supported in their learning very effectively. There is good after-school provision. Teachers are very committed and my child really enjoys his learning.’ Pupils confirmed an equally positive view: ‘We like the way the school takes care of us and makes learning fun.’

The headteacher, governors and senior management team provide strong leadership and clear educational direction which is ensuring good outcomes.

These are the key strengths of the school.
Pupils achieve well and make good progress throughout the school in all aspects of their learning because teaching and learning are good.
Care, guidance and support are outstanding; pupils and their families feel extremely well supported by the school.
Relationships are strong and the school ethos is warm and welcoming and consequently pupils make good gains in their personal development.
Pupils gain excellent knowledge and awareness of how to stay fit and healthy and lead an active lifestyle. ‘Wake up-shake up’ is enjoyed by pupils, staff, parents and carers.
Children get off to a confident start in the Early Years Foundation Stage because provision is good.
The quality of singing is good throughout the school. The school has gained the Gold Sing Up award.
Good links with parents, carers and the local community contribute effectively to the provision.
Community cohesion is good at school, local, national and international levels.
Good partnership links with other external agencies enrich the provision and enable pupils to benefit from additional academic and cultural activities.

The Report illustrates the fact that a school is much more than its SAT results and shows that Chalkhill is providing a well-rounded education for its children. Furthermore it is becoming a positive focus for the local community and helping to raise its aspirations. Chalkhill is on the way up!

Congratulations to staff, pupils and parents.

A chance to talk to councillors about Chalkhill improvements

Chalkhill growing its own, but 'Where's our park?' demand the children

Chalkhill allotment raised bed bag

Greens have long pressed for the opening of more allotments on derelict or unused land so we welcome the Chalkhill allotment project initiated by Metropolitan Housing and supported by Brent Council Ward Working.
Allottees have now got their raised beds which are made from builder's type heavy duty bags. The plots are on the old walkway between the Metropolitan railway line just outside Wembley Park station and Chalkhill Road. The project is part of the MHT's 'Grow Local' project. LINK

I spoke recently to some of the new vegetable growers and they were very positive about the experience and told me how excited their children were at growing their own. They have been given free seeds as part of their 'starter pack' and tomatoes, peppers and corn are already in evidence (cross fingers over the possibility of a cold snap!).  One slight drawback at the moment is that there is no piped water on the site so plot-holder have to bring in their own. The combination of the recent very dry spell and the nature of raised beds means that a lot of watering is required at present.

In contrast another green project at Chalkhill seems to have ground to a halt. At the recent Kingsbury and Kenton Area Forum I asked when work would start and am awaiting a reply from the Council.. I was assured last summer that funding for the new park was safeguarded despite government cuts. Work was supposed to start late last Autumn but was delayed, according to the Council, by the unusually harsh weather. When work didn't start in the early Spring I heard that there was a 'labour shortage'.

The site, as you can see below, is developing into quite a wildlife area and fencing has been broken down in places. As with any such site, fly-tipping is becoming a problem and it is rather a dismal sight for local residents whose children have been badgering me asking when they are going to get their park.

Unless something revolutionary happens quickly there will be no park in place for the children's summer holiday which is really a great shame for children in a high density development with many flats without any garden and where the terraced houses have only very small gardens..

Declaration of interest: I am Chair of Governors at Chalkhill Primary School