Brent's inspirational primary school choirs sing their hearts out in Choir of the Year final

The Mount Stewart Choir celebrate their win

I was privileged to be able to attend the Brent Primary School Choir of the Year final at Chalkhill Primary School yesterday. 

The six schools present had been narrowed down from an initial entry of 30 schools and at the outset were told by Brent Music Service that they were all winners for having got so far in the competition.

The singing was of an extremely high standard with, as one would expect in Brent, from a diverse range of cultures and in many styles, featuring some hugely confident soloists,  3 part harmony, a capella and in one showing stopping performance a boy's improvisation against the background of his choir's performance.

The result was 3rd Place: The Bluebirds Chalkhill Primary School. 2nd Place: St Robert Southwell Primary School Choir; and the winners were Mount Stewart Junior School Choir.

The other finalists were Princess Frederica Primary, St Mary Magdalene, and Anson Primary.

Brent Music Service said:

The standard of performances was inspirational and we look forward to welcoming all these talented young singers to join the BMS choirs!

Congratulations to every single singer at today's competition - you and your school should be extremely proud of you all!

I was impressed by the  respect BMS gave the children when providing feedback on their performance. Rather than just giving them a pat on the head they provided detailed professional  feedback on both the strengths of their performance and areas which need working on to reach a higher standard.

As Brent schools face budget cuts I hope that governing bodies will continue to buy into the Brent Music Service. They provide a much needed extra creative dimension to the curriculum and with their London and nationwide links a route to a lifetime's enjoyment of musical performance and perhaps even a professional career.

Further information (including later video of perfoamnces) on the Brent Music Service Facebook page HERE

Children, young people and parents will challenge Brent Cabinet over cuts on Monday

Monday's Cabinet will be approving the budget to go to the Full Council on March 2nd amidst press coverage of the row over the leadership refusing to take account of the vote of the Labour Group in favour of a Council Tax rise.

Meanwhile residents, and particularly the young and parents, have got togather to challenge some of those cuts.

The Cabinet will be receiving an unusually high number of petitions, accompanied by speeches from the petition organisers, which indicates the strength of feeling in the borough.

I am sure they will welcome support from the public at the meeting which starts at 7pm in the Civic Centre.

These are the petitions:

Cabinet – 23 February 2015

Petitions have been received in the following terms in response to the budget proposals:

1) Keep Stonebridge Adventure Playground Open “We the undersigned insist that the redevelopment of

Stonebridge School and the new housing, includes keeping the Stonebridge Adventure Playground open.”

From:         Brent Play Association

2) Keep Welsh Harp Environmental Study Centre open This petition comprises numerous letters from individual children at Chalkhill Primary School.

From:         Chalkhill Primary School

3) Save our youth service (paper and e petition)

“Youth services are vital for young people as well as the community and we

believe there will be an adverse effect if the service no longer exists. This will

put added pressure on statutory services such as the Youth Offending

Service, the police and social care. We call on Brent Council to consult with young people effectively before making any cuts to any youth provision in the borough.

We call on Brent Council to scrutinise existing provision to ensure that these

resources are appropriate and effective. The young people of Brent are willing and able to assist Brent Council with this important task. We call upon Brent Council to consider the voice ofyoung people in the light of these savings!”

E-petition: started by Roisin Healy (Brent Youth Parliament)

4) Save School Crossings Patrols

“Brent Council is under a legal duty to promote road safety and to promote sustainable transport, such as walking and cycling.  Road traffic accidents are the biggest killer of children in the UK (they peak when children start primary school and secondary school). 2011-2020 is the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety. School Patrol Officers are an integral partof the community, ensuring the safety of our children and they encourage children to have independence. Many schools in Brent are on busy roads (e.g. Salusbury Primary School and Islamia on Salusbury Road in NW6) which are only going to get busier with new housing developments with a new influx of cars and residents. Our roads should become safer places for our children, not more dangerous. And children should be encouraged to walk and cycle to school rather than be driven.”

E petition started by: Michelle Goldsmith on behalf of local residents .

5) Leopold Primary School - save our School Patrol

Officer

“Brent Council is considering removing our Lollipop crossing patrol at Hawkshead Road. The School is surrounded by several busy roads. We believe this is unacceptable and will directly put our children in danger of a road traffic accident.”

From:         the Parent, Teachers and Friends Association of Leopold Primary

                   School

6) Keep Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre Open

“The centre provides a venue for many members of our  local community and plays a vital part in our leisure time. Many of us use the facility on a weekly basis to play football, use the gym, relax in the steam and sauna and meet friends. The centre hosts children education, courses and activities th at are beneficial to their development. The centre serves as a venue where rooms can be hired to many different groups who hold meetings, training and celebrations. Closing Bridge Park would affect all of us in different ways. We need this Centre to remain open so that our young people have a place to meet and do sports in a safe environment.

Stonebridge is a deprived area and we feel that crime and unsocial behaviour will increase if the centre is closed. Unlike a few years ago the centre now is used by men and women of all ages and faith. People come to Bridge Park to get fit and improve their health. Although we understand that the council funds are limited, the cost of dealing with health and antisocial behaviour will far outweigh the cost of operating our leisure centre. We have signed below to show our opposition to the closure.”

From:         Mr Adam, Tordjok, local resident.

In Defence of Ward Working

Art display at Chalkhill Primary

The amount of money spent on Ward Working by Brent Council has been attacked a number of times since the council started making cuts. Opponents have argued that the money could be used to retain services that will otherwise be closed, including libraries. Ex Conservative and Democratic Conservative Councillor, Robert Dunwell, renews the attack in the current Willesden and Kilburn Times.

In the absence of a concerted anti-cuts strategy by the Labour Council it is all too easy for divide and rule tactics to pitch groups against each other.

Ward Working enables the local community to decide with their ward councillors what their ward of £20,000  should be spent on and I would argue that it unites rather than divides the community. When it works well it can produce real change in an area and brings councillors and the community closer. With the current cabinet system excluding rank and file councillors it also provides councillors with an opportunity to make a real difference at grassroots level.

The council sets out the remit clearly:

Ward Working operates in every ward in Brent. Every ward has a budget of £20,000 to tackle the top issues of concern. The money is for one-off capital projects. We aim to find new or innovative ways of tackling issues to provide lasting solutions. The money isn't used to substitute for things that should be done anyway.

To declare an interest, I approached Barn Hill councillors on behalf of Chalkhill Primary School  last year for some help with funding the temporary swimming pool installed at the school. This funding enabled people to learn to swim who would not otherwise have had the chance. The Ward Working section of the council website HERE has full details of the projects and is a good example of transparency.

Using Barn Hill ward as an example this is how the money has been spent:

• Chalkhill Primary school swimming pool for £5,000 - installation of temporary swimming pool
• Brent Town Hall library activities for £600 - Manga art sessions
• Kingsbury and Preston Somali youth project  for £4, 000 - support for homework club
• Chalkhill DJ project for £2,170 - support for youth engagement project to engage young people
• Brent Town Hall library homework club for £510 - support for volunteer reading help at homework club
• Chalkhill Wanderers football project for £5,350 - support for pitch hire and other costs for locally-run team
• Chalkhill allotments for £1,000 - gardening and growing project
• burglary reduction initiative for £350 - purchase of security equipment for vulnerable elderly people.

At the other end of the borough in Harlesden ward money was spent on:

• alley-gating scheme at St Thomas's Road for £1,905 - installation of alley-gates to prevent fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour 
• Athletic Football Club (AFC) Wembley football project for £6,500 - contribution towards IT and music mentoring and support towards coaching qualifications. A joint project with Dudden Hill ward
• Harlesden Primary School equipment for £3,726 - contribution towards the cost of media equipment to enhance school provision and for community groups who wish to use it
• Cricklewood Homeless Concern winter night shelter project for £2,000 - support to homeless members of the community who are in need of shelter during the winter at All Souls Church
• Harlesden responsible traders scheme for £200 - support for a pilot a scheme in Harlesden Town Centre paying for boundary markers for shops licensed to trade on the pavement
• Challenge Close soil survey for £4,000 - funding of a soil survey for Challenge Close with a view to assessing the suitability for developing an allotment for community use
• Bang Radio and Harlesden SNT project for £400 - funding towards a partnership radio programme with Harlesden Safer Neighbourhoods Team to raise awareness of community safety issues
• Fortunegate Elders Forum £1,000 - contribution towards a community celebration to bring together elders to combat social exclusion
• energy solutions scheme for £270 - provision of emergency heaters to loan to vulnerable residents whose heating systems have broken down

Both wards have made a comparatively small amount of money go a long way in making a real difference to the quality of life of people in their community.  It would surely be a shame if all these opportunities (there's a list for every ward) were to disappear.