Claremont 3G Pitch noise may exceed WHO guidance residents claim as application goes to tonight's Planning Committee

Campaigners against the proposed 3G pitch at Claremont High School which is going to Planning Committee tonight have written to Brent Planners pointing out the lack of a proper noise impact assessment by the applicants.

There are just 2 sentences included in the report without any accompanying professional assessment:

This is the letter from the Wealdstone Brook Residents' Association which they hope councillors will read before reaching a decision.

We have written to you on several occasions asking for a professional noise assessment to be made available.

We have asked you how Brent has arrived at the statements about noise that it has made in its report to the Planning Committee when no single noise assessment has ever been conducted at the site.

We have still not had any explanation from you.

Would it not be fair to say that any statements made about the perceived noise impacts could be considered 'baseless' when these are not being backed up by factual evidence?

We believe that there is no evidence to support the statements on noise made in the report to the Planning Committee. We therefore demand that these statements be struck from the report.

We have taken advice. We are convinced by the facts and find that the most basic estimates of the predicted noise impacts readily show that the noise created will likely exceed WHO guidance as has been demonstrated below.

We therefore remain resolute in requesting that the applicant provides a professional noise assessment prepared by an acoustic consultant.

Kind regards 

Wealdstone Brook Residents Ass. (Secretary).

---

A recent report by the acoustic consultancy firm Bickerdike Allen Partners submitted to Brent Council on another 3G based planning application states the following:

Based on a review of sports noise surveys and similar sports noise impact assessments, a value of 73 dB LAF,max at 10 m from the edge of the pitch has been used to assess noise maxima. This value is considered representative of sounds including shouting from players on the pitch, referee whistles and ball strikes on mesh fences.

So, assuming that this is a reasonable general starting point, then it would seem reasonable to expect that the new installation at Claremont High School would equally exhibit 73 dB LAF,max at 10m from the edge of the pitch.

Some of the windows in Chapman Crescent are barely 25 metres away from the edge of the pitch.

Using basic modelling of sound attenuation it is estimated that residents in Chapman Crescent could thus expect 66 dB LAF,max at their windows.

Such noise maxima levels readily exceed WHO guidance and would create unacceptable noise impacts.

The delegated report to this planning application only makes a fleeting reference to the noise impacts. In fact, it consists of two sentences that suggest that the noise created by this application 'would not be to an extent that would warrant resistance to the proposal’.

There does not appear to be any evidence in the application to support this statement. 

However, it seems evident that the noise created by this application will in all likelihood exceed WHO guidance. There also appear reasons to suspect that the existing pitch (Ref 08/1968) may be creating noise that exceeds WHO guidance.

Another Brent school 3G pitch application meets opposition

View of the Claremont site - the proposed 3G pitch will be on the grassed area lower centre

Kingsbury High School, Queens Park Community School and Claremont High School have all had plans to install floodlit artificial grass 3G pitches on their sites. The Powerleague proposal for Kingsbury High was withdrawn after a local campaign that cited environmental and social harm.  The interests of the local residents compete with those of the school. The Claremont Planning Application is HERE .

19/1388 | Construction of an additional floodlit artificial grass sports pitch and cricket practice facility with incorporated batting cages, installation of 12 floodlights, erection of high boundary fences with associated gates, formation of pedestrian access stairs and ramp. | Claremont High School, Claremont Avenue, Harrow, HA3 0UH

Roe Green Residents' Association have written to a senior Brent planning officer and councillors drawing attention to some of the issues.

The Roe Green Village Residents' Association in North West Brent (RGVRA) may not be directly impacted by what is going on at Claremont High School but RGVRA nevertheless has an important contribution to make to the planning process concerning this particular application.

We have great concerns over the impact this application represents to residents and the environment. We are also concerned that this application is being assessed prematurely and without all necessary facts being available.

RGVRA has been faced with an almost identical application by an Academy school in recent months. In assessing the application RGVRA and its consultants have learned a significant amount of information about the development and operation of installations of this type which applies to the application described in 19/1388 as well.

The overall impact such installation has on its surrounding area makes this application at Claremont High School entirely unsuitable for this site. Installations like these belong far away from any residential dwellings due to their significant environmental impacts such as noise and light pollution affecting neighbours 365 days of the year until late at night. This also concerns the transport impact these facilities generate on what are typically quiet residential streets.

Scrupulous developers and agents appear to have devised schemes to provide cash-seeking academies with free ‘upgrades' to their perfectly usable natural grass playing fields through funds such as the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) and the prospect of new revenue streams by hiring these out as entertainment venues to the public. 

Pupils tend to only have use of these new sports facilities for 35% of the time whereas the vast majority of the time these facilities get hired out for profit is to a narrow target audience of 18-25 year old male adults.

This is a recurring scenario running throughout the country. In Brent alone we have seen several of these applications in recent years. 
Brent Council needs to recognise that these facilities are not sustainable for the long term future of Brent and its residents. In fact these schemes are detrimental to community cohesion.

This particular application at Claremont High School appears to represent an intense over-development of the site.

Residents will not be able to defend themselves against the new and constant noise, light and traffic impact this scheme will create.

Brent Council needs to listen carefully to the concerns of the residents affected by this application. Brent Council also needs to ensure that both residents and the Planning Committee have access to all the facts that govern the impact of this application based on professional evidence.

This application comes without a noise assessment and without a transport assessment. These types of facilities are well-known for their excessive noise and traffic generation. It thus seems evident that this application is lacking crucial information. Without this crucial information it would seem impossible for anyone to assess the true impact of this application.

We also feel concerned that the ecological evidence available may not be receiving sufficient consideration.

Alison Fure, the author of the 'Ecology and Bat Survey Report' to this application, is a highly-respected ecologist and bat expert with a specialisation in light impact on bat behaviour.    Her findings and recommendations seem clear when her report states that ‘light curfews should be operated throughout the summer’ and that in fact ‘the new pitch should be used by the students from the school only’ which appears to suggest not to operate the facility past 4pm, i.e. school time.

Given Alison Fure's experience and expertise, we cannot think of any reason to question the ecology report’s findings or not take its recommendations seriously.

Furthermore, there are significant environmental impacts that do not appear to have been considered at all.

Within the Borough of Brent there are at least 150 artificial football pitches made of hazardous 3G rubber compounds. According to manufacturers' guidance, each of these pitches requires topping up with 2-3 tonnes of rubber infill throughout the year. This infill and its dust is toxic to humans and the Environment and, according to manufacturers’ guidance, may only be applied whilst wearing personal protection equipment.

Within the Borough of Brent alone, we thus have 300 - 450 tonnes of toxic material being released into the Environment every single year where it degrades further into ever finer micro-plastics that pollute our rivers and water supplies and enter residents’ lungs and our food chain.

Has anyone at Brent Council calculated the impacts this has?     Is there an impact assessment available of how many 3G pitches there are and the health and environmental impacts these represent?

The site of the proposed new pitch is directly adjacent to the Wealdstone Brook. The applicant has neither accounted for nor mitigated against the micro-plastics pollution this development will cause.

Brent has declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency in recognition of our seas choking with plastic. Brent has committed itself to making Brent the cleanest, greenest borough in London.

As servants of the public and stewards of public resources Brent, therefore, has an obligation to ensure that these aims and commitments are upheld.

The Planning Committee and the residents affected by the sports pitches at Claremont High School must be given access to all the facts pertaining to the impacts of this planning application before this could possibly be considered,

We further request that Brent immediately puts on hold all planning applications involving 3G pitches until it has fully established the impact these have on our Environment and until it has completed an impact assessment on the current use of all 3G pitches in Brent and can assure the public that 3G pitches are compatible with Brent’s stated aims and objectives for making Brent the cleanest, greenest borough in London.

In the interim, Brent Council should instead focus on making more effective use of existing resources and help academies such as Claremont High School benefit from the 150 plus existing 3G pitches in the borough.

R4's Any Questions? Brent broadcast will include Caroline Lucas

 Caroline Flint, Sir Menzies Campbell and Caroline Lucas

Radio 4's Any Questions? is coming to Brent on Friday 26th April. The show will be broadcast from Claremont High School and panellists include Caroline Flint MP (Labour Shadow Secretary for Energy and Climate Change) Sir Menzies Campbell (Liberal Democrat) and Caroline Lucas MP (Green Party).

Questions are picked on the evening of the broadcast but with the two Carolines on the panel are likely to include issues relating to energy policy and climate change including the issue of nuclear power.

The programme follows the 8pm News on Friday and is rebroadcast after the 1pm News on Saturday followed by Any Answers at 2pm.

For FREE ticket ring Box Office 0844 850 0093

AntiAcademiesAlliance AGM Jan 14th

Click to enlarge

With Brent schools exploring options for various forms of academies, including the Cooperative Trust model; and following Claremont and Kingsbury High converting last year, the forthcoming Anti Academies Alliance AGM should be a good source of information and campaigning ideas.

Register at: office@antiacademies.org.uk

Kingsbury High School Academy Bid - democracy must prevail say unions

Following the decision of Kingsbury High School governors to go ahead with an application for academy status, Hank Roberts NUT/ATL Secretary and Shane Johnschwager NASUWT Secretary,  have issued a statement to Kingsbury High staff vowing to work together so that democratic values prevail.

The Kingsbury decision follows that of Claremont High which was also criticised for failure to consult properly and ignoring the views of staff, parents and pupils as well as the more recent controversy at Holland Park where a consultation and decision took place in less than a week. If Kingsbury High became an academy it would join Ark and Claremont in the north of Brent, Crest Boys' and Girls' in the east and City Academy in the south

The unions' statement says:

·        At the Governors meeting Thursday night (14^th July) the Head concealed from Governors the fact that he had received formal notification from the Teacher Unions of a ballot for industrial action if the vote to apply went ahead.

·     In advance of the meeting he refused requests by the Local Secretaries for a meeting to seek a mutually agreeable way ahead to avoid a ballot for industrial action. Even on the day he failed to respond to repeated phonecalls.

·     The Head broke his promise to parents that he would tell them in advance of the Governors meeting whether or not he would advocate a pause in the process and a parental ballot.

·     He misled parents by saying they would be told the result of the staff ballot. They have not been told. They clearly should have been told before the vote to apply.

·     The Head advocated going ahead with no business plan having been provided, with no risk assessments having been done or provided, with no parental ballot having taken place and no proper pupil consultation.

·     The Head of the Finance Committee said that they had 'chosen to have a deficit'. This despite the Head telling parents that the deficit was due to Governors failure to 'grasp the nettle' regarding the school's financial situation.

·     The Head said that becoming an Academy, that is doing what Gove wants the school to do, would put Kingsbury in a better position to fight Gove if necessary. This despite the fact that the Secretary of State will ultimately have sole control of the school and its finances.

·     The Head misled Governors by saying that the staff's only real objections were the loss of the requirement for national pay and conditions and it being part of the privatising of state education agenda. He did not state that the prime concern of staff is the long-term harm this would do to the education of Kingsbury pupils.

·     Unions were accused of scaremongering about the potential loss of pay and conditions.

·     Statements were made about long-term financial gains to the school ('for the life of this Government') on the basis of no supporting evidence.

·      The main and longest speakers at the meeting were the Headteacher (in favour), a so-called 'neutral' advisor (clearly in favour), 'Associate members' of the Governing Body, (members of the Senior Leadership Team - in favour). All of these people are paid by the school. It is not in the spirit of good governance to have non-volunteers with such influence on such important decisions. Those who asked in advance of the meeting to speak against were told 'no'.

We believe a good Headteacher:

·     Would not ignore the views of the overwhelming majority of their staff.

·     Would have properly and democratically established parent's views (as he did teachers) before pressing ahead.

·     Would not have concealed from Governors that the school had received formal notification for a ballot for strike action if the Governors went ahead at this time.

The situation is now becoming ludicrous. How can any school be considered normal, consultative and democratic where a small group of individuals propose such significant changes, without the support of any of their stakeholders?

The literally thousands of staff, parents and pupils who ARE the school

All pretences of consultation and democracy have now been exposed as the sham they clearly always were. For the Headteacher to expect any member of staff to accept his 'guarantees' on pay and conditions when he has acted so dishonourably on this matter would be absurd.

In light of Mr Waxman's behaviour we suspect that he may also:

·        Like Claremont, seek to bring forward the date for conversion despite promises to the contrary.
·        Seek to rush and manipulate the parental ballot (if one occurs at all).

• Not have any proper and democratic consultative process with pupils

Despite this, we believe, Kingsbury WILL NOT become an Academy. It will  be too difficult to resist staff opposition, industrial action and united parental and pupil opposition.

To press ahead with all their stakeholders clearly and overwhelmingly against would turn Kingsbury into a cause celebre for all those who hold democratic values.  It would be unprecedented – not just in Brent but nationally. To risk this would be a step too far for a Head or Governor who values their reputation in the school and community.

The democratically untenable position of the Head and Governors cannot be sustained. Together we will ensure democratic values prevail.

An e-mail sent by a Kingsbury High School parent to other parents supported the teachers:

As parents we need to strongly support the staff in this, they are the ones who so ably provide our children’s education. The final step towards conversion would happen around October so we need to step up our campaign between now and then to stop this.

The governors have decided to take action that they know a majority of stakeholders are against. Please use the time now to talk to other parents before the public meeting (planned for Autumn term). We can stop the school from going down this reckless path, but to do so parents, staff, pupils and others all need to work together.

Ha

'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.

Crest Academy Boss wants to run 250 more schools

Sir Bruce Liddington, head of E-Act has told the Times Educational Supplement that he wants to run 250 more schools. He says he expect to have around 50 free schools, 50 'traditional' academies that replace under-performing schools, 100 'converter academies' (the Claremont type) and 50 primary schools over the next 5 years.

E-Act runs the two Crest academies where 21 teachers are being made redundant. E-Act used to be known as Edutrust but changed their name after the then head, Lord Bhattia, resigned after accusations of financial mismanagement. Sir Bruce Liddington is paid £265,000 annually and E-Act made a £2.4 million profit in 2009.

Primary schools around the Crest Academies better look out because Liddington said, "We are also interested in chains of primaries. As funding becomes tighter you will find that small primary schools will need to get together if they are going to survive. We are also starting to talk about chains of primaries in inner-urban areas around our existing traditional academies."

Alasdair Smith, Anti-Academies Alliance national secretary said:

Today’s revelations in the TES confirm the point consistently made by the AAA; academy conversions and free schools are about privatisation. 
 
It is about the corporate takeover of education. Politicians may claim it is about ‘raising standards’, ‘closing the attainment gap’ or giving school leaders ‘more freedom’, but the harsh reality is that big business wants our schools. 
 
EACT is not alone. Before the election, VT Education claimed it wanted 1000 schools. CfBT are looking at models to control whole areas such as Lincolnshire and ARK and the Harris Federation are busily expanding. All these chains claim to be ‘charitable’. But they are big businesses with fat cat bosses

Scandalously it appears that the DfE is now diverting significant resources to this end. The Coalition is aiding and abetting the privatisation of our state education system. There is also a clamour in ‘edu-business’ circles to allow ‘for profit’ providers to enter free schools market. The direction of travel is for wholesale privatisation of state education. 

 
Every academy conversion and every new free school will hasten this process. We urge governors and head teachers to resist the inducements to convert. We urge parents and staff to organise and protest. 
 There has never been a better reason to join the TUC’s protest on the 26^th March.

More from Anti Academies Alliance

Harrow Education Unions Challenge Academy Conversion

As education unions in Brent consider taking action over Claremont High School's conversion to academy status, their counter-parts in Harrow have issued a statement about proposals for seven of the borough's high schools to become academies. In contrast to Brent Council, Harrow Council has clearly stated its opposition to their schools becoming academies.

This is the statement by the NUT, ATL, NASUWT, GMB and Unison:

Our hard working members in teaching and support roles across Harrow face an unprecedented period of change as seven of Harrow’s secondary schools decide whether or not to break away from the local authority and become answerable to government as independent academy schools. Academy conversion brings with it serious repercussions for our membership who face potential job loss and alterations to their terms and conditions. Yet all we are hearing from school management teams in this consultation is half hearted ‘intentions’ to retain existing national and local terms and conditions with no commitment to formal agreements. 

We will take full part in these important consultations and will use all available means to act in our members'  best interests but we are vigorously opposed to academy conversion and we support Harrow Council’s preference that all schools should remain within the local school family. Our members do not want to become academy employees, do not support the academy programme and are passionately opposed to it.

If the seven school governing bodies do decide to convert to academies, they will be independent from the local authority breaking a rich tradition of community based, locally accountable and publicly-managed schools. For many years our comprehensive schools have been nationally recognised for achievements in educational excellence which have benefited many generations of Harrovians. We do not have a tradition of failing schools which the original style of academies were mainly focused on.

The expansion of academies are no more than a Coalition Government experiment which is intent on breaking up state comprehensive education by introducing competition and demanding that schools compete for money, students and staff as businesses against one another. It is proven that market capitalism has no place in education and these changes are driven by an ideological disdain for all thing’s public. The Coalition Government should not be allowed to play party politics with our children’s future.

It is also claimed by Government that academies will improve standards but independent research and evaluation provides no evidence that academies are better than other schools in raising educational performance. We struggle to see how academy conversion will help schools in Harrow who are already judged to be outstanding and given the unknown and risky implications of conversion, this could have serious implications for our young people’s life chances.

It is also unclear how any of the freedoms which the Government claims academies will bring can improve schools. Harrow schools already work with the biggest devolved school budget than any other local authority in the country and with a significant degree of discretion and freedom to act in collaboration with other schools and Harrow Council.

To suggest, as Bob Blackman MP has done (Conservative Harrow East), that schools should be ‘freed from the dead hand of Harrow Council’ is fundamentally wrong, unhelpful and is fuelled by political prejudice. He does not recognise that academies will be under a far greater degree of central control and scrutiny, in terms of budgets, school performance and governing body appointees than at present and will be directly answerable to the Secretary of State and his regulator, the Young People’s Learning Agency. Free from bureaucratic interference this is not.

"Harrow schools play a major part of community life which means the academy consultation is of paramount importance to the residents of Harrow. The decision by school governing bodies will not only affect the seven schools in consultation but we believe will have a negative impact upon all schools in the borough and will have far reaching implications on the level of educational provision across the area.

Conversion will impact the life chances of future generations of Harrow’s young people and will involve a huge transfer of public assets (e.g. school buildings & land) to the private sector. Any decision should not be taken lightly or without hearing all views from the local community.
"A ‘big question’ like this requires ‘big society’ input, consultation and civic engagement from the wider community. We encourage pupils, parents, staff, our members, Harrow Councillors and interested residents to take part in the school consultation meetings which are taking place on Monday 21st March 2011 at the seven affected schools (more information is available from school websites).

 To hear more of a presentation of the real facts concerning academies we urge people to attend an Anti Academies Alliance parents/public meeting on Friday 25 March at 7pm (Council Chambers, Harrow Civic Centre, Station Road, HA1 2UU).

Claremont Announces Academy Conversion

The unions opposed to Claremont High School are currently deciding on future action on what they regard as a flawed consultation process which denied parents the right to a debate about the issue and a secret, independently run ballot.  Meanwhile the school has posted the following notice on its website about the Governing Body's decision to convert to an academy.

The Governors of Claremont High School have written to staff and parents at the school informing them of the decision expressing their thanks for the range of responses that they have received both for and against the conversion.

The Governors have clearly stated the principles that they applied in reaching their decision. These were:

• The decision must be made with the pupils at the centre of the process so that their happiness at school and continued success should be assured.
• Governors will take full advantage of the opportunities that conversion will bring and also know and act on the new responsibilities.
• Governors will support current staffing levels and ensure that resources are in place to recruit the best teachers and support staff.
• Governors will work closely with the school's leadership team to ensure continued strong financial management so that its students continue to have access to excellent resources and excellent opportunities to enrich their learning.
• Claremont high School will not change its name or its ethos; it will not change its admissions criteria without due process and it will remain within the Brent family of schools.
• Claremont High School will continue to offer the breadth of subjects that it currently offers to ensure that all of its pupils, regardless of their backgrounds or abilities, will reach their full potential.

We believe that whilst this is a significant decision for our school it is one that will bring many opportunities, benefits and advantages to our pupils. We will remain focused on creating a harmonious learning culture; developing our approaches to care, guidance and support; challenging our pupils to achieve and grow and our teachers to be at the top of their game in teaching and learning. In short, all those things that have made us Outstanding.

The  statement does not directly address the concerns of parents and unions and ignores any mention of the impact conversion will make on Brent's overall education budget. Basically Claremont will get  additional money taken from the budget for all schools. There is no mention of the loss of democratic accountability to the wider community. At the briefing meeting for headteachers and governors held last year after the local elections, Councillor Mary Arnold, lead member for Children and Families, made her opposition to academies clear but Krutica Pau, Director of Children and Families said her department would adopt a neutral position.

The headteacher of Claremont has already stated that the school is already in a 'market' situation and the question now arises about what action other Brent secondary schools will take. There were reports last year that the secondary headteachers had informally decided that the schools would all convert at once, to avoid damage to those who didn't convert or converted later. Recently it has been said that the rest were waiting to see  what happened to Claremont before acting.  A mass conversion (sorry about the religious overtones) would mean Brent council would only be responsible for nursery and primary schools which would operate on  significantly reduced  funding with the education budget top-sliced by the new academies.

Lock Down as Academy Forced Through

The governing body of Claremont High School approved the school's conversion to an academy  after campaigners claimed the headteacher had doors padlocked, brought in extra security and made areas of the school no go areas to prevent lobbying by parents and staff unhappy with the what they see as lack of consultation and accountability. The decision is controversial because nearly three quarters of all staff, teaching and non teaching, at the school had voted NO in an independently overseen secret ballot. The school has now written to parents to say the school will be an academy from April 1st.

Parents who turned up to a meeting organised by the unions on Wednesday had voiced concerns that they had not had the opportunity for proper consultation. There had been no meeting where they could have heard pros and cons, asked questions and debated the issue. Therefore the next day the Headteacher received many emails from parents asking for a delay in making a decision until consultation in the form of a meeting for all parents had taken place and some asking for a ballot similar to the staff one. 

Comments from the emails included:

“We are concerned that there has been no consultation with any parents or any concrete information indicating what implications these changes would have for the future.”

“As parents, we think it would be democratic if there was a meeting and a ballot with the parents of the school before any final decisions are made.”

“An e-mail … voicing our concerns ... you failed to respond, thereby confirming our suspicions that there would be no meaningful consultation over these plans.”

“As you are aware the majority of staff have objected to this application .  There must a very good reason as to why so many of them feel so strongly.”

“I do not feel I have been properly informed about this change and DO NOT wish for this important change to happen without more discussion.”

Parents were astounded that they were not allowed into the school yesterday to make these points in person. They told staff outside the school gates, who earlier had been banned from lobbying the meeting or even delivering letters appealing for a delay, that it was appalling that parents could be treated in this way. They felt it was undemocratic and demeaning to treat the parents of the children who have made Claremont an outstanding school in such a manner.

The unions had written to the Headteacher and Chair of Governors stating that there would be industrial and legal action unless the decision was delayed as the governors had not followed the proper legal processes during consultation.

Claremont Teaching Unions' Appeal to Governors HERE

Accountability behind locked doors

There's a notice on the Claremont High School website saying that consultation on conversion to an academy ended on March 9th and that comments would be considered at last night's governing body meeting. This morning there is no news about any decision made by governors.

However, I am told that things were far from normal when parents and staff arrived to lobby the governors last night. In an echo of the Council's budget setting meeting on February 28th there was increased security at the school, doors were padlocked and lobbyists were not allowed in.  At the last governors' meeting on February 9th, Mr Malloy, headteacher, told governors that if the school became an academy it would be accountable to the community at at a much 'higher level' than at present. Hmm.

Meanwhile the school should have received letters from the trades unions about legal action and some parents are also looking at the possibility of legal remedies to inadequate consultation.

Parents Demand a Voice in Claremont's Future

Despite short notice and a clash with a school production, concerned parents  of Claremont High School students attended a meeting tonight at Kenton Methodist Church Hall about the possible conversion of the school to an Academy.

Parents reported that they had heard little about the proposals and were surprised to hear that a decision may be made tomorrow. One parent reported that he had e-mailed the school with six questions on the issue but had received no response. He had rejected sending his child to Wembley ARK Academy because he had reservations about the academies programme only to hear that the school where he had eventually sent her may itself become an academy.  Another parent commented that 'surgeries'  with senior staff and governors on the issue had been held when other meetings were taking place. There were also complaints about the difficulty of accessing the academy documents on the school's website. One document had a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) with no answers. A letter that had been sent to parents on February 1st had not reached all the parents present and was not seen as even handed in its presentation of the case.

An exchange of opinion and information took place during the meeting and Hank Roberts of the NUT and ATL, two of the unions that had called the meeting, said this was precisely what the education unions wanted.  All they were asking was that parents should have the same opportunity as staff:  to hear both sides of the debate, time to make up their own minds, and then have the chance to express their views in a ballot. A teacher remarked that if the school leadership was so proud of what they were doing in seeking academy conversion why had they not proclaimed it, rather than be secretive. A parent asked why the school hadn't used recent parent meetings to inform them about the issue.

There was general agreement that parents should contact the school by e-mail to say they had not been properly consulted and asking for a delay in the decision so that parents could research the issue, attend a debate representing the case For and Against the proposal, and then cast a ballot. Some parents would attempt to speak to governors before the meeting.

Hank Roberts said that if there was a fair debate and a ballot that went against the unions' point of view they would accept that was the view of parents. The governing body would have to weigh up the views of staff and parents in considering whether to convert. He emphasised that it was all about democracy and that there was the possibility of legal action to ensure the fairness of the process.

Claremont becoming an academy? What do parents think?

Education unions are holding a meeting for Claremont High School parents on Wednesday 9th March at 7pm  ahead of a governing body meeting on Thursday which may take the first steps to the school seeking academy status. Mr Malloy, the headteacher, tried to make the move last June but was thwarted. LINK

The unions claim that the outcome of a ballot of school staff (teaching and non-teaching), overseen by the Electoral Reform Society,  has not been notified to parents. They say this is wrong and that parents should be told what staff think and have notified parents of the ballot result - 70% of staff against conversion to an academy - in a leaflet given out at the school gate today.

The leaflet says that children have been told academy status is a 'good idea' but they have not been given both side of the argument. It goes on to claim that Mr Malloy, headteacher, has threatened staff with 20 redundancies if academy status does not go ahead.

The unions say that there should be proper consultation with parents and that they too should have a ballot on the issue. They believe that the governing body cannot make an informed decision until this has been done. There will be a lobby of the governing body at the school on Thursday at 7pm.

The meeting, at Kenton Methodist Church, Woodgrange Avenue, Kenton will be an open meeting and the headteacher and governors have been invited to attend. The unions promise that they will engage in open and factual debate.

The Claremont decision is vital as there is claimed to be an agreement amongst secondary headteachers in Brent that if one school goes for academy status, then they all will. They claim this will avoid competition and the decline of non-converting schools that happened in a previous era when some schools decided to go for grant-maintained status, achieving a degree of independence in management and admissions. This led to the destabilisation of Wembley High School and Willesden High School  which did not convert, with both receiving disproportionate numbers of refugee pupils and new arrivals. Willesden High School was declared a failing school and converted to a City Academy and Wembley struggled, eventually succeeding brilliantly, against the odds.

When schools become academies they get additional funding which would be taken away from Brent's main school budget. If all the secondary schools became academies Brent's funds would be drastically reduced impacting on primary school budgets and the central support services provided by the Council.  In addition all secondary schools in the borough would be out of local democratic control.

Note: The unions holding the meeting are ATL, GMB, NASUWT, NUT and UNISON.

Campaign against Claremont becoming an academy

Anti-academy activists will be leafleting outside Claremont High School tomorrow (Monday) from 3pm until 3.20pm ahead of an emergency parents' meeting on the issue.  They will welcome anyone who can join them.

ADDRESS
Claremont Avenue,
Kenton,
Middlesex HA3 0UH