Barry Gardiner calls for Byron Court to be given 6 months to demonstrate improvement via a reinspection

 

 

In a letter to Gillian Keegan, Secretary of State for Education, Barry Gardiner MP for Brent North, calls for Byron Court to be given a chance to improve with the assistance of govrnors and  the Rapid Improvement Group that is now in place. He suggests a period of six months, two of which are holidays, before an Ofsted reinspection takes place. If successful this could mean that Byron Court remains a community school rather than face the disruption and turmoil of academisation.

Gardiner cites the rapid expansion of the school to 5 form entry (opposed by the local community) that made it bigger than some secondary schools and the absence of the headteacher through sickness as contributing to the problems of the school. A falling school roll, after the expansion, put additional pressure on the school as it attempted to manage a much bigger school estate.

Quoting the NEU's criticism of the Ofsted inspection process and its impact on the staff's wellbeing, Gardiner says that if the inspection had taken place under the new guidance issued after the death of Ruth Perry, the inspection would not have found as it did.

 

The arguments against the expansion of Byron Court into a 'mega-primary' were reported on Wembley Matters in 2016 HERE.

 

Six education unions ask urgent questions of Gillian Keegan about RAAC-affected schools

 The general secretaries of six unions representing school workers, including heads, teachers and support staff – GMB, NAHT, NASUWT, NEU, UNISON and Unite – have written a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Education calling for an update on the extent of her Department’s research into RAAC-affected schools. They ask six urgent questions:

1. How many schools at risk of RAAC have not had an investigation?
2. How many schools suspect they could have RAAC?
3. How many schools with suspected RAAC have yet to be surveyed?
4. How long does the Government expect it to take for all at-risk schools to be investigated?
5. How long does the Government think it will take for all schools with suspected RAAC to be surveyed?
6. What deadline has been set to clear RAAC from every school?

 

The full text is below:

 

Dear Secretary of State,

 

Last week you published a small amount of information on the progress with the crisis in schools caused by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC). Your department told us:

• more than 90 per cent of schools are covered by responsible bodies that have completed the RAAC questionnaire (1);
• in 156 schools it was confirmed that RAAC was present (2); and
• 52 of 156 schools have mitigations in place to protect pupils and staff from RAAC. (3)

 

However, this does not appear to reflect the full extent of the problem. In May, the Department for Education (DfE) told the National Audit Office (NAO) (4):

• 86 per cent of schools are covered by responsible bodies that have completed the RAAC questionnaire;
• 14,900 schools are at risk of containing RAAC;
• 6,300 of 14,900 schools had been walked round to identify possible RAAC;
• 572 of 6,300 schools suspected they had RAAC
• 196 of 572 schools had been surveyed to determine if they had RAAC;
• 65 of 196 schools had confirmed RAAC was present; and
• 24 of 65 schools required mitigations to protect pupils and staff from RAAC.

 

We believe it is incumbent on the DfE to update the figures it has published in order to eliminate misunderstanding of the scale of the problem.

 

Using the data the DfE provided to the NAO, we estimate that hundreds more schools could have RAAC (5) and we presume this is why you told the Today programme there could be “hundreds“ more schools with RAAC (6). If the Government does not increase funding for the school rebuilding programme which is currently refurbishing 50 schools a year, then the RAAC problem will not be resolved until the 2030s.

 

Please could you answer the following urgent questions:

1. How many schools at risk of RAAC have not had an investigation?
2. How many schools suspect they could have RAAC?
3. How many schools with suspected RAAC have yet to be surveyed?
4. How long does the Government expect it to take for all at-risk schools to be investigated?
5. How long does the Government think it will take for all schools with suspected RAAC to be surveyed?
6. What deadline has been set to clear RAAC from every school?

 

We would be grateful if you could reply within the next week.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Daniel Kebede
General Secretary, National Education Union

Paul Whiteman
General Secretary, NAHT

Christina McAnea
General Secretary, UNISON

Dr Patrick Roach
General Secretary, NASUWT

Gary Smith
General Secretary, GMB

Sharon Graham
General Secretary, UNITE

Ditching of Schools Bill welcomed - let's concentrate on teaching, learning and pupil wellbeing

 The announcement by the Government that the Schools Bill is not to proceed is very welcome. It appeared that apart from concentrating on all the current issues in education, including pupil menetal health, that schools would have been diverted by the government's intention that they should all join or form multi-academy trusts.  This would have taken up much time and energy and remove schools further from local democrartic accountability.

Commenting on the Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan’s announcement during the Education Select Committee that the Schools Bill will not be going ahead, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:

 

The fact that the Schools Bill will not progress through Parliament is a relief as it has been widely discredited. The Bill focused on the wrong priorities, if we want school improvement or educational quality and the Government must accept that maintained schools are here to stay.

 

The NEU successfully disputed the evidence that the Government produced with its case for forcing every school to join a trust. The NEU’s challenge to the DFE data was supported by the Office for Statistics Regulation*. The Bill did not address the pressing challenges which both maintained schools and academy schools face. The urgent challenges are recruitment and retention of teachers, school funding, pay, and the unequal learning gaps created by Covid.

 

The Bill missed the opportunity to resolve the problems created through the fragmentation if the system, such as the lack of voice and choice for schools after they have joined a Trust. This is the second time the DFE have been prevented from trying to over-rule local communities en masse and lever forced conversions on them. As a result of the abandonment of this misguided Bill, leaders and schools can focus on collaboration, retaining staff and outcomes for their students, rather than structures and DFE dogma. Voluntary aided and community schools do not have to convert to academy status. Single-academy trust schools do not need to join a multi-academy trust. Multi-academy trusts do not have to grow to contain a magic number of schools directed by DFE.

 

The Government must recognise that structural change is not what schools and communities want and should also back away from the counter-productive pressure which it is putting on schools, predominantly those in poorer communities.

 

Parents and local councillors want an education system which is well-funded, responsive to local needs and which works for their local context, without pressure to join a mega-trust. Now that it has dropped the Schools Bill, Government has the opportunity to focus on the actual priorities and the real challenges around modernising assessment, identifying funding and addressing teacher retention.

 

Vix Lowthian, Green Party spokesperson on education and herself a secondary school teachers said:

 

 Great news that the much misguided Schools Bill has been dropped. It was badly informed and full of discredited views. But - what next for education? The current system - poor funding, huge pressures on staff and students, lack of SEND support - is letting everyone down.