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.

NEU calls for mass Covid19 testing in primary as well as secondary schools

With the number of school workers testing positive for Covid 19 rising in Brent, this statement by the Co-General Secretary of the National Education Union, Kevin Courtney is pertinent:

Commenting on the latest coronavirus survey figures from the Office for National Statistics, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:

 

“The latest ONS Coronavirus survey figures should be very worrying to the Government - especially in the run up to Christmas. They show that cases are again rising in secondary and primary schools.

“Secondary children in years 7 to year 11 have the highest rate of any of the demographic groups - with more than 2% of children having the virus. This is significantly higher than the university student age group, now returning home with such care.

 

“Primary and early years children - from age 2 to year 6 - are the third highest of the demographic groups with around 1% of children having the virus. Many of the cases are asymptomatic - but this does not mean that they cannot transmit the virus to others, especially in the close confines of the household.

“The only other age group with rising cases is 35-49 year olds - and that is the age group with most parents of school-aged children.

 

“Government must speak about these figures and act on them.

 

“It is welcome, though overdue, that mass testing is to be rolled out in some areas. But there are many boroughs where cases are higher than in the boroughs in London, Kent and Essex where the roll-out is to happen.

 

“The Government should commit now to a roll of mass testing across the country, not just in the South East. The testing should also happen in primary schools.

 

“We predict that when this testing happens many children will have to be sent home on public health advice. This will lead in practice to a chaotic closure in the last week of term.

 

“The Government would have been much better advised to have encouraged schools to prepare for on-line learning in the last week of term. That would have resulted in lower cases before the holidays began and could have been planned. However, the Government set its face hard against this, instructing schools contemplating it to change their plans.

 

“The Government ignored our call for a ‘circuit break’ to include schools, which has been shown to suppress the virus much more quickly. They have ignored our call for secondary schools to run on a rota basis which can keep cases lower whilst keeping children learning.

 

“As a result, many parents have seen their children sent home for multiple periods on public health advice.

 

“We need much better from the Government in the New Year, if the chaotic pattern is not to continue and even get worse.”

NEU responds to PHE England report /Chief Medical Officer comments on return to school

 Commenting on today's report by PHE England and the Chief Medical Officer's comments on the full return of schools and colleges, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary, of the National Education Union, said: 

 

"The NEU agrees with the Chief Medical Officer about the benefits a return to full time education will have for children and young peoples education and well being. 

 

"We believe that it is vital that the Government must take every step it can both to allow this wider re-opening and to keep the R rate below 1.

 

"Today’s report by PHE England shows that there were only a small number of outbreaks in schools after the partial wider opening in June, but as the report itself acknowledges there are limitations on the generalisability of its findings - both because there was little data from secondary schools and because in primary schools much smaller ‘bubble” sizes were possible in the summer. 

 

"It is very important that such monitoring studies are maintained during the period of wider school opening.

 

"Schools and colleges are currently doing all they can to ensure their buildings are as COVID secure as possible, as well as dealing with the fallout from the exams fiasco.

 

"However school staff, parents and pupils are being sorely let down by Government because of a lack of a Plan B and of ensuring robust track trace and test is in place throughout the country. 

 

"We believe the Government is negligent in the extreme. 

 

"Schools and colleges need to know what should happen if an outbreak of the virus occurs in individual schools or more widely with either national, regional or local spikes. Government advice needs to cover the possible self-isolation of bubbles and, in extremis, moving to rotas or to more limited opening. It needs to cover advice to heads about the protections needed for staff in high risk categories if infection rates rise.

 

"Government should be employing more teachers and seeking extra teaching spaces to allow education to continue in a Covid secure manner if infections rise. This should include employment of student teachers who have finished their courses and not yet found jobs, as well as mobilisation of supply staff."

NEU calls for clarity on Government's school re-opening plans - Letter to Boris Johnson

From the National Education Union

Letter to Prime Minister calling for end to unhelpful speculation on school and colleges reopening.

In the light of unhelpful speculation on the further opening of schools and colleges the joint General Secretaries of the National Education Union are calling on the Prime minister for clarity on how Government will make such a decision.

Given that a full return to the school population will increase risks to our members and the children in their care the NEU is asking for the modelling, evidence and plans that will form the basis of any decisions made by the Prime Minister and his Government to be shared.

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing to you on behalf of the members of the National Education Union. First, let us say that we wish you all the best in your personal recovery from the virus.

Our members are hard at work, supporting the children of key workers and vulnerable children who are still attending schools. They are helping efforts to support vulnerable children at home. They are doing their best to support children’s learning in these unusual circumstances.

We are pleased that you, other ministers and Chief Nursing Officer have acknowledged their efforts in helping NHS staff to be at work.

Our members are disturbed, however, by increasing media speculation that schools will soon be re-opened. We consider this speculation to be most unhelpful: it may undermine people’s resolve to stick to social isolation. We are disturbed that it is seemingly being stimulated by unnamed Government ministers.

Given that an early return to full school populations will mean an increased risk to our members and the children in their care, we are writing to ask you to share your modelling, evidence and plans.
As a matter of urgency, and certainly well before any proposal to re-open schools is published, please can you share with our members:

· your modelling of the increased number of cases and mortalities among children, their parents, carers and extended families, and their teachers and support staff, as a result of the re-opening of schools.
· whether such modelling is based on some notion that social distancing could be implemented in schools. (We ask this because our members think it would be a foolhardy assumption.)
· whether your modelling would be based on concrete plans to establish regular testing of children and staff, availability of appropriate PPE and enhanced levels of cleaning - with all of which we are currently experiencing severe difficulties.
· whether your modelling would include plans for children and staff who are in vulnerable health categories, or who are living with people in vulnerable health categories, not to be in attendance at school or college?
· your latest evidence concerning the groups of people who are most vulnerable to death or life-changing consequences as a result of the virus, for example the evidence of the impact on those who live in crowded accommodation, those with different comorbidities, those from different ethnic groups and of different ages and sexes.
· whether the Scottish Parliament, the devolved assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland and our neighbours in the government of the Republic of Ireland agree with your plans.

Further, given that in re-opening schools and colleges, you would be asking our members to take an increased risk, we believe they have a right to understand fully how any such proposal belongs within an overall Government strategy to defeat the virus.

In this context, please could you give the firmest of indications:

· whether you are developing plans for extensive testing, contact tracing and quarantine in society as a whole? Our members see that countries successfully implementing such strategies have many fewer cases and many, many fewer mortalities than we do in the UK.
· if you are developing such plans, how long it will take to put them in place and how low the number of virus cases needs to be before such a strategy can be successful?
· whether you intend these plans be in place well before schools are re-opened. (This seems essential to us.)
· if you are not developing such plans, what is your overall approach and is it dependent on an assumption that those who have had the virus are subsequently immune?
· of your assessment of the strategies in place in South Korea, where there is a clear policy of testing, contact tracing and continued school closures?

We have written to you as representatives of staff who in the event of schools re-opening would be asked to accept an increased risk for themselves and the children they teach.

You will appreciate that our attitude to the issue of reopening is dependent on the answers to the questions above.

Again, we wish you well in your recovery and in your efforts to bring our country through this crisis.

We restate our willingness to work with you on finding solutions to the problems posed by the current situation.

We look forward to your urgent reply.


Yours sincerely

Mary Bousted Kevin Courtney
Joint General Secretaries

Joint General Secretary

NEU: Combination of current Covid-19 measures, including school closures, should remain in place

IMMEDIATE NEU COMMENT ON MEDIA REPORTING OF UCL RESEARCH ON SCHOOL CLOSURES

7 April 2020

School Closure Policies

Throughout the current crisis, the NEU has called for policy decisions to be based on the findings of research and scientific enquiry. It welcomes the systematic review by Professor Viner and his colleagues of the effectiveness of school closure policies in dealing with coronavirus outbreaks, including Covid-19.

Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the NEU, said:

This is an important study, to which those who work in education will give the most careful consideration. We note that it provides no evidence on which to move back from the current strategy adopted by the UK. The review indicates that school closures are effective as part of a combination of tactics of social distancing and testing. This is the evidence from China, from Hong Kong, and from a modelling study carried out in the UK.

In relation to the findings of two Chinese studies, the review notes that both pieces of research conclude that the overall package of quarantine and social distancing, including school closure, was effective in reducing the epidemic in mainland China.

Summarising two further studies of Covid-19 in Hong Kong, the review notes that school closures were implemented at the same time as a number of other stringent social distancing measures. Collectively, these measures to held to have controlled the spread of the outbreak.

Finally, the review reports the findings of a UK research study, that a combination of measures, again including school closures, would be the most effective.

Everyone wants schools to be re-opened as soon as is safely possible. This can only happen on the basis of sound scientific reasoning that school closure is no longer necessary for the suppression of Covid-19. We are a long way from this point. The combination of measures that the government has introduced must remain in place.

Tributes pour in for Indro Sen - great CNWL lecturer and trade unionist

Former secondary maths teacher, primary school governor,  College of North West London lecturer,  and most importantly trade unionist, Indro Sen has died shortly before his 68th birthday.

In 2016-17 Indro was involved in a dispute at CNWL over his allegations of corruption in an apprenticeship scheme and I worked closely with him on publicising the issue here on Wembley Matters. (Links below) He was suspended from his job allegedly because of his support at an emeployment  tribunal for a sacked colleague and his opposition to the CNWL's merger with Westminster College.

At the time Peter Murry, Trade Union Liaison officer for the London Federation of Green Parties and for Brent Green Party  supported Sen and said,   'Both of these are actions are entirely proper for a University and College Union Branch Secretary to carry out. If Indro Sen’s suspension is a result of his performing the legitimate duties of a UCU Officer, then he himself seems to be threatened with unfair treatment and victimisation.'

His son Shenin said on Twitter:

On Wednesday we lost my father Indro Sen. Being unaware of his underlying health issues, this has been a complete shock for me & my family, which is where my full focus is right now.

His whole life was dedicated to helping others, I couldn’t have asked for a better role model.

Sen's novel approach to maths teaching in the 70s or 80s

Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the NEU said:

So sorry to hear of the loss this week of Indro Sen. Long time NUT and then UCU militant.
Long time school rep at Kingsland secondary school. Successful fights against victimisation.
Highly regarded Maths teacher.Brilliant ally in fights as a parent, and governor, at Benthal Primary school. 

Many condolences to all the family. Rage against the dying of the light. Rest in Peace Sen.

Bernard Regan, long time member of the NUT, Summed up Indro Sen, the person:

A great comrade and campaigner. At the centre of fighting many injustices. I will remember him for his strength of character and gentleness of being. I will remember his laugh with fondness. His hat which he wore all the time - his eye for detail and passionate commitment to fighting injustices including those inflicted on him..We will remember him.

Wembley Matters postings on Indro Sen and his struggle at the College of North West London:

https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2016/12/greens-call-for-immediate-and-full.html

https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2017/02/support-builds-for-indro-sen-in-cnwl.html

https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2017/06/support-cnwl-strikes-to-defend-sacked.html

https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2017/05/indro-sens-appeal-against-dismissal-to.html

https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2017/02/cnwl-lecturers-threaten-action-to.html

NEU Joint General Secretary at Green Party Conference

Kevin Courtney's letter to NUT members on Trump protests

Dear colleagues,

As you will be aware many of our members have joined the protests around the country against Donald Trump’s executive order banning entry to the US from seven countries which have a majority Muslim population.

They will have joined those demonstrations as individuals but also as teachers they will be acutely concerned about the message this action sends to the young people they see every day.

I accepted an invitation to speak at the demonstration outside Downing Street on Monday and have also accepted an invitation to speak at the demonstration in London on Saturday. I have also signed the petition and a letter to the Guardian calling for the invitation of a state visit to be withdrawn.

I believe that Donald Trump’s actions will upset many of the children and families our members serve and have an impact on communities all over the country. I therefore strongly believe that, we must speak out – I do not believe that silence is an option.

When I spoke at Downing Street I said I was representing the biggest teachers union in Europe and wanted to explain why teachers should be involved. I said Trump was no ordinary bad politician – his policies aren’t bad immigration policies and misguided anti-terror policies. Instead his policies are aimed at stoking fear and division.

And it won’t just be migrants from some countries affected. That fear and division will come to every school and every community; so every person of good will needs to speak out. Every teacher needs to be involved – for the sake of our children.

I hope that you will support my decisions with regard to the protests and that you will support any protests that may be happening locally and encourage members to attend.

With best wishes,
Kevin Courtney,
NUT General Secretary

NUT-ATL amalgamation will strengthen fight against government regression

I welcome the news that the NUT and ATL decided yesterday at separate conferences to ballot their members on  the two bodies amalagamating to form the National Education Union.  This is absolutely essential at a time when government polcies on funding, grammar schools and academisation need strong opposition.  There is some background HERE

Particular congratulations must go to local teacher trade unionists Jean and Hank Roberts who have been campaigning for this outcome for many years.

This is the NUT's statement after yesterday's decisions:


The NUT and ATL held special conferences on Saturday 5 November at which delegates welcomed the progress made in negotiations on the amalgamation of the two unions to form a new union. The conferences endorsed the rules of the new union, to be called the National Education Union. This decision will now be put to the members of both unions for approval in ballots to be held in the spring term.

In welcoming the decisions of the two conferences General Secretary, Kevin Courtney, said: “This is an historic day for teacher trade unionism. We have advocated professional unity for many years, and this is a big step towards realising our goal of a strong unified profession and a powerful union which would be a significant force for teachers, education and the trade union movement.”

This document answers frequently asked questions about the moves towards professional unity on the part of the ATL and NUT.

The National Union of Teachers has been pursuing the policy of trade union unity for all teachers for many years. We believe that all teachers in all schools in England and Wales should be united in one organisation. It makes sense for a number of reasons.

The new union would have almost half a million members and would be a powerful force in education and the trade union movement. The government and employers would need to take such an organisation seriously and would not be able to deploy the policy of divide and rule. The new organisation would be more economical to run and would target members' subscriptions on matters important to teachers and education rather than on competitive recruitment between the unions.

For these reasons we have an open invitation to all other teachers' unions to come and talk about setting up a new union for all teachers for a more effective and efficient means of representing the profession.

NUT prepared to work with other unions for SATs boycott in 2017 if government does not make changes

From the NUT
 
Commenting on the publication of provisional 2016 Key Stage 2 results, Kevin Courtney, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union, said:

Today's provisional 2016 KS2 results need to be taken with a large pinch of salt. They are the outcome of a chaotic process of assessment, hastily introduced and badly designed. A system in which nearly half of those assessed are told they have not met the expected standard is not a system which is working well for pupils. A system in which the relative performance of local authorities varies so widely from one year to the next will not command public confidence.

The data tells us little about educational quality that we can trust. Yet it will be used to judge the performance of schools, and in hundreds of cases to judge them as failing. This is completely unacceptable. Teachers and head teachers believe that there is no case for intervention, action or ranking of schools on the basis of data which is meaningless as a measure of quality.

The case for a complete rethinking of assessment in primary schools is overwhelming - this deeply flawed system must not be allowed to do further harm to pupils and to teachers in 2017. The National Union of Teachers calls for the suspension of current arrangements for testing, and for the development of alternatives which can command public and professional support. If the government is not prepared to make the changes needed, then the Union is prepared to work with other unions to boycott both KS1 and KS2 SATs.

NUT: We must say 'never again' to SATS car crash

Kevin Courney, Acting General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers made this statement on Facebook earlier this morning:

On comparing SATs results and Morgan's failure.

This year 47% of children will be told they haven't reached the "expected" standard in at least one of their SAT papers.

Last year this figure was only 15%.

It is really important that we reassure parents and children. These children haven't failed. Nicky Morgan has failed.

She and Nick Gibb have consistently ignored advice - even pleas - from educationalists and teachers.
It was clear to many teachers that these tests were going to be a car crash.

The material was too hard, the curriculum wasn't in place, the tests were badly designed.
NUT called for this year's tests to be cancelled - but Morgan wouldn't listen.

We must reassure children and parents now. It's not their failure - it's Nicky Morgan's failure.
But we must also say "never again".

Next year's year 6 mustn't be put through this experience

Driive to total academisation will do nothing for the crisis engulfing schools

Kevin Courtney, Deputy General Secretary of the NUT, has made the following statement on government plans to force all schools to become academies

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Finally the Government has come clean on its education priorities and admitted that its real agenda all along has been that every school must become an academy. The fig leaf of ‘parental choice’, ‘school autonomy’ and ‘raising standards’ has finally been dropped and the Government’s real agenda has been laid bare – all schools to be removed from the support of their LA and schools instead to be run by remote academy trusts, unaccountable to parents, staff or local communities.

Parents will be as outraged as teachers that the Government can undo over 50 years of comprehensive public education at a stroke. Only last week HMCI Sir Michael Wilshaw pointed out to Government the serious consequences for children’s education of schools being run by multi-academy trusts. But this arrogant Government is choosing to ignore the evidence from the HMCI, the Education Select Committee and the Sutton Trust’s own Chain Effects report, which clearly demonstrates that academy status not only does not result in higher attainment but that many chains are badly failing their pupils, particularly their disadvantaged pupils.

The Government’s ultimate agenda is the privatisation of education with schools run for profit. The NUT will continue to resist the Government’s attempts to privatise our education system and will campaign alongside parents and other allies to Stand Up for Education.

The most urgent problems in schools are to do with the chronic teacher shortage, real terms funding cuts, the school places crisis, chaotic implementation of the curriculum, and workload going through the roof. The drive towards total academisation will do absolutely nothing to fix those problems.

Nicky Morgan slammed for attack on anti-academy parents and communities

 

Campaigners against the forced academisation of Gladstone Park Primary School

From Anti-Academies Alliance LINK
 

Commenting on Nicky Morgan’s attack on those in their community who campaign against academisation, including forced academisation, Kevin Courtney, Deputy General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said; 

“The Department for Education’s press release has been timed to coincide with the passage of the Education and Adoption Bill through the Lords. If passed without amendment, this Bill could result in thousands more schools being forced into sponsored academy arrangements against the wishes of local communities. This is despite the absence of evidence that academy status results in improved standards. Even the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, has been forced to concede that the Government ‘does not believe that all academies and free schools are necessarily better than maintained schools.’ 

“Crucially the Bill removes the consultation rights for parents, teachers and governors who in future would have no say over whether their school should become an academy, or the sponsor who would take it over. Nor would they be entitled to any information on the relative performance of the proposed sponsors compared with their local authority. It is therefore the undemocratic and illiberal Education and Adoption Bill which is underhand and intimidating, not the parents, grandparents and supporters of campaigns against forced academisation.

“The unsubstantiated attacks by the DfE on parents and local communities whose only crime has been to defend their school against the Government’s strong-arm-route tactics to force schools into academy status, including deploying bullying academy brokers, is utterly shameful. Under Nicky Morgan’s watch, the Department has plumbed new depths.

“Furthermore some of the ‘success’ claimed by academy heads, as cited in the press release, was occurring before these schools became academies. For example, results of SATs tests taken in May 2012 at Downhills, four months before the school was taken over by Harris,  show progress in English exceeded the national average (89%) by two percentage points (91%); while progress in Maths was just one percentage point (86%) below the national average (87%). It is not possible to make a direct comparison with the Key Stage 2 performance score for reading and maths prior to Downhills becoming an academy because from 2013 the reading national curriculum test and writing teacher assessment results were no longer combined to produce an overall English level. Instead, reading and writing results were reported on separately. This is yet another example of shoddy statistics emanating from the Department for Education.

“The Government’s assault on parents is a far cry from its claims that its academy and free school programme would give parents more ‘choice’ and a greater say in their child’s education. It is quite clear with this latest pronouncement from Nicky Morgan that the Government will stop at nothing to railroad schools, parents and communities into being forced to accept a school system that is neither wanted nor needed and for which there is no evidence base.

“Nicky Morgan should be concentrating on the real problems faced by schools such as a growing teacher recruitment and retention crisis and huge pressure on budgets and growing pupil populations. It is ridiculous that these issues are being ignored while the Government fixates on pushing through yet more privatisation.”

Three passionate voices on the education crisis

I tweeted the above open letter, first published in the TES, yesterday on both @WembleyMatters and @GreenEdPolicy and it has been retweeted many time, including by the writer and broadcaster Michael Rosen. The letter clearly resonates at a time when many teachers are leaving the profession.

Michael Rosen posted this on Facebook earlier today:

On the Guardian thread about teacher shortages and how they could possibly have come about, I posted some government policies to keep teaching recruitment and retention down:

1. Encourage the press to run stories saying that teachers are lazy and that there are thousands of bad ones.
2. Get the head of Ofsted to say the same.
3. Keep this up for decades. (both main parties)
4. Bring in hundreds of measuring and assessment systems, levels, targets, tests, exams, which then breed more 'rehearsal' tests and exams.
5. Bring in a punitive, rapid, unsupportive inspection system which ignores the fact that scores are attached to children so that if you're in a school where there has been turnover the inspectorate say that has nothing to do with us.
6. Run a new kind of school where the salaries of management are not open to public scrutiny.
7. Allow interest groups to open schools which take on proportionally fewer SEN, EAL and FSM pupils than nearby LA schools.
8 Allow covert selection and exclusion process to take place around these new kinds of schools because the LA schools have to pick up the pieces.
9. Use international data as if it is holy writ and ignore evidence that suggests that comparing countries does not compare like with like, that some countries which are 'top' are selecting. Obscure the differences between the countries by only talking about 'places' in the table, without ever making clear whether these differences are 'significant' or not.
10. Use China as an example of utopia in education without making a comparison between the two societies - as if education exists separately from the societies that produce the respective education systems.
11. Make sure that very nearly all the people running the state education system from government have no, or very little, state education experience themselves.

Yesterday, Kevin Courtney (who also retweeted the letter as @cyclingkev ) Deputy General Secretary of the NUT spoke at the London Green Party Annual General Meeting on 'Fighting for the Education our young people deserve.' This is an extract from his speech that was delivered with as much passion as demonstrated by Colin Harris and Michael Rosen.

Things have got to change if our education system is to survice as fit for purpose.

Greens describe their vision for education at official NUT fringe meeting

Natalie Bennett spoke at a NUT Conference official fringe meeting yesterday about the Green Party's vision for education. Kevin Courtney, Deputy General Secretary of the NUT, said that the union saw the Green Party as an ally. He said that although the NUT was not affiliated to any political party, and not likely to be, this did not mean that they could not see who their allies were. He said, 'We meet regularly with Caroline (Lucas) in Parliament and she puts questions down for us in the House of Commons.' The Greens were a force for helping to put the union's message across. Earlier in the Conference, Caroline Lucas received a warm reception at a 200 plus strong meeting on 'Building the Fightback'. Play the video to see what Natalie Bennett had to say. It is good to see the NUT and the Green Party working together for the future of our children.

Councils need powers to build new schools - new campaign needs your support

I was pleased to see Green Party leader Natalie Bennett tweet her support to the new School Places Crisis campaign to Kevin Courtney, Deputy General Secretary of the NUT. The campaign calls for local authorities to get back the power to plan for the increased demand for school places and build new community schools.

At present Coalition policy under Michael Gove restricts any new schools to academies or free schools outside the control of local authorities.  In a posting on this two weeks ago I said LINK

Local authorities have the local knowledge to plan new schools where they are most needed and the expertise and resources to ensure that such schools are fit for purpose, have access to school support services and are professionally staffed so that they hit the ground running.  Free schools, even if they happen to be provided in areas of shortage (and many are not), do not have these guarantees.

Local authorities have a statutory duty to provide education and parents have a legal duty to ensure that their children attend school. Gove's policy, despite all his protestations, is actually thwarting both, and in the process damaging children.

At present in Brent we lack -3.2% of school places which will become -10.3% by 2016-17.

The Campaign says:

The way school places are organised changed dramatically when the Academies Act gained Royal Assent in 2010. Up until this point local authorities played a pivotal role in planning for, commissioning and providing high quality places for pupils across the country. This is no longer the case.

Local authorities have lost the power to open new schools and their budgets have been slashed. A Free School can now be set up anywhere at the whim of the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove. The problem with this is that it doesn't take into account local need or demand, or even the potential surplus of school places in any given area.

And that's why the UK is now facing a shortfall in quality school places. In London, this could be up to 23% by 2016.

Sounds scary? It is. But the solution is beautifully simple:

GIVE   THE   POWER   TO   COMMISSION   AND   BUILD   SCHOOLS   BACK   TO   LOCAL   AUTHORITIES

The Government must ensure that any extra places provided are quality places. All children deserve to be taught by a qualified teacher. They also deserve to be taught in an appropriate environment – it would be wrong to cram more children into already crowded classrooms.
The local authority still has a responsibility for education for all local children, but they cannot guarantee high quality school places without the ability to plan for the future, build schools or reduce school size where needed. Can you contact your MP to let them know your concerns?

The site has a link for you to  write to your MP and  to sign a petition. If we want to secure quality, planned and democratically controlled education for our children we should support this campaign.

Twitter link @placescrisis  Website: http://www.theschoolplacescrisis.com/

Jean Lambert MEP urges Gove to listen to teachers and children on primary curriculum

 LONDON MEP Jean Lambert has called for Education Secretary Michael Gove to stop the ‘surveillance’ culture in primary schools – and instead listen to teachers and children themselves about how best they should be run.

The Green MEP also called for primary schools to teach problem solving, and to recognize that the arts, humanities, physical education and citizenship are as important as maths, science and literacy.

Ms Lambert, herself a former teacher, will make her comments at the launch of the Charter for Primary Education at the University of London Union tomorrow.

Speaking alongside children’s author Michael Rosen and National Union of Teachers’ Deputy Secretary-General Kevin Courtney, she will say:

Primary schools have become obsessed with tests and surveillance of pupils’ ability to retain a number of facts and abilities in a small range of ‘core’ subjects like literacy, maths and science.

Of course eventually passing exams in these subjects is important, but the focus of primary schools should be on offering a well-rounded education, and that means regarding the arts, humanities, physical education and citizenship as just as important – and recognizing that ‘play’ can be learning.

Michael Gove wants to take our schools in exactly the wrong direction, and he really must start listening the experts: teachers and the children themselves.

 The Charter for Primary Education can be found HERE