Where next for Green Party policy on education?

My motion instructing the Green Party Policy Committee to initiate a policy development process in the light of Coalition policies, which would result in a  a redrafted Education Policy being presented to a future  Conference, failed to win a majority today. Part of the process I suggested was  to invite contributions from relevant teacher unions, educators and parent campaign groups to help shape the review.

One of the arguments against was that there had been a full and very thorough review in 2007 and that this should not be thrown away. Instead it was argued that a series of amendments should be tabled at a future Conference. It was also argued that the review would take time and may not be ready for the election period.

I believe something far more fundamental is required as you'll see from my speech notes, particularly as the ful schope of the Tory strategy was not evident at the time. . I wanted a far broader and participatory process but if we are to have a relevant policy in place for local elections in 2014 and the General Election in 2015 we must start thinking about amendments for Spring Conference now. The policy is 15 pages long so it is a substantial task. The current policy can be read HERE

These are the notes of my speech (not all of which may have been delivered as set out because of  the time constraints in a very rushed debate at the en of the morning session).

I want to start by acknowledging the work that went into the current policy and the many good and innovative ideas it contains. Don't blame me for the need for revision - blame Michael Gove!

The problem is, as Melissa Benn said at the panel on Friday, we are in a period of profound and unprecedented educational change in terms of both speed and ruthlessness. The post - war  settlement is being bulldozed into oblivion.

This is not just about individual policies but the neoliberal framework - subordination of education to economic aims and accompanying privatisation and profit making and the commodification of childhood.

Michael Gove is stealing our schools, our teachers' professionalism and our children's childhood.

Teachers 'deliver' lessons to deliver higher test results to deliver higher league table position and thus deliver us from Ofsted! (Prayer)

I am involved with many campaigns with parents, governors and teachers and am often  asked, where do you stand, what would you do? I have found the present policy wanting in giving a response.

The foundation of our policy needs to be strengthened - rejecting the Coalition's ideology and linking our approach to alternative views on the economy as well as the aims of education and the defence of childhood.

Although our policies are Green Government 'aspirational' they have to start with present realities and counter them. Don't protest -demand!

Areas for revision:

Local authorities fast disappearing regarding role in education   - academies & free schools and diminishing school improvement services.  We need to think about the 'middle tier' and role of Secretary of State. What democratic structures do we propose beyond the school level. What powers should the Secretary of State have?

We need to sharpen our critique of free schools and academies to stress issues around accountability, reinforcing social divisions and marketisation. Do we propose reintegration into a locally accountable community school system as we do with private schools? Should all schools have the same 'freedoms' as academies and free schools.

Sure Start - reducing and nature of early years education changing. We need more than 'continuing successful schemes such as Sure Start' what is our vision for the early years?

Ofsted - we say 'inspections will be revised' but we need to take account of its increasingly politicised role, the fact that it is privatised (Serco, Tribal) and overlaps with academy chains. What sort of school improvement service do we envisage - role and powers? How does this relate to institutions such as the HMI?

In our policy we say that the Inspectorate and LAs will be involved in the monitoring of governing body accountability structures - revision needed in the light of academies and free schools and decline in role of LA.

Pupil population expansion - because the Government has said any new school should be an academy or free school, LAs are being forced to expand primary schools with some in urban areas having more than 1,000 4-11 year olds and losing play space and additional rooms such as libraries and halls in the process. Again the role of LA in planning and provision has been undermined so we need to reaffirm their right to build new community schools to cope with the rising population.

Teacher education - university level teacher education is rapidly disappearing and being replaced by various 'on the job' training schemes with a neglect (and disparagement) of research, cognitive psychology, philosophy of education etc.   

I hope I have demonstrated sufficient grounds for revision, but more than this I am convinced that with the right policy, actively campaigned for in communities, teacher organisations, parent groups that we have a chance of building massive support and contributing to success in the forthcoming elections as well as having people flocking to support our campaigns. (I mentioned the successful NUT 'It's Time to Stand Up for Education' rallies aimed at parents, governors, teachers and pupils that were held in Brighton, Nottingham and London yesterday)

Declaration of Interests: I am a retired member of the NUT and a retired primary headteacher. I am currently chair of governors of two Brent primary schools and help convene the Brent Governors' Forum.  I am a trustee of the Brent Play Association and run Brent School Without Walls, a voluntary organisation that provides free nature and outdoor activities in Fryent Country Park for primary classes and out of school clubs. 

Boris Johnson to decide on Welsh Harp tower blocks on Wednesday

Following Barnet Council's referral of the West Hendon Regeneration Planning Application to the London Mayor last Friday, Boris Johnson will be making his decision on Wednesday 7th July.

He can decide that Barnet Council should make the decision, reject the application or decide to act as the Planning Authority for the application.

Navin Shah AM for Brent and Harrow; Cllr Roxanne Mashari, Brent Council's lead member for environment and Martin Francis, Brent Green Party, met with GLA planners today to put the views of those opposed to the application.

They will be circulating a letter over the weekend to go to Boris Johnson and the planners which will summarise the case against the development and urging him to reject the planning application or failing that, to act as the planning authority. The aim is to get the letter signed by members of all the main political parties in Barnet and Brent as well as all those organisations opposed to the development.

If you do not receive the letter by 9pm on Sunday evening please email Martin Francis at mafran@globalnet.co.uk to request a copy.

The cross-boundary Welsh Harp Joint Consultative Committee today wrote to Boris Johnson calling on him to reject the planning application or act as the planning authority: LINK

Brent Council still fails to support Gladstone Park parents

As you probably know I have had an exchange of letters with Cllr Mary Arnold (Brent Executive lead member for children and families) over education in Brent and my claim that the Labour Council is not standing up for a democratically accountable local school system and in particular backing the Gladstone Park Primary parents in their campaign against becoming a forced academy. (Mary Arnold saw that as me 'attacking Brent Education'.)

James Denselow has posted this defence from Mary on his blog:

What is Brent Labour doing in response to Gove’s agenda?

Answer from Cllr. Mary Arnold – Lead Member for Children and Families:

We are primarily campaigning with London Councils tackling  Gove on free schools  which are unaccountable and in the wrong places, unaccountable academies, cutbacks in the Early Intervention Grant reducing surestart for early years and unfair access to childcare.

In Brent we joined other local authorities in a national campaign to challenge the injustice of moving GCSE grade boundaries so over 100 Brent pupils were downgraded in English, undermining their career chances. Our campaign was covered by the national and local press with lots of my quotes over the period..

My letters to the local press on Gove’s u-turn on the curriculum are published

http://www.brentlabour.co.uk/gove_s_u_turn

and my article on Gove forcing schools in his academisation drive and his shocking dismissal of parents’ views at Gladstone is on the website.

http://www.brentlabour.co.uk/supporting_gladstone_primary

I sent my letter published in Brent and Kilburn Times challenging Martin Francis’ letter attacking Brent Education the previous week to all Labour activists but I think the H and K members are not always included. Lee is therefore including website references in his campaign newsletters

There is more including a H and K education ‘think piece’ I am contributing to. Happy to talk to members and send on campaign articles with more coming up.

Cllr Michael Pavey, (Labour, Barnhill) Chair of Governors at Wembley Primary School is said to be challenging Arnold for her Executive post at next month's AGM. Denselow is challenging Lesley Jones for her position and a good source has said that Cllr Roxanne Mashari (Labour, Welsh Harp) in challenging Cllr James Powney. 

So we can expect some manoeuvring ahead of the votes and a debate is always healthy. However a Brent Council spokesperson in the report below on the Gladstone Park Primary campaign again seems to indicate that Brent Council is willing to do little to fight forced academisation:

A Brent Council spokesman said the authority was working with the headteacher and governors on offering 'programme of support':

The DfE's default position is that a school which fails its Ofsted inspection becomes a sponsored academy and parents are campaigning against this. We understand that governors are still making their case to the secretary of state. It is inappropriate for the council to discuss future options directly with parents' groups. We discuss options with the governing body, which in turn has the role of consulting parents. We're sorry if we didn;t respond in a timely way to explain that.

No condemnation of forced academies policy, no condemnation of DfE bullying, no support for the parents' battle and no expression of confidence in the staff and governors' capacity to improve the school without being forced to become an academy.

I think that's pretty poor.

Gove's action on Mary Seacole goes further than Thatcher

Mary Seacole's gravestone

When I first started teaching at an inner London primary school in Paddington in 1971 one of the first things I noticed was that there were very few books with any black children in them even though the school population was largely black. There were no black staff and so children had the strange experience of attending a school where curriculum and staffing did not reflect the pupils who actually attended. 

Meeting with other teachers I discovered that some schools still had copies of 'Little Black Sambo'  on their shelves amongst the Peter and Jane and Janet and John readers. Teachers, supported by parents, became proactive in trying to correct the situation, aware that if children were 'invisible' in the curriculum and materials, their motivation would be affected.  Black Bookshops began to import multi-ethnic books, mainly from the US,  Sunshine  Readers produced by Ladybird for the West Indies, became common in inner London schools. In the UK the Nippers series reflecting both black and working class life began to be published. Beryl Gilroy, the first black woman headteacher in London (and possibly  the UK) and mother of Paul Gilroy, wrote some of the Nipper series.

At the same time there was an active racist and fascist movement with the National Front targeting schools and recruiting white children at the school gates. Teachers became active in the community campaigning against the NF, particularly when they provocatively hired school halls in multi-racial areas for their meetings or marched through areas of black settlement. All Leader Teachers Against Fascism (ALTARF) and Teachers Against the Nazis (TAN) were formed and autonomous black teachers' organisations became active

However, anti-racist teachers were not in the majority at the time. When I was organising support for an anti-racist meeting.my headteacher, who was a member of the Communist Party, told me, 'This school is neither for nor against racism'    His predecessor had angrily insisted, 'I do not want these black books thrust down our white children's throats'.

A moment which reinforced my determination was when an eight year old  black girl turned to me when reading about Harriet Tubman, with amazed eyes and said, 'I didn't know black people could be famous!' 

In the black community the slogan 'We are here because you were there' was used to combat the racists. Clearly colonial history and the freedom struggle were vital to an understanding of racism and teacher activists and librarians began to write materials for the classroom. Basil Davidson worked with the London Branch of the National Association for Multi-racial Education (NAME) on an exhibition about African History challenging some of the myths of the time that included attributing the Zimbabwe ruins to some ancient non-African civilisation.

When I moved  to a primary school in Fulham, an area where the NF were recruiting, I had a 10 year NF member in the class in  which black children were a minority. It became clear to me that anti-racist education was required - not just multicultural.

In Challenging Racism - ALTARF (1984) I wrote about a black child who was in what we now call Year 5. This is what she said:

Well I think there isn't enough black books in school . They've got Pete and Jane and they're white and they haven't got any books for black kids and if they have they're just silly books - they're not sensible. So what we [she and her friends] tried to do  (which we never finished) we made our own book about jobs and racism. We did a book about jobs and drew pictures and we talked about what black people hadn't been getting jobs. Was it because of their colour or is it just because they're not qualified and we got to the decision that it was because of their colour. So what we did was we got together, we had a discussion before we started making the book, and we just started writing it down and drawing pictures about it.

Schools and the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) began to tackle the political issues involved and incurred the wrath of the right-wing of the Conservative Party including Margaret Thatcher, Norman Tebbit and the recently deceased Sir Rhodes Boyson, Conservative MP for Brent North. 

There was little need for the National Front once Thatcher was in power and her government turned on 'left-wing' teachers and on local authorities such as  the ILEA and Brent who had pioneered multi-cultural and anti-racist education. Tebbit eventually abolished the ILEA along with the GLC.  Margaret Thatcher said:

You know about political indoctrination in some of the inner cities, well, I could show you examination papers, I could show you books.....I sometimes look at the Continent, where they have not only a core curriculum but a core syllabus. That would be an enormous leap for us to take, because my generation still recoils from having a system that any government could manipulate...what we are considering is whether we should take that step.

And of course they did take that step and introduced the National Curriculum and subsequent Labour governments tightened central control even more.

The phrase about a system that 'any government could manipulate' is telling because Michael Gove is currently seeking to manipulate the NC history curriculum in the direction that some of the extreme rightwingers wanted to do back in the 80s and goes beyond any manipulation that Margaret Thatcher  or Kenneth Baker attempted. . He is removing certain black historical figures from  the NC but also changing the nature of the historical narrative. It is a political and cultural intervention

Does this statement by the Monday Club (Education and the Multiracial Society) 1985 not remind you of Muchael Gove's stance?

To say that British History, English literature, the civilisation of Western Europe should have pride of place in our schools is not to argue from a sense of superiority. It is to argue for relevance. Black and white children need to learn,and they can, of the nation in which they live and the forces that have shaped it. Britain has a great and inspiring heritage. Our chidlren need to be fed on it, to be encouraged to make it their own. Such an approach in education will unify, not divide, nurture shared pride and common loyalties, not cynicism and racial hatred.

So the removal of Mary Seacole and Oloudah Equiano from the National Curriculum is a political and ideological act with its roots in the Thatcher era. It seeks to push back the gains that have been made in education for a multi-ethnic society and perhaps aims to take us back to that period when that child could look at me with disbelief when she found there were black historical.

That is why Mary Seacole's grave stone, in our backyaed in the Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road is currently my Facebook profile.  It is why I remind schools and teachers that the National Curriculum is not all that can be taught. Schools are free to teach beyond the National Currlcum and if Mary Seacole and Oloudah Equiano  are removed teachers should still carry on teaching about them. That will also be a political  act.

I strongly support the campaign that you can read about below:

Best selling authors such as Zadie Smith, Malorie Blackman and Andrea Levy, playwright Kwame Kwei Armah, Civil Rights icon Rev Jesse Jackson,  Trade Union leaders Christine Blower, Mark Serwotka and politicians including Diane Abbott, David Lammy and Stephen Twigg have all signed an open letter to the Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove, calling upon him to rethink his plans to scrap Mary Seacole and Olaudah Equiano from the National Curriculum.

Gove has stated that he wants children to learn ‘traditional’ figures such as Winston Churchill and Oliver Cromwell, and that Equiano and Seacole can be options.

Simon Woolley stated:

‘Dumping Mary Seacole and Olaudah Equiano, denies children of our rich diversity of key historical figures. It is also seen by some as the whitewashing of British history.’

Civil Rights Campaigner Rev Jesse Jackson stated:

'A nation’s history must be told by all its people for the benefit of everyone. Failure to do so invariably ends up talking about the exploits of white men.’

Zita Holbourne, National Co-Chair BARAC UK stated:

'The achievements of figures such as Mary Seacole and Olaudah Equiano in the face of prejudice are to be celebrated so that they inspire generations to come.  The broad range of people opposing Gove's proposal demonstrate the strength of our multicultural society at its best.

Patrick Vernon stated:

‘After launching the successful campaign in 2003 where Mary Seacole was voted the Greatest Black Briton by the public, Michael Grove, Secretary State for Education now wants to remove her from the National Curriculum along with Olaudah Equiano. This gives a clear message to all children and parents in Britain that we do no have a pluralist or multicultural society and thus equality of opportunity is only the preserved for the rich and privileged. Is this history we want to teach and shape future leaders in 21st century Britain?’

Juliet Alexander, broadcaster, lecturer and trustee of the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue Appeal, stated:

‘To exclude Mary Seacole from the national curriculum would be to remove a vital and important part of  the UK's rich heritage of Black, female activism and to condemn future generations to a poor and distorted history of the UK. The unprecedented response to the OBV petition and public eagerness to fund a statue for Mary, shows the UK's continuing fascination with the fighting spirit of historical heroines like Mary Seacole.’

Follow this link to sign the Operation Back Vote Petition to Michael Gove LINK

http://www.100greatblackbritions.com/

http://www.maryseacoleappeal.org.uk/

Thanks for your support for Wembley Matters

It has been gratifying to receive a number of messages from readers over Christmas thanking me for Wembley Matters.  I can't promise to keep it up forever but as the blog appears to be meeting a need I'll keep going as long as I can.

Meanwhile I hope all my readers have a restful break and come back with renewed vigour to fight for environmental and social justice in 2013.

Brent Communication Team refuse to communicate with Wembley Matters

by Martin Redston

 Every now and again I get asked by readers why I do not let Brent Council give their version of events when I run critical stories on this blog such as the recent one on the apparent demise of the four borough supercontract.

The short answer is that the press office refuses to respond. An earlier reason given was that this was because I was not 'official media' . I retorted that this sounded rather Stalinist. When trying to get a quote on the supercontract story I was again refused.

I suggested that the Council needed to revise its policy in the light of the development of 'citizen journalism'. I pointed out that I was trying to be fair to the Council by including their comments. With 400-600 page views a day (14,000plus last month) and followed via Twitter by local councillors and our local MP, surely it was to their advantage to be able to comment on stories that were often followed up by the local press.

They went away to consult on this with the Head of Communications and issued the following statement:

The press desk deals with enquiries from accredited journalists e.g. a local radio or newspaper journalist, a member of the National Union of Journalists or a recognised freelance.

It does not currently include enquiries from citizen journalists and blog authors because the expected volume of enquiries would be extremely difficult for the Communications Team to manage.

So with a Communications Team that won't communicate I am left with the option of making cumbersome Freedom of Information requests that take weeks to get a response or hoping that the 'official' press follows up the stories.

By the way, I regularly get official press releases sent to me from Muhammed Butt's office...

Supporters have suggested that readers should tweet Brent Council to tell them they should talk to me @BrentCouncil.

Feel free! 

Will you support a Reclaim Our Schools campaign?

Downhills Primary school protests against forced academy

I wrote this article for Green Left's EcoSocialist broadsheet that was distributed on October 20th.  I would be interested to hear from anybody who would support a local Reclaim Our Schools campaign:

Michael Gove may have been making a shambles of education policies over the last couple of months but his position has, if anything, strengthened within the cabinet. The rebellious right-wing of the Tory Party hail him as one of the government’s few successes and his policies are becoming more extreme in response.

Looking beyond the GCSE marking fiasco and the failure of several free schools to open on time, it is clear that a contradictory combination of privatisation and greater central government control of schools is succeeding in dividing and fragmenting the education system.

Labour has failed to oppose these moves, tainted as it is by the fact that it started the process. Stephen Twigg has been ambivalent about free schools and academies and Lord Adonis’s recent intervention suggesting that private schools should sponsor academies ‘taking complete responsibility for the governance and leadership’ will undermine democratic accountability further.

We need a massive popular campaign, such as that for the NHS, to build opposition to Gove’s policies, perhaps under the heading of Reclaim Our Schools (‘Keep Our Schools Public’ may confuse people!)  The possibility of such a campaign was clear in the case of Downshill Primary School in Haringey when pupils, parents, teachers and governors took to the streets to demonstrate against Gove’s decision to force the school to become an academy.

In campaigning to Reclaim Our Schools we could:

• Resist academy conversions
• Oppose free schools
• Call for a good, local, democratically accountable, school for every child
• Campaign against the Coalition Government’s ruling that any new school must be either a free school or an academy
• Campaign for all free schools and academies to be reintegrated back into the local authority community of schools
• Press for democratic accountability through elected governing bodies and local authorities
• Demand fair admissions arrangements and fair funding
• Demand that all schools should accept children with special needs and be resourced as necessary
• Oppose Gove’s examination reforms that look likely to return us to a two-tier system and mean that many students would leave school without any qualification
• Call for the end of the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check which the NUT Survey showed 9 out of 10 teachers thought was ‘A lode ov owld rubbish’
• Press for quality teacher assessment of pupils rather than SATs
• Encourage ‘bottom up’ curriculum and learning innovations lead by classroom teachers rather than  ‘top down’ imposed curriculum and learning strategies
• Reform inspection so that it becomes a positive professional partnership rather than a politicised pressure on schools to conform to the government’s agenda
• Argue for the needs and interests of children to be put back at the centre of the education system rather than the needs of industry or the UK’s position in international comparison tables
• Make ‘Reclaim Childhood’ a central demand for children who are presently the most tested, pressurised and (in the case of the annual ‘dumbing down of exams’ campaign), rubbished generation.

Learning for a full life rather than just work, no taxation without representation, and the right to enjoy childhood – who could argue with that?

There's a great article by Michael Rosen on the upcoming Year 6 tests HERE

What Future for Brent Schools? Video of recent debate

Many thanks to Pete Murry of Brent Green Party for filming the second half of the What Future for Brent Schools debate. The video picks up after the presentations by the panel and the initial questions and statements from the audience.

The panel is from left to right (physically, not politically!) Cllr Mary Arnold, Brent Council leader member  for children and families;  Martin Francis Brent Green Party spokesperson on children and families; (Gill Wood, local parent, governor and chair); Jon O'Connor, Cooperative College; Melissa Benn author and governor and Hank Roberts, National President, ATL.

Time for a Brent campaign for accountable and equal education?

'At the heart of every child...is a unique genius and personality. What we should be doing is to allow the spark of that genius to catch fire, to burn brightly and shine'

Michael Morpugo          

'Though this (Exam and Test) cult pretends that it can discern differences between people and makes judgements on their worth, this has little relation to real people's real worth in the real world, where all kinds of other capabilities are needed which the cult can't and doesn't test. eg ability to contribute to and learn from others in the process of performing a task; being flexible when confronted by the unexpected; knowing what to do and how to do it if required to research, investigate or enquire - particularly if the enquiry is going to involve more than one person; being able to motivate oneself (or a group of people) without an outside authority demanding that you do so' 

Michael Rosen        

Getting carried away at the Brent Education Debate

I cannot offer a comprehensive summary of the speeches made at the Brent Education debate this week by Cllr Mary Arnold (lead member for children and families), Jon O'Connor (Cooperative College), Melissa Benn (local parent and author) and Hank Roberts (President ATL). This was because I was due to speak further down the list and constantly updating what I was going to say as other speakers raised the issues that I had planned to cover.  Always a problem with a list of speakers. I hope to publish something more from an attendee later.

What I can do, however,  is outline some of the key themes that emerged.

Melissa Benn spoke about the introduction of the market into education and the way the state sector was being opened up to profit makers. She spoke about the continuities of approach of both Conservatives and Labour but also expressed hopes about Labour's current policy review. I broadened the analysis to suggest that the destruction of the post-war settlement which created the welfare state was an attack on the alternative, communitarian values of the public sector because of the threat they posed to the market values of competition and profit making.  The bottom up innovations by teachers in the 1970s and 80s and their broad and progressive definitions of the nature and purposes of education had been attacked through the abolition of the ILEA, removal of teachers' wage bargaining, the national curriculum,  testing, league tables and centralised systems such as the Numeracy and Literacy strategies. There has also been changes in teaching training which served the new agenda. Teachers, as well as pupils, were being disciplined into the market.

The threat of fragmentation of the school system through  academies and free schools was also a recurring theme.  The lack of democratic accountability, limited parental representation and the  limited powers of the LA to intervene could not bring about just fragmentation and limit the ability to plan school places, but could also create segregation and limit access for children with disabilities or special needs. I pointed out that although we didn't talk about it there was already segregation in Brent schools. I mentioned two cases of places in Brent where a community school and a faith school were next to each other. When children left at the end of the day, one school's pupils would be mainly white and Afro-Caribbean and the other mainly Somalian and Middle Eastern. (Clearly here religion and ethnicity overlap).

Cllr Mary Arnold said that in order to provide school places, and because all new schools had to be either free schools or academies, the council were trying to find an acceptable free school partner. This was better than having a less acceptable one turn up in the borough. The council had devised criteria LINK that the partner would have to meet.  I expressed doubt that a partner would come forward that would meet these criteria as justification for creating free schools and academies was not to be bound by such demands. I expressed concern about council's policy of increasing the size of primary schools to meet the school places shortage. Primary schools of more than 1,000 4-11 year old pupils would be the result and I questioned whether this was a suitable size of institution for young children. I said that the Green Party favourd small schools where the staff knew all the children and their families and where special needs and vulnerable children could be catered for. I was especially concerned about safeguarding in large schools.

Jon O'Connor, who has been involved in talks in Brent about setting up Cooperative Schools and Cooperative Trusts, stressed that such schools still followed LA admissions guidelines, were financed through the LA, did not take funds away from other schools and had a positive democratic ethos. He did not go into detail about Cooperative Academies which are a different kettle of fish. Melissa Benn, who is a parent at Queens Park Community School which has become an academy despite parental opposition, joined O'Connor in pleading that schools making very difficult decisions in the present climate, particularly in terms of the financial benefits of academy status, should not be harshly judged by others.  Hank Roberts said that he against academies and would carry on fighting even if only one survived, said that there was a hierarchy of preferences starting with the community school, through cooperative trusts and federations, cooperative academies to free schools and sponsored academies. O'Connor said that becoming a cooperative trust could protect schools from being 'enforced' academies but Roberts retorted that Gove would quickly close that loophole if it proved effective. He praised the staff and parents of Downshill  Primary in Haringey who had fought Gove's decision to enforce academy conversion. Cllr Mary Arnold said that the formation of a federation between Furness Primary and Oakington Manor Primary had prevented the possibility of the former being forced to become an academy.

The two Michaels quoted above introduce the next theme which is that of the impact of all these  'reforms' on childhood, the role of education, the nature of teaching and learning and much else beside. It is significant that they are both children's writers in regular contact with children and schools. The narrowing of the curriculum, exam and test driven teaching, the target culture (an audience member said that in one primary school children responded to their name being called in the register with their targets rather than 'Yes Miss') and packed timetables all impact on children. With the pressure of testing, even now extended to phonic testing of infants, the abolition of the EMA, introduction of  tuition fees and prop[sects of unemployment our children are under pressure as never before. I described how when I was a headteacher, a parent accused the school of putting so much pressure on her daughter regarding SATs that she was being robbed of her childhood. I urged that children,  rather than the needs of industry and international PISA comparisons, be put at the centre of education. We needed to reclaim the right to childhood as well as reclaim our schools. 

The last theme, proposed by Pete Firmin of Brent TUC, was that of resistance to what was going in education just as there is resistance to the destruction of the health service. A parent voiced, to loud applause her determination to resist the increasingly political role of Ofsted by promoting a parent strike when Ofsted visited, with children being kept off school. Cllr Mary Arnold spoke about demands that were being formulated through  London Councils that would mean a united strategy across London and cooperation between boroughs.  I suggested that with the demise of the local Campaign for the Advancement of State Education (CASE) and the Brent Federation of School Governors that from the meeting we should build a broad-based campaign involving parents, teachers, governors and students  on the basis of the  basic principles emerging from the meeting.

Jon O'Connor had been been busy with pen and pad as I was speaking and suggested a campaign called Building the Right Education Now Together (BRENT).

A little clumsy perhaps?

More than 70 people attended the debate which was very ably chaired by Gill Wood a local parent and governor. The audience included students, parents, teachers, governors and the headteachers of Copland, Kingsbury and Preston Manor High Schools. Unfortunately, although I don't know them all by sight, I could see no primary headteachers at the meeting.

Schools in turmoil - debate the changes on Thursday

Changes in education are coming thick and fast and it is hard to keep up, let alone work out what they mean for children, parents, teachers, headteachers and governors in our schools.

There is an urgent need for a discussion about the changes that are taking place. Brent teacher unions, supported by Brent Fightback, have organised a debate open to everyone in Brent who is concerned about the future of our education system, both nationally and locally.

Academies and free schools, changes in the curriculum, the crisis in the exam system, increases in the size of primary schools, the shortage of primary school places which will soon extend to secondary schools, the role of school governors, changes in the way schools are supported by the local authoirty and privatisation are all issues which cry out for debate.

The debate that will take place on Thursday 20th September at Copland Community School from 7-9pm.

Speakers will include

Melissa Benn, a local parent, writer and journalist who recently published 'School Wars - the battle for Britain's Education'

 Jon O'Connor, regional manager of the Cooperative College which supports schools setting up as cooperatives, cooperative federations or cooperative academies

Mary Arnold, Brent Council's lead member for Children and Families

Martin Francis, Brent Green Party spokesperson on Children and Families

Hank Roberts, ATL President and a Brent teacher

The meeting will be chaired by Gill Wood, local parent and school governor

Retreating into the hills while Brent implodes

Off to the hills for a week so no postings on Wembley Matters for a while.

It looks as if I will return to a changed Brent Council landscape. Any tips on who will be acting Chief Exec if today's golden handshake negotiations succeed?

Any money on Andy Donald?

Will the Ann John loyalists strike back?

Keep up on Twitter @bktimes

Support Romayne Phoenix for Green Party leader

I am pleased to be able to support Romayne Phoenix's election campaign for the leadership of the Green Party and Will Duckworth as her running mate for the deputy leadership.

My endorsement which is on the campaign website HERE reads:

In a time of unprecedented global climate and economic crisis and with the welfare state under sustained attack, the Green Party needs a leader with grit and determination, firmly rooted in campaigns for environmental and social justice. Romayne Phoenix has demonstrated that she is able to forge alliances with other groups and trades unions, communicate across the social spectrum, and inspire all those in struggle. She would make an excellent leader.

Among others endorsing Romayne's campaign are:

Peter Tatchell (Human Rights campaigner)
Sasha Khan (Croydon Green Party)
Shan Oakes (Equalities and Diversity Officer, Green Party executive)
Lindsey German  (Stop the War Coalition and Coalition of Resistance)
Paul Mackney (former NATFHE General Secretary and the Coalition of Resistance)

 Romayne and Will want to position firmly in the anti-austerity movement:

The Green Party must be at the heart of the battle against austerity, becoming centrally involved in anti-cuts campaigns where they already exist and encouraging their formation wherever absent. We must also work towards such campaigns including a Green agenda, for instance seeking to defend and expand public transport provision in localities as part of the fight against public spending cuts.

Our position against austerity remains a fundamental differential between us and the other parties. We must have an effective campaign strategy, led by a dynamic and properly resourced campaigns committee. We should seek to involve trade unions, tenants associations, community organisations and students in broad and inclusive organisations at local level.

Since its creation in 2010 Romayne has chaired the Coalition of Resistance, a broad grouping of organisations and individuals who are building a national and international movement of opposition to cuts, privatisation and the victimisation of the most vulnerable in society. These connections and experience make Romayne and Will ideally placed to build the network needed to secure this alliance.

By becoming more effective allies in their defence of jobs and living standards we might hope to become the party that nurses, teachers and transport workers identify with most.

The Campaign FACEBOOK page is HERE

NOTE: I give this support and endorsement as an individual member of the Green Party. Other members of Brent Green Party may well support other candidates.

Barnhill By-election Result

Michael John Charles Pavey - Labour - 2326 votes - 56% (elected)
Kanta Ratna Pindoria - Conservative Party - 1180 votes - 29% (not elected)
Martin Francis - Green Party - 457 votes - 11% (not elected)
Venilal Vaghela - Independent - 156 votes - 4% (not elected)

Number of ballot papers rejected 77
Turnout 38%

Many thanks to all those who voted for me and supported my campaign. Pushing above 10% is a move in the right direction but Brent Greens are still waiting for the breakthrough.  Thanks to the other candidates for their straightforward campaigning.

Ultimately the national mood swing against the Coalition and towards Labour was the default position for many people I spoke to when campaigning. National issues rather than local issues such as the closure of libraries were cited as their reason for voting Labour.  Nonetheless I congratulate Michael Pavey on his election and will be in touch over Barnhill and Chalkhill issues regularly in the future.

I think it would be misguided for Brent Labour to take this result as a vote of confidence in their policies and continue to ride roughshod over local residents.

Vote for the real alternative this evening!

Thanks to Coalition of Resistance

Vote for the 'People's Pain in the The Arse"!

With Jenny Jones in Wembley

I hope that whatever party you support you will outcome and vote today despite the dismal weather Our democracy, with all its faults, has been hard-fought for and we cannot afford to let it slip through our fingers in such difficult times.

This is my last opportunity to answer a couple of questions that have come up during the campaign.

One obvious one is what can one Green councillor out of 63 councillors do?  A good place to start my answer is to tell you what our Labour councillors have said about me. Apparently they think I am a 'pain in the arse' because of the campaigns I have been involved in (against the closure of libraries and nurseries, the redevelopment of Willesden Green without proper consultation, lack of a strategic plan for primary school provision, and the spurious leafleting licensing scheme, to name but a few). If that is what earns the title 'pain in the arse' then I retort: "I am the people's pain in the arse", much more fun than being the people's princess.

However, the clue in their perception is that I ask awkward questions, insist on full disclosure, and want proper debate on controversial issues and this I will be able to pursue as an independent Green councillor. Not so much a pain in the arse as a rocket up the backside of this complacent council.

A telling comment was made by a member of the Executive when I encountered them on a rainy day canvassing on Barn Hill. I was chatting in a friendly way to a younger member of the Labour Party when the Exec member came up and said, "Do you realise he's the Opposition". I swear I could hear the capital 'O' in her voice along with the definite article.. With no Lib Dem standing and a lacklustre and nearly invisible campaign by the Conservatives, who appear to be relying on automatic support from their traditional supporters 'on the Hill', this is true in the context of the by-election. However, it is also true in a broader sense as the Greens in Brent have consistently, week after week, issue after issue, been the most vocal opposition to the Labour Council's attacks on local people and their services and nationally the lone voice of Caroline Lucas has consistently challenged Coalition policies.

As I am also able to work with others on common issues I will work constructively, as other Green councillors do across the country, on proposing sensible policies on issues such as environment, support for local businesses and high streets, public transport, cycling, crime, education and training and employment.

If you vote for the Labour candidate you will be voting for the 40th Labour councillor out of the 63 member council. His election will make no difference whatsoever to how the council runs things. Because of the Labour group's rigid control from the top and the cabinet structure which gives all power to the Executive he will have little influence, along with other backbenchers, on policy and will be expected to rubber stamp Executive decisions.

He will be limited to casework, taking up individual residents' concerns and having a say on the spending of Ward Working funds. Without being on the council, Greens already do that, and I have extensive casework experience from previous work as a trade union representative and working with families in need when I was a primary headteacher.

We need a Green breakthrough locally and this is a chance for Barnhill voters to make a difference.

 I am now off to do a final round of leafleting...

VOTE GREEN ON ORANGE TOMORROW

AND IF YOU LIVE IN BRENT'S BARNHILL WARD

VOTE MARTIN FRANCIS - GREEN PARTY

The Orange Ballot Paper is the most important one in the GLA election.  It is based on proportional representation so EVERY VOTE COUNTS.  The more votes we get on that list the more Green Assembly members we get to influence and hold to account whoever is elected Mayor.

The Barnhill by-election debate

Storm clouds over Barn Hill yesterday

A week or so ago I asked my rival Labour candidate in the Barnhill by-election seven questions about his stance on a number of issues.  I have published his responses fully HERE (Under comments).  I welcome the chance to make the discussion accessible to Wembley Matters readers.

It is only fair that I put my own views on the issues forward, although as some were premised on being a member of the ruling party on the Council, they are not directly comparable.

1.This is the case with my question asking about a conflict between the interests of voters and Council policy. I can only say that as a rule Green councillors are not whipped by their Group so they have a degree of independence that does not apply to the other three parties.  There are rigorous democratic processes within the Green Party: one person one vote, twice yearly conference making policy and as in the case of deciding whether to give Ken Livingstone our second preference Mayoral vote, a full and open London Federation of Green Parties debate followed by a show of hands vote. I was attracted to the Green Party by its open democratic nature and suggest that the Brent Labour Party is much more centralist in comparison.

2. I would support a London-wide campaign of  council resistance against the cuts imposed on London boroughs by central government. The cuts are disproportionate compared with councils outside London, unfair and adversely impact on the poorest in our society. Ken Livingstone in the days of the GLC made that organisation a centre of resistance against Margaret Thatcher. He said he would lead such a campaign as London Mayor when I asked him about it at the London Federation meeting.

3. Voting against implementation of cuts if they are clearly damaging local people and the Council's capacity to offer adequate services. With more cuts in the pipeline and now expected to continue beyond 2015. If things continue as they are I  think there will come a point when it is a 'cut too far'. Brent Labour has veered between arguing that they have managed to make cuts that won't hurt people ('transformations' rather than cuts) and admitting that the cuts are bad but their hands are tied. In this way they end up doing the Coalition's dirty work for them - managing and implementing the cuts, rather than fighting them. Coupled with 2 above I would advocate Councils devising a 'needs based' budget in full detailed consultation with local people based on deciding what services are necessary to ensure the quality of life of the people of Brent. These fully costed budgets would then be the basis of the London boroughs challenging the government with Councils potentially refusing to set budgets based on inadequate funding.

4.  The Council's ignoring of the petitions signed by thousands of people on library closures and the Willesden Green Regeneration is scandalous. Worse is their refusal to table the Old Willesden Library and Willesden Bookshop petitions at any Council meeting.

5. I would like to see a thorough overhaul of the Council's consultation system which has lost the confidence of local people and is feeding a cynicism and disaffection about local politics and democratic accountability which is potentially very dangerous. I have outlined previously on this blog LINK some of the ways that consultation is misused by Brent Council.

6. I am opposed to privatisation of council run services with particular dangers posed by private companies running elder care and child protection services. Low pay, lack of training and high staff turnover would put both the elderly and vulnerable children at risk. I reject the idea that our schools need to somehow 'escape' from the 'control of the local authority'. The local authority provides support to schools and ensures that they are accountable to the electorate. Brent primary schools are now performing above the national average. We put that at risk if schools go it alone and the School Improvement Service is cut as a result.  Government funds for expanding school places should be used to build new schools of a child-friendly family size rather than expanding our present schools to accommodate more and more pupils creating impersonal institutions with inadequate play space. I am against our schools converting to academy status and believe they should remain in the democratically accountable local authority 'family of schools'. 

7. Policies -

Champion facilities for children and young people including the early completion of the much delayed Chalkhill Park and refurbishment of the BMX track and installation of a skateboarding area in St David's Close on the Chalkhill Estate.


Reopen the closed libraries and provide adequate local authority finance and professionally trained staff

Press for concerted action by the Council to improve insulation of local housing and promote energy saving measures to reduce carbon emissions and energy bills.

Support parking rules that will help the traders on Bridge Road, Grand Parade and  Preston Road attract customers and thus promote thriving small businesses and diverse high streets.

Promote partnerships between the Council, schools,  the College of North West London and developers such as Quintain to develop training, apprenticeships and jobs in the emerging environmental  technology industries.

Challenge Brent Council's damaging cuts and their sham consultations, giving  local residents a strong  independent voice in the council chamber

Protect our green spaces from development particularly Fryent Country Park and the Welsh Harp

Promote safe cycle routes, particularly from Wembley to the south of the borough which will mean finding safe ways for cyclists to cross the North Circular