Copland School Six must pay back 'swindled' money to Brent Council

 

Hank Roberts, the union representative whose courageous whistle blowing eventually led to today's outcome

 A former head teacher, who arranged to pay himself a whopping £400,000 in one year, and former colleagues face paying back thousands of pounds they received unlawfully as part of a school bonuses scandal.

Alan Davies, the former Head teacher of Copland Community School in Wembley, alongside former Deputy Head, Dr Richard Evans, former HR Manager Michele McKenzie and former School Bursar Columbus Udokoro were found to have benefitted from the “vast sums” they received in illicit bonuses over several years before Mr Davies was suspended in May 2009.

Davies, who had previously been knighted for services to education, took home more than £400,000 in one year, three times the going rate for the job, and was convicted of false accounting in 2013. He was stripped of his knighthood in 2014 following his conviction. The High Court today (17 August) found that his justifications for the excessive payments were “patently untrue” and “false”.

The purported bonuses to Davies and the others were sanctioned by former Chair of Governors Dr Indravadan Patel and former Vice Chair of Governors, Martin Day, both of whom were criticised by the Judge for “dishonest breach of fiduciary duty”, “wholesale failures” and “reckless indifference”.

Mr Davies, Dr Patel and Mr Day were today found by the High Court to have breached their fiduciary duties to the Council, leading to losses of more than £1million. Dr Evans, Mr Udokoro and Ms McKenzie were found to have been in knowing receipt of payments arising from those breaches of duties. 

The exact sums that each of the six must now pay back will be decided at a further Court Hearing in October.

Cllr Margaret McLennan, Deputy Leader of Brent Council, said:

We are delighted with the verdict as it means the money, which had been swindled, will be returned and can now be used for the benefit of local people.

Davies and his chums were arrogantly paying themselves ridiculously high and unjustified bonuses, including Davies pocketing a whopping £400,000 in one year – which is around three times the going rate for the job.

It has taken years of stamina and determination to win this victory but justice has finally been done.

The verdict comes five years after a criminal conviction was secured against Mr Davies at Southwark Crown Court, who pleaded guilty to false accounting at the school. Copland Community School closed on 31 August 2014. A new school, the Ark Elvin Academy, opened on the same site on 1 September 2014.

Hank Roberts, the original whistle-blower on the case and a member of the National Education Union  Joint Executive Council said:

Brent Council was totally justified and I praise its commendable action in bringing a High Court case against Alan Davies et al. Davies had already been given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years for pleading guilty to six charges of false accounting. He was subsequently stripped of his knighthood. However, none of the large sums misappropriated were ever paid back. Davies received over £400,000 in a single year alone.

Justice Zacaroli’s judgement found against a conspiracy charge; but found that all six defendants had received and or authorised receipt of large sums from the school funds that were totally unjustified. Those in receipt will now have to pay back their ill-gotten gains.

I, and the other school Reps, Shane Johnschwager, NASUWT and John Kubenk, NUT were suspended by Davies and faced dismissal charges after I blew the whistle. Later Davies was suspended and we were reinstated. I, the Unions and the Council have been totally vindicated.

It was tough at the time, but I would encourage all who discover anything similar to whistleblow.

This is occurring far too often especially in academies that have totally inadequate system of financial oversight and control.

To lessen this corruption, all academies should be brought back under local authority control.

Barry Gardiner, in 'total support' of anti-academisation campaign, calls Public Meeting on February 8th

The delegation to Barry Gardiner MP in Westminster Hall yesterday

From the National Education Union

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On the last day of their three days of strike action this week, members of NEU at The Village School, Kingsbury, London were addressed by Louise Regan, NEU NUT section National President. She praised their steadfast campaign to prevent their school from becoming a privatised academy. 

Those three days have seen a significant advance in the campaign to stop the privatisation of this outstanding special school. On Wednesday 31^st January Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North in the constituency of the school, met with a large delegation of NEU members in Parliament. He told the delegation that he is totally supportive of  the campaign and has written to the Kay Charles, Headteacher and Cllr Sandra Kabir, Chair of Governors and Brent Labour Whip, giving them a long list of searching questions to answer. 

He has written saying that he is “concerned over the proposal”. He goes on to say that the consultation is one sided “without setting out any of the problems or pitfalls”. “The Village benefited from £29 million capital investment from Brent Council … Is it right that this public money and the capital assets should be outside of effective democratic control?” He further says, “If the academy were to struggle financially or academically there would be no back up from the local authority.”

Barry Gardiner is so concerned that he has arranged a public meeting at 6pm on Thursday 8 February at the Brent Civic Centre. Parents, staff and local people are invited to discuss the proposal. He feels that the rushed consultation has not given enough time for debate. 

Brent Central MP Dawn Butler has also written to Cllr Butt asking about the status and reasons for this academisation. Writing to a constituent she said it “concerns me to hear of the potential academisation” and that “many teachers and parents … have significant concerns”. “I am disappointed by this decision and believe the school should remain part of the local authority”.

The position of Cllr Butt and Cllr Kabir are becoming increasingly isolated and untenable. We wait to see the promised letter from Cllr Butt saying that the school should stay with Brent LA. 

Hank Roberts said, “Jeremy Corbyn and the national leadership needs to reign in the words and actions of those who purport to be putting a Labour position, whilst in reality supporting Blair’s privatisation of education agenda”.

NEU Joint General Secretary at Green Party Conference

Teacher unions' joint statement on supporting children after Grenfell

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Grenfell: Joint statement by ATL, AEP, NAHT and NUT about need for housing for the children who survived and for support for their schools & classmates.

  "In the aftermath of the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower,  teachers, school leaders and psychologists offer their deepest sympathy to the thousands of people whose lives have been affected by it. We give our sincere respect, once more, to our valiant emergency services. 

We call on the government and on the local authority to support the magnificent work of local schools and  take immediate measures to provide for the security, shelter and well-being of North Kensington’s children.

All families who have been affected by the fire should be housed as quickly as possible in high-quality accommodation in the immediate area, if that is what they wish.

School is one area of children’s lives which can provide them with care and stability.  It is essential that children continue to attend their own school, with teachers and other staff who know them and can support them, and their families.  We know that those who work in education are rising to this challenge. They will need the full support of those around them. 

All schools which have on their roll children from Grenfell Tower, and the area around it, must be provided with counsellors and other necessary resources.  

The government and the local authority must ensure that provision is in place throughout the summer months, and in the years ahead.

The residents of Grenfell Tower feel that they have been failed by a system that should have protected them. We now have a chance to show them a different face of government - one that takes responsibility for their care and support when they are most vulnerable. 

Mary Bousted, Association of Teachers & Lecturers

Kate Fallon, Association of Educational Psychotherapists

Russell Hobby, National Association of Head Teachers

Kevin Courtney, National Union of Teachers

Cut Tory education policy waste - not school funding

With education in the news over the weekend as the teaching unions meet I was interested in this information from Janes Eades of Wandsworth NUT and CASE (Campaign for the Advancement of State Education).
 

Much has been in the news about the cuts which will be taking place in schools, forcing many schools to cut staffing.  However, there has been virtually no coverage of the waste of money as a direct result of the implementation of the Government policy of opening 'free' schools, UTCs and studio schools, combined with the conversion of schools into academies, controlled by trusts which are often not up to the job or which are financially irresponsible.

The NUT/ATL have put together information on how different parts of the country will be affected and this can be seen on the School Cuts website.

However, I have looked at ways in which the Government have been wasting millions:

EDUCATION - INVEST, DON'T CUT March & Rally Nov 17th

The cuts being implemented by the Conservative Government put education at risk. Increased funding is desperately needed to safeguard our children’s education. We are asking the Government to change course and invest, not cut.

What the NUT wants:

• School funding – Extra money in the system to support reform of the funding system – and more money for all schools to fund higher costs and the impact of inflation.
• Post 16 funding – Restoration of cuts already made – and real support for sixth form colleges.
• Send and early years funding – fair funding for these vital areas of education
• Funding in Wales – an end to the funding gap.

Invest Don’t Cut Education Funding Rallies

The rallies are an opportunity to make policy makers listen to our concerns about the impact of education funding cuts, and act on our demands to increase education funding. Spread the word and encourage colleagues, friends, family and neighbours to attend and support our aims.

London NUT March and Rally - Thursday 17 November 2016
Assemble for March: 17:00, Whitehall, (Opposite Downing Street)
Rally: 18:30, Emmanuel Centre, Marsham Street, SW1P 3DW

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.

Challenge issued to NASUWT as NUT and ATL set to ballot on education union merger

Hank Roberts, a long-time exponent of the need for one education union and Organising Secretary of  UNIFY has issued the following statement ahead the special conferences of the ATL and NUT to be held on Saturday. The conferences will decide whether to ballot members on proposals to merge the two unions.

Special conferences of the ATL and NUT will be held in London on November 5th. It will be an historic day for the education unions. Prediction is fraught with dangers but may I be so bold as to predict that both unions will have an overwhelming majority for going forward to a ballot of their respective memberships. Further I have no doubt that the respective memberships will return a yes vote in their ballots. Opinion polls over the years have repeatedly shown a majority in favour of uniting the unions. And why wouldn’t they? Our experience shows we have suffered because of our division in the face of ruthless government attacks on education. 

The question is why has it taken this long to break the logjam? I and others in 1996 set up a cross union body campaigning for professional unity. We called it Professional Unity 2000 in the somewhat optimistic belief that it was such a self-evidently good idea we would be able to achieve it by the year 2000.

In the event it has taken us 20 years and we detailed some of the history and events surrounding this in our 20th anniversary issue of our magazine UNIFY which was handed out at this year’s annual education union conferences.

Our immediate task is to win the ballots by the biggest majority possible and, immediately the ink is dry on our agreement, for the new union to take our great cause to the rest of our colleagues in the other education unions. The new union, the National Education Union, will have 500,000 members and be the fourth largest union in the TUC. But a union of all of us working in education would be over 1 million. A mighty force to be reckoned with. It would not be a magic solution to all our problems, but it would make a major difference to getting the Government to take our voice seriously. 

The other education unions need to reflect on the results of this and why it happened, in particular the NASUWT. My challenge to Chris Keates, NASUWT General Secretary is; you say the majority of your NASUWT members don’t believe in and don’t want a single united education union. In that case prove it. Commission an independent opinion poll of your members.

If they back your stance you can legitimately continue with NASUWT as a separate union with you as its head. If they don’t, start informal talks towards building unity further. The education barbarians are not just at the gates, they are in the stockades. We need to unite to have any chance of saving state education, and to build a future education system worthy of our children.

Education the focus for campaigning this weekend

The National Union of Teachers will be out in force this weekend campaigning for the best education for all children and arguing for investment in schools and measures to reduce child poverty and inequality.

Saturday also sees a Labour offensive against the government's proposals on grammer schools with journalist Owen Jones and Tulip Saddiq  Mp for Hampstead and Kilburn due to campaign at Kilburn tube station from 11am on Saturday.

So what happens to the rest if all Brent secondary schools select the most 'academically able'?

Theresa May wants all secondary schools to be able to select. Here in Brent with no local authority secondary schools, that could mean multi-academy chains, stand alone academies and free schools fighting to select the most 'academically able' leaving those deemed 'not academic' along with special needs children and those in the first stages of learning English where exactly?

The NUT has been quick off the mark with this EduFacts special on Grammar Schools:

• Prime Minister Theresa May has expressed support for more places to be made available in academically selective state schools.¹Secretary of State for Education Justine Greening has said that she is ‘open minded’ about a return to a grammar school system.²
• The creation of more grammar schools would have to lead to the creation of more secondary modern schools, or the de facto conversion of comprehensive schools in areas where new grammar schools were built or where existing grammar schools opened on new sites. Comprehensive schools in areas where existing grammar schools are expanding have already expressed concerns about the impact that this will have on the “intake profiles and therefore the ethos” of their schools.³
• 23% of the public want existing grammar schools to be scrapped and a further 17% want existing grammar schools to be allowed to remain, but do not want grammar school expansion or the creation of new grammar schools. As only 38% of people support more grammar school places via new schools or the expansion of existing school a higher proportion of the public oppose the creation of more grammar school places than those who support a growth in selective state education.⁴
• Those in favour of grammar schools argue that selective state education allows academic pupils from more disadvantaged backgrounds to secure better academic success and helps to close the attainment gap between richer and less well-off pupils. However, the evidence shows that this is not the case.
• Less than 3% of all pupils going to grammar schools are entitled to free school meals (FSM), against an average of 18% in other schools in the areas where they are located. For example, in 2016 Kent County Council reported that 2.8% of pupils attending grammar schools were eligible for FSM, compared to 13.4% in non-selective Kent secondary schools.⁵
• Socio-economically disadvantaged students, who are eligible for FSM or who live in poor neighbourhoods, are much less likely to enrol in a grammar school even if they score highly on key stage two (KS2) tests.⁶ For example, among Kent children who achieved Level 5+ in Reading, Writing and Maths at Key Stage 2 in 2015, 51.4% claiming FSM were attending a grammar school compared to 72.7% of non-claiming children.⁷
• Nationally, over four times as many children are admitted to grammar schools from outside the state sector – largely fee-paying preparatory schools which account for 6% of pupils aged 10 – than children entitled to FSM.⁸
• Pupils, irrespective of their background, have a lower chance of attending a grammar school if they attend primary schools with greater proportions of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, with special educational needs or with English as an additional language. Nationally, almost a quarter of state school pupils receive private or home tuition, rising to 40% in London.⁹ Children from more affluent homes that can afford the fees of up to £50 an hour for private tutoring will be at a significant advantage when sitting the 11+ grammar school entrance test. Local campaigners in Buckinghamshire found that, although over £1 million had been spent on developing a test that would minimise the impact of additional coaching, the new test made no difference to the large gap between the pass rates of pupils from poor and wealthy areas, with the worst results seen among FSM pupils.¹⁰
• It has been suggested that new grammar schools would be located in low and middle income areas, thus boosting the chances of academic children living in those areas.¹¹ However, the location of a grammar school in a more disadvantaged area does not mean that children living in close proximity to the school will have the chance to attend. Stand-alone grammar schools often draw large numbers of their pupils from outside their local authority. In 2013, for example, two-thirds of pupils at grammar schools in Stoke-on-Trent and Kingston-upon-Thames lived in a different authority area.¹² In Buckinghamshire more children living outside the county pass the 11+ than local children, with children travelling distances of up to 13km to attend the county’s grammar schools.¹³
• Giving a grammar school in a low and middle income area a small catchment area would not solve this problem. Proximity to a desirable school has an impact on house prices, with a premium of up to 12% on the cost of property within the catchment area of the highest performing schools.¹⁴
• Selective education systems are also linked with greater inequality in social outcomes later in life.¹⁵ Grammar schools do not raise educational standards for the majority of children. Although pupils who pass the 11+ and are admitted to grammar schools generally achieve well, this is at the expense of the majority of children who do not get a grammar school place. The evidence shows that the attainment of pupils at secondary moderns is lower than that of comprehensive schools. ¹⁶

¹ Tim Ross Grammar School supporters optimistic’ 18-year ban will be lifted by Theresa May's new government The Telegraph 16 July 2016. Accessed on 16 August 2016 here.

² BBC News Justine Greening 'open minded' about new grammar schools in England  17 July 2016 accessed on 16 August 2016 here.

³ Rednock School letter to Stroud High School 29 January 2015 here and Archway School letter to Marling School 26 February 2015 here.

⁴ YouGov poll published 15 August 2016. Accessed here.

⁵ Kent County Council Grammar Schools and Social Mobility Commission (June 2016) p. 10 here.

⁶The Sutton Trust Poor Grammar: Entry to Grammar Schools for Disadvantaged Pupils in England (November 2013) p. 5 here.

⁷ Kent County Council Grammar Schools and Social Mobility Commission (June 2016) p. 10

⁸ The Sutton Trust Poor Grammar p. 5

⁹ The Sutton Trust Poor Grammar p. 5

¹⁰ John Dickens Questions over £1m ‘tutor-proof’ 11-plus tests Schools Week 27 November 2015. Accessed on 16 August 2016 here..

¹¹Richard Vaughn Exclusive: new grammar schools plan 'unlikely' to go nationwide The TES 13 August 2016. Accessed on 16 August 2016 here.

¹² The Sutton Trust Poor Grammar p. 5

¹³ David King Critics hit out at number of non-Bucks children passing 11-plus and ‘huge’ distances pupils travel to grammars The Bucks Herald 18 December 2015. Accessed on 16 August 2016 here.

¹⁴ Steven Gibbons Valuing Schools Through House Prices Centre Piece (Autumn 2012) p. 2 here.

¹⁵ OECD Equations and Inequalities – Making Mathematics Accessible to All (2016) p. 90 here.

¹⁶ Freddie Whittaker Fact-check: Do the arguments for new grammar schools stack up? Schools Week 25 July 2016. Accessed on 16 August 2016 here.

As always Michael Rosen is well worth reading on the subject HERE and the Local Schools Network has published a well argued piece by Janet Downs HERE.

My Green Left colleague Mike Shaughnessy has written about the issue on the London Green Left blog LINK,

A petition against the expansion of Grammar schoolc can be found HERE

Twitter has been busy since the announcement and it is clear the Prime Minister has a battle on her hands

 

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.

Teachers' commitment to children & determination to challenge government policies shines through on Tuesday's march

NUT strike on July 5th to go ahead

Assemble outside Broadcasting House W1A 1AA 11am and march to rally in Parliament Square

The NUT and UCU are due to strike on Tuesday July 5th.  This is  Kevin Courtney's message to NUT members:

Thank you for all you are doing to build for the strike action. We have received a number of messages from members concerned about the efficacy of taking action given the current political turmoil but we are also experiencing a large spike in joiners and members reinstating.

Tomorrow, we will be emailing members in the ballot cohorts with the message below which has a link to a letter I have sent to Nicky Morgan MP setting out our concerns and reminding her of the steps she can take to avert the strike:

POST-REFERENDUM SUPPORT

Following the referendum we have being considering steps we need to take to support our members and our pupils.

• We are writing to our members from overseas - reassuring them of our support and determination to do everything we can to help.
• We are working on materials for teachers to use in schools at a time of increasing racial tension.
• We have decided that it is important to go ahead with the strike on July 5.

I'm writing to explain that decision and to ask for your support.

THE STRIKE IS ON

Firstly, it is important to know that under the UK's union laws there is no option of simply delaying action to September; action must be started within 28 days of the ballot closing.

Secondly, we believe the demands our strike is putting forward are now more important than ever.

Schools are facing a very difficult budget because George Osborne has FROZEN the money he gives schools, while INCREASING the money he takes from them.

As a result we are seeing:
• increases in class sizes,
• cuts to subjects especially Arts subjects,
• less individual attention for children,
• worsening of terms and conditions for teachers.

The referendum result makes this all the more important. If inflation now rises then George Osborne's funding freeze will damage education even more.

It is also vital for the Government to acknowledge that they bear the responsibility for increasing class sizes. They are not due to migrants, but due to a lack of funding and of school place planning. We are therefore calling on Nicky Morgan and George Osborne to commit to investing in education, not cutting it. This is in the interest of our country as well as our children's education and our teachers and support staff. I have written to Nicky Morgan outlining some steps she could take which would allow us to suspend our action.

But in the meantime, if you can, please support our strike - in the best interest of education, teachers and the young people we teach.

1,000 new members have joined the union since last Thursday.

NUT call for full DfE investigation into 'Panama to Kilburn' free school provider with off-shore connections

Wembley Matters covered the links between the Panama Papers and the Kilburn Grange Free School several weeks ago 'From Panama to Kilburn - time for some questions to be asked'  LINK

The NUT has now taken up the issue, uncovering further information which leads them to state that there are serious questions to be answered on the connection between Mossack Fonseca, Bellevue Education and Bellevue Place Education Trust, which among others runs Kilburn Grange Free School in Brent.

The NUT call for a full investigation and report by the Department for Education.

This is their dossier.  It is longer than normal articles on this blog but it is a thorough investigation that repays close study.  Brent Council currently has a policy of encouraging free schools in order to provide additional school places. They should pay particular attention and press the DfE about its due diligence in the free school application process.

Click on 'read more' to read the dossier in full.

Unions hail 'new era of stability' for Sudbury Primary Academy

In a joint statement today the ATL, GMB and NUT in Brent announced that the suspended headteacher of Sudbury Primary Academy has resigned.

The unions had threatened joint strike action if headteacher Uma Pandya returned to the school. LINK

Hank Roberts, an ATL Executive member and Branch secretary, said that a 'punitive Ofsted system' and lack of local authority oversight of academies was leading to an increase in allegations of headteacher bullying.

He said that the abandonment of the government's academisation programme and a more supportive inspection system would greatly improve matters.

The statement said:

All the unions congratulate the staff for standing up for themselves and the pupils. We also thank the new Chair of governors, Ian Phillips, for his professional approach throughout this difficult period and helping to get the school back on track. We look forward to a new era of stability for the school where everyone will be working together to deliver the very best for the children.

SOS: SAVE OUR SCHOOLS Westminster Cathedral 5.30pm tonight - we can defeat these plans

I hear teachers will be joined by some head teachers and governors, as well as hundreds concerned that their schools are being stolen, at this evening's protest against government plans to force all schools to become academies. Unfortunately a Brent Council briefing meeting for head teachers and chairs of governors is being held at the same time so I won't be able to go.  I hope thousands turn out to show the government that their plans will be met with resistance - not only to defend democratic oversight of education but also to prevent privatisation of our schools.

It is important to stress that the plans are only at White Paper stage, they are not legislation, so heads and governors should not be panicked into premature action. The proposals are being opposed by the Local Government Association, Tory shire counties, the NAHT and parent groups, and (see below) the Financial Times and even David Cameron's own Tory local lead on schools. It is a battle that can be won.

A petition calling for a public inquiry and referendum on the plans has already gained 130,000 signatures and organisers hope for even more. 100,000 earns the possibility of a House of Commons debate on the issue. Please sign LINK

Meanwhile the Financial Times has raised doubts about the plans:

Even the Tory lead for schools in David Cameron's home country has denounced the plans as 'Big Brother Gone Mad':

The last word goes to cartoonist Ros Asquith:

NUT calls on governors, teachers, councillor and students to challenge government plans

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.

Students and teachers unite to support tomorrow's 6th Form College Strike

There will be a national strike of NUT members at 6th form colleges tomorrow. The strike us supported by the NUS. The government is attempting to take legal action against the strike which was supported by an 86% Yes vote on a turnout of 44%. The government is also trying to bribe colleges into becoming academies by offering exemption from VAT if they convert.

This is what the NUT said about the action:

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About the 6th form college funding campaign

 
Cuts to 16-19 funding have been much greater than cuts to school funding. Sixth form colleges are under threat. Teachers in sixth form colleges are facing threats to pay, working conditions and employment. Students in this extremely successful sector are facing threats to their education. You can read more about the issues in this briefing document. Use it and the other materials on this page to raise awareness of the issues with your colleagues, friends and the public and build support for the campaign. It is vital that we put pressure on MPs and Ministers to tackle the post-16 funding crisis. MPs across the parties are expressing support for sixth form colleges.

What the NUT is seeking:

1. Restoration of 16-19 funding to the levels which existed before the Coalition Government started its cuts programme
2. Exemption from VAT for colleges – without them having to apply for academy status
3. Removal of the threat of closure or merger – and recognition of sixth form colleges’ achievements.

- See more  HERE