Strathcona staff will strike on Monday as Brent Labour Cabinet meet to approve the school's closure

Extract from Cabinet Agenda LINK

From Brent National Education Union (NEU)

Roe Green Strathcona School will be closed by strike action on Monday 9^th September.  NEU members are on strike in an attempt to save their school from closure. Despite giving the go-ahead to several new free schools in the borough, Brent Council wish to close this successful local authority run school. 

Teachers and parents will protest outside Brent  Civic Centre from 3pm Monday and following this will lobby the Cabinet meeting which begins at 4pm in a bid to save the school. 

A handful of councillors support the action being taken by staff. Labour Councillor Jumbo Chan said today:

Under the current context of a decade-long assault on public education, Labour councils should be doing everything possible to retain and strengthen their local authority schools. It would be most unfortunate if the opposite approach were taken here in Brent. 

The council should listen to the 99.8% of teachers, parents and other members of the public who have formally expressed their opposition to the council’s proposals to abandon Roe Green Strathcona, and shelve their plans. A Labour Council should be supporting hardworking and loyal teachers, parents and students- including working with them properly to explore all alternatives- not casting them away. 

Mary Addosides, Chair of Brent Trades Council, representing the unions taking action, called on Brent Council to ‘Save Strathcona for the children of Brent; no job cuts or redundancies.’   

Wembley  Matters note:

In its report on the formal consultation Brent Council admit they received only one response that agreed with the closure proposal:

542 written responses were received by e-mail or post. The majority of respondents only indicated that they objected or disagreed with the proposals put forward by the council for the school organisation arrangements of Roe Green Infant School. One response indicated agreement with the proposals but gave no further comment. 

The Council’s response to those opposing the closure and to alternative proposals can be found HERE