🎶 The people on this bus said, 'Save our school, save our school, save our school ' 🎶 - Byron School campaigners take a big red bus to Westminster to save their community school from academisation

 

Outside the school (Credit: Pete Firmin)

 

Parents, staff, Brent Trades Council and members of the community, as well as Labour candidate for Brent West, Barry Gardiner, were on the picket line for Byron Court Primary School again today - but this time with a difference.

They were joined by a big red traditional London bus to take a trip to Westminster to show the DfE and the incoming government that they mean business in their fight against a forced takeover by Harris Federation.

 

 Spirits high and determination clear on the tops deck (Credit Jenny Cooper)

 

In the rain in Parliament Square (Credit: Pete Firmin)

 

 Outside the Department for Education (Credit: Jenny Cooper)

Parent campaigner Matt Paul said:

Wow - what an incredible show of unity and fighting spirit today with our very special ‘Byron bus' taking staff, kids and parents, supporters (including the NEU Assistant General Secretary) down to Westminster! Barry Gardiner joined the morning picket and encouraged us to keep fighting before waving us off.

 

The bus was rocking away with chanting, singalongs (including far too much Taylor Swift), and plenty of support from other cars and passers-by. A quick stop in Westminster Square opposite Parliament first, then on to the Department for Education where we made sure they heard us. A brilliant, powerful and emotional day that I won't ever forget.

Byron Court Primary staff , parents and children, take their campaign to Parliament and Department for Education in Election Week - watch out for their Big Red Bus

 From Brent National Education Union

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NEU members at Byron Court Primary School, who have already taken 10 days of strike action are due strike for the three days running up to the General Election in a fight to save their local community school from a takeover by the huge Harris Federation chain of academies, a company whose CEO donated to Tory funds.  Strikes are continuing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.

 

Campaigners will take to Parliament Square and the DfE on 2^nd July in a big red vintage routemaster bus to gain publicity to ask the incoming education minister to overturn their “academy order”.

 

The school’s forced “academy order” follows an intimidating Ofsted inspection which, for staff, had parallels with the experience of Ruth Perry and resulted in the same “inadequate” one word judgement. They are hoping for a new Labour government, who have promised to get rid of Ofsted one word judgements, to intervene and revoke the academy order to keep this as a community school.

 

118 campaigners wrote to the DfE prior to the decision being taken, to oppose the move, but a recent FOI request for information on how this was presented, has been snubbed. There have been two complaints against Ofsted but so far Ofsted have not investigated the process that took place.

 

NEU members, parents, councillors and the local community have been turning out to support picket lines and prtotests at the school, Brent Civic Centre and Central London. They have been supported by Barry Gardiner.

Jenny Cooper of the NEU national executive has stated:

 

The “SAVE BYRON COURT” campaign has found itself on the frontline of defence against privatisation, since the election was announced, and school staff around the country are watching to see what the next government will do. We do not want this to be the last community school to be given to private hands- we want it to be the last time this battle has to be fought.

WEMBLEY PRIMARY SCHOOL TO CLOSE FOR 6 DAYS OF STRIKE ACTION OVER FORCED TAKEOVER BY LORD HARRIS

 From Brent National Education Union

MEMBERS OF NATIONAL EDUCATION UNION STRIKING TO SAVE THEIR LOCAL SCHOOL

 

NEU members at Byron Court Primary School are to strike in a fight to save their local community school which is threatened with a forced privatisation by the huge Harris Federation chain of academies. PICKET LINE OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL FRIDAY 17^TH MAY 7.30-9.30am!

 

Staff at Byron Court Primary School in Wembley will be on strike to save their local community school from a forced “academy order” following an intimidating Ofsted inspection which has left some staff fearing for their mental health and their futures. Many of these long-serving staff served the school’s community throughout the pandemic and face uncertainty in their jobs, pay and conditions as they face a takeover by the hostile Harris multi-academy trust. 

 

NEU MEMBERS VOTED IN HUGE NUMBERS TO TAKE STRIKE ACTION OVER MULTIPLE DATES FOLLOWING A HIGH PROFILE PARENT CAMPAIGN which is supported by many in the local community including Councillors and MP.

 

Staff and parent supporters will protest at a picket line outside the school from 7.30am Tuesday and will continue to lobby the Secretary of State to get their academy order revoked. Staff are asking for a reinspection, handled fairly and proportionately, while a live complaint lodged with Ofsted is being looked at externally after reports that Ofsted lied during the complaints process.

 

Jenny Cooper of the NEU national executive has stated:

 

These striking members undertake difficult jobs every day and have the expertise and knowledge that should be valued in our schools. There has been no consultation whatsoever with any stakeholder and we do not believe it is the right decision to hand this school to a glorified carpet salesman who is paid half a million a year for the privilege. The NEU will NOT accept privatisation of our schools through a politicised Ofsted process which is what we are seeing.

Wembley FC get behind battle to save Byron Court Primary School from academisation

 

There's a bit of a tradition of Brent sports stars getting behind community campaigns to save local facilities for young people. Remember boxer Audley Harrison fighting for Stonebridge Adventure Playground? LINK

Having grown up in the borough they know what facilities are important for young people  and contributed to their own success.

Wembley FC tweeted the above picture over the weekend and said:

We utterly believe in the @SaveByronCourt cause. Our players, one of which attended the school, wore “SAVE BYRON COURT” t-shirts ahead of our last game of the season yesterday.

Harris Federation told to keep their hands off Byron Park Primary School

 

 

Representatives of the Harris Federation of Academy Schools could not have failed to hear the chants and shouts of campaigners when they visited Byron Court Primary School to speak to staff after school today.

 The quiet suburban streets echoed to 'Hands Off Our School', 'Whose School? - Our School!', 'Kids not Quids'(a reference to the half-million salary of the Harris boss), and 'Byron Court - Can't be bought.'

The recent  LINK letter to the DfE by Gwen Grahl Brent Council Lead Member for Schools, was welcomed  by many parents I spoke to as a stepping up of the Council's support for the camapign against the Harris takeover. Several councillors sent apologies for not being able to attend, Cllr Jumbo Chan sent a solidarity statement and Cllr Daniel Kennelly (Preston ward) used the megaphone to pledge support for the campaign aim to keep Byron Park as an academy overseen by the local authority.

The campaign demands are basic:

1. Give the new leadership team, helped by the local authority, a chance to demonstrate that they have addressed the issues raised by Ofsted.

2. Suspend the academisation process while that happens and then arrange an Ofsted re-inspection that will hopefully record an improvement and make academisation no longer necessary.

Meanwhile the NEU is conducting a strike ballot on the basis that academisation would change and worsen their conditions of service. Presently many Federation school union branches are in dispute with Harris over wages and conditions.

Several speakers expressed pride in the way staff and parents were united in the battle to Save Byron Court - and the children deserve a mention too. They were passionate in their support for the school and not afraid to shout it out loud and clear.

The bright yellow shirts of the campaigners were symbolic of the upbeat mood of the protesters - they are clearly refusing to be downhearted and will fight on.

Stop the forced academisation of Byron Court Primary School, Monday 2.45pm

 

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

 

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

Parents, pupils, staff, unions, councillors and the local MP unite to save Byron Court Primary from the clutches of the Harris Federation - 'It belongs to our community'

 

The quiet suburban streets, lined with spring flowers and blossoms, around Byron Court Primary School. burst into passionate life today as the community rose up, united in their desire to save the much-loved school from forced academisation following a poor Ofsted report.

Meanwhile in an anonymous London Department for Education building the fate of the school was being decided by equally anonymous civil servants.

What a contrast!

Those attending were united in their belief that the school could and would improve without being handed over to the Harris Federation academy chain whose reputation is poor. Importantly they wanted the school to remain within the community and accountable to that community.

 

 

Let's talk as a community about the future of our Brent primary schools

The Government has issued an Education White Paper that expresses the intention that all schools should be academies by 2030.  In Brent most secondary schools have academised, either as a stand-alone conversion from a local authority school or becoming part of an academy chain or multi-academy trust (MAT).  They are directly funded by the Department for Education and no longer under local authority oversight. This removes local democratic accountability and in some cases reduces the role of local governing bodies and parental representation.

The story with  primary schools is quite different with only a handful academised, often as a result of 'forced academisation' when the school has a poor Ofsted report. Readers will remember the battle over the forced academisation of Gladstone Park Primary School. The low number of voluntary primary academisations has frustrated the idealogues in the Conservative Party.

The position of special schools is mixed but there was a major battle over  The Village School in Kingsbury.

Recently  Brent primary schools have formed informal geographical clusters that cooperate and support each other, sharing expertise and able to underatke moderation of pupil work. 

One potential way of keeping some sort of local authority input and accountability would be for the local authority (Brent Council) to itself become a MAT or for the clusters to form a network of several MATs. This would require new powers and thus legislation and schools have been urged not to panic and rush to academisation for fear of being left behind, but to stand back and research the potential opportunities as well as the pitfalls.  2030 is some distance away. 

Like the NHS schools have much to deal with in the Covid era and all the disruption involved, without the diversion of a massive reorganisation,

Sustained cross-party opposition to the proposal could lead to a government u-turn and we could have an entirely new government at the next General Election.

Brent Green Party would like to see a full public debate in the borough about future organisation involving schools, education unions, governors, parents and pupils to produce a vision that would address the specific needs of our young people, families and the wider community.

Meanwhile the Anti-Academies Alliance have produced the briefing below for the Easter education union conferences that considers academisation and the wider issues in some depth.

Brent National Education Union (NEU) statement on Byron Court and academisation

 Brent NEU issued the following statement following yesterday's story, subsequently pulled, following doubts over its source:

We know that Byron Court Primary School are considering academisation and the NEU is completely opposed to all privatisation of state education.

As such we are engaging in meetings with our members and the school to ensure that a full and meaningful consultation takes place.

The NEU is prepared to take industrial action when there is any proposal to academise a school. However this is a last resort. The NEU will also issue press releases when we are in dispute with any school.

The article which appeared on this blog previously was not issued by the NEU or by any of our reps or officers but was deliberately written to make it seem as though it was. It is completely unacceptable to us that this "open letter" was sent out widely in the name of school staff, without consulting anyone, and anonymously.

The NEU is supporting its reps and members in the school.

Jenny Cooper

Brent NEU Joint District Secretary

Editor's note: 

I apologise for any problems caused by yesterday's publication which was deleted as soon as I was told it was not NEU's official position.

Byron Court Primary possible academisation update

 The article published last night has been taken down pending clarification.  Meanwhile the leaflet below will be of interest and demonstrates why academisation is an issue for school workers and the community.

Labour's Annual Women's Conference calls for future Labour Government to re-establish community control of schools through LAs

 A welcome development given Labour's ambivalence over academisation but we can't afford to wait for implementation by a Labour Government - the campaign must begin now.

The Socialist Educational Association (SEA) won a stunning victory at Labour’s Annual Women’s Conference on 27^th June when the Conference agreed that a future Labour government should end the academisation of schools in England and re-establish community control of schools through local authorities and the involvement  of parents, education staff and students.

The SEA’s motion, tabled with Thirsk and Malton Constituency Labour Party, also called for co-ordinated action and resources to challenge sexism and gender-stereotyping in schools and colleges which research from UK Feminista and Ofsted have confirmed is widespread.

Composite Motion: Early Years and EducationDownload

Pam Tatlow, the SEA’s delegate to the Conference, said ‘A fractured, fragmented school system dominated by Multi-Academy Trusts and edicts from the Department of Education will not deliver the progressive agenda that students deserve or the collaborative framework that schools need to tackle the deep-seated and historic problem of sexism in schools.’

James Whiting, General Secretary of the SEA which is the Labour Party’s only education affiliate, said ‘We warmly welcome the support of the Women’s Conference for our “Give us back our Schools” campaign.

The long-standing issues of disadvantage and discrimination that impact on opportunities and life chances of women will not be resolved by the marketisation and privatisation of education or the unaccountable academy system which have been features of the Conservative government’s education agenda for the last decade.

Our call for the return of local authorities and an end to sexism in schools was supported by over 96% of Labour women at the Conference but also by trade unions such as Unison, Unite and GMB which represent thousands of education staff, many of them women.

We hope that Labour ‘s shadow front bench team will now commit to bring schools in England into an integrated, cooperative, transparent and non-selective education system under the aegis of accountable local authorities.’

Furness School staff to strike after academy trust's refusal of independent investigation into bullying allegations

Furness Primary School members of the National Education Union (NEU) are to strike on Thursday July 18th after the Chair of Trustees, Jo Jhally, refused a request for an independent investigation into allegations of bullying by management at the school.

Lesley Gouldbourne, Brent NEU Secretary, said:

I don't understand the Trustees' reluctance to investigate these complaints - they have a duty of care to these staff which they are just not exercising. Why should my members live in fear?

Furness is no longer directly accountable to the local authority as it formed a Multi-Academy Trust with Oakington Manor Primary School in March 2016 under an Executive Headteacher LINK.

Furness parents and staff opposed the academisation LINK and asked for a secret ballot on the proposal and Cllr Kelcher asked the then lead member for Children and Families, Ruth Moher to adopt a more interventionist approach on the issue to try and retain Furness as a local authority school LINK.

There will be a picket line at the school in Furness Road, Harlesden, from 7.30am - 9am on Thursday.

Brent Momentum presses Council on education, regeneration, universal credit evictions and fossil fuel divestment

The latest Bulletin from Brent Momentum reveals areas of frustration with Brent Council policy implementation many of which have been covered on Wembley Matters.

Education is a major issue with the failure of the Council to oppose the academisation of The Village School and the proposals for a free school at the Roundwood Centre, are source of contention. The Bulletin does not refer to the proposals to close Strathcona School but I presume Momentum will support the threatened NEU strike action.

The failure of Brent Council Regeneration proposals to take account of community concerns in Granville/Carlton and Bridge Park is criticised as is the failure to ensure the quality of new build on the South Kilburn Estate.

Momentum strongly support the cross-party Divest Brent campaign which is urging Brent Labour to fulfil its local election pledge to divest its pension fund from fossil fuels.

Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council is often accused of making promises and then not fulfilling them, so Momentum is pressing for Butt's promise to not evict Council tenants unable to pay rent due to Universal Credit delays, to be incorporated into official  Brent Council policy.

Ealing primary school stops academisation with support from the council and local MP

Southfield Primary School NEU members

Here's another example of a local council and MP getting behind campaigners, this time on academies. It contrasts with Brent Council's failure to really get behind anti-academisation campaigners in the case of The Village School.

This is a statement from the school's NEU members received via the Anti Academies Alliance:

 "Here’s some good news. We have managed to stop Southfield Primary School from becoming an academy!

After hearing that our governors wanted to join the Knowledge Schools Trust, through the process of academisation, unhappy NEU members decided to make a stand. We believe in education for all, not just the chosen few. So we rallied together to fight this decision. We fought back! We had a ballot, met with parents and decided we were prepared to strike to save our children’s education. We wanted to stay part of Ealing, it is a supportive borough.

We wouldn’t have achieved this if we hadn’t stuck together and would like to thank Stefan Simms and the NEU for their support.

We would also like to thanks Julian Bell Leader of Ealing Council, Cllr Yvonne Johnson and Rupa Huq MP for standing with us."

 

Brent Momentum: 'Dismay' over Labour Council's failure to implement national policy

Brent Momentum's first bulletin issued today hits the nail on the head as far as a critique of the  Labour Council goes - I would have added more on planning and the Council's failure to secure sufficient truly affordable housing in new developments and the Council's proposal for a further reduction in Council Tax Support.

Village School academisation delayed again as more questions arise

The date for the academisation of The Village School in Brent, in preparation for the formation of a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) with Woodfield School, has been put back again. I understand that this is in order for the Education and Skills Funding Agency to be sure that alleged irregularities at Woodfield have been addressed.

The new closure date according to Edubase, the government school information service is now February 28th, 2019 although that could change.

Interestingly one of the concerns has been the lack of separation between proposed Trustees and the governing board. As far as I know Sandra Kabir, (a Labour councillor) is still Chair of Governors at the school but Edubase records her as having resigned from that position last July:

 

 

Cllr Muhammed Butt has still not responded to the National Education Union's request for a meeting about the academisation and MAT proposals despite their heart-felt plea reported on Wembley Matters HERE

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NEU plea to Brent's Labour leader: 'Please, please Muhammed, can you respond to us' on academisation

Cllr Butt maintaining silence

The President of Brent National Education Union and The Village School NEU representatives have written to the borough's Labour councillors and their leader, Cllr Muhammed Butt, asking for a response to their communications about the academisation of The Village School, in Kingsbury and alleged financial irregularities.

Brent North MP and Labour Shadow Minister, has written to government ministers about the NEU's concerns over the financial background to The Village's academisation move. The NEU had sent Butt and his fellow councillors the Brent NEU resolution on the issue, the resolution from The Village School NEU and the Brent Constituency Labour Party  motion of support and requested a meeting.

Butt has not responded.

The NEU write:

We attach for your information the letter from Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North. We commend his continued commitment for The Village school and his support and actions to keep the school within the local authority.  Barry wrote to the Government Minister, despite the fact that he is obviously really busy in Parliament particularly with his role as Shadow Minister, and has written on more than one occasion to the Chair of Governors and the Headteacher of The Village over this time when the staff and community are campaigning to stop the academisation of the school. As you can see he references being contacted by Hank (President of Brent NEU).

We are therefore very disappointed that, despite reminders including copying you all in, both our letter and resolution from Brent NEU, the resolution from the Village NEU members and a request to meet, and the resolution passed at the Brent Central LP meeting, all asking for Cllr Muhammed Butt to act with regards to The Village or even just to respond to our communications, we have heard nothing.  Anything you can do to make this happen would be much appreciated.

Please, please Muhammed can you respond to us?

The Kilburn Times reports this week LINK that  the Executive headteacher of The Village has given a provisional date for academisation as February 2019 but quotes her as saying this is subject  to confirmation next term. According to the NEU academisation was delayed by an Education Funding Agency investigation into the accounts of Woodfield School which was to partner The Village in a multi-academy trust. LINK

Despite recent changes in Labour Party policy pledging to oppose any further academisation Cllr Butt appears to continue to support academy schools. He pushed for the academisation of Copland High School and sat on the successor Ark Elvin governing body. He has supported the extension  of Ark's empire in Brent through the new Ark Somerville Primary School which will be built in the car park of York House, near Wembley Stadium, next to a poor air quality main road. He removed a Labour councillor who had opposed planning permission for the school from the council's Planning Committee. LINK

Despite this and the Brent Central CLP's support for the staff's fight against academisation, Cllr Butt has remained unmoved and has supported the Labour Chief Whip, chair of governors at the school, who was a major force behind the acadmeisation bid.

Cllr Jumbo Chan, (Labour) himself a teacher in a neighbouring borough, in contrast has been vociferous in his support for the NEU and Labour Party position on academisation. In February, before the local elections,  many of his Labour councillor colleagues signed a letter oppoasing academisation and this was followed by another joint letter by the newly elected Labour councillors to the Kilburn Times in June. LINK

Barry Gardiner's letter to  Lord Agnew, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the School System: (Click on bottom right corner to enlarge):

School students threaten walk-out over academy trust valuing 'profts - not student success'

The recent documentary 'School' spotlighted the role of a multi-academy trust and particularly its CEO in the implementation of cuts.

In a ground -breaking initiative students at Thomas Bennett Community College in Crawley are threatening a walk-out or a strike over cuts.

They are asking for support for an on line petition HERE :



Problem
 
Thomas Bennett Community College is a school with working class pupils attending. Over the years Thomas Bennett has struggled with funding, only to which this struggle became increasingly more difficult when the academy, TKAT, took over our school. Profit not students success is what this academies aim is and large group of students including me are ready to do whatever needs to happen for something to change! Whether that's a whole year walkout or a strike with the whole school.
Solution
 
TKAT is a privatized corporation with enough money to fund schools. Cuts are made so managers and CEO's are given profit. We threaten that if change isn't made students will take reasonable action. A walk out is something TKAT does not want to face especially with media coverage and limited time for year elevens, a whole year will not just get bad qualifications with missed time but will also reflect on the education that is being provided for students by this school run by the academy
Personal story
 
We are Students that are currently attending Thomas Bennett. We are undertaking our GCSE's and are month's away from exams. With limited welfare support throughout the school, such as a medical room assistant or a pastoral support assistant for each year we are struggling tremendously with the way the school is run due to low funding. Last year I emailed the CEO, someone who was going to get a large pay rise for the cuts at Thomas Bennett, of TKAT explaining my points to how it is affecting me and our school. The reply I got was a meeting with the local TKAT representative. We were told that it wasn't in their hands and overall told to stop talking about it. Teachers at our school care a lot for students but are unable to fulfill their wishes due to low funding by the multi academy trust, TKAT. I hope you can see how much this is affecting the school and help us stop this happening even more!

Thank you

The Village School to stay with the LA for now and the NEU wants that to be permanent

I understand that the Village School, a special school in Brent that was to join a Multi-Academy Trust, will remain within the Brent  local authority into January 2019.

The academy and MAT conversion process has been “deferred” pending an ESFA investigation into financial “irregularities”. 

The investigation was triggered by whistleblowing from NEU members regarding allegations that  off-payroll consultants  were interfering with governance and Human Resources matters at the Woodfield Trust whilst receiving up to £240,000 for “services as defined by the school”. They claim the financial due diligence process carried out by governors was led by one of these consultants.

Furthermore they allege that since the MAT process was started, consultants have continued to be paid with funds intended for the education of SEND children in the borough. Restructure of the senior leadership teams has increased the funds at the top levels while vacancies remain unfilled and agency staffing increases in the classrooms.

NEU members at the school are seeking a further ballot for strike action, following their 13 days last year, to try to keep their school in the local authority.

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