Brent alternative free school provision call-in - what are the options?

Details of the Call-In of the Cabinet's decision to support a free school providing alternative education at the Roundwood Centre have now been published LINK

The Call-in was made by Cllrs Chan, Abdi, Mashari, Chappell and Hector.

The request was made by Cllr Jumbo Chan:

I am writing to request that the Cabinet’s decision to confirm approval of the establishment of an Alternative Provision Free School on the site of Roundwood Youth Centre, taken on Monday 15 April 2019, is called in.
Whilst I understand that it is not possible for Brent Council to open new community schools (Education Act 2011), we believe that there have not been compelling attempts to identify – or at least sufficient evidence of compelling attempts to identify – all the routes to establishing a new school on the site of the Roundwood Youth Centre (see Item 5.1 of Report from the Strategic Director of Children and Young People to the Cabinet on 15 April 2019). This may include, for example, evidence of formally approaching existing Local Authority schools to develop plans for them to run an Alternative Provision Local Authority unit at the site of Roundwood Youth Centre. 

The proposed alternative course of action suggested: 

Cllr Abdi:

We need to fully explore all the available alternatives. I am in favour of expanding existing local authority controlled schools instead of assisting the set up of another free school in Brent.

Cllr Chan:

That the Cabinet explore and evidence options for a Local Authority controlled school to provide Alternative Provision at the site of Roundwood Centre, and then proceed a with Local Authority controlled school to provide Alternative Provision at the site of Roundwood Centre.

That the Cabinet explore and evidence options for a Local Authority controlled school to provide Alternative Provision at the site of another site, for example, Roe Green Strathcona. 

Because the present and previous Labour administrations made little effort to oppose academisation, and indeed sometimes supported it, there are now no local authority secondary schools in Brent - they are all either academies or faith schools.  There are three types of academy in Brent: Capital City, (formerly Willesden High) which was the original Labour concept of converting failing local authority schools; stand-alone academies which converted from  local authority status mainly for financial rather than ideological reasons, and schools that are run by academy chains (Ark Wembley, Ark Elvin, Crest).  Special education provision is also largely academised via Multi-Academy Trusts except for the Phoenix Arch School.  There is also the Michaela Free School with its 'private school ethos' and controversial disciplinary regime and educational philosophy.

There was some wavering by primary schools a few years ago over academisation but the vast majority remain under local authority oversight.

If the aim is for the alternative provision to be run by a local authority school there appear to be two main choices: run by a Brent local authority primary school or by a local authority secondary school from a neighbouring borough.

Despite academisation some of the stand-alone secondary academies maintain a close relationship with the local authority and are seen by the council as part of the Brent 'family of schools'. They along with local authority primary schools are part of the Brent Schools Partnership (BSP).  The special schools have formed Multi-Academy Trusts but are  not part of an academy chain.  They might be cited as preferable providers if no local authority school solution is available, on the grounds that they have deep roots in the borough and links via the BSP to the council. However they all lack democratic accountability and oversight  and this is particularly worrying when some of the borough's most vulnerable pupils will attend the provision.

A further possibility is that the provider is a secondary faith school with a positive record of social inclusion.

An aspect of the proposal that will not be considered at the Call-In is the consequence of an expanded alternative provision in Brent. Ofsted has expressed concern over 'off-rolling' when pupils disappear from secondary school rolls just before examinations and there has been long-term concern over disproportionate permanent exclusions of Black Caribbean boys. Will secondary schools, keen to maintain or enhance their position in the league tables that are based on examination results, offload pupils that are unlikely to achieve good passes on to the alternative provision?  Will it contain disproportionate numbers of Black Caribbean boys or pupils with special educational needs or disabilities?

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:

Two new free schools approved in Brent

Justine Greening announced approval for 77 new free schools which includes two in Brent.  Approval is only the first step as sites have to be found and staff and pupils recuited.

The first is the North Brent School which I wrote about HERE

The school is backed by three Brent academies, Claremont, Queens Park and Wembley High. Gil Bal, Executive Head of Wembley High, would head up the new school along with her current duties.

The other  is Avanti Brent School,  where the plan is for an all-through (4 yrs-19ys)  Hindu faith school 'open to all backgrounds'  LINK:

Each of our schools whilst underpinned by the same principals of Educational Excellence, Character Formation and Spiritual Insight will of course be unique and meet local needs. We plan for these schools to have a nursery provision, 2 and 6 forms of entry at Primary & Secondary phases respectively as well as a sixth form.

Finding sites is obviously an issue given previous difficulties.

A new special school sponsored by Woodfield, Manor and Village did have a site in mind LINK but is not on today's list.

A feature of today's list is the rapid expansion of the Reach2 free school chain which has its own dangers.

Rescue Our Schools: Focus on free schools and grammar schools

From Rescue Our Schools

Rescue Our Schools - Families & communities standing up for state education

Dear Supporters,

For this, our 5th newsletter, we have decided to focus on Free Schools.

Did you know that local authorities are no longer permitted to open new schools maintained by them?
All new schools must either be academies (often set up by chains or MATs) or so-called "Free Schools". It seems they are costing us tax payers rather a lot...

http://schoolsweek.co.uk/2bn-fund-revealed-for-dfe-free-school-property-company/

Free Schools

Free schools have been hitting the headlines again, and not for good reasons. Last week the founder and former head of Kings Science Academy Bradford (one of the first wave of free schools in 2011), along with two staff, was convicted of fraudulently obtaining £150,000 from grants relating to the set up of the school. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-36943526

Then it was revealed that the Michaela Free School  have a policy of putting pupils into lunchtime isolation if their parents have not paid their (compulsory) lunch bill. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3713583/Superhead-claimed-Britain-s-education-broken-puts-pupils-detention-lunch-restricts-food-parents-failed-pay-school-meals.html

Add to these clear examples of poor practice growing concerns about how much these additional free schools cost and that the whole programme is not living up to the claims that were made for it.

If there is a free school planned in your area, please look carefully at what is proposed, whether it is really needed, and what impact it might have on existing schools. Rescue Our Schools would like more focus on meeting the needs of existing schools than on extending choice for some at the expense of the system overall.

For more information about free schools and some of the problems associated with them, have a look at the Local Schools Network (www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk) or SchoolsWeek (www.schoolsweek.co.uk )

Will it be back-to-academy rather than back-to-school for your kids?

One of our followers has written a piece for our website about how she feels following the conversion of her children's primary school to an academy.

http://www.rescueourschools.co.uk/news/2016/8/9/my-kids-school-is-converting-so-how-does-this-make-me-feel

If you have a state education story that you'd like to share with us and/or our followers, please do drop us a line: info@rescueourschools.co.uk.

Grammar Schools

By all accounts our new Prime Minister, Teresa May, is now considering lifting the long-standing ban on new grammar schools. This is a controversial issue, already triggering much debate. Read Rescue Our School's press release on the subject here: http://www.rescueourschools.co.uk/

What do you think? Do you agree with us that selection means rejection for most pupils? We'd love to hear from you.

Calling all fundraisers and creatives !

Rescue Our Schools is looking for an experienced fundraiser and creatives to volunteer to help raise money so that we can launch some exciting new projects.

Please get in touch if you'd like to join our team! info@rescueourschools.co.uk

Keep spreading the word

We are keen for as many people as possible to know about what's happening to our state education system. If you are on social media, our Facebook and Twitter feeds are full of updates. Why not sign up, like our page or follow us? And if you have already, maybe you could ask your friends to do the same and subscribe to these newsletters? Or you could spark up a conversation with other parents you know? The more people who know about the peril are schools are in, the better.

Twitter: @RescueSchools

Governors urged not to panic over government academisation policy: 'seize the agenda and be collectively creative'

Gail Tolley, Strategic Director of Brent Children and Young People, advised governors at this weeks Governors Conference, not to be panicked into action on the Government's aim to convert all schools to academy status.

She said:

There is no time pressure for schools to panic themselves into action - you have the opportunity to pause and reflect on what action to take.

The immediate time pressure disappeared when the Government backed down in the face of opposition from Tory MPs and Tory shire counties.  Academisation of all schools remains a long-term objective but the legislative timetable is unclear ion the light of recent events.

The Government retains the policy of  triggering mass academisation in local authorities which are deemed to be failing or where the number of academies has reached a tipping point where there are so many academies that LA management of the remaining LA schools is not viable.

Brent is not a designated 'Achieving Excellence Area' (newspeak for failing) nor are there a majority of academies across the borough.  93% of Brent primary schools are deemed Good or better by Ofsted (91% of Brent schools overall).  12 out of 23 Brent academies and free schools are part of a Multi Academy Trust.  86% of Brent primary schools and 17% of secondary schools remain with the LA.

The Senior HMI in Brent has told Ms Tolley that Brent is now a 'light touch' local authority and meetings with the HMI will now take place on an annual, rather than termly, basis.

However the local authority will come under pressure financially due to the changesin the National Funding Formula LINK and the phasing out of the £3m Education Services Grant.  There may also be reductions due to the loss of European funding.

The local authority will retain core responsibilities:

• school places, admissions, school transport, emergency planning
• vulnerable children, special educational needs and disabilities, attendance, exclusion, safeguarding, looked after children
• acting as a champion for parents

The collaborative BSP (Brent Schools Partnership), run on a school subscription basis, will undertake more education and training and school improvement functions. LINK Its Strategic Director, Farzana Aldridge, told the conference that most Brent schools, whether LA, voluntary, academies or free schools, were now part of the Partnership.  They had offered 'neutral' information sessions on academisation.

In discussion it appeared that various options were on the table including the LA itself, or perhaps  the BSP, setting up multi-academy trusts of Brent schools.

The role of the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) came under some scrutiny. Our RSC is responsible for a large chuck of London and large areas of the South East outside London. They have powers to convert schools deemed failing to academy status and can over-rule the local authority. The RSC capacity to intervene with particular schools at a detailed level is extremely limited.

A new provision is that the LA and governing bodies now have a statutory duty to assist the academisation process in these circumstances.

A further change which has not received much publicity is that LAs will have to comply with a request by the Secretary of State to transfer its land (not just 'education' land) to the SoS for free school or academy use.  This involves a major loss of local public land to the government. Currently the land is leased to the free school or academy at a peppercorn rent for a 125 year lease.

The question for me is whether the LA can survive the forthcoming financial cuts sufficiently to maintain the borough's current success in its oversight of schools and thus avoid a 'failing local authority' designation leading to forced academisation.

Gail Tolley remained optimistic telling governors they had the opportunity to 'seize the agenda' and be 'collectively creative and make a focused response.'

She emphasised that it was extremely important for governors to respond to the second round of consultation on the National Funding Formula - this is clearly vital given the potential impact of cuts.

Cllr Wilhelmina Mitchell Murray, the new lead member for Children and Young People, did  not intervene on any matters of detail but told governors that the voice of parents and governors was important. She asked. 'What do you do with failing academies?*' and said that the government should concentrate on 'running the country - not running our schools.'

* The answer is hand them over to another academy trust. They are not allowed to revert to LA status.

Brent Labour urges school governing bodies not to convert to academy status

Cllr Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council and Cllr Ruth Moher, lead member for Children and Families have written to Brent primary school governing bodies, on behalf of the Labour Group,  putting the case against academisation. This is at a time when Sudbury Primary School Academy is experiencing difficulties and the  Oakington Manor Primary/Furness Primary Federation governing body is moving to convert to an academy.  At the same time in policy adopted last year the Council is looking to academies and free schools to provide additional secondary school places.

Dear Governors,

We are writing to you on behalf of Brent Labour's leadership, following the announcement on the future of schooling by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Without any regard to the wishes of local parents and communities,m the government has announced that it intends to see an end to schools operating within local authorities and become academies.

We urge you to ensure your school remains part of the local council.

While it is critical that schools teach the academic basics to our children, we know that they do so much more.

They are places where young people learn the meaning of being a friend, a team-mate and a citizen; where they find out more about their fellow pupils and themselves than they ever realised there was to know; where they discover the interests and develop the skills that will make them happy, well-rounded an, fulfilled human beings. In short, they prepare our young people for life in the broadest sense,

Such a broad preparation for life requires not a business, but a community. A community of teachers, parents and pupils can go beyond their contractual commitments, to provide the activities that help broaden our children's horizons: After school activities, appropriate extra support for some pupils and teaching beyond the test.

But a community cannot be run for profit. Hours of volunteering can not be given, if they will be exploited for the bottom lines. Currently academies in the borough are not for profit, and collaborate well within the Brent Schools Partnership. They work hard to give their pupils the roundest possible education.

But once out of local authority control there is no guarantee that a school will not eventually become for profit. Michael Gove, the former Education Secretary who promoted much of the academy agenda, has gone on record as saying that he is 'open' to businesses running schools. This Conservative majority government is at liberty to make that happen. A current academy headteacher can be against a school being run for profit, but there is no guarantee what the stance of their successor will be.

The only way to ensure that our schools remain communities, and do not becomes businesses, is for them to remain under the control of Brent Council. On behalf of Brent Labour's leadership, I urge you to do all you can to ensure that they do.

Cllr Muhammed Butt
Cllr Ruth Moher

Note: I have not edited this letter (MF)

Meet the man who is taking over our schools

The situation at Sudbury Primary school LINK where the local authority has limited powers of intervention because the school converted to academy status in 2012, reveals, whatever the outcome of the independent investigation, problems of democratic accountability for academies and free schools.

With all non-faith Brent secondary schools now academies, Oakington Manor and Furness  primarydiscussing academisation, and the Brent Schools Partnership holding meetings for headteachers and chairs of governors in January 2016 on academy conversion, this is clearly a crucial issue.

So let's introduce you to Martin Post, who is responsible for academies and free schools, in Brent. Never heard of him? Well, he is the ex Headmaster of Watford Grammar School for Boys, and has rather a lot on his plate. He is the Regional School Commissioner for South-Central England and North West London and was appointed in 2014. He bridges the gap between academies and free schools and the Secretary of State for Education. This is the original announcement:

From September 2014, 8 regional schools commissioners will be responsible for taking important decisions about the academies in their area. The commissioners will make decisions on applications from schools wanting to become academies and organisations wanting to sponsor an academy.

They will also be responsible for taking action when an academy is underperforming.

The commissioners will not be involved with academies that are performing well or with local authority-maintained schools. (MF latter no longer the case as you will see below)

Each commissioner will be supported by a board of 5 or 6 outstanding academy headteachers, who will be elected by other academy headteachers in the region.

From being in charge of one boys' school Post is now responsible for academies and free schools in the following areas:

• Barnet
• Bedford
• Bracknell Forest
• Brent
• Buckinghamshire
• Camden
• Central Bedfordshire
• City of London
• Ealing
• Enfield
• Hammersmith and Fulham
• Harrow
• Hertfordshire
• Hillingdon
• Hounslow
• Islington
• Kensington and Chelsea
• Luton
• Milton Keynes
• Northamptonshire
• Oxfordshire
• Reading
• Slough
• West Berkshire
• Westminster
• Windsor and Maidenhead
• Wokingham

Keeping tabs on all those schools is clearly a formidable task and it is hard to see how Sudbury Primary will come to the top of Post's in-tray.  Undaunted Post will be adding to their number under draft guidance for RSCs and local authorities  for schools 'causing concern':

1. Schools that have been judged inadequate by Ofsted – An academy order will be issued for all such schools, requiring them to become sponsored academies. To minimise delays and ensure swift action, there will be a new duty on governing bodies and local authorities to facilitate academy conversion. The process for schools judged as inadequate by Ofsted is described in more detail in Chapter 2 of this guidance.
2. Schools that are coasting – Schools which fall within our definition of coasting will become eligible for intervention. Where a coasting school does not have a sufficient plan and the necessary capacity to bring about improvement, the RSC will use the powers of the Secretary of State to intervene. In many cases this intervention will be to ensure that the school receives the support and challenge it needs, but where necessary the RSC will be able to convert the school into an academy with the support of a sponsor. The process for schools falling within the coasting definition is described in more detail in Chapter 3 of this guidance.
3. Schools that have failed to comply with a warning notice – Local authorities and RSCs, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, have powers to give warning notices to schools where they have concerns about unacceptable performance (e.g. below floor standards, or a sudden fall in performance), a breakdown in leadership and governance, or the safety of pupils or staff may be being threatened. Where a school does not comply with a warning notice it will become eligible for intervention. The warning notice process is described in more detail in Chapter 4 of this guidance.

In other words the RSCs will be extending their powers into the local authority maintained sector even though there is no clear evidence that academisation improves performance. Meanwhile academies and free schools will operate under a different framework:

·       RSCs will scrutinise academies’ performance and will require academies to take particular action or face termination of their funding agreement where they are in breach of it and such action is necessary.

We have to remember of course that the RSC, Martin Post, will be advised by a board of academy headteachers and is charged with converting schools to academies. Will objectivity be an issue?

As Brent Council has committed itself to work with academies and free schools to provide the additional secondary school places it claims are needed, it appears that the local authority will be losing any influence over secondary schools. Parents and staff will have to look to the remote RSC who is not democratically elected or accountable, for any redress when things go wrong.

In fact the LA becomes subservient to the RSC  regarding local authority schools designated as 'causing concern' under the wider DfE definition of schools 'eligible for intervention':

Where the school is the subject of an academy order because it is eligible for intervention, the governing body and the local authority will be under a duty to work towards the school’s successful conversion into an academy by taking all reasonable steps towards that end. RSCs can also use the Secretary of State’s power to give the governing body or local authority a direction, or directions, to take specified steps for this purpose. If the RSC has identified a sponsor to run the school, and has notified the school of this, then the governing body and the local authority must take all reasonable steps to facilitate that sponsor taking responsibility for the school.In other words LAs and governing bodies have to hand over their schools to academy sponsors.

Meanwhile the RSC will also be working with free schools. The neutral sounding New Schools Networking (actually an agency for promoting free schools and therefore the privatisation of education) is advertising a meeting with Martin Post that will take place on January 29th:

Join NSN and free schools near you for a networking event with Martin Post the new Regional Schools Commissioner for North West London and South Central.
This event offers a chance to meet other free schools which are open or due to open, share experiences with them and hear from the Regional Schools Commissioner about his role and how it will affect your school. 
If you would like to attend please email open@newschoolsnetwork.org
Please note this event is for free schools in this region only. 
- See more at: http://www.newschoolsnetwork.org/academy-resource-hub/events-and-opportunities/rsc-free-school-networking-event-north-west-london-and#sthash.DqhgSQdb.dpuf

Join NSN and free schools near you for a networking event with Martin Post the new Regional Schools Commissioner for North West London and South Central.
This event offers a chance to meet other free schools which are open or due to open, share experiences with them and hear from the Regional Schools Commissioner about his role and how it will affect your school. 
If you would like to attend please email open@newschoolsnetwork.org
Please note this event is for free schools in this region only. 
- See more at: http://www.newschoolsnetwork.org/academy-resource-hub/events-and-opportunities/rsc-free-school-networking-event-north-west-london-and#sthash.DqhgSQdb.dpuf

·       Join NSN and free schools near you for a networking event with Martin Post the new Regional Schools Commissioner for North West London and South Central.

·       This event offers a chance to meet other free schools which are open or due to open, share experiences with them and hear from the Regional Schools Commissioner about his role and how it will affect your school. 

·       If you would like to attend please email open@newschoolsnetwork.org

·       Please note this event is for free schools in this region only. 

There has been little publicity about these proposals and it is important that they become a matter for public debate.

Brent Labour Council backs new free schools for rising secondary population

The report on school places planning  to be discussed at Monday's Cabinet Meeting goes further than hitherto in backing the provision of new free schools to provide for the rising secondary school population, which is now working its way through from the primary sector. LINK

This is partly because, due to academisation, there are now no  local authority secondary schools left in the borough.  The report acknowledges the risks attached, although more risks would have been taken into account if they had looked at experience outside of Brent. LINK

The recommendation is in conflict with the direction of national Labour policy under the Corbyn leadership which is critical of free schools as the first step in a move towards schools for private profit.

The problems with the Council's approach are clear in these two consecutive paragraphs in the report:

There is a however a risk to the Council in making assumptions on the delivery of school places through proposed free school developments. The Gladstone Secondary Free School has been approved to open in Brent, but the proposal has been delayed, until at least 2017, due to the inability of EFA to find a suitable site. If this proposal is not delivered, or there are delays in provision, the Council will have a statutory duty to provide and fund the required school places. This risk is reduced if the Council is pro-active in seeking proposers for new schools and working with the EFA to identify potential sites for new schools. The EFA is able to purchase commercial sites for Free Schools. 


Given the level of the need for places in the secondary phase and the high costs of expansion; new Free Schools are therefore recommended as the preferred option to meet the projected increase in demand for secondary places. 


The section on primary expansion also looks to free schools alongside expansions of local authority schools.  Most primaries remain local authority schools although Sudbury Primary voluntarily academised some time ago and there will be a battle over Oakington Manor and Furness academisation plans. 

Floreat Primary Free School is due to open on a temporary site in 2017 while Ark Somerville Primary has no site as yet. Brent Council will be looking for a free school sponsor for a new school in Oriental City/Edgware Road. Michaela secondary Free School does not seem to have followed through its primary school plans.

However it is the expansion of local authority primary schools into much larger units that remains the core of Brent Council policy and the report recommends what amounts to a loosening of Principle 1 for school expansion. Hitherto only Ofsted rated 'Good' or 'Outstanding' primary schools were recommended for expansion.  As can be seen this has been changed to enable more schools to expand. Such a policy has a risk attached because expansion has a number of risks, including the disturbance to the learning environment caused by building works, changes in school ethos as a result of much larger number of pupils, and an increase in pupil mobility disrupting educational progress. School leadership has to be strong to cope in such circumstances.

Despite recent parental opposition to very large primary schools, the policy retains 5 form entry schools as an aim. This is 1,050 4-11 year olds in a school. The DfE has recently got wise to the fact that some local authority school expansions using an additional site are de facto new schools and this is recognised in revised Principle 3.

As someone who values small family-centred child-friendly primary schools and is opposed to free schools, so ripe for financial mismanagement, I find this all rather disheartening. What is disturbing is that the changes haven't really been debated. Parents and school staff have had little or no voice on policies that will have a profound impact on the quality of education in the borough.

What about the children?

Greens condemn Government's contempt for democracy and accountability in education

Samantha Pancheri, Green Party Schools spokesperson has challenged the thinking behind the Government's Education and Adoption Bill whioch was published today.

She said:

It should not come as a surprise that the Conservatives have stepped up their backdoor privatisation of schools by announcing a new Bill that would see schools deemed as ‘failing’ forced into converting to academies.

Once again, the wishes of school staff, pupils, and parents are being robustly ignored by Nicky Morgan, in spite of multiple high profile campaigns against forced academisation, and a profound lack of evidence that conversion to academy status actually improves educational outcomes.

Alarmingly, the bill also includes a measure to scrap the requirement for academy sponsors to consult with school communities, demonstrating nothing short of contempt for democracy and local accountability, while the government dismisses anti-academy campaigns as hindrances.

There is simply no place for business interests in our schools. Education must be protected from being encroached upon by profit motives, and to have schools sponsored by the likes of BAE Systems is a disgrace.

If the Conservatives truly wish to improve educational outcomes for children and young people, they must move away from the rigid and impractical categorisation of schools by Ofsted, and instead look holistically at the environment and opportunities provided in schools. Teachers and unions have highlighted the impact of high workload and stress on their ability to meet pupils’ needs, and also that excessive testing of pupils is damaging their learning experience.

There are many positive improvements that could be made to the school system by reducing teachers’ workload, scaling back overregulation, scrapping unnecessary standardised testing and, above all, investing in schools to enable them to provide the staff and resources that pupils need and deserve in order to realise their potential.

This proposed bill will achieve nothing in that respect, and is nothing more than another step in introducing marketisation, and removing local democratic accountability from our schools.

Hunt's neo-liberalism distorts his understanding of education policy

Tristram Hunt's Guardian attack on the Green party's education policy LINK , characteristising it as 'total madness', seems to have spectacularly misfired today. Guardian readers looking up the detail have come back to comment favourably on the policy.

Our policy does of course mark a clear break with the neo-liberal policies of the three main parties which support competition and marketisation of schools based on what Chomsky recently called the 'grading of students and teachers'.

Labour of course began the marketisation of schools with their sponsored academies and this, along with the privatisation of the NHS, was a key element in Blair's New Labour strategy.  Hunt, along with Lord Adonis, is essentially a Blairite and we cannot expect him to offer a fundamental critique of what the system, instigated by them,  has become.

So what is this 'madness' Hunt has found:

Delaying the start of formal education until the age of six

There are many countries in the world where children start later than in England and Wales and achieve just as well, if not better, with less anxiety. The Green Party takes account of such evidence and understands the importance of play and exploration in early childhood rather than the testing and ranking at ever earlier ages supported by the neo-liberal parties.

Ending SAT tests in Primary Schools

SATS are essentially a way of grading teachers and schools putting them and their students under intense pressure. This has had the effect of narrowing the curriculum, deskilling teachers who are under pressure to 'teach to the test' and removes much of the joy from teaching and learning. Greens have a much broader view of what constitutes education.

Hunt suggests that children's progress would no longer be monitored, but of course SATs are not the only way to monitor and evaluate progress and tell us little about the individual child compared with other systems.

Abolition of Ofsted will end accountability

The  Green Party would replace Ofsted with a collaborative system ending much of the stress, illness and rushed judgements associated with Ofsted:

The Green Party will instate a system of local accountability using continuous, collaborative assessment of schools. We would replace OFSTED with an independent National Council of Educational Excellence which would have regional officers tasked to work closely with Local Authorities. The National Council would be closely affiliated with the National Federation for Educational Research (NFER).

Where pupils’ attainment and progress is reported as part of a school’s holistic report to parents and the wider community it will include assessments, including value-added, moderated by the National Council of Education Excellence and the Local Authority’s School Improvement Service as well as the school’s own self evaluation.

Education cannot compensate for society
 
In a variation of Michael Gove's 'enemies of promise' labelling of his opponents, Hunt suggests that Natalie Bennett speaks the language of 'low aspiration and defeatism' because she recognises that schools cannot compensate for all the ills of an unequal society.

This is what Natalie actually said:

I am gravely concerned about low exam results and high dropout rates from children from disadvantaged backgrounds. But I understand that even wonderful schools can’t fully compensate for severe poverty and stress at home - which is why making the minimum wage a living wage, affordable and warm homes, and ensuring decent benefits are available to all who needs them, are education issues as well as social justice issues

More than 40 years in teaching and school governance has certainly taught me the importance of material conditions, and I would add a daily hot meal and a place to study to the list. These make an impact on levels of energy, motivation and self-worth. We have to work on both improving education and improving living conditions and increasing equality.

The focus on individual progression in education with its blame for failure on pupils, parents, teachers and schools, serves to let politicians off the hook over increased inequality, child poverty and inadequate housing.

What Hunt didn't say

Hunt failed to attack the Green Party's policy to end academies and free schools, integrate existing ones back into the Local Authority system, strengthen LAs through better funding and increased democratic accountability,  restore LA's ability to build new schools where they are needed and end Performance Related Pay for teachers.

Perhaps they were too popular for him to advertise?

Green Party Education policy is HERE

Why the Green Party should endorse the NUT's Manifesto

The Green Party is the only one of the mainstream parties that challenge the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM). The GERM seeks to move both the structure and content of education in a neo-liberal direction. It reduces the role of education to competition in an ever expanding global market and opens the system to private profit.

I have written about this in an article on the Open Democracy website LINK

The National Union of Teachers and the Green Party both recognise the need to challenge this threat and so there is underlying agreement on principles between the NUT Manifesto for the 2015 General Election and Green Party education policy.

I have published a paper on the Green Party members' site giving a detailed comparison of the two documents and here publish the main findings. I think there is sufficient overlap for the Green Party to broadly endorse the NUT Manifesto with some more discussion needed on particular aspects.

Here are some major areas of agreement:

VISION AND CURRICULUM

• Both want to develop an exciting new vision for education and move away from a narrow prescriptive curriculum. Greens reject market driven models of education that see  its role only in terms of international economic competitiveness  and preparation for work. they advocate a system that enable people to participate fully in society and lead a fulfilled life.
• Both want a broad, balanced and enriching entitlement curriculum with the Greens emphasising that learners and teachers should be able to develop their own content within this context.
•  The NUT and Greens agree on the need for 14-19 qualifications framework which give equal value to academic, vocational, creative and practical subjects.

ACCOUNTABILITY

• There is agreement on the need for a new approach to evaluating schools include much wider involvement of parents, teachers and community. The Greens would replace Ofsted with an independent National Council for Academic Excellence, linked with the NfER. This would work collaboratively with schools and local authorities on school improvement.
• The Greens want to abolish league tables and the NUT wants to replace them with national sampling. More discussion is needed on how the latter would work.

TEACHERS

• Both want to reclaim teachers' professional respect, responsibility and autonomy with the NUT citing the successful London Challenge.
• Greens and the NUT agree that all children should be taught by qualified teachers or those in training towards qualification and the need for quality initial teacher education and in-service  education and training.
• The NUT wants a recruitment strategy that reflects the diverse nature of school communities while the Greens emphasise education on diversity issues for teachers and other school workers and the effective equality and diversity monitoring of recruitment and staff development.
• The NUT wants to reduce teachers' workload, restore a national pay structure and professional levels of pay, and opposes the extension of the retirement age to 68. The Green Party promises  to work with the teaching unions to reverse the process by which teachers have gradually been deskilled and their professional autonomy eroded and will review pension arrangements and retirement age with then. The Green Party opposes performance relation Pay for teachers.

CHILD POVERTY

•  This is a concern for both the NUT and the Green Party and there is agreement on the immediate need for the abolition of the Bedroom Tax, high quality nursery education , restoration of the Education Maintenance Allowance or a similar scheme. The Green's proposal on a Citizen's Income could replace the allowance in the long term and would begin to tackle child poverty.
• Both agree on the urgent need to tackle youth unemployment.

SCHOOL PLACES

•  There is agreement on the need to strengthen local authorities' role in educational provision and in particular the need for the restoration of the LA's power to provide new school places though building new LA schools.

PRIVATISATION

•  Both Greens and the NUT call for an end to the marketisation of education and oppose schools being run for profit. Greens see education as a right and an entitlement that should be free at the point of delivery to people of all ages.
• Greens oppose the creation of more academies and free schools and would integrate them into the local authority school system. The NUT call for the end of approval for new free schools and support the right of all schools to return to the status of local authority schools. The Greens support parents and communities fighting the forced academisation of their schools.
• Both agree on the need for the restoration of funding to local authorities and their role in overseeing the quality of education in their locality.

INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION

•  The NUT calls for the restoration of education funding to at least 2010 levels in real terms. There is nothing explicit in Green Party policy but it is certainly something we should explore.