Stonebridge speaks Truth to Power over Adventure Playground closure

'THIS IS THE FOUNDATION OF OUR COMMUNITY'

Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt meets local people from the Stonebridge Estate who are fighting to keep their Adventure Playground open.

Does Michaela's 'private school ethos' mean they can ignore safety concerns as enquiries blocked?

The only street entry/exit from Michaela Free school 

Photo: Nick Wright (via Facebook)

Reflecting concerns about teacher and children safety at the new Michaela Free School in Wembley Park, Jenny Cooper of the Brent Teachers' Association  has attempted a dialogue with the management.  It appears that not only have her concerns been ignored but Michaela has now blocked any communication from her

This is the sequence of events as recorded by email:

September 30th by email.
Dear Ms Birbalsingh,

I am writing to you in my capacity as Brent NUT Health & Safety Adviser and London representative on the National NUT Health & Safety Working Group as a result of concerns that have been expressed to me regarding fire safety procedures in your school.

NUT members have expressed concern that there appears to be only one entrance and exit from the building, through the wooden hoardings on the building site and that there appears to be no area for fire assembly purposes. This is a concern to the NUT for two reasons: potential danger for NUT members who may be working at the school and potential danger for the pupils.

To reassure us over these concerns, could you please send me a copy of your fire risk assessment? I am requesting this document under the provisions of the "Safety Representatives and Safety Committees regulations 1977", specifically regulation 7 which allows for inspection of documents and provision of information necessary to enable me to carry out my function. As an appointed Brent NUT Safety rep, part of my function is to promote health and safety in Brent schools on behalf of members that may be employed in those schools.

Hopefully I will be reassured by the fire risk assessment that everything is in place and that members' concerns have been unfounded. However, if I do not get sight of this document or a reply to this request, I will be forced to take this concern elsewhere.

Thank you for your help,

Jenny Cooper,

Brent NUT Health & Safety Adviser 

London rep on national NUT HSWG

NUT Safety rep on Brent Schools' Health & Safety Committee

No response was received so follow up email on October 16th:

Dear Ms Birbalsingh,

Do you have a response to my earlier email, below?

I will be actioning this matter in another way if I do not hear from you within the week.

Jenny Cooper

Response from Michaela

officeadmin@mcsbrent.co.uk

Your message can't be delivered because delivery to this address is restricted to authenticated Sender.
For more information about this issue see DSN code 5.7.12 in Exchange Online.

This is the same Michaela email address as Jenny had used before in communicating with the school and has not been rejected before. It appears that she has been blocked from raising these legitimate concerns.

Brent NUT told me:

We have been leafleting the parents about the H&S issues at Michaela. We leafleted the parents meetings for the new intake. When we were handing out letters to children at the end of the day to take home to all parents, some staff came out and asked why we hadn't written to ask about the situation with regards to fire safety and other issues. We replied that the H&S Advisor Jenny Cooper had written but there had been no response. That is why we were handing out letters as we were so concerned. This took the wind out of sails somewhat. We alerted Ruth Moher, Lead member for Education that we had not had any response and she is checking what is happening. A Brent Council H&S Officer is supposed to making a visit to the school and may already have done. Interesting that now Jenny has been blocked.

 

Michaela opens despite safety fears over site

Michaela Free School opened to 120 Year 7 pupils this morning despite fears about the safety of Arena House which is now a building site with just as narrow roofed timber lined corridor for entrance and exit.  Concerns have been raised with both Brent Council Health and Safety and the London Fire Brigade.

It was really sad this morning to see eager young faces, excited about starting secondary school, drop when they saw the state of the building.

Worried parents were assured that it was just the outside that looked like that - it was 'lovely' inside. However, parents were disconcerted to be refused entry to the building to see for themselves. They were promised a chance to view it at the Open Evening on Wednesday.

This is a glimpse of what appears to be an assembly/canteen/classroom seen through the windows.

Outside parent and grandparent views were mixed. Some accepted the promise that the school would soon be ready at face value, while others said the state of the building was 'disgusting'.  One grandparent, who welcomed the 'strict discipline', contrasted the building with the 'beautiful' building at Oakington Manor Primary that her grand-daugher had just left.

Parents at the school entrance today (white door)

There had been grumbles about the strict school rules at a pre-meeting with parents. They were told, 'If you don't like our rules, find another school!'

Several of the parents said they had not chosen Michaela but it was the only school available when their six choices were refused.

Clearly the school has a major job to win some parents round on several counts, including the state of the building, safety and discipline.  There may well be a split in the first few weeks between those who positively chose the school because of its 'strict, private school ethos' and those who were forced to take it because nothing else was available.

Challenging times ahead.

Birbalsingh's 'high standards' do not to appear to apply to the Michaela building

Katharine Birbalsingh's strictures on school uniform (sturdy black traditional shoes - send us a picture for approval before purchasing if you are not sure), haircuts (must 'comply' with school policy, presumably nothing expressing any personality or ethnic identity allowed) and umbrellas (only black or blue - nothing colourful) have been received with some amusement LINK

However, Birbalsingh's 'high standards' on uniform and behaviour do not seem to apply to the school building where pupils will start at 11am on Monday.

The pupil entrance is through a builders' door and along a wooded boarded narrow passage way that separates pedestrians from building equipment on one side and stacked cabins on the other. The whole of the area beneath the school appears to be covered in building equipment apart from this passage way.  As far as I could see this morning there is no play area at all at the moment and more importantly nowhere for the children to assemble in the event of a fire.

They would have to evacuate the building along the wooden boarded narrow passage way and assembly outside on the pedstrianised road.

This morning there was a lot of work going on inside the building but what appeared to be  classrooms had no equipment apart from tables and chairs. There may be other rooms hidden from view.

120 excited children, who have waited an extra two weeks for their school to be opened, may well be rather disappointed by what they find when they enter the building for the first time. 

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN EARLIER TODAY

CLASSROOM?

 

KITCHEN

GROUND LEVEL

GROUND LEVEL - HOARDING PROTECTING PEDESTRIANS (FAR RIGHT)

PEDESTRIAN GATE (WHITE) FOR PUPILS (EXTREME RIGHT)

Chalkhill kids get on their bikes as school invests in cycling

With safe cycling in Brent under scrutiny at the Brent Cyclists hustings tomorrow I though it  might be worthwhile to look at some positive things happening on the Chalkhill Estate.

Chalkhill Primary School has used 'Healthy Schools' money to buy bike and scooter storage:

There are two of these covered bike racks with helmet storage

Scooter rack

Sustrans have used their police connection to get some unclaimed stolen or abandoned bikes for the school and the school has spent a grant of £2,000 to buy 10-12 bikes for use by children without bikes.

The teacher in charge has trained in Cycling Profiency and there train chldren and others. He works with Sustrans on bike safety and there is a Dr Bike safety and repair service.

 Cycling Club runs before school every Wednesday. Children can use the large playground to improve their skills and control before other children arrive, The children who attend have named themselves the 'Bike-it Crew',

The school runs a special Bikers' Breakfast with a free breakfast, film and other events.

Cycling is also integrated into the sports and PE curriculun with children taking the bikes out for on and off road training.

Meanwhile 5 minutes up the road from the school additional cycling facilities are taking shape. The children were consulted by the designers of the facility which consists of a BMX track, family cycling track and a scooter course.

BMX track under construction in St David's Close

Part of the circular Family Bike Track

Where does Barry Gardiner stand on fracking?

I was approached recently by some neighbours, concerned about the environment and the future of their young children, and therefore interested in  their MP's position on fracking.  They knew that the Green Party  POLICY LINK was opposed to fracking anywhere in the UK but were not sure about Labour's position. Labour Brent Council had opposed fracking in Brent but not elsewhere.

I said that Labour appeared to be ambivalent but undertook to write to our Brent North MP, Barry Gardiner, a shadow minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for an authoritative statement:

This is what he said:

I know there has been real concern about the potential environmental dangers of fracking and I agree that this process should only go ahead if it is safe and environmentally sound. Indeed, it is only by fully addressing legitimate environmental and safety concerns about fracking through robust regulation and comprehensive monitoring, that people will have confidence that the extraction of shale gas is a safe and reliable source that can contribute to the UK's energy mix.

Shale gas does potentially offer an opportunity for the UK to improve our security of energy supply, to replace depleted North Sea gas reserves and to displace some of the gas we currently import. Shale has should not, therefore, be dismissed and I believe it is right that any communities that do host nationally significant energy infrastructure are able to share its rewards.

However, the Government also need to get their priorities right and I do not believe that fracking is the silver bullet for all our energy needs that the Government seem to suggest. Indeed, it is unlikely that it will be possible to extract shale gas in large volumes in the immediate future in the UK or that it will make a significant difference to consumer bills.

Given this and the legitimate safety and environmental concerns that have been expressed, I believe there should be a cautious and proportionate approach to shale gas exploration.

It is also unhelpful for the Government to have established a false opposition between shale gas extraction and investment in renewable energy. Gas will, of course, continue to play a part in our short and medium term energy mix but here is not reason why this should preclude heavy investment in renewable generation, which represents the long-term future of our energy sector.

I know that some environmental groups have also expressed concern about the Government's approach to encouraging shale gas production and I hope the Government will now listen to these concerns and adopt a more cautious and proportionate approach that address key safety and environmental concerns.

Protests continue against fracking in Barton Moss, Salford. Report HERE