School students concerned that they are being silenced over the Middle East conflict

 Michaela School in Wembley has made an impact on some neighbouring Brent secondary schools which have taken up the 'strictest school' challenge.  There is currently a hot debate on the Next Door website about what constitutes bullying by adults, rather than strict discipline, at Wembley Technology College.

There is a new headteacher at Preston Manor High School whose approach is causing waves amongst students and parents. The current conflict in the Middle East has resulted in complaints that children are being disciplined over their support for the Palestinian cause.

One student said:

We see the bodies of children killed by Israel on the internet and want to speak out. The school is supposed to teach British Values. Isn't 'freedom of speech' supposed to be a British Value?  Isn't it our human right? We are being denied our freedom of speech.

Back in the 1970s and 80s teachers developed educational resources to address racism and sexism so that the issues could be discussed in a safe and open environment. A disciplinary approach with detention or exclusion punishments for views expressed was rejected as it tended to harden and polarise attitudes.

Controversial issues are tricky for teachers but surely it is an education establishment's job, whether school, college or university, to address the issue, rather than silence all discussion?

An article in the Guardian LINK  describes how students at a Luton 6th College are demanding lessons about the context of the conflict in Gaza.

The National Education Union has produced guidance for its members on the Israel/Gaza conflict LINK.

Meanwhile groups of school students across the country have been striking over Palestine and there is a rally at lunchtime today.

 

At the end of October the National Education Union issued a statement on the conflict:

Further to our statement on 14 October, the NEU is distressed and alarmed by the rising death toll of Palestinian civilians, particularly children, caused by Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Half of Gaza’s two million population are children and 40 per cent of all those killed in Gaza since 7 October are children. 

According to Save the Children, child fatalities in the besieged enclave since this date have surpassed the annual number of children killed across the world's conflict zones since 2019.

We call on the UK Government and wider international community to work for an immediate ceasefire and ongoing peace settlement that secures the release of Israeli hostages, ends the bombardment of Gaza, and restores the flow of vital humanitarian aid, including food, fuel and medical supplies into Gaza.  

More than 1.4 million people in Gaza have been internally displaced, with some 671,000 sheltering in 150 UNRWA facilities. We decry the attacks on UNWRA schools and hospitals and reiterate the call from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for “all parties to the conflict to take all precautions to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure [including] health workers, patients, health facilities and ambulances, and civilians who are sheltering in these facilities.”

The NEU is committed to challenging racism in all its forms, and we will continue to speak out against the alarming rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia that we are witnessing in the UK and elsewhere. Attacks on, or harassment of, Jewish or Muslim people are abhorrent and inexcusable. Everyone has a right to feel safe in their schools, colleges, places of worship and communities.

We encourage all NEU members to take peaceful action in support of calls for a ceasefire, including joining peaceful protests and contacting their members of parliament.

 A group called Teachers for Palestine has been formed and will be holding a solidarity vigil tomorrow:

 

The strong advice to any parent of a student who has faced expulsion/sanction for advocacy for Palestine is to get in touch with the European Legal Support Center as soon as possible where you will be asked to fill in an incident report. https://elsc.support/

It would be useful to hear about any local schools where a positive educational response has been taken.

Young Greens launch campaign to get young people organised

The Young Greens today launched their latest campaign 'Get Organised! Getting a new generation organised and unionised!' at a joint workshop with the Green Party Trade Union Group.

Speakers from the RMT, NUS, the Students' Assembly and the Green Party discussed the benefits of trade union membership and the need to convey these benefits to young people.

The RMT Young Members' group were keen to get into schools to talk to pupils about this as a part of citizenship education but had found schools resistant. I suggested that theatre in education, based on actual events such as the Grunwicks strike, could be a stimulating way of doing this.

There was also a discussion on reviving  the idea of  a School Students' Union  (something similar existed in the 70s)  that could give  school students experience of collective organisation and negotiation.

‘Letter to Brent Council? That’ll be £6.40, please.’

(And a reply? Priceless)

Guest blog by 'Elvin Impersonator' 

On Wednesday this week letters were sent to Brent Council nominating, under the provisions of the Localism Act 2011, the extensive green space of Copland’s playing fields as an ‘asset of community value’. The Act requires local authorities to maintain a list of sites and amenities which are used by the public and are part of local life. The letters were signed by representatives of local residents and Copland staff and students.

When it came to posting the letters, however, the bill came to £25.60, or £6.40 per letter, extortionate even by privatisation standards. Why so much? Well it’s the price of experience really. Last year Brent claimed to have no knowledge of a petition posted to them by first class post and signed by hundreds of Copland students opposing the forced academisation of their school. As a result, another petition opposing the Ark takeover was signed by over 400 students and copies posted to all 63 Brent councillors. Again it appears that up to 60 of these must have been lost in the post as replies were received from only three of our elected representatives. Dozens of additional letters written on the subject and sent to those looking for our votes on May 22nd have similarly met with no response whatsoever. As a result it was decided this time to utilise the Post Office service which registers the sending of the letter and effectively tracks it to its recipient. But at a cost.

Whether it was a price worth paying will soon become clear. But if Brent Labour, Lib Dems and Conservatives had sat down and tried to plan how to alienate this group of ordinary voters and drive them into the arms of Farage and the Fruitcakes, they couldn’t have done a better job than they’re doing already. Interesting to see whether the strategy changes over the next few weeks.

Meanwhile at Copland a ‘special meeting’ for staff has been called next week to introduce the new school uniform. Whether this will be the students’ uniform or the one the teachers will have to wear (shiny estate agents suits, gel, blusher etc) has not been made clear. Early booking recommended.
 

We are now the generation at the heart of the fightback...

Time for school students to organise?

PRECOCIOUS

In blue lagoons I once did play,

Tossing the surf,

Catching the spray.

Living my life as each day came,

Never looking for fortune or fame.

Clever and youthful,

Strong and brave,

Carelessly riding the tidal wave -

but I was only 4.

From BLOT magazine 1976

 

 There is a connection between my last blog on SATs and the previous one on young people and the cuts.

The connection is that the generation now experiencing the cuts, whether through their school buildings not being rebuilt, losing their Education Maintenance Allowances, having Kilburn College sold off from under their feet,  seeing tuition fees increased or facing unemployment, is the generation that has experienced the full force of the target culture in schools. They have been the most tested generation of pupils ever.

Yes, there has been investment in schools but often of the wrong kind: thousands spent on the SATs regime and national curriculum materials and all serving the purpose of meeting targets..  Throughout, the mantra repeated by the government, teachers and often parents has been, "Keep your heads down, do what the teacher says, work hard and you will end up with good qualifications, a good job and enough money to have a decent quality of life".

Back in the 70s and 80s I remember when that mantra was blown apart in the face of unemployment and we are approaching that point now. Youth will be arguing "What was the point?"  I remember very well back at that time, when a child in my primary class in Fulham remarked, after I had foolishly repeated the mantra,  "My brother worked hard and got qualified and can't get a job so why should I bother?"

This is particularly true now because the Blair government, and the Tories before them, have reduced education to individuals getting the employment skills to keep the UK ahead of competitor nations. Having narrowed the purpose of education and reduced schools to qualification factories they will face resentment and rebellion, disaffection and desperation.

In the 70s school students organised in the National Union of School Students and other organisations. One of their major campaigns was against the use of corporal punishment in schools. The NUSS publicised their activities through a magazine called BLOT and for some time they got a grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation. At the height of their influence they had the support of 30 or so MPs.

Now such magazines are 'last century' compared with social networking sites and their power to mobilise large numbers at short notice. I wonder how many would answer a call such as this (taken from a 1976 edition of BLOT):

You've got no rights, none at all - you've got no voice. No-one will hear you complain. You haven't got a chance to change a thing - you're too young to hear, speak or think. 

That's what a lot of people think of us. 

Well we know different - we know we think and we've got a lot to say but nowhere to say it. No-one to listen. I, me, myself will never be heard. I've got to be louder so I can shout and if we all shout together then we'll be heard.