UPDATED WITH STATEMENT FROM SAVE BYRON COURT CAMPAIGN: Huge blow to campaigners as Secretary of State confirms Byron Court takeover by Harris Federation from September 1st.

 The community school currently known as Byron Court Primary School will open after the summer holiday as Harris Primary Academy South Kenton. The eradication of the Byron Court identity will be completed with  the appointment of a Principal, Mr Hyneman,  from within the Harris Federation; a new school uniform to be worn on September 4th, the first day of term, (see letter to parents below) and a two week half-term holiday in October for all but Year 6.

Campaigners against forced academisation had their hopes raised following what they saw as a positive end of term  meeting with the new Labour Secretary of State, Bridget Phillipson.

In a letter to the Chair of Goverrnors, Claire Burton, the DfE Regional Director, states that the Secretary of State, has confirmed the takeover by Harris from September 1st. She rejects the campaigners' call for a pause in the process to enable the school to show its progress through a re-inspection.

Many local stakeholders have voiced their desire for certainty, for the pupils, the parents, the staff and the wider community. This is particularly acute given how close we are now to the start of a new academic year. Pausing the process now will bring further uncertainty without a clear alternative. In all likelihood, it would lead to a longer period of upheaval, which is not in the best interests of the children at the school.

Ironically, Harris recognises progress already made in its letter to parents when they say they will support the school as it 'continues to raise standards.'

Regarding the Ofsted judgement of 'Inadequate',  Burton says that the school had already been in need of support prior to the inspection although that judgement may have come as a surprise to parents:

 My colleagues at Ofsted have confirmed that the Ofsted complaints process has been fully exhausted. I am aware of a further complaint to the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted (ICASO) which is independent of Ofsted. Nothing of substance has been upheld.

You will note that there is no mention of a re-inspection. This means that the next Ofsted inspection of the school will be of its Harris entity and the improvements made by the LA and current school leadership will not be captured. However, the improvements will be built on what has already been achieved as demonstrated by the recent Year 6 SAT  results.

The decision raises questions about the new Labour Government's policy both on academisation, including forced academisation, and on the much criticised Ofsted that many see as overly influenced by academy chiefs and Tory education policy.

Meanwhile Save Byron Court and the NEU must be congratulated for their energetic and persistent campaign.

Jenny Cooper, of Brent NEU said:

Yesterday, the Save Byron Court  campaign learned that Harris will be taking over on 1st September. This is a terrible decision for staff, children and community and we know it is based on an Ofsted complaints process and forced academisation system that are not fit for purpose and do not involve stakeholders. The determination of our members, reps and the local community meant that we sustained 16 strike days, countless rallies and protests, a 2100 strong petition, FOI requests ( still going), four complaints to Ofsted ( still going) and a successful delaying of TUPE three times plus a meeting with Bridget Phillipson and a further pause in the decision.

The Grunwick strikes are painted on our walls in Brent, and on our union banner; they remain an iconic part of local and national history. You do not have to win everything you ask for to win the moral fight. 

The moral fight is won. We wanted our academy order revoked but we have successfully shown that it should be and have shown ourselves and others how to fight.

Thank you to all of you who sent messages of solidarity, visited the picket lines, gave donations, wrote letters, joined the protests and helped share our story.

The members are not defeated; they have found their voices and will not be walked over.

#WeAreTheLions
#TheWorkersUnitedWillNeverBeDefeated

Simon O'Hara of the Anti-Academies Alliance said:

It's obviously a heavy blow and there's no real way of escaping that feeling, but every single person who fought should hold their heads up very, very high. Don't get too down, we all live to fight another day. And we all will until the whole rotten system and those who run it, are brought down. You never went meekly like so many others. Phillipson needs to understand that while academisation exists, the (re)building of a comprehensive, inclusive, progressive and democratic school system is impossible. You're either for academisation or you're against it. The Byron Court campaigners will always be on the right side of history. Love the fighters in Brent.

 

Save Byron Court camapaign made the following statement on Friday August 2nd:

We are devastated by Bridget Phillipson's decision to proceed with the takeover of Byron Court by Harris Federation from September. Despite us exposing major issues with the Ofsted inspection, the many aspects of this opaque system that are rigged against parents and deny us choice and voice, and presenting the major rapid improvements made proving ours is not a failing school, we have been ignored by Bridget Phillipson in much the same way as her predecessor did. Specific concerns have not been addressed; we have been denied the opportunity of reinspection; we weren't even given the courtesy of a direct reply to us or our public petition signed by over 2,000 people.

There were many factors at play that led Byron Court to forced Academisation - turbulent leadership with an absent headteacher during the inspection; ineffective support and scrutiny from Governors and the LA; an understaffed SLT - yet despite this, with parent scrutiny, greater leadership capacity, and LA support, the improvements made at the school in one academic year were incredible.

The staff at Byron Court really believed in the school and in keeping it a community school, they too are victims of this unjust system, they too were failed by those entrusted with Byron Court - we needed them to fight for us, not to hand our school over to a corporate machine. Whilst we did get public support for a pause in this process from the school leadership and chair of governors, with only a week to go before the DfE deadline, it was all too little, too late.

Save Byron Court campaigners call on Brent Council to review school governing bodies to ensure adequate parental representation and share best practice around communications between parents, schools and LA

 The delegation speaks to Full Council and Cllr Gwen Grahl, lead Cabinet member for schools,  responds

Transcript of Save Byron Court campaigners' delegation to Brent Council July 8th 2024

We're from Save Byron Court, campaign fighting against the Government driven forced academisation and takeover of Byron Court Primary School by Harris Federation. Ours is a collective effort by parents, community members and school staff, including many who have taken 15 days of strike action so far and are prepared to keep going.

Our campaign has highlighted many injustices baked in to a system that is designed against state schools - chronic underfunding, a punitive inspection regime, a national rush to privatise education despite widespread opposition and no opportunity for school improvements to be made, and a worrying lack of transparancy and impartiality with the decision making regarding the future of Byron Court. 

We've received invaluable support by Barry Gardiner MP, Cabinet member Gwen Grahl, and local politicians and candidates across the political spectrum, now it's imperative that the new Govt urgently intervenes in our case if they are indeed serious about both protecting and wanting all state schools to flourish. We need a renewed commitment to our community schools.

It is little coincidence that the recent turbulence and perceived issues in our school have occurred with  within the Governing Body. In the current academic year, we've only had 1 parent governor to vocalise and represent our views and interests. Yet only a few years ago there were 5 parent governor posts, these were subsequently cut by the Board without the consent or even consultation with the parent community. Successful governing bodies must act as custodians connected to and not untethered from parents and the wider community. Of course it's important that volunteers are found outside of the school community to ensure a broad range of skills and experience, however for too long there's been an imbalance and to our detriment.

Will the Council agree to undertake a review of school governing bodies across the borough to ensure adequate/sufficient parent voice and share ways of encouraging both more and a diverse range of parents and carers to step forward?

We've also experienced poor level of communications. 

• This is exemplified by the fact the Ofsted report was published in February

• A major concern brought up by the parent body at the time was the lack of meaningful communication from the school.

• We were told at the time that more open communication would happen in the form of meetings and emails.

• We met with council officers in April along with Cllr Grahl, where we were assured that the improvement initiatives at the school would take precedence and would be prioritised over the academisation process and its related admin.

• On multiple occasions we have reached out to Gillian Barnard (CoG) and J. Parry (Interim Executibe Headteacher ) as well as directly to council officers.

• We were advised 1st July the focus on communications out of the school were to be around the strike action.

• Irrespective of political leanings, views on academiation and even the integrity of the OFSTED inspection and report itself. Byron Court is a school that was rated “inadequate” under the Local Authority. Byron Court  is still under local authority remit . The parents and carers deserve to be informed by the LA and the school  about any improvements and initiatives that have been introduced and implemented to improve their children's learning journey and schooling experience. 

• We have been told that Byron Court is an anomaly and that Brent has 96.7% of its primary schools rated as good or outstanding.

• Many of the problems at Byron Court have been brought about through lack of engagement, communication  and transparency between parents, LA/ school.  

• What lessons can be learnt from Byron Court’s journey post-inspection that can ensure that other schools won't be met with the same possible fate.

• It would be useful for the Council to benchmark, develop & share best practice around communications

Cllr Grahl referred to DfE Guidance on Governing Bodies. This is the Guidance updated in March 2024 (after the publication of the Ofsted Report). My emphasis in bold. LINK

The total membership of a governing body must be no fewer than 7 governors and must include:

• at least 2 parent governors, elected where possible, otherwise appointed
• the headteacher (ex-officio), unless they resign the office of governor
• only one elected staff governor
• only one local authority governor, nominated by the local authority and appointed by the governing body
• foundation governors or partnership governors where appropriate, as specified in the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012

 

The governing body can also appoint co-opted governors as permitted by their instrument of government and as it considers necessary. The number of co-opted governors who are eligible to be elected or appointed as staff governors must not (when added to the one staff governor and the headteacher) exceed one-third of the total membership of the governing body (Constitution Regulations 2012 – Part 3 regulation 13)

.

Tough questions from Byron Court parents at Brent Scrutiny Committee. Why did the Rapid Improvement Group fail?

 Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Commitee: Byron Court presentation & responses

 

Two Byron Court Parents attended Scrutiny Committee thia evening to ask questions about what Brent Council had done to help the school when it was realised it was in difficulties, The Rapid Improvement Group (RIG) was set up in September 2022 more than a year before the Ofsted Inspection of November 2023.

Parents' Questions

Tanisha Phoenic: RIG history - we have put in an FOI request to help us understand how an Outstanding school with a teaching status in the borough has been left to languish, in the meantime, can the panel answer some of our questions:

 

Rig was put in place on Sept 2022, chaired by Shirley Parks. Why was RIG put in place? What issues were identified in 2022? Are some of these the same issues that Ofsted identified in their inspection?

 

What was achieved by the RIG between its inception and the Ofsted inspection in Nov 2023? How many meetings took place, what was the level of monitoring and support put in place?

 

Was it identified during the year that the RIG was in place that improvements were not being made? What interventions if any were made, were these issues escalated? If so, then where?

 

We understand that the support to the school via the RIG and SESS has not been as intensive as required i.e. meetings being frequently cancelled by Council officers. Has this in part led to the poor inspection rating?

 

Did the Council experience any barriers working effectively with the previous Headteacher and governing body?

 

We want to understand if a school mentioned in 3.3.2 that was rated “requires improvement” in 2022/2023  has had a RIG in place and been on “journey to good” - why has the RIG failed Byron Court?

 

Do the committee really believe that they have done all in their power to help the school and avoid what has now become a forced academy order?

 

 

Vina Vekria -  Assurances from now to academisation

 

Whilst we acknowledge that you are legally bound to comply with the academisation order, Gwen Grahl reaffirmed the council's commitment to supporting and improving the school and assured us additional leadership capacity would be in place after Easter. 

 

What if any guarantees can you give us that the council will be living up to its commitment to ‘protect/promote community schools’ as per the Labour manifesto? Will you commit to pushing for a reinspection?

 

We are campaigning for a reinspection of the school, what guarantees can you give that the RIG will do what is expected and required to achieve the rapid improvements needed?

 

What additional resources - mentioned by Cllr Grahl at the Cabinet meeting on 9 Apr - are being put into the school and when? Will this address the huge lack in capacity in the Senior Leadership Team?

 

Will the Scrutiny Committee agree to return to this item at their next meeting in order to provide details of actions put in place?

 

There was no specific reply to the RIG question or on resources as applied to Byron Court although it was claimed that RIGs were generally successful.   Cllr Grahl spoke about her letter to the Secretary of State and offered to meet with parents. Cllr Ketan Sheth (Chair) said the Committee would keep a watching brief and parents could submit questions to the Committee. Answering a councillor's question Brent officers said that they were confident that no other Brent school would suffer a similar fate to Byron Court.

This is the FoI request made to Brent Council:

Dear Brent Council,

I am writing to you on behalf of over 130 parents involved in the ‘Byron Court Parents’ Campaign group’. The group represents parents who are opposed to the forced academisation of the school following Ofsted’s report.

We urgently request under the Freedom of Information Act the following:

Date of the initiation of Rapid Improvement Group (RIG), details of reasons(or redacted) the RIG was requested/instigated
Date of RIG was put into place
RIG Lead and its members
Aims and Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) of the RIG
Minutes from RIG meetings
Details (or redacted) of improvements achieved

'Save our School' - Byron Court Primary resists forced academisation and privatisation: Demonstration 8am Thursday+petition

While I have been away from Wembley Matters in Australia,  staff and parents of Byron Court Primary School have moved with impressive speed to resist being forced into becoming a Harris Academy after a poor Ofsted report. Harris itself ha a poor reputation for its treatment of staff and the enormous salary of its boss. Removing the school from the oversight of the local authority (Brent Council) removes democratic accountability. With support from Brent Education Department the school is already making great progress to address the issues highlighted by Ofsted and the process of academisation would in itself be disruptive to those efforts.

The community is mobilising to save its community school.

Joint Secretary of Brent National Education Union, Jenny Cooper, said:

Our position is that the workforce, as major stakeholders in our schools, should be part of the decision making about their future; as things stand, we see our members once again suffering with work-related stress and anxiety as a direct result of the damaging process we call 'Ofsted'. One-word judgements do nothing to support or help improve our schools; all they do is help steer our school staff on a fast-track to mental breakdown.

 

 This is the wording of the petition you can sign at

https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/save-byron-court-primary-school-stop-the-academisation

To: Gillan Barnard, Chair of Governors; Richard Sternberg, Acting Headteacher; Cllr Muhammed Butt, Brent Council Leader; Gillian Keegan MP, Secretary of State for Education; Damian Hinds MP, Minister of State for Schools

Save Byron Court Primary School - Stop the Forced Academisation

Campaign created by

⮞ JOINT PETITION BY 'SAVE BYRON COURT' PARENT CAMPAIGN GROUP AND BRENT NEU ⮜

Our school is being forced into becoming an Academy and join a Multi-Academy Trust, following a poor Ofsted rating. If this goes ahead:

🢜 everything that has made Byron Court an outstanding school before and a special place within the heart of our community will be lost;

🢜 there is no guarantee that any of the improvements or stability needed will be made; on the contrary, academisation could well bring plenty of new problems, particularly the loss of well-loved and valued teaching & support staff who could be forced out;

🢜 and yet Byron would never return to being a community school for all

Our own surveys have revealed that almost two-thirds of parents want Byron to remain a community school; the overwhelming majority of the staff want this too. Yet, we are currently locked out of any discussions and do not have a vote on the school's future.

How can it be fair or right that those who will be most affected - the staff, the families, the local community - are ignored?

We also recognise:

🢜 the significant failings with the Ofsted inspection itself;

🢜 recent changes introduced by Ofsted to make the inspection regime more supportive but which were brought in weeks after Byron's inspection;

🢜 Ofsted's 'Big Listen' consultation, which includes looking into the "impact of inspections on children, professionals, institutions and parent choices", implying an acceptance by themselves that significant change is needed;

🢜 and the school's progress, both already made and planned, under a Rapid Improvement Plan being closely monitored by Brent Council

The Secretary of State for Education has imposed an Academy Order on our school by force - this means that government officials will be making decisions behind closed doors about the future of our school. This is not fair, transparent, nor democratic.

BUT IT'S NOT TOO LATE!!!! Together we can fight to make things different

WE CALL ON GILLAN BARNARD, RICHARD STERNBERG & CLLR MUHAMMED BUTT TO:

🢜 Listen to parents, staff and the community

🢜 Fight against plans to academise the school without the consent or properly considering the views of parents, governors or the Council

🢜 Push for a delay in the transfer to any Multi-Academy Trust, to give sufficient time for improvements to be made in the school

🢜 Challenge Ofsted - express parent and staff concerns around the previous inspection; fight for re-inspection after sufficient time to review improvements, and under any new framework that comes out of the 'Big Listen' consultation

🢜 Give us the chance to remain a community school

WE CALL ON GILLIAN KEEGAN & DAMIAN HINDS TO:

🢜 Withdraw the Academy Order imposed on Byron Court Primary School

Why is this important?

🢜 Ensure an equal, non-selective environment with a focus on the whole child, an approach that doesn't achieve academic excellence or good behaviour by excluding children or making them scared to be in school

🢜 Give a say to those that it will impact most - the staff, the families, the local community

🢜 Stop the privatisation of our children's education

HOW ELSE CAN YOU HELP?

Write to your local councillors: https://bit.ly/BrentCounc

Write to Barry Gardiner MP: barry.gardiner.mp@parliament.uk

Follow us: https://twitter.com/savebyroncourt
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savebyroncourt
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savebyroncourt

Donate to our Campaign fundraising page: https://gofund.me/c696a920

Byron Court strikes against forced academisation continue on Friday and subsequent weeks

 From Brent National Education Union

 

NEU members at Byron Court Primary School are striking again 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 14^th JUNE 7.30-9.30am! [Subsequent dates: 18^th/19^th June, 25^th/27^th June and 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th July]

 

Staff at Byron Court Primary School in Wembley continue to strike to save their local community school from a forced “academy order” following an intimidating Ofsted inspection. They are striking  following their protest, alongside parents and the NASUWT outside the DfE last week in which a petition of over 2000 signatures was handed over, supported by Barry Gardiner, the constituency Labour Candidate.

 

THE NEU HAVE YESTERDAY LAUNCHED A “GO YELLOW” CAMPAIGN ACROSS ALL BRENT SCHOOLS in which staff are asked to wear yellow or black as an act of solidarity with striking members at Byron Court. Yellow and black are the current Byron Court uniform colours and the campaign is launched on the day that Harris Federation are forcing their way into the school to “consult” pupils on a new uniform.

 

Staff have today heard that the proposed TUPE consultation will not conclude until AFTER the general election, bringing real hope that the incoming Secretary of State will pause this forced academisation process.

 

Jenny Cooper of the NEU national executive has stated:

 

Forced academisation is a process opposed by most education unions and flies in the face of democracy; this should not happen in a civilised society. We call on all political parties to reverse this policy if elected and to start by intervening to save Byron Court

Decision time for mega primary plans for Byron Court next week

'Mega' primary schools are another consequence of the government's policy banning local authorities building new schools where needed. Instead councils are forced to expand existing schools, some as large as 5 forms of entry - 1,050 4-11 year olds in one building.

The expansion of Bryon Court Primary school was firmly rejected in the public consultation:

The objections included:

 Impact on the character and ethos of Byron Court 


             Affect child development and integration – including behaviour, language barriers and the impact of 
proposed ‘zoned areas’ in the expanded school 


             Reduce attention to pupils and affect school results 


             Impact on teaching standards 


             Limit facilities after expansion, especially green spaces for outdoor play and extra curricular activities 


             Affect education because of the building work 


             Over-expand an existing school when a new school should be built 


             Queries over the need for school places in Brent 


             Queries over the need for school spaces in the Sudbury Court Estate (SCE) – particularly in view of the 
new primary school at Wembley High Technical College 


             Health and safety considerations of expansion- particularly playground accidents and illness 


             Potential car accidents 


             Implications of long distance travel to school on parents and pupils 


             Noise, litter and wildlife 


             Suitability of the site for large development; particularly its residential nature, narrow roads and 
susceptibility to flooding 


             Traffic, congestion and pollution 


             The relationship between parents and staff 


             Effect of building work on residents 


             Potential to attract further regeneration, housing and leisure in Brent 


             Parking and inconsiderate parents 


             House value and amenities- especially the right to light and privacy 


              Previous promises from the school against expansion 

Objectors include parents from the school, residents and Barry Gardiner MP.  However Cabinet approved the scheme and  the legal advice to the Planning Committee when the application is heard on Wednesday LINK  will be that only planning issues should be taken into consideration. 

 
 The following extracts are from the  current Planning Application:

Comments supporting the application have been received from the school and one individual householder.

The reasons for supporting the school expansion are set out below:

School expansion is needed to meet the increased population demands in the Borough.
The school has to teach some pupils off site in the Ashley Gardens annexe. These children wouldotherwise not have a school place.

School is suitable for expansion as it has OFSTED Outstanding status, teaching school accreditation, and has committed and talented staff and vision.

The school needs a canteen, a bigger hall and also the classrooms outside requires refurbishing.
Additional space and facilities will greatly enhance the teaching and learning opportunities and will provide children with a better environment in which to learn.

In contrast 1,469 people signed a petition expressing support for the ojections below:

An objection has been received from Sudbury Court Residents Associatio raising the following items:

1.  March Cabinet decision to proceed based on incorrect data - Primary driver for 5FE expansion no longer applicable
2.  Adverse Traffic Impacts
3.  Flooding risk: Proposed development will cause surface water / sewage flooding
5.  Parental concerns regarding the expansion
6.  Educational risk - Risk of jeopardizing Byron Court rating and standards
7.  Highway regulations and Health & Safety compliance failure for proposed Nathans access.
8.  Inadequate separation of new Nathans access from adjoining property.
9.  There should be appropriate segregation between pedestrians and vehicles
10.       Vast Majority of parents and residents opposed to proposal
11.       Ecological concerns
12.       Traffic problems expected during construction works.

The above objection is accompanied by a petition supporting the objections raised above. The petition is signed by 1469 persons.

Councillor Perrin- objections have been received on the following grounds:

Transportation and safety - congestion, cars parked illegally on yellows, no loading, school zig zags andof course the pavements and across (sometime in) driveways.

Failing to comply with Travel Plan - no school staff in the street at all.
  
Parents from Alperton and Wembley want a school place closer to home, so they do not need to drive. 

Query on amount of runoff (using averages) that will flow into the sewers and changes to local groundwater/table.

Proposal should comply with SUDS policy

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.

 

On the third strike day Byron Court strikers and supporters are in good heart and voice

 

Outside theBrent Civic Centre...

 and inside

Byron Court strikers and their parent and community supporters took their protest from the picket line to Brent Civic Centre this morning. Their energery remains undiminished on the third strike day against forced academisation and determinations has, if anything, increased.

Daniel Kebede, NEU General Secretary joined the picket line and congratulated the campign on their 'push back' on forced academisation that would stand as an example to others:

 

 

Buoyed by the support, including that of three Brent councillors, the strikers and supporters were in good voice on the picket line and at the Civic Centre. 

 

 

 

Yesterday one of the Byron Court NEU representatives, Alice Butterton, told Wembley Matters about the impact of the Ofsted judgement on staff and parents. (The Byron Court girls cricket team won their cricket tournament!) 

 

Barry Gardiner and Brent Council at loggerheads over mega primary

The Kilburn Times LINK reports today that Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North,  accompanied by Martin Dickens, chair of Parents Against Byron Court School Expansion and Suzanne D'Sousa, chair of Sudbury Court Residents Association, met with DfE officials to protest at plans to expand Byron Court Primary School to 5 forms of entry.

Brent Council proposals would increase the school to a total of 1,050 4-11 year olds plus nursery. Gardiner accused the Council of putting their statutory responsibility to provide school places above the well-being of pupils.

Brent Council has been under intense pressure over  primary school places for several years now and has moved from providing ad hoc 'bulge classes' to permanent expansions. The situation is exacerbated by rules under the Coalition and the present government that forbid local authorities from building new schools where they are needed. Instead any new school must be a free school or an academy which is of course dependent on providers coming forward.  Unfortunately this leaves provision at the whim of such providers who often make proposals in areas which are not those of greatest need.

In the secondary sector in Brent some academies have come forward with proposals for a new Brent North secondary free school that they will jointly sponsor.  There haven't been any similar proposals for primary so an increasing number of schools have doubled in size, affecting place space and facilities such as halls and libraries, as well as impacting on the ethos and management of the schools.

One loophole that is rapidly closing is the creation of 'satellite' schools under the auspices of an existing school but in a different building, often some distance from the 'parent' school.  Leopold Primary is such a school with an annex in Brentfield Road.  The DfE is likely to deem these to be new local authority schools in the future and thus not allowed.

I share the view that schools of this size are not suitable for the education of young children.  Sometimes plans are made for expansion with headteachers only for their long-term implementation and consolidation to be left to their successors. The arguments over the education benefot of very large primary schools have beenpreviously on Wembley Matters LINK

Mega primary schools result in highly paid headteachers who often have an 'executive' role quite different from the traditional role of the headteachers of smaller schools. There are increasing difficulties in recruiting new headteachers in the current climate created by government policy and the task of finding suitable candidates for mega primary schools, when current headteachers move on, is daunting.

Government policy, inherited from the Gove era, really must change - it does not serve the interests of children, parents or local democratic accountability.

Brent Council told the Kilburn Times that the decision to approve the expansion would not be reviewed.

This comment on the Council planning site gives a flavour of the opposition to the expansion which it is claimed was opposed by 90% of consultees (unedited)  LINK


There are several words I could use to describe my objection to this application: DISGUST that a proposal which had such overwhelming objection at the public consultation stage was passed through to planning. DISBELIEVE/OUTRAGE that the local councillor and cabinet members response to such objections was that most of them could be resolved at planning - the site is too small meaning the proposed building will be obtrusive to the immediate neighbours and detriment to our children's health as they will no longer be able to enjoy the fast array for physical activities currently available at the school; isolated in an already congested residential area - with increasing congestion and pollutions levels being experienced on East Lane and Watford roads as the main roads serving the estate; the school places are not needed in this area of the borough, Wembley High's primary school (when finished) will already provide a surplus of places in the area meaning the new attendees will have to be travelling some distance coursing further traffic and parking issues in the immediate and wider area (because of the limited public transport available in such an isolated area at the northern most boundary of the borough); and that the proposals are completely out of character for the area - frankly unless you are proposing to relocate the entire school to a more suitable location these are not issues which can be resolved. DISAPPOINTMENT at the behaviour of the Head teacher - backtracking on her own statement of a few years ago that "three form entry was more than big enough for a primary school" and her attempts to garner support from the parents by holding propaganda assemblies about the proposed new facilities with the children, sending them home to tell their parents to support it and the attitude of the school management and councillors in pushing these proposals forward are to the detriment of the local community. A state school, local council and its democratically elected members should be there to serve its community not to impose its own agenda irrespective of the needs and wishes of that community - it is telling that the only comments of support for this application have given the school address or addresses outside of Brent for their authors. As parents, of course we want better facilities for our children, of course we want the existing canteen with its leaky asbestos roof (which should have been condemned decades ago) replaced, of course we want to see the 'temporary structure' (porter cabin classrooms) which have been in use since the 1970's & 80's replaced with permanent classrooms in keeping with the current school architecture. BUT not at the expense of an intimate, cohesive, caring educational establishment which you should expect of a primary school and I am sure you cannot replicate in a school the size of the one being proposed. I urge those with the power to make a decision in this matter to reject it for the good of the children already attending the school and for the wider local community. Why should this small corner of the borough bear the brunt of the councils lack of planning over the last decade for an ever increasing population, coursed both by the increasing birth rate and the unsustainable over development without infrastructure (some distance away from Byron Court) in Alperton and Wembley Park and at other locations across the borough (but not immediately local to Byron Court)?