Preston Manor strike may be called off after conditions of service concessions by management

NUT members at Preston Manor All-through School  will be deciding next week whether to accept the advice of their leaders and call off the strike planned for Wednesday January 23rd after concessions by the school management on conditions of service but with academy conversion going ahead.

Brent Teachers Association Secretary Jean Roberts wrote to NUT members:

Because of your determination and collective strength, your tremendous unity and solidarity throughout this whole process, you have won on EVERY point you asked for to protect your terms and conditions after conversion.

Together you have won probably the best conditions in any converter academy, not just in Brent, but in the whole of England.

This will mean that a Co-operative Academy will still go ahead but the strike ballot is still live and the union reserves the right to strike if the concessions are not written into agreements by February 1st.

Jean Roberts told members:

You all have been magnificent in your determination to oppose this conversion, first voting overwhelmingly in the staff ballot and then as NUT members voting for action when your views were just ignored – not even a governors meeting was called to discuss the result. I would hope that Matthew Lantos and the Governors realise they need to regain your trust over what had happened and to apply those Co-operative values which they signed up to.

Council challenged to exclude Veolia from Brent public realm contract

 

Following  a two year local campaign by activists in North London, French multi-national waste company Veolia withdrew from a North London Waste Authority £4.7 billion waste contract just before Christmas.  Campaigners opposed Veolia on the grounds that it abuses human rights through its complicity in Israel's violations of international law in the occupied territories of Palestine.

Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in a letter to NLWA councillors wrote:

It is my view that Veolia’s violations of the UN Global Compact principles and its deep and protracted complicity with grave breaches of international law make it an inappropriate partner for any public institution, especially as a provider of public services.

....I urge you to follow the example set by public authorities and European banks that have chosen to disassociate themselves from Veolia and take the just and principled decision not to award Veolia any public service contracts. Such a measure would contribute to upholding the rule of law and advancing peace based on justice.

Veolia currently  operates waste collection, recycling and street cleansing services in Brent in a contract that expires in 2014. The procurement process for a new contract, that also includes parks maintenance, has begun.

Brent Palestine Solidarity Campaign has pledged to campaign against its inclusion in the upcoming Brent Council public realm procurement process. Liz Lindsay, Secretary of Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign said:

Brent Council must not ignore Veolia’s grave misconduct. They should not include Veolia in their procurement short list. Otherwise they will risk Veolia pulling out at the last minute as they did with the NLWA procurement, This would leave  the Council obliged to give the contract to the only remaining bidder  left in the process.  I am sure  Brent Council will recognise Veolia’s role in Palestine and exclude Veolia from the start.

Declaration of interest. I am chair of Brent and Harrow Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Preston Manor teachers strike as Co-operative values betrayed

Values betrayed?

 Members of the National Union of Teachers at Preston Manor All Through school are to strike against the governors' intention to convert the school to become a Co-operative Academy.  Staff,  parents and the community had all been assured by the school's  headteacher Matthew Lantos and the then Chair of Governors, last year that forming a Co-operative Trust was not the first step to becoming a Cooperative Academy. The first strike will take place on Wednesday 23rd January in an attempt to force the governing body to step back from their intention to convert the school on February 1st.

The NUT wrote the following letter to parents this week.

 Dear Parents/Carers

You will be aware of the consultation over academy status. The joint education unions sent you a communication during that consultation (see overleaf) about why they believe this is NOT the right move for Preston Manor. In a secret ballot the staff rejected the move by 86.5% - a massive vote against an academy. This was also on a large turnout of staff. Parents have also voted by a good majority against the school converting.

Due to this overwhelming opposition the NUT, by far the biggest teachers union in the school,
balloted our members on possible strike action. This is particularly after the governors decided to ignore the staff and parent ballot and continue down the academy path. NUT members have voted YES by 94.6% on a high turnout to take strike action if the Governors do not listen to staff and parents.

None of our members want to go on strike and we are hoping to negotiate with Governors to at least postpone the process. Currently the school is a co-operative trust school supposedly run on a democratic basis. There has been no opportunity to develop this with almost immediate academy conversion.

The Governors are not following the Co-op values they and you agreed to.We therefore are asking the governorsto heed the democratic vote and not convert. The school, Co-op and unions have had the opportunity to put their arguments to both staff and parents/carers. No-one can claim that the facts were not clear to those voting. People clearly voted against an academy.

We ask that you support the NUT members in their action. The first day for action is proposed for Wednesday 23rd January. We really hope that this can be averted by the Head and Governors deciding to step back from conversion on 1st February.

Please contact the parent governors (details on school website) and tell them that you support the teachers and that governors should follow the democratic wish of staff and parents

Roke Primary parents denouce government 'master plan'

The Save Roke Primary School campaign in South London, which like Gladstone Park Primary faces being forced into becoming an academy  has issued the following statement after today's news that Ofsted is to focus on schools in under-performing local authorities:

Ofsted’s move to make blanket inspections across under-performing areas is front page news today. This will catch out not only failing schools but those like our school – a popular, well-achieving primary – caught out by a temporary blip in performance. Roke primary has been forced to academy status, and alarmingly, handed to David Cameron’s personal friend, mentor and major Tory donor, Lord Harris of Harris Academies raising concerns about vested interests.  

Roke parents are campaigning against rushed Academy takeover with an overwhelming majority against being coerced into forced academy. Roke Primary school has no consistent history of low standards, just one unsatisfactory Ofsted report. Despite strength of parent feeling, there is no DofE appeal procedure allowing the parents’ case to be heard. The speed at which the school has gone from being outstanding to being cast as a ‘failing’ school- in just 7 months – resulting in Roke being snatched from local authority control has taken parents by profound surprise. Many are left with questions about whether takeover has been unfairly fast tracked by the Government. 

Roke parent Debbie Shaw comments, ‘We believe that this is a concerted government master plan to catch out not only low performing schools, but wavering schools just like ours who have a temporary blip in their results. This is clearly part of a larger government agenda.”

Roke father, Nigel Geary-Andrews said, “It is alarming that the government is rushing through forced academies on schools like Roke, where there is no proven record of failure over any length of time, without any consultation with parents at all and no way of appealing. This does not seem democratic or transparent to me”.

We would like reassurance from Mr Gove that his new targeted approach will allow schools such as ours time to show that we have turned around performance in a short space of time. As well as a voice for the parents through proper consultation - and the right to appeal.

An investigation in The Guardian 15/01/13 revealed that, ‘The government may be flouting its own education guidelines’. DofEofficial directions say poorly performing primaries should only be obliged to become sponsored academies ‘when a school has been underperforming for some time and if the problems are not being tackled’.

A shotgun Ofsted inspection was announced at Roke Primary on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after it was revealed in The Guardian that, ‘The government may be flouting its own education guidelines’. Parents are eagerly awaiting the results of the monitoring visit which they believe will show evidence of excellent improvement at the school.

There is disquiet among parents about the Government’s choice of sponsor. Roke is being handed over to the Harris Federation, run by millionaire Tory Lord and Carpetright businessman, Phillip Harris- who David Cameron has named as a personal friend who helped to prepare him for power. Lord Harris has donated in excess of £2 million pounds to the Tory party, as well as personal donations to David Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson. He plays a key role in advising the government on failing schools and academy policy. 

Parent, Janine Norris expressed concern at the close relationship between the Harris Federation and Government decision-makers, ‘It concerns me and many other Roke parents that the Government has not got the good grace to seek our views or explain the decision and we can’t help but wonder whether the fact that Lord Harris has donated substantial sums to the Tory party is a significant factor’.