Children's authors slam phonics tests

A item from the Guardian to give teachers heart over the holidays. Three cheers for our children's authors!

More than 90 of Britain's best-known children's authors and illustrators have called on the government to abandon its plans to introduce early-year reading tests, warning that they pose a threat to reading for pleasure in primary schools.

The former children's laureate Michael Rosen is leading the writers' charge against a phonics-intensive approach to teaching young children how to read.

A letter to the Guardian signed by 91 names including Meg Rosoff, Philip Ardagh and Alan Gibbons says millions is being spent on "systematic synthetic phonics programmes" even though there is "no evidence that such programmes help children understand what they are reading".

Rosen told the Guardian: "It does not produce reading for understanding, it produces people who can read phonically."

The letter calls on the government to abandon plans for reading tests, specifically the phonics screening check at the end of year one and the spelling, punctuation and grammar (Spag) test at the end of year six.
The former requires five- and six-year-olds to sound out the letters of a short word or nonsense word and blend them to make the word (for example: emp, sheb, shelf, splok, blow, pine).

Rosen claimed schools were coaching children through the process and at least half were still failing. Many were failing because they were trying to correct the nonsense words, he said, for example saying "strom" as "storm".

"It is incredibly baffling to most parents because it sounds as if they are being told that their child has failed at reading, which is not the case," he said.

The proposed Spag test is to be sat by children at the end of primary school as a way of addressing what the government sees as a lack of attention given to spelling and grammar in recent years.

Rosen said it would mean teachers spending months on a "drill, skill and kill" programme, "trying to get them to pass this thing. It's bad enough with Sats. Anyone who has a year six child will know that for the past six months up until the Sats test, our children have been drilled and drilled, doing paper after paper, when they could have been writing, reading and playing with language in all kinds of ways.

"They have no evidence that any of this stuff they've imposed will actually improve children's writing. If they produced it, perhaps we'd have to shut up, but they don't."

The letter highlights a recent Ofsted report, Moving English Forward, which recommended that the government should call on schools to develop policies on reading for enjoyment. "To date there has been no such move by government," it says.

Instead the government has concentrated on phonics programmes. "As a result, more school time will be devoted to reading as an academic, test-driven exercise; less time will be available for reading and writing enjoyment.

"We deplore this state of affairs and consider that the quality of children's school lives is about to be altered for the worse."

Real spirit of Olympics wins out over corporate hijack

Children, parents and teachers herald the Olympic Torch

Local people turned out in force today as the Olympic Torch came along Forty Lane.  The contradictions of the Olympics were much in evidence with the commercialisation competing with more traditional values of community and diversity.

Just before the Torch was due a Samsung vehicle drew up and in what at times was a potential mini-riot started distributing 'blow-up' Samsung flags on which Samsung's name was very large and the Olympic rings symbol very small. Samsung cheer leaders tried to get the crowd banging their Samsung advertising flags together to welcome the torch.



At first it looked as if  the hand-painted  banners made by school children with the Mahogany Carnival Arts workshop would be over-shadowed by corporate plastic  but as the photographs shows the beautiful banners won out.

The torch itself was preceded by sponsor vehicles from Samsung, Cocoa Cola and Lloyd's bank - the latter drew a shout of 'Give us back our money!'.

Nonetheless beneath the corporate shenanigans there was real enthusiasm and a sense of history being made from a typically diverse Brent crowd.

Local MPs should back zero waste EDM

With air pollution a constant concern in London, and particularly in Brent, readers may wish to ask our local members of parliament to sign Early Day Motion 383 on 'Zero waste strategies, recycling and incineration'. With possible incinerators at Brent Cross and Park Royal the quality of our air and its impact on the young, unwell and elderly is a vital local issue.

EDM 383

That this House notes the European Parliament's adoption by a large majority, on 24 May 2012, of a resolution on a Resource Efficient Europe, which commits to working towards a zero waste strategy and the Parliament's call on the Commission to bring forward legislative proposals, by the end of 2014, to ban both landfill and the incineration of recyclable and compostable waste in Europe, by 2020; further notes growing evidence of incinerator overcapacity in the UK by 2015, which seriously risks harming recycling performance, as has already happened in some European countries; further notes UK figures showing a steady and significant decline in residual waste since the middle of the last decade - even allowing for the economic recession - and rising recycling rates; acknowledges the impact that these developments will have on the economic case for, and environmental sustainability of, mass-burn incinerators in the UK within a decade; and calls on the Secretaries of State for the Environment, Energy and Climate Change, and Communities and Local Government, and the Financial Secretary to the Treasury to work together to examine how government policy can positively facilitate the pursuit of zero waste strategies, and to report to Parliament on their findings as a matter of urgency, as many local communities across the country are currently opposing their local waste authorities' costly, environmentally damaging and unsustainable plans to build mass-burn incineration plants.

Sixteen MPs including Labour, Liberal Democrat, Conservative, Democratic Unionist and Green have signed so far.Full list HERE

Tara Brady a champion of the people of Brent, leaves tomorrow

Tara Brady, senior reporter of the Brent and Kilburn Times, has been making the news herself tonight, following her announcement that tomorrow is her last day with the newspaper. She, like her predecessor Kate Ferguson, is moving to the Ham and High (Hampstead and Highgate Express) which is also in the Archant Group.

The Kensal Rise Library Campaign said:

The Save Kensal Rise Library Campaign would like to thank Tara for her part in defending this community through her continued commitment to investigating those in authority and the impact their decisions have on communities.

She is indeed a defender of the community.

We wish her all the best as she leaves the Brent and Kilburn Times. We will miss her as will the many communities she has helped in Brent.

Kensal Triangle Residents tweeted:

What will the good people of Brent do without you. Thursday's essential reading for the last few years. 

The work of Tara, Lorraine King and latterly Max Walters have made the Brent and Kilburn Times essential reading. They have shifted it from the usual local paper fodder of crime and rewritten press releases to genuine stories that emerge from the local community. The BKT campaigned to save Kilburn College and through its coverage and investigations supported the many campaigns around the libraries, as well as battles over the Charteris Sports Centre and local nursery closures. They are now getting behind the campaign to Save Central Middlesex A&E.

It is no secret that some of our councillors and council officers have been peed off with them at times but a vigorous local press is absolutely essential to democracy and, as current national events show, too close a relationship between press and politicians is not good good for democracy.

It is right that the relationship is tetchy at times.

I wish Tara all the best in her new job and look forward to her swansong in Thursday's edition with some  anticipation.

Friends of Kensal Rise to attend 'Block Viewings' at library

Now the talk moves on.....

 Cluttons, the property agents for All Souls College will be holding 'Block Viewings' of the library on Wednesday 1 August from 9am to 12 noon.

This will give 'interested parties' an opportunity to view the library with a view to purchasing or leasing the building.

The Friends of Kensal Rise Library are preparing their proposal to the College and will be at the library too. 
 
We would be very happy to talk about our plans as we think we have the best proposal and we won't give up easily the fight to save the library for this community.
 
Petition to All Souls

The online petition is here and it would be great if you could sign it and circulate it to your friends:

http://www.change.org/petitions/all-souls-college-oxford-university-save-kensal-rise-library

Potential purchasers viewing Kensal Rise Library on August 1st?

I am unable to confirm but I have received a Tweet  saying All Souls College are holding block viewings of Kensal Rise Library for potential purchasers  on Wednesday August 1st 9am to noon.

Brent Council warns governors on headteachers' pay and procurement

Brent Council has written to governors, clerks to governor bodies and school leadership teams warniong them of the need to comply with regulations on the pay of headteachers.

Clive Heaphy, Director of Finance and Corporate Services, wrotes that the Council's recent survey has:

...revealed that a significant proportion of (Brent) Governing Bodies have approved salaries for head teachers that exceeds the levels permitted by the school's head teacher group as defined by the school's pupil numbers...

He goes on to say that schools that have set an Indiivudal School Range above the headteacher groups are:

 ...on average remunerating headteachers in excess of an additional 10% per annum - much more in many cases. While some schools have provided acceptable reasons for paying above the cap, the review has demonstrated that a large number of Governing Bodies have allowed incremental increases in head teacher pay either without good reasons or  factors outside the  criteria set out in the School Teachers Pay and Conditions guidance.

 Heaphy says if the Governing Body becomes aware that this is the situation it is incumbent on them to take appropriate action to remedy the situation within a reasonable period of time.

He concludes:

I apologise if this letter is direct but the situation within Brent schools is a serious one and I need to be sure as the person ultimately responsible for all school spending in the Borough, that Governors, Clerks and Leadership Teams are fully aware of the framework under which you operate.

Last week Heaphy and the Brent Audit Team experienced close questioning at the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee over this issue and the problem of excessive and exploitative procurement and leasing agreements entered into by schools.

Clive Heaphy frankly told the meeting that he was not confident of schools' capacity to take action on these issues. Stating that he was 'not happy with the state of things'  he said he would continue to put pressure on schools.In future he would be requiring local authority schools to make an annual return on headteacher pay. Brent had no statutory authority over academies or free schools.

Cllr Michal Pavey asked if this amounted to a admission that before these actions the authority's monitoring had been 'inadequate'. Heaphy denied this stating that other local authorities, uncovering similar issues, were coming to Brent for advice. Lesley Gouldbourne for the teacher associations welcomed the 'very full' report given to the Committee and congratulated the council on its proactive approach. She warned if the impact of financial mismanagement on both on schools' reputations and on taking money away from children's learning resources. Gouldbourne asked for more resources to be devoted to auditing but Cllr Mary Arnold (lead member for Children and Families) said Brent already devoted more hours to school audits than other boroughs.

Several councillors declared an interest at the beginning of the meeting as they were governors of various schools in the borough. Cllr Michael Pavey was particularly forensic asking if the headteacher's responsibility to advise governors on the regulations about headteacher pay was not in itself a conflict of interest.

It emerged that no secondary school and only half of Brent's primary schools now use Brent Council's  in-house payroll system and so early clues to over-renumeration could not be spotted through HR officers' monitoring when glaring discrepancies, such as a head of a small school being paid more than the head of a much larger one, became apparent.

Additionally in the Copland case, as a  grant maintained school it had appointed its own auditors and checks had been much less in-depth than those of the Brent Audit Team. The Copland case, involving additional payments, was different from the headteacher pay scale issue. Members expressed concern that, as more schools became academies. or free schools were set up, the possibility of further such cases in terms of both pay and procurement would increase.

The second major issue, procurement and leasing,  produced more searching questions from the Committee members. They were told that a small number of schools had entered arrangements with Finance Companies and that the amount involved was 'very material' in a small number of schools. In five schools the amounts were such that it could affect their financial future.Brent Council was taking group legal action on behalf of a number of schools over leasing arrangements in a process that could take 10 months.

Asked about what action the Council could take on such issues officers replied that when schools went into deficit the Council would agree a Deficit Reduction Plan requiring the school to return to a balanced budget within a reasonable period.. Challenged on what action could be taken if a governing body were uncooperative or did not agree with what had been requested Simon Lane explained that the Council did have powers but these were draconian, employing a sledgehammer to crack a nut. The governing body could be removed but this needed the permission of the Secretary of State,  or delegated financial powers taken away from the governing body with the council running the finances. The schools could challenge the latter and  the council didn't  have the resources to run the budget themselves.

There was further discussion about financial training for governors and whether that should me mandatory, at least for chairs, and on recruiting governors with financial expertise. No information was produced on how many governors had taken advantage of the financial training on offer and whether all schools had been involved.

In terms of a time line Simon Lane from the Audit Team said that headteacher pay should be regularised within 3 months; the legal case resolved in 10 months and that individual school investigations were ongoing but an update would be produced in six months.

It was good to see a Scruitiny Commiitee doing its job thoroughly. I  fact time ran out and the very important issue of Children's Safeguarding was postponed until a later meeting. 

Serious concerns must remain over financial mismanagement, particularly as council staffing is reduced, schools become more autonomous, and out-sourcing become more prevalent. I think what concerns me most about this is that these issues take way from the main function of headteachers, governors and schools: improving teaching and the learning of pupils.

Children to lose hot meals at Brent school?

Message from GMB union posted today

No more hot meals?

 GMB Union is fighting to save the jobs of seven catering staff at Our Lady of Grace RC Junior School Dollis Hill Lane. Jobs are under threat as a result of the school’s decision to move from a full school meals service to a sandwiches only service which will be available only to pupils entitled to free school meals. The school will provide nothing at all for other pupils.

Mary Turner, GMB Branch Secretary and National President said “The decision by the Head Teacher and the Governors of the school is unacceptable on every level".

School staff were only made aware a few days before the end of the school term for the summer holidays. The employer catering contractor, ISS Catering, is seeing if it can relocate the staff to other schools in the borough. However, some staff will have to travel long distances from one end of the Brent to the other if they are lucky enough to find an alternative job.

The school has said that no decision had been taken, but a sandwich provider turned up at the school with samples.

The decision to provide a sandwich only service to pupils entitled to free school meals will identify them as children of parents on benefits and these children could face bullying as a result. Under the previous service free school meals pupils were integrated with those who paid for their school meals, so nobody could be singled out.

This will come as a shock to all parents of pupils at the school as the head teacher and governors have failed to consult them or GMB.

GMB is calling on the school to re-think its decision and is asking for the Diocese of Westminster and Brent Council to intervene.”

Broad beans and cabaret this afternoon

I popped down to my allotment yesterday afternoon to see what I could harvest in preparation for cooking a dish for this afternoon's Brent Stop the War/PSC fundraiser. Pretty dispiriting compared with last year when courgettes, french beans etc were available. This year the slugs have had them and much else beside. The combination of early drought and later heavy rain - and lack of warm sunshine - has been devastating.  I have been left with lots of broad beans and a few globe artichokes so I am having to use my imagination and creativity. Plenty of raspberries for summer pudding but sweet corn has barely moved for weeks.

All this has led to many conversations with fellow allottees, not just about climate change but also recognising that if we were small-holders relying on our crops to feed our families this year, they would probably starve. Which of course confronts you with the realities of farming in this country as well as subsistence farming abroad. Salutary

Anyway the sun is out so this afternoon's fund-raiser in a lovely garden in Willesden Green with wonderful food, live music (including a cabaret performance by Green Party member Deborah Fink) and bar should go well.  The garden party starts at 4pm so there is still time to book your ticket.

Cash bar. For more information or to reserve your ticket

ring / text 07951 084 101

Trolley queues at over-stretched Northwick Park A&E

Brent Green Party member, Pete Murry, was recently admitted to Northwick  Park Accident and Emergency ward. In the following Guest Blog Pete reflects on his experience which raises issues of concern for what the future holds if Central Middlesex and several other neighbouring A&Es close.

At about 7.30 pm on Monday 9^th July 2012, I was told by a member of the STARRS District Nurses, (based at Central Middlesex Hospital), that based on my blood tests, STARRS and my GP had decided to have me hospitalised by ambulance. I assume that this was because my mobility was very restricted at the time and that this was the quickest way to get me to hospital.

The ambulance arrived at my house in Dollis Hill at about 8pm.  I asked the ambulance crew if I would be going to Central Middlesex Hospital, as this was where I had gone when I had been hospitalised previously. I was told I could not go there as the Accident and Emergency Department CMH closed at 8.30pm. It was therefore decided to take me to Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow.

The ambulance arrived at Northwick Park Accident and Emergency at about 9pm. I was wheeled into the hospital lying prone on a stretcher accompanied by two ambulance men, the three of us immediately joined a queue of other potential A and E patients on stretchers or wheelchairs, each also accompanied by ambulance crews and sometimes also by friends and/or relatives. As far as I could make out in the queue in front of me consisted of about six or seven patients and others were frequently joining the queue after me.

I don’t recall any of the other patients in the queue shouting out, crying or giving any indication of being in great distress, so I have no idea if there was any procedure for emergencies to go to the front of the queue. If such procedure existed it would have made the wait of the “more routine” patients longer.

The restriction that was causing the queue seemed to be the number of available curtained –off A&E treatment areas available, until one became vacant, patients had to queue. When an earlier a patient was moved out of one of these treatment areas, a patient from the queue could be moved into it and also then be formally transferred from the care of the ambulance crew into that of the A and E Department.

I don’t know, but I assume that as well as arriving at Northwick Park A and E by ambulance, potential patients may have been arriving by other means.

By about 9.55pm, I was at the head of the queue, at this stage the member of A and E personnel in charge of handover ‘re-designated’ two Gynaecology rooms as being empty spaces available for A and E admissions.  I was wheeled into one of these rooms by about 9.58pm.

The ambulance crew who had had charge of me until then explained that if a patient was logged as waiting for one hour, this became logged as an “incident”, which apparently meant extra paperwork for both the ambulance crew and the A and E staff.

Within about 15 minutes I was moved from the Gynaecology room to one of the curtained –off A and ;E treatment areas and the use of the Gynaecology rooms seems to have been a temporary ad-hoc measure to deal with the queues of ambulance patients, but it was taking place at 9pm on a Monday night when there were no adverse conditions or unusual events adding to the number of potential A and E admissions.

After my wait in the queue, I was not fully tested and assessed in A and E and transferred to a ward until about 2am, but I think I was dealt with as promptly as possible by the A nd E staff. My concern is how much of the initial wait before I was assessed by Aand E was due to Northwick Park A and E having to deal with extra cases such as mine who might otherwise have gone to Central Middlesex Hospital.

 

It seems that the run down of Accident and Emergency  facilities at CMH, (let alone their total closure), may displace demand onto other facilities which may not have the capacity to deal with them promptly. Further more the reduction or closure of CMH Accident and Emergency  a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ in regard to ambulance admissions, because ambulance patients have to go where they are taken, which may not necessarily be the nearest or best source of treatment.

If an ambulance can’t take a patient to a closed facility does this show a lack of demand for the facility that has been closed?

Wembley Olympics - summer jams ahead?

With Lorraine King at the Kilburn Times managing to get Transport for London to admit that they have rephased traffic lights ahead of the Olympics LINK, resulting in tailbacks; road closures on Wednesday for the Torch procession, and Olympic lanes around venues, advice to residents not to use Wembley Park station, we can expect some confusion in the weeks ahead. 

The video below attempts to explain the restrictions.  It has collected a number of critical comments, including some suggesting that the arrangements are really for corporate sponsors, rather than athletes and officials as the video claims. 

Brent MPs under pressure to take up hospitals fight

Sarah Teather, Barry Gardiner, and Glenda Jackson have been targeted by campaigners against hospital closures and privatisation of the NHS in a petition launched this week. The petition reads:

To: NHS NW London, Sarah Teather MP, Glenda Jackson MP, Barry Gardiner MP,

NHS NW London is consulting on proposals which would mean the accident and emergency department at Central Middlesex Hospital, already closed at night, closing for ever. This could be the first step in the downgrading of the hospital, which serves some of the most deprived wards in Brent with the greatest health needs.

We the undersigned demand: 

· The reopening of A & E at Central Middlesex Hospital to provide a full 24 hour emergency service with all necessary back up.

· No cuts to community, mental health or other services. The government can find money for the banks, they should restore the £1billion they are cutting from NW London Health Services.

· An end to privatisation which provides an inferior service for patients and cuts in jobs, pay or worse working conditions for staff, creaming off profits for private companies.

Campaigning organisations will be collecting signatures over the summer and into the autumn. You can run off your own copy using the link below and collect signatures in your workplace or neighbourhood.

Exciting race to get Wembley Central ready for Olympics

Will it be ready for Wednesday?

The refurbishment of Wembley Central station has been dragging on for years and this blog has frequently called attention to its state of dilapidation and suggested it makes a poor Olympic gateway.

Last week suddenly scaffolding was erected on the exposed and rotting shed like structure above the station and it looked like something was happening.  Alas, yesterday afternoon  at 3pm when this photograph was taken, no work was going on.

It is possible that one of those pinkish-purplish Olympic banners that are going up all over Wembley will be strung across the façade to hide the sins beneath, or will a glossy new station sign be erected in time?

The torch procession will be coming along the High Road outside the station at 10.45am on Wednesday morning. It looks like an exciting finish - will Wembley Central station be ready in all its refurbished glory?

Persuade Brent Council to campaign on Central Middlesex A&E Closure

Could local hospitals cope with something similar after closures?

 Local resident Carol Foster has launched the e-petition below: Anyone of any age who lives or works in Brent can sign the petition. Follow this LINK

We, the undersigned, petition Brent Council to do all in its power to prevent the closure of the Accident and Emergency Department at Central Middlesex Hospital. This will include making the case against the closure and seeking support for this position on all appropriate bodies on which the council is represented.

SUPPORTING INFORMATION

•  North West London NHS is consulting on proposals in 'Shaping A Healthier Future' which would mean that Central Middlesex Hospital's Accident and Emergency Department, already closed overnight, will close for good. This is likely to be the first step in the complete down-grading of the hospital and its potential closure in the long term.
• The hospital serves some of the most deprived wards of South Brent which have poor transport links with Northwick Park Hospital, the likely alternative A & E.
•  The area is the location of major roads including the North Circular and the Harrow Road; railway lines including the Euston-Birmingham main line, Overground, Bakerloo, Chiltern, Metropolitan and Jubilee lines, a major industrial area in Park Royal; as well as waste management and other potentially pollution causing processing plants in the Neasden area. The area also includes the major venues at Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena.
•  All of the above are potential locations for major incidents necessitating ready access to an Accident and Emergency facility.
•  Ealing Council has already committed itself to actively fighting the proposals and Brent Council should do the same.

Wembley's re-cycling graffiti wall ready for Olympics

Readers may be interested in this press release from Seneca, a subsidiary of Careys:

Waste management company Seneca has unveiled a 508-foot long recycling–inspired mural at its materials recycling facility (MRF) in Wembley, North West London, in a bid to tackle a graffiti problem at the site.

The company was approached by the Brent Graffiti Partnership, which includes Brent council, British Transport Police, Network Rail and the Brent Police, to address problems it had been having with vandals spray painting the side of its materials recycling facility (MRF), after it opened in May 2011.

A series of recycling-inspired images havebeen installed to tackle the graffiti problem at Seneca's Wembley MRF

The facility processes residual waste collected from the West London Waste Partnership, and produces refuse derived fuel that is exported to Europe.

Graffiti

On researching the issue Seneca discovered that graffiti artists consider it bad manners to tag or paint over someone else’s art, and so the idea of creating a street art mural was chosen as a suitable solution to the problem, with all the artwork created using spray paint and stencils.

Artists from across the globe as well as school children from from Harlesden Primary School, Barham Primary School, St. Robert Southwell Catholic Primary School, Roe Green Junior School, Gower House School and Vernon House School have contributed designs and artwork to the project, which includes a sculpture made entirely from material received at the MRF.

The mural overlooks the Jubilee and Metropolitan London underground lines running between Neasdon and Wembley Park and is created entirely from spray paint and recycled materials.

Unveiling the mural, Michael McLarnon, operations manager at the Seneca MRF, said: “The project was created after we had been approached by Brent council’s Graffiti Partnership. The MRF has been targeted by vandals and with the Wembley area highlighted because of the Olympics we thought it was appropriate to do something that engaged with the local community.

“We came up with the idea to create the mural and we are honoured to have artists come from all over the world to take part in this worthwhile project.”

Mural

The mural has taken over 6 months to create, and is thought to be one of the largest outdoor art installations in Europe.

Simon Egbor, Brent council community safety project officer and member of the Graffiti Partnership Board said: “Over three years ago graffiti crime was costing the council in excess of £400,000. This was a real problem and the formation of the Graffiti Partnership Board has managed to focus both council and external partners in not only cleaning graffiti but setting up operations to identify graffiti vandals and enforce action.

“We approached Seneca with this idea as the use of murals in graffiti hot spots has proven to be a successful deterrent. This is illustrated by past murals that we have commissioned including one on Harley Road, Harlesden.”

Gove to go in September? Will Truss take over?

Elizabeth Truss

I've been doing the round of end of terms concerts and graduation ceremonies at local schools and as usual have been impressed by the talent displayed by Brent children, their confidence and sheer zest for life.  Their teachers are by this time, in the helter skelter of report writing, open evenings, sports days, outings and productions are frazzled, just waiting for Friday.  I wish them all a wonderful summer holiday and the weekend change in the weather should raise their spirits,

Something else may also raise their spirits over the holiday if they have kept their eyes in the rumblings from Whitehall.  There are rumours that the cabinet reshuffle in September may see Michael Gove moved to the Home Office to replace Theresa May.

Initially, the tip off that in this public school educated cabinet, his successor may be a working class woman who was educated at a comprehensive school, may raise spirits even more but a closer look at Elizabeth Truss may make them pause for thought. She has lambasted her own comprehensive education and spoken against 'soft' A level subjects and modular assessment, Both her parents were public sector workers, left-wing and CND supporters and many of her teachers at her Leeds comprehensive were left-wing.

She rejected all this to become an admirer of Margaret Thatcher, completing a GCSE project on her downfall entitled 'End of an Era'.  Will it be the end of an era for some of Michael Gove's obsessions or will Truss take up his baton with relish?

Watch this space.

Thanks to the News Statesman for some of this information. See the full profile HERE

Save Hopscotch Nursery - sign this petition

The Hopscotch Nursery Campaign are asking Brent residents and people who work in Brent to sign their e-petition, lodged with Brent Council.  The petition is self-explanatory and signing is easy. Follow this LINK

The petition:

We the undersigned petition the council to allow Hopscotch Nursery to continue providing its much needed nursery and drop-in services. We demand that Brent council gives Hopscotch a secure future in Winkworth Hall or helps to locate alternative premises in same vicinity and undertakes not to evict Hopscotch until such premises are found.

Hopscotch is a much loved nursery that has been serving the local community for nearly 30 years, providing nursery education for the under 5’s, and a low cost drop-in for carers and children. Hopscotch was rated ‘outstanding’ in its last two Ofsted reports and is the only outstanding full time nursery in NW6.

Brent Council, which owns Winkworth Hall in which Hopscotch is based, has said that the building is “surplus to requirements” and expressed the intention to evict Hopscotch in 2013 in order to sell off the site.
This is despite its statutory duty, under the 2006 Children’s Act, to ensure sufficient childcare for working parents. The area that Hopscotch serves (Kilburn, Brondesbury Park, Mapesbury, Queen’s Park) is the least well provided for in the whole borough. The council’s recent assessment of childcare provision (February 2011) stated that:

“The availability of childcare may be more of an acute problem faced by families in Kilburn than it is for families in the rest of Brent.”

Hopscotch, which is run by a charity for the benefit of the community, addresses these needs. Its nursery and drop-in serve have served 100s of families in the local area. Without it these families simply have no childcare provision available. At a time of cuts a charity like Hopscotch is all the more precious; providing a valuable local service available to all parents without council funding.

 The campaign has a blog HERE. At the time of writing the petition has 355 signatures. It closes on August 1st.

Romayne will be a vigorous, campaigning Green Party leader

This is my personal choice as the next leader of the Green Party.

School financial mismanagement under scrutiny tomorrow

Following the controversy at Copland High School over allegedly illegal bonus payments, Brent Council has tightened up its audit arrangements. The 'Copland Six' are still to stand trial but meanwhile several other head teachers and other staff have been suspended while the possibility of financial management irregularities are investigated. Some have faced disciplinary action leading to dismissal.  There has been publicity about these events in local newspapers and the Evening Standard and the Times Educational Supplement.

Some commentary has suggested that this is a particular problem in Brent while others have suggested that the problem occurs elsewhere but because of Brent's experience it has been better at uncovering it. Generally there is a concern that as schools become more independent of local councils, being set up as 'free' schools or when they convert to academy status, that there may be more occurrences.The report from the Director of Finance and Corporate Services and the Director Children's Services which will be considered on Thursday by the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee states that Copland, as a foundation school, had made its own audit arrangements, rather than be visited by the local authority team, until 2009: 'The significant additions (to pay) were not picked up during any of the external audits conducted annually at the school.'

Although there may be deliberate attempts as fraud it may also be the case that some of the occurrences are the result of inexperience or incompetence on the part of headteachers and governing bodies. Although the local authority offers financial training to headteachers they do not have a business management background and their main task remains the management of teaching and learning.

Two main issues have emerged which the report says the Council has addressed:

Senior Leadership Pay: a key issue that had been identified through the audit process relates to schools complying with the statutory requirements regarding the setting of pay levels for Headteachers and other Senior Leadership posts. The regulations are complex but nevertheless compliance with them is a statutory requirement and a comprehensive action plan was put in place by the Council to both support and challenge schools to ensure compliance. A great deal of progress has been successfully made as set out in Appendix C which shows the detailed action undertaken by the Council. Further on-going work is necessary to ensure continued
compliance with the regulations.

Leasing: In 2010, the Council identified that a number of schools had entered into very unfavourable leasing arrangements with large finance companies for the hire of equipment such as photocopiers. The Council is of the view that these leases should be treated as being void from the outset, as the schools in question did not have the legal power (‘vires’) to enter into them. If the leases were enforceable, they would have a negative impact on the schools’ financial positions. There are various grounds as to why the Council argues the leases should be considered void. The Council has taken the following action in order to protect the public funds exposed to these purported leases:

• Sent a number of letters and uploaded intranet postings clarifying the importance of complying with the leasing requirements set out in the Council’s Financial Regulations.
• Arranged for Council officers to meet with school officers where appropriate in order to discuss leasing issues.
• Hosted a number of presentations at Governor, Headteacher and Bursar meetings, clarifying the requirements of a lawful lease and offering support to schools that may have ostensibly entered into leases which are void in law, in order to encourage schools to obtain legal advice.
• Referred schools to the Council’s internal and external solicitors who are able to advise the schools (the content of the advice is confidential and subject to legal privilege).
• Obtained advice from a QC (the content of which is confidential and subject to legal privilege).
• Facilitated court action: A number of schools have stopped paying the sums purportedly due under these purported leases. As a result, one finance company has issued legal proceedings against two separate schools for amounts allegedly due. The Council’s solicitors have been instructed by the two schools to defend these claims. The schools are counter-claiming for restitution of the sums paid under the purported leases. The cases are on-going.
• Released guidance to all schools setting out the framework agreements
available, in order to help schools purchase or lease equipment at favourable rates.
• Hosted regular leasing / procurement training sessions with school bursars.

Using a traffic light system of Assurance about Audut Outcomes for audits in 2011-12 the report gives 7 primary schools a green light (substantial), 9 an amber (limited) and 4 a red (nil). The report gives a long list of issues that have been identified 'in the majority of schools' over the last two years. These cover Governance, Procurement, Unofficial Funds, Budgeting, Income and Banking.

The Head of Audit's opinion reported to the Audit Committee for 2010-11 sums up some of the issues:

I also remain concerned about the apparent lack of financial control within a significant minority of the council’s schools and the general approach to internal audit findings. Whilst schools are responsible for their own budgets, they are required to adhere to both legal requirements and to financial regulations issued by the council. These ensure public money is properly spent and accounted for. A number of schools are demonstrating a lack of compliance with basic procurement regulations. This is placing schools at risk of failing to achieve value for money and at risk of potential legal challenge where EU procurement regulations apply.

In addition, a number of schools are failing to adhere to the national rules concerning teacher’s pay, specifically in relation to head teacher pay being outside the prescribed bandings determined by the school size. Although, in certain circumstances schools are permitted to pay above the maximum group range, I consider that in a number of cases these circumstances may not apply and school governing bodies may be paying above the ranges set out within the national conditions document to facilitate incremental increases in pay once the natural pay cap, relative to the size of school, has been reached. This is further exacerbated by Governing Bodies not always being diligent in their recording of the reasons for granting permission to exceed to cap thus placing the school at risk of challenge.

In response to the issue of headteacher (and thus deputy headteacher) pay being outside the criteria published in the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD)  the Children and Families Department in October 2011 asked chairs of governors to return headteacher pay information. The report states that 'many schools failed to respond to this request in a reasonable timescale and it is only now that a full picture is emerging' and schools are being supported and challenged to ensure compliance with the STPCD.

Clearly this report raises important issues about probity, accountability and governance and deserves thorough discussion tomorrow.

The meeting takes place at 7pm in Committee Rooms 1 and 2 at Brent Town Hall on Thursday  July 19th Agenda: HERE

Declaration of interest: I am chair of governors at two primary schools and a former primary headteacher - all in Brent. I do not have a Swiss bank account!

Housing crisis arrives on Town Hall doorstep

The housing crisis came to the steps of Brent Town Hall yesterday evening when the Counihan family and their supporters demonstrated as the Brent Executive met to rubber stamp a series of far reaching decisions.

Their reception was mixed with some members of the Executive wanting to find out about the  family's plight while others told the family that  they had no choice but to move out of London in order to get affordable housing.

As the benefit income cap and housing benefit cap bite, along with changes in council tax benefits, more and more Brent families will be suffering the same fate. Although the demonstrators recognised that the changes have been brought about by Coalition Government policies they did expect more of a fightback on behalf of Brent residents from a Labour Council, rather than acquiescence in disastrous policies.

Officers recommend go ahead for ASDA petrol station

The planning application for the building of a petrol station in the car park of the Wembley ASDA store was called in by Barnhill councillors Michael Pavey and Shafique Choudhary.  It will be considered by the Planning Committee on July 25th.

The officers reject objections that have been made on grounds of increased traffic congestion, increased danger for children and the elderly at the Forty Lane/King's Drive/ASDA intersection, and noise and nuisance to neighbours. They say that it is not within the planning system's purview to consider whether this would lead to over-provision of petrol stations in the vicinity.

On the capacity of the ASDA entrance road, Forty Lane and King's Drive intersection the report says:

Previous capacity analysis carried out for the signalised junction at the Asda entrance onto Forty Lane suggests there is plenty of spare capacity at this particular junction, so the predicted increases in flows are not considered likely to give rise to any junction capacity problems at the site access

The photograph below, taken recently, shows traffic at the intersection:

Traffic at ASDA entrance road/.Forty Lane/King's Drive

No Brent free school in today's list

The free schools in London

The list of approved free school applications published today  does not include any in Brent. Of the102 schools:

• 40 are primary schools
• 28 are secondary school
• 10 are "all through schools" - primary and secondary combined 
• 34 are in the London area
• Five are independent schools which are joining the state sector
• Five are special schools
• 12 are "alternative provision" such as schools for those expelled from mainstream schools 

Interestingly Education Investor, the website of people expecting to make a profit from education stated:

It remains unclear how buildings for the new schools are to be funded, however. Capital funding for the projects has yet to be decided, and government advisors said it was too early to comment on specific projects.

 

Government figures show that the average capital cost of the first wave of free schools was expected to be between £4.6 million and £5.4 million. If repeated, this would mean that buildings for the 152 schools still in the pipeline would cost upwards of £700 million.

 

Last November, the Treasury allocated £600 million to the programme.

Just think what the local authority system could do with that £700m!

'Super contractor' bundle for Brent's waste, street sweeping and parks?

'Geometrical' plant maintenance via power saw

The above picture illustrates the kind of parks maintenance we can expect with sub-contractors: neat and tidy but totally insensitive to any appreciation of the natural and aesthetic nature of shrubs. This was well illustrated by bags of compostable materials consisting of flowers in bud and blossom that had been shorn off in a shrub equivalent of a 'Number 1'.

Brent Council has said no more about its plans to privatise the Parks Maintenance Service but I understand that the Council's Environment and Neighbourhood Services Department is now looking to procure a 'super-contractor' to take on waste management, street cleaning and parks maintenance as one deal.

This will rule out any in-house bid by the present highly skilled parks maintenance team as well as  contractors who specialise only in waste. It will favour the current holder of the waste and street sleaning contract, Veolia, which already provides parks maintenance services in other boroughs and has the Regents Park contract.

Veolia has attracted adverse publicity because of its activities in Israel and the occupied territories and gave Brent Council a rough time over changes in the waste management and street sweeping contract almost a year ago. LINK

Will Brent Council take on the fight to save Central Middlesex A&E?

In a recent posting I called on Brent Council to take a proactive stance in fighting the proposals for closure of the Central Middlesex Hospital (Park Royal) Accident and Emergency. Ealing Council have already take up such a position.

A resolution at the last Brent Council meeting proposed by Cllr Krupesh Hirani (Lead member for Health and adult Care) didn't quite do that but was a step in the right direction.

This Council condemns the Tory and Liberal Democrat Government for the lack of consideration to Brent residents over the likely closure of Accident and Emergency (A&E) services at the Central Middlesex Hospital, which will lead to people in the poorest part of Brent, having to travel longer distances to address life threatening imminent needs.

Brent Labour recently had a meeting on the NHS which was addressed by  Fiona Twycross, a Labour Assembly Member for London. Perhaps a more militant stance will emerge from that meeting. Is is certainly something the Council should be doing on behalf of its citizens.

Meanwhile at the Willesden Area Consultation Forum the item on 'Shaping a Healthier Future'  was curtailed because Dr Mark Spencer who was giving the talk had another meeting to attend. The result was a rush through a PowerPoint presentation and very little time for elaboration, questions or discussions. Neither Spencer or Abbas Mirza (Communications Engagement Manager for NHS North West London, were available to speak to residents at the break. This was scandalous given the far-reaching and poentially life and death issues being discussed. At the beginning of the presentation Mirza said, 'these are just proposals - nothing has been decided'  but in response to a question from me, Spencer confirmed that there was no option to keep Central Middlesex A and E open. Clearly its closure has been decided ahead of consultation.

Dr Spencer claimed that the A and E at Centrtal Middlesex was under-used, that many who did use it, used it wrongly and would be catered for by other proposals. He said that the privately run (by Care UK) Urgent Care Centre could answer most emergency needs. Central Middlesex Hospital would eventually become a 'localised' hospital for planned admissions only.  Asked by an audience member which A and E they could go to instead, he said that that was a decision they could make for themselves. I am sure I will enjoy exercising that choice when I next get knocked off my bike!

Earlier in the meeting I did a Soapbox where I publicised the campaign that has been formed to oppose the closure of Central Middlesex Hospital A and E and the hospital's run-down and the defend the NHS against cuts and privatisation. We will be marching from Harlesden to Central Middlesex Hospital on Saturday September 15th to buiold support for the campaign. It would be great of Labour councillors joined us.

In my Soapbox speech I said that losing an Accident and Emergency ward was often the first chapter in the running down and eventual closure of a hospital. As a qualified first-aider in  local schools I had often had recourse to Central Mid A and E for ill and injured pupils and knew of its worth. 

I pointed out the need for a  A and E in this poorest part of the borough that would be readily accessible to local residents who were reliant on public transport. Public transport links with Northwick Park Hospital (the proposed alternative A and E) were very poor.

The local area has many possible sites for major incidents requiring A and E and emergency operation facilities. These include the main Euston-Birmingham Railway line, the Bakerloo and Overground Line, Chiltern Line and Jubilee/Metropolitan. Major Roads including the North Circular, Harrow Road and Kilburn High Road. Large industrial areas in Park Royal and around Neasden Goods Yard and the major venues of Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena.  Accidents at any of these places could involve many people requiring emergency treatment or hospital admission. Could the reduced provision of A and E cope?

Cllr Lesley Jones, who was chairing the meeting, said that the council had been pressurising Transport for London to extend the 18 bus route to Northwick Park for a long time and would continue to do so.

End the Counihan family's stress. Demonstrate on Monday.

Message from campaigners for the Counihan family.  Their plight will be repeated many times across the borough as the Coalition's housing benefit cap hits more families.

 

 We are coming together to demand justice from Brent Council for the Counihan family, who have been victimised by the actions of our council support agencies. We will be demonstrating outside Brent Town Hall, Forty Lane, Wembley on Monday July 16th at 6pm ahead of the Brent Council Executive's Meeting. Your support will be appreciated.

Isabel and Anthony Counihan and their five children, Vinnie, Aidan, AJ, Orla and Sarah, have been shunted out of the Brent to temporary housing in Ealing where they have been left since April2011 waiting for the Council to even make a decision on their situation, let alone re-house them in Brent.

Their story is an extreme and devastating example of the way lives are being ruined by benefit cuts, and the refusal to build council housing and regulate the private housing sector.  We are living in times when the powers that be think they can get away with punishing working-class people for the fact of our being poor.

Across London poorer people, especially young people, are being pushed out of the city to make way for the better off. Glenda Jackson MP's response to the family's plight was “you can't afford to live in London”. This has been echoed by council officers: Brent Housing Advice advised the family “they could afford to live in Wales”.

We are saying to Brent Council that they must immediately find the family appropriate, secure and really affordable housing in the borough -and put an end to the unbearable stress and hardship that would have totally broken many people long before now.

The Counihans have nothing to justify -their need is clear and we support them unconditionally -but their story may help illustrate how the council is failing in their moral and legal responsibility to assist people in difficult circumstances, but instead mounting attack after attack to remove people from the area.

We ask you to join us in supporting the Counihans and invite other people facing similar injustices to come forward and challenge together the vicious policies and practices of the council.

For more information, to support the Counihan’s, or raise your own issue contact:

Lesley Ryan -London Irish Centre (personal capacity): 07894 348 610

Gerry Downing -Brent Trades Union Council and Brent Fightback: 07792 966 910

Clarence -Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group: 07752 574 943

Care UK or DON'T Care UK?

Guest blog by Sarah Cox:

If the Accident and Emergency Department at Central Middlesex Hospital closes, as proposed in every option in the NHS NW London consultation document Shaping a Healthier Future, residents in Brent’s poorest wards with the greatest health needs will be at the mercy of private health care provider Care UK which runs the Urgent Care Centre at Central Middlesex.

Urgent Care Centres are designed to take the pressure off A & E departments by dealing with minor injuries and less serious illnesses. Fine, but one of the reasons people go to their doctors or to A & E when the doctor isn’t available, is that they are not medically qualified so don’t necessarily know how serious (or not) their condition is. One of the NW London NHS documents gives the example of a mother who takes her baby to A & E with a high temperature. She is told that the baby is just teething. One of the functions of qualified medical staff should be to reassure patients. What about the case where the baby’s high temperature is not caused by teething but is a symptom of meningitis? Meningitis is hard to diagnose, but if not treated very quickly, can be fatal. There have been reports of Urgent Care Centres failing to spot meningitis and sending a stroke victim home http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5185165/Urgent-care-centres-putting-patients-lives-at-risk-doctors-warn.html

 

As a patient, Care UK’s record doesn’t fill me with confidence: 

X-rays: At the CMH Urgent Care Centre, Care UK failed to carry out the required checks on 6,000 x-rays, missing such details as broken bones http://www.channel4.com/news/flaw-leads-to-review-of-patient-x-ray%20records. All x-rays should be reviewed by a specialist to make sure that nothing has been missed, they should also be checked against the child protection register and GPs should be informed when their patients have attended the UCC. Care UK neglected to do this and took more than a year to find the flaw in their system and start to review the x-rays. Channel 4 reports, ‘Asked how it had happened, Care UK blamed it on "a couple of changes in the management structure of the team that ran the centre". They also failed to report it to the Care Quality Commission. Care UK said that although it was not legally obliged to do this, it "probably should have told CQC, but nobody picked up the phone".’ What a caring attitude!

The contract to run the CMH Urgent Care Centre was given to Care UK by the former Brent Primary Care Trust. All eight Brent NHS clinical directors wrote urging them not to sign the contract, but were told they were too late. Former members of that PCT are now non-executive directors of Care UK and NHS Brent is tied into a contract with Care UK that they cannot get out of.

Friends in high places: The wife of Care UK’s then chairman gave £21,000 to Andrew Lansley when he was shadow Health minister to help run his constituency office in the run up to the general election, an investment that has certainly paid off when you see how many contracts the firm has been awarded in the NHS and social care sectors. 

Tax avoidance  Care UK, which operates NHS treatment centres, walk-in centres and mental health services, has a reduced tax bill by taking out loans through the Channel Islands stock exchange and coming to an agreement with HMRC Guardian 17.3.12 Care UK join the likes of Vodaphone and Jimmy Carr in claiming that they’ve done nothing wrong.

There’s more about Care UK, but I’ll leave that for the next instalment. What’s your experience of Care UK or specifically of the Urgent Care Centre at Central Middlesex?

Summer activities in Brent for 4 to 19 year olds

For those who may not have seen it on the B My Voice site:

 If you are aged from 4 to 19 and want a fun-packed summer, then Brent is Summer (BIS) is for you. There are over 200 exciting, free or affordably-priced activities on offer over the summer holidays.

BIS combines, for the first time, all the holiday activities provided by Brent Council, including the Summer University, Summer Sports programme, Summer Reading Challenge and Brent Museum and Archives.
All activities will be very popular, so even if the activities are free of charge, we recommend that you book where stated, to guarantee your place.

It is easiest to book online but you will have to pay by credit or debit card.

Courses / activities start from Saturday 21 July and run until Friday 31 August 2012.

• Search for an activity / course and book
• Browse through list of all activites available
• Browse through a list of all activities at Bridge Park
• Download a booking form
• How to book in person - location details
• View terms and conditions for attending a Brent in Summer activity 

 Booking online

1. Register an account
You will need to create an account in order to book on BIS courses this year, by registering online.
If you are aged 16 and under
You will need your parent / guardian to create an account.
Once they have created an account they can add an entry for each child and book them onto a course.

If you are aged 16 and over
You can create an account for yourself and start booking.
2. Search for courses
Use the course search box to discover what's on offer this year. You may start searching for courses but you need to create an account to book the courses.
3. Book courses
Bookings open on Monday 2 July 2012, click Book this Course on your chosen courses. Places are limited so book as soon as you can.

Once you have booked onto a course, you will receive an email confirmation.

Greens: End PFI scam and stop privatisation of the NHS

Greens have called for urgent action to cure the NHS of cancerous PFI payments and have written to the Secretary of State for Health calling for action to ensure that health care provision is maintained rather than allowing hospitals to go into administration. The Greens are the only mainstream party to oppose PFI and to campaign to stop the privatisation of the NHS.

The revelation that the South London Healthcare NHS Trust is going into administration with debts incurred by its contracts under PFI (Private Finance Initiative) has come as no surprise to the Green Party. The Green Party has warned of the financial dangers of hospitals being built under PFI. The news that up to 30 other Trusts may be facing administration has prompted the call for action to prevent closures.

Adrian Ramsay, Green Party Deputy Leader, said: "It is time to cut out the cancerous PFI deals that are killing the NHS. While successive governments seem to find billions to bail out banks and to quantitatively ease the economy they seem utterly beholden to the companies that they now rent hospitals from having sold them off in the first place.

"The PFI deals were simply an accounting fix that put money in the pockets of big companies and locked the NHS into huge debt. The taxpayer will end up paying £63bn towards hospitals that cost £11bn to build. As hospital trusts go into administration we can expect to see health care provision drastically reduced. This is unacceptable and the Green Party has written to Andrew Lansley calling for a solution that protects services.

"It is surely time to end the PFI scam and let the NHS focus on providing care for patients, not profit for shareholders."

Poor TV signals in Wembley - any advice?

From the Law. Forum website LINK

Hi I would appreciate any help from anybody more knowledgable than me on this subject.

I live in Wembley, as you may know the erection of the monstrous stadium was erected in the last few years, now there is non-stop building works of huge new buildings. Flats, tall ones!

Since all this, my television and phone reception, along with all my neighbours and family have been affected so badly that I can no longer even speak to people on my mobile, and my TV just freezes ALL the time, at least twice a day...I don't even watch that much TV, maybe an hour a day at MOST.

I live in a nice area in Wembley where the council tax bills are so large I feel like I'm paying it like a sucker.

Such a large proportion of Brent council's income comes from me and my neighbours round here and now we can no longer make full use of our technology, which we need for work etc. No doubt this has devalued the house, as my neighbours have recently sold their house and had been told by estate agents that they had to drop the price as people would realise how bad the signal is and find it terribly impractical.

I have spoken to the council and they do nothing but brush me off!

Is there any legal action I can take? I have lived here for 20 years and loved it, now it's a nightmare!

Keep Willesden Green enters positive new phase

Although we don't know precisely what led to Galliford Try withdrawing their planning application for the redevelopment of Willesden Green Library Centre, it is likely to be a combination of the scale of local opposition, internal Labour Party debate, technical and legal risks; and national and international opprobrium.
The reason given for withdrawal was to allow for more consultation and a possible redesign which amounts to a victory for the Keep Willeden Green's demand to 'Stop, Listen and Reflect' (above)

Whatever the detail, the successful mobilisation of local opinion by the energetic and resourceful  Keep Willesden Green campaign, which saw the council's planning department deluged with objections to the plans,  must have played a part. Thus, last participants in last night's well attended meeting of the campaign allowed themselves a modest celebration at the planning application  withdrawal whilst recognising that this was only the end of Round 1.

It was a sign of the strength of the campaign that the meeting included about eight newcomers who wanted to contribute to the next phase. Rather than tailing off as a result of the pause in the process, the campaign has drawn strength from the decision and become even more determined to influence events.

The consensus that emerged about next steps  emphasised a positive, proactive approach that will seek participation in the formulation of new plans from the start, aided by the provisions of the Localism Act. In reaction to new council leader Muhammed Butt's stated desire to work with the community, rather than against them, KWG will seek a meeting with him to discuss the way forward to ensure that any development meets the needs and aspirations of the local community.