Deadline nears to object to Barratt's vandalism of the Welsh Harp

Things are moving fast as the May 14th deadline nears for the huge West Hendon 'City' planning application by Barratt Homes.

The FORAB residents' organisation in Barnet has come out against the proposal and Patrick Vernon, a candidate for Labour's nomination for the Brent Central nomination,  has written an article on the public health aspects of the proposal, both on the Save Our Welsh Harp blog.  LINK

Meanwhile it is essential that as many individual objections as possible are sent to Barnet Council by the May 14th deadline:

ONLINE
Go to the Barnet Planning site LINK and type H/01054/13 into the Search Box. Make sure you give a name and postal address and email address to get an acknowledgement.

E-MAIL
email the Barnet Planning Officer dealing with this application quoting the above reference number:

tom.wyld@barnet.gov.uk  Make sure you give your name and postal address and email address to get an acknowledgement. 

CLOSING DATE MAY 14TH

Lucas: Shaker Aamer has to come home

Social cleansing through redevelopment in Barnet?

I popped down to the Barratt Homes Sales Office at West Hendon (oops, sorry it has been rebranded hendon WATERSIDE) on Saturday.  I was told that there was just one apartment left in the recently completed block for £340,000 and Shahrar Ali making a similar visit was told that in addition there was an annual service charge of  £1,700 and a binding contract with a single water and energy provider.

The salesperson made it quite clear that the private apartments would be at the waterside with uninterrupted views of the Welsh Harp (see brochure illustration below) and that the replacement social housing would be away at the back of the site near the A5.

 

Leaving the sales room and going on to the West Hendon Estate top speak to the tenants whose homes will be abolished under the scheme was entering another world.

The first issue was that many did not know the details of the proposed scheme that will go to Barnet planning committee later this month and communication from the council had been poor. One resident commented that there was an issue of how representative the views were that the council had sought. She said that there had been silence from the council and Barratt homes as to their futures.

One mother said she had heard nothing and wanted to stay in her present house while another woman who uses a wheelchair had been told she couldn't  have a ground floor flat in  the new development.

The recent build (12 storeys) can be seen in the background of the estate

There was little doubt that the estate (above) had been neglected and some residents felt this was deliberate in order to justify demolition. They said windows and doors were badly fitting and let in the draughts and described water cascading down the walls.

However, the possibility of getting a better home through re-development was received with scepticism. They said that the likely rents (and the water and energy bills) would be too high for them to be able to afford and that many existing tenants would be likely to have to move out.

What was clear from a brief tour and chats  with residents that this works as a community and it is one that is soon to be violently disrupted and split up.

A mural on the estate

It appears that eventually there will be middle class professionals enjoying their views of the Welsh Harp on the banks of the reservoir, those few  tenants who can afford the higher rents in the social housing blocks and the poor displaced somewhere else - a model of social engineering (or social/ethnic cleansing?) that Lady Porter would have applauded. Only 20 of the 2,000 housing units will have 3 or 4 bedrooms when there is a great need for family housing.

The existing open space (below)  will be much reduced in the proposed development and this is something that also concerned the existing residents. The open space that is being sold to the private purchasers is the Welsh Harp itself with pedestrian bridges across to the other side of the reservoir. The development itself will be high density.

The illustration of prospective residents from the Hendon Waterside brochure tells us much about the sort of people that Barratt Homes (and perhaps Barnet Council?) are seeking to attract.

It's a wonder they didn't throw me out of the Sales Office!

Challenge: I will not let an exam result decide my fate

The examination season starts soon with the Key Stage 2 SATs for Year 6 in primary schools. Here's a challenge worth considering.

Brent unites against Barratt Homes' 'vandalism' of the Welsh Harp

This was first published on the Save Our Welsh Harp' blog LINK

Shahrar Ali, Muhammed Butt, Roxanne Mishari and Navin Shah

The audience

A meeting held at short notice about the regeneration of the West Hendon Estate on the banks of the Welsh Harp was well attended this afternoon.

Cllr Roxanne Mishari, Labour councillor for Welsh Harp,  introducing the meeting,  outlined the main aspects of the scheme, its height, high density, its closeness to the wildfowl reserve, lack of infrastructure and impact on Brent.

Navin Shah,Labour London Assembly member for Brent and Harrow spoke about the planning aspects and the role of the Major of London. He said he had arranged a delegation to the Barnet Planning Committee which would consider the application which breached the Council's own planning guidelines. He described the plans as 'no more than vandalism of a critical site. Only 20 of the 2,000 homes would be 3 or 4 bedrooms when the need was for family housing. Only 25% would be social housing.

Shahrar Ali of Brent Green Party and a local resident showed a video taken this morning at Barratt's marketing office for the 'Hendon Waterside' development. The sales team clearly expected the development to go ahead and described it as a partnership with Barnet Council. The remaining 8th floor two bedroom property in the recently completed 12 storey development was offered at £340,000 plus £1,700 service charge and an agreement with the water and energy supplier of Barratt's choice. It was clear that the private flats were on the waterfront and the social housing behind close to the A5.

Cllr Muhammed Butt, Labour leader of Brent Council, said that he was 100% behind the campaign which he described as 'over-excessive'. He read out the main objections submitted by the Brent Council planners and said these would be made available on this site. The proposed 2 form entry primary school would not be big enough and Barnet Council was riding rough-shod over its own planning policies which stated that buildings should be no more than between 8 and 20 storeys high.. School provision, wildlife and transport would all be affected with repercussions for Brent residents.

Cllr Alison Hopkins and her fellow Lib Dem councillor Javaid Ashraf sent the message which Martin Francis conveyed to the meeting, which appears on the Welsh Harp blog in full.  LINK They  particularly drew attention to the social housing tenants being placed alongside the traffic pollution of the A5. They had opposed the development in their roles on the Welsh Harp Joint Consultative Committee which includes Barnet representatives. Attempts to arrange a site visit had not been successful.

There were many contributions from the floor and among the issues raised were:

1, Why does Barnet keep developing on the borders with Brent which affects our own infrastructure (while they collect the Council Tax from the developments)
2. A youth officer from the West Hendon Estate said they had collected 500residents'  signatures on a petition against the development and the loss of their green space andwere going to protest at the planning meeting.
3. Barnet Council should declare their relationship with Barratt Homes.
4. We should see if Euoropean legislation can be used to oppose the development.
5. We should examine the public health repercussions for people, and particularly children, in the area.
6. The high-cost luxury flats gained a beautiful view across the Welsh Harp to the opposite bank but people on that bank would see a hideous new high-rise development.
7. The West Hendon Estate had been run down for years but the tenants would be unlikely to be able to afford the rents in the new development.
8. We should get someone like Bill Oddie to champion our cause for the bird life, the waterfowl refuge and the SSSI.

Save Our Welsh Harp - Public Meeting May 4th

SAVE OUR WELSH HARP

PUBLIC MEETING SATURDAY MAY 4TH

5-7pm BRENT TOWN HALL

The new Chalkhill Park opens in time for the Bank Holiday weekend

 

Chalkhill Park

Builders' fences were removed from Chalkhill Park today after a final surge of activity to get the park ready for the Bank Holiday.

News reached Chalkhill Primary School at lunchtime and spread like wildfire around the playground to cheers from the children.

The weekly School Walking Club were the first to officially use the new facility.  A landscape gardener, stripped to the waist and pushing a laden wheelbarrow, stopped me and said, 'This makes it all worthwhile. The children's faces as they swarmed into the park were wonderful. It was amazing It was worth all the work.'

Parents and children rushed to the park after school and there was widespread praise from the former for the design. Children were too overcome with excitement and breathless from trying everything out to say very much but their big smiles told their own story.

Battle likely at Copland following critical Ofsted report

Following Ofsted's designation of Copland High School as Grade 4 Inadequate and requiring special measures battle lines are being drawn over the possibility that the DfE will attempt to force the school to become an academy.

Unions representing teaching staff are overwhelming in favour of industrial action against any such move. School support  staff have still to reach a decision but they are the group of workers most likely to suffer a deterioration in conditions of service on academisation.

There are reports that Ark Schools, already running the Ark Academy in Wembley and negotiating to take over Kensal Rise Primary, have their eyes on Copland which is the last remaining secondary school in Brent which is neither an academy or faith school. 

Copland governors are unlikely to favour Ark as a sponsor.

The views of parents are mentioned but only 11 parents completed the on-line Parent View and there are 1,487 pupils in the school.

The report LINK gives an Inadequate grade to achievement of pupils, quality of teaching and leadership  and management and a Requires Improvement grade to behaviour and safety of pupils. In summary it states:

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

Ofsted acknowledge the difficulties the school has been through following the allegations of financial mismanagement against the previous headteacher, deputy head and other staff and terms it 'an extraordinary turbulence in leadership.'

Significant weaknesses in the quality of senior and middle management remain. A number of senior staff, subject leaders and pastoral managers are currently absent or subject to capability.

Other background factors have not helped the school including the scandal of its poor buildings:

The building remains in very poor condition. This was also reported in the 2006, 2009 and 2010 inspection reports. Some classrooms provide a completely unacceptable environment in which to teach and learn. The budget deficit has been reduced significantly over the past two years, but still stands at around £1 million. The reduction in student numbers has meant that further budget cuts are necessary. The building and the budget are adversely affecting the school’s capacity to provide an adequate education for students.

Significantly, apart from eliminating the budget deficit and action on the  building, the role of the local authority is scarcely mentioned.The local authority's response to the Ofsted report and any support and improvement plan it puts into place will be of vital importance in resisting forced academy status

A photo-tour of the new Chalkhill Park

I had a tour of the new Chalkhill Park this morning. I wonder if it will get called Chalkhenge? Although not yet open the park is being used by local residents after school and at weekends. The ceremonial opening is on June 8th but the builders' fencing around the site is likely to be removed on Friday May 10th.

Supreme Court rules UK failing to protect people from air pollution

The Supreme Court has declared that the UK Government is failing to protect people from dangerous levels of air pollution. This decision paves the way for the European Commission to take legal action against the UK.

Air pollution causes 4,000 early deaths each year in London alone and poses a particular danger to children and those with existing health conditions.

The court case, brought by environmental lawyers at Client Earth, concerns 16 cities and regions which government plans show will suffer from illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide, a toxic gas - until as late as 2020 or 2025.

The Supreme Court confirmed that because the Government is in breach of the EU Air Quality Directive “the way is open to immediate enforcement action at national or European level”. However, before deciding whether to take further action to enforce the law, it has referred a number of legal questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

 Jean Lambert, Green Party Member of the European Parliament  for London and an honorary founder member of Clean Air London said:

This ruling confirms what many of us have been saying for a long time:The UK Government must do more to protect the population from harmful levels of air pollution.

For too long we’ve seen action on air pollution happening at a snail’space. The government must take heed of this ruling and get to work on drastically reducing the levels of pollution in our towns and cities.

James Thornton, ClientEarth CEO, said 

This historic ruling marks a turning point in the fight for clean air and will pile the pressure on Owen Paterson. Faced with court action on two fronts, he must now come up with an ambitious plan to protect people from carcinogenic diesel fumes. Until now, his only policy has been lobbying in Europe to try and weaken air pollution laws.

The Supreme Court recognised that this case has broader implications for EU environmental law: The Government can’t flout environmental law with impunity. If the Government breaks the law, citizens can demand justice and the courts must act.”

Michaela Free School bid foundering?

Last week Brent officials met with proponents of the Michaela Free School about their bid to open a four form entry secondary school at Arena House, the old College of North West London building opposite Wembley Park station.

Although Katharine Birbalsingh, infamous for her intervention at the Tory Party Conference, and her disciples were keen to assure Brent Council that they could comply with all the criteria for free school partnerships set out by the council (see below) there were doubts that they were compatible with the school's aims as set out on its website.

Additionally there are doubts about how many local parents have actually signed up to say that they are interested in sending the children to Michaela, especially as only eight people in total turned up to their consultation - very few, if any, of whom were parents of prospective students.

Well informed sources also say that the building itself is in poor condition and has an asbestos problem.

The Council's criteria for partnership are:

Academies and free school providers working with the Council will be expected to demonstrate:

1. An absolute commitment to the ethos and values of inclusive education for all Brent’s children and recognition of the positive role schools should play in the wider community.

2. A commitment to a close working relationship with the local authority in order to maintain an appropriate focus on borough-wide priorities, including local authority nomination of a member of the governing body and a commitment to sharing performance information.

3. The ability to deliver school improvement in an urban context.

4. That the establishment of the proposed education provision would be supported by demonstrable parental demand and with a genuine commitment to providing school places for local children.

5. Appropriate staffing arrangements to ensure high quality teaching and learning from qualified staff and good employment practices, including in relation to support and contracted staff.

6. A commitment to meeting the needs of Brent’s diverse community.

7. A commitment to ensuring the future employability of young people (in particular in secondary and 16 to 19) through links with business, industry and higher education.

8. A commitment to community access and use of facilities through agreed extended opening and lettings policy.

9. A commitment to good pupil nutrition and healthy eating.

10. A commitment to inclusive practice and fair access to the school for all pupils as governed by the Admission Code of Practice and the Authority’s Fair Access Protocols.

Petition to change law on leafleting for small scale events

Guest blog from Manifesto Club

Under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, councils can designate areas within which people must buy a licence to hand out leaflets. Nearly a third of councils now restrict leafleting, and licences are prohibitively expensive.

These rules have been catastrophic for theatres, village halls, comedy clubs and small nightclubs, which rely on leafleting, but cannot afford such fees.

A flyer ban in Leicester Square caused the collapse of several comedy nights. One Women’s Institute was threatened with a fine for handing out leaflets about its art exhibition. Oxford student societies were asked to pay £100 a month for leafleting.

Leafleting is a key civic freedom, with a long tradition in this country, and should not be restricted without good reason. Litter can be dealt with through the proper provision of litter bins and other common-sense measures, rather than restrictions on people’s rights to use public space.

The 2005 Act already provides exemption for political and religious leafleting, or leafleting on behalf of a charity. The Government should amend the Act, to provide an additional exemption for leafleting for small-scale cultural and community events. 

Lord Clement Jones is introducing a private members' bill in early May which would exempt small-scale local events from the need to buy leafleting licenses. The Manifesto Club has a petition to support a change in the law on leafleting HERE

Call for DfE to recognise Gladstone Park's progress without forced academisation

The Parents' Action Group at Gladstone Park Primary School have issued the following encouraging statement:

Despite improving children’s performance by significantly more than the national average, Gladstone Park Primary School in Dollis Hill, North-West London was rated “inadequate” by an Ofsted inspection in November 2012. This was based on progress in Years 3 to 5 being classed as too slow.

However, results for the Autumn and Spring 2012/13 terms now show that progress across Key Stage 2 year groups (Years 3 to 6) is well above expectations.

Using the standard Average Point Score measure, Key Stage 2 children are expected to progress by 1 point per term on average in reading, writing and maths. Over the Autumn and Spring Terms, where 2 points progress for each year group would be expected, the overall average figures for Gladstone Park Primary School are:

Year Three: 2.0 points
Year Four: 2.7 points
Year Five: 3.4 points
Year Six: 4.8 points

If, as anticipated, this trend continues through the Summer Term, it will make Gladstone Park Primary School one of the best performing in the country in terms of value added (progress against expectations). This is thanks to the school’s own improvement plan, with the support of the Local Education Authority and other local community schools, and the energy and commitment of the teachers.

Yet despite these results, the Department for Education (DfE) is still trying to force Gladstone Park Primary School to become an academy, over the objections of parents, governors and staff. The DfE says that it will select an academy sponsor and impose it on the school, and only then consult with the parents over what is effectively a done deal.

However, such a change would be highly disruptive, and threatens to undo all the good work done so far.

Mike Baker who has a child in reception said:

The DfE should recognise the excellent progress made by the school under its existing governance arrangements, and end the uncertainty over its future by withdrawing the threat to forced academisation. This is in the interests of our children’s education, which should surely be everyone’s paramount concern.

Brent Labour elections update

Islington Council leader Catherine West appears to have ditched her possible bid for the Labour Brent Central nomination following reports that she is setting her sights on the Hornsey and Wood Green seat currently held by Lib Dem Lynne Featherstone.

Meanwhile senior Brent Labour sources have bigged up Regent's Park councillor Tulip Suddiq's chances in Hampstead and Kilburn although veteran left-winger Graham Durham immediately commented, 'We don't want another Blairite, we have enough in the PLP already.' The Labour Party source suggested that Sophie Linden, a former special adviser to David Blunkett had no base in Brent and that Fiona Millar had withdrawn when soundings indicated she had little support.

The only new candidate to come forward for a Council Executive position is Cllr Aslam Choudry who will fight Cllr Willehema Mitchell-Murry for Crime and Public Safety.

Other contests so far are:

Children and Families: Michael Pavey vs Mary Arnold
Environment and Neighbourhoods: Roxanne Mashari vs James Powney
Customers and Citizens: James Denselow vs Lesley Jones

There is still time for others to come forward as the hustings are not until May 9th and the Annual General Meeting, where the voting takes place, is on May 11th.

Millar's withdrawal from Hampstead and Kilburn highlights Labour's failures on education

The announcement yesterday that Labour education activist Fiona Millar has withdrawn from the contest to represent Hampstead and Kilburn is a clear sign of the frustration that many party members, teachers and parents feel about Stephen Twigg's failure as Michael Gove's shadow.


Twigg's failure to take Gove on regarding examination reform, free schools, forced academies and the curriculum have led to him being given the hashtag #silenttwigg and facebook commentary on Silent Twigg focus on his latest non-pronoucements as open goals loom before him..

Millar herself is quoted in the Standard as saying:

It is very important that Michael Gove and his policies are challenged vigorously. At the moment that is probably easier to do from outside the party machine and is what I will continue doing.

She went on to say that Labour policy on education 'is too vague at the moment'.

Fiona Millar, along with Melissa Benn and Francis Gilbert are part of the Local Schools Network LINK

Their core message is:

1. Every child has a right to go to an excellent local state school, enabling every child to achieve their full potential.
2. Every state school should have a fair admissions procedure.
3. Every local school should be responsive to their parents and pupils’ needs and wishes and be accountable to the local community.
4. That local schools in difficulties should be supported to improve, not attacked and  demoralised.

Salusbury Academy Federation split?

Unconfirmed reports are reaching me that the Park Federation Academy Trust LINK  have pulled out of the federation arrangement with Salusbury Primary School.

The split is alleged to have happened as a result of Salusbury staff being unhappy about the possible imposition of a headteacher by the Park Federation's Chief Executive.

The federation is made up of two large primary schools in Hayes, Cranford Park and Wood End Park. Its website currently carries no mention of Salusbury Primary. Park's Chief Executive is Dr Martin Young.

Salusbury governors decided to join  the federation following pressure from the DfE  to become a forced academy as a result of a critical Ofsted report. Gladstone Park Primary parents are fighting the imposition of academy status after the school was given Grade 4 by Ofsted despite previously being Grade 2 and having above average SAT results at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

Survey reveals gap between teachers' beliefs and government diktat

A newly released survey of early years and primary professionals, released at the launch summit of the Save Childhood Movement on the 27th and 28th of April and prepared in partnership with the Barrett Values Centre, has revealed an enormous disparity between the values that teachers feel are important for the education system and what is actually going on.

- While 67% of those surveyed thought that education should be child-centred as a matter of priority, only 2% thought the current system fulfilled that.

- While 60% of respondents thought creativity should be prioritised, less than 2% thought the current system supported it.

- And while 50% believed that early education should emphasise the importance of play, only 2% thought the current system did that.

- Only 2% of respondents thought that the current system cultivated a passion for learning, and 0% believed that it fostered empowerment.

When asked which words best described the current state of British education as they experienced it, the most common words were: 

focus on targets, bureaucracy, results focus, top-down pressure and adult agenda.

In contrast, when asked which words they believed should characterise education the words most commonly chosen were:

child-centred, creativity, importance of play, passion for learning and empowerment.

The gap between the values held by the practitioners themselves and those of the education system as a whole revealed a level of 'Cultural Entropy' (meaning the degree of dysfunctional or fear-driven behaviour) that the Barrett Values Centre terms "a critical situation requiring leadership changes to avoid organisational

 failure'.

The survey examined the values of 177 early years professionals including childminders, nursery and primary school teachers and headteachers, school governors, lecturers and academics and was conducted between the 10th and the 17 of April, 2013.

Wendy Ellyatt, Founding Director and CEO of the movement, shared her own deep concern about the current situation -

" It is simply unacceptable that there should be such a disparity between the values that teachers themselves hold and the systems that we are then asking them to work within. How we can expect them to be the creative, spontaneous, passionate and empowered adults that we really need around children when they are empowerment, constantly ground down by the demands of the system? We need something better and the movement is determined to help fight for this."

The movement hopes to soon extend this survey to include a much more significant percentage of the teaching profession.

Bullying academy brokers spotlight falls on Jacky Griffin

Fiona Millar has written about the so-called academy brokers on the Local Schools Network site. A particular focus is Jacky Griffin, who was Director of Education for Brent before moving on to Kensington and Chelsea where she was restructured out of a job.  Her brokering work at Gladstone Park Primary has led to allegations of bullying:

There has been a lot in the news this week about academies and their funding. As we suspected all along,   DFE  management of thousands of schools has proved inefficient. Money ear-marked for school improvement has been squandered and while the government sprays money around with abandon on its favoured projects, other schools are facing cuts.

One particular story caught my eye. It was in the Telegraph and concerned the academy brokers. These are representatives of the DFE who move in on schools that are allegedly failing and forcibly convert them to academy status. I say representatives because it turns out that  they don’t actually work for the DFE. They are consultants and paid through personal service companies which pay corporation tax rather than income tax.This is in spite of the fact that Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has said that this practice should be outlawed by government departments.

Recently the Conservative leader of Lancashire County Council complained to the Secretary of State about the activities of these people. So who are they? One name that comes up frequently is that of Jacky Griffin. She featured heavily in the forced conversion of Downhills Primary School and several other governing bodies who are being bullied by the DFE into converting to academy status have mentioned her name to me.

She was also involved in the last Labour government’s moves to encourage academies and trust schools as part of the BSF building programme.

Here is a little bit more information about Ms Griffin, in which she is listed as a consultant at the DFE and a Director of Griffin Taylor Consultancy Ltd. And here is some information about her company’s financial position. As it is an exempt small company, with only two directors, facts are limited but one thing seems clear,the DFE consultancy business is a very comfortable one.

Last year the government did provide some information about the tax arrangements of off payroll consultants and employment agencies. Here is a link . It would appear that the daily rate paid to personal service companies is slightly less than that paid to employment agencies,  but in return the  identities and addresses of the consultants are not provided. Does anyone else know who they might be?

Barratt's Welsh Harp development proposals in stark illustration

The illustrations below show the present West Hendon Estate and Barratt's proposals. The new plans are much higher density and sited closer to the wildfowl reserve.

#

Brent Council still fails to support Gladstone Park parents

As you probably know I have had an exchange of letters with Cllr Mary Arnold (Brent Executive lead member for children and families) over education in Brent and my claim that the Labour Council is not standing up for a democratically accountable local school system and in particular backing the Gladstone Park Primary parents in their campaign against becoming a forced academy. (Mary Arnold saw that as me 'attacking Brent Education'.)

James Denselow has posted this defence from Mary on his blog:

What is Brent Labour doing in response to Gove’s agenda?

Answer from Cllr. Mary Arnold – Lead Member for Children and Families:

We are primarily campaigning with London Councils tackling  Gove on free schools  which are unaccountable and in the wrong places, unaccountable academies, cutbacks in the Early Intervention Grant reducing surestart for early years and unfair access to childcare.

In Brent we joined other local authorities in a national campaign to challenge the injustice of moving GCSE grade boundaries so over 100 Brent pupils were downgraded in English, undermining their career chances. Our campaign was covered by the national and local press with lots of my quotes over the period..

My letters to the local press on Gove’s u-turn on the curriculum are published

http://www.brentlabour.co.uk/gove_s_u_turn

and my article on Gove forcing schools in his academisation drive and his shocking dismissal of parents’ views at Gladstone is on the website.

http://www.brentlabour.co.uk/supporting_gladstone_primary

I sent my letter published in Brent and Kilburn Times challenging Martin Francis’ letter attacking Brent Education the previous week to all Labour activists but I think the H and K members are not always included. Lee is therefore including website references in his campaign newsletters

There is more including a H and K education ‘think piece’ I am contributing to. Happy to talk to members and send on campaign articles with more coming up.

Cllr Michael Pavey, (Labour, Barnhill) Chair of Governors at Wembley Primary School is said to be challenging Arnold for her Executive post at next month's AGM. Denselow is challenging Lesley Jones for her position and a good source has said that Cllr Roxanne Mashari (Labour, Welsh Harp) in challenging Cllr James Powney. 

So we can expect some manoeuvring ahead of the votes and a debate is always healthy. However a Brent Council spokesperson in the report below on the Gladstone Park Primary campaign again seems to indicate that Brent Council is willing to do little to fight forced academisation:

A Brent Council spokesman said the authority was working with the headteacher and governors on offering 'programme of support':

The DfE's default position is that a school which fails its Ofsted inspection becomes a sponsored academy and parents are campaigning against this. We understand that governors are still making their case to the secretary of state. It is inappropriate for the council to discuss future options directly with parents' groups. We discuss options with the governing body, which in turn has the role of consulting parents. We're sorry if we didn;t respond in a timely way to explain that.

No condemnation of forced academies policy, no condemnation of DfE bullying, no support for the parents' battle and no expression of confidence in the staff and governors' capacity to improve the school without being forced to become an academy.

I think that's pretty poor.

Kids take over Chalkhill Park

I was greeted by whoops of excitement and shouted greetings as I passed Chalkhill Park at 6.15pm this evening. As you can see the children have taken it over and made it their own.  It is not yet officially open and a pensive child outside whispered, 'You know this is illegal'.  But a parent said, 'How can we tell them they can't go in. They have been waiting for the park for 3 years and here it is now and they just love it!'

A decision will be made tomorrow about a possible earlier opening. There are concerns that the grass sown between the gaps in the safety matting of the children's playground, which is at an early stage of growth, will be damaged but anyone wanting to keep the children out now that they have had a taste of the park  will have quite a job on their hands!

Garth McWilliams who designed the park should be thrilled by the children's reaction.

Chalkhill 'People's Park' may open sooner than expected after direct action

The 'People's Park' today

The recent warm weather has resulted in children and families making use of the new Chalkhill Park despite it not yet being officially open and still surrounded by builders' fencing.

The temptation of green grass and exciting play equipment proved too much of a temptation after three long years of waiting. A bit of low key spontaneous direct action resulted in an unofficial entrance being created.

I recently saw parents sitting chatting while their children played, a teenager doing her homework on a laptop at a picnic bench and young people chilling out. It demonstrated to me how badly the park was needed and how keen people are to get in there and use it.

Today there were 10 labourers working on the park. I checked and was told that the play equipment has received its final safety check and that a decision will be made tomorrow on whether the park should open now with any uncompleted areas being fenced off temporarily,

I think that would be a sensible decision as public use by families would be likely to deter any misuse of the park and why on earth shouldn't it be open if it is largely complete?

The official opening by the new Mayor of Brent will be on Saturday June 8th and plans include special activities, performance, bouncy castles, talent show and much more on the Saturday, outdoor gym equipment training on Sunday and Chalkhill Primary School pupils will take it over for a Carnival procession and other activities on the afternoon of  Monday June 10th.

Local authorities must be allowed to plan and build more community primary schools

This was my response to Boris Johnson's call for educationalists to drop their 'ideological'  opposition to free schools in order to solve the shortage of primary places crisis as reported in the Evening Standard this week. Johnson said, “There’s a lot of prejudice against free schools on the part of the education establishment and they need to lose it and need to build more.There’s a huge demographic crisis looming in London and we need to fund the schools. At the moment we’re worried there’s some kind of ideological foot dragging about free schools. They’ve got to blast ahead and make space."

It is truly shocking that 118,000 children will be without a school place by 2016 and Boris Johnson's solution of 'more free schools' will not answer the problem. Free school provision by its very nature is ad hoc, depending on a group coming forward often with unproven back of the envelope plans (just look at their websites)and there is no guarantee that they will be sited in areas of need.

The Coalition's insistence that any new schools should be academies or free schools means that local authorities cannot carefully plan the construction of new community schools across their borough ensuring that there is equal distribution and access.  The fragmentation of the school system under present government policies alongside the undermining, politically and financially, of local authorities means that LAs have the statutory responsibility to provide a school place for every child but not the powers to do so.

This is forcing them to adopt sticking plaster short-term solutions including bulge classes and expansions of present buildings which result in over-large schools, with in some cases more than 1,000 5-11 year olds in one building, loss of play space and cramped conditions. This worsens the quality of provision of all children order to cater for the additional numbers.

If we put children first, and not Michael Gove's ideology, we will restore a local authority's right to build new community schools with all the quality assurance provided by a properly planned and  funded, democratically accountable, local school system.

Reclaim St George for multicultural Britain - Patrick Vernon

Guest blog by Patrick Vernon, first published in The Voice. Vernon is one of the contenders for Labour's parliamentary candidate for Brent Central.

AS THE BNP, EDL and UKIP party activists, candidates and sympathisers huddle around their campfires to review their misinformed campaign tactics for the upcoming May local elections in England and the European elections in 2014, they will take comfort from their inspiration leader and symbol of Great White Hope: St George.

Yes, folks, St George’s day is upon us again! The far right and certain members of the coalition government will be tooled up with passion in their hearts, renewing their vows against black and minority ethnic people, gay and lesbian community, feminists, trade unionists, socialists and democrats who are destroying the so-called ‘English way of life’.

The English patron saint St George represents medieval tradition and the role of the Crusaders who ‘fought the good fight’ in the advancement of Christianity and morality in an uncivilized and heathen world. In today’s society, Islam, the hip-hop/hoodie generation, refugees, people on benefits and gypsy/traveller communities are seen as the new public enemy where a new moral crusade is required for them to be ‘civilised’.

One of the greatest inspirations of the right and fascists to justify their policies and convictions around immigration and citizenship has been the values and principles around the virtues of the patron saint St George.

Namely that St George represents the genealogy of Englishness and British family history and heritage as a pure race with undiluted bloodlines.

And that St George represents the tradition of fair play, respect, tolerance, diplomacy and values of an England where people lived harmoniously and where multiculturalism and integration was not an issue.
Well, I have news for the BNP, EDL and David Cameron, what they promote is either incorrect or full of contradictions. It was back in 2003 while researching and developing the 100 Great Black Britons campaign and website (www.100greatblackbritons.com) that I found St George or, to give him his correct name, George of Lydda was actually of black and African descent.

Contrary to public opinion, St George never came to England to slay dragons or save princesses but was born in Cappadocia, then in Asia Minor what is now Turkey. He was persecuted and died at the hands of Roman Emperor Diocletian on 23 April, 303 AD in Nicomedia, Bithynia, on the Black Sea.

St George’s life and the lives of other African people during this period of ancient history have not been recorded and documented in a systematic way by European academics. However, black scholars such as J.A. Rogers in the three-volume book called Sex and Race in the 1930s have traced the black presence during the Greek and Roman periods. The impression that is given in public debates and the recent bicentenary slave trade events is that that black people did not exist until the slave trade.

St George and Septimus Severus, another Great Black Briton who was the equivalent of the Prime Minster of his day, and many others played a key influential role during the Roman Empire.

Unlike Septimus Severus, George of Lydda was a successful Roman Tribune who turned his back on the Roman political system and converted to Christianity. His commitment to religion and his subsequent torture led to his iconic status by the Crusaders when they travelled to the Middle East and North Africa. St George was subsequently adopted in the 14th Century in England as our patron saint.

It is 20 years since the murder of Stephen Lawrence and as a society we still have not fully grasped and acknowledged the nature and the impact of instutionalised racism and the legacy of Empire. Michael Gove’s social engineering of the national curriculum and Eric Pickles’ integration strategy reflects an ill-conceived and rose-tinted vision of Britain.

The recent cuts in public services, spate of deaths and mass unemployment of young black men is a major concern which is part of the wider legacy of post-Empire and its impact on social exclusion, inequalities of wealth, class and the status of black and other minority ethnic communities in Britain today.

It is a sad fact of history that victims of institutionalised racism over the years such as Orville Blackwood, Colin Roach, Smiley Culture, Roger Sylvester, Rocky Bennett, Mark Duggan, Sean Rigg and many others reflect the symbolism that St George is really the patron saint of black men, oppressed people and the maturity of our multicultural society.

I hope the BNP/EDL hierarchy and supporters will continue to honour George of Lydda but recognise that they are supporting a black role model.

Over the past 20 years, mainly through sporting achievements such as the Olympics, boxing and representation in national team sports such as football and rugby, there is a growing acceptance and ownership of St George being adopted by black and minority ethnic communities.

I also hope the 2015 General election will focus on celebrating and focusing on the achievements, benefits and opportunities around immigration and migration.

So let’s continue to reclaim St George’s day and make it symbol of our multicultural society and a rallying cry in the fight against racism and fascism.

Major concerns on academy funding and oversight raised by Public Accounts Committee

 We are sceptical that the department has sufficient resources to properly 

oversee the expanding programme

The BBC reported yesterday that the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee has issued a critical report on academies financing:

Committee chairman Margaret Hodge said inefficient funding systems and poor cost control had driven up the cost of the programme.

"Of the £8.3 billion spent on academies from April 2010 to March 2012, some £1 billion was an additional cost which had to be met by diverting money from other departmental budgets.
"Some of this money had previously been earmarked to support schools struggling with difficult challenges and circumstances. £350 million of the extra £1 billion represented extra expenditure that was never recovered from local authorities."

Part of the overspend will be due to the increase from about 200 open academies in April 2010 to more than 2,886 in March 2012.

But the committee warns the "oversight of academies has had to play catch-up with the rapid growth in academy numbers", and heard concerns of money being allocated twice in some cases.

The report also notes that much of the extra costs of the programme were met out of existing budgets - most notably £95m from a fund previously earmarked for improving underperforming schools.

But it warns that because so many converters were high-performing schools, those that might have needed the extra financial help more had arguably lost out.

The report also warns that the present system makes it hard for the department to prove academies are not receiving more money than they should. Ministers are still unable to convince those interested that academies do not get more money than regular schools.

It says central government may be "too distant to oversee individual academies effectively", and suggests that things will get tougher as the programme expands further in the future.

"We are sceptical that the department has sufficient resources to properly oversee the expanding programme, especially as schools now joining are less high-performing and may require greater oversight and scrutiny."
It notes that the number of central staff overseeing academies' finance and assurance has doubled since May 2010, while the number of academies has increased tenfold.

It points to some "serious cases of governance failure and financial impropriety in academies" that went undetected by the department's own monitoring.

It warns that oversight systems have not kept pace with academy numbers and expresses concern that only now - more than two years into the expansion programme - has the department started to address value-for-money issues.
'
The committee also says there is too little public information about finances at individual academy level.

It calls on the department to publish school level expenditure, including per-pupil funding, for academies and to subject them to the same level of public scrutiny as experienced by regular state schools.

Brent Council to provide incentive for council tenants to downsize

With the 'Bedroom Tax' leading to protests across the country and some Labour Councils joining Brighton and Hove Green Council in announcing that they will not evict tenants in arrears solely because of the tax, Brent Council has announced that it will introduce an incentive for tenants to down-size.

So far neither they or their arm's length Brent Housing Partnership have defined what constituents an 'extra bedroom'. Some housing associations have reclassified small extra rooms as boxrooms rather than bedrooms thus avoiding tenants getting caught by the tax.

This is the  proposal to be discussed by the Executive at tonight's Brent Town Hall meeting:

"The Size Criteria, or ‘Bedroom Tax’ will be implemented for underoccupiers of social housing stock from the 1st April 2013, and tenants will receive a reduced amount of Housing Benefit to pay the rent with. Given the current demand on social housing, particularly from homeless households who will be affected by other Welfare Reform measures, transferring underoccupiers to right sized accommodation is favoured, and needs to be encouraged. The currently financial incentive offered to households to motivate the move is a flat rate of £1,000. The proposal is to increase this to £2,000 per bedroom released, per household (to a maximum amount of £6,000) to encourage underoccupiers to move to smaller homes. The cost of providing the increased incentive payments is offset against savings to both the Temporary Accommodation (TA) budget and the Housing Revenue Account (HRA)."

Councillors belatedly realise they can have a role in director apppintments

Brent's Labour Councillors seem to be arising from their slumber, albeit rather late in the day. Standing in for Muhammed Butt on April 18th, Ruth Moher gave the Leaders' report.  She is alleged  to have admitted,  when speaking about the proposed restructuring LINK , that councillors had only recently realised they should get involved in the appointment of Directors. I can only assume, although that seems rather incredible, that appointments have previously been made by officers themselves.
 
This adds a different perspective to my call at the General Purposes Committee  LINK that they appoint a strong director for education who will champion the local authority's role in education. Perhaps they hadn't realised they could do that?

Barry Gardiner says no demand for Michaela Free School and urges residents to make their views known

In a letter to a constituent, Barry Gardiner MP (Labour, Brent North) has said that he has seen no desire in Brent for the Michaela Free School which is run by Katharine Birbalsingh:

Although there is a shortage of school places in Brent, I do not think that a free school In Wembley is the best solution to this problem, especially as there has not been, to my knowledge, a call from the community to open such a school.

He goes on to urge residents to make their views known on the issue before tomorrow's deadline:

The school has not yet been approved by the DfE and as the consultation period is still open, I would urge you and other concerned residents to complete the online questionnaire so that the views of local people are taken into account. The deadline for submissions is on Monday 22nd April 2013 and the questionnaire can be found here: http://www.mcsbrent.co.uk/questionnaire/ .

Be aware that the questionnaire contains some seemingly fairly innocuous statements which few would disgree with but where agreement can be used to claim that the school is supported.

Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, had written to Gardiner on behalf of Michael Gove and claims that Michaela have had 'production meetings' with Brent Council officials:  

The proposers of Michael Community School are committed to opening a school with a distinct ethos and high expectations that will serve disadvantaged communities in London. The Department considered that their application to open a Free School was strong   and we have been working with them seince September 20122 to develop their school. As Free School projects develop, there are often aspects of the original application that evolve and change. Ministers will consider the final location, evidence of demand and revised plans for the school before making the final decision to open the school.

The Michael Community School is proposing to open in Brent for September 2014. Following an extebnsive site search, the Education Funding Agnecy has been helping the proiposers identify as site which ahs the ca[acity for their proposed school and can serve disadvantaged communities. We believe it is likely that the school will help meet rising demand for places across Brent. The Secretary of State will also consider any evidence that the school proposers provide that the school will improve choice for parents alongside any evidence of basic need for places before deciding whether to enter a funding agreement.

Brent Council has been aware that the Michaela Community School was looking at potentially opening in Brent since last summer. I understand that representatives of the school have had productive meetings with council officials. The Department will write to Brent Council during the school proposers' consultation to seek their further views on the school before a final decision on whether to open the school is made. (My emphasis)

The Secretary of State will ot make the final decision on whether to pen the Michael Community School until the school is ready to enter into a funding agreement. By that point, the school's proposers will have completed a public consultation on the opening of the school. The Secretary of State will also consider the evidence of demand for the school and the potential impact on other nearby state-funded schools.

Finally, we are fully committed to making the Free School programme transparent and accountable. The Department will publish the final pre-opening development cost of each project shortly after the school opens. The Department will also publish the final capital cost of each school once it has been established, which can be after the opening date as sometimes work continues after a school has opened.

Clearly it is important that we know what Brent Council has said during the consultation. The fact that only 8 people in total turned up to the consultation meetings and most, if not all, were opposed to Michaela should have given Brent Council the message that the school is not wanted her.

It is telling that we cannot know the cost, which might well contribute to our views on the project until after the school has opened.


  

 

Green perspective on fragmentation of education through academies and free schools

For the record and for the wider audience beyond Brent interested in academies and free schools here is the letter I had published in the Brent and Kilburn Times two weeks ago:

Mary Arnold (Labour, lead member for children and families) claims  that Brent schools are 'far from fragmentation' and accuses me of 'distorted views'. In June 2011 the then Brent Chief Executive, Gareth Daniel warned against fragmentation of the education service when he spoke at the Brent Governors' Conference. In a reference to academies and free schools he said that it was crucial to keep Brent's 'family of schools' together.  He stressed the vital  role of the local authority when things go wrong in individual schools

At the same conference Krutika Pau, Director of Children and Families,  urged governors to keep their eyes on the long-term and reflect on the permanent damage that would be caused by a fragmented school system.

In May 2012 Mary Arnold herself wrote to Queens Park Secondary Community School which was considering academy conversion and said:

'It is vitally important to maintain high levels of collaboration across Brent’s education community and avoid the risks of fragmentation from academy conversions.

The government’s school reform legislation, the huge reduction in capital spending just at a time when population increases demand school expansion in Brent (and London-wide) and the diversion of funding away from local authorities towards academies is changing the education landscape and putting significant pressure on local authorities.'

Now In April 2013 we only have one non-academy non-faith secondary school left in Brent: Copland High School, which may well come under pressure after its recent Ofsted report.  In the primary sector Sudbury has converted to academy status, Salusbury converted to academy status with the Park Federation after Ofsted put it into Special Measures and Kensal Rise last week announced it was being taken over by Ark Schools. Academies are answerable to Michael Gove and not the local authority.

Gladstone Park Primary is under enormous pressure from Department for Education brokers to convert to academy status after just one poor Ofsted Report and despite its above average results.

Despite this escalation of the situation since the earlier warnings Mary Arnold now seeks to downplay the danger, She prefers to see this as a 'mixed economy' of schools rather than fragmentation and appears ready for this continue with the added ingredient of free schools over which the local authority has no control. Brent Labour Party appears to have given up the fight against Michael Gove's policies and instead seeks to work with them. An early promise to write to the DfE stating that the local authority thought that Gladstone Park had the capacity to improve with local authority support has not been fulfilled. Parents have been left on their own to challenge DfE bullying.

I understand that the argument within the council is that if they were to make a stand against the DfE and challenge forced academies it would bring the wrath of the DfE and Ofsted down on the council and local schools and make matters worse. An alternative view is that if the local authority acquiesces so easily the DfE will see easy pickings in Brent  and move to force more primary schools to become academies. The council's policy gives in to bullying and leaves parents and residents who want to support their local school and the benefits of the local authority school system out on a limb.

I spoke at the recent Brent General Purposes Committee calling for strong leadership in education that would champion the role of the local authority  in school improvement, in ensuring equality of access to schools, and in making schools democratically accountable to the local community. I too am proud of what Brent schools have achieved and want to ensure that this is not undermined by Michael Gove's ill-thought out reforms. I think this is best down by challenging forced academies, free schools and the privatisation of education  while Mary Arnold thinks  a softly, softly approach of collaboration which retains an arms length role for the local authority will succeed.


Martin Francis
Brent Green Party spokesperson on children and families