Claremont headteacher rises to the academy bait

Getting 10% more money (at the expense of other schools and centrally provided services) and more curriculum freedom (which the Green Party argue all schools should have), is the bait provided by the government to entice schools to become academies - and Terry Malloy, headteacher of Claremont High School in Kenton has swallowed it hook, line and sinker. He remarks, 'It enhances your income giving you more money to spend on pupils and that's a good thing.' As someone remarked this is a cash grab that will deprive other schools of income and ruin central services that provide support to all schools.

Malloy was speaking somewhat prematurely as the issue has not yet been discussed by Claremont's governing body. That was another government ploy: they wrote to headteachers rather than governing bodies with the 'academy offer' revealing their disregard for the democratic structures currently in place in schools. Headteachers are in charge of the day to day management of schools, governing bodies are responsible for their strategic direction. Changing status is clearly a strategic matter and governing body as community as well as school representatives should take account of the wider impact on other schools and the community.

Labour having so strongly backed the Trojan horse of academies under Blair and Brown are now backtracking, but lack credibility. Ed Balls, speaking to the Guardian, claims that Labour's academy programme was 'a progressive and comprehensive education policy' and 'What the Tories are proposing is a total perversion of that policy. It will be focused on the schools that are already doing well not those who need extra support. And for all the rhetoric about parent power and decentralisation it will remove the requirement to consult local parents or the local authority and will mean thousands of schools reporting directly to the secretary of state.'

In fact under Labour academy governing bodies appointed governors and the academy sponsor was guaranteed a built in majority. The role of local authorities was only latterly partially restored and academy agreements made subject to agreed admissions criteria. We in Brent know how little consultation there was with local parents and community over the Ark Academy and also remember the council survey (quoted recently by John Christie, Brent's Director of Children and Families against the Coalition policy)that showed the majority of Brent residents wanted schools to be run by the local authority - not by charities, private sponsors or faith groups.Labour had already prepared the ground which the Tories are now  enthusiastically occupying.

Sarah Teather Lib Dem, Brent Central, now Children's Minister, was strongly opposed to Labour's version of academies when she was shadow minister for education, but was demoted when the Lib Dem party leadership changed and their policy softened (just in time for Brent Lib Dems to change their line on the ARK Academy). Now in the Coalition she is having to support an even worse version of the Labour policy she so vigorously criticised. During the General Election campaign she described the Tory free school policy as a 'shambles, unless you give local authorities that power to plan and unless you actually make sure that there is money is available, it's just a gimmick'.

 "Trust in me"

Michael Gove, behind the polite, mild manner and silver tongue,(resembling Kaa in the Jungle Book) is a right-wing Conservative who is implementing potentially devastating, ill-thought out policies at reckless speed. He is Teather's boss - how long can she go along with undemocratic, cash grabbing academies and the 'shambles' of free schools?  The fig leaf of the Lib Dem's pupil premium, on the back burner anyway, will not make up for the cuts and privatising that will wreak havoc in local schools.

The rump regroups

According to a blog on UK Polling by ex-Brent Conservative councillor, later Democratic Conservative; and Independent parliamentary candidate, Atiq Malik, all Brent North Conservative Constituency officers have resigned. New elections will take place at an Extraordinary General Meeting on July 22nd 2010.

Despite a strong showing elsewhere the Conservatives did poorly in Brent North with Barry Gardiner increasing his majority for Labour. There was internal controversy about a very late candidate selection which left Harsh Patel, the Conservative candidate very little time to establish himself. This was coupled with the announcement by Bob Blackman, shortly before the poll that he was not going to stand as a councillor in Preston ward and that he would resign his leadership of the Conservative Group after the election. In the local elections the Tories were left with a rump of only 6 seats, all in the north of the borough, compared with 15 at the previous local elections.

Breathing New Life into an Old Church

Old St Andrew's Church in Kingsbury is probably the oldest building in Brent and our only Grade 1 listed building. Drama Workhouse, a local community group that used to be based at the Dudden Hill Community Centre in Willesden, are the new users of the building. They have secured Heritage Lottery Fund money to survey local residents on how the building can be developed. The vision is to bring the church back to life as a vibrant and dynamic Heritage and Cultural Centre connecting it with the wider community.  Drama Workhouse  want to ensure that activities cater for people of all ages and backgrounds. The survey can be found HERE.
The deadline is July 2nd 2010

No Tube Services Please - We're Brentonians

The lack of tube services for Brentonians yet again this weekend caused local activist Dan to seek an explanation... 

At last, I've got it: it's part of a Transport for London / Brent Council / Boris Johnson initiative to get people off the tubes and onto their bikes to make the most of the glorious summer weather, and inhale more of that lovely EU limit-busting fine particulate matter that causes exacerbation of respiratory conditions, heart disease and premature death, thus keeping the NHS and funeral directors gainfully employed.

The London Guantánamo Campaign invites you to...

A DEMONSTRATION IN SOLIDARITY WITH VICTIMS OF

EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION

Date: Saturday 26 June 2010   

Time: 2-4pm    

Venue: outside the US Embassy, Grosvenor Square, London W1A 1AE (nearest tube: Bond Street/Marble Arch)

Speakers include:

Yvonne Ridley, Journalist

Baroness Sarah Ludford, Lib Dem MEP for London

Ilyas Townsend, Justice for Aafia Coalition

Joy Hurcombe, Brighton Against Guantanamo

John Clossick, Stop The War Coalition

Liz Davies, Chair, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers and others

Meeting Tonight: the FACTS about Climate Change

No anti-EDL demonstration in Wembley as attention shifts to Barking

After its meeting tonight Brent and Harrow UAF said they had been overwhelmed by the tremendous support they had received from the entire local community and the 40 Brent Labour councillors in their stand against the English Defence League (EDL).

They said that at present they do not now expect the EDL to come to Wembley on Saturday and will not be holding a demonstration. However, they will be ready for a united demonstration of community solidarity, at any time that the EDL  may venture into the area. The EDL are not welcome here.

Meanwhile the EDL is taking its delusions and distortions over to Barking this weekend where the BNP are standing in a by-election. The UAF will be making opposition to racism and fascism in Barking a priority and will be mobilising against them.

Brent and Harrow UAF hope to organise an event in the Autumn which will celebrate the enormous strengths of our diverse borough and demonstrate that we will not tolerate attempts to divide us.

Check this blog for any further information in the run up to Saturday as the situation remains fluid

A budget for pointless austerity

 Commenting on today’s “budget for pointless austerity,” the UK’s first Green MP Caroline Lucas said:

“In spite of the Chancellor’s protestations, this budget was neither unavoidable nor fair. Instead it was a massively failed opportunity to shift the economy onto a fairer, greener pathway.

“Devastating public spending cuts of the sort announced today are not ‘unavoidable.’  They are not an economic inevitability – they are an ideological choice.

“Nor was this budget fair. A VAT rise, benefits cuts for all, a public sector freeze, and swingeing cuts in most government budgets of 25%, will all of them hit some of the poorest hardest.”