Accountability behind locked doors

There's a notice on the Claremont High School website saying that consultation on conversion to an academy ended on March 9th and that comments would be considered at last night's governing body meeting. This morning there is no news about any decision made by governors.

However, I am told that things were far from normal when parents and staff arrived to lobby the governors last night. In an echo of the Council's budget setting meeting on February 28th there was increased security at the school, doors were padlocked and lobbyists were not allowed in.  At the last governors' meeting on February 9th, Mr Malloy, headteacher, told governors that if the school became an academy it would be accountable to the community at at a much 'higher level' than at present. Hmm.

Meanwhile the school should have received letters from the trades unions about legal action and some parents are also looking at the possibility of legal remedies to inadequate consultation.

Charteris Meeting on Saturday

A message from the Charteris Sports Centre Campaign:

Public Meeting on Saturday the 12th of March, 4.30 at Charteris.

The future of Charteris is at stake.

Please come and be part of the future:

Please bring your friends, neighbours, local residents, Charteris users.

Demand a General Election - This government has no mandate for cuts

Guest blog from Mike Shaughnessy of Haringey Green Party

From what I hear about advance coach and train bookings, it appears that the TUC demonstration on Saturday 26th March is going to be very well attended, with some predictions that a million people will join the march through central London. But, let’s not be complacent, and everyone who can possibly attend this event should resolve themselves to do so. A huge show of opposition to the ConDem government’s attack on public services and the welfare state itself, is necessary to display for all to see, the strength of feeling aroused by these damaging slash and burn policies. This is no less than an attempt to turn back the clock to Victorian era social policies.

I know that there is some cynicism amongst the public about single set piece demonstrations after the massive anti-war march in 2003 was pretty much ignored by the Labour government, but a low turn-out will be easily dismissed as a ‘vested interest’ protest by public sector employees. Communities (service users) need to show solidarity with the unions on this, and to be quite frank, to encourage the often ‘conservative’ minded union leaders to escalate the battle and call coordinated strikes which they can do legally, over things like the proposed changes to occupational pensions.

I also expect this protest to be a bit different from other large scale marches, in that I expect there will be perhaps hundreds of smaller direct action type protests surrounding the main demonstration, where organisations like UKUncut have led the way with sit ins at high street banks. It is important that large numbers attend the main protest to make the smaller flash mobs more difficult for the authorities to contain. There are hundreds of legitimate targets for protest in London which given a large main demonstration, will be impossible to police.

The establishment has been busy lecturing the population that there is no alternative to the cuts, but there is indeed an alternative to this devastation of our communities, it just doesn’t get much publicity from the mainstream media, so we must make them listen, and this protest can be the beginning of the process.

We could start by ditching the ridiculous white elephant that is the Trident nuclear weapons system, saving billions of pounds. Then there is increasing income tax and National Insurance contributions for high earners (those on more than £44k per year pay only 1% NI on earnings above this figure, whilst everyone working pays 11% below this amount). It is further estimated that £120 billion is lost in tax revenue from wealthy individuals and corporate bodies to tax avoidance and evasion, these loop holes should be closed. Investment in energy efficiency measures like insulation would save millions of pounds. And the tax exemption for private schools must end and the savings be channelled into state schooling. That’s a starter for ten anyway.

The UK deficit is not even all that large by historical standards and we have the sixth largest economy in the world as measured by GDP, so why the urgency to cut public provision so savagely? Well, that’s because these cuts are ideologically driven by a government that wants to shrink the state, whatever the level of public debt, and they want to try and get the pain out of the way now. So in four years’ time they can call a general election and hope everyone has forgotten what they did to country.

Now is the time to stop the ConDem government dead in its tracks, and we should demand a general election immediately, because this government doesn’t have a mandate to inflict these policies on the people, since most were not in the Tory or Lib Dem manifestos at last year’s general election. Mubarak said there was no alternative in Egypt, and look what happened to him.




LINK to Haringey Green Party blog

Parents Demand a Voice in Claremont's Future

Despite short notice and a clash with a school production, concerned parents  of Claremont High School students attended a meeting tonight at Kenton Methodist Church Hall about the possible conversion of the school to an Academy.

Parents reported that they had heard little about the proposals and were surprised to hear that a decision may be made tomorrow. One parent reported that he had e-mailed the school with six questions on the issue but had received no response. He had rejected sending his child to Wembley ARK Academy because he had reservations about the academies programme only to hear that the school where he had eventually sent her may itself become an academy.  Another parent commented that 'surgeries'  with senior staff and governors on the issue had been held when other meetings were taking place. There were also complaints about the difficulty of accessing the academy documents on the school's website. One document had a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) with no answers. A letter that had been sent to parents on February 1st had not reached all the parents present and was not seen as even handed in its presentation of the case.

An exchange of opinion and information took place during the meeting and Hank Roberts of the NUT and ATL, two of the unions that had called the meeting, said this was precisely what the education unions wanted.  All they were asking was that parents should have the same opportunity as staff:  to hear both sides of the debate, time to make up their own minds, and then have the chance to express their views in a ballot. A teacher remarked that if the school leadership was so proud of what they were doing in seeking academy conversion why had they not proclaimed it, rather than be secretive. A parent asked why the school hadn't used recent parent meetings to inform them about the issue.

There was general agreement that parents should contact the school by e-mail to say they had not been properly consulted and asking for a delay in the decision so that parents could research the issue, attend a debate representing the case For and Against the proposal, and then cast a ballot. Some parents would attempt to speak to governors before the meeting.

Hank Roberts said that if there was a fair debate and a ballot that went against the unions' point of view they would accept that was the view of parents. The governing body would have to weigh up the views of staff and parents in considering whether to convert. He emphasised that it was all about democracy and that there was the possibility of legal action to ensure the fairness of the process.

Claremont Well On the Way to Academy Conversion

It appears that the governing body of Claremont High School has moved further along the academy road than I had realised. The Additional Governing Body meeting of February 9th heard representations from the education unions, which mainly focused on changes in pay and conditions and school governance.  The issue of the impact on other schools and the Brent education budget as a whole does not appear to have been addressed

After the union representatives left the governing body went on to discuss conversion to an academy in more detail.  The governors decided not to enter into an open debate between the school leadership and the leadership, in front of staff,  with both taking questions from the staff, as this would give the impression that 'the staff would be voting for or against the conversion and effectively making the decision'.

On salaries and conditions of service,  governors were told that there was no intention to move away from national agreements but no 100% guarantee could be given that this would not happen in the future. It was pointed out that the school had already lost staff to a local academy because they were offered better salaries and conditions: 'the market force is already in evidence and teachers are taking an active part in it'.

Addressing financial aspects Mr Malloy, headteacher, told governors that on initial calculations the school was facing a deficit out-turn of £179,000. When cuts had been made but staffing levels maintained the deficit would be £53,000. He went on to claim that if the school converted to academy status it would receive an additional £657,000 top-sliced from the Brent schools' budget.  In addition there would be a £25,000 one-off start-up grant.  There is no record of any discussion about the impact on other schools. Indeed earlier in the meeting the governors agreed  that they could not predict or influence the government's agenda  and 'their only focus is Claremont High and what is best for the future of the school'.

The governors considered a paper on the next steps in the conversion process that had been drawn up by a firm of lawyers experienced in advising schools converting to academy status. The governing body agreed to delegate authority to a committee to work with the legal team on employment, finances, Trust and articles. Legal fees were expected to be between £12,000 and £13,000.

Governors decided to defer decisions about membership of the Academy Trust until roles and responsibilities were clearer and advice had been sought on the levels of liability members would have. The first meeting of the Trust was scheduled for March 10th when the governing body meets. This meeting would decide on membership.  It was suggested that the funding agreement might be ready by March 10th, to be implemented by April 1st 2011.

Since the governing body meeting, governors have been circulated with Articles of Association of  Claremont High School Academy Trust and were asked to send comments in by last Friday so that it could be registered with Company's House yesterday or today.

Tomorrow's meeting at Kenton Methodist Church should be very interesting!

Documentation on Claremont's Academy Conversion can be found on the school's website HERE

Willesden and Brent Times Stands Up for Our Rights

At a time when much of the local press is in decline, doing little more than copying and pasting council press releases, the Willesden and Brent Times is going through a strong period. In its previous incarnation as the Brent Chronicle, the paper was known locally, half affectionately, and half in exasperation,  as 'The Chronic'. That description no longer applies.

The WBT has managed to keep a team of reporters covering Brent while the Wembley and Willesden Observer has to make do with one extremely hard-working reporter, and as a result it is usually dominated by Harrow news from its parent paper. The WWO to its credit launched a campaign to save Brent libraries but the WBT's coverage of the cuts has been exemplary, going well beyond the Council's sanitised version of events.

This week the WBT had coverage of the cuts on page 1, page 2, page 4, page 6 and the letters page. It had a long editorial on the cuts, the conclusion of which is worth quoting:
 While the budget is bleak the community should be proud.

Proud that they have launched such vociferous and sophisticated campaigns to save their libraries, sports and youth centres, which have forced council chiefs to rethink their plans.
Proud to be part of a society which questions its councils and Government and challenges them when they think they have got it wrong.
And proud of their capacity to rally round and support each other to find a way through this crisis in public services. 

We are fortunate to have the WBT with us as this crucial time.

Claremont becoming an academy? What do parents think?

Education unions are holding a meeting for Claremont High School parents on Wednesday 9th March at 7pm  ahead of a governing body meeting on Thursday which may take the first steps to the school seeking academy status. Mr Malloy, the headteacher, tried to make the move last June but was thwarted. LINK

The unions claim that the outcome of a ballot of school staff (teaching and non-teaching), overseen by the Electoral Reform Society,  has not been notified to parents. They say this is wrong and that parents should be told what staff think and have notified parents of the ballot result - 70% of staff against conversion to an academy - in a leaflet given out at the school gate today.

The leaflet says that children have been told academy status is a 'good idea' but they have not been given both side of the argument. It goes on to claim that Mr Malloy, headteacher, has threatened staff with 20 redundancies if academy status does not go ahead.

The unions say that there should be proper consultation with parents and that they too should have a ballot on the issue. They believe that the governing body cannot make an informed decision until this has been done. There will be a lobby of the governing body at the school on Thursday at 7pm.

The meeting, at Kenton Methodist Church, Woodgrange Avenue, Kenton will be an open meeting and the headteacher and governors have been invited to attend. The unions promise that they will engage in open and factual debate.

The Claremont decision is vital as there is claimed to be an agreement amongst secondary headteachers in Brent that if one school goes for academy status, then they all will. They claim this will avoid competition and the decline of non-converting schools that happened in a previous era when some schools decided to go for grant-maintained status, achieving a degree of independence in management and admissions. This led to the destabilisation of Wembley High School and Willesden High School  which did not convert, with both receiving disproportionate numbers of refugee pupils and new arrivals. Willesden High School was declared a failing school and converted to a City Academy and Wembley struggled, eventually succeeding brilliantly, against the odds.

When schools become academies they get additional funding which would be taken away from Brent's main school budget. If all the secondary schools became academies Brent's funds would be drastically reduced impacting on primary school budgets and the central support services provided by the Council.  In addition all secondary schools in the borough would be out of local democratic control.

Note: The unions holding the meeting are ATL, GMB, NASUWT, NUT and UNISON.

Brent Library Consultation Figures Wrong, Admits Council

With a consultation that closed AFTER the Council had set its budget assuming library closures and Cllr Ann John, leader of the Council stating that six libraries will close BEFORE the results had of the consultation had been considered, you would think that Brent Council could make things much worse. Oh, yes they can!

Sue McKenzie, Head of Brent Library Service, has written to local save library campaigners admitting that the Libraries Consultation is riddled with errors. In a written response to Graham Durham of the Save Cricklewood Library campaign,  Ms McKenzie today admitted that the consultation figures for library visits per year were wrong.The consultation closed on 4th March but this error has only just been acknowledged.

Graham Durham commented:

Local campaigners have asked about the quoted figures for caller  numbers for over four weeks without receiving a reply from Ms McKenzie or Chief Executive,Gareth Daniel. It is appalling that the Council has only acknowledged their error today - after the public consultation has ended and the Leader of the Council,Ann John, has publicly stated that six libraries will be closed.

Campaigners noted that of the twelve library caller figures quoted in the Council consultation - one was an estimate (Harlesden) and two were rounded up to the nearest thousand (Kingsbury and Ealing Road). Now the Council has voted to close the libraries and closed the consultation it has agreed that the figure quoted for Kingsbury was wrong - although it still claims that Ealing Road receives exactly 261.000 callers - 'a remarkable coincidence' according to campaigners.

It is also clear that leading councillors are unclear about their own consultation and decision making. Defending the closure recently Councillor Butt, Deputy Leader, stated that 'the six libraries with the lowest caller numbers are being closed'. This is simply untrue based on the Council's own consultation as Neasden library, recently refurbished at a cost of £355,000,is proposed for  closure  despite being in the top six most used libraries.

Graham Durham added:

When leading councillors have not bothered to read their own two page consultation the library users of Brent have every reason to continue to campaign against these closures

All library campaigns have written jointly  to Councillor Powney, lead member on Libraries, on a range of matters including why a  saving of   £1.3 million is being put forward by the council - which is £293,000 more than the budget target and seeking clarity on the over £1 million management costs for running the library service