Schools start the long healing process after fire deaths

 

A child's death is always terrible with all that curiosity, openness, zest for life and excitement about an unfolding future, suddenly and cruelly extinguished. The death of five children along with their mother in the fire in Neasden is almost too much to bear and somehow even worse at a time when as Palestinians they may have dared to hope for a better future.

Such a large family will have lots of  friends and relatives in the area and their loss will be a  terrible blow to a close-knit community. The children's schools will be holding special assemblies tomorrow as the first step in the long healing process. Staff, pupils and parents will be united in struggling to make sense of what has happened and will be seeking reassurance, support and comfort from each other. At times like this schools shoulder a huge responsibility and their central role in the community is revealed for all to see.

Muna Elmufatish and her children Hanin, 14, Basma, 13, Amal, nine, Mustafa, five, and Yehya, aged two all died in the fire. Their father Bassam Kua and sister Nur, 16, are in hospital in critical condition. My thoughts are with them them and everyone who has been affected by the tragedy.

Greens say Private Finance Initiatives should be 'nationalised'

Following the revelation that more than 60 hospitals cannot afford the rising cost of private finance initiative schemes, the Green Party calls on the Government to call these PFI schemes in.

The NHS faces a bill of £65billion for new hospitals built under PFI schemes and some NHS Trusts face annual repayments of more than 10% of their turnover. It has been claimed that across 154 different PFI projects, over £500 million of profits have been generated.

Penny Kemp, Green Party spokesperson said, “These PFI companies make huge profits. The National Audit office claimed one deal on a hospital in Bromley gave a return for the PFI contractors of more than 70%. In a time of economic austerity, this is scandalous.

"Furthermore, even the Government has no idea how much profit is being generated by the selling of private finance initiatives by construction and investment operators to other funds on a secondary PFI market.”

The Green Party believes that Private Finance Initiative needs to bought back from the companies and shown as Government debt rather than the dubious accounting stream, which does not require the capital cost of the schemes to be shown in the Government books.

Update on Brent Council Cuts

The much improved Brent and Kilburn Times has coverage of the latest Brent cuts following the Brent  Executive Decisions on Monday. Here are the main details taken from my regular Brent Green Party local press briefing: WKT E-EDITION

ANGUISH AS CARE CENTRE IS AXED WKTp1 A family expresses concern that the closure of Knowles House care home (decided by the Executive on Monday) will kill a 94 year old if she has to be moved. They said they did not know of the imminent closure until contacted by the newspaper. Cllr Ruth Moher expresses surprise that they did not know and says the moves will be based on individual needs and planned carefully: 'Residents and their families will be involved in this process'. (Families had opposed the closure in the initial consultation) OUR VIEW - AGAIN ITS THE MOST VULNERABLE WHO PAY PRICE WKTp20 Editorial on Knowles House claims it increasingly  seems 'the most vulnerable who are being asked to pay the heaviest price for the financial and political failings of the past' . They claim that 'unfit for purpose' is trailed out too readily and asks 'in this case does it mean that Brent (Council) has been negligent in maintaining a building for which it is wholly responsible?'
MOBILITY CURBED AS NUMBER OF TAXI-CARD DRIVES HALVED WKTp3 Brent council Executive voted on Monday to reduce the number of rides for people with mobility problems from 96 to 48 per year. It also ended 'double swiping' which enabled members to use two subsidies for one journey.
PUBLIC HAS BEEN MISLED OVER CUTS IN LOLLIPOP STAFF, CLAIMS COUNCILLOR WKTp2 Cllr Lorber (Lib Dem) says that the Council has misled residents over the reversal of school crossing patrol cuts because leaving staff will not be replaced and schools deemed low priority could lose their patrols to schools designated high priority. Cllr Jim Moher says Lorber is using parental concerns to 'play politics' and 'wherever there is a serious risk to safety we will not move the lollipop people'.
SCHOOLS COULD FUND SAFETY PATROLS WWOp10 Cllr Moher says patrols cost £6,000 but schools could employ volunteers if they funded their training. He said if they were unable to do so the council will look at alternatives. 'We would not withdraw the patrol unless we were satisfied there was adequate safety provision.'
AUTHOR BACKS FIGHT TO KEEP SIX LIBRARIES OPEN WKTp4 Former children's laureate Jacqueline Wilson will pledge her support for the libraries campaign when she appears at St Martin's Church, Mortimer Road, Kensal Green on Wednesday September 28th (tickets available from L'Angolo's Deli and Queens Park books £10 adults, £5 children - doors open 6pm)
STREET CLEANING - BRING SERVICE BACK IN HOUSE WKTp20 Letter from Martin Francis responding to Cllr Moher's defence of street cleansing cuts last week.  He quotes from the officers' document that Moher put to the Council to disprove his claims, and calls for the waste management service to be brought  back 'in-house' following Veolia's attempt to increase profit margins.

Newcastle: teachers, students and supporters unite at Kenton School picket

Kingsbury High School unions are not the only ones taking action against academy conversion:

September 22, 2011

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Teachers from the NUT, ATL and NASUWT unions at Kenton School, a large secondary school in Newcastle, began the first of three days of strike action today. They are taking action over plans to turn the school into an academy.

A picket of around 80 had assembled at the school gate by 8:15 this morning. They were joined by students from the school & supporters from anti-cuts campaigns like Northern Public Services Alliance and Coalition of Resistance.

The striking teachers have the support of the Labour-led local authority. The deputy leader of Newcastle city council spoke at a recent meeting to oppose conversion. The Headteacher is intent on pursuing academy status, despite only half the governing body having voted to do so and clear opposition from staff.

As well as further strike action next Tuesday and Thursday, picket-line discussion raised the idea of a weekend public march in the centre of Newcastle. The hope is to rally support for anti-academies campaigns both in the city and across the region.

Please send a message of support to: northern@nut.org.uk

Europe Against Austerity Conference Oct 1st

EUROPE AGAINST
AUSTERITY CONFERENCE

Saturday 1st October, London

Should Greece default?
Has the euro got a future?
Is there an alternative to cuts?
Are we facing ‘double dip’ recession?

As the European economic crisis worsens and ordinary people are made to pay, hear what the left parties and campaigns across Europe have to say. Take the opportunity to be part of the debate: join us to discuss alternatives and action for change.

Speakers include: Jeremy Corbyn MP; Unite; NUJ; Pierre Laurent, Party of the European Left; Sevim Dagdelen MP Die Linke; Sinn Fein; Olivier Besancenot NPA; Annick Coupe Solidaires, France; Max Banc Attac Germany; Piero Bernocchi COBAS, Italy; Prof Costas Lapavitsas, SOAS; Marisa Matias MEP, Left Bloc, Portugal

Registration: £5 waged / £3 unwaged / £10 delegates from organisations

More info from www.europeagainstausterity.org / coalitionofresistance@gmail.com / +44(0)7939 242229

Conference initiated by Coalition of Resistance.

Hirani's a Hit

Congratulations to Councillor Krupesh Hirani for coming from nowhere to Number 17 in Total Politics TOP 35 COUNCILLOR BLOGS. Good to see some of our Green councillors from around the country in the list as well.

http://krupesh4brent.com/

Kingsbury Teachers' Strike Given Go Ahead

The national action committees of the NUT and NASUWT have given the go ahead for a strike at Kingsbury High School on Thursday 29th September. Approval was given in the light of the 84.5% of staff who voted against becoming an academy,  the headteacher's and governors' refusal to hold a ballot of parents and the lack of any cast iron legally binding agreements on maintaining teachers' statutory national pay and conditions. The Kingsbury Parents' Action Group have told the unions that over 60 parents have supported th call for a parents' ballot and the number is growing.

In an e-mail to members Hank Roberts Secretary of the Brent NUT and John Schwager Secretary of Brent NASUWT say:

No educator would take strike action except as a last resort and in the most exceptional circumstances. Kingsbury High becoming an Academy would overturn 90 years of national pay and conditions and potentially destroy a long history of cooperation between schools in the London Borough of Brent.

For those who question the medium to long-term consequences of the Gove agenda to state education, look no further than America, where similar reforms in charter schools have led to a wide range of damaging consequences to the teaching profession. This is from the Texas Tribune 27.01.2010 ‘Charter Schools Battle High Teacher Turnover’:

In all, more than 40 of nearly 200 charter operators the state tracked — some which oversee multiple schools — had to replace more than half their teaching staffs before the last school year. Even more established and successful operators, including KIPP and YES Prep in Houston, lose nearly a third of their teachers annually. In contrast, just six of more than 1,000 non-charter school districts statewide had more than half their teachers leave, and none of the 20 largest school districts had a turnover rate higher than 16 percent.

Huge increases in workload and the decimation of Teacher Unions in these schools have led to teacher burnout rates sky-rocketing. Does anyone seriously doubt this is what Gove intends? Does anyone seriously doubt that Gove thinks teachers are lazy and overpaid and that the union’s role is to defend this? And that by opening up markets and atomizing the state system he will achieve what the Charter schools have achieved in America and point to it as a success?

All teachers must ask themselves what kind of profession – our profession – we want to see. We are fighting for a profession that allows a long, sustainable career. We are fighting for a profession that has fair pay and conditions set nationally. We are fighting for a profession that allows teachers to teach and children to learn without excessive hours chained to a desk. We are fighting to preserve our state comprehensive education  system.

Executive will make weighty decisions tonight - at breakneck speed?

I am unable to make tonight's Brent Executive Meeting because of another meeting but Wembley Matters readers may be interested in some of the items coming up. It starts at 7pm but don't be late - it will probably be over by 7.30pm despite the major items on the agenda.

Petitions on the retention of school crossing patrols will be presented and the Executive are likely to revise the cuts and delay implementation. However they remain on the back-burner and there is likely to be a gradual reduction in the hope it will attract less publicity.

The Executive will decide on a public consultation on the Wembley Action Plan in the light of changing economic conditions with possible re-zoning of some areas. Officers will seek endorsement of their response to the Government's consultation on High Speed 2 with representations of the Oak Oak interchange to Crossrail and concerns about the impact of tunnelling on houses in Kensal Green.

Changes will be sought in the Articles of Association of Brent Housing Partnership in preparation for it becoming an enhanced ALMO (Arms Length Management Association). A revised system of payments for Adult Social Services will be presented which will see some paying more for services, some less and some unchanged according to the Council. The documentation is extremely complex and the Mayor may offer prizes to anyone who understands it!

The Executive will vote to close Knowles House residential Home and Westbrook Day Centre despite the opposition of many residents and their families. They will seek to reassure users that there will be re-provision of care by' independent and voluntary agencies as near to family and friends as possible'.

New rules on the Taxicard Scheme will be agreed to reduce a projected 'over-spend'. Changes will include the limit on trips using the scheme being reduced from 96 to 48.

The very full Preventing Youth Offending Task Group Report will be presented. It stresses the importance of early intervention and has 19 recommendations for action across the Council. It merits full discussion but probably won't get it on the basis that such discussions have taken place elsewhere.

To end with better news the Executive will make a decision on renewal of the Brent Citizens Advice and Law Centre for 6 months.

Full documentation can be found on the Council website. To avoid multiple clicking follow this LINK