3.333p per minute parking charge to be introduced in Brent

Brent Executive will decide on new proposals for on-street parking charges in the borough. The Officers' report recommends a charge of 20p for stays of up to 15 minutes to encourage turnover of parking places for short shopping trips. This is NOT the first 15 minutes of a longer stay but a quick shop and drive away charge.

For longer stays a 'linear' charge will be introduced of £2 per hour. This will replace the present 'step' charge that sees a stay of 59 minutes cost £2.40 and 61 minutes cost £6. Customers will be able to pay for additional time in  increments of 20p (the smallest practical coinage). 20p will buy an extra 6 minutes.

The report admits that it is hard to predict the impact of the changes which it claims overall represents a reduction in charges.  If more people stay for up to 15 minutes, revenue will be lost.  If the reduced and simpler charges lead to more stays then income will hold up.

Overall  the on-going cost is forecast at £330,000 per year subject to the above uncertainties and will be partially met by the reduction in Word Working allocations.

'Grasp the Nettle' trailer - inspiring!

Further information LINK

Shaye's musical take on Cameron's Broken Britain

I like this musical critique of Cameron despite some difficult scanning...

Wembley Park cut off from the rest of London this weekend

There are closures on the  Metropolitan and Jubilee lines this weekend so no trains from Wembley Park. Best bet is the slow old Bakerloo from Stonebridge Park or Wembley Central (fingers crossed) or over to Alperton for the Piccadilly. Other lines are also affected - details below.

• Circle

  Part closure

• District

  Part closure

• DLR

  Part closure

• H'smith & City

  Part closure

• Jubilee

  Part closure

• Metropolitan

  Part closure

• Northern

  Part closure

• Overground

  Part closure

• Waterloo & City

  Planned closure

• Bakerloo

  Good service

• Central

  Good service

• Piccadilly

  Good service

• Victoria

  Good service

Please back this bid for a 38 degrees petition on forced academies

Against forced academies and the privatisation of our education system by stealth

Our government is forcing schools to become academies against the majority consensus. They are ignoring parents, schools and local authorities. They are using bullying tactics to hand schools to academy chains, run by major Tory donors. They are not only forcing failing schools but good ones and allowing these chains to cherry pick good schools to give academy policy credibility. Parents all over the UK are starting to organise themselves. 'Parents Against Forced Academies' are calling for a public enquiry into the bullying and likely corruption endemic to forced academy process. Decisions about handing over our public schools to academy chains are being made behind closed doors without proper consultation or transparency.

Please join us in our fight for our Education system and our democracy.

The underlying anti-democratic nature of the Department of Education's handling of these matters points unequivocally to a hidden agenda of privatisation. This is fuelled by political self-interest, by party donations, lobbying and future job offers beyond parliament.

Privatisation will only serve the elite and the sooner it is challenged the better. And the rhetoric that Academies will solve all problems is based on very weak foundations. They are increasingly selective of pupil intake, channel funds to executive figures away from teachers, operate dangerously strict pupil codes of conduct and have increasingly fast teacher turnaround. As parents, this is not what we want for our children or our country.

This issue has largely fallen under the media radar and public awareness. It deserves to be front page news and brought to public attention. Education is our future.

We strongly believe that this issue mirrors the NHS privatisation which has fuelled much public outrage. The public deserves to know what is happening to Education too.

This is a serious request at a serious time, and we urge you to support us.

Parents Against Forced Academies

To vote follow this LINK

Battle against forced academisation is a fight for democracy - Roke parents

With Gladstone Park Primary parents continuing their campaign against the school being forced to become an academy and suggestions that this might happen to other Brent primary schools, it is worth hearing about the experience of parents in other parts of London. Roke Primary in Croydon has also experienced the bullying nature of the DfE's  'brokerage' department and the parents' campaign has written to the local paper about the experience: LINK

Parents recently received a copy of a letter about forced academy at Roke Primary school from Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Schools to Richard Ottaway, our Conservative MP for South Croydon.

Lord Nash's letter casts Roke Primary as an 'underperforming' school, yet our school is not underperforming under any possible definition of the word and certainly not over a 'long time', which is specified in DfE's own guidance for forced academies. The latest SAT results are above the national average and place the school in the top 20% of Croydon schools. Teaching is regarded by Ofsted, the Local Authority and parents as at least good. Let's be clear forced academy at Roke is NOT about substandard education at Roke.

The reason the school is being forced to academy is that it was placed in an Ofsted category of 'Notice to Improve', mainly due to a lack of data caused by computer problems and leadership/management issues. The Ofsted report was published in mid June 2012. Areas for improvement were outlined and the school, LA and Riddlesdown (as partnering
school) sprung into action and made positive changes very quickly. Yet only 3 months later, in September the DfE informed the head governor that Roke would become an academy.

Factoring in the school summer holiday, the school was given less than 6 weeks to improve. There was no return visit by Ofsted to check on the improvements made and no chance to prove that they could be sustained. This action defeats the purpose of giving a school 'Notice to improve', if they are then denied the chance to demonstrate improvements made.

Lord Nash states that improvement is required in relation to leadership and management. This could happen without removing the school from Local Authority control. It does not need such drastic action as being forced, against the wishes of parents, governors and local community, to become an academy and to be sponsored by Harris.

It would be far more cost effective to simply replace the leadership. Let's make no mistake this is about political ideology not standards.

Lord Nash omits the fact that the Ofsted monitoring visit happened in January 2013, the day after parents launched their campaign and a damning article appeared in The Guardian, stating that Oftsed had not visited before the decision was made. He also omits to make it clear that this was not a full Ofsted inspection and therefore it did not matter what rating for improvement was received it would not lift Roke out of the 'Notice to Improve' category. His letter reads like Roke somehow failed to improved enough to be reclassified which is untrue.

Furthermore, we have been told that the Ofsted inspector said on arrival before the monitoring inspection took place, that Roke would not get a rating better than 'satisfactory' because there was insufficient time between inspections to prove that improvements had been embedded or were sustainable. This is the real reason which, as Lord Nash writes, there is 'limited evidence that (improvements) are secure and sustainable'. It has little to do with the school's efforts but rather with the government failing to give the school enough time to achieve this within its' own inspection frameworks, before rushing to turn the school to an academy.

Lord Nash says, 'Harris has confirmed that it wishes to support notice to improve and bring about the improvement needed' at Roke. Therein lies the crux of the matter. It is highly likely, if a full inspection was to take place today that the school would perform much better, and would come out of 'Notice to Improve' or its new equivalent category.

As it stands, Harris will simply come in and take all the credit for improvements that have already taken place. We believe that Roke may have been targeted as a school where, a relatively small nudge is needed to return us to our previous 'outstanding' status. This will give Harris and academy policy false credibility.

Lord Nash says that the government recognises the 'importance of formal local consultation' and that it is 'a legal requirement before any school can open as an academy'. We suggest that his definition of 'consultation' is different to everyone else. His letter makes it clear that all decisions about Roke, its future as an academy and its sponsor have already been made. To suggest that consultation takes place after the fact is ludicrous. Moreover, to suggest that the consultation is most meaningful when it is run by the preferred Sponsor, in this case Harris, is also ludicrous and bordering on corrupt.

The consultation must be operated legally, and cannot be a presentation or a deliverance of a decision already made - it must be legally meaningful. It must be an actual consultation - you consult and decide as a result, not in advance.

As it stands key decisions about our school have been made behind closed doors before consultation has taken place. The DfE is withholding crucial information about the decision making process, as evidence by failure to disclose information requested by parents under the Freedom of Information act. The DfE has also flouted its own rules regarding forcing a school that is not actually failing. The DfE is not operating by the Principles set down by the Committee of Standards in Public Life (1985) particularly the principles of accountability, openness or honesty.

Put simply, our own British government is breaking all the democratic values that this country holds dear.

The Save Roke Campaign Committee

Now a secondary free school in Wembley Central based on preparation for work

Madison House, London Road, Wembley

I have written before about the lack of detail provided by would be free school starters and that is appeared to be the case with another proposed secondary free school in Wembley.

The Gateway Academy is reported to have found premises in Wembley Central off Wembley High Road. The entire information posted on their website LINK is reproduced below:

A group of experienced educationalists are looking to establish a new free school in the London Borough of Brent to be located in central Wembley offering education to students from Year 7 through to A-Level.

Gateway Academy shall provide a well-rounded education that will equip today’s generation to compete in tomorrow’s world. Education is in many ways an introduction into the world of employment and it is essential that our students leave school fully equipped to deal with the demands and challenges that employment immediately brings. We therefore seek to equip our students with the skills, abilities, knowledge and experiences necessary to prepare them for this transition and this shall be a focus of the school.

The school shall operate on the following principles:

Global citizenship
Academia
The Arts
Enterprise & Entrepreneurship

For our school to be considered for operation, we need to show evidence of parental and student demand. If you feel that you as a student, or you as a parent, feel that our new school would provide the type of education that would bring out the best in your child, please do complete our online survey at,
www.surveymonkey.com If you have any questions about our potential new school, please do email us to selva@rtc.uk.net or call us at 020 8966 9900

This would leave plenty of space on the back of an envelope! There are no other pages or details on the website..  I understand that the application is for a three form entry school. It will be close to Copland High School which is the only remaining  local authority secondary school in Brent (the others are either academies or faith schools now)  which has been going through a difficult period and is not full in Year 7. A rival secondary free school could further destabilise Copland.

However, following up the website given on the e-mail I found that this led to the Regency Group LINK which specialises in supplementary education and classes for entrance examinations for  grammar and independent schools.

Their Wembley address is

 Regent Learning Wembley

Madison House, 24-28 London Road

Wembley, HA9 7EX

Madison House is a Brent Council property  with several users including BACES.At one stage the entire office building was on sale for £1.7m.

The description of the school above makes it clear that the school sees education as narrowly linked to employment.  The Managing Director of Regent Group's profile is revealing:

The Managing Director of the Group, Mr Selva Pankaj, graduated from the University of SDA Bocconi, Milan with a Master in Business Administration. He has also gained membership of The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and The Chartered Institute of Management.

His major achievement is the foundation of Regent Group in 2000 and the development and nurture of it into the multi faceted entity that it is today.

His wealth of corporate experience over 20 years includes work at Prudential Financial Inc, Goldman Sachs, Fortress Investments, Grosvenor Property Fund Management, Rockspring Property Investment Managers, Schroders Property Investment Management, Pricoa Property PLC and Legg Mason Real Estate Inc. His notable successes include:

- Involvement in major capital raises amounting to over €1.5 billion of capital alongside Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch

- Restructuring the tax structures of closed end investment companies that invest and manage a diverse portfolio of Commercial Real Estate, derivatives and investments.

- His direct involvement, including negotiating deals and establishing a purchase price, in the acquisition of Legg Mason Real Estate Inc whilst working for Grosvenor Property Fund Management.

- Co-ordinating IPOs in the NYSE, the LSE and European stock markets.

- Has worked in various corporate entities in the United Kingdom, United States and in Europe, in particular Germany, at a range of senior positions.

It appears that this proposal is another step towards our taxes going to groups intent on the eventual privatisation of our schools.

Green Party Deputy's personal experience informs his statement on mental health discrimination

I thought this item was worth sharing as it represents another step forward in fighting the stigma associated with mental health issues:

Will Duckworth, Green Party Deputy Leader, has spoken openly about his mental health experiences.
Mr Duckworth addressed a small meeting at the Green Party Spring Conference, which had been called to discuss the Party's plans to challenge mental health discrimination and stigma.

He said:

I have bipolar condition. It is normally called bipolar disorder but in my case it is more of a blessing than a curse. I have been a teacher for thirty years including twenty as head of maths in a comprehensive school and am now a Councillor and Deputy Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales.

I was diagnosed as having manic depression more than thirty years ago.  Since then I have had just two manic episodes. I do not take any pills for the condition and am in control of the situation and I can schedule my depressions, so they do not interfere with my work.

I recognise that many people suffer greatly from the condition but for me it is simply that most of the time I am happy and very friendly but every six weeks or so I have to go through a few hours of deep depression and I can even control when that happens.

Many of you may have seen the ‘It’s Time To Talk’ campaign currently in the national media, aiming to encourage people to speak about their mental health, to help other people understand the issues and help destigmatise mental health conditions.

I have chosen to speak out about this because I want to help to dispel the myths and fear that surround any type of mental health issues.

As one in four of the population suffer from mental health issues at some time then it means that a quarter of us are personally affected.

That means that there are probably more than 150 of our MPs and 200 members of the House of Lords who have mental health issues but are restrained from telling people about it.

Many of us have spent years hiding the fact, but now is time for this oppressed minority to ‘come out’. 

'Mental health issues can affect anyone and it certainly does not prevent people from performing well in all sorts of careers but the knowledge that someone has suffered can often prevent them from getting a job. 

After the meeting he added:

I'm speaking out now because it's time to change. It's time to be open. If you had a broken leg you wouldn't try to hide it, and this is no different. It's time to be open and honest. And I would like to thank everyone here, and the Green Party as a whole for creating an atmosphere which is comfortable enough for me to say what I have said.

 The Time to Change organisational pledge is HERE