Sign of Michaela's desperation?

Wembley residents were aghast when they were confronted by this gigantic 'in your face' advertising hoarding opposite Wembley Park station this week.  The hoarding was fixed to the crumbling and possibly asbestos ridden Arena House, site of the proposed Michaela Community School.

Michaela is the free school brain child of Michael Gove acolyte, Katharine Birbalsingh.  The school failed to gain support at its recent consultation meetings and is now getting desperate for custom. Apart from the advertisiing hoarding they have managed to get on the front page of the Wembley and Willesden Observer this week with a plea for parents to get involved.

Despite being funded by tax-payers' money, to the detriment of other local schools badly needing cash for rebuilding, the school promises  'private school values' whatever that means. Krutika Pau, current Director of Children and Families, while admitting that the school was 'experimental' and had no track record, nevertheless thought it accorded with Brent schools' ethos.

The advertisement  boasts of 'private school values', 'traditional education', 'strong discipline' and 'healthy competition' as well as a long school day. The subtext merits further discussion!

The school is now seeking Year 7 applications for September 2014. Parents should be aware that they will be choosing a pig in a poke compared with other Brent secondary schools which have (with the exception of Ark whose pupils have not yet reached examination age ) examination results and Ofsted reports to back up their claims. Michaela has no evidence to back up their assertions - parents have to judge whether their 'bigging up' of their plans amounts to anything substantial or is a risk too far in terms of their children's future.

Michaela's claim of being an 'Exceptional' school (word obscured by trees on the strap line of the advertisement) is based on nothing more than assertion. What does the Advertising Standards Authority say?

Bedroom Tax action Wembley Central noon today

Brent Housing Action will be taking part in a Day of Action today against the bedroom tax. There will be a street meeting at Wembley's Central Square, next to Wembley Central station (No Bakerloo trains between Queens Park and Harrow today).

The meeting  starts at 12 noon and stalls will provide information and advice to anyone concerned about the impact of the bedroom tax and housing benefit cuts on them.

Take part in an 'event' to bring home the issue - bring sleeping bags, blankets and pillows.

After Woolwich, Unity demonstration at Downing Street today

The message is clear at Brent Town Hall last night

Following the banning of the EDL march in Woolwich there will be a unity demonstration by anti-racists at Downing Street as the BNP has called a national demonstration there today. The Unity Demonstration aims to unite community groups, faith groups and trades unionists in a peaceful statement that we will not let Islamaphobia divide us, will begin at 12 noon. You are advised to approach Downing Street from the Trafalgar Square end of Downing Street.

Muhammed Butt and Sarah Teather last night

Last night there was a 'One Brent' event at Brent Town Hall that was called to emphasise that the borough's diversity is a source of strength in the face of events such as the murder of the soldier Lee Rigby. Among those who spoke were Muhammed Butt, Sarah Teather MP, Barry Gardiner MP and faith leaders. At times it seemed more a concerted condemnation of the killers rather than a commemoration of Rigby or a celebration of Brent's strength through diversity.

I felt uncomfortable when Muhammed Butt said that  people who did not like how things were done in this country knew what to do - they could find the exit. Too close to what the extreme right-wing say - and of course not directly relevant to 'home grown extremists'.

Many contributions, as unavoidable at such events, were anodyne, with references to Rigby's perceived bravery and patriotism and 'the job he was doing defending this country' skating over the opposition of many to the role of the army in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Similarly the religious contributions, with the exception of one from a Syrian born Christian, emphasised the perceived similarities between religions with a claim that they were all about making connections between people and living in peace.

Since the Woolwich murder it has sometimes seemed that the Muslim religion is in the dock and has had to mount a defence in the wake of the killers' justification of their actions. Muhammed Butt in the opening speech made it clear that the actions and claims were nothing to do with Islam as a religion and did not reflect his personal interpretation of his religion. A Rabbi made a warm tribute to the strength and solidarity of Brent's Muslim community while a Muslim leader emphasised the importance of educating young people about the religion so that they were not led astray by extremist ideas.

A contribution that drew applause was one that said it was not enough to make speeches about Brent's unity: unity would only be brought about by day to day actions in the community and that everyone had a responsibility to make this happen.

Trade Unionists confront the climate crisis on Saturday June 8th

 

The conference aims to put the climate crisis at the centre of the debate about how to deal with the economic crisis. We need to find alternatives to the government's austerity programme designed to deliver jobs and move us in the direction of a low carbon economy.

This is part of an interview with Graham Petersen, the UCU's national environment co-ordinator, on the current Red Pepper website. The full interview can be found at

http://www.redpepper.org.uk/confronting-the-climate-crisis-graham-petersen-interview/

Graham is one of the many trade unionists who will be contributing to the "Confronting the Climate Crisis" conference on June 8th. Others include officers and rank-and-file members the CWU, FBU, PCS, TSSA, Unison, Unite, and several other unions.

They will argue that in its impact of the price of food, the prospect of harsher winters and larger fuel bills, and the potential for creating climate jobs, climate change is already, in Graham's phrase, a "core organising issue" for the  unions. But there is a larger issue.

In the past the trade union movement was in the forefront of campaigns on the great moral causes of their age, from the anti-slavery movement in the nineteenth century to the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980's. The First International was launched by trade unionists to support the cause of Polish independence.

The challenge of not leaving to our children and grandchildren a planet devastated by climate chaos is the great moral cause of our age. In the words of Suzanne Jeffery, Chair of the Campaign against Climate Change Trade Union Group, the June 8th conference is an opportunity for today's trade unionists to "step up to the mark" as our predecessors did.

Register for the conference now at  WWW.CLIMATETRADEUNION.EVENTBRITE.COM. Alternatively send your details (including return address) with a cheque made payable to Campaign against Climate Change, to Martin Empson, Canon Green Court, West King Street, Salford, M3 7HB.

You can also join our facebook event at https://www.facebook.com/events/156810361152225/ and help to generate interest in the conference by tweeting your comments using the hash-tag #ctcc2013.

Pavey washes his hands of 'failing Copland' and prepares to hand it to academy chain

Michael Pavey

Michael Pavey, Brent lead member for children and families, has responded to criticisms of his stance on the forced academisation of Copland High School with a blog LINK

He says:

I dislike the Academy system. There is no evidence that Academisation leads to improved educational outcomes. Academies fragment educational provision – when it should be based on local co-operation. And worst of all, Academisation is a step towards marketisation of education.

I was extremely disappointed when the overwhelming majority of secondary schools in Brent volunteered to convert to Academy status, in response to a short term Government funding bribe.

But Copland is different. Copland is a school which has failed its pupils....(he gives details on why he thinks this is the case)

I am no fan of Academies, but the status quo is simply unacceptable. It is failing local children. Against this record of failure, I made the decision that only a radical new beginning could turn this school around.

An Academy conversion is the only credible step.

Pavey claims that government cuts mean that Brent Council does not have the resources to support a school  facing 'such deep problems'.  He does not mention the Council's role in previous years in terms of financial monitoring which failed to discover the financial mismanagement which destabilised the school.  the neglect of the building or the failure to improve the quality of teaching and learning.

Perhaps most perplexingly he does not give any reasons why he thinks becoming an academy will solve these deep-seated problems or what evidence on the efficacy of academies he has used in reaching his decision.

It cannot be enough to wash his hands of the problem and hand staff and pupils over to an unproven and uncertain future.

Brent Council face united challenge on imposition of IEB at Copland School

The governing body of Copland High School has joined with unions in challenging Brent Council's intention to  impose an  Interim Executive Board at the school following Ofsted's judgement that the school is failing.

Interim Executive Boards (IEBs) are appointed by the local authority and replace the usual governing body that includes elected parent and staff representatives, community and local authority governors. They are often appointed when the governing body is deemed to have failed but also when the authorities, local and central government,  encounter opposition to plans to forced a school to convert to academy status.

In letters to Dr Krutika Pau, Director of  Children and Families at Brent Council, they argue that an IEB is not necessary and may well be detrimental to the school's interests. The school has already experienced an IEB which was appointed following the loss of senior staff in the wake of the financial mismanagement scandal..

Dima Khazem, Chair of Governors,  writes:

Imposing a new IEB now will probably face opposition from staff at a time when the current GB has worked well in tandem with the JCC to put into effect a voluntary redundancy programme which will see staffing reduced drastically and will achieve significant budget deficit reduction alongside removal of ineffective staff. We are worried that this will delay the momentum of positive change and cause an upheaval which will harm the school, its pupils and the LA at a time of great change for all.

Moreover, research by Browne Jackobson has shown a generally low success rate for the 80 or so interim executive boards that have so far been introduced in maintained schools. LINK

We feel that interim executive boards are unsuccessful because of their interim and undemocratic nature and we therefore are not convinced that this is the best intervention that the LA can make in this instance, especially that it does not mirror what the OFSTED report has recommended.

Khazem concludes:

What this GB has tried to do, with increasing success recently, is to overcome barriers of distrust and build bridges of understanding and a culture of accountability across the school. Yet again, there is a limit to what this GB can do in the time frame it had and the textured, complex and widespread problems it faced. Based on the above, we are in disagreement with the LA that installing an IEB right now is the best course of action. It would be a real shame that when this GB started to understand and exercise its role and remit effectively, it is threatened with removal and gets blamed for a decade of neglect and negligence within and outside the school.

Writing to Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt, and the new lead member for children and families, Hank Roberts National President of the ATL and Brent branch secretary poses a number of questions:

Before you might act in haste to support this (Krutika Pau's proposal for an IEB)  I would ask you to respond to these questions.

1) What actual educational evidence, other than Government propaganda, do you have that turning a school into an academy improves teaching and learning?

2) Why would you seek to ignore the Ofsted Report's recommendation that there be “an external review of Governance” at Copland, which is not an imposition of an IEB?

3) How do you answer the detailed points raised in the Chair of Governors letter, written on behalf of the Governing Body, explaining what had been done and crucial background information?

4) If Brent is claiming to be acting in the best interests of pupils' education then will you be asking the Governors to call a meeting of parents and carers to actually establish their views, or do you intend to have no consultation with parents?

5) As the last IEB at Copland failed to overcome the school's problems, what leads you to believe, and what evidence do have, that it will succeed this time, especially if the staff did not want to co-operate with this imposed undemocratic body with no proper staff or parent representation?

6) Why would you and a Labour Council be acting to implement Gove's policies and do his 'dirty work' for him?

10 lessons for social landlords on the bedroom tax

Brent Housing Action campaigner at Chalkhill on Saturday

Brent Housing Action has circulated the following useful item from the Guardian which was provided by Jennie Bibbings of Shelter Wales LINK

Lesson 1: Communicate with tenants
We have clients who have still not had any communication from their landlord about how many bedrooms they are considered to have and whether they are likely to be affected. The lack of information from their landlord, combined with the extensive media coverage of the bedroom tax, meant that our clients became extremely confused about their situation.

Many housing benefit teams are sending out letters detailing appeal rights. However, some are failing to include information about how to challenge decisions – which is crucial, since tenants have only one month to challenge from the date they are notified.
 
Lesson 2: Ensure data on property size matches tenancy agreements
Compiling accurate information on property size has been a challenge for some landlords. We have numerous clients whose landlords have told them they have more bedrooms than appear on their tenancy agreements. One social landlord in south-west Wales only compiled a list of property sizes in September 2012 and relied on the local authority to tell it which tenants would be affected.
 
Lesson 3: Housing benefit departments need to process discretionary housing payment applications quickly
When we rang to apply for discretionary housing payments for a disabled client living in an adapted home, the housing benefit officer specifically asked whether our client was disabled. The application was dealt with as a priority and the award was made within two weeks.

Unfortunately our clients have not had such efficient service everywhere. In some areas applications are taking six weeks or more to be processed. Although landlords are showing willingness to delay eviction proceedings until decisions have been made, the length of time is still leading to significantly more arrears being accrued.
 
Lesson 4: Be sensitive to tenants' needs – and don't make them feel bullied into leaving their accommodation
We have a client who is a tenant of a small housing association. Following the breakdown of his relationship, and his children growing up and leaving home, he is now the sole tenant of a three-bedroom house. He told us that he was strongly encouraged to sign a notice to quit at the landlord's office as he would not be able to manage the shortfall caused by bedroom tax.

Lesson 5: Now is not the time to start demanding the first month's rent in advance from housing benefit claimants
One large social landlord is now demanding the first month's rent in advance before accepting new tenants, even when a person is transferring to smaller accommodation due to the bedroom tax. This approach is a barrier to people on housing benefit being able to access social housing, and is going to prohibit tenants from downsizing.

Lesson 6: Extra help for tenants can make a big difference
Many landlords are employing additional staff and setting up assistance funds to help tenants manage the impact of the bedroom tax. Pembrokeshire Housing Association offers tenants up to £500 to cover moving costs or reduce arrears to allow them to move to accommodation more suited for them, while Powys county council offers up to £1,500 to assist older people that are under-occupying with moving costs.
 
Lesson 7: Exercise flexibility in allocations
We had a homeless client who was eight months pregnant and looking for accommodation in south-west Wales. She came out top of the list when she bid for a two-bedroom property. However, the landlord refused to allocate to her as, until the baby was born, she only qualified for a one-bedroom house. Before a formal challenge could be made, the landlord had already allocated the property to someone in a lower band.
 
Lesson 8: Ensure transfer policies do not prevent people from downsizing
Not all landlords have changed their transfer policies to allow people in arrears caused by the bedroom tax to downsize. Some of our clients are in a catch 22 situation with rising arrears but unable to downsize due to restrictive transfer policies.
 
Lesson 9: Housing benefit should not place onerous burdens of proof on claimants
In south-east Wales we have clients who are a disabled couple, living in an adapted property with one spare bedroom. Neither has the capacity to care for the other at night, so they have overnight carers for six nights a week. The local authority is requesting numerous pieces of evidence before they will accept that the couple need the extra room for a carer. This is despite the fact that they already have proof they meet the relevant disability living allowance and attendance allowance criteria.

Lesson 10: The courts may not be on your side
Our caseworkers have encountered a local district judge who is suggesting he may refuse possession where there are bedroom tax arrears, but instead may take other measures such as inviting the press and public into the court and using Human Rights Act legislation to deny possession. Landlords need to be aware that not all judges will look favourably on possession proceedings.

Join in Brent Housing Action this weekend

 The recently formed Brent Housing Action Group, a broad based organisation addressing the current housing crisis will be out and about this weekend:

SUNDAY MAY 26th Leafleting and petitioning on Chalkhill Estate

Meet 12 noon at the bus stop on Forty Lane outside ASDA, opposite Brent Town Hall
Please text Sarah on 07951 084 101 if you are coming.

MONDAY MAY 27th Picnic and street party in support of the Counihan-Sanchez Family Campaign 11 am - 1 pm 15 Rose Gardens, Ealing, W5 4JU