Greens discuss key issues on academies and free schools

Introducing the Free Schools and Academies Panel at the Green Party Conference, Natalie Bennett said Green Party policy was simple: we don't agree with free schools and academies and are in favour of community comprehensive, and local and democratically controlled schools Dr Susanna Wiborg from the Institute of Education spoke about Swedish Free Schools from which Michael Gove derives his model. They have been established for 20 years and are growing quite quickly. They are not just niche schools but a movement spreading rapidly. Why was a social democratic country establishing profit making schools? It was a right wing government that believed that choice was needed.

In the beginning they were seen as way of getting parents involved but actually there was not much interest from parents and there was a move to private providers for profit. In terms of attainment levels, one large research project said pupils did a little better at lower secondary level but this was cancelled out at higher secondary level. There has been discussion about grade inflation accounting for the achievement levels at the lower secondary level and there was a similar pattern in Denmark and Norway. Evidence on comparative cost is not definitive but in some municipalities there are higher costs because of over supply of places due to the free schools and the authority paying for extra spaces in their schools. 

Looking for positives, some parents were more involved as they had chosen school at the beginning, and some schools initially were more innovative but now more similar to state schools.

 Melissa Benn looked at free schools and academies in broader context of what is happening in English education. It is an exceptional period in terms of the speed and ruthlessness of the 'reform'. The government claimed to be doing it in the name of greater freedom and parents' choice. Free schools get more publicity but academies are more important. Most 'voluntary' conversions were for the additional money not freedoms. Forced academies increasing as a result of the government using the standards agenda for political ends. This produces instability and the government's strategy is changing the life and craft of teachers. They are using the 'enemy of promise' label for an enormous and increasing number of groups including the NAHT, governors and academics. The Canadian ideal is 'reform without rancour. Ours is reform with rancour.

 In the UK we set up a divided system post-war and this led to resistance to comprehensivisation. Labour was divided with Blair and Adonis against comprehensives. Benn said her allies on education were in the Green Party rather than the Labour Party. We need to look at the increased segregation caused by academies and free schools and look over the horizon to what we want: less test based, less rote learning, stronger teacher education system, emphasis on the oral and a return to every school having a balanced intake.

 Commenting on Green Party policy she said there was a contradiction between locally based schools and having a balanced intake. She emphasised the importance of funding as an issue. 

 Sue Shanks, Brighton and Hove lead member for Children and Young people said she joined the Green Party because of its education policy. There were no free schools then. She said the problem is that we have a policy against free schools and academies and a Govenment that wants us to have them. She had been accused locally of having principles that get in the way of school place provision. The city had no converter academies and there was no great push from parents for academisation. The DfE were trying to persuade them to have academies and free schools. At present there was no major pressure on school places in comparison with the crisis elsewhere but there were some areas of difficulty. Shanks said there was great concern about the issue in local government. She recognised that the Green Party want more diversity but LA can't decide what free schools to approve. She finished by saying that Brighton and Hove Council were determined to keep the role of the education authority and maintain core services to schools. 

Discussion afterwards included some affecting descriptions of the impact of Gove's policies from education practitioners and parents as well as testimony from a former student of an 'outstanding' school whose personal experience was that it may have done well academically but it cared little for pupils' well being.

 Contributions were made about the problems faced by pupils with special needs under the current regime as well as some parents rejecting state schools for their children because of the testing regime and narrow curriculum. One core issue was that we have never had fully comprehensive education in this country and another that some schools managed to be creative with a broad curriculum despite the current setup.

 I asked what sort of structures we wanted to ensure democratic accountability in the light of increasing numbers of academies and shrinking of local authorities.

Disappointingly, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the NUT was unable to join the panel.

Protest at Brent Council's 'High Risk' Meals on Wheels changes

From Brent Fightback (see my previous posting on this proposal HERE)

Brent Fightback is calling a protest at the Civic Centre this coming Monday (16th September) from 6.30pm  to protest at the proposal that Brent Council hand over the delivery of the meals on wheels service to “a range of local charities, communities and businesses”.

The Brent Executive is set to approve the proposals at their meeting that evening.

Currently, the meals on wheels service is outsourced. However, rather than a proposal which would cut out the profit-makers, this proposal is purely about cutting cost (by 50%). This decision will lead to cuts in quality of the meals, and pay (are the charities/community groups using unpaid volunteers?), the council's own risk assessment evaluates "Lack of market capacity leads to service users going without meals" = High!
http://democracy.brent.gov.uk/documents/s19140/asc-community-meals.pdf

ie. most vulnerable, elderly and sick could be left without access to meals!

The Sulivan school scandal should shame Michael Gove and galvanise the Green Party

The outdoor space currently enjoyed by Sulivan children

Tomorrow evening there will be a panel discussion at the Green Party Conference in Brighton chaired by Natalie Bennett, the Green Party leader on Free Schools and Academies. The panel includes Christine Blower, General Secretary of the NUT and education campaigner and author of School Wars, Melissa Benn.

On Saturday I will be moving a motion calling for the revision of Green Party Education Policy in the light of the enormous changes brought about by the Coalition government.

Down in Fulham in South West London a battle is raging which epitomises these issues. Sulivan Primary is a local authority school rated Good with outstanding features by Ofsted. It is a small school with a form entry of 45 children. It is strongly supported by its parents who rate its care for pupils, accessibility for SEN and disabled children, and the amazing learning opportunities provided by its large play areas and outdoor science laboratory.

 Just the kind of child-centred community school that we in the Green Party would like to be the norm.

Save Our Sullivan campaigners at Hammersmith Town Hall

But Sulivan is threatened with closure by the flagship Tory borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, not because of any inadequacies on the part of the school but because the borough wants to find space for a proposed free school, Fulham Boys Free School.

In a further twist it wants to close Sulivan and transfer pupils to New Kings School, a one form entry school which is committed to become a privately sponsored academy.

At present there is spare capacity at Sulivan (overall 89% full but at capacity in younger classes) the closure/merger would actually reduce the overall number of school places at a time when an increase in demand is projected. The merged school would have a 2 form entry (60 children) against the current joint entry of 75.

Closure of Sulivan will enable the borough to divest itself of a local authority school and will satisfy Gove with another academy and free school to add to the empire which is accountable only to him.

Not surprisingly teachers and parents have risen up against this proposal and organised themselves into a effective lobbying force.  At a recent meeting about the closure, attended by parents, teachers, residents and governors there was standing room only with the attendance estimated at between 250 and 300.

An account of the meeting can be found HERE . Among the contributions was one by the mother of a child with impaired mobility who said that the single storey Sulivan was accessible for her child. She feared segregation at the Victorian New Kings, even if a lift were fitted.

A child bravely got up in front of the panel and large audience and, praising her headteacher and teacher several times, said that she loved he school and that she and other children would do everything they could to save it. She got huge applause from the audience but only a 'we'll bear what you say in mind' from the chair.

A teacher pressed the question, 'Please explain – with evidence and examples -  how you know that this amalgamation will provide a better education for the children.' and never got a satisfactory answer. Because of course this is not a decision that will be made on educational grounds but one made to further Gove's agenda of dismantling democratically controlled and accountable schools and opening the system up for privatisation and eventual profit making.

The dismissal of parents' views (unless they are parents who want to set up free school), ignoring of children's interests, and undemocratic procedures and sham consultations are all consistent with what teachers, parents and governors are experiencing with converter academies and forced academies.

The Green Party must stand alongside local campaigners on these issues.

Follow Save Our Sulivan on Twitter @SaveOurSulivan

Brent Council refuse to recognise the community value of the Queensbury Pub

Guest blog from the Save the QueensburyGroup. It really does seem to be The People against The Developers (Kensal Rise Library, Willesden Green Library, Queensbury Pub) with Brent Council unable or unwilling to stand up for local people - and seemingly subservient to the developers.

The Save The Queensbury group is very disappointed that the pub has not been added to Brent Council’s list of Assets of Community Value. Our nomination (via the NW2 Residents Association) was refused following a 15 page letter from the Fairview Homes law firm to Brent Council and we are now considering whether to try for a third time.

We are disappointed that Brent Council did not recognise and agree that the site of the pub has been an important resource in our community since 1925. The regulations on ACVs ask whether a property has community use currently or at any time in the recent past. We were confident that because the building has been a social club between 1925-2012 and a pub since 2000 it would reasonably meet that criteria. After all many pubs already listed elsewhere are actually closed, often by developers who want to build flats. This is precisely why these regulations were introduced.

We are also disappointed that Brent Council did not agree that the Busy Rascals activities for toddlers and the National Childbirth Trust meetings for parents both reflect the pub’s place in the community. Fairview argued that this is not a normal use of a pub, claiming it actually contravened the pub’s lease and sought to discount it for ACV purposes. Brent council seem to agree. Let’s remember that Fairview have strenuously and persistently sought to undermine Busy Rascals and the pub, at every turn.

Aside from current use, there is also a test as to the future use of a building over the next five years. We argued that the pub has a lease until 2017 so it’s a no-brainer? We also stated that there is no permission for anything other than community / social club / pub use. Plus there are no current plans before the council to change this. But, again, Brent listened to Fairview Homes who said that they have no intention of opening the building for community use and every intention of demolishing it. As far as we can tell there is nothing in regulations about a landowner’s intention and desire, otherwise surely no building would be listed if an owner could simply say they wanted to demolish it?

We put a lot into our nominations. We took advice  and we looked at other successful nominations of pubs and other buildings. What we got in return was a convoluted process which heavily favoured Fairview Homes (they had two weeks to respond to our nomination and we were afforded two days). We are a small, voluntary group without the expertise and resource of a multinational law firm. Yet we did address Fairview’s points and were confident that our nomination met the criteria and Brent had a duty to list it.

So what next?

This is a small chapter in a battle to save both The Queensbury pub and the activities of Busy Rascals by preserving a landmark building in a conservation area. But we have little expertise, limited resource, not much local Councillor support and a developer with a lot of money at stake and a huge legal resource to lobby and bully the council.

It really is an uphill struggle, so we’re taking stock and considering our next moves, but we’re certainly not giving up in our fight to save The Queensbury.

48 hours to secure the right to know about local air pollution

From 38degees

The air we breathe has a direct impact on our health. But the government is trying to push through damaging changes which remove the responsibility for local authorities to assess air pollution and declare where it is a problem.

If the government's successful, you won’t be able to find out what the air is like in your local area. Or hold local authorities to account if it’s at unsafe levels. Which currently you’re able to do. And as usual it’s the poorest who will suffer the most - poorer areas have dirtier air and so are likely to feel the health impacts. These changes would leave poorer people, and particularly children, paying the price.

The government’s being sneaky. They’ve launched a consultation during the summer holidays, hoping that the public won’t cotton on and they can slip the changes through. Together we can do something about this: if enough of us respond to the consultation they’ll realise how important this is to people. Together we can stop the changes before they get too far.

The consultation closes in 48 hours on the 13th September. It only takes a few minutes to respond. Please click here:

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/air-quality

Air pollution causes 29,000 early deaths a year in the UK – more than obesity and alcohol combined. It causes heart attacks, strokes, respiratory disease and children living near busy roads have been shown to grow up with underdeveloped lungs. It doesn’t really make much sense, but the government is trying to pretend that taking away duties to measure pollution would lead to more action on air pollution, and an increased focus on EU requirements. In reality the changes would mean that we would know less about the air we breathe and so less will be done to improve it.

The government is trying to slip this through under the radar because they’re already feeling the pressure. They’ve been taken to court by environmental lawyers to push them to do the right thing.

Environmental lawyers, ClientEarth, think a big display of public opposition could make all the difference to how the government responds. Please click the link to write in to the consultation, it’s really simple and will only take 3 minutes:

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/air-quality

This is the message I posted on the website:

Please don't push through damaging changes which remove all responsibility for local authorities to measure air quality and declare where it is a problem (options 3 and 4 in your consultation).

As a former teacher and headteacher in the inner city I kept track of air quality in order to advise children and families, particularly those already suffering from asthma and allergies, of periods when they would be liable to have respiratory problems..

Where I live in Brent, with main roads including the North Circular, and areas of poor air quality around Park Royal, Wembley and Neasden, local people have a right to know the quality of the air they and their children breathe. This gives them the knowledge to take personal preventative action as well as to make representations through the political process, locally and nationally.

Be responsible - don't remove these responsibilities.


 

 

Companies ejected from Arms Fair after Caroline Lucas' intervention

Two companies have been ejected from an arms fair after the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion raised evidence of breaches of the law in Parliament.

Caroline Lucas was provided with evidence that items being promoted at the DSEI arms fair currently under way at ExCel were illegal under UK law.  They included handheld projectile electric shock weapons, weighted leg cuffs, and stun batons.

She tabled a question in Parliament, and raised a point of order today.   DSEI has now confirmed  “that the Tianjin Myway International Trading Co. and Magforce International have been ejected from DSEI “

Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion said:

It’s frankly disgusting that items like this are being are being promoted at a supposedly legitimate trade event in Britain.

It’s incredibly worrying that it takes a question in Parliament for action to be taken when there was clear evidence of items being promoted illegally.  Time and again the organisers of DSEI have shown that they cannot guarantee that exhibitors will remain with the law.   The Government is supposed to regulate this event and has shown startling complacency.

Brent Council legal team to investigate fraud allegations over Kensal Rise Library development

The Friends of Kensal Rise Library have sent a preliminary list to Brent Council of what it claims are fraudulent statements of support for the proposal of developer Andrew Gillick of Kensal Properties Ltd to put seven dwellings and a small space for community use into the former Kensal Rise Library.

The campaigners believe that the addresses of residents have been used without their consent and empty buildings and invented addresses have been used in order to influence and mislead the public and the planning committee of Brent Council who will decide if the proposal is to go ahead.

The ‘Friends’ intend to follow up this list later this week with another tranche of, what they believe, are fraudulent statements of support.

A number of residents have already sent complaints to the council.

Faye Bradbury, a local resident commented:

It is an outrage support has been listed in my name. I've always supported the Save Kensal Rise Library campaign.

Brent Council has reacted promptly with the Lead Member for the Environment, Roxanne Mashari sending the list to the head of Brent’s legal department with a request for an investigation and report as soon as possible.

It is understood that the list has also been sent to Boris Johnson the Mayor of London.

Margaret Bailey Chair of the Trustees of the Friends said:

We have taken advice from the Metropolitan Police and they advised in the first instance that we lodge a complaint with the council. We have done this and the council will investigate and produce a report as soon as possible. This is a very serious matter as fraud is illegal under the Fraud Act 2006. Naturally we hope any investigation by Brent Council or potentially the police will show who has lodged these statements of support.

All Souls College, who are still the legal owners of the building and who have entered an agreement with the developer Andrew Gillick of Kensal Properties to sell the property, have been notified of the suspicious statements of support.

Local investigations will continue.

Similar allegations were made in the planning consultation for the Willesden Green Library development as the commenter blow has reminded us LINK

Communications failure at Brent Civic Centre

The first Council meeting at Brent's £100,000,000 Civic Centre was the occasion for opening remarks  praising this 'magnificent' new building by Labour councillors.

Then things went downhill.

Councillors' microphones were either not working or only intermittent, making proceedings inaudible to the public and some councillors sounding like short-circuiting Daleks. The speakers' screen that shows the Mayor, who chairs the meeting, who is due to speak was not working. The mobile phone signal in the conference room was very poor and the broadband not sufficient to download the documents under discussion. The display board merely displayed the Brent logo rather than documents, speaker's names or motions under discussion.

The public are now roped off on the same floor level as the councillors with some councillors seated right in front of them, this obscures the view.

More complaints are coming in to me regarding the phone service including residents' calls not being answered, being abruptly cut off, barely audible answerphone messages and the robot switchboard voice recognition  'mishearing' names and departments and making ludicrous suggestions as to what the customer may require.

It is beginning too look more than mere teething problems.