Youth tribute to striking teachers

ICTstrikeOUT from Mattia Pagura on Vimeo.

Independent Alex makes grassroots bid for Willesden Green council seat

Willesden Green has had a battering from Brent's Labour Council over the last few years but as a result the community itself has become stronger uniting to try to save its bookshop, the Victorian Library and more recently the Queensbury pub. The much loved and respected Gladstone Park Primary School attracted a determined and imaginative parent campaign when it was faced with forced academisation by Michael Gove with the Council seeming to stand by and do little to help. 

Although some of the causes have been lost and others are yet to be won the legacy is that local residents want to see change. Local resident, parent and anti-cuts activist Alex Colas has decided to champion that change by mounting an independent campaign for the Council under the slogan Make Willesden Green.

He has issued the following invitation:

We will be launching  Make Willesden Green on Wednesday 23 October, from 6-7pm at the Queensbury Deli,  68 Walm Lane, NW2 4RA (the tube station end of the High Road). This will be an informal gathering where you can come to hear more about the campaign, as well as offering your support and ideas. The launch is open to all residents of Willesden Green and neighbouring wards, and children are very welcome.

 The 'Green'  in Make Willesden Green does not refer to the Green Party but to one of a series of demands as Alex explains on his blog: LINK

The ‘Make’ in Willesden Green is all about emphasising the participation of ordinary residents in the public life of our neighbourhood. There is plenty of community activity in Willesden Green – some of it political; other less so. But it tends to be ignored by Brent Council and by our elected officers.

Make Willesden Green was set up over the summer by residents who feel unrepresented by local Councillors and mainstream parties, and who want to redress this imbalance. Our  aim is to make connections between local campaigns like Save the Queensbury, Save Gladstone Park School or Keep Willesden Green, and give them an electoral voice at the Council elections next year. This electoral platform emerges directly from the energies and ideas expressed around these campaigns, but it does not claim their exclusive representation. Instead, Make Willesden Green seeks to continue highlighting the democratic deficit in our Borough by  putting issues of  democracy, equality, sustainability, the defence of public realm and public services at the centre of the electoral campaign.

I have worked closely with Alex on some of these campaigns and along with others in Brent Green Party I am sympathetic to his decision to stand as an independent grassroots councillor. Indeed he wrote a guest column for us in the current edition of our Willesden Green News.  We have yet to finalise our candidates for the local election and decide our strategy in each ward but obviously we will take into consideration our respect for Alex and the platform he represents in Willesden Green ward. For his part Alex says in his guest column:

The Greens are the only local party to have consistently supported grassroots campaigns for democracy in our neighbourhood.

We have a positive record of working with independent campaigns and individuals, as well as other parties, on specific issues such as the Welsh Harp or the recent racist lettings agency issue.

This is the column Alex wrote for Willesen Green News:

Willesden Green: Fracking hell-not here! Demonstrate tomorrow

Brent Friends of the Earth (Brent FoE) says that fracking is a dirty word that local residents do not want, and they will be asking MPs, London Assembly members and the local Council to swear that they won’t allow it in Brent.

They will spelling out their message outside Willesden  Green Station tomorrow at 10.45am tomorrow (Saturday October 19th)

Later this year the Government is expected to open vast swathes of the country to fracking with a new round of licensing. This will bring the threat of fracking to thousands more people’s doorsteps. Brent, as the local planning authority, has the power to prevent this. Brent is one of many authorities on a list of potential sites under consideration for this controversial technology.

Ian Saville, Brent FoE spokesperson and Neasden resident, says, “fracking is a dirty technology that will damage our health, environment and climate. The resulting shale gas is a dirty fossil fuel that will add to the dangerous levels of greenhouse gases in the environment. It should be left in the ground.”

“Brent residents, along with other communities up and down the country, don't want a dash for gas. If fracking is the answer, then the question must be wrong! If London Mayor Boris Johnson gets his way, we could see fracking across London. We need to send him and Brent a clear message that we do not want or need fracking to keep the lights on, nor can we count on it to reduce fuel bills. Instead we need to invest in renewables and energy saving to heat our homes.”

Brent FoE will also be running a stall outside Willesden Green tube station on the day and will be speaking to local residents about the problems with fracking.

Angry teachers march on Gove's HQ and demand that he go

Greens get behind the striking teachers

Thousands of teachers were on strike today over changes in pay, pensions and conditions of service. I joined in the protest after a quick call to Vanessa Feltz's BBC Radio Show (first call after news http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01hj0n1)

The Green Party placard above got lost of attention and rounds of applause from teachers showing the potential for support we have out there. Natalie Bennett, Green Party leader, joined the march and Caroline Lucas MP, addressed a rally of strikers.

Teachers crowd outside the Emmanuel Centre which was already overflowing

A lot of support for today;s strike came from parents

Now Copland support staff face the axe - next teaching assistants?

Guest blog by 'Mistleflower'

The cull in the summer resulted in the end in Copland losing around  60 staff, most taking ‘voluntary’ redundancy either because they were desperate to get away from the last regime’s shambolic mismanagement or they saw the way the wind was blowing with the new one (cut Copland to the bone, close it down, flog it off). Many of the teachers who left were happy, like myself, to do supply teaching rather than stay.

I now hear that Phase 2 of the process has begun. Around 50  support staff have been informed that 32 of them are to be made redundant. These include such people as library staff, pastoral support workers, science technicians, mentoring staff, caretakers, ICT technicians and, ( in the week that ex-Copland footballer Raheem Sterling was included in Roy Hodgson’s England squad for the World Cup qualifier), the football coach. Apart from the obviously essential nature of their work, people like these liaise with parents at difficult times, help motivate students, keep them on track and generally promote the social cohesion which is at the heart of any school community. ( Those wielding the axe might need  to look up those two words ‘heart’ and ‘community’).

As in July, in all of this, agreed procedures are being ignored, possibly illegally.

Phase 3, it has apparently already been announced, will take the axe to the Teaching Assistants, the staff who provide in-class support for children with special learning, language or emotional needs, ( Every Child Matters is soooo last century).

After that? Well, what remains of the place is still sitting in a very nice location and the few staff who remain can maybe get jobs helping to clear the site for the next Carpet Warehouse. One way or another, it looks like it will be an Absolute Return for someone, but clearly  not for the current kids and staff at Copland.

A message about tomorrow's teachers' strike

Christine Blower (General Secretary of the NUT): A message to parents and carers about the strike action on 17 October

The NUT sincerely regrets the disruption that will be caused by strike action on Thursday (17 October) for children and parents. Teachers, however, feel they have no other choice to demonstrate their concerns about the Government’s proposals because Michael Gove:

• has done nothing to address the crisis of low morale in the teaching profession which threatens the continued provision of high quality education in your child’s school;
• is making changes to teachers’ pay, pensions and conditions that will make it harder for your child’s school to recruit and retain good teachers;
• has not engaged in negotiations with us to seek to resolve our dispute.

For further information, please download a leaflet on “Why we are striking” and a pamphlet on why ‘It’s time to stand up for education’.
Please email your MP - using these templates if you are a teacher, governor, or parent and tell them why the Government is damaging the education service.

ROARING support for striking teachers