Prevent in Brent: Protecting Our Liberty?

The Prevent Strategy is coming in for increasing criticism as a clumsy tool that, rather than preventing young people getting involved in extremist activity,  stereotypes a whole community and undermines the free exchange of ideas.  In Brent school staff are currently going through training about the strategy and I have heard that there is disquiet among staff that they will be seen as 'spies' on children and their families rather than partners in education. This could have undermine the  trust necessary for a positive relationship between parents and the school.

Furthermore if fear of being reported for 'extremism' means that children choose to be silent in class, rather than contribute to discussion, then the issue is being driven underground and there is a ngegative impact on the student-teacher relationshiop

It is against this background that a public meeting is being held in Brent in early December:

Brent's Shahrar Ali now Number 3 on Green's GLA Election List

Shahrar Ali with Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales

Shahrar Ali, Deputy Leader of the Green Party is now Number 3 on the London Green Party List for the 2016 GLA election following a recount conducted today by Electoral Reform Services, following a request by the London Green Party.

ShahrarAli  said:

I feel honoured and humbled that members have chosen me as one of their lead candidates and hugely excited at the prospect that Londoners could return their first BME Green to City Hall. It’s gratifying, and comes as a huge relief, to finally know the true result of a hotly contested ballot of over 12,000 members held over the summer, that had to be recounted due to discovery of a significant mistake in the count instructions given by us.

Amongst my priorities, I will give voice to tackling the everyday prejudice or downright racism faced by ethnic minorities. Greens will fight your corner, whether combating illicit racial profiling by police or confronting the Islamophobia in our schools and colleges fostered by the government’s Prevent programme.

As a lifelong Londoner, I would relish the opportunity to represent and serve Londoners’ interests from City Hall. As part of a great Green team, I would tackle the problems faced by ordinary people and the poverty-stricken, whether those marginalised by work which doesn’t pay, public transport that doesn’t come cheap, or by housing that banks on developers and investors at families’ expense. Only Greens are able to offer the radical vision and joined up approach that Londoners desperately need and deserve.

The results of the recount will be officially ratified at the next Green Party  London Regional meeting on 16th November 2015.

Ronald Stewart, member of Haringey Green Party, who originally noticed the count error and raised the alarm,explained:

The quota for the election had been set lower than specified by the London Green Party framework, as a requirement of STV. This gave an incorrect result which did not proportionally reflect the voters’ wishes.

The full list of candidates is now ordered as follows:

1. Sian Berry
2. Caroline Russell
3. Shahrar Ali
4. Jonathan Bartley
5. Noel Lynch
6. Rashid Nix
7. Tom Chance
8. Dee Searle
9. Benali Hamdache
10. Andrea Carey Fuller
11. RoseMary Warrington

Reserve 1. Peter Underwood
Reserve 2. Michael Gold
Reserve 3. Barry Cooper

Green Party condemns Government's 'assault' on children's futures

Responding to a report which has exposed the ‘double disadvantage’ being faced by young people from poor backgrounds, the Green Party has called on the government to tackle the rising impact of poverty on young peoples’ futures.

The report, written by education charity the Sutton Trust, found that less than one in three (29%) white working class boys from poor neighbourhoods are studying past GCSE level. That’s compared to almost half (46%) of working class boys from affluent areas and two in three (68%) of boys from wealthier backgrounds.

Alongside teaching unions and campaign groups, the Green Party has consistently emphasised the link between poverty and poor attainment in education, and called for greater investment in teaching as well as an end to the welfare reforms which have seen inequality widen.

Green Party spokesperson for schools, Samantha Pancheri, said:

The evidence of the damaging impact austerity is having on young people’s futures continues to mount and yet the government continues to wilfully ignore the facts. Quite frankly it’s inexcusable.

From welfare reforms exacerbating poverty, to cuts to education budgets, and the creeping privatisation of the education system, this report confirms that young peoples’ aspirations are being eroded through an assault on their future – an assault that the government has the power to stop.

We should not be surprised that working class children from poor neighbourhoods feel
disenfranchised from education, as the government’s reforms are creating more pressure than ever on pupils to perform well in examinations, whilst simultaneously eroding their prospects to turn this into a meaningful future for themselves.

Whilst this report highlights the urgent need to address the causes of young people struggling through the education system up to GCSE level, it is vital that this is accompanied by widespread efforts to protect Further Education, and ensure that pupils have every opportunity to fulfil their potential.

Green Party: Modi visit likely to deepen wounds and heighten tensions

The Green Party of England and Wales has said that the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UK has the potential to deepen wounds within the South Asia population around the world and heighten tensions within India itself.

Tony Clarke, the Green Party’s spokesperson on International Affairs, said:

Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK comes at a time of heightened religious tensions and oppression in India, oppression which is seeking to silence those who only wish to promote peace and unity. It is important that when Modi seeks ‘statesman’ status abroad, particularly in the UK, that we open our mouths to challenge his government, not our arms to welcome him.

We need to demonstrate to Modi that we support the South East Asia human rights campaigners in voicing their displeasure at the crimes committed back in India.

India is currently witnessing its most dangerous tensions since independence. These tensions are born out of the nationalist BJP’s seeming intolerance to other faiths within India and to outside voices calling for an end to violence and a return to India’s pluralist traditions.

Modi’s arrival in the UK is the latest in a string of visits from international heads of state who are feted instead of challenged by our government.  Our Prime Minister should be challenging the abuse of human rights in places such as China, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt but his red carpet welcomes and obsession with trade deals are poor substitutes for the personal challenges and tough talking that are needed. The Green Party advocates an ethical foreign policy which is based on more than economic interests.

Brent for rent - any offers?

Brent Labour Council backs new free schools for rising secondary population

The report on school places planning  to be discussed at Monday's Cabinet Meeting goes further than hitherto in backing the provision of new free schools to provide for the rising secondary school population, which is now working its way through from the primary sector. LINK

This is partly because, due to academisation, there are now no  local authority secondary schools left in the borough.  The report acknowledges the risks attached, although more risks would have been taken into account if they had looked at experience outside of Brent. LINK

The recommendation is in conflict with the direction of national Labour policy under the Corbyn leadership which is critical of free schools as the first step in a move towards schools for private profit.

The problems with the Council's approach are clear in these two consecutive paragraphs in the report:

There is a however a risk to the Council in making assumptions on the delivery of school places through proposed free school developments. The Gladstone Secondary Free School has been approved to open in Brent, but the proposal has been delayed, until at least 2017, due to the inability of EFA to find a suitable site. If this proposal is not delivered, or there are delays in provision, the Council will have a statutory duty to provide and fund the required school places. This risk is reduced if the Council is pro-active in seeking proposers for new schools and working with the EFA to identify potential sites for new schools. The EFA is able to purchase commercial sites for Free Schools. 


Given the level of the need for places in the secondary phase and the high costs of expansion; new Free Schools are therefore recommended as the preferred option to meet the projected increase in demand for secondary places. 


The section on primary expansion also looks to free schools alongside expansions of local authority schools.  Most primaries remain local authority schools although Sudbury Primary voluntarily academised some time ago and there will be a battle over Oakington Manor and Furness academisation plans. 

Floreat Primary Free School is due to open on a temporary site in 2017 while Ark Somerville Primary has no site as yet. Brent Council will be looking for a free school sponsor for a new school in Oriental City/Edgware Road. Michaela secondary Free School does not seem to have followed through its primary school plans.

However it is the expansion of local authority primary schools into much larger units that remains the core of Brent Council policy and the report recommends what amounts to a loosening of Principle 1 for school expansion. Hitherto only Ofsted rated 'Good' or 'Outstanding' primary schools were recommended for expansion.  As can be seen this has been changed to enable more schools to expand. Such a policy has a risk attached because expansion has a number of risks, including the disturbance to the learning environment caused by building works, changes in school ethos as a result of much larger number of pupils, and an increase in pupil mobility disrupting educational progress. School leadership has to be strong to cope in such circumstances.

Despite recent parental opposition to very large primary schools, the policy retains 5 form entry schools as an aim. This is 1,050 4-11 year olds in a school. The DfE has recently got wise to the fact that some local authority school expansions using an additional site are de facto new schools and this is recognised in revised Principle 3.

As someone who values small family-centred child-friendly primary schools and is opposed to free schools, so ripe for financial mismanagement, I find this all rather disheartening. What is disturbing is that the changes haven't really been debated. Parents and school staff have had little or no voice on policies that will have a profound impact on the quality of education in the borough.

What about the children?

Brent Council Pension Fund performs poorly

The Brent Pension Fund Sub-Committee of Brent Council is one of those committees which gets quietly on with its work with little publicity or indeed public recognition. The Annual Report from 2014-15 from which the extract above is taken LINK does however deserve a wider airing. Brent is shown to be underperforming compared with other local government pension funds.

Clearly investment decisions have to be made on the basis of security versus risk but Scrutiny Committee may wish to have a closer look at how this operates in Brent.

Benefits are funded by contributions and returns on investment so this is a vital issue. As well as council employees in the scheme (4,179) there were (March 2015) 33 other employer organisations in the scheme (1,724). This includes, individually, schools which have become academies.

In March 2015 there were 5,311 Brent Council pensioners and 761 from other organisations. There were 6,501 deferred Brent Council pensions and 1,127 from other organisations. The high number of deferrals, above the number actually receiving a pension, may indicate people being unable to afford to retire in the present economic climate.

Friday deadline for Brent Young Musician of the Year

I heard some beautiful violin playing by primary pupils at Chalkhill School this morning. Here is a reminder of the competition open to older pupils:

The closing annual search for Brent's best young musician is back! Do you have what it takes to go all the way and become the next Brent Young Musician of the Year?

The competition is open to all styles of music and both instrumental and vocal performers and was won by violinist Timothy Crawford in 2014.

This is a fantastic opportunity to compete for a total prize fund of £800 and the overall winner will also receive an invitation to appear at the SSE Wembley Arena as a special guest soloist for Brent Makes Music 2016 in July 2016.

To enter you need to be aged between 13 and 18 on Tuesday 1 September 2015 and live or go to a school in Brent.

How to enter

Download and fill in the Brent Young Musician of the Year entry form (.doc, 62.5kB).

All entries need to be received by Brent Music Service no later than midnight on Friday 13 November 2015. Completed entry forms should be emailed to info@brentmusicservice.com.

Key dates

Preliminary round

• Monday 7 December 2015 at Claremont High School, Kenton, 5pm to 9pm
• Thursday 10 December 2015 at St Mary Magdalene Catholic Junior School, Willesden Green, 5pm to 9pm

Competition finals venue

• Wednesday 2 March - Venue and time to be confirmed