BBC announce curriculum-based learning on CBBC, BBC 2, Red Button & BBC iplayer from Monday January 11th

 

Following pressure on social media over the weekend, as the focus moved to children unable to access on-line learning durign school closures, the BBC has announced a programme of curriculum based learning.

The BBC announcement

Reacting quickly to the news of UK schools moving to remote learning, the new offer from the BBC will ensure all children can access curriculum-based learning, even if they don’t have access to the internet.

Starting on Monday 11 January, each week day on CBBC will see a three-hour block of primary school programming from 9am, including BBC Live Lessons and BBC Bitesize Daily, as well as other educational programming such as Our School and Celebrity Supply Teacher and much loved titles such as Horrible Histories, Art Ninja and Operation Ouch.

BBC Two will cater for secondary students with programming to support the GCSE curriculum, with a least two hours of content each weekday.

Content will be built around Bitesize Daily secondary shows, complemented by Shakespeare and classic drama adaptations alongside science, history and factual titles from the BBC’s award-winning factual programming units.

Bitesize Daily primary and secondary will also air every day on BBC Red Button as well as episodes being available on demand on BBC iPlayer.

Tim Davie, BBC Director General, says: “Ensuring children across the UK have the opportunity to continue to follow the appropriate core parts of their nation’s school curriculum has been a key priority for the BBC throughout this past year.

“Education is absolutely vital - the BBC is here to play its part and I’m delighted that we have been able to bring this to audiences so swiftly.”

This TV offer sits alongside a wealth of online content which parents, children and teachers can access when and where they need it:

• For primary, BBC Bitesize online has an expanded offer of structured lessons in Maths and English for all year groups - these can be used at home or in the classroom. ‘This Term’s Topics’ also covers other curriculum subjects and curates learning content that works for the Spring curriculum. This content can be easily incorporated into a learning plan or used to explore different topics at home. Visit bbc.co.uk/bitesize, click on the year group and subject and all the content is there.

• For secondary pupils, Bitesize is also home to two-week learning packs for English and Maths in KS3 (years 7, 8 and 9) as well as This Term’s Topics for other subjects to be used at home or to support teachers in the remote classrooms.

• For students in Years 10 and 11, the Bitesize GCSE offer allows students to pick their exam board and subject to find everything they need to help with their studies. Visit bbc.co.uk/bitesize/secondary for details.

Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, says: “The BBC has helped the nation through some of the toughest moments of the last century, and for the next few weeks it will help our children learn whilst we stay home, protect the NHS and save lives.

“This will be a lifeline to parents and I welcome the BBC playing its part.”

Educational content for all nations will also be available.

UPDATED with Cllr Georgiou's reply - Asda responds to complaints that their Wembley store is not Covid safe

 

Cllr Anton Georgiou has received a response to his complaint that its Wembley store is not safe in terms of enforcing Covid safety measures such as mask wearing and social distancing. Cllr Georgiou said that the store was putting its customer and staff at significant risk. LINK

I leave readers to decide whether the answer is satisfactory and will publish any reply that Cllr Georgiou passes on to Wembley Matters,

 

Hello Councillor Georgiou

 

Thank you for speaking with me on New Years Eve, I hope you were able to celebrate the new year safely.

 

Since the start of the crisis, our highest priority has been keeping our customers and colleagues as safe as possible in line with the latest Government guidance.

 

All colleagues were encouraged to wear face coverings when in our stores and were provided with masks. With the new update all colleagues will be wearing a face covering, who are able to do so. 

 

We have also implemented Marshals at the entry to our stores to offer face masks for customers to use if they have forgotten theirs and they are also monitoring the volume of customers entering our stores to ensure the volume of customers entering the store is not near the maximum total.

 

By asking colleagues to confront members of the public who are not wearing a face covering, it can lead to situations where they are subject to verbal and physical abuse. We have a responsibility to protect the welfare of our colleagues, so encourage them to intervene only when they feel it is safe to do so.

 

I should emphasise we are continuing to maintain our other social distancing measures, including limiting the number of customers in store (well below the usual occupancy level) and having regular reminders on the need to maintain distance. This is done via extensive signage and colleagues wearing t-shirts emphasising the need to distance. There is also hand sanitiser and disinfectant available to all customers. Our social distancing measures are monitored by store leadership and our regional compliance teams. If government guidance changes, we are able to adapt quickly to it.

 

We have put in place increased cleaning protocols, further reduced the customer limits and have supported our vulnerable colleagues by moving them to roles in the store with less customer contact.

 

I have also raised yours and your constituents concerns to the General Store Manager to ensure customers are abiding to the guidelines, whilst in our stores and any abusive behaviour from customers will not be tolerated.

 

If there is anything in the future I can assist with, please feel free to contact me directly. 

 

Many Thanks and Stay Safe

 

Elliott

 

Asda Executive Relations

 

Today (January 7th), Cllr Georgiou replied:

Whilst I am pleased to read about the safety measures that are supposedly in place at present, I am unconvinced these are being strictly followed in the Wembley store, hence my initial complaint to you. Following my report and posting on social media about the experience I had in the store, several Brent residents have responded to outline similar concerns and worries. The latest being yesterday.

 

In our phone call, I requested that you outline what specific changes Asda will be making to guarantee safety for customers and staff at the Wembley store. Could you please let me know what changes you plan to make, as I fear that the current strategy simply is not working.

 

I look forward to hearing from you. Keep safe.

 

Anton

 

Cllr Anton Georgiou

Liberal Democrat Councillor, Alperton

New youth provision for Wembley at York House car park site now new primary school no longer needed?

 

The York House car park, Empire Way

Next week's Brent Cabinet will consider  moves to establish an Onside Youth Zone centre at the York House car park site in Wembley.

 

The site was earmarked for a new primary school, the Ark Somerville, but the project has been dropped by the Department for Education for the present, due to falling school rolls in the area.

 

The DfE would need to be released from its obligation to Quintain to provide the school under Section 106 and could then sell the site on the open market or directly to Brent Council.

 

The officers report LINK describes what happens at Onside Youth Zones:

 

Youth Zones provide “somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to” and aim to be safe, supportive and affordable places where young people can spend their free time constructively. Targeting young people aged 8-19, and up to 25 with additional needs, Youth Zones provide large-scale multi-activity facilities which typically include multi-use 3G pitches, indoor sports hall, climbing wall, gym, music, dance and performing arts facilities and café, along with flexible spaces that can respond to young people’s changing needs and preferences.

 

Given the size of the site some of that provision would not be possible but it would still be a facility that would help make up for some of the youth provision cut by Brent Council. 

 

As Brent Youth Centres  were cut for financial reasons it is worth looking at where the Council  now expect funding to come from:

Running costs

SCIL = Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy

MTFS = Medium Term Financial Strategy

The charity Onside Youth runs a centre in nearby Barnet. You can read about it HERE
 

Martin Redston: Why one law for SNP's Margaret Ferrier and another for Tories' Dominic Cummings over Covid breaches?

Local resident Martin Redston, despite setbacks in the courts, is continuing his battle to hold Dominic Cummings to account over his breach of Covid restrictions last year. It was a breach  that many see as the catalyst for the public's loss of confidence in government advice and the subsequent increase in contagion.

In the latest message to supporters Redstone says:

Well what a surprise, Margaret Ferrier,  MP for the SNP is going to be prosecuted  LINK  whilst Dominic Cummings, Private Citizen protected by Prime Minister Johnson is going to get away with his lockdown breach escape to Durham scot free! 

When we wrote to the Metropolitan Police back in August they responded with the letter enclosed below.  In particular in para's 2 and 3 they state:

....I can confirm that an assessment has been made of all the information available and there will be no Metropolitan Police investigation at this time. 

Where the Metropolitan Police Service (‘MPS’) receives allegations of breaches of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions)(England) Regulations 2020, the MPS focuses on those that are live or ongoing where police action can enable a change to behaviour that is posing a current public health risk.   

So what exactly is the difference in dealing with the way that Police forces deal with these two high profile public figures? 

We can't give up now.

 

A few days ago Martin Redston, who has raised £46,000 for his court action LINK.  sent an update to supporters of his action outlining the present situation:

We have received notification from the Appeal Court that they have not granted me permission to proceed. I enclose the ruling for reference. Having discussed this with our legal team, who have researched the subject, we can only concede that there seems to be no further formal proceeding we can take to persuade the DPP to take action along with the Metropolitan Police.

In the ruling, the Judge, Lord Justice Dingemans decided this was not a case to allow the appeal because there has now been referral to the Metropolitan police to request an investigation that may provide an alternate remedy for the rule of law. We must hope the Met conducts a thorough investigation now on the movements in London when Cummings commenced his journey and, indeed before that time when he visited his office whilst likely to be infected; and does not suffer the same failings of the report by Durham Police which found an offence in Durham but failed to refer that offence to the DPP. If following the Met investigation no action is taken then a possible challenge to that will fall to be considered. However I am pleased that the court accepted jurisdiction which is important for other cases and a small but significant gain and the rule of law point was recognised    

I am now consulting with my legal team about possible ways forward, the challenge for an ordinary citizen to take action against a miscreant bearing in mind that the Covid emergency legislation seems to preclude this pathway.

Much of Public opinion and the Press is still accusing Cummings of breaking the trust of the public and undermining good governance. Even now after all these months it is reported that  200 British skiers in Verbiers scarpered in the night to avoid quarantine as ordered by Swiss authorities. But it remains that no action has been taken by the authorities over Cummings' main breach at the start in London which has set the tone ......not just his action and public mea culpa, but the turning of a blind eye by the key police authority and public prosecutor.

I am now consulting with my legal team about possible ways forward, the challenge for an ordinary citizen to take action against a miscreant bearing in mind that the Covid emergency legislation seems to preclude this pathway.   

We are not giving up just yet. Any ideas that you may have will be gratefully received, especially if you feel that you have been affected by Cummings' actions back in March..

Safe schools support grows: two on-line meetings tonight

 

Green Party Trade Union Group gets behind NEU decision to advocate on-line learning for all but vulnerable and keyworker primary children

 

Vix Lowthian, a secondary school teacher, parent, NEU member and the Green Party's Spokesperson on Education  spoke at a Green Party Trade Union meeting yesterday on 'Covid, Schools and School Workers.' 

At the beginning of the meeting she was completing the signing off of  a press release backing the National Education Union's decision to advise members to not work in full classes due to the rise in Covid cases but instead teach on-line or in the small bubbles formed for chidlren of key workers and vulnerable pupils.

In Brent and the rest of London primary schools are closed to all but vulnerable and key worker children,  and teaching moved on-line. Tonight decisions are still bing made by individual schools, headteacher and local authortiies in other parts of the country.

The video gives a full acount of the issues involved.

 

Green Party backs teachers’ urgent call to close schools and move learning online

 

Vix Lowthian, teacher, NEU member and Green Party Spokesperson on Education

 

The Green Party has backed calls from teaching unions to take steps to protect the safety of staff and students by moving to online learning from Monday in order to reduce the spread of infection of the new coronavirus variant.

The move comes as Green Party-led Brighton & Hove City Council has written to primary schools in the city to advise them to move to remote learning until Monday 18 January.

Green Party education spokesperson Vix Lowthion, a secondary school teacher on the Isle of Wight, said:

It is right that schools should only reopen when it is safe to do so and that cannot be the case with new-variant Covid spreading out of control. We fully support those unions who wish to remind staff of their legal rights not to work in an unsafe environment. Gavin Williamson needs to change his position on the reopening of primary schools urgently.

If the government had provided disadvantaged students with what they needed in terms of laptops and connectivity earlier in the year, it would have made it much easier for all concerned to carry out learning from home now. This oversight must be rectified as soon as possible so that access to education is maintained to the best possible standards while ensuring safety for all.

This is an extremely difficult time for parents, teachers and children and young people and so the government must listen carefully to the experts and trust teachers when they say it is not safe. This crisis is not going away any time soon. Teachers must be supported to deliver planned, high quality and sustainable learning within an environment which prioritises the health of the community.

For once, we hope the government will stick to its own mantra and actually follow the science to protect communities and families across the country.

The Green Party has also repeated its call for all frontline workers, including teachers, to be prioritised for vaccination. 

 

Dawn Butler joins Labour activists and trade unionists in call for the Labour Party to support closure of schools to curb new Covid virus strain

 OPEN LETTER

Dear Kate Green, Wes Streeting, Keir Starmer & Angela Rayner,

 

The Labour Party was founded and exists to represent working people. Millions of people are now living under Tier 3 or 4 restrictions, in areas where coronavirus cases are either high or very high. We understand that the new strain which has been discovered may be more easily transmissible, but we still do not understand enough about the health impact on different age groups.

 

From the start of this crisis, the Government have failed to provide schools with the adequate resources to enable proper physical distancing, so to say they are safe environments is simply not true. It is now widely accepted that the virus is readily transmitted from children to adults. In the absence of mass testing it is impossible to know those children who are healthy from those who are asymptomatic carriers. 

 

Parents, children, teaching assistants, teachers, caretakers, lunchtime assistants, and office staff are looking to us, the Labour Party, to speak up for them, and to hold this Government to account and to press them to do the right thing. We support the position of the National Education Union. We want you to do the same. 

 

Schools should not re-open on the 4th January save for the children of key workers and vulnerable children. This is about the lives and safety of working people, children and the safety of our communities. Nothing should ever come before that. 

 

Do the right thing. 

 

Yours Sincerely,

Laura Pidcock (Labour NEC)

Nadia Jama (Labour NEC)

Mish Rahman (Labour NEC)

Gemma Bolton (Labour NEC)

Yasmine Dar (Labour NEC)

Ellen Morrison (Labour NEC)

Howard Beckett (Labour NEC)

Ian Murray (Labour NEC)

Andi Fox (Labour NEC)

Len McCluskey (General Secretary, Unite the Union)

Dave Ward (General Secretary, CWU)

Matt Wrack (General Secretary, FBU)

Manuel Cortes (General Secretary, TSSA)

Sarah Woolley (General Secretary, BFAWU)

Andy Kerr (Deputy General Secretary, CWU)

Mick Whelan (General Secretary, ASLEF)

Ronan Burtenshaw (Editor, Tribune)

Jamie Driscoll (Mayor, North of Tyne)

Ian Byrne (MP for West Derby)

Jon Trickett (MP for Hemsworth)

Ian Mearns (MP for Gateshead)

Ian Lavery (MP for Wansbeck)

Richard Burgon (MP for Leeds East)

Kate Osborne (MP for Jarrow)

Claudia Webbe (MP for Leicester East)

Bell Ribeiro Addy (MP for Streatham)

Grahame Morris (MP for Easington)

John McDonnell (MP for Hayes & Harlington)

Dawn Butler (MP for Brent Central)

Zarah Sultana (MP for Coventry South)

Jeremy Corbyn (MP for Islington North)

Rebecca Long Bailey (MP for Salford & Eccles)

Apsana Begum (MP for Poplar and Limehouse)

Nadia Whittome (MP for Nottingham East)

Mary Kelly Foy (MP for City of Durham)

Lloyd Russell Moyle (MP for Brighton Kemptown)

Tahir Ali (MP for Birmingham Hall Green)

Paula Barker (MP for Wavertree)

Rachel Hopkins (MP for Luton South)

Olivia Blake (MP for Sheffield Hallam)

John Hendy (House of Lords)

Christine Blower (House of Lords)

Katy Clark (House of Lords)

Councillor Laura Smith

Councillor Liam Lavery

Red Labour

Don’t Leave, Organise (DLO)

Labour Representation Committee (LRC)

Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL)

Momentum

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Socialist Campaign Group of Labour Councillors

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