1 in 14 secondary students have Covid: education unions unite in powerful call for additional safety measures in schools

 

From the Guardian

 

Five education unions have written to the Secretary of State for Education, Nadhim Zahawi, asking him to urgently reconsider the reintroduction of additional safety measures in schools, given the rising rates of Covid infection and absence among school students.

 

The five unions – GMB, NASUWT, NEU, UNISON and UNITE – will also be writing to all local authorities and directors of public health asking them to consider measures in their local areas.

 

The unions have pointed to measures now being readopted in several local authority areas in response to rising cases, including social distancing measures, reintroduction of bubbles, avoidance of large gatherings such as assemblies and meetings, and reintroduction of face coverings in secondary schools.

 

The unions have warned that without such measures, students’ education and the health of students, their families and school staff will all be damaged unnecessarily.

 

Avril Chambers, GMB National Officer, said: "Yet again we appear to have denial of the facts from this Government. Covid cases among school pupils are growing exponentially and it is clear further mitigation measures are needed immediately. School staff have kept our schools open throughout the pandemic: they deserve to stay safe and our children deserve not to have their education interrupted any more than it already has been. The minister needs to act now."

 

Patrick Roach, General Secretary, NASUWT said: “As cases rise, ministers need to look again at supporting schools with onsite testing into the spring term, rather than relying on home testing, which is less effective. There is an urgent need for the Government to consider reinstating the requirement for pupils to self-isolate if they are in close contact with someone who has tested positive. Proportionate safety measures and appropriate support for schools are essential in breaking the continuing chain of virus transmission.”

 

Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary, National Education Union, said: ‘We are concerned that the Government is standing by while COVID cases surge across schools. It is evident that more needs to be done, and sooner rather than later, to prevent further massive disruption to children’s education, caused either by children contracting covid-19 or covid-related staff absence. The most effective way of keeping children in educatiois to do more now to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in schools.’

 

Jon Richards, UNISON assistant general secretary, said: “Ministers must do all they can to stop continued disruption to classroom learning as infections rise. To offer pupils and staff greater protection, face masks must return right away, along with school bubbles and other sensible precautions that were ditched. Air filters are also key to limiting the virus spread and ensuring pupils have a more stable academic year.”

 

Jim Kennedy, Unite national officer for education, said: “Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi has a great opportunity to reset the safety agenda for schools, following the departure of Gavin Williamson. With winter fast approaching and with Covid still rampant the whole range of measures to keep school children safe needs to be deployed – the rising level of infections in schools demand it.”

 

The full text of the letter is as follows:

 

The Rt Hon Nadhim Zahawi MP

Secretary of State for Education

Department for Education

20 Great Smith Street

London

SW1P 3BT 8 October 2021

 

Dear Secretary of State

 

We are writing as unions representing school leaders, teachers and support staff to urge you to give all education settings the guidance and resources they need to keep pupils safely learning for the rest of this term. We began this term hoping for better times and a more normal feel across the education system but, as the weeks have gone by it has become clear that the DfE guidance published on 23 August requires urgent updating.

 

Thresholds in the DfE contingency framework for even seeking advice following cases are set too high; meaning that cases can already be spreading across a school before additional measures are considered.

 

Government data shows that confirmed Covid-19 cases amongst school-aged children surged to 102,000 on 30 September, a 67 per cent rise since 16 September. Over 204,000 pupils were absent from school on 30 September for covid-related reasons. Staff absence is also impacting on education with some children suffering disruption as a result of staff absence, and staff and leaders under enormous strain as a result.

 

It is unclear when the impact of the vaccination programme for 12- to 15-year-olds will begin to be felt and so in the meantime more needs to be done to prevent the spread.

 

Many other countries in Europe that have kept in place proportionate mitigation measures in schools, such as face coverings and quarantine of close contacts whilst rolling out a vaccination programme, and have not experienced the back-to-school surge in cases that we have seen in England.

 

In addition, a growing number of councils are now using the freedoms they have under the Department for Education guidance to bring in additional mitigations in schools. This reflects their responsibilities for public health, and also under health and safety legislation.

 

Staffordshire County Council for example is encouraging all schools to introduce a range of measures including to stop whole-school assemblies and bring back classroom bubbles and face coverings; all close contacts to get a PCR test; and reintroduction of staggered start, finish and lunch times because it is "time to be proactive" about rising cases.

 

Additional mitigations have been recommended in areas including Cambridgeshire, City of Wolverhampton Council, Cumbria County Council and in some London boroughs. For example, in Cumbria, siblings of children diagnosed with Covid should be kept at home until their test comes back negative.

 

These are all important measures that we believe need to be implemented across all schools. Combined with a relentless focus on ventilation, with use of HEPA filters where ventilation cannot be improved in any other way (a focus which will reap benefits far beyond the end of the pandemic) these measures could make a real difference in England.

 

Without a change of direction, we risk damaging the education of thousands of children at some point before Christmas. The health of some children, but particularly that of vulnerable staff, parents or grandparents, could be compromised.

 

This is an urgent problem, and we look forward to your swift response. We would also welcome the opportunity for an urgent meeting with you to discuss these matters further.

 Jenny Cooper, Co-Secretary of Brent National Education Union told Wembley Matters:

 We asked Brent Council officers to bring in additional measures in schools that reach the DfE threshold. But they appear to be toeing the government line of minimum disruption to schools so no return to bubbles etc. However we know from our members that in the long term such an approach causes more disruption.

Coal Action Network set up 'climate justice memorial' at Lloyds of London - 'Don't underwrite climate wrecking projects'

 

The memorial outside Lloyds of London

From  Coal Action Network

 

Today, protesters from Coal Action Network set up a climate justice memorial at Lloyd’s of London HQ (1 Lyme Street). The climate memorial was set up to remember communities on the front lines of climate breakdown who are directly impacted by harmful projects and climate impacts. 

The memorial involved hundreds of flowers and floral wreaths (following the visual theme of REMEMBER - RISE - RESIST), being laid outside the HQ. Testaments from communities on the front lines of fossil fuel projects and climate impacts were read out and delivered to staff in the building.

Elara from Coal Action Network said:

 

 Through the memorial we will bring to life the memories of every person harmed by the injustices of the climate crisis. We’ve laid wreaths naming climate wrecking projects we want Lloyd’s to rule out underwriting today, and help to prevent billions of lives being destroyed by climate impacts.

 

Flowers with over 600 individual messages from people across the UK were handed out to staff going in and out of the Lloyd’s building. Staff were asked to speak to senior management in Lloyd’s about ruling out insuring all fossil fuels, as well as, various fossil fuel projects including the Adani Coal mine, tar sands TransMountain pipeline, West Cumbria coal mine, and the Cambo oilfields. The group also called for Lloyd’s to pay compensation for climate impacts. 

Elara from Coal Action Network said:

 

The climate crisis is harming the poorest and least responsible of us first and worst. The blame falls squarely at the feet of executives at corporations like Lloyd’s of London. Day after day they decide to profit from death and chaos, by underwriting projects that will lead to climate breakdown, while refusing to insure everyday people against the floods and wildfires they are helping to create.

This action is the latest to target Lloyd’s of London. Previous actions have included fake coal being dumped outside the building, green paint being thrown on various insurance offices and thousands of people contacting staff to ask them to stop underwriting fossil fuels.

This memorial is the first of many being planned. On the 29th October, as part of a Defund Climate Chaos day of action, groups across the world will take similar actions on the doorsteps of a range of financial and insurance institutions. Coal Action Network confirmed that they will be returning to Lloyd’s HQ on that date.

 

Full Scrutiny recommendations to Brent Council Cabinet after Granville New Homes costly debacle

The full recommendations to the Cabinet from Brent Scrutiny Committee after their meeting last night have now been published as a Supplementary report on the agenda of Monday's 10am Cabinet meeting. LINK

Supplementary Paper – Cabinet: 11 October 2021

Agenda Item 9 (Proposals for ownership & refurbishment of Granville New Homes Blocks)

Scrutiny of implications for BHM (Brent Housing Management) and HRA (Housing Revenue Account) of proposals for ownership and refurbishment of Granville New Homes blocks undertaken by Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee on Thursday 7 October 21

Scrutiny Committee recommendations to Cabinet:

· That the officers give assurance that the council has undertaken due diligence reviews of its subsidiary bodies, including governance, fitness for purpose, financial soundness and reputational risk. 

· That the officers ensure the Ridge report is made available to the scrutiny committee and audit committee. 

· That the officers review arrangements for entering into contracts of this kind, in particular to ensure adequate arrangements are made to ensure appropriate design/build quality – and that the council has appropriate recourse where latent defects are later identified. 

· That the officers ensure all potential contractors are made aware of the standards expected by the council – and to ensure these are met before buildings are formally accepted by the council. 

· That the council provide written assurance that it has taken or will take independent legal and financial advice (including tax) regarding the proposals and next steps. 

· That all contracts procured by the council and its subsidiaries include a review of past delivery of any potential contractors. 

· That the council ensures where issues are evident in a particular project, all remaining projects by the same contractor are reviewed as a matter of urgency. 

· That the officers review the steps that make-up the procurement, commissioning and contract monitoring system to identify any gaps especially in relation to risk and review aspects. Where these are identified that immediate action is taken. 

· That the council put in place arrangements to ensure learning about this case – and any others raising issues of similar significance – is shared across the council as well as with existing and potential future partners/contractors. 

· That the officers establish and publish a comprehensive plan for ongoing engagement with residents.

 

Scrutiny's recommendations published following examination of Brent's housing scandal

 

Older readers mat recall the Tony Hancock sketch 'The Last Page' where he engaged fully with a crime novel with all its plot twists only to be frustrated at the end when he found the last page torn out.

Well, last night's Scrutiny Committee was rather like that with the live feed ended just when the Committee had sent out officers and were about to discuss their recommendations.

This morning the recording of the meeting was published by Brent Council with a minute added when the clerk read out the recommendations for confirmation.  However, the section of the meeting where the Committee discussed their reactions to the officers' answers and their subsequent recommendation was not included in the published recording.

These are the recommendations as read out by the clerk but the wording is likely to be tidied up before they are formally minuted.*

• For officers to give assurances to the Committee of the commissioning of these contracts.
• For officers to give assurances to the Committee that the Council has undertaken due diligence for subsidiary bodies including that they are financially sound and the potential reputational risk to the Council.
• That external written legal and tax advice is sought on the options presenrted and tht all contracts and procurement include a review of past deliveries of any potential contractors.

The Full Recording of the meeting is below and worth viewing for the evasions and unanswered questions.

*The 'tidying up' has been extensive see https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2021/10/full-scrutiny-recommendations-to-brent.html

Public cut off from discussion of Scrutiny's recommendations on Brent Council's £35m council housing scandal

 

It looked as if Brent Scrutiny Committee was going to get down to the nitty gritty of the housing scandal that saw Brent Council paying £17.5m for the Granville New Housing in South Kilburn and now having to fork out £18.5m to remedy all the defects. A further issue is that Higgins the builder that built the faulty development is currently building more homes for Brent Council in Stonebridge.

After some excellent questioning from the chair, Cllr Ketan Sheth, Cllr Gaynor Lloyd and Cllr Mary Daly, officers were sent out so that the Committee could discuss their recommendations to Cabinet, who meet to discuss the issue on Monday morning.

Except that the public could not hear the discussion on the recommendations because the live feed to the meeting was abruptly cut off!

In the circumstances it is right that we should be suspicious.

There was much prevarication about when the defects had first been noticed and which part of the council they had been reported to.  Residents have told Wembley Matters they have been reporting defects in the housing built in 2009 for a long time but officers claimed that they had become aware only after post Grenfell surveys and a full intrusive survey involving taking out windows and cutting into walls

This meant that they were not 'fully aware' until May of this year.  The seriousness of the issues had not been picked up by Brent Housing Partnership, Brent Housing Management, First Wave Housing, Brent Council as Guarantor of the original loan or the Audit Committee. Cllr Kasangra who sits on Audit said they have been given the impression that 'everything was rosy.' They had been assured that the issues that came up in Croydon were not relevant to Brent - 'now we know that First Wave could have gone into liquidation!'

Cllr Lloyd challenged these expressions of ignorance quoting Cllr Janice Long as remarking that she felt guilty because 'we were always hearing about problems at these blocks.' Tenants had been complaining for a long time and it was nonsense for First Wave Housing to say that they didn't know.

In response to questions First Wave said they had had no discussions with Higgins about the defects since they had been discovered. They had been advised that there was no possibility of redress due to the passage of time.  Cllr Sheth asked why there had been no dialogue with Higgins given that they were still Brent Council's partner and even more important, why were they still a partner? 

First Wave said they couldn't comment. 

The officer responsible for Brent's actions as Guarantor was asked if he had received any complaints about Higgins and he replied that nothing had been brought to his attention.

Sheth said that the Council needed to think about how to get assurances from Higgins about their work. Cllr Lloyd asked if during the procurement process the past record of the company was taken into account before awarding the Stonebridge contract, for example.  The officer said that he couldn't provide an answer now but would provide a written answer.

First Wave were asked about consultation with residents. They had been told about the need for a waking watch at the time of the fire survey but only a few turned up to a zoom meeting, he added 'There hasn’t been too much response from residents.'

The head of housing said that even if residents did not attend meeting they were engaged with and they said they were very happy with their homes. He claimed that normally in such a situation residents would be at the meeting protesting but none had turned up tonight so this showed they were content.

The comment at the top of the page from a resident speaks for itself. 

The report and Scrutiny recommendations will be discussed at Brent Council's Cabinet on Monday morning at 10am. LINK

 

 

 

 

Willesden author reaches out across the generations with a new children's book featuring a London child's fight for her grandparents' farm

 

A Willesden author, Odette Elliott, is reaching out across the generations in her latest book Abigay's Farm, which reflects modern family life and age-old principles of standing up for what you value.

Odette who is 82 says:

I live in Willesden. I was living in Primrose Hill when my picture books and others were published but have now lived in Willesden for 29 years.  

I would like to tell local children about my children’s novel and it would be great if somehow I could get some publicity in our area. I am having a book launch at Belsize Community Library in November and it would be wonderful if I could have a similar event at one of Brent's community libraries.

 The book is being self-published - actually “assisted” self-publishing, even though I have had 8 books traditionally published - see my website.

Abigay, the heroine, lives in London with her twin brother and parents, but regularly visits her grandparents in Herefordshire.  When she discovers to her horror that the farm may have to be sold, she is desperate to find a plan to save the farm.  She has had experience of being taken to a local London City Farm when in primary school and this gives her an idea.

 

If  any Brent Community Library would like to contact Odette go to http://www.odetteelliott.co.uk/contact/

Autumn events from Brent Libraries – including some important history!

 A guest post from Philip Grant

I’ve heard from my friends at Brent Culture Service (that’s Libraries, Arts & Heritage) about their autumn programme. There is a whole range of events, both online and “live”, that will appeal to people of all ages, from activities to talks, theatre, music and film, and most of them are free! You can check out the details here, but there are a couple which are particularly interesting to me.

 

A black British sailor at the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805.

 

You may think that Black History Month is nothing to do with you, or that it’s just for “black” people to learn about “their own” history. If so, I hope you will change your mind. In history at secondary school in the 1960s, it was never mentioned that the sailors involved in famous battles won by the British navy were not all white. Over the past decade, since retiring, I’ve discovered some amazing stories of the part played by people of colour in “British” history, and there is still more that I can learn. That’s why I’ve signed up for these two online talks.

 

Arthur and Frederick in their navy uniforms, 1918.

 

I have an interest in naval history, partly because my grandad and his brother Fred were both in the Royal Navy during the First World War. The free online talk, “Uncovering the History of Black British Mariners”, on Tuesday 19 October at 6.30pm, is one I’m looking forward to. I never realised that some of their shipmates may have been “Black British Mariners”, but the faces below make that a possibility.

 

 

Some faces from the “Black Poppies” talk.

 

The First World War is still producing some stories we didn’t learn at school, even over 100 years since it ended. I’m sure that “Black Poppies – Britain’s Black Community and the Great War”, another free online talk, on Armistice Day, Thursday 11 November at 6.30pm, will add some fascinating details to that list.

 

Although I don’t know who most of the people shown in the image above are, I do recognise the face of Sergeant William Robinson Clarke (bottom right). He got his pilot’s licence and “wings” in the Royal Flying Corps (soon to become the RAF) in 1917, and I found out about him some years ago at a Wembley History Society talk, “Pilots of the Caribbean”, and an RAF Museum exhibition of the same name.

 

William Robinson Clarke’s Royal Flying Corps pilot’s licence record card, April 1917.

 

Our WHS talk was by Mark Johnson, and I’m surprised that Brent Libraries don’t seem to have a copy of his book, “Caribbean Volunteers at War” – I hope they get one soon! As well as this WW1 pilot, there were around 500 “Pilots of the Caribbean” who flew in the RAF during the Second World War. One of them has a Wembley connection, because it was here, in 1948, that he won Jamaica’s first Olympic Games gold medal! You can read his story here.

 

Another First World War hero, with a Wembley connection, who I first came across while researching for the British Empire Exhibition’s 90^th anniversary, was a Nigerian. You can read about Sergeant-Major Belo Akure’s bravery here.

 

I hope I’ve whetted your appetite for some of the events that Brent Culture Service have organised for all of us to enjoy this autumn. Please take a look at the programme, to see which ones you and your family fancy, and sign up for the ones that interest you!

Philip Grant

On Bookshop Day (Saturday October 9th) join Book & Kulture in celebrating diversity in books. Meet guest authors who will sign your book purchases.

 

Bookshop Day is one-day nationwide celebration of all high street bookshops including independent bookshops like Book & Kulture, based at The Grange, Neasden.

 

The campaign aims to highlight the cultural importance of books and bookshops, and celebrate the people that bring the two together! 

 

Bookshop Day happens annually in October and will take place on Saturday 9 October 2021. 

 

Bookshop Day first launched in 2013 and is run by the Booksellers Association to encourage book lovers, like you, to shop at their local bookshop. 

 

Book & Kulture are collaborating with Black Wall Street London to create a more diverse #bookshopday this year. They’ll be taking over the basement to bring a host of diverse titles to Camden at their shop at 279 Camden High Street, London NW1 7BX from 10am on Saturday until 7pm.

 

This flagship Afrocentric store, exists to showcase high quality under-represented Black owned businesses. Curated by founder, Natasha Vigille her aim is to provide an accessible and affordable business trading space and provide solutions for the 'Strategic Challenges' experienced by Black African Caribbean entrepreneurs.

 

As well as exhibiting an amazing array of diverse books; a number of authors will be visiting throughout the day to sign books and meet the public. They include Kandace Chimbiri, author of newly released ‘The Story Of Afro Hair’, Venessa Taylor, author of Baller Boys and Wendy Shearer, author of African and Caribbean Folktales, Myths and Legends & Bedtime Stories: Beautiful Black Tales from the Past.

 

A limited number of exclusive tote bags designed by Dapo Adeola will also be available to purchase on the day.

 

Founder, Vanessa La Rose comments:

We’re excited to be in the heart of Camden. A place that celebrates diversity and standing firm in who you are. We’ve collaborated with a brilliant store that is focused on inclusion and representation....perfect for Black History Month. We welcome and encourage the community to join us.