Parents given one year's notice of closure of independent Swaminarayan School in Brent

The Ashkar Education Trust (AET), the charity behind the fee-paying independent Swaminarayan School in Brentfield Road, Neasden, has given parents one year's notice to find a new school for their children, following the announcement that it is to 'exit the education sector.'

The Swaminarayan is on the site of the former Sladebrook High School and next door to the Leopold Primary School Annex. It has provided all-though education for mainly Hindu pupils for 25 years. AET blamed increased regulatory requirements, difficulties in recruitment and retention of teachers, the ready availability of state-funded Hindu schools and declining pupil numbers as significant challenges that have affected their ability to invest in the necessary improvements, educational and infrastructural, needed to sustain the school. 

In 2012 Swaminarayan announced that they were looking into becoming a Free School and were looking for a site 'in the heart of the Hindu community' but this was not pursued. LINK

The AET accounts show an income of £4.35m and spending of £4.27m in the year to August 2016 and £4.48m and £4.24m respectively in August 2015. LINK

AET disclose that they have had discussions with the Avanti Trust which runs state-funded Hindu faith schools. Avanti, having been granted permission and funding by the Department for Education to run an all-through school in Brent, has been seeking a site - always a problem in land-hungry Brent.

If the DfE can be persuaded to provide the money to buy or lease the Swaminarayan site for Avanti a smooth transition may be possible although Avanti may not have the same close relationship with the Swaminarayan Mandir as the school currently enjoys. If Avanti is successful in its bid parents would be able to apply for a state-funded place there, and subject to meeting the admissions criteria, save on the current fees.

If the Avanti Admissions Criteria give priority to families who live in Brent this may not be easy but Swaminarayan apart from charging fees (although some bursaries ar available) also selects by ability and special needs children do not appear to be welcome. This is from their website:

Parents/guardians may apply for their child’s entry to The Swaminarayan Preparatory School by filling in an application form and paying £100 registration fee (non-refundable), together with a copy of the birth certificate, passport and the last school report.

In order to qualify for entry, a child must reach a certain academic standard in the Preparatory School entrance examinations in English and Mathematics. Pupils may also be asked to do other examinations such as Cognitive Ability tests. He/she will have to pass an oral and written examination.

Although Kindergarten or Nursery children are not tested academically, an informal interview is assessment is arranged with the Head of Foundation Stage. Age appropriate assessments of the child’s ability to speak, listen to instructions, solve simple puzzles, social skills and hand-eye co-ordinations are carried out.

Key Stage 2 children normally spend the whole day in school and lunch will be provided. During the day they complete the examinations and also have an opportunity to get to know the school. The decision to accept a child lies with the Headteacher of the Prep School.

A child may not be accepted in the school if in the opinion of the Headteacher the School cannot provide adequately for the child’s emotional, physical, medical or educational needs.

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With Open Admisisons (non-selective) in the Avanti School it may not be attractive (acceptable?) to some of the present Swaminarayan parents.

AET told parents:

The whole of the Prep School and Senior School will continue as normal from September 2018 until closure in July 2019. This applies to all pupils, except those commencing GCSEs or A-levels in September 2018 (i.e. entering Year 11 or Year 13 in September 2019) who will all be able to complete their GCSEs and A-levels at the School until July 2020. As these plans require a change in our age range, we are in the process of liaising with the Secretary of State for Education to amend our registration details.

With the staff for the academic year 2018/2019 currently in place, parents should feel confident that the School remains committed to maintaining the high standards of education until full closure.

Jitu Patel, Chair of AET said:

It is indeed very sad, particularly for our pupils, staff and parents. We explored several options before arriving at this difficult decision. We have given all parents one year’s notice to find an alternative school as well as a commitment to our staff that their employment is secure for the academic year 2018/19. 

Nilesh Manani, Head of the Senior School since it opened, said:

The children and staff are some of the very best I have had the privilege of supporting and we will strive to ensure that our education standards are maintained until the very end.

Umesh Raja, Head of the Prep School, said:

It is very sad, but the most important thing now is for everyone to work together over the next two years, especially for the pupils remaining at our school.

The school's Summer Fair which was due to be held at the weekend has been cancelled.

How Brent MPs voted on Heathrow Expansion

Barry Gardiner (Brent North) AGAINST
Dawn Butler (Brent Central) AGAINST
Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead & Kilburn) DID NOT VOTE

At last...Brent Scrutiny Task Group to investigate affordable housing in new developments

In a welcome move Brent's Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee is to set up a Task Group on Affordable Housing in New Developments.

This has been a controversial issue for some years now, not least in terms of what 'affordable' actually means. The brief of the Task Group has been widened from the original focus on Viability Assessments - the procedure in which developers make a case for providing less affordable housing on the basis that otherwise the development is not financially viable.

The membership of the Task group has not been finalised but its Chair will be Cllr Neil Nerva and Vice Chair Cllr Robert Johnson.

The draft terms of reference look promising although the penultimate one should perhaps be first:

Affordable Housing in New Developments Task Group Terms of Reference

·       To understand the policy context of subsidising housing and the barriers and solutions to affordable housing delivery

·       Examine forthcoming changes to regional and national planning policy and guidance

·       Analyse the supply of affordable homes (numbers and percentage) from new developments in Brent over the past 10 years

·       Review best practice from other London boroughs

·       Understand the full range of “affordable” and “intermediate” housing

·       Learn from case studies in Brent where planning targets for affordable housing have been met

·       Examine how land owned by public authorities can contribute to targets for affordable housing

·       Understand if Brent is maximising the affordable housing contributions from developers and whether better use could be made of late stage reviews and Section 106 payments

·       Investigate alternative models for delivery of genuinely affordable homes, such as Community Land Trusts

·       Understand what the council believes is genuinely affordable for communities in Brent

·       Gather evidence to feed into and influence the development of the new Local Plan and Housing Strategy

Brent Council calls for 'properly funded' diesel scrappage scheme & expanded ULEZ transitional arrangements

Press release from Brent Council (unedited)

The Government should bring forward a properly funded diesel scrappage scheme to help residents when the Ultra Low Emission Zone expands in 2021, Brent Council said today. The ULEZ and expanded ULEZ will replace the recently introduced T-Charge but the Congestion charge will remain.

The council has been a big supporter of the Mayor of London's campaign to bring cleaner air to the capital, but wants solid measures in place to ease the transition for residents and businesses - in some of the poorest parts of London.

The expanded zone will stretch to cover the south east of the borough, including Stonebridge, Willesden, Harlesden and Dollis Hill. Areas above the North Circular, such as Neasden, Wembley and Kingsbury, are not part of the scheme and neither is the North Circular Road itself.

Residents inside the expanded zone and vehicles with a disabled or a disabled passenger tax class will have a three year sunset period, with a 100 per cent discount ending on 6 September 2023, to give them an additional chance to meet with the standards. Also, minibuses operated by charities will have a two-year sunset period until October 2023 to replace their vehicles.

Although welcoming these concessions the Council wants protection for people who live on the edge of the zone, in addition to a discounted rate within a buffer zone along the new boundary for those residents who need to travel across it regularly to get between work and home if no cost effective travel alternative is available.

With 33% of households in Brent living in poverty, the Council wants to be sure that the expanded zone will not place an extra burden on residents.

It comes as the Council marked National Clean Air Day with stalls and activities at the Civic Centre.

A number of leading clean air groups including; Vehicle Idling Action and Friends of the Earth hosted stalls outside in the Market Square, with local MP's Barry Gardiner and Dawn Butler joining Brent Councillors and others to sign a clean air pledge.

Cllr Krupa Sheth, Cabinet Member for Environment, said:

We fully support the Mayor's commitment to getting London's air cleaner, but we need the Government to do more to encourage us all to adopt more sustainable forms of transport. The expansion of the new zone will help, but as it cuts our borough in half we want to make sure that residents won't be unfairly penalised. Hardworking Brent residents and businesses, many of who struggle to make ends meet, should not be adversely impacted.

More on the state of Brent's parks & the 'meadows' debate

There's quite a debate going on regarding the state of Brent's parks on social media.  The 'creation' of meadows  was a decision based on saving money (£0.5m) backed by a claim that it would support natural diversity LINK. It has been implemented by  simply  not cutting the grass. Some are happy for sections of the parks to be left unmown hoping it will provide diversity for nature but others point out that real wild flower meadows need proper planning and maintenance.

Local resident Jaine Lunn succeeded in persuading Brent Council and their contractor Veolia to reduce the unmown area  in King Edward VII park to enable children to play ball games

Meanwhile a reader has sent me the above photograph of the 'cricket pitch' at King Edward VII park in Wembley commenting, 'I forgot how much they spent on doing this but they shouldn't have bothered.'

There is an extensive discussion about the issue on the View from Dollis Hill Facebook page regarding Gladstone Park. LINK

As a contribution to the meadows debate here are pictures of the meadows and 'scrape' at Mason's Field in Kingsbury where the Barn Hill Conservation Group has transformed a former playing field into a meadow. The transformation involved a substantial amount of work by volunteers including planting thousands of plug plants. See LINK.

Similar work was done at the University of Westminster wild flower meadow which is hand-scythed at the end of the season.

Mason's Field on Friday:

By contrast this is a view of one of the Gladstone Park meadows:

Still time to visit Brent Mencap Open House today

Labour sweeps the board in Willesden Green, Greens narrowly win second party status

Click on image to enlarge

Candidates in order of vote:

Click to enlarge

Parties in order of total vote:

Labour 4980
Green 795
Conservative 735
Lib Dem 627

Turnout was 25.49%

The overall message was of continued Labour dominance but Greens felt they had mounted a good campaign with fewer resources than other parties.

Green candidates William Relton and Shaka Lish with Martin Francis, Election Agent

Neglect and dilapidation at Gladstone Park allotments

The overgrown allotment plots at Gladstone Park

Following yesterday's article LINK on the state of Birchen Grove allotments, in which I asked if there was a similar issue at other Brent allotments I have received the following information regarding the Gladstone Park allotment site:

I got my plot after a 2 year wait.  Everything you wrote yesterday could have been about Gladstone Park allotments also. Had my plot been allocated back in the autumn, I could have made a good start on clearing the ground of the dense couch grass, horseradish, bindweed etc, getting them to rot over the winter and preparing the plot for planting. The council rejected my request for help with clearing it. 

I am aware of other newbies with worse plots which they have been told they must clear and dispose of the rubbish themselves – including bricks, broken glass, abandoned contents of sheds. Although there have been several waves this spring of allotments being released to newcomers, a number of allotments remain abandoned and dilapidated. I’ve attached a couple of photos of examples but there are more. As you say, you can see why newcomers become overwhelmed and give up, perpetuating the general neglect.

 

The allotment sheds

The council has no idea who rents the council sheds. 

The toilet

 The toilet apparently has not worked for some time and the internal key was lost, I don’t know the current situation. The on-site allotment offices are abandoned and locked up. More could be done to organise communally beneficial services such as bulk purchase of compost, maybe have a large polytunnel on the overgrown plot which used to be communal – like the one they showed on Gardeners World recently, where the wider community can get involved in the growing process.

Abandoned buildings

 The on site supervisor does her best with the lack of council support. There are incidents of theft. Apparently the allotment key fits every padlock on all the Brent allotments so there is no knowing who is coming in legitimately or not. Updating entry security is long overdue.