Sorry for the lack of postings over the last 3 days. I have been unwell but on the mend now.
Sunday 22 December 2013
Apologies for absence
Wednesday 18 December 2013
Vital Education Question Time Meeting in New Year
Why are teachers striking? Is OFSTED a political tool? Do we need SATs? Why is there a shortage of school places? Are standards falling in our schools?
If you would like to propose questions for the panel to consider please use #edqtime @NCE2014
7pm, WEDNESDAY
22nd JANUARY 2014
CHAIR: Adrian Chiles ITV presenter and local parent
PANEL: Michael Rosen Children’s author and broadcaster
Christine Blower National Union of Teachers General Secretary
Julian Bell Leader of Ealing Council
Government and local campaign speakers are invited
Everyone is welcome especially parents, governors and students
There is no charge for the event but please register for tickets at
Press contact: 07958 542872 Nickgrant2512@mac.com
Venue: St. Paul’s Church, Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith, W6 9PJ
Nearest tube: Hammersmith
Labels:
Adrian Chiles,
Christine Blower,
education. school places,
Hammersmith,
Julian Bell,
Ofsted,
SATs Michael Rosen,
schools,
Strikes
Tuesday 17 December 2013
Reflecting on the life of Mandela at Preston Community Library
Guest blog by Jacqueline Bunce-Linsell
Last Friday Preston Community Library (PrCL) held a reflection on the life of Nelson Mandela.
Anybody who would like to attend is more than welcome.
The event will commence at 2pm on Friday 20th December at PrCL’s
temporary base at 235 Preston Road, Wembley, HA9 8PE
Last Friday Preston Community Library (PrCL) held a reflection on the life of Nelson Mandela.
We opened by singing the South African National anthem made
famous by the ANC Choir - Nkosi Sikelele Iafrika -God Bless Africa- in Xhosa,
Africaans and English.
We listened to Mr Mandela’s own words from his
autobiography’ Long Walk to Freedom’ read stunningly as BBC Radio 4 Book of the
Week by the great South African actor John Kani.
Local singer, songwriter Jill Goldman sang and accompanied
herself on the guitar to a ‘Freedom’ a song she composed for the
occasion. (You will see her in the front of the photographs with her
guitar. Geraldine Cooke, a local literary agent, of Barn
Hill is standing next to her in one photograph and is at the back in the
other photograph.)
Geraldine Cooke, during many Apartheid years, was
the South African editor at Penguin Books.
She gave a fascinating talk, on her part in
working towards the release of Mr Mandela, which led to the rush publication of
the book ‘Mission to South Africa’ the Report of the so-called Eminent
Persons, several of them former heads of state from seven Commonwealth
countries, including Lord Barber who had been Margaret Thatcher’s Chancellor of
the Exchequer. This Group visited Mr Mandela three
times in jail and travelled widely in the country ignoring ‘Whites Only’ signs
on beaches and lavatories sending shock waves through the country.
Their Report ended with the words:’ if Nelson Mandela is not
released there will be the biggest bloodbath the world has ever known’.
The publication of this book proved the final push
which persuaded Mrs Thatcher, who alone in the Commonwealth had held
out against sanctions, to lean on President Botha to begin
negotiations with the man in Pollsmoor Prison.
Geraldine Cooke explained how she had steered the
printing and publication of the Penguin Special, as it was called, in just two
days around the world where it was a best-seller running to 100,000 copies
including South Africa which of course banned anything critical, the fastest
mass-market book ever published, worthy of inclusion in the Guinness Book of
Records.
To achieve this in such a brief time would be impressive
today with virtually instant printing-in 1986 when publishing schedules were
counted in months, and more often years, it was a miracle.
This talk was something of a coup for PrCL as this was the
first time Ms Cooke has revealed her part in this process, in public or
private.
Sir Shridath Ramphal, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth
at the time speaking in London this July said that ‘Mission to South Africa’ “Changed
History”.
As a result, Ms Cooke was one of the first people to meet Mr
Mandela and Winnie Mandela privately when they came to London following the
release.
Sir Shridath gave permission for his statement from Barbados
on the eve of Nelson Mandela’s death to be read out at 235 Preston Road.
Two poems were sent to PCL: one, composed on the eve of the
first free and democratic elections in 1994 by Mick Delap,then Deputy Head of
the BBC World African Service, and one in which the poet Delap
breaking stones on his own land on Valentia island off the South West
coast of Ireland in 2010 imagines the imprisoned Nelson Mandela breaking
rocks on Robben Island- a truly great poem and the listeners were deeply moved.
To honour the Methodist tradition in which Nelson Mandela,
Walter Sisulu and other of the ANC leaders were brought up, as his funeral did
two days later last Sunday, there was a reading of the 100th
Psalm which urges the People to sing Praises as indeed millions have been doing
in South Africa for the last 10 days.
There was a specially composed Eulogy for the event in
praise of Mr Mandela and his life which was read to us by the South African,
Kevin Johnstone, from Pinner: written by his wife Jan in English and translated
by her into Africaans. Kevin read the tribute in both languages.
The event closed with a reprise of the Freedom song and
Nkosi Sikekilele Iafrica.
Preston Community Library was honoured to host this event
given added significance in this community by Nelson Mandela’s visit to
Wembley.
It was surely the equal to any held in any library or
council chamber in the country.
It is hard to imagine Mr Mandela being anything other than
dismayed at the difficulties people of the borough now have in access to books.
Books were the one thing which were not subject to sanctions.
Access to information was crucial in Struggle.
Students in South Africa rioted and were killed in their
demonstrations for access to education: sixty-nine in Soweto alone in one day.
This Thursday PrCL will be holding its annual marathon
reading of Charles Dickens’ novel ‘ A Christmas Carol’ in the original edition
for adults and in the children’s edition to be followed by its traditional
carol singing.
Labels:
Geraldine Cooke,
Jacqueline Bunce-Linsell,
Jill Goldman,
Kevin Johnstone,
Nelson Mandela,
Preston Community Library,
wembley
Monday 16 December 2013
Protest against Hunt's attempt to curb legal challenges to hospital closures
There was a protest today by campaigners fighting Jeremy Hunt's attempt to add a clause to the Social Care bill which would prevent communities taking legal action, such as that of the Lewisham Hospitals Campaign, against hospital closure plans.
Labels:
Charing Cross Hospital,
closures,
Ealing Hospital,
green party,
legal challenge,
Lewisham Hospital Campaign,
NHS
4th Copland teachers' strike against Ark Academy takeover
'Santas' support the last Copland strike |
Copland Community School will be closed again tomorrow
(Tuesday 17th December)
as staff take their fourth day of strike action to oppose
the attempt to force them to become an ARK
academy. Staff who met today at lunchtime voted absolutely overwhelmingly for the strike to go ahead as the management had obviously not taken
the attempts by the Union
to come to a negotiated settlement, which could have avoided the strike. (See guest post below). This shows
the staff's resolve not to be manipulated and to stand up against the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove's drive
to privatisation, not even
allowing any proper consultation.
Barking and Dagenham councillors have voted unanimously to ballot the parents
of any school that is consulting on whether or not to become an academy – through choice or
by direction. This is
a direct challenge to attempts by Gove to force schools to become
academies. It's a shame that Brent
Council have not followed their example. They should now do so.
There will be
a picket outside the school
from 7.30 am tomorrow.
Labels:
ARK Academy,
Brent Council,
Copland Community School,
forced academisation,
Michael Gove,
strike,
vote
COPLAND STAFF & PARENTS DENIED SECRET BALLOT ON ARK (EVEN IF THEY FOOT THE BILL THEMSELVES!)
Guest blog by 'Fair Play'
Misjudged attempts by Copland Community School’s Interim Executive Board (IEB) to outmanoeuvre the school’s staff have failed embarrassingly. The Brent Council-imposed governing body have refused staff and parents’ proposals that there should be a secret ballot conducted by the trusted and prestigious Electoral Reform Society on whether the school should be taken over by Ark Academies. Anticipating pleas that such a ballot would cost too much, the staff unions were prepared to foot the bill themselves. The teachers’ proposal that strike action would be suspended if the ballot went ahead was put to the IEB with a very reasonable deadline of giving a response by last Thursday, 5.00pm. They failed to meet this deadline but promised to have decided by Friday pm. They ignored this too.
Aware that their tactical stalling would leave little time for teachers to meet to decide their response, the IEB appeared to hope that the strike action on Tuesday (announced weeks ago by the staff and backed by their national union organisations) would be called off. As an attempt at an additional sweetener, they were said to be considering yet another version of their own ‘consultation’ vote instead of the Electoral Reform Society secret ballot However, when Copland staff met on Monday there was anger at the tactics of the IEB and a near-unanimous vote to continue with Tuesday’ strike. Staff felt that the IEB’s contemptuous disdain for their attempts at reasonable discussion and negotiation reinforced their view that the whole academisation ‘consultation’ was a sham and that, despite Michael Pavey’s claims to the contrary, the takeover by Ark is, in his own words, a 'done deal'.
Misjudged attempts by Copland Community School’s Interim Executive Board (IEB) to outmanoeuvre the school’s staff have failed embarrassingly. The Brent Council-imposed governing body have refused staff and parents’ proposals that there should be a secret ballot conducted by the trusted and prestigious Electoral Reform Society on whether the school should be taken over by Ark Academies. Anticipating pleas that such a ballot would cost too much, the staff unions were prepared to foot the bill themselves. The teachers’ proposal that strike action would be suspended if the ballot went ahead was put to the IEB with a very reasonable deadline of giving a response by last Thursday, 5.00pm. They failed to meet this deadline but promised to have decided by Friday pm. They ignored this too.
Aware that their tactical stalling would leave little time for teachers to meet to decide their response, the IEB appeared to hope that the strike action on Tuesday (announced weeks ago by the staff and backed by their national union organisations) would be called off. As an attempt at an additional sweetener, they were said to be considering yet another version of their own ‘consultation’ vote instead of the Electoral Reform Society secret ballot However, when Copland staff met on Monday there was anger at the tactics of the IEB and a near-unanimous vote to continue with Tuesday’ strike. Staff felt that the IEB’s contemptuous disdain for their attempts at reasonable discussion and negotiation reinforced their view that the whole academisation ‘consultation’ was a sham and that, despite Michael Pavey’s claims to the contrary, the takeover by Ark is, in his own words, a 'done deal'.
Ok, Michael. If it is a done deal, why not let the staff
unions go ahead and pay for their ballot of parents and teachers at their own
expense? It won’t make any difference to anything, after all.
However, if, as you claim, it isn’t yet a done deal, then
what harm is there in demonstrating that at least one ‘consultation’ in Brent
is prepared to canvass and listen to the views of the greatest possible number
of stakeholders consulted in the most open and democratic manner possible and
at no expense to the council?
What
believer in participatory democracy could possibly resist?
( But whatever you decide, please don’t tell us that the IEB
is an independent body over which you have no influence at all. You’d have us believing in Santa next).
Labels:
academisation,
Ark Academy chain,
ballot,
Copland Community School,
IEB,
Michael Pavey,
negotiation,
parents,
pupils,
strike,
teachers
Brent Council should work with the community on Barham Park Library
Guest blog by Philip Grant following the Barham Park Planning Committee decision and the Freinds of Barham Library's statement that they would challenge any appeal by the Trustees of Barham Park Trust
As at 3pm
on 16 December, Brent's Planning Department had not been notified of any appeal
by the Planning Inspectorate (to whom any appeal by the Barham Park Trust, or
by a Brent Council Officer in Regeneration's Property and Asset Management
section on their behalf) would be made. However, as I doubt whether the
"Friends" would put out this Statement without firm evidence of the
facts, I will comment on the basis that an appeal has been made.
A blog item
on the original Planning Committee decision can be found at: http://www.wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/planning-committee-upholds-community.html
I am convinced that Brent's Planning Committee made the right decision, and that the Planning Officer's recommendation to give consent to the change of use was wrong because it relied on a document which was dishonest.
I am convinced that Brent's Planning Committee made the right decision, and that the Planning Officer's recommendation to give consent to the change of use was wrong because it relied on a document which was dishonest.
At the
Civic Centre on the evening of the meeting I spoke with people from both sides
of the argument. Although she has been criticised for supporting the
application, Cllr. Mary Daly did so only because she saw the Trustees deal with
ACAVA as the only way to get the Barham Park buildings back into use quickly. She,
like me and others, is concerned that the longer the buildings remain empty,
the more chance there is that they will fall into disrepair, and suffer the
fate of Titus Barham's mansion in the park, which was demolished in the 1950's
after years of neglect by Wembley Council, to whom it had been gifted for the
benefit of local people, along with the park and remaining buildings in it, in
1937.
I did not
think that letting all of the space to ACAVA for artists' studios was the only
answer, and after speaking to representatives of Pivot Point and FoBPL, I wrote
to all of the Barham Park Trustees on 15 November. I suggested to them that
they should invite ACAVA to join them in an attempt to find a solution, by
sitting down with the two local community groups who also wished to use part of
the buildings, on a "without prejudice" basis, to see whether they
could agree a workable way in which they could all share the facilities
currently allocated solely to ACAVA. If they could agree how they would share
the buildings, Council Officers should be instructed to draw up the necessary
agreements to allow this to happen as soon as possible.
There may
be some people within Brent Council who regard my efforts to get involved and
give advice (on matters where I feel I have the knowledge or experience to make
sensible suggestions) as "troublemaking", but here I was definitely
trying to help as a "troubleshooter". I genuinely thought that 'given
goodwill on all sides, this could be the way to get the buildings back into
use, for ACAVA and for the local community, producing rental income to
contribute to the refurbishment costs and help pay for the future maintenance
of the buildings and to bring life back into the park.'
I have not
heard back from any of the five Trustees (Cllrs Crane, Denselow, Hirani,
Mashari and Ruth Moher), or from anyone at the Council on their behalf. If they
have taken up my suggestion, I have not heard any word of it. I had said in my
email to them: 'I realise that you may wish to take advice from Council
Officers on my suggestions, but please remember that you are the Trustees, and
the decisions are yours.' Despite this, it looks as if the Council Officers
have got the upper hand (with the support or acquiescence of our elected
Councillors, with their Trustee hats on). Their plans have been thwarted, quite
rightly, by Brent’s Planning Committee, but they are determined that at
whatever cost in (Council Taxpayers') money, and whatever the delay, and
potential consequences in terms of the future of the Barham Park buildings,
their will must prevail.
Sadly, it
makes the final comment in my email to the Barham Park Trustees of 15 November
seem prophetic: 'I believe that the time of Officers would be better spent in
working on a solution to the problem, rather than in searching for reasons to
try to justify a scheme which is not a solution to it, and will only prolong
the discord between Council and local community, rather than healing it.'
Can anyone,
please, explain why Brent Council makes it so difficult for Councillors,
Council Officers and local people to work together for the mutual benefit of
our community?
Philip
Grant.
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