So what happens to the rest if all Brent secondary schools select the most 'academically able'?

Theresa May wants all secondary schools to be able to select. Here in Brent with no local authority secondary schools, that could mean multi-academy chains, stand alone academies and free schools fighting to select the most 'academically able' leaving those deemed 'not academic' along with special needs children and those in the first stages of learning English where exactly?

The NUT has been quick off the mark with this EduFacts special on Grammar Schools:

• Prime Minister Theresa May has expressed support for more places to be made available in academically selective state schools.¹Secretary of State for Education Justine Greening has said that she is ‘open minded’ about a return to a grammar school system.²
• The creation of more grammar schools would have to lead to the creation of more secondary modern schools, or the de facto conversion of comprehensive schools in areas where new grammar schools were built or where existing grammar schools opened on new sites. Comprehensive schools in areas where existing grammar schools are expanding have already expressed concerns about the impact that this will have on the “intake profiles and therefore the ethos” of their schools.³
• 23% of the public want existing grammar schools to be scrapped and a further 17% want existing grammar schools to be allowed to remain, but do not want grammar school expansion or the creation of new grammar schools. As only 38% of people support more grammar school places via new schools or the expansion of existing school a higher proportion of the public oppose the creation of more grammar school places than those who support a growth in selective state education.⁴
• Those in favour of grammar schools argue that selective state education allows academic pupils from more disadvantaged backgrounds to secure better academic success and helps to close the attainment gap between richer and less well-off pupils. However, the evidence shows that this is not the case.
• Less than 3% of all pupils going to grammar schools are entitled to free school meals (FSM), against an average of 18% in other schools in the areas where they are located. For example, in 2016 Kent County Council reported that 2.8% of pupils attending grammar schools were eligible for FSM, compared to 13.4% in non-selective Kent secondary schools.⁵
• Socio-economically disadvantaged students, who are eligible for FSM or who live in poor neighbourhoods, are much less likely to enrol in a grammar school even if they score highly on key stage two (KS2) tests.⁶ For example, among Kent children who achieved Level 5+ in Reading, Writing and Maths at Key Stage 2 in 2015, 51.4% claiming FSM were attending a grammar school compared to 72.7% of non-claiming children.⁷
• Nationally, over four times as many children are admitted to grammar schools from outside the state sector – largely fee-paying preparatory schools which account for 6% of pupils aged 10 – than children entitled to FSM.⁸
• Pupils, irrespective of their background, have a lower chance of attending a grammar school if they attend primary schools with greater proportions of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, with special educational needs or with English as an additional language. Nationally, almost a quarter of state school pupils receive private or home tuition, rising to 40% in London.⁹ Children from more affluent homes that can afford the fees of up to £50 an hour for private tutoring will be at a significant advantage when sitting the 11+ grammar school entrance test. Local campaigners in Buckinghamshire found that, although over £1 million had been spent on developing a test that would minimise the impact of additional coaching, the new test made no difference to the large gap between the pass rates of pupils from poor and wealthy areas, with the worst results seen among FSM pupils.¹⁰
• It has been suggested that new grammar schools would be located in low and middle income areas, thus boosting the chances of academic children living in those areas.¹¹ However, the location of a grammar school in a more disadvantaged area does not mean that children living in close proximity to the school will have the chance to attend. Stand-alone grammar schools often draw large numbers of their pupils from outside their local authority. In 2013, for example, two-thirds of pupils at grammar schools in Stoke-on-Trent and Kingston-upon-Thames lived in a different authority area.¹² In Buckinghamshire more children living outside the county pass the 11+ than local children, with children travelling distances of up to 13km to attend the county’s grammar schools.¹³
• Giving a grammar school in a low and middle income area a small catchment area would not solve this problem. Proximity to a desirable school has an impact on house prices, with a premium of up to 12% on the cost of property within the catchment area of the highest performing schools.¹⁴
• Selective education systems are also linked with greater inequality in social outcomes later in life.¹⁵ Grammar schools do not raise educational standards for the majority of children. Although pupils who pass the 11+ and are admitted to grammar schools generally achieve well, this is at the expense of the majority of children who do not get a grammar school place. The evidence shows that the attainment of pupils at secondary moderns is lower than that of comprehensive schools. ¹⁶

¹ Tim Ross Grammar School supporters optimistic’ 18-year ban will be lifted by Theresa May's new government The Telegraph 16 July 2016. Accessed on 16 August 2016 here.

² BBC News Justine Greening 'open minded' about new grammar schools in England  17 July 2016 accessed on 16 August 2016 here.

³ Rednock School letter to Stroud High School 29 January 2015 here and Archway School letter to Marling School 26 February 2015 here.

⁴ YouGov poll published 15 August 2016. Accessed here.

⁵ Kent County Council Grammar Schools and Social Mobility Commission (June 2016) p. 10 here.

⁶The Sutton Trust Poor Grammar: Entry to Grammar Schools for Disadvantaged Pupils in England (November 2013) p. 5 here.

⁷ Kent County Council Grammar Schools and Social Mobility Commission (June 2016) p. 10

⁸ The Sutton Trust Poor Grammar p. 5

⁹ The Sutton Trust Poor Grammar p. 5

¹⁰ John Dickens Questions over £1m ‘tutor-proof’ 11-plus tests Schools Week 27 November 2015. Accessed on 16 August 2016 here..

¹¹Richard Vaughn Exclusive: new grammar schools plan 'unlikely' to go nationwide The TES 13 August 2016. Accessed on 16 August 2016 here.

¹² The Sutton Trust Poor Grammar p. 5

¹³ David King Critics hit out at number of non-Bucks children passing 11-plus and ‘huge’ distances pupils travel to grammars The Bucks Herald 18 December 2015. Accessed on 16 August 2016 here.

¹⁴ Steven Gibbons Valuing Schools Through House Prices Centre Piece (Autumn 2012) p. 2 here.

¹⁵ OECD Equations and Inequalities – Making Mathematics Accessible to All (2016) p. 90 here.

¹⁶ Freddie Whittaker Fact-check: Do the arguments for new grammar schools stack up? Schools Week 25 July 2016. Accessed on 16 August 2016 here.

As always Michael Rosen is well worth reading on the subject HERE and the Local Schools Network has published a well argued piece by Janet Downs HERE.

My Green Left colleague Mike Shaughnessy has written about the issue on the London Green Left blog LINK,

A petition against the expansion of Grammar schoolc can be found HERE

Twitter has been busy since the announcement and it is clear the Prime Minister has a battle on her hands

 

Harlesden Festival 1-5pm today

More about the Harlesden Festival  can be found in the double page feature in  this week's The Voice newspaper and also on line HERE

Tottenham Hotspur's stay at Wembley Stadium - details

A number of concerned local residents have asked me about Tottenham Hotspur's plans for using Wembley Stadium.  I reproduce below their statement made earlier this summer which makes clear that the main impact will be in the 2017-18 season:
 

The Club can confirm that we have reached agreement with Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL) to play our Champions League fixtures for the 2016/17 season at Wembley Stadium.

 

This will be necessary in order to meet UEFA requirements, which will be impacted by the works in and around the current stadium affecting access, capacity and rights delivery.

As we shall be required to vacate White Hart Lane to complete the latter stages of our new stadium and surrounding environs, the agreement additionally provides an option to play all our Premier League and cup home games at Wembley Stadium for the 2017/18 season. It is our intention to open the new stadium for the 2018/19 season. This timetable is, however, also dependent on infrastructure, transport and associated commitments being delivered by TfL and Haringey Council.

Chairman Daniel Levy said:

We are delighted that, through working in partnership with WNSL and the Football Association, we have been able to reach this agreement. Given the current reduction in capacity at White Hart Lane for next season and the ticketing requirements for Champions League, playing at Wembley will mean that we can continue to accommodate all of our existing Season Ticket holders. Our season ticket waiting list is over 50,000 so this now also offers us a great opportunity to provide more of our supporters with a chance to see the team play live during our Champions League campaign.

Importantly, as we know it was our fans' preference, it means that we can continue to play our home matches in London during our season away.

Football Association Chief Executive, Martin Glenn said:

Having Tottenham at Wembley for big European nights next season is a welcome opportunity for us to further the stadium’s position as a world-class venue. As well as helping the club and its fans, it will benefit London and English football in general with our commitment to reinvesting all profits back into the game.

The increased revenue will particularly help us meet our targets for improving coaching and grassroots facilities and growing participation. We were already on a strong financial footing, which allowed us to reinvest £117m back into the game at all levels last season.

We should like to thank all our supporters for their patience during the period leading up to this announcement.

83 bus route changes & new 483 service start tomorrow

The 83 bus will no longer go to Ealing Hospital

Transport for London will introduce the changes to the 83 bus route and the new 483 bus route tomorrow.

TfL's commentary on issues raised in the consultation, including issues around congestion on East Lane, Wembley for the 483 service can be found HERE,

Wembley Hill Road will be served by a bus route (483) for the first time.Wembley residents wanting to travel to Ealing Hopsital will no longer be able to catch a bus at Wembley Park station but will instead need to walk down to Wembley Hill Road/Wembley Stadium station for the 483. The 83 will now finish at Alperton.

The N83 will continue to run from Golders Green to Ealing Hospital at the same frquency as now.

TfL said:

We received 657 responses to the consultation. 645 responses were from members of the public and 12 were from stakeholders.

57 per cent of respondents supported or partially supported the proposal to shorten route 83 to run between Golders Green and Alperton and not continue on to Ealing Hospital. 22 per cent said they did not support the proposal, 5 per cent were not sure, and 15 per cent had no opinion or did not answer.

77 per cent of respondents supported or partially supported the introduction of new route 483 which would run between Harrow town centre and Ealing Hospital. 11 per cent said they did not support the proposal, 3 per cent were not sure and 9 per cent had no opinion or did not answer.

We have considered all of the responses and have decided to go ahead with the proposals.  We plan to introduce these changes on 10 September 2016.

The growth of home education in Brent

Readers may have been intrigued by a short piece in the Kilburn Times today about the growth of home education in Brent. This resulted from FoI requests by Oxford Home Schooling.

This is the pattern for the whole of London:

The boroughs that have experienced most growth in the last 10 years are:

1. Newham (686% increase)
2. Hackney(323% increase)
3. Ealing (304% increase)
4. Brent (214% increase)
5. Lewisham (212% increase)

A separate FoI request in June 2016 elicited the following figures from Brent Council. The total across all year groups is equivalent to about 10 classes or slightly bigger than a one form entry primary school but the increase is significant.
 

FOI 5758896: Elective Home Education
School year	Year
	2006	2011	2016
Reception	10	14	2
1	4	11	22
2	6	8	23
3	3	16	26
4	5	8	30
5	9	14	32
6	9	14	29
7	6	10	34
8	8	12	27
9	20	9	25
10	12	9	23
11	0	2	16
Total	92	127	289

Home educators I have spoken to have varying reasons for educating their children at home ranging from children with special needs who cannot cope with a school environment to parents who disagree with the current stress on high stakes testing and the narrowing of the curriculum.

The legal position is that education is compulsory but schoooling is not. Read more HERE

Once your child is registered at a school attendance is compulsory.

Green MEP says EU Exit must not be used as a cover to abandon air quality laws

Keith Taylor, MEP for the South East of England, has responded with concern following the government's refusal to commit to retaining EU air quality laws after an exit from the European Union.

The Environment Minister, Therese Coffey, and Minister for Exiting the European Union, Robin Walker, were asked no less than seven times, during questioning by the Environmental Audit Committee on Wednesday, whether the UK would maintain EU air quality laws post-Brexit. Neither minister made a commitment.

Taylor,  who sits on the European Parliament's Environment and Public Health committee and is a vocal air quality campaigner, said:

This is a truly concerning response from Ministers. Leaving the EU cannot be allowed to become a cover under which the government abdicates its responsibility for this public health emergency.

Despite the preventable deaths of 50,000 British people, every year, and an annual public health bill of £20bn, the government is still, apparently, failing to take the air quality crisis seriously. Under David Cameron, the government was held to account for failing to do the bare minimum, as required by EU law, to improve the quality of the air we all breathe.

EU air pollution limits are preventing thousands of deaths every year across Europe and the government readily acknowledges that it is EU law that has been the driver of any positive air quality action in the UK. For the sake of the health and prosperity of the British people, we cannot risk scrapping these safeguards.

I am calling on Ministers to make a firm commitment to maintaining and strengthening vital EU air quality standards.

Dawn Butler MP expresses 'deep concern' over plans to decommission Brent Sickle Cell Support Service

Dawn Butler MP for Brent Central has added her voice to those challenging plans to decommission the Brent Sickle Cell Advisory Support Service (BSCASS). 

She has written the following letter to the Chair of Brent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Dr Effie Kong, calling on her to urgently reconsider the decision.

 

Dear Dr Kong,

I am writing to put on record my deep concern at the recent decision taken by Brent CCG to decommission the Brent Sickle Cell Advisory Support Service (BSCASS).

BSCASS provides a thoroughly vital and valued service to the communities of Harlesden and Stonebridge and beyond which has a high prevalence of sickle cell sufferers. This is a poorly understood condition and services such as BSCASS are vital in helping sufferers live normal and healthy lives.

It is also vital in providing assurances to sufferers who are discharged from hospital, that extra help prevents sufferers often immediately returning into hospital, for example if a person’s house is too cold.

In particular, I would like answers to the following questions:

What consultation, beyond the reported meeting due to take place on the 7^th September 2016, has been carried out with sickle cell suffers and service users within Brent?

Has an equality impact assessment been carried out ahead of the decision to decommission this service? And if not, why did you not feel it appropriate to do so?

Brent CCG’s own report suggests service users will be ‘signposted to advocacy and advisory services within the borough’. What assessment has been made of the travel implications of decommissioning for residents of Harlesden and Stonebridge where a majority of local sickle sufferers are based?

Have you conducted a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis in relation to the decommissioning of this service? I understand that the CCG acknowledges a reduction in admissions as a result of the service. Will you also publish any data you have on this point?

I should declare an interest as an MP who is sickle cell trait and my brothers have the full blown disease I understand the complicated needs around sufferers, I have always been so impressed with the service provided by Brent, recently the erosion of this service starting with the relocation of the services from Central Middlesex hospital has been extremely disappointing.

You have no idea how painful it is to sit when you are in crisis and to expect someone to travel an extra 60mins for help is very cruel. The decommissioning of this service adds further to the existing health burden of my constituents and represents a growing inequality in the provision of healthcare services within the borough.

Finally, if this is a question of fiscal constraints then I believe we need to look at new and innovative ways to ensure the preservation of this service. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with the CCG and community activists to explore alternate funding arrangements that would deliver this outcome. I am pleading with you to reconsider your decision.

I look forward to your reply,

Dawn Butler MP

Labour Member of Parliament for Brent Central


Red Kites spotted over Fryent Country Park, Kingsbury

The Barn Hill Conservation Group August Newsletter has reported sightings of Red Kites over Fryent Country Park.

Pete Stevens of the Southern England Kite Group told me that this is not the first sighting over London of these magnificent birds but I think it is the first in our area.

He told me that young kites in their first year often explore away from their home territory and that probably accounts for the sighting. They tend to return to the area where they fledged to nest but suggested local naturalists should listen out for them calling to each other if they are seen in the Spring. This was one indicator of them nesting in the area.

Background information

Red kites were driven to extinction in England by human persecution by the end of the nineteenth century. A small population survived in Wales, but there was little chance of these birds repopulating their original areas.

Between 1989 and 1994, kites from Spain were imported and released into the Chilterns by the RSPB and English Nature (now Natural England). Red kites started breeding in the Chilterns in 1992 and now there could be over 1,000 breeding pairs in the area. The reintroduction has been so successful it is not possible to monitor all the nests, so the overall size of the population can only be estimated. Source

Where to see Red Kites

Reports of sightings can be made directly to the Southern England Kite Group via their website www.sekg.org.uk or by calling Pete Stevens on 07761 205 833