Undaunted by Brent Council Cabinet's inability to intervene in the forced academisation of Byron Court Primary, campaigners will protest on Monday as the Harris Federation visit the school.
Parents and supporters will meet at the The Link off Nathan Road outside South Kenton Station at 2.45pm on Monday April 15th (opposite side of the station to the Windermere pub).
Matt Paul, parent and one of the
coordinators of the Save Byron Court campaign, yesterday presented a
1,300 signature petition to Brent Council Cabinet opposing forced academisation
and calling for the Cabinet’s.
He spoke about staff and
parent concern over how the inspection had been carried out by Ofsted, the
minimal parent involvement and the failure to take into account the instability
of the senior leadership over a four year period.
Over two-thirds of parents
and a majority of staff in a survey opposed academisation and wanted it to
remain a community school.
There was particular concern
that the Harris Federation had been named to take over the school given that it
is led by a Tory donor, has a CEO paid half a million a year, is known for poor industrial relations and a has
problematic approach to pupil behaviour management.
He asked that the Council in
line with Labour policy:
1.Provide
and support the recruitment of additional members of the school leadership
team, recognising the immediate lack of capacity and significant pressures faced
by existing staff.
2.
Ensure the work by the Rapid Improvement Group is succeeding and being monitored
– something that does not appear to have been happening for some time.
3.
Push the Department for Education and Ofsted to reinspect the school to reflect
improvements and its upward trajectory and thus delay the academy order being
implemented.
Cabinet Lead Member for Schools,
Cllr Gwen Grahl’s response was interesting and seemed to reflect an inner
battle. At times there were passages that sounded like cautious officers’
briefing notes on the legal position followed by passionate political comments,
She said she understood how
parents would feel that it was unjust that they had not had any say in what
happened to their school. That is why she had written to the Local Advisory
Board urging them to consider delaying academisation but disappointingly had
received no response.
On the Rapid Improvement
Group (RIG) she said:
The
local authority has been aware of inadequacies in some areas of the school for
several months and indeed established a RIG back in September 2022 [more than a
year before the Ofsted Inspection] which was chaired by Shirley Parks. The
group has provided detailed and structural support across many areas and that
includes early years. Safeguarding. SEND, leadership and pupil progress. In addition,
we’ve helped to recruit three really experienced school governors following the
resignation of the chair and vice chair.
It
was our hope and our best intention that this support would in time be
successful in resolving the problems, leading the school towards resilience and
a high quality of leadership and attainment.
Addressing the campaigners’
first demand she said:
On
your first request I can confirm we will be building additional leadership
capacity at the school, and I think we can assure you that will be in place
following the Easter holidays. We have been providing substantial support
through monitoring and challenge and are meeting really regularly with the
senior leadership team and the governors.
Stressing that academisation
was not a local authority decision, in a key passage that will disappoint campaigners,
she said:
However
strongly parents and pupils feel committed to Byron Court remaining a community
school, the academy order makes it clear that local authorities must take all
reasonable steps to facilitate academisation. It’s for that reason that the
Cabinet, officers, and the local authority as a whole cannot oppose or even
delay this decision. We have very little input into the timing of academisation
or indeed when the school will be next inspected.
She went on to express her
political views:
This
process has no doubt been a heart-breaking one for parents and at the political
level I feel that it highlights a number of areas where education policy has
been undemocratic and highly counter-active to delivery of high-quality
education for pupils. First of all it highlights the lack of trust in the
chronic problems of the current Ofsted system which we know places undue
pressure on staff and simplistically, at times cruelly, reduces the complexities
of running a school to a single word judgement. The tragic death of Ruth Perry
is emblematic of how brutal this process can be for hardworking teachers as
well as for the wider community.
I
have long argued that the inspection framework is not fit for purpose and
Labour have already pledged to abolish single word judgements and to bring
about a much needed overhaul of the system. I will continue to make these
argument and emphasise that teaching staff deserve better. It also lays out
plainly how illogical and punitive forced academisation is, tying the future of
the school to an inspection system that has been so openly discredited,
naturally feels draconian.
Cllr Grahl went on to promise
to carry on the fight for inclusive education at the school even when academisation
too place.
She finished:
If
you do have any specific questions or concerns do please email me and I will
respond. I am happy to meet up with you separately as well.
Cllr Gwen Grahl’s
contact details:
Correspondence
address:
c/o Labour Group Office
Brent Civic Centre
Engineers Way
Wembley
HA9 0FJ
While I have been away from Wembley Matters in Australia, staff and parents of Byron Court Primary School have moved with impressive speed to resist being forced into becoming a Harris Academy after a poor Ofsted report. Harris itself ha a poor reputation for its treatment of staff and the enormous salary of its boss. Removing the school from the oversight of the local authority (Brent Council) removes democratic accountability. With support from Brent Education Department the school is already making great progress to address the issues highlighted by Ofsted and the process of academisation would in itself be disruptive to those efforts.
The community is mobilising to save its community school.
Joint Secretary of Brent National Education Union, Jenny Cooper, said:
Our position is that the workforce, as major stakeholders in our schools, should be part of the decision making about their future; as things stand, we see our members once again suffering with work-related stress and anxiety as a direct result of the damaging process we call 'Ofsted'. One-word judgements do nothing to support or help improve our schools; all they do is help steer our school staff on a fast-track to mental breakdown.
This is the wording of the petition you can sign at
To:
Gillan Barnard, Chair of Governors; Richard Sternberg, Acting
Headteacher; Cllr Muhammed Butt, Brent Council Leader; Gillian Keegan
MP, Secretary of State for Education; Damian Hinds MP, Minister of State
for Schools
Save Byron Court Primary School - Stop the Forced Academisation
Campaign created by
⮞ JOINT PETITION BY 'SAVE BYRON COURT' PARENT CAMPAIGN GROUP AND BRENT NEU ⮜
Our school is being forced into becoming an Academy and join a
Multi-Academy Trust, following a poor Ofsted rating. If this goes ahead:
🢜 everything that has made Byron Court an outstanding school before
and a special place within the heart of our community will be lost;
🢜 there is no guarantee that any of the improvements or stability
needed will be made; on the contrary, academisation could well bring
plenty of new problems, particularly the loss of well-loved and valued
teaching & support staff who could be forced out;
🢜 and yet Byron would never return to being a community school for all
Our own surveys have revealed that almost two-thirds of parents want
Byron to remain a community school; the overwhelming majority of the
staff want this too. Yet, we are currently locked out of any discussions
and do not have a vote on the school's future.
How can it be fair or right that those who will be most affected - the staff, the families, the local community - are ignored?
We also recognise:
🢜 the significant failings with the Ofsted inspection itself;
🢜 recent changes introduced by Ofsted to make the inspection regime
more supportive but which were brought in weeks after Byron's
inspection;
🢜 Ofsted's 'Big Listen' consultation, which includes looking into
the "impact of inspections on children, professionals, institutions and
parent choices", implying an acceptance by themselves that significant
change is needed;
🢜 and the school's progress, both already made and planned, under a
Rapid Improvement Plan being closely monitored by Brent Council
The Secretary of State for Education has imposed an Academy Order on
our school by force - this means that government officials will be
making decisions behind closed doors about the future of our school.
This is not fair, transparent, nor democratic.
BUT IT'S NOT TOO LATE!!!! Together we can fight to make things different
WE CALL ON GILLAN BARNARD, RICHARD STERNBERG & CLLR MUHAMMED BUTT TO:
🢜 Listen to parents, staff and the community
🢜 Fight against plans to academise the school without the consent
or properly considering the views of parents, governors or the Council
🢜 Push for a delay in the transfer to any Multi-Academy Trust, to
give sufficient time for improvements to be made in the school
🢜 Challenge Ofsted - express parent and staff concerns around the
previous inspection; fight for re-inspection after sufficient time to
review improvements, and under any new framework that comes out of the
'Big Listen' consultation
🢜 Give us the chance to remain a community school
WE CALL ON GILLIAN KEEGAN & DAMIAN HINDS TO:
🢜 Withdraw the Academy Order imposed on Byron Court Primary School
Why is this important?
🢜 Ensure an equal, non-selective environment with a
focus on the whole child, an approach that doesn't achieve academic
excellence or good behaviour by excluding children or making them scared
to be in school
🢜 Give a say to those that it will impact most - the staff, the families, the local community
🢜 Stop the privatisation of our children's education
Compiled from a press release from Brent ATL and NUT
Mr Gorsia, a parent, addressing the meeting
Staff at St Andrew and St Francis CofE Primary in
Belton Rd, Willesden, Brent took their fifth day of strike action on Thursday in protest at their school being
forced to become an academy. The theme on the picket line was ‘Democracy denied: IEB refuses
parents’ ballot’. After the picket line staff and parents went along the
Willesden High Rd asking shopkeepers to display no academy notices which they
were very happy to do. These notices are also being displayed in parents’ front
windows and some are putting them in their cars to make sure the message is
spread – no academy.
At the meeting yesterday evening in St
Andrew’s Church attended by staff and parents Bridget Chapman, a speaker from
the Anti Academies Alliance, said she had seen all the notices in the shops as
she came from the tube station. It made a real impact. She fully supported the parents’
ballot. She said, “What are they so afraid of? She praised staff and parents
for their stand against the privatisation of our education. “This is just
giving away land and buildings to businesses,” she expalined.
Dawn Butler, Labour candidate for Brent Central, told parents that if Labour won
the general election then she would do her utmost to get the decision to force
the school into an academy reversal. She said that whatever happens on
Thursday she would give full support to the campaign to have a parents’ ballot.
“I say this because I believe in it. You are pushing at an open door”, she
said.
Irene Scorer, parent, then handed over a petition against the academy to
Dawn signed by 200 parents accounting for 290 children out of the 400 at the
school. This is clearly a large majority and outstrips the 32 who said they
supported the academy in the sham consultation. Many of these parents have
since learning about academies changed their minds and signed the petition.
Three parents gave their views.
Hamid El Hadi said:
I support everyone who is against
this academy. This is affecting our children and the teachers are stressed. All
we want is a ballot. We’re not asking for the earth.
Bharat Gorsia said:
We
are being lied to by the school. We are told nothing will change. If it isn’t
broken why fix it.
Syed Karrar told the audience that his daughter has had
five teachers since Easter and that all this move to an academy had unsettled
everyone.
Hank Roberts, Brent ATL secretary also spoke
and praised the commitment of staff and parents and said there was still all to
win. Others who spoke from the audience agreed and there was an overall
enthusiasm to continue the fight until justice prevails. Parents were informed
that there would be two further days of strike action on Tuesday 12th
May and Thursday 14th May. The unions had called off one of the
strike days this week in an act of goodwill to try and reach agreement with the
IEB on a ballot and TUPE negotiations. They heard on Wednesday that nothing had
been agreed on any of the issues. Parents agreed that two days had to go ahead
as the pressure needed to be kept up.
The unions, staff and parents have been
trying to meet with key people from Brent and the LDBS to discuss things. The
Bishop of Willesden declined a meeting but did say that the HMI inspection last
Thursday and Friday, “they [the school]
received a very favourable outcome indeed”. So, as the parents and staff say, why
change the school into an academy if it has made significant improvements and
likely to come out of special measures?
Messages of
support from around the country were relayed to the meeting including this statement from Martin Francis, Brent Green party spokesperson on children and families.
Please convey the support of Brent Green Party for the staff
and parents in their fight against forced academisation. We see academies
and free schools as a form of privatisation that removes
democratic accountability and prepares the way for profit
making from education. Green Party policy is to integrate
academies and free schools into the local authority school
system.
Muhammed Butt did
not attend and did not send any statement about his position with regards a
ballot as he had been asked to, much to everyone’s disapproval.
Parents and their children used 20 metres of
chains and padlocks to chain themselves across the front entrance of their
primary school. They were there to support the teachers and support staff who
were taking strike action against the school being forced to become an academy.
St Andrew and St Francis Cof E Primary in Belton Rd, Willesden, Brent had taken
their first day of action last week and this week they are on strike for two
days.
The parents are demanding an independently
overseen ballot with full information of the arguments for and against an
academy. The so called consultation was a mere letter supporting an academy and
a form that asked parents if they did or not. On a small turn out the majority
agreed. But the IEB ignored a meeting of parents held at the school who made it
clear they were unanimously against an academy. This was not even
mentioned in the consultation report sent to the DfE. Both parents and the education unions have
been talking to and handing out information to parents about why the school
should not be an academy. The parents’ petition has reached over 360 signing to
say they are totally against a forced academy and demanding a fair ballot.
The staff, parents and children sang songs,
blew whistles, banged drums and shouted No academy! There was a fantastic
feeling of solidarity among the crowd and a determination to continue the
campaign.
Irene Scorer, a parent, said, “Today was
fantastic. We really showed that we support our teachers and support staff.
We’ll keep going until they give us a ballot. We’ll be looking at how we can
escalate the campaign. We won’t be bullied into becoming an academy.”
Lesley Gouldbourne, Brent NUT secretary, who
represents the majority of the teaching staff at the school, said, “It was
great to see so many parents with their children supporting the staff today.
The IEB still refuse to recognise the parents’ democratic right to be heard –
and we will keep shouting until they do!”
Hank
Roberts, ATL Secretary, who also represents staff at the school said, “Today
shows that support for the staff taking action against the school being forced
to become an academy is growing.
We also have more staff joining
the strike this week. Some children were in school today taught by strike
breakers from senior management. But with the growing support from staff and
parents to continue and increase such action, the IEB needs to start listening
and agree a ballot.”
After Easter more strikes are planned if the
IEB do not agree to a ballot for parents which the Unions have even offered to
pay for. What have they got to fear from this?
The Brent and Kilburn Times gives the following quote from Brent Council:
A Brent Council spokesman said: “It is central government policy that
schools in special measures become academies. Since this is inevitable,
it is better that the future of the school is resolved speedily.
“We
are aware that trade unions are against St Andrews and St Francis
School becoming an academy, however it is important to note that the
majority of parents who took part in a consultation earlier this year on
the school becoming an academy, said that they were in favour of the
proposal.”
The statement ignores the parents' views and is misleading in suggesting that forced academisation is automatic and inevitable. Other schools, with support from their local authorities, have successfully fought of forced academisation proposals. Unfortunately Labour in Brent acquiesce in such policies even as a General Election approaches where that policy can be challenged.
Parents and support staff joined teachers on a strike picket line on Wednesday at St Andrew and St Francis C of E Primary School in Willesden.
Teachers from the NUT and ATL were striking against the Interim Executive Board's plan to academise the school following a criticval Ofsted report. Staff and parents argue that this is unnecessary as improvements are already in progress.
In a victory that may have wider repercussions for schools facing forced academisation, St James' Church of England School in Gloucester have been told that it will not face academy conversion for the foreseeable future.
Parents at St James' have been campaigning vociferously over the issue. Recently Michael Gove has not be very pleased with Ofsted Inspection reports that have noted forced academisation takes schools' attention away from getting out of special measures. The problem is referred to here.
A letter from the school on February 12th stated:
Since receiving the Academy Order which was referred to in my last letter, the governing body, Local Authority and Diocese have collectively sought approval from the Department for Education (DfE) to defer the academy conversion process for the foreseeable future. I'm please to be able to tell you that yesterday we received formal notification that the request has been approved.
The specific reasons for the agreement is that the DfE have acknowledged that the school needs to prioritise coming out of special measures and would have been distracted from this by the amount of administration involved in academy conversion. In addition, the Local Authority has yet to complete its audit which determines whether additional school places may be needed in the city for 2016 and beyond.
Governors acknowledge that some parents have expressed their concerns about academy consultation. Please be assured that all parents, as well as other local stakeholders, will be fully consulted about future plans for thye school once the Local Authority have undertaken this work.
The letter goes on to invite parents to hear about the latest HMI monitoring report at the meeting which was to be held about academy consultation.
The letter concludes:
We do hope that as a community we can now all collectively focus on the immediate priority - to ensure that St James' moves out of 'special measures' and appoint a sunstantive headteacher with the energy and ambition to ensure that St James' is the school of choice for parents in this locality.
The St James' Campaign Facebook was jubilant with this heartfelt message posted about one of the leading campaigners:
You are a true inspiration to others your drive passion and fight for a
cause you believe in have done you proud you are a woman to aspire too
who has gone to extraordinary lengths to fight for Save St James....since
September you took this on as a full time job as well as being a full
time mum and all the voluntary work you do to help others...even when
you were at your lowest point kicked in the teeth by the very people
that are in charge of our children you never gave up hope...may your
children also see you for the remarkable strong and dedicated woman that
you are...a true fighter to the end!!!! so proud of you and may many
children benefit from this x x
Congratulations. I hope Brent and other local authorities and governing bodies will note the importance of standing together against forced academisation and getting behind parent campaigns..
Parents and students joined striking teachers on the picket line at Copland Community School this morning. Teachers are striking for the 6th time against forced academisation which means a takeover of the school by ARK.
They are calling for an independently supervised democratic ballot over the issue.
CoplandCommunity Schoolwill beclosed againtomorrow(Tuesday 17thDecember)asstafftaketheirfourth dayof strike actiontoopposetheattempt toforce them to becomeanARK
academy.Staff who met today at lunchtime votedabsolutelyoverwhelminglyforthestrike to go ahead as themanagementhadobviouslynottaken
theattempts bytheUnion
to cometoa negotiatedsettlement, which couldhaveavoidedthe strike. (Seeguest post below).This showsthe staff's resolvenotto bemanipulatedand to standupagainst theSecretary of Statefor Education, Michael Gove'sdrive
to privatisation,noteven
allowinganyproper consultation.
Barkingand Dagenhamcouncillorshave votedunanimouslytoballottheparentsofanyschoolthat is consultingon whether ornot to becomean academy–throughchoice orbydirection.This isa direct challengetoattempts byGove to force schoolsto becomeacademies. It's a shamethatBrent
Council have notfollowed theirexample. Theyshouldnowdoso.
There will be
a picketoutside theschoolfrom7.30amtomorrow.
The Anti-Academy Working Party at Copland School has organised a pub walk to take place on Friday 22nd November around London Bridge.
The purpose of the walk is to raise £300 to book a room for a public meeting.
Those wishing to take part should gather in the Old King's Head (King's Head Yard, 45-49 Borough High Street, London, SE1 1NA) from 6 o'clock on Friday. The walk will start at 7 o'clock.
There will be a Dickensian theme to the walk as participants will visit some of the places mentioned by Dickens in Barnaby Rudge, Little Dorrit and The Pickwick Papers.
Places familiar to Edmund Burke, Geoffrey Chaucer, Oliver Goldsmith, Samuel Johnson, Samuel Pepys and William Shakespeare will be visited.
The walk will finish beside London Bridge tube station.
Copland staff and
parents underwhelmed by ‘consultation’
process.
Guest blog by 'Participatory Democracy'
Copland staff have always been a little
sceptical about ‘consultation’, possibly since ex-Head Davies once announced to
a full staff meeting (on applying for Trust status) : ‘the consultation period
is over’, having omitted to do anything to indicate that it had ever actually
begun. So when various Ark representatives, including the Ark Academy Head,
Dame Delia Smith OBE, and IEB members fronted a ‘consultation’ meeting for
Copland staff last Thursday, no one was expecting them to get a warm reception.
And that’s exactly what they didn’t get. Still, as almost all the staff had
only ever seen one member of the IEB before, it was, if nothing else,a chance for them to get a glimpse of this
year’s latestnew bosses. Or, as one
‘deleted’ teacher put it: ‘it’s always nice to be able to put a face to your
redundancy notice’.
Copland staff were officially informed today that their school would become an Ark academy in September 2014. They were told that they would receive a letter about the resultant restructuring later today but this was later changed because the trade unions had not yet been informed. Instead they will receive letters later this month.
Rather late in the day to observe the correct procedures...
The Kilburn Times LINK reports improved A Level results at Copland Community School. Copland was labelled 'Inadequate' by Ofsted last term, its headteacher and governing body sacked, an Interim Executive Board imposed by Brent Council, forced academisation process started by the Department for Education, and the new management took competency procedures against many teachers.
Teaching staff at Copland Community School in Wembley will be on strike for the second time on Wednesday 3rd July.
The school will be closed to pupils due to the action. There will be a picket line from 8am in the morning. Then staff will be marching at 9am, with parent, pupil and local community support, to the new Brent Civic Centre in Engineers Way to call upon the Labour led Council to stop assisting Michael Gove's forced academy programme.
There will be an effigy of Michael Gove which will be ceremoniously dumped in a dustbin (the dustbin of history) and lots of Gove masks to make the point.
Jon Cox, Brent NASUWT Acting President said, “ A programme of academisation is not about raising standards. It is simply the imposition of a warped political ideology on state schools. Unequivocal evidence that academies raise the quality of education simply does not exist. What Copland needs is investment in both staff professional development and attractive buildings which give pupils firstly, the decent working environment they deserve and secondly, the message that every child matters”
Hank Roberts, Brent ATL Secretary and National President said, “Michael Gove's dismantling of state education and attempted abolition of parental choice in his forced academies programme is treacherous. For this he should be put in the dustbin of history where he and his policies belong”.
Jean Roberts, Joint Brent NUT Secretary said, “Forcing Copland to become an academy is not the solution and won't bring in the needed funds. How can any pupil learn adequately in such an appalling building. There needs to be a new school building plan agreed and begun as soon as possible in the autumn term.'
Against forced academies and the privatisation of our education system by stealth
Our government is forcing
schools to become academies against the majority consensus. They are
ignoring parents, schools and local authorities. They are using bullying
tactics to hand schools to academy chains, run by major Tory donors.
They are not only forcing failing schools but good ones and allowing
these chains to cherry pick good schools to give academy policy
credibility. Parents all over the UK are starting to organise
themselves. 'Parents Against Forced Academies' are calling for a public
enquiry into the bullying and likely corruption endemic to forced
academy process. Decisions about handing over our public schools to
academy chains are being made behind closed doors without proper
consultation or transparency.
Please join us in our fight for our Education system and our democracy.
The underlying anti-democratic nature of the Department of
Education's handling of these matters points unequivocally to a hidden
agenda of privatisation. This is fuelled by political self-interest, by
party donations, lobbying and future job offers beyond parliament.
Privatisation will only serve the elite and the sooner it is
challenged the better. And the rhetoric that Academies will solve all
problems is based on very weak foundations. They are increasingly
selective of pupil intake, channel funds to executive figures away from
teachers, operate dangerously strict pupil codes of conduct and have
increasingly fast teacher turnaround. As parents, this is not what we
want for our children or our country.
This issue has largely fallen under the media radar and public
awareness. It deserves to be front page news and brought to public
attention. Education is our future.
We strongly believe that this issue mirrors the NHS privatisation
which has fuelled much public outrage. The public deserves to know what
is happening to Education too.
This is a serious request at a serious time, and we urge you to support us.
With Gladstone Park Primary parents continuing their campaign against the school being forced to become an academy and suggestions that this might happen to other Brent primary schools, it is worth hearing about the experience of parents in other parts of London. Roke Primary in Croydon has also experienced the bullying nature of the DfE's 'brokerage' department and the parents' campaign has written to the local paper about the experience: LINK
Parents recently received a copy of a letter about forced academy at
Roke Primary school from Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary for
Schools to Richard Ottaway, our Conservative MP for South Croydon.
Lord Nash's letter casts Roke Primary as an 'underperforming' school,
yet our school is not underperforming under any possible definition of
the word and certainly not over a 'long time', which is specified in
DfE's own guidance for forced academies. The latest SAT results are
above the national average and place the school in the top 20% of
Croydon schools. Teaching is regarded by Ofsted, the Local Authority and
parents as at least good. Let's be clear forced academy at Roke is NOT
about substandard education at Roke.
The reason the school is being forced to academy is that it was placed
in an Ofsted category of 'Notice to Improve', mainly due to a lack of
data caused by computer problems and leadership/management issues. The
Ofsted report was published in mid June 2012. Areas for improvement were
outlined and the school, LA and Riddlesdown (as partnering
school) sprung into action and made positive changes very quickly. Yet
only 3 months later, in September the DfE informed the head governor
that Roke would become an academy.
Factoring in the school summer holiday, the school was given less than
6 weeks to improve. There was no return visit by Ofsted to check on the
improvements made and no chance to prove that they could be sustained.
This action defeats the purpose of giving a school 'Notice to improve',
if they are then denied the chance to demonstrate improvements made.
Lord Nash states that improvement is required in relation to
leadership and management. This could happen without removing the school
from Local Authority control. It does not need such drastic action as
being forced, against the wishes of parents, governors and local
community, to become an academy and to be sponsored by Harris.
It would be far more cost effective to simply replace the
leadership. Let's make no mistake this is about political ideology not
standards.
Lord Nash omits the fact that the Ofsted monitoring visit happened in
January 2013, the day after parents launched their campaign and a
damning article appeared in The Guardian, stating that Oftsed had not
visited before the decision was made. He also omits to make it clear
that this was not a full Ofsted inspection and therefore it did not
matter what rating for improvement was received it would not lift Roke
out of the 'Notice to Improve' category. His letter reads like Roke
somehow failed to improved enough to be reclassified which is untrue.
Furthermore, we have been told that the Ofsted inspector said on
arrival before the monitoring inspection took place, that Roke would not
get a rating better than 'satisfactory' because there was insufficient
time between inspections to prove that improvements had been embedded or
were sustainable. This is the real reason which, as Lord Nash writes,
there is 'limited evidence that (improvements) are secure and
sustainable'. It has little to do with the school's efforts but rather
with the government failing to give the school enough time to achieve
this within its' own inspection frameworks, before rushing to turn the
school to an academy.
Lord Nash says, 'Harris has confirmed that it wishes to support notice
to improve and bring about the improvement needed' at Roke. Therein
lies the crux of the matter. It is highly likely, if a full inspection
was to take place today that the school would perform much better, and
would come out of 'Notice to Improve' or its new equivalent category.
As it stands, Harris will simply come in and take all the credit for
improvements that have already taken place. We believe that Roke may
have been targeted as a school where, a relatively small nudge is needed
to return us to our previous 'outstanding' status. This will give
Harris and academy policy false credibility.
Lord Nash says that the government recognises the 'importance of
formal local consultation' and that it is 'a legal requirement before
any school can open as an academy'. We suggest that his definition of
'consultation' is different to everyone else. His letter makes it clear
that all decisions about Roke, its future as an academy and its sponsor
have already been made. To suggest that consultation takes place after
the fact is ludicrous. Moreover, to suggest that the consultation is
most meaningful when it is run by the preferred Sponsor, in this case
Harris, is also ludicrous and bordering on corrupt.
The consultation must be operated legally, and cannot be a
presentation or a deliverance of a decision already made - it must be
legally meaningful. It must be an actual consultation - you consult and
decide as a result, not in advance.
As it stands key decisions about our school have been made behind
closed doors before consultation has taken place. The DfE is withholding
crucial information about the decision making process, as evidence by
failure to disclose information requested by parents under the Freedom
of Information act. The DfE has also flouted its own rules regarding
forcing a school that is not actually failing. The DfE is not operating
by the Principles set down by the Committee of Standards in Public Life
(1985) particularly the principles of accountability, openness or
honesty.
Put simply, our own British government is breaking all the democratic values that this country holds dear.
I will be off to the Green Party's Spring Conference this weekend and hope to see the party strengthening its opposition to austerity, privatisation and cuts and committing to building broad alliances with others fighting on these issues.
In that regard one of the most important fringes will be on Saturday afternoon on Building the Movement Against Austerity and Privatisation with Sylvian Savier of Front de Gauche and Peter Allen of Green Left. An emergency motion will propose the Green Party support the Coalition of Resistance's People's Assembly Against Austerity which will take place on 22nd June 2013.
Cuts will remain a controversial issue in the light of the decisions facing the minority Green Council in Brighton and Hove and support for Councillors Against the Cuts. There is a fringe on Sunday which will focus on 'the way the Greens (in Brighton and Hove) have sought to resist town hall cuts, the compromises that have to be made and how the wider party in the city has been galvanised into taking the arguments back to Secretary of State for Local Government and Communities Eric Pickles and the city's Tory MPs.'
Significantly the blurb adds, 'This won't be a debate about the merits or otherwise of the council's budget decisions'. It may not happen in that forum but the debate will certainly take place.
I will be hoping to gather support for my own emergency motion on forced academies which I reproduce below:
Conference recognises that Michael Gove
has recently escalated his policy of forcing primary schools to
become academies so that now only one poor Ofsted report is
required to trigger such a move. This has currently resultedin several strong parent-led
campaigns in defence ofcommunity
schools.
The Green Party believes forced academisation:
Undermines the role of local
authorities and school governing bodies in school improvement
Undermines local democratic
accountability of schools
Ignores the wishes of major
stakeholders including governors and parents
Hands over local assets to an
external provider without recompense
Opens the school to eventually being
run on a profit-making basis
Conference therefore instructs the GPEX
campaigns coordinator to facilitate a campaign against this policy
at national level over the next 6 months and calls on local
parties to take up the issue where appropriate.
The failure of the Green Party to make much impact in the polls despite the Coalition's unpopularity and Labour's lack lustre performance will merit some soul-searching. The fact that an ex-Green Party parliamentary candidate for Eastleigh, Dr Iain Maclennan, is standing for National Health Action in the current by-election and gaining broad-based support is also worth discussion.
The Green Party holds conferences twice a year and remains a conference that actually makes and debates policy rather than one which merely showcases the leaders which is increasingly the case with the major parties.
Children grasp the key question and answer outside Gladstone Park on Friday
Today's news in the IndependentLINK that Michael Gove is looking to privatise academies and free schools, and thus open them up to profit-making comes as no surprise. It would also decouple them from Whitehall removing any semblance of democratic accountability which has of course already been lost at the local level.
Anti-academy campaigners have always thought this was the long-term intention. Why else would carpet millionaires and hedge fund speculators be interested in running schools? Cleverly getting their foot in the door at an early stage, academy chains will be in a position to harvest the profits from seizing community assets.
She knew what Gove was up to
It is not just the bricks and mortars and land, paid for by taxpayers over many years, sometimes going back to the introduction of universal elementary education in 1870, that is important. It is also schools as a site for community solidarity and values beyond those of individualism and private profit that is being destroyed,. In essence it is another battle in the war against social solidarity and the welfare state, the post-World War 2 settlement, that is taking place. It is an ideological attack where the proponents will accuse opponents of being ideological. George Orwell would recognise the technique.
In 1986 Michael Joseph and then then Department of Education focused on the individual aspirations of parents for their children. They promoted what could be seen as the 'ideal' parent and argued that establishing a market in education would benefit individual parents as consumers. Back then phrases such as 'wanting what any decent parent would want for their children' , 'hardworking motivated families' were used to try and recruit parents as ideological partners in pursuit of free market solutions to what was percieved as the education crisis.
Their plans were challenged at a practical level when parents at Drummond Middle School in Bradofrd organised a campaign against the alleged racism of headtecher Ray Honeyford. Margaret Thatcher showed where she stood by inviting Honeyford to an education seminar at Dowing Street. Drummond Parents Action Group took to the streets to protest. The Tory subtext was that the 'ideal parent' did not include ethnic minorities. 'Parent Power' was only for those who accepted the Government agenda? Does this soubnd familiar?
Another comment may also sound familiar. The All London Parents Action Group (ALPAG) said:
But be warned - for a Government that is so keen to encourage parental participation in education, he (Sir Keith Joseph, Gove's equivalent at the time) is remarkably reluctant to answer parents' letters.
The Inner London Education Authority election of 1986 was unique because the Greater London Council having been abolished by Thatcher it was an election ONLY about education. Several activists from the parents' movement stood as Labour Party candidates with experience in the Camapign for the Advancement of State Education (CASE), National Association of Governors and Managers (NAGM), Save ILEA Campaign, Wandsworth Association of School Parents as well as local Parents Advisory Committees.
The Tories used the election to put forward their right-wing, privatisation ideas as a rehearsal for the next General Election. The result was a thrashing. On a relatively high turn-out, considering this was a direct election only about education in a city with many non-parents, of 44%, Labour achieved 46,8% (45 seats), Conservative 30.2% (11) and SDP-Liberals 21.2% (2). Thatcher then punished the voters by abolishing the ILEA and handing education over to the boroughs, However the election result contributed to the Tories moving to the centre ground in education. Michael Joseph was replaced by Kenneth Baker.
Gove's policies on privatisation, academies and free schools represent a move back to the days of Thatcher, Tebbit and Joseph (known by some as the 'Mad Monk') and we need to mount a similar challenge against his ideas and policies.
Is there a potential for a 21st century version of the All London Parents Action Group?
A diverse community sharing common values
In the building of such a group the slogan Whose Schools? OUR Schools should be central. We are not talking only about the selling off of public assets but of them being given away to the private sector. It is our taxes and council taxes that have funded our schools, but even more fundamentally the investment of the time and effort of generations of unpaid governors and parents that have made them the successful inclusive institutions that they are.
Fund-raising at Spring, Summer and Winter Fairs, volunteering in the classroom, accompanying classes on trips, regular contact with the class teacher are all ways that parents make it 'Our school'. It is this closeness and identification with the school that make parents, grandparents and carers a potentially formidable campaigning force.
More and more is expected of the governing body who are expected to oversee the financial management of the school, set targets for school improvement and performance manage the headteacher. They are expected to go on training, attend conferences, and visit the school regulalrly to see it in action.
Michael Gove's forced acdemisation tramples over the efforts of parents and governors, devalues the contribution that they have made, and through his threat of replacing non-compliant governing bodies with Interim Executive Boards flies in the face of democracy.
Make no mistake we are in a fight for control of our schools, for the future of our children's education and well-being, and for an ethos that values social inclusion, equality of opportunity and democratic accountability.