Category Archives: Education (local)

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

14 Oct 2016

Posted under

Accountability, Claire Wright, Democracy, Education (local), Flooding, Hugo Swire, Independent Councillors, Tipton St John

Comments

3 Comments

Hugo Swire bans Claire Wright from a meeting in her ward

“Hugo Swire bars me from a meeting about Tipton St John Primary School flooding problems

I was bizarrely barred from a meeting in my own ward this lunchtime, with East Devon’s MP and the chief executive of the Environment Agency, James Bevan, who met with Tipton St John school staff about the ongoing challenges of flooding at the school – an issue I have been active on for three years.

I have been involved in discussions on how the situation at Tipton St John may be remedied since I was elected as a Devon County councillor in 2013.

I asked to attend the meeting this morning, however, was informed by Hugo Swire’s office that I would not be welcome as he was “keeping the meeting very small and focused and had to limit numbers.”

I was very disappointed about being excluded as crucially important issues would be discussed that I have been actively involved with. Last year I provided funding from my county council locality budget for a flood survey and helped to clear up after at least two flooding events, arranging with the chief fire officer for Devon and Somerset, for the fire and rescue service to be involved in these clear ups.

I have attended meetings with residents about the future of the school and worked with the school – and the community on trying to find a solution to the flooding problems.

As the Devon County councillor for Tipton St John with a clear interest and involvement in supporting the community I would have thought it was entirely appropriate that I should have been invited to a meeting with the chief executive of the Environment Agency.

It was a poor decision”

http://www.claire-wright.org/index.php/post/hugo_swire_bars_me_from_a_meeting_about_tipton_st_john_primary_school_flood

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

12 Sep 2016

Posted under

DCC, Education (local), Misc

Renewed interest in petition to cease schools monitoring service by Babcock

In May 2016 East Devon Watch reported on a 38 Degrees petition which sought to remove the armament manufacturer Babcock from a contract to monitor attendance in Devon schools:

https://eastdevonwatch.org/2016/05/18/why-is-babcock-the-arms-manufacturer-involved-in-monitoring-school-attendance-in-devon/

The post has been re-read many times in the last few days and the petition has begun to gain more signatures again, which gives the impression that there is perhaps a new disquiet about the 7 year contract.

The £125 million contract was described thus by the company:

https://www.babcockinternational.com/News/Babcock%20awarded%20Devon%20schools%20contract

The 38 Degrees petition:

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/devon-county-council-get-weapons-manufacturers-out-of-education

made the following claim:

“Babcock International is a weapon manufacturer operating around the globe. They are also contracted by Devon County Council to monitor and produce reports on school attendance.

After ten sessions (five days) of “unauthorised absence” they send this letter threatening a fine of up to £2500 and/or three months in prison.
The letter is sent to hundreds of parents each year, causing disproportionate distress for what, in many cases, is a single case of illness or forgetting to inform the school in time.

Children become worried that their mum or dad might go to prison. Parents worry their children might be taken into care, that they might lose their jobs, businesses, dignity and freedom.

The threat, and potential fine and imprisonment, disproportionately affects single parents and poor people, who are less able to pay a Fixed Penalty Notice within 21 days (after which it doubles).

I have personally supported a single mum who was working full time, raising two children, starting a business and having to comfort her children who thought that Mum was going to prison.

Babcock’s business is in fear, not in children’s education.”

The petition currently stands at nearly 800 signatures.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

1 Aug 2016

Posted under

Education (local)

Comments

1 Comment

Academy staff convicted of fraud

It is all too easy to get away with fraud if there is no effective scrutiny of academy finances – and it is the education of our young people that suffers.

George Osborne wanted every school to be an academy, free of local government control – and scrutiny.

The founder of a flagship free school and two members of staff have been found guilty of defrauding the government out of £150,000.

Sajid Raza, 43, Shabana Hussain, 40, and Daud Khan, 44, made payments from Department for Education grants into their own bank accounts. The grants were given to set up Kings Science Academy in Bradford in 2011. It opened in 2012.

The three were found guilty at Leeds Crown Court following a six-week trial.
They were granted bail and will be sentenced in September with judge Christopher Batty telling them “I am very much considering custody in each of your cases”.

Peter Mann from the Crown Prosecution Service said the trio had “treated public money as their own”. He said: “Far from being a model school, Raza [founder and principal] treated the Academy like a family business employing his relatives there and, for at least the first 12 months, operating with no proper governance.”

“His co-defendants were also drawn into this criminality. Hussain, Raza’s sister, received unlawful payments, and Khan helped to falsify documentation.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-36943526

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

24 Jul 2016

Posted under

Education (local)

School academies: what they REALLY cost US, the taxpayer

“The leaders of academy schools are spending taxpayers’ money on luxury hotels, top-end restaurants, first-class travel, private health care and executive cars, a joint investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches and the Observer can reveal.

Expense claims released under the Freedom of Information Act lay bare for the first time what critics claim is an extraordinary extravagance by some academy chain chief executives and principals, at a time when schools are struggling financially.

The taxpayer is paying Ian Cleland, the £180,000-a-year chief executive at Academy Transformation Trust, to lease and have joint insurance with his wife on an XJ Premium Luxury V6 Jaguar car, it can be disclosed. Included in nearly £3,000 worth of receipts is payment for servicing the car and the purchase of new tyres.

Cleland has also spent £3,000 of taxpayers’ money on first-class rail travel, while dining expenses racked up on his taxpayer-funded credit card include a meal with other staff at Marco Pierre White totalling £471, and the Bank restaurant in Birmingham, at a cost £703.45. …

… The Paradigm Trust pays for its CEO, Amanda Phillips, to have broadband at her holiday home in France, even though she earns £195,354 a year.

Meanwhile, as former education secretary Michael Gove’s vision of a more market-led school system has materialised, in which multi-academy trusts have taken the place of local authorities, salary levels have soared within the management tier, it can be revealed. More than half of the largest 50 chains pay their chief executives more than the prime minister (£143,000). Sir Daniel Moynihan, the chief executive of the high-performing Harris Federation, earns £395,000 a year.

The chief executive of the Aspirations Academies Trust, which runs 12 schools, pays its chief executive and founder, Stewart Kenning, a total package of £225,000, while his wife, Paula Kenning, receives £175,000 as executive principal and founder. And as the salaries have shot up, the so-called related party transactions – where companies with close links to directors of academy trusts are paid for services to those trusts – have also multiplied.

Take, for example, the US organisation founded by Dr Russell Quaglia, the American-based co-founder of the Aspirations Academy Trust (AAT). In a document uncovered through a freedom of information request, the trust claims to the regulator that it is abiding by the no-profit rule governing such transactions, and it is suggested that the American is working at a discount.

It actually costs Quaglia $8,300 (£6,330) a time to come to Britain, AAT claims. “This is based on transportation costs to and from the US, including parking and travel to and from airports in the US – $5,000,” the document says, adding of further costs: “Hotels and meals: $3,000; internal travel (trains/cabs/tubes): $300. For six visits a year, the [annual] average cost would therefore be $49,800.”

The trust adds that the provision of Quaglia’s top-of-the-range staff and student surveys to the schools costs an additional $20,000 a year. And his normal consultancy rates range from $9,600 a day to $18,000 a day, plus travel costs, it is said. “The amounts paid directly to Dr Quaglia, in lieu of basic salary, range from $8,000 to $15,000.

“Based on 15 days’ consultancy for the AAT, the total day rate cost would be a minimum of $120,000. We can confirm that Dr Quaglia is in high demand and turns down 75% of approaches, so any time not devoted to ATT would be easily filled by other paying engagements. In conclusion, the cost … equates to £114,337, which is significantly above the charged amount of £89,724.” …

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jul/23/education-academies-funding-expenses

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

20 Jul 2016

Posted under

East Devon Tories, Education (local), Hugo Swire

Hugo Swire – now also MP for Exeter? Or perhaps “shadow” education minister in his own party?

Swire has sprung to life in Parliament!

And what aspect of life in East Devon did he see fit to talk about?

Students in Exeter!!! Bet Ben Bradshaw is miffed!

Here is the extract:

Higher Education and Research Bill (19 Jul 2016)
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19a.702.0&s=speaker%3A11265#g749.0
Hugo Swire: Has my hon. Friend made any study of the outrageous
discrimination suffered by English students studying at Scottish
universities after we come out of the European Union?

Higher Education and Research Bill (19 Jul 2016)
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2016-07-19a.702.0&s=speaker%3A11265#g750.1
Hugo Swire: The right hon. Gentleman will have heard what my hon. Friend
the Member for Cannock Chase (Amanda Milling) said, citing Sir Steve
Smith, the vice-chancellor of Exeter University. He will also be aware
of the huge number of overseas students at Exeter University, which make
it one of the leading universities in the country, if not in the world.
I know that the Minister shares my view about…

Etc, etc.

Perhaps he might next focus on the closure of Tipton St John Primary School – Owl is sure they would appreciate his help – although Claire Wright is doing as much as she can, an extra pair of hands would surely help!

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

17 Jul 2016

Posted under

Accountability, Cornwall, DCC, Devolution, Economy, Education (local), Post-Brexit Adjustments, Rural communities, Small and Medium businesses, Transparency

Comments

1 Comment

Brexit: where now for Devon and Cornwall businesses?

Devon and Cornwall Business Council:

… “1) DEVOLUTION. This process may be very welcome to the business community (or it may not). There has been inadequate consultation for us to know what the implications might be. Either way it will create a period of uncertainty. We cannot afford to risk this whilst so many critical matters are up in the air. I propose that we ask for, at least, a 12 month moratorium whilst clarity is restored. Then we need a proper period of consultation knowing what we then know. Devolution has the potential to provide significant opportunities for devolved administrations to determine their own future when it comes to skills, transport, investment and development, but this agenda needs to be developed collaboratively with the private sector standing shoulder to shoulder with Government.

2) EUROPEAN MARKETS. More than 50% of South West trade is with near Europe. There have been some bold statements that 90% of trading opportunities will be outside the EU in the next 10-15 years. Many, however, of our investors are based in Europe – IMERYS, EDF Energy, Sibelco, Princes Yachts, Plymouth Gin, Barden Corporation to name but a few. Decisions are made in European capitals which affect a large number of our jobs and future growth prospects. We need to ensure that the existing investments are maintained and that we will feature in future investment decisions – access to the Single Market is vital. UK Trade and Industry (UKTI) department officials are already fully stretched (inadequate funding currently, with an increasing workload), we need to establish our own business trade ambassadors to ensure direct contacts are maintained and developed. From this base we can then begin to start creating a forward order book for whatever new trade agreements might emerge. This will also allow a programme to be developed to enable access into new global markets.

3) INFRASTRUCTURE. The South West has for too long been the Cinderella of the UK in terms of infrastructure investment. We have clearly supported plans for future spending on road, rail, air, marine and broadband projects. We must now directly lobby for these, acting as a single voice and ensuring that our South West MPs are lobbied to also speak with one voice. What, however, will make this happen is a demonstration that investment in infrastructure will result in direct business investment. We need to clearly demonstrate what we will contribute in return.

4) PLAY TO OUR STRENGTHS. Some of our most successful business sectors should be the subject of focussed programmes for ambitious expansion – food and drink, tourism and e-health are good examples of where the South West has specialist skills. Add to these; marine / maritime technology, aerospace / space, advanced engineering, digital and creative economy. Designed and co-ordinated tasks forces could achieve spectacular results in these areas of the economy.

5) GOVERNANCE/REGULATION. The system of regulation has been often complained about as a barrier to business growth – red tape, EU regulations or Gold plating from Whitehall? Staffing levels at regulators have been cut making the problems more acute. The establishment of voluntary codes and working partnerships led by trade bodies and self-regulated by them (with rewards for best practise) could greatly improve the current confrontational systems which have become entrenched – particularly in areas such as planning and environmental health.

6) PRODUCTIVITY. We have routinely lagged behind the average UK productivity levels (between 15-20% lower than UK average for Devon and Cornwall1). There are many drivers of productivity; investment, innovation, skills, enterprise and competition. This problem can be partly addressed by self-help. Simple work based systems can achieve significant improvements to outputs (and profits). These include Lean Production techniques. Training for all staff on digital skills and improvements to work/life balance (flexible working hours) which can reduce lost time off through stress / illness.

7) YOUNG BUSINESS. The Business Community has a collective responsibility to re-engage with the next generation to ensure we have attracted the huge talents of our young people. Business support can start by involvement as a Governor at Primary School all the way through to being a voluntary mentor for new start businesses. There are also great opportunities for assisting with work experience. The SW is blessed with some exceptional people with invaluable skills and experience. This should be high on the business agenda.

8) INNOVATION/SKILLS. We are proud of our Universities and Further Education Colleges. They deliver with national and international standards. The ground breaking research they produce is helping to change things around the world. We complain about a lack of relevant skills; however, do we fully engage with these institutions? Do we share with them our future business plans so that skill sets can be anticipated? Do we share with them our challenges in order to co-develop innovative solutions? Do we respond to their outreach work which can tackle production/system deficiencies? The answer is we could all do better. New partnerships should be formed as a priority. In part focusing on achieving young people with relevant skills (matched to growth sectors) through apprenticeships which, have the potential to greatly reduce our reliability on skilled labour from outside the UK, EU or otherwise.

9) URBAN/RURAL. For too long we have allowed ourselves to get sucked into Whitehall speak on the growth of Cities. Seen from the Whitehall bubble this is the best place to concentrate investment decisions. What we are missing by not forging strong urban/rural partnerships represents one of the greatest untapped opportunities for the growth of our economy – natural energy, local food production, health and well-being, water quality, flood/climate change management are all on our doorstep. DCBC will spearhead a rolling programme of partnership opportunities.

10) FUNDNG. The expectation that Government cash will still arrive as before is fool’s gold. Austerity will get worse before it gets better. Business will become even more important in the funding of growth opportunities. This could include matched funding with Devolved Authorities and perhaps taking advantage of cheap Government borrowing. We must set out our investment priorities more clearly and take these to our key stakeholders in the public sector for early discussions in order that improved delivery be achieved.”

http://www.dcbc.co.uk/news/brexit-where-next-business-community-10-point-recovery-plan#

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

15 Jul 2016

Posted under

Education (local), Tipton St John

Tipton school closes as 750,000 new places needed by 2025

What a masterstroke of bad planning and bad decisions. Instead of small, village schools we will probably end up with mega- primary schools where 4 and 5 year olds will be overwhelmed.

“An extra 750,000 school places will be needed in England by 2025 to keep up with a population bulge, says an official forecast from the Department for Education.

The pressure on creating new schools and extra classrooms will be one of the challenges for incoming Education Secretary Justine Greening.

Schools will have faced 16 consecutive years of rising pupil numbers.
The Department for Education says it has committed £7bn to extra places.
Between 2009 and 2016, the school system had already expanded to take in an extra 470,000 pupils.

From 2016 to 2025, the projection says there will be another 10% of pupils in the state school system, up from about 7.4 million to about 8.1 million.” …

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36796999

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

7 Jul 2016

Posted under

Accountability, Democracy, Education (local)

So, we got our “sovereignty” back …

“Education Secretary Nicky Morgan is to force through the appointment of her nomination for the next head of Ofsted, despite a cross-party committee of MPs saying they had “significant concerns”.

The Education Select Committee, scrutinising the appointment, rejected the choice of Amanda Spielman.

But Mrs Morgan is to override their finding and press ahead with her selection for the independent watchdog.

Mrs Morgan said Ms Spielman “will not shy away from challenging government”.
The education secretary said she was “disappointed that the committee underestimated Amanda’s vision, focus and leadership style. Her objectivity and openness are important strengths”.

Mrs Morgan said she was “100% confident” in her decision – and that “I am not seeking what one committee member described as a ‘crusader’.” …

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-36737123

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

5 Jul 2016

Posted under

Education (local)

Scandal hit academy school still being funded

Duryard Academy (see previous posts), once hailed by Michael Gove as the “Eton of the State Sector” is still being funded by the government after being threatened with closure.

Its former head teacher SIR Gregg Martin (once the highest paid head teacher in the country with a salary of more than £200,000 with around an extra £161,000 for running a swimming and gym complex in school grounds), who was knighted by Michael Gove, is now its Chair of Governors.

Mr Gove awarded the school £17 million to create a weekly boarding school in Sussex as well as running junior schools in London.

Its financial dealings have been described as “complex”.

Source: The Times

The government recently announced it would make all schools academy schools, but when MPs of its own party threatened to rebel, they rolled it back to only “inadequate” schools which would be forced to do so.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

18 Jun 2016

Posted under

Education (local), Hugo Swire, Ottery St Mary

Tipton St John likely to lose its primary school due to flooding

Interesting how the article twists its fate from flooding to lack of housing development! Especially as various local vested interests made several attempts to move in on the area.

And many will recall Hugo Swire’s comments about his involvement in this. It now looks as though he might have realised its days on its current site were numbered at least as far back as September last year:

“A Devon village looks set to lose its thriving primary school because of a flooding threat.

Tipton St John Church of England Primary School is likely to move to a site within the campus of The King’s School Ottery St Mary.

The move comes after the primary school missed out on funds to relocate within the village.

The school, which has a split site , currently faces the a threat of flooding.

The majority of its pupils come from outside the village and there is no prospect of significant housing development to allow the catchment area.”

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/devon-village-set-to-lose-its-primary-school-amid-flood-worries/story-29416613-detail/story.html

Here is what Mr Swire said in January 2016:

“I am, as I have been for some time, deeply concerned about the effect of flooding on Tipton St John Primary School and the recent floods show just how vulnerable the school is. This is clearly an unsustainable situation and it is not only the pupils’ quality of education but also their safety which is being compromised.

‘I spoke to Lord Nash this afternoon and re-emphasised the urgency of finding a solution to this problem. Whilst the long-term solution remains under consideration, the Minister agreed that in the short-term he would contact the EA and ask them to look into possible measures which could mitigate further flooding to the school.

‘It is clear to me that we need to take a broader look at flooding in East Devon and I have invited Sir James Bevan, the new Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, to the constituency so that I am able to show him some of the areas which are most affected’.

and in September 2015:

“Very real concerns have been raised over the safety of the pupils at the school so it is essential that we find a solution to this problem. I am supportive of the proposal to move the school to a safer part of the village but securing the significant amount of funding required will always be a challenge.

‘I wanted to take this issue to ministerial level and impress upon Lord Nash the importance and urgency of this situation. I was very pleased that the Minister said he would look again at the school’s original PSBP2 application and send an official from the Department for Education to Tipton St John so that they can see for themselves the perilous situation in which the school finds itself in.

‘This is promising news but we still have a long way to go before finding a long-term solution to this problem’.

Doesn’t sound like he expected the school to survive in its current location and that he had a pretty good idea that the ” long-term solution” would be closure.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

15 Jun 2016

Posted under

Education (local)

Academies: can we afford (many of) them?

“The man in charge of the Cornwall College Group has rejected calls from unions for him to take a pay cut.

Amarjit Basi earns £200,000 a year. The college is currently £9m in debt and around 60 staff face losing their jobs.

The University and College Union has suggested that he and other senior managers could take a drop in salary. In a statement, the college said the principal’s salary was in line with national pay scales..”

From BBC Spotlight news page today

And, yes, it is privately owned and run:

“Cornwall College is a further education college situated on various sites throughout Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, with its main centre in St Austell. The college is a member of the 157 Group of [wait for it …] high performing schools. “

Wikipedia

Er, may be high performing but someone at the top can’t do their sums. Or, perhaps they can …

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

12 Jun 2016

Posted under

Education (local)

Academy schools and the potential for corruption

” … in a meeting between union officials and Blue Support executives shortly after the letter arrived [about the award of a cleaning contract for an academy school], a diligent, if overworked, Unison official admitted to being puzzled. Sitting with her back to the window in one of the new-build school’s soulless rooms, Hazel Corby wondered why the lucky company had the same Stockport address as Bright Tribe’s headquarters. She asked how the company had been so swiftly selected after Bright Tribe’s takeover? Who else had a chance to bid for the contract?

‘Joining a multi-academy trust is like marriage without divorce’

The school’s principal didn’t know. An answer wasn’t forthcoming from those representing the company that afternoon, or in the days to come. Bright Tribe later said the question was irrelevant as the contract with Blue Support was made on an interim basis.

But an exchange of business cards between Corby and Blue Support’s human resources manager, Sally Jarvis, gave rather more away. “Sally’s card said Equity Solutions on it,” said Corby.

ES Management Services – where the ES stands for Equity Solutions – is the parent company of Blue Support, of which Dwan’s brother, Andrew, is managing director. Equity Solutions is also Mike Dwan’s main business interest, among 90 other companies of which he is, or has been, a director.

Bright Tribe insists that it has always been transparent about its commercial partners. But, for Corby, Jarvis’s business card was a loose thread that, once pulled, unravelled what she felt was a worrying complex of interconnected commercial and charitable interests.

Here was a financier who had quietly moved into sponsoring academies and with ostensibly philanthropic ambitions. Dwan’s spokesman said that he had donated £3.5m “directly or indirectly” to his academy empire, which included 11 failing schools desperately in need of his resources. The spokesman added that, while Dwan is aware “some will seek to find some ulterior motive for his actions”, he is “involved in the provision of school improvement services for a sole single purpose, to promote better outcomes for our children”.

Yet in 2013-14 alone, it was to emerge, there were nearly £1m worth of payments not recorded in the publicly available accounts by Dwan’s academies to his own private businesses. In 2014-15 another £1.9m in such payments, known as “related party transactions”, were made, albeit this time reported in publicly available accounts following pressure from government regulators.”

http://gu.com/p/4kqm2

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

18 May 2016

Posted under

DCC, Education (local)

Comments

1 Comment

Why is Babcock, the arms manufacturer involved in monitoring school attendance in Devon?

“Babcock International Group plc is a multinational corporation headquartered in the United Kingdom, which specialises in support services managing complex assets and infrastructure in safety- and mission-critical environments. Although the company has civil contracts, its main business is with public bodies, particularly the UK Ministry of Defence and Network Rail. The company has four operating divisions with overseas operations based in Africa, North America & Australia.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babcock_International

It has contracted to Devon County Council to monitor school attendance. Why – your guess is as good as Owl’s – perhaps it is a way od refining some sort of surveillance software!

“The new partnership will deliver the following key services:

School Improvement; including
a dedicated school improvement advisory team,
curriculum support,
school data and assessment and school governor support;
Curriculum Enrichment; including digital media facilities, outdoor learning, school library and music services;

Inclusion Services and Learner Support: including educational psychology and Special Educational Needs;

Workforce Training and Development; including leadership, supporting and promoting continuous professional development and working with Newly Qualified Teachers;

Business Management and Resources; including finance, contracts, quality management, personnel and resources;

Alex Khan, Managing Director of Babcock’s Education and Training business said: “Being chosen by Devon County Council as provisional preferred bidder builds on our proven track record in delivering improved educational outcomes for all pupils and reducing overall costs for local authorities which is becoming an increasingly vital factor in the delivery of local services.

“We look forward to applying our unique educational management expertise and experience in Devon. Our approach is already delivering improved outcomes and reducing costs for our other local authority partnerships.””

https://www.babcockinternational.com/News/Babcock%20awarded%20Devon%20schools%20contract

The company sends threatening letters, mentioning fines of £2,500 and more to anyone whose child’s attendance has fallen before a bar that they and DCC sets, whatever the reason.

What is an arms manufacturer doing in education?

There is a change.org petition:

“Babcock International is a weapon manufacturer operating around the globe. They are also contracted by Devon County Council to monitor and produce reports on school attendance.

After ten sessions (five days) of “unauthorised absence” they send this letter threatening a fine of up to £2500 and/or three months in prison.
The letter is sent to hundreds of parents each year, causing disproportionate distress for what, in many cases, is a single case of illness or forgetting to inform the school in time.

Children become worried that their mum or dad might go to prison. Parents worry their children might be taken into care, that they might lose their jobs, businesses, dignity and freedom.

The threat, and potential fine and imprisonment, disproportionately affects single parents and poor people, who are less able to pay a Fixed Penalty Notice within 21 days (after which it doubles).

I have personally supported a single mum who was working full-time, raising two children, starting a business and having to comfort her children who thought that Mum was going to prison.

Babcock’s business is in fear, not in children’s education.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/devon-county-council-get-weapons-manufacturers-out-of-education

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

6 May 2016

Posted under

Education (local), Rural communities

Another government u-turn – no forced academies on good schools

“Tory MPs have welcomed news that Devon and Cornwall schools will no longer be forced to convert to academies following the latest in a series of Government U-turns.

The Department for Education has confirmed that its enforced conversion policy, which aimed for 100% academisation by 2022, will now only apply to “failing” schools.

However, education secretary Nicky Morgan has stressed that “good” and “outstanding” schools across the country will still be “encouraged” to adopt the model.

The announcement is believed to be a response to growing pressure on the Government from Conservative backbenchers. A number of MPs have expressed concerns about the impact of compulsory conversation on schools, particularly in rural areas.”

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/forced-academisation-Devon-Cornwall-following/story-29239637-detail/story.html

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

3 May 2016

Posted under

Education (local)

If rural schools close because of academisation, villages will become museums

Or will those near to towns be absorbed by development into suburbs?

… “The academies white paper doesn’t specifically target small schools, but the requirement that all schools should join multi-academy trusts, recently described by senior Conservative back bencher Graham Brady as “new and distant bureaucracies”, has led to fears that this model of rural education will become unviable and unattractive to the sort of trusts favoured by the government.” …

http://gu.com/p/4tmaf

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

30 Apr 2016

Posted under

Education (local), NHS (local)

Comments

2 Comments

Real localism … a pipe dream

“Morgan [Education Secretary] is presiding over the greatest centralisation in the history of British education – at least since the Forster Act of 1872 and its notorious and short-lived “revised code”. Her proposed employment of academy chains to replace local education authorities is only a bastard privatisation.

It is so risky – like giving the NHS to Tesco or the Royal Navy to a cross-Channel ferry company – that it will need armies of commissioners to run it. They must find money, plan capacity, reorder admissions and extract measurable results to validate the reform. Already there are rumours that Morgan may reduce the idea to absurdity by renaming local education authorities as “chains” – millions spent on doing nothing.

The best school is one rooted not in a corporate culture but in its community. It is one in which teachers are answerable to that community and its parents. The role of the state, as in the health and social care, should be in inspection and financial support. When the state decides it must run something itself, it will fail. This reform will fail.”

http://gu.com/p/4tm5k

In Devon, child services have already been outsourced to Virgin.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

21 Apr 2016

Posted under

Education (local)

Tory Council is anti-academy

West Sussex’s Conservative-led county council has joined the chorus of opposition to the government’s plan to turn all state schools into academies, saying it could hurt provision for vulnerable children and undermine the local economy.

In a letter to the education secretary, Nicky Morgan, West Sussex county council leader, Louise Goldsmith, said the council was united in opposing the proposals in Morgan’s education white paper, with no evidence that the county’s schools would be improved.

“I have reservations that the ‘one size fits all’ academies approach that ministers are proposing does not seem to promote any benefits to pupils and parents in West Sussex,” Goldsmith wrote. “We have very specific concerns about how vulnerable children will fare under the proposals – a statutory responsibility that will rightly remain with the council but with very few powers to help us to fulfil that duty.”

http://gu.com/p/4thv3

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

21 Apr 2016

Posted under

Accountability, Education (local)

“Academy plans pose ‘significant risk’ to government finance” says National Audit Office

… “In a critical assessment, the Department for Education’s annual accounts have been rated as “adverse” by the National Audit Office, which said there was no clear view of academies’ spending. Adverse is the most negative opinion that an auditor can give.” …

http://gu.com/p/4tfn6

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

13 Apr 2016

Posted under

Accountability, Education (local)

“Tory MP Stewart Jackson Says Academies Plan Is ‘Rushed, Ill-Thought Out And Flawed’ “

“A Tory MP has criticised the Government’s plan to turn all schools in to academies, labelling the plan “rushed, ill-thought out and flawed”.

Stewart Jackson, MP for Peterborough, said he was willing to defy the party line as the reform was a “million miles from what a Conservative Party in office should be doing”.

His comments come as Labour today forces a vote in the Commons on the plan announced by Chancellor George Osborne in his Budget last month.

Jackson’s withering criticism of the “compulsory academisation” of primary and secondary schools underlines growing unease among some Tory backbenchers at the flagship plan being taken forward by Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan.

Writing in a column for his local newspaper the Peterborough Telegraph, seen by HuffPost UK, the MP argues the move is a “recipe for upheaval as well as muddle and costly confusion” and that there is “no evidence (as yet)” that the move will improve schools.

He says: “Do we really believe that remote civil servants or ‘local’ Regional Schools Commissioners will be adequate substitutes for the real local knowledge, expertise, passion, teamwork, skills and shared history of local councillors, dedicated education officers and parents ‘on the ground?’

“The difference is obvious: at least the latter are accountable to their electorate, whilst the former are accountable only to their hierarchy – namely the Secretary of State, rather than pupils, parents, teachers or governors.”

The MP goes on that the plan will risks “squashing local choice, differentiation and expertise” and “rightly irritates local councillors”.

In recognition of many Tories feeling ill at ease with state control, he argues: “It’s because I’m a Conservative that I can see that something like this is a million miles from what a Conservative Party in office should be doing.”

Meanwhile, one senior Tory told HuffPost UK: “I don’t believe in ‘compulsory freedom’. There’s lots of us who aren’t comfortable with this.”

Under the reform, all state schools must become academies by 2020 or have plans to do so by 2022.

Jackson questions whether academy chains – so-called Multi Academy Trusts that run more than one school – can “run and turnaround not just high performing schools but those which are struggling”, and references the troubles of the Voyager academy in his constituency.

He continues the prospect of “nationalising” education and handing down a “top down system” to a Jeremy Corbyn Labour government “fills me with horror”.

“I will not be supporting this rushed, ill thought out and flawed policy and I suspect the government will dump it before too long,” Jackson finishes.

Labour today leads an Opposition Day debate having tabled a motion claiming there is “no evidence that academisation in and of itself leads to school improvement”. The vote is not binding but could prove embarrassing for the Government.

Academies are state-controlled but free of local authority control.

For any school that fails to have a plan in place, the Government will take on radical new powers to intervene and ensure academy conversion takes place.

Unions have hit out at the Government was moving to “undo over 50 years of comprehensive public education at a stroke”.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/schools-academies-labour_uk_570e1011e4b01711c612ab4a

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

7 Apr 2016

Posted under

Developers/ Development, Education (local)

Rural schools could become second homes …

Rural schools are at risk of closing and being turned into second homes under the Government’s forced academies programme, Westcountry teachers warn.

Delegates told a conference the controversial scheme could be the “final nail” in the coffin for many schools and was a major threat to village life.

Members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) said small rural schools are the “glue” that bind communities together, allowing young parents to carry on living where they grew up.

Sutcombe primary school in Devon was earmarked for closure last month after dwindling pupils and the failure to join a federation made it unviable.

There also fears for the future of Farway Church of England primary, in Farway near Honiton, after pupil numbers dropped.

“Speaking at the ATL annual conference in Liverpool, Joyce Walters, a teacher from Devon, said the “cost of forced academisation” could be “the final nail for many rural schools that means that they will no longer be able to stay open.”

She said: “Like many churches, chapels, barns, pubs and shops, too many rural schools are now large, beautiful and – very often in Devon – second homes.

“Rural schools are the sticking glue and the epicentre of rural communities.

“Because the parents of those children work, play and shop in those areas, where they may well have grown up themselves and have probably extended family.

“And they need to be able to stay there and they need a rural school in that area.

“Help rural communities and their children and their schools across our very beautiful green and pleasant land to continue to thrive and prosper well into the future.”

Since 2011, primaries at Pyworthy, Dalwood and West and East Putford – all in Devon – have closed.

All schools will be forced to become academies – or be in the process of converting – by 2022, meaning local authorities will no longer run them.

ATL said multi-academy trusts will be unwilling to take on rural schools because they are expensive and inconvenient to run, meaning some may have to close.

This would mean young families moving out of villages, leading to the closure of pubs and shops, union members warned.

ATL passed a motion yesterday to campaign to protect rural schools across the country and maintain their funding.

Proposing the motion, Trevor Cope from Devon said he recently saw four local rural schools close, causing those villages to have “no heart”.

He said losing a school can cause the “sorry death of a village” and causes “untold damage” to communities.

He added: “The first thing that happens, is the shop closes, and that’s the post office as well.

“There’s no children to drop in for sweets and no parents to pop into the post office to post letters.

“The younger people move out of the village because they have to. The pub then closes. This is a rural crisis.”

Ian Courtney, chairman of the National Governors’ Association (NGA) and of a federation of schools in West Devon, said there was “no evidence” that academies would improve standards.

He said there were potentially issues over teachers’ pay following the end of collective bargaining and was not happy about the prospect of scrapping parent governors but said he disagreed with predictions that rural schools would close simply because of the programme.

He added: “I would take the opposite view with the caveat that they must be properly managed.

“I chair a federation of small schools – having a village school is one of the joys of rural life – and we are able to mitigate costs by centralising services, boring back room stuff, maximising what we spend on teachers.

“Partnership between schools is incredibly powerful way to protect rural schools. You cannot try to save every little school for the sake of it.”

The conversion to academies is a mixed picture across Devon and Cornwall.

Torbay is among the top five in England for the proportion of schools awarded academy status.

At 67%, it comes behind just Darlington (70%), Bromley (71%), Bournemouth (78%) and North East Lincolnshire (79%) for conversions.

Torbay Council’s executive member in charge of schools, Julien Parrott, has said he believes schools are “embracing the freedom” that academisation provides.

In Cornwall the conversion rate is almost double the national average, at 46% of the county’s 278 schools.

In Plymouth, the figure drops, but is still higher than average at 32% of the city’s 96 schools.

But in Devon, the conversion rate is just 24%, with 87 of the county’s 363 primary and secondary schools adopting the model.

Education secretary Nicky Morgan said schools are more likely to produce better results as academies, with multi-academy chains using expertise to pull up those which are performing badly.

However, teaching unions have said there was “no evidence” to support the government’s claims.

Union leaders and Labour MPs have pledged to work with leading Tories on Conservative-held county councils who last month also voiced disquiet at the plans.

One of them was Melinda Tilley, the cabinet member for education at Oxfordshire County Council – which includes the Prime Minister’s Witney seat.

She said: “It means a lot of little primary schools will be forced to go into multi-academy trusts and I just feel it’s the wrong time, in the wrong place, for little primary schools to be forced into doing this.

“I’m afraid there could be a few little village schools that get lost in all of this.”

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Teachers-warn-academies-programme-final-nail/story-29070366-detail/story.html