Anyone else get harangued outside Northcote Library today?! Post Reply

[schoolgatesmum]

@localunionmember
"They or their parents do not even get a say in the matter."Isn't that what the public consultation was for? So that local people could look at the proposals and give feedback.

[schoolgatesmum]

And also what about the kids at independent primary schools who are being excluded? Or is that different?

[localunionmember]

Sorry - my mistake - read the post wrong.

There is no dispute now that Falconbrook is nearer than Wix to new site on both measures.

All the distances are set out in map in notes to editors attached to incomes press release for all 36 areas in Wandsworth on the GMB website.

I do not know what the criteria are to get into Thomases in Bollingbroke Road or where the kid come from.

My view, for what it is worth, is that kids living locally in the same areas as other kids elegible to apply, from that private school or others, should not be discriminated against by being excluded if this new school get off the ground any more than Winstanley local kids should be.

Re consultation my union Unite has thousands of members in Wandsworth- including parents living in Winstanley. Unite or its members were not consulted on excluding the Falconbrook kids.

[schoolgatesmum]

But the public consultations were advertised in many local Wandsworth-wide publications. Anyone who wanted to could go to the consulation and give feedback. So I'm not sure how you can claim that you weren't consulted. There were people from all over Wandsworth who turned up to the consultations. In fact, that was why this thread was started in the first place!

[localunionmember]

You refer to publicity on this matter in wandsworth media.

The sorry fact is that there no longer is any meaningful local wandsworth media with reach to most of the residents. the days when the local paper was avidly read are long gone.

Post or leaflets through letter boxes is now the only way to reach all residents who need to be told about something. Websites may one day fill the gap but not yet.

We did get a letter from St Georges NHS consulting us on the sale of the site for flats. I am not aware of any simmilar correspondence or leaflets through letter boxes on this matter.

As far as I am aware none of my fellow local trade union members were consulted.

Many are still unaware of what is going on much less having a say. I think the most you can say is that those on the inside track did get a chance to be consulted. Most parents on the Winstanley did not and they are being unfairly excluded with no say or choice in the matter.

I know that consultation done properly is expensive which is why it should be done by the council who have the resources and addresses to do it. This consultation has not been done properly which is why the outcome will continue to be contested.

The way the conclusion was reached to exclude the Winstanley kids who go to Falconbrook while including the Wix kids was not done in any proper manner.

If this school goes ahead the Falconbrook kids and the Wix kids should have the same elegibility rights to get into it.

[doleofficedad]

localunionmember - it appears to me that you are now resorting to excuses and you have one of those for everything (a lack of 'any meaningful local wandsworth media' being one sorry example). You are fixated with the Winstanley/Falconbrook children. Two points on that. The first is that we are constantly told by you and others what a great school Battersea Park is. We have also now established that Falconbrook primary is closer to BPS than the new Bolingbroke school. So given that it is (a) closer and (b) an excellant school, why do you have any problem at all? Falconbrook kids have an excellant school already on their doorstep. And secondly, ask yourself this - if admission was done on a distance based policy only, then how many of those kids do you honestly think would get in? If you took your union hat off for just one moment, can you not see that by putting the feeder schools in place, the very thing you wish for will happen? Children attending Highview or Wix for example who live on the Winstanley will get in. Your problem is that as a 'localunionmember' you are ideologically opposed to Free Schools. As such, you cannot see the wood for the trees.

[schoolgatesmum]

I am suprised that some of your fellow union members are still unaware of what is going on as I note that Unite is an affiliate of the Anti Academies Alliance which has been instrumental in opposing the Bolingbroke campaign.

[localunionmember]

This is an on the record statement from Jon de Maria on 17 th December 2010 re why Wix Lane was included and Falconbrook excluded:

" am sure you will believe what it suits you to believe Laura. Why let the truth get in the way of a good story? As I recall, Katie from ARK spent some time discussing with you the choice of the 4 local primary schools at the recent consultation? Part of the reason is that Gail (sic)Keller, the head at Battersea Park school, sees the primary schools to the north of Battersea as being very much part of his community. We have met Gail (sic)a few times now and would like to respect his objective to form a comunity school in north Battersea. So we will take the kids from our 4 local primaries to feed into a new local state comprehensive school in south Battersea. As I said above, the truth is often more mundane than the perception or spin"

This is a statement from Gale Keller in reply “at no stage have I ever made a statement supporting the catchment area of the proposed Free School, nor have I ever made a statement in support of it. Personally, socially, educationally and politically I have never supported its foundation, construction, development or the reasons for it.

The quotation attributed to me by Jon De Maria is false.

I believe that Jon De Maria’s comment on January 10th retracts his original statement. I hope that this is clear and I am happy to speak to any colleague teaching or non teaching regarding my views on the Free School.”

If GMB had not taken the troube to find out if this statement from Mr De Maria was correct parents would be none the wiser and under the impression that head of Battersea park supported the North South axis. No other conclusion could be drawn from Mr De Maria statement untill he clarified it- i.e retracted it.

What else has Mr De Mario got wrong?

So much for proper consultation.

Asking for proper consultation on a plan to spend £40m of public funds is not an excuse.

[doleofficedad]

LUM - I think you may be flogging this Gale Keller thing to death? Clearly the act of a desperate man. Mr De Maria has commented on this non-point on page 9 of this thread - he did not ever attribute any quote to Gale Keller at any time and so there is nothing to retract. One cannot know what precise question the GMB put to Mr Keller and therefore why he replied as you suggest he has. Its spin. And perhaps you could tell us where the figure of £40 million has now come from - where is that in the public domain? I just think you are making yourself look a bit foolish now to be honest.

[localunionmember]

You may consider it a non point attributing views to a local head on the record and claiming to be respecting his opinion. Many do not - including the head himself.

What makes this significant is Mr De Maria was claiming to be telling the truth when he wrote what he did. I do not know Mr De Maria but this exchange does impact on his credibility. Professional politicians are distrusted because they sometimes bend the truth.

I understand he was asked if what Mr De Maria wrote was a true reflection of his opinion and he said verbally that it was not. He has now said this in print. Mr Maria has now retracted his statement.

Re sources for £40m spend- Dept of Education re £13m from Wandsworth reserves to buy site. BBC Today programme Mr de Maria recorded as saying it would cost at least £20m to convert old site into new school. Annual running costs £6m- town hall sources.

There is a meeting this evening of scrutiny committee in town hall to discuss the sacking of 20 teaching support posts in the other schools in Borough due to lack of funds to pay their wages.

Unite nationally is affiliated to alliance against the academies. Local branches in other sectors do not tend to be involved and delegates tend to get reports on what is happening from monthly meeting of local trades union council and the local labour party meetings when we hear from education unions including GMB and NUT.

[doleofficedad]

I'm sorry, but you are just reaching with this Gale Keller thing. As far as I can see from what was said above, Mr De Maria never quoted Gale Keller on anything at all did he? All Mr De Maria did was express his opinion on what Gale Keller had said about wanting to the the community school of choice. Nothing was quoted and there is nothing to retract. If GMB spin is the best you have then you have a lousy case. As for an existing borough head not supporting a new school, then thats his choice. So what? When was the BBC programme shown?

[localunionmember]

What you think of Mr De Maria post of 17th December is your business.

I know that GMB were inclined to beleive his claim given his position as leader of the group- but being a trade union they checked first and found out it was not correct. I do know that others take the view that this has damaged his credibility for other claims he makes.

BBC Radio 4 Today programme broadcast Mr De Maria saying it would cost £20m to do it up about 6 months ago. MrDe Maria should be able to give the exact date. I know that there are copies of him saying it floating around in the town hall.

Are you sugesting we should take this with a pinch of salt as well?

[doleofficedad]

A somewhat random quote 6 months ago on a radio station doesnt strike me as a definite indication of cost?!? More spin on your part. What was the typical cost of a new academy under Labour and what monies are currently being spent on BSF projects that survived the cull I wonder - can you answer those questions?

[localunionmember]

Given that Mr De Maria is the leader of the group and given his profession I am surprised that you dismiss his estimate of the cost of converting Bolingbroke at £20 million on national BBC radio as a "random quote". It is the only estimate to date that I am aware of.

Are you saying we should discount statements on the record by Mr De Maria?

Soon enough we should have the proper estimates. I doubt if the figure will prove to be too high. Have you got a better estimate to hand?

Other posters may have the specialist knowledge to answer your question re school rebuilding costs.

I know school building and maintenance costs are not cheap. £300m in total was allocated to Wandsworth Schools to refurbish them when the plug was pulled in July last year.

[doleofficedad]

So you refuse to believe what Mr De Maria has clarified about Mr Gale Keller, but you are more than happy to believe what he says about the costs? Again, it appears that you want things both ways to suit your narrow viewpoint. If you cherry pick and spin information in this way, it is you that loses credibility. There is no consistency in what you say - you just bounce from one topic to another to suit your own ends. So for example the earlier posts today about the Winstanley children - you have now ignored because you were asked if a distance based admissions policy that you favour would benefit those kids or not? It would not and that is why you then dragged up (again!) the non-event about Gale Keller and now some 6 month old radio quote. I would take your own advice and wait and see what hard figures are put out there by the DfE on cost (which may or may not be £20 million) rather than bundling up disparate sources of information and presenting them as joined up gospel. Its all very tiresome.