Michaela Free School 'putting pupils lives at risk' claim teacher unions

Hank Roberts, Union representative on  on Brent Schools Health and Safety Committee has riased serious questions about safety at the Michaela Academy Free School in Wembley Park which opened in September 2014 but is still undertaking building works on the building while it is occupied by the Year 7 children.  This is his letter to Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council containing the draft report:

Dear Muhammed.

Please find enclosed a revised (2^nd draft) copy of our document concerning Michaela Community (Free) school. This is just to clarify particular action points that we are calling for you and the Authority to take up arising from the potentially dangerous situation we uncovered and, we believe, aspects of which are still extant.

1)   For the Authority to write to the Secretary of State for Education and Michaela Community school seeking their response to the specific actions I believe should be undertaken in the section of the document on Page 7 headed “Urgent actions that need to be undertaken”.

2)   That the request in the last paragraph on Page 8 from “We call on the local authority” down to “other Brent LA schools” and further to raise with the Secretary of State both the exact present legal position of the LA in regard to potential hazards facing the health and safety of Brent pupils in free schools (and academies) and the unsatisfactory nature of the present anomalous position.

Yours sincerely,

Hank Roberts

Union Representative on Brent Schools H&S Committee

PS: I am also sending this draft document to the Fire Brigade, H&S Executive, ATL, NASUWT and NUT Teacher Unions, Brent school H&S Reps and the media requesting their observations, comments and actions as appropriate.

Below you can find the full draft document which Mr Roberts has circulated:

 

Birbalsingh's 'high standards' do not to appear to apply to the Michaela building

Katharine Birbalsingh's strictures on school uniform (sturdy black traditional shoes - send us a picture for approval before purchasing if you are not sure), haircuts (must 'comply' with school policy, presumably nothing expressing any personality or ethnic identity allowed) and umbrellas (only black or blue - nothing colourful) have been received with some amusement LINK

However, Birbalsingh's 'high standards' on uniform and behaviour do not seem to apply to the school building where pupils will start at 11am on Monday.

The pupil entrance is through a builders' door and along a wooded boarded narrow passage way that separates pedestrians from building equipment on one side and stacked cabins on the other. The whole of the area beneath the school appears to be covered in building equipment apart from this passage way.  As far as I could see this morning there is no play area at all at the moment and more importantly nowhere for the children to assemble in the event of a fire.

They would have to evacuate the building along the wooden boarded narrow passage way and assembly outside on the pedstrianised road.

This morning there was a lot of work going on inside the building but what appeared to be  classrooms had no equipment apart from tables and chairs. There may be other rooms hidden from view.

120 excited children, who have waited an extra two weeks for their school to be opened, may well be rather disappointed by what they find when they enter the building for the first time. 

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN EARLIER TODAY

CLASSROOM?

 

KITCHEN

GROUND LEVEL

GROUND LEVEL - HOARDING PROTECTING PEDESTRIANS (FAR RIGHT)

PEDESTRIAN GATE (WHITE) FOR PUPILS (EXTREME RIGHT)

STOP PRESS: Michaela Free School announces 'Umbrellas are acceptable' but watch out for the shoes and haircuts

The Michaela Free School still looked like a building site today but the school's website, in a not terribly friendly announcement, says pupils will start on Monday:

School Starts at 11am Monday 15^th September

Parents’ Evening is at 5pm Wednesday 17^th September

Parental Interviews Cancelled

1.School uniform: All pupils are expected in full school uniform on the first day of school: Monday 15 September at 11am.

2.Shoes should be plain, black, flat and logo-free. Be very traditional in your choice of shoe. Please avoid anything that looks like a black trainer. If in doubt send us a photograph of the shoes BEFORE buying.

3.Boots are not acceptable for school. Sturdy traditional school shoes with a good tread, suitable for winter, are advised.

4.PE Trainers, the colour and style are up to you. And yes, inevitably, trainers will have logos. They must be suitable for indoor and outdoor use.

5.Umbrellas are acceptable. These should be plain, in black or navy blue and in a telescopic style. Umbrellas must be small enough that, when closed and collapsed, they fit into the standard school bag.

6.Haircuts & Jewellery: All haircuts must comply with school policy for Monday 15th September. No make-up or jewellery is allowed. This includes stud earrings.

7.Free School Meals: If you’re already registered with Brent as eligible for free school meals that should automatically continue. If concerned contact us and we’ll check on our list.

8.Food: High quality food is prepared on site. There will be a range of options, including fish and vegetarian choices so all religious groups are treated fairly and equally.

9.Paying for food: Please send your child to school on Monday 15th with a cheque for either £159.50 for the term or £77 for the half term, made payable to Michaela Community School. Please write your child’s FULL NAME and DATE OF BIRTH on the back of your cheque.

10.Oyster Zip cards: All parents should apply for these as soon as possible. The application says that a stamp or signature from the school is required. We have checked with TFL and we are advised that this is NOT essential.

Michaela will be ready for September 15th insists Assistant Head

I have now heard from Barry Smith, Assistant Head Teacher at Michaela Academy Free School:

We will be opening our doors to our first intake of 120 Year 7 pupils on Monday, 15th September. 

I was on site on Thursday - the place is a hive of activity! The pace of progress is phenomenal. Having spoken at length with the site manager I came away very confident indeed. 

I'll be back again on site next week and of course there's so much else going on to make sure everything comes together for Monday 15th.

Exciting times. Thanks for your continued interest Martin. 

Katharine Birbalsingh and the tale of the black and white shoe laces

Michael Gove applauds Katharine Birbalsingh at Tory Party Conference

Parents of Year 7 children who have been offered a place at the Michael Free School have been somewhat bemused by a letter from Katharine Birbalsingh, if not left feeling a tad patronised. As the self styled headmistress says herself, it promises to be an 'extraordinary education':

We are expecting a great deal of you and you should be expecting a lot from us. We have set ourselves a challenge to show that children from the inner city can learn as much as any child educated in the private sector. This will require a lot of hard work, commitment and perseverance, not just from our children but from parents and teachers as well.

We are ready for the challenge and hope you are too. I look forward to the weekly contact that we will have when you access [you child's] assessment and behaviour records on line and [his/her] progress with [him/her]. We expect children to read every night at home and complete a reading log. Anyone who does not meet our expectations will be kept for a 30 minute detention the following day. I know you will support our strict line on uniform, our insistence on all pupils being prepared and polite and our desire that children should take pride in themselves and in their schools.

This can only be achieved through retaining high expectations of both children and parents and I am certain you will want to meet our high standards. It won't always be easy. When your child's black shoe lace is broken and you are rushing to work and only have a white shoe lace to give them, you may find yourself wishing that you had sent your child to a school that would make an exception to the uniform once in a while. You'll then remember that we have high standards for a reason: to ensure your child has access to an extraordinary education.

As headmistress I promise you an education that will transform your child's life. Our extended school day, starting at 8am and finishing at 4.30pm will itself be revolutionary in helping your child learn more, build their confidence and extend concentration. Our senior team is now appointed and our team of teachers is nearly complete, Please have a look at our website for their profiles. They are exceptional. They believe in imparting knowledge, benchmarking and healthy competition so that children are prepared for later challenges in life.

Birbalsingh goes on to assure parents that although no work may appear to be going on at the Arena House building which will house the school, 'there is a lot going on beind the scenes' and 'our contractors have a great deal of experience in preparing free schools to open (often on shorter timelines than ours) and we are confident that everything required will be in place for us to welcome our first intake in September'.

All parents will be expected to attend a Welcome Event on Sunday 15th June at Vale Farm Sports Centre when they will hear more about Birbalsingh's expectations and will be given information about uniform.

Ark Academy across the road from the Michaela Academy already has a reputation for strictness which has rubbed some parents up the wrong way.  I hope a 'discipline war' doesn't break out between the two schools in an attempt to prove which is the 'toughest'. We will be watching exclusion rates and the profile of those excluded closely.

Meanwhile a number of parents allocated a place for their child at Michaela did not express a preference for the school or its ethos, they were given a place because none of their 6 preferences came up, and that may well be a source of future conflict.

The true cost of Michaela's failures in South London

The DfE spent £168,000 on the Michaela Free School before its move to Wembley and after it had failed to set up first in Lambeth and then in Wandsworth.  It has taken the DfE 18 months to answer the Anti Academies Alliance's Freedom of Information request.

The following is an extract from the DfE letter:

The Michaela Community School free school trust announced its decision to defer opening of the school on 24 February 2012. Prior to this decision, the school was aiming to open in South London. The Department for Education’s expenditure on the Michaela Community School project up to that point was £168,339.64. Michaela Community School is now on course to open in Brent in September 2014. Expenditure up to February 2012 includes much work that has on-going utility to the project. This includes the development of marketing and consultation materials which could be used as the basis for their current marketing and consultation in Brent as well as educational and staffing plans, governance arrangements, policies and procedures and other material which can be used by the school when it opens in Brent. It would be therefore be unreasonable to say that this money had been wasted.

I think I would take issue with that last sentence. No wonder Michaela has such glossy brochures to distribute as well as that huge poster they were forced to take down because they didn't have planning permission.  It would be interesting to know how much money they have had since  24th February 2012, including of course the cost of purchase of the Wembley Park building and its refurbishment (no sign of that happening by the way).

Michaela Free School fails to convince teachers or the local community

Apparently there were only about 40 people at the Michaela Free School meeting today and this included the Michaela representatives and parents with their children and members of a church group. Some were from outside of Brent, including Harrow and Islington.

Katharine Birbalsingh made a short presentation, comparing her school with Eton (!), and to people's then moved away without any Q&A session.

Cllr Michael Pavey, lead member for children and families on the Brent Council Executive, has expressed opposition to the Michaela Academy.

The Brent teacher unions have made  the following statement about the Michaela proposal:

As you know the education unions as a whole are against the 'free' school movement as they are designed to take money away from local schools and local authorities so leading to the break up of state education. There are clear proposals by this Government that such schools will be run for profit as the Breckland 'free' school already is.

We are also concerned that 'free' schools open the way for charitable foundations to profit by stealth through the payment of inflated salaries and bonuses to these who control those foundations.

The money already spent on Ms Birbalsingh's unsuccessful 'free' school proposals for south London are being kept from the public despite requests under FoI. Further public money is now being spent in Brent, again with no accountability. It is our understanding that in January 2012 a Freedom of Information request was made to the Department of Education about how long approval for the school was to be held open. The response was that normally, following approval, it would be expected that the school would open within a year i.e. January 2013 at the latest. So we do not understand how this new proposal can be linked to the first and question the propriety of the DfE and others in this case.

The details of the proposed school are still vague and contradictory and this makes it difficult to make specific responses. You have had a couple of years to put in the detail. In particular there is nothing in the information that gives us any reason to believe that you have in reality signed up to the partnership values of the Council despite saying that you have.

However, what we can say is that we are very concerned that another secondary school in this area will have a potentially detrimental effect on the local secondary schools, including the ARK academy which is just over the road from the proposed free school. There is currently, enough and in fact spare, secondary capacity. Your argument is that that is the only available building. This confirms that you are just aiming to set up a school wherever you can and have not taken into consideration the local needs. Not what we would call a 'community' decision.

The ethos of the 'private school' is not one of inclusion and is selective in its very nature. For the Michaela school to just concentrate on the purely academic is to narrow the education of children and means they will be learning through rote and over learning. It cannot call itself a community school when it will obviously only cater for one type of learner. One concern was that we were told that science would be taught in classrooms and no mention was made of laboratories which means scientific learning will be through books not practical and experimental.

Jenny Cooper, NUT Health and Safety Officer and a member of the Brent Health and Safety committees, has written to you about areas of concern which we are restating here. Regarding SEN, she makes the point that no that you will welcome applications from all persons regardless or background and ability. Oxford University also welcome these applications. It does not, of course, mean that these people get a place. Your response to with regards the curriculum was that it will be inclusive in order to suit children with SEN.

However, your website says, “traditional academic subjects .......Pupils will be required to study the five academic subjects that form the English Baccalaureate: English, Maths, Science, History/Geography and a foreign language.....In addition to these mandatory subjects, pupils will be able to choose from a range of options, including Art, Music and Drama......We believe knowledge is a prerequisite of skills development....Sport will be competitive and pupils will take Games for one afternoon per week”.

Jenny Cooper is an SEN specialist, and we agree with her that we cannot see how your proposed curriculum can be described as inclusive. Most teachers who have worked with SEN children (and indeed many parents) would agree that to be overloaded with academic subjects and to leave the creative subjects as non-mandatory, to focus on knowledge acquisition not skills development and to restrict physical education to solely competitive games occurring only once a week is a recipe for disaster.

Are you aware that Hirsch's theories on education, which you refer to in your curriculum information, were highly contentious in 1960s-70s America because of the very fact that they were considered non-inclusive? It was thought that he did not acknowledge differences in learning styles. And also, interestingly for the Brent community, he was criticised for not including the contributions of African Americans to society in the body of knowledge and culture that he decided should be taught. This attitude is simply not welcome in Brent. Brent teachers and parents are proud of our diverse community and we/they will not tolerate this kind of prejudiced narrow mindedness amongst us.

Regarding Health & Safety, Brent's policy on asbestos goes beyond that of the statutory requirements. All Brent schools are scheduled to have asbestos removed within the next few years on a rolling programme. It is no longer the policy simply to manage and cover up. The reason Brent have gone this step further is following poor management of asbestos which led to improvement notices being served after pupils and teachers were exposed. If this occurred in your school, you would be responsible for the insurance money available to pay compensation, as Brent are having to do for their ex-pupils. We noticed a van from an asbestos firm at the proposed site and would hope that their findings would be made known.

We all raised the question of lack of play area which was agreed to be inadequate. Children will be expected to study all day and then do sport but at the moment there is no agreed place for this to happen. Will parents be expected to pay for sports facilities at another school or sports centre? How else will the school afford this or is this in fact something that will either not happen or the parents will pay. All educationalist know that exercise is very important for children particularly in the teenage years yet there is to be one sports session a week. Playtime will also be very limited.

The emphasis on discipline – straight lines, standing up straight in assemblies – and the lack of creativity and exploration in the curriculum are all reminders of a Victorian system.

The admissions policy is all about taking tests and banding leaving admissions open to take just the most able pupils. 'Free' schools are able to do this as they face less scrutiny.

We are further concerned about the governors which we have been told have been self appointed. Parent governors will be 'recruited' rather than elected.

In conclusion

We think that the planning for school places has to be done in collaboration with the local community. Putting this school in the north of the borough of Brent will directly compete with our existing local schools and is not where the school place shortages are.

We believe that the evidence from ‘free’ schools has shown that they lead to increased social segregation, lower attainment and have been run for profit. Brent schools are in the top 10% of schools in the country so have a proven track record improving attainment for all children ensuring equal opportunities for pupils from all backgrounds.

We believe that all children need decent school buildings, investment in their schools and smaller class sizes. Free schools have been funded by cutting two desperately needed grants, including the BSF (Building Schools for the Future) money promised to our existing local schools. We know that the cuts to education and public services and the raising of tuition fees will harm our communities. The free school movement is Michael Gove's experimental pet project and is part of the plan to privatise our services and will worsen education for all.

Two more secondary free schools in Brent approved by Gove

Michael Gove today approved two secondary free schools to open in Brent in September 2014.  This is in addition to Michaela Academy which was approved in the last wave.

The Gateway Academy will be in the Wembley Central area, possibly in Madison House in London Road, off Wembley High Road. This is a close to Copland High School which is going through a difficult period at the moment and thought likely to be subjected to a forced academy. My previous posting on Gateway can be found HERE

The rather meagre details about the new school can be found HERE

Gladstone School does not yet appear to have found premises in the Gladstone Park/Cricklewood area. Crest Boys and Crest Girls Academies presently serve that community. The sponsors answered my questions about the proposed free school HERE

Details can be found on the school's website HERE 

Both sets of proposers are thought to have been in talks with Brent Council officers. The issue of free schools has been controversial within Brent Labour Party and concern about it is said to have been a factor in Cllr Michael Pavey replacing Mary Arnold as lead member for children and families in the recent Executive elections.

 Meanwhile the Mayor of London has admitted that he supports the funding of free schools even in areas where there is “not necessarily a shortage of places”. London Councils are lobbying the Government for funding to cope with the estimated 118,000 extra school places in London by 2014/15.

Darren Johnson, Green Assembly Member for London said:

We will have new schools funded in areas of London which don’t need them and no new schools built in areas of high demand. The policy is irrational and based upon the principle of the parents who shout loudest getting their own way. With a dire shortage of funds for new schools, the Mayor is effectively saying that a new free school has priority over a child in another part of London who has no school.

The Mayor can’t say that he is simply following Government policy on this, as his deputy Mayor for culture also admitted that properties belonging to the fire or police authorities may be sold to free schools at ‘red book’ prices, rather than through competitive tendering. The looming shortfall of 118,000 school places in the capital would be far better addressed through the Mayor's co-operation with local authorities in a properly planned programme of school building rather than the hit and miss approach of Free Schools.

 

Brent's message to Birbalsingh: 'You are not wanted here'

Having attracted only six (almost all critical) people at its first consultation, Michaela Secondary Free School hit rock bottom at its second, evening, consultation last week. As far as I can ascertain two people went along and they were both opposed to Katharine Birbalsingh's 'traditional' and 'disciplined' secondary school where she has appointed herself headteacher.. One was a union representative who wanted to put her reservations on record.

The small room at Chalkhill Community Centre looked crowded, but it turned out to be full of Michaela staff and governors.

Apparently Katharine Birbalsingh didn't look very happy.

It will be interesting to see whether the DfE nonetheless goes ahead and gives Birbalsingh a stash of taxpayers' money to refurbish Arena House and pay herself and her staff salaries when Brent schools could do with the money.