Hackney headteacher discusses academies on BBC

Richard Brown, headteacher at The Urswick School (formerly Hackney Parochial) told BBC Radio 4's Beyond Westminster - (still available on iPlayer) that academies have financial advantages and are free to act against the interests of other local schools.

But Brown said he didn't know if he would convert the school to an academy if it gets the required rating from Ofsted in its next inspection.

Brown implied that he would only convert if the school was disadvantaged by remaining in its current status.

He said: "It looks like there are financial advantages but how longterm those advantages are... lets face it, with the economic climate at the moment the cake isn't going to get any bigger, it's how the cake is going to get carved up."

On the ethical front he seemed to balk at the potential disruption that an academy could cause in a local area:

"If I want to expand the number that come to the school I have to go through a process that assesses the impact on other schools in the area. (But) Academies can decide on their own if they want to expand. There is a danger that some schools will suffer as a result of that sort of policy." (The story about Skinners Academy poaching Petchey Academy's maths department shows that academies don't look out for each other either... A third of teachers leave Hackney School)

Another issue he discussed was the "pupil premium" which (I think) is related to whether a child is eligible for free school meals which could add an extra 10% funding per pupil.

He said that this didn't sound as good as it should for Urswick (its got one of the highest rates in Hackney see chart) because cuts elsewhere would outweigh the gains.


Also, an issue that wasn't mentioned in the BBC piece was that Urswick has the highest pupil:teacher ratio - the fewest teachers per pupil as per the chart. This subject was discussed in the most recent edition of the Hackney Citizen.

The data in both charts is from 2010 and from the Department for Education site. Richard Brown's interview is about 14 minutes into the programme which was broadcast on Saturday 1 October 2011.

Hackney play area or evil vortex?

This week Hackney Bloggers have delivered...

Supernatural

Be afraid because, apparently: 'This (Hackney) playground is much more than a play area, its an energy vortex which was marked out and built by Hackney Council planners and construction contractors.... Why go to so much trouble to build a child safe play area with the newest technology in safety turfing to place a boulder on top of that MOUND. Even if you don't believe a word we say, its pretty odd don't you agree?' (Up there with that masonic pyramid on Canary Wharf and Hawksmoor's pentagon of East End churches.)

Natural

Returning to the real world Northern Rustic points out some exotic looking birds in Hackney (he now seems to have a site dedicated to the Birds of Stoke Newington Reservoirs). This week on Northern Rustic it is Waxwings (as it was at the end of Feb) possibly because: 'It could be a long time before our dark urban borough is graced by them again, so it seems only just to make the most of them'.

Ultra Orthodox

Hackney blogger 'If you tickle us' hit the headlines last week via an article in the Telegraph about Stamford Hill. This promted a flurry of activity and as Tickle said: 'The Hill is alive with the sound of comments.'

A colleague at work pointed out where the 'If you tickle us' might be from (I didn't know): Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice: 'Hath not a Jew eyes; hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer that a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?' (Meanwhile, if you are in need of more conspiracy theories, here's one about Shakespeare and Hackney)

Free schools in Hackney?
This week's Hackney Gazette has a letter from lots of top Hackney folk complaining about the idea of a free school in Hackney. They say: 'While the public will be paying for them, we will have absolutely no say in how they are run or to hold them to account in the event of problems'. This sounds pretty much like academies which, it is rumoured, are slave-ships for teachers, and also steal each others teachers as if they were competing businesses, and which are not subject to freedom of information act.... but are otherwise loved - may be by some of Labour Party people on the list of objectors to free schools.

Well Street in the FT
This weekend's Financial Times had a piece about a charity set up to help poor people in the East End evicting Well Street shopkeepers. The FT reported: "They want to increase my annual rent from £5,000 to £9,000,” says Danny Rao, who runs the street’s post office. “If that happens, I’ll have to close down. And if I close down, half the street’s going to be dead." That will leave lots of room for more off licences and betting shops - the only money-making shops on Hackney highstreets these days - apart from Tescos, but there's one of them there already. Hopefully the FT's undercover economist and Hackney resident Tim Harford will shed light on whether a charity should be denied the right to ask shopkeepers to pay a market rate rent, and whether there is a cause to fight for here.

Hackney Free School - will it add £20k to your house price?

An architect is waiting to hear if her plan to set up a Free School in Hackney will be approved by the Department for Education.

Pascale Scheurer argues her case for the school in this piece in Building.co.uk.

Her opening sentence suggests she's talking to property owners: "A popular school can add £15,000-20,000 to house prices within its catchment area. So whether you have children of school age or not, may I suggest you keep a close eye on the free schools debate over the coming year."

But the real reason for her project seems to be that: "There is an “outstanding” school round the corner with the creative ethos I want but, thanks to the idiocy of the admissions process, my girls are more likely to end up in a sink school further away."

Her plan is to set up the "Hackney Free School for Creative Entrepreneurship". On her twitter page she says she's still awaiting approval and adds: "Just had great mtg with Hackney Learning Trust. Very supportive of Free School, very helpful."

She provides more details about the Hackney bid here: "In the spirit of 'augmenting the state sector', and taking on board the various concerns over Free Schools, we have contacted the LEA and other local schools, and local MP and councillors (Labour and LibDem). Heated debates as you can imagine, but everyone agrees there is a severe shortage of places and the same issues around faith and single-sex schools abound. I believe it is possible for Free and 'wholly State' schools to work together for mutual benefit, if that is set out as part of the initial core objectives. We are also getting advice from the Head of a Camden community secondary school who we've worked with for two years. Some parents who have been in touch with us live in Camden. It may be of use to share details with you at some point."

I couldn't find any more details about the project and it may well be old news. Pascale will be hoping to hear from the Department for Education and get a letter like the one received by parents setting up a free school in Acton, described here by Toby Young in the Telegraph. But I don't know how large Pascale's school will be.

And I don't know which Hackney MP she is having to deal with. Diane Abbott didn't support academies until they were successful. She also seems particularly wary of middle-class white parents. In a 2006 NASUWT-sponsored paper (Academy schools: case unproven) Diane said: "... We know what parent power means in London. In practice, it means giving power to small groups of white middle-class parents..."

And Pascale's support from the Learning Trust is no guarantee of support from Hackney's biggest beast Jules Pipe (Learning Trust still disgusting... )

And then how keen will a Conservative government be to help out Hackney? And has Michael Gove dropped in for that cup of tea at Woodberry Down yet? Like he said he would.)

The 16 proposals so far accepted (from the BBC) :

Bedford and Kempston Free School, Bedford
The Childcare Company, Slough
Discovery New School, West Sussex
The Free School Norwich, Norfolk
Haringey Jewish Primary School, Haringey
I-Foundation Primary School, Leicester (Hindu)
King's Science Academy, Bradford
Mill Hill Jewish Primary School, Barnet
Nishkam Education Trust, Birmingham (Sikh)
North Westminster Free School (ARK), Westminster (ARK is an existing academy sponsor)
Priors Marston and Priors Hardwick School, Warwickshire
Rivendale Free School, Hammersmith and Fulham
St. Luke's School, Camden (Anglican)
Stour Valley Community School, Suffolk
West London Free School, Ealing or Hammersmith and Fulham
Wormholt North Hammersmith Free School (ARK), Hammersmith and Fulham (to be known as Burlington Primary Academy)

You can follow the progress of Hackney Free School for Creative Entrepreneurship on LinkedIn (search for “Free Schools Resource Group”).