24 June 2007

Schools debate is alive and kicking

'Speaking up for comprehensives' promises to be a lively seminar this week on the future of education in Hammersmith & Fulham. It takes place on Tuesday 26 June from 7pm at the Lilla Huset Centre, 191 Talgarth Road.

With the debate raging about the Tories' plans for school closures and strategies for primary, special and secondary schools in the borough, now is the time for anyone concerned about local education to get involved.

Tuesday's panel includes:

* Francis Becket, writer, journalist and author of The Great City Academy Fraud,
* Alasdair Smith, education lecturer at the Institute of Education and founder member of the Anti Academies Alliance, who organised the recent Committee of Enquiry into Academies in the House of Commons,
* Ken Muller, the Islington Green teacher and NUT representative who exposed the OFSTED fraud at his school,
* Phil Cross, Headteacher at Hurlingham & Chelsea School, speaking on education leadership and school improvement,
* Janet Theakston, heads the Privatisation of Education Unit in the National Union of Teachers.
* The seminar will be chaired by Christine Blower, Deputy General Secretary of the NUT, who previously taught in Hammersmith & Fulham primary, secondary and special schools.

To attend, e-mail HFTAnut@aol.com

4 comments:

Unknown said...

HFTAnut@aol.com should maintain an email list.

MING said...

Dear HFconwatch blogmeister,

since you would be at the protest, could you please note, just in case your protest brief is rather small, that in as far as the libraries are concerned :

1. The proposed charge to the library People's network computers is 5 times the cost the council pays for it

2. and that this matter has been concealed.

3. and the timetable for this has been brought forward (noticed appeared today, taking most stuff by surprise again - usual theme)

4. Please enquire at either of the reference libraries (hammersmith or fulham)

5. You can safely reject any idea that consultation on the above was properly carried out. There will be evidence for this.


Please include the in your protest brief, and please desiminate.

Bestest

(r96harris@yahoo.com)

MING said...

Please also ensure you post and distribute publically available contact information, such as the ones given elsewhere in this blog (eg for Lillis) at the protest meeting.

Its only a suggestion. Therefore, do take it up.

Bestest.

MING said...

You should also know, that charging over cost of the computers, and pegging these to supposed market rates, is not what a library should be doing.

This move also goes contrary to steps to develop a digital library.

This move goes against economic interests as well.

Around half the borough population do not have access to broadband access, around 90,000 people.

The number of "cafes" in the borough do not provide more than 250 places at the maximum, and there are 180,000 residents in the borough.

There are also very good grounds for suspicion that the user computers are being charged for, in order to pay for staff computers - not an efficiency at all.

This move is an anti-education move, and you should make this abundantly clear at the protest meeting; just in case the education point is raised. Actual moves on the ground are not for education.

Make the above points very clear at the protest meeting please.

And contact me for details if required on r96harris@yahoo.com