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Why I oppose academies [editor's title] In reply to Bob Wharton’s letter of June 25, I first raised the issue of a shortage of primary school places with Brent Council more than 10 years ago, so Mr Wharton is way off target in making the absurd suggestion that I oppose the provision of school places (Letters, June 25). The real question is: What type of school places and where they should be? I am against providing places through academy schools because these schools are managed by private sponsors (in the ARK academy case by a hedge fund speculator), despite being financed by taxpayers’ money. Because the sponsor has a built in majority on the governing body and the local authority has to adopt a ‘hands off’ stance there is no effective local democratic control of the school. This amounts to taxation without representation. Academy schools are expensive and bleed away money that would otherwise have gone to local authority schools in the area, and national statistics indicate that they expel more pupils and take fewer children from poor families than the schools they replaced. I oppose the building of a school on the Wembley Playing fields site because it is unsuitable. There are problems with flooding, which a private consultant suggests could result in expensive and environmentally damaging pumping costs; increased traffic congestion and pollution because 50% of the secondary pupils will be travelling from the south of the borough; concerns over the friction caused by the academy’s proximity to Preston Manor High School; and despite Wharton’s claims to the contrary, a loss of recreational space available to the local community which includes the hard-pressed Chalkhill estate. I support the expansion of existing secondary schools in the north of the borough, where appropriate, but more importantly I am strongly in favour of building a community secondary school in the south of the borough. The north-south divide is at its sharpest since the famous ‘Two Kingdoms’ report. The area south of the North Circular has one local authority secondary school, Queens Park, close to the Westminster border. North of the North Circular we have Copland, Wembley, Claremont, Kingsbury and Preston Manor. A community secondary school in the south of the borough would not only provide places for local pupils in Stonebridge and Harlesden who would be able to walk to school but would also become a beacon for the local area providing sports and cultural activities. The campus being planned for Westminster’s Marlborough Hill site which will include the rebuilding of Quintin Kynaston School, two primaries and a pupil referral unit; the provision of theatre, health, adult education, drop-in nursery, swimming pool and sports facilities shows just what can be done – and not a mention of academies. I used to live in Harlesden and it deserves such a facility, which would do much to lift the area. Mr Wharton claims that there was no alternative to an academy because that was the only source of funding. It seems more likely that the Lib Dems were forced to renege on their 2006 council opposition to academies because they, as an inexperienced administration’ were rushed into a decision on the back of previous agreements between the Labour council and Labour government. Now they are rushing through the ARK Academy ahead of next year’s election with Labour support, despite the opposition of their Conservative coalition partners. It is noteworthy that Newham Council recently decided a planned ARK academy in the Royal Docks will not go ahead, following campaigning by residents and trade unionists. Despite local Conservative opposition to the ARK Academy, an incoming Conservative Government is pledged to expand the academies programme into the primary sector and give them more ‘freedom’ on admissions, curriculum and pay, which would make them even less accountable and produce more inequalities. The Greens are the only party standing in the Wembley By-Election opposed in principle to academies. I urge readers opposed to academies and privatisation of community resources to vote Green for locally managed, democratically accountable services. Martin Francis Brent Green Party spokesperson on Children, Families and Schools and Green candidate for Wembley Central by-election |
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