Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Ode to Michael Gove (following the sacking of Downhills Governing Body)
Here's something I wrote in response to the sacking of the Governing Body at Downhills Primary School in Tottenham and how angry and disenfrachised it's making us all feel:
ODE TO MICHAEL GOVE
There once was a fella named Gove
That only his mother could love
The Downhills GB
Said ‘NO ACADEMY’
And so he just gave ‘em the shove
But that’s not the end of the story
Be you Labour, LibDem or a Tory
Democracy’s dead
You have put it to bed
And the future is looking quite gory
Revolution is not the Brit way
At least that’s what most people say
But you’ve pushed us some more
You’ve caused a furore
And Govey, you might rue the day
In Tottenham we fight for our schools
We’re not ‘Trots’, but nor are we fools
We won’t let you butcher
Our dear children’s future
Just ‘cos we don’t play by your rules
Yes, it’s ‘carve ‘em up’ time for the state
The NHS and our schools on a plate
But is it improvement
Or big assets movement?
It’s the greed and the lies that we hate
‘Sponsor’ Harris sell carpets and mats
The rug trade has made them fat cats
But kids all find flooring
Incredibly boring
And we doubt it’ll help with their SATS
So here’s one last thought, Mr Gove
Since you seem to have something to prove
Take your ‘sponsor’
And stick it up yer bum, Sir
And then let us see how you move!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Fair question. I'll ask for the form and take a look
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As I said, I've asked them to send me a copy of the form. I will read it carefully.
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I've now read the online application form to become a school governor. As Will Hoyle said, it contains this question - in the fifth box on the form: "If you are a member of a political party, please indicate for possible local authority governorships."
I can guess the purpose of the question. But rather than guesswork and conjecture I've sent a formal 'Councillor Enquiry'. I'll post the reply I get.
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Yes Alan I'm ignorant of the English education system and would probably recognise more in the Scottish system on which the NZ system is based.
However I am not so ignorant that I cannot read accounts of Haringey schools being taken into Special Measures and have a rough understanding of what that means. Does this not mean that a school is taken away from council-control due to municipal inadequacies and made, as it were, a ward of the State?
I accept that for you, local council control of schooling is not merely normal, it is righteous.
But the question that seems to be avoided repeatedly is, is there a problem in some schools in Haringey?
It's not good enough saying that all schools have problems, as you did earlier. Eton "public" school probably has some rats on their premises, but that doesn't equate to the kind of problems that may exist in Haringey.
There's another aspect. What are current pupils expected to make of all this? How responsible is it to have a public tug of war over a school when children's education is at stake? Does it help discipline?
It hold no brief for Academies. However, it might be better for the detractors to regard it as an well-intentioned experiment worth considering. If in due course Academies turn out to be a success, I wonder if the critics will have the intellectual honesty to admit it?
Could it be only closed-minded idealogues who would never admit they were wrong?
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"I accept that for you, local council control of schooling is not merely normal, it is righteous."
OED: Righteous: Of a person: acting or disposed to act rightly or justly; conforming to the precepts of divine law or accepted standards of morality; upright, virtuous.
Clive, I know you mean well, but I really can't accept the compliment. There's nothing divine, upright, or inherently virtuous in my views about schools. I have a slight advantage over you as I used to be, for many years, a governor in a primary school which went into "special measures" under the last Tory Government. And which was turned-round. Without being handed over to a Tory donor carpet-shop millionaire.
But please consider taking my advice and finding out something about school governance from someone less ideological than me.
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Permalink Reply by Seema Chandwani on
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Hi Clive,
Whilst I agree with you, I would like to point out a few things for balance:
Name calling: Yep, its not helpful and I cringed at the immaturity of Gove when he called concerned parents/community "Trots"
Personal Feelings: I understand Alison is a parent governor, a member of the public like me and you who is expressing her feelings. What we should take from this is what on earth has driven a seemingly educated woman who contributes to her community positively in her own time without pay/allowance to resort to this? Theraputic poetry? Its bloody insane... but could it be the natural human reaction:
- To being ignored by the leader of the council who has not responded to letters or attended meetings requested in an adult and professional method?
- To being kept out of vital pieces of information throughout this process? Now creating an untrusting environment on peoples agendas?
- To being sacked from a school you still have to send your child to and being replaced by people not from within the community or connected to the school?
I really appreciate your feedback, as "outsiders" (as I dont have kids) and both people who are personally experienced in bad council management of situations (you with Ally Pally and me with the Youth Service) lets recognise the wider context and not be too quick to not being objective ourselves.
In regards to the academies issue, I do agree we do need an "unbiased" analysis of what its pros and cons are, there is an absence of this from the council (and government), so we also must take responsibility to finding some facts ourselves. Maybe part of the problem for parents is they have asked and not been told. I have found the following articles which might help us Clive:
http://www.libdemvoice.org/?p=27744r (Yes I read the Lib Dem voice)
http://antiacademies.org.uk/2012/03/harris-federation-spotlight-on-... (yes I know its biased, however I looked at the statistical data within it & its not that impressive).
I do agree we need a proper debate on this, with absence of a strong leader to do so, we are intelligent enough to lead ourselves back to normality.
Sx
PS: LOOOOOOOOOOL @ Victor Meldrew coming to Haringey today, I was convinced it was you!! ;) x
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Permalink Reply by JumpingtheWaves on
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Hi Seema, just wanted to correct you on one important point. I am not, nor ever have been, a governor at Downhills or any other school, so I cannot take credit (or discredit in some people's view) for that. However, I would reiterate your comments about the GB's positive contribution to their community and the time and and energy they've given up to this without pay/allowance. It's nice to know that someone from outside the school recognises this. Thank you.
I am first and foremost a parent at Downhills (try and sack me if you can!), but I am also on the committee of the award-winning Friends of Downhills PTA, a fantastic and proactive group of parents and staff who have been asked to share our experience with other PTAs in the local area because of what we have achieved at the school in the two and a half years we've been active. Besides obtaining Making a Difference grant money to run dance classes for the kids and organising several highly praised community Winter Fairs and sumnmer BBQs, we have also managed to raise £10, 000 for new playground equipment and improvements (some of which will be put up during the Easter hols).
What makes me sad and angry about what has happened at Downhills is that it leaves people who don't know the school thinking that it is a bad and 'failing' school and nothing could be further from the truth. We have a fantastic, diverse school community with a real 'can do' attitude, the kids are lovely and so many people contribute their time, energy and hard earned cash generously because they believe in our community school. Eat your heart out David Cameron, this is your 'big society' in action if ever I saw it.
Yes, there are changes and improvements that still need to be made at the school to bring achievement up still more, but even Ofsted consistently comment that the children's behaviour and discipline is good, with strong spiritual, moral and cultural values (and these are all important aspects of education, not just attainment in SATS tests). Despite Billy Hole's comments, I believe that Downhills is a school on the cusp of really positive change but I strongly believe that forcing academy status on the school is not the way forward. Quite apart from the fact that the stats on academies do not bode well, we belong to the community, we love our community, we serve our community and we want to remain a community school!
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Billy, I am glad that you use the word 'claim' in your post, because it is only their claim and as for 'efficiency', well it's all part of the sales pitch and they are hardly likely to say otherwise. I'm not sure of their set up with free schools, but I think you'll find that where converter schools are concerned if they pay more than the LA then it's because they propose longer working hours in exchange (early discussions with Downhills staff suggest this). This is just a 'quid pro quo' and doesn't mean they are better employers. If the efficiency you're talking about is the same efficiency that enabled Lord Harris to bankrupt one of his previous companies, Queensway, then I would be worried...
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It's hard to see how HF (who run 13 schools, only one of which is a primary by the way) can compete on economy of scale with an LA that runs hundreds. Re their 'light years' more efficient at admin, IT systems etc claims, questions I'd like to ask would be how much are they paying for their hardware, software and maintenance and who/where are they purchasing it from? My suspicion would be that the money going out one way is also coming back to them another way, via one of their subsidiaries, but I could be wrong. So a real win win situation for them.
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Billy if "you'd be mad to install [Open Source] in schools", there's a lot of madness out there!
While I would point out the criminal conviction of MS under US Anti-Trust law (for abuse of a monopoly), I would not go as far as to suggest that they are a monopoly to the extent of 99.9% that you mention. Besides, its abuse of monopoly that got them, not the monopoly itself.
The Beast of Redmond is becoming less relevant because the era of PC boxes and shrink-wrapped software is drawing to a close. Haringey risks being left behind by its attachment to the products of a single company, whose heyday has past.
I don't have any literary references for you, but here's a Guardian article worth reading, referring to Google's CEO comments on what passes for computer science in our schools:
"Your IT curriculum focuses on teaching how to use software, but gives no insight into how it's made."
It's not just a Haringey problem. Britain PLC needs to adjust to this ASAP.
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admin, IT systems etc
One way that Haringey could be more efficient – not just in schooling – is by phasing out DOS-Windows software and moving to Open Source software (Linux etc.). LINUX, like Mac OS X, is UNIX-class (basis of the Internet).
I hate to think how much local authorities (not just Haringey) pay out in licence fees to the criminally convicted Microsoft Corporation.
Such a switch takes some time to plan and should have begun years ago. Of course, there will be many at the council whose skill set is MS only, do not know any better; who are complacent, comfortable and who would be loath to change. Some of their jobs depend on attempting to make up for the deficiencies of a wide-spread third-rate operating system.
Astonishingly in these times, the council has managed to find about £3,300,000 to pay for new DOS-Windows boxes. IMO this is a waste and I know of no plan yet to switch to the less expensive Open Source, that some go-ahead authorities are already.
Finally on computing in schools, it is high time that IT meant much more than teaching Microsoft "Office" to children.
Britain will lose out if computer science is just learning programmes from a single monopolistic corporation, losing relevance in the wider world.
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Billy,
As part of this community, you seem to be convinced that the "Anti Academies Mob" are hindering school improvement? Can you provide evidence (not opinion or Gove mantras) that this academies model is the key to success?
This way you can equally contribute constructively to the debate and not appear to be contradictory in your feedback of other peoples behaviour... maybe?
Whilst I have you, you never did answer.... Do you sing "I got the moves like Thatcher" every morning in the shower? Yes/No :)))
LOOOOL Love you really Our Little Willy
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