Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Haringey heads enjoy five-star Oxford
From the Evening Standard...
It's a tough job but someone's got to do it. Bonnes vacances to the Haringey headteachers who are staying at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford for their annual headteachers' conference. The five-star hotel is the favoured spot of former US president Bill Clinton when he is in town and was often used as the backdrop for the Inspector Morse TV series.
Haringey Council, one of the most cash-strapped in the country, is keen to make clear that while it knows "a little bit" about the conference, it has played no part in its organisation and that expenses are down to the teachers and their schools.
A spokesman said: "This event is not organised by Haringey council. It is the annual headteachers’ conference, organised by the headteachers themselves. The conference is designed to improve joint working and share best practice, to continue raising educational standards in the borough."
The budget for the encouragement of sharing "best practice" may come as a surprise. The Randolph is where students at the university get parents to take them for a slap-up tea. The conference runs until tomorrow (30th April) lunchtime. Naturally a stay doesn't come cheap. Rooms cost £131 for a standard room to £260 a night for a suite. Built in 1864, the hotel is described as "the most desirable conference, meeting and events venue in Oxford." Haringey's headteachers clearly agree.
While there have been acres of print expended on how to get state-educated pupils into Oxford and Cambridge, the usefulness of the Randolph Hotel in this process is debatable. What is wrong with jolly old Haringey?
It's a tough job but someone's got to do it. Bonnes vacances to the Haringey headteachers who are staying at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford for their annual headteachers' conference. The five-star hotel is the favoured spot of former US president Bill Clinton when he is in town and was often used as the backdrop for the Inspector Morse TV series.
Haringey Council, one of the most cash-strapped in the country, is keen to make clear that while it knows "a little bit" about the conference, it has played no part in its organisation and that expenses are down to the teachers and their schools.
A spokesman said: "This event is not organised by Haringey council. It is the annual headteachers’ conference, organised by the headteachers themselves. The conference is designed to improve joint working and share best practice, to continue raising educational standards in the borough."
The budget for the encouragement of sharing "best practice" may come as a surprise. The Randolph is where students at the university get parents to take them for a slap-up tea. The conference runs until tomorrow (30th April) lunchtime. Naturally a stay doesn't come cheap. Rooms cost £131 for a standard room to £260 a night for a suite. Built in 1864, the hotel is described as "the most desirable conference, meeting and events venue in Oxford." Haringey's headteachers clearly agree.
While there have been acres of print expended on how to get state-educated pupils into Oxford and Cambridge, the usefulness of the Randolph Hotel in this process is debatable. What is wrong with jolly old Haringey?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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If it is bugged, the buggers will be the Council Majority Group, who control our Charity via their majority voting power on the Board of Trustees.
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Permalink Reply by Mr Growbag on
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The answer to the ES's question what's wrong with "jolly old" Haringey is that it does not have many, if any, hotels suitable for conferences.
There is, as with most other things, a premium attached to conference venues and hotels in London, so you would probably still get more for your money in Oxford then holding it elsewhere in the capital. Presumably the budget for the conference was set at an early stage, and the event was planned within that.
This is classic tabloid sh*t-stirring. The editor must have been rubbing his hands with glee: "stop the press! We've got state school headteachers, Oxford, a five star hotel (we can mention posh students going for tea) and best of all, HARINGEY! That will get people really wound up..."
School leaders deserve the odd perk. Even in a recession I hope that everyone agrees that it would be inappropriate to hold a conference for hardworking headteachers in a 1* flea-bitten motel in Slough.
PS: Another reason not to hold your conferences in London
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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On balance then this is sounding a bit like the verdict is that what the headteachers did was likely to have been reasonable and we're sending back a message of "Hands of our Head Teachers ES!".
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Good PR for the Randolph hotel though. Looks nice.
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This luxurious five star hotel must look even nicer if you're not paying for it.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Let's just find out WHO is paying for it shall we ? I've been to many conferences and symposia where I had to pay for my own accomodation on top of the registration fee.
Do we even know if this conference was confined to Haringey Heads, or could it have been attended by participants from all over the country ?
I'm sure one of the HOL members must have been an attendee and can clarify matters.
I hadn't forgotten AP Clive, but you said " slap up " :-) I'd rather stay at The Mitre, myself.
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Permalink Reply by james walsh on
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John D.
Sorry you had to pay for the Symposium (Drinking party) you attended.
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... but probably slightly less nice when you have to sit through meetings all day rather than hiring a punt or sitting in a nice Oxford pub. Two days solid discussion on trying to run schools in Harringay anyone?
Still, the way I see it, there's nothing to stop anyone working their way up to headteacher status (12-15 years of teaching at least, I reckon) if they want to enjoy the odd "perk" of going on a conference for a few days. Don't complain; retrain! :p
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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The smart hotel manager might even have put in a call to the ES. ;o)
Clive's the mole!
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reasonable and we're sending back a message of "Hands of our Head Teachers ES!"
This may be the verdict pronounced by Justice Flouch, but it does look to me as though the jury's still out!
I agree with the Judge's earlier remarks, when he opined that "it warrants scrutiny".
If "school leaders deserve the odd perk", why not go the whole hog and sent them to the Ritz in Paris for a week to chat about Best Practice and also about that other council slogan, "Best Value".
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Oh come now, I'm sure we can do better than that. Why not cut the whole "discussing best practice" thing altogether and give them each a round-the-world ticket, letting them sun themselves on tropical beaches far from the insightful scrutiny of concerned taxpayers and oligarchical freesheets, fanning themselves with a spread-out copy of Haringey People magazine?
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