Forum Topic

Acton School  Meeting Thursday 11 Nov  7.00 pm

Main Hall Acton HIgh Shool, Gunnersbury Lane, near Acton Town tube.Sponsored by Ealing NUT, Ealing Unison, Ealing Trades Council, Labour Representation Committee,Right to Work CampaignDefend Public ServicesNo to academies and Free schoolsSpeakers: Bob Crow RMTDaniel Crawford: Labour CouncillorJan Nielson: Anti Academies AllianceSyeed Bokhari: Right to Work Campaign

HERMIONE SACKS ● 5801d5 Comments

I'm very concerned that AHS is being used as the venue for this.  So far, Mandy Goldsmith has maintained a dignified silence on the issue and Toby Young has tried very hard not to turn his plans into a Toby -v- Mandy fight.  By hosting this meeting, the school is in danger of becoming embroiled.

Anne Brown ● 5800d

To clarify, the School Hall is a commercial hire by the Unions.  It is not subject to permission by Mandy Golding.Palingswick House, 241 King St, London W6 9LP is the current site that Toby Young has published his intention to use for the site for his school.  It is currently used by Refugee and Asylum Seeker groups.

HERMIONE SACKS ● 5800d

Good to see some debate on this but shame Bob Crowe is the main speaker. What has he to do with education apart from how not to run PR for a union. Christine Blower, NUT President would have been a better choice as she lives locally and sent her children to local state schools. Strange that I always suspect Trot entryists when I see this scenario..........

Iain Muir ● 5800d

Hermione, the West London Free School hasn't made any announcement about its proposed location other than to identify the former King Fahad Academy for Girls as a site it's interested in. I certainly haven't published my intention to use a site currently used by refugee and asylum seeker groups. What publication are you thinking of?If the meeting at Acton High School is supposed to be a genuine debate about Free Schools how come you haven't invited anyone to put the case for them? The line up seems a little one-sided, to put it mildly.  But I guess the good news is that Bob Crow won't be calling a tube strike on that day.

Toby Young ● 5800d

Anne Brown is right. Acton High School has sought to avoid involvement in the national debate on academies etc, preferring to focus on school improvement. The concern we have expressed is with the prospect of too many school places being created locally, which we saw happen when Elthorne High School was opened ten years ago. Central Government appears to be contemplating opening two new schools locally - Hammersmith Academy, already being built, and West London Free School. That's a big increase in local school capacity.Hermione Sacks is also right – Acton High School has little say in who can hire the school when we are not using it. It's a commercial matter because our new school was built under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI), a process supported by both main parties at the time. A consortium of private companies owns the building for the next 25 years or so, at which point it is handed over to Ealing Council.A company called MITIE manages the school for the consortium and lets out the hall and rooms at times when we are not using the the school. Proceeds from letting fees go to MITIE and the consortium. I am sure they would welcome any additional bookings from organisations, including those with different views on academies and free schools. Unfortunately none of the proceeds will go to us.

Guy Fiegehen ● 5799d