Michaela Community School Doubles Your Chances of a School Place for September 2012

Ian Taylor's picture
 145
On the website of the proposed Michaela Community School it states “By applying to MCS, you will not jeopardise the secondary school place you previously chose in October. Applying to MCS will simply ensure you have two school choices on National Offers' Day - 1st March.”

So why would a parent not apply to MCS? It is a free extra option.

Let us guess which parents will work this out. Will it be a cross section of society?

After the parents take up the MCS places, I guess the schools that had also offered places, and no longer receive the children, have a bit of a mess to resolve. These schools can be regarded as second best, which is exactly what the Free Schools movement is all about. If they are in any doubt about being second best, Mr Gove and Mr Gibb will almost certainly announce this on TV. In fact I am so sure about how Mr Gove will spin this, that I am willing to bet money on it.

Apart from the lack of ethical standards here, can it be legal to offer an additional school place to a subset of the population? Perhaps I do not understand the London educational scene.

Anyway, the children pictured on the website at MCS look very happy, and a credit to all the teachers there. It must be a good school. It does say the school mixes tradition with innovation and I guess this picture proves it.
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Comments

Jane Eades's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 10:47

There are several worrying aspects about this whole project.

1. Wandsworth Save Our Schools submitted a list of questions to MCS and, although acknowledged, has still received no answers. One of these was on finance and another on the selection process for the head. Surely these answers should be readily available.

2. People attending the "consultation" meeting on Thursday reported that they didn't get answers to their questions.

3. MCS have not said anything about the loss of jobs in the Trident Business Centre if their bid goes through. The aims of the Wandsworth Youth Enterprise Centre at the Centre are ones which KB should be supporting, not destroying: http://www.wyec.org.uk/

4. One thing that came out of the "consultation" was that, because the TBC wouldn't be available for September 2012, the Michaela has its sights on moving into the Balham Youth Court until the TBC can be made ready.

This last poses more questions: a) why put even more money into a temporary building; b) doesn't this presuppose that the TBC will be offered enough money (by whom?) to make it an offer they can't refuse; c) will the head of Sellincourt Primary, who failed in her bid to open a "free" school in Crystal Palace, then come in with a bid for the Balham Youth Court on the grounds that it is already a school (only defined by DfE as suitable for a studio school).

All in all the whole process is one of bullying Tooting residents to house a school which has a stated catchment area radius of 5 miles: from Kensington to Wallington N/S and Penge/Kingston E/W. This is presumably to be able to claim a demand and the need to include Vauxhall, the area KB initially wanted to set up in.

Guest's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 10:51

Rebuttal here to the ulta-left agitprop of Jane Eades, Alex Kenny and the other loony left AAA/SWP cabal:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100131615/the-observer-uncri...

Sassy Puff's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 11:42

Excellent point Jane, although my agreeing with you must surely out me as a fully paid up Communist. Nice to see Toby still hasn't managed to move on from his SWP obsession.
Given that Mr Young himself appears to lean more to the right than a man with his left leg missing, as Charlie Brooker would say, perhaps we should all accuse him of having links with the Monday Club each and every time he opens his mouth?

It is rather disingenuous and cynical of the MCS to be promoting themselves as an opportunity for Wandsworth parents to double their chances of getting a school place.
As you have illustrated, the catchment area is so vast, that the realistic chance of the average Wandsworth pupil getting a place, would appear to be minimal.

The questions you raise about the future of Balham Youth Court and the possible involvement of the Sellincourt head are most interesting. There is much more to all this than meets the eye.

Ben Taylor's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 14:29

Jane I think you will find that public services in London boroughs often serve people resident outside any specific borough as well as those inside. Take the NHS and libraries as examples. What about the nasty London Transport who bully people in to having a bus stop or tube station near their house or shop in Wandsworth, which people from outside the borough can also use to board or alight?

I can't wait to see opponents of MCS having to explain to some of the less advantaged residents of south London such as our minority ethnicities e.g. Jamaican, Nigerian, Ghanaian, Portuguese, Tamil, Indian, and also the old fashioned white working class, that it is not okay for them to want to attend this school. A school specifically useful for building capacity for achieving the top opportunities which are currently dominated by the privately educated.

Who is the bully?

Ben Taylor's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 18:24

I don't mind if people don't want to send their children to MCS. They should be able to go to other schools if they feel like it. If someone does want to go to MCS and they live in Lambeth, Wandsworth or Merton that is their choice. I predict there will be lots of people applying from working class backgrounds and many will be non white. You are the ones trying to tell people what to do with enforced comprehensive provision and denying the choices ordinary people want to make. I look forward to seeing your reports from the streets and meeting halls of Brixton, Vauxhall, Tooting and so on where you lecture these people on their 'crass' desire to have the same sort of education as David Cameron and Ed Balls, but provided by the state instead.


Janet Downs's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 13:37

I think readers should be able to judge which of the two headlines is the more measured - the first or the second:

“Katharine Birbalsingh criticised over ‘wasteful’ free school project” or “The Observer uncritically regurgitates Trotskyist smears against Katharine Birbalsingh”

It is right that any journalist should counter inaccuracies where they exist. The Guardian was incorrect when it said that Trident Centre housed 400 businesses. However, this error was repeated in Toby’s article. The Trident Centre, which is run by the charity Wandsworth Youth Enterprise Centre, houses 90 business units as well as agencies, provide 300 jobs.

It’s a simple matter to check the figures – it appears that neither the Guardian nor The Telegraph did so.

Janet Downs's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 13:45

Toby Young claims that the owners of the proposed site for the Michaela Community School had already “signalled their intention to sell it willy nilly.” I’m not sure that the careful consideration by Wandsworth Youth Enterprise Centre (WYEC) about any possible sale really equates to selling it off “willy nilly”.

An official announcement from WYEC said: “Whilst Trident and the land it sits on are not currently for sale, a number of parties have approached WYEC over the past six months, interested in its potential purchase and they have all been invited to look around the site. But it is important to note that to date WYEC has received no acceptable offers from any of these parties for the purchase of Trident.” A WYEC spokesperson wrote: “As it is the rent paid by our tenants that enables us to carry out our charitable work they are incredibly important to us and they will be very carefully considered should (and I cannot put enough emphasis on the should) we receive any reasonable offers to purchase Trident. With regards the terms of individual leases I, obviously, cannot go into the details of these but leases are between one and five years long with break clauses that can be used by either party.”

http://www.tootingonline.com/forum/tooting-schools-education/69-new-free...

Jane Eades's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 15:03

I wondered when someone would play the race card. That really does you no credit at all. The MCS have to justify forcing the eviction of those small businesses at the Trident. Who do you think those tenants are? White, middle-class? - not the ones I've met. Look at the target group of the WYEC, are these likely to be white and middle-class?

As for the catchment area, it is dishonest to suggest that local people will benefit from the school when the catchment area is so large. 12% or so of Wandsworth secondary students are already Lambeth residents. Lambeth only educates about 55% of its secondary aged residents. There is a huge shortage of secondary places in Lambeth.

Surely what everyone should be arguing for is for Lambeth to be able to open new schools to meet this need. Unfortunately, since the Academy Act 2010, they have been powerless to do so. I would be more impressed if that was the argument that the MCS was making, rather than what appears to be a job creation scheme for those pushing the school on Tooting.

Sassy Puff's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 16:29

"I can’t wait to see opponents of MCS having to explain to some of the less advantaged residents of south London such as our minority ethnicities e.g. Jamaican, Nigerian, Ghanaian, Portuguese, Tamil, Indian, and also the old fashioned white working class,"

With all due respect, this is arrant nonsense.
I oppose the MCS, do I look white to you?
Furthermore, I think you'll find that it is Afro Caribbean children, specifically boys, who are under achieving in our schools.
Ghana and Nigeria are in Africa.
The academic performance of African children in British schools is not the same as that of Afro Caribbean children.
It is actually rather offensive that you are seemingly unaware of this.

Jane Eades's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 14:16

They will only be able to have the same sort of education as David Cameron when an equal amount of state funding is paid for it and when we, as a country, are prepared to reject a very large proportion of the population - as someone said, pity the coal mines have closed down.

As for the posting of 'Guest' and 'Jake' here and others on Streetlife, I must be an innocent abroad. I am absolutely scandalised that, whilst being the target for their pathetic sniping, they are hiding their identities and even taking on someone else's. These people have no moral standing and should not be allowed within a mile of a discussion about education, let alone a child. Ironic that the MCS say "We will set and expect high standards of behaviour and academic effort and achievement from all of our pupils" which reflects what other "free" schools say. What a pity some of the advocates of "free" schools don't live up to the standards they expect of the children.

Peter Lago's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 14:37

Thank you very much fiona.


Ben Taylor's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 16:49

I have not stated whether or not Ghana or Nigeria are in Africa but you are correct in saying that they are. The point is about the availability of kinds of schools to people who want them, particularly to people I would call working class irrespective of ethnicity. Many parents in this category don't want excuses about the ethnic origin of their children with regard to their school performance. They want the alternative to that which MCS is explicit in offering.

I predict that opposition to these schools such as MCS will be steamrollered by a multi ethnic working class who will beat a path to their door.

Ben Taylor's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 16:55

Jane, if you would agree to skewing the catchment of MCS to enroll predominantly Lambeth residents lacking school places I would agree. Perhaps the political reality is that Wandsworth needs to be included. Why Lambeth borough council can't find a building is another political reality rather than a lack of buildings.


Ben Taylor's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 17:07

The MCS won't be evicting anyone. WYEC will use their right to breaks in their leases (which are mutually available) to empty the Trident Business Centre if they decide to sell it.


Guest's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 17:12

I recall a while back on Question Time when a 'black' (not coloured!) woman in the audience, tore a strip off a panellist for using the term 'Afro Carribean'. She said the correct term was 'African Carribean' and it was an insult to her to hear the former term. Also, its a bit rich for pro-reformers to be accused of playing the 'race card' when those against education reform constantly do the same. You can't have it both ways can you? But from your perspective I'm sure you can!


Guest's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 14:34

'Peter Lago' wrote above: "This is the behaviour of that worst example of mankind – the coward who hides behind anonymity in order to make disgusting and menacing attacks on other people. It is almost like being threatened by a masked intruder". Do you actually imagine that 'Peter Lago' is a real person? I think that you and others on this site need to very careful about who and why you point the finger at.


Guest's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 15:06

Are you going to come clean about who you really are?


Sassy Puff's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 15:28

@ Jane Eades - Very well said. I doubt that I will ever agree with anything Toby Young or Ben Taylor have to say, but at the very least they have the backbone to post as themselves.
As opposed to hiding behind numerous pseudonyms and being the forum equivalent of an uninvited drunk at a Mafia wedding; flailing around incoherently, issuing empty threats and insults.

Sassy Puff's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 17:33

"Many parents in this category don’t want excuses about the ethnic origin of their children with regard to their school performance. They want the alternative to that which MCS is explicit in offering."

As a ethnic minority parent, I am most grateful for the benefit of your infinite wisdom.
Maybe I should make a post telling white parents what they want for their children?

Allan Beavis's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 17:58

This is another one of your breathtakingly stupid observations Ben.

There are complex cultural and family reasons why certain ethnic or gender groups (including I might add white working class boys) which data show underperform and most responsible school leaders and governance address this and try to find solutions, although that is getting increasingly difficult as the coalition's amputation of the education budget means that financial resources that would have gone to helping children who need the most support in schools have disappeared but found to be channelled towards funding vanity projects by opportunists such as Katharine Birbalsingh.

I expect if you were bothered to get yourself better informed, you might not make up crass statements on the hoof. And if you need more spoonfeeding from me about the obvious and well documented crisis that the government's policies has inflicted on the poor then have a look here for "evidence".http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2012/01/how-effective-can-goves-sc...

Guest's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 18:11

An example of more ultra-left nasty polemic where the 'do nothing' option is the best they can come up with when sniping from the sidelines. Reality check here:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/katharinebirbalsingh/100131662/the-mic...

Jane Eades's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 18:19

Ben, even if Lambeth were able to find a building they could do nothing with it except hand it over to an academy trust. Given that KB worked in Lambeth, perhaps there is a reason, other than ideological, why they are not keen.

The irony is that the same people who are now proclaiming this project were the ones, presumably, who were silent when Wandsworth Borough Council shut down the various projects which were established to support minority groups, in particular the support for Afro-Caribbean boys. They are also, largely, silent now as Wandsworth continues to make cuts which disproportionately affect the most deprived in the area.

Jake's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 18:29

Thankfully Butthead I appear not to have a monopoly on thinking you are a retard. It appears to be a much wider held consensus.


Guest's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 19:13

Just for the record this is a different Guest than usual.


Guest's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 20:36

I'm Spartacus!


Peter Lago's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 11:12

the comment above posted at 8:34 in which i appear to be supporting Katherine Birbalsingh was NOT posted by me. Someone is using my name.

How can I get this checked please? How do I contact the moderator or administrator of this site to find out who has done this and to get it removed??

Guest's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 13:39

You might also want to check the IP address of 'Peter Lago' to see who he really is.


Peter Lago's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 15:37

Using a pseudonym is one thing but commenting by stealing other people's name is criminal. I am getting advice from the CPS


Guest's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 15:41

Youre an idiot and a blowhard. Peter Lago is not your real name so you might have a bit of trouble explaing that to the CPS.


Guest's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 16:25

SassyPuff, Jane Eades: before you get overly excited about what you think you know, perhaps you should understand what an IP address is, the different types and how they work.


Jane Eades's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 16:36

Guest, before I feel patronised by you, I'd like you to come clean about who you are. Until then, you can continue your stupidity, rudeness and downright bad manners. I trust you feel proud of yourself - or, rather, that your parents would.


Guest's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 16:48

Unlike the left wing smear, agitprop, bullying and dirty tricks you employ as a member of the AAA? Don't make me laugh.


Allan Beavis's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 18:17

Jake -

Have you hijacked Guest's name? Or have you always been "Guest" as well, Jon?

Allan Beavis's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 19:18

Switching between "jake" and "Guest" are we now Jon? Do Bolingbroke Academy know you are doing this?


Fiona Millar's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 13:26

Hi Peter , We have checked this out and it would appear that the commenter who posts as 'Guest' and 'Jake' appears to have been masquerading as you since the comments come from the same IP address. We take this very seriously and will delete the comment to which you refer. We have always been reluctant to censor the comments, but if this happens again we will consider deleting all contributions from that IP address.


Peter Lago's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 12:13

Guest

This is not a rebuttal. No need to post the link here. There will be plenty of crypto fascists slobbering over "Führer" Young's rally cry in the Torygraph bunker

Janet Downs's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 14:14

Toby Young's attack on critics of the Michaela Community School comprises these arguments:

1 He takes issue with the Observer for quoting the figures for schools places in Wandsworth where the school will be situated. Apparently, they should have used the figures for Lambeth because the school will be on the Lambeth border and it's intended to serve Lambeth.

2 The owners of the proposed site have said they will sell it "willy nilly" (see my post above).

3 One of the critics is Jane Eades who is an organiser of the Anti-Academies Alliance which, Toby alleges, has "close ties to the Socialist Workers' Party". Any argument against the school made by Jane Eades, whether valid or not, can therefore be dismissed as Trotskyist smears.

But what if the argument raises legitimate concerns? Should an argument be rebutted because of the identity of the person putting forward the argument? Or should the argument be countered using a proper debate?

Finally, Toby accuses the Observer of trotting "out the lines being disseminated by the Socialist Workers' Party and its various fronts." There's nothing on the SWP's website about the Michaela Community School. Perhaps Toby could provide a link to any SWP "lines" about MCS.

Ben Taylor's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 14:47

I suppose we could consider the SWP as being hostile to democracy. I am not sure they believe in electoral processes and accountabilty to the people.


Janet Downs's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 15:07

Ben - the SWP is a recognised political party and it is not illegal to be a member. The best defence against the argument of any legal political party is proper debate - demolishing the opponent with facts.

You seem to be saying that if you don't agree with someone's politics, then any argument they put forward can be summarily dismissed even if the argument is a valid one. I am sure you would object, rightly, if you heard that, say, a government dismissed the valid claims of an opponent on the grounds that the one complaining opposed the government.

If you think that Jane Eades's argument is wrong then rebuff it with facts and a valid counter-argument.

Guest's picture
Sun, 22/01/2012 - 17:07

That is an incorrect and naive starting point - "If you think [the] argument is wrong then rebuff it with facts and a valid counter-argument". If that is the solution, then why do not all Arsenal fans support Manchester Utd because the latter has won more trophies? They are evidentially the better club. Life is not as black and white.


Lynne Mendoza's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 09:35

One of the things that struck me in the Observer article was this paragraph:

"Birbalsingh said that ICT would not be taught at her school because the emphasis would be on maths, English and foreign languages, not skills. The best performing four pupils from the school each year win the "prize" of boarding at Wellington for a week."

Would the students see such a prize as an incentive?

I've been looking at the website for MCS and I don't see a mention of this kind of prize there. Nor can I find a reference to the fact that they will not be teaching ICT as a stand alone subject or the reasoning behind it. It just doesn't mention it all.

Jane Eades's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 09:59

As a former Maths teacher, I also have grave concerns about the Maths curriculum described on the website.

KS3 "Pupils will be taught number, algebra and problem-solving skills, mental and written calculations. There will be six maths lessons a week, on the basis that little and often is the most effective approach.

We will work intensively to narrow the knowledge gap some children will have with maths when they enter the school."

Presumably, then, KB does not expect any of her students to become architects! It also worries me that the emphasis will be on regurgitation, rather than understanding. I was always amused at the phrase "the one-ness of one" to address the difference between very young children who can recite "one, two, three...." and those who know what that means.

Ben Taylor's picture
Tue, 24/01/2012 - 00:21

Memorisation is but "one" of the methods of a set of teaching and learning methods which is underutilised according to certain trendy modes of teaching. It is not sufficient in itself but is a foundation stone. It is transcultural and has been employed, for example, by all the major religions, armies, and state executives systems never mind education. Often first comes facts, later understanding - but not always I agree. Why do professional story tellers still exist in cultures such as parts of Arab world and India? It is not just technological. You can see this in places like pentecostal churches in south London.

Repetition; oracy; ritual; explict explanation of meaning: some of the techniques thrown out like the baby with the bath water by the near history to contemporary period paradigm. Learn from the cavemen.

Janet Downs's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 17:20

As Fiona said above, the comments posted by "Jake" and "Guest" appear to come from the same IP address. And one post under the name "Peter Lago" was not from Peter but appeared to be from the same IP address as "Jake" and "Guest".

There is a difference between posting under a pseudonym and using the name of another writer. That is not protecting identity but deliberately trying to deceive.

In California such behaviour has been made illegal. SB 1411 Senate Bill says: "any person who knowingly and without consent credibly impersonates another actual person through or on an Internet Web site or by other electronic means for purposes of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding another person is guilty of a public offense." The law differentiates between impersonation of another person and a disguised persona.

Although this is not yet law here, a court case in 2009 required an unknown Twitter user anonymously posting under the same name as another blogger, and thus breaching the copyright and intellectual property of the blog’s owner, to stop posting and immediately identify themselves. The victim of the anonymous impersonation and the principal of Griffin Law, said: “This is an important step in dealing with online bullying. The scales of justice have been tilted in favour of innocent victims today.”

Such behaviour is unacceptable. It destroys trust between posters and ultimately damages free speech. LSN has a tradition of not censoring posts - it behoves anyone who posts here to respect that.

http://wordcastnet.com/2011/california-bans-online-impersonations/

http://leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_1401-1450/sb_1411_bill_20100...

http://www.griffinlaw.co.uk/2009/10/01/griffin-law-makes-law-by-serving-...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/oct/01/twitter-injunction

Guest's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 17:35

Do some more research on what an IP address is and how they work. There are many different types and they are unique to the generic server and not an individual. And also understand that there is 'no victim' here so get your facts straight. We are not in California - but if we were, the wording you use above says 'actual person'. Peter Lago is not a real person and I have evidence to prove that. It is quite obvious who it is. I suggest you all stop getting so excited and melodramatic. You just look small minded, especially on a site that has more spin, bluster and innuendo than New Labour in its heyday.


Jane Eades's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 18:00

Please can we all ignore Guest and anyone else like him. He is deliberately trying to distract from the real issue because he has no intellectual response. Same tactic as used for the Bolingbroke discussion.


Guest's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 19:28

The following is the reality of the sort of people you collude with on the AAA executive:

- "The present system cannot be patched up or reformed as the established Labour and trade union leaders say. It has to be overthrown."

- "Only the mass action of the workers themselves can destroy the system."

- "To achieve socialism the most militant sections of the working class have to be organised into a revolutionary socialist party."

Thankfully we live in a democratic and free society so this will never happen. Perhaps North Korea would be a better place for you all to be?

Lynne Mendoza's picture
Mon, 23/01/2012 - 19:34

Oh, can't you just go away and annoy someone else please? I want to discuss a school that is going to open at the end of my road, not the whys and wherefores of the AAA, SWP etc.

I'm sure we can all make our own decisions about the merits of what someone is posting on here, whether that be you or anyone else.

Guest's picture
Tue, 24/01/2012 - 14:22

You might do well to read the attached articles before being so dismissive?

http://edmundstanding.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/the-national-union-of-tea...

http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/6228693/part_2/revealed-the-secret-war...

"Until relatively recently, it looked as though the far-left had won the battle over the direction of Britain’s State education system, so it is no surprise to see them mobilising for aggressive action in the face of Gove’s plans for radical reform. It is clear that the NUT is much more than simply an organisation dedicated to protecting the rights of teaching staff, and is in fact seen by many in its leadership as a potential cadre to be used to force far-left ideology into the mainstream. This must be resisted, and resisted firmly."

If you are content to bury your head in the sand and ignore the ultra-left agenda of Jane Eades, Alex Kenny, the AAA, STA etc etc, then that is your right. For those of us outside of the loony left cabal, we are a bit more circumspect about their not-so-hidden agenda. Time to wake up before we all sleepwalk into a 1984 totalitarian nightmare.

Lynne Mendoza's picture
Tue, 24/01/2012 - 23:39

According to my email notifications, "guest" posted earlier that I should stop burying my head in the sand when it comes to posts by "the ultra-left agenda of Jane Eades, Alex Kenny, the AAA, STA etc etc." That post doesn't seem to be here any more (not sure why).

But my point remains. I'm not interested in other people's political posturings or otherwise. I want to discuss this school in my immediate neighbourhood.

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