Furious parents occupy the lobby of venture capitalist firm.
Guido | 14.03.2008 21:56 | Education | Social Struggles | London
Its very well handing out leaflets in the rain...
...but its warmer inside and there is only one security guard.
Nauseating suit Mr David Johnson intervenes...
...and completely fails to win hearts and minds.
Then Mr Haveagohero shows up....
...and assaults a woman by the door before attacking yours-truly.
This prick has serious issues to deal with.
Despite overwhelming opposition by parents, students and staff, Westminster is pushing ahead with its plans to turn Pimlico into a City Academy. Westminster plans to hand the school to a sponsor called Future, a charity set up by venture capitalist John Nash. In return for an investment of only 2 million pounds Westminster intends to sell Future a brand new 35 million pound school and a site worth many millions, on a 125-year lease!
The Academy can:
a) Impose a new head teacher without consultation with parents and staff.
b) Change (i.e. worsen) the pay and conditions of teaching and non-teaching staff.
c) Appoint the governing body with only token parent and staff representation.
d) As a result all democratic accountability is lost.
e) Change future admissions criteria.
f) Operate outside the education law.
g) Opt out of key aspects of the national curriculum.
Academies in Westminster have been a disaster, consistently failing to live up to any of their promises. They have seen 70% of staff leave, and experienced (“expensive”) replaced by inexperienced staff on short-term contracts.
JOHN NASH and FUTURE
In his bid to take over Pimlico School, John Nash appears to be making use of his close links with the Conservative group that controls Westminster council. He is a party donor and has sat on various policy review bodies with Westminster Councillors.
FUTURE gives grants to organizations involved in supplementary extra-curricular activities.
FUTURE has no experience of running a large inner city comprehensive secondary school.
The Save Pimlico School Campaign intends to fight these plans at every opportunity.
We need your help to defeat them. Our website is: www.pimlicopsa.org.uk
Guido
e-mail:
guidoreports@riseup.net
Additions
gender bias?
15.03.2008 11:34
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Sovereign Capital are also involved in funding firms that want to bid for NHS contracts
hildy
More
15.03.2008 17:27
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Guido
e-mail:
guidoreports@riseup.net
Comments
Hide the following 2 comments
Cor blimey, nice one, what a sexy copper,whoes the idiot in the red?
15.03.2008 08:35
whoes the idiot in the red?
should have been arrested,
looked like a spoilt drunk rich boy yob to me.
Should be ashamed of himself
green syndicalist
Padraic Finn
15.03.2008 20:45
Council Leader Sir Simon Milton then announced that the school was going to be handed over to one of his mates and a donor to the Tory Party, John Nash of Sovereign Capital and his recently formed charity, Future. If this is agreed by Minster for Schools Jim Knight, (who refused to meet the Save Pimlico School Campaign, preferring to hand responsibility to the unelected Lord Adonis) then Nash/Sovereign/Future is to be given total control of the school, a £35m new building paid for out of our taxes and a 125 year lease on 4 acres of the most valuable land in Europe.
Meanwhile the school got its best ever results in 2007 - 50% A-C grades, is about to come out of special measures and recently got an "excellent" verdict on the 6th Form from Inspectors who said the staff were great, the students held them in high regard and that if they were going into teaching, they would want to work in Pimlico.
Since taking it over from the Inner London Education Authority in 1990, Westminster City Council have hated Pimlico School because of its liberal ethos and that it takes pupils from out of the borough and so have starved it of funds. Ten years ago parents, staff and students fought off a previous attempt to privatise the school under a New Labour PFI scheme which would have given over 25% of the site to luxury flats.
Like their Mayoral Candidate, Boris Johnson, Conservative Westminster City Council don't want black, asian or white working class pupils in their schools but want to create academies for the middle class incomers attracted by their housing policies. Anybody remember the "Homes for Votes" scandal??
Padraic Finn
e-mail:
padraic.finn@btinternet.com