Brent school strike against Ofsted inspectors’ privatization agenda

News

They are fighting plans to join the Harris academy chain with strikes from June 4 to 6

Brent school strikers on the picket line

School workers at Byron Court Primary School in Brent, north London, are fighting privatization plans that would see the community school join the renowned Harris Federation chain of academies.

Members of the NEU union went on strike on Tuesday and Wednesday — and are due to strike June 4-6.

The academisation began after Ofsted inspectors downgraded the school from ‘outstanding’ to ‘inadequate’ last November. NEU national executive Jenny Cooper says the union “will not accept the privatization of our schools through a politicized process”.

A school teacher in Brent told Socialist Worker that the picket “was lively and the strike closed the school, which was good”. “The Harris Federation is a uglier prospect than other academy chains,” she said.

“There has been a lot of press about how Harris Federation treats their staff, how awful their employers are and how bad their practices are.

“The Harris Federation recently took over a secondary school nearby and are now looking for a food school. It is a standard model. They take over the primary schools that feed into their secondary school.”

The teacher explained that Ofsted is not a neutral body, saying: “People are shocked at how politically Ofsted has been used. He went in there with an agenda.”

“I have been teaching in Brent for over 25 years. Byron Court Primary School has been ‘outstanding’ forever. To then go straight to ‘inadequate’—Ofsted was used as an academisation tool’.

The teacher talked about how the Ofsted inspection was carried out. “The inspectors were rude, changed the time when the inspection was taking place and refused to let staff support,” she said.

And so staff filed a complaint about the inspection which “has progressed to the final stage – meaning it has been sustained at every stage so far”.

The Ofsted report “told lies and smeared school staff”, the teacher said. “It is now a true community school. The Harris Federation is trying to steal the school from under the noses of the community.”

The attempt at academisation has “nothing to do with school improvement and everything to do with privatisation. No one who knows the school well believes there are serious problems with the school.”

The strikes so far “have put a big spanner in the works for the Harris Federation.” “Hopefully it’s enough to make it not worth their time.”

A joint statement by Brent NEU and the Save Byron Court Parent Campaign said: “Our own surveys have shown that almost two-thirds of parents want Byron to remain a community school.

“The overwhelming majority of staff want this. However, we are currently blocked from any discussions and do not have a vote on the future of the school.

“How can it be fair or just that those who will be most affected – the staff, the families, the local community – should be ignored?”