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I'm a councillor in the London Borough of Wandsworth; this blog mainly covers that, sometimes general politics and policy and occasionally anything else that takes my fancy.
Tag Archives: education
The Bolingbroke free school
Having been a little cynical about the value of some meetings I found myself rather enjoying last night’s full council, despite it being a meeting in which I made no contribution other than voting. The key debate was on the Bolingbroke free school, and free schools more generally. It was fascinating because, for the first
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Posted in Politics, Wandsworth
Also tagged Andy Gibbons, Bolingbroke, choice, competition, Edward Lister, free schools, socialism
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Exec approves Belleville decision
The council’s executive committee unanimously approved the decision to revisit the Belleville admissions policy last night. This was a final formal hurdle, since under the council’s executive and scrutiny model the Overview and Scrutiny Committees (OSCs) don’t have formal decision-making powers. The practice is that the executive committee will rubber stamp the OSC views, recognising
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Rebellion and school admissions
It’s an odd, but strangely liberating, experience to have broken rank and spoken out against the council. Last night was the first time I’ve ever ‘rebelled’ by speaking (but not voting, as I’m not a committee member) against the proposed admissions policy for Belleville School. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I, or any councillor,
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Posted in Shaftesbury
Also tagged Belleville, Forthbridge Road, Guy Senior, Jonathan Cook, rebellion
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Belleville: the worst admissions policy in the country?
The council, sadly, seems determined to plough ahead with its almost universally unpopular scheme to expand Belleville School into Shaftesbury while denying Shaftesbury children the right to attend. I say universally unpopular because it seems the latest proposals are disliked by pretty much everyone, even if for different reasons. So while I will object to
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Belleville: A better way
There is no doubt the council’s current consultation on expansion at Belleville is stirring up heated debate. Reading through some of the conversations that are taking place on forums like Streetbook and NappyValleyNet it’s clear there are many different views about the council’s proposed solution to the ‘problem’. I’ll be honest, I never thought that
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Posted in Shaftesbury
Also tagged Belleville, choice, Forthbridge Road, free schools, Honeywell, Jonathan Cook, Paddock, schools, Vines
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Big Society: giving it permission
In an email the other day I commented that the two big pillars of the Big Society were re-branding and permission. I don’t think this is anything particularly profound (if it is, I’m probably unknowingly plagiarising something I’ve read somewhere) and have even remarked on the re-branding aspect myself. The fact is that Big Society
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A level results…
I don’t have any pictures of attractive young girls celebrating their results. Which partly explains why The Daily Telegraph stubbornly remains better read than this blog. But congratulations to all those celebrating today, and commiserations to those who are not. I’ll hold my own counsel on whether exams are getting easier. But today has made
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Education in Wandsworth
I’m probably a creep, but I rather like the videos that have been created for the Wandsworth Conservative council campaign. The latest to be featured is on education. Wandsworth has a lot to be proud of, especially when one considers the challenges faced by inner city schools, but there’s even more to be proud of
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Balls to education
Yesterday, I commented that the ‘free schools’ idea had cross party support. I was wrong and shouldn’t have said that. The Conservatives, locally and nationally support the concept of free schools. Indeed, there have been a number of meetings between the local and national Conservative frontbenchers and the local campaign to set up a school
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Posted in Politics
Also tagged Bolingbroke, Ed Balls, free schools, Labour cuts, Martin Linton
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The end of the Elsley School building?
Elsley School’s move to the Nightingale site looks like being made permanent. The site has been empty for some time now, and on occasion been a cause for concern and problem for neighbouring residents. To be fair I’m not that surprised. I was chairman of governors at the school immediately before it ‘federated’ with Nightingale,
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Posted in Shaftesbury
Also tagged Elsley Road, Elsley School, Nightingale School, Shaftesbury Park Estate
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