Tag Archives: haringey-schools

Rhodes Avenue student wins Lynne Featherstone’s Christmas card competition

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Lynne Featherstone with Christmas Card winnerNine year old Aylin Acarturk was today presented with a special prize by Lynne Featherstone MP at Rhodes Avenue School’s Assembly after winning this year’s Christmas card competition.

The year four student’s picture, of Santa going ice skating at Ally Pally, was chosen as the best entry in this year’s competition, themed ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ and will feature on thousands of Christmas cards sent out to local people by the Liberal Democrat MP.

Lynne Featherstone was sent hundreds of entries from primary school students across the area, and, in addition to the winning entry, three runners-up were selected, whose pictures will appear on the back of the card. These are: Clementine Mason from Highgate Primary, Anaiya Dixon-McLoughlin from St Mary’s Junior School, and Heber Luwawu from Nightingale Primary.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“I was really grabbed by Aylin’s picture – it’s got great colours and it makes me just want to join Santa as he heads into the ice rink, skates in one hand and presents in the other!

“Aylin certainly has a fantastic talent – and she’s clearly not the only one. I’ve had to choose from some really amazing entries this year – and just want to say thank you so much to the schools and the children, for making this year’s Christmas card so special!”

Labour rejects pleas for emergency school funding

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A Labour minister has rejected a direct plea for emergency funding from a local MP to address Haringey’s £1,000+ per pupil funding deficit.

The refusal came in a Parliamentary debate secured by Lynne Featherstone MP dedicated entirely to Haringey school funding where she outlined in detail the extent of the funding deficit and the impact on local schooling. The Hornsey & Wood Green MP asked the Government to make a crisis payment for 2010/11 so local schools did not have to wait for the result of the long awaited school funding review, not due to be implemented until 2011

Key figures to come out in the debate are that over the term of the current funding arrangement (2008-11) Haringey has lost out on over £120m of funding compared to neighbouring Hackney, equivalent to almost £110K a day.

The Government representative also turned down a request for Haringey to be directly represented on the body looking at the funding formula.

It was confirmed that Haringey is the 5th most deprived borough and yet receives only the 15th highest per pupil funding in the capital.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“I am bitterly disappointed that the Labour Government continues to ignore this blatant injustice – even ignoring pleas from their own councillors.

“Our teachers do a wonderful job, but they could do so much more if our school children received the funding they deserve.

“This is not about politics, but simple fairness. I will continue to fight until our schools get their fair share.”

Note: you can watch the debate at http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=4948

Fair funding for Haringey Schools

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Well – finally – on the record – the gross unfairness of the way the Government funds schooling in Haringey. Just briefly – we get about £1183 less per child than neighbouring boroughs like Camden, Hackney and Islington. That is around £35 million a year – or more importantly – if we got fair funding we could have 1021 more teachers (we have 1500) that is 15 per school. Imagine the difference that would make.

You can watch the debate at http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=4948  it starts about two thirds in if you scroll along.

I was so pleased that local school governors, parents, Haringey NUT and the Schools Forum came to actually watch the debate in Parliament. We were also the lead story on BBC London – which is great – because all of this is about not letting the Government sideline Haringey in the current Review of our Dedicated Schools Grant. They ignored the unfairness last time and in fact increased the problem – widening the gap.

Needless to say the Minister refused to give us a categoric assurance that the funding gap would be closed post review, refused our request for a Haringey Representative on the Funding Review Panel, refused to give us emergency funding until the gap is closed. However, she did concede the case that we made and assured us that our voices had been heard.

So – whist fair funding is still a way away – the key thing is – they can’t possibly claim they don’t know how badly Haringey is being affected by this funding unfairness – and they will look extremely bad if they don’t rectify matters.

The Schools Minister has agreed to a meeting with me in a couple of weeks time – so I can take up all the questions in my speech that were left unanswered and push further on the ones that were!

Fair school funding for Haringey

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Later today, 4pm in Westminster Hall, I finally get to put Haringey’s case for fair funding to the Minister on the record. This is about the fact that our Haringey children get £1183 less per head than neighbouring boroughs. I have tackled Gordon in PMQs before (he agreed it was an ‘anomaly’), met with now former School’s Minister Jim Knight, raised it in on the floor of the House – but today I have actually secured a debate and the Minister has to respond directly – in public.

The key questions for the Minister to respond to are:

– why does the Government make Haringey pay our school teachers at the higher inner London rate (rightly as we have the same challenges as Camden, Hackney and Islington) but then not award them inner London per pupil funding?

– given that this unfair funding  has gone of for some years and civil servants have clearly not seen fit to do anything about rectifying this situation and may be tempted to once again fail to address this situation, what case will the Minister be making to the current Review into school funding, that will ensure Haringey don’t come out the other end of the Review in the same unfair position?

– the Review will not report until later in 2010 and its findings won’t be implemented until 2011. Haringey schools in recent figures released to David Laws, LibDem Education Spokesperson showed that Haringey, together with three other authorities, have more schools in deficit than anywhere else in the country. Given that this unfair funding is now causing real damage, will the Minister commit to making an interim bridging fund of £1000 per Haringey child until the funding anomaly is corrected in the Review.

This video demonstrates the situation in brief – but was filmed just before I heard I had secured the debate:

You can also watch it on YouTube here.

Haringey's unfair school funding to be debated in Parliament

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Local MP Lynne Featherstone has secured a debate in Parliament on the unfair funding for schools in Haringey. The debate, taking place on Wednesday 4th November at 16:00, will focus entirely on funding for schools in Haringey. The current unjust system sees local schools receive over £1000 less per pupil than neighbouring boroughs.

In the debate Ms. Featherstone will press the Government Minister to answer why this funding disparity still exists and what is being done to rectify it. Ms. Featherstone has previously pressed the Prime Minister on the same issue.

Local MP Lynne Featherstone says:

“The situation is entirely unjust and unacceptable – year in year out this funding system disadvantages Haringey’s children and leaves our local schools struggling to make ends meet.

“Schools in Haringey have the same costs and problems as those in neighbouring boroughs so why should they qualify for less funding?

“The minister must answer what the Government is going to do to end a funding system that keeps short changing our local schools.”

Democracy Week competition launch at local school

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Democracy Week at Alexandra Park SchoolTo mark democracy week and help kick start discussions in local schools about politics, Lynne Featherstone MP launched her mini-writing competition at Alexandra Park School last week.

The Hornsey and Wood Green MP helped students in a year 7 class brain storm on the essay topic ‘what I would do if I ruled the world for a day’. Lynne has invited students from all local secondary schools to join in, and the winner will get the chance to see first hand what politics is about by shadowing Lynne for a day in Parliament.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“The idea behind having a democracy competition was to help local schools debate issues around local and global problems and the role politics plays in dealing with them.

“Every time I have the privilege to meet students in local schools and hear their thoughts on issues, I am amazed by the insight and thoughtfulness of their comments- and today was certainly no exception.

“Hopefully I’ll receive entries from across the constituency- I’m getting ready for some serious food for thought!”

Safety concerns highlighted at local Haringey school

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A local Liberal Democrat councillor has asked that Haringey Council investigates safety concerns outside a local school, after reports of congestion and hazardous parking in the area.

Councillor Lyn Weber visited Coleridge School last Friday (9th October 2009) to see problems with cars parking on yellow lines and on the corners of junctions with the busy Crouch End Hill.

The school, in Crouch End, expanded from 2 form entry to 4 form entry last year, meaning that the volume of traffic ‘dropping off’ pupils has increased dramatically.

Lyn Weber (Crouch End) comments:

“It is clear from many reports and my visit last week, that traffic in this area, as children arrive and leave school, is becoming potentially dangerous.

“The school is working hard on their green travel plan, with wide support. We now need the Council and parents to support the school, to ensure that children are safe when they go to school. The amount of cars and the lack of ‘dropping off’ space can put pedestrians in danger as congestion builds up.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“This is a popular school and since it expanded the amount of traffic in the area has become a problem. We now need a solution.”

Ed Balls and Arsene Wenger come to Treehouse

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Arsene Wenger, Lynne Featherstone and Ed Balls at TreehouseIt may have been raining – but the sun was shining in every one’s heart – for the opening of the splendid new building for Treehouse. Treehouse is the wonderful charity that set up an exemplar school for autistic children in Muswell Hill.

It is the most wonderful, spectacular building – with the most wonderful and spectacular people involved in its teachings, its running and its work right across the country to advance the cause and understanding of autism. Brilliantly – this super-school only takes children who are state funded – so that all autistic children can come here. Getting local authorities to fund individual children, however, is still the main battle. But once they are here – these children and their parents join a family whose support and care is unparallelled.

Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Education, came to do the honours – and gave a really great speech. He seemed to have a real understanding of the needs of children with autism – and their parents. We heard too, from Arsene Wenger, (yes – Arsenal Arsene) who last year made Treehouse Arsenal’s Charity of the Year and donated huge amounts to it. Trevor Pears of the Pears Foundation also spoke – and it was interesting to hear him thank Treehouse. It must be rewarding to be a key donor to something as wonderful as Treehouse – which was the point he made. And then, very , we heard poignantly from Claire Coombe-Tennant, a parent and a Trustee whose youngest son (of four sons) is at Treehouse. That was the clincher speech – to recognise the anguish, agony and exhaustion of the parents of an autistic child – and what Treehouse means in terms of relief, reassurance, rescue, hope and love to those families.

And yes – I had a word too. I simply spoke about the way Treehouse has become part of the Muswell Hill community – reaching out with the children going to three local schools each week to mix with other children and once a week the children from Muswell Hill Primary School come in and play with the children at Treehouse. The benefit to both sets of children is wonderful – and says we are all members of society and the more we know and understand and include each other the better our world.

We had all brought gifts to put in a time capsule – and two of the Treehouse children, Kaiser and Bilal, came onto the stage with their gifts too.

All in all – a terrific celebration of what can be done with passion and commitment. Congratulations to all at Treehouse.

Haringey Council raids schools budget to close funding gap

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Over two million pounds have been stripped away from money for Haringey’s schools after the Labour cabinet, last week, decided to spend it on street lights, highways and parks. Local Liberal Democrats have expressed their concern at the decision, saying that Haringey’s Schools Budget, which is already under severe pressure, should not have been raided to fund a financial gap created by Labour’s recession.

On Tuesday (8th September 2009) Haringey Council agreed to divert £2.238 million of money originally allocated by the Government to Haringey’s schools, as part of an attempt to cover up a £5 million black hole in their Capital Budget.

Haringey’s children already receive over £1,000 each less in funding from the Government than neighbouring boroughs.

Cllr Gail Engert, Liberal Democrat Children, Schools and Families Spokesperson, comments:

“Haringey have stripped the council’s coffers clean of cash and are now spending on streetlights, highways and parks money that was allocated to Children’s Services and needed by our children for items such as urgent repairs to our primary schools.

“Labour’s recession hens are coming home to roost and, in Haringey, Labour’s financial incompetence means that, like old Mother Hubbard, the cupboards are bare.”

Lynne Featherstone MP, adds:

“Haringey Council has tried to dress this issue up as Labour bringing forward spending, but it is little more than covering up a massive hole in Haringey Council’s budget created by the effect of Labour’s recession on council finances.

“Our Fair Funding Campaign highlighted the fact that that every child in Haringey already receives over £1,000 less funding than children in neighbouring boroughs. We do not want to now see Haringey Council taking money away from investment in our schools.”

Highgate School Summer School

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I visited Highgate School summer school this morning. Highgate, which is one of the foremost independent schools in the country, for a long time was relatively segregated from the rest of the community of schools in Haringey. With the arrival of a new head a little while back, Adam Pettitt, that changed hugely. Combining its community responsibility and its academic status – Highgate now runs a summer school for children from other schools in Haringey and Camden from years 10 and 12 – to raise horizons, benefit from top academic input, learn life skills like negotiation, team-working and so on.

So I gave a brief talk to the Year 12 students and Year 10 students – and watched a bit of an English tutorial and a workshop on enterprise. I asked some of the English students how it compared to their school. Interestingly, two of the girls from Haringey 6th form college, said it was fantastic to be able to learn in a learning environment where they didn’t get put down for being interested in studying. Food for thought I thought!

Anyway – delighted to see the continuation of this excellent project- exemplar in  how the wider school community can benefit from what Highgate has to offer.