MPs and parents ask Diocese of Brentwood to think again on academisation

The pressure is growing on the Catholic diocese of Brentwood to think again about its policy of seeking to convert its schools into academies.

Locally, the newly formed Our Lady of Lourdes school campaigning group, OLOL E11 Parents, has conducted a survey which found just 4% of parents support academisation. Some 48% oppose, whilst 30% do not consider they had enough information to make a decision.

The survey received 206 responses from parents.

Adding to the opposition to academisation, MPs covering Redbridge, Newham, Waltham Forest and Barking and Dagenham have written a letter to Bishop of Brentwood Alan Williams calling on him to think again. The MPs point to the excellent record of the Catholic schools across the boroughs working in partnership with the local authorities. “There is a strong case for remaining part of the local family of schools within our boroughs,” says the letter, signed by eight MPs, including John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead), Wes Streeting (Ilford North), Mike Gapes (Ilford South), Lyn Brown (West Ham) and Jon Cruddas (Dagenham and Rainham). “The evidence suggests, neither financial nor school improvement benefits necessarily accrue from academies.”  

The diocese thus far has been unresponsive. It was invited to address an Redbridge Council Education Scrutiny Committee last month but declined, declaring the exercise would be “fruitless.”

In Redbridge, parents at Our Lady Lourdes, St Augustines and St Anthony’s have mobilised against the academisation. Last week, the campaigning organisation Redbridge Against Academies was re-formed. Previously, this organisation defeated the efforts a few years ago to academise Snaresbrook Primary School.

Redbridge Against Academies will be battling on a number of fronts. There has though already been success with the Secretary of State revoking the academy order on William Torbitt school.

There is much work to be done to halt the academisation process in Redbridge. It must be hoped that Bishop Alan Williams switches to listening mode when it comes to those who make up the bedrock of the excellent Catholic schools network in the diocese. The success of these schools thus far has been due to the commitment of staff, parents, children and the local authority. This public partnership has worked well to date, why change it? Whilst there are no doubt good academies, there are also many horror stories. Why when things are working so well under local authority partnership change the recipe?

published in Wanstead & Woodford Guardian -28 /2/2019 - paper
                                                                                   - 2/2/2019 - online

 

Javier Hernandez hands West Ham victory over Fulham

West Ham 3-1 Fulham

West Ham finally ran out comfortable winners of this London derby,  after a shakey start.

Three times in the first two minutes the home side presented the visitors with gilt edged chances, with Ryan Babel finally stepping up to convert the third, after missing the first one, following a cross from the left.

It was not until the half hour that West Ham drew level, with a controversial goal, involving a hand ball.

A Robert Snodgrass corner was poorly punched out by Fulham keeper Sergio Rico, with Michail Antonio heading the ball back in. Angelo Ogbonna nodded on, for Javier Hernandez to force over the line with his arm.

Ten minutes later, another Snodgrass corner, saw Issa Diop come through a crowd of players to powerfully head home.

Rico then pulled off a point blank save to deny Antonio.

Substitute Marko Arnautovic saw his fierce shot bounce back off the post.

Antonio then missed another header, before proving everything comes to those who wait, when Arnautovic picked him out to head home in the 91st minute.

West Ham manager, Manuel Pellegrini, acknowledged that the hand ball had played an important part in the game. Though, he felt his own team "dominated the game, creating a lot of chances."

"It was a very good performance," said Pellegrini.

Fulham manager Claudio Ranieri felt it was too easy to say the hand ball changed the game. but it did play a decisive role.

"Football is so fast, it is very difficult for the referee to see everything," said Ranieri, who felt the introduction of VAR to the Premier League could help.

"We must continue to fight," said Ranieri. My players have a big heart."

Churches need to stay relevant to survive

St Mary the Virgin Church in Wanstead is an iconic building. It goes way back to the days of Wanstead House, with many remnants of those days adorning the Church and crypt.

It is a beautiful church, something not lost on TV production teams, with St Marys featuring in the recent ITV serialisation of Vanity Fair and before that Taboo, starring Tom Hardy.

However, St Marys hit the headlines more recently for the change in the way in which the Bishop of Chelmsford, Rt Rev Stephen Cottrell has decided worship should proceed in the future.

Numbers attending services on a weekly basis have dwindled, stretching the Church of England’s clerical resources to serve both St Marys and Christchurch. Bishop Cottrell decided that three of four services a month at St Marys will become lay led, so relieving that pressure.

The move seems a good one as it keeps the church open and functioning as well as challenging the congregation to step up to serve.

The pressure on personnel stretches across the churches. The Catholic diocese of Brentwood has brought together the three parishes of Our Lady of Lourdes in Wanstead, St Anne Line in South Woodford and St Thomas’s in Woodford. The three churches will now be served by two priests.

The dramatic drop in the number of priests can be illustrated with a look at Our Lady of Lourdes, which back in the 1970s had four priests – it now has one.

No doubt the laity will be called to step up in this situation as well. Failure to do so will put intolerable pressure on two already overworked priests.

Change, though,  is not a bad thing. The churches are evolving, maybe becoming more outward looking, integral parts of the community.

I am always impressed with the community involvement at Christchurch. It is a church very much of the community, open and welcoming, with its resources regularly used by a variety of community groups.

Christchurch is environmentally aware, which can be seen by a variety of wild flower and insect based initiatives around the building.

It is vital if Church’s are to be living organic parts of the community that they look out and actively engage with the environment.

In the Catholic case, the Church has the excellent teachings of Pope Francis, most notably with his environmental encyclical Laudato Si. The blueprint is there to be followed.

Churches will survive and prosper if they are outward looking, inclusive structures. Fortunately, this is the case with many of the churches in our area.

However, if churches fail to rise to this challenge, then they will decline and struggle. In the end, rather than living organic structures they could become moribund brick museums to a past world.

Thankfully our churches in Wanstead seem to be following the first route but it is always wise though to be aware of the danger of slipping down the latter path. The more people who become actively involved in all aspects of parish life the better the future is likely to be.

 published in Wanstead & Woodford Guardian - 21/2/2019 - paper
                                                                                 -23/2/2019 - online 

Redbridge Council announces 30 life-saving defibrillators to be deployed around the borough

Redbridge Council has announced that there will be 30 defibrillators placed around the borough in order to save lives in event of cardiac arrest.

Launching the initiative at Valentines Mansion,

Council leader Jas Athwal praised the work but then urged that more needs to be done in Redbridge. "I came here feeling proud of what we are doing but now realise we need to do more, " said Cllr Athwal, who called for the borough to emulate Seattle, where extensive training in schools and of the public has seen significant numbers of people surviving cardiac arrests.

"Training across the borough is so important. We must take it into the schools and ensure children are trained," said Cllr Athwal.

Dr Zafar Iqbal, head of sports medicine at Crystal Palace Football Club, told how Bolton footballer Fabrice Muamba had been shocked 16 times over 70 minutes to revive him, after collapsing in a game against Spurs in 2012.
Dr Iqbal also told how his own young son had twice suffered cardiac arrest and had to be revived.

The doctor estimated that for every minute lost in providing the shock for resucitation, the chances of survival reduced by 10 %.

Dr Iqbal stressed the need for defibrillators in schools, estimating that there is probably at least one child in every school with an undiagnosed heart irregularity.

Deputy council leader Kam Rai had been struck by the differences in provision between wards in Redbridge."This can make the difference between life and death." said Cllr Rai.

Cllr for Wanstead Village,  Paul Donovan, said: "I hadn't realised just what a difference a readily available defibrillator can make - it really can be a matter of life or death. This is an excellent initiative stretching across the borough. We are looking forward to the defibrillator coming to Wanstead."

Car travel is a privelige not a right

Every unnecessary journey made in a car contributes a little more to the poisoning of the air for everyone else.

When will people wake up to the damage being done by cars?

I saw recently a news item, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan meeting some school chldren. He asked who suffered from asthma. A large number raised their hands. Junior school children, some seven or eight years old with asthma - this is totally unacceptable,

It is also a product of recent years, asthma and other respiratory diseases were not common place among children  at all 20 to 30 years ago. This is a public health crisis totally of our own making.

Public attitudes are changing and not before time. But the attitude of the car driver to their seeming right to pollute and poison the air is something to behold. Threaten a parking space or attempt to restrict vehicle movement and it is as though basic human rights are being denied.

The number of people who protest in this vein against measures like the Mayor's Ultra Low Emissions Zone, is incredible

I know that many of those protesting are parents and grandparents, when is the penny going to drop?

How do people think life went on prior to the invention of the car? Whilst we don't need to turn the clock back that far, it is a point to ponder. So many journeys are so unneccessary, yet do such damage.

In London, we have excellent public transport networks. Cycling and pedestrian routes are beginning to take precedence - in some areas more quickly than others. 

This is the way forward. Car travel is not a right, it is a privelige, a privelige that growing amounts of public health data suggest cannot be afforded on any rational criteria. 

The development of things like electric cars can bring about change in this dynamic but that will take some time. In the meantime, we struggle on in the battle for clean air and the right to breath. Anything that can improve the air quality has to be welcomed, even if it does restrict the priveliges of the motoring public. Public health must take priority.

published in Wanstead and Woodford Guardian - "When will penny drop about cars and asthma?" - 14/2/2019 online - 16/2/2019

Hyped crime and terror threats leading to the loss of liberties on the altar of security

The proliferation of CCTV cameras across the UK over the past couple of decades has been amazing to behold.

There are now estimated to be more than 4.2 million cameras operating in the UK, one camera for every 14 people. London is one of the most watched cities in the world, with more than 500,000 cameras in operation.

The attitude toward this often intrusive form of surveillance has shifted from one of suspicion, conjuring up images of George Orwell’s Big Brother in 1984, to please come and watch my every move.

The change has almost mirrored the increasing role of social media as a means of communication in the modern world.

At a populist level, the change in attitude is reflected in the emergence of the program Big Brother - where people voluntarily put themselves into a house in order to be spied upon 24 hours a days. The prize, fame and the chance to never again being able to walk anonymously down a street.

The transformation in the attitude to the surveillance society has been breathtaking to behold. I remember as a journalist back in the 1980s and 90s covering stories in Belfast and Derry, concerning the monitoring towers that were built in the cities. They loomed high over the city walls, operated by the then Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British army. These dominating observation positions were no doubt intended to intimidate but they were sold as being there to protect the population from terrorism.

There were stories of individuals being told at check points what they had been doing in their own houses the night before. People in those days did not fall for the propaganda, instead, running long campaigns for the removal of the towers and surveillance devices.

The towers came down with the peace process. However, at that time coming back to London I wondered if something less intrusive, was put up in in the capital on the basis that it stops crime would there be such opposition?

The foreboding proved correct, with people across the country now clamouring for CCTV to address crime. Whether ofcourse such surveillance does cut crime is questionable, with plenty of evidence that it just shifts it from one area to  another. Though I guess come the day when every square inch of the country and every movement by a human being is being recorded on a camera somewhere this may not be the case.

Some years ago, I interviewed former Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall John Alderson, who warned that the cry of dictators down the ages has been give me your liberties and I will provide security.

Today it would seem that people are more than ever prepared to trade their liberties for security, though they would do well to remember that once those precious won liberties are lost it will be very difficult to get them back.

Social media has played its part in promoting the sort of hysteria that sees rights more easily traded for security.

The various community forums on social media have the effect of hyping crime to a level quite beyond the reality of what is going on. Something is reported, then quite often hysteria takes hold, fueled usually by those furthest away from the initial incident being reported in the first place.

Terrorism is another arena where the process of cutting liberties on the altar of security can be seen at work. Going right back to the Troubles in Northern Ireland, it has been commonplace to use the terror threat as an excuse to bring in laws taking away basic liberties under anti-terror law.

Then over time these measures transfer into the ordinary criminal law. The right to silence was an early casualty, removed first under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, then downloaded to the criminal law under the Criminal Justice Act. Right to assembly and other freedoms have been chipped away at in similar ways.

These are all serious attacks on citizens civil liberties. Most recently, there has been the example of the Stansted 15 where anti-terror law has been brought in to prosecute the individuals concerned.

It must be time for a public debate on civil liberties in the modern world. Are the threats today really that much more serious than in the past that they justify these incursions into people’s privacy and the removal of the most basic rights? It is high time for a wake up call on civil liberties and the present incursion upon them in the name of security. Once they are lost and the dictator has his jack boot on your throat there will be no coming back.

published - Wanstead and Woodford Guardian - 7/2/2019 - paper
9/2/2019 - online

 

Liverpool escape with a point from tough West Ham encounter

West Ham 1-1 Liverpool

Liverpool huffed and puffed in this game but it was West Ham who came closest to blowing the house down.

In just the second minute of play, Javier Hernandez twisted and fired inches wide of the post.

Aaron Cresswell also saw his drive from just outside the area go inches wide.

Hernandez then had another effort pushed wide by Alisson.

Liverpool controversially took the lead after 21mins, James Milner picking the ball up in an offside position. He crossed for Sadio Mane to turn the defender and fire home.

West Ham weren't behind for long, though, with Felipe Anderson rolling a freekick in on the blind side of the Liverpool defence for Michail Antonio to run on firing wide of Alisson to equalise.

West Ham then should have taken the lead, with Anderson picking out the advancing Declan Rice with his free kick. Unfortunately, Rice put the header wide.

Hernandez had another chance in the second half but put it over.

In the final minute, Divock Origi got free but Fabianski easily blocked the effort.

West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini was disappointed that his side did not take all three points. "We had four chances, they had two. Ofcourse we must be disappointed. I am very happy with the performance, " said Pellegrini, who was keen to see his team repeat the performances they have put in against the big teams at home versus other teams

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp felt his team could have played better but they showed fight.