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>Smash School Privatisation: Call To Action On All Sides

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As the date at Willesden County Court closed in, supporters of the Wembley Anti-Academy Campaign gathered on Friday 11 July 2008.

Wembley Supporters

Over that Friday afternoon more than 100 people came on to the site of the Tent City Occupation
to show their support for the unending fight of the Wembley teachers to save the local sports ground and make a stand against the privatisation of UK state schools through ex-prime minister Blair’s “Academisation” program.
Tent City Pirates

On Sunday 29 August I interviewed Brent National Union of Teachers (NUT) and Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) Secretary Hank Roberts from the Tent City Occupation. He explained, despite an impending County Court eviction order, he was prepared to defy any legal action against himself and even face jail, to make a final stand against private investment taking control of state education and profiting from it.

http://www.youtube.com/get_player
Hank Roberts: A Call To Action

Thursday 10 July saw a delegation from private school investor Ark, accompanied by several representatives from Brent Council, visit the site to price up the costs of plan B – to house the first 60 children in the sports hall.

Ark representative Chris Randall let it slip that it would be the Brent taxpayer who foots the bill for any construction work needed to prepare the hall for September 2008. It is already widely reported plan A – housing pupils in temporay hut accomodation – will also come from the taxpayer (see video below).


On that Friday afternoon as a month’s worth of rain fell from the sky in a day ATL president Julia Neal visited the site to give the union’s support to Academy opposition.

Neal had some interesting things to say about Academy schools, such as increased expulsion’s, as they tried to maintain their high-ranking status at any cost, and the lowering of teachers rights, pay and conditions.


http://www.youtube.com/get_player
Julia Neal, ATL President Interview
Other videos of the campaign can be found here on YouTube: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Reel News has given near constant coverage to the Wembley Academy Campaign and the slow privatisation of the UK education system.

Save Our Schools 22-minute film available on Reel News issue 13
Stop them Privatising Our Schools available on Reel News issue 12
Wembley Occupation available on Reel News issue 10

Please support Reel News to keep our coverage going on the issues important to you.

All material on this blog – stills, video and print – is (c) Jason N. Parkinson 2008 All Rights Reserved.

Please contact the AUTHOR for access to any material and the extensive four-year video archive.

jasonnparkinson@googlemail.com

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