>The Boil on Busson’s Butt

Posted July 9, 2008 by jasonnparkinson

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Brent Council will enter Willesden County Court on Tuesday 15 July 2008, to apply for an eviction order on the Tent City Occupation, who are currently squatting the Wembley Park Sports Ground, land promised to the latest privatised Academy school.

Wembley Tent City Occupation

Protesting teachers and residents opposing construction of the Wembley Park Academy on Bridge Road in North West London re-squatted the land two weeks ago in a last ditch attempt to halt child charity Ark’s plans to secure an advanced “temporary” planning application, which was approved by Brent council heads last month.

Up Go The Tents

The 2008 Tent City Occupation, follows a six-month occupation last year, which ended in the teachers scaling trees to avoid eviction.

Teachers Take A Breather

The Wembley Academy is one of the 12 private investment schools to be set up by charity Ark, founded by French/Swiss financier Arki Busson. Six of those schools are planned to open on the beginning of the 2008 term, including the Wembley Academy.

Brent NUT & ATL Secretary Hank (Tent City) Roberts

The only problem is there is no school there. It has not been built yet. Construction begins this summer and will continue until September 2010. In the meantime 200 pupils will be educated in the middle of a construction site, as the school is built around them, and private investor Ark will begin receiving taxpayer’s money to fund the project, and thus start down the road to profiting from education.

Last week the Anti-Academy Action Group made a call out to others to join them and make the last stand at Wembley Sports Ground the largest opposition to the privatisation of UK schooling, promising to use non-violent direct action to halt the Academy school if necessary.

Anti-Academy campaigners have asked for people to protest the Willesden County Court on Tuesday 15 July at 10.30am and have asked people to join them for drinks this Friday night for a “Back on Site or pre-eviction party – you decide!”, starting at 3.30pm till late.

You Tube videos.

Wembley Teachers Say No To Academy Privatisation Pt1

Wembley Teachers Say No To Academy Privatisation Pt2

Wembley Teachers Say No To Academy Privatisation Pt3

Wembley Teachers Say No To Academy Privatisation Pt4

Wembley Teachers Say No To Private Academy School Pt 5

Reel News has given near constant coverage to the Wembley Academy Campaign and the slow privatisation of the UK education system, which culminated in the 22-minute film Save Our Schools! on issue 13.

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

>Creative Camberwell Network Launch Night

Posted July 9, 2008 by jasonnparkinson

>Friday 2 May 2008 saw The Synergy Centre host the launch night of the Creative Camberwell Network. I was hired to film the event and produce a short film of the evenings

Creative Camberwell is an umbrella organisation set up to join together and promote arts, performance and festivals in the Camberwell borough of South London.

Music came from The Synergy Centre resident drummers, Ghana’s own Kakatsitsi and Pan Andian band Kausary.

jasonnparkinson@googlemail.com

>Smash School Privatisation: Wembley Teachers Call For Direct Action

Posted July 5, 2008 by jasonnparkinson

“Tent City Roberts Returns” claimed a local newspaper headlines this week, as the Wembley teachers and residents returned to re-squat the proposed privatised school site on Bridge Road in Wembley, North West London.

In a last ditch fight against UK school privatisation, the teachers and residents of Wembley said they would resort to non-violent direct action to halt the privatised Ark Wembley Academy school project and make this the largest stand against the privatisation of UK schools.

Wembley Sports Ground Tent City 2008

Following Brent Council’s decision on 3 June 2008 to approve a temporary lease on the land and accelerate the Ark Academy opening date by one year to September 2008, immediately evicting several local businesses, including a nursery school, Ark now plans to house 200 school children in portacabins and a dilapidated and leaking community hall.

The Sports Ground Community Centre

This puts the school children in the middle of a construction site for the next two years as the new school building, believed to be somewhere between three and six floors, is built around them.

Sports Ground Hall

This week Tent City Occupation made a call out to activists to join them, share their knowledge of direct action tactics and make the biggest stand against the New Labour project to privatise education, turn schools into a profitable business.

Leaking Ceilings

“State education is worth fighting for,” said Hank Roberts, Brent Secretary for the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL). He added they will fight Brent Council and child charity Ark as hard as they can.

Reel News has given near constant coverage to the Wembley Academy Campaign and the slow privatisation of the UK education system, which culminated in the 22-minute film Save Our Schools! on issue 13.

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

jasonnparkinson@googlemail.com