News and views for trade Unionists and supporters in the Green Party
Invitation to attend TUCAN online meeting
JOSEPH HEALY writes:
At the unveiling of the commemorative bench for Noel yesterday in Finchley where Darren Johnson cut the ribbon and gave a speech. I also spoke. It was organised by his widow. Many people there I hadn’t seen in years. It was quite moving! It’s in Cherry Wood opposite East Finchley Tube station.
Noel Lynch was for many years Chair of the London #Greenparty and a former #MLA A former auctioneer he was an avid collector and ran a bric a brac #shop at #GrandparadeN12 which he also campaigned to save from demolition. He was active in #Barnet local politics and Chair of the local Green Party for many years. A proud Irishman from Co #Limerick he read the #Limerickleader until his death. He was active in the Green Party Trade Union Group and the Green Seniors. Noel ran himself ragged for many years visiting local Green parties throughout London and encouraging new members. He was also compassionate and during the #pandemic and before his shop became a focal point for #homeless people receiving support. He campaigned on a wide range of environmental and #socialjustice issues and never spared himself. He will be missed by many as an authentic campaigner and man of the people.
THE GREEN ROOM (for Noel Lynch)
This shop is so full of miscellaneous things,
Unassorted and assorted, that,
Its customers can barely enter,
And they must shuffle along,
Its narrow corridors sideways,
Canyoned in by incredible merchandise
Hung from all available walls,
And stacked ceiling-high.
An inventory of its stock would be
An epic in itself, including:
Desiccated dinosaur turds,
And Rubber hot water bottles,
Fashioned to resemble infamous politicians,
Giant butterflies in varnished collectors’ cases
Piles of football programmes,
Unique coins, and fossilised fish.
Texts in every language known on this planet,
Portraits of Macedonian aristocrats,
Necklaces fashioned from polished bones,
Texts in languages not known on this planet,
And several pairs of boots…,
And in one corner,
The shop’s owner presides,
Like a benign dragon in a second-hand suit.
A druid of the discarded,
A trading spider spinning a web of contacts,
Linking, deals, politics, culture and commerce
With invisible threads
Cemented by endless anecdotes,
Joining everyone together with shared humanity
Working to make all our worlds better.
©PRMurry
No new fossil fuels - time to tackle the climate and energy crisis!
The Green Party of England and Wales has a long-standing policy to replace Ofsted and so we welcome the launch at the National Education Union Conference this week of a petition to do exactly that. Ofsted is the source of much stress for education workers and closely tied to high-stakes testing that distorts the curriculum and stifles creativity.
The NEU website has a variety of tools to spread the word about the campaign and we urge Green Party members and supporters to make full use of them. LINK
The petition says:
Teachers and leaders work under the shadow cast by Ofsted. An unfair and unreliable inspectorate.
As Ofsted approaches its 30-year anniversary, now is the right time to examine what effect its inspections have on the quality of education that teachers and leaders are able to provide and, in particular, for our most disadvantaged pupils.
In 2017, the National Audit Office concluded that: “Ofsted does not know whether its school inspections are having the intended impact: to raise the standards of education and improve the quality of children’s and young people’s lives.”
Ofsted has never published any research to prove that its inspections accurately reflect the quality of education schools provide. Comprehensive, independent analysis of Ofsted judgements show they discriminate against schools in deprived areas – awarding ‘outstanding’ grades to four times more secondary schools with better-off pupils than schools with students who are worse off. A major research study showed that, even when schools in deprived areas are making excellent value-added progress, they are still more likely to be given poor Ofsted judgements.
Teachers and leaders know that working in disadvantaged areas is likely to be harmful to their careers because of the unfairness of Ofsted judgements. It is harder to recruit and retain teachers in these schools. Poor children, who most need qualified and experienced teachers if they are to fulfil their potential, are least likely to get them.
School inspection must be fair. It should be supportive. It should not be, as too many Ofsted inspections are, punitive.
The stress and unsustainable workload generated by Ofsted is a major factor in the appalling teacher retention rates that blight English education. Nearly 40 per cent of teachers leave the profession within ten years. No education system can improve while it haemorrhages school leaders and teachers. We must create a new approach to school and college evaluation which is effective and fair.
We are calling on the Government to:
Sign the petition HERE
The Green Party Trade Union group sends solidarity to UCU members at Richmond upon Thames College. No workers deserve to be treated with contempt by management through the threat of fire and rehire.
Further Education is vital to prepare for a future low carbon economy, it cannot be properly run on such a shambolic and exploitative basis.
