Having now read this document available on the Academy Company website it is clear in my mind that this consultation is simply a PR exercise for a single site Academy.
Have a read for yourself and see what conclusion you come to.
PS
MC2 and Mouchel are nowhere near as good as concocting a biased consultation document as Cumbria County Council and CN Group Research are!
Anne Burns is a professional County Councillor who has some portfolio
or other for children's issues. She is a Labour councillor. She has been a County Councillor for quite
a while.
Jack Richardson is a borough
councillor who moves from ward to ward to make sure he can get himself
re-elected. He is of the conservative persuasion and has been voted by
his 57 old farts councillors to be council leader. A grand title
indeed. He also has extensive experience of being a County councillor.
Here are Anne Burns and JR's "words of wisdom" regarding this most contentious of issues.
When a department like the OFT is moved to act there isn't just smoke, there is fire.
Have a read through this from the Times no less back in May 2008 and ask yourself if you can see any similarities with contracts that are being won across Cumbria. I have yet to find any hard evidence that there is anything like this going on here but as in Nottingham until someone on the inside blows the whistle none of it comes to light.
However there is total lack of transparency and no small measure of very real secrecy in public/private deals in this town and county... one begins to wonder.
If anyone does fancy a bit of whistle blowing then the OFT is able to reward you to the tune of £100K which is like seven years wages to me!
Come in very handy. But I am only one pair of eyes. That's why I am telling every other reader about the OFT's reward and exactly what it is they are looking for.
I don't mind genuine competition.
Political dinosaurs carrying on with 'business as usual'.
I've taken a break for uncovering what Kier construction stand to gain from the Cumbrian Academies programme and why Moira Swann has structured it the way she has to write down the list of known facts about this scheme.
I will have missed some but it's a start. If you dear reader would be so kind as to enlighten me via the comments I will add them in as they come in to build up a clear picture of what we don't know and what we should know.
As any of you who read the pages of this site will know I believe that the Barrow and indeed Cumbrian academy schemes are built on presumptions and assumptions which are then 'backed up' with lies.
These are spun by the vested interests of an almost bankrupt and almost totally inept County Council and a Government which is hell bent of proving to anyone who cares, and precious few do, that they invest more money in education than the Conservatives did.
Sixth Form college numbers on roll
2004 826
2005 744
2006 703
2007 793
2008 799
Furness college numbers on roll
2004 827
2005 944
2006 971
2007 938
2008 1116
As a close family member of a teacher I feel the need to comment. I
have become so passionately against this mess through seeing their
upset for several months.
I feel such anger and sadness when I hear how teachers have become the target of some parents rage.
I say this after spending many an evening comforting them when they
have shed tears over the impending disaster. Never once have they cried
over their position, but the absolute destruction of the education
system and a great school so dear to them - a school which is going
from strength to strength, pupils with whom fantastic bonds have been
made.
It is this that has led to many tears indeed.
They feel frustrated, defenceless and powerless - A signal has yet to
come from the unions regarding strike action, the threats of discipline
from the county council if teachers dare to speak their mind, comment
boards such as this being monitored for such reasons, paranoia within
schools regarding 'Whistle blowing', and yes, at the end of the day
mortgages still have to be paid, there is worry of losing pensions they
have paid in to for years, job losses (realistically, how many teaching
posts will be available in the local area asides from the academy).
It is the Governors and the County Council that can put a stop to this,
and as you say, there are many intelligent individuals within these
groups who have chosen to say nothing. All we currently have is Craig
Foster telling us how great it will be.
I can state with all honesty he certainly does not speak on behalf of
all Governors. But, I find it so hard to comprehend why those Governors
that realise what a disaster this will be do not publically come
forward and say so. What do they have to lose?
As regards to the protest today, I am afraid I don't hold much hope
that many teachers will take part, as much as they are so desperate to.
I can already see the comments pouring in as to how 'lily livered' they
are. I do not think that the general public could really know the full
extent as to what is currently going on within schools. If teachers
could make a stand, do you not think they would?
They know education will suffer for many years, and they know their
rights will diminish. They also know that ultimately, as far as the
County Council are concerned, the blame will fall at the feet of the
teacher if the academy fails. IF the academy goes ahead (and I very
much hope it does not) it will be up to the teacher, despite all
struggles, to make a difference from within the classroom. This will
not be possible if they lose their jobs for 'rocking the boat.
Nobody can know what many teachers have already tried to do 'behind the
scenes' to try to stop this happening. If you did I doubt those
teachers would still be in a job. So please, before you criticize, walk
a mile in their shoes and you may think differently.
It has been a tumultuous week for a lot of people in our fair town. Tomorrow will see the biggest demonstration in Barrow for many a long year if everyone who has pledged to turn up does.
What it's affect will be on everyone involved remains to be seen.
However what would be good for all concerned especially those who have just lifted their heads from the sand would be for those on both sides of the divide from Ed Balls downwards to the parents of the Youngest year 6 to actually write a short comment that they can put on here so the rest of us can see why you think it is a good or a bad idea so if you are on this list please take ten minutes to enlighten everyone else on the list and the readers of this blog and there are well over a thousand unique visitors.
I checked my stats and I know the difference between HITS and UNIQUE visitors unlike Mrs Attwood who just believes everything that MC2 tells her.