by Paul Scully | Feb 13, 2009 | News |
BBC London came to Sutton to cover the proposed changes to the admissions policies of Wallington Girls and Nonsuch, both top-performing Grammar schools. This follows an article in the Sutton Guardian a few weeks ago. They interviewed me, the headteacher of Wallington Girls and some mothers outside Stanley Park Junior School who expressed their deep concerns. One mother explained (unprompted) that it may well be an advantage to live outside the Borough now because at least you wouldn’t have to pay the higher council tax.
At the moment both schools take the top 50 girls from those who take the test. The remaining 130 places in each school are then filled by children who have reached the benchmark score according to how far they live from the school. Four of the five selective schools are within a couple of hundred yards from the Borough boundary. This makes it difficult enough for Sutton children to get a place as the admissions policy can only take a circle around the school by law and so cannot use the Borough boundary as an artificial dividing line. The court ruling that determined this is known as the Greenwich Judgement. A common myth is that this was imposed by Government.
The proposed change is to take the top 120 girls on test results alone. This only leaves 60 places for bright girls living locally that can benefit most from a Grammar school education but might not be the very top high fliers.
Both schools control their own admissions criteria and this is how it should be. The headteachers should have more flexibility not less. I don’t believe that Government or the Council should impose change on them but I hope that they will listen to the strong opinions of those who have children coming up to secondary school age and work with us to educate more of Sutton’s children in Sutton’s schools. The Grammar schools provide the backbone of Sutton’s record as the top Education Authority in the UK. I am fiercely proud of them and have no truck with those who would scrap them. They provide massive opportunities to children who are academically gifted from any background.
Both people interviewed in the studio on the video missed the key points in Sutton. Increasing standards in the schools by changing the policy is a moot point when Nonsuch reached 100% in both the GCSE and A Level league tables in 2008. However the case made against Grammar schools using Kent as an example does not stand up when looking at Sutton. We are measured as the best performing education authority exactly because the average performance of schools in the borough is exceptionally high. This is predicated on the fact that we have five selective schools and one partially selective school.
A drawback of league tables is that they are divided into Boroughs but do not necessarily measure how the children in that Borough are educated. Only around a third of the places in our Grammar Schools are filled by children from in the Borough. In the past, children have come from the other side of London and even Brighton to attend our schools. With the cost of commuting, that’s not social mobility. We have real pockets of deprivation in the Borough. There are plenty of local Primary schools who don’t push pupils towards such an opportunity offered by these great schools on our doorstep. This may be from a paucity of ambition. On occasion it is political dogma. I hope that the headteachers of the Grammars will keep the door open for Sutton’s children and work with us to encourage more local children to seize the chance for an education that ranks with the very best.
The proposed changes can be seen on the websites of Wallington High School for Girls and a petition organised by Philippa Stroud regarding Nonsuch can be signed here.
by Paul Scully | Feb 11, 2009 | News |
I was amazed at one entry in the budget report that was released recently. £20,000 is to be cut from Winter Highways Maintenance with the explanation, “Based on the experience of the last few years, reduce the provision for highways winter maintenance without having any adverse impact on the service provided.”
This decision was confirmed by leading LibDem councillors on Friday morning whilst sitting about 10 feet away from the entrance of the Civic Offices with people slipping and sliding into the building. As we recover from the worst snow in 18 years, it is incredulous that they can prove themselves so out of touch that they can draw up proposals to reduce the upkeep of our roads during winter.
Meanwhile a constituent has sent me this photo of litter picking in Blakehall Road whilst a lady tiptoes through the snow and a Mini crawls over the ice.
![More Snow Predicted for London]()
by Paul Scully | Feb 5, 2009 | News |
We’re being warned that there is a 60 per cent likelihood of snowfall in London overnight being as severe as it was on Sunday night/Monday morning. There is also the prospect of very bad weather sustaining into the weekend.
The areas that are most likely to be affected are north and north-west London so we may escape the worst but do keep an eye out on the Sutton website and school websites if the snow comes again.
There is a co-ordinated action to ensure that all London Boroughs have enough grit to cover the main roads. That is co-ordinated by everyone except Whitehall. According to the Daily Express, Councils have been forced to relinquish their supplies to the Highways Agency. Hounslow reports that they have been ordered to hand over 300 tonnes of grit. I notice that one wag left a comment after the article to point out that the country had run out of true grit many years ago.
by Paul Scully | Feb 5, 2009 | News |
A near-neigbour sent me a message earlier today having seen a beat sweeper armed with a brush, tackling a road in Carshalton. Not unreasonably he and I question why someone has been sent out on a normal sweeping round to clean a road buried under 6 inches of snow and ice.
The photo is of a barrow belonging to a council employee who was clearing snow from the main roads in the Village. I don’t suppose the brush was our friend’s weapon of choice which begs the question why he was sent out in the first place.
Update: Just to clarify, the barrow pictured above was elsewhere in Carshalton. I have had the technique used to clear snow from pavements explained to me. The shovel is used to break up the snow. Grit is also contained in the front compartment. The sweepers then use the back of their brush to push the slush and ice to the side.
![More Snow Predicted for London]()
by Paul Scully | Feb 5, 2009 | News |
Conservative Finance Spokesman, Cllr Tim Crowley and I wrote an open letter to the LibDem leader of Sutton Council which was included in today’s Sutton Guardian. We have asked him to use his power to do more for residents in this economic climate and freeze Council Tax this year.
You can see more and comment on the budget via the website www.freezethetax.org.uk. The response given at yesterday’s Executive meeting from the LibDem spokesman, is that the Council’s £11m that is squirreled away is better used to prop up their ailing capital programme. This will be the same councillor who is overseeing the building of the Sutton Life Centre, a place to teach young people “how to tackle life issues”. The Council is putting in £4m whilst not being able to provide details of exactly how the building is going to generate the income to keep it open.
Text of the letter:-
Dear Councillor Brennan,
As the man in charge of Sutton Council, you know how much it costs to provide services
to residents. The economic downturn is hitting Sutton residents hard, particularly the
vulnerable. As Leader you have the power to make people’s lives better. Other London
Councils have done so. This is why the Conservatives feel you should use your power to
freeze council tax for 2009/10.
Regrettably, under your leadership, council tax in Sutton has never stopped going up. A
few years ago you even put it up by a staggering 15%! Conservative research has
uncovered £11million of taxpayers’ money sitting in council coffers. We think it right to
keep cash aside for a ‘rainy day’, but we have to ask: have you looked out the window
lately? It’s pouring!
Throughout 2008, you managed to find money to force through the unpopular green
garden waste policy before scrapping it and to find £4million to build the ‘Sutton Life
Centre’ without the funding to keep it running! Not to forget the £5.5m which is still
frozen in Iceland. As residents are forced to tighten their belts, why aren’t you doing the
same?
A Conservative government will make it possible for councils to freeze council tax for
two years, to leave more money in people’s pockets during a time of economic hardship.
In The Evening Standard you immediately trashed this proposal calling a below-inflation
increase “a quick fix now with years of misery to follow” and that “this could only be
achieved by cutting vital services”. Is this still your view? In contrast, we know that value
for money and excellent services can go hand-in-hand.
Tellingly, you have stayed silent as Boris Johnson delivers on his pledge not to take a
penny more from London taxpayers, in his first year as Mayor of London.
As local Conservatives, our challenge to you is to make a real difference this year. Freeze
the council tax. Local people’s jobs, savings and mortgages are at risk in this economic
crisis. Don’t push them over the edge.
As Council Leader, you have the power and the money to make a difference. So why
don’t you?
