Cleveland Ward Forum – Number 2

A date for your diary.  The next meeting of the Cleveland Ward Forum will be held on 20th November 2008 at 7:30pm in the Drayton Court Hotel Function Room, 2 The Avenue W13 8PH (click for location map).  I’ll give more details of the agenda nearer the time, but we will be allocating the £40,000 ward [...]

St Lucia shows the way

The Mayor of Ealing, Cllr Ian Green, last night hosted a reception for the new High Commissioner for St Lucia, His Excellency, Mr Eldridge Stephens, who lives in Ealing.  I joined leader of the Council, Jason Stacey and some other fellow councillors to meet Mr Stephens and members of the St Lucian community in London.
It [...]

Drayton win but lawyers triumph

Drayton Manor High School in Hanwell has won its high court appeal against the decision of the Office of the School Adjudicator that it should change its admission criteria.  This means that Drayton’s original admission criteria for 2008 will stand, namely:

Children in public care. 
Brothers or sisters of pupils attending the school.
Proximity of the school to the child’s [...]

I hate Halloween

Maybe I’m becoming a grumpy old man, but I hate Halloween and in particular trick or treat.  OK, it’s quite cute to see my neighbours 5 year olds dressed up in their “scary” costumes and their embarrassed parents loitering at the bottom of the garden while they trick or treat. But the youths with a token [...]

Drayton Manor Admissions Latest

The saga of Drayton Manor High School admissions criteria rumbles on.  All parties were at the High Court today and the judge has apparently adjourned so that he can consider his decision and some points of law.
High school applications for the rest of London closed on Friday 24th October, but Ealing’s is still open because [...]

Credit crunching harder in the UK than elsewhere

What a nightmare the economy is becoming.  Despite action by the Government to pour billions into our financial system, we see unemployment rising, inflation rising and share prices tumbling.  I know some old fashioned socialists will be revelling in the apparent collapse of capitalist institutions but the collapse in share prices affects millions of ordinary [...]

Is big beautiful for Primary Schools?

How big should a primary school be?  As I have written before, we are having widespread discussions about increasing the number of primary school places in Ealing.  Current plans are looking at around 12 new forms of entry in 2010.  The places are needed throughout the Borough (except Southall which is getting the new 2 [...]

Primary School places is a pan London problem

I’ve just got back from a Children’s (and adults) Services conference in Liverpool.  I must say that I was impressed by Liverpool; it certainly is a city that is in transformation with good new facilities.
The conference is a good chance to catch up with issues and fellow councillors.  From my conversations with other lead members [...]

Revised deadline for High School admissions in Ealing

The high school admissions process for this year is becoming a bit of a saga.  Thanks to Ed Balls reviewing high school admission rules (a not very well disguised attack on church schools and some high performing schools with non-standard admissions arrangements), Drayton Manor High School’s admission criteria were challenged and the Council was obliged to [...]

Strictly come X factor

We had a tremendous service at church this morning (St John’s Church, West Ealing).  The Bishop of Willesden, Bishop Pete (as he likes to be called) came along for a series of baptisms and confirmations.  It was standing room only as we were joined by the congregations from St James and the Living Waters Arabic [...]