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Spectator
a day ago
- Politics
- Spectator
Labour's end-of-year school report is dire
As we approach the end of a long, hot summer term, it is a good time to reflect on the state of schools after one year of this Labour government. I teach in both the independent and state sectors and it is fair to say that both are feeling bruised and bewildered by the events of the last twelve months. Schools are poorer than they have been for a long time, facing huge and complex challenges. They also feel there is no leadership or vision to make the reforms necessary to bring lasting improvement. It's an F for Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary. The calendar year began in acrimony with the levy of 20 per cent VAT on school fees (which was brought forward from this coming September to January). It was rushed and ill-thought-through legislation which would bring little real benefit to state schools; most saw it as a deliberately spiteful act intended to hurt schools and families in the middle of the academic year. Irrespective of what you think of fee-paying schools, the decision to make them more expensive has been both disingenuous and self-defeating. Instead of the (disputed) £1.5 billion Labour claimed they would raise through VAT on fees going to state schools, Keir Starmer suggested in June that, actually, this money will go on affordable housing. It was a breathtaking admission of deception. Furthermore, teacher recruitment has fallen sharply since Labour gained power; there are record numbers of unfilled vacancies and the lowest number of newly qualified teachers are graduating since 2010. Starmer's VAT legislation was also self-defeating because it has placed more strain on the state sector: over 70 independent schools have closed since it was passed, and many of these children have enrolled at their local state schools. Expect far more private school closures next year. But if the government's policies for independent schools are characterised by vindictiveness, there is, at the very least, a clear intent. When it comes to state schools, there is nothing more than confusion and indecision. Look no further than the utterly pointless and damaging decision to scrap the Latin Excellence Programme, an act rightly described by Kristina Murkett in The Spectator as 'cultural vandalism'. It was a spiteful, unnecessary move which nobody in schools could defend or explain. Perhaps it was done because those currently in charge of school policy are fundamentally suspicious of anything that smells of elitism. This might also explain the decision to appoint Professor Becky Francis to oversee the review of the national curriculum. Francis is a well-known educationalist activist, and left-wing progressives were delighted by her appointment – only to be disappointed by her rather tepid interim report, published in March, which promised 'evolution not revolution'. Under this Labour government, it is becoming customary to hear bold statements but to see indecision and obfuscation. But it is in the botched 'reforms' to Ofsted where the lack of leadership at the Department for Education (DfE) is most evident. It takes incompetence to an astonishing level if the changes introduced to inspections are felt to be worse than those they have replaced. But when the new report cards – which replaced a 'single-word judgement' in favour of a five-point grading scale – were unveiled in February, many parents found them confusing. These have now been delayed until September for further consultation, leaving schools completely in the dark about how they will be inspected. Fundamentally, the government doesn't know what Ofsted should be or who is it for: is it for parents? For schools? For pupils? For politicians and civil servants? If you can't answer that, then you don't have a mechanism for assessing schools. The whole situation is a mess, branded by union leaders as 'reckless' and 'nonsensical'. Worse, it is potentially dangerous because without effective inspections children are at risk. Getting this wrong is a dereliction of duty by Phillipson. But the opprobrium that greeted the reforms to Ofsted are positively benign compared to the reception the current Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill has been met with. This has been described by the head teacher Katharine Birbalsingh as 'insane'. Others, such as the Children's Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, have warned that ministers are 'legislating against the things we know work in schools'. It is, indeed, a sclerotic bill, which has no unifying logic, other than to take autonomy away from academies, give more power to the Secretary of State and make recruitment even more difficult for schools. Such things remain, largely, outside the daily lives of those teachers who are, this week, looking forward to their well-earned breaks. What is very real, and what they grapple with, daily in too many cases, is appalling behaviour by pupils. Here, again, the picture is gloomy. Earlier this month, the DfE published data which showed that suspensions and permanent exclusions from schools resulting from physical assaults on teachers are at an all-time high. The breakdown in authority figures, both in school and across society, no doubt contributes to these depressing statistics and makes recruiting and retaining staff even more difficult. There are many more battles ahead. Some, like the guidance on relationships, sex and health education, will generate a lot of debate around gender identity and age-appropriate teaching. It seems to be a landscape filled with attritional culture war skirmishes, which will only add to the sense that Labour, in government, are still acting like a group of activists, not ministers. But this will pale into insignificance when the government faces another struggle to reform the bloated and hugely inefficient Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision. This currently costs the taxpayer £12 billion a year, and the bill is growing all the time. You would get very poor odds on Starmer getting any meaningful reforms through Parliament. The verdict on this government is that there is no vision and no clear sense of what they want or how they will go about getting it. This is nowhere more in evidence than in education, where personal prejudices, coupled with uncoordinated decisions, have had a hugely damaging impact on both the independent and private sectors. If you make a mistake with a piece of legislation, such as the winter fuel allowance, you can quickly reverse it. But changes made to how schools work take time and have lasting consequences. At the end of this difficult academic year, the impression is that Labour has learnt nothing, and that next year will be even more difficult for anyone who works in schools. Happy holidays, everyone.
Hamilton Spectator
3 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
After the killing of an innocent bystander, does downtown Hamilton feel safe?
In the days following the killing of innocent bystander Belinda Sarkodie, The Spectator spoke to numerous people to find out whether they feel safe in downtown Hamilton. Here's what four of them had to say. Laura de Jong said the shooting won't stop her from going downtown. De Jong sat outside of Redchurch Café having lunch on Tuesday. She said the shooting was on her mind in knowing that she would be downtown, but she felt safe. 'It's just in the air,' said de Jong, who lives on the Mountain. De Jong said the incident would not stop her from making plans and walking around downtown. Sara Dickinson called Friday's shooting 'disappointing.' Last Friday, Sara Dickinson and her husband were downtown for dinner at Piano Piano on King Street East and then Art Crawl, which was just a few blocks from the bus stop where Sarkodie was killed. 'I think it's sad and disappointing, but it doesn't change my relationship with the downtown core,' said Dickinson, who lives in Dundas and works at an art gallery downtown. Hamilton's downtown struggles to shake unsafe reputation 'I still have to come to work and I still want to sit outside and be part of the community, so I will continue to.' She feels safe downtown, even after the shooting, she said, having grown a thick skin after living in cities for years. 'I hope that we can do better to support those that are struggling in this city,' she said. Carl Henderson said he feels very safe being in downtown Hamilton, having lived in New York City. Having lived in and around New York City, Henderson said the shooting did not impact his sense of safety. 'I feel incredibly safe in comparison to how I felt as a person of colour living in the United States,' said Henderson. Henderson moved to Hamilton in 2019 and now lives downtown. It was 'jarring' for Henderson to hear that the shooting happened during Art Crawl, which pulls crowds in the thousands. He also called for more resources to help unhoused people in the core. Heather Doyle said if it wasn't for work, she would not be downtown. Heather Doyle was downtown for work on Tuesday. Outside on her smoke break, she said she felt just as safe now as she did before the shooting happened. 'You can't predict it's going to happen,' Doyle said. 'There's bad people everywhere doing things that they shouldn't.' At the same time, Doyle doesn't stray far from her work building, her smoking spot metres away and her bus stop down the street. She said she does not like to spend a lot of time near Gore Park and Jackson Square, describing the area as 'unpredictable.' Cheyenne Bholla is a reporter at The Hamilton Spectator. cbholla@ Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
3 days ago
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Greenfield or adaptive reuse site for new Brant hospital? ‘All options open,' says CEO
'It's an important day here for the board and the future of our hospital system, ' said Paul Emerson, chair of Brant Community Healthcare System (BCHS) redevelopment committee, from the cafeteria of the Brantford General Hospital. Deputy premier Sylvia Jones was there on Thursday to formally affirm provincial support for the next phase of a new hospital. The $12.5-million grant will help BCHS — which oversees the hospital and Willett Urgent Care Centre in Paris — plan for a new, state-of-the-art hospital. Until now, they have been planning 'off of a shoestring' budget, but the funding means the organization can hire a vice-president of redevelopment, Bonnie Camm, president and CEO of BCHS told The Spectator earlier in the week. The functional planning phase will involve determining the size, location, full scope of services, and local share planning, Camm said. 'It allows us to look into the future, not just for the next few years, but for the next several decades,' she told hospital staff, reporters, and local dignitaries on Thursday. It's a key milestone, as competition to get provincial approval and funding for a new hospital is 'intense,' Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis previously told councillors . Sections of the current building are nearing 100 years old and the community has been pushing for a hospital for 15 years. It has never moved beyond the planning stage. 'Essentially, we're in the books now — we're on the chart of getting this done at some point in time,' Camm told The Spectator. While the health-care system was initially directed to look at an infill site, the province put a greenfield — undeveloped land — on the table when announcing its budget in May. 'We are keeping all options open. This next phase is an opportunity to cast the net wide on potential locations before we start the path of detailed design of a greenfield or adaptive reuse site,' Camm said at the announcement. As for the shift, Jones told reporters the province 'didn't want to take away a pathway,' if a greenfield is 'what the community and the hospital leadership felt they needed for this new facility.' Choosing a new site will be an 'open, collaborative and transparent' process. 'Our new hospital can only be successful if it is reflective of those whom it serves,' Camm said. 'We will work with the ministry, our board foundation, our Indigenous electorate councils and municipal councils and our community to arrive at a solution that is the best for exemplary patient care now and well into the future.' Camm told The Spectator they hope to have this phase of planning done by June of 2026, for submission into the next ministry cycle. But as for how soon the doors might open, Jones said she doesn't want to 'presuppose.' 'There are multiple stages that happen in terms of request for proposals, the bidding process, and ultimately the design and the building stage. So I think it's frankly a little early to start pegging years,' she said. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
3 days ago
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
Brant resident was one of Canada's first Black women to attend university … then she vanished
Local residents rallied to have a new Grand Erie school named after Blanche E. Williams , one of the first Black women in Canada to attend university on the same terms as white students. Now, they're searching for the rest of her story. 'She sort of completely disappeared, like her family disappears … we don't know what happened,' Angel Panag told The Spectator. Historian Sarah Clarke happened upon Williams' trail-blazing accomplishment while researching the Black community in Brantford in her spare time. 'It's not super well-known, I don't think, that there was a very early Black community in Brantford, many of whom would come up here during slavery,' she told The Spectator. Clarke was searching an African American newspaper database while she was at Western University and typed in 'Brantford.' A story popped up in the Huntsville Gazette in Alabama. 'OK, how does the U.S. have an article about this person from Brantford, Ontario, that we've never heard of?' Clarke recalled thinking. The clip, dated 1885, named Williams as the first Black woman accepted to University of Toronto with the same privileges as white students. From there, Clarke found other articles noting her accomplishment. 'There was all this coverage … And I'm like, 'how did that story not continue?'' Clarke said. The search took on a greater purpose after the Grand Erie District School Board put out a call for names for a new school in West Brant. Construction for the $34-million school is underway at Shellard Lane and Strickland Avenue in Brantford. Along with Clarke and Amanda Mersereau — fellow members of the grassroots organization Unite Against Hate — and community members, Panag brought Williams' name forward. 'I was talking to some people around Brantford who thought that the name should be reflected in the community,' Panag said. He began a community campaign to elevate Black and Brown voices in the naming process, something he felt was particularly important in West Brant — a diverse area with many newcomers. Panag knows firsthand the power an inspirational name can have for kids — especially if they're the first generation of their family attending post-secondary school. He completed law school in 2023 and is working toward his masters of law. 'I remember living in Brantford, I used to hear about a young guy who became a lawyer and was a hip-hop artist and went to North Park (Collegiate and Vocational School), where I went too, and it just made it sound like that was possible,' he said, referencing Salman Rana, who is also known as YLook. The group was successful in its efforts. 'With education as the path to transformation, Blanche Williams interrupted racial barriers and showed us what's possible,' GEDSB superintendent of education Liana Thompson said in a news release announcing the name. 'Naming our school after her is a celebration not only of her groundbreaking achievements, but her story inspires all of us to be courageous, strong and to persevere to achieve our dreams,' it said. The $34-million school is expected to open September 2026 at Shellard Lane and Strickland Avenue. The project is a partnership with the City of Brantford and will include a library and recreation centre. A University of Toronto document shows Blanche E. Williams enrolled in the Faculty of Arts. A local group hopes someone might know what happened to her afterward. Census records indicated Williams' family came to Brantford from the United States after the Civil War, around 1867. 'I imagine at that time, they probably were living in the northern states because slavery had ended, but there was still a lot of (racism). So I think maybe they came up for more opportunities,' Clarke said. They found baptism records for Williams and her mother, Josephine, at First Baptist Church in Brantford around 1870. They learned her father, Charles, transferred his barber position from the Kerby House Hotel in Brantford to the affiliated Palmer House Hotel in Toronto the year Williams started at U of T. But from there, they lost track of the family. 'From what we can tell, she did not finish her studies at U of T,' Clarke said. 'Maybe she got married and was studying under a married name,' but her folks seemed to disappear from local records too, Clarke said. They pursued a number of potential theories of where Williams ended up. The name turned up on a land record in Michigan. A hairdresser advertisement in Vaughan or Markham. 'One of them is a church and jazz singer in Philadelphia,' Panag said. An obituary for a fellow who was 'beloved by his sister Blanche Williams.' But in any of the cases 'it's hard to know if that's the same person,' he said. 'The interesting thing, believe it or not, is that there are many Charles, Josephine and Blanche (Williams) families,' Clarke said. However, Blanche's middle initial seems to be a distinctive feature. 'We're hoping that when people read this article, they might know something' and reach out, Mersereau said. Anyone who has information about Blanche E. Williams or her family can email uniteagainsthatebtfd@ . Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
3 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Vigil to be held Friday night for Belinda Sarkodie at location of fatal shooting
A court publication ban now prohibits identifying the 17-year-old suspect in the Belinda Sarkodie homicide. His name and photo were previously released under a temporary court order. A vigil to mourn Belinda Sarkodie, an innocent bystander killed in a shooting last week, is scheduled for Friday from 5 to 6 p.m. at the corner of King and James streets. The location of the vigil is where the 26-year-old was killed July 11 when a 17-year-old allegedly shot at a group of three males around 5:30 p.m. outside Jackson Square. Sarkodie, who'd recently immigrated to Canada from Ghana, was struck while waiting for a bus and died on the scene. Hamilton police have said Sarkodie had no connection to either the alleged shooter or targets. Belinda Sarkodie, 26, was fatally shot downtown on July 11. On Friday, police told The Spectator there are no updates at this time regarding the investigation, and the suspect is still at large. 'Hamilton Police continue to actively search for the suspect and urge him to obtain legal counsel and turn himself in,' Erin Gunnell, corporate communications co-ordinator, said in an email. A GoFundMe has been organized by the Ghanaian Canadian Association of Ontario. According to the page, Sarkodie studied environmental sciences in Ghana at the University of Education, Winneba — Mampong Campus and graduated with first class honours in 2021. She moved to Hamilton in 2024. Sarkodie is the second innocent bystander to be killed in a shooting at a bus stop in Hamilton this year. In April, international student Harsimrat Randhawa was also killed at a bus stop on the Mountain. Anyone with information or dashcam footage of the Sarkodie shooting is asked to contact Det. Michael Ebert of the homicide unit at 905-546-4167. More to come. Démar Grant is a reporter at The Spectator. dgrant@ Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
