My Dear Dame
As you have probably read Lord Adonis has been making noises about the salaries of Academy head teachers:-
"Calls are growing to cap the salaries of academy school bosses after it emerged more than 100 earn more than the Prime Minister at a time when school budgets are being cut and parents are being asked to pay for textbooks at state schools.
Department for Education statistics revealed 111 academy trustees - including headteachers and chief executives - earned more than £150,000 in 2015 and at least seven chief executives earned between £200,000 to £300,000.”
The 2016 Annual Report for the Holland Park School Academy show that Colin Hall and indeed his deputy fall into this category.In 2015 Hall's salary was £190-£195,000 RISING TO £220-£225,000 in 2016 an increase of some 15%.
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| THE £385,000 A YEAR THE GOLDEN BOYS! |
His deputy, David Chappell's salary was £140-£145,00 in 2015 rising to £155-£160,00 in 2016 a rise of 10%
On the other hand, David Benson who leads the Kensington Aldridge Academy received a salary in 2016 of £110-115,000 half that of Halls and indeed unchanged from 2015
The Kensington Aldridge Academy opened just under three years ago and its state of the art buildings are inside the emergency cordon around the Grenfell Tower.
A temporary school is being built to house them from mid-September on Wormwood Scrubs, an open space a couple of miles away.
But for the last few weeks of the summer term, pupils were allocated classrooms in other local secondary schools - Burlington Danes Academy and Latymer Upper School.
What no help from Holland Park School?
What no help from Holland Park School?
**** OFF.Cuts to school funding all over the Borough and The Conservative's on the Council can't see what wrong with this . How many Councillors have their kids or Grandchildren names down for this school ?
ReplyDeleteIs Holland Park School a Charity ?
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DeleteEverything to do with this school has been wrong, it has eliminated the majority of local children by changing its catchment area to now nearly including Hammersmith and excluding children north of Holland Park Road. It still has not allowed access to the swimming pool for local residents one of the reasons it got planning permission in the first place. It is a disgrace that any headteacher gets this amount of money including the amount of holidays whilst children wider education suffer.
ReplyDeleteThe other difference between the ludicrous Colin Hall and Aldridge leader David Benson is that the latter is an excellent head who has coped magnificently with the stress and disruption of the Grenfell fire.
ReplyDeletePay in true RBKC style
ReplyDeleteBut darlings, it is so romantic. Colin and David are an "item". A £385k a year item. All my hugs and kisses for the dear, dear, boys.
ReplyDeleteSuch a contemporary item. Two working class boys made good and looking so cool together. Bring it on!
DeleteThey look more like Undertakers to me.
DeleteIt is not clear how Colin Hall and Merrick Cockell met up, but they soon established a mutual interest. Hall was appointed Headmaster of the appalling Holland Park Comprehensive School at a time when the children were setting fire to parked cars in Campden Hill Road, terrifying residents and local shop keepers, and the Council was employing twenty Special Constables to patrol the streets outside the school when the children were let loose.
ReplyDeleteCockell spotted the opportunity to spend £100 million of public money to knock down the school and rebuild it and make a big splash for himself in the process. His "Statue of Liberty" in the Park (to quote one of his disgruntled Tory Councillors) would get him noticed and help propel the reptile into the House of Lords.
Government statistics show that new, publicly funded, schools cost £30 million. Hall saw his opportunity, beyond his wildest dreams, to get his hands on a £100 million piece of bling with designer furniture and Anthony Gormely art at £100k a throw. (passers by can see the rusty piece of Gormley metal on the roof of the school). All capped off with a Royal ribbon cutting, smarmy Hall and creepy Cockell bowing and scraping in the most obnoxious fashion.
Cockell had his fingers in the Hornton Street piggy bank and sprang the £100 million to build the new school. As soon as he got his new school Hall turned around and waved two fingers at his old friend and promptly took it away from the Council and turned it into an Academy. Having got his £100 million he got rid of the Hornton Street bureaucracy and broke his promise and planning condition to make the new school swimming pool available for the use of residents.
Disgraced ex Leader Cockell was not so fortunate. He was rumbled by the Dame, exposed for what he was, and never made it to the House of Lords.
The Dame coincidentally made an enemy of disgraced sycophant ex Cllr Phelps who was banking on tea at the House with his mate Cockle.
Jackie Griffiths, the ex Director of Education in Hornton Street, was on to Colin Hall and started to make his life difficult. She was eased out of her job with a £100k payoff and a gagging order. She was followed by Anne Marie Carrie who oversaw the approval process for the new £100 million school. As soon as planning permission came through and the contractors moved in, Anne Marie was off to the children's charity Barnados to become Chairman. And then, surprise, surprise, Anne Marie was appointed as Chairman of the Board of Governors of Holland Park School! Carrie and Hall then ditched the Council, having secured their £100m taxpayer funding, and rode off into the night as an independent Academy.
DeleteThe great social development in the middle of the Borough (a Comprehensive School) had become a child of capitalism. Not even Goldman Sachs could have dreamed up such a scam.
Very very interesting 09.31... Near to Holland Park School is Opera Holland Park, another pet project which absorbed over £20 million pounds in direct subsidy and bail out. And this from a Council whose Officer rich Arts Department claims, with some cheek, there is never any money.
DeleteBut its not just about one School or the Opera, look north and there's the much loved Ladbroke Grove Library seemingly personally palmed off by the now disgraced Cllr Rock Fielding Mellon to the next door prep school, RBKC argued value for money saying:
'After conducting the valuation, our agent advised that Notting Hill Prep (NHP) should be regarded as a ‘special purchaser’ as it is the adjoining tenant. Therefore, the rent the Council could expect from them would be significantly higher as NHP gains from their proximity to their existing school site and they have a pressing need for additional space... There were no other ‘special purchasers’ who might have offered more.'
Next up the Westway Information Centre and Citizens Advice Bureau on 50 yards up on Ladbroke Grove, these much needed RBKC owned site and zoned CK1 ( now to given over to the Prep School).
The decision to proceed with this project was taken by Councillor Rock Feilding-Mellen, then Cabinet Member for Housing, Property and Regeneration. As Mr Feilding-Mellen he is understood to have applied for his children to attend the same exclusive Notting Hill Prep School and stands to benefit significantly from any improvements to the school premises which his children will attend in due course.
Cllr Feilding-Mellen has declared no conflict of interest in his decision making process in both these planning sign off's. His signature rests their in B/W...
(Please see 'Archived Key Decisions'/ RBKC Deputy Leader).
Here's the link, f.y.i... Possible conflict of interest Mr Feilding Mellen? (See above post)... Mal
Deletehttps://www.rbkc.gov.uk/howwegovern/keydecisions/reports/deputy leader and cabinet member for housing property and regeneration/kd04836c.pdf
Possible Malfeasance in office, or official misconduct, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties?
Appendix to above:
Delete'An official code of conduct complaint was submitted a year ago when he (Cllr RFM) attended a meeting which discussed the library deal but did not declare his children were on the list for the £5,800-a-term school.
He was cleared as he had mentioned it before but the council’s chief solicitor agreed he could have done more “in the interest of transparency”.
An earlier complaint raised questions over Mr Feilding-Mellen’s career as a property developer and his access to privileged information.
No conflict of interest was found.
Is the Borough's senior solicitor the right person to lead such enquiry? Shouldn't an independent legal body investigate? Have there been other in-house enquries?
The above Key Decision sign off was Jan 2017, and carries no such declaration.
All may be above board, but they're patterns here. Similar patterns to the decanting of social residents under the heading 'regeneration' outside of the Borough. Huge RBKC investment in 'intermediate' or luxury housing, investment in Prep schools, see Issac Newton...
Gerrymandering, possible long programme of social cleansing by design?
RBKC needs an independent enquiry, one beyond Judge More-Bick and possible corporate manslaughter.
The old Holland Park School building was 47 years old and its physical condition was judged to be in the top quartile of British Schools by the Government inspector when all secondary schools were ranked for modernisation as part of the "Building Schools For The Future" programme.
ReplyDeleteCockell dismissed Labour Government funding for Holland Park School because he had grander ideas and an infinite supply of funds from the Kensington and Chelsea Council Tax payers.
Headmaster Hall gave vociferous support (of course) and was frequently quoted. "The school is 50 years old and not fit for purpose". "The roof leaks". "The classrooms are cold". "The playground floods".
What a prat.
Most Kensington residents live in houses and flats that are at least 200 years old. If the roof leaks, they call in the roofer.
My old school is 700 years old
DeleteHolland Park Academy's refusal to assist the Kensington Aldridge Academy - which lost seven children in the Fire - was quite appalling. This needs to be made known far and wide.
ReplyDeleteVintage Hall. His world is all about "me,me,me". Glad my kids are not at his school.
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