Lynne Featherstone

After winning Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone’s writing competition in the autumn, Roela Mehmeti, 11, this week went to collect her prize as she shadowed the Hornsey and Wood Green MP in Parliament.

The Alexandra Park School student won the Democracy Week competition on the theme ‘If I ruled the world’ after fierce competition from secondary school pupils across the constituency (see her entry here). For her special prize, Lynne Featherstone MP gave the 11 year old an exclusive tour of Parliament and took her for lunch in one of Parliament’s restaurants, whilst explaining what being an MP is really like.

Lynne Featherstone MP, comments:

“It was great to finally meet Roela, after reading her moving piece on the importance of the family. Her entry really pulled at the heartstrings, and it’s clear that she’s amazingly talented.

“I hope this has given her a good understanding of what being an MP is really like – and maybe it’s grown a little seed for her to one day try it for herself!”

Roela Mehmeti, 11, from Alexandra Park School, adds:

“I was really surprised and happy when my form teacher told me that I had won the competition. And I have had a really nice day in Parliament today. It’s been very special.”

Update – Alexandra Park School has also got a story about this on the front of its website at the moment.

This year, the Jack Petchey Speak Out speaking competition was hosted by Alexandra Park School. Year 10 (14 – 15 years of age) students from all over Haringey came together to compete in the Regional Final Stage. I was meant to have been a judge – but due to a debate on Violence Against Women being put in for yesterday afternoon – it meant I would not make it for the briefing of judges and the first half of the speakers – but would be there to listen to the last half, give out certificates to all and the prizes to the winners.

My LibDem colleague, Leader of the LibDem Group on Haringey, stepped ably into the breach.

This year, 20,000 year 10 teenagers from every state school in London and Essex will receive a day’s training in the skills of public speaking. As part of the project each young speaker has the opportunity to Speak Out on any topic they feel strongly about.

And wow – when I walked into the hall – the blast of energy and enthusiasm was electric. I only heard the last six speakers but they were fantastic. They spoke without notes – and what was electrifying – was that they used something inside themselves and their experience – to make their point. Mighty powerful.

There was a sharp intake of breath when one young speaker who was making the point that young people need to think for themselves and be an individual and not just accept being what other people tell you to be said that for two seconds her brother didn’t use his brain, joined in a group committing a crime, and spent the next 18 months in prison. That brought it home.

And the young man who won was talking about how a smile begets a smile. But a frown, begets a grimace, begets a snarl, begets a fist, begets a knife. And then said that his brother was shot and died. But if the beginning of the chain that led to his brother’s death had been a smile – his brother would not have died.

Powerful stuff indeed.

Well done to all the Year 10s who took part and to all those who put in so much time and effort to organise it and making the roaring success it was.

In a bid to support local students developing their communication skills, local MP Lynne Featherstone last week judged a debating competition at Alexandra Park School.

The Liberal Democrat MP was one of three judges helping to set the score in the first round of the school’s Mace Debating competition, between six north London schools. The competition, which took place between North London schools Queen Elizabeth’s, Ashmole, Alexandra Park, Haberdashers, St John’s and Enfield County, debated motions on making voting compulsory, assassinating dictators and randomly testing school pupils for drugs.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments: “It was fascinating to see how skilfully and persuasively the students debated the motions. It was a really tricky one to judge, as it’s clear we’re dealing with a bunch of exceptionally bright and talented local students.

“Developing debating skills is a great way to help structure thoughts and become a better communicator- and I think I have picked up a few tricks that might come in handy in the commons chamber! It was a hugely entertaining evening- so thanks!”

Roela Mehmeti aged 11, has been announced as the winner of Lynne Featherstone MP’s Democracy Week writing competition after fierce contest from some of Hornsey and Wood Green’s brightest writing talents.

The Alexandra Park School student was selected as the winner of the competition where students from local secondary schools got to explain what they would do if they ruled the world for a day, for her entry on the need for more love and stronger families. (Click on picture to see the winning entry.)

Roela will now get the chance to see what being an MP is really about, as she will shadow Lynne Featherstone for a day in Parliament.

The winning entry was chosen from an impressive range of thoughtful contributions from secondary schools students across Hornsey and Wood Green, and Lynne Featherstone has also given special commendations to eight exceptionally well-written entries.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“Roela’s has written a beautiful and inspiring piece that really pulls your heartstrings. It tells of such a fundamental and essential thing as the need for people to have families who love and support them, and how more love in our society would mend many of its ills.

“Reading the entry, I was grabbed by it’s depth and message, especially from someone so young, and for that reason I feel Roela is a very worthy winner.

“But the decision was not an easy one. I have yet again been gob-smacked by the amazing range of imaginative, wise and funny entries- we really have a treasure of talented writers here in Hornsey and Wood Green, and that makes me very proud!”

To mark democracy week and help kick start discussions in local schools about politics, Lynne Featherstone MP launched her mini-writing competition at Alexandra Park School last week.

The Hornsey and Wood Green MP helped students in a year 7 class brain storm on the essay topic ‘what I would do if I ruled the world for a day’. Lynne has invited students from all local secondary schools to join in, and the winner will get the chance to see first hand what politics is about by shadowing Lynne for a day in Parliament.

Lynne Featherstone MP comments:

“The idea behind having a democracy competition was to help local schools debate issues around local and global problems and the role politics plays in dealing with them.

“Every time I have the privilege to meet students in local schools and hear their thoughts on issues, I am amazed by the insight and thoughtfulness of their comments- and today was certainly no exception.

“Hopefully I’ll receive entries from across the constituency- I’m getting ready for some serious food for thought!”

If I ruled the world I would ………….. that’s the challenge I have set local children in Hornsey & Wood Green schools to tell me in 200 words for Local Democracy Week.

I launched my mini-writing competition today at Alexandra Park School – where the amazing Jo (Citizenship teacher extraordinaire) had agreed to set up to undertake this project with the Citizenship and the English classes working together. So today I was attending the Citizenship class where Jo was brainstorming with the children to get them involved and engaged in beginning to think what sort of things might need changing or what worried them – and then – how that might be changed.

The first round of ideas were just brilliant – from the young girl who wanted to make life better for young carers, to world peace and beyond. I’m not going to go through the list – but suffice to say – that it is completely fascinating to to listen to the ideas they had about what worried them – and recognise where the input came from. Some clearly came from school work, much from television and newscasts  – but Jo was really clever – and as well as those sort of universal issues tried to move them onto a more personal level of what worried or concerned them in their own lives.

So I am greatly looking forward to reading all the submissions when they come in. I always feel very uplifted when I come out of a school visit like that.

I was very sorry to hear news of the death of Mike Terry, best known to many of us as the Head of Science at Alexandra Park School. He died last week when he was training for a charity run. Nigel Scott, one of our councillors for Alexandra Ward, who is also a governor at the school told me more about him:

Although he was not the head of the school, in many ways, Mike was its heart. He was a pillar of strength to the founding head, Roz Hudson and to her successor, Michael McKenzie. He always had time for everyone, with a kind word and sound advice. It was Mike Terry’s drive, determination and enthusiasm that secured Science Status for the school and he was instrumental in setting up the school’s links with Ephes Mamkeli School in South Africa.

While most people in the school community knew that Mike had been involved in the Anti-Apartheid Movement, few appreciated the depth of his commitment. He was its Executive Secretary for twenty years and oversaw its emergence from being a small campaign group to becoming a key player in changing world opinion and reforming South Africa. When reform came to South Africa and the Anti-Apartheid Movement was wound up, Mike’s enthusiasm was diverted into a new career as a teacher and Alexandra Park School was the main beneficiary.

He was loved and will be missed not just in the school community, but by his many friends in South Africa and elsewhere. We need more like him.

Met with the Head, Roz Hudson, and the Chair of Governors, Steph Gold of Alexandra Park School about the massive bill (around £300,000 in figures given to my Lib Dem colleague Cllr Gail Engert) that has landed on their desk courtesy of the Government’s PFI for schools program and the appalling PFI contract, negotiated by Haringey.

This contract, it appears, allows the PFI contractor (in this case Jarvis) variations. Well variations are not unusual – but these are not discussed or agreed with the school – they are just landed on the school. And it’s not just Alexandra Park School – it’s all of the secondary schools in Haringey.

In answers to questions posed by Gail, Haringey Council confirmed that Haringey’s secondary schools would be liable for PFI back payments totalling over £2 million.

Our schools are striving hard to improve performance and meet targets in Haringey. Alexandra Park School is doing brilliantly and meeting its targets. If Haringey and the Government refuse to acknowledge that these extra costs – for which they give no extra funding to the schools in their budgets to meet – are their liability and not the schools – then it will mean that pressure on schools’ budgets will harm the service that schools are providing to children in Haringey.

So – these are the PFI chickens coming home to roost. However, it is not the schools who should foot the bill for Haringey’s poor contract negotiation. I am writing to the new Schools’ Minister, Ed Balls, to ask that he review the situation in Haringey’s schools and together with Haringey Council come up with an financial rescue plan that either pays the bills or puts extra funding into the school budgets to meet the costs.

As the years go by – we will find more and more problems with these PFI wonders. At the time, it was Hobson’s choice. Schools either accepted the PFI deals set up for them – or there was nothing – absolutely nothing for them. And the sting in the tail for the Council is that the next ten years of funding for schools’ buildings – called Building Schools for the Future (BSF) – won’t kick in until these bills are all paid.

Came home after Westminster Hour to ponder how to help Alexandra Park School (APS). Out of the blue, and after they had been told there were no more bills to come, the school has been presented with a bill for over £400,000 for alleged ‘variations’ in the PFI contract going back up to seven years. Similar bills are with several other Haringey PFI schools.

This is on top of an expected increase of £120,000 in the annual PFI charge for the future. As the school is already managing its way out of an agreed deficit budget caused by earlier under-funding this news is not welcome – to say the least!

Haringey Council has been predictably useless, though all the schools signed up to PFI at the Labour Council’s insistence. George Meehan (Labour leader of Haringey Council) thinks he can find a few grand here and there or persuade the Government to cough up a bit more and expects the schools to make staff cuts to find the rest.

I am in receipt of a long and excellent letter from the Chair of Governors at APS, one paragraph of which I quote:

3 The Governing Body has not been notified, or given any detail, about the items that apparently now make up these ‘previous years’ variations,’ currently estimated at £414K for APS, or the rate at which these have been charged. It has no basis to confirm that these current costs relate to instructions by the school to vary agreed building plans and no evidence to support such a claim. In fact the Governing Body and the school had every reason to believe that any PFI variation costs that had been incurred had been fully discharged.

This is really too much for any school to tolerate and I fear this demonstrates only the start of PFI chickens coming home to roost in Haringey. I will try to get a meeting with the Head and Chair of Governors as soon as possible.

One more event from yesterday to mention: had rushed back from Parliament for a celebration at Alexandra Park School. They have formed a partnership with Ephes Memkeli Secondary School in South Africa. A group of Alexandra Park students had been out to the school and together with students from there had toured South Africa to make a film about science. The Head Teacher, Jacob Riba, was visiting here and the school was screening the documentary for the first time and celebrating this partnership.

It was clear to me that the gain from this project was and will be enormous – in a whole host of ways – for both the schools. The picture shows myself with Jacob Riba and Ros Hudson (the two head teachers).

The further link – between these two disparate areas is that Oliver Tambo (a major figure in the ANC) used to live in Alexandra Park Road!