BigDad

Have you been watching this on Channel 4? Can Hugh FW do for fish what he did for the chickens... Over half the fish thats caught gets chucked back into the sea and its illegal to land it. You can join up at http://www.fishfight.net/ to stop this waste! Nearly 85,000 joined so far since its launch today.

We were at the Diwali celebrations at Trafalgar Sq yesterday and we had lots of interest. Its also less than 9 weeks to go before the registration period closes, so if you want to find out if its for you, please have a look at http://www.londonambassadors.org.uk/About/have-you-got-what-it-takes.aspx Thank you :))

No worries Mick Mac, apology accepted! Now, how about you taking part in something unique in 2012 - fancy being an ambassador for this great city we live in? Can you see yourself on the Southbank, at Covent Garden, in Hyde Park, Greenwich, Liverpool Street for 5 hours for 6 days? There will be a great training programme in 2012 and you'll meet some brilliant people and you get to take part in a once in a lifetime event. The Games they are a coming, and this is the best opportunity for a Londoner to get involved and promote the city to the world :)) If so, check out the website http://www.londonambassadors.org.uk/ and see if its for you.

Ahh, is it Shirley Not or Shirley Crabtree? Anyway - was down at the Greater London Volunteering network day today which was really good. All concerned about the CSR announcements today but looking at how the volunteering org's can improve their lot.

There is a twitter feed that can be followed @Ldnambassadors Been to lots of student freshers and volunteering fairs to promote the programme lately as the deadline for registering is December 31st. Only those who register will be invited to apply next year. The locations are starting to firm up - currently at 35 across the city, including visitor hot spots, the live sites, transport hubs and outside of some venues.

If you want to find out if its for you, why not take the quiz? londonambassadors.org.uk/About/quiz We were at the forum3 volunteering event a couple of weeks ago and are working with the volunteer centres across London. More soon...

Numbers are looking good for the ambassadors programme, I know because as of last week I got a perm job on the team running it for next 2 years! Am dead chuffed as always wanted to be involved when the Olympics come to town. Its less than 100 days to go before this once in a lifetime opportunity closes, so please check out the website: http://www.londonambassadors.org.uk/

Was down at Trafalgar Sq for launch of Paralympics on Tuesday, brilliant morning and lovely to see a good turn out

I hear what your saying giggirl, just got to weigh up the pros and cons of each I suppose. This one takes less time than the olympics scheme as its 5hrs x 6 days compared with 8hrs x 10 days. Its a once in a lifetime chance though so I just want to make sure I'm involved! It sounds pretty cool though, what with the free tracksuit, perks and stuff...... and well done Townleygreen, may see you there!

Forgot to say last night that they have a facebook page too with heaps more info / pictures, clips etc. facebook/london ambassadors Worth checking out.... any body else signed up for this or had a look?

If you fancy getting involved with the Olympics when they come to town, then I totally recommend the London Ambassadors scheme. I registered for it myself at the weekend as I've always wanted to be a part of it somehow when it comes to town. http://www.londonambassadors.org.uk/ A little bit of volunteering goes a long way....

ARCHITECTS CONSULTATION - April 1st Meetings will be held on Tuesday 1st April, day and evening. You will need to respond by Friday lunchtime if you want to attend. From previous experience, even if you can't make Tuesday but would like to go, do let them know and they might organise another date if there is sufficient interest. Please email info@hbaed.org.uk to book a slot - they will be held at the girls school and its by appointment only. OK - so Harris continue to hide behind the architects and wont speak to local parents and residents directly. (So much for their 'working with parents' slogan [did you know they cut parent governors from 6 down to 1 when they took over the girls school?]), At least you get to see the school and quiz the architects.

The reason the girls school didn't get the same kind o reaction is that it was built on three times the amount of land, so there is suitable outdoors space for them. The major concern raised by the boys school is the small size of the site. There is no outdoor games area, no area marked off to kick a ball around at break. There are 30 car places taking up valuable outdoor space which could be built under the school. The only sports facility on site is one sports hall which has 4 badminton courts. This will keep 16 boys occupied at a time - so what exactly do the rest of the boys do in this much hyped sports academy? Do they go over to the girls school to use the pool? Of course not - thats being closed down and turned into a teaching block as it too expensive to run. Will Harris explain that to us? Will they tell us how the school is supposed to work? How they will shift kids back and forth between the schools? Where will kids do their sports? (Peckham Rye? No agreement has been reached with the Council to use it so what will happen there?)

When I said that the Council & Harris had 'messed up', I meant that they had missed a great opportunity to get a good school opened by when it was committed to be open. By not consulting with local parents, residents and groups in the area, they put forward a design which was (in my view) like a prison for too many students on too small a site. As for the architects being sacked ... well as far as I'm aware they are still on the job. They have consulted with local residents and are apparently starting from a clean slate. Do I have confidence in them and Harris? - well, no, I don't. I have spoken to Dan Moynihan at a council meeting, (he is a Harris Head Teacher and the person responsible in Harris for the new school) but he does not fill me with any confidence in terms of them actually being interested in the local community. He was not clear on how the school would work in terms of transferring children between the two sites all day every day, nor on how the 'sports' aspect would work in real life. His view was that it was more on sports coaching than sports itself, though this is not explained anywhere in their literature. We know they have the minimum number of parents involved as school governors - i.e. one (though interestingly at least 2 of the Lib Dem councilors are on the board, one of whom we asked to provide info to us last summer which he promised he would .... but then never did), they have not consulted with us about how the school will be run, what will be involved, how it will work (I don't count the architects consultations for reasons stated earlier), or why this is apparently the only option available. And I thought it was supposed to be a school for the community?????? As for the Council - they are keeping quiet too and are not engaging with us. Why is this? My thoughts are that political reputations are at stake - they said they would have a school, so they will put one in at any cost, even though the local parents/residents are incredibly concerned about the size and scale of the project, and the impact it will have on the capability and potential future success of the school. Consultation? - Do me a favour!

As the school sits on the edge of the Nunhead and East Dulwich districts we have requested that the local councilors in the 2 wards have a cross party non-political joint community council group. While Nunhead appear happy to do so the East Dulwich councilors are a no to the idea. Given the discussions, meetings and concerns of local parents why would they not want to do this? The Lib Dems said that the EDGE group were already doing very well and did not need such a body. I'd disagree - we have not been able to get Harris to talk with us. And as for the Council - well thats been another blank so far. These are some of the questions that need answering and having a joint community group would support the campaign to get a good school on the site as thats what we all want! How will the school be run How will 950 boys work on the site How will students be moved between the two sites on a regular basis 5 days a week How can the school be a flagged as a sports academy if it has no playing fields of its own? Where is the athletics track that they would need, the pool (the girls one is being knocked down, so we can forget about that) etc.... Peckham Rye has some football/rugby pitches, but you need more than that. How many parents will be allowed as Governors (I'd imagine the minimum of 1, as that the way Harris operate) Why will they not consider having one mixed school over the two sites How will the impact of having staggered start/end times for the students be managed. Harris and Southwark education have already messed it up once - what will happen second time around?????