If Carnwardric PS really mean to fight this, would be good to give them some support. Glasgow Castlemilk anarchists led the save our school campaign there 10 years ago, went to a very lengthy occupation of that school.
That campaign proved that 24*7 permanent occupation is the only way to save a school from closure (I was in the campaign for a different school at that time, never had any chance because permanent occupation was not done). The strain on occupiers is enormous though, were any activists prepared to take some shifts would be very welcome from parents and community.
I know Carnwardric, has territorial problems with Arden. And 239 is a good high school role for a primary, works out at an average of 34 pupils per year group single stream.
A series of monday night occupations just won't cut it though, has to be the full thing if you want to win against a closure decision.
Fury as council axes 28 Glasgow primariesby Vivienne Nicoll
CONTROVERSIAL plans to close almost 30 Glasgow primary schools have been given the go-ahead. But angry campaigners vowed to fight on in a bid to save some of the schools from closure. The £128million project will result in 28 primaries closing and 16 new schools being built. Today defiant parents and their children held a protest march against the closure of their school, St Edmund's Primary in Pollok. They gathered outside St Edmund's and set off to St Marnock's School, where their children will be sent after their school closes in June. They organised today's protest in a bid to underline the dangerous journey children will face to get to St Marnock's. Campaigner Anne-Marie Whitelaw, whose daughter Caitlin attends St Edmund's, said: "Today's action is a message to the city council. We will keep on fighting. "We're walking to St Marnock's to show how hard it will be when they close our school. The kids will have to cross a busy main road and there's a real risk of accidents." The city council's education committee approved the schools closure plans yesterday afternoon, despite a protest by 40 parents and other objectors outside the City Chambers.
Councillors also rejected the protests of parents who staged a sit-in at Carnwadric Primary on Monday over plans to merge the 239-pupil school with Arden Primary in a new building.
Eighty meetings were held with the public and staff over the plans and 4505 responses were received - including 12 petitions with thousands of names. Members of the city-wide Save Our Schools campaign vowed to continue their fight despite the council's decision.
Campaigners for Carnwadric Primary also vowed to fight on and plan a second sit-in at the school on Monday. Campaign spokeswoman Pauline Gilgallon said: "The council can't ignore us. It's made us more determined and we'll be stepping up our campaign."
Parents in the west end also lost their fight to stop the closures of Dowanhill, Hillhead, Kelvinhaugh and Willowbank primaries and Dowanhill and Willows nurseries. These six schools will be merged into a new Hillhead Primary, to be built in Otago Street. Mum Jane Grove protested with husband Laurence and son Harry, 3, who attends Dowanhill Nursery. Mrs Grove said: "I'm horrified and very disappointed. These councillors may find themselves out on their ear come election time in 2007." However, the campaigners won a partial victory as they will be offered more choice of schools. Pupils at Dowanhill will be able to attend the new Hillhead Primary or Hyndland Primary, which is much closer. Kelvinhaugh pupils will be able to go to Hillhead or Anderston, and Willowbank pupils to Hillhead or Oakgrove. Jordanhill councillor Christopher Mason was worried access to the new primary. He said: "It has a reputation in the west end as a lurking place for ne'er-do-wells and, as well as the traffic problems, people might be worried about their children going to and from school." Education director Ronnie O'Conner told the committee: "In the mid-1970s we had a primary population of 120,000 pupils, 30 years on we've 39,000 a 75% drop. "Over that period we have reduced the primary school estate by only 12% from 203 schools to 178." The latest phase of the school closure programme will leave 150 primaries - 37 of them new.
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There's a vocal ISM presence throughout the campaign. I was over in Carnwadric for their last march, and it was all 'vote SSP', that'll show them. Baldassara deliberately put the brakes on any discussion of future tactics there by saying:-
"This is not the end - this is just the begining! We can show them [in the labour council]... That we are not going to give up. I can help in drafting a petition to take to the Scottish parliament, and it is certain to be read! We also have a golden opportunity, because coming up is the 2007 council elections..."
It was very depressing - he didn't mention a single thing about continuing the campaign after the full-council vote yesterday, and a lot of people there seemed frankly just delighted that the SSP were involved because at least somebody in power was listening to them; it was a total travesty and a sickening abuse of power.
The Carnwadric group does seem to be the one with all the ideas for the moment tho. Certainly as well a lot of what the campaigns seem to be up to is convincing people that this is not the end of the story, it's not just a 'done deal' and that altho the decision has been taken, nothing is actually going to happen for another year so there's a lot of campaigning time. It's a media whore strategy, but maybe that's what's necessary in Carnwadric for the time being to build opposition, because altho they have some very committed and angry mothers they also face a lot of apathy (they also want to be doing a lot of door chapping and so on, which is good news); I think strategy needs to be specific to each campaign as well because the timetables for demolitions and closures and so on are quite specific.
There's a march this Saturday in Easterhouse with a campaign that's getting going there, so it would be good to make contact. I also did a wee tour around Ruchill yesterday and couldn't see any evidence of a campaign there, but that's more on Cbd's patch, so I think we'd be keen to see a campaign going there, even if it means trying to get one established; we'll have to talk to parents on their way to school or something to make sure there's nothing doing. Certainly the situation - 28 school closures and over a dozen nurseries ASFAIAA - requires us to be doing something. It also ties into the erosion of our green spaces because the suprschool for the amalgamated Westercommon nursery, Ruchill and Maryhill primaries is going to be built on the football pitches at Ruchill park.