Last weekend, Tooting Bec Common played venue to the first annual Carnival of the local areas, Balham, Streatham and Tooting. The carnival was a complete charity fundraiser for 4 chosen charities - Re-Play Music (Merton Abbey Mills), Raw Material Music and Media (Brixton), and the Friends of the Neo Natal Unit at St. George’s Hospital (Tooting) - all with a focus on improving the lives of children in South London. The event certainly proved to be a family crowd puller. As Saturday’s sunshine rays scorched the grass beneath them, revelers bathed in the heat while listening to live acts, eating Carribbean jerk chicken, sipping rum punch and evidently enjoying the community vibe.

Two stages continuously hosted more than 40 live bands and DJs, both locally bred and from the international circuit. One group helping to give community support to up and coming talent were given the opportunity to showcase their members on the smaller of the two stages. What started as a few pre-positioned bystanders soon became a significant audience, giving welcomed appreciation to the young acts.

Despite the downpour on Sunday morning, the carnival did not fail in producing some phenomenal soul vocals, punk beats and, amongst others, the eagerly awaited acoustic wonder of Rodney Branigan – ‘a sensational instrumentalist and singer-songwriter who… [has a] show-stopping ability to play two guitars simultaneously to awe-inspiring standards’ (www.CroydonGuardian.co.uk)

Besides the kids’ area, fully equipped with fun fair, music and art workshops, and nearby face painting, a small collection of local businesses and charities offered their festival wares and services to the carnival punters. Bargain fashion sunglasses and Bikram Yoga were amongst some of the delights on offer. A great mix of organic, halal and exotic food stalls also added to the true communal representation of diversity within the locality.

The carnival sponsors should be commended for their breadth of thought in securing such a wealth of volunteer support, which helped recycling and waste reduction throughout the weekend. The bank of fluorescent bibbed rubbish collectors added to the sense of wellbeing and sustainability.

A thorough success from the eyes of a debutant punter - the Balham and Tooting Carnival should be the start of something special, a South London special!

Chichi Umunna

Congratulations are due to Streatham, Balham, Brixton, Clapham and Tulse Hill’s GCSE pupils who have achieved a fantastic set of GCSE results this year. All the hard work paid off for both pupils and teachers as Streatham parliamentary constituency’s secondary schools saw improvements on last year’s grades.

La Retraite Girls School in Atkins Road, Clapham, reported its best ever results to date with 81% of pupils achieving five A* to C passes.  Elsewhere in the constituency, Dunraven School in Leigham Court Road, Streatham, saw 72 % of pupils achieving five A* to C passes, while St Martin’s School in Tulse Hill saw a rise from 69% to 75% achieving five A*-C grades.  Bishop Thomas Grant in Belltrees Grove, Streatham, saw the biggest improvement in its results with a 13% improvement on the numbers gaining five A* to C passes since 2007. Over 90% of pupils at Streatham and Clapham High School achieved grade A* to C passes.

Across the constituency’s schools, there was an average increase of 6.25% of students achieving five A*-C passes and all Streatham’s schools are now above the national average of 65.7%.  The year on year improvements are tangible results of the many changes made by Labour since 1997, including improving weak and failing schools, increasing literacy and supporting more young people than ever to go on to university.

And the changes are continuing with Building Schools for the Future funding arriving in the constituency. Also, the new Elm Green School, set up by parents, will be opening its permanent site on nearby Elms Court Road in 2009.

Chuka, who himself is a governor at Sunnyhill Primary School, sees continued investment in primary, secondary and further education as a major priority and congratulated Streatham’s students :
“ Streatham constituency’s students have done themselves proud. They’ve tried their hardest and now have the opportunity to move on to further success in the future. While education is much broader than targets and tests, these results will improve the life outcomes of our young people, raise their aspirations and take them a long way to gaining meaningful employment .
“Labour has decreased class sizes, improved funding and given young pupils more choices in what they can learn. I’m committed to ensuring that this continues and that every child in Streatham has a place in a good local school.”

Labour has an ambitious vision for every child which sees schools at the heart of each community, providing a wide range of services for everyone and, with staff, students and parents working together to ensure the best outcomes for our children.

You can watch the BBC News 10 O’Clock News report featuring Dunraven School here: “A Generation of Labour Education”

Jamie Audsley