Michaela Community School's 'discipline' , Universal Credit's 'in-work services' (sanctions), and search-engine-rankings

Sunday 31 July 2016

Michaela Community School's 'discipline' , Universal Credit's 'in-work services' (sanctions), and search-engine-rankings

Wembley Matters blogger Martin Francis has republished an excellently incisive Morning Star editorial comment about Michaels Community School [sic] of Wembley Park and its Headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh. (1) (2)

To summarise and go beyond that editorial, the real reason Michaela Community School [sic — featured in recent Kwug Blog post] have punitively high standards -- and routine punishments — is to produce output for production lines who would gladly punish others for supposed misdemeanours.(3) (Torture is a means of inducting future torturers.)

The supposed 'misdemeanours' associated with poverty are set to increase with Universal Credit roll-out and an inadequate 'national minimum wage' eventually replacing Working Tax Credits. Universal Credit brings 'in-work conditionality' by which low paid people deemed to have too few working hours — rather than too low an hourly labour rate — would be punished for not having tried hard enough to get extra waged work.

Already, low-paid jobcentre workers are being registered for Universal Credit at jobcentres other than where they work, so that they will not be sanctioned by their immediate colleagues;(4) and how will 'claimant commitments' go for out of waged work youth in a future of Britain 'freed from' the maximum working commitment of the EU's Working Time Directive'?

"Some under 25s on Universal Credit have been made to sign a Claimant Commitment to look for work for 48 hours a week, not 35, to compensate for their lower minimum wage."(5)

I suspect — and hope — that the more we keep up the pressure on Katharine Birbalsingh and Michaela 'Free' School, the more under pressure that institution will get from the pressure of public revulsion — though maybe Google may profit from bribery/blackmail affecting Michaela Free School's 'search rankings'?

Paid for search rankings and public standing of corporate bodies

Martin Francis generally ascribes the school's name as Michaela Free School, and that is the basis on which the following Internet search exercises are conducted. Compare current Google search Michaela Free School(6) with Yahoo search "Michaela Free School". (7)

The Google search

Top pane of Google search finds for "Michaela Free School"

At this time of commenting, the lead 'in the news' find from the Google search is, as depticted above but as a screen capture image rather than clickable and 'find on the page'-friendly text:

In the newsMichaela free school threatens isolation for lunch debt pupils (8)Schools Week‎ - 2 days agoA London free school's controversial policy of isolating pupils whose parents or guardians ...More news for "Michaela Free School" (9)

Lower pane of Google search finds for "Michaela Free School"

And — on the lower pane — beyond the listed Michaela Community School (MCS) [sic] finds in that list, after one favourable entry about MCS from David Didau, the next four entries on the first 'finds' page are all from Wembley Matters!

The Yahoo! search "Michaela Free School"

Yahoo! search "Michaela Free School" top pane

Yahoo! search "Michaela Free School" lower pane

Most of the finds on the Yahoo! search first page of finds are either advertising or published over a year ago. The 'schoolsweek' story that features as the main 'In the news' item from the Google search does appear near the bottom of that page, however.(8)

Google searching "Universal Credit"

Google has far more capital to invest in keeping up to date than its rivals, and can thus afford to feature 'in the news' items; yet there are no current 'in the news' entries to kick off the 'found' items for a Google search "Universal Credit".(10) In fact the top pane of 'found' items is made up entirely of paid adverts for 'help dealing with Universal Credit'!

Google searching for "Universal Credit" — top pane of finds p1 is entirely paid adverts!

You have to search diligently to the bottom of the first finds page to find any 'news content' about Universal Credit.(11) (12)

Google search "Universal Credit" — news items do not appear till pane 4 of the first page

Meanwhile, the Kilburn Unemployed's Kwug Blog has a much more up-to-date blog post relating to a think tank's report on how 'public service delivery' post-Brexit might be conducted to accommodate Universal Credit's 'in-work services' — eg, benefit sanctions! Disability impact assessments and 'think tank' reports by the clueless (13)

How much taxpayers' money might government be paying Google to keep news items out of the top search finds for "Universal Credit"?

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Sunday 31 July 2016