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    Well done, Sir.

    Everybody here appreciates what you do.

    Comment


      Originally posted by Tubby Isaacs View Post
      Well done, Sir.

      Everybody here appreciates what you do.
      Me? Thanks.

      It's really depressing, thinking that in 15 or 20 years time we'll be teaching their kids.

      Comment


        Originally posted by Lang Spoon View Post
        I think (not sure and can’t be arsed to check) the the Scots Gov actually took Scotland out of the PISA ratings a few years back. At least that’s what the Sensibles like Farquharson seem to keep saying when being Outraged.
        Interesting article here. Sounds like the Scots Government put its eggs in the PISA basket by withdrawing from other tests. So it's understandable they've got a kicking for lower PISA scores. I think they got a PISA expert in to advise them a while ago and all.

        https://www.tes.com/news/school-news...ky-foundations

        Comment


          Originally posted by Gerontophile View Post
          Sorry Chris. I utterly missed your first sentence. Alison Janney is on TV, and I fanboyed. I apologise to you. But I do not apologise for my intent.

          Sorry. I have to be on another thread. I'd love to hear about the differences in the different countries history education, and yes, as I type this, I feel fucking stupid for not asking my sister's husband,
          Hahaha. well, I've just finished my last work jobs after a longish day, so I do appreciate the chuckle* you've just given me.

          *I was going to write giggle, as it's more accurate, but I felt chuckle was more manly and avuncular. Like Kenneth Branagh on Wittertainment. What do you think? Giggle? Chuckle? Chortle even?

          Fuck, I'm hyper after running on adrenaline so no more screen time for me tonight. But sorry, I know sod all about Welsh, N.Irish or Scots NCs anyway, so your Bro-in-Law is a better bet.

          Smiley face thing.

          Comment


            Originally posted by Antepli Ejderha View Post
            Cheers Chris, I survived. It's light now when I come home so things are looking up.
            It does make a difference. doesn't it? Cheers.

            Comment


              It's worse than you thought.

              https://www.theguardian.com/media/20...e-finds-report

              The vetting process by which Toby Young was appointed to the board of the new higher education regulator was flawed and rife with political interference, according to the results of an investigation by an official watchdog.

              No due diligence is done on Young, but other candidates have their tweets checked. Procedures are for other people. Other candidates blackballed because of involvement with student unions and opposition to Prevent.

              Even I will give Labour a day off Brexit, if they step up the pressure on Young (who is still on a very nice sinecure at the New Schools Network).

              Only Justine Greening comes out with any credit for being unhappy with Young's appointment. She of course has walked out of the government.
              Last edited by Tubby Isaacs; 26-02-2018, 23:52.

              Comment


                They are still pushing this "soldiers automatically make good teachers" bullshit

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                  £40k bursary?!!

                  They're not exactly screaming the number of permanent appointments there, are they?

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                    Blimey, is it that time of year already?

                    Other than the weary regularity with which this one seems to appear, I've never understood how military discipline which a) is applied to volunteers and b) has always had the backup of physical options and MPs, enforceable punishments etc, is going to work in a school context.

                    Genuine question, without wanting to get into the areas of status of teachers/fetishisation of the military/numbers it'll actually deliver: is there really anything in 'military discipline' that's going to be transferrable or relevant?

                    I guess I'm hoping Nick, AE and other KS3/4 folk will have some input here.

                    Comment


                      They'll all just qualify as teachers over here, then head off to the USA where apparently a combination of teaching qualifications and firearms experience are about to become sought after.

                      Comment


                        Originally posted by ChrisJ View Post
                        Blimey, is it that time of year already?

                        Other than the weary regularity with which this one seems to appear, I've never understood how military discipline which a) is applied to volunteers and b) has always had the backup of physical options and MPs, enforceable punishments etc, is going to work in a school context.

                        Genuine question, without wanting to get into the areas of status of teachers/fetishisation of the military/numbers it'll actually deliver: is there really anything in 'military discipline' that's going to be transferrable or relevant?
                        Fwiw, having worked in quite a few military schools, the lack of any 'military discipline'-stylee teaching - they're some of the most creative, caring schools I've come across - was always a pleasant surprise to me. This isn't really a proper answer to your question, as the schools have to follow the curriculum, and recruit regular teachers not military types; but there was never a sense from the Governors - often senior military figures - that things had gone all soft.

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                          More a symptom of the last 40 years of education governance than anything but something I know a fair bit of background about. It's the school that my son went to: a school that tries to position itself alongside the numerous independent schools down here - advertising on buses, trying to incorporate a boarding element for overseas students etc. Not only is this a vile act in itself and the punishment ridiculously mild but the school have tried to cover it up since January - when I and many other people have known about since - and didn't get the police involved straight away. To put the punishment into perspective, when he was in Year 9, my son - the dickhead - got a Year 11 pupil to get him some water balloons from the shop to retaliate for being waterbombed by the other Year 11s on their last day in school. He got a week's exclusion - half that these fuckers got. Needless to say, we moved him. A friend of ours' kid was threatened with being permanently expelled for taking a card that had been left in a card machine and then throwing it away (off school grounds but in school uniform), being late a few times and selling chocolate. They had to fight for him to be reinstated. I wouldn't have bothered. They are furious now.

                          Comment


                            Originally posted by Tubby Isaacs View Post
                            £40k bursary?!!

                            They're not exactly screaming the number of permanent appointments there, are they?
                            Well, you see, that worked so well the last time these useless fuckers tried so eh, why not try again and waste another few millions give another few millions to our mates in the private outsourcing sector...


                            Troops to Teachers sees 28 ex-servicemen qualify

                            A flagship scheme to bring ex-servicemen and women to England's classrooms has seen 28 veterans qualify as teachers since it started.

                            Former Education Secretary Michael Gove had hoped to attract 2,000 applicants to the £4.3m Troops to Teachers scheme.

                            In another answer, schools minister Nick Gibb said a total of 551 applications had been received for the scheme, which began training people in 2014.

                            This led to 41 individuals starting the programme in its first year.


                            BTW Tubby, do you know how to embed a tweet?

                            Comment


                              TBF, that’s only £150,000 a head.

                              Sorry for not responding john but thanks, interesting.

                              Bored, that’s really useful, thanks. I’d spotted that but wasn’t sure how I felt about it initially. Obviously the boys’ behaviour was foul and needed serious sanctions but I’m what you might call a ‘reluctant excluder’: in general if a child’s behaviour needs sorting, I don’t think exclusion is necessarily useful unless there’s a clear pathway to a setting that can do the sorting. But the context you give makes it very clear that wasn’t the school’s motivation here. It’s a candidate for the WTF thread.

                              It’s also horribly reminiscent of my own school in the 70s.

                              Comment


                                No problem, John. I don't want to give the impression that my son was a hard-done-by angel or that we thought he was. He made a lot of mistakes, deserved the punishment and we backed the school. In this situation, however, we thought it was out of order and then it was repeated with friends of ours. In the end, teachers that didn't even teach my son knew him and, in a secondary school, that is a bad sign. We moved him as we knew he was on the way to an exclusion - possibly deserved, possibly not. Our friends fought for their child to be readmitted - successfully - but are pretty sick at seeing this. Another kid was expelled this time last year for calling a teacher a paedo and kicking a football at them.
                                Last edited by Bored Of Education; 14-03-2018, 22:58.

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                                  Sorry, BTW, just checking in and saw you'd replied - think I should make clear that the foul behaviour to which I referred was the little shits who thought slavery was a game. Not Bored Jr. I'm sure he's lovely!

                                  It's the inconsistency that's revealing, isn't it?

                                  If a school nails its colours to a zero-tolerance mast, fine; their school, maybe they have historical problems to sort. I wouldn't be quick to judge without more facts. But deciding that a group of bullies holding a mock slave auction is somewhere near the same scale as chucking a couple of water bombs (for which I earned my first exclusion, if you're interested) tells you what colour the governors are, if nothing else.

                                  Comment


                                    Bit more information on this. Firstly, if it wasn't clear from the article, the head and senior staff - who I still think are pricks - did, to be fair, want the kids expelled and the governors overturned it. Spoke to some mates who are fathers of kids who are still there last night and the story appears to be that they were all mates - including the black kid - and they were just pissing around. Now, there are a couple of things about this. Firstly, it doesn't matter whether the black kid thinks it's OK - it is still a vile act. Secondly, how much does he thinks it's OK? An older couple sitting with us who are from Bridport told us of a black kid, who they grew up with, with the nickname "Niggsy", "...and he didn't mind at all." Yes, he probably did mind but either didn't say anything because he was in a minority and wanted to fit in with the majority or he was afraid. Same with this black kid, perhaps he felt that a bit of 'ironic' racist abuse is worth it to fit in with the crowd. Bath is more multi-cultural than Bridport but not hugely so.

                                    Secondly, apparently, they didn't cover it up. However, the fact that they only informed the parents the night before the local paper published the story suggests otherwise. There was some surprise that the story had made it to the national press but, as I pointed out, it wasn't the incident that alerted the Guardian to it, it was the total PR cock-up. This is the quite funny part actually because this school makes a deal of advertising on the sides and backs of buses - a state school spending money on advertising. A lot of the adverts want to show the kids as quit cool and individual so they show them with their shirts untucked and no tie playing electric guitar - uniform infractions that got my son constantly sent to the exclusion room when he was there. That is why, if you are sitting on a bus in Bath, you may see Mrs Bored and I flicking the Vs in your direction. It's not at you, it's at the bus.

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                                      I have to cut and paste another tweet tag, and change the URL of the tweet. So don't ask me!

                                      28? Christ. Not impossible that lots of them would have shown up anyway for training.

                                      Comment


                                        https://twitter.com/Itsaginthing/status/971061087918608386

                                        This one?

                                        Can people explain what issue they are having?

                                        Comment


                                          Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                                          https://twitter.com/Itsaginthing/status/971061087918608386

                                          This one?

                                          Can people explain what issue they are having?
                                          It's a shite idea.

                                          Comment


                                            The way they're throwing bursaries and whatnot at teacher training, running ad campaigns on national TV and still not solving the recruitment/retention crisis; it almost makes you think there might be some underlying, systemic issue with education in the UK.

                                            Comment


                                              Originally posted by ChrisJ View Post
                                              Blimey, is it that time of year already?

                                              Other than the weary regularity with which this one seems to appear, I've never understood how military discipline which a) is applied to volunteers and b) has always had the backup of physical options and MPs, enforceable punishments etc, is going to work in a school context.

                                              Genuine question, without wanting to get into the areas of status of teachers/fetishisation of the military/numbers it'll actually deliver: is there really anything in 'military discipline' that's going to be transferrable or relevant?

                                              I guess I'm hoping Nick, AE and other KS3/4 folk will have some input here.
                                              Obliviously, it depends on how you define 'military discipline' and things have changed a lot since I joined in '87 (left '09).

                                              While you're right that the "Queens Regulations" have enforceable punishments, most 'military discipline' is actually self-discipline. Most service personnel leaving now will have had exposure to the new 'softer' approach to punishment. An offence that may have caused restrictions (confined to camp, pan-bashing, fines, etc) back in the 80s is now merely a 'file-note' (Minor Administrative Action). Just like any HR function in any other industry.

                                              I no longer work in Compulsory Education, but at a small independent training provider training, supporting and mentoring engineering apprentices. So, the context is different to yours, BoE's and AE's, but as with your practice, it is all about self-discipline and representing themselves and their company (school in your case) in a positive manner.

                                              I can assure you that at no point do I stand anyone to attention and bollock them, (and neither did I when I was 'in' ) to manage behaviour. It wouldn't wash in the Forces and it won't wash with the 16/17 year old welders I manage.

                                              The DoE and various government functionaries know how discipline works and I know it's been implemented in schools. So, I really don't see how recruiting ex-forces as teachers will improve anything beyond what's in place, they just have another agenda.
                                              Last edited by NickSTFU; 17-03-2018, 12:37.

                                              Comment


                                                Originally posted by ChrisJ View Post
                                                The way they're throwing bursaries and whatnot at teacher training, running ad campaigns on national TV and still not solving the recruitment/retention crisis; it almost makes you think there might be some underlying, systemic issue with education in the UK.
                                                Yeah.

                                                Didn't they start off by cancelling a lot of advertising because it was the "government telling us how great it is" or something?

                                                Comment


                                                  Thanks for that, Nick. I was obviously a bit behind the times in my perception of army HR.

                                                  Kind of chimes with what I suspected. Clearly there's a lot to be said for being a positive role-model and self-discipline appropriately applied is part of that. But of course the forces are voluntary so personnel are self-selecting for at least aspiration to that quality.(And I'd guess the ones who don't/can't cut it, leave.)

                                                  Of course, bollockings aren't really effective as a general tactic in any setting - the discipline's already gone if it's needed. (Not that I shan't share my opinions in a forthright manner when required.)

                                                  It's not that ex-service folk in teaching is a bad thing, but there's no reason why they would be more likely to be a good thing, at least in the area of discipline.

                                                  Mind, when I was 16, I had a biology teacher who, it was widely believed, was an ex-para, and looked the part. Everyone was fucking terrified of annoying him and his lessons were conducted in an atmosphere of compliance. If only he'd been able to explain mitosis and meiosis adequately, he'd have been on to something.

                                                  Comment


                                                    Originally posted by ChrisJ View Post
                                                    T

                                                    It's not that ex-service folk in teaching is a bad thing, but there's no reason why they would be more likely to be a good thing, at least in the area of discipline.

                                                    .
                                                    Yes, this is what I was getting at.

                                                    I guess that any ex-military teacher is like any other 'mature' entrant from other industries/sectors. Some hack it, some don't. I don't see ex-military as having an special skills. Either you can engage with young people, or you can't.

                                                    By the way, I was in the RAF, but I we all look the same.....(smiley winky)

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