2018April 3 2018
Put them back down the mines for 12 hours a day
When I first started writing these epistles to the grumpians almost 3 years ago, I remember (an achievement in itself at my age) that I said don't expect me to always be moaning about the young people of our world. Most of them I understand. It is the generation below me, and indeed my own, that really confuse me and cause a sudden rush of grumpiness.
Barnaby Lenon is the chairman of the Independent Schools Council, Checking him out on google would seem to indicate I might quite like the guy. Public school, studied geography at Oxford, head of various public schools in and around London and a man who has complained about the dumbing down of standards since the demise of “O” levels.
But, based on his latest pronouncement, I fear young Barnaby may have made a crucial mistake in his life. As far as I can see he has spent all of his adult life in education. Education is vital, or at least learning is. It gives knowledge and, as Einstein said, couple that knowledge with imagination and you are away. However, the world of education, the environment you learn in, is often not the real world.
Mr Lenon, described as an education expert, has said that kids who have exams this summer should spend 7 hours a day studying over the Easter holidays. He added that it might seem a lot but pupils who will get the best grades will work this hard. He made matters worse by adding "The best GCSE and A-level results don't go to the cleverest students - they go to those who revised in the Easter holidays."
Point one, it is ridiculous to use the word cleverest without defining what is clever. It makes the statement meaningless. It would have been just as stupid to say that the best grades go to the pupils who get the highest marks. Surely the cleverest students will know that they have to work hard, once again making his remark nonsense.
Point two, slightly more bluntly, he is talking the biggest load of balls I have heard in a long time. He advised that students should start work at 9am and work for no more than 2 hours before taking a break. His idea would mean kids would work around 100 hours over the Easter holiday. This would be about 30 hours more than the average working employee.
In the real world, Barnaby, people have a life and young people, who worked pretty hard during term time, need a break. They need to get out, meet with friends and, dare I say it, have fun. It's no wonder with people like Barnaby around that young people feel so much stress.
However, my major concern is that parents, who hear the word expert and think this man must know what he is talking about, will push their children into this totally unrealistic situation. Time at school should prepare the young person for the life ahead. Good grades, if you want them, require hard work. When at work, extra hours can give you more money but I will tell you all now, you will miss out on a vast amount of other, enjoyable aspects of life and the stupid idea that work will give you better grades than those who are clever, whatever that may mean, isn't true in real life. I would place problem solving, creative thinking, a good life balance way above any grade. Mr Lenon should have popped out into the real world before returning to teach.
April 9 2018
Do you ever look around you and think why are people like they are? Do you ever think I have no idea and forget them and just get on with your ilfe? Exactly. See you next week.
April 23 2018
Hair today, gone tomorrow
Let's go back a month or so to March 19 of this year. I was, to put in mildly, displeased with the head of the Great Yarmouth Charter Academy and his very strict attitude to the behaviour and dress sense of his male pupils. Well, it would appear that Mr Smith is not quite as strict when it comes to being successful.
The Inspiration Trust, who run the school, are consulting with staff to possibly axe eight teaching jobs in a bid to save £385,000 a year. It would appear that the GYCA is predicting a loss of £85,000 in 2017/18, rising to £339,094 in 2018/2019 and £434,550 in 2019/2020. Much of this may be due to a significant fall in the number of pupils. The numbers in September 2017 was 850, by January of this year it was 680 and is expected to fall again in September 2018.
Mr Smith, he who said that "Uniform and appearance are a key part of developing school ethos", is, it would seem, not aware that having happy pupils and contented parents is even more important. What is more the eight teaching jobs to go look as though they will be on the vocational side not the academic. Design technology and computer science are those earmarked for closure.
I can't say this for certain but I bet the dreaded and pathetic school tables focus more on academic results than vocational. Future work for young people, however, is more likely to need ICT and computer knowledge.
I have an idea. How much money could be saved by removing Mr Smith and, once he was gone, how many pupils might return. Just saying.
