Early Risers.

[eldavo]

Morning All, For some strange reason there appear to be blue patches between the oktas! Supposed to go into the office for a meeting with my manager today. I wonder if he will postpone it 10 minutes before it starts as happened last week?

 

Meetings with teacher eh Robert. Having 3 "little dears" I long ago lost count of the number of times I have been called in to see various teachers. I'm down to just one still in education but I fear I have not had my last meeting with a teacher yet!

 

Cheers

Dave

[Guest Max Stafford]

My impression of primary education is that it has been utterly feminised and boys especially are being labelled problematic simply for acting like boys. It may only be my perception, but...!

 

Dave.

[45156]

Morning All

 

Another horrible one here - true baby's bottom weather - wet and windy.

 

Great to see Don's still with us - Morning to you in SA.

 

Robert I don't know about where you are, but in this neck of the woods, the schools call parents in for next to nothing rather than tackle the matter head on - and on 90% of the cases it's a real storm in a teacup - so here's hoping.

 

Mick happy buying - may your purchases all be train shaped.

 

May I join the MAC vs PC argument. I looked at a MAC when I got my new laptop, and I could not see enough advantages to justify spending £1000 more to get something a bit out of the ordinary. Indeed, I could not see all that much difference between the various laptops to justify even something like a Hewlitt Packard, and in the end, I decided on a mid range Samsung with a precessor and RAM upgrade bundled in - under £400 and so far (touch wood) so good. Battery life of about 4.5 hours, but as it almost never leaves the house, it is normally connected via the power block.

 

Sat here waiting for the oven man to deign to ring to confirm his arrival - it was an all day appointment - don't you just love that -when I asked for something more specific, they said not possible as I am between two service centres, Blackpool (35 miles South) and Penrith (45 miles North) and depending on who was free, I'd get a call from one of those centres. Seems a bit of a distance for a van trip, particularly in this day and age when you would think fuel economy was more important! (Dishwasher was the same, the guy was coming from Blackburn which is about a 45 mile drive but at least he had three visits in the Lancaster area)

 

Regards

Stewart

[Robert]

I finally made it into the office this morning. The autobahn was one long car park and it took me over an hour having seen Thomas' teacher.

 

Turns out, he wasn't as naughty as he told me he was last night. Overall, the teacher is quite pleased with how he is getting on. He has had a bit of trouble settling in and concentrating on the job at hand - but she says that he is improving all the time. She has had a bit of a shuffle around in the classroom - and all in all it is good that she is taking an interest.

 

The reason I got called in was because he bit another child yesterday during break. As you can imagine, I was horrified when I heard this (as was the teacher) but she sat both kids down and dissected the problem (thankfully) and it turns out that there was an argument over a football and to cut a long story short, Thomas was wrestled to the ground in a headlock. He said he couldn't breathe properly and was frightened and so bit the arm that was holding him

 

She wanted me to know what had happened, and that it came about in her opinion though panic, that both kids had been given a stern talking to and that the other lads parents would be told the same thing. Needless to say, he got a stern talking to from me as well yesterday evening - as I had already managed to get most of this straight from him.

 

Honestly! That child is giving me grey hair

[DDolfelin]

Sounds to me like he did the right thing, Robert.

Not really fair to be chastised for defending yourself.

Perhaps he should have some Special Forces training to prepare him for life at school!

[eldavo]

Honestly! That child is giving me grey hair

 

 

Could be worse mate believe me. Ask Gordon!

 

Cheers

Dave (who has very little hair left)

[NGT6 1315]

Perhaps he should have some Special Forces training to prepare him for life at school!

 

Looking at some schools these days, that might be a good idea indeed!

[PhilH]

Morning all. Busy on here this morning, lots going on. I made an apple cake yesterday which is all I know about Macs.

 

Robert, better that your little one is naughty at primary age than a teenage hooligan. Is he just exploring his boundaries? - as others have said all us parents have been there, done that. It will work out in the end.

 

Gonna press on with the O2 chassis - I have an annoying problem with it which I'm sure will turn out to be something minor. If it isn't then it's going to get my Darth Vader Aero Inflated Secured By Velcro Moonboot stomped all over it.

[Guest Max Stafford]

My impression of primary education is that it has been utterly feminised and boys especially are being labelled problematic simply for acting like boys. It may only be my perception, but...!

 

Dave.

[45156]

I finally made it into the office this morning. The autobahn was one long car park and it took me over an hour having seen Thomas' teacher.

 

Honestly! That child is giving me grey hair

Two interesting points to make here - firstly, when did the autobahn get connected to the M25?

 

But more important, secondly, it does seem that when there is a playground altercation, both parties are treated in the same manner, regardless of blame. That has been true since my primary school days when both protagonists in a fight were punished regardless of blame. In my day, it was all done and dusted without any parental visit, by means of a visit to the headmaster's room, and the rapid application of the belt (aka strap or tawse - Scots of the right age will know just what that is) and the matter was ended, until you got home when by some miraculous jungle telegraph your parents knew you'd been punished. Then it started again, and you were punished anew! I know that modern schooling does not permit such punishment, and hence parents get dreagged in more and more than they should. It's very difficult when it's your own kid involved, but in this case, if nothing else, it will highlight that the other lad may a bully who uses possibly excessive force when trying to resolve an argument, and hopefully the staff of the school will be aware of that, and more attuned to keeping an eye on his activities. I'm pleased that it turned out that your lad was only partly to blame.

 

Regards

Stewart

[45156]

Looks like I'll be off the air now for the rest of the day, as oven man is due soon (eta 10.30), I've got stuff ending on Ebay this lunch time, Mrs 45156 has just handed me the contents of the filing box, with a request to "get on with it" and much more importantly, Steam WOrld has just plopped onto the mat, and that keeps ole 45156 quiet for quite some time.

[NGT6 1315]

My impression of primary education is that it has been utterly feminised and boys especially are being labelled problematic simply for acting like boys. It may only be my perception, but...!

 

This issue is, in fact, being discussed in educational studies over here - in the context of how to better support students individually. I would think that UK researchers will probably follow this topic as well. Far as I remember from those articles I've read until now, there also have been suggestions that there might be a bias against boys among the teaching community, much of which is indeed female nowadays, possibly helping to explain why girls now tend to fare better than boys overall - well, maybe I'll learn more about such things soon and be able to make a better founded statement!

[Tony_S]

My impression of primary education is that it has been utterly feminised and boys especially are being labelled problematic simply for acting like boys. It may only be my perception, but...!

 

Dave.

 

Matthew describes his experiences at junior school as "character building". The staff were all female except for one man. The school was obsessed with football and dance. Matthew was spectacularly uncoordinated then so failed to impress with either obsession. Apart from the football team I got the impression that all boys were treated as stupid and potential hooligans. Matthew had a report where one teacher described him as disruptive. This turned out to be because he asked questions. The school refused to amend the report. I did take great pleasure in telling the headteacher that Matthew's class teacher also said the headteacher was a disruptive influence. A covering note was attached to the report.

His friend Gary was once removed from class for explaining why the teacher was wrong (multiplying two decimal fractions, so not a matter of opinion as she claimed). Matthew was ejected for asking the people who came in to talk about religion a question. This wasn't the local vicar who had been fine, these were closer to Witchfinder General and his acolytes. Matthew's education was, nursery: stressful (for parents), infant: superb, junior: dire apart from the year with a male teacher, secondary: OK but not exactly inspiring, sixth form college: excellent experience. I hope university is all that he wants it to be.

 

 

 

[NGT6 1315]

Tony,

 

thinking about what you just wrote, I'm glad to hear you could resolve the situation with Matthew. I mean, isn't it one of the points of education to be put in a position from which to ask questions when unsure or in disagreement?

 

(I could imagine some of the powers-that-be of this time would rather have us all blindly obedient entirely, but that's another story, of course...)

[Robert]

There are some quite interesting points coming to light here!

 

Thomas is definitely exploring his boundaries at the moment. Not just at school, but at home as well. He also appears to be trying it more with his Mum than he is with me - but that may be primarily perception on my part.

 

I have tried to emphasise to him that although he isn't always the protagonist, if he is the one who is caught then he will be marked as such (although obviously using different words!)

 

I got a note to say that Thomas had been holding the girls loo door shut - thus trapping the girls in the loo (the usual sort of boys stuff). When asked why he had done it, he said that it was actually one of the girls who had started it - trapping the boys in the loo. When they managed to escape the girl ran squeaking into the girls loo and the boys held the door shut. The teacher happened to hear the squeaking and looked out of the window to see three boys holding the loo door shut - when she banged on the window, they all scarpered!

 

Thomas remarked that it was unfair that he should get the note home, when the girl concerned didn't! I said that was because he was the one who got caught . Having discussed this with the teacher, she recounted what she had seen and didn't even realise that one of the girls was involved.

 

He he he! What's happening to teachers? In my day, they had eyes in the back of their heads

[Tony_S]

Tony,

 

thinking about what you just wrote, I'm glad to hear you could resolve the situation with Matthew. I mean, isn't it one of the points of education to be put in a position from which to ask questions when unsure or in disagreement?

 

(I could imagine some of the powers-that-be of this time would rather have us all blindly obedient entirely, but that's another story, of course...)

 

 

 

As Matthew said his year 4 (when he was about 8) was particularly character building. He had to cope with bullying and intolerance and that was just the teacher. There was quite a hint that complaining would make things worse. With 20-20 hindsight I wish we had removed him from that school. As I was a teacher I was aware that sometimes parents don't realise how their children may be not little angels at school so perhaps I for too long made the assumption I was dealing with a fellow professional and not ...well I'd better not say what I think, even now, ten years on. Before anyone thinks I allowed my concerns to go unregistered and caused further generations of kids to be "mistaught" I did complain, not that it did any good.

 

The pastoral care side of his education was best at the Sixth Form College. The tutors there really worked hard and Matthew would not have achieved the good grades (always an underachiever before in exam conditions) he did without the care and kindness shown to him. He had started to reject help as it always seemed to end up with him being humiliated. I'm glad he has finished at the college though as they now have a new "management" and under the new regime he wouldn't have even been allowed to start A level courses.

 

Tony

 

 

[skipepsi]

Given that behaviour is my living at this moment! I will only say always take behaviour in context.

[PhilH]

 

I got a note to say that Thomas had been holding the girls loo door shut - thus trapping the girls in the loo (the usual sort of boys stuff). When asked why he had done it, he said that it was actually one of the girls who had started it - trapping the boys in the loo. When they managed to escape the girl ran squeaking into the girls loo and the boys held the door shut. The teacher happened to hear the squeaking and looked out of the window to see three boys holding the loo door shut - when she banged on the window, they all scarpered!

 

Thomas remarked that it was unfair that he should get the note home, when the girl concerned didn't! I said that was because he was the one who got caught . Having discussed this with the teacher, she recounted what she had seen and didn't even realise that one of the girls was involved.

 

 

 

Brilliant! That is so funny.

 

Robert, he just sounds like a very normal lad. What he did seems very reasonable, all of us would have no doubt done exactly the same.

 

Why does it have to be such a serious world?

[NGT6 1315]

According to a press release by the police which I just read, an 18 year old chap was apprehended after investigators had noticed an Ebay user was offering a key which would have allowed access to restricted areas in Deutsche Bahn facilities. Having obtained a search warrant, they turned up at his place, and found several other railway paraphernalia which would not normally be available to railfans - including a guard's uniform as well as fourteen other keys. The chap refused to disclose where he obtained these items originally.

[Tony_S]

According to a press release by the police which I just read, an 18 year old chap was apprehended after investigators had noticed an Ebay user was offering a key which would have allowed access to restricted areas in Deutsche Bahn facilities. Having obtained a search warrant, they turned up at his place, and found several other railway paraphernalia which would not normally be available to railfans - including a guard's uniform as well as fourteen other keys. The chap refused to disclose where he obtained these items originally.

 

If only his teacher had spotted this behaviour earlier and sent a letter home!

 

 

 

[Tony_S]

Given that behaviour is my living at this moment! I will only say always take behaviour in context.

 

I did try to put Matthew's year 4 teacher's behaviour in context. I think she was just rather an unpleasant person who couldn't cope with being corrected.

 

 

 

[Tony_S]

 

 

He he he! What's happening to teachers? In my day, they had eyes in the back of their heads

 

 

 

They have CCTV now instead.

 

 

[SouthernRegionSteam]

Afternoon all.

Haven't signed in to ERs for a couple days. As horrid as it may sound - sometimes I just don't have the energy or willingness to. I don't have anything interesting to report either! Need to book my theory test soon but I keep putting it off and off and off...

Was cold cycling to/from college today and I wish I'd worn a long sleeved shirt.

Seem to have somehow damaged my wrist as I can't seem to stretch my right hand whilst playing the piano

 

I tell you what though, I never remembering having any sort of problems in primary school. I really really enjoyed my time there. I was never singled out or bullied and the whole school had a great connection. I'm quite annoyed that I've never been back there since I left about 7 years ago. Probably wouldn't be much point now as most of the original staff have moved on - as has the headteacher recently. I just remember it being such a great experience. The last year was brilliant - the whole class stuck together and the teacher was equally kind which meant we had never even considered being a pain! I think that's part of the problem nowadays. Whenever I have walked into main school (yrs 7-11) suddenly I've realised that there are a vast majority of children who are real trouble makers. It's not just being a pain either - some of them really do seem intent on maximum disruption. I was horrified when I walked in to hear one student shouting at the teacher with some colourful language.

 

When I was that age no one would ever think of being so aggressive. Yes we'd moan, but it would never go any further than that!

It was when I was babysitting the other night that I realised that not only was it children from yr 7-11, but children in primary school were also like it. Swearing was also quite frequent.

 

Since when has society in the younger generation degenerated? Normally I get fed up of my age getting bad press, but...

[gordon s]

Could be worse mate believe me. Ask Gordon!

 

Cheers

Dave (who has very little hair left)

 

 

That's what I like about ER's. You know who your mates are......

[NGT6 1315]

While I cannot be completely sure...could it be that large parts of today's youth simply follow that motto of "those who are the loudest shouters and who stomp their feet most fiercely must be the toughest and therefore the only ones deserving of making their way in life" which an equally large portion of the adult population demonstrates to them? I personally do not subscribe to the notion that every person is solely responsible for their own fate - because as we are all parts of society, whichever of our actions touches the existence of others will inevitably exert an influence upon it. It may be true that not all actions will have an immediate and significant effect, but it may equally well happen that such an effect will follow at a later point in time - and while it may not be possible to accurately predict the outcome of our interaction with another person or the time when this effect may occur, I do think we should try our best in being considerate about how we deal with others - which of course is all we can do, being human and therefore imperfect from a totally rational point of view.