It breaks my mind that two British political parties have seen scenes like this and decided to try and replicate it in Britain. Thuggary, lawlessness, state brutality. Farage and Badenoch decided they liked the look of it.

We’re all feeling despair, but it’s worth noting that an intelligent authoritarian could easily have gone about this in a way that would provoke less outrage. Trump will instead continue to do what is maximally cruel, dishonest, and illegal, and this makes him vulnerable.

So much to love here. I’ve never believed there’s a need for draconian behaviour policies. All children benefit when the school is the heart of the community, supporting families where possible as well as children.

In my 30s, I discovered that people could see images, hear sounds, and imagine smells in their minds… Suddenly, a lot of things made sense to me— why I find it hard to recognise people, keep track of TV shows, and remember novels. I wonder if it’s why I never could remember my tables and spellings…

How is any of this justifiable—spending over £200k on CEO of two schools, a massive £172 pay/pupil? I wonder if teachers in those schools, where their CEO received a 30% pay rise, got the same increase?

This thread clarifies feelings that I couldn’t quite put into words. Frightening bcs I felt the same during Brexit - sense of watching a car crash, people I’d thought sensible falling for the lies and hate. Brexit taught us how easily we can follow the US down the path of democratic destruction.

I just learned what the Dunning-Kruger effect is. The Dunning-Kruger effect suggests that unknowledgeable people lack the very expertise they need to recognise their lack of expertise. Or does she realise and is just reckless?

Maybe simplistic, but suppose we scrapped Ofsted’s counterproductive bureaucracy, capped some shamefully inflated MAT CEO salaries, & redirected that money to where it truly matters—it would be a start. I can’t believe Ofsted’s budget couldn’t make a more meaningful difference elsewhere in education

EYFS child painting flowers:

He looks through the glass jar at the water the flowers stand in.

‘How do you draw water?’ he asks

“That’s a big question” I respond “Lots of artists have wondered about that”

“I know, I’ll draw the waves inside it!”

A nursery child joyfully holds a single Montessori ‘Golden Bead’ in one hand and a 1,000 Golden Beads, in the form of a cube, in the other.
He’s enthralled by the difference in magnitude, number & weight.

He holds 10 & 100, feeling their relationship.

It got me drawing…

I spoke to so many parents for this story about what many termed “psychological abuse” at this acclaimed London academy. Almost every one cried. This is trauma not belonging. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

This is a tale of fundamental conflict between pedagogical values and imposed restrictions…
Imagine a world in which there is an exceptional school based #EYFS setting where children are independent, creative, and active—harvesting, preparing, cooking snacks over fire;

It feels that successes within the SEN system are often the result of the persistence and dedication of families and professionals, achieved in spite of the system rather than because of it.

Teachers have increasingly found themselves on the front line, often using their own money, to support children facing deprivation. These acts of care and support from school professionals, given without expectation of thanks or recognition, are merely fingers in the dam. Systemic change is needed.

5.2 million children are now living in deprivation. Where is the outrage about that? It makes it very difficult to sympathise with a man trying to protect millions in assets.

If you are interested in the thoughts of a Caversham Primary parent, I now have a blog which is an account of my experience of the school and the wonderful teacher who led it, #RuthPerry

difficultlessons.wordpress.com

This is really interesting and has made me reflect on my own personal experience of the impact of societal issues on our Primary.

Families - 6 days left to have your say on how our education system needs to change. More details below. Reposts welcome - thank you.

sendmatters.co.uk/2024/11/12/f...