Education for a new economic model

"Climate change offers an ideal context for learning within Curriculum for Excellence, providing many opportunities to develop children and young people as global citizens and deliver experiences and outcomes across many curriculum areas."  So says Education Scotland.

Having experiences and outcomes in global citizenship is one thing;  but as the above video shows, climate change is not providing children with an education which allows them to apply themselves rationally to the scientific questions. Narratives of gloom and doom give the game away.

On the right hand side of the Education Scotland blog there is a link to Skeptical Science. At first I thought this was an attempt, at least, to appear to be offering a balanced approach. But no. Taking a look inside the website there is this statement: "Scientists should always challenge themselves to improve their understanding. Yet this isn't what happens with climate change denial"

No such criticism is made against `climate change alarm`.

At the Victoria Park in Glasgow the fossil grove has eleven fossilised tree stumps aged about 330 million years old. They are the remains of a huge forest which was buried and later formed the coal seams which Glasgow used during its period of industrialisation, releasing the trapped carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere again. It can be thought of as a recycling process.

Those ancient trees were enormous, the reason being, that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was greater than it is today. In the presence of sunlight, plants use carbon dioxide in order to grow.

It is shameful that children`s education is so impoverished that they are being made frightened of what is, in fact, essential for life on the planet.

https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3328

Some have called it a hoax:

"The Australian prime minister's chief business adviser says that climate change is a ruse led by the United Nations to create a new world order under the agency's control. The statement coincided with a visit from the UN's top climate negotiator."

"Maurice Newman, chairman of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's business advisory council, said the UN is using false models which show sustained temperature increases because it wants to end democracy and impose authoritarian rule."

"It's a well-kept secret, but 95 percent of the climate models we are told prove the link between human CO2 emissions and catastrophic global warming have been found, after nearly two decades of temperature stasis, to be in error," he wrote in an opinion piece published in The Australian newspaper on Friday, without providing evidence."

"The real agenda is concentrated political authority. Global warming is the hook,” he said, adding that the UN is against capitalism and freedom and wants to create a “new world order.”

http://rt.com/news/256861-climate-change-un-hoax/

Some have admitted there is another agenda:

"At a news conference...in Brussels, Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of U.N.'s Framework Convention on Climate Change, admitted that the goal of environmental activists is not to save the world from ecological calamity but to destroy capitalism..."

"Referring to a new international treaty environmentalists hope will be adopted at the Paris climate change conference later this year, she added: "This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model for the first time in human history."

Read More At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/021015-738779-climate-change-scare-tool-to-destroy-capitalism.htm#ixzz3S0PR727C

In order to understand the complexity of heat transfer at the earth`s surface see http://www.earth-climate.com/

NO2NP steps up its campaign

"A petition against “shambolic” Scottish Government state guardian proposals is being launched in Dundee... Under the legislation, more than a million children in Scotland will be assigned a named guardian who will have the power to “advise” and “inform” the child or discuss or raise matters about the child with the relevant authorities."

"The demonstration, which is also taking place in Glasgow, is the latest stage in the work of No to Named Persons (NO2NP), the organisation at the forefront of efforts to overturn Part 4 of the Act, which was passed by MSPs last year."

"NO2NP is stepping up its campaign as its members prepare to go to the Court of Session for a two-day appeal hearing next Wednesday and Thursday. A spokesman for the group said: “We are now more convinced than ever that this legislation is wrong for children, wrong for families and wrong for Scotland."

"The 109 pages of supposed guidance is a shambolic mess, which does nothing to clarify anything and serves only to baffle, bewilder and belittle parents. Lord Pentland commented during the hearing that a named person would need to have a master’s degree in law to know what will be required, and this guidance confirms that. "

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/dundee/protesters-gathering-names-against-named-persons-law-in-dundee-1.879765

This mum is saying no to the Named Person scheme #NO2NP #signthepetition #Dundee
Posted by NO2NP on Saturday, May 30, 2015

The Coatbridge hoax ?

By JuliaM at Orphans of Liberty
"Coatbridge Police, in Lanarkshire, pleaded with teenagers not to get involved with the Paracetamol Challenge as it can lead to organ failure and death.""Eh..? The what?" "… young people dare each other to take excessive amounts of the drug on social media.""Do they?  Do they really..?"

"Well…no."
"But snopes.com reports that there is no evidence young people are daring each other to take excessive doses of paracetamol, and the #paracetamolchallenge hashtag is mainly populated with tweets discouraging teenagers from attempting it.""Hmmm. Maybe Coatbridge Police should investigate themselves over misuse of social media..?"

http://4liberty.org.uk/2015/05/30/so-the-police-are-spreading-urban-myths-now/

Ordinarily media outlets take care when reporting teenage suicides for fear of copycat incidents. But this nonsense about a paracetamol challenge has been going on for weeks.

I think Julie M is rightly suspicious. It`s time to call a halt to it.

The Queen`s Speech

"The government will push ahead with a consultation on jail sentences for social workers who "wilfully neglect" children, under a bill announced in the Queen’s speech..."

"Despite fierce protest from the sector, including a petition that amassed more than 11,000 signatures, the police and criminal justice bill will pave the way for a criminal offence of wilful neglect for professionals who fail to act on child protection concerns."

"The move is likely to provoke outrage among social workers, many of whom have warned it will contribute to the already-intense blame culture within child protection and dissuade students from pursuing social work careers..."

"The government also confirmed its commitment to setting up regional adoption agencies, which will work across local authority boundaries to match children more quickly."

"The education and adoption bill will give the secretary of state the power to compel councils to give over their adoption functions to another authority or regional agency..."

"A number of other bills were set out in the speech, outlining the government’s plan for areas including welfare and taxes, devolution and tackling extremism..."

The Troubled Families project will be expanded.

Healthcare and social care will be integrated.

http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2015/05/27/government-uses-queens-speech-advance-jail-plans-social-workers/

Trusting science and the big corporations

"In the past few years more professionals have come forward to share a truth that, for many people, proves difficult to swallow. One such authority is Dr. Richard Horton, the current editor-in-chief of the Lancet – considered to be one of the most well respected peer-reviewed medical journals in the world."

"Dr. Horton recently published a statement declaring that a lot of published research is in fact unreliable at best, if not completely false."

"The case against science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue. Afflicted by studies with small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analyses, and flagrant conflicts of interest, together with an obsession for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance, science has taken a turn towards darkness." (source)

"This is quite disturbing, given the fact that all of these studies (which are industry sponsored) are used to develop drugs/vaccines to supposedly help people, train medical staff, educate medical students and more..."

"Dr. Marcia Angell, a physician and longtime Editor in Chief of the New England Medical Journal (NEMJ), which is considered to be another one of the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals in the world, makes her view of the subject quite plain:"

"It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines. I take no pleasure in this conclusion, which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor of the New England Journal of Medicine" (source)

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/05/16/editor-in-chief-of-worlds-best-known-medical-journal-half-of-all-the-literature-is-false/

THE TRUTHSEEKER...EXPOSING THE GLOBALIST DEPOPULATION AGENDA
THE TRUTHSEEKER...EXPOSING THE GLOBALIST DEPOPULATION AGENDAhttps://www.facebook.com/chris.vanwyck.3/videos/vb.100000441800874/785521744805878/?type=3A SUGGESTED PERSON TO WATCH...HE APPEARS ON RT...TOUCHES SOME GREAT TOPICS AND GIVES YOU GREAT INFORMATION...YOU CAN FIND HIS YOU TUBES BY SEARCHING "THE TRUTHSEEKER E"...AS HIS SHOWS ARE ALL NUMBERED https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+truthseeker+EBELIEVING THIS CONSTITUTES FAIR USEFAIR USE AGREEMENT17 U.S.C. § 107Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. § 106 and 17 U.S.C. § 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright
Posted by Chris VanWyck on Friday, June 13, 2014

 

http://rt.com/news/261457-monsanto-march-third-awareness/

Boy left behind at safari park

"An investigation has been launched into how a five-year-old boy was left behind at a safari park after a school day trip."

"Police were called when it was discovered the boy had not returned on the school bus from Blair Drummond Safari Park near Stirling."

"The boy, who was on an outing with Pitcorthie Primary and Nursery in Dunfermline, was found by police at the park."

"He was then reunited with his family."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-32914734
 

John Mann MP on CSA

Pippa King: children`s biometric data

Pippa King talks to Richie Allen on his radio show:

When she became aware of a fingerprint scan in the school library, Pippa King asked the primary head teacher when she would be asked for her consent. She was told that consent was unnecessary. It alarmed her that schools were taking on the role of parents and making decisions about children`s biometric data.

Although there was a clause in the Data Protection Act covering sensitive data, it was out of date and had not managed to keep pace with technological advances. From 2006 to 2010 she lobbied parliament, alongside N2ID and other groups for a change in the law.

Pippa King explains that schools were sold the idea as part of the solution for less paperwork. Fingerprint scans could provide cashless catering, library books, registration and so on, and was an attractive proposition for schools pressed for time. Adults are suspicious of the new technology and were fighting the introduction of identification cards at the time, but children are too young to work out the consequences of giving up their data. For instance, police can obtain this information and do not need to inform parents or children. It also sends out a concerning message to children that in order to eat, or to gain access to certain areas, they must provide their biometric data. Conditioned in this way, in twenty or thirty years time, bringing in an id card would probably present no problem for the government.

When the opposition parties came to power the law was changed and since 2013 it has been mandatory that schools must obtain parental consent before using children`s biometric data.

Corporatisation of education

Technology in schools is a billion pound industry. According to Pippa King parents have taken their eye off the ball. Companies admit that education is the most data mined industry in the world. There are programmes that scrutinise children`s faces to determine what they are paying attention to; there are programmes that study their emotions and analyse their every keystroke. If they wish to provide personalised learning perhaps this is necessary. But what is wrong with humans teaching?

Amey in Glasgow

In Glasgow, the multinational company Amey has a big construction contract for the next 35 years. That is a whole generation of data and nowadays there are the algorithms that can analyse it.

https://www.amey.co.uk/our-services/total-facilities-management/security-services/

See  http://pippaking.blogspot.co.uk/

Smart children

(G)lobal cities are increasingly driving world affairs — economically, politically, socially and culturally. They are no longer just places to live in. They have emerged as leading actors on the global stage. [Back to the Feudal system perhaps ? ]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/a5230756-0395-11e5-a70f-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3bLyG8i6k

Smart Cities

It was raining heavily and I was walking back home in the `smartest` city in the UK, that is, Smart Glasgow, and called into a local shop for a purchase.

"Get the hood down." was shouted at me. Well that is what it sounded like. I paid no attention as I went around the shelves until I heard it again.

"Get the hood down," and now two female assistants from behind the counter were aggressively shouting at me.

I admit I made a big mistake and took my hood down in order to check what they were saying. "Did you say get the hood down?"  I asked.

"Yes, you`ve got to get your hood down. It`s on the door,` one of them said.

"I`ve never heard anything like that in my life," I said. "I`ve called into this shop often. Oh I see, it`s face recognition is it? "

"It`s for security,` I was told.

" Smart Glasgow," I said, "The dumbest city in the UK."

Before I left with my purchase I said: "I`m putting my hood up in the shop before I go back out into the rain, OK ?"

They both laughed. They had done their bit.  Both of them were being recorded on the same CCTV as I was - and we all knew it.

Fortunately for me, I think, I had paid for my purchase with cash, and my identity would not be matched with my activity that day.

Smart Children

We need to warn children who are being led in schools towards internet dependency and a cashless society that behind the technology there are people who will gain financially from their helplessness. No matter what they say, they do not work in children`s best interests.

Data is power.

Exposing paedophilia in Aberdeen

"Journalist and Broadcaster Robert Green outlines his investigation into the Holly Grieg case... Robert also discusses the developments following his arrest, exposing further crimes, the strict control of the Scottish media, the injustice of the Scottish National Party attempt to block his standing as a parliamentary candidate in Aberdeen South and the astonishing world-wide support for Hollie that has developed following his arrest..."

"Filmed at The Alternative View 4 Event in London - March 2010"

 

Pupils complain about higher maths exam

"EXAMS bosses yesterday said no pupils will be disadvantaged after thousands of candidates complained about an "impossible" Higher maths paper. The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) said the marking would take into consideration whether the exam was harder than intended."

"Some pupils were said to have been reduced to tears by questions in the exam, which took place on Wednesday. More than 13,000 people have signed two online petitions urging the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) to take into account the difficulty of the exam when marking papers."

"The knock-on effect is fear of subsequent exams and the possibility of not gaining access to the university course they have worked so hard for."

"For the first time this year children had the option of sitting the new Higher but many schools opted to continue teaching the original Higher syllabus. But pupils sitting both exams were shocked by the levels of difficulty when they saw the paper on Wednesday."

"One pupil wrote: "I personally sat the New higher math exam and it was dreadful. From extremely wordy questions containing an array of jungle animals from toads, frogs, crocodiles and zebras to un-clearly asked questions or over-complicated questions this exam was almost as if it was intended to be impossible." [ I suppose this was about literacy across the curriculum (!) but it was hardly `inclusive` or `achieving` as far as the wellbeing indicators go, if pupils were not adequately prepared for the exam.]

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/more-13000-sign-petition-after-5742824

From Tes

"The Higher exam diet should have been something like the icing on the CfE cake and a rewarding experience for candidates. Instead, if the Higher Maths Exam was anything to go by, it appears to be turning into the nightmare that the teaching profession has been warning of for years."

"We know for sure that the SQA will cover up the mess - they have a track record. Remember, don't mention the 'F' word - FIASCO. And of course there is no MacOfQual to hold them to account."

"Many pupils are going to feel now that they have wasted their time in school - through no fault of their own. What an indictment on the performance of our Education system!!! "

Posted 24 May 2015

https://community.tes.co.uk/tes_scotland_opinion/f/51/t/716856.aspx?pi2132219857=2

Adoptions in free fall

 

Suesspiciousminds addresses recent newspaper articles which lament the fact that adoption rates have fallen in recent times and points to certain court rulings where the judgements have been critical of local authorities who prioritise adoption over alternative arrangements.

"What might have changed is that it is no longer enough to just assert that an alternative is `unsuitable`, but you have to evidence it."

The post provides a very clear summary of recent cases which may be affecting the willingness of local authorities to pursue adoptions as enthusiastically as they once did.

But with pressure on budgets how long will this trend last ?

See http://suesspiciousminds.com/2015/05/15/adoption-rates-in-freefall/

Not long it seems, and there are contradictory messages about adoption trends.

New plans to speed up adoption rates are going to be included in the Queen's Speech, the Department for Education has announced. 

Under the proposals, local authorities will be forced to merge their services, allowing children to be matched with new families sooner.

The government has claimed adoption is "happening at too small and localised a scale". There are more than 3,000 children waiting to be matched at present ? and the majority of them have spent more than 18 months in care.

Edward Timpson, children and families minister, has said the current system "isn't good enough"...

More than 5,000 children were found a permanent home last year, according to the DfE ? a record increase of 26% over 12 months.

http://www.lbc.co.uk/plans-to-speed-up-adoptions-announced-110150 

An open secret

"It’s been salaciously described as "the movie Hollywood doesn’t want you to see", and while this sounds like marketing hyperbole, An Open Secret’s rocky road to the big screen suggests it might not be too far from the truth."

"The film, a documentary about the sexual abuse of child actors in the entertainment industry, has struggled to gain distribution, been rejected by numerous festivals and received cuts to excise some of the more litigious content. Its US release is now moving forward this summer to 5 June, and an out-of-festival screening at Cannes took place this week to appeal to international buyers."

"Director Amy Berg, who previously explored child abuse within the Catholic church in the Oscar-nominated Deliver Us From Evil, has made an unrefined yet compelling film that makes allegations of a paedophile ring in Hollywood that preyed on young boys eager to make it in the industry. A group of managers, agents, publicists and directors would manipulate youthful ambition to their advantage, associating sexual activity with career progression. "

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/may/20/an-open-secret-review-damning-documentary-takes-aim-at-sexual-abuse-in-hollywood?

Interview with Gonçalo Amaral

"For the first time, Gonçalo Amaral speaks about the case that destroyed his career, his family and his health..."My life is gone, I’m only alive due to my heart"

"Condemned to pay 500 thousand euro to the parents of Maddie, the little English three-year-old girl that disappeared in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, on the 3rd of May of 2007, the former inspector will fight until the last legal instance, because he is "a free man and citizen" with "the right to express opinions".

"What was your reaction when you found out that the verdict from the court was unfavourable to you in the defamation suit that the McCanns filed against you?"

"I found out about the verdict through a friend who called me telling me about the news on the radio. I immediately called my lawyer, but he hadn’t been notified and the verdict was not in the process. It’s sad, but my lawyer could only access the sentence, that afternoon, because a British journalist sent it to him by e-mail. There is no doubt that the couple’s lawyer has good connections at the court. My reaction was one of calm and a wish to read the full contents of the verdict as soon as it was available on the Citius website, which only happened the next day, but with the date of the previous day. Mysteries which the webs of justice weave. "

"Were you surprised?"

"I wasn’t surprised, it was one of the open possibilities, but after the decision about the matter of fact, which was favourable to me, I trusted that the verdict would come in the same direction. "

"Do you think there are errors in the process? Do you feel wronged?"

"Those are not mistakes, but value judgements and understandings that are contrary to mine and to that of many other jurists. As for feeling wronged…What do you think? I can only ask if those who, for more than five nights, left their three children, aged three and two, to their own devices in a house within an unknown space, subjecting them to a thousand dangers, while they were partying with friends – not to mention the amounts of alcohol that was ingested on those occasions -, still has the right to be compensated. They practiced a crime of exposing and abandoning defenceless children and they weren’t even accused of that fact. Looking at our criminal legislation, at the English child protection legislation and at cases that recently happened with British subjects in the Algarve, after drunken nights, all that I can say is that the McCann couple is primarily responsible for their daughter’s disappearance. She only disappeared because they neglected her guard and, as parents, they were obliged to it. It is a fact that they lost their daughter, but that doesn’t give them the right to sue anyone or to be compensated. They can’t escape their guilt, which is enough to rob them of their sleep, to provoke a lack of appetite and even rage, but against themselves and not against someone who only wrote down what happened during the first five months of the investigation, according to what is in the case files. If compensation takes place, all that I can do is warn you: be careful, there’s people who may turn this into a new business! "

"Don’t you feel revolted by this verdict? "

"I don’t feel revolt, but I do not conform to it, I still trust our country’s justice system, for which I have worked for over 25 years, and I still am a free citizen with all my rights. On the other hand, even the question that Maddie’s siblings, then aged two, may someday read my book and become traumatized doesn’t concern me. Those two children were also abandoned for over five nights in a row and surely they will understand that what is written there is the result of a criminal investigation. "

"There is a question that those two children will certainly ask when they grow up but that question will be directed at the parents: why were they abandoned, left to their own devices? Those children are free to think and to conclude that whatever happened to their daughter could have happened to one of them. The parents can only fear that their two children who did not disappear on that tragic night revolt against them...."

"Have you never considered suing the McCanns over the damages that they caused to your family?"

"Each thing in its own time, it won’t be only the McCanns, but their group of friends, and other people and entities that will be sued. There is an illicit action that was indeed performed, the neglect in guarding their children, which caused direct damages to many people, not only to myself, but for example to the Ocean Club workers, who were fired and saw their lives change, many of them unjustly passing from mere employees and heads of family to suspects in a criminal investigation, while they had nothing to do with the matter"

Read more http://pjga.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/nova-gente-interview-with-goncalo-amaral_15.html?m=1

Child sex abuse investigation has identified 110 suspects

"Detectives investigating historic child sex abuse in Scotland have identified 110 suspects, including 37 VIPs."

"The figures, released by Police Scotland, relate to Operation Hydrant, which was set up to look at allegations.""

"The force currently has 58 separate investigations as part of the UK-wide probe."

"Assistant Chief Constable Malcolm Graham said the volume of allegations presented a "massive" challenge."

"As part of a briefing for Operation Hydrant, Police Scotland said 110 suspects had so far been investigated, with 37 being classed as "persons of public prominence".

"Four of them came from the worlds of TV, film or radio, while 33 were listed as having a "significant public profile" nationally or locally..."

"A total of 1,400 suspects had been identified UK-wide, including 261 people of "public prominence", including politicians, and 135 celebrities from TV, radio and film."

"Last month, Police Scotland announced the launch of the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit to lead on large-scale, complex and high-profile investigations."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-32814945

Teachers are blamed for falling standards

"Angela Constance said she was "astonished" that some subject teachers in secondary did not think reading and writing was "vital".

"However, her comments provoked a backlash from teaching unions who suggested the Government should provide more resources to schools rather than "blaming teachers".

"Ms Constance spoke out after recent official figures showed standards of literacy in Scottish primary and secondary schools are falling."

"The Scottish Survey of Literacy found performance in reading dropped in primary schools between 2012 and 2014, as well as in the second year of secondary school. Last year, the same survey found Scottish primary schools had experienced a dramatic decline in standards of numeracy."

"In a keynote speech to an audience of education specialists at Glasgow University, Ms Constance said: "The results on numeracy and.... literacy show that we need to step up the pace of change. Frankly, it's not good enough that some children appear to be doing less well in basic skills the older they get...."

"However, Seamus Searson, general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association, said the suggestion some teachers were unaware of the importance of basic skills was "unfair".

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/education/minister-teachers-failing-children-on-the-three-rs.1432103225

Are we supposed to believe that over the past few years it is teachers who have changed?  I think they have a right to feel more than a bit peeved at Ms Constance`s remarks.

At one time children had textbooks. This meant they could catch up if they missed a lesson or failed to grasp it in class. They could get help from friends or parents because the material was available. It was also there for revision purposes. Reading was constantly reinforced. How children manage without books I do not know because resources do matter, especially for disadvantaged children who are less likely to have the resources at home.

As well as that black hole, there are all the changes involved in Curriculum for Excellence: active learning, collaborative learning, social and emotional learning, workforce learning, talking, listening, planning next steps, everything and anything but getting on with it. It has been a disaster in the making.

Unfortunately, teachers are leaving teacher training colleges full of these progressive ideas.

Post-2015 global development learning goals

It is difficult to know what objectives there will be for education when the United Nations Millenium Development Goals come to an end, but there are some clues.

The Brookings Institution is a non-profit public policy organisation based in Washington DC who say on their website that they are proud that many consider them to be the most influential, most quoted and most trusted think tank in the world.

"UNESCO and the Center for Universal Education (CUE) at Brookings joined efforts to convene a Learning Metrics Task Force to investigate the feasibility of identifying common learning goals to inform the post-2015 global development policy discourse and improve overall learning."

Phase1 of the project dealt with `What learning is important for all children and youth?`

Phase 2 is attempting to determine `How should learning outcomes be measured at the global and national levels?`

http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/ECEC13thMtg%2805%29_Item_5_Mearsuring_Child_Learning_at_School_Entry_The_Learning_Metrics_Task_Force.pdf

"Based on recommendations from technical working groups and input from broad global consultations, the task force will make recommendations for learning competencies and measures at the early childhood, primary, and post-primary levels." (Note that for this exercise, "learning" is not just literacy and numeracy but is conceived more broadly.)

"These recommendations will be designed for use globally, building off and complementing efforts to measure learning that are already underway at local, regional and national levels."

Local levels refer to formative assessments in classrooms and other types of assessments used to capture the learning progress of children`s learning outside of the formal school system. [So we know what Curriculum for Excellence is really about - preparing the education system so that children`s performances can be more easily measured and compared globally. That includes those broader conceptions of what learning is.]
The Task Force recommendations are currently scheduled for release in September, no doubt, to coincide with the global meeting in Paris this year to decide the world`s future.

http://www.brookings.edu/about/centers/universal-education/learning-metrics-task-force//~/media/Centers/universal-education/learning-metrics-task-force/LMTF_competencies_draft_for_consultation.pdf

To see who attended the Learning Metrics Task Force meeting in September 2012, try the link below. You will see that Pearson is sitting in the wings.  This is the company who will be developing the Framework for PISA 2018, a test which is recognised as the benchmark for assessing education systems worldwide. They were recently caught spying on students` social media in New Jersey .
 
http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Centers/universal%20education/learning%20metrics%20task%20force/LMTF_NYC%20Meeting%20Attendees.pdf

As if transforming education in order to data mine children around the world, by a group of self-appointed experimentalists was not repugnant enough, there is a cautionary tale about Big Data and the World that Counts.

What is the link between data and decisions? We are told that "an explosion in the volume of data" will ultimately lead to "more empowered people, better policies, better decisions and greater participation and accountability, leading to better outcomes for people and the planet" (p. 6). This is not a theory of change. It is a statement of belief and hope.

I have not seen much scholarly evidence proving the thesis that politicians make bad decisions because they do not have enough data. Nor has anyone walked me through the political economy models that predicts how better data makes for better decisions. What has been convincingly shown in scholarly work is that political priorities mirror statistical priorities, and that the activities of states leave a fingerprint in the statistical record. In research on the use of global indices, there is some evidence of the "Hawthorne effect" – namely that actors change their behavior to meet external expectations when they are being observed. However, there is equally convincing evidence of global monitoring results in bad statistics because producers of administrative statistics are incentivized to misreport to appear to reach targets.

http://post2015.org/2014/12/05/writing-about-a-data-revolution-between-rhetoric-and-practical-action/

Cameron will target those who obey the law

A mother has been told she will be jailed if she continues to criticise social workers who forced her three-year-old son into adoption.

The woman was taken to Hull Family Court over posts she made on Facebook. Judge John Dowse warned her she would face prison for contempt if she posted anything further about the case in the next five years.

She had her three children taken away by North East Lincolnshire social services after temporarily resuming a relationship with a violent partner who had been jailed for domestic abuse.

http://www.exposetheestablishment.com/2015/05/mother-of-three-faces-prison-she-will-be-jailed-if-she-continues-criticising-social-workers-on-facebook/

It can be seen that at present protest is not allowed against decisions made by the secretive family courts and censorship already exists for certain groups in society.

That includes whistleblowers and campaigners against child abuse by those in authority. Robert Green who had his computer (evidence) confiscated has been gagged for life.

Who will be next on the hit list ?

US children removed for drug trials

by John P. Thomas Health Impact News

"The U.S. federal government has mandated drug research with children. The need for children to participate in drug company research is high, and the temptation to overstep parental rights to force children to participate is great. Researchers publicly admit using money and other rewards to obtain participation of children in their drug trials. Organizations that advocate for the rights of parents to make decisions regarding their children’s healthcare are finding that foster children in CPS custody are being enrolled in drug experiments without parental approval...."

"The network of state operated child protective service agencies (CPS) routinely circumvent the rights of parents and children, and give permission for physicians/researchers to force children to participate in drug company experiments. Children who are in the foster care system and who are under the control of Child Protective Services are easily targeted for involuntary inclusion in drug experimentation. "

"Ideally, even if children are under CPS control, their natural parents should retain the right to give consent for medical treatment for their children whether it is routine or experimental. In practice, however, once CPS steps into a family’s private life and takes children out of the home and places them in foster care, then parental oversight regarding the healthcare of their children is routinely violated. Because these cases are involved in State Juvenile or Family Courts (as opposed to Civil Courts), records are sealed and kept secret, supposedly to protect the children."

- See more at: http://medicalkidnap.com/2015/05/16/medical-kidnapping-in-the-u-s-kidnapping-children-for-drug-trials/#sthash.4QNRfsgU.dpuf

Attachment-informed transformational change

Health and social care providers are under pressure to change the way they work from traditional find-and-fix treatments to predict-and-prevent approaches.

http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/global/files/uk__none__smarter_cities__ibm_uk_paper_people_for_smarter_cities.pdf

　

Attachment matters for all allows us to see that in the field of child care, a predict-and-prevent approach which is being developed at the moment is based on attachment theory. This theory asserts that the first few years of life are crucial for child development and depend on the bond that exists naturally between babies and their carers. "In the optimal situation babies experience care giving from one or two adults which is predominantly reliable, sensitive and attuned to their individual temperament and needs."

Of course, if parents get it wrong, a baby will keep making a fuss until they get it right. There is nothing intellectually challenging about this and it is surprising that what has worked for endless generations requires expert guidance these days. However, the early intervention approach favoured by policy makers needs a theory to ground itself on, and attachment theory fits the bill.

The theory has its flights of fancy: "Through facial expressions and verbal cues ... care givers reflect back to their baby what they believe is happening in the baby`s mind. This `affect mirroring` process repeated several times a day from birth enables securely attached children not only to develop a sense of their own internal world but also helps them to recognise others as beings with minds, emotions and intentions." It is the beginning of empathy.

Early childhood aggression and violence has to be unlearned, according to this view, through secure organised attachments otherwise it continues into later childhood, adolescence and beyond. At this point it becomes clear what is to be predicted and prevented. Childhood behavioural problems will be seen as failures of parenting with long term consequences at the societal level:  low educational attainment, unemployment, criminality, drug addiction and so on.

It should be noted that these problems are often associated with deprivation and poverty. There is no question of predicting psychopathy and criminality amongst the more affluent. No-one will be looking out for future banking fraudsters, paedophiles in high places or war-mongering politicians. It is, as if, only the poor have a problem with attachment.

Social work

Social workers come in for some heavy criticism in the report ."As well as demonstrating a lack of knowledge about all child development, not just attachment, there was concern that social workers were often unable to exercise any analytical or critical thinking skills. Because social workers have a statutory responsibility to make assessments that inform key decisions about children’s lives, there was a particular focus on the lack of understanding and assessment skills displayed by them,"

Oh dear ! Social workers have been getting it wrong but there are many children, now grown up, who can testify to that.

The answer, according to the Celcis report, is an understanding of attachment theory. Of course, "some of the effects of attachment interventions may not be apparent until children reach full adulthood and take on for themselves the responsibilities of sustaining employment and parenting."  So all of this must be taken on trust, and note the importance of sustaining employment which comes before parenting.   

Proxy measures 

"Although a variety of assessment measures are available they are time consuming and are usually only used in a clinical or research context. They are not necessarily suitable for front line professionals attempting to make rapid assessments when children are at risk, although they can be very useful as part of a rigorous assessment and intervention programme. There is, however, convincing evidence that certain care giver characteristics are associated with the development of disorganized attachment." They do not say what those characteristics are.

What this means is that it is parents/carers who will be assessed as to their character "as most effective attachment based interventions target the care giver and the relationship rather than the child directly. " If ever there was a dangerous idea, this is it.

Building a web to trap parents

Not only must there be a shared language about wellbeing but there needs to be a shared language about attachment. A whole new industry in attachment training and consultancy is in the making, as if there has not already been enough training in GIRFEC, data sharing and the eight wellbeing indicators. We are told that midwives, health visitors, social workers, teachers , children`s panel members and even sheriffs need to develop this shared language and understanding of attachment. As an example: "Highland Council are creating a Framework for Training across Integrated Children`s Services to support the implementation of Getting it Right for Every Child ."(GIRFEC)

The important practice principles that should inform interventions: "identifying, developing and maintaining secure attachments in children`s lives is a priority; safe touch is an important component." [whatever safe touch is in a care system that abuses so many children]

Armed with attachment-informed practice, professionals will be able to act with great cruelty, all for the greater good, for we are told that:

"It is important to recognise that adults who are unable to provide this kind of sensitive mentalising care may still genuinely love their children. It is also, however, important not to privilege the fact of parental love over other aspects of the child`s needs."

It is also recognised that young people in care can still be profoundly distressed and anxious when detached from their attachment figures.

They may feed and clothe their children, keep them safe and warm, and so on. It does not matter. Parents will be judged on the basis of their general characteristics to have failed in effective mentalisation, whatever that really is. Nobody needs to examine the child. Imagine how difficult it will be for any parent to make a stand against a group of child care professionals sharing the language of attachment, to say, but you do not understand, you have got it wrong. This is the problem with collaboratives. It provides an impenetrable power bloc which no parent can overcome. So we must suspect that that is what it is designed to do.

http://www.celcis.org/media/resources/publications/Attachment-Matters-For-All.pdf

　
　

Raising children to be internet dependent

"Pens and paper have no place in the modern classroom. And chalkboards? They should be banished from our schools too."

"That’s what Lia De Cicco Remu, director of Partners in Learning at Microsoft Canada, told the Georgia Straight ahead of the Microsoft Summit 2015 in Vancouver, which is set to be attended by around 200 teachers...."

"Throwing out pens, paper, and chalkboards—not to mention print textbooks—doesn’t mean that schools should abandon writing all together, according to De Cicco Remu. With a stylus and a tablet, kids can still cognitively benefit from the digitized practice of "inking", she explained."

"For teachers skeptical about new technology’s place in the classroom, she has a message."

"Shift or get off the pot," De Cicco Remu said. "Seriously, it’s not fair to the kids. It’s tough at the outset to understand and learn all these tools, but you’re doing a disservice to our students and these kids’ futures if you don’t. And that’s your job."

http://www.straight.com/life/452561/teachers-using-pens-and-paper-classroom-not-fair-students-microsoft-official-says

Who benefits when children spend all day every day interacting with a screen ? Most respondents to the article recognised that it would be companies like Microsoft.

Also note that cursive handwriting is already disappearing in some schools and so writing fluency and the ability to read important historical documents will be lost.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2936600/The-death-handwriting-Schools-ditching-pens-papers-computers-harm-child-s-development.html

CPS decision not to prosecute Janner is to be reviewed

"A group who claim ex-Labour MP Lord Janner sexually abused them have been granted a review of the CPS's decision not to prosecute him."

T"he Director of Public Prosecutions had said Lord Janner, 86, would not be prosecuted, despite sufficient evidence to bring a case, due to his dementia."

"But the CPS said a senior prosecutor unconnected to the original case would now review that decision."

"The ex-MP has denied any wrongdoing."

"Defending her decision following calls for a review last month, DPP Alison Saunders told the BBC that Lord Janner's dementia was so severe that he could "play no part in a trial"...

"One man, who claims he was abused by Lord Janner, had called for the release of the medical reports which prompted the decision not to prosecute the peer."

"He told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme that seeing the reports would give him peace of mind."


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32757978
 

Schools get tough on parents

Joanne Murphy

"A primary school has launched a crackdown on parents who are late to collect their children. Henley Green Primary School in Coventry has threatened to fine parents £6.50 if they are not at the school gates on time."

"The fine is handed to parents who are more than 15 minutes late at the end of the school day, and to those who are more than 10 minutes for morning nursery sessions. And those collecting their two-year-olds from the school's 'Little Acorns' programme are charged £10 if they are 10 minutes late. "

"Parents branded the decision 'disgusting', saying that some parents could not afford to pay the fine and that the school sometimes did not start lessons on time."

"But headteacher Joanne Murphy defended the move, insisting it was necessary to deter a small number of parents who were taking advantage of the staff by regularly arriving late."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3078002/Primary-school-threatens-parents-10-fine-just-10-minutes-late-pick-children.html#ixzz3aHf6LPku

Parents are not allowed to take their children on holiday during school term- time unless there are `exceptional circumstances` but an estranged parent`s ignorance that his children have been taken on holiday is `no excuse.`

"An estranged father who was banned from seeing his children has been prosecuted after their mother took them on holiday in term time."

"Shane Allen branded the justice system a 'joke' after he was convicted of failing to make sure his children went to school, despite being prevented from seeing the youngsters."

"The 44-year-old found himself in court after his ex-partner took their three children on holiday to Scotland when they should have been in lessons. Allen had even been temporarily barred from seeing the youngsters by social services and had been completely unaware that their mother was planning the impromptu holiday, the appeal court heard."

"The rules to prosecute parents were introduced by former education secretary Michael Gove. A parent allowing a child to miss school due to a holiday is known as a strict liability offence."

"The distinguishing feature of this type of crime is that the prosecution is not required to prove the defendant intended the consequences of their actions or even foresaw them. Parents who take their children on term-time breaks risk being hauled before the courts and a criminal record."

"Under the rules introduced in 2013, head teachers are no longer allowed to grant 10 days of holiday during term-time. They can now only allow leave in 'exceptional circumstances,' such as a bereavement."

"Parents who take their children out of school without permission initially face a £60 fine per child. The fine rises to £120 if not paid within 21 days. Those who fail to pay can face prosecution, with a maximum fine if convicted of £2,500 or a jail sentence of up to three months."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3070398/Estranged-father-banned-seeing-children-prosecuted-mother-took-holiday-term-time.html#ixzz3aHgquHsT

Treating parents as inadequate or criminal is helping to create a deeper division between generations.

See http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/hey-teacher-leave-those-parents-alone/16056

Excessive restraint used on young children

"Police in the northern German city of Bremen have been issued with a new weapon in their fight against crime: "spit hoods", transparent cotton hoods that can be placed over detainees’ heads to prevent them spitting at officers."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/11238796/German-police-to-use-anti-spitting-hoods-on-suspects.html
 

It is shocking to know that this type of restraint is being used on young children with special needs.

From mysonsnotrainman:
 

"But how can anyone think this is the right way to treat any child, let alone a child with special needs? It happens more and more - even the language of special needs education has changed over the years to justify the unjustifiable. The term 'restraint' has become 'positive handling'. Seclusion rooms are 'Chill-Out Zones'. It's bloody wrong. By using airy fairy terms, we start to make people think their use is justifiable, even beneficial to the individual, whereas if we returned to the bleaker language of 'restraint' and 'isolation units', maybe people would think twice before using them, and ensure they really are the last minute, absolute emergency intervention they were always intended to be. "

"I'd love to tell you the spit-hood was a one-off, but so conditioned have things like this become I even have a 'Spit Hood Policy' adorning my coffee table, no doubt created to both justify its existence, and to satisfy Mr Ofsted that all is well with the world. As long as we document it, its use must be legitimate, right?"

http://www.mysonsnotrainman.com/blog

Clan Childlaw set to join court battle against Named Person scheme

"A charity that provides legal help for children is set to join the court battle against the Named Person scheme."

"Community Law Advice Network (Clan Childlaw) recognises that the plans could result in children having no expectation of privacy, and could lead to them shunning helplines and advisory services."

"Currently information can be shared without a child’s consent if there is a "risk of significant harm" to a child."

"But under the Named Person scheme information can be shared if there is simply concern for a child’s "wellbeing".

"Alison Reid, Principal Solicitor of Clan Childlaw, said: "We all want to make sure that children and young people in Scotland are protected and recognise that when child protection issues arise, these need to be shared appropriately amongst professionals."

"However, where there are no child protection concerns, a child, like anyone else, should be entitled to a level of confidentiality when accessing advice."

http://no2np.org/childrens-law-charity-set-join-legal-challenge-named-person-scheme/

Nicola Sturgeon confuses child protection concerns which nobody would argue against, with controversial wellbeing concerns.

"In January the Christian Institute’s attempt to prove the law was incompatible with the ECHR was rejected by Lord Pentland after a judicial review but an appeal against that decision is to be heard next month."

http://www.scottishlegal.com/2015/05/11/named-person-law-opponents-say-it-will-infringe-childrens-right-to-privacy/

Protests In Nottingham

 

Update from Uk Column 15. May 2015. 

Melanie Shaw has been reported to have pled guilty to false imprisonment of a health care professional charged with providing Melanie with medical help at her home. No-one knows exactly what happened, but Melanie had been released out of prison in a very poor condition at that time.

Disregarding the views of her own psychiatrist,  another psychiatrist appointed by the court, who wanted her sectioned at a previous hearing,  has been assigned to assess Melanie Shaw`s mental health in his own privately run assessment centre. (Vested interests)

It is uncertain who represented Melanie Shaw at the latest hearing but the lady Melanie nominated to be her lay legal adviser has consistently been blocked.

No visitors have been allowed access to Melanie Shaw in prison. She does receive a few letters.

Public servants are protected by the law

From UK Family Law Reform

"The offence of child cruelty is contrary to Section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 and the offence is in the following terms:"

"If any person who has attained the age of 16-years and has responsibility for any child or young person under that age, wilfully assaults, ill-treats, neglects, abandons or exposes him... in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffering or injury to health, that person shall be guilty of an offence."

"The mental element of the offence is `wilful`, not negligence. Wilful is akin to recklessness. That is, a deliberate decision to do something wrong, knowing it to be wrong, or with reckless indifference as to whether it is wrong or not. Section 1 is not therefore a negligence offence, it requires recklessness on the part of an offender."

"Furthermore, section 2 of the Act defines the person being responsible as a `parent or other person legally liable to maintain a child or young person, or the legal guardian...` Section 17 of the Act states who is presumed to have responsibility for a child or young person as being any person who has parental responsibility or is otherwise legally liable to maintain him and any person who has care of the child or young person. The Act does not therefore have any applicability to a public servant acting in that capacity."

"If a public servant could be shown to have had a duty of care towards another and that duty had been breached through negligence, the facts and circumstances may be such as to bring a civil claim against that person, or organisation. However, a public servant would not be prosecuted for the criminal offence of child cruelty, as he would not fall to be within the definition of a person responsible in accordance with the Act."

http://www.ukfamilylawreform.co.uk/cpschiefexecutivesaysnopublicservantwouldwilfullyabuseachild6thnovember2014.htm

The Named Person (public servant) will oversee the wellbeing of all children in Scotland and supersede parental authority. Let us remember that making a complaint against the Named Person in Scotland might prove difficult.

Is the Law an ass ? I don`t think it is. It is designed to do exactly what is required of it by those in power.

See http://alicemooreuk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/making-complaint-about-named-person.html