Nothing without work

Figures published by Trussell Trust ... revealed that more than 500,000 food parcels had been given to families in crises during the first six months of 2016, including over 188,500 children.

Welfare Weekly 9 November 2016.

http://www.welfareweekly.com/almost-half-of-children-living-in-poverty-in-some-parts-of-the-uk/

More than one in five (220,000) of Scotland’s children are officially recognised as living in poverty.

http://www.cpag.org.uk/scotland/child-poverty-facts-and-figures

　
Do not worry. The Scottish Government has a wonderful plan to turn the situation around in Scotland. In the first place they have built health and wellbeing into the heart of the Scottish education system as a right for every child. That includes a curriculum that allows time to be spent on invasive questionnaires about the children`s private and family lives. Never mind, these children are also promised that the sensitive and personal data they provide will be kept safe and used only to build them better services.

After all, you can always trust the Government.

Though important services for disabled children are disappearing the Scottish Government is committed to stamping out intergenerational poverty and disadvantage by investing in early intervention and GIRFEC for every child.

What better services?

And why does the Scottish Government ignore the bigger factors causing economic disadvantage?

Brexit and Trump was no surprise to some of us.

　
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"Alienation is the precise and correctly applied word for describing the major social problem in Britain today. People feel alienated by society. In some intellectual circles it is treated almost as a new phenomenon. It has, however, been with us for years. What I believe is true is that today it is more widespread, more pervasive than ever before. Let me right at the outset define what I mean by alienation. It is the cry of men who feel themselves the victims of blind economic forces beyond their control. It`s the frustration of ordinary people excluded from the processes of decision-making. The feeling of despair and hopelessness that pervades people who feel with justification that they have no real say in shaping or determining their own destinies."


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/still-irresistible-a-working-class-heros-finest-speech-2051285.html

Trump speaks like a sixth grader but that`s ok

Bit of doublespeak from Allison Jane Smith [Washington Post]

"When speaking to or writing for a broad audience, it’s a best practice to speak at an eighth grade reading level.. More than 40 percent of Americans have only basic literary skills, according to a 2003 assessment. And even highly educated people prefer to read below their formal education level."

"A presidential candidate wants to be understood by all voters, from immigrants whose first language isn’t English to those with advanced degrees in linguistics. Trump rarely uses speechwriters, yet he’s grasped one of their principles: It is more important to be understood than to use $10 words. The simple way Trump speaks does not make his supporters think he is speaking down to them. The opposite, in fact, appears to be true. `He’s . . . talking to us not like we’re stupid,` one supporter said in a focus group conducted in December..."

"The Flesch-Kincaid index measures Ernest Hemingway’s `The Old Man and the Sea` at a fourth-grade reading level. William Faulkner famously insulted Hemingway by saying, `He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.` Hemingway countered: `Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?`"

"Politicians want to evoke big emotions. They are better at doing so when they emulate Hemingway rather than Faulkner. Trump will never send anyone to the dictionary, but why would he want to?"

"This does not mean Trump is a perfect public speaker. He is at times nearly incomprehensible. It can be impossible to sift through his sentence fragments and run-on sentences to find the ideas they contain. In many cases, they don’t communicate ideas; they communicate feelings, and often ugly ones."

"But I can’t fault him for using simple words — it’s what every public speaker should do. Those criticizing him for it reveal their own ignorance, not his."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/05/03/donald-trump-speaks-like-a-sixth-grader-all-politicians-should/

Victory for Trump

Just another brick in the wall ?

Fight between schoolgirls

"A disturbing video captures the moment a vicious fight breaks out between two schoolgirls - inside a classroom."

"The brutal brawl is thought to have broken out during an English class at Eastwood High School in the affluent town of Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire."

"Westwood High School is one of the best performing state schools in Scotland and regularly features in the top 50 rankings for higher exam pass rates."

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/watch-shocking-classroom-scrap-erupt-9180450

It would be a good idea to keep this incident in mind the next time a statement like the following is put out in a report:

"Poverty has negative impacts on children’s health, cognitive development, social, emotional and behavioural development and educational outcomes..."

"SEB development is most strongly associated with parental characteristics, especially maternal distress and depression. Any intervention should include parents and children’s home life."

PDF]Impacts of poverty on children and young people - WithScotland

Children and Social Work Bill undermines disabled children`s rights

"Clauses 29-32 of the Children and Social Work Bill 2016 are the very definition of a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Through these clauses, the secretary of state hopes to acquire the power to exempt local authorities from the requirements of children’s social care legislation."

"The stated intention is to allow local authorities to ‘test different ways of working with a view to achieving better outcomes under children’s social care legislation or achieving the same outcomes more efficiently’."

"There is, however, little evidence that legislative requirements are posing a barrier to innovation by local authorities in the support provided to children and families – as opposed to swingeing cuts to their budgets which are undoubtedly having such an impact. Even if certain legislative provisions are in fact preventing innovation, this cannot justify a power to exempt local authorities from the entire statutory scheme governing children’s social care."

"These clauses have generated real concern among a large number of individuals and organisations involved with children’s rights, who have come together under the ‘Together for Children’ banner to seek to have them removed from the bill. However, the clauses have not attracted the attention of the wider legal community in the way that they perhaps should, given they exemplify the ever increasing trend to concentrate power in the hands of the executive (see also the Great Reform Bill)..."

"If the clauses go through, the complex task of advising children and families as to their rights and entitlements will become virtually impossible. Every piece of advice will require a caveat – ‘your child has a right to an assessment as a child in need, except they don’t because they live in Durham/Doncaster/Dudley’. Even worse, the secretary of state could choose to vary rather than disapply certain requirements, leading to even greater confusion. It is hard to think of anything which could more significantly undermine a culture of respect for children’s rights than a provision which allows those rights to vary on the basis of local geography."

"The clauses would be a bad idea at any time. At a time when local authorities are already struggling to provide the minimum required by the statutory scheme they are positively dangerous. How many ‘innovative’ proposals will be seen by children and families as simply cover for further cuts?"

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/practice-points/undermining-disabled-childrens-rights/5058350.article?utm_source

No homework policy

"Pupils were sent home with slips that asked mums and dads to put a simple `yes` or `no` to a `no homework policy`."

"The result was that 62% of parents at the 193-pupil Highland school voted to drop it."

"Pupils and teachers were given a vote too and 79% of pupils voted in favour of the ban."

"Meanwhile, the 10 teachers at the thriving school were split 50/50."

"Jubilant parents told last night of their delight at the decision – saying their children would flourish without the burden of doing school work at home."

"Dad Barry Hutchison, 38, who is a children’s author, said: `Homework stresses the kids and the parents out. Kids have so many things outside school, like clubs. They just need time to be kids`."

"Barry, whose seven-year-old daughter Mia is in Primary 3 at the school, said parents who still wanted to give their kids homework could find material on the internet for their young ones."

https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/homework-wed-rather-our-kidsread-agood-book/

Good idea.

Appeal for Docherty family

Brian Gerrish,  UK Column:

"I have to say that we are delighted to be back in contact with Brian and Janice Docherty. They have been through an absolutely horrific time in Ireland. This is the family who`ve had four children taken away from them. Why? Because they simply reported the approach of a paedophile when they were living on an estate in Scotland and as a result of that action alone they have now been hounded by social services, the police, local authorities, the establishment in Scotland, in Ireland, and of course with the total support and collaboration of the British state."

"So this is the reality of Britain in 2016 that if you report paedophile activity that is too close to the political elite your children are taken away from you, your home burgled, broken into, smashed apart, animals, pets killed, dogs clearly tortured with cattle prods and we learnt over the weekend that the thirteen year old daughter of Brian and Janice was actually tasered when the armed garda took the children away from their parents."

"Now at the moment Brian and Janice are in desperate need of financial support. Money that was provided through the UK Column some months ago has reached them and has made a difference but there is an urgent need for some significant money to help this couple and we`re starting that plea today."

"If you can help in any way with a donation, however small, it is very necessary. We have some events around Brian and Janice which will [be]come clear in the coming weeks but at the moment we can`t talk about that. We have to say that this immensely brave couple can only survive at the moment with help from the public and friends and family. So if you can donate, please consider making a donation through the UK Column and make sure all donations are clearly labelled for the Docherty family. "

"Four children taken away, mum and dad completely without blame. They haven`t done anything. They`ve not harmed the children. They haven`t neglected the children. They have simply reported their suspicions about a very large, it would appear, paedophile ring operating in the north of Scotland with connections through to the establishment ... levels of British politics. This is outrageous."

"Please help if you can."

http://www.ukcolumn.org/

Politician implicated in the cover-up of Mary Boyle case

Published on 4 Jul 2016

"A documentary, written and directed by Gemma O'Doherty, about the case of Ireland's youngest missing person. Mary Boyle vanished on her grandparents' remote farm in Donegal in March 1977."

"She was six years of age. Her remains have never been found. The documentary reveals allegations by retired senior officers that a politician requested the chief suspect not be arrested. He never has been and still lives in Donegal today."

"Mary Boyle's twin Ann claims that her sister was going to reveal a secret. She says she was murdered to stop her from telling it."

======================

Enda Kenny was approached but found to be no help.

Years later the Dochertys look to Enda Kenny to make a difference but find a wall of silence.

It does make you wonder what the role of a politician actually is.

Students occupy hundreds of schools in Brazil

"The Brazilian constitution stipulates that 18 percent of the country’s total federal tax budget be allocated to education. But the Senate is trying to reduce that figure."

"If approved, PEC 241 would cut government expenditures over the next two decades, reducing it as a percentage of national GDP, which critics argue would translate into an onerous burden on the poor."

"Michel Temer, who led the parliamentary coup against President Dilma Rousseff, has introduced a series of sweeping privatization proposals and cuts in education health and other social programs, since he was sworn in last August."

"Temer faces very low approval ratings at home among Brazilians. He is scheduled to complete Rousseff’s presidential term until the next scheduled election in late 2018, and his government is pressing accusations of corruption against Lula, who is the odds-on favourite to recapture the presidency."

http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Brazil-Students-Occupy-Over-1000-Schools--20161027-0006.html

Project based learning has no positive impact

"Schools have been warned against using project-based learning, because major new research has found that the approach could leave disadvantaged pupils behind."

"A government-funded study has shown that project-based learning has a `significant negative impact` on the literacy of secondary pupils entitled to free school meals. The 20-month trial found that FSM pupils in project-based classes made three months’ less progress in literacy than their counterparts in traditional, subject-based lessons."

"In addition, the method had no clear positive impact on the literacy levels or general engagement of the rest of the pupils, according to the research."

"Louise Thomas, head of education at the Innovation Unit, developed the programme studied by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). `We certainly wouldn’t recommend that a school that needs to improve reading scores quickly should implement project-based learning,` she said."

"It’s not a way for schools facing challenging circumstances to improve their reading scores."

"The government-funded EEF, which commissioned the research, also said that schools should seriously question whether it was worth adopting this style of teaching."

https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/exclusive-project-based-learning-holds-back-poor-pupils