SETTLING IN

 Considering all the new P1s settling in (or not) into their new regime, the mind naturally revisits my own first days for a compare and contrast. What think ye?

 

My Old School

What it didn’t have,…

 

Computers, equity, school bomb plan
Cut and Paste, core values, walls falling down ¹
race bad-think, school website
 
adverts and propaganda (aka lesson resources)
pupil peanut allergy plan, Adderall
individual i pads, hate crimes, Ritalin
 
smartboard, gender action programme
learning powers focus, enterprise
love of cultural enrichment, Epipens
 
learning protocols, photocopiers
BBC Newsround, folios of excellence
targets, anti-bully policy, UN rights
 
inclusion, schizophrenic enemy press
parental twits and tweets, FGM,
ILPs, PPSs, QIOs, EALs, PSAs, ASLs, PPKs ²
 
tolerance, saving the environment
GTCS - enhancing professionalism³
WWW, overcoming stereotypes
 
Self-harm, neglect, poverty,
Anti-radical and suicide awareness
‘Failing our Families’, ADHD
 
pupil i account closed:
inappropriate content search
contact administrator
 
learning conversations, dojos
safe spaces, pupil hydration strategy
resilience super powers, fidget toys
 
gender corrected environment
army of chiefs at Council HQ
3^rd World guilt, 66  67  68 passwords
 
WALT and WILF (although yes to Walt and Wilf) ⁴
Islam, steps to growth, active learning
toxic male awareness, joined up thinking
 
password updates, download,
uploads, security warnings,
access denied, cannot contact server,
 
Excellence.

NOTES

1.       A poorly constructed wall in a modern school in Edinburgh suddenly fell down and tragically killed a child. Many schools similarly constructed had their pupils decanted to other older schools built at a time when they knew how to make walls that stayed upright. The relocation, effective while the problem walls were fixed, was a major undertaking and reflected well on all concerned. Although, the pupils relocated were naturally very disappointed that they didn’t just get the time off school.

 

2.       Female Genital Mutilation, Individual Learning Plans,…blah, blah, blah, …

 

3.       GTCS: General Teaching Council for Scotland. Formerly a simple creature, but lately suffering from such an excess of excellence that it has become, through its various self-serving councils to simpleton-government ministers, a blight. A perfect example of mission over-reach!

 

4.       WALT and WILF: ‘We are learning to’ and’ What I’m looking for’; a fad in pedagogy whose exponents believe that learning is almost impossible without these being made explicit again and again,…and again. Naturally, in order to further inure our children to clickbait, these are presented as little cartoon avatars. In real life there are many ways to make an intention explicit. And sometimes, o the apostasy, you don’t even need to!

This entry is adapted from my Relentless, which is thoughtfully linked at the top of the page.