Guest blog by So Macho
We live in tough times, as the cushioned and the comfortable frequently remind us, and there can be few more nauseating contemporary sights than effete middle-class Englishmen like Osborne, Cameron and Gove, with the might of the state at their disposal, boasting of the toughness of the decisions they have to make in order to intimidate, bully or impoverish the vulnerable. It was tough times too at Copland today as another swathe of teachers collected their P45s, the consequence of the tough decisions the IEB has had to make in order to make Copland into a tempting morsel for Ark Inc. No time for sentiment either as no recognition was made by the tough management of the fact that staff with up to 12 years of service were getting their dismissal letters. No official farewells, no gathering of the staff for an organised and dignified recognition of colleagues’ contribution and no time for staff to hold even an unofficial goodbye as, contrary to tradition and custom and practice in other schools, they were told toughly that ‘Friday will be a normal day’.
Not for those being made redundant it wasn't. Tough eh?
Not for those being made redundant it wasn't. Tough eh?
In fact it was 14 years in two cases. They not only got the treatment described above, they also received no email, no card, no letter, no word, no expression of gratitude of any kind for their substantial contribution to the school. Lapses of courtesy of this kind would not be unexpected from the hatchet men put in to do Copland's day-to-day dirty management work, but you would imagine the governing body, the IEB, might recognise that the responsibilities of their position include the observation of basic civilised behaviour. Would it be too much to expect that Mr Butt and Mr Pavey, who handpicked these people, might point this out to them or do they too regard pig-ignorant insensitivity as somehow excitingly manly and 'tough'?
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