tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2129943063330427887.post1298854584978068850..comments2024-03-28T19:20:52.408+00:00Comments on WEMBLEY MATTERS: Character building FEAT on a concrete slab in ColindaleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2129943063330427887.post-56033671571623129622016-05-23T18:12:25.823+01:002016-05-23T18:12:25.823+01:00Yet again we hear that there is not a demand for s...Yet again we hear that there is not a demand for school places (so says the Cabinet that insisted the need was great when Byron Court expansion was proposed.) Why was the expansion passed at Planning if this is the case? <br />Play areas on rooftops in a highly congested area. Brent clearly isn't bothered about the air quality impact on young children. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2129943063330427887.post-56222493627035050362016-05-23T17:09:04.635+01:002016-05-23T17:09:04.635+01:00Quite apart from the concerns over Floreat's a...Quite apart from the concerns over Floreat's approach to education, I note from the report to Cabinet that the Education Funding Agency agreed its application for a Primary School in Brent on the basis that it would be in Alperton. The suggested site will mean a very long journey to school from the south west of the borough for children aged 4+!<br /><br />Still, the EFA approved Ms Birbalsingh's Michaela Free School on the basis that it would be in Lambeth, and it ended up at Wembley Park. It just goes to show what excellent (!?) planning for local educational needs the Free Schools programme delivers. <br /><br />Philip.Philip Granthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08216646114377430489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2129943063330427887.post-82885014290686899262016-05-23T10:19:58.896+01:002016-05-23T10:19:58.896+01:00The mnomonics acronym stuff -- SLANT, etc -- is ty...The mnomonics acronym stuff -- SLANT, etc -- is typically American and can potentially be a great source of fun, maybe as a party game in devising our own explanations for what those terms mean. Eg, my parody of the general planning acronym SMART objectives does not read as the standard 'Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic & Time-limited'. My spoof on SMART objectives is 'Spurious, Managerial, Arbitrary, Random & Terminal'.<br /><br />But a lot of the stuff about KIPP educational model reminds me of the section I did not like in Daniel Coyle's otherwise pretty incisive book The <a href="http://thetalentcode.com/book/" rel="nofollow">Talent Code: Greatness isn't born. It's grown. Here's how</a>.<br /><br />As I recall, KIPP and similar educational models were devised largely with funding from founders of megastore chains whose owners' objectives are compliant, militarily disciplined staffing fodder.<br /><br />Yet what I really love about The Talent Code is what it brings in about 'deep practice'. 'Deep practice' is basically about breaking learning into bite sized pieces and slowing things down. Such an ethos is 'manna from Heaven' to a person with a learning difficulty such as myself. Yet a major problem with privatised academies as already highlighted on Wembley Matters and also by Michael Rosen, is that whether greatness is grown or made, privatised academies are really about maximising profit through being very selective in their input and gearing their output to preservation of privilege rather than challenging unfairness. In my experience, the jobcentre-funded equivalent in adult education and training are very similar to the pre-16 education academies. By contrast, those jobcentre-funded post-16 education facilities that did allow me extra, unfunded time to develop my skills died of lack of funding. And in the year 2000, a 'Positive About Disabled People' provider told me the Blair govt had told them to 1/2 the course time to double the throughput from the dole queue.<br /><br />Alan WheatleyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2129943063330427887.post-77647491028944345782016-05-22T22:11:07.756+01:002016-05-22T22:11:07.756+01:00'Fingers on lips'! I never thought I'd...'Fingers on lips'! I never thought I'd hear those words again.<br />Thanks, Martin. Pig bins in the streets. Austin A30s. Taking 'salvage' to school. Third Division South. Frankie Laine. Ladybird t-shirts. Bread and dripping.Eagle annuals for Christmas. Davy Crockett hats. Bone marrow on a hair clip. Peter Dimmock. Lady Docker. <br />Character Education is the Way Backward! Make Britain Great Again!<br /><br />Mike Hine<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com