Yesterday morning I enjoyed a walk along the beach.
The wind was blowing, the sea was rough. No-one was swimming, children weren’t playing, the beach-volley-ball courts were empty. The beach was pretty much deserted. Signs warned of strong currents and fast-moving tides.
Passing a woman pushing an elderly lady in a wheelchair along the prom I heard, ‘Enjoy the sea-air.’ Three minutes later I passed a couple explaining to two young children how the sea-air is good for them… A few men were enjoying fishing; young people from the local riding school were exercising their horses.
The beach – good and bad together.
A teacher friend, telling me about the latest developments in education, described Suffolk County Council’s ‘Integrated Front Door’. This multi-agency service ‘acts as a single, central point of contact for all children’s social care and early help support.’
I looked it up… smiling at the repeated joined-up jargon… cynical about their ability to deliver on their promises… wondering who will pay for it. I was reminded that in Suffolk schools there are children with difficulties and problems, and good adults seeking to help and support them.
Suffolk schools – good and bad together.
This morning I read of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – good, well-respected civil servants. King Nebuchadnezzar demands that they bow down to his statue. They refuse, choosing to be true to their Jewish faith. He has them thrown into a burning fiery furnace…
Bible narratives frequently bring good and bad together… and where God is in it all.
Yesterday, 27th August, was St Poemen’s day. Poemen (c340-450) was a Christian monk and early Desert Father. Many monks were known for their strict rules and intolerance. Poemen, known for his compassion and wisdom, said: “If a man has sinned and denies it, saying: ‘I have not sinned,’ do not reprimand him; but say, ‘Do not lose heart, brother, but be on guard in future,’ and you will stir his soul to repentance.”
Poemen… accepting the existence of bad, but living the good.
malcolmsmusings.org 
“Integrated Front Door” I want to laugh but it is too serious a topic to dismiss.
The expression CAFE comes to mind. Community and Family Engagement.
I had to go to Framlingham for those pointless meetings. And, I remember you and Jacquie were cynical even then. I honestly thought some good was going to be done. It died a death as they all did.
What a wonderful idea the G & T, the Gifted and Talented initiative was?
“Young, Gifted and Talented Programme (YG&T) required state schools to identify the top 5–10% of their highest-achieving or highest-potential pupils. It provided a national framework, dedicated school coordinators, masterclasses, and specialized summer schools hosted at universities like the University of Warwick.”
DID IT?
These become all “soundbites” that politicians use. And I’m afraid Burnham is doing a lot of “Talking THe Talk” but I wonder if he will be “Walking The Walk“?
Actually I hate expressions like those. They’re all like My Fair Lady‘s “New-talk” Blast, I’ve done it again..
Still “Enjoy” Maolcolm.
I remember one of the greatest blues performers ever, Nina Simeon, singing Young, Gifted and Black.
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The principle. as always, is good and positive. I fear that it will like the emperor’s new clothes…. that it will be a child who discovers that there is nothing there – that there will be no front door, and if the was one it will have disintegrated.
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Now there is really cynical Malcolm
Julie remembers when she was a Social Worker, not a job she enjoyed, that she said there were many “Multiple Agency initiatives”. She said teachers were the worst to try to speak to. And I really agree. I remember the School Safe initiative, which was the county’s way of furnishing teachers with the correct methods to extract a recalcitrant youth from the classroom.
I remember two incidents during the weeks training.
When Christa, I believe her name was, a rather elegant woman if I remember rightly, when Christa asked if anyone had heard of Maslow I was the only one to say they had. I still think that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs explains a lot of mis-, we don’t say bad now I believe, misbehaviour. I know I excused a lad of a very bad action against me on the grounds that his reality was a mother who drank and did drugs. And, a variety of “uncles” coming and going, many who beat his mother up, who also drank and did drugs.
The other thing I remember about our School Safe initiative was Christa explained all about “long bones” being where to hold the recalcitrant youth. She then said that if a student was being particularly awkward one could hold one arm, a long bone, hold your other hand in the middle of their back and use your leg between their legs to move them. I said that if a fifteen-year-old girl was playing up in my lesson the last thing I was going to do was put my leg between hers to get her out of the room. I’d just shout “Everybody out!” like The Rag Trade. Now why does that make me think of Angela Rayner?
I loved it when an outside bod came in to do some Inset after school. One particular teacher would sit there with arms crossed and look at the lecturer as if to say “Come on….Make me Laff”
All these memories eh Malcolm?
Take care.
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