Two articles about education in the UK

[mrypg9]

Originally Posted by Alcalaina

I think Michael Gove is a giant [string of asterisks] and the direction education is going in the UK gives me the shivers, but this particular issue does seem to make a lot of sense. The idea that teachers aren't allowed to restrain violent children who are fighting, or comfort a child in distress with a big hug, is totally bonkers.

I believe these rules were introduced as part of John Major's "Children's Charter" in the 1980s? They may have been well-intentioned but it is definitely time for revision. This proposed change isn't a endorsement of corporal punishment or a passport to paedophilia, it's a return to trusting teachers to use their own judgement.

When a 14 year old thug can almost ruin a good teacher's career by pretending that the teacher hit him, even when there is no evidence, the teacher is automatically suspended - guilty until proven innocent. That just ain't right!

This is an issue we have been campaigning on for years. I know of teachers whose lives have been ruined by false and malicious accusations.
The question of restraint is complicated. In my younger days I might -just might -have been able to restrain a violent teenager but no way could you expect a young female untrained in martial arts to control a knife-wielding Year Ten student.
I too am appalled at the direction education in the UK has been taking for the past few decades. In spite of the billions thrown at education by the Blair and Brown Governments we have slipped way down international league tables. In my time in teaching I have seen standards, both academic and social, slowly slide. The poor quality of many teachers is the unspoken 'secret' in teaching unions. As an employer I was appalled at the illiteracy and inarticulacy of job applicants.
We have failed the children of the less well-off in our society by transforming education into social engineering. The purpose of education is not to level down in the name of some daft theory of 'equality'. No wonder there is a large number of NEETS. No wonder my son has to use Indian subbies for his IT work.
If we sent fewer young people on university courses of dubious quality and value and concentrated on quality technical education in all its forms -engineering in all its forms, higher IT skills,and so on -we might, just might, not only give young people an education which provides them with the knowledge and skills to be able to fully participate in the working life of the country but also turn out socially aware and responsible citizens with a deserved place in society..

[ssm]

Originally Posted by lynn

Hi,

Yes, my son gained the grades he needed to go to Uni in the UK, and we successfully applied for student finance.

Lynn

First of all, well done him!

If you don't want to answer any of the following tell me to mind my own business, but if you can help in any way I would appreciate it. We've submitted the UCAS form and one of the unis has come back with a Fee Status Questionnaire asking questions re residence. We have queried what we need to put on this as it seems geared to non UK/EU applicants. I would have thought that as long as we can prove the applicant is a British Citizen and returning from the EU that should be sufficient? Did you have any experiences like this? Also were you able to apply online or did you need to go through a special process and do you know if you could have applied for the maintenance loan/grant as well as the tuition fee loan? Thanks in advance.

[lynn]

Originally Posted by ssm

First of all, well done him!

If you don't want to answer any of the following tell me to mind my own business, but if you can help in any way I would appreciate it. We've submitted the UCAS form and one of the unis has come back with a Fee Status Questionnaire asking questions re residence. We have queried what we need to put on this as it seems geared to non UK/EU applicants. I would have thought that as long as we can prove the applicant is a British Citizen and returning from the EU that should be sufficient? Did you have any experiences like this? Also were you able to apply online or did you need to go through a special process and do you know if you could have applied for the maintenance loan/grant as well as the tuition fee loan? Thanks in advance.

Yes, he worked extremely hard and we are very proud of his achievements...

Regarding the application process, I am happy to share our experiences, but feel it would best be done as a pm. You need to have posted 5 times to access this facility, so another three posts and we'll be there!

Lynn

[ssm]

Originally Posted by lynn

Yes, he worked extremely hard and we are very proud of his achievements...

Regarding the application process, I am happy to share our experiences, but feel it would best be done as a pm. You need to have posted 5 times to access this facility, so another three posts and we'll be there!

Lynn

Ok I quite understand - I registered initially thinking I would PM you, then found out the restriction. Grrrr. So now I shall have to go and find something I can legitimately post on!

[lynn]

Originally Posted by ssm

Ok I quite understand - I registered initially thinking I would PM you, then found out the restriction. Grrrr. So now I shall have to go and find something I can legitimately post on!

This is a really active and informative forum, so I'm sure you'll find a couple of things you want to post about! Before you know it, you'll be on here every day giving your ten pennyworth on all sorts of issues.... that's what happens to all of us!!

[ssm]

Originally Posted by lynn

This is a really active and informative forum, so I'm sure you'll find a couple of things you want to post about! Before you know it, you'll be on here every day giving your ten pennyworth on all sorts of issues.... that's what happens to all of us!!

Well that's just what I need, another reason to procrastinate

[lynn]

Originally Posted by ssm

Well that's just what I need, another reason to procrastinate

One thing I will say about the Student Finance application process is that it isn't easy or straightforward. I'm afraid that our experience was quite stressful, and we didn't know the position re finance until just before A level results were published in mid August.

[ssm]

Originally Posted by lynn

One thing I will say about the Student Finance application process is that it isn't easy or straightforward. I'm afraid that our experience was quite stressful, and we didn't know the position re finance until just before A level results were published in mid August.

That is what I was afraid of - it has taken me about a week to find the bit on the website that you quoted - that's how I found this post. The stress of waiting for offers/results is going to be bad enough so I thought I'd start worrying about this early on, that way I might make it to this time next year without having a complete breakdown. I see some people are still waiting for it all to be sorted out - the student finance people have a facebook page and some poor folks seem quite distressed.