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Canopus

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Posts posted by Canopus

  2. Posted · Report reply

    It was the A levels that got her caught out. Why did you ask if you knew this already?

     

    I have discussed the case with a lawyer who says that there is more to this than what's written in the press and it raises several questions. The lawyer also thinks that from the information available that the prosecution was more likely to have resulted from the forged navy discharge certificate rather than the lack of A Levels, although scraps of information from elsewhere raises the possibility that the individual may have been a victim of a witch hunt.

     

  4. Posted · Report reply

    I think a whole new fresh look is needed. If you look at the long term then outcomes usually do justify the cost. But funding them should not just come out of an education budget. The life time cost to the tax payer of an adult that is dependent due to lack of academic, social and life skills is greater than paying an independent schools fees for the duration of their 'school years'.

     

    True, but Britain is short termist. It's another part of our 'tea with milk' culture.

     

    I'm of the opinion that there just isn't popular support for improving SEN services. There is however popular support from parents for keeping their kids away from the riff-raff or anybody who's behaviour may tarnish the reputation of the school they attend.

  5. Posted · Report reply

    because acadamies do not have to follow the national curriculum

     

    The National Curriculum was created by the last Tory government. Prior to 1988 schools could practically set their own curriculum. Many SEN schools (including one I attended) did not follow the National Curriculum after 1988.

     

    so they can drop all those expensive subjects and cncentrate on the cheap ones

     

    There have been concerns that many academies will gravitate towards the cheap subjects or spend money on niceties such as wood panelled offices and marble statues instead of educational resources.

     

  6. Posted · Report reply

    And so a new school is set up by parents, then the children of the parent who set up the school move on and then the parent no longer have an interest in running the school, so they drop out and other parent take over. Who is to say that at this point the school is being run along the lines that it was set up for or is meeting the needs of the local community, anymore than any other school.

     

    And so a new lot of parent come along and dont like the way that the other parent are running the school and want to set up their own school and so on. And who decides when a school is to close because not enough parent want their child to go there. And where does all the money to do all these things come from.

     

    That is a good point but remember that existing head teachers, governors, and teachers with knowledge of SEN leave mainstream schools and their replacements are often very different people with different ideals. This is one reason why so many schools change beyond recognition (for the better or the worse) in a space of 10 years.

     

    And of course any children, who dont fit in with what the parent who set up these school consider conducent to the education of their children, wont get into the new schools anyway, so no need to worry there.

     

    There are plenty of kids who don't fit into the mainstream school system and are let down by the National Curriculum.

  7. Posted · Report reply

    I would not be happy with any system where the parent is cut out of the equation. Yes more should be done for those parents that can not readily fight for themselves, but at the end of the day my DS and I have to live with the consequences of any decisions made (including how it effects mental health); we can not just go home or change jobs or retire. WE have to live with the consequences FOR LIFE.

     

    This is why an increasing number of parents are showing interest in setting up their own schools so THEY have 100% say in the running of them.

  8. Posted · Report reply

    I keep telling my lad that it's not the be all and end all, if he fails English (which he will!), he can have another shot next year.

     

    I'm pleased to see that. It's the exact opposite view of my parents who got upset and distraught over my poor performance and bad reports in English at residential school. I told the school that I don't care if I fail English as long as I get good GCSEs in science and maths. I think it's better for kids to focus on what they can do well rather than spend time and effort on difficult subjects that could jeopardise grades in subjects they are good at.

  9. Posted · Report reply

    They do not have to follow the government guidance on exclusions, possibly resulting in more exclusions for children with challenging behaviour, and fewer rights, especially as Academies strive to improve/maintain their reputation, compete with other schools and produce results. It has already been shown that Academies exclude more children. It may be more difficult to get Academies to accept pupils with a previous history of challenging behaviour.

     

    It all boils down to image and reputation. Many academies will be loathe to take kids with any issues that are perceived to tarnish their image and reputation including kids that have SEN; are seen as weird or have weird interests; wear scruffy or unfashionable clothes; lack the social skills and finesse of high society (like not knowing one brand of champagne from another); have parents in unenviable occupations; or live in bad neighbourhoods.

     

    For those schools which are left out in the cold and do not become Academies, what resources can they expect from a shrunken LA for pupils with SEN?

     

    My bet is that each LA will have a few 'dustbin schools' that will be used to contain the 'square pegs' and those simply unwanted by the academies. These schools will contain a potentially explosive mixture of kids ranging from those with unusual types of SEN to nasty yobs and thugs, and are likely to offer a poorer quality of education than a typical secondary school along with a restricted range of qualifications.

     

    Our LA complains that it can't compel schools to do anything as it is. Schools with increased independence will simply cherry-pick pupils likely to do well academically and children with SEN will fall through the gaps as they always have.

     

    Not just do well academically. Many kids with AS are capable of doing well academically. Behaving well and 'fitting in' will be viewed as equally important issues by most academies.

     

    In my ideal, imaginary, chocolate coated world I imagine schools where there are capable children with AS, ASD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, speech and communication disorders all together. That would be a better model of inclusion and mainstream in my opinion.

     

    Ideally yes. The trouble is that too many schools for kids with SEN do not cater for high abilities, and too many schools for kids with high abilities do not cater for SEN.

     

    I would love this to be a time of opportunity where likeminded parents/children could become the majority of pupils within schools. Hopefully if funding goes with the child that could mean some schools find themselves better off from an SEN point of view.

     

    I'm wondering if the move towards academies will lead to a rise in home education of kids with SEN, or families clubbing together to establish their own SEN schools.

  10. Posted · Report reply

    There was a programme on exactly this on BBC2 last year,a Brit women went all over the world to discover were humans come from.I think whether you believe in Evolution or any religious beliefs it all points to Africa.

     

    I would be careful of taking popular science programmes as gospel.

     

    The out of Africa theory actually originated in the mid to late 19th century as a product of Darwinism.

     

    It has also recently be found, that when humans moved out of what is now Africa, they encountered a sub species that they interbred with. It is believed by some researchers, that the only 100% pure human DNA is that of people from Africa, that all other people on the planet have 2% DNA from this sub species that later die out.

     

    It is very unlikely that the modern day African race is identical to any races that existed 50,000 years ago due to genetic mutations.

  11. Posted · Report reply

    You can go to prison for lying on an application form. There was a case about a girl lying to say she had A levels to work as an administrator for the NHS and she got sent to prison for 6 months, I believe.

     

    That was a world first. The same individual happened to have used a forged letter signed in the name of her boyfriend and also a forged navy discharge certificate which may have been the real motive for issuing the prosecution rather than the lack of A Levels.

  13. Posted · Report reply

    I'm in contact with a parent of a teenager with AS who lived in Leicester. Their experience of support services for kids with AS in two primary schools was diabolical, and they didn't even get to experience the situation in secondary school because they decided to home educate.

     

    Leicester is a city with a higher than average proportion of under 16 year olds, and a high proportion of them are born outside the UK or do not have English as a first language. This puts strain on educational services and diverts resources away from SEN.

     

    I personally wouldn't recommend Leicester as a city for kids with AS.

  15. Posted · Report reply

    There is actually very little variation in human DNA when compared to most other species, so your theory about "dissimilar" DNA in humans does not really make any sense.

     

    It's immaterial whether there is more or less variation in human DNA compared to that of other species. What matters is that variation does exist. A human DNA bottleneck took place tens of thousands of years ago which drastically reduced the gene pool and possibly resulted in some races being lost entirely.

     

    I have never heard any evidence, in any species, that mixing dissimilar DNA can activate dormant genetic traits.

     

    Do you have good knowledge of genetics and biochemistry?

     

    It is well known that a wide gene pool leads to a more robust population.

     

    I really would like some scientific information to back this up. The long term (like >20 generations) biological effects of race mixing are unknown due to insufficient data.

  16. Posted · Report reply

    Does anybody know if mixed race people with two NT parents are prone to having AS? I have come across a few mixed race people with AS who have absolutely no family history of AS.

     

    There doesn't seem to be anywhere near as much research into the biological aspects of mixed race people as social and cultural aspects. It is possible that long dormant genetic traits are activated when dissimilar DNA combines producing unpredictable results.

  18. Posted · Report reply

    As I live in the 3rd safest Labour seat in the country, none of the above makes any difference to the result. One of our neighbours is standing for the Green party and asked me to be one of hs nominees so I feel morally obliged to vote for him in the sure and certain knowledge it will make no difference to anything!

     

    I thought you lived in the one and only constituency in England to just have Labour, Conservative, and Lib-Dem on the ballot slip.

  19. Posted · Report reply

    Currently there is an actual law that says if the last born child or only child is 7yrs and older the parent should no longer qualify for benefits but yet there are people who have children aged 16 and still on benefits to me this is wrong.Beveridge Report states that benefits are meant to be a short term solution to get people on their feet and this needs to be enforced.

     

    What about home educating families? Should home educated kids be forced to attend school simply in order that their parents can take paid employment? What if the kids were withdrawn from school because of bullying or failure to meet their SEN?

  20. Posted · Report reply

    As far as I know the IGCSE is meant to be a more internationally recognised.

     

    GCSEs and IGCSEs are only recognised in the countries that offer them and a handful of others. The US generally doesn't recognise them apart from in one or two states where they have been offered. The converse is true with the US High School Diploma in Britain.

     

    Actually as far as the curriculum it makes no difference,I recently applied to do GCSE and they told me everything will be mostly the same as IGCSE,in the end I was lucky as I managed to convert my old qualification into a GCSE.

     

    The curriculum is identical but the style of the questions often differs.

  21. Posted · Report reply

    IGCSE stands for International GCSE. They are the same qualification as a GCSE except they are all examination with no coursework. They were originally intended for use outside of the UK in countries that wanted to offer GCSEs but marking the coursework component would be difficult. Many independent schools in the UK have started using them in recent years because:

     

    1. They are perceived to be more rigorous that GCSEs.

     

    2. To avoid time consuming coursework.

     

    3. The IGCSE exam questions are generally more literal like the O Level questions whereas the GCSE exam questions are often phrased in a 'populist' style.

  22. Posted · Report reply

    I also find there are three partys(none of which are Labour) that have bits of policies I agree with and how I wish there was a party who could put these policies together that would be great,but of course never gonna happen.

     

    There is also the concept of direct democracy such as that used in Switzerland. I don't think this concept is well known or understood by the British public.

  23. Posted · Report reply

    If your kids had the choice of taking all examination IGCSEs or GCSEs with coursework, then would you or your kids pick the IGCSE over the GCSE? Many independent schools have replaced some of their GCSEs with IGCSEs over the past few years but state schools legally cannot offer them at the moment.

  24. Posted · Report reply

    points to remember -

    - either benefits will have to be cut or taxes raised. either way people suffer

    - you can say all you want about a better education system/NHS... theres no money and things generally dont get better by having less money spent on them

    - for SEN - inclusion works for SOME children, special schools work for SOME children... neither is right or wrong, it all depends on the child and something as big as the education system can't take into account every child in it.

    - most politicians lie!

    - being inclusive to the point of patronising is not progress, its still seeing you as different in a negative way.

     

    Exactly.

  25. Posted · Edited by Canopus · Report reply

    I don't have much faith and trust in the election system and I believe that party manifestos are generally a pack of lies. The reality of the matter is that there will be little difference when it comes to disability and SEN services regardless of whoever you vote for and whoever wins, so this election really is a non issue from this perspective. I know who I'm voting for. The party has a rock solid policy on another issue that concerns me. The candidate probably won't win but a strong vote for the party will give a message to whoever wins that they cannot ignore.

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