Saturday 13 May 2006

Alive!

Yes I'm still alive (I'll reply separately Anne :-)) but it's hectic here at Gibson Towers in bijou Bishopsbourne. The ongoing car saga continues with more exhaust work being needed this week (I'm waiting for the Kwik Fit area manager to investigate my complaint before going into further details but suffice to say I'm not a happy teddy). Work is cool but I still have legacy stuff to sort so I feel as though I'm doing 8 day weeks all the time right now. Things might get calmer once the next assignment is submitted and the courses I'm tutoring are finished for this year (June) but there are a few more mountains to climb before I get there.

Local stuff - this is the school child 2 attends. No end of problems with her tablet PC and I'm on standy-by to pop into the school to have a high level discussion about the technical incompetence of their IT team or a low level discussion where I extend their vocabulary and show them why upsetting stressed Mancunians is a bad plan in the whole scheme of things. For my children I will forget my Buddhist leanings and tear someone a new face.

Many of you know that I host some photos of Bishopsbourne (playground of the glitterati) on my site and that I occasionally attract mails from people who have lived here. The latest has led to a dialogue between Mark and someone who was in the Barnados home during the war. To hack a long story into a manageable size - during the war a Spitfire was shot down near the village and Mark has researched the event so now we have the name and details of the pilot. Eventually I hope to have the details of the discussion and the story of the Spitfire on some web space somewhere.

The new cricket season has started but I still don't have the fixture list so I can't update the site - the first two games were called off, one because the other side couldn't field a team and last weekend the weather conspired against Bish. Maybe this Sunday the bank manager can convene a meeting.

6 careful considerations:

methel said...

That's what you get when you put a PhD in charge eh Nog? ;-) There are a number of wholly online High School programmes these days so once you've got the tablet PC working she could just stay at home and work in peace and for weekends and holidays there is MSN or MySpace!

Don't talk to me about cars please - and spares that can't be found and leave me having to bleed the fuel injection system everytime I want to start the car...mutter mutter...good luck!

Nogbad said...

Gerry has a record of gong in to schools as a "trouble shooter", he even took an appointment in Bolton and went up there from Kent every week for a while. He has had some success too but I think he is a "big picture" guy rather than a detail person and pupils are getting lost in the mix.

I'm blown away by your technical knowledge - I don't think my car has a bleeding fuel injection system but if it does I'd have no idea what to do with it!

kat said...

For my children I will forget my Buddhist leanings and tear someone a new face.

:=)There are times when this has to be done.

The school article was interesting but this worries me: 'the aim was “to develop a branded concept" '
Why do they need a brand?

I am all for encouraging independent learning where possible but don't really understand how putting 100 children in the same room necessarily achieves this. ( One size fits all. ) It is seems to imply that without the lack of personal support or small groups, independent learning will be the child's only option. (Sink or swim).

I wonder what will happen in the case of special needs children. Will the policy of 'inclusion' force these children to remain with the others even though they are unable to cope with such large numbers or will they be deliberately 'excluded'? Also what about those children who fully appreciate independent learning, that is, on their own, and surrounded with resources which they can easily get to (without triping over desks and disturbing others) and choose for themselves. Just a thought. Also what about the children who are deliberately disruptive and what if one group are participating in a debate or a noisy activity. Interesting?
Perhaps there are some real advantages but it seems like a very boring and restrictive environment to me. I wouldn't be happy in it.

Echomouse said...

Wow. You are beyond busy!

Glad to see you're holding up okay though. :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Nog!

Ah! The thwack of leather on willow, or buffy... or even Giles for that matter, I'm not fussed.

Nogbad said...

Anna - NLL seemed okay the other day but I'm always a mug for a pretty lady. Me car is in this week and Kwick Fit are giving me a handful of money back so life ain't all bad (is it???)