Sex offenders hysteria

Unless I've missed it no children have been abused or assaulted as a result of teachers on an offenders list being allowed to work in schools. The hysteria has been created over a perceived risk which no one seems to be able to quantify.
Could there be another agenda here? The government's education policies are already under fire. Enemies both inside and outside of the ranks of labour MPs have a vested interest in dislodging Ruth Kelly the Education Secretary. The new Tory front bench is also in search of it's first government scalp, and Ms Kelly is an obvious target.
While some changes to the way school teachers with a criminal record are vetted and deemed fit to resume their profession may be needed, the current system must be working because up to now there have been no incidents of abuse. To remove Ruth Kelly in the process would be an over reaction and unjust.

Expectations 2 High School

Almost a million children in the UK are being failed by their schools according to the National Audit Office.

I have just watched the first episode of the BBC2 series Who Do You Think You Are? in which Jeremy Paxman traced his family back to Glasgow and Suffolk. His great grandparents lived in poverty and their education finished as soon they could go out to work to boost the family income. When I was at school 50 years ago far fewer children passed their GCE O Level exams and went on the further and higher education than do today. I can only observe that children today enjoy fabulous opportunities and unparalleled education. So why the hysteria?

My wife teaches and her view is that the biggest hindrances to achievement are not resources or process but the attitude and social problems that the children bring to school with them.
The fact is that more children than ever before are attaining grades a-c at 16. Schools now have policies for dealing with under achievement. There are bullying policies to deal with poor behaviour towards others and everything that can be recorded is recorded.

The result is that we are more aware of the performance of schools than we have ever been. Expectations have been boosted above what is reasonably possible. In fact I would suggest that parents and politicians are blaming schools for a broad range of social ills that expose their own failings and are nothing to do with formal education. Politicians have increased the demands they make on schools and as a consequence the expectations of parents have been raised to the point where there's a feeding frenzy by the media if performance falls below an unrealistic level.

Education is not failing our children. If there are failures they are being let down by the rest of society, including parents, politicians and moral leaders. Can we stop blaming schools and look closer to home for a solution?

Why blame the cyclists?

When the BBC reported the tragic death of four cyclists in North Wales there was a sadly predictable flurry of calls and texts to Five Live from motorists effectively blaming the cyclists for being on the road.
They seemed to be ignoring the evidence that the group involved in the accident were from a respected cycling club and very experienced. Is this the time to heap scorn on the cycling community?
All I will say in response to the motorists who feel so superior in their cars - when was the last time a cyclist killed a motorist in a collision? Cyclists deserve respect and space on the road. We don't pollute the atmosphere, are healthier and often get there sooner than people who only drive cars.

Squirrel debate

To feed or not to feed. The squirrel debate continues in the family. My son, Matthew, sent me this story from Russia. Black squirrels so hungry they killed a dog for food.
is this a reason to let them eat the bird food, or is
it a justification for discriminating against the
little blighters?
So should I allow the squirrels to eat the birds' food, or continue to discourage their presence in my garden? There is of course nothing to suggest that the grey squirrels in York are as desperate or aggressive as the black ones in Lazo.
I have recently stopped putting peanuts in the feeding hopper, filling it up with food scraps from the kitchen instead. Chopped apple, bran, cheese, breadcrumbs. I haven't seen a squirrel for at least a week. If they return I may have to try the method park keepers in Devon are using. Plastic snakes!