Sports day cancelled

Oh dear, here we go again. Health and Safety rears its ugly head again, this time at a school in West Sussex, where it was decided that the field is too uneven for sports day next month. It would, of course, be too awful if anyone were to fall over whilst running or, horror of horrors, taking part in the three legged race. I defy anyone to have ever experienced a sports day where no-one fell over. At one school where I taught, we had races for mums and dads and the great challenge there was for the dads especially to stop at the finishing line rather than allow their enthusiasm to propel them into the brick wall which was a couple of feet further on. They usually managed it.
What really amazes me though, is the mother who professed to be so inconsolable at the cancellation of her daughter's first sports day. Does she not remember her own? Sports days are boring, coated with boring and with lashes more boring on top!
That's my memory of them anyway. You are all most welcome to disagree. :)

Cycling city

The government want us all to get on our bikes and get healthy, cut greenhouse emissions, save on fuel etc (Such a lot of responsibility!) and is planning to invest lots of money into encouraging this. To begin with, Bristol is getting the extra dough to improve the cycling experience around that fair citiy. Well, they've already carved up the roads to make it as difficult as possible to drive a car round there so what have they got to lose?
However, I would really like them to have awarded the money to Wrexham, not just to create extra cycle paths but to flatten all the existing roads in and around the area so that I can get on my bike and ride. You see, my problem is that I don't 'do' hills, in fact, I don't do 'little slopes' either, and instead of dismounting gracefully, I have an unfortunate tendency to fall off, having inexplicably caught my foot somewhere in the process - I haven't quite worked that one out yet, but whatever the reason, I then find myself on the ground, all dignity gone. Luckily, to avoid the possibility of being seen by anyone, I only venture out on the bike at six o'clock on a Sunday morning.
Maybe skateboarding would be the way to go...

Maths champions

A new report out today highlights the need for more maths specialists in primary schools and wants 13,000 existing teachers trained as such over the next ten years. The Primary Numeracy Strategy, introduced about ten years ago, is generally accepted to have improved maths teaching and learning in primary schools and I would say that it emphasises the importance of mental maths and also of engaging in and assimilating a wide range of strategies. Having spent most of my school years as a maths phobic, I always enjoyed teaching the Numeracy Strategy and it certainly played a part in improving children's understanding and confidence. It seems, though, that the proposed training will then rely on the new maths champions 'cascading' their knowledge and expertise within their schools to colleagues, which has long been found to be a relatively inefficient method of training.
However, the recognition of the need for greater expertise in maths teaching will, hopefully, also help to focus on the largely unrecognised problem of Year 6 (top junior) teachers being expected to have a level of expertise and knowledge commensurate with teacher of lower secondary classes, but across the whole curriculum, rather than just in their own specialism, as is the case for secondary teachers.

Lisbon Treaty dead?

"The EU is wondering what to do about Ireland's 'no' vote on the Treaty of Lisbon," said the newsreader this morning. How about 'Live with it'?
Ireland was the only country fortunate enough to have been allowed to have a referendum on it, and it's interesting that they returned a no vote, which leads me to wonder how many other countries would have done the same had they been given the opportunity. But of course, as commentators have openly said, the EU will keep chipping away at it until they get the result they want. The French and Dutch voted against the Constitution so it was brought back thinly disguised as the Lisbon Treaty. European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso has 'urged other EU states into ratifying the treaty after the surprise 'No' vote was confirmed.'
What a wonderful example of democracy the EU is.

Fuel? No panic.

"Don't panic," said our Gordon, "plenty of fuel for everyone, only one in ten garages will be affected, no need to worry, it'll be all-right, folks."
What a stupid thing to say. Anyone with half a brain would immediately realise that anything he says means the opposite. Hence the scenes of chaos at my local Sainsbury this afternoon with queues of cars waiting to grab any fuel going and queues of shoppers trying to get out of the car park as a result.

Children and Health and Safety

News of the mother who allowed her nine year old son to travel on the New York subway alone comes right on the heels of this little item which missed the headlines.
These teachers! Can't trust them to do anything right...Right?

Football - again!!!!

People who know me quite well may harbour a suspicion that I am not a football fan.
They would be right. Not that I go on about it, of course, although my definition of football as a gang of twenty two idiots chasing a bag of wind round a field has certainly stood the test of time and is well remembered by various members of my family. So I have to stand up and be counted. For me that definition sums it up perfectly, plus the issue of all the millions of pounds, euros etc which said idiots are rewarded with and the stupid habit they have of jumping all over each other whenever one of them kicks it into the net.
If you have read this far, you will no doubt be getting my drift. So you probably won't be too suprised that I am considerably less than impressed by the way the TV schedules have been messed up by the latest dose. Instead of banishing the football to an obscure satellite channel, (Who wants to watch it anyway?) the men in suits are depriving me of my usual fixes of Emmerdale and Corrie!
What is wrong with these people???
(As you can see, withdrawal symptoms have well and truly kicked in.)