bill fosdike

Our lovely friend, Bill Fosdike, sadly died just over a week ago at the age of nearly 87. Moira+I got to know him and his family shortly after we’d got married at the end of 1972 and went to live in Summertown, Oxford. He was the Rector of St Michael’s and All Angels Church in Summertown. We became very close family friends (his wife Ruth is our Ruth’s godmother) and have fond memories of shared holidays in Cornwall, garden picnics, epiphany suppers, mowing church lawns, producing the weekly “teamsheet” shared service leaflets, church wardenship, the formation of ecumenical parish, voting in favour of women priests… not to mention lots of building committee stuff (amongst a whole host of other things).
He was a lovely, articulate, wise, inspiring and gentle man and became very much like a second father-figure to me. He was a great listener and one of the ironies about his own death is that there must be dozens, if not hundreds, of families to whom he became a massive support when they experienced the death of a family member. Another irony is that one of Bill’s first parishes was St Francis’s Church in Bedminster, Bristol (about a 10 minute walk from our house). What I didn’t know until very recently was that he had been a Major in the Indian Army (his Regimental Centre was near the Himalayas). He celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination in 2005.
Moira+I attended his funeral earlier today at St Mary’s Church, Kidlington and, as one might have imagined, the church was absolutely packed with family, friends and colleagues wanting to pay their respects to a very special man.
Photo: Bill christened each of our daughters (from left to right: Ruth, Hannah and Alice).

greenbelt 2010

Moira+I had a lovely time at Greenbelt and met up with lots+lots of lovely friends: Cara, Gail, Ian, Sue, Si, Ed, Joe, Andrea, Steve, Sara, Bruce, Liz, Mike, Hannah, Jess, Emily, Ange, Wilf, Orla, Ellen, Mark, Victor, Joy, Jen, Brett, Jen, Adam, Anna, Iain, Anna, Rob, Anna, Dylan, Heather, Laura, Abigail, Tim, Sharon, Paul, Emma, John, Pippa, Matt, Gayle, Steve, Alan, Marc, Beth, Nick, Becky, Sarah, Rachael, Mark, Debs, Chris, Rich, Abi, Mary, Jo… not to mention the other 25,000 we didn’t know or get to meet.
PS: this is pathetic, I know, but Moira+I were so amazed at the number of friends we kept bumping into that we started making a list (I think there are nearly sixty here)… if I've missed you off, put it down to old age (apologies!).
Photo: typical morning at the wonderful Tiny Tea Tent with the equally wonderful Ian, Gail, Sue, Si and Moira.

kitchen

I had my first bath for three weeks yesterday. That’s not quite as bad as it sounds, but I appreciate it will shock some people (and probably won’t surprise others). Thanks to the wonderful Mr Magnet, our new kitchen resulted in us having no hot water – after they’d replaced a radiator; they “fixed it” twice, albeit very briefly, before discovering that the hot water cylinder needed a new valve (or something). With Moira+I being away at various stages through this process, it meant that the matter has only just been resolved. Actually, Mr Magnet was pretty impressive overall, but there’s nothing quite like a bath (you’ll appreciate that I’m a bath man who has had to become a shower person over recent weeks)(or, even worse, a strip-wash person at times!). Anyway, even though I appreciate it only shows part of the kitchen, I thought I’d post this photograph for posterity – and in recognition of the fact that I’d cleared the worktops of cooking mess!

aberaeron

A stunningly attractive harbour town. Its brightly painted Regency-style buildings give a feeling that the town must be sponsored by Dulux Paint. I think I visited the town “in passing” some 40 years ago, but certainly didn’t remember it as being the jewel it undoubtedly is today. We treated ourselves and stayed overnight at 3 Pen Cei, Quay Parade – overlooking the harbour. I’d found the guest house via the internet (check out the website – “Visit Wales Gold Award 2010”/5 star rating etc) and it proved to be a really, really beautiful place. Highly recommended! We were amused to discover from the town’s guidebook that Quay Parade has recently been chosen by a GoogleEarth Poll as “the fifth most picturesque street in Britain”!
Photo: Aberaeron images.

st davids

Moira+I have just arrived back from three days on the Welsh west coast. The weather predications weren’t at all encouraging but, apart from one afternoon and evening of dire, wet weather in St Davids, we felt very blessed. We stayed at a guest house (Y-Gorlan) in Nunn Street and our bedroom apparently had “panoramic views to the back of Whitesands Bay… a perfect place for relaxation and watching sunsets and changing skies, for which Pembrokeshire is famous”. With all the rain, I’m afraid we could only see a little beyond the end of the garden! We were very struck by the cathedral – quite stark and sombre by comparison with our recent experiences of Salisbury and Exeter, but with a real sense of spiritual purpose and simple elegance. I particularly liked the beautiful tower lantern above the choir.
Yesterday morning, despite weather forecasts to the contrary, the rain held off and we made our way to Whitesands Bay (but we resisted the temptation to join the surfers) and then walked towards St David’s Head along the coastal path. Somewhat pathetically (I'm pretty scared of heights!), we didn’t make it the entire way and had to turn back because I suddenly became “spooked” by the narrowness of the path, what I perceived to be sheer drops to the wild waters below and the strong wind (even though the wind direction was from the sea!). I felt very inadequate.
PS: As we departed yesterday, we learnt from our landlord that the Italian restaurant we’d frequented the previous night had been recently prosecuted for inadequate hygiene standards! We seem to have survived the experience and, actually, the food was excellent.
Photo: St David’s Cathedral (plus a couple of images from the ruined Bishop’s Palace).

devon heaven

Moira+I have just spent four brilliant days in Devon with our truly lovely friends Gail+Ian. We don’t get to see them all that often these days, but it’s always great to meet up and they are just the most wonderful hosts – laid-back, entertaining and generous (what more could one want?). Our time together started in perfect fashion with a barbeque on the beach (South Milton Sands) on sunny Friday evening - where we were joined with yet more lovely old friends Mags+Jez! We talked, we walked, we laughed, we ate, we drank, we read, we chilled… if only you could bottle these experiences (actually, I think you can!). Moira+I travelled down last Friday via Exeter (we were very impressed by what little we saw of the city) and returned home today via Knightshayes Court, near Tiverton (National Trust and, again, rather lovely – especially the kitchen walled garden)… in between we took in Kingsbridge, Dartmouth (and discovered beautiful new walks there, thanks to G+I), the Sloop Inn at Bantham and the estuary/tidal road back at Averton Gifford (river Avon) – which I find quite magical.
We’re very very lucky people.
Photo: Ian, Mags, Jez, Moira+Gail on the beach (as the sun goes down) after our barbeque.

milk snatcher (not)

So, the Prime Minister intervened yesterday (overruling his Health Minister in the process) and decided to retain the current Nursery Milk Scheme, whereby children under five receive a third of a pint of milk each day for free. It put me in mind of my first(?) political march/demonstration in 1971 (blimey, that’s 39 years ago!) when Mrs Thatcher, the Education Minister at the time, was ending free school milk for over-sevens. The cry was “Thatcher, Thatcher, milk snatcher”!
Those were the days!
Photo: slightly bizarre image off the internet (but I thought it was mildly appropriate)… apparently it relates to “office fridge wars”(?!): it seems that person 1 stuck the original "I AM FOR DRINKS NOT FOR YOUR CEREALS" notice on all the milk; person 2 then added the picture of a certain Prime Minister (ok, well it’s quite an old photograph!).

hockney at the RWA

I love most of Hockney’s work but, I have to say, I went along to the RWA’s exhibition David Hockney “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” with a little apprehension. In the event, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It seems that he’d always loved Gimm’s Fairy Tales and had read all 220 of them. In 1960, in his second year at the Royal College of Art, he apparently ran out of painting materials – but heard that everything was provided free for students in the printmaking department, so he started working there and quickly learnt the basic techniques. The 39 etchings in this exhibition were produced in 1969. I particularly liked the images from the “Fundevogel” story.
Image (rather poor quality, I’m afraid): “A wooden Landscape” from ‘Fundevogel’.
PS: Following on from recent comments about “old age” discounts, I only had to pay half price (£2.50) to the see the exhibition – which is also combined with an exhibition entitled “Near+Far” which features work from over 60 RWA academicians.

bus passes+discounts

With Mr Magnet in full flow in the kitchen this week (we're replacing the kitchen units), Moira+I decided it was probably best to spend a fair amount of time out of the house… away from it all. In the event, we’ve had three very good days. Tuesday we drove to Salisbury and spent time in the cathedral and in the National Trust’s Mompesson House (situated in the cathedral close). We contemplated driving into the city, but ended up parking+riding and were very glad we did – not only did our bus passes mean free travel, but also free parking (AND the bus people were very nice to us too!); we also had a complimentary cream tea courtesy of the National Trust! Yesterday, we went to Clevedon – which is only a 20 minute drive from home (and got “old age” discount to get on to the pier) before driving back to the NT’s Tyntesfield. Today, we visited the American Museum at Claverton Manor, near Bath – travelling on the train to Bath (with a cost reduction for both of us, due to Moira’s “hard of hearing” concession and then, obviously, free bus travel to Claverton Manor – where we obtained another “old age” discount to see the exhibits).
Old age definitely has SOME advantages!
Photo: A picture of Moira and me together (this is a fairly rare event!) – actually, it’s only our shadows in the sea from Clevedon pier.

bristol harbour festival

This weekend was yet another reminder why we love living in Bristol. It was the annual Harbour Festival – which is an amazing mixture of music, dance, drama, children’s stuff, fireworks and, of course, boats (plus wonderful food and drink stalls etc). The weather was perfect; the atmosphere was very relaxed and jolly… and it was all completely FREE (well, apart from the food and drink)! It seems that the event attracted some 250,000 visitors… and certainly helped show off the city wonderfully well.
Congratulations to the City Council!
Photo: images from the weekend.

golfing with jake+miles

It was Jake’s birthday and he was determined to play golf at Saunton yesterday (he played there last year) and, this time, invited Miles+me to join him. It’s an amazing links course on the west Devon coast – I think it’s probably the most difficult course I’ve ever played (and I seem to have played quite a few over the years!) - we played the East Course, which is rated number 60 in the world! The combination of playing a course you didn’t know, the need to play lots of semi-blind shots and the comparatively narrow fairways (set amongst the dunes+hillocks+thick, thick rough) meant that anything off-line was very heavily penalised. We all seemed to lose an awful lot of balls(!) but, fortunately, also played some pretty shots too.
Farrington Gurney or Studley Wood are going to seem comparatively straightforward after this!
Photo: Miles+Jake on the first tee – with just a hint of what we were letting ourselves in for in the background (if you can make it out)!

hannah's banner

Hannah was recently commissioned to produce a massive piece of artwork (just 73m long x 2.5m high!). It was erected just in time for the Bristol Harbour Festival this weekend and runs along the edge of millennium square to the waterfront next to Bordeaux Quay. I went down to see it first thing this morning and it looks really brilliant. Make sure to see it the next time you’re around Bristol harbourside.
Very clever lady (and clever At-Bristol, Bristol City Council and Destination Bristol)!
PS: There was a good piece in today’s “Evening Post” (including picture) – except that it was described as being only 73ft long (they obviously haven’t got the hang of this metric stuff yet)!

Photo: I've resisted the temptation to try to photograph the entire artwork!

leaving

Went to see my second film at The Watershed in two days yesterday evening – this time Catherine Corsini’s “Leaving”, starring the amazing Kristin Scott Thomas (“I’ve Loved You So Long” was one of my favourite films of 2008). Moira hated this one and her first words after the film had ended were “so, two bad films in two days?” (or words to that effect). Actually, I didn’t agree and, although it was difficult to fully comprehend what sparked the relationship between Suzanne (Kristin Scott Thomas) and the family’s Spanish builder, Ivan (Sergi Lopez), I found it quite riveting… the prosperous and well-connected husband Samuel (Yvan Attal) resenting his wife’s attempts at trying to set up a separate career as a physiotherapist… Suzanne’s shock at the sudden realisation of her feelings for Ivan… how much she is throwing away, and how little it matters.
Scott Thomas is simply brilliant, but it was never going to work!

the concert

I went along to see this film last night at The Watershed with very high hopes. I’m afraid I was bitterly disappointed. The story is about a celebrated conductor of the Bolshoi Orchestra who was fired at the height of his fame for refusing to sack his Jewish musicians. Twenty-five years later, he still works at the Bolshoi, but as a cleaner… he ends up (I’ll spare you the details) playing at the prestigious Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, together with a French violin virtuoso (Mélanie Laurent) to play alongside his old musicians posing as the real Bolshoi orchestra.
The publicity blurb described it as “witty, uplifting and full of humanity”. I spent over two-thirds of the time squirming in my seat by the painful, knock-about, farcical nature of the film. The evening was somewhat predictably saved when the ragtag musicians exquisitely performed Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major…. but I’m afraid it was all far too sugary for my liking.
Actually, the evening did reinforce a desire to go to some live classical concerts over the coming months – I’d been hugely impressed watching/listening to the BBC Symphony Orchestra perform Beethoven’s First and Fourth Piano Concertos on television last weekend(?), with soloist Paul Lewis (who was quite brilliant).
PS: I’ve also been listening Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major and Bach’s Cello Suite no.1 in G Major countless times over the past week – both stunningly beautiful.

more books

I find that I read books in spurts… sometimes, I can go for two or three weeks without reading anything (apart from newspapers). This is my latest batch from the past five or six weeks:
Looking in the Distance (Richard Holloway): The book’s sub-title is “The Human Search for Meaning”. Holloway was a former bishop of Edinburgh and his book takes the form of a series of reflections on what might be called Godless Spirituality. His approach is just “sitting in a chair” describing some of the conflicting things he has observed in his life. It’s a deeply personal book in which he shares his disillusioned view of religion. An absolutely fascinating and thought-provoking book.
The Cleft (Doris Lessing): I found this a rather strange, but compelling, novel about our earliest ancestors – a slow-moving, semi-aquatic race of females (apparently inspired by a scientific article)… with men eventually arriving on the scene as somewhat unstable and erratic beings by comparison. Nothing new there then!
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Mary Ann Shaffer+Annie Barrows): A really lovely book, beautifully written - in the form of a series of letters about the German occupation of the island during WW2… endearing, charming and funny. My one reservation (other than it probably appealing more to women than blokes?) would perhaps be that the closer I got to the end of the book, the more it felt like a Jane Austen novel.
My Roots (Monty Don): He’s a bit of a hero of mine. The book is made up of articles he wrote for The Guardian over the past ten years or so and is largely based on his own garden in Herefordshire. Although I’m not a real gardener, I did find his musings encouragingly down to earth (literally!) and reflected his healthy attitude to life, society and the world at large.
Amsterdam (Ian McEwan): I enjoy McEwan’s books. This one is essentially about deception and begins with the funeral of a vibrant forty-something woman (well, she was vibrant when she was alive!). The main characters (a newspaper editor, a composer and a Foreign Secretary) were all her lovers at one time or another. As ever with McEwan, the plot is tantalising - albeit somewhat contrived towards the end of the book to my mind. Very readable.

five summer holiday tunes

It’s strange how some pieces of music immediately make you think of summer holidays (yes, it’s the school hols!). I realise that, if I thought about this long enough, I’d very easily come up with a list of at least a couple of dozen, but here are five that “instantly” spring to mind – new and old (dates relate to the relevant summers):
1. Summer in the City (The Lovin’ Spoonful) 1966
2. Higher and Higher (Jackie Wilson) 1971
3. Love Letter (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) 2003
4. Holiday (Joan as Police Woman) 2008
5. Gulf Shores (Bonnie Prince Billy) 2010
(Not sure what happened to the 80s and 90s!).
You’ll no doubt have your own thoughts…

old age

Watched a fascinating “Panorama” programme on television last night about old age (presented by 77 year old Joan Bakewell). In future, Social Care costs are clearly going to escalate – at present, there are four workers for every retired person; by 2060, this proportion will have reduced to 2:1; “one in four babies born today will live to be 100”. All rather frightening stuff.
The programme was largely upbeat and looked at some of the innovative ways Britain's baby boomers are looking to future-proof their old age (although I was somewhat irritated by the inference that the bulk of the baby-booming generation have retired/are retiring on final salary-linked pensions), but also warned that with local authorities facing 25 per cent cuts across the board, there was real danger of neglect. Thus far, I’ve been fortunate enough not to have to rely on Government financial assistance throughout my life (apart perhaps from child allowance and a bus pass!) but I also acknowledge that, as a self-employed person for the vast majority of my working life, I haven’t been able to make the levels of pension provision that would ensure financial security in my old age. I really don’t want our children to have to pay for me in my dotage (it’s going to be tough enough for them as things stand!). I wonder if, in say a hundred years’ time, people will be being asked to sign contracts agreeing to have their lives terminated at say 80 years of age in exchange for relative financial security up to that point? For my own part (and I realise I’ll be heavily criticised for this), and provided that I knew Moira was adequately provided for, I’d be prepared to accept another 13 years of vigorous, healthy living and to die at the age of say 75.
Photo: old men enjoying their daily exchanges in Cortona’s town square, Italy 2005.

stinkfoot

Thanks to good friend Mark’s suggestion, Moira+I went to the Thekla, Bristol Harbourside on Thursday evening to see/experience a showcase of songs from “Stinkfoot the Musical” (a “comic opera”) conceived and written by former Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band man Vivian Stanshall (who died in 1995). Although it was open to the public (hence our presence!), the main purpose of the showcase was in an effort to attract backers for the revival of the full musical. It was actually first performed on the Thekla (then called “The Old Profanity Showboat”) in 1985; it’s only other, very brief, staging was in 1988 at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London. Somewhat amazingly, it also included some of the original cast members (Nikki Lamborn, Jon Beedell and Pete Coggins). Tony Slattery was the entertaining host for the evening and (impressively) performed one of the songs. The music is extraordinary (if sometimes a little dated to my mind) and the band and singers are quite brilliant – the powerful voices of Lamborn and Coggins are absolutely amazing!
Will it attract financial backing? I have my doubts.
Was it an enjoyable evening? Hugely.

sainsbury’s megastore at ashton gate?

Last night the Bristol Planning Committee considered the planning application for the Sainsbury’s proposed megastore at Ashton Gate. It seemed all very depressing – especially as the City Planners had recommended approval. A number of us demonstrated outside the Council Offices on College Green. Lots of people had devoted an awful lot of time putting together detailed submissions arguing the case against the proposals. A number of people from the local community were prepared to speak at the planning committee meeting.
Amazingly, according to lovely friend Gareth (who spoke at the meeting), the application was rejected by 4 votes to 2 (with two abstentions).
It’s very unlikely that we’ve heard the last from Sainsbury’s and they’ll no doubt wheel in their big legal team and appeal against the decision to the Secretary of State… but, for the moment at least, let’s celebrate this stunning victory for the local community against the big guys!
Photo: at yesterday’s demonstration on College Green, these youngsters decided to form a guard of honour for each of the campaigners entering the building to plead the case for the local community (a very nice, spontaneous touch).

london river

Moira+I went to the Watershed again yesterday – this time to see Rachid Bouchareb’s film about the 7/7 London bombings. Although I thought the story plot was a little contrived, it was a very powerful, tender and dignified film - with the leading characters beautifully portrayed. Brenda Blethyn, as a Guernsey smallholder, and Sotigui Kouyaté, as an African migrant worker, come to London suspecting that their missing children have been killed in the bombings. It was a humbling reminder that there are stories behind every individual death in such awful circumstances – and on a day that saw 43 people killed in a Baghdad suicide bombing.

bugsy

Went to see the lower school production of “Bugsy Malone” last night. It proved to be a wonderful evening. Just lovely to see the enthusiasm, energy, pure enjoyment (and no little skill) from the cast and to see them come alive in front of an audience. Quite an eye-opener for me to see some pupils, who I’d previously regarded as being fairly quiet and quite shy, prove anything but that last night!
I take my hat off to all involved.

white material

Went to see Claire Dennis’s film “White Material” yesterday afternoon at the Watershed with Alan+Gareth. It’s set in an unnamed African country, with unrest and violence spreading and groups of rebel soldiers and bandits roaming the land. Meanwhile, the army is preparing to re-establish order and “take back” the country. All the expatriates have fled. The film is the story of the one family that remains. Actress Isabelle Huppert is quite brilliant in the role of Maria Vial – standing fast and refusing to give up her family’s coffee plantation. I found it a stunning, but somewhat depressing, film – it was powerful, tense, disorientating and, at times, quite terrifying.
I came out of the cinema feeling a sense of utter hopelessness.
PS: It was only afterwards that I learnt that Huppert had originally asked Dennis if she wanted to adapt Doris Lessing’s novel “The Grass is Singing” – Dennis had declined, but had told her “if you want, I have a story” and “White Material was born. Ironically, I’d finished my first ever Doris Lessing book just a few hours earlier – a strange co-incidence.

tales from the plot

Hannah was recently commissioned to do some exhibition banners for “Tales from the Plot” - a touring exhibition celebrating Bristol’s allotments and history of urban gardening. Moira+I went to see it at Knowle West Health Park yesterday and it’s a charming, heart-warming exhibition (complete with sound recordings and a fully kitted-out garden shed). I think Hannah’s banners look lovely. I suggest you look at for the exhibition at The Harbourside Festival 31 July-1 August (in the “Bristol Village Fayre” area).

teachers

I think I’m very fortunate – I work with lots of absolutely inspirational teachers. Earlier this week, I watched the Panorama programme “Can I Sack Teacher?”. It included an interview with Chris Woodhead who had caused some controversy in the late 1990s, when he was HM’s Chief Inspector of Schools, by claiming there were some 15,000 “incompetent” teachers nationally (representing some 4-5% teachers). In my limited experience of schools (governor of a primary school, working in a secondary school and, of course, in connection with our own children’s education), I suspect this percentage might be about right – although I think the description “unsatisfactory”, rather than “incompetent”, might be a little fairer (and which perhaps echoes similar figures in other professions?). The programme highlighted that the General Teaching Council had the ability to remove incompetent teachers but that, in some 40 years, only 18 had actually been “struck off” – which does seem ridiculously meagre.
In an ideal world, it seems reasonable that poor teachers shouldn’t be allowed to continue teaching. I think I’ve come across perhaps less than a handful of well-experienced teachers who probably can’t teach effectively and also “student” teachers who “aren’t meant” to be teachers (but still allowed to pass their PGCE year). In the former case, this just doesn’t seem right – apparently only 0.07% of teachers are referred to the General Teaching Council (GTC) each year for “incompetence”. In the latter case, I accept that some of them might become reasonable teachers with experience and that, without the experience, they won’t – but the world of architecture, for example, is pretty rigorous in vetting budding architects at the final hurdle and deferring membership for 12 months or so, so why not teachers too?
The Panorama programme also included a reference to good teachers being able to achieve better grades for their pupils (eg. by as much as one GCSE grade). I don’t doubt that this is true, but I do strongly object to judging teachers only on the basis of their pupils’ examination results. I am certainly aware of instances in schools (purely what I’ve been told, you understand!) whereby “poor” teachers have been timetabled to teach “good” pupils because they “wouldn’t be able to deal with pupils from the bottom sets”…. which surely isn’t a fair way to assess teaching abilities?
In the meantime, teachers will no doubt continue to be a hugely under-valued profession in the eyes of many…. which is an absolute travesty.

sports day 2010

Last year, school sports day was held at Bath University. It was a great opportunity for competitors to use first class facilities and it was a successful day. But, fairly typically some would say, I’d had distinct reservations about the event and had outlined these to the powers-that-be in advance. In my view, it simply gave an opportunity for the competitors to perform in front of just their fellow competitors and a comparatively few members of staff – the rest of the school and teachers were left “back at base” in normal lessons!
Well, this year’s sports day reverted back to “home” (some claim that it was because the cost of bussing pupils to Bath was too expensive!) and proved to be a really wonderful day for the whole school community – with extra awards for supporters, banners and the like!
A great day!
Photo: a few of the enthusiastic supporters/competitors.
PS: Quantock House even managed to avoid last place this year… and actually finished third!

women are taking over the world (official)

I’ve previously commented on the poor attitude of some boys towards education and life-beyond-school. Whilst it’s obviously difficult to generalise, it certainly seems to me (in my own limited, first-hand experience) that girls do generally outstrip boys in educational/aspirational/organisational terms… (and will probably go on and take over the world etc!). I read an interesting article in The Observer on Sunday by Anushka Asthana indicating that “complacency and ‘general hopelessness’ have been blamed for the failure of young British men as research reveals that underperformance in school and university is now creeping into their working lives”. A report published on Sunday by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) thinktank says male graduates are far more likely to be unemployed than their female counterparts (17.2% of male graduates are failing to find jobs compared with 11.2% of women). Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, has warned that an affluent upbringing has left many UK male graduates with a "degree of complacency". He said there was a feeling among his members that British male graduates were being outperformed by women and competition from overseas when applying for jobs: "When I talk to graduate recruiters about how impressive candidates applying for jobs are, I do pick up a sense that female graduates are a little more mature and focused, that they put together good applications". Bahram Bekhradnia, the HEPI's director, spoke of the "general hopelessness of young men". He pointed to forecasts that suggest women will dominate the professions within 15 years. "That has all sorts of implications for things such as family creation, child-rearing and so on. The situation in some countries is even more extreme. An American woman told a conference I attended of the fury of black American women who found it impossible to form relationships with men of the same race with similar educational attainment because black American males weren't going to university”.

Sobering thoughts.

whatever works

Went to see Woody Allen’s latest film yesterday afternoon at the Watershed. The blurb described it as a “sparky, romantic comedy” – which proved to be pretty accurate and ideal Sunday afternoon cinema (somehow, I just couldn’t be bothered to watch the Wimbledon final). The film is based in Manhattan and stars Larry David as Boris – “a grouchy, bitter and neurotic retired nuclear physicist who spends his days moaning about the so-called morons and inchworms he has to share breathing space with” (does this sound familiar?). One of the highlights of the film is Patricia Clarkson’s wonderful portrayal of the mother of Boris’s naïve young wife. Neither the storyline nor the characters are really credible, but it doesn’t really matter. The film ends on New Year’s Eve in a somewhat Shakespearian fashion - with all the characters seemingly finding partners/happiness/fulfilment or whatever – and these are Boris’s closing lines, as he addresses the audience: "I happen to hate New Year’s celebrations. Everybody's desperate to have fun trying to celebrate in some pathetic little way. Celebrate what, a step closer to the grave? That's why I can't say enough times, whatever love you can get and give, whatever happiness you can filch or provide, every temporary measure of grace - whatever works! Don't kid yourself, it is by no means up to your human ingenuity, a bigger part of your existence is luck….”.

I may not share Boris’s complete philosophy on life but I, like the rest of the audience, came out of the cinema smiling!

boy george: be afraid, be very afraid.

So, Cabinet Ministers have been ordered by the Treasury to plan for unprecedented 40% cost-cutting across the public sector. It makes for very depressing news – even though many pundits see the announcement as being tactical – to prepare the public for the worst in the hope that, when final details are announced in the Autumn, they will come as less of a shock – maybe only 25-30%? It all seems to make George Osborne’s statement at last year’s Tory Conference that “we’re all in this together” ring somewhat hollow (it’s almost laughable!). I’m all for ensuring that people pay their rightful taxes and that those cheating the Treasury, by claiming wrongful benefit payments, are brought to justice but, frankly, these measures certainly aren’t going to adversely affect Mr Osborne’s lifestyle one iota (he has an estimated personal fortune in excess of £4 million as the beneficiary of a trust fund in a wallpaper/fabrics company co-founded by his father, Sir Peter Osborne, 17th Baronet). His job won’t be one of the 600,000 public service jobs that are likely to be lost. He won’t be one of the 200,000 people who The National Housing Federation (the body representing England’s 1,200 not-for-profit housing associations) predicts will be in grave risk of homelessness and lead to a concentration of social problems in the most deprived areas of the country. Mr Osborne won’t be one of the 20,000 police officers who face job-cuts. He won’t be affected by the 10% cut in housing benefit (for people claiming jobseeker’s allowance for 12 months or more). He won’t be affected by plans to cap payments to private tenants (to reduce the level at which housing benefit is paid) which is estimated to force “hundreds of thousands of families out of their homes”.
But, just remember everyone: “WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER”!

Photo: George in his Bullingdon Club days at Oxford.

jemima+the boys

I finally got to see Jemima for the first time this weekend (Moira had been staying up in Leyland with Alice+Dave+the boys since last Monday). She’s very pretty, has a shock of almost black hair and seems absolutely tiny - I always forget just how small new-born babies are! She seems none-the-worse for her three days in hospital (her temperature had reached a frighteningly-high 39.7 degC at one stage). I’m not quite sure how Alice+Dave cope with the three children, but they’re a brilliant team. The boys are so gentle with Jemima (so far!) – especially Mikey. It was great playing with them again and there were LOTS of giggles and laughter. They particularly liked seeing themselves in my camera’s swivel-screen. It was a very sunny and warm weekend and the boys also very much enjoyed playing in their new paddling pool. Amongst a variety of outdoor play equipment, they have something which appears to be some sort of café. Dave ended up plonking it into the pool – which made it feel a little like an outdoor Caribbean bar, with the boys playing the roles of bar staff!
Photo: a variety of images from the weekend.

leavers' day 2010

Leavers’ Day is definitely one of my favourite school days of the year. It’s a chance for the Year 11s to put on their suits and their posh frocks and arrive in various modes of transport in front of the whole school. Yesterday was even more special because this year’s Year 11s started at the school on the same day as I did. Difficult to imagine that these young adults were the same nervous individuals who started at the school in September 2005! Despite my reservations regarding the ridiculous amount of money that some of them spend on the occasion, they looked amazing. Some poignant, touching moments too – for example, a hug from one girl (who’d been an absolute “pain” as a 13 year-old, but who had developed into a really lovely young lady) who then presented me with three bottles of red wine(!)(how did she know?) and cards from her and her parents…. Mum had written: “thank you SO much for your help and support over the last few years. Your support and encouragement have been invaluable. We’ve both always had you to turn to… your understanding and humour have always been apparent!”.

I know that lots of similar gestures and sentiments were received by lots of other teachers too.
Very special.
Photo: I COULD have posted pictures of some amazingly elegant young people, but this one seemed to encapsulate the day – a chance for parents to capture their own memories!

andy ripley RIP

Really sad to learn that Andy Ripley, former England rugby union international, died last week from prostate cancer at the age of just 62. Although I never met him, my claim to fame is that I slept in his waterbed (he wasn’t in it, I hasten add)! It was probably 1974(?) and Moira+I were staying in London with our friend Joan (from our Oxford college days). She was living in the same house as Ripley at the time and he allowed us to use his bed. Not sure how she’ll feel about this, but I suppose Moira can probably claim she is the only woman who slept in his bed and with whom he didn’t have sex! Actually, there were probably lots of women who just wanted to sleep in his waterbed at the time….
The England no.8 was an absolute hero of mine – even in the poor England team of the early-/mid-1970s. He was 6ft 5in tall, with flowing locks streaming out of a headband, knees pumping almost up his chest and the ball under his arm. Someone once wrote “Ripley in full flight will remain forever an image to brighten the day” and that’s exactly the image I have of him. I’ve seen him described as the last of the great Corinthian sportsmen who just played sport (rugby, athletics, rowing, triathlon, swimming and sailing!) for fun – with an intellect to boot (“a man with a brain like Einstein and a pen like Shakespeare”).
In the foreword to his 2007 book on cancer, he wrote: “Dare we hope? We dare. Can we hope? We can. Should we hope? We must, because to do otherwise is to waste the most precious of gifts, given so freely by God to all of us. So when we do die, it will be with hope and it will be easy and our hearts will not be broken.”
They don’t make them like him any more.

family get-together

Another reunion yesterday, but this time it was nothing to do with old school or university friends. My cousin Keith and his wife Maria are in the UK briefly - Keith and his parents emigrated to Australia in 1958 and this is only the second time he’s been back “home” since then (they were last here in 2005). Moira+I met up with them for lunch in Cowle, Worcestershire together with my cousin David+his wife Sally, my brother Alan, his wife Lesley and their girls Megan+Eleanor.
Lovely day.
Photo: Keith, David+Alan (yesterday) and Keith, David+me (1957). Hardly changed at all!

parenting

I listened to an interview on Radio 4 this evening on the Shannon Matthew’s case. I was particularly struck by a quote from the Serious Case Review which concluded that the family's history was characterised by "neglectful parenting interspersed with periods of adequate parental care". This is something that I come across again and again in my role at school (even in comparatively well-off North East Somerset). It’s an aspect of my job that I find really depressing.
Just two examples from TODAY (and I could quote at least a dozen if I extended the time period to perhaps a month!):
1. A year 9 boy’s behaviour and attitude has become very concerning of late and a meeting was called to review the situation (the boy, his Mum and his grandmother were present). During the course of the meeting, it transpired that the boy’s behaviour at school generally seemed to be fine when his mother had been at home the previous evening/early morning (she worked a night shift). Unfortunately, when his mother was at work and in the “care” of his step-father, the step-father would simply disappear down the pub each evening leaving the boy at home by himself; the boy’s behaviour at school the following day was invariably awful. It was absolutely clear that the grandmother knew nothing of the step-father’s life-style and she immediately suggested that her grandson came to stay with her whenever Mum was working nights. The boy appeared to be absolutely delighted by the suggestion - perhaps his actions/behaviour were a cry for help?
2. I’m dealing with a Year 9 girl (whose brother left school three years ago and has just got out of prison). Both the girl and her brother are very bright (both could/can easily get to university if they so wished). Since Easter, the girl has been attending school only three times a week on average; she’s also been truanting from lessons. Mum complains that she finds it very difficult to get her daughter out of bed in the mornings. We are aware that the girl takes drugs/drinks excessive alcohol on a regular basis; she’s out every evening until late and appears to be mixing with some very “bad company”. When asked why she allows her daughter to do the things she does, Mum simply replied “well, what can you do?”.
It seems inconceivable to me that we might have been prepared to abandon a child of ours while we were “down the pub” on a regular basis or to have allowed any of our children to go “into town” every evening.
Children DO need boundaries; they DO need to understand discipline. I just can’t get my head around some of the so-called “parenting situations” I regularly come across… and I really worry about some of the next generation of parents – and their children!

fabio

I like Fabio.
I think it’s only my inability to speak more than six words of Italian that has held me back from international football management. I’m writing this less than half an hour before the England team starts its over-hyped bid to win the 2010 World Cup. The opponents in the first game are the USA (but you knew that didn’t you?).
But I digress. My co-driver on the school-run, Andy, reckons that Fabio bears an uncanny resemblance to Wally (as in “Where’s Wally?”) and I just wanted to share this with you BEFORE the first match - so that people wouldn’t accuse me of being quick to mock a poor performance!
I think he might have a point.
PS: England should win the match comfortably, but I actually have a sneaky feeling it might end up a 1-1 draw.

child protection

Two school colleagues (Karin, who deals with child protection issues at school, and Andy) recommended that I watch Channel 4’s “Dispatches” programme entitled “undercover social worker”. From my own fairly limited experiences of dealing with CP issues and social services departments, I knew I’d find it depressing.
John Coffey, who had been a family support worker up until six years ago, went into Surrey County Council’s Children Services Department as an undercover reporter. He worked as a family support worker but, even though he wasn’t a qualified social worker, he was thrown into critical, child protection situations which legally need to be handled by suitably qualified staff (and with absolutely no induction training). Ridiculous work loads, lack of resources, red tape and lack of suitably qualified staff.

Very depressing.
It made me feel really sorry for the people working in the department – most of them appeared to be committed, dedicated individuals who were just trying to keep their heads above water.
“The RSPCA remove animals in danger, but it’s more difficult for us to remove children”.
“I feel like a first aid kit and I’m being asked to do brain surgery”.
“I’m not achieving anything… it’s crazy, absolutely crazy”.
“We’re led to believe that there’s a net to catch these kids, but there isn’t”.
“Instead you make a million calls and you don’t know what you’re doing anyway;
I think I care too much and I don’t think you’re meant to care”.
From my own experience, I used to think that a referral to Social Services was going to provide a solution…. but, all too often, this hasn’t proved to be the case. Where one feels that there are real child protection issues involved, matters frequently appear to be fudged or fended off.
It seems to me that such situations are only going to worsen over the coming years (with more and more dysfunctional families?) and that, if this service is going to be run in an adequate way, then it’ll have to be paid for. In these times of massive financial cuts, it just isn’t going to happen is it!

A truly frightening prospect.

PS: I suggest you check out the "Dispatches" link and read some of the comments from viewers.

jemima amelia buckley

Alice was due to give birth on 6 June, but didn’t. Instead, she and the boys disappeared off to the seaside (as you do). Alice was suffering from a cold; Moira waxed lyrically about how Mother Nature would take this into account and that Dave+Alice’s daughter would be born a few days later than predicted. Jemima ignored this and was born first thing yesterday morning instead. Everyone is well and, as Dave stated in his text, “God is good”!
Sadly, for us, it’s not quite like when Rosa was born last year (on the last day of term before the school summer holidays) and we went virtually straight round to Ruth+Stu’s to greet her. With Alice+Dave living in Lancashire and school term started, it might take a little time before we see everyone. Obviously, this is completely incidental…. we’re all absolutely delighted!
Just lovely lovely news.

bath fringe

Hannah had a stall at the Bath Fringe Festival yesterday selling her lovely art stuff. I’d gone along as taxi driver and occasional stall-holder. Despite early rain, it proved to be a very good day as her stall also overlooked a performance area (and she also sold a reasonable amount of work). The above pictures are of the audience for Skate Naked – two virtually-naked male street performers (can I say that?) who were absolutely hilarious and, who somewhat amazingly (given this description), provided wonderful whole-family entertainment.
PS: Hannah’s flying off to Singapore today to meet up with Felix, so I don’t want to spoil her story of one of the other “acts” before she sees him!

the time that remains

Moira+I went to the Watershed cinema for the first time in ages yesterday afternoon (can’t believe that the last time was early March!) to see Elia Suleiman’s film “The Time That Remains”. It’s a deeply personal depiction of Palestine from 1948’s War of Independence to the present day – and loosely based on his own family history. Although it’s certainly not a film which chronicles a political history, I did find that it provided a fascinating perspective on today’s Israel-Palestine struggles. Bizarrely, it also made me realise how much I’d changed my own attitudes towards Israel and Palestine – in 1967 (six days’ war), I was definitely “pro-Israel”; that’s certainly not the case these days.
The film depicts his father’s early struggle as a member of the Palestinian Resistance (with no means whatsoever) and goes on to paint a picture of his parents’ declining, latter years – these are a lovely mixture of poignancy and deadpan comedy. Sadly, there were just a handful of people in the cinema but, with a full house, I suspect the entire audience would have roaring with laughter at times.
A rather beautiful film.

the shed

We now have a shed.

Sounds impressive doesn’t it? I’d like to say that I was typing this from the aforementioned shed, but that would a bit of an exaggeration. Actually, the photograph above makes it look quite grand (remember, the camera never lies?). Well, if I tell you that its door is only 1120mm high, you’ll realise that it’s just a glorified “wendy house” (in plan it’s a mere 590x1055mm - you might recall that our garden is only a little over 5m square)! But, I have to tell you, it’s BEAUTIFULLY constructed – by Alan+me as part of our GrowZone morning. The other images tell the whole story (from left to right): this is the mess that used to occupy “shed corner” (I think Moira’s just been dumping stuff to emphasise that we needed a shed); when we unpacked the shed, we discovered that the “back wall” had a large piece hacked out of it (“invisible” from the way it was packed and clearly damaged in the factory as there was no sign of any broken bit – our lawyer is working on the case as I write); the giant shed; slightly worrying – this is the stuff that’s SUPPOSED to be going INTO the shed (I’m currently checking the manufacturer’s details as to whether or not it possesses “Tardis qualities”).
PS: the shed is so flimsy that I’m anxious that it IS filled with stuff – because it’s likely to be the only way to stop it being blown away in anything more than a light breeze!

driving over lemons

I bought this book second-hand in the Tobacco Factory Market last Sunday and have really enjoyed it. It tells the story of the author, Chris Stewart, and his wife setting up home in a remote, dilapidated, peasant farm in the mountains of Andalucia, Spain – virtually on a whim, with no farming experience and little in the way of practical know-how. It’s over 10 years old, but I loved it – it’s funny, optimistic, beautifully-written and has a refreshing innocence.
I have absolutely no desire to emulate him, but I found it absolutely enchanting.

far away

Intimidating, intriguing, frightening, powerful, mysterious, challenging, surprising, refreshing, depressing, hopeful, dark, dramatic….
Moira+I went to the Bristol Old Vic last night to see Caryl Churchill’s “Far Away” and these are the words I scribbled down to try to sum up my “instant” reactions to the play. It’s in three parts and lasts just 50 minutes and left me with a whole host of emotions at the end. It felt like part-“1984”, part-“Animal Farm”, part-“War of the Worlds” and even part-“Climate Change Summit”. Brilliantly conceived and designed (set, lighting and sound). Director Simon Godwin decided that it would be interesting (helped, no doubt, by the shortness of the play) to invite a series of guest speakers - including such names as Jonathon Porritt and Jon Snow – to provide their own insights into the play (afterwards) and to act as a catalyst for the audience to talk and to question. Last night, in addition to Godwin and one of the actors, Cara Horgan, the speaker was Nina Raine – who had been assistant director to Stephen Daldry in the original 2000 production of the play. It certainly helped to crystallise my own thoughts.
There is something rather wonderful about live theatre.

passengers

Moira, Hannah and I went to see an extraordinary piece of theatre last night at Green Park Station in Bath (no longer a station, now part-bistro bar/part-car park/part-retail space/part-offices/part-weekend market/part-empty space). Kilter Theatre had been commissioned to create a small-scale theatrical project to “animate” the station – a rather elegant 1860s glass-roofed, iron-framed vaulted structure.
The performance (by two impressive actors) took the form of a simple piece of story-telling – based on half-remembered histories and nostalgic memories. Crucially, it utilised the entire station area in a promenade performance. Members of the audience had to purchase tickets from the ticket office (of course!) and, from that moment, the performance began… “mind your backs, please keep the gangways clear” followed by tongue-in-cheek station announcements over the mini-tannoy (much to the confusion of various members of the public who were meandering through the station at the time!). Three of the audience (including Hannah and me!) even made it down into the amazing vaulted “crypt” below the platforms.
Funny and poignant at the same time… “as many stories as people, all hurtling along at full speed to an unknown destination”.
PS: When we first arrived, dancers were just packing up after an impromptu performance(?); a couple of girls then used the platform area as a badminton court and, as the show finished, a couple of skateboarders started their own performance – only to be replaced by an impressive group of young break-dancers and their music. Animated, if rather neglected, space indeed.
Photo: mid-performance in the heart of the old station.

rookery road junior school 1959

This is our class photograph (there were two classes in our year, so Ron Starling and David Lowe don’t feature) which I’ve downloaded from Friends Reunited…. and I suggest you compare this with the previous reunion image, just to confirm that we really haven’t changed at all, obviously.
I’ve circled the following - it's not very clear, I'm afraid, so you'll have to look very hard (from left to right, starting from the back row): me, Chris Meredith, Brian Probyn, Janet Pulley, Clive Pulley, Elizabeth Chittock and Les Allan.

Oh dear me!
PS: Steve Winwood’s sister, Janet, is one row down from the top and second from the left!

50th anniversary reunion

With some trepidation, I drove up the M5 to The Crown pub at Wychbold earlier today to attend a small reunion “celebrating” the 50th anniversary of leaving Rookery Road Junior School in Handsworth, Birmingham. I’d had lunch with a few former pupils about seven years ago (and had declined various subsequent get-together invitations) but 50 years is 50 years! Despite the wonders of facebook, would I actually recognise anyone? Well, actually, I DID (well, most of them at least!). It was very good to see them, especially Les – who I had NOT seen for 50 years, but with whom I’d be in touch with via facebook over perhaps the twelve months. The social network site may have its critics, but it made meeting up with Les again very easy and we each felt we already knew a little about each other. One great discovery was that Janet Winwood, from my class, is the sister of Stevie Winwood (Traffic/Spencer Davis Group/Blind Faith) - it’s only taken 50 years for me to find out that she had a brother (ok, he wasn’t famous then, but…)! Brian and Les brought some class photographs along with them (wonderful, even if I couldn’t remember everyone’s names!).
Photo (from left to right): Chris Meredith, Clive Pulley, Ron Starling, Janet Pulley, Les Allan, Brian Probyn, Dave Lowe, me and Elizabeth Chittock (and we haven’t changed one bit!).

end of term golf

It was the last day of term yesterday and, to celebrate, good mates Andy+Jake suggested we play golf immediately after school at Farrington Gurney Golf Club (I drive within half a mile of the club twice a day during term time, but had never played there). It was a lovely course and the sun shone and some of us played excellent golf – unfortunately not me (some good stuff, but far too many errant shots)! Great way to finish the week… and it reminded me of those Friday afternoons at Studley Wood with Ken, Steve and Pete (where are they now?!).
As it WAS the last day of term, I obviously had to go into Bristol and meet up with some more school mates and enjoy the odd glass of red…. obviously.
Photo: Jake took this one of me admiring another relaxed, perfect approach shot to the green (in my dreams).

exeter by-pass?

It was wet. It was very, very wet. Went to the Bristol v Exeter Chiefs play-off final last night (rugby union for those NOT in the know!). Great friends Jez and Lucy accompanied me. Unfortunately, they’re ardent Chiefs supporters and I’m Bristolian (of course!). Bristol were 6-9 down from the first leg; it was going to be close, but Bristol would surely win with home advantage? The second leg finished 10-29 – pretty disastrous for Bristol. Exeter were clear winners and played with far more passion and self-belief. Chiefs also won the battle of the supporters too (far too many good chants – which completely stunted the home team’s somewhat unimaginative “Bristol-Bristol-Bristol”!). Ironically, the only time the home supporters really made a deafening roar was when the team left the field together at the end of the pre-match warm-up – an amazing, thunderous noise – which I thought was just a hint of things to come. It wasn’t to be and the Chiefs won easily. I got caught up in the after-match celebrations with the delirious Chiefs’ supporters (Jez insisted on hugging a few of the players!) and even managed to bump into Kim+Alan from school (Kim was a very happy bunny – ANOTHER Chiefs’ supporter!). The good humour between the rival supporters was just brilliant, despite all the disappointments.
Moira had watered the garden just before we left for the game. In the end, the torrential rain means she doesn’t need to do so again for a couple of months.
Obviously, I blame her for Bristol’s downfall.

GCSEs, study leave and hypocrisy

It’s that time of year when Year 11s SHOULD have gone on Study Leave. For our school, this would usually have happened about 10 days ago. This year, however, the powers-that-be (and I accept that I probably don’t appreciate all the legal niceties involved) have decided that the Year 11s should remain at school until this coming Thursday – one day before half-term. I’ve heard of other secondary schools having sent their Year 11s during the course of last week (and or even one where Study Leave started nearly a fortnight ago). I WAS going to have a rant about this in one of the Morning Briefings at our school last week, but decided it would all be pointless. Now I’ve calmed down a little, I thought I’d log down some of the issues (for reference this time next year perhaps!):
1. GCSEs started at the beginning of last week (admittedly, in dribs and drabs initially).
2. One of my many jobs is to ensure that all pupils within our House are properly registered twice daily. On the one hand, pupils have been told to report to the examination rooms 10 minutes before the start of their exam; on the other hand, pupils have been asked to register in their tutor rooms as normal – just 5 minutes before an exam is due to start (and those in our House have a five minute walk from the House Block to the examination room!). Rushing to an exam in a somewhat frantic state is not my idea of ideal preparation.
3. Of course, some Year 11 pupils (and I can’t say I blame them) have been going straight into their exams without registering and therefore they've been marked absent even if they're in school. By the same token, it’s very difficult to know who is truanting or simply absent due to sickness. The exams office duly tells us that "everyone who should be in the exam IS in the exam" but, the trouble is that we don't know what pupils have what exams when (let alone where)!
4. Apparently, one of the chief reasons for “hanging on to the Year 11s” is to try to ensure that they spend this crucial time revising. Horror of horrors, there are fears that, if (some) pupils were allowed to have early study leave, they wouldn’t revise and would then perform badly in their exams (and of course this would reflect very badly on the school!). Whilst this might be good for the less motivated pupils, it seems unfair on the conscientious and diligent ones.
5. So, instead, we have the daft scenario of Year 11s having their usual four lessons in the morning, grabbing a quick bite to eat and then going straight into their exam at 1.30pm. Again, in my view, not ideal exam preparation.
6. We’re now getting to the stage when the Year 11s are going into timetabled lessons for which they’ve already sat their GCSE. As a result, their teachers (not unreasonably) allow pupils to revise for their forthcoming subjects – in other words, teachers are required to work as child-minders.
7. I know from personal experience today with a Year 11 girl (normally a very level-headed young lady) who “lost it” in a lesson and came to see me in floods of tears – “Sir, I just can’t cope with lessons, revision AND exams!”. Part of me felt like sending her down to see one of the powers-that-be so they could witness some of the effects of “delayed Study Leave” – but, of course, I didn’t.

8. This isn’t anything like an isolated case. One of the other Assistant House Heads told me today that, since last Friday, he’s been fielding telephone calls from the parents of stressed pupils and had also had a couple of pupils turning up to his office in tears due to stress.
9. The irony (and huge inconsistency) is that, if you behave inappropriately or unacceptably, the chances are you will be sent on “Early Study Leave”. This happened, just this morning, to a Year 11 girl who truanted on Friday after sitting her morning exam (amongst other things). Frankly, I see this as a reward, not a punishment (and you can just imagine how this goes down with the well-behaved pupils!).
10. Back in March, some Year 11 boys were placed on Early Study Leave for a very serious incident (but, crucially, have still been taught on a one-to-one basis in the school’s special “behaviour unit”). I won’t go into the details but I (and the majority of other teachers) felt they should have been permanently excluded. I sent off a frustrated e-mail to the powers-that-be but simply received a response saying it was “almost impossible” to exclude Year 11 pupils unless there had been an assault or something similar (the reality is that it would apparently have cost the school £10,000 per pupil to permanently exclude them, so they didn’t). So instead, as a punishment, they received one-to-one tuition (again, as you might imagine, this didn’t go down well with their peers!). Last week, one of them threatened/confronted a teacher; as a result, the boy has been told not to return to school except for his exams (gosh, harsh stuff!). Part of me wanted to say: “so what did you expect?”. At the time of the original offence, one of my teacher colleagues sent me a copy of his e-mail to the powers-that-be. His final paragraph concluded: “All the work we do in PSHE points us and students in the direction of considering our own actions and how they might influence our lives and those of others. Are we not being massively hypocritical when we as an Educational Institution refuse to face up to our responsibilities and instead take the easy and politically cautious approach such as the one we appear to have taken?”.
Amen.

lazy sundays

Very good to be able to take advantage of the wonderful end-of-May weather yesterday (27 deg C high apparently?) on a day that didn’t contain lots of “must do” chores. My lazy day started off with breakfast in the garden, followed by some reading (I’m trying some Doris Lessing – “The Cleft”) and then, somewhat bizarrely, by some ironing – again in the garden (a lifetime first for me!)…. a simple lunch and then Moira+I met up with Hannah (Felix is in Singapore) for a lovely long drink and chat in the “Riverstation” overlooking the water. Supper back in the garden (third garden meal of the day), followed by some pottering, Salvador Dali on the television and an early night.
I feel a little guilty because lots of my school mates will have had Reports to write… but hey ho!
Photo: Moira+Hannah at the “Riverstation”.

electric hotel

When you book to see open-air theatre in the UK in May, you do so with a huge degree of trepidation – and certainly work on the basis of waterproofs/blankets/hot toddies and the like. In the event, Moira+I went to see “Electric Hotel” last night at the harbourside in Bristol (part of this year’s “Mayfest”) on a perfect, balmy evening and watched the performance supping the odd glass of chilled Chardonnay.
The hotel building (yes!) had been (very convincingly) erected on the harbourside and there was a full house for yesterday’s performance. It’s difficult to try to set the scene but, here goes: the four-storey set comprised a bar (available to the audience!) at ground floor, three hotel bedrooms and an internal staircase at first floor, one of the bedrooms plus corridor and staircase at second floor and a restaurant and swimming pool on the third floor – with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the audience at all levels. The audience is equipped with headphones to eavesdrop on the internal spaces of the building (together with music and other sound-effects).
It’s essentially a performance through dance and sound; it’s very cleverly choreographed and one very quickly realises that the corridor on the second floor is the corridor outside the bedrooms depicted on the first floor of the set – so that when someone enters one of the rooms from the corridor-side (2nd floor), they immediately appear in a hotel bedroom (1st floor). Are you still with me (actors double up to play duplicate characters)?
The “Mayfest” blurb described it as a “lonely, bizarre and beautiful spectacle” and “sitting on the outside looking, the audience snatches glimpses of the do-not-disturb lives unfolding behind the windows”. Much of the action is repeated several times (with slight adjustments to suit the evolving story) – as if the whole performance was on a loop.
I can’t say that I entirely understood the storyline, but I honestly don’t think this mattered.
An exciting and visually stimulating evening.
Photo: a montage of images taken during the course of last night’s performance.
PS: I’ve just read Fiona Sturges’s less-than-complementary review in “The Independent” (two-star review – “voyeurism is a well-worn topic these days, and this show offers little in the way of enlightenment”). Hey ho, everyone’s entitled to their own thoughts!
PPS: suggest you click on the Arnolfini website and then watch the brief video clip.