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Tuesday's Letters: Burden for teachers doing a difficult and thankless task
I OFTEN come across a former teaching colleague, who, like me, feels profoundly thankful to be well clear of the educational scene of today (Yorkshire Post, August 5).
The chalk face of present times must indeed present a formidable and unenviable task at all levels from the nursery to the university. Government demands made on teachers in recent times have been
horrendous and must have added a tremendous burden to an already
stressful enough occupation.
Things might well have been a different story had teachers in England ever been able to enjoy the rights associated with professions like lawyers, doctors and others.
Having said that, there is plenty of Government pressure applied to those professions. For years and years, there was much talk of having a Teachers' General Council through which the profession would have set standards, adequate pay, sound and sensible training, in-service courses, advice, expertise, not forgetting the hiring and firing of its members.
Tragically, it never materialised and what have we seen? Pushed from pillar to post, more and more is asked of them. They are now
increasingly isolated from the real professional world. Whatever we think of them now, they are undoubtedly doing a very difficult and thankless task under unprecedented political interference.
From: Colin Ella, Westgate Road, Belton, Doncaster.
From: Susan Kemp, Park Avenue, Hull.
YOUR editorial comment (Yorkshire Post, August 5) was spot on; I only hope the Education Minister, Diana Johnson, took the trouble to read it.
Tinkering with GCSE and Key Stage tests will not raise standards. It will only artificially inflate the annual exam results. The key is making sure that primary school pupils learn key skills at an early age.
If they don't, they will always struggle when they get to secondary school. In many respects, the difficulties facing the secondaries emanate from the poor performance of the primary schools.
The Yorkshire Post keeps referring to this discrepancy. When is anyone in authority going to take notice? Michael Gove for the Tories? I don't think so. He just wants to alter the timing of a Key Stage test so that no one can compare pass-marks under a Tory government to those achieved by this Government.
From: David Quarrie, Lynden Way, Holgate, York.
SOMETHING must be going right. Expulsions from City of York schools are down to 30 compared to 60 in years 2006-7. East Yorkshire has seen a slight decrease while North Yorkshire has gone up a little.
Many teachers, especially in secondary schools, are worried about disruptive children and the whole subject of discipline. What can be done to improve matters? It is a very difficult
and complex subject, made even worse by the fact that so many parents are not good at being parents.
What worked very well when I was a schoolboy in the 1950s and '60s may not work now.
The best people to remedy the problems of disruptive children are the teachers.
They are the professionals, they have the necessary experience, and they should be left alone to get on with what they do best – teach.
Part of that process is gaining the respect of the children and making the time in class interesting and informative. Most teachers are fully capable of doing that, if not constantly challenged by changes in Governmental initiatives, rules, exam procedures and league tables and a "tick box" mentality.
From: Jess Simmonite and Vicky Shaw, managing directors, White Rose Dyslexia Centre, The Portergate, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield.
WHILE politicians and local authority leaders apportion blame for the disappointing primary school SATs results in Yorkshire, the truth is that each academic year, children with specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, face the nightmare of SATs preparation and exams.
For years one-to-one support has been promised and has not materialised to any significant degree, denying these children the opportunity to achieve their full potential (Yorkshire Post, August 5).
We await the outcome of the finalised results in October and the ongoing dispute over the future of testing within our schools.
Women did not put us in this mess
From: John Abbott, Newland Avenue, Hull.
IF the national press is to be believed, Harriet Harman has, at first glance, put her foot in it again by suggesting that one of Labour's two top posts should always be held by a woman (Yorkshire Post, August 3).
Whether this is feminism so radical that she could be sectioned, or political self interest so transparent as to be revolting, she might almost have a point.
It wasn't women who were in charge of 12 years of stealth taxes, spin and lies, or who went mad with the Government's credit card until interest payments are the biggest thing on New Labour's shopping list. It was Messrs Blair, Brown and Darling – and she may be hoping and preparing to clear up the mess they made.
If so, it is to be hoped that she will never get the chance. Caroline Spelman, Theresa May, Chloe Smith and others would make a much better job. Come to think of it, so would David Cameron.
From: SF Clark, Coronation Avenue, Misson, Doncaster.
EDWIN Bateman has, in fact, missed out nothing regarding the outrageous state which this tin-pot Blair cum Brown Government have plunged the UK into (Yorkshire Post, July 25).
It appears we're not the only ones holding these views because some of Mr Brown's honourable women MPs relate his style of governing the Labour Party to that of a mafia boss. The substance within these traits to which these colleagues portray Mr Brown resemble those of a porcelain bull dog.
However, his forked tongued rhetoric is very irritating to say the least.
There seems to be animosity brewing with the loathed EU constitution. It is an illegal power grab.
D-day is not far away. Can we rely on Ireland's spanner in the works? If we could bribe them into a resounding "no", it would be worth every penny it may cost. Alas, what of the UK people never having the chance to say nay or yea?
In any right-thinking person's eyes, this must be the ultimate form or arrogance. Stalinistic springs to mind.
Healthy face of fox hunting
From: Phyllis Capstick, Hellifield, Skipton, North Yorkshire.
CONTRARY to the views of William Snowden (Yorkshire Post, August 4), fox hunters do not conserve to kill. They kill (some foxes) to conserve certain creatures in the countryside.
Fox hunters are country loving citizens, who care passionately about the countryside and all the animals, birds, etc therein.
Fox hunters do not chase an innocent "little fox" to the point of exhaustion, as anti-hunters believe.
A fit and healthy fox can easily outwit the slower reacting hounds, and it is not chased to exhaustion.
Fox hunting takes out the ones most likely to do harm in the
countryside. Shooting will take out the fit and healthy, and could kill a vixen raising cubs, hunting does not.
Farmers understand that sometimes they have to be cruel to be kind and we should not recoil from that course of action. Do gooders can do far more harm than good. Sometimes tough decisions have to be made, and we have to be strong for the good of everything and everyone. Nature is not all sweetness and light, and foxes certainly aren't.
They have a place in nature, but they are not classed as vermin for nothing.
Fox hunting ensures a healthy fox population and a healthy countryside, not a sickly one.
Only true country people can possibly understand.
Britain's financial haemorrhage to the EU's coffers
From: Stanley D Parr, Maple Avenue, Pershore, Worcs.
YOUR correspondent V Platt of Harrogate gives an excellent example of how we could spend the 40m per day we send to Brussels (Yorkshire Post, August 1).
Some idea of the enormous amount involved can be obtained by
remembering that this has been going on, day in and day out – including weekends – since 1972.
Our country has literally financially haemorrhaged to death over the last 30 years – thanks to a variety of elected politicians, who seem to be totally unaware that the population want out of
the EU.
With the Lib/Lab/Con group all singing from the same hymn sheet, I now have a problem with seeing a suitable future party – or even leader.
Also, if the Lisbon Treaty is signed by Ireland, we will all be fully ruled by Brussels anyway, so it won't really matter.
Amazing to think that the fate and future of a once Great Britain lies in the hands of an Irishman putting a cross on a piece of paper.
The pen is mightier than the sword, after all.
From: Anne Temple, Stradbroke Road, Sheffield.
THE Tories are, predictably, very critical of the EU. They have to be in order not to lose any more votes to UKIP at the next election.
What I want to know, however, is what will they do when they gain power – and find that they have to work with our EU partners on every issue going.
That's why they are wrong to have distanced themselves from the main power alliance in Brussels.
If the Tories want to fulfil their wishes, they will have to do with the co-operation of others. And that means behaving like grown up politicians rather than a sixth-form debating class.
Simplify the tax system
From: Coun Steve Radford, Liberal Party NEC, Sutton Street, Liverpool.
ALL too often, politicians will go out of their way to disagree with their rivals. So can we robustly agree with one our rivals.
Frank Field has called for a simplification of our tax and benefits schemes. How right he is. It is time this country returned to Gladstone's principles of taxation by operating fewer taxes and corresponding benefits.
If everyone was able to earn 12,000 tax free, we could reduce the whole burden of the tax benefits system at a stroke, or if all death duties were taxed at a simple 10 per cent over 100,000 received, and the countless exemptions abolished.
At a stroke, we could create a fairer and more efficient tax and benefits system which would help to regenerate the economy.
Troops' menu
From: David H Rhodes, Keble Park North, Bishopthorpe, York.
RECENTLY, a lot has been reported on the inadequate equipment and insufficient troop numbers in the Afghanistan conflict.
Another aspect has come to my attention and that is the food served to our front line troops. It has been alleged that the rations that are served to these brave lads (who are shot at and bombed nearly every day) consists of ravioli, rice and spam and very little else, and this was the menu over a six-week period.
Notice the lack of any fresh fruit or vegetables. My comment is to highlight that the mental well being is just as important as the
physical. So a little luxury could convey a little feeling of
appreciation.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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