The 'don't enter if easily offended thread'

[BraddersTim]

17 hours ago, Andyben said:

Fucking burn that whole city of the face of the earth 

Phil McNulty agrees with you.

[Skamp]

Well done Donald.

 

MAGA and then start on the Middle East please.

[Skamp]

Dominant Donald.

I'm pleased if only to piss off the self-righteous left leaning think they are right on and trendy Guardian reading tossers.

Especially them on X and on HIGNFY

Lineker et al will be frothing at the mouth.

Hopefully the Conservative majority in this country will do the right thing as well and come out in force.

[Skamp]

Barbie fans moaning that Oppenheimer as been nominated for more Oscars than the pink, plastic doll.

Let's think about this.

Gritty, reality of a true event that makes us all a bit uncomfortable vs a plastic toy that makes girls under 8 feel good.

Only this generation can think the second is more important than the first.

Surprised they've not called out the  'white, male privileged race that nuked the fuck out of some foreigners'.  Not be long I guess.

[BraddersTim]

1 hour ago, Skamp said:

Dominant Donald.

I'm pleased if only to piss off the self-righteous left leaning think they are right on and trendy Guardian reading tossers.

Especially them on X and on HIGNFY

Lineker et al will be frothing at the mouth.

Hopefully the Conservative majority in this country will do the right thing as well and come out in force.

I bet he shit his nappy in delight.

[Tank_Owl2,0]

Looks like a young Carol Kirkwood.

[Reesh]

[Beaconowl]

Toytown Police training 

[Steve444]

On 24/01/2024 at 08:40, Skamp said:

Barbie fans moaning that Oppenheimer as been nominated for more Oscars than the pink, plastic doll.

Let's think about this.

Gritty, reality of a true event that makes us all a bit uncomfortable vs a plastic toy that makes girls under 8 feel good.

Only this generation can think the second is more important than the first.

Surprised they've not called out the  'white, male privileged race that nuked the fuck out of some foreigners'.  Not be long I guess.

 

More lefty bollox as per.

[mkowl]

Not that interesting, but Mrs MK has being doing some exam invigilation work. It totally highlights the changed world from my youth. So we were piled 200 into the hall, get the fuck on with it. Now they have the main hall, the side room for those getting extra time, the anxiety room, the really anxious room, notwithstanding that some do the exam at home with 1 to 1 invigilation.

So for all this pampering, the attendance for one session this week was 0/5.

How the hell these kids going to survive in the real world 

Edited February 17 by mkowl

[Tewksbury]

9 minutes ago, mkowl said:

Not that interesting, but Mrs MK has being doing some exam invigilation work. It totally highlights the changed world from my youth. So we were piled 200 into the hall, get the fuck on with it. Now they have the main hall, the side room for those getting extra time, the anxiety room, the really anxious room, notwithstanding that some do the exam at home with 1 to 1 invigilation.

So for all this pampering, the attendance for one session this week was 0/5.

How the hell these kids going to survive in the real world 

My boy is autistic and taking his exams this year.

He has the extra time anxiety room, but the problem is that they change it to whatever room is free, usually somewhere out of the way.

So he gets more anxious about having to find and sit in a room he's never been in before than the actual exam.

(He is under no illusion about surviving in the real world by the way. His plan is to stay with us then move in with his sister when we die)

[Tylluan]

Wife has been teaching for 25 years in the same inner city comp and is a HoD. She's also an external exam marker. 

She regularly says that it's the kids on the spectrum that actually want to learn but mainstream schooling puts a lot of barriers in their way. Short notice room and teacher changes being a couple. But get them into a rhythm and they shine. 

The kids she gets really pissed off with are the ones who believe they're entitled and the parents who feed it. The ones who are intelligent enough to try and use every hashtag virtue signalling trend they find on TikTok but won't apply that intelligence to class work. The ones who can't be arsed in class cos they've signed blue forms with Forest or Leicester and they know they're going to make it. The ones who think they'll just make it on social media cos they've got 'personality and looks' so don't need exams. These are the kids who end up not being able to hold down a zero hour contract at Sports Direct or can't hack the pressure of McDonald's at lunchtime. But you can't tell them that because that would be crushing their dream and stifling their creativity. 

But she still has to put the effort in. She has to listen to parents shouting that the school hasn't done enough when their kid has fucked up. She's the one who has to put up with the allegations of 'miss hates me, she's always picking on me' which now have to be investigated if a parent makes a complaint.

Her academy trust has a 35% turnover of teachers leaving the profession within 5 years of starting. University does not set you up to be a teacher which is why there's all these adverts trying to entice over 40s into teaching. The only ones sticking it out are those who've been in the job 20-30 years or more because they're looking at their pension. But the system is fucked when they leave. 

Edited February 17 by Tylluan

[mkowl]

4 hours ago, Tewksbury said:

My boy is autistic and taking his exams this year.

He has the extra time anxiety room, but the problem is that they change it to whatever room is free, usually somewhere out of the way.

So he gets more anxious about having to find and sit in a room he's never been in before than the actual exam.

(He is under no illusion about surviving in the real world by the way. His plan is to stay with us then move in with his sister when we die)

I think as Ty says its some playing the system, which then annoys me because it takes away resource from dare I say more deserving cases. As my Mrs said yesterday, one girl needed the toilet apparently. So she stays in the class and a floating person outside does the accompanying. Girl never returns, but in the meantime another girl in the class just spots the opportunity to fuck off. Girl 2 eventually returns, but causes commotion outside. In all this a 3rd lass that genuinely needs the loo and had been working away, can't go immediately and gets distracted. 

I readily accept in my day it was not understood or it simply was ignored. 

[Andyben]

Still nowhere near as bad as what we would do in lessons 

[mkowl]

1 minute ago, Andyben said:

Still nowhere near as bad as what we would do in lessons 

I was the swotty uncool kid at the front trying to learn 

[Andyben]

Was....

[Tewksbury]

1 hour ago, mkowl said:

I think as Ty says its some playing the system, which then annoys me because it takes away resource from dare I say more deserving cases. As my Mrs said yesterday, one girl needed the toilet apparently. So she stays in the class and a floating person outside does the accompanying. Girl never returns, but in the meantime another girl in the class just spots the opportunity to fuck off. Girl 2 eventually returns, but causes commotion outside. In all this a 3rd lass that genuinely needs the loo and had been working away, can't go immediately and gets distracted. 

I readily accept in my day it was not understood or it simply was ignored. 

My boy started in special school and moved to mainstream primary.

He was fully funded, 15hrs of assistance that he needed at specific times, mainly lunch, play and lessons that involved social interaction with other students.

Imagine my surprise when I find that he's not eaten in a month and they're trying to exclude him for fighting as the assistance that he was supposed to have during lunch (along with the funding for another pupil) has been used to make another class for students to be sent to who need extra help.

Not blaming the school, as they have a hard job with resources as it is, but 90% of the extra help in that class was for the students who couldn't speak English, which wasn't funded so they had to use what was available.

The toilet thing is a travesty. My daughter (also on the spectrum, probably explains my love for spreadsheets) has massive issues with this, but it's always the same kids taking the piss. She has a pass, but won't use it. She's been sent home to change more than once, despite this being raised numerous times.

The entire system needs overhauling from top to bottom, but it's too politically sensitive to ever do so.

[BraddersTim]

My company has a contract with the local council.  We supply drivers with enhanced DBS to drive children and adults with special needs to schools and adult centres.  The entire system is under constant stress to the point of nearly breaking down.  5 years ago there were 1500 children in the area with SEN, now there are 3500+ and rising, putting a huge resource cost on a council that basically can't afford it.  I think they have about 200 vehicles and I know that this week 43 of them are in the workshop either for repair on inspection.  Very few of them will come out quickly because that council operated workshop also does the refuse trucks, cans etc and there's a huge backlog and very few staff there, plus a shortage of parts.  The people responsible for planning are just getting by minute to minute, firefighting the whole time, until it takes its toll on them too. 

I've done quite a lot of shifts to help out when they've been desperate and it's a massively rewarding job.  You're driving much of the time (but not always) in some of the poorest areas of the city, the depravation is plain to see.  But the positive impact on the kids themselves and their family's of the kids getting to school is lovely to see.  Do I think that the system is being played?  By and large, No.  All the kids I've seen have genuine special needs, many are non verbal, some in wheelchairs, others with Autism, severe ADHD and much more.  Most of the time they're just great kids, often very intelligent, sometimes not, but honestly, it's usually a joy of a job to do.

What I don't understand is what has driven the huge increase in numbers of SEND across the country.  I really don't think that it's down to parents playing the system, certainly not in the area I'm in.  But it's causing massive financial pain to councils when they can least afford it.  Politicians are going to have to start looking at it soon, but hopefully without causing culture wars on the subject.  It needs real experts in the field to offer analysis and find solutions otherwise the system will break.  I saw a clip from a council meeting somewhere (on X) and it was horrible.  Councillors glibly talking about the costs of SEND, with no insight, making assumptions and highlighting their prejudices.  It's a shame because with some actual experts in the room, they might have been able to understand the problems a bit better.

I've tried to keep politics out of this, because in my view the issue needs to be reviewed thoroughly, but when you talk about council funding, kids with special needs, teachers, poverty and immigration etc, entrenched political views come to the front and the conversation gets derailed.  I'm not an expert on this - it's just a viewpoint from somebody who has been working in the system and having meetings with the transport management for the last 2 years. 

Edited February 19 by BraddersTim

[Tewksbury]

12 minutes ago, BraddersTim said:

My company has a contract with the local council.  We supply drivers with enhanced DBS to drive children and adults with special needs to schools and adult centres.  The entire system is under constant stress to the point of nearly breaking down.  5 years ago there were 1500 children in the area with SEN, now there are 3500+ and rising, putting a huge resource cost on a council that basically can't afford it.  I think they have about 200 vehicles and I know that this week 43 of them are in the workshop either for repair on inspection.  Very few of them will come out quickly because that council operated workshop also does the refuse trucks, cans etc and there's a huge backlog and very few staff there, plus a shortage of parts.  The people responsible for planning are just getting by minute to minute, firefighting the whole time, until it takes its toll on them too. 

I've done quite a lot of shifts to help out when they've been desperate and it's a massively rewarding job.  You're driving much of the time (but not always) in some of the poorest areas of the city, the depravation is plain to see.  But the positive impact on the kids themselves and their family's of the kids getting to school is lovely to see.  Do I think that the system is being played?  By and large, No.  All the kids I've seen have genuine special needs, many are non verbal, some in wheelchairs, others with Autism, severe ADHD and much more.  Most of the time they're just great kids, often very intelligent, sometimes not, but honestly, it's usually a joy of a job to do.

What I don't understand is what has driven the huge increase in numbers of SEND across the country.  I really don't think that it's down to parents playing the system, certainly not in the area I'm in.  But it's causing massive financial pain to councils when they can least afford it.  Politicians are going to have to start looking at it soon, but hopefully without causing culture wars on the subject.  It needs real experts in the field to offer analysis and find solutions otherwise the system will break.  I saw a clip from a council meeting somewhere (on X) and it was horrible.  Councillors glibly talking about the costs of SEND, with no insight, making assumptions and highlighting their prejudices.  It's a shame because with some actual experts in the room, they might have been able to understand the problems a bit better.

I've tried to keep politics out of this, because in my view the issue needs to be reviewed thoroughly, but when you talk about council funding, kids with special needs, teachers, poverty and immigration etc, entrenched political views come to the front and the conversation gets derailed.  I'm not an expert on this - it's just a viewpoint from somebody who has been working in the system and having meetings with the transport management for the last 2 years. 

The issue with SEND is that it's such a broad spectrum that covers a massive range of issues, as it's for educational needs, not necessarily purely medical needs.

A lot of the rise is down to education and stigma.

People see it more as they now know what to look for. What used to be inattentive or naughty is now looked at a bit closer.

There is a minority of parents who do look for statements and diagnosis as an excuse for their child's behaviour or whatever. We spend a lot of time with various SEND people and it is an issue. It's also pretty (there's probably a better way of saying this, but) fashionable to have a kid and among kids to 'be different', be it SEND or on the LGBT spectrum. Most of the kids at their school have some identity that separates them from 'normal'

Stigma is also a thing. It used to be seen as being a 'failure' in some ways having a child who wasn't 'normal', now it's almost the opposite (see above)

One of the hardest things was convincing my wife that she hadn't 'failed' and it wasn't her fault when the boy was diagnosed, she took everything very personally at the time.

My boy had the transport when he was smaller, you do God's work. We are still in contact with his former escort from over 10 years ago.

The system at the minute is massively backlogged and is probably making the system worse. My boy got diagnosed early and had help and therapy almost immediately, which I'm thankful for every day as even he sees other kids in the same boat, who didn't get the help he had and are in a much worse state, even though, medically, he's sort of much 'more' autistic.

[Andyben]

NGL thought this thread was for tits n fanny.

[Tewksbury]

3 minutes ago, Andyben said:

NGL thought this thread was for tits n fanny.

As long as you're not offended by the change of tack, it's still technically all good.

[Reesh]

What flavour windows do the buses use?

Edited February 19 by Reesh

[mkowl]

Today I have mainly been on a road where Stuart Broad has apparently just purchased a property for £4m

No tits or fanny sorry 

[Skamp]

Saw this book today and thought that there's far too many in here to tag in.

You know who you are.

[Andyben]

 

[Skamp]