tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post4991866256540658529..comments2024-03-25T09:56:16.164+00:00Comments on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure: Dear Mr GoveUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-65284854388223593302014-04-11T09:16:25.715+01:002014-04-11T09:16:25.715+01:00I agree completely with the sentiment but be caref...I agree completely with the sentiment but be careful with inaccuracy. Many state school kids do take Double and Triple Award Science but many, many state schools, like mine, offer Biology, Chemistry and Physics as separate GCSE options. My boy got A* in each of them last summer.Paul Reesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-15382920941746323892014-04-10T17:36:00.989+01:002014-04-10T17:36:00.989+01:00@Keren Brilliant and well-informed piece, I wish ...@Keren Brilliant and well-informed piece, I wish I had been there.<br />@Emma Your comment is spot on as well.<br /><br />I despair about this government, particularly the Tories who make decisions based on ideology and rank populism instead of evidence. I think there is a role for parent-teacher associations to organise donations of books and making space for them within schools In this climate.DavidKThorpehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04215770376688861114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-40758146659007666892014-04-10T09:39:36.489+01:002014-04-10T09:39:36.489+01:00Well said, Keren. If you're sending the letter...Well said, Keren. If you're sending the letter to Gove and want signatures then count me in!Julie Sykesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-81763776741020501842014-04-09T14:22:53.320+01:002014-04-09T14:22:53.320+01:00All the more galling, Julia, because he told anoth...All the more galling, Julia, because he told another questioner off for basing her question on anecdotal evidence (and 20 years as a teacher)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10610409581031026487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-58895108644775455462014-04-09T13:40:31.853+01:002014-04-09T13:40:31.853+01:00Gove ignoring the evidence? Now there's a surp...Gove ignoring the evidence? Now there's a surprise!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-76964239029701655362014-04-09T11:43:33.099+01:002014-04-09T11:43:33.099+01:00All mimsy were the Borrower Goves
Till one said:
&...All mimsy were the Borrower Goves<br />Till one said:<br />"We'll have no borrowing here!" <br />and closed the library.<br /><br />Beware the Tory boys, my son...<br />The claws that snatch, and snatch, and snatch...Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-89085618964608491972014-04-08T23:19:14.453+01:002014-04-08T23:19:14.453+01:00I'm hoping to go into the profession in the ne...I'm hoping to go into the profession in the next year or so. For the last few months I've been applying for trainee positions in various libraries. It's noticeable though that most of these trainee graduate positions are either in university libraries, law firms, or (very occasionally) private secondary schools. I want to be a primary state librarian - how on Earth am I going to do that?!<br /><br />What was it Malorie Blackman said a while back? Something about how prisons are required to have a library, but not schools? If I've not remembered that wrong, that to me seems to sum up a pretty dire situation.<br /><br />It's not as if schools are unaware of the importance of a library eiether, just ministers it seems. When I was training to be a teacher I let slip what it is I do for a living and that I know my way round your average kids' section of a library - I remember my tutor's eyes quite clearly lighting up and going slightly glazed as she tried to figure out exactly how she could use what I know. Now imagine if I had a real library education and a *gasp* modest budget behind me - I would LOVE to be let loose in a school library like that, buy in books, invest in author visits/partnerships, work out ways to make the library the heart of the school again! How on Earth did it get to the state where it isn't anyway?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-14575888133228281532014-04-08T18:57:56.481+01:002014-04-08T18:57:56.481+01:00Such a great piece, Emma. There is no argument fo...Such a great piece, Emma. There is no argument for closing libraries and that's what's so frustrating. Because reading for pleasure is a non-measurable, it has no value for politicians. They'll say what they like- they don't actually care if we're convinced!emmachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01958197471937482389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-28524855394969519692014-04-08T17:06:22.278+01:002014-04-08T17:06:22.278+01:00Hear absolutely hear, Emma! This sums it up - writ...Hear absolutely hear, Emma! This sums it up - write to the papers! Write to Gove!Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-13841277871654756732014-04-08T16:59:15.687+01:002014-04-08T16:59:15.687+01:00I think the most astonishing bit of this is the co...I think the most astonishing bit of this is the comment that libraries in small primary schools would only be a couple of book shelves anyway. Too true. At the moment that's often exactly what they are. Which leaves the question of where exactly primary children are supposed to access books?<br /><br />When I visit primary schools part of my job as "visiting author" is to talk to the children about books, and I often ask them what they are reading, and recommend a range of titles they might enjoy. But how do they follow that up? There are so few books in school, the public libraries have been cut, there often isn't a local bookshop. In more prosperous areas, the parents might buy books but that isn't an option in more deprived areas. There is so much evidence now of the wide benefits of reading for pleasure - HOW ARE CHILDREN TO READ WITHOUT ACCESS TO BOOKS?<br /><br />I think the problem is particularly bad in primary schools - and this is the time when reading for pleasure really needs to be established. It's too late to wait until high school. <br /><br />To say that primary school libraries are likely to be inadequate therefore there's no point in making schools have them - that's an incredibly bizarre response. If reading is important - it's vital! - then start making it a priority, start making libraries something OFSTED will assess when inspecting schools, start making school libraries and librarians compulsory and things must improve. Mr Gove can do this is anyone can! But just shrugging shoulders while more School Library Services close (the latest North Yorkshire) is shameful. <br /><br />Mr Gove has spoken a lot recently about how he wants more social equality in the education system, so that even the poorest children can get access to an excellent education. Reading for pleasure has been shown to be a major factor in predicting educational success, independent of social background. Enabling all children access to a wide range of books, regardless of their backgrounds, is therefore an important part of Mr Gove's professed goal. School libraries are the obvious way to do this. It's really not rocket science.Emma Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02718171070716804800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-48671713100484507472014-04-08T14:15:56.419+01:002014-04-08T14:15:56.419+01:00This is what happens when schools are forced to va...This is what happens when schools are forced to value league tables over providing a wide, solid education which cultivates a love of learning. I'm lucky that I took to reading at a very early age and that my love of reading has remained throughout my life. <br /><br />Reading has allowed me to pursue my own educational interests and rebuild my confidence, which was destroyed partly by a grammar school who cared about the grades I got, but didn't give a stuff about me otherwise (and in fact exacerbated the mental health problems I had as a teenager). I pity children who do not have even the advantage of a love of reading to buoy them up during the years of learning to pass exams.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-15513235351306332612014-04-08T12:36:44.938+01:002014-04-08T12:36:44.938+01:00The only qualification necessary to becoming an MP...The only qualification necessary to becoming an MP is the ability to get people to vote for you. Nothing else is tested or necessary. You don't have to be competent, truthful or honest, just persuasive.<br /><br />And as the Anarchy Soc notice board had it many years ago: no matter who you vote for, the government always gets in.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09799125598133377058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-53084475876778911102014-04-08T10:39:08.803+01:002014-04-08T10:39:08.803+01:00Sorry for the typos! :-) I can spell, really! PS B...Sorry for the typos! :-) I can spell, really! PS Book reports? My kids do book trailers, author interviews, fan fiction, essays...Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-44814098288447212022014-04-08T10:37:27.730+01:002014-04-08T10:37:27.730+01:00Alas, Keren, it isn't only in the UK that this...Alas, Keren, it isn't only in the UK that this sort of thing is happening. It's happening here in Australia too, because there's always some politician who makes loud noises abut how dreadful teachers are and that proncipals should have more power. But when school principals are given the power to make decisions on how the school budget is spent, all they end up having the power to do is decide where to make cuts and the library is always first, because it's the easiest place to start. My own multi-campus school has a major literacy program going, a very good one, but the principal is getting rid of librarians and trying to scrap the libraries themselves because,"they get it all on the Internet, why do we need a library? Why do we need a teacher in the library?"<br />It's not that they don't know better, but that they don't WANT to know better. And my country is copying countries that have failed in education and having the nerve to call it a "reform".<br />I have been meeting challenges, one after another, thrown at me by our principal, but the time will come wen I have had enough and what apens to the kids then?<br /><br />Mayb the pollies think they'll get more votes from an ignorant public who don't read.Sue Bursztynskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09362273418897882971noreply@blogger.com