Time was, in a professional capacity, I was a player in a UK-wide network. This network was run from London and from time to time they'd deign to fly up to Scotland and patronise us with their big city wisdom. This was always slightly irritating for all of us, because, frankly, things are very different in Scotland than they are in England, and London especially. But we would listen, more or less respectfully, albeit through a veil of disinterest. Sometimes the veil grew very heavy - and never so heavy as when the representative from the Highlands started lecturing us all on how things are different in the Highlands - and on and on he would harp. Because, as it turns out, being lectured by people who don't know what they are talking about but whose pockets are full of money, is considerably less irritating than being lectured to by people who no-one else understands because by golly it's grim up north and giveusyermoney you poncy southern twat.Ahemm.
Flushed with the success of having our bins emptied after a wait of five weeks ( they were last emptied December 14th), I went for a parents meeting at the Secondary school The Girl will be attending in a couple of years. Amongst many other amusing little agenda items including such gems as Why it probably wasn't such a good idea to dig up the playing field afterall, and The New School Car Park - we wuz robbed, and How to get roads maintained in Sutherland* we were there to discuss The Curriculum for Excellence, and a proposal by the school to bring forward choosing Standard Grade subjects from the end of S2 to the end of S1.
The Curriculum for Excellence sounds excellent, and maybe it is, and it is supposed to be coming into our schools in August, but no one has told the teachers how it will work, no one has figured out how it will be examined and it all seems to be so up in the air - it looks like a disaster waiting to happen. Interesting - such a good handle - The Curriculum for Excellence - and we fall asleep cos it must be good. Well maybe it could be - but it sure as hell aint just yet.
Well the school, which, incidentally has a catchment area the size of Lanarkshire (865 sq miles, cf Greater London 659 sq miles, Edinburgh & Lothian 664 sq miles, East Yorkshire 957 sq miles, Hamburg 292 sq miles (so you see things really are different, and grim, up north), (breath!), has decided, what? Can't remember. Anyway - apparently it will help to solve the infamous S2 drop, and improve Higher results.
Which brings me back to the bins. I mean even the recycling was collected yesterday. An event worthy of remark. And photographs - but only three, because the camera batteries gave up.
*The answer, according to someone who really should know, is to destroy the old road, with, it was implied, a pickaxe if necessary.
2 comments:
Yay, our bins were emptied yesterday too. The recycling's still waiting though.
My kid's school brought the option choices forward by a year. They now choose their GCSE subjects at the end of year 8 when they're 12/13 rather than at the end of year 9. They take the GCSE's in year 11.
Excellent ! - Have no other readers had their bins emptied recently?
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