Wednesday, July 08, 2015



Nobody else will mention this.  You will read it only here

Read the story below and ask yourself what is wrong with the school concerned.  ZEG read the report and concluded it was a case of general breakdown of discipline.  That's a part of the story but he failed to allow for how heavily our news is censored.  I have read very similar reports about certain schools in Britain so I knew immediately what the problem was.  I give the answer following the article below

Australia: TEACHERS at a western Sydney school have described a culture of fear and violence with students threatening them with rape and murder.

Following revelations that students at Granville Boys High School were trading knives “for protection” more teachers have broken ranks to speak to the Parramatta Advertiser, saying threats and intimidation are routine.

One teacher, who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution, said some staff — male and female — walked to their cars in groups for safety, because of concerns students would carry out their threats.

“They make threats, they say they’ll kill us, they’ll bash us. They say things like, ‘I’ll meet you down a dark alley and rape you’; ‘Wait ’til I see you after school, Miss’. And it’s males and females that they say that to, it’s not just the female (staff),” she said.

Granville Boys High School promotes its ‘Safe Respectful Learners’ motto out the front of

Granville Boys High School promotes its ‘Safe Respectful Learners’ motto out the front of the school. Picture: Stephen Cooper Source: News Corp Australia

It is understood that despite a knife amnesty carried out by the school in June, students are still carrying blades with some calling themselves “street pharmacists”.

It is claimed they have methamphetamines or “ice” and pills at school.

“They’re carrying knives (and) we have no control over them — what’s to stop them from killing one of us?” a female teacher said.

Of 20 students interviewed by the Advertiser, 14 said they were aware of at least one other student who had brought a knife to school. Four said they knew students who had brought drugs to school.

The school has been credited with taking steps to rebuild its reputation and the environment for students, including the establishment of a before-class cafe run by students following the 2011 stabbing of a student in a schoolyard brawl.

A NSW Department of Education spokesman said possession of any illegal substance or implement was not tolerated in NSW public schools.

The spokesman said since recent reports of a knife amnesty, no teacher at the school had raised weapons issues with the principal.  “No question of personal safety involving the behaviour of students has been raised with the principal by any staff member,” he said.

NSW Teachers’ Federation president Maurie Mulheron called on the Department of Education to investigate the claims. “Any concerns that have been raised where safety is compromised, we expect the department to investigate the allegation,” Mr Mulheron said.

In a video leaked to the Advertiser that was filmed on school equipment and screened with executive approval at the school’s 2013 Year 12 formal, students can be seen making religious slurs.

The students are heard ordering a “McJesus and holy water” at a McDonald’s drive-through — as well as fighting and degrading the school.

In an email to principal Linda O’Brien, sent to all staff from a teacher, the “insensitive” nature of the video was raised.

“I am writing to you all about a segment of the video which made reference to the Jesus and holy water (sic)”, the email read.

“Students may not understand the significance of this, but as a teacher we have the responsibility to teach the right thing to our students. This is a public school and this sort of insensitive comment should be avoided.”

A NSW Department of Education spokesman said Ms O’Brien “was on leave during the production and screening of a video produced by students.”  The spokesman said Ms O’Brien had not seen the video.

TIMELINE OF TERROR

2008 — A group of five Granville Boys High School students run through Merrylands High School brandishing baseball bats and machetes, leaving 18 students and one teacher in hospital

2011 — A GBHS student, 16, is stabbed six times in the stomach in a schoolyard fight between two other students, 14 and 15

Police at Granville Boys High School where a 16-year-old student received multiple stab w

Police at Granville Boys High School where a 16-year-old student received multiple stab wounds during a schoolyard fight four years ago. Source: News Limited

2013 — A video produced on school equipment containing religious slurs — ordering a “McJesus and holy water” at a McDonald’s drive-through — and depicting fighting, is screened at an end-of-year formal to more than 100 parents, staff and students

June 2015 — Two students suspended for carrying knives at school. A leaked email says students are “trading” blades between each other for “safety” and the school holds a knife amnesty

SOURCE

Did you pick it up?  The Education Dept. is in denial for a very good reason.  I knew immediately what to look for so went straight to the school website.  We read there:  Ninety-nine per cent of students are from a non-English speaking background

To be blunt, it is just Muslims being Muslims and showing their usual contempt for the rest of us. Their religion teaches them that contempt.  Start reading the Koran at Surah 9 if you doubt it







Don't Give Obama More Power Over Schools

After spending most of June giving President Obama new authority to negotiate trade deals with low-wage countries in Asia, congressional Republicans are now poised to spend July giving Obama new authority over education in America's public schools. This is a big disappointment for those of us who worked hard to elect a Republican Congress last November. We expected the new Congress to take power back from the president, not give him more.

For the past 50 years, the engine of federal control over local schools has been Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. It was the first in a series of socialist laws that President Lyndon Johnson promised would lead to a "Great Society" after we won his declared "war on poverty."

Johnson's Great Society legislation was speedily enacted by a Congress in which Democrats outnumbered Republicans by more than two to one (295-140 in the House and 68-32 in the Senate). Despite the trillions of dollars spent since 1965, we're no closer to achieving a Great Society; by many measures, America's education and social welfare are much worse today than when those programs were launched 50 years ago.

Republicans had an opportunity to dismantle the failed regime of federal control when they regained control of both Houses of Congress in 1994 and then elected a president in 2000. Unfortunately, George W. Bush campaigned on the slogan "Leave No Child Behind" as his signature domestic agenda item, and John Boehner, then chairman of the House Education Committee, produced a bill that rebranded the old ESEA under the new title "No Child Left Behind."

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) promised to bring all children (including all demographic minorities measured separately) to 100 percent proficiency by 2014. Of course, that didn't happen, and nearly everyone now recognizes NCLB as a complete failure.

With their current historic majority in both Houses, there's a new opportunity for Republicans to dismantle the 50-year failure of money poured into local public schools with strings attached. Unfortunately, Republicans, once again, are on the verge of just rebranding the same failed programs with new and overly optimistic slogans: the "Student Success Act" (in the House) and the "Every Child Achieves Act," ECAA, (in the Senate).

Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., has been speaking in front of a sign saying "Fix No Child Left Behind," as he touts the ECAA bill as a bipartisan "consensus about how to fix it." A former secretary of education in the Bush 41 administration, Lamar almost didn't return to the Senate this year after he won less than 50 percent of the Republican vote against an underfunded tea party challenger.

The claim that ECAA is somehow a "fix" for NCLB is laughable, and equally false is the claim that it gets rid of the hated Common Core. While it makes a great show of disavowing the name Common Core, Lamar's bill continues and extends the standards-and-testing mandate that Common Core was designed to satisfy.

The proof that ECAA will indirectly reinforce federal control is the way it requires states to force testing on students whose parents want to opt them out of that mindless exercise, as tens of thousands already have done.

One method the schools have used against students whose parents opt them out is to force kids to sit quietly at an empty desk -- forbidden to read, write or draw -- while other students take the test. Parents call this form of punishment "sit and stare."

In Oldmans Township, N.J., 9-year-old Cassidy Thornton, whose parents opted her out of the mandated PARCC exam, was humiliated to tears by being excluded from the end-of-year cupcake and juice-box party with the rest of her class. Cassidy's mom called it bullying, but the school defended its decision to reward test-takers because federal rules require 95 percent of students to be tested.

Education has become a critical issue for 2016 presidential candidates. Even Donald Trump, in his speech at Trump Tower announcing his candidacy, made a point of declaring, "Common Core is a disaster. Education has to be local."

But Jeb Bush, whose foundation took millions from Bill Gates and Pearson to promote Common Core, remains unmoved by grassroots opposition. Two years ago, Jeb derided parents concerned about Common Core as people who are "comfortable with mediocrity," an insult that rivals Arne Duncan's slam at "white suburban moms who all of a sudden (realize) their child isn't as brilliant as they thought they were."

Jeb actually praised the heavy-handed federal role in public education: "Look, I think Secretary Duncan and President Obama deserve credit for putting pressure on states, providing carrots and sticks. I think that's appropriate."

No, Jeb, it's not appropriate. Tell your U.S. senators and representatives to vote no on any bill to reauthorize a federal role in public education.

SOURCE






British teachers use secret code to single out disadvantaged pupils

Students from poorer backgrounds are identified with stickers on their books as schools struggle to meet government's social mobility targets

Poor pupils are being singled out with special stickers on their books as teachers strive to meet government targets on social mobility, it is claimed.

A new report has found school staff are having to flag up disadvantaged children in classrooms using coloured 'spots' so that 'everyone knows' their family background.

Such pupils are eligible for the 'pupil premium', extra money given to schools to provide extra help to deprived children.

The tactic is aimed at reminding school staff which pupils need special attention, as schools are under intense pressure to improve attainment among poorer pupils.

But yesterday there were questions over whether it was appropriate to be singling out children in such an obvious way.

Critics also said it could also disadvantage struggling children who were not eligible for the premium but still needed help.

The report, commissioned by the National Union of Teachers and conducted by London Metropolitan University, examined the impact of government accountability figures.

Professor Merryn Hutchings, who carried out the research, said she was 'shocked' to discover the impact of government attainment targets on classrooms.

The research, which included a survey of almost 8,000 teachers, found teachers were under 'huge pressure to meet accountability measures'.

It has led to teachers 'labelling' children according to their marks and their needs, with some schools putting pressure on children to achieve using wall charts to show their progress.

Professor Hutchings said: 'Some reported that pupils in their schools are openly labelled in relation to their attainment, their eligibility for the pupil premium, their special needs.

'For example, by putting spots on exercise books so that everyone knows this is a pupil premium child.

'Or in one school putting both attainment results and progress on the walls where all the pupils and teachers could see them.'

The research also found teachers were required to make 'detailed seating plans' for all classes with highly detailed personal information about each student.

This includes special educational needs, eligibility for free school meals or pupil premium and whether they are in the care of the local authority.

Teachers are also required to mark down whether pupils are native speakers of English, how good they are at English and maths and general notes about their 'aptitude and attitude'.

One teacher said that they were having to exclude children from enrichment activities meant for 'pupil premium' children, and found it 'hard to explain in a sensitive way'.

Others said that they were now having to focus on poorer children at the expense of those with special needs.

The report questioned whether the increasing focus on grades and targets had turned schools into 'exam factories'.

And it said teachers were witnessing 'unprecedented levels of school-related anxiety, stress and mental health problems amongst pupils, particularly around exam time'.

Kevin Courtney, Deputy General Secretary of the NUT said: 'Teachers have to spend too much time on paperwork and data analysis to satisfy external government measures.  'This leaves insufficient time for teachers to get to know their pupils as individuals.

'There is excessive and increasing pressure to identify pupils using numbers linked to rates of progress, or pupils' individual targets.  'Students are much more than a score, yet schools are measured largely on numerical data alone.'

'The high stakes nature of the tests and targets restrict and constrain how heads and teachers behave. Government policy increasingly views individual children and young people as units of data.'

A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'Part of our commitment to social justice is the determination to ensure every child is given an education that allows them realise their potential.

'That's why we are raising standards with a rigorous new curriculum, world class exams and new accountability system that rewards those schools which help every child to achieve their best.'

SOURCE



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