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I think I've been quite restrained until now.
. Amongst other approaches, why not a 'learn to cook club' for mums, where the product is eaten by these poor starving waifs? Simple ingredients are inexpensive and that is, surely, the whole point. Oh.... I know ...... regulations again. Food hygiene certificates, premises inspections, local authority licencing (my idea of opening the school cafeteria to the local community failed on this one - even snacks for the night school classes). It goes on and on.
I think I've been quite restrained until now.
Have you tried to get into a school recently? It's easier to get into a nuclear weapons compound. All those nasty people out there.
If I were still a head teacher, I wouldn't want to do the risk assessment on that one. Nor take responsibility in the current blame culture. Nor pay for all those DBS checks. There would be whole departments employed in making sure the legislation, regulations, policy, guidance, assessment, monitoring, inspection, recording, background checks, references, access control, segregated facilities etc. etc. etc. (ad infinitum) was all in place. Not a cheap alternative.
Neither is taking kids into care instead of paying a bit to feed them. There could be ways that get food into children, rather than money into betting shops; as many here seem to fear. Story drift......... When I took over a residential school (care home with education, in old money) right back in 1999. The starting point for fees (paid by local authorities) was £1660 a week. Four years later, when I moved on, I had instituted a sliding scale of fees but the stating point was £2200 a week. OK, we had a high staff ratio, because we had very difficult boys, but if you put lots of kids into care you are just widening the funnel that will lead a small minority to places like that.
Where would all those care homes come from? And the appropriate staff? Remember, care homes are businesses and have a bit of a reputation for employing cheap staff*. It has taken 20 years to get a long way towards sorting out quality in care homes and putting in place a half decent inspection regime. Putting right the negative effects of the deregulation and effective privatisation put in place by the Thatcher government has been a hard slog with many casualties in both staff and kids (sorry, looked after young people). The infrastructure just doesn't exist and is beyond current capacity to create. Or maybe there could be Nightingale care homes. Big hangars full of children freed from the 'care' of parents (as previously described on this thread) and placed into the hands of staff fully inculcated with just what they are not allowed to do (no matter how tempting a clip round the ear might be) and so are the kids.
*A few years before went there, a previous owner, if he found himself of short evening/night care staff, would go to the pub down the road and ask the general crowd, "Does anyone want a shift?"
I'm not against adults coming into schools. Really good idea and I instituted and encouraged it (but not so much in the last 20 years or so - reasons above). I ran cooking clubs in primary schools in 'rough' areas. Often I had more mums 'helping' than I had kids in the club. They were desperate to learn how to cook something other than ready meals. That is where the solution lays. Don't blame them. We are where we are. Open up manifold routes for parents (and 'about to be' parents) to acquire these skills. You need lots of different routes in for small groups. After all, that's how you eat an elephant
Enough. I spent nearly forty years trying to sort this shit out. It seems that every box you try to open contains a sprung jack that punches you in the face and hits you on the side of the head with a summons to a professional standards investigative meeting, while jabbing multiple regulation into your gut.
And breath............
www.covita.net
Then improve the care homes, something that the state can directly control.
You're preaching to the concerted in this "echo chamber". PMBJ was on TV just this lunchtime, confirming the extra £1k payment increase
.Well said fellah. You hit more than one nail on the head there.I think I've been quite restrained until now.
Have you tried to get into a school recently? It's easier to get into a nuclear weapons compound. All those nasty people out there.
If I were still a head teacher, I wouldn't want to do the risk assessment on that one. Nor take responsibility in the current blame culture. Nor pay for all those DBS checks. There would be whole departments employed in making sure the legislation, regulations, policy, guidance, assessment, monitoring, inspection, recording, background checks, references, access control, segregated facilities etc. etc. etc. (ad infinitum) was all in place. Not a cheap alternative.
Neither is taking kids into care instead of paying a bit to feed them. There could be ways that get food into children, rather than money into betting shops; as many here seem to fear. Story drift......... When I took over a residential school (care home with education, in old money) right back in 1999. The starting point for fees (paid by local authorities) was £1660 a week. Four years later, when I moved on, I had instituted a sliding scale of fees but the stating point was £2200 a week. OK, we had a high staff ratio, because we had very difficult boys, but if you put lots of kids into care you are just widening the funnel that will lead a small minority to places like that.
Where would all those care homes come from? And the appropriate staff? Remember, care homes are businesses and have a bit of a reputation for employing cheap staff*. It has taken 20 years to get a long way towards sorting out quality in care homes and putting in place a half decent inspection regime. Putting right the negative effects of the deregulation and effective privatisation put in place by the Thatcher government has been a hard slog with many casualties in both staff and kids (sorry, looked after young people). The infrastructure just doesn't exist and is beyond current capacity to create. Or maybe there could be Nightingale care homes. Big hangars full of children freed from the 'care' of parents (as previously described on this thread) and placed into the hands of staff fully inculcated with just what they are not allowed to do (no matter how tempting a clip round the ear might be) and so are the kids.
*A few years before went there, a previous owner, if he found himself of short evening/night care staff, would go to the pub down the road and ask the general crowd, "Does anyone want a shift?"
I'm not against adults coming into schools. Really good idea and I instituted and encouraged it (but not so much in the last 20 years or so - reasons above). I ran cooking clubs in primary schools in 'rough' areas. Often I had more mums 'helping' than I had kids in the club. They were desperate to learn how to cook something other than ready meals. That is where the solution lays. Don't blame them. We are where we are. Open up manifold routes for parents (and 'about to be' parents) to acquire these skills. You need lots of different routes in for small groups. After all, that's how you eat an elephant
Enough. I spent nearly forty years trying to sort this shit out. It seems that every box you try to open contains a sprung jack that punches you in the face and hits you on the side of the head with a summons to a professional standards investigative meeting, while jabbing multiple regulation into your gut.
And breath............
There is already enough money "swilling" around in "the system".
I think I've been quite restrained until now.
Have you tried to get into a school recently? It's easier to get into a nuclear weapons compound. All those nasty people out there.
If I were still a head teacher, I wouldn't want to do the risk assessment on that one. Nor take responsibility in the current blame culture. Nor pay for all those DBS checks. There would be whole departments employed in making sure the legislation, regulations, policy, guidance, assessment, monitoring, inspection, recording, background checks, references, access control, segregated facilities etc. etc. etc. (ad infinitum) was all in place. Not a cheap alternative.
Neither is taking kids into care instead of paying a bit to feed them. There could be ways that get food into children, rather than money into betting shops; as many here seem to fear. Story drift......... When I took over a residential school (care home with education, in old money) right back in 1999. The starting point for fees (paid by local authorities) was £1660 a week. Four years later, when I moved on, I had instituted a sliding scale of fees but the stating point was £2200 a week. OK, we had a high staff ratio, because we had very difficult boys, but if you put lots of kids into care you are just widening the funnel that will lead a small minority to places like that.
Where would all those care homes come from? And the appropriate staff? Remember, care homes are businesses and have a bit of a reputation for employing cheap staff*. It has taken 20 years to get a long way towards sorting out quality in care homes and putting in place a half decent inspection regime. Putting right the negative effects of the deregulation and effective privatisation put in place by the Thatcher government has been a hard slog with many casualties in both staff and kids (sorry, looked after young people). The infrastructure just doesn't exist and is beyond current capacity to create. Or maybe there could be Nightingale care homes. Big hangars full of children freed from the 'care' of parents (as previously described on this thread) and placed into the hands of staff fully inculcated with just what they are not allowed to do (no matter how tempting a clip round the ear might be) and so are the kids.
*A few years before went there, a previous owner, if he found himself of short evening/night care staff, would go to the pub down the road and ask the general crowd, "Does anyone want a shift?"
I'm not against adults coming into schools. Really good idea and I instituted and encouraged it (but not so much in the last 20 years or so - reasons above). I ran cooking clubs in primary schools in 'rough' areas. Often I had more mums 'helping' than I had kids in the club. They were desperate to learn how to cook something other than ready meals. That is where the solution lays. Don't blame them. We are where we are. Open up manifold routes for parents (and 'about to be' parents) to acquire these skills. You need lots of different routes in for small groups. After all, that's how you eat an elephant
Enough. I spent nearly forty years trying to sort this shit out. It seems that every box you try to open contains a sprung jack that punches you in the face and hits you on the side of the head with a summons to a professional standards investigative meeting, while jabbing multiple regulation into your gut.
And breath............
You want neglected children to stay with shit parents who don't care for them due to the cost?
My father was an old style scout leader and did this. Pit toilets and waste pits. Open fire cooking. My mother did sewing first aid and mom stuff. The whole troop and all the old canvas ridge troop tents drove to the river seven in a removal van and camped and kayaked for 10 days middle weekend was Sunday roast cooked in oil tin ovens. Off into the woods with axes and bush saws. Mid 70s. Absolutely halcyon days.
What am I doing? I don't usually waste my time arguing with you. In fact I don't usually even read you. I don't think I've ever replied.
I don't claim to be as good as your parents, or my own Scout Leader when I was a lad . . . but I did what I could
. . .
I notice you didn't actually deny the fact you would throw vulnerable children under the bus to save yourself a few quid.
