How the Conservatives are ruining/running education

Yesterday the Conservatives finally issued the manifesto for the upcoming election. The pledge to remove school lunches and to replace them with breakfasts is interesting. In an age of austerity where children arrive at school hungry, at first look, this appears to be a good idea.  But, despite protestations from the Conservatives, this could make things even worse for our schools.  The Conservatives say that the education budget has been protected and that we have more teachers than before, but our schools face huge teacher shortages which harms the education of our next generation.  And a redistribution of funds also is to cause major headaches for many schools. Before, when teacher shortages were in the news, grammar schools have been in the news to distract people.  Anyway, the post from a head teacher was shared by my wife on Facebook earlier today.  The school that our children go to is facing similar issues and has written to parents asking more money to reduce the cuts that they are going to have to make.  Many parents at our school can afford a few pounds.  This is not the case with parents in schools elsewhere though.

God knows how the Conservatives are going to distract us if they get elected as things get worse.

May the 4th be with you

 Ignoring Star Wars day for the moment, the local elections are taking place in many area of the country.  Opinion polls have stated, over the weeks, that Labour, under Jeremy Corbyn, face a rout, and that this may be repeated in the General Election next month.  But opinion polls were wrong in the last General Election when, like in 1992, people appeared to be too ashamed to admit that they were going to vote Conservative.  And they were wrong in the Referendum on remaining in the EU when our nation voted, by a very narrow margin, for the madness and uncertainty that is Brexit.  And of course, opinion polls called it wrong in the states that gave The Manchurian Candidate (Donald Trump) victory in the Electoral College last year allowing him to become US president (and I pray the world survives to see another one).  Diane Abbott has recently made a huge gaffe on LBC, which while drawing attention to the police cuts that have occurred under the Conservatives, have allowed them to portray Labour as incompetent and that may undo much of the gains in polling which have stated that Labour would not do as bad as originally thought.

But, while a rout of Labour in the local elections of today, and possibly the General Election of next month may be bad for the nation in the short term, it may be good overall. At the moment, the Conservatives can blame the barbaric effects of austerity on the way Labour run councils are run, this being cuts to social care to the elderly, cuts to the disabled, and (even though funding is from central government) how school budgets are being rearranged to make school funding 'fairer' (for many Conservative areas).  If the Conservatives do make the gains in the local elections today that many think they will, they will be left holding responsibility for these cuts. And they will not be able to blame Labour, the way that they are doing.

Saying that, the polls have been wrong before, and Labour may do well today, or even if things are bad today, that might make the electorate think about what a Conservative government means for the NHS, the police, education, the armed forces, social care, the disabled etc...

And of course, with this being Star Wars Day, May the 4th be with you.

#Trump100

100 days into the presidency of Agent Orange, and we are still alive.

That is something I am very glad of.  I am still amazed that the American electoral system voted him in, and that so many people who call themselves Christians voted for a man who is on wife number three and has admitted to adultery, over a woman who stood by her husband when he had cheated on her.  If marriage is important, it appears that many of those who call themselves Christian in the US favour the number of marriages over fidelity.  Maybe one day, someone will explain that to me.  But till then, I will be puzzled.

Earth Day 2017

Well today was interesting. The kids are now in bed and getting much needed rest.

My mother-in-law had been up to help us look after the kids on Tuesday and she was kind enough to cook as well, which made life for my wife easier.  On Wednesday the kids returned to school and I went to my mid-week moonlighting job. Cycling there was arduous and I was a lot slower than normal. But my return trip to collect the kids I actually made it in a record time for me.  But on getting there my kids told me about the great escape that happened earlier in the day where two kids climbed over the fence to make a run to some nearby shops.

Last night was a party of a friend of ours and I got to meet Kylo Ren and waking today, needless to say, I was a bit tired. But both kids wanted to come with me as I cycled to work. I have not taken them both cycling together for some time as the last time I did so, I ended up with two children who were annoying each other as each was better at a different aspect of cycling and each resented the other for that. Today though, both were more understanding and although my son, who has not cycled as much as his sister, was finding things harder, they both did well.  After a few hours of paperwork, they both wanted to cycle more than just cycle home. So we did, cycling over nine miles, which is a record for them. While technically it was for me as well, I rested far more than I would if I was by myself. While knackered they rested, watched Doctor Who and now are getting much needed rest.

To say I am proud of both of them would be an understatement.

And last of all, another chess tournament has finished and I did not do anywhere as well as I wanted.  But it is the taking part that counts.

A skeleton visits a pub and orders a beer, and a mop

It has been a good weekend so far.  Due to personal issues, I have not gone into work this weekend, which means that Tuesday will be interesting.  But this meant more time with the family.  Friday was spent in the garden, though my son was taken by some neighbours to the zoo which was very nice of them.  Yesterday we went to visit my mother, though we had a meal in Stoke Newington at a pizza place my wife had researched.  That meal, though simple, was excellent.  The pizza's were simple, but well made, and it was the view of everyone that these were the best pizza's that we had tasted.  My mother was glad to see the children and my son got to play Scrabble against her but not a full game as we had to leave.

Today though has been a bit more interactive.  We had a trip to find out more about the Moomin's which was mostly for my son, though all four of us loved it.  And afterwards there was a craft area where people were encouraging children to make buildings for a model London (well, central London).  My son, once again, was amazing and while lots of parents helped more, I let him have a much more free hand.  I did make one or two suggestions, but listened when he had declined some but accepted others.  Anyway, the picture shows his building which he is rightly proud of.  While some may say that it is not as spectacular as some of the other buildings, the others had a lot more help from parents than he got.  And I think that what he did was amazing.  All I did otherwise was help him cut a few things (he did most) and helped him by putting glue on the card that he used for windows (or balconies).  Afterwards we ate great food at a place called Ping Pong and then back to rest.

The good and the bad at PC World. A reply to Customer Services

Dear Gemma,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my tweet.

On Friday the 7th of April, my wife took her mother to PC World in Chingford looking to by her a laptop. There were several assistants loitering and only one came over (called Gill), rolling his eyes and sighing as he approached. They were enquiring about a specific laptop and his first statement was that it was a laptop. Despite asking three times about it's specifications he referred to the information on the shelf but did not give them any more information relevant to what they were asking. They left the store vowing never to visit it again. 

However, they did visit PC World in Colchester the day before yesterday and found the staff there to be far more helpful. While the laptop they wanted was not available the staff were polite, helpful, courteous and an asset to the image of PC World.  Needless to say, the difference was remarkable.

I would be grateful if you could feedback the areas for improvement to the Chingford store and let the staff in Colchester know how good they are.

Yours truly 

Under the pier

The kids seem to have enjoyed the Easter holidays so far.  For the first part of it, they were at my parents-in-law, which meant that I missed them, but also it was nice having a clean house, and one that was quiet.  My wife and I even went out on a date!  And while they bickered when they were back, it was nice to have them.  Though I would prefer less snapping at each other.

Anyway, the weekend involved a trip to Walton.  Some friends of ours have the use of a beach hut there, and so they invited us there.  The only downside on this is that we forgot the importance of getting there early.  So we got caught in traffic, and then had issues finding a place to park.  The plus side is that as it is early in the year, there are places that we could park that we will not be able to do so during the summer.  While my daughter does not like this picture, this was taken there.  We had fun, my son on the machines in the pier as well as walking along with his sister to get some papers. And as you can see, my daughter and I had a walk on the beach, this being a picture I was not allowed to take.  Obviously I have no idea how this picture was taken...

Anyway, today, I made some personal bests on cycling to and from work.  I did not meet the standards I was hoping to reach, and have learned not to alter my route yet.  But once I had some energy, I played throw and catch with my children.  My daughter is great and my son is catching up with her.  He had done most of the work on putting up a shelving unit though and is quite rightly proud of himself.  And he may listen more when it comes to exercise, but, considering what he has done, I should not be too pushy as he does try to improve himself a lot.  Maybe not as much as I would like, but much more than I did when I was his age.

And last of all, one more chess tournament has finished.  I did not do as well as I hoped, but I may do better in the next one.