Perhaps Ofsted Should Include Multicultural Lessons In The Curriculum Of All White Schools, Perhaps They Could Start By Organising Trips To Inner City Schools?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2840796/Rural-school-denied-grade-Ofsted-inspectors-s-English-not-diverse-enough.html

[youngmafbog]

What rubbish.

[youngmafbog]

More votes for Our Nige !!!

This right-on lefties will never learn.

[bazwillrun]

Perish the thought, a school in England with a majority of white kids......and probably all speaking English...it just gets worse....

[anotheoldgit]

An idea has just accrued to me, why disrupt our kids, send along multi ethnic kids along to schools such as this one, so as to learn Englishness?

[New Judge]

It's astounding that a school in rural England should be criticised and marked down for being "too English". It's as if being English is some sort of bad characteristic like being too violent or too intimidating. I have seen many schools where scarcely a white face can be seen among the pupils. Imagine if they were criticised for being "too Asian" or whatever the predominant characteristic of their children was.

The inspector suggested the school works to have 'first-hand interaction with their counterparts from different backgrounds beyond the immediate locality' . I wonder if schools in London's Tower Hamlets have been similarly advised.

Headteacher Melonie Brunton said the school would look to develop pupils' understanding of multicultural issues. Why, exactly? Does it not occur to her that parents in Middle Rasen might well live there because they don't want their children to be bombarded with multicultural issues and that, like many people in places like Tower Hamlets, they might have no wish to "integrate" with other cultures. To suggest that their children's education is sub-standard because of this is outrageous.

[BlackadderV]

I remember 20 years ago when an HMI came to inspect the RE dept. at my school. Her only negative comment was, "Morning assemblies appear to be a bit too Christian".

[chaptazbru2]

Happy days baz .....

[Old_Geezer]

Storm in a teacup. They need to add a plaque under their school sign saying, "Too English to be awarded a top school grade", just to warn folk who might not want to send their kids to a place so lacking in cultural diversity.

[New Judge]

Or maybe to attract them, OG.

The problem with schools where pupils exhibit a wide range of "cultural diversity" (which in reality often means the predominance of just one or two foreign cultures) is that it usually means that they usually also exhibit a similar range of linguistic diversity. As I have mentioned before this often involves little or no English - something I have seen at first hand.

Instead of ramming cultural diversity down pupils' throats what is really needed is the adoption of and tuition in a more homogenous culture largely based around that of white British people. That might also lead to more homogenous use of language. Multiculturalism is a nonsense and schoolchildren do not need to have it forced fed to them.

[slaney]

There seem to have been other factors as well.
For those who want to read the actual Ofsted report...
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/index.php?q=filedownloading/&id=2432799&type=1&refer=0

[Mamyalynne]

Thankfully the inspectors didn't use the term 'Too English'.


If this School wishes not to widen the knowledge their pupils have of the wider range of those they may meet when they move to high School and beyond then so be it.

I think inter school visits are very helpful from experience.

[jourdain2]

If incomers want to settle here, perhaps they should be taught solely as rural schools are taught? They are probably as traditional as it gets whilst complying with modern standards.

One big beef I have is the expense of supplying assistants to help with language (in fact this extends to the whole country - 57 languages were represented in the latest census - in France everything is in French and tough if you don't speak it! I've had to fill in a census form.).

I have worked in a school where no extra, costly help was given (I will cite a Chinese girl who lived with her Chinese-speaking extended family - they ran a take-away and their English was limited to taking orders). She was a really nice girl and was assigned 2 volunteer pupils who sat with her and helped her with understanding and her work. She was with us 3 years and she gained good G.C.S.Es. After 1 year she was independent of her support.

Using English is the very starting point. Everything else should be stopped. It's not easy - I had to fight a law suit in an unfamiliar legal system (French) and sweated hours over writing long letters in legal French - but this is uncommon. There are notices up on the roadsides here saying (effectively) 'Speak French, like being here - or get out'. Why not in UK?

[Old_Geezer]

That was the implication judge ;-)