Mars Bars and Apples

With regard to the earlier post about Councillor Charles meeting the Combs Infants 'School Council' children, I think it was extremely unfortunate, let alone inappropriate in a school that promotes healthy eating, that he chose to use the following analogy to explain to the children why the school should be closed:

'It is all about money, children. Now, if I were to give you TWO Mars bars, and I were to give you (looking at another child) THREE Mars bars, now that wouldn't be fair, would it?'

The children were certainly no clearer as to why all their hard work and achievement should come down to Mars bars, and, frankly, neither am I.

And indeed, would it not have been more fitting and in the better interest of ALL the local children for DCC to have gone instead to the pupils at Chapel Primary and said, 'now, children, if you have two apples and others have three apples, then that wouldn't be fair would it? So, you know what, I'm going to give you ALL three apples.' I feel this would be rather more in the spirit of Education, Education and Education – and apples are cheaper than Mars bars too.

There is a perception at DCC that the education at Combs Infants is ‘Rolls Royce’ and that, with its closure, the children in Chapel-en-le-Frith would at least get more of a ‘Ford Mondeo’ education (but by the time you’ve spread the paltry savings around the whole county, even this seems idealistic). I wonder what Prime Minister Tony Blair (or even Gordon Brown) and his 2005 Educational Regeneration White Paper (‘Higher Standards, Better Schools for All’ - and the subsequent ‘Education and Inspections Bill 2006’) promoting ‘EXCELLENCE’ and ‘ASPIRATIONAL EDUCATION’ would have to say about this ‘dumbing down’ for the supposed, but highly questionable, greater good?

Why not email the Prime Minister and see? The link can be found on the No. 10 Downing Street website.

(The White Paper/Education and Inspections Bill 2006 is one of the growing number of research resources listed in this post.)