The media have been having fun. "Don't use the S-word. This is a place of learning, not a school", thundered The Times: and gave over a main news item from Education Editor Alexandra Freen and a Third Leader "School's Out - Rebranding a primary school 'a place for learning' is a euphemism too far" . The Yorkshire Post reports that "campaigners for both education and plain speaking" derided the decision as "laughable". The Sun goes for blunt-and-to-the point: "School bans the word 'school'"
The story concerns the new, £4.2m Watercliffe Meadow primary school in Sheffield which has dropped the word 'school' from its name in favour of 'a place of learning'. The Headteacher apparently said that one reason for the decision was that "many of the parents had very negative connotations of school".
The mirth has spread to the blogosphere, attracted comment on the Sheffield Forum and has already merited an entry in Wikipedia.
You may already yourself have joined in the amusement at the excesses of political correctness - which is how the story has been presented.
Yet, wait a moment. Read a little deeper. Dig below the trivia and the mocking. This is The Times, lower down the Alexandra Frean article:
"However, Watercliffe Meadow is not alone. Barnsley is in the process of replacing its 13 secondary schools with nine new “advanced learning centres”.
A spokesman said that it was part of a programme called Remaking Learning aimed at regenerating the area by “embracing all ages of learning” from preschool children to adults.
Under the Government’s plans for extended services, all schools have until next year to ensure that child-care from 8am to 6pm is available to all pupils all year round
They can either provide it on their own premises or link up with a nearby voluntary, state or private provider. Schools are also under pressure to open their facilities to adult learners in the evenings and holidays.
David Fann, of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “This kind of change reflects the fact that schools are now expected to exploit their premises to the full 24/7, 365 days a year.”
Child care services; early years services; out-of-school clubs; adult-and-community learning: all of these have traditionally been service strengths of the voluntary sector in the UK, often in "community centres".
Section 4501 of the Lanterman Act states: "The State of California accepts a responsibility for persons with developmental disabilities and an obligation to them which it must discharge. Affecting hundreds of thousands of children and adults directly, and having an important impact on the lives of their families, neighbors and whole communities, developmental disabilities present social, medical, economic and legal problems of extreme importance."
Section 4620 states "In order for the state to carry out many of its responsibilities as established in this division, the state shall contract with appropriate agencies to provide fixed points of contact in the community for persons with developmental disabilities and their families, to the end that such persons may have access to the facilities and services best suited to them throughout their lifetime. It is the intent of this division that the network of regional centers for persons with developmental disabilities and their families be accessible to every family in need of regional center services.
The Legislature finds that the services provided to individuals and their families by regional centers is of such a special and unique nature that is cannot be satisfactorily provided by state agencies. Therefore, private nonprofit community agencies shall be utilized by the state for the purpose of operating regional centers."