C.E. Jottings

Shared CEOs & joint management of charities in conductive education?

Does anyone in the UK know of any examples of charities sharing Chief Executives and having some degree of joint management - whilst preserving the independence of the separate charities? Communities Secretary, John Denham, today (30 December 2009) set up "a new task force to drive value for money for councils". Whilst I'm a confirmed sceptic when it comes to such initiatives (were Councils previously profligate with public funds, is this obvious question), I actually read the press release with... Read more →

Strive on, trust, have faith.

Andrew Sutton (A wish for the new decade), refers to "The Tragedy of Man", a classic of Hungarian literature by Imre Madách. My copy, an English translation by George Szirtes, is a proud possession, having been given to me in 1996 in recognition of our work here in Sheffield to bring conductive education to the UK. Andrew tentatively suggests that the poem's final words, in the mouth of God, might be translated as: "I have said unto you, Man, struggle... Read more →

More press comment on Lamb Inquiry

The Guardian, 16 December 2009: "Special needs system requires 'radical overhaul' Government report reveals scale of struggle some parents face, and advocates a reform of the statementing system to prioritise the needs of the child over the availability of resources The Observer, 20 December 2010 'I came to see the school as a little corner of paradise' Fighting for special needs support becomes even more difficult when you have to battle a local authority Read more →

SEN & Parent Confidence: Lamb Inquiry reports

Lamb Inquiry, SEN & Parent Confidence, final report published today. Download: http://bit.ly/XCSlw Tasty morsels from the Foreword: "The education system is living with a legacy of a time when children with SEN where (sic) seen as uneducable." "There needs to be a radical recasting of the relationship between parents, schools and local authorities to ensure a clearer focus on the outcomes and life chances for children with SEN and disability." "The assessment process drives much of the controversy and dissatisfaction... Read more →

When Cameron came to Ecclesfield in S. Yorkshire ...

When Tory leader David Cameron came to Ecclesfield in South Yorkshire ("Cameron Direct"), Karen Hague of Paces got to ask him a question about special educational needs, the 'statementing' process, and the problem of local authorities undertaking the assessment as well as holding the purse strings. Hear Karen's question and Cameron's answer at about 30 mins into the recording. Read more →

23rd annual Bridge School benefit Concert

Something I just wanted to share with you .... Surprising as it seems to me - but maybe no more surprising than that time passes and my youngest daughter Sarah is now 27 years old - 2009 was the 23rd annual Bridge School benefit concert. You can check out video clips from past concerts on The Bridge School YouTube Channel or read about the concert on the L.A. Times Music Blog, Pop & Hiss The Bridge School is not a... Read more →

"Enterprise, Community and Complexity"

I've not met Mike Chitty. I hope to. I know him mostly through his Tweets on Twitter (@mikechitty), where his 'bio' lists his interests as "enterprise, management, entrepreneurship, family, community development, breadmaking and fishkeeping". He has, as he says on his blog "a different perspective on enterprise". Some measure of Mike Chitty's different perspective is his posting "Enterprise, Community and Complexity" on 23rd November. Having opened with the proposition that these are three "slippery words" on which nothing more can... Read more →

On education and therapy being the same thing

Prompted by a posting Oh dear Oh dear Oh dear by Andrew Sutton, I visited the blog of Karen Johnson, whom he mentions in the posting, particularly her posting Plasticity of the brain. There, Karen Johnson and I have engaged in a short exchange (and necessarily unsatisfactory for there is so much one might say) through Comments. In the course of the conversation, Karen Johnson has asserted her belief that "education and therapy are the same thing" - not a... Read more →

"All children are born artists ..." Picasso

Coming up with titles for blogs, mostly finds me short of words and inspiration. This title quote from Picasso is lifted from the Intro Video on Sir Ken Robinson's new web site. Actually, all I wanted to do was point your way there. Oh - and if your internet connection will handle it, don't skip the Intro Video. Read more →

"Cerebral palsy in the classroom"

At a private gathering yesterday, while waiting for the main guest and speaker, I was inevitably asked what I did, then about the education of children with cerebral palsy and then, of course, what was conductive education. Generally, I try to shift the last question and come at the answer from a different direction, rather than directly. A remarkable number of people asked, for instance, how they would advise a young relative who wished to train to be a teacher... Read more →