Assorted Ramblings...

I had a bit of an odd day today. I was woken up sometime between 5 and 5.30 by a cat, desperate for attention, who was trying to push her head underneath my hand in the hope that I'd be encouraged to scratch her behind the ears. She wasn't impressed by the fact that I didn't have the energy at that time of day to move any muscles - and so kept reminding me of the fact that she was there by nibbling my hand every so often. After that, I gave up and got up - 6 o'clock on a Saturday - ick. But I suppose that because I have to be up at that time Mon-Fri, my body decided it should wake itself up, so I came downstairs, made some tea... and was too awake to go back to bed, so I stayed up and marked a load of French tests. I then went back to bed about 7.30 and managed to doze off to the sound of Mr Humphreys on Radio 4. I didn't wake up again until just before 10, and I feel as though I could have slept for another couple of hours.

I've been pottering about since really - caught up with 30 Rock, watched another episode of Life... read my news feeds - and now it's time to head back to bed. I've put some of the clocks forward, and I'll do the rest in the morning. I really hate this pissing about with the clocks twice a year. I don't care whether we're on GMT or BST, I just wish someone would pick one and bloody-well stick to it!

That said - it's time to dust this one off...

( This clock should be in military time. )

So it's the end of term next week, and the end of my time at school A. I can't say I'll be sad to leave, although the reaction of some of the kids I teach has been surprising, to say the least! I'm sure they're only begging me to stay because I'm the devil they know.

But the end of term means it's time to start planning lessons for next term. At least now, I'll be taking the majority of the classes myself, so I won't have to write lesson plans for others. The upside of that was that it meant I had to have plans ready a week or two in advance; now it's "just me", I won't have to do that, although I have to admit, it's a nice feeling to be prepared well in advance. I used to have a system of writing each weeks' lessons the day I gave the previous one - I haven't been able to do that lately, but I might go back to it. What I need to do first though, is get a rough outline of the overall plans done so I can root out or make whatever resources I'm going to need. That's the sort of thing that takes hours and hours.

I suppose that if a needy moggy wakes me up early again tomorrow, I could make a start. It's that or the ironing...

That bastion of British moral outrage, the Daily Mail today reports that The Church of England has voted to bar its vicars from belonging to the BNP.

Now, I don't like the BNP or what they stand for, and I imagine their beliefs are, as the article states, incompatible with Christianity - so I'd like to think that there aren't any members of the clergy who are members of the BNP.

BUT.

Actually banning them from membership of what is, after all, a recognised political party in the UK (no matter how much I wish it wasn't)..?

Fascism by another name?

Aren't I the ranty one today?

Question - What's the point of having an 8 grand limit on your credit card if the card issuer stops the card when you try to purchase something for more than a fiver?

Don't get me wrong - I'm glad that some companies at least are keeping a watch on what their customers spend and taking action if they think something unusual is going on. But I was just trying to buy Abigail a new bed and wardrobe for around £300, and even though I'm enrolled on one of those online verification services, I still couldn't complete the purchase using my Tesco Credit Card.

So I had to phone one of those bloody 0845 numbers, input all sorts of info using the phone keypad, listen to the first movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No.6 about five times - before I finally got to speak to someone in the "fraud" department who informed me that there was a routine "fraud watch" on my card. I pointed out that this seems to happen to me a lot - I'll be trying to make a purchase of a couple of hundred quid or so, only to find the card has been stopped. Luckily, I do have other cards and even though the woman I spoke to said they'd sort it immediately, I took great satisfaction in telling her that, no, sorry, I wouldn't be using my Tesco card because I'd already used my Amex.

Tossers.

Being an organised sort of person, I have my name and address labels for Christmas cards all ready to print out each year. Except that this year, the PC they're on is in bits round my parents', so I had to retype them all on the other one. That wasn't such a bad thing really though, because a bit of weeding was needed and there were some new ones to be added - and now, it's all done.

BUT.

Does anyone know why, regardless of what make of label you buy, or what set up you choose, the bloody things never print out right?? It usually takes two or three attempts fiddling with the margins and the pitch and all that stuff; and even then I usually end up giving up on that and just adding extra hits of the space bar.

And something which was supposed to have saved me some time... hasn't. *points to icon*

Half term at last! I’m going to try to have a bit of a break this week, although I’m going to have to do some work at some point. We’re going away for a couple of days at the end of the week, so I’ll have to get to it sooner rather than later. I had a lazy day today though - I didn't get up until about ten, and then fell asleep on the sofa after lunch for about three hours! I hate doing that though, because I feel as though I've just wasted the day.

It’s the first time I’ve worked full-time since I trained – even though I’m still working at two schools, and one of my jobs isn’t permanent. At school #2 I’m basically setting up a department from scratch, which is good experience, I hope. Although given the paucity of teaching jobs in my subject in this area, I have no idea when the experience of being a de-facto head of department will come in useful. And the school I’m at still isn’t in a position to be able to offer me a permanent position. I can’t remember if I’ve explained this before, but I’m currently covering for someone on long-term sick-leave. If I’m still there at Easter (and the school has said they do want me to stay on after Christmas), then she’ll have been off for a year. I don’t know the regulations, but I guess they’re obliged to keep her job open, even though she hadn’t been at the school for more than a couple of days!

But I’m enjoying it, despite the uncertainty. Even though I’m only there three days a week, I feel as though I’m a valued part of the team, my input and suggestions are taken seriously – and it’s a hell of a confidence boost. It reminds me that I am good at this – I couldn’t have done it a few years ago, and probably even last year would have still been thinking I couldn’t do it, but it’s amazing what you can dredge up when you have to!

( And in this week's news... )

Rant over for now. I'm just waiting to see what enormities of stupidity the next week brings.

Oh, God. I'm sorry, but I had to post about this - Graduates short on skills - CBI, wherein the head of the CBI says that many bosses were unhappy about the "soft skills" of graduate applicants.

He said many left university with inadequate communication and language skills, while some even lacked the ability " to get up in the morning."

Bwahahahah!!!

But wait - it gets even better :-)

He said so-called "soft-skills", such as time-management or communication, could be improved - possibly with specific training at university.

One example was the compulsory "World of Work" programme at Liverpool John Moores University which trains students in basic office skills - including turning up on time.

See??

In all seriousness though - that's not what Universities are for. (Well, not the real ones anyway!)

But we're seeing similar things in primary schools, where we're told there are children who have no idea how to use a knife and fork. And I see it every day in secondary school where there are children who have no social skills whatsoever.

Thing is - who taught us those "life skills"? I certainly don't remember my parents sitting me down and giving me a talk about what would happen when I went to work, but there must have been something instilled in me - and I'd bet all of you reading this, too - by your parents or whoever brought you up. And - at the risk of being "classist" for a second - if, as we're told, the Universities are still taking too many candidates from privileged backgrounds and not enough working-class kids, why do those people, who have supposedly come from a more aspirational environment, not have these so-called "soft skills"?

And is calling them "soft" really appropriate? I'd say they were bloody important - how you talk to people, making sure you turn up on time, pulling your weight etc.

Meh. You really couldn't make it up, could you?

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a fan of sport. So I'm not following the Olympics, although I will admit to being pleased that for once, the Brits aren't coming last at everything! And I'm pleased for the athletes who have worked and trained hard to achieve what they've achieved - their success is clearly deserved.

But reading this article in the Times today has given me pause for thought. In Arts and Heritage pay the price for Gold, the columnist points out that, although we can certainly attribute some of this newfound success to sports funding from the National Lottery, in order to achieve the same - and possibly greater - success in 2012, lots of other organisations that normally benefit from Lottery funding will be losing out. Word is that arts funding will be cut by at least 20%, with a figure of 35% being spoken of just as frequently. The Heritage Lottery Fund, which has been responsible for restoration work at York Minster, projects to introduce kids to archaeology, recovery of community woodland; is losing over £160 million. The "good causes" fund is losing over £200 million because money is being diverted to the Olympics.

( Olympics, schmolympics )

The A level results came out today amidst the usual accusations that they've been dumbed down and that the qualifications aren't worth the paper they're written on.

Sadly I think this isn't all that far off the mark - although I do feel sorry for all those kids who've worked hard for their exams only to hear all day long that the exams are much easier than they used to be.

Again - I think that's true, but it's not the students' fault, and they should be allowed to feel proud of their achievements.

The trouble is, of course, that universities and employers are now finding it difficult to distinguish between those who are well-educated and those who are well-schooled in the art of passing tests. As one commenter to one of the Times articles says, we need to distinguish between those pupils who work hard and A levels being hard - the kids do work hard, but they're just not expected to reach the same standards.

I don't want to sound like a moany old bag, but A levels today are easier than they were twenty years ago. For example - when I took mine in 1982, A grades were pretty rare. And to get three or more As, you had to be a very exceptional student. And the mark scheme was roughly akin to that used for degrees - to get an A or a first, you'd need about 70% overall, for a B or a 2,i, 60%, for a C or 2,ii about 50% etc.

A couple of years ago, before I went back to work, I decided to do A level English Literature - I love reading "the classics" and had wanted to do English at school, but wasn't able to because of a timetable clash with A level Maths. For me, now, the current "modular" system employed is ideal, because it meant I was able to study as and when I wanted and take the units in more or less whatever order suited me. I took a couple of papers at a time, and have done four of the six required - I don't know if I'll ever get around to completing it! But on the last two papers I took - neither of them incidentally texts with which I was familiar before I studied them (one was a restoration comedy, the other poetry by Philip Larkin) I achieved a mark of well over 90%. I was gobsmacked - so much so that I rang the exam board to check they hadn't made a mistake. Okay, so I was about twenty years older than the majority of the candidates and I can actually write and express myself properly, but "in my day", a mark like that was unheard of.

So on the one hand, we have headlines touting the soaring grades and trumpeting the fact that, for the first time in years, there are more kids taking Maths and Science - and on the other, we have reports telling us that A levels are to get tougher after another year of top results.

Um... if the A levels we have now are 'fit for purpose', as many in the first article claim - why do they need to be made harder?

To me, this looks like just another band-aid in yet another ridiculous attempt to fix something which requires major surgery. Until we get rid of all the unecessary testing we now have in the education system and start teaching kids things they need to know, and - more importantly - how to think for themselves, instead of just teaching them how to pass tests, this situation isn't going to improve. We'll continue to hear about falling standards, and the kids who have worked hard, nonetheless will continue to feel that they're being moaned at unfairly.

Round 2 next week when the GCSE results come out.

At last - Tuesday 15th. The day I get my broadband back!

Well, you remember how I said I wasn't going to hold my breath? It's just as well I didn't.

No broadband because yesterday BT told Sky not to activate it for some reason that they (BT) have chosen to keep to themselves.

I really do feel as though I'm banging my head against a brick wall. I've lost count of all the phonecalls I've made, although I do have a load of complaining emails that I've sent. Thing is, every call, every email comes from a different person and tells a different story. I've asked to speak to supervisors and/or managers, I've asked for people's names so that I can contact them again - but all to no avail.

The saga is continuing however, because BT has given a new activation date of 23rd, but I don't believe that either. Mr Caz spoke to BT at lunchtime and then they started talking about the 28th - I have no idea where the hell that came from!! When I spoke to Sky, they still tell me 23rd. I have basically BEGGED Sky to get in touch with BT so that I can get back online.
I've been promised a call back from Sky tomorrow, but I'm not going to hold my breath for that either.

But, mighty and knowledgeable f-list, I have a question for you.

I've had a look around BT's website and there isn't even a postal address for complaints any more - all there is is an email facility via the site.

I've not been able to get a name of someone that I can write to, either.

Can anyone out there suggest where I might be able to find out who and where I can write to? Short of just addressing an envelope to "The Chief Executive, British Telecom plc", I'm coming up a blank. And if anyone has any other ideas of who the hell I can complain to, I'd be delighted to hear them!

After the discovery that BT had changed my phone number, Mr Caz called them on Wednesday and was assured that we could have our old number back and that it would be active yesterday (Friday).

Guess what?

(Altogether now...) OH NO, IT WASN'T!!!

Fortunately for my sanity, I was out for the day with the fantabulous teresadivicenzo and megwriting,but when I got home, I got the full story.

Mr Caz's FOURTH phone call to BT of yesterday went like this:

BT person - Hello and thank you for calling BT. My name is xxx, how may I help you?

Mr Caz - Yes, hello; I hope you *can* help me - I think I'm losing the will to live.

BT person - I'm very sorry to hear that sir, but I'm afraid all our systems are down at the moment, so perhaps you could call back later.

Mr Caz - That's all well and good, but seriously, I'm losing the will to live. Or no, actually, I'm thinking of getting a dog.

BT person - I'm sorry, sir, but as I say, our systems are down...

He has his moments...

BUT - this morning, hallelujah! I think I finally found and spoke to the ONE BT adviser who has more than one braincell and not only that, KNOWS HOW TO USE IT. I spent forty minutes on the phone to someone who not only took the time to listen to what I said, but actually grasped the nature of the problem, and who was able to piece together what had happened. To cut a very long and boring story short, it doesn't look like I'll be able to get my old phone number back, so I'm going to have to bite the bullet and tell everyone that it's changed. I'm sure there'll be someone I've missed, but I'll worry about that later.

( the serious bit )