Hockley Heights Gazette

More articles have appeared about British "yoof" today - first the usual type that appears here almost every day. A girl was killed by a group of savages because they didn't like the way she looked. More than just the usual horror though, I saw a TIME magazine article about the youth "culture" here. Interesting reading - not recommended for bedtime.

Coming to England to work as a teacher in a comprehensive school was such a shock that I now have a heightened alertness for any evidence that it is the system, and not me, that is at fault. Initially I thought the teachers around me were just far hardier than I, but a closer inspection reveals that they can be generally split into three types. There are a small number of "lifers", feared and respected by the inmates. Usually they have taught a couple of generations within the town, and although "hard", in general they get on OK with the grudging acceptance of the chavs/ettes. Then there are quite a number of "cover supervisors". In my experience they are often ex-military or police, they have big thick necks and protruding eyeballs. They are not trained teachers, but they can give out a photocopied worksheet and shout the beasties into submission for the required hour. Finally, there are a large number of transients - cannon fodder (sometimes from outside the country), recruited by the plethora of agencies charged with trying to hold the system together.

Where does it end? I used to marvel at the Americans introducing police and weapons control points in their schools, but I think we are not far away from this here. The hard decisions that need to be made will not surface because that would mean a good long look at the root causes of this civil unrest. There is a modern-type of class war raging in this country, which has quality of education at its heart. Watch this space!

The picture today was taken from the warmth of the conservatory looking out to the backyard on Easter morning. Yes I know it isn't very exciting - but it is amazing!

We are off to Brasov on Sunday - BAA have suspended one fifth of their flights out of Heathrow today - mmm, must be Easter! Fortunately we are flying out of Gatwick - cross fingers and toes for us please!

Ant.