Sunday, February 11, 2007
Snow, the Media and Schools
You may have notice we had around 4 inches of snow in the week. You would've though from all the media bru-ha-ha that we'd had the 84 inches New York State is currently experiencing.
Many things in the past week have disturbed me, bemused me and above all make me spit Alpen Almond Special over my radio and television...
What has particularly got my goat wrt H&FS and lack of common sense?
Rolling News Channels......aaaaaaaaargh!
Flicking through the Sky EPG in the week I saw there was a BBC News Special at 11am. Must be something urgent to stop the diy antiques gardening show.....wow!
Had Blair fallen on his sword? Had the Americans admitted that they perhaps should recognise the English coroner's system and be sympathetic to Matty Hull's family after all? Were we finally pulling troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq? No, no and no.
Aparently Worcestershire and big lumps of Wales were under a bit of snow. They overdramatised it by saying it was an impressive 10cm but let's face it, it's 4 inches people...my pen with the lid off.
I flicked over to Sky News. Now what an inspired bit of editorial direction here...get the reporter who was on ITV's Dancing on Ice to present the snowy reports. I'll explain what I saw Kay Burley report on and then you'll understand why I turned off.
A mother and her young daughter - no more than four years old - came down a hill on a sledge. Kay said "a young girl with her brother there...". So there we have it. Sky News showed wagging kids sledging whilst filmed from the van. Channel hopping later the Sky Chopper (might've been the BBC's) was up and the lively correspondent reported that visibility was next to zero. Your flying through a blizzard love, hardly a revelation eh?
Anyone ever listen to Mark & Lard on Radio 1 back in the day? They used to to a regular sketch called Vague News. I'd say it's based on Sky News, but it was far more accurate...
If your all going to report on the weather people, why not talk to OAP's and ask them about their heating bills or those in Tescos who cleared the shelves of bread and milk in case the snow lasted more than 12 hours....?
Schools
Every school in Birmingham and other parts of the country were shut by the snow. Was it because the heating systems couldn't cope or because the kids couldn't get to school? No, course not.
It was widely reported in many media sources that the main reason was in case that the little kiddles or staff slipped on wet patches in the buildings, hurt themselves and called in the no-win no-pay fellas or some small child might take a snowball to the noggin with is a H&FS nightmare leading to mitigation and so much paperwork...
The other things that was bandied about was that given the modern job market, many teachers no longer live in the area where they work and they couldn't ge to school. I live in Northampton and got to Luton okay, thank-you very much.
Here's an idea for all local authorities and the Edukashun Sekraterry...not new...not innovative...but it might just work.
If the weather is bad, all teachers should report to the nearest school regardless of local authority and type (primary, secondary, etc) and the kids should be banned from the playground - we playtime chaps...we've all been there - and a extraordinary syllabus or scheme to keep the kids occupied should be adopted.
To overcome the menace of wet floors, get the caretaker to dry the patches up and eventually as no-one is allowed outside, there won't be any wet patches. I appreciate this won't work in PFI schools as this deviates from the contract, especially if it has changed hands several times, but I think it might just work....
Who knows eh... ;-)
Brumbino.
Many things in the past week have disturbed me, bemused me and above all make me spit Alpen Almond Special over my radio and television...
What has particularly got my goat wrt H&FS and lack of common sense?
Rolling News Channels......aaaaaaaaargh!
Flicking through the Sky EPG in the week I saw there was a BBC News Special at 11am. Must be something urgent to stop the diy antiques gardening show.....wow!
Had Blair fallen on his sword? Had the Americans admitted that they perhaps should recognise the English coroner's system and be sympathetic to Matty Hull's family after all? Were we finally pulling troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq? No, no and no.
Aparently Worcestershire and big lumps of Wales were under a bit of snow. They overdramatised it by saying it was an impressive 10cm but let's face it, it's 4 inches people...my pen with the lid off.
I flicked over to Sky News. Now what an inspired bit of editorial direction here...get the reporter who was on ITV's Dancing on Ice to present the snowy reports. I'll explain what I saw Kay Burley report on and then you'll understand why I turned off.
A mother and her young daughter - no more than four years old - came down a hill on a sledge. Kay said "a young girl with her brother there...". So there we have it. Sky News showed wagging kids sledging whilst filmed from the van. Channel hopping later the Sky Chopper (might've been the BBC's) was up and the lively correspondent reported that visibility was next to zero. Your flying through a blizzard love, hardly a revelation eh?
Anyone ever listen to Mark & Lard on Radio 1 back in the day? They used to to a regular sketch called Vague News. I'd say it's based on Sky News, but it was far more accurate...
If your all going to report on the weather people, why not talk to OAP's and ask them about their heating bills or those in Tescos who cleared the shelves of bread and milk in case the snow lasted more than 12 hours....?
Schools
Every school in Birmingham and other parts of the country were shut by the snow. Was it because the heating systems couldn't cope or because the kids couldn't get to school? No, course not.
It was widely reported in many media sources that the main reason was in case that the little kiddles or staff slipped on wet patches in the buildings, hurt themselves and called in the no-win no-pay fellas or some small child might take a snowball to the noggin with is a H&FS nightmare leading to mitigation and so much paperwork...
The other things that was bandied about was that given the modern job market, many teachers no longer live in the area where they work and they couldn't ge to school. I live in Northampton and got to Luton okay, thank-you very much.
Here's an idea for all local authorities and the Edukashun Sekraterry...not new...not innovative...but it might just work.
If the weather is bad, all teachers should report to the nearest school regardless of local authority and type (primary, secondary, etc) and the kids should be banned from the playground - we playtime chaps...we've all been there - and a extraordinary syllabus or scheme to keep the kids occupied should be adopted.
To overcome the menace of wet floors, get the caretaker to dry the patches up and eventually as no-one is allowed outside, there won't be any wet patches. I appreciate this won't work in PFI schools as this deviates from the contract, especially if it has changed hands several times, but I think it might just work....
Who knows eh... ;-)
Brumbino.
