[senco-forum] the bogey man

Team

Its a relief to hear we are not the only ones having to eat last year's Xmas 
pudding (turning it into ice cream actually)  -  as this years has just 
arrived with the mother in law

I too was devasted to hear there is no Jason - I had him dark haired as well 
as young and good looking, and obviously very talented.

(sorry Brian - I do not mean to make light of your issues!)

Pam

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "brian hepburn" <hepburnbrian at hotmail.com>
To: <senco-forum at lists.becta.org.uk>
Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2006 8:52 PM
Subject: [senco-forum] the bogey man

> Team
>
> You've all been watching too many horror films, haven't you? There's 
> somebody waiting inside that dark room to get you. But it's not Jason, 
> Freddie or Saw, it's the LA!
>
> The LA jumps on you just as you're turning your childlike, innocent faces 
> up to the light of resources,funding, recognition, appreciation or 
> whatever else you're hoping for. (I know, it's a preposition at the end of 
> a sentence, sue me!) The only way you can cater for the little lambs is to 
> get more money from the LA, but will she co-operate? No, she's going to 
> leap out when you least expect it and TURN YOU DOWN!
>
> Why? Obviously because she enjoys torturing you. The LA hates all 
> children, schools and especially SENCOs. She will do whatever she can to 
> destroy you.  She is never happier than when she can suck all the joy from 
> your lives by saying no. She knows that without her, you'll never be able 
> to meet the needs of those pathetic scraps of children. And she laughs her 
> evil laugh every time she says no, because she gets so much masochistic 
> pleasure from the your pain.
>
> Deep breath, Brian.
>
> OK, I've calmed down a bit now.
>
> I've worked in SEN depts, I've worked with SENCOs in a LA support service, 
> I'm now on the dark side working as an SEN officer. I've seen the SEN 
> process from all sides. (I'm a parent and worked with parents of kids with 
> SEN)
>
> Just like there's no such thing as Jason, there is no such thing as the 
> LA. It's a bunch of people, who mostly sit in an office and make decisons 
> based on the paperwork schools send them and balance that against the Code 
> of Practice and pressure from government .Believe it or not, they mostly 
> (I don't know them all) have the children's best interests at heart.
>
> It's not their fault your head won't spend the SEN part of the formula on 
> SEN. It's not their fault that you don't even know what the SEN budget is. 
> It's not their fault that, particularly in secondary schools, the kids are 
> taught with no regard to the statement. It's not their fault that the 10 
> hrs provision is used to support whatever size group/class the kid is in, 
> rather than the kid personally. It's not their fault that advice and 
> support provided by LA support teams is ignored or not acted upon.
>
> You want to listen to the parents who ring them, at their wits end because 
> the school won't listen to the parents' concerns? Particularly when they 
> know, since LMS, that the LA has no power and so can't make schools act on 
> those concerns.
>
> Ah, yes, there are always 2 sides to a story. In this case it's at least 
> 4. Kid, parent, school, LA. And what's the easiest reaction when 
> everyone's frustrated and tired? Let's get angry. Let's start blaming 
> someone else.
>
> I can see exactly why SEN becomes a battlefield. It's a microcosm of 
> education. Thatcher and Baker turned education into a battlefield in the 
> mid 80s. Since then, any tinpot politician or Daily Mail editor has used 
> education to score cheap points. The effect has been to create sides, to 
> perpetuate the blame culture and to stop us all seeking out the real 
> culprits.
>
> And we fall for it. We fight amongst ourselves.
>
> I give up. I'm going to help finish the bottle of Merlot. I'm going to eat 
> last year's Xmas pudding (to make room in the cupboard for this year's 
> lot) and take my last chance to watch I'm a Celeb for another year. (How 
> do I live without Myleene in her white bikini?)
>
> Have fun with the fighting
>
> Brian
>
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