[senco-forum] Paranoia at the top (was: negative attitude)

Today, in school, I received a very nasty letter and a copy of my

> Today, in school, I received a very nasty letter and a copy of my
> e-mail...

One thing we all need to remain aware of is the the fact the archives
of this Senco-Forum are made accessible via the Internet to anyone who
wants to read them and not to just those who have subscribed to this
list. It's therefore possible someone 'Googled' for a "secondary
school" in Janice's "county" and also enquired about something else
she just happened to have referred to in one of her emails ...and hey
presto up popped this email and / or other posts she'd sent to this
forum.

Alternatively someone working for her Local Authority or LEA (or a
local school) who is somewhat paranoid and has rather too much time on
their hands might have been checking up on public servants working in
her local area. Why? For the purpose of ensuring everyone is "towing
the official line" regarding maintaining a suitably good -- read
"bland" -- public image.

Either way the letter Janice received is likely intended as a "warning
shot across the bows" for the purpose of frightening her off making
further comments that might not be appreciated in certain quarters.

As oft repeated in the quality computer magazines: One must always
assume any comment we make via the Internet and the personal details
we reveal about ourselves will instantly become public knowledge
easily searchable by anyone or any institution who has an interest in
finding out more about us.

I must add that I do of course commiserate with Janice regarding the
truly '1984ish' scenario she's found herself in ...furthermore I can
hardly believe we passed '1984' over 23 years ago!!! But unfortunately
this is indicative of life in the 21st century. In the meantime I
wouldn't be too worried about this so called Essex School Governor. In
fact looking on the bright side maybe Janice has caught the ear of
someone in a high place who knows someone who has sufficient clout to
take some positive action regarding her legitimate concerns.

David Bowles ...who'll doubtless will be seen by over 300 CCTV cameras
tomorrow, as will most other members of this forum!

PS: This does remind me somewhat of what happened to me a while back
when I signed up for and received a subscription to a list for Head
Teachers ...yes they let me in without even enquiring if I was a Head!
Now there is no way I'm going to reveal what was discussed on this
list, other than to say almost all of this was pretty mundane and
predictable. But what was really telling was their knee-jerk reaction
after some three years of frequent posting by me when someone finally
sussed I wasn't in fact a fellow Head Teacher (shock-horror!!!).

Predictably I instantly booted off this list, despite the fact I'd
built up and maintained a strong rapport with most of my fellow list
members over more than two years. Furthermore the only subsequent
response I received from them was a request from their nominated
spokesperson enquiring "What was I intending to do with the
information I'd gleaned from them?" -- this in an email that reeked of
paranoia.

My response was of course to reassure them quite truthfully I'd no
intention of doing anything what at all with what I'd learned. Indeed
the only reason I'd joined this list was because I wanted to
understand better 'how the system worked' and at all levels -- from
Head Teachers at one end of the spectrum to school care takers at the
other ...incidentally I've discovered the latter are often a mine of
information about what really goes on in schools.

In summary; it seems the higher up you go up the greasy career pole
the greater the paranoia regarding what happens lower down.