Call a General Election - Petition

MaizieD

To sign the petition you have to swear on the bible tick a box to say you are British and, I understand, provide a British postcode. Helpful suggestions of British postcodes seem to have been appearing on social media.

That needs checking out.

This is an interesting read too MaizieD.
blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/why-the-uks-e-petitions-platform-is-not-living-up-to-its-democratic-potential/

MaizieD

Do you know of any petitions which have definitely caused policy changes, Casdon?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-47693506
The tampon tax!

To sign the petition you have to swear on the bible tick a box to say you are British and, I understand, provide a British postcode. Helpful suggestions of British postcodes seem to have been appearing on social media.

Do you know of any petitions which have definitely caused policy changes, Casdon?

Mollygo

Maremia

Back to the petition. Just read that thousands upon thousands of the signatures are from outside of the UK. More than 140 countries have 'contributed'. Foreign interference? Russian bots?

Possibly, but even GN gets posters from outside the UK - which is fine unless they and others abroad feel they are entitled to sign petitions for things which affect the UK.

It’s not the same thing though, is it, because petitions above a certain number of signatures are debated in parliament, and some may result in policy changes. I think votes from outside the UK should be automatically discounted from the signatories.

I did have one gifted friend his father was a BBC presenter in the 1960s, he was the eldest of the family I still see him occasionally, he passed the 11+ to the local grammar school, younger daughter and son were also gifted.

But tragic the girl committed suicide, the younger son brilliant but couldn’t cope, ended up in a mental institution.

Maremia

Back to the petition. Just read that thousands upon thousands of the signatures are from outside of the UK. More than 140 countries have 'contributed'. Foreign interference? Russian bots?

Possibly, but even GN gets posters from outside the UK - which is fine unless they and others abroad feel they are entitled to sign petitions for things which affect the UK.

Back to the petition. Just read that thousands upon thousands of the signatures are from outside of the UK. More than 140 countries have 'contributed'. Foreign interference? Russian bots?

Dinahmo yes my 4 year old grandson is learning a foreign language on a Saturday morning plus swimming lesson once a week. It’s not impossible but with two or more children it might get difficult to cater for different tastes and locations. I have heard of families paying for two children at boarding schools and the children are thriving and parents are free to work to pay their fees. Each to their own?
I shall be interested to see how Lord Pannick gets on with the ECHR and vat on school fees.

ronib

Dinahmo yes of course extra curricular activities are great but some parents are both in full time jobs and time and energy to get children to various activities can be difficult.

Which suggests that one pays school fees in order to avoid that responsibility.

One of my friends sent her two boys to different fee paying schools, following complaints from the boys junior school.She paid for an assessment which showed that one boy was bored and the other was severely dyslexic ( I'm talking 40 years ago) She was the Director of an housing association at the time but still managed to organise the extra activities and to take them there.

I know the whole idea is weird and very un British but I am in favour of it. I feel this government is leading us to disaster.

Dinahmo yes of course extra curricular activities are great but some parents are both in full time jobs and time and energy to get children to various activities can be difficult.

ronib

LizzieDrip thank you for explaining your thoughts. I still think that parents have ultimate responsibility for their children and if, for any reason, a child is not thriving then parents should have the option to use private schools at an affordable price and vat free - education is not the privilege of the super rich.

There are other ways in which children can thrive but which many parents do not take advantage of. The money saved by not paying for schooling could be used for a wide variety of cultural and sporting activities, many of which cost little or no money.

This was alongside bunking off from lessons, hanging out in the local park, and witnessing undesirable behaviour from schoolmates.
😁 escaped!

It only came out afterwards that at least two of mine did that!

What I would say is that the school system does not suit every child and some blossom and achieve more after they leave school and continue to change direction and progress. Only a few know exactly what they want to do at 16.

I quite pity teachers with 30 children plus in a class and the requirement to teach a set curriculum. Are you sure escaped that the majority of educators have the skills you mention to instil confidence? And the time? Some teachers are quite exhausted by now.

Interesting points here which I now find easier to answer after my own "learning" years as a teacher.
If a child shows promise in a particular area, be it sport, art, music etc. then if a teacher builds on that in the classroom setting, you can bring out the best academically in that child. As someone mentioned earlier, you can instil more confidence in a child, by translating their strengths from the one area to another. Of course this requires added time on the part of the teacher.
Not irrational, I've seen it succeed.

I’m not suggesting that schools don’t ‘fail’ some pupils but it sounds as though your choices contributed to yiur attainment not matching potential, escaped.

If you were deemed a'gifted child' in an area unrelated to your schooling why was the school blamed for not stretching you? Seems a bit irrational to me.

One size doesn't fit all, and there should be different choices for everyone.

There used to be more 'choices' than there are now, with opportunities to extend learning or to learn new skills at any age through FE colleges, either free of charge or with a very modest fee.

Unfortunately tory austerity did for much of that by cutting funding so that FE colleges could no longer afford to offer a wide range of courses and had to charge more for what they did offer. So here we are, back to the situation where education is the province of the better off and choices restricted for the less well off.

Everyone has a story to tell, and I like reading about different experiences. In general, nearly everyone comes out in the wash, and I agree with sazzl, and others, that a bright child usually does well whatever type of school they attend.

I went to a rough London comprehensive school in the 70s. I was "clever", but never saw myself as highly intelligent, though, not boasting(!!), I did rise to the heights of being Head Girl, achieving excellent A Levels and going to a top university! This was alongside bunking off from lessons, hanging out in the local park, and witnessing undesirable behaviour from schoolmates.

Anyway, I also happened to be part of a huge nationwide government survey, NCDS, at the time, which is on-going even to this day. I was deemed "a gifted child" in an area unrelated to my schooling, and had to attend the offices of a psychiatrist in Harley Street for assessments. The report concluded that my potential was way above my attainment, and that, academically, the comprehensive education wasn't stretching me fully. I have no idea whether this was due to lack of resources, lack of expertise, lack of expectation or whatever, but it was failing its pupils.

I wonder how many slipped through that net, and how many would have been better off in a different school environment. One size doesn't fit all, and there should be different choices for everyone. Success is very often down to luck, as to the schooling available in a particular area, and of course, down parental input.

I think the educational standards are pretty much the same in state and private schools. My experience ( limited, admittedly) is that private schools seem to produce a high level of confidence in their students. The ones round here have a lot of public speaking and presentations in their curriculums so the students end up being able to ‘ sell’ themselves and have more confidence than the state school kids. Obviously a generalisation but it certainly applies to my kids, some attending private schools, some state schools.

Sorry should read 80s not 70s

If a child is very intelligent and has caring parents and a good home life they do well in any school. One of mine was gifted, went to a very large rough school in the 70s. They did exceptionally well at school, passed an entrance exam for an electronics course with very high marks, got a degree and did programming courses at the same time. Now on a fantastic salary working in designing robotics, and programming microchips.
He had a group of around 20+ kids at 14- 16 yrs. All guns and Roses, heavy metal, wearing black with chains, stud collars etc. So I invited them all in every evening so my son was off the streets and so were his friends. They were all so grateful, and respectful, to have somewhere safe and warm to go as no other parents would let them all in. But it kept them all safe and out of trouble, and away from drugs.
We couldn't afford private school but it makes no difference if the child is very intelligent

Parliament will debate re Petition on 5th January 2025.

Kemi Badenoch made such a fool of herself at PMQs today, and Starmer's calm response was perfect.