School racist hunters go OTT in barmy episode

You have to hand it to the politically correct. In bucketloads! They are so keen to root out what they consider racist behaviour that they associate harmless remarks with the vilist Nazi propaganda. Teachers have signed up to a morons charter, designed by this ludicrous government, to jot down every word, phrase or remark with a scintilla of assumed racist content.

So it was that a six-year-old girl has been branded a racist for telling a black girl she had chocolate on her face. Innocence turned into a gestapo-style report. When the girl's mother went to collect her she was told the incident was "racist" and that a complaint had been logged.

The school claims it was blown out of all proportion. I hardly think so. Not if it was put in the book! These people are supposed to be running a Church school. They'd be far better off binning this ridiculous book and just taking children's remarks as they come.

All that the school has done is unnecessarily causing the girl to feel guilty about an innocent remark just because they put their political correctness in front of common sense. They do themselves no merit and they are a cancer in society that needs eradicating.

Sex and the teacher!

What is it with us Anglo-Saxons. We have a rather unhealthy attitude to matters sexual it seems. Seeing as we all owe our very existence to sexual activity we seem to think that the body is a temple for the devil most times rather than being one for the Holy Spirit. Now there is a time and place for everything and it is seen by most people that sexual activity is a private matter. It is also one of total naturalness. However, it is also something for the exploiters to get involved with.

Today I heard that teachers are complaining about the new code of practice set up by the quango calling itself the General Teaching Council for England. This outfit has deemed it necessary to introduce a code. In part it says that teachers should ‘Maintain reasonable standards in their own behaviour that enable them to maintain an effective learning environment and also to uphold public trust and confidence in the profession.’ Some think this is a catchall clause to encourage snoopers. GTC Chief Executive Keith Bartley says teachers have nothing to fear. In response this is claimed. "The Code does not intrude into teachers’ private lives in the way that some have alleged. Personal misconduct outside school would only be drawn to the GTC’s attention if the alleged behaviour were serious enough to warrant dismissal. Provided behaviour is legal and private, this is a matter for individuals but the GTC will assess any behaviour that may damage the ability of the individual to fulfil their role because it has become public." Weasel words I'd say. "Assess any behaviour"? What is Mr.Bartley thinking of? Any person could take umbrage at a teacher's behaviour. "I saw Mr.Jones skinny-dipping!" or "I saw Mrs.Wright completely drunk at my neighbour's wedding". Such innuedo could well keep Mr.Bartley and his penpushers up all night.

Why we need such a code is bewildering indeed. Surely headteachers are the ones to weed out the wrong people. But that's during working hours. What a teacher does privately is nothing whatsoever to do with these New Labour snooper-types, unless it is criminal activity.

In Florida a teacher, Tiffany Shepherd, got fired from her job as a biology teacher because she posed for racy photos that appeared on the internet. What happened to her? She's ended up as a porn actress because nobody would hire her as a teacher. Now she could have done something else, but probably sees this as some kind of public payback plus an opportunity to make easy money. Was she a good biology teacher? I have no way of knowing but I bet that wasn't a priority for those who fired her. Have any of those involved in firing her been up to anything we should know about? In all these cases a certain degree of hypocrisy enters the arena. I'm all for decency and proper standards but that's for those around us to be vigilant. We should not afraid to speak up about our friends and family's behaviour if we are concerned. If we all acted a little more neighbourly we would not need pointy-headed bureaucrats cobbling together codes of practice.

So Tiffany Shepherd goes from teacher to floozy (her own description) for posing in bikini pics. Hardly that provocative, but I'm not a quango type. Now she's being manipulated by a seedy gent and his wife. "I told her, use ‘em before they fall to the ground. But God, does she need to work on her acting!" Biology's loss is pornography's gain. Some code, some practice!

Male teachers and the lack of them

Today the BBC is running a news item about the lack of male teachers in primary schools. It is being portrayed as problem because the children lack a male role model whilst learning. That is undoubtedly true. However, those in the teaching profession sound utterly devoid of a reason as to why this should be. Lack of male teachers, that is.

I'd venture to say it is three main reasons. The first is that many men would shudder at the thought of teaching young children for fear of one day having a paedophile label stuck on their backs. Whether this is at the forefront of one's mind or not, it is certainly a reason for caution. With so much publicity about teachers being involved in accusations and enquiries, is it little wonder that a frisson of fear goes down a man's spine when asked if teaching is a career option? Unruly children, albeit a minority, are definitely a handful.

The second is that, from the outside, teaching in primary schools is seen as a female-dominated occupation. The fact that it is and that change is being sought is neither here nor there. It is the perception that is uppermost in current thinking. It is a brave man who will do what we used to say in the sixties and "break the ice of the party". And thirdly, the issue of pay is not seen as sufficiently attractive.

I hope they can attract more male teachers for the very reasons that are being stated. But I think they should tackle the problems of attitude head-on and not stand in wonderment at the diffidence of men in a primary school teaching role.

'Murder attempt' teacher remanded. Teacher's Mansfield pet?

As I write this I see that Peter Harvey, the teacher accused of attempted murder, has been remanded into custody by Mansfield magistrates. He will appear before Nottingham Crown Court on 27 July.

This sounds like a very sorry tale indeed. Unlike other tragedies befalling schools, there appears to be a genuine lack of understanding as to why this should have happened. The BBC is just reporting the basic bits. However, there now seems to be two sides to this story. Teaching in this brave new world of education is not all it is cracked up to be, especially by that verbal waffle-maker par excellence, Ed Balls. Some papers are suggesting that Mr.Harvey, who has his devotees as an exceptional teacher, had a previous breakdown and a stroke. It is said he may have gone back to teaching too soon. What made him flip was that a pupil said in class, allegedly, "Why don't you go and have another f*****g stroke?".

There are plenty of decent, hard-working, eager to learn children in schools today. There always have been. But there are some really nasty children. Now I have no idea what really happened on that fateful day, but the consensus that is emerging is that a well-liked and well-respected science teacher just got to the end of his tether. Ed Balls talks a good game, but I have eyes in my head. I see potential everyday for possible grief. Being a teacher today is a thankless task. Rude parents just add to a teacher's day.

We live in an increasingly selfish world and it is no use denying it. People push and shove. They drive cars as if they have a personal right to go as they please. Rudeness and crudeness is on the increase. No wonder people flip.

Some years ago I was working for a taxi firm. On occasions, I drove cars when we had a shortage of drivers. Taxi drivers know a thing or two about life. It sits the back! On this occasion I had to ferry unruly children from school to their "home". These were children the council deemed required special treatment. To say that they were feral is putting it mildly. These children were like ticking time bombs. I had the misfortune one day to be ferrying a really frightful child. His demeanour was as if he was on permanent self-destruct mode. All angry and very difficult. We had got half-way in the journey when, despite several warnings from me, he attempted to throttle his fellow passenger. Only ten and he seemed to have the strength of a heavy-weight wrestler. I stopped the car and just let rip at him. For the first time he appeared shocked and for the rest of the journey sat in glum silence. I never drove those kids again.

What society does with thoughtless, mean-sprited children I do not know, but I think it is about time we realised that society does have a broken spine and cannot hold itself up high. We owe it to ourselves to make things better.

I do not know what holds for Peter Harvey, but this court case will unravel the ills and indiscipline in schools that our present government is so desperate to hide. For unless the truth is addressed nobody will want to teach any child for fear of an early grave or the prospects of a prison cell.

Teachers' pets bite back!

This never happened to Doris Day. When she was Teacher's Pet she was demure and very docile. Er-hum! Fast forward to the present day and we have a load of jaw-snapping children apparently biting teacher at any opportune moment. Even a crocodile would find it hard to understand.

Only human behaviour is like this. Animals never bite the hand that feeds them, unless of course the human spooks them! A teachers' union conference has been told that biting in special schools is "quite a big issue". Suzanne Nantcurvis said, "Due to the nature of the assaults they face, often teachers in special schools have to have vaccines such as tetanus and hepatitis B. I know that for some colleagues this has come at a personal cost of around £80 for a hepatitis B injection."

This is outrageous. The trouble is that as we "progress" towards a more secularised and selfish society, the libertines are placing all manner of crazy rules and regulations in our way. The risk of facing accusations as a result of managing such violent incidents left staff "worried sick", said Ms Nantcurvis. I have no doubt. False allegations are not uncommon. Money rears its ugly head.

Fifty years ago I was starting out on a wonderful education. There was discipline, but there was fun. We had "in loco parentis", something quite lost on today's educational establishment. Teachers now appear to be hostages on some kind of Guantanomo Camp for the educationally-challenged. Ed Balls carries on with his sats and his stats, but none of it will be of any use.

You can teach a dog to do tricks but you can't educate it. Education, I was told, is about "leading out". Basic Latin reveals it is duco not docio. In a country with an ever-increasing number of sleazy politicians, corrupt bankers, immoral TV producers and greedy people in general, is it any wonder that children are biting their teachers!

Miss Rusty teaches fantastically and gets sacked!

In another teacher row, the powers-that-be (mainly self-righteous politically-correct prigs!) have deemed a sexual fantasy too much for pupils to bear. This teacher, known as Miss Rusty (her name is Leonora Rustamova) wrote an account in a book of pupils' sex fantasies, flirting and truancy. This has had a devastating impact in the real world, where fantasies of this kind are not allowed. No, the real fantasies are those like the ones Gordon Brown has at G20 summits. All fantastic!

So she gets sacked. Has anyone complained about her book? No! In fact, there have been mass demonstrations by pupils and a campaign by parents to have her reinstated, along with another teacher who was also dismissed for supporting her. This draconian Calvinistic action was deemed appropriate, but I think it smacks of the worst kind of Yorkshire nonconformism.

Have these people ever read the Song of Solomon in the Bible? Their action is a lot of pious nonsense. We had all that with Lady Chatterly's Lover. The judge asking if it was a book that his butler could read and all the rest of it.

Pornography? Some say it's in the mind. I think there should be a sense of proportion. We are being held to ransom in this country by an unelected army of pen-pushing poseurs all hell-bent on their gender studies and politically correct poison. The real pornography carries on regardless.

We are fools to let it continue!

"Thong's not the thing to do!" teacher told

A teacher is in hot water after pictures of her in a range of "completely inappropriate" poses appeared on a modelling website. Natasha Gray was shown wearing a thong and lying on her front on a bed. Ben Slade, who is the head teacher of Manor Community College in Cambridge where she is the head of PE, said she should not have posed for these pictures.

"They were completely inappropriate for somebody who is a teacher," he said. "They were absolutely not pornographic but do you want to see your teacher in that way? Probably not."

He then went on, "Neither the school nor the governing body will tolerate anything - from staff or pupils - which may bring the school's name into disrepute. I'm in consultation with our personnel department and with the local authority in relation to further action."

Talk about shouting about it from the roof tops. Did he get on his school roof with a loud hailer to let everyone know? No, that was far too simple. He told the whole world via the internet and the BBC. What a plonker! If he hadn't opened his mouth we'd be none the wiser.

And the answer to his daft question is, YES!!, most normal schoolboys would want to see their teacher in such a pose. It's just basic teenage testosterone stuff. Anyway, if it's not pornographic what's he so bothered about? We've been let down far more seriously by those purporting to govern us, most of whom spend their waking hours checking on what the gravy train has delivered!