England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

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England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby coldharvest » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:38 am

A boy of five was left stranded in a tree at school because of a bizarre health and safety policy - which banned teachers from helping him down. The mischievous pupil climbed the 20ft tree at the end of morning break and refused to come down. But instead of helping him, staff followed guidelines and retreated inside the school building to ‘observe from a distance’ so the child would not get ‘distracted and fall’.

The boy was only rescued after 45 minutes in the tree when passer-by Kim Barrett, 38, noticed the child and helped him down herself. But instead of being thanked for her actions by the head teacher of the Manor School in Melksham, Wiltshire, she was reported to the police for trespassing.

Miss Barrett, who lives in Melksham with her six-year-old daughter who attends a different school, said she is ‘surprised’ and ‘shocked’ by the school's policy.
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby rickshaw92 » Thu Mar 25, 2010 1:36 pm

I aint suprised nor am I shocked at all. Last summer I read bout some health and safety guidlines that called for out door pools to be closed when its raining. And Jesus wept...
Im reallly fuclimg pissed but fespite that I can still hit a tarfet at 1000m plus. mayVRVe bnot tonight but it qint beyond the wit if man. Nowhammy.
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby coldharvest » Thu Mar 25, 2010 1:41 pm

The funniest thing to me is that if you stop your average English person in the street and
talked to them you'd quickly find out that they actually believe they're less psycho than the Taliban.....which clearly they're not.
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby Lost Boy » Fri Apr 02, 2010 6:22 pm

I've read worse news stories about England than this. A 14 year old girl was assigned to a group project for a class, and her group members were all African immigrants and did not speak English. She was quickly left out of the group conversation. She requested that her teacher place her in a different group, so that she could understand. Her teacher then called the police and the girl was handcuffed and brought to the principal's office for her racist comments.

I personally did not see this with my own eyes, but if it is true, or is otherwise any accurate indicator of the current PC hysteria sweeping England, then England is doomed for sure.
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby Woodsman » Fri Apr 02, 2010 10:45 pm

I am looking forward to visiting London and be a movie star with a zillion and one cameras on me at all times. Maybe I will holster a butter knife on me for fun.
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby Penta » Sun Apr 04, 2010 6:08 pm

Lost Boy: not an entirely accurate account, as it happens. ;)

Woodsy: just don't take your own pictures of the cameras.
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby ktrout » Sun Apr 04, 2010 8:45 pm

Penta wrote:Woodsy: just don't take your own pictures of the cameras.

Do the Brits think 1984 was a guide rather than a warning?
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby Woodsman » Sun Apr 04, 2010 8:52 pm

Penta wrote:Lost Boy: not an entirely accurate account, as it happens. ;)

Woodsy: just don't take your own pictures of the cameras.


I am going to. I am going to first buy a bilberry hat, wear it sideways and then take pictures of every one I see with me and my new hat in the background.

Then after I arrive back in the evil Empire, I'll mail copies to Queen Elizabeth - asking her to autograph them and send them back to me.
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby Lost Boy » Mon Apr 05, 2010 12:55 pm

Woodsman wrote:
Penta wrote:Lost Boy: not an entirely accurate account, as it happens. ;)

Woodsy: just don't take your own pictures of the cameras.


I am going to. I am going to first buy a bilberry hat, wear it sideways and then take pictures of every one I see with me and my new hat in the background.

Then after I arrive back in the evil Empire, I'll mail copies to Queen Elizabeth - asking her to autograph them and send them back to me.


Absolutely priceless. If you pull it off, be sure to post the pics here.
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby Lost Boy » Mon Apr 05, 2010 1:21 pm

Penta wrote:Lost Boy: not an entirely accurate account, as it happens. ;)

Woodsy: just don't take your own pictures of the cameras.


Forgive me. I didn't check the facts on that one. Here's another little gem from England:


From The Times
March 7, 2006
Why black sheep are barred and Humpty can't be cracked
By Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent
RECOMMEND? (7)
TRADITIONAL nursery rhymes are being rewritten at nursery schools to avoid causing offence to children.
Instead of singing “Baa baa, black sheep” as generations of children have learnt to do, toddlers in Oxfordshire are being taught to sing “Baa baa, rainbow sheep”.

The move, which critics will seize on as an example of political correctness, was made after the nurseries decided to re-evaluate their approach to equal opportunities.

Stuart Chamberlain, manager of the Family Centre in Abingdon and the Sure Start centre in Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire, told the local Courier Journal newspaper: “We have taken the equal opportunities approach to everything we do.

“This is fairly standard across nurseries. We are following stringent equal opportunities rules. No one should feel pointed out because of their race, gender or anything else.”

In keeping with the new approach, teachers at the nurseries have reportedly also changed the ending of Humpty Dumpty so as not to upset the children and dropped the seven dwarfs from the title of Snow White.

A spokesman for Ofsted, the watchdog which inspects Sure Start centres, confirmed that centres are expected to “have regard to anti-discrimination good practice” and that staff should “actively promote equality of opportunity”.

Gervase Duffield, a Conservative district councillor representing Sutton Courtenay and Appleford, denounced the ban as ridiculous.

“It’s the sort of thing that people continually do nowadays — it’s become something of a curse,” he said. “Why do people waste time and money doing this sort of thing when there are far more important things to think about when it comes to educating our children?”

A mother whose daughter attends the Sure Start nursery at the Family Centre in Abingdon, who did not want to be named, said parents had been astonished by the change.

“Baa Baa, Black Sheep has been one of the most well-known nursery rhymes for generations. For people to come along and fiddle with it is ridiculous. What on earth is a rainbow sheep anyway?

“I’ve spoken to other parents about it and none of us has ever heard of anyone getting offended by the words ‘black sheep’.”

This is not the first time, however, that the nursery rhyme — written in 1744 satirising the taxes imposed on wool exports — has fallen foul of political correctness. In 2000 Birmingham City Council tried to ban the rhyme, after claiming that it was racist and portrayed negative stereotypes. The council rescinded the ban after black parents said it was ludicrous.

Last year, a nursery school in Aberdeen caused uproar, when teachers changed the lyrics to “Baa baa, happy sheep”.

Margaret Morrissey, of the National Confederation of Parent Teachers Association, said: “It’s really sad. Children for generations have loved and enjoyed nursery rhymes and it’s very sad if adult political correctness doesn’t allow them to grow up in an unbiased world.”

A DfES spokesperson said: “We don’t support this approach to the teaching of traditional nursery rhymes, but any such decision would be taken locally.”
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby Woodsman » Mon Apr 05, 2010 1:25 pm

Baaa Baaa Rainbow sheep: Sounds like Obama is running their country.
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby Penta » Mon Apr 05, 2010 1:29 pm

I'm relieved they included this, otherwise I would have had to try to find it:
In 2000 Birmingham City Council tried to ban the rhyme, after claiming that it was racist and portrayed negative stereotypes. The council rescinded the ban after black parents said it was ludicrous.


Same with bans of children's books about pigs, which were supposed to offend Muslims. Note that the places in your article are Sutton Courtenay, Abingdon and Aberdeen, hardly examples of racially and culturally mixed communities. Fortunately, where we do all rub along together, we've become rather more sensible.
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby coldharvest » Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:00 pm

Penta wrote:I'm relieved they included this, otherwise I would have had to try to find it:
In 2000 Birmingham City Council tried to ban the rhyme, after claiming that it was racist and portrayed negative stereotypes. The council rescinded the ban after black parents said it was ludicrous.

....but they tried.
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby Penta » Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:52 pm

coldharvest wrote:....but they tried.

And learnt from their mistake.
They tried "Winterval" too, and changed their minds about that as well. Though I notice in the US they seem to talk about Spring Break for Easter and the Holiday Season for Christmas, so I guess we're not the only ones who try to be more inclusive, sometimes successfully, sometimes to much ridicule. ;)
Shes never interfered with me. I have no complaints about her.
Same here.
Mega ditto.
I met her once and I found her to be a nice lady. Not kookey in any way.
Penta has always been gracious, kind and very sane in all my interactions with her.
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Re: England: swirling 'round the toilet-bowl

Postby rickshaw92 » Mon Apr 05, 2010 7:03 pm

I think spring break in the States is all about kids getting silly drunk in Florida or Mexico and has nothing to do with Easter.
Im reallly fuclimg pissed but fespite that I can still hit a tarfet at 1000m plus. mayVRVe bnot tonight but it qint beyond the wit if man. Nowhammy.
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