Parents at a Kent primary school are angry that a sheep hand-reared by pupils is to be slaughtered for meat.‘Parents’…?
Meat from neutered male Marcus, one of three sheep cared for at a farm set up in the spring at Lydd Primary School, is to be raffled to buy more animals.
Is this another BBC use of the plural to imply that all the parents are up in arms about this?
Yes. Yes, it is. Only one is quoted in the BBC story (though 'The Daily Fail' is now stoking the fire with tales of a parent's petition and Facebook campaign):
Mother Jo Davis said it was a disgrace that the sheep fed by hand by her eight-year-old daughter Megan was to be slaughtered and sold.Why so?
Is this unexpected? Was it not planned from the start? Has the head lost all her marbles and decided to arbitrarily chop her way through the kids classroom pets?
No:
Ms Charman started the farm, which also has rabbits, guinea pigs, cockerels and ducks, after she joined Lydd Primary in January.Say what…?
The lambs were bottle-fed by the children and taken into assembly.
Last term the school council, made up of 14 seven to 11-year-olds, voted 13 to one in favour of sending Marcus to slaughter rather than keeping him.
The wee kiddiewinks were given a free vote, and enthusiastically opted to slam in the lamb?
Surely not?
And it doesn’t stop there. These mini-carnivores have their eyes on Babe-sandwiches next year:
Tickets are being sold in shops in Lydd to raffle the meat. Money raised will go to buy pigs, from which sausages will eventually be made.Oh noes!
Ms Davis is horrified at this evidence of farming going on:
"I feel this is the same as my daughter coming home from school to find her pet rabbit bubbling away on the stove in a stew," said Ms Davis.The sheep weren’t pets (unlike a rabbit bought specifically for that purpose), the kids were given the option to keep them as pets (in case they became too attached), and you are still complaining?
"My daughter was told it was no different to buying lamb from the supermarket.
"I really don't think this is the same thing."
But you are right in one respect – this is a little different from buying lamb in the supermarket. It’s better.
Your child gets to see how her food is raised, gets to learn that in order to put dinner on the table something has to die, and therefore may not grow up to be a squeamish ignoramus like you…
The school is on Romney Marsh, an area famous for sheep farming.A capital idea, but it seems no-one did that for this little girl’s mother. Perhaps you should start with her, though I fear it’d be an uphill struggle…
Ms Charman said she wanted to teach the children about the food chain and the local economy.
"I am trying to prepare children for the adult world in every sense," she said.
"When they are 15, when they are 20 they are not going to remember what they got in their Sats when they were 11 years old.I’ve no doubt they will.
"But they will remember they had a farm and that they made decisions."
But on the other hand, thanks to one woman's stupidity, they are now likely to learn that if you don't like something you'd previously all agreed to, if you make an unholy fuss and indulge in anthropomorphism with the media on your side, you can have your own way.
So, I suppose, whoever wins, they've still learned a valuable lesson.
Update: Mark Wadsworth has a topical and Brussels-approved solution to this dilemma...
44 comments:
"I feel this is the same as my daughter coming home from school to find her pet rabbit bubbling away on the stove in a stew,"
Unless this woman's husband is Michael Douglas and he' been porking Glenn Close, I think this scenario highly unlikely. Although, when I was staying in France, my next door neighbour was rearing rabbits for the pot...and a very good stew it was too!
I've got lamb on the menu tonight.
Make sure blood pressure is low before following my link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8250712.stm
"Unless this woman's husband is Michael Douglas and he' been porking Glenn Close, I think this scenario highly unlikely."
There's a picture of her in the 'Mail'. I think her husband would think all his Christmasses had come at once to get access to Glenn Close, despite the looming threat of knife-wielding carnage...
"I've got lamb on the menu tonight."
I'm just looking out of the window to see if there's room in my back garden for Bambi...
"Make sure blood pressure is low before following my link."
Oh, for the love of..!
Haringey. Why is it always Haringey?
Great post! The children are far more likely to be traumatised by the confrontational antics of Jo Davies than by the straightforward farming practices adopted by the school.
Meanwhile, Ms Davies will feel totally justified in causing the uproar because she is, as she sees it, morally in the right.
Respect to Ms Charman - she sounds like she's got the right stuff.
Mothers eh, what are they like? Perhaps she is a vegie.
It's fishcakes for tea tonight. (No fish will be harmed in the making of my tea, someone else is the culprit.)
A mother's point of view :
Kind of depends on how the whole affair has been treated. If the kids were told from the start that this was going to happen, then fine.
Otherwise, to be honest, I don't know if I would be happy dragging an 8 year old into the reality of animal slaughter without some serious thought.
It's a mean bad world and I don't agree with young children being faced with the horror of slaughter unless they're prepared.
Most mums do like to keep the innocence as long as possible..
Isn't life under the socialist heel just great?
Sue, if 'mums keep the innocence', there is a risk that their children will grow up preferring not to know where their meat comes from.
It is this ignorance that condones intensive and battery farming, with all the associated issues of animal welfare, drugs and disease.
I would love to be able to add a clever, witty, insightful comment to this post bud sadly, Whilst listening to Radio 2 this afternoon (please forgive me) I happened to catch said mum on air. And IMHO she is a wittering, clittering, proffesionally offended cunt if ever I came across one.
Sorry.
Mummy x
p.s I think this is a cracking idea, show kids exactly where Jamie O get's all those wonderful ingredients in his oh so very fucking healthy school dinners - yes, he is a cunt too.
Sorry (again).
So the nest thing the righteous will demand is that all abattoirs are closed - because they're cruel and horrible?
"Kind of depends on how the whole affair has been treated. If the kids were told from the start that this was going to happen, then fine."
Yes, they were. This has been planned from the start, with the proviso that the kid's council could vote to retain them as pets if they decided they couldn't go through with it.
The overwhelming response was 'Pass the mint sauce!'...
"Whilst listening to Radio 2 this afternoon (please forgive me) I happened to catch said mum on air. And IMHO she is a wittering, clittering, proffesionally offended cunt if ever I came across one."
I heard the trail for that interview, but missed the interview itself. I'll have to try catching up in the Beeb player.
A belated ta for the link.
My children attend this school and although I want the whole world to be vegetarian like me its not going to happen, so as my kids have chosen to eat meat I would rather they learnt that its better to eat free range organic meat thats been looked after and had a happy life, than mass produced meat raised in cruel conditions. I want them to know where their food has come from. The way this is being handled the kids are going to think its wrong to eat free range food. The whole country is being encouraged to find out where their food comes from and go free range yet a few people have made our school look bad for it. The whole junior school were asked again this week and they all still chose to send the sheep (Who incidentally was never called Marcus but Market) to market. It is a very small minority who have started this protest one of whom actually brought raffle tickets! Now we have children who are upset that they might lose the farm they are so proud off, and are having threats to burn down our school.
I have children at this school, and these stupid 3 woman who are kicking up a fuss wanting their 5 mins of fame, have caused uproar with the whole world!! these people who dont live here do not understand what is the actual truth!! as all the media have covered is this stupid cows side... our school wasnt doing well, and the new head has greatly improved our school. The children knew it was a "farm", and not "pets corner"!! the lamb was only with the school a few months, then it was summer holidays for 7 weeks! the children have NOT bonded with this animal, as they only get to visit the animals for a few mins each week, the classes take turns each day, a few mins here and there!! so add that up!! the animal wasnt named at first, and a few children decided to name it MARKET.. as thats where it was going!! the head has not told the children ANY gory slaughtering stories at all.. now the children are upset because of all this fuss, and are now worrying they will now loose the other animals because of it all... all because 2 or 3 silly cows... 1 of these woman had bought a raffle ticket last week!!!!... ohh yes she did! did you all see all them protesters outside the gates??? all 5 of them!! and 2 of them dont have kids at the school!! the lamb was not with the school long enough to bond with at all.. last time they see it was in july... then last week!! if these woman are that discusted with the farm.. then take your kids out of school and go to another school then?? bye bye!! its 300 parents Vs 3!!! enough said... are they veggies?? nope! its absolutly pathetic!! they must feel ashamed?? what trouble they have caused!
Itoo have a child at his school, and this whole story is so wrong and untrue. the press have only heard 1 side, which is these stupid, pathetic woman, i dont think they realised how this would spiral out of control.. the lamb was never treated as a pet! the children never took it for walks or threw a stick for it.. it was petted thro a fence! (thats if the lamb came up to them!).. so bonding?? no i doubt very much! 1 of the "woman" protesters child was interviewed on tv!.. did she look upset?.. no she never! yes the animals name was actually "market"!! and it was only at the school 2-3 months!! and the children havent seen him for 7 weeks anyway! as the angry mum&dad said.. take your kids to another school and leave the rest of us to enjoy our "FARM".. as we want piglets.. which will turn into sausages eventually!! so do we have to go thro all this AGAIN?????? rabbit stew!!!! OMG... is that all you got to say about it all?? you DONT have a case.. so SHUT UP!!
my kids go to this school, so do my nephews and nieces.. friends and neighbours kids.. not 1 child i know or have asked is upset.. only these f*****g stupid woman (especially jo davis) is upsetting them by causing all this fuss.. now the children who voted him to go thinks they have done wrong!... they were left to make a decision, and now these woman want to take that away from them.. will they now loose the "FARM" COS OF ALL THIS?? so go away and yes... take your kids out of this "bad" school!!! we want piglets.... !!
the children knew all about it all from the start... the children made the decisions... it was never treated as a pet... they havent seen him for 7 weeks... it was not named marcus....but market... it was in a pen, so couldnt be petted much.... kids only visited 1 class at a time for 5-10 mins..... the head has turned this school around fantastically... well done... how do i know..... my kids all go there too.... those who dont agree with the farm... theres plenty of other local schools for your child....?? so stop all this utter rubbish now.... silly woman you are.. rabbit stew remark each interview is wearing thin now!!!
why buy a raffle ticket to win the lamb last week then?? thats what 1 of the "protesters" did last week!!!! ho ho ho!! i bet theres roast lamb on thier tables soon!! its all utter rubbish jo is saying... who is she?? shes not even a local im sure?? so F*^k OFF and go check ya rabbit cage.... OMG.. is that all she can say???? rabbit stew!! yawn....!!
How many fingers does a fish have?
None, I ate them all
Thanks for your comments, all.
I agree that if people are going to eat meat (and most are, that's not likely to change) it's far better that they understand exactly what that entails, and learn thhat it's better to choose to eat meat that has been raised properly and treated well, rather than simply buying a shrink-wrapped lump from a supermarket shelf.
And I think that they can learn a valuable lesson from the hoo-ha too. When a small minority are shouting and gesticulating and whipping up the media, it's as well to stand back and say 'Hang on! That's not the side of the story I've heard. What's really going on here?'
the truth is written above by the "people" who actually go to that school.... lambs, pigs, cows are for eating... they are not pets... if this was an argument about a dog, cat or even the school bunny.. then .. yes they have a point... this was no pet..
I have children at this school, and just to put a few stories right, the lamb was called market, so whatever anybody says, he was given a name, whether market or marcus, he still had a name. it seems most of the people on here just want to slag off Jo Davis, when they should actually be thinking about what their effect is having on all the kids, as you all keep pointing out, they are the minority, and it will be the minority that will lose you your farm especially as a child has actually been psychologically damaged and according to Evey Child Matters, one damaged child is one too many!!
there was never a letter from the school even mentioning that they were having a farm let alone a petting farm or meat farm, then the kids voted to send the lamb to market not knowing he was going to be killed, as for the kids supposedly only spending five mins a week out there, im sure one of the parents stated last week that she had a letter stating that the farm was incorperated into every lesson except p.e., so i think thats a bit more than five minutes and the kids that have karate lessons n dance lessons all saw the lambs during the holidays too. so yes there was some bonding, whatever any of you say, it was all done wrongly and all the lambs are gone now, look forward to the chickens coming cos she wants to sell the eggs n i think thats gunna be the nearest you will get to meat farming or slaughter for a while, lol. how do i know? cos im a friend of peedoff mum n shes peed me off.
My children and grandchildren go to this school andits an absolute disgrace what some of the parents have said and done, writing lies in letters to get other parents banned from the school grounds and saying things in front of the children, yes we all understand that there are meat farmsall around us but all of you, ask yourself how you learnt about the food chain, did you have a pet at school slaughtered? i doubt it!!did hitler not do the same thing to train his boys, he made them bond with a dog and then kill it!
its disgusting that parents are falling out with each other and some of the comments on here are just foul!! im flabbergasted that its actually a head teachers actions that caused all this riot in my home town, i stronly believe in the last comment made, the children and the parents have all been sucked into the lies of this headmistress and followed her like a lamb. im on the side of the apparent minority. theres deciet and lies and my grandchildren told me that it was a petting farm that was open to the public. sack the headmistress for the amount of stress and trouble she has caused!!
I have children at this school, and none of them are upset or disturbed by the lamb being slaughtered. I spoke to them and asked them how they felt and they are not upset at all. Whilst the issue of where the lamb had gone was raised i explained to my children that beef, lamb, chicken, pork and fish is different from other foods... it comes from a living animal. That it is not the same as vegetables or fruit etc. I explained that some people decide not to eat meat etc. It has opened my childrens eyes to food and its origins. Also I think parenting comes into play.. i'm not a perfect parent, and i am not claiming to be.. but most parents learn the art of being honest with their children and explaining things in such a way that they understand. Personally my children were not upset, but i do respect that other children may of been, and as a parent you want to protect your child. However I do feel that there are ways to air your views and the behaviour of a small minority or parents at the school have gone about this matter in a totally unacceptable manner. There are many children and parents that whole heartedly support the head teacher and her staff and think that she has made such a difference to the school and improved it for the better in a short space of time. The headteacher has had to take time out to deal with this matter which has had knock on effects as her role needs to be covered by other teachers and their roles needs to be coverd too and so it goes on. The school has had many votes on the farm and has always gone with the majority verdict, so the majority won. The minority just keep going over the same issue which has long passed. Please leave our school alone to get on with teaching our children.
There are two parents at this school who are continuing with their ridiculous vendetta. KCC has banned them from school grounds not because parents are lying about them, but because they were given information and links that they investigated and found that these to parents have continually lied about the school and even about their own lives lol. KCC have seen in black and white the vile lies that have been told by these parents yet they still continue and now stand at the school gates trying their best to intimidate the rest of the school. They will end up getting their children excluded so are they really thinking of them. KCC found out that they are upsetting and disturbing children in the school and inciting hatred. They are distressing a lot of children mine included yet they do not care about this. Standing at the gates spewing hatred in front of children is unacceptable and it is being monitored.
The vast majority of parents and children are in favour of the school and farm as the votes have proved again! The LEA fully support the school head and farm.
Adele has spewed more crap from her mouth than a whole flock of sheep produce! Get a life you state sponger!
Oh dearie me, unfortunatly some people are clearly idiots!!
Yes lets compare mrs charman to hitler, perhaps youd be better off concentrating on the real world dears!!! Why not put your efforts into something like world peace rather than one animal THAT IS DEAD!!!
If anyone belived your horrid lies about her then she would have been removed pending invesitgation by KCC however, they clearly have no concerns about her as a head as she is still doing a great job!
And yes I am a parent at the school, oh and the people that were banned from the school was because of their behaviour towards mrs charman and other parents, KCC have to provide signifcant evidence before they can ban someone they dont just go ah yeah you your banned lol!
Ive just read through some of these comments...i would like to state 'as someone in the know'
THE FARM IS GOING NO WHERE AND THE PIGS WELL JUST WAIT AND SEE!!!
Again, as an angry grandparent, i see that now the hatred has gone from Jo Davis to Adele, by looking at this page, they are obviously not the ones citing hatred!!
proved by the above statements!!
my name is tina,i have 2 children and grandaughter at this school ,the only intimidation is coming from faceless ,nameless idiots,yes we have been banned so what!we are standing up for our kids,as for abuse wait till kcc get the evidence we have sent there will be lots more banned from the school,just to say our kids are not leaving and i will wait at the gate for my kids,sorry but tough if you dont like it!.
u wont be waiting at the gate for long tina!
Well if the local PCSO is there with a police constable, how could the inciting hatred possibly still be going on, what a load of rubbish..... it was all made up so they got banned and is still being made up so their kids get excluded, just so you can get a couple of pigs,
what a cheek that they are being accused of inciting hatred, theres more hatred towards them on here than has come out of any of their mouths, i know cos i'm there every day, and i'm not on either side of the argument but ive never seen any trouble. its utter rubbish!
the inciting hatred doesnt just happen in person it is online too!!
very true,what about the personal messages of hate and threats that you have sent people tina?,yes not as pure as you are trying to make out, KCC dont ban people for no reason they have to have evidence of incitement of hate, its plastered all over the pages on facebook groups,you do realise that even though you delete comments they can still be retrieved dont you? it seems that in your heads if people dont agree with you then they are bullies, the only bullies i have seen are your little anti groups and believe me i have been monitoring these groups right from the start.
you are right there is a pcso and officer at the gate,so do you not think that they would have something to say if we were doing anything other than collecting our kids?as for intimidation and evidence kcc will be inreciept of ours,so as said before a few more banned faces will appear outside the gates,it makesa no difference to me inside or outside,as long as i collect my kids,please dont tell me what to think as i have my own opinion,as for exclusion for our kids,if you know that is going to happen then you must be the same person who initiated our ban,its a shame you feel you need to hide behind a false name,as you are entitled to your view same as us,we are exercising that right,as for comments made on facebook,what makes you think you can say what you want and we cannot,i am sorry if you would prefer i not be standing at the gate,but this is the situation that you people have made not us!,perhaps you would prefer me to let my kids walk home on their own,sorry but that is not going to happen either,if you were to say who you are i would be happy to speak to you about my opinion,as for the school doing so well,11 kids sat their 11 plus none passed this year,last year 3 passed when it was in special measures,that speaks for itself.
when did i ever say i was pure,i will reply to comments made to me,especialy when they are aimed at members of my family,if you have a problem with me then have a go at me not anybody else,i think that opinion is a good thing and that people on this site are making their own opinion heard which i respect wether or not i agree with it only difference is some are happy to put their names to their comments,why wont you?
Good lord, is this still rumbling on? I'd never have known, if I hadn't installed that blog comment widget.
It seems to have dropped out of the news headlines, which is not unusual, once a stoory 'moves on', the MSM loses interest. It will be interesting to see what happens if, as seems likely from the commenrs here, the head and governors take further action.
Tina the Pcso is at the gate because of the behaviour of Adele and yourself you have been watched on camera. From your facebook group you all seem to be under the impression that these posts are from one person...Not true I have commented on here once before the rest are not me.
Julia M unfortunately this is still rumbling on. The board of governors are all in support of the school and most importantly the LEA and 95% of parents and children are fully behind the school and head. Unfortunately
two parents are like pitbulls with a bone and just won't stop causing trouble and causing upset the children in the school. KCC have received several complains about these two and have fully investigated them including their behaviour at school, comments comments they have made on a facebook group including comments that have been made back to them, and they have investigated the fact that they are upsetting children. They have been banned from school grounds but have been standing by the school gates loudly stating to anyone who walks past that if people think they have been intimidating that they haven't even started yet. Their behaviour has also been monitored on camera police are present at the gate again so parents are not made to feel threatened by them and children not upset by them. They insist on carrying on and the it will be their children who get excluded because of their behaviour, and its sad they they don't seem to care about this.
"They insist on carrying on and the it will be their children who get excluded because of their behaviour, and its sad they they don't seem to care about this."
Cheers for the clarification.
There's two things that may be driving this - the initial publicity (which some may find hard to give up) and then there's the fact that some people are not content to agree to disagree.
They are like children themselves - it's their way or nothing, and when they find themselves in a minority, they don't handle it well.
Sadly, s you say, it's the children that suffr.
hi julia m
firstly thank you for your comments,yes i wait at the gates for my children,because yes i have been banned,i speak to friends who walk past and have spoken to the pcso no problem,i have not had a go at anyone as i have no reason too,as for the cameras we are well aware that we are being watched,but so are the people who sneer as they come out of the gate and try to get a reaction,this was noticed by the police,thank you for your input
If these comments have no names how do we know it is not people who are now pretending to be the victims trying to make themselves look better.....just a thought...
and LOL pitbulls I like that very appropriate!
I am a parent with children at this school and the only inciting of hatred ive seen is actually still going on inside the school gates and its aggravatedly towards Adele and Tina. maybe the local PCSO should be inside!
I support the school and the farm but i do not support these idiots that are getting parents banned for having an opinion. they are the trouble causers!!
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