Ridgeway School, in Wroughton, near Swindon, is heavily criticised in the review for failing to tackle the growing tensions between Muslim and white teenagers, even after a riot on the school’s playing fields.And why did the school have such a problem? Isn't the community supposed to all get along?
Well...
Problems increased after the local council began bringing Muslim children from central Swindon to the rural school in an effort to improve community relations after the 7/7 terrorist attacks.Oh. That went well, eh?
The review says that schools in England and Wales should record the ethnicity of bullies and victims. If a pattern of racism emerges, they should take urgent steps to address the playground culture. Teachers should also liaise more closely with the police.Ooooh, they aren't going to like that! And neither is Michael Gove:
The review’s recommendations, which it says should be implemented nationwide, could present a problem for Michael Gove, the Education Secretary. He is planning to scale back the requirement for schools to monitor bullying as part of attempts to cut the “red tape” facing schools.But Henry's parents aren't happy either. They feel there are far, far more people who should be in the firing line than just the school:
Last night, the injured boy’s mother, Liz Webster, questioned the scope of the review, which did not scrutinise the council decision to bus about 20 Muslim children to the unprepared school.Time will tell if they get their wish...
In a statement, she said that parts of the review, which involved speaking to the school, police, local authority and other organisations, amounted to a “whitewash” .
“We are very concerned that the report has failed to address many of the failings which surrounded our family’s treatment throughout this terrible episode in our lives,” said Mrs Webster.
“There were failures at virtually every level of the case from the police, to the Crown Prosecution Service to the behaviour of individual teachers.
“The criticism of the local authority is tantamount to a whitewash as it is so minimal and limited. The review doesn’t mention what needs to be done to improve race relations in Swindon which is an urgent concern considering the increase in the vote for the BNP.
“We also firmly believe that the entire report should be published in full. We will be extremely angry if this does not happen on Thursday.”
It's going to get ugly. Very ugly indeed. NuLabours diversity experiment has failed, dismally.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry any requirement to record the ethnicity of bullies and victims will quickly disappear should the pattern not match with the PC dogma that only white people can be racist.
ReplyDeleteI would worry that the stats may reflect the widespread cultural marxist view that racism = power + prejudice and therefore only white kids can be racist bullies.
ReplyDeleteI guess it will be teachers keeping the records - right?
One has to ask how the 20 Muslim children were selected;
ReplyDelete"Dear Head Teachers, we're going to send some pupils to a school outside Swindon - have you any you'd like to get rid of?"
They tried the same sort of thing here as a social experiment at primary level - bussing a group from a problem estate into a quiet, successful but unfashionably middle-class village school.
Three years later, the school failed its OFSTED inspection and the management had resorted to that old favourite, rewarding miscreants with trips to Alton Towers if they did not misbehave.
Although I had read about the Henry Webster case, was unaware that bussing was part of the problem:
ReplyDeleteProblems increased after the local council began bringing Muslim children from central Swindon to the rural school in an effort to improve community relations after the 7/7 terrorist attacks.
I'm also from the M4 corridor. Not very far from Swindon. Slough to be exact.
I went to school in the 1970's. My school was on one of the outlying council estates and was mostly white with a few asian and black kids + the odd turkish cypriot - that kind of thing. It was a tough school but there wasn't any racial tension as far as I was aware.
Suddenly, one year, large numbers of Pakistani kids were being bussed to our school from central Slough. I say Pakistani, because they were actually from Pakistan and hadn't been in the country long. Some of them had beards and were clearly older than the 14 year olds they joined in that year.
Almost immediately, the break times turned into scenes reminiscent of West Side story. I have always maintained that the same thing would have happened if they had bussed lots of white kids in from Bristol or Manchester.
Like introducing two packs of wolves to eachother, each pack member loyal to his own pack, each pack member knowing the hierarchy of their own pack, there was only going to be one result.
The Pakistani 'kids' formed their gang, and the white (and black) kids formed another gang. And from that there was the odd nasty incident.
It wasn't really racism at all. But whenever I've told people this story that invariably is the conclusion they jump to.
If all the kids had been mixed together from day one, every one would have known their place in the pack.
Adding to my previous post about my Slough bussing experience:
ReplyDeleteThe worst incident I remember involved the apparent 'leader' of the Pakistani gang pinning down one of the white kids following a fight and apparently try to gauge his eyes out.
A black kid saw this, and took a run at the Pakistani kid, and "kicked his head like a football".
I put that in quotes because I didn't actually see the incident, but it sticks in my mind because of that exact line was repeated to me by different kids who had seen it and seemed genuinely shocked by what they had seen.
So, black and white kids versus pakistani kids = racism?
Or young males having to re-establish a dominance hierarchy after it had been disturbed by the introduction of a number of other, noticeably different, probably older (and therefore unlikely to submit to the existing order) males who all having something very important in common and therefore likely to form a gang against outsiders which everyone else must have seemed?
But like I said before, you tell that story to people and the conclusion they jump to is that it was all about "Paki-bashing" and the NF.
Which it wasn't.
I was there.
This Country spent centuries to eventually establish a society that freed Europe, (with help from across the pond when they saw which way the wind blew),. It was a society that had a hierarchy that was then dismantled in order to satisfy the left. A form of gerrymandering bussing was then introduced to bolster the gang of the left. Nothing has improved since then. Thank you Labour.
ReplyDeleteSwindon BC is a Conservative council, and has been since 2003. There was NOC from 2000, but I think the Tories were the largest party. This incident happened in 2007, so I reckon you can lay the responsibility at the Conservative Council's feet. Even if they were following some NuLabour diktat, they could have done a better job than this.
ReplyDeleteRidgeway school used to be the best comp in the area by miles - now its back in the bog standard mix, and believe me, the standards are not high in Swindon secondary education!
Bussing these ethnic kids into a rural school was a disaster waiting to happen. It didn't work very well in the USA. It won't work here with Muslim children because of their indoctrination.
ReplyDeleteThere should be an enquiry. Somebody call Macpherson. If he promises not to publish the names and confidential details of the witnesses (this time), he gets the job.
ReplyDelete'busing' people in gives delightful frissons of the forced integration in the USA.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think the diversity people would want to stop it?
"It's going to get ugly. Very ugly indeed."
ReplyDeleteI fear you're right.
"I guess it will be teachers keeping the records - right?"
Undoubtedly!
"...the management had resorted to that old favourite, rewarding miscreants with trips to Alton Towers if they did not misbehave."
*sigh*
"Like introducing two packs of wolves to eachother, each pack member loyal to his own pack, each pack member knowing the hierarchy of their own pack, there was only going to be one result."
And there's part of the problem; the alpha of the pack should have been the headmaster! Where was he/she?
"Swindon BC is a Conservative council, and has been since 2003."
Oh, indeed. We should never forget that progressives exist in all areas, no matter the political makeup.
"There should be an enquiry. Somebody call Macpherson."
Heh!
"'busing' people in gives delightful frissons of the forced integration in the USA."
As ever with the progressives, it's all about image.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's part of the problem; the alpha of the pack should have been the headmaster! Where was he/she?
In fairness, this was 1970's and the Headmaster struck me as a particularly angry man who it seemed was often purple with rage and wasn't above bellowing and throwing bibles at kids during assembly.
You could be caned, suspended or expelled at a drop of a hat, and he seemed to do any of those things first and ask questions later.
I was caned a number of times although I can't remember what for, and suspended following some stupid horseplay which resulted accidental concussion.
Particularly violent and obnoxious kids had a habit of disappearing and never returning. As I wasn't friends with these kids what happened to them was a mystery that I was completely uninterested in. But looking back, I guess they had been expelled.
Kids from other schools were scared of us. But the school's reputation was a lot worse than it actually was and looking back, I think the headmaster was actually turning it around.
Even hard bastard headmasters can't be everywhere and bussing in a load of obviously older and very foreign young men was a pretty dumb idea.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_8980000/newsid_8985700/8985732.stm
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_8980000/newsid_8985700/8985732.stm
ReplyDelete