Comment posted ARSN statement on school meals issue by Integrity? Not in the CondemAll.
Tamarto,
You appear to be applying a whole brain to this. Remember Simon only wants people with half a brain to consider it, which may explain his support of the previous administration.
For the record the press release was written before we contacted Mary Jean Devon with the obvious exception of the last two paragraphs which couldn’t be written until we had got Cllr Devon’s response. If she had responded that she wasn’t going to bother looking into it we would have criticised her for that stance.
Simon likes to carry on claiming we are an SNP sub group – if it keeps him in material then so be it but the truth of the matter (as has been stated on here many times before) is that we are not a political group, not affiliated to a political group and have contrasting political beliefs within our membership.
Somehow or other we all get on and reach democratic conclusion on what we should do.
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Do you have a link to it? - Russell to make parliamentary statement on rural schools today
To my knowledge nobody is judging parents for their choices but isn’t it wonderful that they still have that choice?ARSN has gone on record many times to say that they are not blanket opposed to school closures, just opposed to closures which do not provide an educational benefit and which are progressed without the interests of the children at their root.
Parents and grand parents will always put what they believe their children’s best interests are first (and rightly so) and it was one of many insulting slurs made by ABC during the closures issue that this was not the case.
Luss is a prime example of a school with a small number of pupils in a small number of classes which thrives educationally, and there are no signs that its pupils are suffering form the issues you mention Islay (however that doesn’t mean it might not be an issue elsewhere). Didn’t stop ABC insinuating that rural schools can produce ‘socially dysfunctional’ children.
- Russell to make parliamentary statement on rural schools today
My reference to Helensburgh appears to have sparked something it was never meant to spark.It was a source of frustration for ARSN that the argument was constantly put forward that rural schools, and rural children, were somehow overly privileged, yet the lack of other council services in rural areas conveniently ignored.
However none of us would have ever entertained the idea of turning the table and, for example, advocating closing or amalgamating urban schools, even if the proposal could have been put forward using the same flawed arguments as ABC used to close the rural ones.
Tim is right to say that ARSN wasn’t political. There were a few blinkered individuals on here who, as soon as an ARSN member supported local schools, instantly assumed we were Mike Russell’s sheep however it was normally by people with a limited understanding of the issue at hand.
Anne is right to say that Helensburgh need to join in, and she knows full well that so do Dunoon, Oban, Luss, Barcaldine etc etc – all she was doing was responding to my reference to Helensburgh (which I made purely because it was the urban area I am most associated with). It was not the demonisation of an area but a call for us to cast off these stupid idea that rural and urban areas can’t work in co-operation with each other.
- Russell to make parliamentary statement on rural schools today
JohnI certainly hope you are right about urban and rural communities not turning on each other. During the previous schools campaign it was staggering how many Helensburgh people were adamant the schools should close (often without ever having bothered to even read the reports or make any effort to ascertain any facts).
The tired, somewhat idiotic, and entirely incorrect argument about rural children getting a private school education and the even more ridiculous one about rural communities bleeding the urban ones of funds was trotted out time and time again.
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AngusApologies for slight rounding as I don’t have exact figures to hand but doesn’t that mean funding has been awarded at about the same % as the population spread?
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ARNS and the local SNP are of course bosom buddies and it is likely that the carefully worded statement from ARSN was rehearsed with just as carefully with Mary-Jean prior to it being made public.
That said I too look forward to the conclusion of Mary-Jean’s enquiry because the conclusion she comes to will tell us all a great deal about what we can expect from this new administration. If Mary Jean’s decision is not published on For Argyll I’ll conclude her enquiry did not turn out the way FA and ARSN wanted it to.
Anyone with half a brain investigating this ‘issue’ will conclude – either you don’t give the kids a choice but if you do – then don’t be surprised when some of them make poor choices – they are only kids after all.
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I don’t know how old you are, Simon – though I have my suspicions – but in my time there was no meal choice, it was generally ‘like it or lump it’ and we generally liked it (I think it was all part of the learning process). Having said that, there was some resentment – one of my friends was in the habit of using the school gravy to slick his hair, and personally I never did get used to ‘Yorkshire Pudding’ (with the aforementioned gravy) reappearing, adorned with custard and jam, as ‘Victoria Sponge’. Happy days.
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What is wrong with giving them healthy options to choose between? Why does the choice have to be healthy or unhealthy?
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Tamarto,
You appear to be applying a whole brain to this. Remember Simon only wants people with half a brain to consider it, which may explain his support of the previous administration.
For the record the press release was written before we contacted Mary Jean Devon with the obvious exception of the last two paragraphs which couldn’t be written until we had got Cllr Devon’s response. If she had responded that she wasn’t going to bother looking into it we would have criticised her for that stance.
Simon likes to carry on claiming we are an SNP sub group – if it keeps him in material then so be it but the truth of the matter (as has been stated on here many times before) is that we are not a political group, not affiliated to a political group and have contrasting political beliefs within our membership.
Somehow or other we all get on and reach democratic conclusion on what we should do.
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Ahhh Simon, Simon, Simon…
How was Tiree? Were you working on the Array?
Knew you wouldn’t be able to let this article pass without a
swipecomment. Deflecting the issue, you are even more predictable than me.However, a recap. There are 2 issues here:
The quality/quantity of school dinners at LJC. Hmmmm a big school possibly struggling to cope with the amount of pupils (430-ish) all to be fed in an hour. Yes we are most interested to find this out, especially after the Council refused to acknowledge there may be issues with this when it was discussed during the school closures.
The second issue being the absolutely appalling and immature reaction of staff in their response and blaming a wee girl. NOT ON!
Malcolm McFadyen in particular needing a few courses in children’s rights and tact to say the least.
We want confident learners? Aye just as long as they don’t complain, then they’ll set big Malky on you!
And yes we are friends with the SNP… and Argyll First and a bunch of Independents too. Do you honestly think that I would miss the opportunity of complaining if they start failing in the same way the last administration did?
Have a nice afternoon
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Looking at her blog now,it seems Martha is eating heartily. That’s great news and is exactly what should have happened right at the start. A round of applause for the people who sorted it out, whoever they are.
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