Sunday 10 May 2009

A bit of a laugh

I've had a good laugh. I wanted to share the source with you. It's healing and feels so great to have a good laugh. They seem to be rare these days of government agents throttling parents right, left and centre.

I was having a look at NASWE's constitution. Yes, NASWE has a constitution. It's on here:
http://www.naswe.org.uk/constitution/

Take a peek. Do you see it?

The Constitution
Title
Objectives
Membership
Organisation
Officers of the Association
Meetings of the Association (Standing Committees)
Revisions to the Constitution and Rules
Rules
Subscriptions
Expenes
Funds
The Annual General Meeting
Dissolution of the Association
Appendix A Regions - Definition

Caught it yet?
Below subscription and above funds. Expenes.
I can hear you laughing now.

For a few moments, I tried to imagine what it meant, 'Expenes,' and my thoughts flew to snakes, males ones in particular. They have two male organs so they're 'hemipenes.' So was expenes - er - a lack of the male organ? Was it some type of code?

In a flash, I was there. Expenses. Of course.

Educational social workers, their constitution. Sounds like it could be a film title. But the principles are interesting:

The voice of all those working to promote school attendance and social inclusion in education.
1. believes the welfare and well-being of the child and young person is of paramount concern.
2. is fully committed to ensuring that all children and young people have access to and benefit from a wide range of educational opportunities.
3. believes that all young people, their parents and carers have an entitlement to be treated with dignity and respect. This includes being listened to, consulted on any decision affecting them, and giving due regard to confidentiality.
4. believes safeguarding should be reflected in every aspect of practice. Children and young people can best benefit from educational opportunities if they feel safe and secure from harm.
5. views opportunities for professional development as essential if services that support children and young people are to be improved. This includes:
Professional supervision and support.
Regular training to update and inform practice.
Development opportunities which enrich and enhance practice.
Access to professional progression leading to nationally recognised qualifications.
6. celebrates diversity and promotes anti-oppressive practice.
7. fully supports The 1989 United Nations convention on the rights of the child.
8. promotes the adoption and implementation of the General Social Care Council (GSCC) codes of practice and the registration of practitioners.

NASWE believe that the welfare and well-being of the young person and the child is of paramount concern. Me too. Any right-minded person does. So far so good.

The Association is fully committed to ensuring that all children and young people have access to and benefit from a wide range of educational opportunities. Once again, bang on. Home education is a stonking great educational opportunity made of countless other educational opportunities so where is the problem here? It sounds like we're on the same side.

Number 3 is even better. NASWE believes that all children and young people, their parents and carers have an entitlement to be treated with dignity and respect. This includes being listened to, consulted on any decision affecting them, and giving due regard to confidentiality. Once again, splendid stuff. You've got to be treated with dignity and respect, and you'll be listened to, although that can be a bit of a cop out. I listen to my husband's side in an argument, then I do what I was planning to do before I listened to him.

Yeah, yeah, safeguarding. A whole can of worms which reminds me of the film 'Minority Report'. Cops stopped people from committing crimes, just before the crimes were committed. The whole thing fell apart, of course. It did help that seriously good precognitive people were sensing the crime before it happened. I suppose we make do with feelings and reading into people's behaviour what we want to see.

The rest are obvious. Training etc. Rights of the child...

But how come what they say and what they sometimes do are two separate things?

2 comments:

  1. And they have this wee gem tucked away
    ''School Refusal /
    School Phobia on the increase

    According to an article published on 8th September in the education section of The Daily Telegraph, doctors have reported an increase in the number of children & young people who were diagnosed as suffering from school phobia over the first week of the new academic year. School phobia, which is sometimes also referred to as school refusal, now affects one in twenty children in England and Wales; its symptoms include: -

    * vomiting
    * headaches
    * fatigue and panic attacks

    Dr Nigel Blagg, a psychologist and author of 'School Phobia and its Treatment' told The Telegraph that "the saddest thing about children going undiagnosed is that it can lead to lifelong problems.''
    http://www.naswe.org.uk/news/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Or lifelong opportunities. Like the ones we find in home education!

    ReplyDelete