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	<title>Comments for Charliecountryboy&#039;s Blog</title>
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	<link>http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com</link>
	<description>My reflections of life in general.</description>
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		<title>Comment on The Ofsted Visit by charliecountryboy</title>
		<link>http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/the-ofsted-visit/#comment-920</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[charliecountryboy]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 May 2013 20:50:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/?p=806#comment-920</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thank you Kate. Reading your comment I think it&#039;s possibly a mix of all those things. You can throw in role models too. My role models were Jesus, Churchill, Kennedy, Robin Hood etc. Then my Dad and my six uncles who were all hard working tradesmen and farmers. Most of my lads don&#039;t have a Dad around. Today they have a Soap characters, Jordan, footballers (spoilt brats) and Rap artists who think they are gangsters as role models. Ofsted are talking about studying the Swedish model? I&#039;ve been doing that since I was 12 ;-) thanks for reading. ]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thank you Kate. Reading your comment I think it&#8217;s possibly a mix of all those things. You can throw in role models too. My role models were Jesus, Churchill, Kennedy, Robin Hood etc. Then my Dad and my six uncles who were all hard working tradesmen and farmers. Most of my lads don&#8217;t have a Dad around. Today they have a Soap characters, Jordan, footballers (spoilt brats) and Rap artists who think they are gangsters as role models. Ofsted are talking about studying the Swedish model? I&#8217;ve been doing that since I was 12 <img src='http://s1.wp.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';-)' class='wp-smiley' />  thanks for reading. </p>
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		<title>Comment on The Ofsted Visit by kateshrewsday</title>
		<link>http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/the-ofsted-visit/#comment-919</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[kateshrewsday]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 12 May 2013 12:42:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/?p=806#comment-919</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hear, hear, Charlie. As an ex head teacher I think we have to look at the systems based model we have and find it deeply lacking. But I think we need to take into account the rest of the environment too. That gnat-attention span? Why is that, do you think? Is it media, or computer games, or the fact that so many mums get in at seven and have no time to focus on those formative hours after school? It&#039;s not school. We&#039;re doing, by and large, more than we have ever done before to track each child and ensure their progress.

We have to ask: is progress what it&#039;s all about? Or is lifelong learning something broader than the narrow popularity-seeking mind of a politician is capable of embracing? Are we in a race to achieve, or could education really be a joyous exploration of our world, our purpose within it  and how we are going to achieve it?

Questions, questions, and a response long enough to be a blog. Glad you got through your OFSTED intact, Charlie. Congratulations.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hear, hear, Charlie. As an ex head teacher I think we have to look at the systems based model we have and find it deeply lacking. But I think we need to take into account the rest of the environment too. That gnat-attention span? Why is that, do you think? Is it media, or computer games, or the fact that so many mums get in at seven and have no time to focus on those formative hours after school? It&#8217;s not school. We&#8217;re doing, by and large, more than we have ever done before to track each child and ensure their progress.</p>
<p>We have to ask: is progress what it&#8217;s all about? Or is lifelong learning something broader than the narrow popularity-seeking mind of a politician is capable of embracing? Are we in a race to achieve, or could education really be a joyous exploration of our world, our purpose within it  and how we are going to achieve it?</p>
<p>Questions, questions, and a response long enough to be a blog. Glad you got through your OFSTED intact, Charlie. Congratulations.</p>
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		<title>Comment on The Ofsted Visit by charliecountryboy</title>
		<link>http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/the-ofsted-visit/#comment-917</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[charliecountryboy]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 May 2013 19:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/?p=806#comment-917</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thats interesting, I&#039;m not sure if I feel better or worse knowing the problems exist else where. Another thing I am uncomfortable about is how kids in FE are now units. Each one worth £4000 only if they pass. So we are under pressure to get all of them through (whatever it takes) thanks for the input, I appreciate it ;-)]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thats interesting, I&#8217;m not sure if I feel better or worse knowing the problems exist else where. Another thing I am uncomfortable about is how kids in FE are now units. Each one worth £4000 only if they pass. So we are under pressure to get all of them through (whatever it takes) thanks for the input, I appreciate it <img src='http://s1.wp.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';-)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>Comment on The Ofsted Visit by Pandora and the Phoenix</title>
		<link>http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/the-ofsted-visit/#comment-916</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Pandora and the Phoenix]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 May 2013 04:56:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/?p=806#comment-916</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We have a similar problem in Australia. Our school children are assessed with the Naplan exam so the consequence is that schools study for the test instead of teaching because they want to perform well. We have a website called ourschools so you can see how well each school is performing. The govt wants to reward &quot;good&quot; teachers. The problem is all this is not in the interest of the individual student. It doesn&#039;t encourage good team work and its far easier to improve the results of the average students than to spend time on the struggling ones that really need the help and resources. If you concentrate on the perfomance of the &quot;better&quot; students the overall results of the school will lift more easily than if you concentrate on the not so &quot;bright&quot;students which is often  the ones with problems such as family issues and poverty. Education is how this latter group can improve its future. A big rethink is needed on performance indicators and the objectives of education. Is education just to teach students to read and count or is it role to enrich our community and level the playing field to provide equal opportunites for all?]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We have a similar problem in Australia. Our school children are assessed with the Naplan exam so the consequence is that schools study for the test instead of teaching because they want to perform well. We have a website called ourschools so you can see how well each school is performing. The govt wants to reward &#8220;good&#8221; teachers. The problem is all this is not in the interest of the individual student. It doesn&#8217;t encourage good team work and its far easier to improve the results of the average students than to spend time on the struggling ones that really need the help and resources. If you concentrate on the perfomance of the &#8220;better&#8221; students the overall results of the school will lift more easily than if you concentrate on the not so &#8220;bright&#8221;students which is often  the ones with problems such as family issues and poverty. Education is how this latter group can improve its future. A big rethink is needed on performance indicators and the objectives of education. Is education just to teach students to read and count or is it role to enrich our community and level the playing field to provide equal opportunites for all?</p>
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		<title>Comment on Boadicea; my arse. by charliecountryboy</title>
		<link>http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/boadicea-my-arse/#comment-914</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[charliecountryboy]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:21:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/?p=794#comment-914</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Thanks for popping in Kate, glad it&#039;s all over they&#039;ve been speculating for years maybe we can move on now ;-)]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks for popping in Kate, glad it&#8217;s all over they&#8217;ve been speculating for years maybe we can move on now <img src='http://s1.wp.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';-)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>Comment on Boadicea; my arse. by kateshrewsday</title>
		<link>http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/boadicea-my-arse/#comment-913</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[kateshrewsday]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 Apr 2013 20:47:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/?p=794#comment-913</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hi Charlie, good to have you back! And couldn&#039;t agree more about Thatcher. That was a bizarre week, that was.]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hi Charlie, good to have you back! And couldn&#8217;t agree more about Thatcher. That was a bizarre week, that was.</p>
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		<title>Comment on Boadicea; my arse. by Ciggie Cramond</title>
		<link>http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/boadicea-my-arse/#comment-912</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ciggie Cramond]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2013 06:08:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/?p=794#comment-912</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#039;ve just done In Pursuit and am working on T.I.K... It&#039;s been HELL! SO glad to be back! Hugs, C]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve just done In Pursuit and am working on T.I.K&#8230; It&#8217;s been HELL! SO glad to be back! Hugs, C</p>
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		<title>Comment on Boadicea; my arse. by Rutabaga the Mercenary Researcher</title>
		<link>http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/boadicea-my-arse/#comment-911</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rutabaga the Mercenary Researcher]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:59:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/?p=794#comment-911</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I don&#039;t even want to have to think about that....]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I don&#8217;t even want to have to think about that&#8230;.</p>
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		<title>Comment on Boadicea; my arse. by charliecountryboy</title>
		<link>http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/boadicea-my-arse/#comment-910</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[charliecountryboy]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:57:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/?p=794#comment-910</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ha yeah i remember that I wonder what will happen when Bush and Blair slip off. Thanks for reading ;-)]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ha yeah i remember that I wonder what will happen when Bush and Blair slip off. Thanks for reading <img src='http://s1.wp.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';-)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>Comment on Boadicea; my arse. by charliecountryboy</title>
		<link>http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/boadicea-my-arse/#comment-909</link>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[charliecountryboy]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:55:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://charliecountryboy.wordpress.com/?p=794#comment-909</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hey thanks Ciggie, I wanted to really go to town but I&#039;m not a bandwagon type of guy, ha. When you going to update us? ;-)]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hey thanks Ciggie, I wanted to really go to town but I&#8217;m not a bandwagon type of guy, ha. When you going to update us? <img src='http://s1.wp.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';-)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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