johnnytapia
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 29 Feb 2012
- Messages
- 9,769
I didn’t want this to get lost in the toing and froing on the referendum debate and I think it’s worthy of a read/debate in its own right.
I teach in one of Manchester’s most deprived wards and thought the general public may want to know how the EU has impacted on my/other teachers’ ability to actually do what we’re paid to do: teach.
When I started my teaching career, there were very, very few European migrants willing or wanting to settle in the areas I taught: Ancoats, Wythenshawe and Gorton. Classes were mainly made up of children from white non-working or very low income families. That brought (and continues to bring) many difficulties. But language was never one of them. In the relatively short period of the last ten years, I’ve witnessed a sea-change in the schools’ demographics. Increasingly, as is the case with my current school, staff are expected to teach children who bring a multitude of languages and cultures into the classroom. We currently have over 45 languages spoken at my school, the overwhelming majority being European. Staff, particularly in the early years, where the children have no English whatsoever, are left to battle in a system that demands ALL children achieve the same, irrespective of language, income, other influences. So they spend inordinate amounts of time trying to get these kids up to speed - searching the internet for resources in a multitude of languages. . Teaching Assistants are brought in to “shadow” these children, at massive cost to the school budget (your taxes, your wages), just so we can hope to get these children anywhere near speaking our lingo and accessing the English curriculum.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been on home visits for children about to join our Nursery. Families cramped into overcrowded houses, all needing help from the school, the doctors, the council, and many other local services. And almost all these families have arrived, from central, west and north Africa, via Italy, Germany, Spain, France etc. Why that route? Simple - it gets them the magic key, the golden bullet, the EU passport. And so, my school, my staff, have to pick up the pieces of this open-door policy. I’m dealing, daily with families turning up at our school, DEMANDING places. And, as they’re “European”, by and large, they get them.
I attended a meeting last week very near the Etihad, where over 40 local Heads and Deputies had to sit in a room whilst the council placed dozens and dozens of children newly arrived. Looking at the papers that accompanied them:
Last school: unknown Madrass in Pakistan
Nationality: French
Languages spoken: Urdu
But, as always, they hold the magic key, the golden bullet - the EU passport. So, they’re no longer Pakistan’s problem; they’re no longer Bangladesh’s problem; they’re no longer Italy’s problem; they’re no longer Portugal’s problem. They’re mine. And yours.
The system is absolutely creaking; we’re running at full tilt. The pressure on schools is ridiculous. And I put the blame right at the door of the EU. It created a monster called migrancy. And it’s come back to haunt us. Tenfold.
As long as we remain in the EU, YOU will be paying for the likes of me and other school leaders to traipse, every 3-4 weeks to council meetings, to have the newly arrived migrant kids and their families sent to whoever/wherever they’re told to go. You’ll have no say in this matter. Schools won’t either. And it’s costing YOU a fucking fortune. In time, energy and resources.
What I’ve written is the tip of the iceberg.
There can be only one vote in this referendum. The vote to control our own borders; the vote to control our own services. Vote OUT.
I teach in one of Manchester’s most deprived wards and thought the general public may want to know how the EU has impacted on my/other teachers’ ability to actually do what we’re paid to do: teach.
When I started my teaching career, there were very, very few European migrants willing or wanting to settle in the areas I taught: Ancoats, Wythenshawe and Gorton. Classes were mainly made up of children from white non-working or very low income families. That brought (and continues to bring) many difficulties. But language was never one of them. In the relatively short period of the last ten years, I’ve witnessed a sea-change in the schools’ demographics. Increasingly, as is the case with my current school, staff are expected to teach children who bring a multitude of languages and cultures into the classroom. We currently have over 45 languages spoken at my school, the overwhelming majority being European. Staff, particularly in the early years, where the children have no English whatsoever, are left to battle in a system that demands ALL children achieve the same, irrespective of language, income, other influences. So they spend inordinate amounts of time trying to get these kids up to speed - searching the internet for resources in a multitude of languages. . Teaching Assistants are brought in to “shadow” these children, at massive cost to the school budget (your taxes, your wages), just so we can hope to get these children anywhere near speaking our lingo and accessing the English curriculum.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been on home visits for children about to join our Nursery. Families cramped into overcrowded houses, all needing help from the school, the doctors, the council, and many other local services. And almost all these families have arrived, from central, west and north Africa, via Italy, Germany, Spain, France etc. Why that route? Simple - it gets them the magic key, the golden bullet, the EU passport. And so, my school, my staff, have to pick up the pieces of this open-door policy. I’m dealing, daily with families turning up at our school, DEMANDING places. And, as they’re “European”, by and large, they get them.
I attended a meeting last week very near the Etihad, where over 40 local Heads and Deputies had to sit in a room whilst the council placed dozens and dozens of children newly arrived. Looking at the papers that accompanied them:
Last school: unknown Madrass in Pakistan
Nationality: French
Languages spoken: Urdu
But, as always, they hold the magic key, the golden bullet - the EU passport. So, they’re no longer Pakistan’s problem; they’re no longer Bangladesh’s problem; they’re no longer Italy’s problem; they’re no longer Portugal’s problem. They’re mine. And yours.
The system is absolutely creaking; we’re running at full tilt. The pressure on schools is ridiculous. And I put the blame right at the door of the EU. It created a monster called migrancy. And it’s come back to haunt us. Tenfold.
As long as we remain in the EU, YOU will be paying for the likes of me and other school leaders to traipse, every 3-4 weeks to council meetings, to have the newly arrived migrant kids and their families sent to whoever/wherever they’re told to go. You’ll have no say in this matter. Schools won’t either. And it’s costing YOU a fucking fortune. In time, energy and resources.
What I’ve written is the tip of the iceberg.
There can be only one vote in this referendum. The vote to control our own borders; the vote to control our own services. Vote OUT.