Looks like schools around here closed early Clari - when I went to W'rose around 11 this morning, the place was full of children and harassed looking parents/grandparents
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Lots of schools I think are probably doing an inset day Dove. Ease the teachers off their caffeine addiction slowly before releasing them back to their families for a few precious days!
(Because I am convinced caffeine is the only thing keeping some of the teachers who visit us going!)
Loads of kids about here. They get 10 days to 2 weeks hols at Halloween!
Caffeine for me too today. Despite being dead tired I was still awake after 4am this morning with my little cogs churning round and round and then had to be up early, for once, to take Rasta for her first French grooming session. Went to the market while I was on but veggie man is clearly off for school hols and fish lady had nothing of interest and we have a restaurant's worth of cheese left over from our recent visitors so we trundled off to do a full meat, fish and veg shop at the SM at La Roche.
Wonderful fish display and lots of whole chucks, belly pork with skin, lamb shoulders and Toulouse sausages on special offer so much cheaper than we're used to in Belgium. Freezer and fridge now well stocked so this weekend we can concentrate on gardening - 22C expected tomorrow - and then a day off at a garden fair and flea market on Sunday.
Collected Rasta who has been well and truly shorn and is no longer doing her impression of a cross between a teddy and a sheep.
Clari - will you have time to rest and look for a new position next week?
No very tall men needed here. I stick my paint roller on a broom handle to do ceilings. Just need a step ladder for the cutting in with a brush. Can't trust OH with either. That's OK tho as he does do the i***ing.
Snoozle now and then pottering with pansies.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Ugh. There is a member of staff here who has an awful cough, always spluttering, makes me fear for COPD or even TB. But will he cover his mouth or even go to a doctor?
Will he chuff.
Dove: re the social workers. It always scares me over school holidays. The media tell us about all these children who are in households so poor they don't get breakfast unless the school has a breakfast club, that school provide their lunch... and then we hear nothing about provisions made to support them in the holiday. I don't want to be rude but I can't believe that those parents are suddenly able to produce the cash for three healthy meals a day if they were struggling before (and that's before they factor in the fact that we're not even discussing holiday child minders if they work, or activities to enrich their lives and learning or...).
I've had a child come to the museum on a school trip so hungry she was in tears. The teacher told me this is a regular thing and often the receptionist would make her some toast: but couldn't today of course as she was on the trip. Fortunately I had mini boxes of breakfast cereal left over from a scout camp so we sat her down with that, some milk from the coffee shop and she ate so much I thought she was going to explode (we did see her "steal" some more boxes to take home carefully hiding them in her coat when she thought we weren't looking but are you really going to say anything? Yes stealing is wrong and I hate to think stealing is something she's learnt from her parents but I am not even slightly equipped to safely discuss with a child their home life).
I've also had children come to the museum with cold chips in their lunch box, or who smelt so bad I had to seriously consider asking them not to put on the uniforms (I took them all home to wash myself: my neighbours much have thought YMCA had moved in next door).
That said. I've also had children come to the museum who had have ferrero rocher chocolates in their lunch boxes and asked if I could carve their avocado into slices as their nurse maid had forgotten too,
Sobering thought that even though we do our best to help, there must be thousands out there floating under the radar.
Clari, I've worked in various childcare settings for over 26yrs and have also sadly witnessed what you have, Its truly heartbreaking to see, and what happens behind 'closed doors' is frightening, esp when the tots are too young to speak.
Yep and the day before every school holiday starts the office phone will be red hot with teachers phoning to tell us in the social work team of their concerns about children they would be unable to monitor and support over the holidays.
They didn't seem to understand that even social workers don't have the ability to step in immediately and sort stuff out - huge caseloads and shortage of funding means that in most cases only the most urgent abuse cases can be acted on immediately. Hungry, frightened and neglected children sometimes have to wait ......
It might frequently have been much better if teachers had told us of their concerns earlier in the term, rather than try to improve things by acting informally, often feeling that telling social workers of their concerns might alienate parents and result in more problems for the children.
It did sometimes feel that the teachers just needed to tell us their worries so they could have their holiday free of guilt, leaving us to try to sort things out at short notice.
Last edited: 21 October 2016 15:07:04
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Last week we were in Wiltshire - lots of architecture, archaeology and cycling and the weather to make the most of it all. Went to some lovely places.
Then this Monday the landscapers arrived to start a big project in the garden. Lots being done and my garden will look like a building site for the next 3 weeks - but I'm sure it will be worth it. Hope we don't have too much rain though or it will be a real mud bath.
I can see that you've all been busy and chatty. Must add my congratulations for Steve and Hosta on the weight loss - I could really do to shift some but my willpower takes a real nose dive when the cold weather starts kicking in.
Also hats off to P'doc - that was a quite amazing thing to do. I hope it's been a rewarding experience for you.
Finally - all the talk of superfast broadband - grrr. 6Mbps on the best days and no hope of fibre coming anywhere near our lane anytime soon. Still - 6Mbps allows me to do everything I need to - just a little slower than some. And I wouldn't trade the lifestyle of country living just so a TV programme downloaded in 2 mins instead of 15. Swings and roundabouts
Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
Posts
Looks like schools around here closed early Clari - when I went to W'rose around 11 this morning, the place was full of children and harassed looking parents/grandparents
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Lots of schools I think are probably doing an inset day Dove. Ease the teachers off their caffeine addiction slowly before releasing them back to their families for a few precious days!
(Because I am convinced caffeine is the only thing keeping some of the teachers who visit us going!)
Children's social workers across the nation will be stocking up on caffeine as we speak Clari
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Loads of kids about here. They get 10 days to 2 weeks hols at Halloween!
Caffeine for me too today. Despite being dead tired I was still awake after 4am this morning with my little cogs churning round and round and then had to be up early, for once, to take Rasta for her first French grooming session. Went to the market while I was on but veggie man is clearly off for school hols and fish lady had nothing of interest and we have a restaurant's worth of cheese left over from our recent visitors so we trundled off to do a full meat, fish and veg shop at the SM at La Roche.
Wonderful fish display and lots of whole chucks, belly pork with skin, lamb shoulders and Toulouse sausages on special offer so much cheaper than we're used to in Belgium. Freezer and fridge now well stocked so this weekend we can concentrate on gardening - 22C expected tomorrow - and then a day off at a garden fair and flea market on Sunday.
Collected Rasta who has been well and truly shorn and is no longer doing her impression of a cross between a teddy and a sheep.
Clari - will you have time to rest and look for a new position next week?
No very tall men needed here. I stick my paint roller on a broom handle to do ceilings. Just need a step ladder for the cutting in with a brush. Can't trust OH with either. That's OK tho as he does do the i***ing.
Snoozle now and then pottering with pansies.
Hi all.
Lovely to be outside in the Autumn sunshine.
Lots of bulbs planted, and started lifting the Dahlias and Cannas.
I really miss my soft top, drove them for 30 odd years. Always hoped they would help me "pull", they didn't.
Big shout out for Gary Linneker, if you have seen his tweets on the Callais migrants.
Off for a sleep.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
Ugh. There is a member of staff here who has an awful cough, always spluttering, makes me fear for COPD or even TB. But will he cover his mouth or even go to a doctor?
Will he chuff.
Dove: re the social workers. It always scares me over school holidays. The media tell us about all these children who are in households so poor they don't get breakfast unless the school has a breakfast club, that school provide their lunch... and then we hear nothing about provisions made to support them in the holiday. I don't want to be rude but I can't believe that those parents are suddenly able to produce the cash for three healthy meals a day if they were struggling before (and that's before they factor in the fact that we're not even discussing holiday child minders if they work, or activities to enrich their lives and learning or...).
I've had a child come to the museum on a school trip so hungry she was in tears. The teacher told me this is a regular thing and often the receptionist would make her some toast: but couldn't today of course as she was on the trip. Fortunately I had mini boxes of breakfast cereal left over from a scout camp so we sat her down with that, some milk from the coffee shop and she ate so much I thought she was going to explode (we did see her "steal" some more boxes to take home carefully hiding them in her coat when she thought we weren't looking but are you really going to say anything? Yes stealing is wrong and I hate to think stealing is something she's learnt from her parents but I am not even slightly equipped to safely discuss with a child their home life).
I've also had children come to the museum with cold chips in their lunch box, or who smelt so bad I had to seriously consider asking them not to put on the uniforms (I took them all home to wash myself: my neighbours much have thought YMCA had moved in next door).
That said. I've also had children come to the museum who had have ferrero rocher chocolates in their lunch boxes and asked if I could carve their avocado into slices as their nurse maid had forgotten too,
Sobering thought that even though we do our best to help, there must be thousands out there floating under the radar.
Clari, I've worked in various childcare settings for over 26yrs and have also sadly witnessed what you have, Its truly heartbreaking to see, and what happens behind 'closed doors' is frightening, esp when the tots are too young to speak.
Yep
and the day before every school holiday starts the office phone will be red hot with teachers phoning to tell us in the social work team of their concerns about children they would be unable to monitor and support over the holidays.
They didn't seem to understand that even social workers don't have the ability to step in immediately and sort stuff out - huge caseloads and shortage of funding means that in most cases only the most urgent abuse cases can be acted on immediately. Hungry, frightened and neglected children sometimes have to wait ......
It might frequently have been much better if teachers had told us of their concerns earlier in the term, rather than try to improve things by acting informally, often feeling that telling social workers of their concerns might alienate parents and result in more problems for the children.
It did sometimes feel that the teachers just needed to tell us their worries so they could have their holiday free of guilt, leaving us to try to sort things out at short notice.
Last edited: 21 October 2016 15:07:04
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Dad used to have to get steps to lift the hanging baskets down. Now his grandson does it for mum. No steps needed, he's 6 ft 9 inch in his bare feet.
Hello All
Been AWOL again....
Last week we were in Wiltshire - lots of architecture, archaeology and cycling and the weather to make the most of it all. Went to some lovely places.
Then this Monday the landscapers arrived to start a big project in the garden. Lots being done and my garden will look like a building site for the next 3 weeks - but I'm sure it will be worth it. Hope we don't have too much rain though or it will be a real mud bath
.
I can see that you've all been busy and chatty. Must add my congratulations for Steve and Hosta on the weight loss - I could really do to shift some but my willpower takes a real nose dive when the cold weather starts kicking in.
Also hats off to P'doc - that was a quite amazing thing to do. I hope it's been a rewarding experience for you.
Finally - all the talk of superfast broadband - grrr. 6Mbps on the best days and no hope of fibre coming anywhere near our lane anytime soon. Still - 6Mbps allows me to do everything I need to - just a little slower than some. And I wouldn't trade the lifestyle of country living just so a TV programme downloaded in 2 mins instead of 15. Swings and roundabouts