Who Gets What And Why?
I watched a very uplifting programme on Channel 4 the other night.
'The Nurture Room' - a two hour documentary by Matt Pinder - told the story of three young children with special education needs - whose lives get turned around by staff at three Glasgow Primary Schools.
The hard work and dedication of the teaching and teaching support staff - made me proud to be a Glaswegian - because it showed the very best of the people who live and work in this big sprawling city.
The idea of The Nurture Room - no doubt controversial with some people - is to avoid the easy option of excluding children from mainstream classes - because of their behaviour.
But to give them intensive support in smaller groups - The Nurture Room - where they can develop the confidence and skills they lack.
The results were truly remarkable - and the people behind the project deserve every bit of praise they get - though I imagine they're not looking for praise or rewards - because it's why they do such jobs in the first place.
Thinking differently and doing things differently - can improve public services enormously - and that's what these three Glasgow schools seem to have achieved - though I'm sure it's not a magic cure for every problem.
I imagine that these schools have not seen their budgets doubling over the past ten years - and it reinforces the point about the importance of being able to see - how public money is spent year on year.
Who gets what and why?
Because I'd far rather see public funds going towards caring and education services that make a real difference - than paying for inflated salary and pension packages for senior council officials.
'The Nurture Room' - a two hour documentary by Matt Pinder - told the story of three young children with special education needs - whose lives get turned around by staff at three Glasgow Primary Schools.
The hard work and dedication of the teaching and teaching support staff - made me proud to be a Glaswegian - because it showed the very best of the people who live and work in this big sprawling city.
The idea of The Nurture Room - no doubt controversial with some people - is to avoid the easy option of excluding children from mainstream classes - because of their behaviour.
But to give them intensive support in smaller groups - The Nurture Room - where they can develop the confidence and skills they lack.
The results were truly remarkable - and the people behind the project deserve every bit of praise they get - though I imagine they're not looking for praise or rewards - because it's why they do such jobs in the first place.
Thinking differently and doing things differently - can improve public services enormously - and that's what these three Glasgow schools seem to have achieved - though I'm sure it's not a magic cure for every problem.
I imagine that these schools have not seen their budgets doubling over the past ten years - and it reinforces the point about the importance of being able to see - how public money is spent year on year.
Who gets what and why?
Because I'd far rather see public funds going towards caring and education services that make a real difference - than paying for inflated salary and pension packages for senior council officials.
