How Would You Think Different ? Council To Plug £30mil Hole

[Alunh]

@michellecook 6446 wrote:

Snobbery exists everywhere, I have it in my own family. They live slap bang in the middle of Caia yet choose to send their offspring to schools miles away as the local schools are “deprived”. No difference in education, just don’t like the label.

My 3 boys are for all intent and purposes “estate kids” as we also live in Caia. All 3 either went or attend the local Junior school and then onto Rhosnesni. My eldest is 18 in a few weeks, he left Rhosnesni with 10 GCSE’s mostly A & B grades and is now studying A Levels, he is Autistic and went through the school system with no help. Middle boy is a bit of a loose cannon, struggled his way through Junior school, now diagnosed with ADHD and medicated his grades have shot up and is in the highest group for most subjects, he is also on the Autistic spectrum. Youngest is currently in local Primary, again on the spectrum is showing promising results.

At the end of the day, unless the child is academically inclined and/or willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter where they came from or whichever school they attend. The same problems that estate kids face exist everywhere, its just the likes of Caia and Plas Madoc are publicised more.

You are turning the logic of the situation on its head here Michelle. Nobody would try to make the case that children off an estate can’s do well, can’t learn effectively, or any other negative that you might use. The fact is, however, that across the country there is some level of correlation between behavioural and learning patterns and social background. If the schools that handle a broad mix of students are themselves well organised and have strategies in place to deal with issues that arise, this is not a problem. In Wrexham it is.

[zinger]

In Wrexham we have ‘super’ schools & large council estates. There doesn’t appear to be too much of a problem at junior school level, only when the mix of council & private ‘estate’ children get together. They are nearly all estate children, just different types of estates. Many years ago, children from working families & ‘deprived’ children went to different playgroups. The difference in the playgroups was that the children in the one, were encouraged to tidy up afterwards whereas the ‘deprived’ children in the other, could throw toys around as they wished with no encouragement to help pick them up afterwards. I always felt back then that those children would always be at a disadvantage when in full time school & could cause disruption in the classroom. I don’t know if this is the same today. Those children will be the parents of today. Children are born equal & sadly it is society that messes them up.

[Welsh Dresser]

I know a teacher who used to work in a school in Cheshire. A very nice school where the pupils came from very nice families. He retired through ill health then when he was back to full health he went as a supply teacher to one of the more depressed areas in Wrexham. Amongst his pupils, primary age, are two little girls who’s Mother is a drug addict. The elder girl makes sure her younger sister is up, washed and dressed for school every morning. When they see him in the morning their faces light up. They think the world of him and he says they are very keen to learn and are a pleasure to teach. He is so enamoured with the school that he is hoping to be made permanent there. There is good in every class of people and it takes special people to recognise it and nurture it. Even in the worst of schools there is a glimmer of hope.

[wxm]

Having read these thread and forums since this particular thread started . . . it is not a case of how the Council saves money, it is a question of how it better organises the affairs of the County, and how it better spends what it has. Reading the “whole” debate over time, this becomes obvious?

[Alunh]

A combination of both I suspect

[thewayneinspain]

wxm;6886 wrote:

Having read these thread and forums since this particular thread started . . . it is not a case of how the Council saves money, it is a question of how it better organises the affairs of the County, and how it better spends what it has. Reading the “whole” debate over time, this becomes obvious?

I agree,

I think it never be better organised until the level of transparency is almost a 100% and the public stop voting for the political parties rather the competency of the politicians.

the council and their politicians get away with being incompetent.

[wxm]

@thewayneinspain 6903 wrote:

I agree,

I think it never be better organised until the level of transparency is almost a 100% and the public stop voting for the political parties rather the competency of the politicians.

the council and their politicians get away with being incompetent.

This is a good opportunity for the Council to publish a list of every penny it spends . . .is it £430m or £211m or how much, and line by line. It certainly needs to withdraw its survey and reissue it

[Alunh]

@thewayneinspain 6903 wrote:

I agree,

I think it never be better organised until the level of transparency is almost a 100% and the public stop voting for the political parties rather the competency of the politicians.

the council and their politicians get away with being incompetent.

I agree. Whilst it is understandable that people have political predispositions, there are real problems with voting local election after local election for the same political party. Local Councillors may well share similar values to the national party but, ultimately, running a local authority is more about brass tacks efficiency, honesty and solid good sense than great ideas. One only has to hark back to the farce that was the Theatre project, look at the running of the various Markets, and evaluate where the authority is in its Secondary Education performance to see the limitations of the Council over several recent years.

My favourite joke policy decision was to allow the monstrosity that is the Wrexham Bus station to be developed in the way that it was. How anyone could have built a Bus station that left the buses in the street blocking each other and clogging the roads up when the previous one actually LOGICALLY allowed pickup on the island, is beyond me. Any 5 year old designer could have come up with a modification on the previous that refurbed, put a roof on the top, allowed pedestrianisation at the top of Trinity Street (and therefore safety) and avoided what we have today.

[locallad]

Stop wasting over £300.000k onPCSOs

[wxm]

So when will Wrexham Council produce one simple plan, setting out line by line its expenditure for the coming year, and dealing with all the community centres as one, and every other subject as a whole, subject by subject

When will it republish its survey on proposed expenditure and income

[Author]

Posts