Eton On The Cheap

[peteneras]

Here's an alternative and cheaper way to access the services of the great School!

Back in the real world, it seems to me that Eton probably is doing as much as could be expected of a school which only caters for a minute minority of children - it hasn't been foolish enough to assume it has any understanding whatsoever of feral families living on sink estates and has therefore avoided getting involved with them in any meaningful way. It does, however, understand people who fancy the idea of boarding school and Latin and who would love the opportunity of using its playing fields without deliberately vandalising everything in sight. It's a bit like the role of private medicine in the NHS - cherry pick what you can make a difference to fairly easily and ignore the rest.

Surely anyone view and experience of managing children from what ever background can make a useful contribution. My worry and having spent 29 years working in the public sector in my experience is that whenever government becomes involved in this kind of thing i.e. ideas that work well in the private/voluntary sector they take them and then water them down and they become a half baked but bureaucratic nightmare.

'feral families living on sink estates' - ooh, that isn't at all offensive, now, is it? Such ignorance!

Eton boys do "feral" pretty well if given the chance.

1280 teenage boys.

I think that this article gives a rather better overview of the planned summit, and Eton's (actually quite modest) contribution to it.

directaction - it is only offensive if you imply that all estates are sink estates and all families living on estates are feral. Otherwise, it is using terms that fairly accurately describe a tiny minority of people living in pretty unpleasant surroundings... Unless you are no longer allowed to admit to the fact that some families are actually a problem to those of us who are domesticated, whether that be their fault or the fault of their appalling upbringings, enivronment and lack of interest from society... Being feral, after all, is not your "fault," or even offensive, it's just a way of being that the domesticated don't find comfortable to live with. YOU are the one who chooses to find those terms offensive, which frankly shows your massive bias towards refusing to admit that there are extremes in society which society does not deal well with, which is frankly a bit silly.

Oh, and pretty damn ignorant, too...

There are extremes in society. Fact. Society does not deal well with these. Fact. Not sure how you make the assumption that I don't see this? Eton does not have the answer to the problems in the state sector. Fact. It lacks the aspiration and the wisdom.

directation - I make the assumption that you don't see this on the basis that you are rude enough to describe me as ignorant. How can you not see that?...
Fact: Eton does not claim to have the answer to the problems in the state sector. Fact: it doesn't give a toss and why should it - it isn't the state.

At last! Honesty! You are right, it doesn't give a toss, it just needs to tick the 'charity' box and the 'benevolent' box - job done!

You are ignorant because you use descriptions such as 'feral families on sink estates' - if you even had an ounce of understanding of social deprivation you would not use this language.

Over and out.

The headmaster of Eton went there, as a boy, as a "full fees" scholar. I don't think he had a typically privileged background. I don't suppose he was profoundly deprived as a child (somebody had the nous to get him to sit the Eton Scholarship) but he does care about education across all of society.

Directaction - politically correct terminology is a waste of time and does not demonstrate someone's understanding or otherwise of social deprivation. You have not an ounce of understanding of my background or knowledge, so don't be so pretentious, it just makes you sound like a Guardian reader.

ps don't be so rude about Slough....

pps directaction - where does your experience and wisdom come from, which Eton is lacking? What are you doing to answer the problems of the state sector?

ppps I'm very confused that you both want Eton to open a free school in an area of intense deprivation and claim that they couldn't do it because they don't have the expertise or understanding. It makes you sound deranged.

In life, I find it is best to stick with doing what you know you do well and not to interfere in areas you know b*gger all about. Eton is doing just that. So for once in its existence, I don't disapprove of its failure to stick its nose into something it doesn't understand. To want it to would just be to have a childish urge to say, "I told you so" to the wrong people - it isn't Eton which is claiming to have the answers to poverty and deprivation.

Bisjo: I wish schools like Eton would keep thier nose out of state education.

Why? It has amazing facilities that no local state school can match. Even ds's school (which is private) uses Eton's facilities some of the time. Why not encourage it? '

Great. The only thing is that you have to PAY to use Eton's facilities.

?The headmaster of Eton went there, as a boy, as a "full fees" scholar. I don't think he had a typically privileged background. I don't suppose he was profoundly deprived as a child?

I?m constantly amazed by critics and opponents of the School about how privileged the Etonians are - both boys and Masters.

Fact: Tony Little, the Head Master did NOT have a privileged background. His father was only doing security work at Heathrow for British Airways and Tony himself was the first male in his family to be educated past 14 years old as you can see here in the paragraph immediately below his picture.

So, instead of whinging and complaining constantly how life has dealt you a bad hand and habitually stretching out that big hand for freebies, go do something about it yourself like Tony did and lo and behold you might find yourself The Provost of Eton one fine day!

Eton have bent over backwards to offer what it can on the cheap and even for nothing at all so don?t look a gift horse in the mouth!

Why assume that Eton and Tony Little knows nothing about managing those on the edges of our society? He also works daily with over 1200 teenage boys the assumption that they are all well behaved angels because they're parents pay is completely ridiculous. He knows how to engage boys at what is often a difficult age and therefore must be able to bring some knowledge to the table. I've never met the man but assuming he's not an arrogant arse he would I'm sure make suggestions and discuss his experiences (I doubt he's holding himself up as an expert on social deprivation and teenagers) some of his ideas maybe unworkable or inappropriate but even if he only bring one good idea then that's better than nothing because currently we not doing very well engaging these youngsters. Only someone who is truely ignorant and of course prejudiced would dismiss his suggestions before he even opens his mouth and has a chance to speak.

Sorry, happygardening, but that's just a load of tripe. I don't think he has ever made any suggestions on dealing with those on the outermost margins of society (who probably rarely enter a school building). Where he has made suggestions, as an intelligent man with a lot of experience of education and adolescent boys, he should be listened to, but you appear to be attempting to suggest he should spread his wisdom far further than he has chosen to spread it. I certainly don't approve of the current government's push for free schools, etc, but if things are going that way regardless of the effect on society, I would rather places like Eton were involved in them than organisations which don't actually have any proper background in education.

Rabbit having reread the article this is what he's being asked to do; "Tony Little, the head master of the leading public school, is to address a ?character and resilience summit? which aims to find ways to encourage children to develop determination, ambition and make the most of their opportunities."
What is the problem with that? As I've just said some of his ideas might be unworkable outside of Eton et al but some of his ideas might engage those on the edges of our society.
I spent many years owning horses and most horse owners think they know everything about everything and are usually not shy to come forward with their thoughts. Many talked a load of crap IME but often in amongst the crap the most unlikely person would come up with an exceedingly good idea/thought often unwittingly. So I discovered thats its always worth listening to even the most unlikely of people and then developing the skills of sorting the useful from the useless.

I don't recall saying I have a problem with anything Tony Little is saying, happygardening????....
In terms of experience, however, he doesn't appear to have much experience of dealing with children with low IQs, if Eton's academic selectivity is real and not pretend, nor with children whose home backgrounds have resulted in severe emotional and behavioural problems, because those at the severe end will just never have been given a place at the school - as you perfectly well know.

Perhaps Tony Little should be asked to give advice to Special Schools, both private and state. The most unlikely people can come up with exceedingly good ideas, after all...

Is Tony Little less qualified to speak his experiences than many others keen to jump on the band wagon and air their views? Maybe he's blessed with a high % of common sense, after all he didn't leave school go to university and go straight to Eton or maybe Rabbit you're right he knows nothing at all. In my effort to encourage my DC's to "make the most of their opportunities" I encourage them to try something and listen to everyones point of view before making up their mind otherwise they are in danger of missing something.

Where on earth, happygardening, do you get the opinion that I think Tony Little knows nothing at all??!!!!!!!! That's just a bizarre comment.