It's July!

[goodlookingone]

John Kelly (aka Jack) was the Man The 1980's Detective College wanted for interview, His Parents were always short of Cash, But John was Literate and Numerate, so had a responsible job - Being one of Lord Liverpool's Clerks veryfying the Builders invoices for work done on the Extension of The Eastern Counties Route from Bishopsgate to to the Site of the former Bedlam, (Now Liverpool Street). . But his Parents were immigrants from Ireland and could not get work, so pressed John to "Borrow" monies from Lord Liverpool. After Liverpool sacked Him, He was unable to get worthwhile work, so became a casual Labourer, Fishgutting at Billingsgate. - Thus the possession of the sharp knife. Hours of work varied to suit the Markets or Tides of incomming ships, so would not be unusual to see him at night - especially en route to or from Billingsgate or the Docks.
It is "alledged" that the day after the Hanbury Street Killing, He read The Daily Telegraph report, and had some control of his Wife (She could not Read) , so started His Killings to retain Some control over his wayword Wife, but eventually lost that Control so his Last Murder was that of his wife, Mary. No more murders occurred after that. His Wife and her mates were known to share Husbands, Even Names - Called whatever name their Clients were enquiring for. (Hence Kelly's name occurred in an earlier Murder). John/Jack remained in the area scratching a Living, but his Education enabled Him to become an Officer. After the war He Lived in a retirement Home for Wounded Officers in the Irish Building in Sydney Streey. For His Last two weeks He was in The London Hospital in the 1920's. That 1888 Telegraph was among "Uncle Jacks effects His Nephews Showed that 1980's Detective College in The Blind Beggar, but His (Jack's Nephew) said that the family had nothing to do with Jack, known to be a bad 'un.
So... The question is: "Is this A likely event, developed 100 yrs after the event? Or yet another Bookwriter.

An even Later Book suggested Sickert was (aka "Sickert the Younger") Jack. the Painter who lived (In an office I later used?) 14, Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia. This was where Duke of Clarance shared a Studio - Hence the "Popular press" linked these two, plus Queen Victorias Hired Body Guard (as his Coachman, who took the Duke on noncturnal visits to East London) and Gull, A surgeon from the Hospital Opposite in Cleveland street. The only "clue" if it is such, was that Sickert Fostered Kelly's Daughter... Local Historian said much of Clarances adventures with Nurses and .. no I'll stop there - Who knows.. and not fit for here.

[goodlookingone]

John Kelly (aka Jack) was the Man The 1980's Detective College wanted for interview, His Parents were always short of Cash, But John was Literate and Numerate, so had a responsible job - Being one of Lord Liverpool's Clerks veryfying the Builders invoices for work done on the Extension of The Eastern Counties Route from Bishopsgate to to the Site of the former Bedlam, (Now Liverpool Street). . But his Parents were immigrants from Ireland and could not get work, so pressed John to "Borrow" monies from Lord Liverpool. After Liverpool sacked Him, He was unable to get worthwhile work, so became a casual Labourer, Fishgutting at Billingsgate. - Thus the possession of the sharp knife. Hours of work varied to suit the Markets or Tides of incomming ships, so would not be unusual to see him at night - especially en route to or from Billingsgate or the Docks.
It is "alledged" that the day after the Hanbury Street Killing, He read The Daily Telegraph report, and had some control of his Wife (She could not Read) , so started His Killings to retain Some control over his wayword Wife, but eventually lost that Control so his Last Murder was that of his wife, Mary. No more murders occurred after that. His Wife and her mates were known to share Husbands, Even Names - Called whatever name their Clients were enquiring for. (Hence Kelly's name occurred in an earlier Murder). John/Jack remained in the area scratching a Living, but his Education enabled Him to become an Officer. After the war He Lived in a retirement Home for Wounded Officers in the Irish Building in Sydney Streey. For His Last two weeks He was in The London Hospital in the 1920's. That 1888 Telegraph was among "Uncle Jacks effects His Nephews Showed that 1980's Detective College in The Blind Beggar, but His (Jack's Nephew) said that the family had nothing to do with Jack, known to be a bad 'un.
So... The question is: "Is this A likely event, developed 100 yrs after the event? Or yet another Bookwriter.

An even Later Book suggested Sickert was (aka "Sickert the Younger") Jack. the Painter who lived (In an office I later used?) 14, Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia. This was where Duke of Clarance shared a Studio - Hence the "Popular press" linked these two, plus Queen Victorias Hired Body Guard (as his Coachman, who took the Duke on noncturnal visits to East London) and Gull, A surgeon from the Hospital Opposite in Cleveland street. The only "clue" if it is such, was that Sickert Fostered Kelly's Daughter... Local Historian said much of Clarances adventures with Nurses and .. no I'll stop there - Who knows.. and not fit for here.

[SpringDragon]

I think I just lost a long. Post.... Drat.. Tarn and thingy... Took me ages to type that lot.........

[goodlookingone]

Oh... Can't help I'm afraid - My Techiness level is very low.. I shall look forward to ra visit later, but I am about to apply Screwdrivers to My Pooter. (Gulp).

Back later...

[An Tarbh Dubh]

SD's lost post may have fallen through a crack in the space-time continuum and transmogrified into GLO's double-post ... computer gremlins at work, methinks!

One thing to watch out for: if you're using the "quick reply" (typing a reply in the "Quick Reply" box at the bottom of the thread, which doesn't have any fancy formatting or "emoji" options), there are two buttons you can press below the reply: "Full Editor & Preview", and "Submit". If you click the first one ("Full Editor & Preview"), your reply is NOT posted - instead, you're dropped into the "full" editor which has all the formatting options, emojis, etc, and changes the buttons below your reply to three: "Save draft", "Preview", and "Submit". You can continue composing your reply, then save it as a draft, preview it, or actually submit it. It's only when you click "submit" that your reply is actually posted.

Clicking on the "Reply with quote" button (the double-quote mark) on a particular post puts you directly into the "Full Editor & Preview" mode, where you immediately have the formatting options etc.

Finally: if you click the "back" button in your browser (where this is and what it looks like varies depending on what "browser" you're using - Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Opera, Safari etc are all different), you will LOSE any reply you were composing. This is annoying but there isn't really anything that can be done about it. Unfortunately it can be particularly easy to do this by mistake with a laptop's "touchpad", or on a mobile / tablet. If you're using a mobile, I recommend the "Tapatalk" app, which this board is set up to work with.

[SpringDragon]

Just me and my lack of hand/eye or eye/hand co-ordination I think Boss.... I was using The Full Monty input method.... Which I don't normally do.... I'm not to be trusted with anything lately....

Anyways.... Nowt much has changed and I now have to wait until 7th August for my next surgery as somebody messed up the appointment that should have been last week.... So I stil can't focus and will go away and sit quietly for the next month or so.....

Play nicely gentle people.... Hugs to Twellsy....

[Brians Cravat]

Good evening everyone.

Had a good day today. Once the rain cleared through mid-morning, OH and I headed out for a a walk. We drove to the village of Kinver in South Staffordshire, some seven miles drive away. We walked along a stretch of the Staffs and Worcester Canal (Brindley's 'stinking ditch') before returning through the village where we stopped for a very pleasant, relaxed lunch.

Tomorrow will be less relaxed, I fear. I will be sitting on my first Education Admissions Panel in Birmingham. I have experience of sitting on similar bodies for my local authority but, this will be my first Panel in Birmingham. The city has had a number of problems with its schools in recent years; not least of all, the 'Trojan Horse' affair. In simple terms, a number of schools had governing bodies dominated by Muslims. There was evidence of creeping 'Islamification' in the schools affected, with changes made to the curriculum to comply with the requirements of the Muslim faith.

That said, the city's Children's Services Dept, that is responsible for schools is in a shambles. It was placed in 'special measures' with the threat that the Government would step in to run the department directly. There have been three different Directors of Social Services in as many years. A large number of the school in the city have been rated as 'Inadequate' or 'requiring improvement' in OFSTED inspections. As such, parents who have the (At least, notional) right to choose the school that their child attends, 'vote with their feet' and, choose better schools for their children to attend.

I say 'notional' becausein practical terms, the 'best' local schools are always massively over-subscribed. They simply cannot take in every child. Therefore, the parents have the right to appeal against the decision not to offer their child a place at their first choice school. Hence, the three-person appeal panels. We hear the views of the school and local authority and then, the parents. The Panel need to be satisfied that the process of allocating a school place to the child in question has been mishandled.

As far as the parents are concerned, it is a matter that arouses passions. All that we can do is, give all concerned a fair hearing. Our room for manoeuvre however, is strictly limited to establishing that there there has been maladministration.

We'll see how tomorrow goes.

[Brians Cravat]

Good evening all.

The day (Well not quite) on the appeals panel was interesting. Can't go into details, of course. Day ended early because, one of my fellow panels became ill with pains in her chest early in the afternoon. She obviously went home so, sadly we were unable to come to any conclusions with regard to the eleven appeals that we had heard up to that point. Unfortunately this means that some of the parents we saw and, who some of which were clearly very stressed about this very important subject, will now have the decision delayed.

I do hope that the lady in question does not have a serious health problem and we can get together quite soon to look that those appeals that we were unable to hear and, provide those parents we did see with our views on their appeals.

[goodlookingone]

Obviously your unwell colleague is clearly of Prime Im portant Today.
Did She get Ambulance/Doctoral attention? - What a worry, Has anyone follow her up?

[Brians Cravat]

We offered a call to 111 and, an ambulance. She insisted on trying to call her husband to come and collect her. However, she couldn't raise him so, after a great deal of cajoling we managed to persuade her that a taxi home was the minimum. The Council even offered to pay! At this, she chose the taxi. The Clerk to the Panel offered to keep us up to date.

Sadly, the nature of these panels is that, the people who sit on them are of a certain age. I suppose that ill health is an occupational hazard. It was the first time that I'd met this particular lady but, she clearly cared about the job that we do FOR FREE. It can be stressful. We're dealing with parents under severe pressure (Perhaps self-inflicted, sometimes) trying to get their kids into the best school available.

[Rwth of Cornovii]

It would be nice to think that the parents who care enough to choose the 'best' school also cared enough to follow the children through their school careers helping them to understand the inexplicable. I'd like to think I supported my daughter by asking teachers of my acquaintance to recommend the school they would send their children to. We worked out that we lived close enough to get her in there without having to appeal. The house we bought subsequently was previously owned by the parents of a classmate so we didn't cheat, though their daughter spookily came down the day we viewed the house with our daughter's school blouse in her hands.
I hope your fellow panellist recovered her health when she got home. The Trojan horse schools must be a terrible worry. If the governors were prepared to act properly regarding inclusiveness for all pupils it would be fine, but it isn't. They segregate the childre and don't teach them anything approaching an equality approach.

[goodlookingone]

Pooter off to Menders - so if you don't see me here....

[Brians Cravat]

It would be nice to think that the parents who care enough to choose the 'best' school also cared enough to follow the children through their school careers helping them to understand the inexplicable. I'd like to think I supported my daughter by asking teachers of my acquaintance to recommend the school they would send their children to. We worked out that we lived close enough to get her in there without having to appeal. The house we bought subsequently was previously owned by the parents of a classmate so we didn't cheat, though their daughter spookily came down the day we viewed the house with our daughter's school blouse in her hands.
I hope your fellow panellist recovered her health when she got home. The Trojan horse schools must be a terrible worry. If the governors were prepared to act properly regarding inclusiveness for all pupils it would be fine, but it isn't. They segregate the childre and don't teach them anything approaching an equality approach.

Rwth, the ideal would be that all schools were 'outstanding'. Obviously, that isn't going to be the case. In my view, the introduction of OFSTED inspections and SATs and, incorporating these into league tables hasn't had the desired effect of improving school standards. I believe that idea was parents of those schools requiring improvement would come under pressure from parents to achieve that improvement. In truth, parents only look at these measures when they are looking at a school for their child to attend.

The problem with using OFSTED grades as an indicator is that, the result could be three years old. As such, they may not reflect how good a school is at that moment.

[Rwth of Cornovii]

I still think that my plan to ask friends in the area who were teachers to recommend a school was pretty good. I thought they would be more up to date than an OFSTED report. And I thought I was at least halfway responsible for trying to ensure that any areas of difficulty were ironed out. DD was terrible at maths. Her friend at the next desk was also terrible, but in a different way. Their teacher said that if you could knock the two together you might make a good mathematician so I encouraged her to study with the other child to try to help each other. Parental help was certain to be old fashioned and no help at all. Let's just hope that the SATS change soon and GCSE's aren't artificially made more difficult and less relevant.

[Brians Cravat]

Rwth, as someone who has seen our three children through the education system and, been governor for over thirty years, has been the decline in the view that education is a collaboration between school and home. Back when our children were going through school, we both took an active interest in their education, checking homework, attending meetings with teachers and listening to them reading. It actually goes further than that because we worked wupith our children before they reached school age. All three did really well educationally.

These days children arrive in Nursery and even, Reception classes unable to communicate verbally. This is undoubtedly due to anrange of factors: the parents don't talk to their children being on their mobile phones constantly, the children are put in front of the TV at every opportunity to watch cheap American-made cartoons, there are no books in the house nor, is there are evidence that children are read to at home. That said, when little Jeremy and Jemima cannot read adequately by the age of seven or eight, the tendency is for the parents to blame the school!

They fail to recognise that, the school has to spend valuable time in Early Years teaching children to communicate verbally before committing to developing reading skills. At our school, this has necessitated the introduction of a nationalprogramme called 'Every Child a Talker'. The fact that this is a national programme indicates that this is not a localised problem.

My view has always been that the ability to read is the primary skill that all children need to develop. Once that has been developed the rest of learning is open.

It is interesting that our three year-old granddaughter attends full-time nursery which is part of the infants and primary that she will subsequently attend. She does, as part of her school day 'Phonics' to help develop her literacy and, other skill development exercises to develop her numeracy skills.

[Rwth of Cornovii]

I don't think I went to as much trouble as that. Teachers asked would say "Don't teach them anything before they come to school", which I understood meant no reading writing or arithmetic. She was read to, and lots of books were around the house. But she could tie her own shoe laces and this would take a lot of time in school tying other children's gym shoe laces until I said to teach them to do their own. She used to spend her pocket money on sweets on the way into school then buy some for herself on the way home out of the profits from selling her stock in school. The whole extended family were interested in books and science and conversation was fairly lively and I'm sure the rapid turnover of library books including children's was exemplary. I used to swop a few Alan Garner, Malcolm Saville and Susan Cooper books for one of the rather similar crop of pony books she used to choose. She was reading Dumas at 11 years old, and read the 'Count of Monte Cristo' before I did.

I did try to supplement things a little, but usually when the school was remiss like taking them to the same safari park 3 years in succession for a school trip. My mother used to take her to the theatre to see the ballet and plays. I took her to see the ballet as well. I encouraged her in her A levels, by reading similar material at the same time, and making the New Scientist available to her. She did get to Manchester Poly to do Librarianship and has had a pretty good career since, but hit the glass ceiling in her National charity job.

[Brians Cravat]

Thinking has changed regarding helping children develop skills before they attend school. In fact, courses for parents run locally to introduce them to modern teaching methods like 'phonics'. There isn't the rather snooty attitude to what children read that persisted when our children went through school. I really didn't care if they read the back of cornflake packets, just as long as they read.

Today, there are some wonderful books for children of all ages with authors like Julia Donaldson and Michael Rosen produce really good books for children, to name but a few.

We're child-minding today and, a game of 'Junior Monopoly' is proceeding as I write this. Sadly, it's raining heavily outside and, we can't do what we did on Monday and take them for a long walk.

Enjoy

[Rwth of Cornovii]

Hello, it has been raining here also and I was somewhat distrait. My handyman is going to come tomorrow to paint/condition the cladding that was replaced after the insulation was put on. He was due to come this morning but rang last night to delay until tomorrow. Fortunately, I had bought the fence paint over a year ago thinking I could do it myself, but I couldn't. I used to be able to do these jobs, but painting my bedroom, now study was moderately disastrous. Nice colour, but I missed a few bits and could only reach with the extended handle roller. I know you can get mini rollers, which I may do soon, but I don't feel like it to tell the truth and I don't usually look up there. I may have a man in to redecorate in due course, but no rush. I think I'll wait until Autumn. It's mostly the odds and ends, because mostly it is OK. My cleaners' agent said "Mimosa is quite nice, I love it." but it's not what I like. I had to paint the bedroom. It was pink. Now it's green with pink highlights.

[Brians Cravat]

I used to quite enjoy decorating. In particular, I found painting quite absorbing. The attraction I guess was that it took all of my concentration and, I could just lose my self painting a window. Wall papering was less enjoyable but, I did do it. Sadly, as my arthritic knees worsened, I could no longer comfortably stand for long periods.

These days, we tend to get people in. To that end we have been very fortunate in finding two ladies in the Age Concern Tradespersons booklet. These two ladies are in the forties and sill have children at school. If they say "We'll be here tomorrow at 9:15."it is set in stone and you can rely on it. They clean up after themselves, even asking for our Dyson to vacuum round before they leave in the afternoon.

Girls have now gone home and our evening meal is under way. We're due at the local library at 7:00 pm to listen to a local author, Michael Taylor. He writes 'family sagas' all set in our local town Dudley. I don't find his books at all interesting but, he sells well locally. I enjoy seeing authors because, I find their thoughts on the creative process compelling.

Enjoy your evenings all.

[Brians Cravat]

Well, last night's talk at the local library was excellent. Michael Taylor is a super speaker as he took the audience of fifty or so through the trials and tribulations of becoming and remaining an author. Think that I said yesterday that, he specialises in 'family sagas'. This is not a genre that I particularly like but, there is a ready market out there for his books and he seems to make a reasonable living producing these books. He has recently changed publishers and, this has coincided with 'a painless sex-change'. His new publisher is keen to break into the US market where, these books sell quite well. However, this has involved Michael changing the titles of his novels and, he now writes under the name of 'Nancy Carson'. This 'deception' goes as far a the creation of a website and blog in the name of Nancy Carson. It's a strange world in which we live.