Home is where the Art is

Showing off School Archives

2012-02-24T05:13:00.001-08:00

Last week Greg James from Radio 1 asked his listeners to try out 'stop showing off' - 'the ultimate put down'. Many listeners responded with stories of how people responded to Mum's favourite phrase to keep Greg in his place. I don't remember my Mum saying this, but as I was planning a workshop, based on Katy Aquaye-Tonge's suitcase workshop, it made me worry I was just 'showing off'.

When I met James Irwin, I thought was Buzz Aldrin

The purpose of my workshop is to explore what an archive is, and what exactly belongs in a school community archive. I've collected a few things of my own and will ask the children what they think. All of these things are personal and I think say a lot about the childhood I had, although I will be interested to see how the children respond.

As I was selecting items, I did try to select items relevant to children now - some memorabilia from the Queen's silver Jubilee, a signed photo of Irwin on the moon, a couple of my action men, alongside other items which may be a little alien or exotic to them - letters to my Dad, a signed picture of Cathy Secker, or a camera script for Songs of Praise. As I selected items, I wondered if what I was planning was right. If I was showing them about my childhood, was I just 'showing off''?

Maybe, but if that's how I feel, imagine how it feels to be 9, 10 11 years old, talking about yourself? Maybe for Greg this 'put down' stung so much because he felt what he had to say was unimportant and that his opinions mattered less than adults.

I don't want to present my mini archive as 'the definitive' school archive collection, but I don't want to be embarrassed to show people what I thought and did as a child. I want to encourage children to start showing off.

To end with a quote used by Nelson Mandela, from Maryanne Williamson:

Who are you to not let your light shine?...when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others

Here's some of my stuff:

Old boys badge

A letter to my Dad detailing shoe inspection

Selection of school photos, including boys shining shoes

School photos from Queen's silver jubilee

Coins from Silver Jubilee and Charles and Di's wedding

My Action men

Mum coming last in egg and spoon race, again (but not dropping egg once).

The wonderful Cathy Secker

My school uniform

Useful Links:

http://en.thinkexist.com/quotation/our-deepest-fear-is-not-that-we-are-inadequate/397505.html

Nelson Mandela's actual inauguration speech 1994

Cathy Secker video clip

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01bsm22

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01bsm24

Militant Secularists join with others

2012-02-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

Today Baroness Warsi, Tory Chairman, suggesting we are being 'overtaken by militant secularists'. It wasn't a term I was familiar with - militant islamists, yes, militant feminists, yes, militant secularists? The usual term for what, I think, she was talking about (mainly in American politics) - Militant Atheism. The 'Conservapedia', alongside a large image of Stalin, defines it:

Militant atheism is a term applied to atheism which is hostile towards religion.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] Militant atheists regard their doctrine as something to be propagated,^[3]^[8] and thus differ from moderate atheists because they hold religion to be harmful.^[4]^[3]^[2]

Baroness Warsi warns of a 'rising tide of militant secularisation reminiscent of 'totalitarian regimes'. As a secular from the moderate wing, I was curious to know what our militant comrades could be doing, somewhere in the UK, linked in some way (apparently) to those radical secular Europeans. She is, of course, defending the actions of Eric Pickles, Community Secretary, in reversing a High Court ban on councils in England holding prayers 'as part of a formal authority meeting'. Before the case was heard, Archbishop Rowan Williams suggested what seemed to me like a reasonable compromise - councillors could hold prayers immediately before a meeting, or a moments silence as the meeting start for those who wish to pray, compose thoughts, whatever.

Wihile the seculars have been labelled 'militant', I have not yet heard what adjective is attached to judges or vicars stemming from this hearing and its outcome, but judging from Rowan Williams and other bishop's criticisms of coalition plans on welfare reform, it may not be so long. We've already had 'grubby', 'drunken' and 'promiscuous' nurses', 'scruffy' teachers, any number of adjectives describing union leaders and those scrounging single mums.

I found a site dedicated to help politicians find the right adjective to insult someone - a political insult generator. Militant, or extremist, are favourites at the moment, and as technically the opposite of 'conservative', a clear favourite with Conservatives.

At least Conservapedia, in the interest of balance, states:

Catherine Fahringer of the Freedom From Religion Foundation suggested that the label militant was often routinely applied to atheist for no good reason – "very much as was the adjective 'damn' attached to the noun 'Yankee' during the Civil War."^[154] The Freedom From Religion Foundation, however, has been called a "militant atheist group" in The Washington Examiner.^[155]

What exactly is meant by 'militant', and in this case why do we all appear to be arguing for tolerance, but end up putting forward intolerant and confrontational solutions? Why is it the 'moderate' voices seemed to get drowned out by noise, insults and mud-slinging?

Useful Links:

http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/category/prayer/

http://news.sky.com/home/politics/article/16172297

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9080452/Britain-being-overtaken-by-militant-secularists-says-Baroness-Warsi.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2079186/Scruffy-teachers-criticised-inspectors-Ofsted-chief-targets-staff-professionalism.html

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/politics/s/1460715_conservatives-in-manchester-2011-former-muslim-extremist-tells-of-shock-when-friends-carried-out-glasgow-airport-attack

Seeing a murmuration of starlings

2012-02-15T16:00:00.000-08:00

Today I learnt a new word - murmuration, which I think is a large number of starlings. Our good friend Emma, who regularly gives up her house in Cornwall to our brood, took us out to Rough Tor on Bodmin Moor. We got a brief glimpse of the starlings on the drive there - this is what we saw:

The visual effect of thousands of birds flying overhead for so long, is stunning, as is the hum of their wings in the air. What I thought was more surprising was the (imagined?) warmth from the trees and the amazing feeling of intimacy - you can't actually see the birds in the trees, but the noise makes you feel like your roosting up there with them.

How better to spend your valentines night experiencing a brief moment when you feel completely connected with a world far bigger than you can imagine - to see, hear, feel a community of thousands around you, chattering and singing, swooping and diving, making their home in a mile square of farmed forest.

I love the Valentines Day of cheesy cards, posh meals and hank panky, but it's not necessarily the same as that connection with people, with everything around you, even with birds. That sense of awe and belonging, of community and love, on a small or big scale, is the real Valentines - it's there in front of me but mostly I don't see it.

When we got back to Emma's house, Nikki pointed out the image on the stairs was not an unusual collection of biro marks on paper which I thought it had been, but a photo of a murmuration of starlings. Thanks Emma.

Useful links:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/14/money-gone-love-alternative-currency?CMP=twt_gu

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/the-miracle-of-murmuration/

http://www.westceramics.com/

Thoughts on Herman the German

2012-02-05T03:47:00.000-08:00

Recently we were given a (or is it the?) Herman the German Friendship cake mix from our friend Clare Chapman. He's not much to look at - a bowl of bubbling gluey stuff, destined to a be a sourdough cake of some sort in a couple of weeks.

I wonder how German he is, and given my German ancestry, why I'd never come across him before. The ancestry of this particular cake mix, apparently goes back to the 1970s - a bit worrying given the health and safety implications.

When you get a Herman, the first thing you do is wait a few days (do not put him in a fridge or he will die). Then you feed him flour, sugar and milk, and leave him a while, wait a few days, then feed him some more. At this point you divide him up into four and give away three of them to friends (there really is a bit of him that goes back a few decades). He's a sort of 'pyramid' cake, where the intention is to make friends, not money.

As you can imagine, it's getting quite exciting now, as we think about who to give our mix to (anyone interested let us know!), and what type of Herman ours will become - at the moment apple is a strong contender, with outside chance of poppy seed.

It's the same kind of excitement I got when we had a turnip glut from our shared allotment in 1997, and I must have had a bit of time on my hands. That was the year of the infamous turnip wine, and turnip cake. We found a turnip cake recipe in a Guardian supplement years later, which I think justified the experiment - Wine and cake didn't taste bad, but left an unmistakeable turnipy after-taste.

Anyway, back to Herman. First thoughts are, what a fantastic creative buzz, and yet, is there anything remotely creative about the cake? You just follow instructions passed down to you. Then I dug up David Gaunlett's definition of creativity:

'You have a world of people doing amazing, silly, clever, pointless, or heartfelt things, and putting them out in the world for others to experience, because they want to, and that seems to be more like what 'creativity' is meant to be all about.

Creativity is something that is felt, not something that needs expert verification.'

Herman might not be new or innovative, but he is to me. He's made me feel part of something far bigger, and at the end of it, I'm passing that onto three very select friends, and a few more when we eat him. Thanks Clare.

Useful links:

http://srroberts.hubpages.com/hub/German-Friendship-Cake-Herman

http://www.makingisconnecting.org/

Library burns, long live the Library

2012-01-25T07:08:00.000-08:00

'The building was set fire to at night, and the building and contents were destroyed. A book by Christabel Pankhurst was left at the site, along with a note reading, ‘To start your new library’.

It was not the first arson attack by the Birmingham branch of the Women’s Social and Political Union, which was active in the area throughout the period of its existence.

The burning of the library effected the poorest people in Northfield, including women and children, who had little access to reading. The success in raising awareness of the suffragette cause came at a cost to sympathy for the movement.

It makes me uncomfortable to look at this image from nearly a century ago, and sad both for the women willing to risk everything for their cause, and for all people who suffered through their activism.

To me, it also demonstrates the (continuing) importance of libraries - their potent symbolic, and actual, link between power and knowledge.

Also the importance of photos (even an old black and white, low resolution copy of a newspaper) to tell a story. Please visit Northfield Portrait and see our growing collection of photos, and send any images you may have of Northfield.

Please see:

Useful links:

http://www.connectinghistories.org.uk/Downloads%20(pdfs%20etc)/rtv-trails.pdf

http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/womenvote/case-study-the-right-to-vote/

http://artsforumnorthfield.wordpress.com/northfield-portrait/

Children in Birmingham's Libraries

2012-01-07T15:25:00.000-08:00

Spring Hill Free Library, now Tescos/Library

Many of the libraries in Birmingham still have 'FREE LIBRARY' printed clearly over their entrance - reference to our proud tradition as part of the free library movement, dating back nearly two centuries now. It must have been an exciting time, bringing reading and 'enlightenment' to the masses, who had not had access to reading on such a scale before.

Birmingham Library Service delivery plan 2010-2011 still begins boldly:

'A free comprehensive, universal enquiry service using hard copy, electronic, and on line resources, staff expertise and highly specialised (sometimes unique) resources.'

However, with the Council looking for value for money, and reduction in costs overall, the council will be looking closely at how library provision is provided, not least because of the spectacular building of a new Library of Birmingham. Looking to statistics of library usage nationally, there has been a gradual reduction in the total number of people visiting libraries,the number of library staff, and libraries. But a closer analysis reveals some more promising stats:

Children's participation remains buoyant
Children's issues remain high, fiction even growing by 10%
Visits to library websites show huge growth year on year

See Taking a closer look at Library Statistics

Even in the Strategic design brief for Library of Birmingham in 2008, it was recognised:

'Birmingham in the 21st century is ambitious and dynamic, youthful and diverse. It is the economic powerhouse and regional capital of the West Midlands. Home to more than1 million citizens, it has the youngest age profile of any European city and by 2020 it will be the UK’s first predominantly black and minority ethnic city. The Library of Birmingham will symbolise Birmingham’s identity as a global city with a local heart.'

Kings Heath Library Reopens, earlier in 2011

Not surprising, given Mike Whitby's involvement and Brian Gamble's leadership and award winning expertise in marketing, that the new library should prioritise improving use of ICT and services for young people and children. Birmingham Library Services also continues to support projects like Children's Lives - working to engage more people to explore our archives.

What is more questionable is how library services for children and young people will be delivered as a whole, across Birmingham. How will Community Libraries relate to services provided in the Library of Birmingham? Anecdotally from my work in schools, most children in Birmingham have visited their local library, and very few have visited the Central Library. Those that have gone to town, will almost certainly have regularly visited local libraries first.

Recent changes we have seen have not been promising - Early in 2011 Birmingham schools library service was closed. BCC figures suggest staff costs represent over half the total cost for our library service, so not surprising it has been targeted for cuts. We now have only one constituency library per constituency, with at least one qualified librarian. The other libraries face even more severe staff cuts and significant reduced hours of opening - particularly pressing at weekend and after-school hours. With the closure of many other community venues, like youth clubs (3 out of 4 in my local area), across our city, libraries are one of very few safe places there are for young people to meet, study and learn.

For school groups visiting libraries, if there are staff available to assist the visit, the school is likely to be charged for this service. Reduced staff also means libraries will be under pressure to reduce family events and outreach, like visits to nurseries, playgroups, and stay and plays - a good first introduction to reading for many children.

These are significant barriers to children and young people accessing reading and libraries, particularly from poorer families who are less likely to have regular access to computers. Charges are likely to continue creeping into our libraries and increase these barriers, as does a more centralised library service making it harder for people to walk to their own library. It may be tempting to charge more, but how risky a strategy is it to move away from Free Library principles? It may increase revenue, but at what cost to the people who most use and need our libraries?

Useful links:

Wassail 15th Jan

2012-01-02T00:34:00.000-08:00

Ye Traditional Wassail

2011-12-30T17:52:00.000-08:00

We've been planning a Wassail, and being a bit of an urban chic hippy folky, I only had a vague idea it involved cider, making a noise, and possibly bearded men with bells. So I did a bit of googling:

1860 Wassail Bowl Scene Moonlight Children John Gilbert

For history, Wikipedia was helpful dating it back to the 'Middle Ages' from southern England, christian celebration on the twelth night (6th Jan). Other sources hint at a more general Germanic source, and pre-christian tree worship on the other twelth night, of pre Gregorian Calandar 1752 - (17th Jan), e.g. this one, and ones here and here).

Thanks to Mister David

Wassail is a contraction of the Middle English phrase waes hael meaning literally 'good health', and most articles I read also refer to the 'Wassail bowl', filled with a mulled cider. There are recipes for wassail, and some folk go further in suggesting particular woods needed for the turned wassail bowl, peculiarly Lignum Vitae from South America(?), or maple.

The art, and the music of Wassail tells of two different traditions merging slowly into one - a blessing of a significant apple tree, and door-to-door christmas carol singing, begging a sup of cider from the master. See lyrics of the two most popular carols (of which there are many):

1856 London Twlefth Night Wassail Bowl Children Dog Party

Also hear the wonderful Kate Rusby singing one of them, or try youtube for range of folkies and others singing.

The Wassail Song

...We are not daily beggars

That beg from door to door

But we are neighbours children

Whom you have seen before

Love and joy come to you

And to you your Wassail too,

And God bless you and send you

A happy new year...

Gloucestershire Wassail

Wassail, wassail all over the town
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee

So here is to Cherry and to his right cheek
Pray God send our master a good piece of beef
And a good piece of beef that may we all see
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee...

Wassail hasn't entirely been subsumed into any religions, and being an 'English' tradition it has few champions, apart from an unholy alliance of cider drinkers, morris dancers and carol singers. It's got a clearer message than other new year 'traditions', like fox hunting, Jools Holland and heavy drinking, so here's wishing you all WASSAIL!

Useful links:

http://misterdavid.typepad.com/traditional_sports/wassailing/

http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Notes_On_Carols/wassailing.htm

http://www.archive.org/stream/proceedings42dorsuoft#page/50/mode/2up

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/01/magical-wassail-under-frosty-full-moon.html

http://www.stuartking.co.uk/index.php/making-a-wassail-bowl/

BMAG History Galleries ready to go!

2011-12-16T08:55:00.000-08:00

Today as a CAP member, I was invited to an informal ceremony at BMAG, over a mince pie and coffee, to mark the handover of the Birmingham History Galleries from the building contractor.

The History Galleries are a major £9m capital project which will tell the story of Birmingham from earliest times to the present day. The galleries are not due to open to the public until September 2012. We had the opportunity to have a look around the new galleries before the exhibition fit-out starts and see the building in its 'natural' state. In addition to exposing and restoring the Edwardian historic fabric of the Grade II* listed structure, there are some nice modern touches including naturally lit arrival and orientation spaces and a spectacular oculus rooflight which descends through two floors of the building.

It's a fabulous space now, and really makes the most of the features. Looking forward to seeing it filled with goodies!

CAP is the Community Action Panel - a group of local people from different backgrounds and cultures, including community workers, artists, teachers, parents and musicians. It is one of three advisory groups that have been adivising BMAG on the History Galleries - if you want to get involved, visit their site.

A crude 300 degrees view of the main entrance space - the main exhib spaces leads off here, along with toilets and other bits and bobs, all newly fitted and looking shiny new - with Richard Stratham, Interpretation and Audience Development Officer, BMAG

Co-construction of Wikipedia

2011-12-15T06:57:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I had the opportunity to do some Wiki training and become a Wikipedia editor, thanks Emma Buckler of the soon to end MLA. Arts Council England takes over museums and libraries responsibilities, while The National Archives 'assumes responsibility for providing strategic leadership to the archives sector and advising government on its development.' A curious arrangement leading to more unanswered questions over the future of libraries and museums. But that's for another blog.

There are, in fact, many thousands of wikis, but the English part of Wikipedia is what we were interested in. Love it or hate it, it is the biggest, and most widely used encyclopedia in the world, with over 20 million articles and growing at an incredible rate. Andy Mabbett, our trainer, outlined just what makes Wikipedia:

is [only] an on-line encyclopedia
strives to be balanced and impartial
is free content
editors should be nice to each other
no firm rules

These are the five pillars of Wikipedia, although I'd argue #5 shouldn't really be there - maybe I can edit it out of Wikipedia? As quickly as possible Andy moved us onto editing our own content - not an easy task as writing entries is a little clumsy, and knowledge of .html is helpful.

Once we started, I was surprised how stringent Wikipedia is. I had thought to train primary children to enter their own entries about people they thought were important. It might yet be possible, but may take longer as the pillars suggest entries need to be 'notable' - to be notable you should cite at least three 'reputable' sources, and ensure you are being 'impartial'. It is frowned upon to reference to your own blogs or write about yourself or your own organisation. You also need to have some understanding of copyright and permission to use photos and other material. Plagarism, unsurprisingly, is a big no no.

What also became clear is just how many people are out there apparently spending large portions of their day prowling wikipedia, as both vandals and vigilantes. There is even a 'random article' button you are encouraged to hit and check articles existing in Wiki, in any spare moment you have.

One trainee had not completed all her citations before saving to wiki. Within five minutes the entry was being deleted by another editor somewhere in the ether, before it had even been completed. Another trainee received a slapped wrist, again from a wikieditor out there, for too closely copying material from another source. By the end of the day we also had a case of 'Geohacking' happen and resolved by another wikieditor: The googlemaps link to a nearby heritage site was sending the Wiki user to a webpage about a strip joint in Birmingham.

What I think is most surprising, and promising for the future, is how quickly volunteer editors picked up on all the above problems and corrected them - an indicator of the quality of entries and editors. I can see why more serious academics are increasingly using wikis in a similar way to the more specialist journals which are increasingly on-line too. Instead of peer review only, wikis open up your article for review and editing to a far greater number of people who will have many different specialisms and knowledge. Wikipedia and the other associated wikis opens up serious academic articles to a far larger audience instantly, with free content openly available to develop ideas for the good of all.

My first entry was co-construction of learning - considering what wikipedia represents, a bit of a shocker no one had thought to put this one in.

Missing the Chickens at Four Dwellings High

2011-12-08T12:52:00.001-08:00

Feather-footed friend at Woodgate

On a beautiful sunny November afternoon, I was with my kids, admiring the feathered feet chickens, and avoiding the chinese geese at Woodgate Valley Urban Farm. Looking out from the corner of the field, I think I saw the astroturf (or something light greeny) of Four Dwellings High.

Chickens are something you can't help hearing when you walk around Four Dwellings High. They are there, strutting around in the central square - a living school farm in the middle of the school. Strangely, when you spend a bit of time there, the noise isn't disturbing. It's actually quite comforting, and in keeping with the relaxed, warm, friendly atmosphere you'll find there. As the Head, Bernie Smith, pointed out in 2002, the chickens do represent something of the philosophy at the school:

'to get chickens laying, you have to get the conditions right. Even then it will be some time before they start to produce eggs.'

Looking to pioneering work nurturing young minds, encouraging engagement and participation with important issues of today, FDH keeps popping up. I was at an event looking to the future of green schools at Thinktank - Four Dwelling students were there. The chickens weren't, but were much talked about. I was talking to a teacher from a girls school recently about Birmingham suffregettes - FDH have done it already:

Children’s Lives, which will be the first major project in Birmingham and the West Midlands to consider children’s lived experiences from the 18th century to the present day, again FDH are there. It was one of a handful of UK schools identified in a report written by University of Birmingham:

'As part of the Carnegie Young People Initiative and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation programme of work on pupil participation, we were asked to identify case study schools in different contexts in England, which demonstrate good practice.'

So all this nurturing of young minds, is it working? Well, they recently beat Camp Hill to become Midlands champions in a national competition to inspire business leaders and entrepreneurs of the future last month - The National Final will be held at Wembley Stadium on January 25th 2012. FDH also boasted two England shirts for the 1-0 victory against Sweden last month.

There are individual successes, but what is more impressive is the development of a community feel throughout the school, despite the distance many students live from each other, and 'many of the areas from which the school draws its pupils are deprived' (OFSTED).

I'm writing this blog because that feeling of 'family' - mutual support and empathy - includes staff and even visitors like me.

'Eternal Light' near Tommy Knocker's Tree

I first worked there in 2005 to support Graham Langley, working on 'Who are we?' - a project where we created a story (and a scrap model) from the wonderful local place names and performed to Four Dwellings Primary Yr6 as part of transition to the High school.

Since then I've worked on a range of projects as part of Creative Partnerships, with Birmingham Library Service and Birmingham Archives and Heritage, with various year groups, departments, staff and creative practitioners, all fantastic fun, and always reflecting the school’s philosophy to ‘make life better for all', listening and enabling students to make decisions, take action for themselves.

I agree with Bernie Smith and 'urge you to come and find out why it is so special', if only to sit and listen to chickens laying eggs.

Other projects:

The Goo!

Working with Science Embassadors (yrs 7 to 9) to make a short science fiction film and launch a school-wide 'science invasion' day.

Chocolate and Slavery

Film re-creation of a court case one hundred years ago in which William Cadbury sued the London Standard for libel, having been accused of using slave labour in his Sao Tome and Principe plantations. Comparison with modern day slavery in chocolate industry and the positioning of media, the public and chocolate industry in light of continuing child labour, bonded labour and slavery.

Early Years Reflective Workshops

2011-12-08T04:36:00.001-08:00

Community Health in my brave new world

2011-11-27T13:13:00.001-08:00

Volunteers recieving award from Coop

Yesterday I took a couple of trees worth of willow along to the Heart of England NHS annual community health fair. John Boyle from Midlands Coop had asked me to come - see Fairtrade Blog for more photos.

I got lucky - on arriving a handful of volunteers from Joseph Chamberlain College helped me get set up, trial my activity, and spent the rest of the day wearing willow crowns and waving wands all around the event. Someone from 'Heart of England NHS foundation asked if I could make a willow heart (why didn't I think of that?). I gave it a go and before long, decorated heart wands were as popular as the stars.

Exchanging a 'wish for a wand' generated a tree worth of comments which reflected conversations we had making and decorating our wands. The free chocolate, interestingly was turned down by many (on health and diet grounds?). The event was really fun - great atmosphere, and got to meet loads of interesting and different folk.

It's glass half full, I know, but being cut off from my main source of revenue, training, networking, everything (creative partnerships) isn't all bad. I probably wouldn't have got to go to this event, go to wikipedia workshop later next month, think more about what it is I want to do, sort out the garden, and generally work just as hard for half the money! But today, I'm loving it.

NOTICE OF STREET LIGHTING

2011-11-07T03:22:00.000-08:00

Last week a man came and painted a number 10 on the pavement outside our house. I'd seen the lamp posts going up in the next street, so I knew what was coming. Today we got our 'NOTICE OF STREET LIGHTING WORKS IN YOUR AREA letter from Amey, on behalf of Birmingham City Council.

The letter informs me we should expect nearly 100,000 lamp posts over the next five years, replacing 50% of street lamps in Birmingham, with new super efficient 'state of the art LED technology', helping Birmingham reduce it's carbon reduction commitments. There is no mention of improving lighting, which as we are replacing lamp for lamp, I guess isn't the purpose of lamp post replacement.

My favourite Lamp post

What's happening to all the old lamp posts? Maybe they've got some scheme, like the Blackpool lights going to Walsall? 100,000 lamp posts is a lot, and it would be kind of nice to know where my much loved green lamp post is going. Also how much is it costing, and what is the carbon footprint for replacing the existing, working order, lamp posts? Afterall, it only seems a couple of years ago the Council ran a consultancy to find out what colour we wanted them all painting. How old is my lamp post, and what is the life expectancy of the new lamp posts?

So many questions I wanted the Council to shine a light on, so I rang the 'further information' number helpfully provided on the letter. Within ten minutes I was talking to the helpful Mo, who not surprisingly couldn't answer my queries off the cuff, but has given me a service number, taken my email and phone number.

In the lamp post lottery, and recent re-surfacing of our road, our street has done rather well. Can't help worrying about the overall strategy and costs. The street done before us was Wheelers Lane, where kerbs have been raised, lamp posts cut and replanted, all along the road, including the entrance of Wheelers Lane School. Outside the school has made national and local headlines for cars parked dangerously, and a lollipop man run over three times. Despite the school entrance being built 5 years ago and many of the staff, parents and children having accidents and near accidents, only objections from the Headteacher has prevented the (inadequate but better than nothing) temporary barriers put up only this September from being removed completely.

Please follow Wheelers Lane Safe Route to school to find out more, and keep up the pressure on Councillor Martin Mullaney and others in our Council to prioritise the safety of our children.

Useful Links:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wheelers-Lane-Safe-Route-to-School/186750454694179

http://birminghamlives.blogspot.com/2011/06/mind-grass-not-children.html

Are young people 'Angry, Violent and Abusive'?

2011-11-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

Barnardos research has rekindled the old 'young people are animals' debate again, which hadn't really died down since the riots, and draconian sentences of a month ago or so, and before that, the rolling press coverage of various 'hoodie' related and other generally lazy 'children-are-not-what-they-used-to-be' stories.

In their survey they found that Almost half of Britons think young people are angry violent and abusive, with one in four thinking troubled children are beyond help by the age of 10. there was plenty of other equally scary stats (see Children behaving like animals, Barnardo's survey finds).

So which two thousand people did they ask? Were any of them under 18? Constant debate among (only) adults about changes in childhood is really rather dull and a bit meaningless. It does however, reveal a far more interesting and useful question:

How much (and what quality of) social contact is there between younger and older people?

Going back to the figures, I'd really like to ask the 24% of people who thought those who behaved badly were beyond help by the age of 10. How many of them have any meaningful relationship with any children? I find it hard to believe anyone who lives or works with children (angels or bad boys) can possibly imagine any child being beyond help.

Looking to our politicians, have any come from troubled childhoods? Boris Johnson, Dave Cameron and their Bullingdon Club mates have certainly done quite well despite, in their youth, trashing pubs and restaurants. Even Cleggy, given his previous arson conviction, has done quite well.

Dave Cameron in his now famous 'hug a hoodie' speach, to the Centre for Social Justice founded by Iain Duncan Smith (not many under 18s there) says:

The first thing is to recognise that we'll never get the answers right unless we understand what's gone wrong...We - the people in suits - often see hoodies as aggressive, the uniform of a rebel army of young gangsters...

The complaints are identical.
Young people are out of control.
There's nothing for them to do.
Why can't their parents do their job properly?

...And if the phrase "social justice" is to be meaningful, it has to be about justice, as well as compassion and kindness. It has to involve a sense of cause and consequence - of just rewards and just deserts. One of the most important things we can teach our children is a sense of justice.'

The 'suits' is an interesting stereotype of his audience (their website certainly doesn't suggest that); The 'hoodies' in his speach remain a voiceless stereotype. When he talks of 'justice' all I can see screaming out is the injustice meted out everyday on young people by adults. ASBOs, mosquito alarms, and the recent use of heavy custodial sentences in the riots are obvious recent injustices, but they also model division between young and old, exasperating entrenched attitudes of young and old.

David Cameron goes on:

'Too often, the reality is that for "partnership" you can read "takeover."
If we're serious about the social sector doing more, then government and the public sector has to learn to let go.

There are two values at the heart of modern Conservatism.
Trusting people, and sharing responsibility.'

He was, of course, considering 'state' and 'private' sectors. However, if we make the leap to consider children themselves as part of a 'partnership', a trusting relationship, sharing responsibility, then we can look to real 'justice', and an opportunity for all of us to work together to challenge criminal behaviour and promote 'Big society' values.

Some examples of on-going collaborative work with young people in Birmingham:

The Future Melting Pot empower young people to achieve their potential through enterprise

Children's Lives - Birmingham's Young People's Archive

No Postcode - Young people from the West Midlands has made a video to stop people joining gangs

Please add more you know about in comments.

Other links

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15568442

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/half-think-youngsters-are-violent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ueBCWaWNcY

http://johnault.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/the-bullingdon-club-boris-dave-and-gideon-yes-but-an-aspiring-liberal-mp-and-a-former-party-presdient-surely-not/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1542634/Cameron-as-leader-of-the-Slightly-Silly-Party.html
Cameron Hoodie speach

Chris Upton's Local Heroes

2011-11-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

Thanks again to Dr. Chris Upton, senior lecturer at Newman University College Birmingham, who came to Paganel Primary School to present his local heroes to years 5 and 6. An inspirational speaker as always, he identified a Victorian writer, a landowner and builder of Weoley Castle, an industrialist, a writer, a very, very tall lady, and a tree - five of his heroes from our local area.

Please see 17 minute edit of his presentation below:

Paganel Primary School will continue to develop work with all children and parents to identify, and then to document our own local heroes throughout 2012. The lives of people in our school and community represent the social and cultural changes of our times - We are in a unique position to both document social life and engage children, parents and local community in our rich heritage, across all generations.

Chris Upton comments , 'this community – exceptional in Birmingham – makes it a potentially very rich area for oral history.' I'll keep posting updates on work at Paganel.

Early Years Creative Projects

2011-10-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Search for a hero

2011-10-09T15:43:00.000-07:00

Last week has been really exciting as Paganel Primary School decided to take a whole week to explore heroes in every class - Greek, local, vegetable and every other variety. Everyone loves heroes. It's a great tool for learning - to think about our heroes and villains, those we know, we imagine, or the ones in all of us.

I was leading two days of workshops on, 'Food heroes and villains'. First thoughts on 'Food Heroes' was nutritional and healthy food - Initial chat with school suggested children and parents are not necessarily very familiar with fruit and veg (See brown bags vs. mystery meat). This fitted well with my feelings to try and keep what 'heroes' and 'villains' the children chose (and why) open - partly to see what they already knew, but mainly to see what they thought about fruit and veg. We choose to only look at fruit and veg, and not muddy the waters with processed or other foods.

Only veg and fruit (no obvious sweets, crisps or other bad boys) meant focus was on veg and fruit, but also on what children thought about the good stuff. Not surprisingly, the look or the taste seemed more important to children than any health or other considerations.

So what makes a hero, or a villain?

Spiky Cucumber is caught stealing.
Pumpkin and Sweetcorn save the day.

'Heroes save the world.'

'Heroes always help people.'

'Heroes are kind and think about other people.'

'Villains want to rob and keep it all for themselves.'

'Villains take over the world. They want to control everything.'

The children understood straight away. Every child in the school has been encouraged in this week to tell us about their own (personal) hero. Children as young as four were quite capable to articulate what made a 'hero' and why. Whether it's a Daddy, an Uncle or a family friend, children understood:

'He is kind because he helps people by taking them to hospital for treatment.'

Pyn Stockman, the creative practitioner working with other classes was making masks of heroes, based largely on the children's personal heroes. We had vegetables, and not really enough time, staff or proper risk assessment to introduce carving.

So we concentrated on accessorising our vegetables, and creating scenery, lighting, other means of making a story, with the help of our storyboards. Every child made their own hero or villain, but worked towards developing teamwork - children working together to create their stories. The stories needed at least one hero and one villain for a story anyway, and this provided a means to make teams and explore why or how a hero does what he or she does. Teamwork is recognised as important by teaching staff, but:

'We don't often work together like this. It's not easy to assess individuals.'

The heroes lent a helping hand for the children to reflect:

'Heroes can work together. Villains aren't very good at it.' (child comment)

The project has been really well supported by all the staff at the school, and both the Head and Deputy visited and talked to the children. For a moment I worried what response the head teacher would get when he walked into a lively class and ask children, 'Where's the learning?' Everyone was having fun, but the heroes were working tirelessly on the learning - children were having discussions together about what being a hero is all about, and the challenges of working together to save the world!

Teacher comment:

'Some of them found it quite difficult to work together...[The children said] 'I don't want this to happen, I don't want that to happen'. They're a very independent bunch that like their own ideas. They all enjoyed it...it will help teamwork in the class, and tomorrow if they actually put other people's heroes into their [creative writing] stories, that'll be great!'

Child comment:

'It's hard to work together when it is working in a noisy team. It can be hard. You need to listen to each other.'

Useful links:

Fruit and veg city

http://www.onlineschools.com/in-focus/school-lunch.html

Bad School Lunches uncovered

What is a fair share?

Bright Space ends

2011-09-30T05:07:00.000-07:00

Proud moment - receiving award from Barbara Nice
for networking at the Bright Space Oscars July 2011.
Photo thanks Gillian

Bright Space closes it's doors today, and so ends an era for me. Personally, it is a great loss, having worked as a creative agent and practitioner with both Bright Space and Creative Partnerships, but I think a far greater a loss for the children and schools who have benefited the most.

Despite it's well measured and documented achievements and the 'value for money' invested into the programme, there are no plans to replace Bright Space or Creative Partnerships. The work ends, even if the database (and website) lingers on.

There are far fewer creative practitioners working in schools, and we all wait to see what changes are still to happen in the education sector. There is, however, one legacy recognised by the present administration - the value of collaboration (Big Society), and the importance of our networks. Now, more than ever, we need to pull together to make the most of every opportunity, and to shape the way education and other policies can most effectively support learning in our schools.

Thanks everyone who has worked at Bright Space, Creative Partnerships, and everyone connected to it. Let's keep in touch.

Do Cooperatives miss the funding bus?

2011-09-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

Today I went to MAC for Co-operatives West Midlands networking event for 'creative cooperatives'. Nick Matthews introduced the day, highlighting the continuing problem the coop has in promoting itself, with classic response, 'the Coop, is that like Tescos?'

No it isn't, and interestingly enough, despite a more troubling UK retail Coop, Cooperatives in Japan are apparently out competing Tescos. Nick talked about organising creatives as like 'herding cats'. He suggested the coop model works for creative types. I'd agree they have a talent for working with a wide range of people, as was evident with the next presentation from Electro-swing Circus - Birmingham's newest Performance Co-operative.

There was discussion about the 'resilience' of cooperative structure in present eco climate - afterall, advantages of a workforce which owns the business works harder, and people buy the 'coop' brand believing it to be more 'ethical' (even if, returning to coop promotion problem, few people seem to know why coops might be better).

There was also mention of potential economic advantages in regard to taxing. Steve Holdworth from IGNITE creative discussed why they became a Coop, initiated by advice from their accountant.

Maybe I should be more bothered by the hard financial advantages of coops, but I went to the event because I wanted to explore the social benefits of sharing embodied in the Coop. What advantages are there? Well, Co-operative Futures were on hand, highlighting the 'family coop', and used a Bus analogy - a coop is like a bus taking people to profits/benefits. A key question - Who do you want on the bus and why? Who claims the dividend and who are your customers? Does your model really work? Hard questions, and subtly different from other business model questions.

Recently I've been thinking more about 'the funding bus' - a phenomena which is growing in our (creative and education) sector, where practitioners increasingly look to the funders first, and find a client to match. The model is embodied by playground equipment manufacturers like Playforce, who provide support for schools to make applications to funding sources they have already identified, to buy the equipment they sell. It's a tough challenge , when some applications require a great deal of knowledge, time and effort to complete, and where experienced form fillers are at a distinct advantage. Surely this is a valuable skill we should be rewarding - if some of the funding targeted at schools goes to pay for fund raisers, isn't that OK, as long as they get some cash for the school? Operating in a competitive market, some businesses may not be offering schools the best value - isn't that up to the schools to work out?

I was there because I thought the cooperative model may offer some solutions to these problems, sharing info, experiences, practice, to provide the 'best quality' creative work efficiently. I was also pleased to see Future Melting Pot there, already on the way to being a cooperative - collective experience across a range of sectors to support and promote each other.

Coops don't necessarily avoid the funding bus, but they can provide social benefit and business solutions which ensure needs are more properly analysed, and more of the money is spent most effectively. Coops seem to win hands down, financially, providing quality services, treating workers properly, generally more ethical, and yes, Coops, are sexy again.

Progressive Birmingham

2011-09-20T16:45:00.000-07:00

Mike Whitby, leader of Birmingham City Council, of "Global City, Local Heart" fame, calls the coalition with the Lib-Dems a progressive partnership - Something which has surprised many of the critics he calls 'Jeremiahs'. Perhaps not such wise words for his critics - Jeremiah wrote the book of lamentations, a cheery tome, where he revealed the sins of the people and the coming consequences,^[10]^[11]and in typical prophetic style, got it spot on. But in calling the leadership a 'progressive partnership' Mike Whitby shrewdly attempts to take the 'progressive' title from the left, while associating the partnership with Birmingham's tradition of 'progressiveness'.

'Birmingham Faces and Places' is a late nineteenth century publication celebrating the great and the good in Birmingham, people and places. I talked to Dr Andy Green about 'Faces and Places' and Birmingham in the late nineteenth century, when it was granted city status, and attempting to define itself as a modern, progressive city. Like now, grandiose 'big city plans' were being brought to fruition under a Liberal Mayor, Joseph Chamberlain. He forcibly purchased Birmingham's gas, water, and much of the city centre for BCC proclaiming:

'We have not the slightest intention of making profit...We shall get our profit indirectly in the comfort of the town and in the health of the inhabitants'

Chamberlain was most certainly a progressive. The original Faces and Places was being published during his lifetime, and attempted to manage and present a particular image of Birmingham, both in its editorial choice of 'great and good', and in it's objective - to present a 'progressive' city. It was a respected reference for anyone looking to find our anything about Birmingham in the late nineteenth century, be it a local-based enquiry or relating to the 'global' reputation Birmingham was already shaping. It was a masterpiece of political spin.

Connecting Histories 'faces and places' project invited everyone to contribute their own 'faces and places' - people and places we think have contribute to our great city. This represents something quite different to the original 'faces and places', and offers exciting possibilities for considering our identity in Birmingham, as a city which belongs to all of us, not just 'the great and the good'.

The continuing challenge, to be a truly progressive city, is to give voice, represent and value everyone in Birmingham.

Useful links

Big City Plan - Whitby's Chamberlain moment

Birmingham's 'progressive partnership' on how to run a coalition

Power Profiles No 10, Mike Whitby

Faces and Places

Thanks to Birmingham Archives and Heritage Team for images.

Strikes don't work, do they?

2011-09-13T02:51:00.000-07:00

On way to work yesterday, my radio tuned itself onto BBC WM, where the topic for discussion was 'Do Strikes work?' My first thought was of the 2005 film 'Made in Dagenham' - about the (successful) strike by car workers in 1968 demanding equal pay for men and women. Then, I was a little sad that in Birmingham, with such a proud history of protest and strikes that there should even be a question whether strikes work or not.

The papers are full of warnings - winter of discontent, expect UK's biggest strikes. For the title of 'Britain's biggest strikes', the 1911 National Rail Strike is perhaps the biggest contender, where unions were fighting for their very existence, and the UK was brought to the verge of revolution. Churchill was, at that time, the Home Secretary under Asquith's Liberal Government. There was bloodshed in Liverpool, the city usually identified with the national strike, but Birmingham also played it's role. The usual note is of Birmingham Police sent to Liverpool, but food packages were also sent by our unions, quite apart from the rail strikes in our city. It is also interesting to note the level of support for the 1911 strike across all unions and generations, with school children also playing a role. I remember, with guilt, the student protests of 2010, portrayed by some media as a load of rich kids throwing their toys out of the pram. I did nothing, and now what tuition fee system do we have?

Thomas Attwood, fenced off for Christmas

Going back further into Brum's history you come across 'King Tom', Brum's first MP. Yes, the very same shabby man with paperwork blowing around him on Chamberlain Square.

Hard to imagine the size of demonstrations in Birmingham for male Suffrage in September 18 31 and May 1832: The first, a reported 100,000 gathered on Newhall Hill, the second, 200,000, commemorated by 'the 'Gathering of the Unions', with 'King Tom', a dot in the middle holding his 'Reform Bill' aloft, which became law in June.

'The Gathering of the Unions, 1832' thanks to Bob Miles

I've borrowed a bit from Chris Upton and his fabulous 'A History of Birmingham' - he quotes the Union Hymn, sang on the day:

Shall honest labout toil in vain

While Plunder fattens on the land!

Still shall a tyrant faction's reign

People and King at once command?

No! it may not, shall not be,

For we must, we will be free!

It is as important now, as then, to demonstrate your support for causes important to you. Strikes are always a last resort, but there is no question strikes demonstrate broad support for a cause and influence change.

Useful links:

The Gathering of the Unions

Student protest over fees turn violent

The Liverpool Transport Strike of 1911

Turnip Rail: The Forgotten National Railway Strike, 1911 - Part 1

Turnip Rail: The Forgotten National Railway Strike, 1911 - Part 2

School kids on strike! | 1911 Llanelli Railway Strike

Thomas Attwood statue fenced off row
Strikes - a selfish or selfless gesture?

Back to School

2011-09-06T04:18:00.000-07:00

The 'perfect' teacher

It's the morning of the second day at school, and the excitement of meeting old friends is over. The holidays are over. It's back to work.

Arthur (our 8yr old) is awake early and we start talking about school:

'So what did you do yesterday?'

'We wrote about our holidays. We always write about our holidays. It's so boring.'

There's still a while to go before school, so we have a chat about it. I can see the teachers will want to find out a bit about the children they will be working with, and that the most recent bit, their holidays, is probably a good place to start. I put this to Arthur. He agrees:

'But why do we have to write about it?'

On this, I think, he has a good point. Writing is obviously a key skill children will learn in school, but it's not the most natural way your average 5, 6, 7, 8 yr old will express themselves. If the teacher's objective is to find out more about a child, then I'm pretty sure most essays about 'what I did in the holiday' will tell you very little. Except possibly how good at writing a child is.

It reminded me of Arthur's first meeting with his new teacher last term, where they were all warned, ''If you give me grief, then I'll give you grief, if you give me joy, then I won't give you grief...you'll get to like me." The teacher very much setting out relationship boundaries.

Arthur goes on to tell me more about his first day. At assembly they set 'ground rules, and reviewed the '10 Golden Rules'. He got a star, for remembering one. He remembered (and I was proud of him) that you've 'got to respect your teacher and the other children'. The rules he remembered all were important.

I understand why so many teachers start with 'the rules', but how is reviewing the rules appreciating the wider objectives of education (developing confidence, ability for deep learning, reflection...) or indeed, the most immediate challenge to develop good relationships with the new children and their parents? I know what my response to what appears to be a lecture on 'ground rules' would be. As a parent with a mixed experience of school it does re-enforce all my poorer experiences and, I find myself quickly falling into the cynical trap of seeing school as a problem, something to be endured, and have to resist putting this across to Arthur

This is all my perspective, as a parent. I'm also aware Arthur may say a very different thing about school tomorrow. Also that the teacher may be overcoming insecurities about their children and their relationship with children and parents, and things will get better as the year continues. The school Arthur goes to is a good school. He is very happy there, and throughout the last four years there have been many creative projects and topics which have engaged Arthur, in which he has expressed himself, reflected and learned. I am sure soon we will think as highly of Arthur's new teacher as we (parents and children) do of his previous teachers. The sort of open-ended projects, where children bring things (or people) into school, use of film, artwork, photographs to document and to provoke conversations - anything, that might be seen firstly as fun, and can develop a richer understanding of the children, their parents, their lives, will help the teacher find out more and to initiate more positive relationships.

It is interesting to see which teachers Arthur likes and respects, and why. Without a doubt, those teachers that are seen as 'fun' are the 'best'. 'Fun' to Arthur, turns out to be enjoying learning with the children - the teacher who plays Ukele, is prepared to laugh at themselves, plays with the children, dances to Abba, who gets into the swimming pool with the children, is prepared to admit they don't know it all, wants to learn with the children, taking risks with them.

The teacher's role is not the same as a best friend, and I'm not suggesting all teachers should learn the Ukele (although would be fun), but that the best way to secure an effective learning environment, the starting point for any teaching, must be to develop good relationships with children and parents.

Useful links:

Overcoming 10 common barriers to parenting

Back to the wrong school

The PIP Award

Truly Humble

2011-08-14T04:08:00.000-07:00

Relatives of those killed in Birmingham riots again appealed for calm. Tariq and Abdul also talked about being 'truly humbled' by the response from people, nationally and internationally, writing to their families. It was moving and inspiring to hear them speak with such clarity so soon after his loss.

We're on holiday and have missed the riots in our home town of Birmingham. Here on the Isle of Skye we have experienced a different sort of 'humbling'. The weather has been pretty mixed, but whatever it's brought, together with the colossal landscape, we have felt humbled. Looking out to sea, across the glacial landscape, or up to the ever changing skies, we've felt pretty small.

Feeling humbled isn't just about feeling small. It's also about feeling a small part of something bigger. The people who wrote to a father in mourning felt the need to communicate their feelings and offer their support.

I didn't write to Tariq or Avdul's family, but I do write letters for Amnesty. Writing letters for Amnesty sometimes feels like a futile gesture - there's not much we can achieve as individuals or even as large groups, and that's frustrating. It is humbling to know you can do so little. Sometimes we get some good news about a campaign. What you write or do will probably have little or no effect, but feeling only a small, humble, part of the world, or humanity, means everything.

Sent from my BlackBerry smartphone from Virgin Media

Valuing News of The World and CP

2011-07-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

My work with 'Creative Partnerships', along with all the other creative agents, ended last week. In looking to our futures Lee Corner invited us to consider our values - consider what it is we really want, and to reflect on our past.

All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education (The Robinson Report) was published to wide acclaim in 1999 and spawned Creative Partnerships. Throughout the document it refers to collaboration supporting learning - collaboration between young people and parents, arts organisations, businesses, LEAs, local communities, Arts Council, museums, libraries, everyone. It also recognises a need to develop confidence for young people to make the most of their own resources, developing their own creativity. Our values are as our name suggests - creativity and partnership.

So what's gone wrong with Creative Partnerships? Have we kept to our core values? Does the Government share our core values, or are their priorities different?

There's been a lot of talk in the press about values. The police have not yet completed a criminal investigation into phone hacking, but already a hugely successful paper has been closed down for good. In a recent Sky news article titled, 'what is the value of the News of the World?', begins:

With an average weekly circulation of 2.6 million, the News Of The World is Britain's best-selling Sunday paper and a profitable venture.

But if NOTW main value was to make money, they'd be merchant bankers. The other value they claim is to seek 'truth'. It might not be Famine in Somalia, because they also value 'fun' and focus on stories about 'human nature'. However they identify their news values, you definitely know what you are getting with NOTW. They have stuck to their values, and yet their 'lack of values' has ended it. But that's not the end of the story. At Sky, the Saturday Sun has already grown in size, and media analysts 'expect a new title launch, but not immediately.'

Creative Partnerships, like NOTW, is gone and it's not coming back, even if our values are sound - 'a profitable venture' recognised by Ofsted and more widely:

PriceWaterhouseCoopers say that for every £1 invested Creative Partnerships delivered £15.30 of benefits to the national economy

A new title launch soon? I guess that depends on what the Government values.

Striking - a selfless or selfish gesture?

2011-07-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

"Tank Man" stops the advance of a column of tanks on June 5, 1989, in Beijing.
Taken by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press

It's still not clear what happened to 'tank man', but the recording of this
unknown rebel earned him a feature in Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century. See "Behind the scenes: Tank Man of Tiananmen" (New York Times), with link to video of the incident.

China still executes more people than any country in the world. Al Weiwei has been released, but Mao Hengfeng, Nurmemet Yasin, and many human rights defenders, journalists, writers, poets, others willing to speak out, and act, are arrested, and allegations of torture and other ill-treatment are common. I'm glad David Cameron is still willing to 'raise concerns' when meeting Wen Jiabao, but how far should we go to stand up for others? Is raising concerns really all David Cameron can do? If we say or do nothing are we implicitly supporting the abuse of human rights in China?

Yesterday morning I wasn't sure whether or not to join strikers in Birmingham. I was listening to BBC Radio 4 when Francis Maude finally persuaded me to join the teachers and other public sector workers in their demo: He talked about the importance of fairness and treating people with respect. He has also echoed Michael Gove's and Vince Cable's recent comments on the pressure teachers were putting on decent working parents, and threatened of legislation to control union action.

I have little doubt in the legitimacy of the strike. I can see no justification for reducing pensions for teachers, or so-called 'Martini contract' imposed on public sector workers which will reduce the pay and pension of some of the poorest paid public sector workers. Nearly all the cabinet really are millionaires, and are not 'sharing the pain'. I believe they are deflecting attention from the rich getting richer, whose interests they are representing. But are the changes proposed worth striking for?

The blood on the streets in Tiananmen Square 22 years ago came to be represented by a showdown Tank man and tank driver. Popping into town to strike to keep pensions isn't quite the same. Maybe I should be spending my time doing more to highlight abuses of human rights across the world. Either way my children might not have gone to school but I think they had an important lesson - you can and should stand up for what you think is right, rather than what's in your best interest.

Jenni Bee last ever show

2011-06-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

The 100 show

2011-06-23T06:46:00.001-07:00

Ethical fashion show celebrates centenary year for Selly Park Technology College for
Girls with local MP in attendance.

Pupils from Selly Park Technology College for Girls will celebrate their centenary year with the ‘100 Show’, an ethical fashion show. The show contains three amazing collections, including hat sculptures and clothes that have been radically transformed. The event, which has sold out, will take place at mac birmingham on 24th June 2011 – 4pm and 7pm. Steve McCabe, MP for Birmingham Selly Oak will also be in attendance

The project has been funded through the Creative Partnerships school programme, delivered by Bright Space. The students organised the whole event from designing the clothes, logos, slogans and marketing to auditioning models. They also used their negotiating skills to hire MAC birmingham at a reduced rate. MAC birmingham also enabled Selly Park students to shadow their staff members.

All the clothes have been made from recycled fabric, thrown away garments or other unwanted materials, even plastic bags. The students from years 7 – 11, worked with local Fashion Designer, Allison Sadler, owner of ‘People’ boutique in King’s Heath, to create a fusion of glamour, spectacle and innovation.

Sarah Hubbard, Deputy Head Teacher at Selly Park Technology College said: ‘This has been an exciting project for our students. As well as designing for the show, they have now gained experience on event management and promotion. The fact that the show has sold out, is testament to their hard work and enthusiasm.’

For press enquiries please call Marcia Springer on 0121 772
6932 or call Sarah Hubbard at Selly Park Technology College on 0121 472 1238.

Selly Park Technology College for Girls is an outstanding school which has received the International Schools Higher Level Award and countless accolades from the Specialist Schools Trust. In 2010 they received an award from the Specialist Schools Trust for being one of the top five Technology Colleges in the country for the most improvement in the % of students gaining 5 A*-C including English and Maths.

State Schools learning from Public School Boys?

2011-06-17T04:20:00.000-07:00

Our government cabinet are mostly public school educated - how does their education influence their policies? Is there anything in their education which can help turn around the past decade of growth between the richest and poorest? OECD have researched the growing gap between rich and poor, and recently suggested UK pupils are 'among the least likely to overcome a tough start.'

From my public school education I remember the average temperature in Quito (15 degrees Centigrade). Quito was one of the easier South Amercian cities we rote learned (it's on the equator, so the same all the year). Why do I remember Quito, and not where I left my jacket an hour ago? I don't know, but subjects taught generally bore little or no relation to me, and did little to encourage me to learn.

Recently I was recommended to check out The Prince's Teaching Institute - an organisation which exists to support subject led teaching. While I hope encyclopedic knowledge of average temperatures in South America is no longer so important, subject led teaching, like my schooling, is about viewing the student as a vessel to be filled with important stuff. It's also something being talked about again to improve all our schools.

Me, drawing giant fruit at school

A project on the life of St. Wilfred, for me, was an educational exception. In my first year at Repton, for a holiday project, I chose to research patron saint of my home town, Ripon. He was a medieval monk, spin-doctor type. Not the obvious choice, but having been a choirboy in his church for the last four years, I guess I had an affinity with him. It was very much a topic led project, directed by my own interest, and we moved on quickly to the serious stuff of examinations. Another formative learning moment was probably not at school, but in contrast to it. As a 'scholarship boy' there was a 'poverty gap' between me and what felt like the rest of the school. I needed some extra dosh, so when I got a chance to work in a chicken factory at 16...well I took the job anyway. Apart from turning me veggie, it made me question the difference and similarities there were between me and the others there waiting for their CSE results over the summer.

Back at school two years later 12 of the 100 in my school year would go on to Oxford or Cambridge. I don't think it was better than average results, brighter students, or even the subject led curriculum that got so many Reptonians there. On leaving Repton I was invited to meet the freemasons - I guess something everyone in school was invited to do. Not everyone rolled up their trouser legs, but our teachers, our parents, everyone around us, were very well connected.

There are obvious advantages of network and wealth which it's hard to even imagine 'education' alone addressing. So how can we improve the chances of the poorest in the UK? The OECD think education can and has (in other countries) made a big difference - measures like teaching for 'resilience', 'self-confidence', ''personal internal drive'.

For 'resilience and 'self-confidence', my learning happened in 'extra-curricula' school activities, which were varied and incredible. Chosen and often directed by us, and supported with bags of money, kit and staff, being part of the wider 'Repton School Community' made me feel like I can do anything. State schools may never have the money, kit or (as many) staff, but when it comes to learning developed with students, meaningful learning opportunities within and outside school - 'fostering motivation and self-confidence' - This is something some public schools do well, but looking to 'subject-led learning' is looking in the wrong place.

Mind the grass, not the children

2011-06-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

There was a major rebuilding of Wheelers Lane Primary in 2007, combining the two sites - see photo new main entrance for infants.

Since then the lollipop man has been run over three times, there has been media coverage and parents continue to campaign for change to improve the road access, where children and cars mix a little too freely - please see Wheelers Lane Safe Route to School.

So what are the council doing to correct the situation? Raising of the kerbs (see picture) to ensure cars won't drive on the grass, that's what!

Councillor Mullaney assured the parents and school measures would be in place after half term. I thought I'd be getting photos of workmen preparing the yellow markings and barriers in place ready for after half term.

Workmen were 100 yards away, completing those all important high curbs to save our grass verges.

Death of Liberty?

2011-05-29T06:41:00.000-07:00

Last November we didn't get to plant out a Blueberry bush, Liberty, I got as present, from good friend Rachel. I think the frost's got it, but Nikki thinks leave another year and may come back.

I was going to hide it behind the runner beans, Nikki has put it with other pot plants near house to nurture.

I suppose it's good to keep hope, keep going, even when all hope seems lost. Nikki says 'put your phone down and get loading the dishwasher!'

Will update on liberty next year, if any change.

Sent from my BlackBerry smartphone from Virgin Media

Valuing our Parks

2011-05-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

BOSF annual conference is fantastic, and even though our little patch behind Kings Heath Community Centre is only just able to be called an 'open space', and our group a tiny bunch of parents with children under 5, we've got a lot from the five years we have been members of BOSF. I was particularly interested to hear how young people were using Parks in light of the new charges levied.

Friends of Parks have been around for a few years, and have been an extremely successful initiative in engaging local people to use and care for their local parks. The concept of our parks, parks belonging to us, is being re-assessed locally and nationally. What changes should we expect - is Wandsworth Council leading the way by charging for use of playgrounds?

This year, at least, Councillor Mullaney (responsible for Parks in Brum) made it to BOSF annual conference, but seemed to have prepared his speech for the wrong audience. Vandalism, joy-riding, graffiti and prostitution do happen in our parks, but BOSF priorities (and rest of discussion on the day) are in the use of parks for all, not the abuse by a minority.

It is interesting (and I think worrying) Mullaney says our golf courses will be privatised as they are a cost burden. He suggested this will mean more money for parks. How easy would it be for our parks to similarly be considered a cost burden? Mullaney makes clear he is still willing to negotiate with any private business or voluntary body that may provide cost savings for park up-keep.

I don't think Parks are in danger of being sold off completely. What is more in question is how much consideration is given to supporting all park users, or valuing the skills of what's left of our park service staff.

Robin Bryan, Customer Liaison & Constituency Manager, alienated his audience. Same as last year, he presented results from the flawed survey BOSF had helped Park Services complete, presented as 'fact' to tell his audience what we think, and that we are actually blissfully happy with the ever improving Parks Service. But even in this topsy-turvy world of 'consultancy' and 'listening' there were some interesting statistics.

30% cuts in staff costs, but he says no effect on service provision?

Huge drop in schools using parks since introducing charges for schools, but he says service provision same as before?

Are these efficiency savings, or a reduction in provision to some of the most in need? We need to monitor, question and challenge changes in our parks provision.

More than ever our Parks needs its Friends, and we need BOSF.

Woodchip Vigilante

2011-05-08T03:50:00.000-07:00

Jago's Pirate treasure!

For the past year I've been harbouring a criminal - my son. It started as innocent playing around in the school playground. Then he'd have special items he'd bring home. Now it's daily pockets full of the stuff I'm pulling out to save our poor old washing machine.

It's nice stuff, too. Not the stuff you get free from the council on allotments, but washed, treated, splinter free - you can pay £15 a bag for from garden centres.

A couple of weeks ago the reception play area was finally cordoned off with red and white tape. Initial thoughts were, what if all the children were taking woodchip? Did teaching staff uncover a tunnel? Was my little Jago selling woodchip on black market?

Rumours among parents was fox poo in the play area, confirmed in school newsletter when it was announced woodchip was to be replaced by rubber.

As a parent, I can understand removal of poo is unpleasant, but how much of a risk is poo, which is afterall easily identified and removed in woodchip in the daily morning risk assessment schools carry out - (look for flies and signs of digging).

How effective is rubberising a playground in removing risks? Where there are foxes there will be rats, cats and they'll need to poo somewhere. Short of corking the wildlife, you will get poo in a playground. Is rubberizing really safeguarding our children, or a token gesture? Do the children only play on a large plain of clean rubber, or will some find the holes in the hedge, the dark corners under a tree, or the small gap between the shed and the classroom?

We've got quite a collection of notes from school for injuries of ever kind. Undoubtedly the playground is by far the most dangerous place in the school, but bumps and grazes are as likely on rubber, woodchip, grass or (dare we think it!) any more natural surfaces. I'm all for removal and management of risks but shouldn't we be looking to see what the children are doing on, or with, any surface before we remove it? Are we risking sanitising another area of school while all the children play elsewhere?

Long may our kids bring home their treasures of gravel, woodchip, twigs and funny bits of plastic, unwanted and sometimes a little grubby, and here's hoping they end up in our garden, and not the washing machine.

Sent from my BlackBerry smartphone from Virgin Media

I DO listen - the NHS, Lansley and my children

2011-04-15T05:19:00.000-07:00

After a pleasant walk around Moseley Bog and Sarehole Mill, I was crossing the road with all three children...or I thought I was.

Steve Bell (Guardian) on Lansley's listening exercise
Guardian Comment Cartoon

When I looked back Jago was holding the camcorder up recording the rest of the family crossing. I shouted at him from the middle of the road, putting us all in danger of being run over. It was a bit unfair, because it was my fault I hadn't noticed Jago had let go of the pushchair.

Having crossed Wake Green Road fairly safely, we had a long discussion about importance of listening, again. Put me in mind of Mr Lansley - I'll come back to that. Listening is something that comes up a fair bit in our house. I remember when Arthur was in Reception, his teacher had us check his hearing because she was concerned about his hearing. There was nothing wrong - far from it. Our children all seem to have an incredible ability to concentrate, to the exclusion of everything else. Also they are all well adjusted and confident and believe in their own abilities. So much so, it can be hard to discuss things with them sometimes. Jago's response was, 'I did hear you, I just wanted to make a film.'

Discussion continued, 'sometimes you need to listen to what other people are saying':

'I do listen, I just know better.'

Sometimes he does, it's true. But if we either don't listen, or express ourselves (talk) then it all breaks down. I guess I'm hitting on something Winston talks about on 'Child of our tiime' (and Winnicott 1964, 'The Child, the family, and the outside world') - Maybe Jago is still developing his ability to empathise.

So what's going on with Mr Lansley and the nurses? What kind of 'listening' is happening? I found Dr Nadig's listening categories on the net helpful. Is it combative, passive, or reflective listening? And who's doing what? Below is rough outline of who said what:

Lansley reviews consultation with NHS staff for white paper (November 2010), 'This is about us [staff in NHS] deciding these things...They're starting to get that now...overwhelming the responses have been supportive of the strategy...some of the principles are very widely supported'. [if you follow no other link, try this one]
Nurses invite Mr Lansley to attend the Royal College of Nursing's Congress.
Mr Lansley decides to turn down invitation
Nurses - accusations that his promise to "listen" to health professional over NHS reforms was a "sham"
Mr Lansley agrees to meets nurses at Royal College of Nursing's Congress, says he is sorry if he had failed to communicate what he set out to do.
The Royal College of Nursing give health secretary Andrew Lansley a vote of no confidence.

Loads of listening, talking, but all the evidence points to a breakdown in understanding. What Mr Lansley is saying to the nurses is:

'I DO listen. I just know better.'

There's no consultant in team

2011-03-30T04:18:00.000-07:00

Unless you're in a team of consultants. As creative partnerships draws to an end, more people in my team are calling themselves creative consultants. I guess some people think of me as a consultant too, but there is something about it which has always made me uncomfortable.

We are 'creative agents', experienced creative professionals who are highly skilled in working in educational settings, acting as a 'critical friend' to schools. But if a consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice (wiki), what's the difference?

As Creative Partnerships ends, so will the term 'creative agent', so what can I call myself so people know what I do?

First off, what does a consultant, or consultancy, look like? Well, according to google image search, it's either something to do with a missing jigsaw piece, or two strong, white, masculine, suited hands shaking.

A consultant is someone you call on when you have a problem. Maybe in a recession, one of the best businesses to be in is consultancy. Consultants are brought in to research or solve a problem, but generally have no actual responsibility to implement the change advised.

That's what I am most uncomfortable with - consultants are not part of any team. Even though I have been mostly self-employed now for a long time, I need to feel part of a group, team, whatever. That's why I'm going back to calling myself 'Community Art Worker', even if Community is not a popular term anymore. Truth is, it never really has been.

Derived from 'common' its usage dates back to the middle ages, meaning simply 'those who share'. As with common, it has been associated with ''normality', 'vulgarity', 'inferiority' and 'of low social status' (OED). Google images of community are of people, lots of people, colour and loads of hands holding (not shaking), jigsaw pieces (clearly a lot of jigsaw fans out there), the odd wheelchair, bike, and not a middle-aged suited banker in sight.

Even in 1970s, the heyday for 'community art', it was seen as, 'a kind of folksy Marxism' (J. Pick, 1980). Pick goes on to say community art workers 'use the means of expression excluded by too haughty definitions of the 'arts'. In this the word community returns to its former meaning, that of purposeful amateur activity.'

Socially responsible, sharing, amateur - doing it for the love of it. I feel like I'm getting back to words I can happily stick my name to. It's cheesy in buckets, and I'm not so keen being called 'average', 'vulgar' or 'inferior', but at least I'm not a consultant.

Dress to Impress

2011-03-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

It's Friday night, and I've popped out of my wife's birthday party for twenty minutes and come back with a well dressed mannequin under my arm. I knew I would get all clever comments, 'found a younger model?'...so on, but couldn't risk leaving her in the pub car park where we leave our car.

Arthur and Jago also want to pose with the dress

The dress is made entirely from reused and recycled materials, mostly plastic bags, and is one of several stunning outfits made by students from Selly Park Technology College for Girls. It is clearly labelled promoting our fashion show in June - Nikki's fortieth party was an impromptu venue, one of many to come, where the outfit has and will be admired.

I had just picked it up from the University of Birmingham Fair Fashion Show, the last event in a series they have run throughout fairtrade fortnight. A group from Selly Park Technology College had taken a backstage tour and interviewed the organisers and models earlier that day, including the maker of the dress. While we were there, a couple of people visiting the universit show posed with the mannequin and took photos - excellent that among all the dresses and outfits of the university students, our dress had been spotted, and the maker was there to see it!

The dress will next be appearing in the shop window of the People shop on Poplar road, then at several events to celebrate 100 years of the school, and be worn as part of the Fashion Show the college is arranging later this year. Allison Sadler owns the shop with her partner, Christian, and is working with students at Selly Park to run their own fashion show.

Early draft of fashion show logo

Earlier in the week I accompanied Jude Thomas from CCE (who funds our funders, Creative Partnerships) to visit Selly Park and to talk to some of the staff and students there. Another mannequin is, of course, waiting in the reception to greet visitors. We have a conversation with several confident young people, each able to describe the project clearly, its aims, and demonstrate how much the young people are making decisions on our show in collaboration with teaching staff and creative practitioners (as well as making the dresses and hats).

The dress demonstrates the skills and creativity of the young people involved, and the teaching staff and creative practitioner working with them. More than that, where the mannequins visit are a physical presence, in school and elsewhere, valuing our young people, their work and values (the students have chosen to explore recycling and sustainability in their outfits) both in and outside the school. Look out for a mannequin near you.

Liebster Blog Award

2011-03-14T16:59:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much Katy for my first blog award:

I couldn't help spending a good couple of hours researching what exactly it was, and chuffed to be a part of it all. I have:

1) Create a post on my blog and add the Liebster blog image.

2) Link back to the person who gave me the award and say if I accept.

3) Chosen 3-5 of my favourite blogs, linked to these in my post and told lucky bloggers that they've been tagged.

The aim of this award is to bring lesser known but good blogs to light (lucky bloggers, please tag bloggers with less than 300 followers).

Following the grand lineage of my award - through a range of Mum bloggers, quilters, a few artists, back to a range of nail and makeup artists in Germany, late December 2010 - furthest back I got was http://tinnymey.blogspot.com/, unless I made fatal click error, and my blog lineage is a sham...Anyone actually figure out where this award started, please let me know.

I also had to do random survey of blogs on blogger (next blog, next blog, so on). Firstly I was surprised how few work or business related sites there were, and how many blog entries feelin' the love of the blog, about family, all about me, my suffering, my faith, so on. A bit like the intro and end to 'Love Actually', where sometimes you focus so much on the money grabbing, fearful, brutal world, you miss the other bits.

Also made me realise just how many small blogs I miss out on (and need to start following - thanks again Katy - great blogs you're following, and you'd be on list if you weren't already a Liebster). Anyway, I would like to nominate the following blogs for a Liebster Blog:

http://frogphilp.blogspot.com/ - teacher journeying through creativity and stuff

http://lovekingsheath.co.uk/ - a newish local site for local people

http://ictelt.blogspot.com/ - ICT enhanced learning from Hazel in New Zealand

http://helgahenry.com/blog - Work to your heart's content

http://www.archivesnext.com/ - What comes next in archives

Shopping today

2011-03-02T05:50:00.000-08:00

Sent from my BlackBerry smartphone from Virgin Media

Kit on for Fairtrade started!

2011-02-24T15:03:00.000-08:00

I planned to play home, safe, a week before fairtrade fortnight. It was in half term and neither of our regular staff could be there, and the majority of parents we usually rely upon to support staff were on holiday, we had a high turnout (35 children) ranging in age from 0 to 8, and I had all three of my own children to watch out for too.

So I turned up 9:45 for 10, at the same time as the first of parents were arriving. I decided to get out the bulkiest, heaviest kit out (why make things easy?), realised forgot bread - dash to shops, back again, Three children still there, and happy (don't worry, had good friends there to look out for them while I popped out to shops).

By the end of snacktime, I was hot, sweaty, tired and time to start 'Kit on' workshop. Running a workshop with your own three children (2, 4 and 7) is a bit of a risk, but sometimes it can work to your advantage. Today they really got into the activity and helped run it with their friends, and the parents of their friends. I was particularly chuffed with the way Arthur and Jago talked about the day afterwards.

Patch in a dress

Paraphrasing Arthur describing to Mum - 'It was really good. First we dressed up Patch (another Dad), then we worked in teams and dressed up our parents, but not Daddy. Then we dressed some of the children. I was one of them. Then we dressed up everyone and we all got chocolate (thanks John Boyle and the Coop) It was all for fairtrade because we should be buying fairtrade clothes.'

He'd got all of it, and understood the order (and probably why) of activities - choose someone willing to give anything a go (Patch), involve the parents, have fun (don't get pompous about fairtrade), get everyone participating. I had been tempted to chat a bit about Uzbekistan and state sponsored child labour picking cotton and I'd totally forgotten to do the Cotton-picking song, and other songs (which was a shame). Also not so sure how much the under twos got from it, but if they had fun putting clothes on Mum, then all is well.

Cotton picking interview
More Photos

Techno Toddlers riding homemade horses

2011-02-19T07:36:00.000-08:00

I was taking photos of children at our stay and play, and immediately the children wanted to see themselves. Inagine a world where you couldn't see the photo immediately? Not for these toddlers.

My Blackberry, only marginally younger than the children, looked like a bit of a brick to them. They all had their fingers trying to push the photos on to see some more.

Two thoughts - first of all, this touch screen technology is genuinely easy enough for a toddler to use, and the toddlers in my stay & play have access to cutting edge technology. Hmm.

Also a good excuse to show our video. Horses made by residents at Evergreen Care Home, ridden by the Jockeys at Kings Heath Community Centre Stable (consent from parents).

Risk Assessing the Internet

2011-02-09T06:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the eighth Safer Internet Day. One of the schools I work in took the opportunity to have an e-safety workshop with everyone in the school (nursery to year six), and also with parents interested.

In any risk assessment, there are two main actions to take - to remove the risk, or if that is not possible, to 'manage' the risk and reduce the possibility and size of the potential hazard. Schools/ISP providers can and do block sites seen as 'risky'. However, if you remove all the sites which could be risky, you remove much of any use on the internet (see Kevin's post). The whole of 'social media' on the internet, could, and often is, seen as too risky for children. But if we remove access at school, how is that protecting children at home, or preparing them for use of social media? What about the families and others at home, who likewise may not be aware of risks to them or their children using the internet?

I am particularly impressed with Paganel Primary to grapple this tricky issue and to make a longer term commitment to work with parents and children to safeguard their internet use, through the initial e-safety workshops, but also to continue with digital surgeries for parents and children to support their school community as a whole to make better and safer use of the internet with their children.

Craig's e-safety workshop with nursery children

Craig Gilman's e-safety workshops exposes the extent to which children already take risks on the internet - children as young as 7 or 8 may have facebook accounts across the UK. Soon it could be the majority of young people with regular access to a computer will have a facebook or other social media network accounts by the time they leave primary school.

If we ignore the problem, and attempt to screen children from social media, the more likely children will not be honest about their use of the internet (Six out of ten children 'lie about age on internet') and more likely people really will be harmed by their internet use

Teachmeet Brum!

2011-01-24T02:53:00.001-08:00

Please join TeachMeet Brum! - THIS IS A FREE EVENT

TeachMeet Brum will be taking place on 14th March at Paganel Primary School, B29 5TG

Time: 4:30pm - 7:00pm

Learn something new, be amazed, amused and enthused. This is an informal gathering of those curious about teaching and technology. Anyone can share great ideas they've trialled in their classrooms, ask important questions or simply sign up to take part in learning conversations.

Everyone is welcome to join in: teachers from all types of schools, teaching all subjects and age groups. The main part of TeachMeet is hearing stories about learning from teachers. It is a chance for teachers to hear ideas from each other and be inspired by colleagues, along with a whole bucket load of networking to boot!

Please contact to anyone working in schools who may be interested in attending. Any queries contact Steve Philp directly at Paganel Primary School - frogphilp@gmail.com

Public Transport:

Train to Birmingham New Street, then either:

Bus (numbers 22, 23 or 29) getting off at Stonehouse Hill; or

Local Train to Birmingham University then Number 21 Bus, getting off at Castle Road

Here's a Google Map to add more detail.

Car

Junction 3 of M5, then head along the A456 into Birmingham, turn right at the A4123, continue on to the B4121, then right at California Way. Then right onto Stonehouse Hill, following the map. Left onto Swinford Road and right into the main gates.

Junction 4 of M5, Junctions 1 or 2 of M42, head for A38 into Birmingham. Turn left at Northfield along the B4121, then right at Barnes Hill along California Way. Then go right onto Stonehouse Hill, following the map. Left onto Swinford Road and right into the main gates.

Junction 6 of M6 (Spaghetti Junction), then head into Birmingham on the A38M Aston expressway. Continue through all the tunnels on the A38. Turn right at Selly Oak along the A4040. Turn left along Reservoir Road. Continue along Reservoir Road until it becomes Swinford Road, then turn left into the main gates.

Helicopter

Land on the field at 52.44492,-1.969686. Avoid the trees.

Land on the playground at 52.444737,-1.968999. Avoid the trees. And the netball posts.

Connecting Young and Old - Art Swap

2011-01-21T01:51:00.000-08:00

This project is a bit of an experiment, and not sure where, or how far it will go, but I'm quite excited about the possibilities. A care home I have worked in on off for fifteen years contacted me again, after a break of some three years, interested in xmas craft activities.

I have met a couple of times since then, both times with my daughter Freya (2 years old), who seemed to cheer up the old people more than I can. I was pushed to commit time to start a new project, but keen to keep connection. The only time I have is on a Thursday afternoon, when I care for Freya, so we arranged to start workshops, but instead of having Freya along as an extra, we've planned the project to include her, and all her friends, in Kings Heath Community centre stay and play group on Thursday mornings.

Part inspired by Kate Brookes's sock puppet project, we've started making pompoms (a craft they had all done previously) and I have taken photos of them making them, to give the pompoms to the stay and play group. I photoed (with consent) the children playing, and me and Freya came back to the home with photos this Thursday. All good feedback from children, parents and the old people. Next week we will start on making sock horses at the old people's home for a race at the stay and play. I'm also planning to do art and craft activities in the stay and play to give to the old people.

We could continue in this vein, but I'd also like to develop a social media element - photo collation, film clips, audio could be made available to old people, their family, parents and children at the stay and play. This would be something new for many of the partners, and I'm aware the technology may prove too much, or simply that the artwork and connection is more valueable through the artefacts and people themselves. Also issues of consent to sort out. More photos when I've cracked that one.

So shines a good deed in a cruel word

2011-01-15T23:03:00.000-08:00

A misquote from Shakespeare (thanks Bridget), these are the words of Willy Wonka at the pivotal moment of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the Gene Wilder version (1971), I was watching with my children the other day. Grandad has just castigated Willy as an 'inhuman monster!' and Charlie and his Grandad are leaving the factory with nothing. At this point Charlie Bucket turns around and gives Willy his last sweet.

A couple of days before my father died, we were visiting him. None of us knew what to do or say, as we saw him conscious but weak in his hospital bed. Jago, then aged 2, knew exactly what to do, stepping forward and giving his grandad his new (and treasured) toy car. Perhaps a child's kindness should not be so surprising - On Thursday night I watched the second of Michael Mosley's 'The Brain: A Secret History'. He shows footage of a key experiment in the 1950s, where an orphan monkey is given the choice of 'mothers'. One is made of wire mesh with a milk bottle attached. The other is wrapped in a cuddly towel. While the monkey would feed from the mesh 'mummy', nearly all of his time was spent with the cuddly one, and the monkey clearly became attached to it. At the time it was used as proof that love was in some way innate. Later experiments also showed that feelings like love and fear can also be induced or reduced through life experience.

I have been shamed by my children. In December we passed a beggar with no arms. Arthur (aged 7) was shocked we were walking past - 'We must give him some money!' But last Friday, 2:00 in Small Heath, I didn't need my children to experience guilt. I was stuck in traffic and I caught the eye of an old lady with a stick in one hand and a polystyrene cup in the other. She began hobbling over to my car. The lights changed, and I was slightly relieved to move off. Minutes later I saw another old lady begging on the streets. I could have stopped, but I didn't.

I understand that my actions may have little actual influence on events around me, but from a selfish point of view, there is something to be gained by showing small kindnesses, and something lost by walking on the other side. I can wallow in my powerlessness to change the world, my inability to make the world a fairer place. Or I can 'revel' in those feelings of guilt and failure, be frustrated, but know that I am responding to them. My last year's resolution was to be nice to people. This year I think I'll try and do more kind things too.

Hong Kong under the lens

2011-01-02T08:45:00.001-08:00

Waiting for the Peak tram we were recommended to visit Hong Kong Park, down the road. The park is quite small for a big city park, neatly partitioned into distinct sections. It can be packed but you can still find a feng shuied corner to yourself - 'anything but natural', as our Hong Kong encounters book describes it.

The treetop giant aviary walk through is impressive, as is the size of lenses and number of cameras (see photo). This isn't restricted to the Aviary, or the boys with toys. If Freya stands still for too long cameras come out and young and old, men and women start clicking (photo)

The government is at it too. Family photo left, shows the large CCTV fitted throughout the park, four alone in the children's play area, fitted with wind screen wipers for those wet and humid days.

CCTV isn't the only monitoring of activity. In next photo the staff - cleaning and security - outnumber the users. Even on a quiet morning there are parts of the park which must always be busy, however the staffing and volunteer help is huge.

They need high staffing to enforce long list of misdemeanours, but also some great events and activities. Apart from tai chi in the designated tai chi area, there is the 'Community arts network' providing an 'arts programme to be conceived according to the need of the communities...to promote the growth of different communities through art'

There is also 'stories in the park' with Uncle Hung, 'sounds in the park' and 'Games in the Park' programmes.

The park is clean and safe - I'm not sure it would be possible to be anti-social here, and the comfort everyone has with both taking photos and being photographed is refreshing. It doesn't fit with the child abduction and other street crime we have been warned about.

On the way back we are accosted by a Buddhist monk selling charms. He laughs at our measly donation. Later we are told we probably had a close shave with the legendary Triad, as monks are part of the organised crime racket!

www.Artaliveatpark.hk

Amateur and lovin' it

2010-12-26T02:55:00.000-08:00

On our way back from a day out in New Zealand we spot a sign for wood turning. We turn into a residential house drive - next to the garage there's a sign pointing to an old small caravan, saying, 'IN HERE'. The quality of the chopping boards inside is very good, with a unique embedded paua shell technique - not as polished as the shops in Nelson, but with a good sense of the natural beauty of the wood, shell and other embedded stuff. A man pops in later, telling us not only the wood (we choose kauri and lawson cypress)but where, when and how he came across the wood.

Today's been the best day for shopping - earlier we stopped by at Gourd man's gallery - very personable, and able to explain where I'd been going wrong with my gourd growing and decorating. His passion for gourds, skill and experience in the various traditional and more experimental techniques for decorating is incredible, and we can't help leaving with a small gourd and a packet of seeds.

The chance encounter somewhere in New Zealand Abel Tasman National Park is a stark contrast to the prescriptive, albeit 'choiced out', LA Hollywood experience from earlier in our holiday.

For example, we went to Universal Studios - the studio tour was fantastic - we saw the Bates Motel (Psycho) and, of course, classic Jaws coming out of the water. In the theme park there are any number of choices to make - whether you want to do 'Waterworld live performance' or 'Simpsons Virtual Rollercoaster' (both fantastic) or any number of inventive rides. Everything is carefully prepared for you - even the waiting in queues is carefully managed so you are constantly entertained.

Eventually though the highly professional spoon feeding of entertainment wears off and at the end of the day you have a nagging empty feeling. Whatever you've done, there's no feeling of discovery. Despite the many, and amazing choices on offer, you don't get the same sort of conversation I got with gourd man with a giant Bart Simpson.

It's true that we had a huge range of quality stuff on offer in LA, but that's not the same as finding it for yourself. I know the majority of my present work will end in July, and I'm beginning to think about what I will do, how I might sell myself. I've been following bloggers like the excellent Helga Henry on how to run successful creative businesses and make money. I agree the two aren't exclusive, but you do need to set priorities.

I can see that researching my market will pay dividends. A better, more professional website would benefit my business. Also I don't separate my work much from my home - when or how I do it. In many ways I am not professional. That's because I am an amateur - That is, the work I do is driven primarily by my passions. Money-making does come into it, but very much a secondary thing. I can see my experiences and skills put me in a good position to have the luxury of choice. However, in the words of Prof. A. Dumbledore, 'It's our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our skills'.

MacDonald's started in California 1940. Did they make a choice at some moment in time, sacrificing the quality and enjoyment of making food for a more saleable product? Is it really possible to continue 'lovin' it' or 'living the dream' if the dream, or what you're lovin' is about making money? I just hope there's a gap in the market for two gourd men.

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High New Zealand Art and Culture

2010-12-20T04:42:00.000-08:00

We're in Wellington Botanical Gardens on a beautiful hot summers afternoon. The bandstand's been taken over by a motley bunch who look like they've spent the night there.

On the stage is a big tattooed Maori bashing a cardboard box and a couple of plastic buckets. He stops. There's a polite pause, to be absolutely sure he's finished, and a warm cheer and clap from the audience. He's joined by a singer. After that there's an impromptu haka, then a couple of Japanese tourists step up and take a turn. I'd have stayed longer, only we've got a ferry to catch.

The night before we'd been on the front with a couple of thousand or so teenagers and their families watching Wellington xmas tree lights going on with a cover band blasting out Bon Jovi and other rock classics. School is out, but kids, and their parents, are a lot freer here and there's 'no worries' - maybe the mauritanga makes the difference.

Mauris were here only 600 years before the first European settlers. Some think they were too friendly, as their land was carved up and sold on. The Mauri culture is largely passed on through families by storytelling, song and dance. Although culture has changed and adapted through the centuries, Kiwi folk tradition doesn't appear to be sneered at in quite the same way folk is in the UK - can you imagine the English Rugby team donning bells for a quick Morris meet before a game?

Any folk tradition is by people for people, open to anyone, young or old, to bash out a tune, tell a story, carve some wood, whatever. I've heard people say, 'There's no culture in New Zealand'. As a foreigner coming in, it's true there's American, Asian, European, Polynesian, all sorts of foreign influences; But there is also something very Kiwi. Like the story of Kiwi flora and fauna, it's very inviting to new settlers, precious, unique and in need of some protection.

Us outside Puke Ariki

Arthur and Jag play Moo Poo

Palms in the library

Fortunately, heritage is something I think Kiwis do very well. Photo is us outside Puke Ariki in New Plymouth - a combined museum, library heritage tourist info centre. In the library part (see photos) to scale model palms, moo poo game, where oil comes from display, and a few books.
Then there's Te Taupo in Wellington - a massive living museum packed with artefacts, small buildings, musical instruments you can play with/in. Even the smaller places we've been - Waitomo Caves have a museum including a video of the lifecycle of a glow worm, some mockup caves to explore, feelie boxes, Victorian front room, and school class photos from 1920s with all names, showing long history of integration and tolerance in NZ.

There's Art and Culture (high Art, high Culture). It's professional and exquisite. Then there's other cultural stuff. It's amateur and anyone can do it. In New Zealand, is there more value attached to experimenting creatively and culturally than to experiencing Creativity and Culture (High Art/Culture)?

I don't know, but only in New Zealand will Bon Jovi, a Haka and 'O little Town of Bethlehem' naturally follow each other in a gig, and all go down well.

Jago in NZ to FK

2010-12-15T18:28:00.000-08:00

Hello FK, I hope that you are all OK and that the christmas play went well and you remembered everything.

We saw lights in the glow worm cave - the glowing lights were the glow worms! They ate flies by webs in the cave.

We goed on a volcano. It's a hill that sprays out lava - something that is very very very very hot. We got a stamp from the museum of a volcano. (In his own words)

Photo is us outside the excellent Museum/Library/info and tourist centre at New Plymouth.

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Arthur in New Plymouth

2010-12-15T17:52:00.000-08:00

When we arrived in New Plymouth it was raining but when we got to the eco hostel it was beautiful because all the flowers were covered in raindrops.

At the hostel we met a little girl called Briah. At first she was she shy, but when we got to know her she became one of our friends. We played games with each other and she showed us one of her games called spider crawling up your back

Then we went up Mount Taranaki, which was a volcano and we went up lots of steps. I counted over one thousand! When we got to the top the view was superb but we could only see half of it because most of it was covered in clouds.

We didn't go to the very top of the volcano because that would have taken all day. At the top it was so cold there was snow. When it melted it made a waterfall called Dawson Falls which was 70 metres tall. We agreed that the water was freezing cold.

I found out volcanoes made land because when volcanoes spit out lava it moulds into rock which is what we know as land.

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If it weren't for your gum boots

2010-12-13T01:47:00.000-08:00

We're in New Zealand (try this link for gum boot song)! Flight great and straight onto Waitomo caves youth hostel - big contrast with LA. LA was great, but you've got to hold on tight to kids in the Metro (or anywhere else). In Waitomo Arthur and Jago have made good friends with Pig 1 and Pig 2 (now Buttercup and Smiley) and straight into the new pool. I suppose we should be worried about freak pig mauling incident, but somehow it seems easier, safer and more relaxed.

We visited the caves (second time we've visited caves this year). Glow worms were amazing - children created a game 'glowworms and flies' chasing each other arround - amazing what they pick up, and what they do with it. The year before last we visited a 'coffin ship' in Ireland - Arthur and Jago spent the rest of the (long) journey playing an Irish famine/ desperate journey to America re-enactment.

Arthur's first blog

2010-12-10T21:15:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. I hope you are having a brilliant time at school because we're having a brilliant time on holiday.

We started our holiday in London, at British Airways airport and we went to the bag drop, walked through the security scan before we could get into the plane. On the plane there were the seats and the crew and first class and standard class and all the usual things, but in the seats there were identical remote control televisions.

When we got to LA (Los Angeles) we were very tired because in English time it was 11:00 at night but in LA time it was 4:00 in the afternoon, but we soon cheered up when we got to Roosevelt Hotel. The next day we managed to catch a glimpse of the Hollywood sign and went on our long journey to a place called Griffith Observatory, which is basically a space museum and had a lot of fun there.

We woke up at 4:00 a.m. because of English time. I watched some telly and got ready for swimming. At first the pool was really cold, but it got better and I swam two lengths.

We then went on the bus to Santa Monica. It was quite hot so it was quite frustrating as the bus went slow.

In Santa Monica we went on the pier and we went on cool rides. The first was a solar powered ferris wheel, which means it was powered up by the sun. The next was the Sea Dragon, which was very, very scarey. You had to hold onto your tummies otherwise it felt like they would fall out.

Jago's first blog

2010-12-10T06:29:00.001-08:00

I hope you're having a good time at school. I've been swimming lots, and I've been on a plane.

On the plane the telly had Cbeebies on and I looked out of the window and saw everything tiny.

We went to the hotel with the swimming pool in Los Angeles (Hotel Roosevelt). We went to a place with all the stars and the globe in it (Griffith Observatory). We went by train (LA Metro) and we went on a long, long walk.

There was mountain lions and rattle snakes. We only saw tracks of them, but we did see a woodpecker and squirrel.

My favourite bit was my weight on Jupiter and earth and all of those. On Jupiter I was 100! On earth I wasn't heavy.

The Highest European Standards

2010-12-09T21:25:00.001-08:00

Another great day in LA, started off with search for a 'decent' cup of tea for Nikki.

We wondered over to 'coffee bean and tea leaf' - a californian coffeeshop chain. No trace of fairtrade - I've not seen the FT logo over here yet, and not yet confident enough to question shopkeepers on ethics, as I probably would in UK.

I have a lovely mocha latte on which the paper mug gives brief history of the company, and its claim to have always met 'the highest European standards' for its tea and coffee.

Now its true we English moan a lot about 'American' influence on our culture generally, and here was a proud claim to meet superior European standards. It's easy to feel at home in the US, with everyone so friendly (lost track of number of times strangers have made nice comments about our children) and so much shared culture - walking down hollywood boulevard all the names on the ground are as familiar in UK as in the US. Also like the UK, the stars are predominately white men.

While drinking my mocha, served by non-white shopkeepers, remembering the yellow school buses at Griffith Observatory, on public transport generally, and our visit to Santa Monica pier, with a distinctly Blackpool feel (albeit sunnier), outside the richest and most touristy spots of LA, it seems the population is mostly Mexican descent - something that had not occurred to me before visiting.

Just as in Europe, are the stars on the pavement in Hollywood, the stories of Hollywood dreams written in mosaic on the floor of the shopping mall, can these dreams be shared by the non-white cleaners?

Talking of which, hope I get to thank hotel cleaners who gave the kids some fun by placing our children's expanding collection of small soft toys in unusual locations around the beds.

Our first US burger chips and milkshake

2010-12-08T06:13:00.000-08:00

We've made it to LA! We did have the only little children and 2 hours on ground before take off at Heathrow was tough. The air hostesses looked after us well, although a bit low on food for 12 hour flight.
Anyway, now comfy in upgraded kingsized beds watching TV and Arthur dancing off jetlag at 4 in morning. Planning walk in park to burn off monster burger and milkshake.

Arthur - 'I really like the palm trees, the swimming pool and the bright lights!' The olympic size swimming pool has Hockney 'squiggley lines'.

Jago says, 'It looks like a big city because it is a big city!' 'I like the swimming pool because it glows and is all squiggley.

Freya mostly likes squeezing into small gaps and shouting, 'I'm stuck!'

Nikki wants to go shopping, but we won't let her.

The Sarah Jane Archives

2010-12-05T07:30:00.000-08:00

My first laptop! - Compaq LST128, top of the range

At the end of my 'O' levels, I symbolically ripped every sheet of notes, coursework, everything, and burned them. For one scary moment the flames licked the ceiling and I was reminded that by ripping them all up, I had increased the surface area exposed to air, therefore impressive flame (I always liked physics).

Fortunately, the pitifully low volume of fuel also meant the fire lasted less than a minute, and school was safe.

My 'A' level notes and first degree notes went much the same way, but by the early 1990s I had a green screen laptop the size of a small car, 'wordperfect' had made me legible, and I discovered Papyrus Bibliography system! My computer may have had the RAM of a modern fridge, but for the first time I could catalogue my notes, list, add keywords, search by author, date, anything. For the first time my notes were useful for something other than fuel.

Sarah Jane's computer, Mr Smith

Sarah Jane (Dr Who spin off on cbbc) also has a computer the size of a small car, but with much better special effect add ons. This morning Luke (son of Bane, with near perfect memory recall) was using said computer, Mr Smith, to create his own backup of aliens encountered, and a new spin off series.

I've worked a lot with archives and appreciate their value to future generations. In our (Birmingham's) archives, I'm also aware how little 'primary' material there is written by young people in our archives (rather than 'secondary' i.e. About children, of which there is quite a lot). It's a tough one, but the pandora box opened by our new technologies, accessible, properly catalogued information recorded by young people (and other poorly represented groups and comunities) is an opportunity we need to take full advantage of.

Today on Radio 4 news following the Cumbrian floods (again) a victim was upset about loosing the most valuable thing to her - the photos and artwork of her children. Our own children's work holds a special place for each of us, but how important is the artwork and voice of our children now, and what should we be doing to listen to, celebrate, document, and archive it for future (or even the same) generation?

Our own Creative Partnerships database does document and evaluate our work in schools extensively, and I hope will be put to good use when CP is no more in July. However, is this really going to hit our own (CP's) objectives to empower young people, providing open access to all? In Foucault's terms where does the knowledge and power reside?

Luke ended the programme with a pithy remark which sums up archives for me - 'I hope this is useful to you, Sarah Jane, or whoever you are, in the future , to save the world.'

Don't worry, keep busy

2010-11-30T05:18:00.000-08:00

It's been a tough time, and really hard to see organisations and friends grappling with changes. Personally, I don't know what I'll be doing in seven months. 'The long term' has been something I have spent too much time worrying over, and I feel like I have lost sight of Nike wisdom, just do it!

Storytime with my four year old was coming to an end, but luckily Jago knows exactly how to play his old man. 'Can we have your favourite?' and what's that? Jago told me it's, 'The Lion who wanted to Love'. Always brings a tear to my eye when reading the last couple of pages when his Mum speaks in her humblest tone 'I was wrong, now I see love can bring us together...'

OK, very soppy, and Leo is a bit of a role model for loving and all that, following his instinct, which wasn't the same as most lions. But for this blog, and for me right now, what is more important was that he just got on and did what he thought was best.

When everything seems so bleak, it's easy to fall into trap of 'self-preservation', following what you think will earn money, or please those around you. Maybe in six months I'll be regretting lack of fore-thought. Is it more important to do what you think is right? Or am I just going to drift into poverty? Who knows. I deal with that tomorrow.

CA peer network morning

2010-11-24T07:13:00.000-08:00

Enclosed are your thoughts on 'people you'd like to meet' and 'people you think we should meet'. Brioche bread is included to add context and continuity. Food for thought.

Please do use your peer groups, or other CAs to suggest ideas, people to invite next time, support each other generally - I'm looking forward to seeing feedback regarding discussion that happened on tables, and will email out as quickly as possible

Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback (all positive so far!) on the way the morning ran. I'd really appreciate more comments on the format, the debate, the lasagne, captain adorable, peer network groups, anything. Also for May, ideas on how or what we do, based loosely on inviting some people in and talking to them gratefully appreciated. If anyone wishes to co-facilitate, or just plain facilitate, please put yourselves forward.

Bringing technology to a new generation

2010-11-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

It's not often I feel like a youngster in a meeting - that's the way it is if you work mainly in education. Recently though, I've had two different meetings. In both I bet people were thinking 'he's gone all techie again'. So what better to do than come home and blog about it?

First meeting was in an old people's home I worked in a long while back, mainly doing art and craft workshops, possibly most known there for unusual crafty christmas thingies - something I'd enjoy, but really wanted to discuss other possibilities. I'd like to get to know the residents better, addressing more directly why 'thousands of older people feel isolated', document life stories with them using film, sound recordings, start to tempt some to using a laptop, connecting on the internet. As we discussed possibilities it became clear the care team, all of which I respect a great deal, were probably, in plain Ewan Mcintosh language, proffesional IT illiterate. It was one of the homes we documented stories in to become part of Birmingham Lives 2001. Some stories are still on my website, in dusty corners.

Far more effective than me coming in, making willow stars and xmas wreaths, or bringing a flip camera and recording stories, has to be enabling the dedicated staff, get out the computers to provide training and support to staff to support those they care for?

Onto second meeting which was tonight - Fairtrade Association Birmingham is again an organisation I haven't been doing much with for a little while, but did a fair bit a while back. Again, the talent of people around the table is incredible, all working very effectively in their areas of specialism. It's greatest strength should be the broad range of different businesses, skills and experience. However, communication has always been a problem. With so many different people who rarely meet, it's a problem which at times is amplified when we have a limited time in which all of us want to say so much (maybe that's just me...)

A famously Tech Illiterate Politician - would this be news in UK?

Effective IT networking solutions and social media stuff ala Podnosh are great. I'm still learning, but can see potential in using these relatively new, simple tools, if only it was that simple. Thing is, problem is unlikely to just be solved with IT. Could be:

(a) technophobia
(b) poor communication, listening, speaking, using new stuff
(c) lack of time or interest in sharing
(d) lack of confidence in either what people think of what you do, or in taking on new roles or jobs in which you will not be 'expert'.

Can new tech fix age old problems? No harm to try.

Boys with long hair, girls with short hair, stop messing with our minds!

2010-11-08T06:17:00.000-08:00

Last night we spent the evening with fine tooth comb, combing,combing. Arthur has (or had) nits. Arthur and Jago both had fashionable long hair, as does most of Arthur's natty (and nitty) friends. We persuaded both to have hair cut, after much tears, and abortive attempt to comb long hair, both agreed to have me cut their hair - a job I've always done in family.

Today, however, I took Freya for her first haircut - I thought the hairdressers might be a nice treat for both of us. First thing hairdresser said rubbed me up the wrong way - 'Is Daddy looking after you today?'

Yes, I am. I share all the childcare and housework (yes, I hoover, change nappies, and can even operate a washing machine), not that I need to tell you. Is it still that rare that 'Daddy' looking after the kids is noteworthy? It's something some concerned strangers feel the need to ask my children, as if 'Mummy' must surely be hiding behind a tree, a benign presence nearby. It's as if they're thinking, 'poor child - you need saving. This man is probably one of those perverts you read about'. Is it any surprise us male child carers aren't so visible on the High Streets or in the Playgroups?

Boy or Girl? Who cares? Pass the olives, Dad.

Anyway, back to the hairdressers. She (yes she was a woman, and with short hair) thought that Freya shouldn't have too much hair cut off, otherwise she'd look like a boy. I pointed out that Freya uses her hair as a handkerchief, napkin and it gets in her eyes and mouth. I didn't mention Arthur's nits, and sadly her brothers, formerly with beautiful shoulder-length blonde hair, were not there.

'Have you tried tying it back?'

Yes. We have a bag of 100 hair ties we are working way through at rate of three or four a day, to no effect.

'Are you sure?'

Should I phone a friend? Was she still waiting for Mummy to come through the door to rescue her? Yes I was sure.

'I won't do a fringe.'

Please make sure the hair is short enough so it doesn't go in her eyes. That's why she needs a haircut.

After painful few minutes, Freya having hair cut on my knee, she didn't do a bad cut (see picture), but I reckon we'll be back with bowl and scissors in the bathroom next time.

The (not so) secret life of a creative agent

2010-11-02T04:00:00.000-07:00

Creative Agent or Captain Adorable?

Adapted from handout from Anna Craft from Exeter Uni, from Heard (1990, p.25)

In the workshop we were asked to read a script and ask - What evidence is there of possibility thinking?

What did you do at school?

This is a new school for me. The first thing I did was to listen to the priorities of senior teaching staff.

Yes, but then what did you do?

I found out about the creative work already happening in the school, and what partners they already work with. We thought about an area of focus for work over the coming year, who should participate and how. We began thinking about what kind of people could support and develop work in their school. Also how best to tender for creative practitioners. We framed an enquiry question that could be understood by all.

Yes, but what else have you done?

We set up initial workshop(s) to explore what the students/pupils thought. The workshops could include an opportunity for young people to show me priorities in their school and record them in an appropriate way - perhaps some kind of tour, or Voxpop, recorded with Flip camcorders can be good for this. We introduced the enquiry question. We invited a short list of creative practitioners, representatives of organisations, or additional teaching staff/community agencies to meet and discuss the enquiry with students.

We set up a series of activities to develop conversations around the enquiry question, consider a framework for the project.

And then did you do anything?

By taking part in activities, or sometimes leading activities to discuss our enquiry, I had some kind of meaningful conversation with all the students/pupils taking part.

But did you do anything today?

I ate lunch in the staff room, or maybe in the main canteen. By being in the school people are starting to recognise me and I feel more at home here.

And then what did you do?

I made sure I had recorded comments from all the people I had spoken to, and made sure there was time at the end of the day for all to reflect with our team. I arranged another meeting for creative practitioners we have chosen to work with and teaching staff to timetable the project, budget it, and provide more detail for our project plan, based on previous discussion and the initial workshops.

So did you do anything?

When I got home I made sure I emailed photos/film footage, notes, from the day, trying to keep them brief (and usually failing). I made sure I thanked everyone and identified key achievements of the day.

So did you do anything today?

By about midnight I had just about managed to sort out the paperwork, sent off a draft copy to school coordinator, 'cos I knew you'd say...

WHAT DID YOU DO AT SCHOOL TODAY?

What's Black History got to do with us?

2010-10-22T15:42:00.000-07:00

I've been supporting workshops in a primary school in Birmingham in a community labelled, 'majority white, working class'. It's a great school I've worked in for a couple of years now, and I was really pleased, following a staff training inset in which the entire teaching staff of the school visited Birmingham Archives, the school set up hour long black history workshops with every class from Nursery to Year 6.

'Black history remains one of those subject areas parents, children and staff can feel uncomfortable with. We wanted to make sure the workshops were relevant to everyone in the school, and something which addressed the question, 'What's Black History got to do with us?'

So what did we do? First of all we asked everyone to bring in a family photo beforehand. Then at workshop we started looking at where everyone came from - walk to other side of room if you don't come from Birmingham, if your parents don't, if your grandparents don't - eventually you start with all on one side, end with most on the other. Then map pin where your family come from - end up with map covered in pins. This activity was a favourite with a few children (judging from feedback). We had three maps - for Birmingham, UK and the world - It may be that some of the pins didn't match exactly where their families came from (there was an interesting one in middle of the Atlantic) but was great to start discusssion.

Then onto Vanley Burke, photographer. Yes, he's black, and yes he's famous, but unlike Mary Seacole, he's alive, and he's from Birmingham, so a little easier to relate to. Also much of his (prolific) photography is about documenting the community he lived in (which happened to be Handsworth). He recorded the black community he was a part of through his photographs, and he has also donated large chunks of his photographic collection to Birmingham Archives & Heritage.

So having looked at the photos, next step, re-enactment of the photos to really start to empathise and get some understanding of the photos - as one yr2 put it - 'you feel like your in the photo'. Great way to start discussion.

It was pretty hectic, and couldn't cover in too much depth in one hour with 30 children, but from comments looked like we engaged everyone, and made it mean something to them. All children feedback was positive:

'We could learn about what are the same or similar to Birmingham [to other places]'

'We could do some more what we did today.'

'[We could] lurn about Weoly Casle'

'[We could] visit the libraries in other areas.'

And from the teacher comments:

'Some children commented, 'Why are all the faces black?' The question was handled very well.'

'We would like to push it more - we need to make sure there is good follow up work.'

We had interesting break time conversations with children about where our families came from, and what questions we wanted to ask them. All very positive, and from Izzy, workshop leader:

When is spam spam?

2010-10-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

Not ham, or spam

Just come back from inspiring switchboard event at Mac - a new currency - multiplatform storytelling & social capital.

As I am one of millions of amateurs in the field of digital technology, I feel in a position to express an opinion just about as good as anybody else, and post it our to anyone I know, and some others. Is it spam? It could be.

For me, Chris Unitt made interesting comment on networking - Natalie Carlish might be able to tweet and get £3,500 of lighting for a day for free: Chris's Gran could probably use her network to find a nice piece of antique bric-a-brac. The quality (all our networks have qualities) of our networks determine a lot about what we can do.

Could this be beginning to sound like Helga Henry's 'dark side'? - just another old boys network?

Is this where technology, in the hands of individuals and organisations like Switchboard, Nick Booth from Podnosh, Dave Hart, Nikki Getgood, all present and presenting at this event, can make a difference?

Getting back to spam, no one likes it - I don't think anyone intentionally sends it. I want people to read something I send and find it interesting, fun, supportive, and most important, useful. If you are trying to reach out to new people, recognising when you are sending spam is hard.

Send spam, expect spammy digital network. The question worded differently by various people, how do you turn your network into gold (money, power, influence, social change, whatever you're looking for)? Seems the answer today was hard work, effective collaboration and a lot of luck - anyone know any short cuts?

The Big Lebowski and the Big Society

2010-10-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes everything you see seems connected. Anyway, we watched the fantastic 'The Big Lebowski' on LOVEfilm this weekend.

Jeff Lebowski, The Dude, the main man, is a 'bum', a slacker, living on Venice Beach, LA. Vain, lazy and poor, yet somehow manages to be morally superior to the range of stinking rich characters who attempt to use him for their own ends. Strangely enough, despite their less than wonderful character traits, the Dude and his bowling friends (the undeserving poor?) end up helping out all the others (the undeserving rich?), except the nihilists. Film ends where it began, with friends still poor, still bowling.

Great film.

Bright Space beyond creative partnerships

2010-09-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

My workshed is coming on a pace now. I've already spent a fair bit of time on it, and temptation is, in present economic climate, to spend a lot more time in there, head down and get on with work, while all the cuts hit. Bright Space, the organisation I've worked with a fair bit, which 'promotes brighter futures for young people through arts and culture' is one of countless organisations in Birmingham under threat at the moment.

More than a decade ago, I started an organisation with a few friends, 'Birmingham Lives' - celebrating the lives of older people in Birmingham. At it's zenith, in 2003, I think we had a dozen members, including our cat, Poppy. I can't remember how many meetings we had - it wasn't many. Me and Poppy were the most regular attendees, but the existence of an 'organisation' opened up opportunities for funding, and, for a time, we did quite well.

The end of the Millennium was a good time for oral history based intergenerational projects. Carl Chinn opened our first exhibition, and shortly after began his own, much bigger, Birmingham Lives Archives. Chris Upton, academic, local historian and writer for Birmingham Post was fantastic in supporting our modest contribution to local history, and the more important work of valuing the lives of young and old in Birmingham, but as time went on, funding became harder to come by and people started to move on.

My first experience of Creative Partnerships in Birmingham, to become Bright Space in 2008, was an invite to Marie's house, the then creative director, for xmas meal 2004 with Nikki. I remember having a long chat with Katy Aquaye-Tonge, and it was then I decided I'd start looking out for opportunities to work with CP. In 2005 I worked with the Quinzone 'Associate CP' Cluster (Qunizone Action Zone is another org likely to disappear soon) and Birmingham archives on two projects - the Ballad of Baskerville with John H-D and 'Playground games' with Worlds End Infants, Graham Langley and John H-D.

Since then I had the best training experience ever with Vivien Hampson to become a creative agent, working under a number of talented creative directors - Rob Elkington, Lesley Green and now Deborah Kermode. Being part of the 'family', supporting each other, we deliver some really exciting work with young people, sharing our experiences to make for a better future. Working for Bright Space has been a life changing experience, for me personally, developing my practice and influencing the lives of other creative practitioners, teachers, and of course, young people. We have, right now, one of the most extensive networks of teachers, creative practitioners, and others interested in working creatively with young people in the West Midlands. We are highly experienced in delivery of a range of diverse creative activities. We are best positioned to champion creativity in our region.

It would be easy to go our own ways, keep our heads down, get on with things - afterall, we all need to earn a living. But if we don't get out there, promote the work we (Bright Space and all the other endangered creatives) are doing, stick together, share experiences, develop our community, what are we saying about the future for young people?

Don't let the bankers get you down

2010-09-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

I've just received a letter from Birmingham City Council announcing a doubling of allotment costs to £40 a year. We will carry on, and in the grand scheme of cuts and so on, will largely go unnoticed. Costs haven't doubled in the year since the last rise. I guess, if anyone was bothered, the right wing press would have broke news days before like, 'Winging middle-class allotment holders don't dig over plots', or 'Lousy layabouts need to pay more'. But what about encouraging healthy living? People on low incomes encouraged to feed themselves cheaply?

A little earlier I had a chat with a Tory relative about pensions, public sector cuts, so on, and got the 'Well you've got to realise there's a pot of only so much money, and we can't keep paying out more than there is' argument. Thing is, if there's only a small pot, why is it the bankers always seem to get first dibs? If you think it's complicated and hard to understand, it really isn't - try here.

It's a recession - recession hits everyone? So how come sales in luxury goods are up? (try googling luxury goods boom) Why is there a worldwide boom in yacht sales and luxury cars? It's pretty clear those with bags of money are picking up the bargains, and those with a little less money are squeezing those with less, and so on (the trickle down effect), so those who are poorest, with least are paying the most. And what is the government doing? Protecting the most vulnerable? Nope. Cutting services and raising taxes for the poorest, while at the same time cutting taxes for the richest.

If it make's you mad too, try Tony Benn's Coalition of Restistance, try listening to Divine Comedy 'Complete Banker'. It's not going to end allotment cost hikes, but maybe we should try to protect those who most need it.

Legacies of British Slave-ownership

2010-09-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

Website for project is here

Pompidou's lady in a black dress

2010-09-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

Only one day in Paris - Arthur wants to go up the Eiffel Tower, Jago wants to go on a boat, Freya wants to do steps, Nikki wants to go to an art gallery. I'm not sure, but Pompidou Centre seems like a good place to start.

Starting from the top. working way down, we spend the next three hours there. Escalators popular, films great, giant moving beanbag is it art? Too much for any 18 month old, and have to admit I wanted to jump on it too. The thing that most entertains children was a series of silent movie type films where lady in burqa does unlikely things, like water skiing, ice skating, sunbathing. Reminds me of Heard and not Seen.

I ask Arthur what it is and why it's funny. 'It's a woman in a black dress being funny'. It's not like he hasn't see a burqa before and, thanks to his primary, his knowledge of religion is better than mine including why muslim women wear burqas. Jago adds, 'She's so funny when she picks up the fruit' [one of which is a phone] Why it is a little uncomfortable for me and Nikki to watch? They just sit there and watch the three screens looping the ludicrous lady in a black dress.

On the first floor there is the children's area. Kawamata has been making a cardboard city with children. Actually the cities made for 'Faces and Places' project with Taryn Coxall run by Birmingham Archives and Heritage were superior in both quality and apparently depth of experience. Sadly, as no Kawamata, children can't add their own building. So lots of scissors and carboard, can't make anything. Shame adults can't have a go too.

For families Pompidou was definitely an improvement on Eugene Boudin in Honfleur. We were being followed there by security to ensure no loudness or other distractions for art experience of all. Even in the enlightened Pompidou, you've got to ask why do art galleries find families so hard?

Net works or networks in Frankley

2010-09-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

In 2007, we had just completed training as the first cohort of Creative Agents at Bright Space. Holly Hill Church School had funding to prepare for their Change application and for us to trial our new creative agent roles - I took more the role of the creative agent at Reaside, and Juliet Raynsford was more the creative agent at Holly Hill, although both of us shared roles.

Juliet’s specialism matched Reaside’s drama interest, becoming an enquiry on ‘How can drama change the world?’. At Holly Hill they were interested in developing and supporting the wider school community with no fixed media. This became ‘What makes School?’

At Holly Hill, we started working with the school council. Previous council minutes were dominated by school dinners, which seemed like a natural starting point. Inspired partly by the work of Stan’s Cafe in a local primary, we started to ‘make school’ out of school dinner. We explored archives, made our own bricks from clay in the playground, experimented with cakes and other materials before creating an art installation made entirely from bits and pieces brought in or found in the school.

There were difficulties, and although a number of creative partnership projects had run at Holly Hill previously, this appeared to be the first attempt at a ‘whole school’ creative project. The groundwork had been done for our ‘Change Programme’ and although over the next year we worked mainly outdoors, our area of focus did not change. We were interested in promoting creativity across the whole school, to support and develop more general social skills, and look to the wider school, Frankley and Birmingham communities.

In those early tendering, real paper database days, I contacted a few people we thought would be good, and introduced them to the staff on a staff training day. Everyone liked each other, and itching to get going with the work, we arranged a visit to the wonderful Bishops Wood Forest School Centre with staff, parents and children, in what was to be a fabulous start to avery productive year, working with Sarah Jenkinson, Gillian Twaite, Marcella Erskine & Nick Williams. The real find of the year turned out to be on the doorstep - 100 yds away was the ancient Balaam Wood, previously unknown to most of the staff, and apparently never before ventured into with children.

The end of the year came suddenly, and so ended the funding from Creative Partnerships. There was no opportunity to continue with CP. The project had been a wonderful creative adventure for all involved, but where was the embedding of practice? How could we continue? Caroline Proctor found additional funding to carry on. Initially the nursery and music specialist teacher employed Marcella to continue weekly music workshops and related CPD. Then in Spring funding and time was found to work on ‘Our Community’ - a project I had suggested, and was invited to come back as creative practitioner to deliver.

For ‘Our Community’ I had grand plans of involving parents, community leaders, local organisations, everyone in school in a project working mainly outside school, supported by digital media. I don’t think I’d properly considered we would be working with a tenth of a change school budget, or indeed that although I felt digital and social media would really help, I don’t think anyone else did.

For initial research I googled Frankley, and found ‘Frankley Travelodge’ top of the list, followed by houses for sale, more ‘Travelodge’ references, ‘Frankleytalk’ - a local schools podcasting site set up with previous CP funding, the parish council site, a local businesses site claiming ‘Frankley is much more than just a motorway service station’, and Frankley Library site.

Initially I contacted Podnosh, responsible for Frankleytalk, thinking this could be the start of
something interesting. Over the course of the month or so I was inputting to the site, I watch it steadily move from tenth to first on the ‘Frankley Birmingham’ google-o-meter. Looking back I
should have taken more notice that Frankleytalk had ceased to be used for nearly two years,
and that the low number of visits to any Frankley websites meant that my usage of ‘Frankleytalk’
was probably the sole reason for its rise in popularity. This, my first experiment in blogging, was useful to me, but probably not to anyone else in Frankley.

I had, however, made contact with a number of different community partners, and the
workshops included visits to Frankley Library, Frankley City Learning Centre, and several visits
back to Balaam Wood supported by the Park Ranger service, Adam Bates from OPAL, Nick
Williams and the wonderful Friends of Balaam Wood. For me it was great to see connections
made in the previous year being developed. Teaching staff regularly use Balaam Wood
creatively for a range of different curricula areas and year groups. The Library were renewing
links with teaching staff and children, and the City Of Learning Centre developed further
work with Holly Hill after our visit. We had, of course, other outcomes, including the creation
of ‘Steve the Colourmaker’ - a giant collaborative chalk silhouette artwork outside the school
(see chalk images above), and created a lovely home for Steve and cutouts of all the chalk monsters made from silhouettes in Balaam Wood. We also had a lot of fun and achieved a number of learning objectives too.

Maybe digital networking hasn’t worked here, but the contacts and networks made through Holly
Hill’s Change Year have made a big difference and continue. Although Creative Partnership's funding ceased over a year ago now, a creative philosophy and practice continues at Holly Hill. The hard work of staff, parents and children at Holly Hill, together with their community will maintain outstanding creative practice.

CA networking day

2010-09-07T02:45:00.000-07:00

As promised, below is how we grouped our schools. We were not all there, many schools and conversations not started and complexities of grouping schools, it is an incomplete picture - more of snapshot.

Great to see you all and catch up a bit, and here's hoping you had good summer holidays. Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Home is where the Art is

Showing off School Archives

Militant Secularists join with others

Seeing a murmuration of starlings

Thoughts on Herman the German

Library burns, long live the Library

Children in Birmingham's Libraries

Wassail 15th Jan

Ye Traditional Wassail

BMAG History Galleries ready to go!

Co-construction of Wikipedia

Missing the Chickens at Four Dwellings High

Early Years Reflective Workshops

Community Health in my brave new world

NOTICE OF STREET LIGHTING

Are young people 'Angry, Violent and Abusive'?

Chris Upton's Local Heroes

Early Years Creative Projects

Search for a hero

Bright Space ends

Do Cooperatives miss the funding bus?

Progressive Birmingham

Strikes don't work, do they?

The Liverpool Transport Strike of 1911

Back to School

Truly Humble

Valuing News of The World and CP

With an average weekly circulation of 2.6 million, the News Of The World is Britain's best-selling Sunday paper and a profitable venture.

Striking - a selfless or selfish gesture?

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