Education Secretary Michale Gove was in New Cross this week at Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College, making a speech attacking opponents of the Government's school Academies policies.
The speech on Wednesday was clearly aimed at the national media and the political class, rather than the school students who were presumably dragged out of lessons to provide an audience and backdrop. Not surprisingly many of them were bored to the point of sleep, as shown in a clip captured by ITN news which shows young women nodding off and playing with their nails as Gove waffled on:
Still Gove can be thankful that he only faced the passive resistance of non-engagement. Students at Askes have a tradition of more radical action, with groups walking out to take part in the student protests in November 2010 and in the 2003 anti-war demonstrations. 
The speech on Wednesday was clearly aimed at the national media and the political class, rather than the school students who were presumably dragged out of lessons to provide an audience and backdrop. Not surprisingly many of them were bored to the point of sleep, as shown in a clip captured by ITN news which shows young women nodding off and playing with their nails as Gove waffled on:
Some entertaining comments to this on facebook, e.g. 'Not easy to keep school children engaged is it Mr Gove. Perhaps you'll have a little bit more respect for the job we teachers do now?'; ' we were there for 2 hours that's why we have a reason for being asleep or being bored'; and 'i'm one of the girls in this video... this guy is a idiot so i should not be forced to listen to his crap'
Haberdasher Aske's students have been protesting even further back than that - I was one of a small gourp that organised a sit in in the playground, when the Haberdashers changed the school into a CTC back in 1990...We got lots of press...but nothing changed!
ReplyDeleteExcellent - do you have any of the old press cuttings?
ReplyDeleteI'm heading into the parental attic in the next few weeks, so should find them, plus some old venue flyers/backstage passes which I promised you eons ago!
ReplyDeleteThat video is very funny.
ReplyDeleteI have only just belatedly seen this article. I grew up in Erlanger Road in the 1950s and 60s.Many of my friends from Edmund Waller went on to Askes, which was then a Grammar school. Why the anti attitude on here towards Gove and Askes? Gove is the best Education Secretary since the 1950s. More importantly, I have read that Askes is the most over subscribed school in England!
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's an anti-attitude to Askes here as such, I know people who work there and study there and I don't think it's a bad school.
ReplyDeleteThe leadership of Haberdashers Askes are though doing the political tango with Gove, whether you think this is a good thing or not no doubt depends on your views on his policies... on which we clearly differ.