David Jones

Primary Headteacher. Jack of quite a bit, master of none. Dad x3. Every cloud has a silver lining.

[Vic Goddard @vicgoddard]

When is it going to get better? A 🧵
After over a decade of cuts to school funding I was so hopeful that a change of govt would mean we would have money to invest in improving children’s lives. I understand the need for growth in order to close the holes in public finances. 1/5

[Shadows of Control @shadows_control]

My abusive husband never told me what I should wear, but I ended up avoiding the clothes he didn’t like anyway 😣This is how coercive control works…

One day, I came to the kitchen wearing a black blouse My husband screwed up his face and asked me why I was wearing black (he believed it was the color of evil). He said I looked ugly in that blouse and that he didn’t like it. I told him that was fine, he didn’t have to wear it.

Then he brought our 5-year-old son into the room. “Mummy doesn’t look good in black, does she?” he asked our child. Looking at his father and knowing very well that it’s best to agree, he nodded. “Yes, black is not a nice color mummy,” he told me.

Fuming that he’d involve our child, I told him he is not to comment on my clothes again, nor involve our child. And that set him off… He lectured me for 2 hours on how I should work on my reactions to improve myself, how he has a right to give his views, and so on. In total, the discussion about the blouse lasted 3 hours. 😤

A month later, I was choosing my outfit, and I went to reach for my black blouse, but then I hesitated. Was it worth it the hassle? Did I really have the energy to go through all that again? I decided I didn’t and I chose something else.

And this is exactly how coercive control works. You learn to choose the easier option just to keep the peace and avoid the negative consequences. And bit-by-bit you fall in line with how they want you to be, until eventually there is no part of you left. Everything about ‘you’ is exactly how they want it.
#coercivecontrol #emotionalabuse

[Emily Weston @primaryteachew]

Our ‘Squashed Sweets’ art unit was such a success. The children said it made them feel so much more confident with their skills, it was ‘fun’ and they loved the end results! They love people seeing their work so here’s what we did 🥰✨

[Peter Stefanovic @PeterStefanovi2]

“There are hundreds of thousands of fewer children in poverty today thanks to this Government” says @RishiSunak

UNICEF has just published a report on child poverty in 39 countries in the EU & OECD between 2014 & 2021 and one it’s most shocking findings is that under the conservative government the UK has seen an almost 20% increase in its child income poverty rate - ranking us last place in Unicef’s league table of the world's richest countries - last place!

According to latest government statistics there were 4.2 million children living in poverty in the UK in 2021/2022 - a staggering one in three children and a major new report from Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found one million children in the UK experienced horrifying levels of destitution in 2022. That is the most extreme level of poverty - with families unable to meet their most basic needs of keeping warm, dry, clean and fed – it’s an 88% rise since 2019 and if all that’s not heartbreaking enough the number of children in food poverty has doubled in the last year - it’s actually doubled! This Prime Minister is detached from all reality

[Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63]

You can get quite far in a democracy if you can convince a majority that they are victims of a minority, and that only you can protect them.

[Stuart Lock @StuartLock]

This explains one of the aspects that shaped my view on exclusions - we need to talk about Kevin:
https://t.co/PdU2PXxrLM

[Dr. Jessica Taylor @DrJessTaylor]

I went out yesterday. I was alone, which meant I could just wander around and do what I needed in silence. My fellow introverts will get this 😂

Anyway, I overheard so many conversations yesterday that reminded me how much everyone is struggling with trauma. One of the most insidious things that has happened in ‘mental health’ has been the specific and careful way trauma has been framed as only certain things (car crash, war vets, NDE, rape), whilst everything else is seen as ‘mental health issues’ - but trauma is so many thousands of things.

A teenage girl walked past me with her Dad, telling him with tears in her eyes that she couldn’t face Christmas, and that it was destroying her mental health. She was begging him not to make her attend large family gatherings whilst she wasn’t coping.

Then on another aisle, I overheard two women in their 50s. One said to the other, “Do you like this fragrance?”

The other woman took a firm step back and said, “Ugh god. No! Don’t spray that. He used to wear that. I don’t ever want to smell that again. It makes me feel sick. Don’t do that!”

Her friend said, “Oh god, I’m so sorry, I should have realised.”

At the checkout, I overheard an exhausted woman explaining she couldn’t afford everything on the belt, and needed to put some stuff back.

As I paid for my stuff and walked out of the shop, I walked past a man in his 40s having a panic attack whilst his family supported him to breathe and calm.

As I got to my car, I walked past a teenage girl. Pale, very thin, with tears down her face. Her mum was gently asking her if she would prefer to sit in the car instead of coming into the shop. She nodded silently.

Why am I writing this?

Because there’s a lot of truth behind the cliche ‘everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about’. Trauma is everywhere. Humans are traumatised, and they are struggling to cope.

We don’t have a population of ‘mentally ill’ people, we have a population of people who are traumarised and distressed.

Christmas is not easy for thousands of people, and if you pay attention, you can see the strain all around you.

[Joe Hanley ⏹️ @JoeEHanley]

Social workers: We are quitting in record numbers because we are unsupported, overworked, over surveilled, understaffed and under resourced.

Government: Here's a new National Framework adding 237 new "expectations" of you.
https://t.co/9x8ka4zxz9

[Cllr Anna Railton 🌹 is on 🦋 @rail_guns]

This isn't just good leaflet copy, this is why politics matters and different parties aren't all "just the same".

Here's a collection of similarly devastating graphs

🧵 (1/11)

[Andrew - Proud Former Head Teacher @ProudHeadTeach1]

Yet again! This beggars belief 😡😡😡😡

[ReadingRocks @_Reading_Rocks_]

Here’s a hug for anyone who needs it x

[Ed Finch @MrEFinch]

Looking for a Christmas Quiz for your class (Upper KS2 and up) or for a family gathering, look no further. Download and ready to go. Enjoy. Please RT to get it to the people who need it.

https://t.co/slJyBfcCuY

[Nathan Oswin @nathan_oswin]

Here's a running thread of all the things the current Prime Minister cannot recall whilst under oath at the Covid Inquiry.

Some more understandable than others I'd humbly suggest.

🧵

[David Jones @DeputyJones]

@Headteacherchat Blue...obviously 😉

[David Jones @DeputyJones]

@miss_tebbs @LWest30629623 @UKS2teacher @moses_brian You would!

[Andrew Fisher @FisherAndrew79]

An evaluation of the policy in 2019 found that the Sure Start programme saved the NHS millions of pounds.

It had a “big positive effect on children’s health”, the IFS concluded ...
https://t.co/4vaxWVWYOQ

[David Jones @DeputyJones]

@jpembroke @DeputyGrocott Ofsted and the DFE are still only interested in attainment anyway. Good progress measures do not mean pupils are doing well apparently...according to a lead inspector recently.

[Sophie Bartlett @_MissieBee]

Some meatier (and slightly sarcastic) analysis of this year’s KS2 English SATs papers via @LbQorg 📝📊

Maths analysis coming Monday 👀

https://t.co/Rf9cr1I6gf #LbQ

[GT @_______gt______]

Here is the deeply worrying state of education laid bare by a headteacher in a desperate letter to parents.

Young people, families, professionals & communities deserve better.

Please share @NEUnion @CamEdFac @cyclingkev @MaryBoustedNEU @DanielKebedeNEU

#SaveOurSchools #GTTO