Sue Waton

Walker and lover of wild places, solitude, poetry and red wine.

[Ben Goldsmith @BenGoldsmith]

A staggering 34% of Brits don’t know that everything they have, everything they do, everything they eat and drink, everything they love is provided by nature.

[Sue Waton @suewaton]

@Juliest101 What a disaster.

[Authorfy @authorfy]

✨ It’s 1st December which means… it’s time for our BIG CHRISTMAS BOOK GIVEAWAY!!!!!! ✨

If you’d like to WIN all of these festive books just:

🎄 Like
🎄 RT by 15.12.24
🎄 UK only

Good luck! And Merry Christmas!!!

[Sue Waton @suewaton]

@PeterEgan6 Leaving X, for clear and obvious reasons

[Protect the Wild @ProtectTheWild_]

The fox hunting "season" has begun again.

This cruel practice has no place in our time and needs to end.

RT if you agree!

[PROTECT ALL WILDLIFE @Protect_Wldlife]

Yet again @RickyGervais nails it when it comes to his views on trophy hunters!

"What must've happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal and then lie next to it smiling? 😠!!"

RT if you want a GLOBAL ban on #TrophyHunting NOW!

[Ben Porter @bardseyben]

Brilliant work @ChrisGPackham and everyone involved in holding the ineptitude and unlawful actions of our previous government to account 👏🌍🌿

[Polly Toynbee @pollytoynbee]

Marina Hyde at her even more brilliant best, on what every woman knows
https://t.co/4oQ921J9ut

[Sue Waton @suewaton]

@guyshrubsole @RachelReevesMP Outrageous

[Sue Waton @suewaton]

@Bbmorg No we don’t

[Protect the Wild @ProtectTheWild_]

Our proposals for a proper ban on hunting would increase the punishment for illegal fox hunting

[Sue Waton @suewaton]

@mendiphuntsabs I hope the resident complained to the police- and you have evidence of a crime.

[Naomi Fisher @naomicfisher]

I was talking to a grandmother last week about schooling. ‘I can see the difference’ she said. ‘When my children were young, primary school was relaxed. If the weather was good, they went outside and ran around. If they were sick, they stayed at home. Now with my grandchildren they are seated in desks for more of the day and if they are ill, they are worried that they’ll lose their 100% attendance for the term. The pressure is on to pass their phonics test when they are six and then to learn their times tables at speed by the time they are nine. They feel it and their parents feel it too’.

There’s lots of talk about SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) at the moment, and how increasing numbers of children are being identified as SEND. It’s less common to ask questions about what SEND really means, and whether the education system creates more children ‘with SEND’ as it becomes more pressured and rigid.

For what SEND really means is that a child cannot learn in the way which mainstream education expects. They cannot keep up with expectations, either for academic work or for behaviour. SEND is something which happens in the interaction between a child and the education system. In a system where no 6-year-old is expected to sit still and learn to write their name, then a 6-year-old who just wants to run around outside isn't a problem. In a system where everyone is meant to be able to read by age 6, then they are.

We know from research that if a child is young in their year, they are more likely to be identified as ‘having SEND’. We know that summer born boys are far more likely to be identified as ‘having SEND’ than autumn born girls. We know that the impact of this immaturity resonates through the years, with the youngest in the year doing less well at GCSE. We know that the number of children ‘with SEND’ is going up year on year.

It's not really plausible that more children each year have difficulties in learning, nor that being born in August makes you more likely to have learning problems than if you are born a few weeks later in September.

It’s far more likely that in the push to ‘drive up standards’ the education system is becomes less, not more, suited to how children develop and learn. It’s more likely that the system is penalising immaturity – and children are inherently immature. That isn’t a lack or a defect, it’s a defining part of childhood.

As the education system becomes more rigid and pressured, we’d expect more children not to be able to manage without adaptations. This is exactly what we see. Those children are holding up the flag for all the others, saying that this system is not child-friendly and doesn’t take account of developmental needs and differences.

What if, instead of having higher expectations of the children, we had higher expectations of the education system? What if those expectations were of flexibility, reducing pressure and prioritising lifelong learning and wellbeing instead of short-term testing?

What if we saw the increasing number of children ‘with SEND’ as a sign that the system isn’t working for the many ways in which children develop, rather than a sign that more and more children have learning difficulties? We’ll never sort the ‘SEND crisis’ until we start looking at SEND as an interaction between children and the education system. The more rigid the system is, the more children it will fail.

Illustration by @_MissingTheMark from the book A Different Way to Learn.

[Sue Waton @suewaton]

@DorsetMonitor @dorsetpolice @ProtectTheWild_ This is horrible. It’s also a crime in full sight. @dorsetpolice this is illegal in every way and here is your evidence.

[Dorset Hunt Monitor @DorsetMonitor]

Another Saturday, another fox kill filmed by sabs; Two Counties Hunt Sabs in Dorset this time. The huntsman carries on as if nothing's happened...just chuck the ripped up body in a hedge. @dorsetpolice need to do a reset and issue CPNs against these hunts. @ProtectTheWild_

[Jenny Eclair @jennyeclair]

What are we doing about this please - I don’t see anyone doing anything - how can the world allow this to happen

[Sue Waton @suewaton]

@TheGNShow @BBCiPlayer Your ‘jokey’ wasn’t a joke to half the population. The least you can do is apologise.

[Protect the Wild @ProtectTheWild_]

RT if you want a proper ban on fox hunting!

[Protect the Wild @ProtectTheWild_]

The public needs to see this. Fox hunting is STILL going on in 2024.

And the 2004 Hunting Act is not working against these evil people.

We need a proper ban on hunting, RT if you agree!

[Protect the Wild @ProtectTheWild_]

Let’s make it impossible for @SteveReedMP and @UKLabour to ignore this post.

If you agree that we desperately need a proper ban on fox hunting then SHARE and LIKE this post.

It’s time to end this vile pastime for good.