AJB Temple
Finely figured
Interesting. I sent my eldest son to a private school and (though this was not the reason) they had a fully equipped woodwork and metal work shop, pottery, kiln, forge, CAD etc - really good. It was a rather academic school but even so they gave the pupils tons of opportunities (including golf. shooting, riding, archery and so on). He is now 19 and studying aircraft engineering in Delft. Many pupils will have dabbled with technology and design subjects even if they finally end up as doctors, bankers or whatever. I studied woodwork and metalwork at school as well and have extremely positive memories of it (and still have the things I made) even though I followed an academic career path.
Now - contrast this with the local state set up where we lived in Surrey (Cranleigh as it happens). Arguably (without wishing to be derogatory or elitist) the pupils there might well have benefited more from such facilities, but in fact had hardly any. This was down to several things including funds, teaching staff and lack of genuine appreciation among staff of how to manage the H&S aspects. I know this because I was peripherally connected with the state school for a while via teh music department. Contrast that: the state school had the equivalent of one and a half full time music teachers. The private school next door had numerous music teachers (at least 10) dealing with about a third of the pupil numbers. They struggled even with accepting free help, due to absurd insurance problems and the off putting need for criminal record checks on people offering assistance (despite the presence of employed teachers all the time).
The state sector has maybe lost its way, and this is regrettable for our children. I think we are gradually losing skills.
That said - on the H&S side - I do remember one incident when I was at school when a kid ground into his arm bone by leaning on a running grinder. The metalwork teacher was a stickler for safety and the workshop was immaculate. The kid was memorably stupid. It does not matter what you do with H&S - some people will manage to have accidents anyway!
Now - contrast this with the local state set up where we lived in Surrey (Cranleigh as it happens). Arguably (without wishing to be derogatory or elitist) the pupils there might well have benefited more from such facilities, but in fact had hardly any. This was down to several things including funds, teaching staff and lack of genuine appreciation among staff of how to manage the H&S aspects. I know this because I was peripherally connected with the state school for a while via teh music department. Contrast that: the state school had the equivalent of one and a half full time music teachers. The private school next door had numerous music teachers (at least 10) dealing with about a third of the pupil numbers. They struggled even with accepting free help, due to absurd insurance problems and the off putting need for criminal record checks on people offering assistance (despite the presence of employed teachers all the time).
The state sector has maybe lost its way, and this is regrettable for our children. I think we are gradually losing skills.
That said - on the H&S side - I do remember one incident when I was at school when a kid ground into his arm bone by leaning on a running grinder. The metalwork teacher was a stickler for safety and the workshop was immaculate. The kid was memorably stupid. It does not matter what you do with H&S - some people will manage to have accidents anyway!
