I am an erratic present giver to those to whom I should be giving regular presents, but this Christmas, Goddaughter II got lucky, and received four books from me by a favourite writer of hers, Cathy Hopkins.
I didn't get much of a chance to look at these books before they went off to Goddaughter II's home in the South of France, but I did, in this book, come across this, the work of the book's heroine:
That is a scan of a hasty (hence rather wonky round the edges) photocopy. Nevertheless, the sentiments are clear.
I'm pretty sure that this is how Goddaughter II feels about things too.
It is now close to midnight, and I have just spent the last two and half hours concocting this posting, about why there has been such a huge public response in this country and in other countries like it to the Asian Tsunami disaster. So I have little time for much now, today. Sorry.
Although, as it happens, the Tsunami thing was also on my mind this afternoon, when I paid my first visit of the new year to Paradise Primary, and reacquainted myself with Boy One and Boy Two.
Boy One was very pleased to see me and was his usual charming and accommodating self. I learned things about his family, e.g. that his father is gone. I quickly changed the subject to my father, also gone. Divorce? said Boy One. No, try the other thing. I'm old. My mum is very old. Ah, he said. I want to live for ever, he said. Death comes to us all, I said. He spent the first half of his session writing out PlayStation 2 gaming instructions, which I did not at all understand, but at least he was writing, and then glueing them in the book he has made, which I keep for him. At the end he allowed me to read him some more King Arthur stuff, and by the end was reading along himself. The half hour went by in no time.
Boy Two was, as usual, more withdrawn, and I was willing to do anything and talk about anything just to draw him out.
And I found myself asking him about the Tsunami. Did you hear about that? Yes, of course, but at least that was an easy one word answer that he pretty much was bound to give. Do you know where that was? No? Would you like me to show you? There was a globe nearby, and I gave Boy Two a brief geography lesson.
I can see why Tsunami studies are now so appealing to teachers. Lots of death and destruction and drama for the boys. Lots of caring and sharing for the girls. I prattled on for a minute or two, pointing at the affected places on the nearby globe. Want more? No, said Boy Two.
He glanced through a complicated football book, with many cards and pull out bits, and bits of mobile cardboard. Thank you, done that.
Then we played chess. I started by insisting that the pieces be arranged in the correct starting formation. I arranged mine correctly. He then rearranged his, with only a little help getting the king and queen right. He is good at recognising shapes, I think. When we played, I confined myself to insisting that he make legal moves, rather than especially good moves. He has much to learn about this game, but did not rebel against my refereeing.
Importantly, I hoped that he would at least be sensible about not chucking the pieces around the place, and when pieces got taken, I urged him to put the dead ones back in their little bags. By these modest standards he did very well. Since they told me when I started with him that he had "behavioural problems", I surmise that he is not always this well accommodating.
Was I too bossy? Perhaps. Was I too lenient, allowing him to do amusingly unpressurising things? Well, that's what we are told to do. Make a relationship, then worry about the reading. I remain to be convinced of the wisdom of that strategy, but also remain optimistic.
Interestingly, Paradise Primary itself was far less full of stray adults like me, in fact when I went in, the place seemed almost deserted. I had already been told me that the pre-Christmas period is unusually fraught. Compared to the post-Christmas period, it certainly was.
If you look at all the postings I have previously done here about Africa, you mostly get bad news of the sort that is supposed to put what passes for bad educational news in Britain in severe perspective. Very bad news, in other words.
But here is a slightly more cheerful African education story, albeit with a strong British angle:
A HEADMASTER from Manchester who helped transform a school in the bush to the "Eton of Africa" has been awarded an MBE.Francis Cooke, head of Kamuzu Academy for the past eight years, received the award in the New Year Honours list for services to education in Malawi.
He has worked in the heart of Africa for more than 23 years and is as delighted for the school to be recognised as he is for recognition of his own achievements.
Mr Cooke, 53, a father of four, who was born and raised in Hulme, and went to St Bede's school in Whalley Range, was named in the Overseas List category.
He said: "It is a great honour and I'm very proud for the school. It is a privilege to work in Malawi at a school that has survived some difficulties and gone from strength to strength.
"Kamuzu Academy has been described as the Eton of Africa because of its very high educational standards and ethos.
"It is a first-class grammar school with a library that is one of the best in its class. The pupils wear uniforms and boaters on the lines of the UK's best public schools."
Mr Cooke, who lives at an address in Walkden when he returns home for holidays, said the 408-pupil school - located in a tobacco, maize and coffee-producing region of Malawi – was founded in 1981 by Dr Kamuzu Banda.
Mr Cooke said: "I have been in Malawi for so long I'm now teaching the children of former pupils at the school, and that is a very rewarding feeling."
A British educational export of whom we can be proud, it would seem.
Quite how much Dr Kamuzu Banda contributed to this enterprise is unclear. I googled him, because … well, because "Banda" was also the name of the President of Malawi, Dr Hastings Banda, was it not? And it turned out that Dr Kamuzu Banda and Dr Hastings Banda were one and the same person.
Fair enough. Eton itself was started by someone pretty powerful, I shouldn't wonder.
Yes.
Happy New Year, and yes, I'm back, although I never did get around to saying when that would be. But anyway, Happy New Year.
Unless of course you or any of your near and dear have been hit for six (my metaphor is taken from cricket - a game much played in that part of the world) by the Great Wave, in which case deepest commiserations.
I've already done some education/tsunami blogging, linking from Samizdata to this amazing story, about how a girl learnt about tsunami's in a recent geography lesson and consequently saw this one coming, in the form of the lower water level that precedes the arrival of a giant wave. With such exceptional survival stories do we console ourselves even as we also read about tends of thousands of others who were not so lucky.
Joanne Jacobs was impressed too, and added this:
Tilly didn't just have the knowledge; she had the moxie to make her parents listen to her warning.
Indeed. Much more typical, alas, was this story from Tamil Nadu in India:
CUDDALORE: More than 560 schools situated in the coastal regions of Tamil Nadu have been affected by Black Sunday’s tsunami attack.A preliminary state-wide assessment of these schools has revealed that as many as 200 institutions had been either reduced to rubble or partially damaged causing an estimated loss of over Rs 50 crore.
School Education Department sources said that nearly 2,000 classrooms would have to be reconstructed and a detailed survey was underway to assess the exact quantum of the loss.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Textbook Corporation (TNTC) is gearing up to meet the uphill task of distributing free textbooks and notebooks to tsunami-affected children before January 10, though it had lost its own stock of textbooks worth Rs 75 lakh to the hungry sea waves.
I don't know how much "Rs 50 crore" is, but I'm guessing: a lot.
It's a similar story in Sri Lanka, but with an arboreal twist. Sometimes trees deserve to be hugged:
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's teachers are doing something not found in their job descriptions. Dozens are looking for sturdy, shady trees to set up outdoor classrooms.
Which just goes to show that when people want education, they get it. Not even a giant wave can stop it for very long.
"A good tree will be fine to start an open-air school in areas where we can't repair the building," said Medagama. "Some of the schools have just disappeared and some have collapsed," Medagama said. "Those which are standing will need furniture and massive cleaning. But this is not going to stop us from restarting schools."
The corollary is that when people don't want education, fancy buildings are not likely to change that very much.
I say: give generously.
