On 3 Apr 2011 at 9:59am Emerson wrote:
Please note: Capital letters = important point NOT shouting!
THIS IS AN ONGOING DEBATE ABOUT PRIORY SCHOOL OPEN TO EVERYONE WHO HAS A S I N C E R E INTEREST IN EDUCATION AND IN OUR LOCAL SCHOOL, AND WHOLE-HEARTEDLY BELIEVES IN PARENTS' INVOLVEMENT, THAT IS: PARENTS SHOULD HAVE A SAY IN THEIR CHILDREN'S EDUCATION AND IN THE WAY OUR SCHOOL IS RUN, A RIGHT WHICH IS ALSO RECOGNIZED BY THE LAW (Education Act 1998, Part VI, Chapter 25). IF YOU DON'T AGREE WITH THIS VIEW (which has already been amply debated in previous threads) PLEASE GO TO ANOTHER THREAD OR START A NEW ONE.
The aim of this thread is to give voice to members of the community who GENUINELY believe in school democracy and the value of participation, people who ultimately believe that the future of education in this country depends largely on their commitment.
So, rather than expect politicians and professional educators - who often get it wrong! - to always come up with new ideas designed to combat inefficiencies and inequality in our present education system, we parents, as citizens, co-educators, and tax-payers, take issues in our hands and try and build something positive and constructive with them, avoiding conflicts with our school, which, on the whole, WE ALL WANT TO SUPPORT. Is there anything you would like to say or suggest to start this debate? If not, I will suggest a new topic in my next post.
*** Any offensive language will be ignored ***
On 3 Apr 2011 at 10:26am Sad wrote:
Oh God! Not again, how on earth does a self obsessed numty like you become a parent? I really feel for your poor kid(s)
On 3 Apr 2011 at 10:31am supporter wrote:
haven't you got the message yet.
one sided views is not a debate.Here end'th the first lesson
On 3 Apr 2011 at 4:38pm Grunge wrote:
Emerson - I honestly think you would do better to start your own forum, devoted to educational matters. Concerned people would log in, and you shouldn't get all the flak you get here.
On 3 Apr 2011 at 4:47pm supporter wrote:
what a great idea Grunge.
On 3 Apr 2011 at 5:34pm Deelite wrote:
Oh gawd
On 3 Apr 2011 at 9:03pm moi wrote:
omg
On 3 Apr 2011 at 9:33pm 'ELP wrote:
Hiya again Emerson - Great to hear from you. Don't let these idiots get you down!!
Let's get together and DO these teachers!!!They deserve everything they get. LET'S HAVE THEM! IDIOTS!!! WE'LLL SHOW THEM!!!!
On 3 Apr 2011 at 11:15pm Janey wrote:
Is it me or is it de ja vu? 'Elp,Deelite,Supporter,Sad, let Emerson have his view. I have noticed other poor guys getting a lot of flak from the same bunch of people. Out of curiosity, I looked at the Priory website and there is no forum. If there was, as Grunge said, Emerson would be good having a forum on their website. It's true this forum is a waste of time as yes he does seem to get a lot of flak from people. Elp, can't help thinking you're being sarcastic to him!! Emerson, I think your views are ok, but don't waste them here as I can't see any decent replies to your posts. Good luck :-)
On 4 Apr 2011 at 1:49am Arthur Reitus wrote:
Emerson, please don't be so narrow minded as to start a thread in which you only want to hear the opinions of those that will agree with you.
IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THIS COMMENT I WILL STICK MY FINGERS IN MY EARS AND GO LA LA LA LA LA.
On 4 Apr 2011 at 9:30am Winterbourne Wanderer wrote:
Emerson, I am interested in reading about schools. I just want to give you some genuine feedback about your posts as I would like to read them but find them offputting. Firstly, they are far too long. Secondly, the capital letters that you think make important points stand out in fact make them harder to read. I'm not dumb; I'm sure I can work out which points are important without the caps. Capital letters are generally used to indicate shouting and are associated with hectoring and polemical writing, which is probably not what you are aiming for.
On 4 Apr 2011 at 10:43am Hoist wrote:
I find his posts offputting because he doesn't listen to anyone else's point of view - discounts everything anyone else says and then says that everyone has agreed with him.
I think he is a menace to Priory School and feel sorry for the teachers there.
On 4 Apr 2011 at 11:28am EMERSON wrote:
I feel I owe an apology to some people: everyone is welcome to join our debate, even if you disagree with parentsâ?? participation in school life in principle.
We've had a number of people saying they disagree with this thread (but they keep coming back, usually to insult me!) and I POLITELY invited them to start a different thread for parents who don't give a toss about their children's education. I explained that THE LAW (not shouting) is on our side; that Priory is on our side in their desperate attempt to get more parents involved in school life. I explained that we discussed the issue of parents' rights at length in the past and it was time to move on. But I see there are still people who just want to talk about the same thing over and over again. Everyone is welcome to disagree on anything they want. However, I feel we are missing out on opportunities to discuss issues which are more relevant to school democracy. By all means, we all have a right to express our opinions and disagreements but can we PLEASE (not shouting) move on?
On 4 Apr 2011 at 11:29am EMERSON wrote:
I have asked our Head-teacher on several occasions to make our website more parent-friendly and interactive by adding a Forum. I asked him about the possibility of a parentsâ?? bulletin, but it looks like for that to happen weâ??ll have to wait till next year. I guess that is a positive step forward. It is never easy to achieve changes in our schools, even for a head teacher who sincerely believes in parentsâ?? involvement. In the mean time, weâ??ll just have to use Lewes Forum, even if it means having to put up with some of Lewes worst thugs !
To Winterbourne: the reason for capitals is that the font used on the forum is too small, it does not let you underline or highlight words in bold. So, if I want to highlight an important point I sometimes have no choice but to use capitals. SURELY, YOU CAN LIVE WITH IT!
On 4 Apr 2011 at 11:31am EMERSON wrote:
I have recently written to the webmaster and have given him my email address and my real name. I am not sure you guys have done the same. I believe in TRANSPARENCY (not shouting), i.e. that one should try to hold up to one's views and take full responsibility for them and not hide behind a nickname. Indeed, were this forum a safe place, I would not hesitate to use my real name, as this is a genuine debate. Once again, there are no ulterior motives on my part other than to contribute to school life and support our Head-teacher in his effort to gradually make Priory a more welcoming place for parents and members of the community.
On 4 Apr 2011 at 12:06pm Janey wrote:
Hoist, I wouldn't go as far as saying Emerson is a menace to Priory school. That's not fair. This forum is not for nasty comments or accusations. But genuine discussions. As I said before, if the school had a forum then all discussions would be put on their website and not on this forum. That way we can leave this forum for simple chit chat and let people be rude to each other.This is not the only thread that has had peed off people insulting each other. I read other threads and they have some nasty comments too, not just Priory. I once put a post up asking a normal question. I got some good responses but also a few stupid needless ones. There you are.
On 4 Apr 2011 at 12:24pm Hoist wrote:
The thing is Janey - you don't get to dictate the responses you get - or to say what the forum is for.
If you say something silly - as emerson does, repeatedly, - you should expect people to criticise it or laugh at it.
Emerson does not want a conversation - he shouts other people down if they disagree with him.
People have been vile to me on this forum and that is their right.
Freedom of speech and all that. Emerson or anyone else can be a twat - other people can call them on it.
On 4 Apr 2011 at 12:51pm Janey wrote:
But the thing is, people are edging him on!! You've just called him a twat! That's not nice! I wouldn't like to be called names on this forum and I, like Emerson, would defend myself too. You say people have been vile to you, too, on this forum. How did it make you feel? Did you defend yourself? I certainly did when I posted my thread ages ago. I know freedom of speech etc but it shouldn't be freedom of insults. This forum, when I first read it many times ago was actually quite decent and now it seems people can write just anything. Take a look at the thread when someone was asking if anyone knew the owner of a poor cat that was run over. Look at the many terrible comments he had, as well as actual decent ones. I know it's too much to ask for to expect everyone to be smashy nicey but maybe if we all tried then the forum would be better. Wishful thinking I know. Oh, and on the subject of Priory, I too support the view that we should engage more with the school without interfering with the teacher's job. I understand Emerson is doing just that and I wish him luck :-)
On 4 Apr 2011 at 1:07pm Ed Can Do wrote:
Emerson is either a troll account or he's actually got some kind of Aspergers or something. His posts reek of an attempt to get a reaction and nothing more.
Every one of these new threads says the same thing, that it's a thread for people to discuss Priory but he never actually suggests a discussion topic other than "Being more involved". He then goes on to post multiple times, using more than one username, all with identical poor grammar and STUPID CAPITAL LETTERS which he knows annoys people.
There are a few trolls that frequent these forums but Emerson is easily the most consistant. Ironically, his own advice is perhaps the most apt. As with all bullies, if we ignore him he'll get bored and go elsewhere but I hold out little hope for that because taking his bait and hurling abuse at him is still quite amusing for now.
But yeah, blatant troll is blatant.
On 4 Apr 2011 at 1:15pm Hoist wrote:
Janey -you ask how it made me feel to be insulted -It didn't make me feel any way at all as my self image is not bound up with the opinions of people on this forum. I think that people should stop being so princessy about it.
Actually - I really enjoy some of the rude posts and find them very funny.
Re Emerson - I just fundamentally disagree with you about him. I'm sure he is an absolute menace to the poor teachers at priory and he wants to interfere with the education of other people's children. He is not a teacher at the school - he has no authority - and he seems to be very agressive and a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic. I think he should be actively discouraged.
On 4 Apr 2011 at 1:17pm Hoist wrote:
Ed can do -you may be right.
On 4 Apr 2011 at 2:32pm Winterbourne Wanderer wrote:
'So, if I want to highlight an important point I sometimes have no choice but to use capitals. SURELY, YOU CAN LIVE WITH IT!'
Of course I can live with it; it just means I won't read your posts. I'm only telling you as it seems silly to unnecessarily alienate people who might otherwise be interested in reading what you have to say. Finally, a point about good writing: you shouldn't need caps, italics or bold to write clearly and compellingly.
On 4 Apr 2011 at 3:08pm Joist wrote:
Ed can do -you may not be right.
On 4 Apr 2011 at 3:14pm Hoist wrote:
Ha Ha Ha
On 4 Apr 2011 at 7:47pm supporter wrote:
The all shouting one sided view troll is back.
On 4 Apr 2011 at 9:08pm Jonathan Spencer wrote:
Emerson its pretty easy to make a forum for Priory if thats what you want. I can help you do that if you really want. Theres lots of free software that can do that and you can register a domain and host it for abut £25-£50
On 4 Apr 2011 at 10:36pm Bella Donna wrote:
A while ago I posted some advice for Emerson and it was intended as genuine advice, but it set off an incredible reaction. I was just sick of seeing him post about priory, wanting a 'debate' and then trying to set the boundaries of it and not allow people who disagreed with him to post on this forum. ECD is correct, he is an annoying troll, but I believe his real name is Francseco - just simple deduction from the only Italian-sounding name listed in the minutes of the parents forum meeting held. The level of interest in a parents forum appears to be pretty minimal - only six parents attended the meeting......I think it's a shame, but frankly I'd be put off by Emerson's hectoring tone !!!
On 5 Apr 2011 at 8:05am Emerson wrote:
My aim in this debate is to get the community involved in some form of discussion, but I can see this is not happening.
I started this thread by inviting people to suggest a topic of interest regarding Priory, but it hasn't happened. I was hoping that, as well as insults from the more refined section of lewisians which rule this forum, which I am now quite used to, there could be some suggestions on how to improve participation at Priory. This confirms that, despite claims of being a "community" school, Priory has no connection at all with the local community!
Perhaps this is the wrong place to have a debate on Priory, as parents seem to feel intimidated by cyberbullies. As I have already explained to the webmaster, I think the school is partly to blame for not allowing a proper debate to take place on the school website. It looks like the problem will be addressed in the next school year, which is a shame, but it's better than nothing. At present, it seems like the main preoccupation with parents at Priory is the anti-bullying policy. I disagree with this view but I am nevertheless going to support any measures set in place to improve the present school policy designed to combat bullying, which in my opinion is already very good.
Of course, I personally believe there are other priorities. But, this is not the place to discuss them, as some people seem more interested to insult me or speculate what my real name is. Che tristezza!
On 5 Apr 2011 at 9:58am Holed up on Mt Caburn wrote:
I had a child at Priory who was bullied, the school did deal with it, but it was all too late, and we felt schooling was better done elsewhere, a good bullying policy is one that is proactive not reactive.
Other things of interest are after school behaviour, why are ball games not allowed in the grange, why is there not a designated area for ball games at the very least. I notice that one of the Labour Candidates for Priory has suggested this ( see labour website at leweslabour.org.uk ). Kids are often given a bad rep yet they are given few facilities in the town or restricted in what they do.
Lewes is not a good place to be for facilities for the 12-16 age range, schools could do more about this. Years ago I remember in Ringmer that the community college made links with the Youth club and let kids use the basketball courts and yards out of hours. We don't even have a Lewes wide Youth club.
There you go does that help
On 5 Apr 2011 at 11:10am Janey wrote:
At last I see a decent reply to Emerson! I agree with you that there is not much for kids in that age group. I grew up on one of the council estates and enjoyed very much the rollar disco and after school activities at the community centre. Then some pratt smashed it up and the place was pulled down. So us kids just went around on our bikes.Bored. You'd think now there would be more for kids but all I see are skate parks. As for Priory, the anti-bullying group sounds like a good idea but as with all meetings at the school, 2000 kids attend the school and a handful of parents attend the meetings. Not good. Carry on with your work, Emerson. Good luck to you and I hope you can improve it!!
On 5 Apr 2011 at 2:04pm No no no wrote:
If you want this homophobic aggressive bully to have an influence over your children's education I suggest you get him round to you house to do it.
He has no authority and many parents would not want him involved.
Please try to remember that.
I can see that people don't want to be unkind to him - however don't let this push you over into giving him a mandate.
On 5 Apr 2011 at 6:28pm Janey wrote:
Yes yes yes to no no no I have no problem with Emerson. Who are you to vouch for every parent at Priory? It needs somebody like Emerson to create a good decent forum on the Priory school website. Because I have many things to say, too but not on this forum. As he is a parent he rightly has concerns regarding his child, and so do I. Maybe not as much. You have no right to call him homophobic and this thread is not about calling names. My message to Emerson, ignore the last post by "no no no" . Let's please have more good responses whether agreeing or disagreeing as long as they're decent!!
On 5 Apr 2011 at 6:40pm patty wrote:
I agree with Janey. After my child was at a certain primary school, I had no idea what she was doing at school. No books were allowed home. I am happy with Priory School. But like you I wish there was a forum so us parents can discuss certain issues. Posting on here I have noticed Emerson is not getting good feedback, only from some of us. He should campaign for a forum! Be in control of it ,because from his posts he certainly has enough to say! How about that? Because these parent info evenings at Priory are kind of rushed. :-)
On 5 Apr 2011 at 10:05pm Emerson wrote:
Hi,
Thank you Patty, Janey and Holed up for your positive contributions.
I've just come back from a meeting with our head teacher, governors, parents and members of the AGB, the anti-bullying group. I am really pleased with the outcome of this meeting. It seems that many of our suggestions are going to be taken up. There is going to be an anti-bullying coordinator in school who will keep a close eye to any form of bullying taking place at Priory; the school policy will be revised and will include comments and recommendations from parents; a parent council will be formed in the near future, and either a parent bulletin or a web-forum will be created in the next school year! Also, my work in the forum, despite thugs and bullies constantly trying to generate hostility, has been highly appreciated by the head of the ABG (anti-bullying group). A script containing all our positive contributions (except for thugs' comments and insults) has been submitted to her for reference. To reassure all of you who have concerns about their children safety (!), I would like to say that my role in the school parents' council will be minimal, as I am starting a new job and won't have as much time.
I agree with all that Holed up has said and I will certainly raise the issue of a decent youth club to be built near the school, such as the very successful Youth club at East Grinstead Community College (Sackville). It's a great idea! Thank you, Holed up!
On 6 Apr 2011 at 11:21am Emerson wrote:
To Belladonna: My name is ... NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!
To Webmaster: I understand that one of the rules of this forum is: "... You (i.e. people on this forum) agree not to ... post on to this Forum information.... intended to harass or threaten any party ...".
Also: " ... you (i.e. people on this forum) are responsible for maintaining confidentiality of any user name â?¦ provided â?¦ on registration. ... If you become aware that any third party has obtained access to your user name â?¦ or of any unauthorised use of your user name â?¦ you must report such incidents to us (the Webmaster) immediately...", which is exactly what I am doing.
Also, I apologise to my friend Francesco for unintentionally getting him involved in this forum. I don't want him to take all the "credit"(?) for my work! He seems to agree with me on most of my comments, but thinks I am exposing myself too much by revealing personal info. He's got a point!
On 6 Apr 2011 at 12:36pm Pansey wrote:
I agree with Janey and Patty. Emerson is really cool and has some great ideas. Just to refresh everyone's memory here are a few quotes that I hope made the edited highlights he gave to the headteacher.
I suspect that many people turn gay simply because they were not â??lovedâ?? as children by their parents and were bullied in schools, often by bossy teachers, too!
I developed a violent tendency (SO, IF YOU HAPPEN TO MEET ME IN LEWES I SUGGEST YOU KEEP AWAY FROM ME: I AM 6f 8 AND DO KARATE! ... AND HAVE CONNECTIONS WITH THE RED BRIGADES!!). Of course, so far, I have managed to keep it under control. That's why education is important
wipe your derriere with your degree. Once a moron always a moron.
"Scratch the average homosexual and you will find a paedophile,"
I also dislike pro gay propaganda
one is not born a moron and YOU ARE THE LIVING EXAMPLE OF THIS!
write to my Priory as much and as often as I like! It is my right. IT'S NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS!
I THINK YOU ARE AN IDIOT
VAFFANCULO, VAS TE FAIRE INCULER! QUE TE HODEN! MENY A PICHABA...
B..... OFF !!!!
go to another thread! ...one more suited to your extremely low IQ !
On 6 Apr 2011 at 8:10pm supporter wrote:
I can't stop laughing at your post Pansey,thanks for a great contibution.
On 6 Apr 2011 at 11:08pm Patty wrote:
Pansey, you are being silly! Both me and Janey agreed with Emerson. There's no room for sarcasm. This thread started out with a genuine interest in Priory with the aim of talking about Priory, since Priory is a community school. The first comments were openly critical to the school but they were on the whole acceptable. No bad language or insults. Sorry but there's no room for sarcasm or name calling. To Supporter, well, no comment really is there? Because you know what I'm thinking and I won't go down the low level of name calling. To Emerson, don't let these people put you off. I hope to bump into you at one of the parents evenings as we have many things to discuss.
On 6 Apr 2011 at 11:57pm Harold wrote:
Hey Emerson, You are obviously very passonate about this, so you might find this usefull, try `Invison`, they are a site that you can set up a free chatroom/board, all very easy , I have one myself, Hope it helps, best of luck
On 6 Apr 2011 at 11:58pm Harold wrote:
Sorry webbo, Hope you don`t mind my last post .
On 7 Apr 2011 at 7:21am Emerson wrote:
Pansey, I am not proud of what I said.
Some people used some extremely offensive language against myself and my family and I wasn't going to keep quite. I had to defend myself! Yes, I agree, my language was offensive and I apologise to all of those decent people on this forum who might have been offended. But that language was addressed to those rude thugs who insulted me right from the beginning of the thread. Was it Hoist who said: " ...Your rants are bigoted. You deserve to be insulted and â?¦ leave your poor child's school alone.... I bet you are really embarrassing her."? My initial reaction to that was, before I went off the rails, was: " We are having an exciting, intelligent, highly informative exchange of views here: letâ??s not spoil it by calling people names!". Then, it just got worse!
However, you are missing the point. It's not the offensive language - which unfortunately has become a common feature of this forum - I was referring to in my previous post, but the attempt to use my identity, to find out what my real identity is, what my job is, to the extent of breaking the rules of this forum, by bringing in another Italian living in Lewes who had nothing to do with the thread and who was quite rightly annoyed at those bullies who mentioned his name; by allowing a thread to be started against me â?? which, as far as I understand it, was absolutely against the rules! Also, by allowing an extra comment to be added to a finished thread. All this has gone unnoticed. In an attempt to return to a civilized, friendly debate I have offered my apologies, as it is really not in my nature to use that language. Letâ??s see if any of those who insulted me and my family have the courage to do the same.
Harold: thank you for your advice. I have a forum on my website. It's quite easy to set up. But that's besides the point. Lewes Forum is THE place to talk about Lewes and the community. We should encourage participation to topics like our school, which, afterall, belongs to the community.
On 7 Apr 2011 at 7:49am Deelite wrote:
What web site is that?
On 7 Apr 2011 at 9:05am Emerson wrote:
Sorry, deelite. Can't tell you. One day... maybe... if and when we become friends! Isn't one of the aims of a community forum that of fostering friendship, community spirit, solidarity and sharing? If this is so, then we are not being very successful...
Having said that, have you had a look at Brighton Forum? It's full of pervs and, on the whole, much worse than ours! At least, here on this forum we sometimes manage to write intelligent comments ... not me, of course!
Hold on tight and be ready for another Priory School deb8 ! Ohhhhhh hhhh not again! Please, Emerson spare us!!! My real name is Berlusconi !!!