I have already written a recent editorial on our present school woes but at no time have I thought it is the present system that is to blame.

It is the administration and the red tape that is stopping our teachers from doing what they are trained to do – to teach.

The endless forms they have to fill in so that the statistics department can make some sense of it and show how good everything is (or not?).

However, even with all this our pupils’ grades are improving.

Surely, this proves the system is working and it is the external factors that are not?

I have spoken at some length before on how a 2 tier system is a horrible idea and even though Minister Rivers has said she is not promoting it, what she has said she is looking seriously at would appear to be just that.

And now we come to the C4C – I am really worrying about what the ‘C’ stands for – and their promotion of the United Kingdom’s ARK – Absolute Return for Kids. Just the name sounds as if it belongs to a Hedge Fund and unsurprisingly it does.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_Return_for_Kids
“Absolute Return for Kids (ARK) is an international charity whose purpose is to transform children’s lives.
“It is based in the United Kingdom, and has international operations.
“ARK is a registered charity under English law and is based in London. In 2007–08 it had a gross income of £38,415,000.
“ARK was founded in 2002 by some of the hedge fund world’s leading luminaries, including Arpad Busson, Paul Marshall and Ian Wace from Marshall Wace, Jennifer Moses, the former Goldman Sachs banker, and David Gorton, of London Diversified Fund Management.
“A significant proportion of its funds comes from donations pledged at an annual charity fundraising event, “a must-go event for London hedge fund moguls.”’
“In 2009 Stanley Fink became chairman of the ARK trustees, taking over from founding chairman, Arpad Busson who held the post since the charity launched. Arpad Busson remains on the Board as founding chairman, and chairman of ARK US.
“Fink says of ARK: “ARK’s work in health, education and child welfare has never been more vital. If you can offer a child a good education and good health you can change their life.”’
“Busson says of ARK: “If we can apply the entrepreneurial principles we have brought to business to charity, we have a shot at having a really strong impact, to be able to transform the lives of children.”’

ARK on their website claims:

ARK is developing a range of ALTERNATIVE CARE SYSTEMS to ensure the best care for each child.

In its INTRODUCTION, ARK claims: ARK is closing detrimental institutions across Eastern Europe, moving children into family focussed environments and preventing more children from entering institutional care

The website list many of the people involved with the charity. Some have very questionable backgrounds.

At the end of my Editorial I will leave you with a host of links you can click and leave you to make your own mind up. (Note: Some are old and may have been removed by?)

Is the ARK system actually working?

An interesting article that gives both sides is found on the Prospect Magazine website at: http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/features/academy-schools-labour-investmen under the title “Do academy schools really work?”.

A more recent article though published April 23 2014 on the times union website (http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Time-has-run-out-on-Ark-school-5424943.php) claims “Time has run out on Ark school”.

Written by James Merriman he says:

“The Ark school is more than a name in the headlines to me. I was a senior executive at the SUNY Charter Schools Institute and instrumental in recommending it be approved to open. I got to know the dedicated educators who founded the school and still operate it. They impressed me with their dedication to children and the community, and they still do. Their good will, their love of children is not in question. Unfortunately, however, the school as an organization has not been delivering the results that it promised, and that families and taxpayers have a right to expect.”

“The Ark school’s academic results had declined consistently over the last five years, and stood below 90 percent of schools across the state that enroll similar numbers of economically disadvantaged students, and below 94 percent of all schools. And under the new common core tests, only seven percent of their students are proficient. After 13 years of operation, that isn’t good enough.”

“The school’s supporters argue that its academic performance is better than the local district public school. But the difference is only marginal, which falls far short of the goal the Ark school had accepted for itself. Charter schooling is not about marginal improvement, and SUNY is right to expect that its charter schools use their considerable freedoms to produce more than a slight edge over a struggling school district.”

All this is nowhere as glowing as the C4C advertisement makes out nor is the present system as bad as they have made out.

I really query their motives and none of their latest missives are what I want 4 Cayman.

The proof is in the results and if you are achieving increasingly better results why change the system. Change the administration and get rid of the red tape. Let teachers teach!!

LINKS:

ARK Schools, Academies and eugenics. The John Adam St Gang.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBxQpft5F_k
Teens and Toddlers ‘Sustainability Replication Programme’: http://www.teensandtoddlers.org/curre…

Teens and Toddlers school counselling services: http://www.teensandtoddlers.org/schoo…

Teens and Toddlers staff specialise in Psychosynthesis:
http://www.teensandtoddlers.org/biogr…

The Teens and Toddlers scheme mentioned in parliament and favoured by the Cabinet:
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-…

Children: Our Ultimate Investment: home page, Laura Huxley: http://www.children-ourinvestment.org/

Teens and Toddlers at Children: Our Ultimate Investment http://www.children-ourinvestment.org…

Teens and Toddlers a client of ‘The Dream Mill’: http://www.thedreammill.com/clients/

Report on Teens and Toddlers from The Dream Mill: http://www.thedreammill.com/resources…

http://www.teensandtoddlers.org/evalu…

Project Caressing at Children: Our Ultimate Investment: http://www.children-ourinvestment.org…

Laura Huxley; the Foothill Leader article: http://www.children-ourinvestment.org…

Liability issues ended Project Caressing in the US: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/…

Children: Our Ultimate Investment at the Charity Commission: http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/…

The Psychosynthesis and Education Trust: http://www.psychosynthesis.edu/

Psychosynthesis founded by Roberto Assagioli; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosy…

Assagioli a trustee of Alice Bailey’s ‘The Lucis Trust’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Ba…

Psychosynthesis and Education Trust foster psychological research: http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/…

Alice Bailey on Aryan’s and involvement with Lucis Trust: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Ba…

Lucis trust renamed from the Lucifer Trust: http://www.barruel.com/info.html

Lucis Trust: http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/soc…

ARK funds Children: Our Ultimate Investment: http://www.guidestar.org.uk/gs_activi…

Execution Ltd donates to ARK: http://www.executionlimited.com/news….

future children centre here: http://www.brent.gov.uk/servlet/ep.ex…

therapy room here: http://www.brent.gov.uk/servlet/ep.ex…

ARK (Absolute Return for Kids) at Guide Star:
http://www.guidestar.org.uk/pdf/20_03…

The Farm Revealed, eugenics and Galton: http://www.channel4learning.com/suppo…

Films for Learning: http://community.filmsforlearning.org…

Perfecting Eugene:
http://www.sciencelearningcentres.org…
page=15&module=rep&mode=103&idrep=2728

Ludus; considers itself to be Britain’s leading dance in education company: http://www.ludusdance.org/

Human species may split in two: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6057734…

Euthenics is ‘especially to increase efficiency’ http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/di…

Wolfozitz and the ‘above average’….http://www.911forum.org.uk/board/view…

Image of Hitler on eugenics from this site: http://bioephemera.com/2007/04/01/the…

Huxley ‘preventing the sub normal from breeding’: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/20…

Lee Silver on genetic engineering: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/baby/clo…

Charlotte Iserbyt on education http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDyDtY…

John DeCamp: ‘The Franklin Cover-Up’: http://la.indymedia.org/news/2007/02/…

‘Brave New Schools’ link http://www.crossroad.to/Books/BraveNe…

Every Child Matters, globally: http://setup.greennet.org.uk/uploads/…

More on schools here:
https://www.lifeinthemix.info/2011/11…

Galactic Alignment here: http://lifeinthemix2.co.uk/galactic_a…

ARK’s employment of Schillings law firm to remove information from the internet and related discussion here: http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Talk:Schill…