Children in Need.

[Moesha91]

Haha at all the kids who are just butthurt from missing out on the annual skive, get over it and concentrate on your education.

Thank you for your comment. How very mature of you.

[Anonynon]

Only here to offer my civil word

[Moesha91]

Only here to offer my civil word

Of course you are, please say more intelligent things.

[Anonynon]

Only here to offer my civil word

Of course you are, please say more intelligent things.

Sure.. Tell me this, how come, after weeks of knowing that the school wasn't going to be doing anything for Children in Need this year, all the kids, such as yourself, didn't organize something outside of the school? Instead, all of you just went on Facebook and complained while a few foul mouthed their Rector. How hard would it have been to organize a Coffee Morning to raise funds for the charity?
Also, there will be valid reasons as to why the event wasn't hosted this year at the school, as the Rector has always taken pride in raising funds for the charity, I highly doubt feels good about cancelling it this year.

[Govangirl]

Moesha91, you have made a very relevant (and articulate) point here, well done. It is a global issue, particularly in these cash-strapped times. I recall being utterly gobsmacked at the amount your school raised last year - it should have made headlines in the 'papers! The post about the pupils having a skive is way out of order. So I'm with you on why it has to stop.

However, I'm also with the powers that stopped it this year as you can understand families' despair at having to raise it all again. Can't you take the competition out of it? We are all suffering from Charity Overload: by the time we have finished giving to our own favourite causes that are close to our hearts, through PAYE and monthly standing orders, dropping our weekly envelopes in the church plates, admitting defeat to the chuggers, supporting the latest international disaster, emptying your purse for the latest request for the work envelopes put up on the board, giving at the door, donating to the latest TV extravaganza (Comic Relief, Sport Relief, Children in Need, this Aid, that Aid, etc. etc.) and much more, then you are left with a gut feeling which many of us experience in relation to charity, but are not really allowed to voice: ‘Where is this going to end?’ With all those so worthy causes, how are we supposed to choose? Charities are engaged in an ongoing, massive bid not just to win money from the public’s many other needs and wants, but to win money from each other. Charity, like everything, is a competition, however terrible that sounds.

It's a case of having to draw the line somewhere. Ionns is right that we have a clear moral duty to help those in need. The problem is, I don’t have a moral duty to help every last flaming person or country who is in any kind of need. But it’s really, really difficult to decide where to call a halt: those starving kids in Africa are important, but finding a cure for breast cancer isn’t? And again, Ionns is right that many of these kids are raising money when they themselves are living in communities of great disadvantage and deprivation.

When it comes to schools raising money, I absolutely hate having to give to sponsored silences or dressing up as a TV character - there's just no point and I've done plenty of that. When my kids asked me for money to take in to school on Friday, I said no unless they did a small job for it so I get something in return. Ionns may accuse me of selfishness but when it comes to these types of giving, I feel it is the best approach.

In other words, my clever Moesha91, although you may be too young to remember it, I say bring back Bob-a-job Week. Local monies can be raised by doing jobs like gardening, housework, community jobs, etc. and you cannot then be accused of skiving Go and clean the toilet for someone and take the pound earned into school and encourage your friends to see that any amount raised, whether it be 50p or £100, is brilliant.

[Moesha91]

Only here to offer my civil word

Of course you are, please say more intelligent things.

Sure.. Tell me this, how come, after weeks of knowing that the school wasn't going to be doing anything for Children in Need this year, all the kids, such as yourself, didn't organize something outside of the school? Instead, all of you just went on Facebook and complained while a few foul mouthed their Rector. How hard would it have been to organize a Coffee Morning to raise funds for the charity?
Also, there will be valid reasons as to why the event wasn't hosted this year at the school, as the Rector has always taken pride in raising funds for the charity, I highly doubt feels good about cancelling it this year.

We plan to next year, so we have plenty of time to organise. Thank you for your comment.

[Moesha91]

Moesha91, you have made a very relevant (and articulate) point here, well done. It is a global issue, particularly in these cash-strapped times. I recall being utterly gobsmacked at the amount your school raised last year - it should have made headlines in the 'papers! The post about the pupils having a skive is way out of order. So I'm with you on why it has to stop.

However, I'm also with the powers that stopped it this year as you can understand families' despair at having to raise it all again. Can't you take the competition out of it? We are all suffering from Charity Overload: by the time we have finished giving to our own favourite causes that are close to our hearts, through PAYE and monthly standing orders, dropping our weekly envelopes in the church plates, admitting defeat to the chuggers, supporting the latest international disaster, emptying your purse for the latest request for the work envelopes put up on the board, giving at the door, donating to the latest TV extravaganza (Comic Relief, Sport Relief, Children in Need, this Aid, that Aid, etc. etc.) and much more, then you are left with a gut feeling which many of us experience in relation to charity, but are not really allowed to voice: ‘Where is this going to end?’ With all those so worthy causes, how are we supposed to choose? Charities are engaged in an ongoing, massive bid not just to win money from the public’s many other needs and wants, but to win money from each other. Charity, like everything, is a competition, however terrible that sounds.

It's a case of having to draw the line somewhere. Ionns is right that we have a clear moral duty to help those in need. The problem is, I don’t have a moral duty to help every last flaming person or country who is in any kind of need. But it’s really, really difficult to decide where to call a halt: those starving kids in Africa are important, but finding a cure for breast cancer isn’t? And again, Ionns is right that many of these kids are raising money when they themselves are living in communities of great disadvantage and deprivation.

When it comes to schools raising money, I absolutely hate having to give to sponsored silences or dressing up as a TV character - there's just no point and I've done plenty of that. When my kids asked me for money to take in to school on Friday, I said no unless they did a small job for it so I get something in return. Ionns may accuse me of selfishness but when it comes to these types of giving, I feel it is the best approach.

In other words, my clever Moesha91, although you may be too young to remember it, I say bring back Bob-a-job Week. Local monies can be raised by doing jobs like gardening, housework, community jobs, etc. and you cannot then be accused of skiving Go and clean the toilet for someone and take the pound earned into school and encourage your friends to see that any amount raised, whether it be 50p or £100, is brilliant.

Good idea govangirl! We are planning to do something next year outside of school. We have been talking about things to do for it. Any suggestions anyone??

[Anon]

Only here to offer my civil word

Of course you are, please say more intelligent things.

Sure.. Tell me this, how come, after weeks of knowing that the school wasn't going to be doing anything for Children in Need this year, all the kids, such as yourself, didn't organize something outside of the school? Instead, all of you just went on Facebook and complained while a few foul mouthed their Rector. How hard would it have been to organize a Coffee Morning to raise funds for the charity?
Also, there will be valid reasons as to why the event wasn't hosted this year at the school, as the Rector has always taken pride in raising funds for the charity, I highly doubt feels good about cancelling it this year.

Im sorry but i must disagree with you, are you aware that the facebook "cry me a river CIN" comments raised OVER 9000! pounds. Also, the immature blaming of the Rector for world hunger raised a further 73p.

[bill]

I wonder which one of the above is WC1in disguise??

[maxmix]

I wonder which one of the above is WC1in disguise??

I was wondering too.... Their IP Addresses are logged anyway lol (They will all be the same )

maxmix

[Elsie1]

Very interested to see this facebook page... anyone willing to send me in the right direction? As for charity - don't you think such a small school has done extraordinarily well to continually raise money for charities?

[Anon]

ohsnap, i dun goofed, my ip has been recorded and im being reported to the police department and the cyber police!

[Anonynon]

Very interested to see this facebook page... anyone willing to send me in the right direction? As for charity - don't you think such a small school has done extraordinarily well to continually raise money for charities?

Due to privacy and legal reasons I will not be providing you with any links to childrens facebook pages

[Anon]

Very interested to see this facebook page... anyone willing to send me in the right direction? As for charity - don't you think such a small school has done extraordinarily well to continually raise money for charities?

Due to privacy and legal reasons I will not be providing you with any links to childrens facebook pages

you've been back traced, prepared to be v&

[WC1]

Bill wrote:

Hope we get to hear from WC1 on this issue.

and

I wonder which one of the above is WC1in disguise??

I saw the start of this thread before I went in to work on Friday morning, Bill, but decided to wait till I saw how things developed before chipping in my twopence worth. I've been away at a conference in Edinburgh all weekend anyway and I'm just in the door. As for the 'in disguise' bit, I will never use that kind of subterfuge in relation to this forum. My on-line ID is pretty transparent in any case and I have no reason to hide behind a cloak of anonymity. I have to say I think some of what has been posted is somewhat sinister in nature and that may be because people can hide their identity in this way. It's too easy to be extreme in what you say when you don't, in theory, have to answer for it. This is going to be a long post, but I hope it will shed some light on the matter and not just give rise to more heat.

Let's get this in perspective. There was no high-handed decision taken here. I first expressed my concerns to the Parent Council before the summer holidays. I also put them on the SMT agenda and they were discussed there for a bit. The matter then went back to the Parent Council a couple of months back and it also went to all parents for their views via the school newsletter. It was also put to the Student Council and to the staff. Not one person who responded felt we should continue with the Children in Need effort as it had been operating in recent years. Every single respondent felt (a) that it had got out of hand and (b) that it was overshadowing our own needs as a school. Having given pupils, parents and staff the opportunity to make their feelings known and there having been absolutely no dissenting voices, I made the decision, and at the end of the day it is my decision to make, that we would not do it again this year. Instead, we plan to do something for the four House charities some time before Easter and make a big effort for the School Fund in the summer term. Campbeltown Grammar School's children and their needs will be our focus this session.

What exactly were the things I and many others were concerned about? It all began for me last November. I heard one of last year's sixth year calling over to one of the fifth year "£13,000! You lot will never beat that!". (That's what was meant, by the way, by the 'competitive' bit. Nothing to do with sports days, which we still have, along with weekly inter-House sports competitions and a year-round inter-House challenge for School Shields in Scholarship and Citizenship.) The other thing that happened was that, earlier that same afternoon, I noticed that a small group of pupils hadn't gone into the Assembly Hall with the rest. It didn't take long to establish the reason: they had no money left. I suspect one or two of them had had no lunch for the same reason. That worried me a lot. I took them into the hall anyway, but it set me to thinking.

I personally feel that our Children in Need effort had become a monster. It started as the school coming off timetable for half the day to run various stalls and activities. Then that became two-thirds of the day. Then the proceeds of the Hallowe'en Dance got added to that. Then there was a concert as well. Then last year there was all that plus a coffee morning. There was enormous pressure on the senior pupils - a lot of it coming from themselves! - to beat last year's total. Kids and parents (and staff) came under similar pressure to give more and more money. A lot of people just couldn't afford it. And having asked for that amount of support for this cause, we were also doing "Jeans for Genes", the OAPs' Christmas parcels and trying to get money for the four House charities. It was just too much. You might ask why we couldn't just have scaled it back again. Well, we did think about that. But inevitably we would just have been drawn back in to beating last year's total again, and before long we'd have been back on the treadmill. The only way to break the cycle was, in my view, though as I've said it was a view shared by many others, to stop it altogether, and that's what we've done. Incidentally, a lot of the staff were also concerned that it was taking over the school lives of senior students so completely that their studies were coming to serious grief.

Let me give you an example of the sort of thing I mean by 'our own needs as a school'. Nowadays it costs us the thick end of £600 to hire a bus to take pupils to Glasgow, for a theatre trip, say, or to the concert hall. That puts the price of that sort of trip to about £30 a head by the time you add in the tickets etc. A lot of our kids' parents can't afford that. £13,000 raised for our own School Fund would let us say to some of those parents, quietly and discretely as I have done in the past with my own Concertgoers trips, "We'd like wee Johnny to come with us to Glasgow, and by the way, there's no charge. The school fund is paying for it." It would be nice to think that those who have so much to say about our having dropped out of Children in Need, and about how they plan to do something about it "outside school" next year, would see the point about getting behind some fund-raising for that sort of thing instead. However, raising money for our own school fund maybe isn't as 'cool' as doing it for Children in Need - you don't get the school's name shown on TV for one thing.

Just a couple of final points to round things off.

Regarding the OAPs' Christmas parcels, every year each registration class is asked to raise £50 between them over the autumn term to help pay for these. I went round the registration classes in my own House the other week to check where they had go to and to encourage them towards the target. They were not pressured to raise more money. A wee bit of misrepresentation involved here, I'm afraid.

On the question Witchnettle raises about what I said at the prize-giving, I certainly don't recall asking parents to dig deeper for school funds. The whole point is that we've never been guilty in recent years of asking them to dig at all for school funds, so it wouldn't have made sense for me to ask them to dig deeper. However, the speech is still in the archive on my computer at school so I'll have a wee look in the morning and see what I might have said that gave that impression.

Finally, I'm really a bit disappointed to think that some pupils are bad mouthing me personally about this on Facebook, but I suppose that sort of thing goes with the territory. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. On the basis of my discussions with parents, pupils and colleagues over the past year I made a decision which it seems a few don't like, but I would still make the same decision again.