So goes Sinatra's most famous song My Way.
It is apt for this Barrovian Academy scheme as it seems likely that the Camden Judge will issue their ruling today 31st July 2009.
It is apt for this Barrovian Academy scheme as it seems likely that the Camden Judge will issue their ruling today 31st July 2009.
The Autumn term is now just five weeks away and yet my son and 1800 of
his peers has no idea whatsoever what sort of school he is going to go
back to. Ms Moira Swann who is the civil servant
responsible for this horrible situation being in existence is still in
her job so she must have the full backing of the elected Councillors
and her immediate boss the highest ranking civil servant employed by
the County Council Mrs Stannard.
I have proved to myself that these people really are incompetent and are 'not fit for purpose' however I am not in a position to remove them from their offices and replace them with people who are fit for purpose so they are free to carry on with their lying and evangelising thinking that they know what is best for my son. They refuse to meet with parents, they refuse to meet with OSANFS, they never answer e-mails, they never met with parents or pupils of the three doomed schools. All they can do is use their medium of choice the Evening Mail to eulogise and brainwash compliant Barrovians into believing everything is on track.
This is a total lie as I myself have proved these people and their chosen sponsors have yet to meet any of their self imposed deadlines. In the real world if a deadline is set and not met then there are real consequences. In the Cumbria County Council fantasy world there are no consequences. As a public body it should be held accountable to it's electors but the County Councillors are either totally incompetent, impotent, too stupid to see what is really going on, too scared to act or prefer like so many to keep their heads down hoping it will all go away which it will. Like everyone else I don't know the real truth as I am not a County Councillor but they are all silent so they presumably see nothing wrong with Ms Swann's handling of this fiasco.
Once the judges ruling is made public one of two things will happen.
If the ruling is that there is no case to answer the Evening Mail will roll out it's already prepared pages about how great it all is and how Ms Swann and her sponsors are the best thing for the 'children of Barrow' and we can all return to our sheep like existence as everything is fine and we will see the launch of a world class 21st century learning facility which will improve the aspirations and lifelong learning opportunities for the Furness learner, I've read it so often the bullshit is second nature now.
Within a short while there will be a 'rethink' and the single Academy site will be brought back into favour on 'cost grounds' and Ms Swann can revert to her original plan of a huge single site Academy and her Mason Minitt inspired Learning Village will be off the ground. All manner of 'local services' will be co-located on Parkview to maximise the joined up thinking and funding opportunities presented by the BSF programme over the next 10 years.
If the ruling is that there is a case to answer no problem. Moira Swann has invented an entirely new type of school that is in reality an Academy in all but name. No idea what role the Furness Academy Limited would have in such a thing nor any idea how long such a school would have to exist before the ramifications of the judges ruling are worked out. Neither does Ms Swann but she will not let such a trivial thing get in the way of her plans.
So either way Barrow will get it's Academy.
That is crystal clear.
I have done all I can to try and uncover the real drivers behind this scheme. The government IS bailing out the construction industry as that industry has some very powerful shareholders who can exert considerable political influence.
The construction industry is still under investigation for alleged sharp practice in bidding for very large contracts such as Academy builds.
Ms Swann has negotiated a secret bid process between Kier Construction plc and Laing O'Rourke plc not one bit of which has ever been put into the public domain. I have no idea if there was anything 'untoward' with this process but the awarding of five new builds at four Academies is unprecedented in the Academies programme. Despite my best efforts and some promising leads I have been unable to find out anything 'concrete' about this process but it is totally different to all the ones I have looked at which are all remarkably similar to each other.
I have proven beyond any doubt that the County Council employs spin doctoring techniques to get it's way on consultation after consultation again it's the civil service acting without sanction that does this and it gets away with it time and time again. That is wrong but it is unfortunately the reality.
I still have no faith in the silent sponsors nor Mr Blackledge but I do have a touch of sympathy for him as he thought he was getting a very good deal not a poisoned chalice.
What this entire scheme is all about is equally hard to pin down covered as it is in lies, myths, beliefs, evangelicals, smoke, mirrors, gross incompetence all stirred together with a whiff of corruption.
What some of these people really do believe is that my son and his peers need saving and that they are the people to do it. They hide in the shadows of the FEC and the 2020 symposium but they are the 'bit players' brought in to provide a smokescreen and 'take heat'.
There are useless companies involved every step of the way but again that doesn't matter because as useless as they really are they are on the 'right lists' so they will keep on getting work.
So come what may later today, if it is announced at all, Barrow will get Moira Swanns Academy. It may not be called Furness Academy Limited but that is what it will be. Other places in this country have successfully thwarted the hidden ones by concerted public action but there is no such thing here in Barrow.
Barrovians as a breed let everything wash over them and moan and groan about how bad it is but then do absolutely bugger all about it. They don't even vote in large numbers so no wonder people like Jack Richardson and U Turn Gusselli get elected into positions of 'power'.
Quotes like these really do pi** me off.
"I know it's not the best solution but you have to move forwards!"
"You cannot stop 'them'. 'They' will always get 'their' way."
"We are sleepwalking over the cliff but I'll take the Academy coin anyway!"
"They are useless but there is nothing I can do about it."
There are many, many more that just show how truly indoctrinated poor deprived Barrow really is into 'head down arse up' world that 'they' want us to inhabit.
I guess it's really decision time for my son and my family. If he wants to 'give it a go' he is at least at the right age with another year before he gets told what diploma options he will be getting whether he passes them or not at 16, so he may end up in Barrow Academy.
Equally he may end up at Dowdales or UVHS assuming there is room, so many have already moved their children away from 'the coming apocalypse' a parents words not mine, that it might not be possible to move my son.
Home schooling is looking very attractive as he will foreshorten his time in school by at least six months so that would put him ahead of many of his peers locked into 'the apocalypse way'. It wouldn't be the easiest route but it is looking like it's going to be the best.
At this moment I have no idea what we will decide on.
Just don't ever ask me to get behind this Academy no matter what form it takes. It's rank from top to bottom and if it slides into the same fate as befell Richard Rose I would not be in the least bit surprised. All the same warning signs that Ms Swann chose to ignore just a few months ago are there again but the reality is that once an Academy actually exists no matter how abysmal it gets it will never be returned to the state sector. That is not politically acceptable for this government. I doubt these people will be in power for much longer but the only credible alternative is just as bad so doubtless the same failings will continue.
I have proved to myself that these people really are incompetent and are 'not fit for purpose' however I am not in a position to remove them from their offices and replace them with people who are fit for purpose so they are free to carry on with their lying and evangelising thinking that they know what is best for my son. They refuse to meet with parents, they refuse to meet with OSANFS, they never answer e-mails, they never met with parents or pupils of the three doomed schools. All they can do is use their medium of choice the Evening Mail to eulogise and brainwash compliant Barrovians into believing everything is on track.
This is a total lie as I myself have proved these people and their chosen sponsors have yet to meet any of their self imposed deadlines. In the real world if a deadline is set and not met then there are real consequences. In the Cumbria County Council fantasy world there are no consequences. As a public body it should be held accountable to it's electors but the County Councillors are either totally incompetent, impotent, too stupid to see what is really going on, too scared to act or prefer like so many to keep their heads down hoping it will all go away which it will. Like everyone else I don't know the real truth as I am not a County Councillor but they are all silent so they presumably see nothing wrong with Ms Swann's handling of this fiasco.
Once the judges ruling is made public one of two things will happen.
If the ruling is that there is no case to answer the Evening Mail will roll out it's already prepared pages about how great it all is and how Ms Swann and her sponsors are the best thing for the 'children of Barrow' and we can all return to our sheep like existence as everything is fine and we will see the launch of a world class 21st century learning facility which will improve the aspirations and lifelong learning opportunities for the Furness learner, I've read it so often the bullshit is second nature now.
Within a short while there will be a 'rethink' and the single Academy site will be brought back into favour on 'cost grounds' and Ms Swann can revert to her original plan of a huge single site Academy and her Mason Minitt inspired Learning Village will be off the ground. All manner of 'local services' will be co-located on Parkview to maximise the joined up thinking and funding opportunities presented by the BSF programme over the next 10 years.
If the ruling is that there is a case to answer no problem. Moira Swann has invented an entirely new type of school that is in reality an Academy in all but name. No idea what role the Furness Academy Limited would have in such a thing nor any idea how long such a school would have to exist before the ramifications of the judges ruling are worked out. Neither does Ms Swann but she will not let such a trivial thing get in the way of her plans.
So either way Barrow will get it's Academy.
That is crystal clear.
I have done all I can to try and uncover the real drivers behind this scheme. The government IS bailing out the construction industry as that industry has some very powerful shareholders who can exert considerable political influence.
The construction industry is still under investigation for alleged sharp practice in bidding for very large contracts such as Academy builds.
Ms Swann has negotiated a secret bid process between Kier Construction plc and Laing O'Rourke plc not one bit of which has ever been put into the public domain. I have no idea if there was anything 'untoward' with this process but the awarding of five new builds at four Academies is unprecedented in the Academies programme. Despite my best efforts and some promising leads I have been unable to find out anything 'concrete' about this process but it is totally different to all the ones I have looked at which are all remarkably similar to each other.
I have proven beyond any doubt that the County Council employs spin doctoring techniques to get it's way on consultation after consultation again it's the civil service acting without sanction that does this and it gets away with it time and time again. That is wrong but it is unfortunately the reality.
I still have no faith in the silent sponsors nor Mr Blackledge but I do have a touch of sympathy for him as he thought he was getting a very good deal not a poisoned chalice.
What this entire scheme is all about is equally hard to pin down covered as it is in lies, myths, beliefs, evangelicals, smoke, mirrors, gross incompetence all stirred together with a whiff of corruption.
What some of these people really do believe is that my son and his peers need saving and that they are the people to do it. They hide in the shadows of the FEC and the 2020 symposium but they are the 'bit players' brought in to provide a smokescreen and 'take heat'.
There are useless companies involved every step of the way but again that doesn't matter because as useless as they really are they are on the 'right lists' so they will keep on getting work.
So come what may later today, if it is announced at all, Barrow will get Moira Swanns Academy. It may not be called Furness Academy Limited but that is what it will be. Other places in this country have successfully thwarted the hidden ones by concerted public action but there is no such thing here in Barrow.
Barrovians as a breed let everything wash over them and moan and groan about how bad it is but then do absolutely bugger all about it. They don't even vote in large numbers so no wonder people like Jack Richardson and U Turn Gusselli get elected into positions of 'power'.
Quotes like these really do pi** me off.
"I know it's not the best solution but you have to move forwards!"
"You cannot stop 'them'. 'They' will always get 'their' way."
"We are sleepwalking over the cliff but I'll take the Academy coin anyway!"
"They are useless but there is nothing I can do about it."
There are many, many more that just show how truly indoctrinated poor deprived Barrow really is into 'head down arse up' world that 'they' want us to inhabit.
I guess it's really decision time for my son and my family. If he wants to 'give it a go' he is at least at the right age with another year before he gets told what diploma options he will be getting whether he passes them or not at 16, so he may end up in Barrow Academy.
Equally he may end up at Dowdales or UVHS assuming there is room, so many have already moved their children away from 'the coming apocalypse' a parents words not mine, that it might not be possible to move my son.
Home schooling is looking very attractive as he will foreshorten his time in school by at least six months so that would put him ahead of many of his peers locked into 'the apocalypse way'. It wouldn't be the easiest route but it is looking like it's going to be the best.
At this moment I have no idea what we will decide on.
Just don't ever ask me to get behind this Academy no matter what form it takes. It's rank from top to bottom and if it slides into the same fate as befell Richard Rose I would not be in the least bit surprised. All the same warning signs that Ms Swann chose to ignore just a few months ago are there again but the reality is that once an Academy actually exists no matter how abysmal it gets it will never be returned to the state sector. That is not politically acceptable for this government. I doubt these people will be in power for much longer but the only credible alternative is just as bad so doubtless the same failings will continue.