I predict a riot, or, back to the Nineties

What I missed last night (because the ALMO board meeting went on a bit) was getting to the Children (etc) Select Committee to hear the item about reorganising Special Needs Education. Perrymount School (where I'm chair of govs) is a mainsteam school, but with quite a few kids who have mobility and medical needs (and a very nice accessible building). Meadowgate (where my wife Jacq is chair of govs) is a Special School, and would be affected radically - but probably in some quite positive ways. Jacq was supposed to be giving evidence to the committee. Several interests to declare there, I guess, if I had been in time.

So... I went downstairs to where the sort-of-parallel public meeting was going on (at the same time as the Select Committee??? - why???), which was packed out (standing room only, really!) with mostly pretty cross parents of kids with special needs, who are not being well-served by our policies and services, whilst at the same time straining our education budgets to bursting point. I certainly didn't envy any of the council officers who'd been put up the front to face this angry mob.

Strangely, I'd just (mostly for nostalgic reasons) unearthed a video copy of the "Town Hall" BBC2 fly-on-the-wall series, filmed in Lewisham in 1991-92, which opens with a not-too-different education-inspired riot - with a not-too-different cast! Spooky! (Not recommended viewing for new councillors of nervous dispositions, and I can't find it online anywhere, but if you insist you can find a partial copy of the series via the LSE Library catalogue.)