At the chalkface Across the great divide


I’m peddlIng down an alley after school and I see a cartoon. A gang of boys, White, working class, 9th year, are taunting a small boy, White, middle class, 7th year. He’s called Joshua. They’re called rubbish. He had a violin. They’ve nicked it. They’re mock playing it. He’s scared witless. They relish this. He starts blubbing. I hear words like “posh”, “gay”, “girl”. The usual drear stuff. I stop and bollock them. They stop and scarper. except for paul, who gives me the violin. I put it in the case and Joshua on the bus. I watch him disappear, whey-faced in a window. Boys, eh? White


working class boys. Still behaving badly. There are complex reasons for this. Recent research into ethnicity and class fromlondon and Warwick Universities tell us so. This is the one group still not getting those A* to Cs. Too many are still failing and raging. Why? The old chestnuts. The old jobs gone, the knowledge economy, the post-industrial age, the intractable inequalities. I’m afraid we know. my school’s neighbourhood, notting Hill, has been stolen from these boys. They’re exiles on their own backstreets, which are full of coffee emporiums and Juice Bars and fancy delis with gym bunnies sucking on Russian Kale Smoothies. Their Boxing Club has been shut down and their football team priced up. They can’t afford to watch the presently


invincible Superhoops. They’re savagely disenfranchised. It breaks your heart. But not mine.not right now.


Bugger empathy. Right now their behaviour feels like Original Sin. Tribal cruelty. It needs a most severe bollocking. I send for them next morning. I tell them they’re bullies. The very worst. I blather on about cowardice of the mob and the heroism of kindness. I tell them they’re better than this. They effect boredom, kiss their teeth, stare at the floor and slouch out. except for paul. “We were crap, sir!” he confesses. This is a huge gesture.most


courageous. He could get excommunicated from the tribe.duffed up even. He has to be seen to be tough. He’s not. He’s sensitive and hides it. He’s introvert and conceals it. He reads books and tells no-one. He feigns


inarticulacy. He’s a rubbish bully. He might have to ditch his mates – betray them. He might have to cross classes. A most perilous, english journey, across the great divide. You’re not easily forgiven. You can’t always go back. You can go nuts. But he might get those exams. It may already be too late. “It won’t happen again, sir!” let’s hope so. I tell him to


apologise to little Joshua, who is coming down the corridor – without his violin.


• Ian Whitwham is a former teacher. A book of his columns is out now, email editor@sec-ed.co.uk


David becomes first boy to win catwalk award


by Emma Lee-Potter


every year thousands of teenagers set their hearts on careers in the highly competitive fashion world. But 24 up-and-coming young


designers from schools and colleges in london and manchester could be a step closer to achieving their dream after making it to the final of a prestigious fashion competition. Run by creative charity FAd


(Fashion Awareness direct), a not- for-profit organisation that aims to bridge the gap between education and the fashion industry, the 2010 FAd Junior Awards were held in london earlier this month. The finalists, aged 16 to 19 and


all taking A levels or BTeCs in art or design, saw their cutting-edge designs showcased by top mod- els on the catwalk during london Fashion Week. In the months leading up to the


event they had attended a series of workshops with fashion designers and other industry professionals. They learned about the complete


design process, from initial research at london’s V&Amuseum to pro- ducing technical drawings and making their own patterns and gar- ments from scratch. They also spent a week at FAd’s summer school at the University of east london,


where they had just five days to create their final designs. On the night of the awards, the


top prize went to david Short, a 17-year-old student at lewisham College in south east london. david, the first boy in the event’s six-year history to win, was award- ed a design placement withlondon- based design company Religion. The three runners-up were Andre


Augusto, 18, from Hampstead School in north west london, who scooped the creative pattern-cutting award, Karmen-marie parker, 17, from St Angela’s and St Bonaventure’s Sixth Form in newham, east london, who won the award for commercial innovation, and Sarah Kilkenny, 18, from Ashton Sixth Form College in Tameside, who was presented with the research award for her sketch- book work and illustrations. “It’s amazing to give young peo-


ple an insight and an opportunity to see what fashion is all about,” said naomidominique, design director at fashion chain River Island. “Britain is the best country in the world for fashion and getting people involved at a younger age is brilliant.” For more on the FAd awards,


visit www.fad.org.uk


Fashion champion: David Short with a catwalk model showing off his creation


News


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SecEd • September 30 2010


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