News JOHN
MUNSON SHOW TIME
Village panto a great success
Captain Hook’s Revenge LeedsVillage Hall
LEEDS village pantomime is always fun, and this yearwas no exception. From the tiniest pirate, Otis Mene- ses-Bautista, to the more mature In- dian chief played by Mervyn Hughes, the lively cast gave us lots of laughs and action and songs. With a colourful set and excellent costumes, the showwas directed by Jane Steele,whoappeared as the Old Crone of the Hill. The story was based on Peter Pan. Astrid Finlay was Peter, Sophie Aujard was Wendy and her mother Dottie Dar- lingwas played by David Hoxey. The two ratswere a brilliant dou-
ble act played by Padraig Cuffe and GeorgeWallace. The mature pirates who gave us lots of laughswere Ca- role Burton and Lesley Finlay. Adrian Lovis was a spectacular, quiet-voiced Captain Hook. Tina Chapmanwas the friendly crocodile and Indian maids, Isabel,Alyssa and Sarah danced beautifully. The show ended happily, despite Captain Hookwalking the plank.
downsmail.co.uk
School racism claim an over-reaction, saysmum
A MAIDSTONE mum has de- scribed the action of Valley Park School to exclude her son from les- sons after he referred to a friend as black as “political correctness gone mad”.
Gaynor Harryman (pictured),
from Fant, says the decision now threatens her 14-year-old son’s hope of going to university, after it was deemed that the use of the word blackwas a “racial comment” and logged on his school record. The incident, at the school inVin-
ters Park, arose during a class exer- cise in which her son was asked by a teacher to name something black, and he pointed to his friend. Mrs Harryman, who is a teacher
in London, says her son was led from class and spent four-and-a- half hours in an “isolation unit” be- fore she was contacted by the school. She said: “I came home from
work to find my son extremely dis- tressed over the incident and the way itwas dealt with.” Mrs Harryman says an investiga- tion by the school found that the
girl in question did not feel the com- ment was made maliciously. How- ever, Mrs Harryman says school policy dictated the outcome. She said: “My son
isn’t racist in any shape or form and the word ‘black’ is an accepted term, in the same way we use ‘white’ to de- scribe ourselves. I
have spoken tomyson about the in- cident and he is very sorry if he of- fended the other child. She is a friend of his and he did not mean the term ‘black’ to be offensive in anyway. “I was also advised that during
the school’s investigation the other child agreed she did not feel the comment was made maliciously and that the term was not used to upset her. Nevertheless, he now has a record for making a racist com- ment.” As well as being excluded from
school for a day, her sonwas placed on report for twoweeks, requiring a daily signature from his tutors re-
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garding his interaction with fellow students. Mrs Harryman says the school
over-reacted, without any regard for her son’s previous exemplary behaviour, adding: “I appreciate that this is a very good school. Al- though I am aware that any racial comments need to be dealt with harshly, I do not believe my son meant any harm by this comment and his case was not looked at in enough detail and treated fairly. This is just a case of procedure, pol- icy and political correctness gone mad.” A statement from the school to
Mrs Harryman read: “I realise that the exclusion maywell be upsetting for you and your family, but the de- cision to exclude your son was not taken lightly and the exclusion is for a fixed period for a racial comment towards another student.” The school’s headteacher, Mr Vic Ashdown, told the Downs Mail: “Ms Harryman had asked that the governing body discipline commit- tee consider this matter and they will be doing so in due course.”
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