At least HS2 is on the way to save us...

[turnbull for england]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-43500164

Nothing new really, but as the father of  12 year old it really strikes home

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Question is if the onus is on parents or government to help kids grow and learn.  I have friends and family who teach. Funding isn't always the problem it's sometimes the lack of care from.parents and kids. 

The facilities in schools in this area are amazing in many places totally amazing.

[drfchound]

Ah, good old HS2.
One of the biggest ever White Elephants.

[hoolahoop]

Turnbull as a father of a 19 year old , if your child works hard , is even averagely bright or good with their hands with ambition he/ she will be ok . There are many bright and successful businessman , lawyers, accountants, architects, draughtsmen etc on this forum . If nothing else, the lads and lasses here should give you great hope for the future.

Don't ever let it be an excuse but an advantage to be born, raised and educated in this great county.

If need be take him/ her to see Leeds , Sheffield, York and Hull universities to see if that's where they would like to end up .
If it's not Acadaemia they are interested in then there is the new HS2 Training School or our classy Airport, Racecourse, Wildlife Park, Northern Racing Stables et al we do have everything here now and the world is their oyster for any hard- working youngster in Yorkshire , Doncaster will soon be the place to be  . You just need to point out the way and at 12 year old that's when children's ambitions are really made or shaped by the family and friends that support them and they can look upto.

Sometimes they have to work just that bit harder than Southern Jessies  but that will pay off later I.e. if they can overcome the deficit with your help between the ages of 11-21 ; then they can overcome anything in front of them going forwards.

There are so many achievers on these boards alone but youngsters that spring to mind are Jenny and Andy, big fat yorkshire pudding ( I hope you two dont mind ) and of course many many older contributors to this board. Anything is possible given the support , will and ambition. My youngster leaves for a year in Copenhagen mid- August, thinking back , I never thought she had the capability and ambition to do such things but thankfully I was very wrong . Good luck to the 3 of you . 

[hoolahoop]

Question is if the onus is on parents or government to help kids grow and learn.  I have friends and family who teach. Funding isn't always the problem it's sometimes the lack of care from.parents and kids. 

The facilities in schools in this area are amazing in many places totally amazing.

I agree entirely so no apologies for using you as such an example of a success story 

[turnbull for england]

Cheers gents, all being well we reckon our lad will be fine he's bright and the school seems to care. At least he should be able to afford a house unlike those South of the Watford gap

[hoolahoop]

Cheers gents, all being well we reckon our lad will be fine he's bright and the school seems to care. At least he should be able to afford a house unlike those South of the Watford gap

Exactly and I wish him the very best , I'm sure that if the school, you and he are ok then things will work out for the best .
I do think that Northern kids do have to try that bit harder but it will be worth it

[selby]

  If they spent the same amount of money on a few regional airports such as Doncaster around the country away from the south east, improved the existing railways  and road structure in the same areas, that would be a better use of the money, and more benefit to the whole country not just the southeast.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

  If they spent the same amount of money on a few regional airports such as Doncaster around the country away from the south east, improved the existing railways  and road structure in the same areas, that would be a better use of the money, and more benefit to the whole country not just the southeast.

Fair point.  What will have more effect? Hs2 or upgrades to the a1, a road from sheffield to Manchester, station at the airport on the main line, motorway to Norfolk etc etc.  Surely these are better for us?

[BillyStubbsTears]

We desperately need modern infrastructure like HS2. If we had a sane approach to investing in public infrastructure, it wouldn’t be a case of either or. We should be building HS2 AND HS3, AND upgrading the A1 AND building CrossRail 2 AND building a motorway under the Peak District and much more.

The Government has been able to borrow at effectively 0% interest rates for nearly 10 years. Those projects would all repay the investment many, many times over and we could have financed them for free. But we’ve chucked away a once in a century chance to do them cheaply because of the idiotic obsession about the deficit which was never remotely as important as the Tories wanted us all to believe.

[drfchound]

HS2 will be the biggest white elephant we will ever have in the UK.
It will probably also be too expensive for the average train user who will continue to use the current system.
The only people using HS2 on a regular basis will be politicians and business people on expenses.

[Sprotyrover]

HS2 will be the biggest white elephant we will ever have in the UK.
It will probably also be too expensive for the average train user who will continue to use the current system.
The only people using HS2 on a regular basis will be politicians and business people on expenses.

Not a fan of HS2 but it's added capacity. E.g. The new Platform at Doncaster has enabled an extra 19 trains a day to travel to London

[roversdude]

Wife is a teacher and some of parents are a disgrace with no interest in future of kids

[hoolahoop]

Wife is a teacher and some of parents are a disgrace with no interest in future of kids

That is sad but true , I have 4 mates that are or were in the case of 2 of them in teaching for years and the subject of " parents who weren't bothered about their kids futures "  is a recurring theme. Unfortunately the calibre of teachers that have to employ also seems to have dropped.

[idler]

My daughter is a teacher and some stories are amazing. Children coming to school in nappies because the parents haven't bothered to potty train them. Distributing underwear and socks for children that soil themselves, which of course is never washed and returned. Absolutely disgraceful, this never used to happen.

[roversdude]

Idler one such child in wife’s class
She has some really good enthusiastic kids in the main but time is taken up with ‘non teaching’ tasks