Posts by Whoops

  • Hard News: Moving from frustration to disgust, in reply to Russell Brown,

    I confirm - we have a choice of 1 school, that we deemed not right for our son. We are out of zone for other 4 schools and so are 'forced' to move.

    here • Since Apr 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Moving from frustration to disgust,

    Ok - my 2 cents... for whatever it's worth.

    We've a 4 year old son who'll start school early next year.

    We live in zone for a d1 school. We have visited that school and felt it wouldn't give the education we want for our son.

    We have visited 4 other nearby schools (d9 and d10), and are now in the process of selling to move ~ 1km into the zone for the school we feel is best for out son (and daughter who'll follow in 2 more years). No out-of-zone enrollments in any of them for many years. Each school had a very different feel, mostly (from what we could tell) to do with the Principal - not the facilities.

    "Meanwhile the angst over pakeha parents fleeing to high decile schools continues..." Perhaps. If some want to categorise our move as white flight that's up to them. My response would be 'fuck off'. We have lived in current area for 12+ years, so no irrational fear of brown skin here. We will choose what is best for our children. Simple. As. That.

    I'm not in the least bit interested in National Standards tables (friends who are teachers have explained the gaming that's going on), and the decile ranking is likewise irrelevant.

    We had the luxury AND took it seriously enough to compare and contrast 5 nearby schools and have chosen the one that we feel will give our kids the best chance of developing a love for learning, enjoying a real child-hood, making life long friends and becoming strong citizens.

    We'll be fine, so don't worry about us.

    </smug bastard>
    ...

    My immediate neighbours - Cook Island grandparents + 9 others (3 primary school kids) in a 3 bed state house don't have that luxury. The nearby d1 school has loads of luverly IT equipment, which I guess must be fun for the IT support people and for the teachers. The kids (5, 6, and 8) are well behaved and friendly, but hungry, barefoot and borderline illiterate (even the 8 year old).

    So fuck you, every politician over the years (from which ever party) who's done nothing about our very real long tail.

    </rant>

    here • Since Apr 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

  • Busytown: Sons for the Return Home,

    Beautiful post as always.

    One piece of advice - allow yourselves a year (at least) to get used to being back in NZ. Stranger in a strange land and all that.

    here • Since Apr 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Meanwhile in Epsom ..., in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    here • Since Apr 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Meanwhile in Epsom ...,

    ...and what an awesome coalition partner ACT would make this time around. Mr Burns, Mr Dairy, Mr Ego, and sundry nutters.

    here • Since Apr 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: For the kids, if nothing else,

    As for giving him Islamic burial rites, for that bastard, after what he did? He didn’t deserve any respect, let alone craven Islamic butt licking.

    What, like harassing the USSR to the point of it giving up an going home, arguably playing a significant part in the down fall of Communism?

    No winners here.

    here • Since Apr 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Perverse Entertainment, in reply to Steve Ballantyne,

    Wow, a quick google and lo... there's his article.

    Redbaiter always strikes me as a smart but not quite as clever-as-he-thinks-he is fellow. Some deep frustrations there, but always good for a chuckle.

    here • Since Apr 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

  • Speaker: TPPA: It's Extreme,

    Would it be stretching geographic protection too far to prevent South American-grown fruit from using the name "Kiwifruit"? :-)

    It would be contentious to interpret the name as "Fruit originating from New Zealand, and thus known as 'Kiwi'" rather than "Fruit which looks like a fat flightless bird", but the thought amuses me nonetheless.

    Wasn't it called the Chinese Gooseberry for a while (after we ah, liberated a sample from China)?

    here • Since Apr 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Again: Is everyone okay?, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Agree - for a short amount of time one of the channels (tv1?) was running footage of the guy being pulled from his car with a massive head injury. I'm fairly certain he was deceased... once someone in the control room worked out what the situation was they stopped using it pretty quickly.

    here • Since Apr 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Again: Is everyone okay?,

    Unconfirmed commentary on HuffPo that tourist were up in the Cathedral Tower.

    Fuck.

    here • Since Apr 2007 • 102 posts Report Reply

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