Tuesday 11 October 2011

Enterprise and the denormalisation of food..a tale out of school

****

If you introduce a strict "healthy food" policy there are consequences. And one is enterprise and initiative:

A schoolboy has been suspended for selling chocolate and crisps to pupils. Tommie Rose, 12, set up a playground business after being inspired by TV shows Dragon’s Den and The Apprentice.
His family say he was making up to £60 a day selling chocolate, crisps, and drink at Oasis Academy in Salford. But the school has a strict healthy-eating policy and teachers say sales between students are banned.

So the school doesn't sell what it - wholly arbitrarily - determines to be "unhealthy" and Tommy fills in the gap. This seems entirely the consequence of this schools offensive and illiberal policies - reinforced by the "only what we sanction" policy:

Principal Patrick Ottley-O’Connor said pupils were encouraged to develop their business skills through activities such as growing vegetables for sale.

He said: "The safe environment where our students, learn and develop skills, including business and enterprise skills, are facilitated by the high standard of behaviour expected within the academy. The private selling of goods is not permitted and any persistent breach of the code of conduct is dealt with firmly, but supportively through parental engagement."

Bringing up children to be good, compliant little conformists. Crushing the spirit of enterprise. British education at its finest!

....

1 comment:

Weekend Yachtsman said...

A pound to a pinch of s**t that by the time that lad is 25 he'll be making four times the salary of that pompous ass of a Principal.

Go Tommy! (And not just because he got up the noses of the puritans, but partly that)