Anti-intellectualism at work in our schools

I live in Manchester, UK and have an exceptionally bright and talented 10 year old son.

He recently had an Open Day at school where they held an 'Art Gallery' of all the pupil's work for parents to browse. I was looking forward to it, Jamie is a very good artist with a vivid imagination.

Unfortunately, talent and imagination is not the order of the day in our country's particular curriculum.

The corridors of the building were separated into sections, each dedicated to a particular famous artist. There was a 'Van Gogh' section, with identical photocopied duplicates of 'Sunflowers' coloured in by the kids. 20 versions of the same picture, merely painted in by the children! The same was done with paintings by Monet and others.

And to add to the insult, you had to pay £3 for your own kid's picture!!!

I was so incensed, I wrote a letter to the Head, to which I received no reply.

Jamie had just completed his SAT exams. An example of one of the questions -

Depicted is a child holding a thermometer in one hand and a beaker in the other.

Question: Why can the child not find out the temperature of the water?
Answer: Because the thermometer is not in the beaker.

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