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Hello
An alarming behavioural trend has been reported by worried teachers across Greater Manchester. Levels of inappropriate behaviour and language used by children in schools is causing widespread concern.
A recent series of reports from the Children's Commissioner for England found that some children in the classroom had been subjected to strangulation, slapping and choking by other youngsters, as well as demeaning sexual acts.
Some 237 children in primary and secondary schools across Greater Manchester were given suspensions due to sexual misconduct in the last academic year - up by almost 50% the year before. 11 of these were permanent exclusions, a figure tripled from just three in the academic year 2020/21.
The number of suspensions has been described by experts as ‘frankly terrifying’ and paints a picture of the levels of behaviour that other youngsters and their teachers have to face in today’s classroom.
We’ll be getting onto more of that shortly, whilst today’s Mancunian Way will also be looking at a bit of Indian haggis, further calls for extra train platforms, and parking fine woes.
'No work will be done'
Michael Conroy, whose company Men at Work trains school staff on talking to pupils, mostly boys, about inappropriate behaviour, told the M.E.N’s Emma Gill that he set up his company three years ago whilst working as a secondary school teacher after noticing ‘the direction of travel' in issues.
He said the levels of behaviour he experienced were 'different to what it had ever been like before' and 'everything got more and more serious more quickly for more kids'.
"I started noticing the young men and boys showing the impact of the porn they were consuming," Michael explained. "The way they were talking to girls and female teachers.
"I noticed a steady and obvious increase in general levels of disrespect and sexual language."
He says over his 16 years as a teacher and working on his training programmes, he has heard of incidents such as a 10-year-old pupil laughing every time a female member of staff tried to speak to him.
"He'd just laugh and say 'I'm not listening to a woman, women are only good for two things, sex and cooking'," said Michael. "And then there was the student leaving the letters 'MMAS' at the bottom of his work and his teacher found out it meant 'make me a sandwich'. It's all about trying to have the power and he didn't think she should be able to tell him what to do.”
Michael helps train teachers, social workers and youth workers, and has recently been working with Manchester Women's Aid to deliver a programme to teenage boys in Manchester schools.
He says he fears the figures are just the tip of the iceberg as other reasons given for exclusions could also amount to sexual misconduct.
"We don't really know what these incidents of sexual misconduct include," he said. "But then you also get exclusions or suspensions for verbal abuse towards an adult, now that could be sexualised commentary, or there's misuse of digital technology, that could be upskirting. Really the number is probably a lot higher.
"The figures don't say who has done what to who, which is a real problem, because if we can't name the problem, how can we work out a solution.
"We all know it's overwhelmingly male to female, but not knowing the full scale of the problem is pretty useless."
Michael believes that exclusion is not the answer, particularly permanently, when it comes to nipping such behaviours in the bud. "No work will be done with those boys," he said. "They'll be at home probably looking at more porn."
And he says it's important to recognise that in many cases, 'it's not the child's fault'. Instead, he believes the focus should be on having a clear and ongoing dialogue about such behaviours and giving children the chance to explore and understand when lines are crossed.
"It's about them having clear guidelines and boundaries,” Michael adds. “And I always tell staff to look at it foremost from a safeguarding perspective. It's about pupils being safe and being safe to be around.
"It's not about being accusatory or condemnatory, that's the last thing young lads will respond to."
A platform for potential?
A former rail boss said that building two new platforms at Piccadilly station is needed to ensure the region’s railway infrastructure runs smoothly.
Jim Bamford, who was the Head of Investment Planning at Transport for the North (TfN) before retiring in 2021, said the new platforms would allow more trains to travel through Manchester city centre which rail services across the region rely on to run smoothly.
He has spoken out ahead of a meeting of metro mayors, council leaders and industry bosses at TfN's Rail North Committee in Leeds today, with a report proposing that new 'statutory advice' is issued to the transport secretary.
This means that the body, which was set up by the government to make the case for strategic transport improvement across the North of England, would no longer be specifically recommending new platforms at Piccadilly are built. Instead, it would recommend that the Castlefield corridor should carry no less than 16 trains per hour each way without saying how this would be achieved.
Mr Bamford, who in 2020 wrote the report recommending the Piccadilly plans are signed off, supports the call to increase capacity.
He said: "The report is quite right to restate that the government should deliver improvements with increased capacity in the Castlefield Corridor with no less than 16 trains per hour able to operate reliably. As a 2019 Network Rail report states, that requires construction of two new platforms - 15 and 16 at Piccadilly - as 'no other option comes close to delivering 16 trains per hour'.
"Andy Burnham is spot on in continuing to pursue that."
Permitted to party
A family who live near Heaton Park said they ended up paying a £424 fine for parking their car outside their own home during Parklife last year.
Each year, residents near to the park are given parking permits to avoid receiving fines during the busy weekend event. Festival owners say they hand out around 30,000 permits each year.
But Reece Dawson, who lives on Woodhill Grove in Prestwich, said he was handed an initial £70 fine during last year’s event despite informing a parking warden that he lived at the address where his Ford Focus was parked.
His appeal with Bury Council over the fine was rejected and, as he hadn’t paid the £70, his fee went up to £189 before reaching £424 - which he eventually paid off in full. The family say they still haven’t received a permit for this weekend, when Parklife will take place, and fear they will face a similar situation again.
"I have been trying for the best of a week making numerous phone calls to Parklife 2023 to try and get this resolved. I also contacted a local councillor,” Reece's mother, Julie, told the M.E.N’s Neal Keeling. “The people behind Parklife are making a lot of money yet they can't sort out a simple issue of giving parking permits to people who rightly deserve them."
Parklife said they had investigated the circumstances revolving around last year’s permit and said they would personally be delivering the family’s seven permits - which are required for their number of personal and work vehicles - ahead of the weekend.
“She wants seven permits and that is what she will get,” Parklife spokesperson John Drape said. “It is worth noting that Bury council take a very pragmatic approach when it comes to residents who have been ticketed inadvertently. They cancel tickets when they are notified in good time."
Indian haggis, anyone?
A Scottish Indian restaurant opening in Urmston will be serving up the likes of haggis pakoras and 'Irn-Bru Negroni' when it opens on Monday.
Already a big hit in Sale and Chorlton, Roti serves a wealth of quirky dishes blending the dual heritages together. Also on the menu are ‘mince & tatties’ (spice pork mince with chole potatoes), and ‘wee poori parcels’, crisp, hollowed puris filled with yoghurt, chilli, tamarind chutney and masala spices.
As What’s On reporter Ben Arnold notes, there are also Roti-style ‘chip butties’, an Indian-style Scotch Egg and a ‘sausage supper’, comprising spiced, battered sausages, masala potatoes and Edinburgh-style ‘salt and sauce’ - brown sauce, salt and vinegar.
I'm kinda intrigued, to be honest.
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Weather etc
Temperatures: Overcast changing to sunny by lunchtime. 20C.
Road closures: Moor Lane in Bolton closed southbound from Marsden Road to Ormrod Street until June 13 due to roadworks.
Metrolink strike: Tram drivers are striking on Saturday and Sunday (June 10-11) meaning severe disruption to Metrolink services.
Manchester headlines
- Brewery: Another Manchester-based brewery has been forced to call it quits. Thirst Class Ale in Reddish cited the ongoing cost of living crisis for its closure in the coming months. "We've had our beers in amazing venues across the UK, been invited to amazing beer festivals and events and won various awards," owner and head brewer Richard Conway said.
Returned: A Land Rover which was stolen by criminals has been returned to its owner a year after it was first reported missing. The customised vehicle had been owned for 17 years before it was stolen and fitted with false plates. More here.
Arrest: A 39-year-old man from Manchester has been arrested in connection to the disappearance of Malgorzata Wnuczek, who has been missing for 17 years. Officers have been searching the River Soar in Leicester this week in hopes of finding something to establish her whereabouts. Story here.
Beach: Backyard Cinema is set to return to the Depot Mayfield with a jam-packed schedule of top films, including Barbie and the new Indiana Jones movie as well as classics like Dirty Dancing and Back To The Future. The film venue has been decked out into an '80s Miami beach' full of 30 tonnes of sand. There will also be palm tree cocktails and jet skis (not for riding on, obviously).
Worth a read
On the banks of Coniston Water, in the heart of the Lake District, lies a little piece of Wigan.
Low Bank Ground lies an hour's drive up the M6, followed by a half hour jaunt through winding country lanes. But it sounds worth it as the M.E.N’s George Lythgoe reports.
The iconic tourist destination of Coniston Water is known for its stunning views of the waves at the foot of the Old Man fell, which towers over the small village for which the lake named.
It’s also become synonymous with records week, an opportunity for daredevils to meet up and break water speed records.
Since purchasing the property in 1983, Wigan Council has used the site to help young people from the borough experience outdoor activities - whether it’s kayaking, canoeing, ghyll scrambling, orienteering or fell walking.
Find out more about the glorious spot here.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email adam.maidment@reachplc.com.
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