Conferencing

I phoned up the school where I used to teach to offer a bird box with a camera in it (my sister in law is a very generous person, and in theory it's a great present, but in practice I can't see my husband and I sitting watching eggs hatching out very often, much more beneficial for a school full of children).

Anyway, I digress from the moan. In response to my question, 'May I please speak to the head?' the nice lady who answered said, 'I'm afraid she's conferencing with a group of children at the moment.'

Conferencing? What the hell is that. Does it mean 'talking' with them. If so, then why not call it that. Since when was a school a corporate organisation where you have 'conferences'.

I hate the whole bent towards making everything into a business, so that you don't have pupils any longer, you have 'learners'. What's wrong with the word pupils, or even children? And 'targets', why impose targets on young children. Often targets they can't hope to achieve, because, as we know, children all develop at different rates and in different ways. So whole year targets are desperately unfair on those who may have had a blip in their progress.

I could go on and on about many things that make my blood boil about our education system, but I won't because I have to go to work, but conferencing does seem to me the last straw.