SES Forums

Wow - I really feel the need to respond. What "personal experience" was Sam speaking of when he very flippantly (in my view) reacted to real experiences being talked about pointing out they were 30 years ago? Speaking as an outsider having never been to St James, and having no grudge or pe...

Hi there There's an article on meditation in schools at http://www.mindfuleducation.org/documents/GL.doc which mentions transcendental meditation being taught in st James and John Scottus. It names the particular form of meditation being taught in the schools and doesn't make any editorial comment o...

Just want to state that i find the personalised nature of this post quite distasteful and not in the spirit of the open debate and attempts to grapple with the good, bad and indifferent of the effects of the SES in the world that I have experienced here. I am genuinely shocked by it, by all means en...

Sam, I'm just wondering what do you mean by pointing out it was 30 (or so) years ago that these events happened? Is it the case that the beliefs within the SES have changed or the behaviours, or both, since? If the beliefs and behaviours have changed, has there been any apology for the damage caused...

Hi Free Thinker, thanks for your thoughts. Thankfully it wasn't my son who was slapped - if it had i would make sure it went some sort of official channel alright. If it was any other place of work where children were being looked after I think it would result in instant suspension pending an invest...

Thanks for clarifying where you were coming from on that one Abel and sorry for imputing a meaning that you hadn't intended in quoting matthew. I do think there are differences in intention behind inconsistencies and not all inconsistencies are equal. Some are because we're not aware we're being inc...

"ok, some of my motives may still be hidden, despite of my best intentions; whereas others hide theirs deliberately and maliciously". Yeaah, right ... Matthew 7:5 comes to mind: "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out...

Hellooo again Bonsai - on this post this time. You clearly have more experience and know more than I do about the SES. I feel I'm veering rapidly into the area of speculation so should really stop. I've enough to be concerned about on known facts alone. Thank you so much for replying to these posts ...

I didn't think of that way but it is quite distressing that in order to avoid one restrictive belief system, children are then exposed to another one. Funny you should mention the convent Bonsai because the atmosphere in john scottus does remind me of the nuns to an extent -the hyper control. My son...

Hi, I take your point Bonsai and if it were an organisation for trading bananas or a cricket club I would certainly agree with you. But I find it hard to believe that the philosophy of the SES won't be the core philosophy taught at these courses. One of the lecturers is an expert in Ficino, and also...

Without a doubt if the schools declared openly that their teachers were active members of the SES (SOP or whatever they choose to call themselves) and that their education system is based on core principles derived from the philosophy studied there then yes this may put off a few prospective parent...

Just to clarify when I wrote 1/2 teachers in the school who aren't practising members I meant one to two rather than half. Apparently in the last number of years, at a meeting of parents, concerned about the teachers being fully qualified, the principal stated that given the ethos of the school, pri...

Hi there Have just noticed that on http://www.luccaleadership.org/partners, the British Youth Council is up there as a "partner" of lucca leadership. Given that it is not made clear on the website that most of the directors/trustees subscribe to one very particular philosophy and given the...

Thanks Bonsai - you are saying exactly what I was trying to get across. My sense is that no matter what priorities I, or the general education system has for my child, that in John Scottus there will always be an undercurrent of an agenda that I do not know about and that I will not be informed abou...

I just want to say thanks for your replies. Now that the decision is made I feel its also important to mention that my child has also been the recipient of care and kindness in the school aswell. I still have the doubts and misgivings but there's no comparison to the experiences of some people here ...