RichardS

I am writing this on the train on the way back from a meeting with the men from the ministry. Eating my sandwich I have read The Times obits and among them today is that of Michael Marland who died on 3 July aged 73. Marland was a man I never met, but he had an influence on me as a trainee teacher through his writing that has lasted all this time,  A successful Headteacher and a prolific writer Michael Marland wrote "The Craft of the Classroom" in the mid 70s. It was recommended reading on my PGCE course and his advice saw me through the first few years of teaching for which I was very grateful. The book was reissued in 2003 and a new generation of young teachers have no doubt benefited from his common sense and professional understanding. Marland was a larger than life personality whose ability to influence others extended to some of the big players - Keith Waterhouse, Margaret Drabble and Faye Wheldon spoke of writing to his pupils at Westminster Community School. He once said "The central task of the school must be sensitive, warm, efficient, human, realistic and thorough". He also said that a would-be teacher who questioned the idea of "control" should reconsider his profession - good classroom management was not an option. You can see why they reissued the book.

I received an email today telling me that ICELE (www.icele.org) is scheduled for closure by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). ICELE is the operator of Bloginabox/ReadMyDay, the blogging platform that we are all using.

The Minister at DCLG, Parmjit Dhanda MP, has confirmed in writing to ICELE that funding for the centre will no longer be available and hence the centre has closed with effect from 30th June 2008. Between now and the end of July, DCLG are conducting a review of the existing tools and products managed by ICELE, including Bloginabox. The Minister has given a commitment that all existing platforms, tools, products and directories provided by ICELE will be maintained during the review period and advice and assistance to existing users from ICELE staff will continue in this interim period, for which DCLG has provided additional funding.

The email from ICELE encourages Bloginabox users to send comments about this decision and the future of the tool to Parmjit Dhanda MP, Minister for Local eDemocracy.

 I am not a frequent blogger, but this is a great site and it would be a backward step if it ended.