Mum and Dad didn't know I'd been badly treated by the teachers at school. I got a scholarship and they were very pleased, and I didn't like to bother them. It's not something you want to talk about as an adolescent.He attended St. Benedict's when both Father David Pearce and John Maestri were teaching, so it's not hard to imagine the ways in which he was "badly treated". Of course, he was a scholarship boy. Lots of pressure not to complain.
Saturday, 24 July 2010
Julian Clary
There's an article in today's Guardian about St. Benedict's old boy Julian Clary. This paragraph sprang out at me.
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Mr West - the man who finds it 'not hard to imagine'
ReplyDeleteMr West no one, it seems, need be coy or bashful with you at their side. Julian Clary has, I think, commented on this several times before and at greater length. So far, he has had nothing to say about sexual abuse. Might this be yet another of your fantasies, Mr West?
Isn't it telling how certain words or issues spring out at certain people? Poor Mr West innocently reading his morning paper when suddenly his imagination is rudely assailed and set spinning by just two little words! Then, as if from nowhere, images of boys being abused crowd him on both flanks. He is forced to run and don his moralising hat! It's the only way, it seems, for him to regain a modicum of balance and self-control.
ReplyDeleteBut he has to be a hell of a lot more fun in a sexual frenzy, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteWell..come to think of it...maybe not! As the saying has it - 'better not go there!'
Ah - the empty vessel from the Abbey rings out as multiple posters once more.
ReplyDeleteHe makes a claim which he fails to support "Julian Clary has, I think, commented on this several times before and at greater length" the innuendo being it was nothing - and the bangs on about West once more.
"Empty vessel" - please provide the comment Clary made of which you claim knowledge. "Badly treated by the teachers" is a great advertisement for St Benedict's from yet another former pupil.
What kind of place is this?
A = Lucky if you weren't buggered kinda place!
ReplyDeleteI think Julian Clary probably had a hard time at St Benedict's simply because he was gay. Such bullying, wherever it happens, is utterly unacceptable. I only hope that St Benedict's and all other schools are doing whatever they can to put a stop to it!
ReplyDeleteSome men and boys faced with someone who is undeniably gay feel threatened and have to put on a macho performance of some kind. This is, of course, more than slightly ridiculous, as it so obviously reveals their own sexual insecurity.
A Christian school, worthy of the name, should be out there, way up front, leading the struggle against prejudice and inequality of this kind.
- Mary
A = Great to be kinda place if you are an adult with an unhealthy interest in boys!
ReplyDeleteA = Not a great to be kinda place if you are a pretty boy who won a scholarship (which reduces your ability to complain to zero)
ReplyDelete15:28 is a vessel far too full of him/herself, otherwise they couldn't bring themselves to write such pompous nonsense.
ReplyDeleteAll s/he need do is look up Julian Clary on the web where they'll readily find a host of postings to all Julian's interviews etc.
Perhaps, though, this vessel is so full it just hasn't the energy to do that?
A = Not a great place period!
ReplyDeleteTell me, 15:39, as you seem to be something of an expert in these matters, exactly where do you suggest 'pretty boys' go to be educated?
ReplyDelete"Empty vessel" - please provide the comment Clary made of which you claim knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI asked politely but once more, in your default setting, you are rude and offensive.
Put up or we'll just take no notice of you.
A = Not St Benedict's OSB
ReplyDeleteA = St Benedict's but with top down dismissals and a working child protection policy containing one key line.
ReplyDeleteIs that, 15:46 the royal 'we'? And is calling someone 'an empty vessle' complementary?
ReplyDeleteAs for finding the info you desire it is, as I said, readily available. Here are just three, of many, for you to begin with;
Quote 1 'He attended Ealing Abbey School and was taught by Benedictine Monks. Julian Clary was beaten with a studded belt by a monk and was bullied by classmates for homosexuality.'
Quote 2 'Julian Clary went to School at Ealing Abbey, where the Benedictine Monks taught him the rudiments of glamour and alternative living.'
Quote 3 'He is not big on self-analysis, but ask what shaped him and the answer is immediate: “St Benedict’s School.” At the Roman Catholic public school in Ealing he was bullied by pupils. One master said that Clary brought it on himself with his effeminate behaviour. His response was to ratchet up the camp: “I decided I would make all these things into assets and have people applaud me for the very things that made my life difficult. I decided to sell myself that way and it doesn’t seem to go away.” '
You might also like to read his autobiography, A Young Man's Passage?
What 16:08 writes seems to confirm rather well Mary's suspicions @ 15:33. If you have not read what Mary wrote then please do so. SEE ABOVE.
ReplyDeleteRe 15: 39
ReplyDeleteStill waiting to learn where 'pretty boys' should be put?? Surely, 'Westites' have an answer for everything? And how about Mr West's own, most recent, accusation, against Fr Gregory? No response from him either! Oh dear! I feel really let down! And by the standard bearers of Virtue and Morality too. What a sad world!
Answer already provided but once again for 16.26
ReplyDeleteA = Not St Benedict's OSB
Oh my goodness. No wonder we have problems with this blog, if that's what Westites call an answer! If I ask you, 17:16, where Charing Cross is, you surely don't start listing everywhere it isn't! My God, no wonder you folks have such difficulties grasping even the most elementary statements!
ReplyDeleteSo, Saturday night is upon us, once more! Have fun folks - in moderation, of course. See you anon.
ReplyDeleteTrust Mr West to jump to confusion yet again. He really is daft. He has made a fe very valid points about child protection at St Benedicts but no one of consequence can possibly take him seriously because he keeps putting his foot in it.
ReplyDeleteThe Abbeyvista - the only one - don't you love him.
ReplyDelete Suffers from rampant denial
Suffers blind loyalty
Rarely answers a question
Doesn't recognise the truth
Know’s of safeguarding operations at StB's
Personally abusive
Bullying
Misleads
Obfuscates
He also appears to teach your children! Where one might wonder?
And when it comes down to it would employ the Nuremburg defence because of his blind loyalty to the Abbey.
Now he has signed off for tonight to go have a good drink perhaps.
Any ideas?
The St Benedict’s Way
Ah 18.36
ReplyDeleteJust the
- Independent school Inspectorate
- The Department for Education Safeguarding Director.
Yup - that adds up to no one!
Think again
Mr West, do put your trumpet down. It's really not good to go on blowing it and blowing it! Do give it, and us, a rest - sometimes, at least!
ReplyDeleteINDEED, 19:31, 'THINK AGAIN' THE GUY SAYS, BUT WITH ALL THAT SELF-ADULATORY BLOWING, FROM THE WESTERN FRONT, ONE CAN'T HEAR ONESELF THINK AT ALL!
ReplyDeleteOne day the trumpet may really sound, 19:40, and Mr West will get the shock of his life!
ReplyDeleteThe Western front includes the DfE and the ISI.
ReplyDeleteSpeak to them - go complain to them about their treatment of St Benedict's.
Don't whinge here - it will do you no good because West can do nothing as you rightly keep saying.
So waste no further time on him - go to the offices of the ISI and the DfE and add the Charity Commission to your list why not! They are the organisations that need to hear from those committed to the institution.
There you have a chance of being productive but here you do not.
In case anyone might be misled by the above contribution, here are the main conclusions of the ISI inspectors report: a) for the Senior School, b) for the Junior School.
ReplyDeleteSenior School – ‘St Benedict’s School is highly successful in achieving its aims of providing good quality Catholic education and ‘teaching a way of living’ derived from the Rule of St Benedict. The pastoral care and personal development of the pupils are excellent and recognised as such by the parents. Teaching is strong, often excellent and at times inspirational, and enables willing and cooperative pupils to achieve examination results at both GCSE and A level that are good in relation to their abilities. Leadership is excellent and clearly focused. The school has recently introduced full co-education and the transition is being very well managed. Pupils are pleased and proud to be at the school and speak highly of both it and the staff who support them. Relationships between pupils and staff are excellent and conducive to successful learning. The education offered is enhanced by a rich co-curricular programme, which has enabled some outstanding sporting achievements’.
Junior School – ‘The school successfully meets its aims to provide an education based on the school’s vision based firmly on Benedictine principles, where pupils are encouraged to achieve well academically whilst enjoying a broad curriculum. Children in the EYFS and pupils in the remainder of the school receive a good all-round education, well suited to their interests, aptitudes and needs. Pupils are happy. They achieve good standards overall, reflecting the strong teaching. They are provided with an interesting curriculum. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding and they are effective learners. Pastoral care is excellent and provision for pupils’ welfare, health and safety is secure. Well-tailored support is provided for pupils with special educational needs and those with learning difficulties. Links with parents are outstanding and those with the community are worthwhile. These successes are largely due to effective leadership and enthusiastic management, together with the determination of all the staff to do the best for their pupils. The school has rightly identified writing as an area for development. Standards of writing are satisfactory, whereas they are good in the other aspects of English. The very new management structure is not clear enough in defining the relationship of the roles and responsibilities of the existing arrangements with those newly created. The provision of PSHE is under developed’.
And just in case anybody is misled by the 16:09 contribution, they are from the reports of the November 2009 inspection visit, which have since been withdrawn by the ISI. At present, only the previous reports in 2003 and 2004 are available in the ISI website. I've already described why the reports were withdrawn.
ReplyDeleteIn Mr West's 'description' of why ISI has temporarily removed its excellent 2010 report on St Benedict's he quotes an email from Jeanette Pugh, Director of the DfE. In it, Ms Pugh, says, that since the report in 2009, 'information has been received from a number of interested parties' and it in response to this 'information' that ISI has removed the report.
ReplyDeleteIf one speculates on who exactly the 'interested parties' might be, Mr West and friends immediately spring to mind. In other words, it would appear to be the old story: create a who-ha and, while people are looking into it, make as much capital out of it as you can. In other words, behind this ‘extremely unusual event’ lie, in all probability, the all too usual actions of Mr West.
What a nasty mind 18:18 has! Mr West would, I feel quite confident in saying, never stoop to such base tactics.
ReplyDeleteThere'll be a revised ISI report out in due course, so we'll be able to find out what they thought was wrong about their original report. Of course, the Charity Commission will have been one of the organisations in touch with the ISI, and they did publish a rather damning report on the activities of the Abbot and the other Trustees.
ReplyDeleteFine. But were you in touch with ISI, to express your own concerns, Mr West?
ReplyDeleteOf course I have. There's nothing secret about that. If you had taken the trouble to actually read the blog, you would already know that. I have published the full correspondence.
ReplyDeleteReading, or rather skimming, your blogs Mr West is indeed a 'trouble'. However, they, and the ISI one in particular, are constructed in such a way that one is never quite clear whom you have directly contacted; other than what you offer them via your blog, of course. It's obvious that you contacted Ms Pugh directly, but not anyone else. But I do have to admit I couldn't bring myself to read your blog with anything like care and attention. It's all too like hearing that little boy calling 'Wolf!', you know.
ReplyDeleteEffective child protection does take care and attention to detail. It's clear therefore that it's a field which you're not suited to.
ReplyDeleteThis going beyong hilarious with West claiming that somebody else is not suited to issues dealing with child protection! The hypocrasy is all too obvious and West continues to ignore the serious issues which are causing his blog to have nil credibility.
ReplyDelete- Spurious allegations are claimed and marketed as 'true' by West with no evidence whatsoever, has he not heard of the principal of innocent until proven guilty? It seems that with West you just need to 'claim' something and it is accepted as accurate with no further investigation.
- Lack of apology from West for some of his spurious allegations (and this goes beyond Fr. Gregory) which have been shown to be false.
- West continues not to provide any explanation of his background/ expertise. This creates a number of credibility issues to his blog and wider activities which the relevant authorities are now fully aware of.
- What professional or otherwise qualifications does West hold in Child Protection?
- What is West's professional and religious background? Was he abused as a child?
- West's continued failure to look beyond a document and at the wider child protection environment.
So which Mass did Fr Gregory say today?
ReplyDeleteAlso which Mass did Fr Stanislaus say today?
Has Fr Laurence returned from Rome yet? and if so, is he allowed to say Mass in public or is he restricted as well.
It seems strange that Larry is no longer a Trustee.
I have a feeling that St B's is keeping Tony Nelson buzy.
I browsed Clary's autobiography when I saw it once in an oxfam shop, because I was curious what he wrote about St. Benedict's.
ReplyDeleteHe certainly did suggest that for some Monks, the use of corporal punishment had the side-effect of providing sexual pleasure. Nothing specific was mentioned about abuse, and the one monk mentioned specifically was not David Pearce or Stanislaus Hobbes.
As far as I recall he also went out of his way to praise one particular monk as being supportive of him.
One definite thing though. The level of jokes and bullying he was exposed to from his fellow pupils would extremely high. And the comment from one teacher suggesting he should tone down his effeminacy if he wanted to avoid being bullied does seem very likely.
I still remember wathching him and his friend. Both with shoulder-length blond hair, both very obviously camp. "Look: there's Daffodil and Daily", someone said to me.
-ballymichael