Letters to the Editor: importance of language, remembering Janet Frame

Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics include the importance of language, praise for the Physio Pool and remembering Janet Frame. 

Holistic approach vital for language teaching

Melanie Earley’s article re the decline in children’s oral language skills (ODT 27.8.24) raises a number of concerns about our education system, its funding, and assumptions about language learning.

Having more speech and language therapists is an ambulance-at-the bottom-of-cliff solution which ignores underpinning and historical issues.

The early childhood and primary curriculum documents are based on core principles and values - reciprocal relationships between all involved with the child; valuing child and family culture; implementing a holistic approach to teaching for learning. Ensuring these are at the core of teaching and a child’s learning, and having learning and teaching environments where this can be fulfilled, must be the focus to addressing any concerns re children’s language skills, and in fact, all learning.

Great to read of the Early Childhood Council’s concern re the Ministry of Education’s response, funding another resource for early childhood, and also Brent Godfery’s concerns re the fast-tracking of changes to curriculum (ODT 28.8.24). The ministry should, in the first instance, be directing funding to the lowering of group and class sizes and increasing classroom support staff.

Judy Layland
North East Valley

 

Show some respect

I was disappointed that the ODT, our country's most trusted newspaper, applauded the delegates at the recent local body conference for publicly ridiculing the man and disrespecting his office because our Prime Minister saw fit to exhort local bodies to ‘‘rein in the fantasies’’ and to ‘‘cut the spending in nice-to-haves’’(Editorial ODT 24.8.4).

The editorial labelled Mr Luxon's address a ‘‘sermon’’ and tacitly supported the chorus from the delegates who knew, full well, that many ratepayers would be nodding vigorously in approval. The Dunedin example of seesaws in a playground costing $600,000 that frequently get more readily repaired than potholes in the streets springs to mind. The editorial went on to label the Prime Minister as ‘‘tone deaf’’ but then reversed the vitriol saying: ‘‘the Prime Minister certainly had a point about some councils pushing vanity projects which spendthrift see as good ideas.’’

The real cause of my disappointment was that an important newspaper and a national organisation failed to show basic respect to the office of Prime Minister.

They should respect the office if not the man, who in his official capacity is simply doing his job. Not to do so is a betrayal of the trust that they expect from us as citizens.

Brendan Murphy
Fairfield

 

Facts and opinions

I would like to comment on the letter (24.8.24) from Hayden Williams, “Responsibility applies regarding free speech”.

Mr Williams was airing his left-wing views regarding the Hobson’s Choice advertisement which was rejected by The New Zealand Herald newspaper because the discussion of Maori activism and the democratic process was not to his liking.

He informs us that the message contained in the advertisement was not factual and should be banned forthwith.

Perhaps Mr Williams could, instead of proffering his unsubstantiated opinion, write and inform us what the actual misrepresentations are so that we are not relying on his own biased assessment.

Dave Tackney
Fairfield

[A group of more than 170 legal academics and lawyers have said that Hobson’s Pledge’s first advertisement was likely to “mislead, deceive or confuse customers.” The Advertising Standards Authority is considering several complaints about that advertisement. — Editor]

 

She left without a word, never to be seen again

With hindsight I realise I was there at a historic literary moment. I was a pupil at Arthur St School for four years from 1943-47, when we left Dunedin. In either 1945 or 46, when I was seven or eight, my teacher was Miss Frame. 

She was an unusual teacher, and often spoke to us in a foreign language. When I could remember them I took words or phrases home for a possible translation. The most common was “cochon” - or pig in French. One day, there was an inspector in the room. Miss Frame was standing against the heater, near the front of the room, her back to Dunedin city and the harbour, as the inspector worked his way quietly round the room. 

Suddenly, she walked across the room, took her hat and coat off the back of the door, opened the door, and we never saw her again. You may wonder how I could remember this almost 80 years later. I think the reasons are that I was both a nosy child and recognised something unusual.

No words were spoken. Only later, when Janet Frame became well known did I realise what a momentous minute or two it had been. I think it was a wise decision, whether Janet Frame achieved fame later or not.

I can't think she enjoyed her time with us. For her sake I'm glad she left. 

Fay McDonald (nee Sligo)
Outram

 

A wonderful facility that should be kept

Geoff and Barbara Anderson’s article on the Physiotherapy Pool (Opinion ODT 14.8.24) is completely correct.

Further, it is remiss, short-sighted and downright stupid that this wonderful rehabilitation and recreation facility has been closed for so long and now risks permanent closure.

I have been a physiotherapist in Dunedin for 45 years. Over all that time until it closed, the Physio Pool was always there as a resource to rely on - for all those patients who weren’t able to exercise on land, or who needed the warmth of the water, or the buoyancy to traction their backs during water jogging, and so on.

There is a whole wide range of exercises and activities that warm, deep water enables, so they can with time and effort get good enough to progress to land-based exercise, and thence back into life.

It’s not even economic to block off this huge resource.

Simply consider the ongoing costs to the health system, city and society of all those patients that didn’t get back to fully independent living - just for the want of apposite rehab and maintenance when it was needed.

How economic is all that expensive surgery without effective rehab afterwards to enable the full benefit of those highly skilled operations?

Even its architecture (1946) is wonderful: they don’t make them like that any more.

Its central position close to the current (and new) hospital and bus hub enables all the ongoing maintenance exercise and social connection that can be the difference between independent living, or not.

The Physio Pool is a heritage pearl, both functionally and architecturally.

Its continued closure is an indictment of all the decision-makers involved.

Steve August
Dunedin