'Sachsgate' tape that outraged Britain is now a school GCSE text

SACK THEM! SACK THEM NOW!!!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2062771/School-uses-obscene-Sachsgate-scandal-tapes-GCSE-lessons.html


Teenage pupils are studying the obscene phone calls made by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross in the ‘Sachsgate’ affair as part of their GCSE course.

Transcripts of the lewd messages, which provoked outrage across the country, are being analysed by 14-year-olds doing English language courses.
The messages, left for veteran actor Andrew Sachs, of Fawlty Towers fame, during a BBC Radio 2 show, referred to his granddaughter Georgina Baillie, who had an affair with Brand.

Sachsgate: Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross caused controversy after they left an obscene message on Andrew Sach's answering machine

 

Ross shouted in crude terms that Brand had slept with the burlesque dancer.
After more than 50,000 complaints were made to the BBC, Brand was forced to resign while Ross was suspended.

Yesterday parents reacted with outrage, saying the content was ‘vulgar’ and that its inclusion on a school syllabus wrongly gives the event ‘status’.
Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: ‘This is completely unsuitable. I can’t see any circumstances where it would be valid at GCSE level to be looking at that sort of text.
‘It was an appalling event and to give it the status of academic study is wrong.’

The BBC was fined £150,000 by Ofcom following the prank phone calls made by Jonathan Ross, left, and Russell Brand to Andrew Sachs. Their actions 'exposed an unforgivably cavalier attitude to editorial standards in some parts of the BBC', according to Sir Michael

The full transcript of the show, during which Mr Brand boasted of his ‘lovely sex’ with Miss Baillie, was included in a mock spoken English language exam last week for Year 10 students at Hampstead School, in Camden, North London.

It prompted a complaint from a parent, who said pupils originally thought the test paper was a joke.
But it was vigorously defended by headteacher Jacques Szemalikowski, who claimed it was no more coarse or vulgar than Shakespeare.
He said: ‘I think it is a totally appropriate thing to be doing. We are in the real world and children live in the real world.
‘The unit is all about how people react to language and the limits of freedom of expression and this was a very famous snippet. It’s all about interpretation. It was a controlled assessment.’

Revision aid: As well as studying Sachsgate tapes students at Hamstead School have watched a Newsnight programme about the scandal

He said that pupils also studied the reaction on BBC’s Newsnight and added: ‘You mention Shakespeare, but there’s a lot of rude stuff in that too.’
The mock exam which included the Sachsgate transcript was devised by the English department at the London comprehensive.

Among lines from the answerphone transcript, Brand says: ‘Hello Andrew Sachs this is Russell Brand. I am a great appreciator of your work over the decades. You’re meant to be on my show now mate, I don’t know why you’re not answering the phone, it’s a bit difficult – I’m here with Jonathan Ross.’
Ross is then heard shouting in foul language that Brand had slept with his granddaughter, adding: ‘I’m sorry I apologise. Andrew I apologise... I got excited, what can I say. it just came out.’

Brand carries on: ‘Andrew Sachs, I did not do nothing with Georgina – oh no I’ve revealed I know her name! Oh no it’s a disaster. Abort, abort. Please watch that show. I am out of The Bill, starring Andrew Sachs, I’m out of The Bill... Put the phone down, put the phone down, code red code red. I’m sorry Mr Fawlty I’m sorry, they’re a waste of space...’
Hampstead School is not alone in choosing the controversial subject matter for English exams. In 2009, a report by the Wales examination body, the WJEC, said Sachsgate had been used effectively to ‘discuss freedom of speech and what constitutes offensive language’.
Hampstead School, which has around 1,300 students aged 11 to 19, was among the most improved in England this year in its GCSE results. Some 61 per cent of its pupils got five A-C grades including English and maths in this summer’s exams, compared with the national average of 53 per cent.
It was awarded a gold star by Ofsted in 2001, placing it within the top 6 per cent of schools.


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