Daly home learning a lot more relaxed
Four female crew see union over Middleton behaviour on show
ANNA Daly revealed homeschooling was more relaxed in her household this time around after giving up on trying to be “the perfect teacher”.
The Ireland AM presenter learned a lot about knowing when to take a step back from the situation and when it was time to leave the home classroom.
Anna’s eldest son James is in third class so he is still at home, as is her youngest son Rhys, aged four.
But her middle son Euan, who is in second class, went back to the classroom last Monday.
Anna told The Social Media: “Homeschooling is more relaxed this time around. We all tried to be the perfect teacher in the first lockdown, or maybe that was just me?
“But it is important to be less hard on ourselves as parents.
“James and Euan have had video chats with their class over the last few weeks and there was definitely more interaction this time around.
“I think everyone is more prepared now and the world has moved on.”
Anna admitted that it was hard for the boys not to be able to see their friends for so long but video calls have helped this time.
She added: “While it doesn’t replicate the excitement of the classroom and seeing your friends, it is close to it.
“Euan, in particular, was very energised afterwards. It is good for him and his pals to check in with each other and have a bit of a laugh.
“That is a nice element to homeschooling that we didn’t have too much of last time around.”
Anna also approached the schoolwork with a different attitude to last March. She said: “As parents, our mentality has changed as well and if we don’t get through the list of homework that has been sent through, I don’t think any of us are going to panic too much.
“I saw Dr Mary Ryan said that this is not homeschooling, this is emergency education. You have a choice when it comes to homeschooling and most of us wouldn’t choose it. We have a great respect for the skill and qualifications that people have.”
Following the huge success of her first Little Bliss collection, Anna is excited to launch her new spring range of loungewear for women this week.
She added: “I am really glad that I have done it because you can think about something for years, which I have done, and put it off. There is always a reason not to do something.
“The biggest part is taking the gamble and pressing the button in the hope that people will like it. Now it is out there.” Anna has been learning a lot from her husband, businessman Ben Ward.
She said: “Ben and I did an interview on RTE Radio One and that is the first time that we would have worked together and it was nice to do it.
“I have been learning retail and e-commerce from him so hopefully I gave him some sort of comfort going into a broadcast studio like that. We can help each other.”
It’s important to be less hard on ourselves as parents
FOUR women who worked with TV’S Ant Middleton have told a union he made “lewd and suggestive comments” to them on set.
The workers on Channel 4’s SAS Who Dares Wins made the allegations to Bectu.
It comes after the broadcaster this week said it “will not be working with him again” after several women claimed he made “inappropriate comments” on set.
Middleton, 40 – who served 14 years in the Armed Forces – told ITV’S Good Morning Britain on Wednesday: “It’s obviously something that they’ve seen... a bit of military banter, they’ve seen a bit of military humour... and they really felt offended.”
Four women then went to Bectu, while The Mirror spoke to a separate female crew member who claimed Middleton “overstepped the mark” in how he treated people on set.
The media union claims “a number of women” have been in touch about Middleton. It said: “We will not be publishing the allegations, however we want to set the record straight following an interview on Good Morning
Britain. Despite Ant Middleton’s claims about the so-called ‘woke brigade’, Channel 4 clearly stated that the decision to part ways with him was ‘solely based on his personal conduct offcamera and is not related to his on-screen persona’. This certainly corroborates with what our members have told us.
“Mr Middleton said SAS Who Dares Wins has now become a half-scripted reality show and cited ‘military banter’ as an excuse for his behaviour. This is no excuse. TV sets are workplaces and people working in TV deserve to have dignity at work.”
After being told crew members had now gone to Bectu, a spokesman for Middleton said the presenter “wholeheartedly and emphatically rejects” the allegations, adding: “Ant has worked on TV sets around the world for many years and has never at any point been accused of speaking inappropriately by anyone.”
Channel 4 said: “We take issues of welfare very seriously.”
Middleton last year faced a backlash over comments he made about Black Lives Matter protests and coronavirus. He has blamed a lot of criticism on the “PC patrol and woke patrol”.
‘Military banter’ is no excuse for his behaviour BECTU TV AND MEDIA UNION ON CLAIMS