'Life's a journey not a destination', so sang Aerosmith, whether you buy into their laidback drug fuelled rhetoric or not, it's not a bad motto to carry with you. Highers results are out today, A Levels are around the corner and as the expectation mounts so too does the pressure. If you get or indeed … Continue reading Just know even if your exam results aren’t what you expected, it’ll still be okay, you still have options.
What happens if your A levels aren’t what you hoped for? What to do when it goes wrong in your exams. Keep calm and carry on.
As the imperial death march intones in their sub-conscious, the school leavers of 2017 are a Schrödinger's cat of sorts, where by they have both passed and failed their A levels and the truth is only a short hop away from revealing itself. It's like breaking something valuable that belongs to an irascible parent and … Continue reading What happens if your A levels aren’t what you hoped for? What to do when it goes wrong in your exams. Keep calm and carry on.
Montreal, the greatest student city on earth. Why aren’t more of us going to study there?
Calling all Year 12 students! Having made impassioned pleas for the last few days that students and recent graduates shouldn't squander their summers on frippery and sky larking, I thought today I would sing from another familiar song sheet. Why aren't more students voting with their feet and heading overseas? But this too is a … Continue reading Montreal, the greatest student city on earth. Why aren’t more of us going to study there?
Finding a purpose, making the right career choice is a process not a knee jerk reaction to external pressure.
Finding your special purpose, it sounds like a rather twee way to describe locating one's nether regions but actually it's both that and understanding who you are and what you want to do. Too often students are shuttled through the various academic gates without being given enough time to breathe and actually figure out what … Continue reading Finding a purpose, making the right career choice is a process not a knee jerk reaction to external pressure.
Careers planning starts with good work experience, that’s what the holidays are for.
It is done, summer is here - obviously only chronologically rather than meteorologically as I look out at the resolutely sullen British vista. My children break up for their holidays and although they are too young to co-opt into the world of work and I'm staring down the barrel of 7 weeks of Lego and ice … Continue reading Careers planning starts with good work experience, that’s what the holidays are for.
School swimming lessons – a perfect metaphor for hands off parenting.
Water is often used in metaphors, there's something poetic about the thrilling crest of a wave or the azure tranquillity of a hazy pond on a summer's day. Less often have poets used the metaphor of swimming lessons in schools. Today I seek to address that shortfall. Swimming lessons in school are a perfect metaphor … Continue reading School swimming lessons – a perfect metaphor for hands off parenting.
The great grade giveaway. Like beads for boobs but with 1st class degrees.
I like universities. Really I do. I think they are fantastic, inspiring, inspirational, wonderful cathedrals of thought, activity and ambition. Which makes reading and then writing these nasty, brutish comments about them all the more galling but they really aren't helping me out. Every day sees a new and embarrassing cavalcade of cynical devaluation of … Continue reading The great grade giveaway. Like beads for boobs but with 1st class degrees.
Why dropping out of university is the inevitable result of bad advice.
There's lots in the news today talking about tackling the degree drop out rates and how it is essential but I think they've got it the wrong way round. What needs to be tackled is this dogged insistence that university is right for everyone. The Social Market Foundation (SMF) has lobbied the government to do … Continue reading Why dropping out of university is the inevitable result of bad advice.
Debate goes on da-hook. (Jamaican angling pun masks lofty intent regarding debating in schools)
It's been a few days since I last posted anything, which is not only unlike me but is made starker still by the fact that things have actually been happening. Justine Greening has discovered £1.3 Billion down the back of the sofa, which whilst heartening, smacks of carelessness in the first place but never let … Continue reading Debate goes on da-hook. (Jamaican angling pun masks lofty intent regarding debating in schools)
The EPQ, make it relevant, make it topical, make it count.
So here it is, the last few weeks of the academic year has begun circling the drain and thoughts will have turned to long lazy days luxuriating in that way only the youthful can, with a supreme sense of self and the innate knowledge they will change the world. After the holidays. It is also … Continue reading The EPQ, make it relevant, make it topical, make it count.