What a lovely seasonal title - although for fans of game hunting I'm afraid you'll be left desperately short of the dark meat you so enjoy. No, no this is a much different sort of grouse, it is of course the kind of mumbled accusations and mutterings you may also associate with this time of … Continue reading Long time, no grouse.
Tag: schools
New year, same as the old year? How a year on little has changed when it comes to careers advice in education.
As I reflect on a year's worth of grumbling, promoting my book and going into schools and colleges it occurs to me that other than minor hair loss very little has changed. Sure the sun has risen and set, the moon waxed and waned, Trump has Trumped but otherwise the status quo has pretty much … Continue reading New year, same as the old year? How a year on little has changed when it comes to careers advice in education.
Continuous and conspicuous lack of media interest in reporting largely terrible careers advice in schools.
I hate to be the Debbie Downer on the rainless parade of the careers and education firmament but a few weeks on from Careers Week and several months after the launch of the new Careers Strategy and still radio silence. Both literally and metaphorically. It's a weird situation. I don't believe that I am the … Continue reading Continuous and conspicuous lack of media interest in reporting largely terrible careers advice in schools.
You can take our sausage rolls but you will never take our freedom!
The other week I wrote about how parents were complaining that schools weren't teaching their kids to swim, stating unequivocally that it was the school's responsibility to do so. That school was about preparing their kids for the future not just passing a maths exam, it was to give them life skills and the tools … Continue reading You can take our sausage rolls but you will never take our freedom!
Crucifixion or a shrug? RE no longer taught in over a quarter of England’s secondary schools.
A report released a couple of days ago has decried the absence of a robust RE programme in over a quarter of England's secondary schools. Apparently they are simply not teaching it despite the law stating that they must. The National Association for RE claim that it leaves students unprepared for modern life. Modern Life. … Continue reading Crucifixion or a shrug? RE no longer taught in over a quarter of England’s secondary schools.
Daily Prompt: Educate. When the value of learning isn’t just about A*s.
via Daily Prompt: Educate Educate. The word itself has taken on such portent, such gravitas, that's it's hard to find a way to brook the subject without being weighed down by Athena's legacy. Or is it? I write most days on a variety of education related matters and through that I've uncovered an unnerving truth, … Continue reading Daily Prompt: Educate. When the value of learning isn’t just about A*s.
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.
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)
What I did during the holidays… (the importance of work experience)
What did you do? It's a genuine question. What did you do? You had a week off, so what did you do? The biggest complaint I get from students is that they don't have enough time to do anything. They are always so busy. What that means in reality is that they have a certain … Continue reading What I did during the holidays… (the importance of work experience)
Why taking kids out of school is terrible (unless I do it) Part 2 – Or why Trump should have been taken to Rome more when he was a kid.
Okay, so whilst I can't say that our city break was a cultural tour de force that precisely justifies the decision to take our eldest out of school for a few days - I can say that I think it benefited everyone. I spoke before about how travel can broaden one's horizons and counter-intuitively shrink … Continue reading Why taking kids out of school is terrible (unless I do it) Part 2 – Or why Trump should have been taken to Rome more when he was a kid.