Category: “Education”

Despite a chest infection (the doctor said it was much worse than man flu but I just keep on keeping on manfully) I had a thoroughly enjoyable time at Glasgow University last night. I was the guest speaker at the annual Chancellor’s dinner; no, not George Osborne, he was busy helping Ireland, where his family [...]

Every now and then, I get a comment from someone saying they prefer blogposts to be short rather than long. I suppose it gives them the chance to hoover around the place and digest a few more. But whilst brevity can sometimes be the best, every now and then you need a bit of length [...]

As Nick Clegg and Vince Cable were standing on their heads once more yesterday, and quietly forgetting their ‘I pledge’ posters on student finance, I was back in my classroom with a group of teenagers who have completed their formal schooling without being overly bothered about the impact of higher tuition fees. The tragedy is [...]

Yesterday was World Mental Health Day … I know, I know, every day seems to be something or other day, and nobody is ever quite sure what you’re meant to do with them, or who decides which day is which … but they do provide an opportunity for causes and ideas not always in the [...]

The Cheltenham Literature Festival seems to get bigger every year. It is possible to see the growth of literary festivals as part of the celebrity culture – so there I was, darling, chatting to Salman Rushdie in the green room, when who should walk in but Alistair Darling and Andrew Marr, then Jilly Cooper rushed over [...]

I’m a bit cross with DC. I didn’t see his interview on Channel 4 yesterday, but it popped up on my Google alert (an excellent device that lets you know who’s saying what about you) when he defended Andy Coulson by saying he attracted nothing like the controversy of me or GB’s man, Damian McBride. Now [...]

As George Osborne was speaking to the Tory conference, I was heading for my second lesson with 20 youngsters who have gone through the education system without much success. Their homework had been to come up with ideas for campaigns, things they wanted to change or fight for in the world around them. Some of [...]

Had a fascinating time yesterday, my first day as part of an education experiment. I was teaching a group of ‘challenging’ teenagers who have gone through the school system without overly troubling the GCSE scorers, and who have been brought together to see whether ‘inspiring, passionate, achieving’ people (why thank you experiment organisers) can turn [...]

When it comes to reporting exam results, editors do not let the facts get in the way of stories to justify their own (private) choices. But the truth is State schools are improving and private schools, despite the massive advantages, are not.

As the World Cup withdrawal symptoms abate (hugely helped by that abomination of a Final, over which the Dutch should stop whingeing about the ref and go kick someone their own size) I tuned into Newsnight and was pleasantly surprised by the depth and nature of the debate on the Tories’ health reforms. I say [...]