Does anyone agree that there is a need for forum space to mention all those things that are of interest in the short term but, would not necessarily sustain a half a dozen or a dozen comments.
For example: Yesterday was the last day of the Six Nations rugby competition. Only of interest perhaps, to few on these Forums. I’d like to have placed a reminder but couldn’t find the last Six Nations subject, so didn’t bother.
Another example: Lord Neuburger, President of the Supreme Court mentioned that it was desirable that people should not be prevented from venting their often frustrated opinions on contentious issues for fear of condemnation. He thought that commentators who were opposed, were inhibited by the prospect of disapproval, from discussing rascism, homosexuality, ordination of females etc.
My Six Nations snippet was that it was a generally good result. Ireland won (by points difference) the Six Nations title from England. England won the Triple Crown and France was beaten ! Result.
By: charliehunt - 24th June 2015 at 07:47
Very sad to read of Sir Chris Woodhead’s death. One of the few to challenge deep rooted orthodoxies and unafraid to challenge the policies of the day. His influence might have been greater had he not succumbed to motor neurone disease nine years ago. His statement that he was paid to “challenge mediocrity, failure and complacency” should be a watchword for the education system.
By: trekbuster - 23rd June 2015 at 22:34
The percentage of EU law that acts in our legislation is a very difficult thing to quantify, in health, defence, education very little, in other areas such as competition,trade, agriculture etc. more, but overall it can be quoted at 15% Europeanised national legislation. However, this is far too simplistic a position as it is extremely difficult to seperate actual legislation and influence.
An independent audit completed in the House of Commons Library put the figure between 7 and 14%
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/RP10-62/RP10-62.pdf
An interesting article on the problems with quoting any figures is here:
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2012/06/13/europeanization-of-public-policy/
UKIP apparently have said that it is about 75%, but as this article shows, the figures were arrived at by a circuitous and out of date route:
http://blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/is-most-of-the-uks-law-made-in-brussels/1498
So on balance, answer to who rules Great britain would be:
Great Britain and Northern Ireland is ruled from London apart from the devolved elements of laws in Scotland, Wales and NI. Not Brussels.
Some elements of UK legsiation comes from the EU, but quite a small percentage in ratified laws, rather more in terms of influence. Some of the EU legistaltion has been initiated by Britain
By: John Green - 23rd June 2015 at 18:19
The content of #324 strictly speaking should not be necessary. There does not have to be a case in favour of leaving the EU, unless of course you are completely at a loss as to which way to jump and you need a bit of an inducement. The Common Agricultural Policy; Set Aside; Common Fisheries; European Armies, all, matter not.
What solely matters is the answer to this question: “Who rules Gt. Britain ?” Brussels or London. Once you’ve taken time to work it out; cast your vote.
By: charliehunt - 23rd June 2015 at 17:36
Yes that’s true much to my disappointment. I now read it mainly for sport, one or two of the columnists and arts reports/reviews. The problem over the next few months will be to find any objective reporting and/or analysis. And until we see what has been renegotiated, if anything of substance, we will be in no position to make an informed decision.
By: trekbuster - 23rd June 2015 at 17:16
if you read the small print it was funded at least in part by those well known Eurosceptics the Barclay Bothers through the Telegraph Media group. So Yet again the D.Tel is announcing as news ‘research’ they have paid for almost certainly influenced and wish to endorse.
Hardly unbiased reporting, and to be treated with a healthy dose of scepticism.
By: John Green - 23rd June 2015 at 17:06
I’m surprised that the following hasn’t been mentioned.
Something called Business for Britain concludes that if Britain cannot win back essential powers from the EU, we should walk away.
Business for Britain is described as “a group of business leaders and economists” They go onto claim that savings per household per annum if we left the EU would amount to an astonishing just under £1,000. This information and other is contained within a publication called “Change, or Go” issued by Business for Britain.
The article is headline in yesterday’s D. Tel. It is the most detailed and fact rich report yet issued on Britain’s membership of the EU. The 1,000 page report goes onto comment that after about 40 years of membership less than 5% of British companies directly export to the EU yet all are expected to share the burden of regulation.
Between 2003 and 2013 Britain’s EU net contributions went from 3 billion to 13 billion. The call is for far reaching change to the administration of the EU including a permanent individual veto and a commitment to be exempted from the notion of”ever closer union”
Business for Britain and “Change or Go” recommend that if we cannot obtain the extensive list of changes that the British require, we should leave.
I do not believe in fairies so, I can hear Brussels cackling.
By: John Green - 19th June 2015 at 18:19
I mention this as a little ‘soupcon’:
I walked up to the Post Office to-day. I try to time my travels to avoid children exiting from the local comprehensive, recently and probably jokingly, re-named as a ‘College’ !
On my way back, I was passing the main gate around which swirled bunches of girls. The profanities uttered loudly included eff this and eff that plus others of an interestingly anatomical nature.
The opportunites for graffiti are limited. There aren’t any brick walls or plastered surfaces but, there are lamp posts which offer an opportunity to display highly descriptive inventions of sexual behaviour that wouldn’t disgrace the Karma Sutra. Every so often, the Council have to come along and clean these in house obscenities which are then quickly replaced with new.
The authors are children aged around 13, 14, or 15 years. At least, I think they are. During the recent past, the behaviour of children leaving the school during lunchtime has been such as to merit deserved criticism from people living near the school, resulting in the entire school being ‘gated’ during the lunch break.
During this time, and after school, shoplifting became an industry with just two children allowed into shops at any one time. I do understand that I’m referring not to academic values or standards but to behavioural matters that probably reflect standards in their homes. Are these attitudes completly separate ? I do not think so. One affects and is intertwined with the other. That brings me back to the role that parents play….
By: John Green - 19th June 2015 at 17:48
Trekkie,
I know that you’re not ‘talking about the OECD stats’.
But, there are – at least some of us, who would prefer you to talk about those statistics, to at least give your argument some force and authority.
Do you accept the OECD quote concerning Britain’s place in the international league tables and the reasons underpinning ?
Prevarication and lame excuses will get you nowhere as an advocate for our State education system. By almost any indicator, State education in this country is in crisis. Daily media reports – except on the BBC – to my knowledge point to this crisis.
I would be foolish to claim that all private education in this country is first class. Some of it isn’t. But, that which isn’t is still streets ahead.
We had better hope and pray as a nation that it remains that way because the advancement of this country depends on their product as a last repository of educational excellence.
State education will not be ‘turned around’ until we’ve eradicated every last vestige of left wing influence.
By: John Green - 19th June 2015 at 17:34
Snafu352
Now let me see; the CBI ? Weren’t they the outfit that strongly recommended Britain joining the euro ?
Hasn’t that blown away their credibility ?
By: trekbuster - 19th June 2015 at 17:03
As far as the OECD figures are concerned, Not everyone believes the PISA scores are looking at the right areas.
“”They are skewing schools and national education systems away from real learning towards repetitive rote learning,” said Sir Anthony, head of Wellington College in Berkshire.”
Last time I looked, Wellington College was an independent school, so he can’t be accused of having a vested interest in supporting the state sector.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32608772
Just goes to show, anyone can interpret information to justify their own point of view.:) I am aware of this, are you willing to accept that?
By: trekbuster - 19th June 2015 at 16:43
Trekkie,
Last sentence. Still waiting.
Strangely enough, I don’t hang on your every word, obey your every command nor feel the need to prove, yet again, you don’t know what you are talking about.
I think you are misunderstanding ( deliberately?) the points I make. I have never said that every state school is fantastic, far from it, but equally nor is every fee paying school. Particularly at primary level.
I am not talking about the OECD figures, I am talking about your rose tinted view of Private Good/State Bad. If you feel so strongly I need to reply to every point you make, you could at least reciprocate. Why have you not acknowledged, through my own examples, that many state educated students achieve through hard work and commitment and eagerness to learn and also that some private school pupils under achieve?
For your information. It comes from the D.Tel, so must be true.
The context is tutoring to pass entrance exams to fee paying schools.
“There is no doubt that many children struggle once they are within these schools and, in many cases, flounder without the extensive tutoring which they once had to help them keep up.”
If private schools are so good for every pupil, why are so many pupils having to have extra tuition to get in from Prep schools, and require continuing external tutoring throughout their secondary schooling?
All this of course before the trendy left managed an all too successful infiltration and takeover of State education in this country
As I have said before, All this shows is your own prejudices, not the reality.
By: Arabella-Cox - 19th June 2015 at 14:25
The CBI had something interesting to say today that may well have a bearing on this conversation and also goes some way towards addressing your question John.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-33190028
By: John Green - 19th June 2015 at 12:55
Trekkie,
Last sentence. Still waiting.
By: John Green - 17th June 2015 at 12:32
Trekkie
Re your 313
I’m pleased that you’ve re-located me to the land of ‘cloud cuckoo’. When I see that in print, it tends to confirm that my understanding of the matter and my arguments are sound.
Besides, I’m in excellent company. Alongside me, also in your land of ‘cloud cuckoo’ according to their published statistics, are the massed ranks of the OECD although I see that you’ve thought fit to ignore their presence.
Is the OECD publication of Britain’s standing in the world rankings of State education just so much meaningless drivel ? According to your interpretation, probably, yes.
What was it ? 21 or 22 in terms of international, educational competance and ranked somewhere between Poland and Lithuania ?
This, from a country that when I was in full time education, had, as well as Scotland, a world wide reputation as a center of educational excellence. All this of course before the trendy left managed an all too successful infiltration and takeover of State education in this country.
Would you be kind enough to let us know your thoughts about the recently published OECD statistics ?
By: John Green - 17th June 2015 at 12:04
Charlie,
The article in question at least inferred that cheating in the State system, in the ways listed, was on an industrial scale eg. widespread and endemic.
By: charliehunt - 16th June 2015 at 19:05
Apologies for barging in on your pas de deux with Trekkie, John, but I regret to say that cheating took pace at my private school all those decades ago and I know of it at at least two private schools in this area. I would guess that cheating is an innate part of human nature in some form or another and manifests itself amongst a minority of youngsters from all social backgrounds.
Sorry – I’ll leave you to it.
By: trekbuster - 16th June 2015 at 18:52
John,
You are clearly very blinkered about how hard most, not all I would agree, but most state educated secondary students are willing to work. Since you clearly have had no experience in such an environment, I am afraid you are being led astray by the propaganda that encourages your views, most I would expect coming from the Private sector itself. It is in their financial interest to so.
I think you would be surprised how much ‘cramming’ takes place in state schools, it just isn’t called that, just as homework isn’t called ‘prep’
If you think ALL private students wish to learn, I fear you have demonstrated a fundemental lack of understanding of both the teenage mind and statistics. It is a nonsensical statement, just as your one regarding ALL state pupils avoiding excellence. Tell that to my twin nephews who through state education achieved five A* two A’sand a B grade between them at A level. And the subjects were Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Geography, so don’t dare suggest they were ‘soft’ courses. One acheived 595/600 for his Further Maths A level which put him well into the top 1% in the country, regardless of the institution type. I also have friends whose children attended private schools and clearly underperformed. Their parents are the first to admit this.
As I have said before, if you had said it is more likely that a private pupil will want to work I could at least see your point as one to base an argument on as parental expectation does clearly make a difference, although I could give many examples of parents in state schools who are supportive and encouraging( although it is clear you don’t accept my experience in this area) but to suggest that it is Private Good/ State Bad with no exceptions is ridiculous.
Go into your local state secondary or academy for a week, shadow some teachers and students and you would soon realise your comments are laughable.
Don’t misunderstand me, I am well aware of some of the disruption issues in classrooms, and it may well be more prevelent in some state schools than most private ones, but if you believe that all private school teachers don’t spend time managing behaviour, you are are again in cloud cuckoo land.
Regarding the exam marking, do you believe private schools exams are marked seperately and with different grade boundaries? This would be the only way ‘grade inflation’ would be limited to state schools.
It honestly doesn’t work that way.
By: John Green - 16th June 2015 at 18:03
John,
Hand on heart, I can assure you that the only case of cheating in coursework that I have encountered personally was in one of our local, INDPENDENT schools, where it was shown that art technicians were completeing students coursework, and in some cases exam work for them.I don’t have an idealised belief in state education, but I have a much more informed one than many on this forum having actually experienced it at secondary level for a considerable period of time, rather than on the periphery
It is wrong, whether in state or private education, and I would bet it happens equally in proportion in both types of institution, as the pressures that seem to engender this type of immoral behaviour are not restricted to one sector.
Anyway, since that piece was in the Telegraph, one must treat it with the caution it deserves , even though reading it, nowhere can I see that they are suggesting such practices are restricted to state education:rolleyes:
Nor does this piece of reporting
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/8940781/Exam-boards-how-examiners-tip-off-teachers-to-help-students-pass.html
it is equally likely, having attended a number of exam board seminars myself,(none of which had the material discussed in this article passed on to delegates), the teachers attending such sessions were pretty much evenly balanced between the private and state sectorAnd grade inflation is not restricted to state education as you infer, it applies to ALL candidates by the very nature of the ways exams are marked
Trekkie,
I bow my head in tribute. Your third and last paragraphs are a masterclass in exculpation !
I have never heard of a single case of cheating, whether by tutor or student, in private education. My hubris in this matter knows its limits. I won’t claim that it has never happened; just, that I have never heard of it.
I claim that the reason why I do not think that it exists in private education is because – harkening back to earlier discussions and points made – there is no need.
Students, parents and teachers are more driven and more motivated than those in the State sector. Students in private education who appear to fail will be given ‘cramming’. This to my knowledge does not happen in State schools.
But, aside from all ‘red herrings’, motivation is key to the success of private education. Private students want to learn. Private teachers want to teach and, unlike their State compatriots, not spend their time trying unsuccessfully to restore classroom order to recalcitrant State students who, it appears, will do anything to avoid any suggestion of excellence in the classroom.
We need at least some of the attitudes prevalent in private education to rub off onto State. I guarantee it will never happen.
By: Arabella-Cox - 16th June 2015 at 15:11
I think an argument could easily be constructed that it is the right wing ideology of (schools) ranking that has precipitated the rise of cheating such as it may have risen.
(Before the usual suspects start building the strawmen I’m not for a minute endorsing the philosophy of “everybody’s a winner” which leads to all participants getting medals irrespective of actual performance.)
By: trekbuster - 16th June 2015 at 13:40
John,
Hand on heart, I can assure you that the only case of cheating in coursework that I have encountered personally was in one of our local, INDPENDENT schools, where it was shown that art technicians were completeing students coursework, and in some cases exam work for them.
I don’t have an idealised belief in state education, but I have a much more informed one than many on this forum having actually experienced it at secondary level for a considerable period of time, rather than on the periphery
It is wrong, whether in state or private education, and I would bet it happens equally in proportion in both types of institution, as the pressures that seem to engender this type of immoral behaviour are not restricted to one sector.
Anyway, since that piece was in the Telegraph, one must treat it with the caution it deserves , even though reading it, nowhere can I see that they are suggesting such practices are restricted to state education:rolleyes:
Nor does this piece of reporting
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/8940781/Exam-boards-how-examiners-tip-off-teachers-to-help-students-pass.html
it is equally likely, having attended a number of exam board seminars myself,(none of which had the material discussed in this article passed on to delegates), the teachers attending such sessions were pretty much evenly balanced between the private and state sector
And grade inflation is not restricted to state education as you infer, it applies to ALL candidates by the very nature of the ways exams are marked
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