Category Archives: Educational Issues

Foreign Exchanges at risk

Posted on June 27, 2008 by Marie

Ah, bureaucracy, sucking the fun out of life! Does anyone else agree that making host families (every member of them) have an enhanced CRB check before allowing them to play host to a foreign exchange student might make it more … Continue reading →

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One novel and five poems!

Posted on June 27, 2008 by Marie

While I can (just about) see the point of a functional English GCSE for kids with English as a second language…but the claim that it’s suitable for “post-16s who need a language qualification but would not wish to tackle the … Continue reading →

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Don’t Touch!

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Marie

I Stumbled across this today, and was incredibly saddened by what this tells us about our society. Anyone who works with children, but especially men, is subject to both outside scrutiny and internal self consciousness when it comes to the … Continue reading →

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The Finnish School System

Posted on June 20, 2008 by Marie

I just wanted to share this with you. I know it’s about the US, but the lessons are the same.

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Finally!!

Posted on June 19, 2008 by Marie

Hooray! I’ve now received a notification from the Student Loans company, they will lend me some money (and give me some too) and actually I’ll be quite well off next year. That’s very good news. Also, the deputy head of … Continue reading →

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The sums of all fears

Posted on June 18, 2008 by Marie

OK, so I didn’t make the title of this blog up, I took it from this article from the Guardian about maths exams and thought it was reasonably clever. The government’s current pet project (now that they’ve miraculously solved the … Continue reading →

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Book Free Libraries!

Posted on June 4, 2008 by Marie

I kid you not! This article in the Times Higher paper highlights a worrying trend in our schools, a movement towards digital information as the only information available in schools. Google replaces librarians and their dewey decimal system and website … Continue reading →

Posted in Educational Issues, Rants | 4 Comments

State Schools – The Truth!

Posted on June 3, 2008 by Marie

I recently read this article on the Independent. Chris Parry, a former rear admiral and the new chief executive of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), spoke out on his view of state education and was accused of snobbishness by the NUT and … Continue reading →

Posted in Educational Issues, Rants | 6 Comments

Recent news stories

Posted on May 27, 2008 by Marie

I thought I’d make a little montage of education related stories I’ve read recently and my reactions to them.  Hollyoaks to feature the new diplomas! Part of me thinks this is a good marketing strategy… the rest of me despairs … Continue reading →

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Working class thicker than middle class?

Posted on May 22, 2008 by Marie

Recently there has been a great deal of fuss made over the fact that the elite universities are not admitting a fair number of kids from ‘bog standard comprehensives’ and even going so far as to blame the teachers for … Continue reading →

Posted in Educational Issues, Rants | 5 Comments