The week in TV: Secret Agent Selection: WW2; Living With the Brainy Bunch; Lost in Space and more

April 14, 2018, 11:00 pm

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Classroom experiments and spy training provided eye-opening new reality shows, but Netflix’s space odyssey has lost the plot

Among the savageries of war, one of the first casualties, along with truth, is surely always going to be the simple idea of “niceties”, of thinking one can promote any conflict with a glance backwards to the gentlemanly – ha! – wars of yore. The RAF still thought, within living memory, that dropping assassins in plain clothes into enemy territory was “unethical”. They had to be brutally persuaded, in 1940, shortly after Churchill had vowed to “set Europe ablaze”, to carry the spies of the fledgling Special Operations Executive into the many darknesses of occupied territory, ie most of the continent.

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Should mobile phones be banned in schools?

November 27, 2012, 12:00 pm

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A headteacher says pupil behaviour is better and bullying is down since he barred mobiles in his school. So should others follow suit? Teachers argue for and against

"You'll have someone's eye out with that" used to be the refrain of teachers in my day. In malevolent hands, a pencil, a rubber, even a piece of paper could become a lethal weapon in class, and that's before we got on to compasses and Bunsen burners.

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School admissions: why complaining to the watchdog will get you nowhere

July 10, 2017, 10:59 pm

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Families unhappy about changes to entry criteria at a London free school took their case to the schools adjudicator – to find Michael Gove had removed its teeth

The general election seems light years away and the result scored a line through many of the prime minister’s manifesto pledges. There is widespread relief that new grammar schools have been dropped. But what of the promise to review school admissions policy?

This manifesto commitment didn’t feature in the Queen’s speech, but may be needed more than ever. That is certainly the view of some parents in one north London borough, where a bitter dispute over the criteria used by a free school has highlighted shortcomings in the way school admissions are policed.

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Scientist suggests big loop theory of the universe

April 13, 2005, 4:05 pm

≫ Next: School admissions in England are becoming a wild west | Fiona Millar

≪ Previous: School admissions: why complaining to the watchdog will get you nowhere

Is the universe stuck in a Groundhog Day? Is the universe stuck in a Groundhog Day?

Difficult to tell if the Groundhog Day lasts for billions of years, but a leading Princeton physicist will today put forward the theory of a cyclical universe stuck in a never-ending loop.

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School admissions in England are becoming a wild west | Fiona Millar

December 11, 2017, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: One-third of London families miss out on first choice of secondary school

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When some schools appear to ignore the admissions adjudicator’s ruling on unfair policies we all know which children are likely to miss out

It’s not often that I feel the need to reprise an earlier article, but the admissions arrangements of one particular academy school, covered here last summer, point to such a serious flaw at the heart of the education system that they justify a second look. To understand why, we need to go back to 1998 when the then Labour government introduced new procedures governing how oversubscribed schools should admit their pupils, namely a code of practice that schools are obliged to follow and an office of the schools adjudicator (OSA) to police that process.

Smooth and equitable oversight of admissions is vital to English education. The fair realisation of parental choice depends on it, as does the extent to which children from certain backgrounds are overtly or covertly “sorted” into different institutions.

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One-third of London families miss out on first choice of secondary school

March 1, 2018, 11:13 am

≫ Next: Working while you study: a means to an end or career opportunity?

≪ Previous: School admissions in England are becoming a wild west | Fiona Millar

Figures released on national school offer day show pressure on classrooms is most intense in south-east England

One in three families in London will not be able to send their children to their preferred secondary school next year, as rising numbers of school-age pupils put pressure on classroom places across the south of England.

The figures released on national secondary school offer day, for pupils moving from primary school into year seven in England, show the first signs of the strain placed on secondary school admissions.

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Working while you study: a means to an end or career opportunity?

April 16, 2018, 6:37 am

≫ Next: Students on how they are getting a raw deal | Letters

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A part-time job is often just a way to earn extra cash at university, but for some students it can be the route to full-time employment

Carmel Goldstein, a final-year textile design student at Central St Martins College in London, started working for on-demand babysitting app Bubble 18 months ago. The 21-year-old was looking for a way to earn extra cash while studying in one of the world’s most expensive cities, and the company offered flexible evening work that she could fit around busy university life.

The Uber-style app works by helping parents find local babysitters who have been recommended by friends or mutual contacts on Facebook. It means Goldstein is able to put in the required hours on campus and go to a job in the evening near her home in East Finchley.

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Students on how they are getting a raw deal | Letters

April 16, 2018, 10:18 am

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Letters: British university students Katrina Allen and Ben Dolbear lament their loss of teaching hours as a result of the lecturers’ strike. And pupil Romy McCarthy questions the usefulness of the GCSEs she is about to sit

I am an MA student on the journalism course at Birkbeck, University of London, fighting for compensation for lectures lost due to the staff strike. We paid £3,000 last term for services that were not provided. I wrote to the master of the university, David Latchman, about this and received no reply. I then wrote to the registrar and got this back: “Your tuition fees contribute towards your entire learning experience and are not directly linked to specific contact or teaching hours. Your tuition fees also cover infrastructure such as buildings, library and IT.” How can it possibly be stated that my entire learning experience is not diminished by a lack of lectures?

The university have taken my money and banked what they have not paid the lecturers, it seems. We have been told that the strike may affect lectures for the first two weeks of next term and could be ongoing. I have just been asked to pay my fees for the summer term. I don’t intend to throw more money at the university unless I get a promise of compensation if the strike is ongoing. I wonder if I’ll be thrown off the course?
Katrina Allen
London

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Teachers' strikes: meet the leaders of the movement marching across America

April 16, 2018, 3:00 am

≫ Next: Many parents face disappointment over primary school places

≪ Previous: Students on how they are getting a raw deal | Letters

Teachers around the US are taking matters into their own hands as they strike for raises and school funding – in some cases without union support

When teachers in West Virginia went on strike in February, there was little indication that a swath of other states would follow suit.

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Many parents face disappointment over primary school places

April 15, 2018, 4:01 pm

≫ Next: The sinister segregation policies excluding children who don't 'fit in' | John Harris

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Thousands of families in England may miss out on top choice of primary school in some regions

Parents in England will find out on Monday whether their child got into their top choice of primary school to begin reception class in September, with many likely to face disappointment owing to the pressure on places in some areas of the country.

On what has become known as national offer day for primary schools, about half a million families will receive emails during the course of the day and letters later in the week confirming whether they have been offered a place at their first-choice school.

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The sinister segregation policies excluding children who don't 'fit in' | John Harris

April 15, 2018, 10:00 pm

≫ Next: Universities are a key resource for the NHS. Why are they so underused?

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I thought ignorant prejudice against disabled people and those with special needs was on the way out. But this government is turning back the clock to a nastier age

Human progress is slow to happen and sometimes hard to see: in an era as troubled as ours, the world can easily look as though it is regressing at speed. But look back, and you may see how far we have come. I grew up in a world where grim words such as “handicapped” and “retarded” were part of everyday speech, and disabled people were too often shut away. People put money in charity tins to salve their consciences, and then went back to their ignorance. A sure sign of the way society kept some people at arm’s length was the inhuman use of the definite article: people knew about “the deaf”, “the blind” and “the disabled”, but didn’t give them much thought.

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Universities are a key resource for the NHS. Why are they so underused?

April 15, 2018, 11:30 pm

≫ Next: Universities ending the strikes is not a climbdown – the fight goes on | Des Freedman

≪ Previous: The sinister segregation policies excluding children who don't 'fit in' | John Harris

The UK’s research ecosystem is fragmented. We need more collaboration to pool expertise and improve public health

Good public health is central to the success of our cities, nations and regions. It’s an area in which higher education has a key role to play, since working to address local and global health challenges and develop cutting-edge drug therapies is deeply rooted within academic institutions. Yet universities are still an underused resource in tackling local public health problems.

The main obstacle is the absence of organisations that connect universities and the NHS. In the UK, there are just six Academic Health Science Centres, which bring together research, education and clinical practice to translate research swiftly into patient care and ensure that patient interactions contribute to the generation of new knowledge. These AHSCs are not spread evenly around the country: three are in London, and one in Oxford, Cambridge and Manchester.

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Universities ending the strikes is not a climbdown – the fight goes on | Des Freedman

April 16, 2018, 5:07 am

≫ Next: Thousands of children miss out on preferred primary school

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Unions have accepted the Universities UK offer, but there is plenty of unfinished business – and not just with pensions

Members of the University and College Union have voted 64% to 36% to suspend industrial action in their campaign to defend guaranteed pensions. They have accepted the proposals of the employers’ organisation, Universities UK, to set up a “joint expert panel” to consider the valuation of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) fund.

They have not done so with any great faith in Universities UK’s commitment to sustaining existing levels of provision, nor with any conviction that the employers’ underlying determination to reduce their pension liabilities has suddenly disappeared.

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Thousands of children miss out on preferred primary school

April 16, 2018, 9:46 am

≫ Next: Trainee barristers told they will be marked down for wearing short skirts

≪ Previous: Universities ending the strikes is not a climbdown – the fight goes on | Des Freedman

Pressure on places shows signs of easing in areas of England including London and Birmingham

Thousands of parents in England have been denied a place for their child at their first choice of primary school. Evidence suggests, however, that pressure on reception classes is easing in some areas, including London, where applications were down 2.3% on last year.

After an anxious wait documented by many parents on social media, more than half a million families across England were informed on Monday which school their child will be attending in September.

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Trainee barristers told they will be marked down for wearing short skirts

April 16, 2018, 11:35 am

≫ Next: Parents: not happy about something at school? Here’s how to complain

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Other risqué sins of fashion as laid down by BPP law school include colourful socks and ‘kinky boots’

Trainee barristers are being told they will be docked points in their exams if they wear short skirts, colourful socks or “kinky boots”.

A handbook at the BPP university law school warns students that they may lose points if they do not adopt an extremely conservative dress code in their advocacy assessments.

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Parents: not happy about something at school? Here’s how to complain

February 23, 2015, 11:30 pm

≫ Next: Top 10 podcasts to help you learn a language

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Your daughter’s homework isn’t being marked. Your son’s been put in detention for no real reason. What’s the best course of action? A teacher writes …

One of the best pieces of advice I was ever given was from a friend in the restaurant business. If I were planning to complain about any part of my meal or service, he said, I should wait until I had eaten all I was going to eat that night. He illustrated this warning with examples of what can happen to food prepared for awkward customers, and so I’ve followed this advice ever since. It’s a good principle: don’t complain to people on whom you’re relying – unless there’s no way they can wipe your steak on their bum or drop a bogey in your soup.

As with restaurants, so with schools. The difference with schools is that you’re likely to be stuck with them for a lot longer than one meal. So think carefully before putting on your Mr Angry face and marching into the school for a spot of ranting.

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Top 10 podcasts to help you learn a language

February 9, 2015, 4:45 am

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From videos in Japanese to news in German, language blogger Lindsay Dow recommends her favourite podcasts to keep you motivated and inspired while improving your skills

I became a language addict way back in the early noughties thanks to Shakira. Since then I’ve gone on to pursue a degree in French and Spanish with the Open University, and I’ve also studied Mandarin, Italian, German and various other languages along the way. With formal studying never quite being enough, I’m always looking for other methods to engage my language learning brain, podcasts being one of them. Here’s a few of my favourites:

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Does music really help you concentrate?

August 19, 2016, 11:30 pm

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‘I won’t be able to focus if you turn that off,’ a gazillion teenagers have whined at their parents. Is it possible that they’re right?

Many people listen to music while they’re carrying out a task, whether they’re studying for an exam, driving a vehicle or even reading a book. Many of these people argue that background music helps them focus.

Why, though? When you think about it, that doesn’t make much sense. Why would having two things to concentrate on make you more focused, not less? Some people even go so far as to say that not having music on is more distracting. So what’s going on there?

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School bomb threats: more than 400 schools in England receive hoax warnings

March 19, 2018, 8:41 am

≫ Next: Academic civil war as elite universities lobby for others to drop their fees

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Police say threats contained in emails are not credible and evacuations are unnecessary

More than 400 schools across England have received hoax bomb threats believed to be coming from the US.

Humberside police said that schools and colleges across the country, including 19 in its region, had received emails “claiming a device has been planted and demanding cash”.

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Academic civil war as elite universities lobby for others to drop their fees

October 16, 2017, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Open University plans major cuts to number of staff and courses

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Should students have to pay more to study for a degree from Cambridge than, say, Coventry?

As the government wonders where on earth to go on university funding – should it cut tuition fees, or replace the system entirely? – a small civil war seems to be looming among the institutions themselves. Members of the elite Russell Group are lobbying behind the scenes for modern universities to bear the brunt of any cuts.

The prime minister, Theresa May, promised a major review of university fees in her speech to the Conservative party conference. There has since been a resounding silence from government on what this might entail, but vice-chancellors are privately resigning themselves to the likelihood of a cut to the maximum fee, which is currently frozen at £9,250. This will leave a funding hole.

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