The numbers do add up for Sunak – politicalbetting.com

Casino_Royale said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

Why? Have you shot some of these idiots?

Here is the list of commissioners on that review - it includes plenty of heads and teachers.

Do you think they are all idiots?

"Rachel Sylvester Chairwoman

Sir Anthony Seldon Deputy chairman. Contemporary historian, former head of Brighton College and Wellington College and former vice-chancellor, University of Buckingham

Geoff Barton General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders

Lord Bilimoria Founder of Cobra Beer, president of the CBI and chancellor of Birmingham University

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore Professor of cognitive neuroscience at Cambridge University, who leads a group studying the adolescent brain and behaviour

Sir Damon Buffini Permira founding partner, chairman of National Theatre and Cultural Recovery Fund Board

Dame Sally Coates Director at United Learning, which runs 90 schools; author of review of education in prison

Evelyn Forde Head of Copthall School in Barnet and winner of TES head of the year 2020

Kiran Gill Founder of The Difference, which sends high-flying teachers to referral units and alternative provision schools

Robert Halfon Tory MP for Harlow and chairman of Commons education select committee

Lucy Heller Chief executive of Ark, an educational charity that runs schools

Tristram Hunt Victoria & Albert Museum director, former Labour MP

Lord Johnson of Marylebone Former
universities minister, chairman of TES

Paul Johnson Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies

Lucy Kellaway Teacher at Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney and co-founder of Now Teach

Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho Chairwoman of WeTransfer, Open University chancellor, Lords Covid-19 select committee chairwoman

Anne Longfield Former children’s commissioner for England

Professor Heather McGregor Executive dean of Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University

Amanda Melton Principal of Nelson and Colne FE college in Lancashire

Sir Michael Morpurgo Author, poet and playwright, and former teacher"

Shit. That's not any Appeal to Authority, it's an M&S Appeal to Authority. Never mind the names, look at the actual document. "Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs" is like saying "Chefs should be trained in the art of rendering foodstuffs more edible and/or palatable by the sustained application of heat."

Those are the headline executive summaries in just one or two sentences. And I had to edit those just to get them to fit in the vanilla character limit.

There is no credible reason to dismiss the report, unless you are a headbanger. The list of commissioners is venerable and the fact that all 10 previous education secretaries and several sitting/former PMs have welcomed its findings is impressive in itself.

It is a very serious piece of work and deserves to be taken so - particularly as our education sector does lag our competitors.

I will certainly be reading it in full (I am yet to do so) and coming to my own conclusions on the detailed findings, and look forward to it.

kjh said:

HYUFD said:

Benpointer said:

HYUFD said:

Certainly there is a strong case for Maths to 18, just add English language, IT and a foreign language too

No history or science?

In the workplace unless you want to teach or research history or work in a museum or be a scientist or doctor or engineer you don't need history or science day to day. They should be compulsory to 16 as any educated person should have some core knowledge of them but not beyond that.

However most office and admin jobs today need effective English language and communication skills, core numeracy and IT.

I agree re history. It is very interesting but not essential for most people, although a knowledge of recent history can be very useful. I don't agree re science. I am appalled by the lack of scientific knowledge of most people and how useful it can be.

HYUFD said:

kjh said:

HYUFD said:

Benpointer said:

HYUFD said:

Certainly there is a strong case for Maths to 18, just add English language, IT and a foreign language too

No history or science?

In the workplace unless you want to teach or research history or work in a museum or be a scientist or doctor or engineer you don't need history or science day to day. They should be compulsory to 16 as any educated person should have some core knowledge of them but not beyond that.

However most office and admin jobs today need effective English language and communication skills, core numeracy and IT.

I agree re history. It is very interesting but not essential for most people, although a knowledge of recent history can be very useful. I don't agree re science. I am appalled by the lack of scientific knowledge of most people and how useful it can be.

As I said science would still be compulsory to 16 for me. Now you don't have to study all 3 sciences, Biology, Chemistry and Physics individually to 16 or history. You can drop them at 14

Andy_JS said:

Leon said:

Jeez. It’s been a long time. The quality late evening biz class flight, from wintry london to the tropical sun

One of the minor but emphatic pleasures of life

I will wake up in a place where it is 32C and sunny

I've never been on anything other than standard class on a plane.

FrancisUrquhart said:

I posed the question early about moving a business to Asia (and living there). It seems the only response I got was Singapore, is that really the only place in Asia safe to operate a business, some talent pool of tech savvy who speak English?

dixiedean said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

I posed the question early about moving a business to Asia (and living there). It seems the only response I got was Singapore, is that really the only place in Asia safe to operate a business, some talent pool of tech savvy who speak English?

Taiwan.
If you discount invasion.
It's considerably funkier.
And better food. Has seasons as well.

HYUFD said:

Benpointer said:

HYUFD said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

HYUFD said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

HYUFD said:

Certainly there is a strong case for Maths to 18, just add English language, IT and a foreign language too

Although I feel that in general the UK is very poor at foreign languages, what is the rationale for it up to 18, especially when we know AI is already pretty good at least basic translation and I think it is a task that AI is only going to get much better at*.

* there will still be a need at the very high end for expert translators, where there needs to be knowledge of culture nuance or very subject specialist knowledge, but I think in terms of writing / reading emails for business, these AI systems are going to be excellent at being able to do this in the very near future. It will be give it the basic outline of your talking points, and it will do a very good job of constructing the text (certainly better than somebody who has only studied to 18 and nothing more).

As dealing with foreign clients you will impress them more if you can speak their language as well as they speak yours without having to use Google translate

This is certainly true, but do we need every 18 year old to do that?

A lot of businesses, there will certainly be one or two individuals who conduct those sort of meetings, but a lot of it will be done by a wider team who never meet their foreign counterparts, rather they are doing paperwork, answering emails, etc.

And that is why I said there is certainly still a role for expert foreign language speakers, but I think that what we will be seeing is something far more sophisticated than Google Translate.

Even then it still helps to get a more responsive service from a waiter abroad if you can speak their language properly

I wouldn't have had you down as a foreign language advocate, so I do applaud that. But your example begs the question how many languages should be taught until 18, and which ones?

I would allow students to choose one of French, German, Spanish or Mandarin

Casino_Royale said:

It's amazing that angry unhinged rant of @ydoethur got nine likes.

When I look at who it includes I'm not surprised by some of the names, but disappointed by others.

kjh said:

ydoethur said:

Fairliered said:

Benpointer said:

beinndearg said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

beinndearg said:

LostPassword said:

.

beinndearg said:

TimS said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

BlancheLivermore said:

Could AI and a probe in a glass do wine tasting?

Already been done...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/06/28/artificial-intelligence-can-now-tastetransforming-winemaking-with-tastry/

A lot of mid range wine tasting is just more descriptive version of what people smell and taste. It’s a skill but one I think AI could master quite easily.

For example, take a Rhône white dominated by Grenache Blanc, Viognier and Marsanne. You could say:

- Neutral slightly fruity smell
- Rich rounded taste
- A bit like Chardonnay but more spicy

Or you could say:

- Generous nose, beeswax and stone fruits, hints of toasted nuts
- Peach and lychee on the palate, a hint of cardamom, masala chai

An AI could do that I think.

Just read tasting notes on a prob rather ordinary Chilean pinot noir which said hint of mulberry. WTF knows what a mulberry tastes like? I do because I have a mulberry tree, but I bet the author didn't, nor over .001% of his intended audience.

It really doesn't matter what words they use to describe the taste, provided they are consistent and you drink wine often enough to pick up the lingo. Taste a red wine that says hint of mulberry and compare to a red wine that says notes of cherry, and eventually you should pick up the difference.

I don't drink enough wine to build up my experience, but I'm doing quite well on darker beers.

Every field of specialism is impenetrable to an outsider, and I guess wine-tasting is a specialism. The problem comes if it's all made up, and so inconsistent - but I would need to drink more wine to come to any conclusions. I'll pencil it for the 2030s.

I am specialised enough to conclude this guy was being a twat. I do find, though, that wine tastes of wine, not berries or pencil shavings.

Wine is remarkable in its complexity - the sugars, yeasts, tannins in the grape skins, esters from fermentation, vanillins from ageing in oak - it does have the ability to echo all sorts of other flavours and aromas. You try to pinpoint these as much as possible. So if you discern an 'earthy' aroma, is it minerally, mushroomy, or farmyardy? If it's farmyardy, that's when you might say it smells like a Jersey cow-shed, because you're tying it to something you remember, and hoping that others remember and can identify with.

So what about this biscuity champagne we hear about? Good thing there's only one sort of biscuit, or if more they all taste much the same.

There's a lot of laziness in wine tasting reports. Riesling is often described as smelling of petrol. Now I've smelt petrol and I've smelt and tasted plenty of riesling and they couldn't be more different.

As a red wine drinker, which tastes better?

Has any petrol drinker ever tried Riesling to make the experiment?

I was once taken to a Riesling wine tasting at a monastery in Germany by a customer. It was amazing. The wine was a very dark yellow and clung to the glass. I had never tasted Riesling like it. I asked if and how I could go about buying a bottle or two. I was told I couldn't.

kjh said:

ydoethur said:

Fairliered said:

Benpointer said:

beinndearg said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

beinndearg said:

LostPassword said:

.

beinndearg said:

TimS said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

BlancheLivermore said:

Could AI and a probe in a glass do wine tasting?

Already been done...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/06/28/artificial-intelligence-can-now-tastetransforming-winemaking-with-tastry/

A lot of mid range wine tasting is just more descriptive version of what people smell and taste. It’s a skill but one I think AI could master quite easily.

For example, take a Rhône white dominated by Grenache Blanc, Viognier and Marsanne. You could say:

- Neutral slightly fruity smell
- Rich rounded taste
- A bit like Chardonnay but more spicy

Or you could say:

- Generous nose, beeswax and stone fruits, hints of toasted nuts
- Peach and lychee on the palate, a hint of cardamom, masala chai

An AI could do that I think.

Just read tasting notes on a prob rather ordinary Chilean pinot noir which said hint of mulberry. WTF knows what a mulberry tastes like? I do because I have a mulberry tree, but I bet the author didn't, nor over .001% of his intended audience.

It really doesn't matter what words they use to describe the taste, provided they are consistent and you drink wine often enough to pick up the lingo. Taste a red wine that says hint of mulberry and compare to a red wine that says notes of cherry, and eventually you should pick up the difference.

I don't drink enough wine to build up my experience, but I'm doing quite well on darker beers.

Every field of specialism is impenetrable to an outsider, and I guess wine-tasting is a specialism. The problem comes if it's all made up, and so inconsistent - but I would need to drink more wine to come to any conclusions. I'll pencil it for the 2030s.

I am specialised enough to conclude this guy was being a twat. I do find, though, that wine tastes of wine, not berries or pencil shavings.

Wine is remarkable in its complexity - the sugars, yeasts, tannins in the grape skins, esters from fermentation, vanillins from ageing in oak - it does have the ability to echo all sorts of other flavours and aromas. You try to pinpoint these as much as possible. So if you discern an 'earthy' aroma, is it minerally, mushroomy, or farmyardy? If it's farmyardy, that's when you might say it smells like a Jersey cow-shed, because you're tying it to something you remember, and hoping that others remember and can identify with.

So what about this biscuity champagne we hear about? Good thing there's only one sort of biscuit, or if more they all taste much the same.

There's a lot of laziness in wine tasting reports. Riesling is often described as smelling of petrol. Now I've smelt petrol and I've smelt and tasted plenty of riesling and they couldn't be more different.

As a red wine drinker, which tastes better?

Has any petrol drinker ever tried Riesling to make the experiment?

I was once taken to a Riesling wine tasting at a monastery in Germany by a customer. It was amazing. The wine was a very dark yellow and clung to the glass. I had never tasted Riesling like it. I asked if and how I could go about buying a bottle or two. I was told I couldn't.

Luckyguy1983 said:

Casino_Royale said:

It's amazing that angry unhinged rant of @ydoethur got nine likes.

When I look at who it includes I'm not surprised by some of the names, but disappointed by others.

I think there's something squiffy with the likes system today, because my gag about the Tory Party earlier was a five-liker in my humble opinion.

dixiedean said:

Casino_Royale said:

It's amazing that angry unhinged rant of @ydoethur got nine likes.

When I look at who it includes I'm not surprised by some of the names, but disappointed by others.

Well.
I liked it for the sheer quality of the invective. You don't get that with AI.

ydoethur said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

Why? Have you shot some of these idiots?

Here is the list of commissioners on that review - it includes plenty of heads and teachers.

Do you think they are all idiots?

"Rachel Sylvester Chairwoman

Sir Anthony Seldon Deputy chairman. Contemporary historian, former head of Brighton College and Wellington College and former vice-chancellor, University of Buckingham

Geoff Barton General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders

Lord Bilimoria Founder of Cobra Beer, president of the CBI and chancellor of Birmingham University

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore Professor of cognitive neuroscience at Cambridge University, who leads a group studying the adolescent brain and behaviour

Sir Damon Buffini Permira founding partner, chairman of National Theatre and Cultural Recovery Fund Board

Dame Sally Coates Director at United Learning, which runs 90 schools; author of review of education in prison

Evelyn Forde Head of Copthall School in Barnet and winner of TES head of the year 2020

Kiran Gill Founder of The Difference, which sends high-flying teachers to referral units and alternative provision schools

Robert Halfon Tory MP for Harlow and chairman of Commons education select committee

Lucy Heller Chief executive of Ark, an educational charity that runs schools

Tristram Hunt Victoria & Albert Museum director, former Labour MP

Lord Johnson of Marylebone Former
universities minister, chairman of TES

Paul Johnson Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies

Lucy Kellaway Teacher at Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney and co-founder of Now Teach

Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho Chairwoman of WeTransfer, Open University chancellor, Lords Covid-19 select committee chairwoman

Anne Longfield Former children’s commissioner for England

Professor Heather McGregor Executive dean of Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University

Amanda Melton Principal of Nelson and Colne FE college in Lancashire

Sir Michael Morpurgo Author, poet and playwright, and former teacher"

Shit. That's not any Appeal to Authority, it's an M&S Appeal to Authority. Never mind the names, look at the actual document. "Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs" is like saying "Chefs should be trained in the art of rendering foodstuffs more edible and/or palatable by the sustained application of heat."

Those are the headline executive summaries in just one or two sentences. And I had to edit those just to get them to fit in the vanilla character limit.

There is no credible reason to dismiss the report, unless you are a headbanger. The list of commissioners is venerable and the fact that all 10 previous education secretaries and several sitting/former PMs have welcomed its findings is impressive in itself.

It is a very serious piece of work and deserves to be taken so - particularly as our education sector does lag our competitors.

I will certainly be reading it in full (I am yet to do so) and coming to my own conclusions on the detailed findings, and look forward to it.

The best test of how good a piece of writing is, is how actually good it actually is. You don't answer Ydoethur's criticisms, you just go off down a meta rabbithole about "like" counts. And here's a thing about the Real World: most of those Important People you list have done nothing beyond the equivalent of clicking like/retweet about this farrago of nonsense. I mean, you present as a parent: have you honestly never noticed that teachers are already trained to recognise children with SEN?

Not that we can do much about it when we do see it half the time, given the paucity of resources and inadequacy of council procedures.

My experience was that any teacher who had been in the classroom a few months could spot any issue with a child - SEND, health, emotional wellbeing - but actually getting anything done about it was the equivalent of banging your head very hard against a brick wall. Heck, it would be easier to convince Donald Trump he'd lost an election than to get Staffs to cough up for a plan.

Benpointer said:

geoffw said:

 

kjh said:

ydoethur said:

Fairliered said:

Benpointer said:

beinndearg said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

beinndearg said:

LostPassword said:

.

beinndearg said:

TimS said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

BlancheLivermore said:

Could AI and a probe in a glass do wine tasting?

Already been done...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/06/28/artificial-intelligence-can-now-tastetransforming-winemaking-with-tastry/

A lot of mid range wine tasting is just more descriptive version of what people smell and taste. It’s a skill but one I think AI could master quite easily.

For example, take a Rhône white dominated by Grenache Blanc, Viognier and Marsanne. You could say:

- Neutral slightly fruity smell
- Rich rounded taste
- A bit like Chardonnay but more spicy

Or you could say:

- Generous nose, beeswax and stone fruits, hints of toasted nuts
- Peach and lychee on the palate, a hint of cardamom, masala chai

An AI could do that I think.

Just read tasting notes on a prob rather ordinary Chilean pinot noir which said hint of mulberry. WTF knows what a mulberry tastes like? I do because I have a mulberry tree, but I bet the author didn't, nor over .001% of his intended audience.

It really doesn't matter what words they use to describe the taste, provided they are consistent and you drink wine often enough to pick up the lingo. Taste a red wine that says hint of mulberry and compare to a red wine that says notes of cherry, and eventually you should pick up the difference.

I don't drink enough wine to build up my experience, but I'm doing quite well on darker beers.

Every field of specialism is impenetrable to an outsider, and I guess wine-tasting is a specialism. The problem comes if it's all made up, and so inconsistent - but I would need to drink more wine to come to any conclusions. I'll pencil it for the 2030s.

I am specialised enough to conclude this guy was being a twat. I do find, though, that wine tastes of wine, not berries or pencil shavings.

Wine is remarkable in its complexity - the sugars, yeasts, tannins in the grape skins, esters from fermentation, vanillins from ageing in oak - it does have the ability to echo all sorts of other flavours and aromas. You try to pinpoint these as much as possible. So if you discern an 'earthy' aroma, is it minerally, mushroomy, or farmyardy? If it's farmyardy, that's when you might say it smells like a Jersey cow-shed, because you're tying it to something you remember, and hoping that others remember and can identify with.

So what about this biscuity champagne we hear about? Good thing there's only one sort of biscuit, or if more they all taste much the same.

There's a lot of laziness in wine tasting reports. Riesling is often described as smelling of petrol. Now I've smelt petrol and I've smelt and tasted plenty of riesling and they couldn't be more different.

As a red wine drinker, which tastes better?

Has any petrol drinker ever tried Riesling to make the experiment?

I was once taken to a Riesling wine tasting at a monastery in Germany by a customer. It was amazing. The wine was a very dark yellow and clung to the glass. I had never tasted Riesling like it. I asked if and how I could go about buying a bottle or two. I was told I couldn't.

Sounds like Trockenbeerenauslese.

Tbf nothing sounds quite like Trockenbeerenauslese.

Benpointer said:

HYUFD said:

Benpointer said:

HYUFD said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

HYUFD said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

HYUFD said:

Certainly there is a strong case for Maths to 18, just add English language, IT and a foreign language too

Although I feel that in general the UK is very poor at foreign languages, what is the rationale for it up to 18, especially when we know AI is already pretty good at least basic translation and I think it is a task that AI is only going to get much better at*.

* there will still be a need at the very high end for expert translators, where there needs to be knowledge of culture nuance or very subject specialist knowledge, but I think in terms of writing / reading emails for business, these AI systems are going to be excellent at being able to do this in the very near future. It will be give it the basic outline of your talking points, and it will do a very good job of constructing the text (certainly better than somebody who has only studied to 18 and nothing more).

As dealing with foreign clients you will impress them more if you can speak their language as well as they speak yours without having to use Google translate

This is certainly true, but do we need every 18 year old to do that?

A lot of businesses, there will certainly be one or two individuals who conduct those sort of meetings, but a lot of it will be done by a wider team who never meet their foreign counterparts, rather they are doing paperwork, answering emails, etc.

And that is why I said there is certainly still a role for expert foreign language speakers, but I think that what we will be seeing is something far more sophisticated than Google Translate.

Even then it still helps to get a more responsive service from a waiter abroad if you can speak their language properly

I wouldn't have had you down as a foreign language advocate, so I do applaud that. But your example begs the question how many languages should be taught until 18, and which ones?

I would allow students to choose one of French, German, Spanish or Mandarin

I appreciate this is a dumb question but is it no longer legally possible to get a full-time job at 16?

kjh said:

ydoethur said:

Fairliered said:

Benpointer said:

beinndearg said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

beinndearg said:

LostPassword said:

.

beinndearg said:

TimS said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

BlancheLivermore said:

Could AI and a probe in a glass do wine tasting?

Already been done...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/06/28/artificial-intelligence-can-now-tastetransforming-winemaking-with-tastry/

A lot of mid range wine tasting is just more descriptive version of what people smell and taste. It’s a skill but one I think AI could master quite easily.

For example, take a Rhône white dominated by Grenache Blanc, Viognier and Marsanne. You could say:

- Neutral slightly fruity smell
- Rich rounded taste
- A bit like Chardonnay but more spicy

Or you could say:

- Generous nose, beeswax and stone fruits, hints of toasted nuts
- Peach and lychee on the palate, a hint of cardamom, masala chai

An AI could do that I think.

Just read tasting notes on a prob rather ordinary Chilean pinot noir which said hint of mulberry. WTF knows what a mulberry tastes like? I do because I have a mulberry tree, but I bet the author didn't, nor over .001% of his intended audience.

It really doesn't matter what words they use to describe the taste, provided they are consistent and you drink wine often enough to pick up the lingo. Taste a red wine that says hint of mulberry and compare to a red wine that says notes of cherry, and eventually you should pick up the difference.

I don't drink enough wine to build up my experience, but I'm doing quite well on darker beers.

Every field of specialism is impenetrable to an outsider, and I guess wine-tasting is a specialism. The problem comes if it's all made up, and so inconsistent - but I would need to drink more wine to come to any conclusions. I'll pencil it for the 2030s.

I am specialised enough to conclude this guy was being a twat. I do find, though, that wine tastes of wine, not berries or pencil shavings.

Wine is remarkable in its complexity - the sugars, yeasts, tannins in the grape skins, esters from fermentation, vanillins from ageing in oak - it does have the ability to echo all sorts of other flavours and aromas. You try to pinpoint these as much as possible. So if you discern an 'earthy' aroma, is it minerally, mushroomy, or farmyardy? If it's farmyardy, that's when you might say it smells like a Jersey cow-shed, because you're tying it to something you remember, and hoping that others remember and can identify with.

So what about this biscuity champagne we hear about? Good thing there's only one sort of biscuit, or if more they all taste much the same.

There's a lot of laziness in wine tasting reports. Riesling is often described as smelling of petrol. Now I've smelt petrol and I've smelt and tasted plenty of riesling and they couldn't be more different.

As a red wine drinker, which tastes better?

Has any petrol drinker ever tried Riesling to make the experiment?

I was once taken to a Riesling wine tasting at a monastery in Germany by a customer. It was amazing. The wine was a very dark yellow and clung to the glass. I had never tasted Riesling like it. I asked if and how I could go about buying a bottle or two. I was told I couldn't.

ydoethur said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

Why? Have you shot some of these idiots?

Here is the list of commissioners on that review - it includes plenty of heads and teachers.

Do you think they are all idiots?

"Rachel Sylvester Chairwoman

Sir Anthony Seldon Deputy chairman. Contemporary historian, former head of Brighton College and Wellington College and former vice-chancellor, University of Buckingham

Geoff Barton General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders

Lord Bilimoria Founder of Cobra Beer, president of the CBI and chancellor of Birmingham University

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore Professor of cognitive neuroscience at Cambridge University, who leads a group studying the adolescent brain and behaviour

Sir Damon Buffini Permira founding partner, chairman of National Theatre and Cultural Recovery Fund Board

Dame Sally Coates Director at United Learning, which runs 90 schools; author of review of education in prison

Evelyn Forde Head of Copthall School in Barnet and winner of TES head of the year 2020

Kiran Gill Founder of The Difference, which sends high-flying teachers to referral units and alternative provision schools

Robert Halfon Tory MP for Harlow and chairman of Commons education select committee

Lucy Heller Chief executive of Ark, an educational charity that runs schools

Tristram Hunt Victoria & Albert Museum director, former Labour MP

Lord Johnson of Marylebone Former
universities minister, chairman of TES

Paul Johnson Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies

Lucy Kellaway Teacher at Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney and co-founder of Now Teach

Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho Chairwoman of WeTransfer, Open University chancellor, Lords Covid-19 select committee chairwoman

Anne Longfield Former children’s commissioner for England

Professor Heather McGregor Executive dean of Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University

Amanda Melton Principal of Nelson and Colne FE college in Lancashire

Sir Michael Morpurgo Author, poet and playwright, and former teacher"

Shit. That's not any Appeal to Authority, it's an M&S Appeal to Authority. Never mind the names, look at the actual document. "Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs" is like saying "Chefs should be trained in the art of rendering foodstuffs more edible and/or palatable by the sustained application of heat."

Those are the headline executive summaries in just one or two sentences. And I had to edit those just to get them to fit in the vanilla character limit.

There is no credible reason to dismiss the report, unless you are a headbanger. The list of commissioners is venerable and the fact that all 10 previous education secretaries and several sitting/former PMs have welcomed its findings is impressive in itself.

It is a very serious piece of work and deserves to be taken so - particularly as our education sector does lag our competitors.

I will certainly be reading it in full (I am yet to do so) and coming to my own conclusions on the detailed findings, and look forward to it.

The best test of how good a piece of writing is, is how actually good it actually is. You don't answer Ydoethur's criticisms, you just go off down a meta rabbithole about "like" counts. And here's a thing about the Real World: most of those Important People you list have done nothing beyond the equivalent of clicking like/retweet about this farrago of nonsense. I mean, you present as a parent: have you honestly never noticed that teachers are already trained to recognise children with SEN?

Not that we can do much about it when we do see it half the time, given the paucity of resources and inadequacy of council procedures.

My experience was that any teacher who had been in the classroom a few months could spot any issue with a child - SEND, health, emotional wellbeing - but actually getting anything done about it was the equivalent of banging your head very hard against a brick wall. Heck, it would be easier to convince Donald Trump he'd lost an election than to get Staffs to cough up for a plan.

HYUFD said:

Benpointer said:

HYUFD said:

Benpointer said:

HYUFD said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

HYUFD said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

HYUFD said:

Certainly there is a strong case for Maths to 18, just add English language, IT and a foreign language too

Although I feel that in general the UK is very poor at foreign languages, what is the rationale for it up to 18, especially when we know AI is already pretty good at least basic translation and I think it is a task that AI is only going to get much better at*.

* there will still be a need at the very high end for expert translators, where there needs to be knowledge of culture nuance or very subject specialist knowledge, but I think in terms of writing / reading emails for business, these AI systems are going to be excellent at being able to do this in the very near future. It will be give it the basic outline of your talking points, and it will do a very good job of constructing the text (certainly better than somebody who has only studied to 18 and nothing more).

As dealing with foreign clients you will impress them more if you can speak their language as well as they speak yours without having to use Google translate

This is certainly true, but do we need every 18 year old to do that?

A lot of businesses, there will certainly be one or two individuals who conduct those sort of meetings, but a lot of it will be done by a wider team who never meet their foreign counterparts, rather they are doing paperwork, answering emails, etc.

And that is why I said there is certainly still a role for expert foreign language speakers, but I think that what we will be seeing is something far more sophisticated than Google Translate.

Even then it still helps to get a more responsive service from a waiter abroad if you can speak their language properly

I wouldn't have had you down as a foreign language advocate, so I do applaud that. But your example begs the question how many languages should be taught until 18, and which ones?

I would allow students to choose one of French, German, Spanish or Mandarin

I appreciate this is a dumb question but is it no longer legally possible to get a full-time job at 16?

You now have to be in full time education, training or an apprenticeship until 18

Leon said:

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Leon said:

Jeez. It’s been a long time. The quality late evening biz class flight, from wintry london to the tropical sun

One of the minor but emphatic pleasures of life

I will wake up in a place where it is 32C and sunny

Mum and I flew business class from London to Kochi (Cochin) in mid-November, returned (also business class) Kochi to London in mid-December. Upgraded both times, over the counter outbound, and via an online "bid" coming back. Roughly an extra £550 for each of us on each leg.

That’s an amazing bargain. Well done!

I am actually thinking of flying back via Kochi. It sounds enticing. Never been. Exotic and storied

Sunil_Prasannan said:

Fairliered said:

Leon said:

Andy_JS said:

Leon said:

Jeez. It’s been a long time. The quality late evening biz class flight, from wintry london to the tropical sun

One of the minor but emphatic pleasures of life

I will wake up in a place where it is 32C and sunny

I've never been on anything other than standard class on a plane.

Just occasionally it is worth the money. Getting out of london in winter is one of those times

Especially as due to rail strikes it’s not easy getting from London to Wick.

Glad I did Wick and Kyle last July!

Andy_JS said:

Is the drought over yet? They never seem to report on it.

Southern Water reservoirs:

Bewl 78%
Darwell 88%
Powdermill 100%
Weir Wood 100%

https://www.southernwater.co.uk/water-for-life/reservoir-levels

ydoethur said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

Why? Have you shot some of these idiots?

Here is the list of commissioners on that review - it includes plenty of heads and teachers.

Do you think they are all idiots?

"Rachel Sylvester Chairwoman

Sir Anthony Seldon Deputy chairman. Contemporary historian, former head of Brighton College and Wellington College and former vice-chancellor, University of Buckingham

Geoff Barton General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders

Lord Bilimoria Founder of Cobra Beer, president of the CBI and chancellor of Birmingham University

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore Professor of cognitive neuroscience at Cambridge University, who leads a group studying the adolescent brain and behaviour

Sir Damon Buffini Permira founding partner, chairman of National Theatre and Cultural Recovery Fund Board

Dame Sally Coates Director at United Learning, which runs 90 schools; author of review of education in prison

Evelyn Forde Head of Copthall School in Barnet and winner of TES head of the year 2020

Kiran Gill Founder of The Difference, which sends high-flying teachers to referral units and alternative provision schools

Robert Halfon Tory MP for Harlow and chairman of Commons education select committee

Lucy Heller Chief executive of Ark, an educational charity that runs schools

Tristram Hunt Victoria & Albert Museum director, former Labour MP

Lord Johnson of Marylebone Former
universities minister, chairman of TES

Paul Johnson Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies

Lucy Kellaway Teacher at Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney and co-founder of Now Teach

Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho Chairwoman of WeTransfer, Open University chancellor, Lords Covid-19 select committee chairwoman

Anne Longfield Former children’s commissioner for England

Professor Heather McGregor Executive dean of Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University

Amanda Melton Principal of Nelson and Colne FE college in Lancashire

Sir Michael Morpurgo Author, poet and playwright, and former teacher"

Shit. That's not any Appeal to Authority, it's an M&S Appeal to Authority. Never mind the names, look at the actual document. "Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs" is like saying "Chefs should be trained in the art of rendering foodstuffs more edible and/or palatable by the sustained application of heat."

Those are the headline executive summaries in just one or two sentences. And I had to edit those just to get them to fit in the vanilla character limit.

There is no credible reason to dismiss the report, unless you are a headbanger. The list of commissioners is venerable and the fact that all 10 previous education secretaries and several sitting/former PMs have welcomed its findings is impressive in itself.

It is a very serious piece of work and deserves to be taken so - particularly as our education sector does lag our competitors.

I will certainly be reading it in full (I am yet to do so) and coming to my own conclusions on the detailed findings, and look forward to it.

The best test of how good a piece of writing is, is how actually good it actually is. You don't answer Ydoethur's criticisms, you just go off down a meta rabbithole about "like" counts. And here's a thing about the Real World: most of those Important People you list have done nothing beyond the equivalent of clicking like/retweet about this farrago of nonsense. I mean, you present as a parent: have you honestly never noticed that teachers are already trained to recognise children with SEN?

Not that we can do much about it when we do see it half the time, given the paucity of resources and inadequacy of council procedures.

My experience was that any teacher who had been in the classroom a few months could spot any issue with a child - SEND, health, emotional wellbeing - but actually getting anything done about it was the equivalent of banging your head very hard against a brick wall. Heck, it would be easier to convince Donald Trump he'd lost an election than to get Staffs to cough up for a plan.

FrancisUrquhart said:

2D pictures of your holibobs is so last year, you should be making NeRFs.....

ydoethur said:

Benpointer said:

HYUFD said:

Certainly there is a strong case for Maths to 18, just add English language, IT and a foreign language too

No history or science?

You could make a case that maths and IT are both a form of science.

English language is a poor substitute for history though.

ydoethur said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

Why? Have you shot some of these idiots?

Here is the list of commissioners on that review - it includes plenty of heads and teachers.

Do you think they are all idiots?

"Rachel Sylvester Chairwoman

Sir Anthony Seldon Deputy chairman. Contemporary historian, former head of Brighton College and Wellington College and former vice-chancellor, University of Buckingham

Geoff Barton General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders

Lord Bilimoria Founder of Cobra Beer, president of the CBI and chancellor of Birmingham University

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore Professor of cognitive neuroscience at Cambridge University, who leads a group studying the adolescent brain and behaviour

Sir Damon Buffini Permira founding partner, chairman of National Theatre and Cultural Recovery Fund Board

Dame Sally Coates Director at United Learning, which runs 90 schools; author of review of education in prison

Evelyn Forde Head of Copthall School in Barnet and winner of TES head of the year 2020

Kiran Gill Founder of The Difference, which sends high-flying teachers to referral units and alternative provision schools

Robert Halfon Tory MP for Harlow and chairman of Commons education select committee

Lucy Heller Chief executive of Ark, an educational charity that runs schools

Tristram Hunt Victoria & Albert Museum director, former Labour MP

Lord Johnson of Marylebone Former
universities minister, chairman of TES

Paul Johnson Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies

Lucy Kellaway Teacher at Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney and co-founder of Now Teach

Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho Chairwoman of WeTransfer, Open University chancellor, Lords Covid-19 select committee chairwoman

Anne Longfield Former children’s commissioner for England

Professor Heather McGregor Executive dean of Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University

Amanda Melton Principal of Nelson and Colne FE college in Lancashire

Sir Michael Morpurgo Author, poet and playwright, and former teacher"

Shit. That's not any Appeal to Authority, it's an M&S Appeal to Authority. Never mind the names, look at the actual document. "Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs" is like saying "Chefs should be trained in the art of rendering foodstuffs more edible and/or palatable by the sustained application of heat."

Those are the headline executive summaries in just one or two sentences. And I had to edit those just to get them to fit in the vanilla character limit.

There is no credible reason to dismiss the report, unless you are a headbanger. The list of commissioners is venerable and the fact that all 10 previous education secretaries and several sitting/former PMs have welcomed its findings is impressive in itself.

It is a very serious piece of work and deserves to be taken so - particularly as our education sector does lag our competitors.

I will certainly be reading it in full (I am yet to do so) and coming to my own conclusions on the detailed findings, and look forward to it.

The best test of how good a piece of writing is, is how actually good it actually is. You don't answer Ydoethur's criticisms, you just go off down a meta rabbithole about "like" counts. And here's a thing about the Real World: most of those Important People you list have done nothing beyond the equivalent of clicking like/retweet about this farrago of nonsense. I mean, you present as a parent: have you honestly never noticed that teachers are already trained to recognise children with SEN?

Not that we can do much about it when we do see it half the time, given the paucity of resources and inadequacy of council procedures.

My experience was that any teacher who had been in the classroom a few months could spot any issue with a child - SEND, health, emotional wellbeing - but actually getting anything done about it was the equivalent of banging your head very hard against a brick wall. Heck, it would be easier to convince Donald Trump he'd lost an election than to get Staffs to cough up for a plan.

Benpointer said:

beinndearg said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

beinndearg said:

LostPassword said:

.

beinndearg said:

TimS said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

BlancheLivermore said:

Could AI and a probe in a glass do wine tasting?

Already been done...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/06/28/artificial-intelligence-can-now-tastetransforming-winemaking-with-tastry/

A lot of mid range wine tasting is just more descriptive version of what people smell and taste. It’s a skill but one I think AI could master quite easily.

For example, take a Rhône white dominated by Grenache Blanc, Viognier and Marsanne. You could say:

- Neutral slightly fruity smell
- Rich rounded taste
- A bit like Chardonnay but more spicy

Or you could say:

- Generous nose, beeswax and stone fruits, hints of toasted nuts
- Peach and lychee on the palate, a hint of cardamom, masala chai

An AI could do that I think.

Just read tasting notes on a prob rather ordinary Chilean pinot noir which said hint of mulberry. WTF knows what a mulberry tastes like? I do because I have a mulberry tree, but I bet the author didn't, nor over .001% of his intended audience.

It really doesn't matter what words they use to describe the taste, provided they are consistent and you drink wine often enough to pick up the lingo. Taste a red wine that says hint of mulberry and compare to a red wine that says notes of cherry, and eventually you should pick up the difference.

I don't drink enough wine to build up my experience, but I'm doing quite well on darker beers.

Every field of specialism is impenetrable to an outsider, and I guess wine-tasting is a specialism. The problem comes if it's all made up, and so inconsistent - but I would need to drink more wine to come to any conclusions. I'll pencil it for the 2030s.

I am specialised enough to conclude this guy was being a twat. I do find, though, that wine tastes of wine, not berries or pencil shavings.

Wine is remarkable in its complexity - the sugars, yeasts, tannins in the grape skins, esters from fermentation, vanillins from ageing in oak - it does have the ability to echo all sorts of other flavours and aromas. You try to pinpoint these as much as possible. So if you discern an 'earthy' aroma, is it minerally, mushroomy, or farmyardy? If it's farmyardy, that's when you might say it smells like a Jersey cow-shed, because you're tying it to something you remember, and hoping that others remember and can identify with.

So what about this biscuity champagne we hear about? Good thing there's only one sort of biscuit, or if more they all taste much the same.

There's a lot of laziness in wine tasting reports. Riesling is often described as smelling of petrol. Now I've smelt petrol and I've smelt and tasted plenty of riesling and they couldn't be more different.

Benpointer said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

2D pictures of your holibobs is so last year, you should be making NeRFs.....

What's a NeRF?

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

Why? Have you shot some of these idiots?

Here is the list of commissioners on that review - it includes plenty of heads and teachers.

Do you think they are all idiots?

"Rachel Sylvester Chairwoman

Sir Anthony Seldon Deputy chairman. Contemporary historian, former head of Brighton College and Wellington College and former vice-chancellor, University of Buckingham

Geoff Barton General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders

Lord Bilimoria Founder of Cobra Beer, president of the CBI and chancellor of Birmingham University

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore Professor of cognitive neuroscience at Cambridge University, who leads a group studying the adolescent brain and behaviour

Sir Damon Buffini Permira founding partner, chairman of National Theatre and Cultural Recovery Fund Board

Dame Sally Coates Director at United Learning, which runs 90 schools; author of review of education in prison

Evelyn Forde Head of Copthall School in Barnet and winner of TES head of the year 2020

Kiran Gill Founder of The Difference, which sends high-flying teachers to referral units and alternative provision schools

Robert Halfon Tory MP for Harlow and chairman of Commons education select committee

Lucy Heller Chief executive of Ark, an educational charity that runs schools

Tristram Hunt Victoria & Albert Museum director, former Labour MP

Lord Johnson of Marylebone Former
universities minister, chairman of TES

Paul Johnson Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies

Lucy Kellaway Teacher at Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney and co-founder of Now Teach

Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho Chairwoman of WeTransfer, Open University chancellor, Lords Covid-19 select committee chairwoman

Anne Longfield Former children’s commissioner for England

Professor Heather McGregor Executive dean of Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University

Amanda Melton Principal of Nelson and Colne FE college in Lancashire

Sir Michael Morpurgo Author, poet and playwright, and former teacher"

Shit. That's not any Appeal to Authority, it's an M&S Appeal to Authority. Never mind the names, look at the actual document. "Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs" is like saying "Chefs should be trained in the art of rendering foodstuffs more edible and/or palatable by the sustained application of heat."

Those are the headline executive summaries in just one or two sentences. And I had to edit those just to get them to fit in the vanilla character limit.

There is no credible reason to dismiss the report, unless you are a headbanger. The list of commissioners is venerable and the fact that all 10 previous education secretaries and several sitting/former PMs have welcomed its findings is impressive in itself.

It is a very serious piece of work and deserves to be taken so - particularly as our education sector does lag our competitors.

I will certainly be reading it in full (I am yet to do so) and coming to my own conclusions on the detailed findings, and look forward to it.

The best test of how good a piece of writing is, is how actually good it actually is. You don't answer Ydoethur's criticisms, you just go off down a meta rabbithole about "like" counts. And here's a thing about the Real World: most of those Important People you list have done nothing beyond the equivalent of clicking like/retweet about this farrago of nonsense. I mean, you present as a parent: have you honestly never noticed that teachers are already trained to recognise children with SEN?

Stuartinromford said:

HYUFD said:

ydoethur said:

HYUFD said:

kjh said:

HYUFD said:

Benpointer said:

HYUFD said:

Certainly there is a strong case for Maths to 18, just add English language, IT and a foreign language too

No history or science?

In the workplace unless you want to teach or research history or work in a museum or be a scientist or doctor or engineer you don't need history or science day to day. They should be compulsory to 16 as any educated person should have some core knowledge of them but not beyond that.

However most office and admin jobs today need effective English language and communication skills, core numeracy and IT.

I agree re history. It is very interesting but not essential for most people, although a knowledge of recent history can be very useful. I don't agree re science. I am appalled by the lack of scientific knowledge of most people and how useful it can be.

As I said science would still be compulsory to 16 for me. Now you don't have to study all 3 sciences, Biology, Chemistry and Physics individually to 16 or history. You can drop them at 14

You still have to study all three sciences to 16. You may not sit separate exams in them.

You only study them in proper depth if you do separate exams in all 3 of them. Double award doesn't do the same depth

It has about 2/3 of the depth. What you'd expect, really. Science A Levels are designed to follow smoothly on from GCSE double award, and I've had students do well from either route.

(Since it follows on neatly from here, I'd argue that science is a better training in practical numeracy than maths. We deal with MoE variations all the time, and get used to knowing what to ignore.)

beinndearg said:

TimS said:

Sadly Riesling is one variety nobody in England has managed to make consistently into good wine, despite it being at least officially a cool climate variety.

I know what the petrol thing is getting at, it’s the volatile whiff of a nearby filling station. Older Riesling does have that.

It’s good to see plenty of PB interest in decent wine. You’ll hopefully all be buying my Kentish blanc de noirs in about 4 years time when it’s ready to sell.

Is that 100% pinot noir?

HYUFD said:

ydoethur said:

HYUFD said:

kjh said:

HYUFD said:

Benpointer said:

HYUFD said:

Certainly there is a strong case for Maths to 18, just add English language, IT and a foreign language too

No history or science?

In the workplace unless you want to teach or research history or work in a museum or be a scientist or doctor or engineer you don't need history or science day to day. They should be compulsory to 16 as any educated person should have some core knowledge of them but not beyond that.

However most office and admin jobs today need effective English language and communication skills, core numeracy and IT.

I agree re history. It is very interesting but not essential for most people, although a knowledge of recent history can be very useful. I don't agree re science. I am appalled by the lack of scientific knowledge of most people and how useful it can be.

As I said science would still be compulsory to 16 for me. Now you don't have to study all 3 sciences, Biology, Chemistry and Physics individually to 16 or history. You can drop them at 14

You still have to study all three sciences to 16. You may not sit separate exams in them.

You only study them in proper depth if you do separate exams in all 3 of them. Double award doesn't do the same depth

Malmesbury said:

Fairliered said:

beinndearg said:

Scott_xP said:

Luckyguy1983 said:

beinndearg said:

TimS said:

FrancisUrquhart said:

BlancheLivermore said:

Could AI and a probe in a glass do wine tasting?

Already been done...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/06/28/artificial-intelligence-can-now-tastetransforming-winemaking-with-tastry/

A lot of mid range wine tasting is just more descriptive version of what people smell and taste. It’s a skill but one I think AI could master quite easily.

For example, take a Rhône white dominated by Grenache Blanc, Viognier and Marsanne. You could say:

- Neutral slightly fruity smell
- Rich rounded taste
- A bit like Chardonnay but more spicy

Or you could say:

- Generous nose, beeswax and stone fruits, hints of toasted nuts
- Peach and lychee on the palate, a hint of cardamom, masala chai

An AI could do that I think.

Just read tasting notes on a prob rather ordinary Chilean pinot noir which said hint of mulberry. WTF knows what a mulberry tastes like? I do because I have a mulberry tree, but I bet the author didn't, nor over .001% of his intended audience.

A silkworm would know - though I think they eat the leaves.

Except most Mulberry trees in the UK are not the same kind as Silkworms eat AFAIK

10/10. Silkworms eat white mulberry leaves. That well known dork Henry VIII imported black mulberry trees to kickstart the English silk industry.

BTW white/black are not about fruit colour. White mulberry fruit when ripe can be white red or black.

Shock, horror! Henry VIII is infallible according to Brexiteers. Maybe Brexiteers are wrong about everything else as well.

Genuine question - after taking over the position of Head of The English Church, did Henry or any of his descenders claim he equivalent of Papal Infallibility in religious terms?

LostPassword said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

Why? Have you shot some of these idiots?

Here is the list of commissioners on that review - it includes plenty of heads and teachers.

Do you think they are all idiots?

"Rachel Sylvester Chairwoman

Sir Anthony Seldon Deputy chairman. Contemporary historian, former head of Brighton College and Wellington College and former vice-chancellor, University of Buckingham

Geoff Barton General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders

Lord Bilimoria Founder of Cobra Beer, president of the CBI and chancellor of Birmingham University

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore Professor of cognitive neuroscience at Cambridge University, who leads a group studying the adolescent brain and behaviour

Sir Damon Buffini Permira founding partner, chairman of National Theatre and Cultural Recovery Fund Board

Dame Sally Coates Director at United Learning, which runs 90 schools; author of review of education in prison

Evelyn Forde Head of Copthall School in Barnet and winner of TES head of the year 2020

Kiran Gill Founder of The Difference, which sends high-flying teachers to referral units and alternative provision schools

Robert Halfon Tory MP for Harlow and chairman of Commons education select committee

Lucy Heller Chief executive of Ark, an educational charity that runs schools

Tristram Hunt Victoria & Albert Museum director, former Labour MP

Lord Johnson of Marylebone Former
universities minister, chairman of TES

Paul Johnson Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies

Lucy Kellaway Teacher at Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney and co-founder of Now Teach

Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho Chairwoman of WeTransfer, Open University chancellor, Lords Covid-19 select committee chairwoman

Anne Longfield Former children’s commissioner for England

Professor Heather McGregor Executive dean of Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University

Amanda Melton Principal of Nelson and Colne FE college in Lancashire

Sir Michael Morpurgo Author, poet and playwright, and former teacher"

Shit. That's not any Appeal to Authority, it's an M&S Appeal to Authority. Never mind the names, look at the actual document. "Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs" is like saying "Chefs should be trained in the art of rendering foodstuffs more edible and/or palatable by the sustained application of heat."

Those are the headline executive summaries in just one or two sentences. And I had to edit those just to get them to fit in the vanilla character limit.

There is no credible reason to dismiss the report, unless you are a headbanger. The list of commissioners is venerable and the fact that all 10 previous education secretaries and several sitting/former PMs have welcomed its findings is impressive in itself.

It is a very serious piece of work and deserves to be taken so - particularly as our education sector does lag our competitors.

I will certainly be reading it in full (I am yet to do so) and coming to my own conclusions on the detailed findings, and look forward to it.

The best test of how good a piece of writing is, is how actually good it actually is. You don't answer Ydoethur's criticisms, you just go off down a meta rabbithole about "like" counts. And here's a thing about the Real World: most of those Important People you list have done nothing beyond the equivalent of clicking like/retweet about this farrago of nonsense. I mean, you present as a parent: have you honestly never noticed that teachers are already trained to recognise children with SEN?

My anecdotal experience might be a bit out of date, but from everything that I've ever heard about special needs in schools, parents have to fight really hard to get the needs of their children recognised, and extra support provided.

A lot of this might come down to funding - perhaps the teachers are being forced to act as hyper-vigilant gatekeepers in order to ration the extra support available - but I find a response of, "teachers are perfect at this already, thanks," a bit jarring. And that's speaking as someone whose mother was a teacher, and whose ex's mother was a special needs teacher.

Casino_Royale said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

Why? Have you shot some of these idiots?

Here is the list of commissioners on that review - it includes plenty of heads and teachers.

Do you think they are all idiots?

"Rachel Sylvester Chairwoman

Sir Anthony Seldon Deputy chairman. Contemporary historian, former head of Brighton College and Wellington College and former vice-chancellor, University of Buckingham

Geoff Barton General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders

Lord Bilimoria Founder of Cobra Beer, president of the CBI and chancellor of Birmingham University

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore Professor of cognitive neuroscience at Cambridge University, who leads a group studying the adolescent brain and behaviour

Sir Damon Buffini Permira founding partner, chairman of National Theatre and Cultural Recovery Fund Board

Dame Sally Coates Director at United Learning, which runs 90 schools; author of review of education in prison

Evelyn Forde Head of Copthall School in Barnet and winner of TES head of the year 2020

Kiran Gill Founder of The Difference, which sends high-flying teachers to referral units and alternative provision schools

Robert Halfon Tory MP for Harlow and chairman of Commons education select committee

Lucy Heller Chief executive of Ark, an educational charity that runs schools

Tristram Hunt Victoria & Albert Museum director, former Labour MP

Lord Johnson of Marylebone Former
universities minister, chairman of TES

Paul Johnson Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies

Lucy Kellaway Teacher at Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney and co-founder of Now Teach

Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho Chairwoman of WeTransfer, Open University chancellor, Lords Covid-19 select committee chairwoman

Anne Longfield Former children’s commissioner for England

Professor Heather McGregor Executive dean of Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University

Amanda Melton Principal of Nelson and Colne FE college in Lancashire

Sir Michael Morpurgo Author, poet and playwright, and former teacher"

Shit. That's not any Appeal to Authority, it's an M&S Appeal to Authority. Never mind the names, look at the actual document. "Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs" is like saying "Chefs should be trained in the art of rendering foodstuffs more edible and/or palatable by the sustained application of heat."

Those are the headline executive summaries in just one or two sentences. And I had to edit those just to get them to fit in the vanilla character limit.

There is no credible reason to dismiss the report, unless you are a headbanger. The list of commissioners is venerable and the fact that all 10 previous education secretaries and several sitting/former PMs have welcomed its findings is impressive in itself.

It is a very serious piece of work and deserves to be taken so - particularly as our education sector does lag our competitors.

I will certainly be reading it in full (I am yet to do so) and coming to my own conclusions on the detailed findings, and look forward to it.

TimS said:

beinndearg said:

TimS said:

Sadly Riesling is one variety nobody in England has managed to make consistently into good wine, despite it being at least officially a cool climate variety.

I know what the petrol thing is getting at, it’s the volatile whiff of a nearby filling station. Older Riesling does have that.

It’s good to see plenty of PB interest in decent wine. You’ll hopefully all be buying my Kentish blanc de noirs in about 4 years time when it’s ready to sell.

Is that 100% pinot noir?

It’ll be roughly 60:40 Pinot Meunier/Pinot Noir. Meunier does well in our area. Cooler than the downs scarp slope or lower Weald and flinty clay soils similar to Val de Marne.

Theuniondivvie said:

Richard_Tyndall said:

CorrectHorseBattery3 said:

https://twitter.com/48_Crash/status/1612067312806547457

How strange, we didn't seem to be against Harry killing then.

Talk to any serviceman who has actually been in action. They thought he was a twat for saying it then just as they do now.

Well, unlike the tabloids and the people whose noses are lead by them, at least they're being consistent.
Since we've only got Topping and Dura Ace on here to give the serviceman's view, let's see if they're in accord with 'any serviceman'.

dixiedean said:

ydoethur said:

LostPassword said:

Casino_Royale said:

beinndearg said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

ydoethur said:

Casino_Royale said:

12-point plan from the TEC is below:

1 A British Baccalaureate
It would offer broader academic and vocational qualifications at 18, with parity in funding per pupil in both routes, and a slimmed-down set of exams at 16 to bring out the best in every child.

2 ‘Electives premium’
To be spent on activities including drama, music, dance and sport and a National Citizen Service experience for every pupil, with volunteering and outdoor pursuits to ensure that activities enjoyed by the most advantaged become available to all.

3 New cadre of Career Academies
Elite technical and vocational sixth forms with close links to industry, mirroring the academic sixth forms and a new focus on creativity and entrepreneurialism in education to unleash the economic potential of Britain.

4 Significant boost to early years funding
The extra funding should be targeted at the most vulnerable. A unique pupil number would be given to every child from birth, to level the playing field before they get to school. Every primary school should have a library.

5 Army of undergraduate tutors
The students would earn credit towards their degrees by helping pupils who fall behind to catch up.

6 Making the most of tech
A laptop or tablet for every child, greater use of artificial intelligence in schools, colleges and universities to personalise learning, reduce teacher workload and prepare young people better for future employment.

7 Wellbeing at the heart of education
A counsellor should be placed in every school and an annual wellbeing survey of pupils carried out to encourage schools to actively build resilience rather than just support students once problems have arisen.

8 Bring out the best in teaching
Profession’s status and appeal would be increased with better career development, revalidation every 5 yrs & a new category of consultant teachers, promoted within the classroom, as well as a new teaching apprenticeship.

9 A reformed Ofsted
Ofsted should work collaboratively with schools to secure sustained improvement, and a new “report card” with a wider range of metrics including wellbeing, school culture, inclusion & attendance to unleash the potential of schools.

10 Better training
Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs, a greater focus should be placed on inclusion and a duty put on schools to remain accountable for the pupils they exclude to draw out the talent in every child.

11 New university campuses
New campuses should be created in 50 HE “cold spots”, including satellite wings in FE colleges. In addition, pay and conditions in FE sector should be improved and a transferrable credit system between universities and colleges created to boost stalled British productivity.

12 A 15-year strategy
Drawn up in consultation with business leaders, scientists, local mayors, civic leaders & cultural figures, putting education above short-term party politics and bringing out the best in our schools, colleges and universities.

1) Bullshit. You can have qualifications as intense as A-level (whether they're rigorous is a different question, and I would argue the current ones are not) or you can have more of them. In Australia, for example, you do more subjects at 18 but they're much closer to GCSEs than A-levels in terms of assessment and content.

2) What the fuck does that even mean? It's drivel.

3) Those already exist, so why rebadge them? The key is not elitism. That's what's killed British (and I do mean British) education for centuries. We've always had good elite systems. Where we fall down is in doing a proper job for everyone else.

4) No Shit Sherlocks. Unless you say how it's to be paid for, that's meaningless.

5) Again, already happens on a modest scale. And it can't be expanded because there are lots of undergraduates you don't want near schoolchildren and would be as much use as Spielman in a classroom. How fucking ignorant are these people?

6) Some university faculties have a staff student ratio of 1;46. Are they willing for a fourfold increase in uni funding? Tablets/laptops are a good idea but it's being blocked by the DfE for mostly spurious official reasons which are too long to list here but in reality because of cost.

7) There already is. What planet are these fuckers on?

8) These people don't have a fucking clue. Teachers already do extensive ANNUAL training due to performance related pay. Reaccrediting every five years is simply a way to keep a load of useless unemployable wankers at the DfE in work and add yet more work to teachers.

9) OFSTED is a risk to children, because its head is ignoring safeguarding, possibly because she's stupid and possibly because she's arrogant. It was designed to bring teachers under the drink sodden retards of the DfE and is despised by teachers as a waste of time and effort. It needs abolishing not reforming.

10) WE ALREADY FUCKING DO YOU USELESS DRUG ADDLED WANKERS. BETTER TRAINING WILL NOT CHANGE THAT BUT YOU SHUTTING YOUR USELESS STUPID PATRONISING MOUTHS MIGHT.

11) what the fuck does this even mean? Name one county with no university. I can come up with Rutland and Northumberland. But after that I'm struggling. Even Hereford has one.

12) sod strategies. What we need are useless wankers who think they are brilliant but are in fact thick to fuck off and stop meddling. Starting with the DfE and whatever drunken retards came up with this drivel.

Honestly. Maybe the country's had enough of experts but I've left teaching partly because I'd had enough of ignorant stupid patronising wankers with small brains and smaller dicks telling me how to do my job despite knowing nothing about it.

Feel better now?

Why? Have you shot some of these idiots?

Here is the list of commissioners on that review - it includes plenty of heads and teachers.

Do you think they are all idiots?

"Rachel Sylvester Chairwoman

Sir Anthony Seldon Deputy chairman. Contemporary historian, former head of Brighton College and Wellington College and former vice-chancellor, University of Buckingham

Geoff Barton General secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders

Lord Bilimoria Founder of Cobra Beer, president of the CBI and chancellor of Birmingham University

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore Professor of cognitive neuroscience at Cambridge University, who leads a group studying the adolescent brain and behaviour

Sir Damon Buffini Permira founding partner, chairman of National Theatre and Cultural Recovery Fund Board

Dame Sally Coates Director at United Learning, which runs 90 schools; author of review of education in prison

Evelyn Forde Head of Copthall School in Barnet and winner of TES head of the year 2020

Kiran Gill Founder of The Difference, which sends high-flying teachers to referral units and alternative provision schools

Robert Halfon Tory MP for Harlow and chairman of Commons education select committee

Lucy Heller Chief executive of Ark, an educational charity that runs schools

Tristram Hunt Victoria & Albert Museum director, former Labour MP

Lord Johnson of Marylebone Former
universities minister, chairman of TES

Paul Johnson Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies

Lucy Kellaway Teacher at Mossbourne Community Academy in Hackney and co-founder of Now Teach

Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho Chairwoman of WeTransfer, Open University chancellor, Lords Covid-19 select committee chairwoman

Anne Longfield Former children’s commissioner for England

Professor Heather McGregor Executive dean of Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University

Amanda Melton Principal of Nelson and Colne FE college in Lancashire

Sir Michael Morpurgo Author, poet and playwright, and former teacher"

Shit. That's not any Appeal to Authority, it's an M&S Appeal to Authority. Never mind the names, look at the actual document. "Teachers should be trained to identify children who have special educational needs" is like saying "Chefs should be trained in the art of rendering foodstuffs more edible and/or palatable by the sustained application of heat."

Those are the headline executive summaries in just one or two sentences. And I had to edit those just to get them to fit in the vanilla character limit.

There is no credible reason to dismiss the report, unless you are a headbanger. The list of commissioners is venerable and the fact that all 10 previous education secretaries and several sitting/former PMs have welcomed its findings is impressive in itself.

It is a very serious piece of work and deserves to be taken so - particularly as our education sector does lag our competitors.

I will certainly be reading it in full (I am yet to do so) and coming to my own conclusions on the detailed findings, and look forward to it.

I'm not sure why the stated plan should elicit such a hostile response. My first thought on reading the 12-point plan is that it sounds like a lot of extra spending.

Perhaps the full report has gathered the evidence, and created the sort of comprehensive plan that can justify the additional spending, and maybe if the money is found then this would be seen as a turning point in British education. We could certainly do with one.

I think Education has suffered in Britain from a lot of hobby horses and faddish policies. If we now have a serious plan, using the best evidence, for a better way forward, then it might be possible to improve things. A Beveridge Report for Education sort of thing.

If the summary reflects the report, it isn't a serious plan. That's partly for the reasons I've given, but there's another issue. It hasn't actually done what's needed to begin any serious plan: asked the right question.

What do we want our education system to achieve?

Is it to educate everyone to be successful in the workplace?

Is it to prepare for further study?

Is it to make people useful members of society and achieve some kind of personal eudaimonia?

Or is it a baby sitting service so both parents can earn money to pay a mortgage and keep house prices up?

You can only have one of those things, because the approach you take to achieve them is quite different from each other. You can't, for example, do lots of education while babysitting eight till six fifty weeks a year. Equally, you can't do full on education nine hours a day fifty weeks a year. And equipping people to be effective in the work place means training them to subordinate their personal desires for freedom of action to economic needs.

Until we answer that question - and it's not a question politicians or civil servants alone can answer - any plan or report is frankly a waste of time and effort.

It's trying to be all four.
Not possible.