Tuesday 28th March 2017

[HindleA]

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/ma ... n-by-chain" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Home Office contractor 'restrains disabled Yarls Wood woman by chain'

[55DegreesNorth]

The DfE seem to have had a bit of a day today.

1. Changed the definition of what will be a pass at GCSE and confused pretty much everyone - two months before said GCSEs will be taken. Incidentally Nick Gibb said last year that no way should anything less than a Grade 5 should considered a pass because of international comparisons. It's now a Grade 4.

2. Announced that instead of looking at the functions of the Education Funding Agency which pretty much everyone agrees is a basket-case, they're combining it with the Skills Funding Agency and thus making an even bigger mess.

As one of the first year to take GCSEs, I have a great deal of sympathy for the kids facing this chaos. Their grades will undoubtedly suffer from the confusion of being the guinea pigs and not knowing what constitutes a "pass" until just a few weeks before they sit them sounds particularly haphazard.


Hasn't there been a crackdown on retakes in recent years as well? Perfect recipe for multiple emotional breakdowns under the pressure I would have thought. I was fortunate enough to take English and Maths "O" levels early, with lots of past papers to practice on, so already had the crucial ones in the bag when I faced my own unknown entities. The only place where I tripped up was not realising the German GCSE was way too easy and thus thinking a "B" meant I could do German "A" level, but never mind, all water under the bridge now

Evening folks,
My bet is that the exam board(s) will revert to norm referencing, ensuring predetermined percentages will achieve each grade, thus doing away with the problems of defining success criteria for each level, and hastening a return to the '70s and beyond.

[PorFavor]

Home Office contractor 'restrains disabled Yarls Wood woman by chain'

Wheelchair user Lovelyn Edobor says Capita firm escorts, acting to deport her, ‘dragged her like a criminal’ at Heathrow (Guardian)

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/ma ... n-by-chain

[PorFavor]

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/ma ... n-by-chain



Home Office contractor 'restrains disabled Yarls Wood woman by chain'

Whoops! Sorry.

[HindleA]

Speaker grants emergency debate re PIP tomorrow

[citizenJA]

Goodnight, everyone.
love,
cJA

[Bonnylad]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... il-cartoon" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[PorFavor]

Fillon's wife Penelope under formal investigation (BBC News website)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39426147

[adam]

Evening folks,
My bet is that the exam board(s) will revert to norm referencing, ensuring predetermined percentages will achieve each grade, thus doing away with the problems of defining success criteria for each level, and hastening a return to the '70s and beyond.

According to the woman from the Association of School and College leaders who talked to us about all of this stuff on Monday, that's exactly what's going to happen.

[PorFavor]

Theresa May to call on Britons to unite as she triggers article 50

PM signs letter that will be hand-delivered to European council president at the same time as she addresses House of Commons



Theresa May will call on the British people to unite as she triggers article 50, beginning a two-year process that will see the UK leave the European Union and sever a political relationship that has lasted 44 years. (Guardian)

Pass the sick bag, Alice.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... article-50

[HindleA]

"On the bonny,bonny banks of Loch Lomond"(if pissing down with rain)
Reunion meal with (sadly dwindling) Dad's side of family tomorrow.
Equally staunch opposing views on independence,should be fun.

[GetYou]

https://speye.wordpress.com/2017/03/26/ ... abandoned/

Not sure if we've had this yet, but I agree with virtually everything Joe has to say here, particularly where the Government has failed to listen to experts in the field, only to find out that they were right each time and row back from the nonsense they were trying to pull.

[adam]

Homeopathic medicines to escape NHS prescribing ban

Homeopathic medicines will escape an NHS prescribing ban even though the Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies has dismissed the treatments as ‘rubbish’ and a waste of taxpayers money.

Telegraph.

[adam]

Spiders could theoretically eat every human on earth in a year and still be hungry

Professor Klaus Birkhofer and Dr Martin Nyffeler and have estimated that the globe’s spider population eats between 400 million and 800 million tons of prey every year. That means that spiders eat at least as much meat as all 7 billion humans on the planet combined.

Just saying.