Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th August 2020

[howsillyofme1]

Whitehall will be delighted if reform is limited to the splitting of PHE. As Mr Davies noted, it was the Cameron government that “bundled” it up with the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in 2012, against the advice of civil servants.

And let me guess........that was at least partly a cost saving measure?

To be honest after the debacle with the mortality numbers of the epidemic it deserves some severe criticism

https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/public-he ... a-revised/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[refitman]

I do love all the 'opposing' that Labour is doing at the moment.

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[AnatolyKasparov]

Well.......do you think that if Corbyn was still leader (or indeed PM) he would be saying kids should stay away from school indefinitely?

And this really is an instance where the headline doesn't tell the whole story.

[refitman]

Well.......do you think that if Corbyn was still leader (or indeed PM) he would be saying kids should stay away from school indefinitely?

And this really is an instance where the headline doesn't tell the whole story.

I would expect him to at least try to give the impression that he cares about the health and safety of the children, the teachers and everyone else that will be involved.

[AnatolyKasparov]

Doesn't the actual piece say that, though?

(haven't read it myself, but that is what others have said)

I agreed that opening up many schools in the previous few months was too soon, certainly the way the government went about it. But the aim always had to be restarting things in September, if that was remotely possible. There is evidence that its poorer kids who would feel the continued absence of formal education more.

[howsillyofme1]

Well.......do you think that if Corbyn was still leader (or indeed PM) he would be saying kids should stay away from school indefinitely?

And this really is an instance where the headline doesn't tell the whole story.

I would expect him to at least try to give the impression that he cares about the health and safety of the children, the teachers and everyone else that will be involved.

I agree with this sentiment - getting kids back to school is really important for social well-being but it must be done in a way that gives some confidence they are doing it in the appropriate way

Things such as how they monitor any cases, what happens when a case is found etc must be freely available as well as any fiscal support for parents, teachers, schools, LA to help manage it

There could be real problems as we enter the respiratory virus season when colds and other illnesses will increase so how will we know what is CV or not? We could have dealt with this potential issue over the summer by improving our ability to differentiate but have spent more time quarantining healthy people based on a poorly conceived testing regime

The problem is not so much kids going back to school but how can it be done in poor infrastructure, over-large classes and all the other consequences of austerity.

Starmer has to be careful with the PR on this because he needs to be quite clear what he means and that this is getting through to people - he, I don't doubt, is not at all like Johnson but sometimes he allows himself to be portrayed as such - another example of him not being very good at the 'politics' part of the job!

[howsillyofme1]

Doesn't the actual piece say that, though?

(haven't read it myself, but that is what others have said)

I agreed that opening up many schools in the previous few months was too soon, certainly the way the government went about it. But the aim always had to be restarting things in September, if that was remotely possible. There is evidence that its poorer kids who would feel the continued absence of formal education more.

possibly his mistake was doing this for the Mail and expecting fair treatment!

At least he isn't Corbyn who was mis-headlined across the media - including the Guardian and Indie!

[refitman]

Well.......do you think that if Corbyn was still leader (or indeed PM) he would be saying kids should stay away from school indefinitely?

And this really is an instance where the headline doesn't tell the whole story.

I would expect him to at least try to give the impression that he cares about the health and safety of the children, the teachers and everyone else that will be involved.

" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[refitman]

Apologies for the huge pic.

[citizenJA]

I think basic calculus was always part of O level.

But I do remember shaded areas of curves that I was supposed to work out using some kind of arcane theorem.

(cJA bold)

The class I studied this topic in was called Geometry.

[howsillyofme1]

I think basic calculus was always part of O level.

But I do remember shaded areas of curves that I was supposed to work out using some kind of arcane theorem.

(cJA bold)

The class I studied this topic in was called Geometry.

I did basic calculus at O Level - integration under the line being one of the concepts taught although more useful things done at A Level

[citizenJA]

I think basic calculus was always part of O level.

But I do remember shaded areas of curves that I was supposed to work out using some kind of arcane theorem.

(cJA bold)

The class I studied this topic in was called Geometry.

I did basic calculus at O Level - integration under the line being one of the concepts taught although more useful things done at A Level

During this time in my education, I lived in California. Successfully passing geometry was required first in order to learn calculus. I'm not sure the reasoning in that thinking.

[citizenJA]

Good afternoon, everyone.

[Willow904]

Doesn't the actual piece say that, though?

(haven't read it myself, but that is what others have said)

I agreed that opening up many schools in the previous few months was too soon, certainly the way the government went about it. But the aim always had to be restarting things in September, if that was remotely possible. There is evidence that its poorer kids who would feel the continued absence of formal education more.

I think what Starmer was trying to get across is that's it's not enough for Boris to just say he wants all kids to go back to school, everyone wants that. Boris has to take responsibility for ensuring it happens - ie. not say he wants it to happen, do nothing to facilitate it and then blame everyone else when it doesn't happen/descends into chaos.

I agree with others though that he wasn't successful in getting this across. Whether through his own poor phrasing or selective quoting from the Mail, I don't know, but it does come across as send kids back to school regardless of no safety measures and risk of spread. Not an appealing stance for worried parents and teachers.

[citizenJA]

Doesn't the actual piece say that, though?

(haven't read it myself, but that is what others have said)

I agreed that opening up many schools in the previous few months was too soon, certainly the way the government went about it. But the aim always had to be restarting things in September, if that was remotely possible. There is evidence that its poorer kids who would feel the continued absence of formal education more.

I think what Starmer was trying to get across is that's it's not enough for Boris to just say he wants all kids to go back to school, everyone wants that. Boris has to take responsibility for ensuring it happens - ie. not say he wants it to happen, do nothing to facilitate it and then blame everyone else when it doesn't happen/descends into chaos.

I agree with others though that he wasn't successful in getting this across. Whether through his own poor phrasing or selective quoting from the Mail, I don't know, but it does come across as send kids back to school regardless of no safety measures and risk of spread. Not an appealing stance for worried parents and teachers.

Do you think this government and the influencers working for them would allow truth and decency an unedited voice? I don't.

[howsillyofme1]

Doesn't the actual piece say that, though?

(haven't read it myself, but that is what others have said)

I agreed that opening up many schools in the previous few months was too soon, certainly the way the government went about it. But the aim always had to be restarting things in September, if that was remotely possible. There is evidence that its poorer kids who would feel the continued absence of formal education more.

I think what Starmer was trying to get across is that's it's not enough for Boris to just say he wants all kids to go back to school, everyone wants that. Boris has to take responsibility for ensuring it happens - ie. not say he wants it to happen, do nothing to facilitate it and then blame everyone else when it doesn't happen/descends into chaos.

I agree with others though that he wasn't successful in getting this across. Whether through his own poor phrasing or selective quoting from the Mail, I don't know, but it does come across as send kids back to school regardless of no safety measures and risk of spread. Not an appealing stance for worried parents and teachers.

Do you think this government and the influencers working for them would allow truth and decency an unedited voice? I don't.

which is why writing for the Mail may not have been the wisest choice

[citizenJA]

Chris Giles from Financial Times quoted as saying, "if the problem Ofqual was trying to solve was to ensure grades weren’t over inflated, it had to apply the same standards to all schools...". Ofqual didn't do this.

[citizenJA]

Success determined by lottery result, not ability
Just how Tories like it
They owe their positions to that system

[citizenJA]

Tories are looking at a real possibility their government falls soon
keep that in mind

[citizenJA]

No news, no shared space, no voice – the Tories are creating a cookie-cutter Britain
Covid proves that local communities need power and a sense of place. So why are they being pushed in the opposite direction?
John Harris
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... ies-tories" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Because if people had shared experiences, benefiting fairly from work done together, they'd feel less alienated and less likely to vote against their own interests. Tories wouldn't like that at all.

[RogerOThornhill]

Chris Cook
@xtophercook
·
3m
I intended to run in Crystal Palace today, and I would have been the only one running. Based on the fact that Usain Bolt has run there and the fact that I’ll come first in that cohort, can someone at
@educationgovuk
tell me how fast I would have run so I can put it in Strava?

[frog222]

Chris Giles from Financial Times quoted as saying, "if the problem Ofqual was trying to solve was to ensure grades weren’t over inflated, it had to apply the same standards to all schools...". Ofqual didn't do this.

As I said before, they could have treated it like the frogs, where the only other time the equivalent school-leaving exam was expressly permitted to grade-inflate was in 1968 when the country was in an uproar. One brother-in-law led the strike in his lycée !

[frog222]

"" The businesswoman and former Talk Talk boss Baroness Harding, the head of NHS test and trace and of the regulator NHS Improvement, whose husband is the Conservative MP John Penrose, is tipped to run the new institute.

Dr Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at Southampton University, responded to that speculation, saying: “There are reports suggesting former telecoms executive Dido Harding will be given the role of overseeing the new institute, which makes about as much sense as [chief medical officer] Chris Whitty being appointed the Vodafone head of branding and corporate image.”

Prof John Ashton, a former regional director of public health, said: “You don’t do this in the middle of a crisis, and certainly not put Dido in charge when she has been such a disaster with test and trace.” NHS Test and Trace has been criticised for contributing to the recent increase in cases of coronavirus by tracing too few people who have tested positive and tracking down too few of their contacts, so that those involved can be told to isolate.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... th-england" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

SKS -- "" If Labour was in charge Dido would be out of the door so fast, her little tootsies wouldn't touch the ground ! ""

( Sorry, I made that up . )

[frog222]

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opende ... t-tracing/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Government accused of new ‘U-turn’ on local COVID contact tracing
Exclusive: None of Serco or Sitel's contact tracing staff will be deployed locally, government admits – as councils face new lockdowns and funding shortages.