Wednesday 3rd September 2014

[letsskiptotheleft]

Yes Cardiff, don't think the M4 has been shut though, was talk of it, it really is ridiculous.

[letsskiptotheleft]

Straight from the Penguin Book of Welsh Cliches this.

''Wales is watching (Scotland) with a mix of envy, excitement and trepidation'' Plaid Cymru's fanciful wet dream this article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/world ... .html?_r=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[letsskiptotheleft]

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... dependence" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Pardon my Francais, but bollocks to that!

[RogerOThornhill]

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... dependence


Pardon my Francais, but bollocks to that!

That Fixed Term Parliament's working out well I see...

[Tubby Isaacs]

Keynsian job creation at the DfE latest.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z3CHpTlpZU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Be fair though, none of this classroom management stuff would have come up at "teacher training college".

Totally different from the "reams of guidance" supposedly sent out by Ed Balls.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Morgan's stellar form continues.

“I think we are very clear and that the sector is very clear about the importance of not for profit,” Ms Morgan said. “[For profit] is something I’m happy to have lots of further advice and emails on. I suspect that most people may not be very keen on it, but it’s something … well, you’d have to think very carefully.

“I think, actually the not for profit model has worked extremely well and we have really successful academies and academy sponsors and what we want to see is more of the best schools, more successful academies, more free schools, more university technical colleges, things that really work for students that are at the heart of the system.”

http://news.tes.co.uk/b/news/2014/09/03 ... rofit.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Given that they can make de facto profits under the current system, why on earth not stick with that?

[TechnicalEphemera]

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... dependence


Pardon my Francais, but bollocks to that!

That Fixed Term Parliament's working out well I see...

Extending this government for another year would be electorally toxic. For Dave it turns a tight race in 2015 into a meltdown in 2016.

I don't really see how fixed term parliaments matter because by convention a government that couldn't pass a budget would have to go.

[mbc1955]

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... dependence


Pardon my Francais, but bollocks to that!

That Fixed Term Parliament's working out well I see...

It's the only way they can stay in power throughout 2015.

[RogerOThornhill]

Keynsian job creation at the DfE latest.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z3CHpTlpZU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Be fair though, none of this classroom management stuff would have come up at "teacher training college".

Totally different from the "reams of guidance" supposedly sent out by Ed Balls.

and a demand for textbooks to be used instead of scruffy, photocopied worksheets


Wait.

I thought Truss had left the DfE?

One radical idea is forcing children to attend school detentions on Saturdays,

So...caretaker overtime, teacher in on a weekend...yeah, that'll go down well...

[RogerOThornhill]

Oh yes...textbooks.

Given that the curriculum for History is full of this:

Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots
Examples (non-statutory) This could include:
 Roman withdrawal from Britain in c. AD 410 and the fall of the western Roman Empire
 Scots invasions from Ireland to north Britain (now Scotland)
 Anglo-Saxon invasions, settlements and kingdoms: place names and village life
 Anglo-Saxon art and culture
 Christian conversion – Canterbury, Iona and Lindisfarne

How on earth do they think that anyone could produce a textbook covering everything?

Textbooks at GCSE and A level since they have to follow whatever the exam board is covering in exams.

Clueless.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Maybe Saturday detentions could be made a condition of an Outstanding Ofsted grade?

[Tubby Isaacs]

As could "no photocopied sheets".

[letsskiptotheleft]

Regional papers, don'tcha just love them?!


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

[adam]

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/201 ... dependence


Pardon my Francais, but bollocks to that!

That Fixed Term Parliament's working out well I see...

It's the only way they can stay in power throughout 2015.

It's a pile of shit. Everything about the existing law and procedure is clear and obvious. Whoever can command a majority in the commons as it stands can form a government. If Labour win in 2015 and then lose that majority after a year or so then either they'd carry on and muddle through or the opposition would call a confidence debate and if the government lost they would fall (on a simple majority - the fixed terms act only calls for an enhanced majority for a government to run for an early election by their choice) and either someone else could cobble together a majority or there would be another election.

There is nothing at all to justify postponing the election. You might have thought that the current shambles would have considered this when they agreed and legislated for the dates and terms of the referendum and a putative independence date. You might, but I wouldn't.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Ha, ha.

Tory leader in Scotland says they aren't likely to win General Election.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/20 ... l-election" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Eric_WLothian]

That Fixed Term Parliament's working out well I see...

It's the only way they can stay in power throughout 2015.

It's a pile of shit. Everything about the existing law and procedure is clear and obvious. Whoever can command a majority in the commons as it stands can form a government. If Labour win in 2015 and then lose that majority after a year or so then either they'd carry on and muddle through or the opposition would call a confidence debate and if the government lost they would fall (on a simple majority - the fixed terms act only calls for an enhanced majority for a government to run for an early election by their choice) and either someone else could cobble together a majority or there would be another election.

There is nothing at all to justify postponing the election. You might have thought that the current shambles would have considered this when they agreed and legislated for the dates and terms of the referendum and a putative independence date. You might, but I wouldn't.

Old news (or, rather, a repeat of a previous request)! -

... a UK government spokesman said: “We have legislated for fixed-term parliaments. There is no plan to change this. "

Scotsman - 30 Nov 2013.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/t ... -1-3214661

[RogerOThornhill]

Oh dear....

Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw: Headteachers should not be afraid to say ‘you’re a bad parent’

http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/lon ... 08134.html

Not the headline...this bit:

Wilshaw has only met Morgan once — before the summer recess — but he has a few tasks he’d like her to tackle. As a great believer in the transformative power of good headteachers and the disastrous impact of bad ones — “the fish rots from the head” — he wants Morgan to boost the status of the National College for Teaching and Leadership. “We must ensure that we cultivate the best [head] teachers — it has really fallen into disrepair.”

Why? “I don’t think it was given the priority it should have been by the previous secretary of state.”

That's the one run by Gove's mate Charlie Taylor whose school that he left was so well-managed that it fell apart when he went.

Can you see a theme developing here?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Funny how he managed not to say this till Gove went.

Brave Sheriff Milkey. But to be fair, he's been busy suggesting schemes like paying people who live near bad parents to get their kids up for them.