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Thursday
Why maths to 18 is a bad idea (by a maths teacher)
Whenever I tell people I used to be a maths teacher the most common response is: ‘I absolutely hated maths at school.’ It is an age-old tale, to loathe maths lessons (or indeed your maths teacher). So, what better way to make children loathe maths even more than to make it compulsory until the age of 18? Rishi Sunak’s plan, announced at the start of the year, aims to address innumeracy and better prepare pupils for the workplace. There are many reasons why, on the surface, it seems a sensible approach – not least because the UK is one of the few countries in the world that does not require
How to raise a genius
If you want to master something, you should study the highest achievements in the field. To learn how to paint beautifully, visit the National Gallery. If you want to be a great scientist, spend some time in cutting-edge laboratories. If you want to write, read great literature. But this is not what parents usually think about when considering how to educate their children. Most simply outsource the work to existing bureaucracies. Is there, however, something that they could learn from the great figures of the past? Those who grow up to be exceptional tend to spend their formative years surrounded by exceptional adults I sampled the biographies of 42 outstanding
Why become a teacher?
There was an article in this magazine’s last Schools supplement in September that, just for a moment, made me panic. ‘Why I’ve quit teaching’ was the headline. Not great timing. I’d just resigned from my secure civil service job in the Department for Transport to start a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in secondary level history. My thoughts raced. Had I made a serious blunder? What if I wasn’t cut out for this teaching gig after all? Would I end up an emotional wreck and go crawling back to Whitehall? When you’re teaching you’re always thinking about and sharing a subject you find profoundly interesting At my work leaving party I
School portraits: snapshots of four notable schools
Roundhay School, Leeds ‘While we were taught about racism and sexism, there was too little time spent making sure everyone could read and write,’ said Liz Truss of her alma mater three years ago when she was minister for women and equalities. Roundhay School’s record begs to differ – it has been ranked ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted for more than a decade now. In 2020, the same year as Truss’s speech, the school received a World Class Schools Quality Mark. Roundhay is based in Leeds, and educates 2,600 pupils across a gorgeous 22-acre site on the outskirts of the city. Over the past 30 years, it has spawned a primary campus
Why I betrayed my friend over a bottle of rum
There are moments in a boy’s adolescence when he catches a glimpse of the man he will become. Faced with adversity, is he the brave sort – or the sort who runs away and lets others suffer? Aged 13, on a school trip to Portsmouth, I discovered I was the latter. Tom insisted he’d found the bottles on a street, which made him sound considerably weirder than he was It was my first year at Bradfield College, a boarding school in Berkshire. About a hundred of us new boys packed on a coach. I vaguely recall the hooligan energy of too many young males in a small space: over-excited heads
Wednesday
Sue Gray cracked the civil service code
‘Sue Gray cracked the civil service code’
Whats App Doc
The case against Boris Johnson
‘It’s the case against Boris Johnson’
It was a wood-burner
‘It was a wood-burner but we converted it to books.’
Are you sure this migrant plan is going to work?
Don’t play “Sympathy for the Devil”
‘Oh, and Mick, don’t play “Sympathy for the Devil” – it might imply support for Putin’
Rate your delivery experience
He’s not touching our small boats
‘I don’t care what the Prime Minister says – he’s not touching our small boats.’
These are the uncensored versions of older books
‘These are the uncensored versions of older books.’
Is it me – or is it getting heavier?
‘Is it me – or is it getting heavier?’
Woke culture is strangling comedy
Three weeks after that South Park episode and the memes just keep on coming. Despite years of highly articulate fulminating against the preposterous pair by essayists like myself, there’s a feeling that the satirical cartoon was the conclusive blow to the Sussexes’ reputation – no well-turned phrase will ever better the glorious awfulness of ‘The Worldwide Privacy Tour’. One of the things that the woke hate most about our lot is the fact that we’re far more amusing. Their natural mode of address is to scold – and scolding and wit are polar opposites. I daresay some clown somewhere has stated that punchlines are probably imperialist. In his book The Rise of the New Puritans,
Is the Purosangue SUV a real Ferrari?
I recently spent a long weekend in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, driving a fast car, eating tortellini alla panna twice a day and rifling through Luciano Pavarotti’s DVD library. The tenor’s house, outside Modena, has been converted into a museum filled with his many shiny awards and Hermès scarves, framed photos with Bono and Mandela and, yes, his unrivalled collection of Police Academy movies. I also visited Modena’s sprawling San Cataldo cemetery to see the imposing family tomb of one Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari, 1898-1988. I listened carefully. It was peaceful. Apart from birdsong, not a whisper. There was no whirring, no drilling, no vibration or rumbling from
The rise of women winemakers
Anna, the daughter of friends of mine, is in her final year at university and keen to enter the wine trade. Clearly, she is wise beyond her years because it’s a hugely engaging career. She will never get rich but will always be happy. Oh, and a glass of something tasty will never be far away, and nor will someone congenial with whom to share it. Wine is made in beautiful places – just think of Bordeaux, the Douro Valley, Western Cape, Yarra Valley, Napa, Piedmont, Mendoza, Central Otago and even the rolling South Downs of Sussex – by delightful people (well, with just the one exception). It’s a warm,