Two years ago the Department for Education introduced a new framework for the teaching of Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) in secondary schools. The intent might have been understandable and welcomed, but the result is hard to understand and unwelcome. It has led to a variety of education ‘providers’ supplying schools with assets that include…
Working class Tory MP Lee Anderson caused a storm after saying that many people who use foodbanks can’t budget or cook properly. At the foodbank he works at in his Ashfield constituency, those seeking help have to sign up to budgeting and cookery lessons. The cost-of-living crisis has focused attention on these issues and for…
To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men are two of the finest novels of the last century. Millions of youngsters over multiple generations have read, enjoyed and learned from them. Harper Lee’s masterpiece is one of the greatest anti-racist tomes ever written and Steinbeck deals with poverty during the Great Depression. So, it…
The Prime Minister has been criticised for saying that wealthier parents can buy private tuition because they ‘work hard’. It is true that many people who work hard can afford tutors for their children. Many parents also make sacrifices and forego other things to be able to afford the tuition. And it is also true…
Two recent news articles by the BBC: “Covid: Catch-up narrative putting ‘huge pressure’ on children, psychologists say” (22 February 2021 – read the PDF of the article here) and the Telegraph: “We must be as radical in helping schools as we were with vaccines” (22 February 2021) have highlighted the psychological and educational impact the pandemic and lockdown…