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  • Two Hour Guest Appearance On BBC World Service

    I was a guest on a two show that the BBC World Service Host in the evening to Africa and and the rest of the world in mid June. It was a discussion held in a Glasgow town hall where callers from all around the world and the eclectic guests in Glasgow gave their views […]

  • Metal detectors at Paddington Academy

    Very interesting to see that Paddington Academy is one of the few schools to bite the bullet — or pull the knife if you like — and introduce metal detectors to stop knife crimes in the school. Even more interesting to note, that it was the pupils who wanted it. As I argued previously on […]

  • The Road Home wins — and now perhaps Tremain will get the recognition she deserves

    Rose Tremain has deservedly won the Orange Prize for her brilliant, complex and beautifully written novel, The Road Home. Now perhaps, she will be viewed as the writer she is: I think she IS our major British novelist, putting the likes of others from her generation in the shade — Amis, McEwan, Barnes. Will she […]

  • The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: key points and imagery

    Task: Read through the Ancient Mariner, and using Powerpoint devise a Powerpoint summary of the poem, using suitable images from the internet and KEY LINES AND QUOTES from the poem. To do this: Read through the poem in pairs, lifting key lines from the poem, and summarising it. Then find images to match your quotes. […]

  • Travel brochure based on the Ancient Mariner’s experience

    Using Microsoft Word or Publisher, devise a travel brochure based on the Ancient Mariner’s experiences. Look up some travel brochures on Google and learn about how these brochures use language, then using this type of language, write your own brochure. You MUST use statistics in your brochure. Detail exactly how much time will be spent […]

  • Appearance on BBC Breakfast

    Appeared this Tuesday on BBC Breakfast giving my views about homework. A recent survey shows that not many parents understand their children’s homework and don’t have much of a clue about how to help. I spoke about the two types of parent: the nagger, who is always hovering over their child, checking to see if […]

  • Casual violence that children learn to live with

    A disturbing analysis of the current state of gangs in Britain: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3950162.ece‘

  • Girl gangs

    A fascinating piece on the evolution of girl gangs which ties in with some of the stuff I point out in Yob Nationhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/05/14/do1403.xml‘

  • Appearing on the Wright Stuff

  • BBC Interviews

    Spoke at length on two radio interviews today: BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Scotland. The Ulster interview asked for my comments on the Tories’ new proposals to stop the parents of excluded children appealing against a headteacher’s decision to exclude them. I said it was all a bit of a sound bite and that […]

  • Parent Power

    The one-stop book for any parent who wants their child to get the most of the British education system.

  • Tender is the night

    Finished reading Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘Tender is the Night’ and was struck by the author’s deep psychological insight, his ability to scrutinise the tiniest reactions of people when they are confronted or challenged, his uncanny, enlightened cynicism that sees multiple causes behind every gesture, every flick of the eye, every glance. The scene where Dick Diver […]

  • Violence in the classroom

    A depressing survey that shows violence in the classroom is on the increase: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article3564297.ece http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/onethird-of-teachers-threatened-796778.html‘

  • Interesting article on the brain controlling accent

    Great article for English Language A Level students on how the brain controls accents here.’

  • BBC Radio 5 Live Debate On Universities

    Appeared on Richard Bacon’s show, arguing that too many students were going to university, studying non-courses’. Too many courses are not serious: Outdoor Adventure With Philosophy, Ghost-Hunting, Surfing Studies. The guest arguing the other point of view, said that students should be able to study whatever they want. I argued there was limited money in […]

  • Rose-tinted government recruitment campaign on BBC Breakfast

    Appeared yesterday on BBC Breakfast talking about the new government advertising campaign to recruit teachers. I complained on the Beeb’s very red sofa that the government didn’t tell the truth, that it gave false hopes and that it sold the lie that teachers are paid like people in the corporate world. The campaign highlights all […]

  • Good analysis of the crime statistics

    The Sunday Times ran a good analysis of the crime stats in this interesting comment piece. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/minette_marrin/article3382270.ece?openComment=true‘

  • Good analysis of the crime statistics

    The Sunday Times ran a good analysis of the crime statistics in this interesting comment piece. The same edition ran an illuminating interview with a former gang member.

  • The Asbo Round The Corner

    Our local corner shop has finally had an Asbo slapped on the local youths in our area to stop them intimidating and harrassing them, after years of abuse and violence. The local residents rose up and named and shamed the miscreants in court. All seems peaceful now at the shop: there are no youths smoking […]

  • Newsnight — Yob Culture

    Appeared on Newsnight talking about yob culture with Ken Jones, a top policeman, Rob Williams from the Children’s Commission, and a leading magistrate.

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