Reinventing the Wheel

Unlike me, teachers work very hard. Unfortunately, as I've said before; most of what they do is a complete waste of time. Across the country, thousands of them are busy duplicating each others' efforts, all producing plans for teaching the same lesson, or some weird and wonderful new method of teaching which was probably tried out and abandoned last year at another school half an hour's drive away. The number of teacher hours spent each year repeating somebody else's work is absolutely staggering and extremely depressing.

Large successful businesses do not make these basic mistakes. (Which of course is why they are successful). They have a set way of doing things in every branch or shop, based on what has been shown to work in the past. Procedures are laid out in great detail and followed rigourously. Problems can be analysed and solutions worked out based on what has happened elsewhere. I've heard the argument many times that 'every school is different' but to be honest they aren't really. They are all trying to do the same thing, but most could be so much better with a bit of guidance. As I've said before- run them like Tesco and see the improvement.

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Axa Respect On The Road

If, like me you ride a bike sometimes, then you may well have had your life endangered by the various wretches of the road. Boy racers, half asleep drivers, too comfortable and lethargic to notice you, or those who simply have no spatial awareness whatsoever. I've always thought that too many drivers feel invulnerable when behind the wheel with the stereo blaring and behave toward other road users or pedestrians in a way they would never dare do in a face to face situation.

In order to try and draw attention to the problem, AXA Car Insurance are running a campaign at the moment called AXA Respect On The Road Click on the link I respect the road to visit their website and see a few details, or to add your own story of poor parking, motorway madness or traffic terror.

There is a Facebook Fanpage here which I urge you to 'Like' and a YouTube site here

Primary teachers might find the video ‘Road Rage kids’ useful.

It is acted entirely by 5 year olds, who imitate driving behaviour that they have copied from their parents. Children are the drivers of tomorrow, so anything we can do to try and influence them now can only be a good thing, especially as every blockbuster film bombards them with ever more ludicrous car chase scenes where nobody ever gets killed or injured, except possibly for a slight scratch or bruise with a bit of dust if the actor is male. Also, anyone who has to teach PHSE might well like Cab Cam, in which AXA took to the streets of London in a black taxi to carry out a survey of public opinion. (The driver doesn't appear to be wearing a seatbelt though!)

This post was sponsored by Axa Car insurance.

Sponsored Post

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The Pope's Visit

Can anybody explain to me exactly why my taxes are being used to help fund the Pope's visit? The man's views range from the merely bigoted to the truly bizarre. At least when some mad mullah comes over they pay their own way and provide an amusing spectacle.

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Rod Liddle

Yesterday in the Sunday Times, Rod Liddle described bloggers as "that vast network of talentless and embittered individuals tapping away at their keyboards in the intellectual vacuum of cyberspace." I never realised that he read mine.

Whilst this might seem a bit rich from someone with no work experience outside journalism who writes a column each week about topics that were unlikely to have been covered in his Social Psychology degree, I don't blame Rod for launching an attack. He knows perfectly well that the mainstream press faces an ever growing problem, which is that the public now have a choice. They can read for free about the lunacy in for example, local councils, the justice system, the police, education or the NHS from people who actually know what they are talking about because they have worked for many years in these institutions, or alternatively they can pay to read a journalist's opinion on a topic they have no experience or understanding of.

Mind you, at least they know how to neatly finish off an article.

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William Hague

William Hague has claimed today that when he used to do the deliveries for his dad's soft drinks company in Rotherham, he would regularly sleep with 14 women a day.

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Getting a Grip

Aaargh...It's started already! I have been inundated with emails from teachers who have returned to find new computer systems that don't work, printers with no ink, photocopiers without paper and the entire staff email directory vanished without trace. Despite having 6 weeks off, there are numerous schools that haven't managed to issue timetables, registers, sets or even class lists.

Every Head needs a plaque with the phrase "Get a Grip!" nailed to their desk so it is the first thing they see each day.

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Exams are NOT getting easier

Just because 5 year old Desiree Alli passed GCSE Maths this year does not mean that the exams have been getting steadily easier for years. It was simply a one-off and we should remember that an averagely intelligent child would have absolutely no chance of passing until they were 9 or even 10 years old.

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