January 2023

I've written before about the odd attitude of the Scottish government when it comes to higher education: its policy of zero fees and capped numbers for Scotland-domiciled students at Scottish universities, leads to unintended consequences.  In this case the difficulty...

Is ChatGPT the new Google, just a flash in the pan, or something much more innovative?  I came across it two days running last week, and so thought to try it out. It's free at the moment although you have...

Following a discussion about the status of DfE ‘approved' subject content which raised more questions than it answered, I asked my ‘man who understands the DfE' about it.  I wrote: "I’m told that approved subject content is what exam boards use to decide...

I see that the Prime Minister wants everyone to study maths up to 18.  A lot of countries already require this, particularly where there is a baccalaureate system in place.  The rationale seems to be that this would be boost...

I hope you've not gotten carried away with the nuclear fusion hype last month from California that was credulously lapped up by the MSM.  Here's a sobering quote in case you did: “If these developments prove ultimately successful, we should...

In October 1793, the French Revolution replaced the old Gregorian calendar with a new secular, republican one.  In this, the twelve months of the year were named after our experience of the seasons, and each day was named for a seed,...

In Hothouse Earth (Icon Books 2022: 160) Bill McGuire writes: “The truth is, playing down the potential worst effects of global heating and climate breakdown is far worse than raising the alarm and amounts to what I like to call climate appeasement....

It is good to see that Stanford University is looking out for us.  The efforts of the University's IT department to further protect its delicate student body from the threats of imagery in language has been made available for all...

I've been reading Leadership for Sustainability: saving the planet one school at a time, written byDavid Dixon, and published by Crown House Publishing, 2022: 250pp, paperback, £18.99, ISBN 978-1-78135-401-8.  The comments which follow will appear as a review in the Spring 2023...

I noticed last year just how many 'Christmas' greetings messages from NGOs failed even to mention Christmas.  "Season's greetings", "Festive greetings", "Happy holidays", "Merry yuletide", etc were common themes.  I even had a "Happy winter" email.  It said: "Dear ... Colleague, 2022...