Beer and General Boating.

[Jerra]

2 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

That was what I was meaning, it was taken out of LA control and became an academy. The justification being that it would improve the standard after the poor report.

 

Presumably its the governors who make the decision to take the school out of LA control.

 

 

Correct.  The idea it will improve standards is a political one in my experience it is no more likely to improve than a school still in LA control ordered to improve.

[Jerra]

2 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

And also, initially, much better funded.

 

There was strange logic in the pro arguments for academies: it was claimed that they improved standards and therefore they should, eventually, be rolled out for everyone so that all children would have a better education. Fine, but the same people measured performance only in a relative way (complaining about dumbing down along the way - see what happens when a uni has a higher number of firsts) The could not understand that the eventual outcome would inevitably be that academies were no better - 'cos they would all become the same and have the same level of funding.

Not quite correct.  The same amount going in may be the same but not necessarily being spent on the pupils.   5 - 20% of money going in is creamed of in profit (depending on how the academy is set up) and many heads are multi tiered e.g. 3 schools each with an expensive head then an executive head for the academy trust.     A good number earn more than the PM and in some cases are both the head and the executive head so get 2 salaries.

[roland elsdon]

Can I just make the gentle observation that this started about boats and beer, moved to protect yourself and the loss and damage to business ( hence my post about lack of car use and garage going broke) and now has gone on to schools. Beer and schools and boating.

To get back to reality will my ecofan need a service before I light the fire sometime in flaming june when we can go play on the boat.

[Victor Vectis]

5 hours ago, Mike Todd said:

And also, initially, much better funded.

 

There was strange logic in the pro arguments for academies: it was claimed that they improved standards and therefore they should, eventually, be rolled out for everyone so that all children would have a better education. Fine, but the same people measured performance only in a relative way (complaining about dumbing down along the way - see what happens when a uni has a higher number of firsts) The could not understand that the eventual outcome would inevitably be that academies were no better - 'cos they would all become the same and have the same level of funding.

For the chief execs on six figure salaries, perhaps.

 

But not for the staff in the classrooms (the poor bloody infantry in other words)

 

I write as someone who managed to escape from the wonderful new world of academy education a number of years ago.

 

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

2 hours ago, roland elsdon said:

 

To get back to reality will my ecofan need a service before I light the fire sometime in flaming june when we can go play on the boat.

Probably as the main bearing will have seized up

[Sea Dog]

2 hours ago, roland elsdon said:

To get back to reality will my ecofan need a service before I light the fire sometime in flaming june when we can go play on the boat.

I suppose you may need to do something to blow the cobwebs away - which is ironic on an ecofan... a device  which struggles to blow cobwebs! 

 

[RebeccaM]

On 12/03/2021 at 20:13, Jerra said:

Interesting.   Up here in the frozen north both the A66 & M6 are noticeably quieter (mainly lorries fewer cars) and the local roads virtually deserted.

I'm still taking a lot less time to get to work than I was pre-Covid (although I'm doing lates so travelling in any time between 2pm and 6pm, not mornings).  Even last week when my four mile journey was going through two sets of temporary lights, it was still taking a little less time than I used to allow for my "average" journey time at the same time of day.  It is a little heavier than the first lockdown - but more places are open than at the beginning of the first lockdown so that's not unexpected.