Added Value in Schools

I don't normally get wound up by things on the news (Yeah right) but when I heard this one it really got to me. The madness of targets, figures and statistics is getting dangerous.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7464842.stm

If the people are really using skewed figures to try and prove they are being tough on "failing schools" this is effecting kids education, and teachers jobs and all of their lives. 

I think it's pretty much common sense to judge a school by the amount of improvement a child has gone through since joining the school.  This is known as "Value Added", i.e. a child is tested when they first enter the school and this is used to measure their progress when they finally leave.  GCSE's and other exam results are a poor measure of a schools success, say for example a child joins the school at 11 without a reading age (which is more common than you'd believe), then "only" manages 3 GCSE's has the school failed? I think not..

Tags: Targets, school, Value Added, Measure, failure

Local Globalisation

The town where I live will shortly be home to a brand new Tesco Extra - now you'd think I'd be banging on about globalisation and closing down our local small retailers. But to be honest most of the small retailers went under 20 years ago thanks to closure of the mines; the main employer in the area at the time.  We've had very little happen in the town since the late 70s/early 80s. 

I'm a massive cynic when it comes to things like this but I honestly believe that we'll now have more choice and more freedom, brought into the town without the need to use our cars or public transport. Infact the land they are building on used to be occupied by a local primary school - but Tesco have built a brand new state-of-the-art school 200 yds away with better facilities and more playing fields.

How ironic that a much vilified global giant will help the community and the environment. Although I'm sure it all depends on your point of view - on balance I think it's a good thing.

Tags: local, globalisation, tesco, choice, school, state-of-the-art, miners, strike, closure, positive

Green Taxes - A Rant!

Stop the planet I want to get off, after last weeks budget it seems "Green Taxes" have been brought to the front of the stage even more.

But it seems to me that, sticking the word Green on the front of a something doesn't make it right. I've felt like a burden to the planet all my life - what ever we do it's going to harm it so I really believe in making as little impact as I can, I recycle try to keep my emissions down, etc.

But a Green Tax should be a Neutral Tax, every penny which is collected should be put towards offsetting the damage in another way.  But that's not the case - governments are simply using it to fill holes in their expenses.  It's as valid as a sky tax ("..well you live under it don't you?")

I'm sick and tired of being beat over the head for just living my life, if they want to tax us off the road they should try providing public transport which goes where I need to be and doesn't smell of urine or get full of loudmouthed kids, trying to impress their friends by swearing and playing some tinny hardcore house music out of the buzzer that passes for a phone speaker. And what about providing us a viable alternative to fossil fuels?

I can't believe that after a 100years we still can't come up with an alternative to the Internal Combustion Engine.. Almost every other consumer driven technology has jumped in leaps and bounds in the past 10 years, Mobile Phones, Home PCs, TV - they all flourish because people are prepared to pay for the latest advances.  Are we to believe that Petrol and Car companies are so strapped for cash that they can't get themselves out of the "We're working at it stage?"

So how does this work then? I need my car to get to work (fact - public transport isn't an option) so if I can't afford the tax to travel to work - I may as well pack my job in - then I wont pay income tax and I'll have to live off the state.  Do the maths Mr Government.

People always respond better to carrots rather than sticks, why can't they incentivise being green, for example; give people discounts on their council tax if they recycle - after all we're saving them having to take away as much rubbish.

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Tags: tax, fuel, environment, green, combustion, engine, neutral, incentives