Despite recent governments investing £billions researchers at Kings College and Durham University have found no improvement in children’s understanding of maths. In fact the number of 14 year-olds who know virtually nothing about maths has doubled in the last 30 years. Despite all the fanfares about GCSE and A level grades improving year on year [...]
Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, is proposing that trainee teachers will only be allowed to take their numeracy and literacy test three times. At present there is no limit on the number of times the tests can be taken. In my view the misguided philosophy of endless retakes undermines the whole point of exams and [...]
If you want to know which country to live in to enjoy life more go to the OECD better life index. They have identified 11 key factors such as health, education, earnings, and sense of community. You can decide how important these are to you. After I’d scored my choices and pushed the buttons it [...]
The story of the 11 year old who got upset when he saw that the pizza server had written “ginger kid” on his receipt was put into perspective by Barbara Ellen in The Observer yesterday. She points out that it wasn’t done maliciously but just to identify the child (who had a Polish or Ukrainian [...]
Breast might be best for boys but having a boy in the first place is a different matter. Some experts believe you can strongly influence the sex of your baby by eating the right mix of foods. A study suggests that women who eat plenty of fruit, vegetables and rice, are more likely to have [...]
given half a chance. But some parents are determined to bring children up in a so-called “gender free” manner. We know sex is determined biologically but when it comes to gender it gets a bit trickier. It seems that families that have only girls tend to produce more feminine girls and families which have only [...]
We live in a world pre-occupied with body size, according to teen magazine Sugar which has just conducted a poll of 2,500 13 – 19 year-olds. Teenage girls are twice as likely to diet if their mother is constantly watching her weight. Comments from parents, attitudes of friends, and pictures of size zero models are [...]
Mums have come clean and admitted that they treat their sons more favourably than their daughters. At least the 2,500 Mums on the notorious advice web-site Netmums who contributed to the study reported in the press today. Mums say they are more critical of their daughters whilst accepting poorer behaviour from their sons which they [...]
Saving the world is not enough. Superheroes are poor role models says a Professor of Mental Health at The University of Massachusetts – speaking at an American Psychological Association symposium on masculinity and boyhood. Sharon Lamb says people can look up to Superman and Spiderman as “real people with real problems“, whereas Iron Man and [...]
