It’s a very cold & wet bank holiday in the UK. Obviously Global Warming is having a rest day as it’s chilly. My wife is away with the youngest and I am trying to get my oldest to revise. I also have loads of DIY t0o do but am trying to use my imagination to find alternate things to do, like anything. It’s not that I hate DIY I am just no good at it and get frustrated. I also have tenant problems at a property we own and have to sort that out (foreign students who think they can live for free). Contrary to popular opinion the biggest problem in renting are students, who may or may not have a high IQ but have the common sense of a May fly and always try it on. The worse was a crowd of Law students from a Redbrick I had once, complete dipshits.
But what do you do? the law is totally on the side of tenants and the house is next to a university. I rented property when I was a student in the 70s but maybe it was different times then, less rights and more obligations perhaps. Sure as hell I did not wreck anything and paid the rent on time. Anyhow that is avenue not to go down as history always makes everything rosy. I will take my son for a pizza later as a treat and break from his studies.
I have also got to prepare work for a load of Morrisby feedbacks I have to do. I do not mind that though as it is just simple analysis and it help the interviews go better and it is a nice small sized Private School in Surrey with supportive parents. A real comprehensive in the proper use of the word with some very bright kids and some not so gifted. I also work in a number of state schools in London and you get some bright kids there as well but unfortunately they get bullied by the 10% who should never have been inflicted on society and generally under perform according to their abilities. Sad but true despite what the Guardianistas tell us.
Kids with the same aptitude inevitably get higher GCSEs & A level results in private schools than they do in Inner City London Schools. I know I test thousands of them and analyse all the scores for the schools. It is depressing because despite my reactionary ways I want everyone to achieve their potential but lying about results and creating micky mouse qualifications to pretend equality does not solve anything.
GNVQ ICT anyone? Takes 4 hours a week, impossible to fail and by government standards is the same a 4GCSEs A-C. Most improved school in London is the John Cass School in Tower Hamlets and how did they do it? They got everyone to do a GNVQ in ICT and made Bengali (90+% of the pupils speak Bengali as a first language) a compulsory subject. Low and behold the school leapt up the league tables and became a media darling or course very few of them had passed Maths, English or Science but hey they met the 5 GCSE band didn’t they. Want to improve you’re a level results discourage students from taking maths, economics or science and get them to take media studies, business studies, communication studies, health studies, law, sports studies etc etc etc . Your results go up and you are a successful sixth form. Only downside is non of the kids get a place at the top universities who think their qualifications are a load of crap. Yes Mr Oxbridge Tutor I really feel that my work on soap operas in the UK is good preparation for a Law degree in terms of the analytical skills gained. I am also an expert at using only 1 source and depending on tutor notes and have never ever read anything that was not on my course list in getting my A in the subject. Every year A level results improve roughly in tandam with the rise in remedial classes at university in numeracy, science and literacy. Many universities now also teach students how to use multiple sources and how to structure an essay. Better A level grades have led to less able undergraduates? How is this done- answer by lowering A level standards. There are now less students from state schools at Oxbridge than 25 years ago despite huge rises in education spending and results. We are a less socially mobile country than even 10 years ago and far less than under the dragon Thatcher ?Why.