Education
The ringfence cycle
By now, George Osborne had hoped to have completed his austerity programme. Instead, he finds himself making what is, still,…
Guinness and oysters — or beef and Haut-Brion — in deepest Ireland
We were talking about the West of Ireland and agreed that there were few greater gastronomic pleasures than a slowly…
Lessons in jargon
Schools are becoming addicted to acronyms. It’s not just silly, it’s dangerous
Letters
The C of E should apologise Sir: Peter Hitchens’s article on the allegations against the late Bishop Bell is a…
Letters
The power of creativity Sir: A rounded education should encourage creativity as well as maths, English, science and history if…
The fine art of talking bunkum
At the last minute, a friend invited me to a ‘Distinguished Speakers Dinner’ at the Oxford and Cambridge Club earlier…
Why I’m glad my piano teacher spent more time chatting than teaching
At the entrance to Marylebone railway station is an old piano that anyone can play. Unfortunately, whoever had this sweet…
She could be a contender
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan thinks a woman should run to be the next Tory leader
The big chill
Michael Grandage’s latest show is about an old snap. Geneticists regard the X-ray of the hydrated ‘B’ form of DNA…
Dear Mary
Q. I am an impoverished artist living in a famously cheap European city, largely for reasons of economy. I love…
The library in the Jungle
In the middle of the Calais migrant camp, there is a book-filled haven of peace
The cruellest month
My August-born toddler is being marked out for failure – thank God the rules are changing
How to build a school
Lessons from the first year of our specialist maths school
The lessons of exam results season
Every year without fail, as the trees start thinking about losing their leaves, the papers are full of the same…
Don’t act white, act migrant
Black British boys are being held back by fear of betraying their background. Immigrant children know how to deal with that
Barometer
Rogue traders Former UBS trader Tom Hayes was jailed for 14 years for rigging the Libor market. How long could…
Even the Chinese can’t teach Kevin the Teenager
Watching a group of unruly children make mincemeat out of a well-meaning teacher has become a television staple and Are…
Tax return
Make no mistake: the Proms, whose 2015 season was launched last night, would not, could not, exist without the BBC,…
Barometer
Bank job Should we buy shares in companies which print banknotes in expectation of one getting to print millions of…
Must all Children’s Laureates be tedious lefties?
Unless you’re an avid reader of the Guardian, you’re probably blissfully unaware that Britain has a new Children’s Laureate. His…
The best way to end the ‘poshness test’
There’s a warning buried in the detail of the new report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission on…
Call me insane, but I’m voting Labour
Quite often when I deliver myself of an opinion to a friend or colleague, the reply will come back: ‘Are…
Swing, swing together
The public schools ought to have gone out of business long ago. The Education Act of 1944, which promised ‘state-aided…
A lesson in bias
What aid experts and academics don’t want to hear about private schools in developing countries
Will the perfect school always be a pipe dream?
Civitas has just published an interesting book called The Ins and Outs of Selective Secondary Schools. Edited by Anastasia de…
