Comments for Jeremy Hargreaves

Comment on Balls vs the schools – who’s right? by Jo

Jo — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:24:10 +0000

Interesting take on all this.
The schools listed in my home town are some of the secondary moderns. They do well on some of the DCSF’s other measures.
The top 25% of students in the area go to the grammar schools, and there’s also one “true” comprehensive in the area (you can’t go if you sat the 11-plus for the grammars) that also does rather well. I suppose if you removed the remaining grammars and made all these schools into comprehensives (or indeed academies) it would spread the A*-Cs across the board more evenly, but I’m not sure that would actually be to the benefit of all the students. Some children need and thrive in an old fashioned academic environment, others thrive from a more practical approach and a different sort of qualification, it doesn’t mean either is a “wrong” approach for anything other than ideological reasons.
I’m not sure how just turning the secondary moderns into academies would help back home either. Would they be looking to identify a second elite and just abandon the lowest achievers all together? Or to replace the grammar schools using the secondary moderns as the startng point?
Supporting the most disadvantaged is essential but no amount of pushing from the state can replace a lack of parental support or interest. The solution has got to be to nudge parents into putting time and effort into raising their kids to fulfil their potential and as good citizens. And that goes beyond education.
By the way, it’s not true that the brightest will just be fine no matter what happens- experience in mixed ability classes suggests that rather than bring the average attainment up simply by being there inspiring their peers, the brightest learn to hide or face having the spark beaten out of them, often physically, by their peers. Hardly nuturing for them.
One last thing - teachers dislike academies because they get forced to accept worse terms and conditions than in the local authority schools. It will be interesting to see when they start to be treated as the professionals that actually deliver the education as the children need it rather than as obstacles, or as classroom referees managing teaching assistants.

Comment on An autumn visit to Highgate Cemetery by Paul Jones

Paul Jones — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:12:05 +0000

My wife and I visited Highgate west yesterday and had a very enjoyable visit, the guide was great, full of information and very friendly with it, and I for one will make a point of visiting again.

Comment on An autumn visit to Highgate Cemetery by Jeremy

Jeremy — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:10:46 +0000

Yes, photography is permitted in the cemetery - and is very popular!

Comment on An autumn visit to Highgate Cemetery by Graz

Graz — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:01:09 +0000

I’m planning a trip to the West cemetery and would like to know if photography is permitted, as that’s my reason for going. I have read the instructions on the FOH website, but just wondered what to expect when I arrive.

Comment on Let’s hear it for the International Criminal Court by Ted Rehak

Ted Rehak — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:40:01 +0000

The ICC is just a bad joke. They cannot be taken seriously until we have an indictment against the real
was criminals, like Bush and Cheney who are responsible for millions of deaths. And also some of the Jewish leaders who have been perpetuating a Palestinian Holocaust for many years in defiance of all UN resolutions.

Comment on Why the Irish ‘no’ is not just some good clean fun at Euro-enthusiasts’ expense by Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:15:06 +0000

Thanks for comments.

Tristan: I would certainly agree that the point about less than a million people holding back 490 million is open to criticism, but I don’t think your comment is a strong point of opposition to it. You can’t compare simple numbers of normal voters with Parliamentarians - each of whom has been entrusted by thousands of normal voters to make legislative decisions on their behalf.

Most of your other points attack specific policies that the EU or countries within the EU are pursuing (health, for example has almost no EU involvement at all).

And clearly you can disagree whether any of these policies are the right ones (I’m not sure how widespread your view of the EU’s environmental policies is - is there not an issue of policy developing quite fast in this area in recent years, in all countries?).

But the point is that if we want our views - whatever we democratically decide we want them to be (which may not be your own preference) - to carry as much weight as they can, we need to work at a European level.

On whether Lisbon would help ordinary people: well, I don’t think it would have a huge impact on most people’s day to day life, but one thing it would do is to attack the problem of the ‘democratic deficit’ of the EU and a general lower level than desired of accountability - which seems to be being widely credited as one of the major problems with the EU (and reasons why people want to vote no in referendums, even if the treaties they therefore stop would tackle the very problem they are complaining about…)

Comment on Why the Irish ‘no’ is not just some good clean fun at Euro-enthusiasts’ expense by Tristan Mills

Tristan Mills — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:46:34 +0000

It is a bit rich to complain that only 1 million affected 490 million when less than that voted to ratify it in the parliaments of Europe.

I’m not as anti-EU as many, but I’m increasingly skeptical, your examples perhaps not the best

* CAP - if we left we wouldn’t be stuck with it
* The EU’s record on climate change is abysmal - mandating Biofuels, protectionism over energy efficient bulbs. On other aspects of the environment its equally bad, with the CAP, CFP, mandating recycling when it could be worse for the environement…
* We can cooperate through other means than the EU on foreign policy. Anyway, the EU is not very united on lots of these issues. GM food is a great scare tactic, labour standards means forcing people out of work in the third world (why do you think western unions are fond of it? It protects their members). Developmental assistance?
* I don’t agree with ‘free’ healthcare (ie government run) that, I am too liberal and think government should be kept out of our everyday lives. Aid harms development, we should be trading, but the EU is a protectionist block.
* The EU needs massive reform - but its far from clear that Lisbon would provide that.

Are the ordinary people of the EU really helped by it? I don’t know, but you don’t pursuade me…

Comment on Why the Irish ‘no’ is not just some good clean fun at Euro-enthusiasts’ expense by Giacomo Dorigo

Giacomo Dorigo — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 06:22:43 +0000

we are in a big mess… probably the ratification process will go on and if the majority of the countries will vote yes, what will happen? An enhanced cooperation among them? Let’s see…