Steve McCormack

@bphillipsonMP @educationgovuk Genuine question. Where do these numbers come from? I realise headline figures have to be used at times, but where can I find chapter and verse on all this, please, @educationgovuk ?

This government is focused on the cost of living. At @educationgovuk, we're saving families cash: £450 on free breakfast clubs £50 on school uniforms £500 on free school meals £300 on school holiday clubs Now it's confirmed we've halved childcare costs, saving parents £8,000.

@simongerman600 This feels like a terrible indictment of our higher education system, ever since T Blair's well-intentioned but misguided push to get 50 per cent of school-leavers going to university. We should start reversing this now.

As developed western economies increased the share of workers with academic qualifications, the earnings premium for a degree continued to move upwards. The sole exception here is the UK where over the last 25 years university degrees saw their pay premium shrink.

@frankwatson58 Keep up the grumpiness, Frank.

TV football & cricket commentators now seem to talk incessantly. I get that this is, of course, necessary on radio. It’s not, however, when we have pictures. Are they acting under instruction? If so, who issued those instructions? It badly damages the viewer experience.

@jburnmurdoch @georginaquach Sadly, this is not remotely surprising. For years, a friend of mine has taught at university summer schools for incoming post grad students (largely Chinese). No one is allowed to fail, however poor their written and spoken English.

Alarming story from @georginaquach: At one UK university, the scramble to attract lucrative international students to the new London campus saw thousands admitted without the necessary English or academic skills, widespread use of ghostwriters, and fraudulent attendance logging

@greg_ashman Not 'before the 60s' Greg. Through the 60s and into the 70s. In Worthing, West Sussex, I started at a grammar school in 1968, and it only started winding down, by not taking new entrants, in 1973.

Grammar Schools. For those outside the UK, this was the system that existed in English public education before the 1960s. Kids sat an exam at aged 11. If they passed, they went to a free Grammar School. If they failed, they went to a free Secondary Modern. Some—very few—Grammar Schools still exist but there is a ban on creating new ones. Reform UK, the insurgent populist party, plans to create many more new ones. Do they get good results? Of course. They select their students. Do they provide social mobility—a way out of poverty for the talented? That’s debatable and I think the answer is complex. My Dad got into a Grammar school in the 1950s, but he lived in a two-up-two-down terraced house with nowhere to do homework. He left at 16 to go out and work. He did an HND at night school, became a design engineer and had a fulfilling career. The kids who really benefited were the slightly wealthier kids who did have somewhere to do their homework and who stayed on to 18. But my Dad still gained from his experience. When Grammar Schools were largely abolished, the claim was that they would be replaced with ‘Grammar Schools for all.’ That did not happen and that was the great betrayal.

@daisychristo As an @OfficialBHAFC season ticket holder, I think there may be some strength in the general observation (of a relatively dull sesson) but then we've been not much better than WHU this year.

Interesting seeing so many people say the PL is getting boring. I have had a season ticket at WHU since 2011-12 and this has been the dullest season ever. I thought it was just because we've been so bad but maybe it is more than that...

@IPPR @harry_qp @LBCNews Yes, but two things. 1. Teachers in mainstream schools are already doing (or rather trying, when other pressures pemit) all strategies promised under this new order. 2. How far will this 'more support' actually go, spread around 20,000 plus schools?

The current SEND system doesn’t work for kids, parents or teachers - it’s a "nettle that needs to be grasped.” @harry_qp on why putting more support into mainstream schools earlier is “absolutely spot on”. 📻️ @LBCNews 👇

@SainsburysNews 2/2 Plus, the control is not even necessary. In 15 years I have never known the car park being completely full. This information sign of yours could be straight out of 1984.

@SainsburysNews 1/2 Why have you allowed Euro Car Parks to take over your car park in Willesden Green? The information boards are nowhere near prominent enough to catch drivers' attention. There is not enough proactive comms inside the shop. People will get caught and blame you.

@ianpacemain What a great police officer!

@dylanwiliam @olicav @90sFootballUK1 @7CraigWill Some of us started with thin, rectangular sections, not these fancy, modern hexagons and pentagons.

@olicav @90sFootballUK1 @7CraigWill White footballs? We used to dream of white footballs…

Repost if you know the pain of heading one of these on a rainy day.

@michael_merrick @BarryNSmith79 Yes. It would be good to know where the smaller font size quote in Barry's post comes from.

@BarryNSmith79 Happy for you to include the link to my blog too if you like

A lot of schools attempt Michaela ideas. Lots of visits. I think people underestimate attention to detail required & viciousness of attacks & lies. Certainly my experience. Charter transformed rapidly but was attacked relentlessly. Got to be ready to fight!

@DawnButlerBrent Good morning. Dawn. It was nice to meet you at the food bank in Willesden Green yesterday. Could I send you a private message about our work, please?

Wishing everyone a peaceful and blessed Ramadan. 🌙 A month of reflection, peace, charity and compassion that brings families and our communities together. Ramadan Mubarak to all those in Brent, London and beyond.

@tombennett71 Tom. I think there's an error in your original post. There's a 'with' that should be a 'without.'

When we (correctly) embrace a concept of ‘additional’ needs for some children in education, it necessarily implies the existence of ‘basic’ or core needs, which are universally required, and fundamental to the nature of all. The core needs of children are to be in an environment that is: 1. Safe. No one is exposed to harm 2. Calm and predictable. Everyone can learn 3. Dignified. Everyone matters, and is treated as possessing intrinsic value. This is why the school’s first priority is to meet these categories of need. With doing so, it is impossible to meet additional needs. Because every child deserves their core needs to be met. A school that isn’t safe and calm cannot be suitable for any child and *especially* the child with extra factors of need.

Re phones in school. Yes, they can be used responsibly in classrooms. Yes, schools do have a role in teaching 'digital health.' But the benefits of kids having zero access to that device for a whole school day for me far outweigh those arguments.

@frankwatson58 @OfficialBHAFC @afcbournemouth I was at this game, Frank. Bournemouth were blatant in everything you mention, and the ref seemed weak beyond belief in dealing with it. It goes without saying that it wasn't like that in our day!

Watching @OfficialBHAFC v @afcbournemouth tonight. I wonder if player behaviour has ever been worse than currently. Cheating, feigning injury, time-wasting, disputing decisions just standard it seems. Total lack of dignity & self-respect one assumes. Pretty much true of all teams

@henrywinter Ditto cricket. I'm just back from Australia where all Ashes tests were on free to air TV.

Lot of anger about only two FA Cup third-round ties being televised live Free To Air (Macclesfield-Palace, Spurs-Villa, both on BBC on Saturday) and others scattered over four days on subscription (TNT). Some thoughts… 🏆So much anger/frustration about access because the FA Cup was so good this weekend. Upsets, drama, great goals, emotional individual stories, and reminder of the power and passion of the pyramid. Everyone wanted to see it. The Cup still matters. 🏆Own goal by FA not demanding in TNT contract that BBC had a game on the Sunday. 🏆Worth noting that, growing up, none of the ties were on live terrestrial. The FA Cup final always protected on the ‘crown jewels’ FTA list. Radio was king. Under current deal, BBC TV shows two live matches each round through to the quarters, one semi and, as always, the final. 🏆You’ve got to fight for your rights. It would be nice if BBC could remember it is the national broadcaster, football is the national sport and compete more for rights, perhaps in partnership with ITV (Scotland has own deal). BBC has some brilliant football presenters and commentators. Be nice to hear and see them more. Barring the occasional live game, BBC TV is becoming more a highlights and digital clips operation (see also Champions League). nb: BBC Radio – 5Live and local – covered all 32 ties and invariably do it well. 🏆Licence fee important if BBC is to compete. 🏆Problem for terrestrial broadcasters is FA chasing paywall money rather than thinking of next generation of FA Cup fans. Naïve to think younger generation only want clips, not live. Family viewing, too. 🏆Situation will encourage more use of firesticks. 🏆Draws – especially third round - need proper separate shows, not tacked on before a live game. Tonight's draw before Liverpool-Barnsley on TNT. BBC says, “Supporters can also follow the draw on the BBC Sport website and app”. Not ideal. But that's the route that the FA has chosen. 🏆It's all about the money. Sad, especially as the essence of the FA Cup is about joy and glory.

@OfficialBHAFC @Kissimmee Perth, Western Australia

Albion away days. 💙🤍 Where in the world will you be watching #NFOBHA? 👀 @Kissimmee 🌍

A lot of what @MarkUrban01 says here rings true with me, from my (admittedly far shorter) experience in BBC newsrooms.

@JohnSimpsonNews Yes, John. But defending the Beeb.(my former employer) and standing up for public service broadcasting, especially news, will be easier if the current apology for the grossly misleading Trump edit was more convincing and contrite.

Well, Kirstie, the BBC is in real danger now, and it’s going to need the support of everyone who thinks that public service broadcasting - as opposed to, say, the Fox News model - is worth defending.