#uk curriculum year 1

[beeseverywhen]

I mean like. Not to bring the mood down but... you guys know that's because American media is everywhere right? Like the world is unable to avoid some version of American accent on a regular basis. Of course ppl find it easy to mimic. This is absolutely not restricted to ppl in the UK, its really common for ppl who learn English as a foreign language to have perfect 'American actor' accents (cause the reason everyone's so good at the American accent that's expected of them as actors is cause at large there's little distinction between regions in the 'Hollywood accent' that ends up on TV and films and stuff. You guys have massive regional differences in pronounceation, but what makes it on to TV (in 9/10 cases) is a very standardised version of American English.)

But yeah. It's not just actors lol. Most British ppl can speak in a passable american accent, as can loads and loads of people worldwide. I'm not saying this to be like 'you should feel guilty! 😡' but it does always stun me when Americans are unaware of the impact their country has worldwide on all versions of English (and even on use of native languages. Many countries are using English more and more over their native languages and dialects , and yeah, historical colonialism has had an impact there.)

But in the last few decades things have progressed way way faster and that, is thanks to the impact of anglo/american/ect lead capitalism. I'm in no way dismissing the impact the UK has on this, but in recent years, its the US that is largely pushing that train .While the UK and several English speaking commonwealth countries are very involved in this kind of capitalist imperialism, there's a reason that more and more people are speaking American English. Not one of the many UK dialects, not Australian English, or NZ English. Across the world more and more people are increasingly speaking in the same standardised american dialect that's in so much of the media you export. Hollywood based media, with that standardised accent/ dialect and the standardised 'normal american life', has a stranglehold on the world and I just find it crazy that a lot of you guys don't even know.

It's stupid stuff like. So many countries are importing american cars and are widening their roads/ changing town planning to account for it (this is less of a thing in the UK but I see it more and more when I travel). Its the food becoming avaliable everywhere. Its the influence that for profit healthcare has even on countries with socialised health systems. Its houses being built to account for American style appliances. Fashion trends. Worldwide, everything is slowly evolving to be closer and closer to this 'American standard' which honestly? I really don't think actually represents the lives of real American people either. You've been turned in to products, the system has taken an unrealistic snapshot of 'American life' and it's being sold to you all day in day out, but it's also being sold to the rest of us. It's being pushed on us all.

Kids in the UK go through phases of talking only in American accents. Anyone born later than the 90s is carrying round 2 sets of spelling and vocab, cause we're all so used to the American way, that you barely know which one you're using half of the time. In the UK we have always had really strong regional accents yeah, and dialects differ between areas that seem tiny to you guys, I know. But like. Those dialects are being lost cause all UK accents are evolving to become closer to this standardised american and yeah not great, but at least we share a language! US American society is largely rooted in the same foundations as UK society, largely we have the same flaws! But oh my god. What about the rest of the world.

It's global. This impact continues to be seen, steamrollering ahead, in places that had completely different starting points. UK culture isn't that dissimilar to that of the US, so we aren't losing nearly as much as cultures that had something completely different. So much is being lost.

Languages and dialects and everything else is just being wallpapered over so we all meet the same ideal of the 'American life' and it's not even real! It's just a product based on how ppl were actually living in the US, manipulated until it's the most marketable mould. You guys are victims of it as well but like. It's based on your culture so you don't lose as much if you conform to it. Just like how in the UK, if we conform, we lose more than US, but nowhere near as much as countries that had languages, dialects and cultures that were so so different to UK/US culture. The less like the US, your starting point, the more there is to lose.

And look. I said it to start with. I'm not having a go. That's not what this is. But you guys really need to be aware, you need to make an effort to understand the impact that this plastic Hollywood american culture is having on the rest of the world. You need to actively look for it, and make an effort to not pay in to it. Because when Americans see other cultures represented in media and say its not relatable, when you guys go on holiday and make no effort to learn local customs, and try and pay in dollars and spend your time abroad like you're still in America, when you see cultural differences and immediately argue that the American way is better and of course everyone should have giant cars and never dry laundry outdoors and live in American style homes, without any kind of critical thought. Just 'this is how we do it so why wouldn't everyone else do it this way. This is the only way. The American way is obviously best.' When you guys do that you are individually feeding in to this absolute bulldozing of cultures (including American ones!) to allow for better marketability.

It isn't any one individual American citizens fault that things are the way they are, and you guys are victims of the same system, but you need to have some self awareness when it comes to the fact that as individuals you are unknowingly, helping driving this forwards and as individuals, there are things you can do to limit your personal impact (and no arguing that you have no culture is not it!!! Being all self deprecating doesn't do shit. Take some responsibility and accept that individual Americans didn't create this system, but currently, individual Americans really are doing their bit to keep promoting it, to keep pushing it on the rest of the world.

And I've already rambled for an age so I'll stop here but I just want to make clear as an ending note here, that this really isn't about piling on Americans and being all 'boo it's all America's fault. They should apologise. Their culture isn't worth anything.' Not at all this is the opposite of that. The fact that millions of Americans have been convinced you have no culture, all while a mimicry of American culture is plastered on to the rest of the world, and while you as individuals are encouraged to help that happen, often without even realising what you're doing; is a crime. You've been wronged, as have we all.

And America is not the problem. The problem is imperialism and it didn't start with you guys. It started in Europe, and Europeans, particularly British ppl, have a responsibility to push back and be self aware, take some fucking responsibility and not inadvertently keep feeding in to that system, just as you guys do. The US didn't start the fire, imperialist capitalism is a fire that started burning long before the United States was even considered, but its on all of us, to do what we can to not feed that fire. And right now? You guys are the face of it.

This idea of what America is, is the face of imperialistic capitalism, and that means that even if you don't mean to, you guys are feeding that fire more so than the rest of us. You're responsible for spreading it, more so than the rest of us. And if you don't step up and take responsibility, accept that you're gonna get it wrong sometimes and you need to try to do better; if we don't all do that. There will be nothing left. They'll paper over it all, the lives of real Americans just as much as those in Scotland and India and the Netherlands, and 100 other cultures, that are at risk, thanks to this fire, that's currently, largely coming from America.

So yeah. It's absolutely not just on you guys and ppl who act like there's no racism or wealth divide in Europe or anywhere else for that matter are complete idiots, however, this Americanisation of the world (and I hesitate to call it that. Because its not a representation of real American lives. Its simply wearing an American face.) Its real. It's happening.

And we don't tell you about it to make you feel guilty (those of us who aren't dicks at least) ,we are telling you. We are kicking up a fuss. Because it isn't fair. It's not right and while individual Americans ignore that and refuse to take responsibility where they can (small apples. We aren't asking for you to call a violent revolution in our names. Just take some time to learn about the rest of the world. Stop assuming America is always right and examine your biases. When you find them. Stop personally pushing them.) , while that is happening, as individuals, you are contributing to this. It's not even altruism. This system is hurting Americans too. It's hurting us all. All we ask is that you do what you can to not personally contribute, and keep an open mind, be aware. That's all any of us can do.

when a british actor does an american accent everyone’s like “i didn’t even know they were british until they were on colbert.” but when americans do a british accent everyone’s like “they’re supposed to be from east cocksford but their glottal e’s are north dicksford. shameful.”

[meichenxi]

career. change. help

so I am making a career change because teaching is going to make me burn out and I NEED YOUR HELP to brainstorm, fellow neurodivergents and degenerates!!!!! do you have any personal experience? any careers or jobs that work for you? (doesn't need to be a 'career' that your parents would be proud of; postie works fine!)

if you don't have any ideas, could you pass it around?

what we're working with / difficulties:

I am adhd and hyperactive. I like moving around a lot and struggle to sit still all day

I am also most likely autistic. I get HUGE masking/social hangovers that mean that when I teach for 2 hours, I need to spend another 2 hours directly afterwards in the dark with noise cancelling headphones. teaching in a school left me essentially unable to cook, clean or socialise for a year. even now teaching 1-1 means that I spend 100% of the time teaching recovering afterwards at least - so an hour recovering for an hour's teaching. this inevitably leads to burnout.

I have a lot of sensory difficulties and get easily overstimulated e.g. bright lights, sounds etc. I wear blue light cancelling glasses and use loops and/or noise cancelling headphones where applicable but yeahhhh. still doesn’t really do it

I have a problem with my ulnar nerve which means that typing for extended periods of time (even standing up, even with accommodations) is difficult. This is a cumulative thing, so it means that if I don’t type very much for one day, it’ll be easier the next day, but I still can only type for about 3 hours maximum. After a while (say 3-4 days of typing a reasonable amount), everything begins to hurt and eventually my hands seize up and I can’t use them :))) I can’t really use assistive technology enough as a stop-gap, because scrolling, clicking, holding a phone, cooking, washing up etc – all things where my elbows are a right angle all cause this problem

strengths:

I have a lot of experience teaching and tutoring. Don’t really want to continue this, but this is what my main experience so far is in – I’ve taught in China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and the UK

I have experience managing teams of teachers and training, running interviews, writing curriculums etc. basically anything teacher-related I am fairly experienced at

I can speak (obviously) english, decent mandarin chinese, decent german, and could get good at french or spanish or dutch if you gave me like. six months to reactivate it

a good degree from a good university in the uk, linguistics, first class

I have a yoga teaching qualification

physically fit and able-bodied and active – I can run, walk, climb, pull things, do whatever

the issue I’m facing is that most ‘autism friendly’ careers I am looking at all involve extensive periods of typing, which I am not really able to do. and most ‘normal’ careers all involve extensive periods of socialising, which I am not really able to do. It’s a pretty shit situation. I am very good and enjoy performance-type things like teaching drama, yoga, tour guiding and stuff – all things my adhd brain loves – but I can only do them for a very short period of time before my autistic brain needs alone time in the dark.

So anyway. What sort of things do you guys do? What works for you? Any tips or help or directions would be greatly appreciated. Unfortunately it’s not a ‘how to solve the world career’, but ‘how to have a life’ type career – I am not adverse to working as a cleaner or a traffic warden or whatever. As long as I can write my book alongside (which I can’t do with ‘typing’ heavy jobs), I’ll be happy. at the moment I'm mainly just sad and frustrated at how little life i can lead even working 15 hours a week (which is all I work, and all, with this current job, that I can work)

maybe I’ll just make a youtube channel. imagine

[thefundiedata]

I've finally got round to watching Alyssa's homeschool update for the year. I'm a primary trained teacher in the UK (ages 5-11) so was intrigued.

Have to say I don't love her approach with any of the kids. The comments are full of homeschool parents approving the approach so it seems to have gone down well with them but it just doesn't work for me.

I'd say the benefit of homeschool over regular school is that you can individualise the approach to your children and also in depth discuss concepts they struggle with or push concepts they grasp well. Alyssa says this so that does seem to be her attitude as well. But her approach with the little ones is to put them in front of a DVD and leave them to it to learn (and she complained she had to 1:1 teach Allie when this didn't work for her further up the school). Then her approach for the two bigger girls seems to be that they are self teaching off audio tapes, work books and test papers.

It just feels like all the benefits of homeschool (actually spending time 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 etc. to see where their strengths and weaknesses are in a way you can't in a class of 30 and teaching to those strengths, designing your own curriculum based on interests, really diving into a love of learning) have basically been ignored in favour of how Alyssa can avoid too much actual teaching... as the teacher of her children at home.

[sofiadragon]

A Note on Severus Snape as a Teacher

In Order of the Phoenix, Snape makes his O.W.L. warning speech the first day and says he expects the class to maintain his high-pass level. This implies that he has better statistics than previous professors, or perhaps he is comparing to equivalent tests at the other European magic schools. He makes other comments to this effect and nobody contradicts him. Harry takes the fact that Umbridge doesn't go after Snape so much as being because they are both horrible people, but he clearly hates her just as much as the rest of the staff and it seems she's scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to get something to hold against him. If he had poor statistics, an auditor type like that would have been all over it. Either way, the implication is that despite being an absolute trash fire of a person and tearing down student confidence as a hobby, he's managing to actually teach potions well.

I read so many fanfics that imply or directly state that the reason Harry isn't doing well in potions is because Snape is bad at the job: He never learned basic prep skills, Snape only shoots recipes up on the board and doesn't explain, all his lessons are practical with no lectures. I submit that this isn't the case. Never was, as we do hear about lectures even if the books aren't great at giving us any kind of sensible timetable. Harry is distracted in Potions by the hostile environment, and that is Snape's fault, but the curriculum as presented isn't the problem. It's the fact that the class is with the Slytherin students, and that Snape makes a lot of ad-hominem attacks instead of telling Harry or Neville exactly what went wrong. Harry, because he is the living embodiment of all Snape's trauma just walking around giving the man flashbacks. Neville, because Snape gave up on him rather quickly. That's bad, flat out, and he even grades Harry unfairly... but Harry is still learning the material.

In Half-Blood Prince, we can even see that if Harry could learn from a version of Snape who wasn't hostile to him for some reason, he'd do fantastically well. Unfortunately, nobody told Snape to go talk to a therapist after the war, and frankly with how he treats Harry's Gryffindor class that should have been made a requirement for keeping his job. Handle your trauma, do not give it to a new generation of kids.

This is not an excuse for the way he acts as a bully, but Harry being 'bad' at potions isn't because Snape isn't presenting the material to him correctly. When acting like a teacher instead of like a bully, Snape is clearly very good at his job. He puts his everything into it, and can have the high bar of only accepting O students into his N.E.W.T. classes because he has enough students getting Os that the school board never had to call him out for not having enough students in the class.

Finally, Harry isn't bad at potions! This is before grade inflation, look that up if you aren't familiar or have a very different school system to the UK. Getting a top-level grade in any class was HUGE. The tests are hard enough the average person would not know all the answers. I took a science exam in the 90's and placed 4th in my state. I'd gotten 2 questions completely wrong (I'll never forget the differences between types of clouds again) and it was better than the thousands of high-school kids who took the test, except for the one person who got 1 partly wrong and 2 people who got 1 question wrong. Nobody, and I mean nobody, got a perfect score that year. That's what these tests used to look like. Hermione is a BEAST. Harry and even Ron are doing great! Straight Cs (or As in the HP world) used be fine. Average, even, and you could graduate with Ds even if you might not want any potential employer knowing about that if it was relevant.

[mxactivist]

Two important UK-based petitions to sign and/or share

These are official petitions on the UK government/parliament website. You can sign these if you're a UK citizen (living anywhere), or if you're living in the UK (regardless of citizenship).

At 10,000 signatures, these petitions get a response from the government - usually providing crap justifications for why they're not going to do the right thing. At 100,000 signatures, it gets debated in parliament and that goes on the public record, and that can be used in future legislative decisions.

~

Petition 1: Do not remove LGBT content from the Relationships Education curriculum

We believe kids should learn about this at an early age. I am sure there are many parents who want their and other children taught about LGBT issues in primary school.

There is a petition to remove this content, which we believe is discriminatory. LGBT people exist, they have the same rights as the rest of us and kids should know them and accept them without judgement or issue. Despite what their parents might believe.

The queerphobic petition has over 185,000 signatures, whereas the good one has under 20,000, as I write this:

Click here to sign. Click here to see a nice graph of the signatures.

~

Petition 2: Reverse the decision to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill

The government are being super transphobic, by blocking Scotland's 6-year-debated law to make it easier to live a dignified life as a trans person. This petition opposes that transphobic decision.

I want the Government to reverse their decision to block the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, as this legislation contains important provisions for the LGBT community in Scotland. We are a United Kingdom, and the UK Government should not block devolved legislation.

Click here to sign. Click here to see a nice graph of the signatures.

~

If you're in the UK, please consider signing! And if you have followers in the UK, please consider reblogging.

Thank you. 🏳️‍⚧️💜

[glecta]

What is GCSE?

The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in the United Kingdom, typically taken by students at the end of their compulsory education, around the age of 16. Introduced in the late 1980s, GCSEs replaced the former O-Level qualifications and are now a cornerstone of the UK education system.

Structure and Subjects

GCSEs are available in a wide range of subjects, allowing students to tailor their education to their interests and future aspirations. Core subjects typically include English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, and Science. In addition, students can choose from a variety of optional subjects such as History, Geography, Modern Languages, Art, Music, and Design Technology, among others.

Students usually undertake GCSEs in Year 11, although some may start studying for them in Year 10. Each subject is assessed through a combination of coursework and examinations, with the latter being the primary mode of assessment for most subjects.

Grading System

The GCSE grading system has undergone changes in recent years, transitioning from letter grades (A* to G) to a numerical system (9 to 1), with 9 being the highest. This new system aims to provide a more differentiated measure of student performance, reflecting the increasing demands of the curriculum.

Importance of GCSEs

GCSEs play a significant role in a student's educational journey. The results can influence future educational and career opportunities, as they are often prerequisites for further study in sixth forms, colleges, or vocational training. A good set of GCSE results can open doors to A-Level courses, apprenticeships, and higher education.

[mysticmayhem1337]

Movie Review #018

Shaun of the Dead

Directed By: Egar Wright Year: 2004 Length: 1h 39m Rated: 7.9/10 Genre: Horror/Comedy Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost & Kate Ashfield.

Summary The uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.

Review Masterful comedy, partly due to the creative camera work. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are excellent, as usual. Oddly enough, this film feels reminiscent of the way many people in the UK reacted to the pandemic, years before it actually happened.

Honest Thoughts I want to start this by saying I do not endorse the use of the n-word which I totally forgot about in this film. After a spot of reading, it seems Simon Pegg has explained that this is supposed to show us how unreliable and clueless the character Ed is. It's always important to remember when media was made, some of the best historical works were a bit insensitive because back then, people simply didn't understand, that shouldn't overshadow them entirely. Don't ignore these things, acknowledge them and vow to do better. Anyway, with that made clear, I feel I can rave about this film. This is a zombie horror made by fans of the genre. That's why it works so well for me. It's terribly funny and full of English humour, but I'm not sure how American audiences feel about it. If you're American and have seen this film, do the jokes land for you? I know our senses of humour can differ greatly. I desperately wish I were studying this in film, it's one of the possible films on the curriculum for component 1, section C. However, this film did drop a point in effects for CG blood. The practical effects are great, but CG blood can really spoil them, and that goes for many other films besides this one. Practical effects for the win!

Scores Performance: 5/5 Plot: 4/5 Effects: 4/5 Flow: 4/5 Engagingness: 5/5 Overall: 4.25/5

Watched On: Netflix Information Source: IMDb

[oswinsdolma]

i've been reading a bunch of modern aus lately, and i've noticed that quite a lot are a bit uncertain about how the british education system works. it's not a problem by any means, but for anyone who wants it, here is a brief explanation:

we don't say "grades", we say "years", e.g. 7th grade would be year 7. we also don't say things like freshman/sophomore/senior etc. it's just the numbers.

however, some primary schools split into infants and juniors, infants being from yR-2 and juniors being y3-6

we also have a national curriculum all throughout compulsory education, which means everyone studies the same thing, more or less. there are discrepancies at GCSE/A-level with different exam boards, but in general, most people take either the same, or very similar exams, and are taught the same skills.

you start primary school when you are four or five in year R, and continue through primary school from years 1-6.

at the end of year six, you take the SATS, which are a really insubstantial national standardised test for english, maths and spag

it is also optional to take an exam called the 11+ at the end of y6. if you pass, you can go to grammar school. these can be state or private, and are basically redundant nowadays, and just used so parents can say that their child passed the 11+ and got into the Smart School. These are usually single gender and low-key cult like, but otherwise, are exactly the same as normal state "comprehensive" schools.

secondary school is from y7-11. at the end of y11, everyone takes the GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education). you have to do english, maths and sciences, plus several other subjects. most people have between 7-13 GCSEs, and if you fail english language or maths, you have to retake until you pass, even into college.

GCSEs are graded on a scale of 9-1, 9 being an equivalent to A** and is the top 1% of the students who got 7+, and 1 being an F/U. the pass mark is a 4.

the grades you get in your GCSEs are kind of irrelevant, except they determine which subjects you can take for A-level.

After secondary school, you have to stay in full time education for another two years (allegedly, though ik a few people who dropped out), and most people do A-levels (Advanced Level Exams). Instead of doing loads of subjects like at GCSE, you pick 3-4 and study them for two years. these are a LOT HARDER than GCSEs.

if you do four a levels, you're kind of a try hard. honestly, if you do it, good for you, but as a cultural thing, so many people who did four a levels were the most insufferable people who only did it to gloat, and then couldn't handle the workload.

oh, also this entire system is pretty much 100% exam based. for 2/3 of my a levels, i had a coursework essay that was pre graded, but it was only worth 20% of my final grade, and those were rare occurrences. at GCSE, unless you do art or something like that, everything is exam based.

A-levels are graded on a scale of A*-E, and then a U if you literally get nothing. which happens more often than you might think.

this is the bit that i see a lot of people get confused about. in the UK, we don't call university "college". college, to us, is where you take your a levels. if it's an independent institution, it's a "college/further education centre". if it's attached to a secondary school, it's called a "sixth form" (because y12 was year six of senior school in the old system).

i'm sorry i'm trying to be as clear as i can but our education system is complex af

your A-level grades determine where you can apply to uni, which you HAVE to do through a system called UCAS.

UCAS (the university and colleges admissions service) is a national system where you put in all your details required to apply for uni. you start it in the june of y12 and send it in by January** IN MOST CASES

to apply for uni, you need to list all your qualifications/details, predicted grades, personal statement essay and teacher references. this all gets submitted by your school.

HOWEVER. if you are applying to medicine, vet, dentistry, oxford or cambridge, the deadline is in october, and you have to submit written work, do multiple assessments and do rounds of interviews in addition to everything else (would not recommend).

you can also apply to conservatoire for music/drama schools, which tend to have their own deadlines and systems because they're not technically universities

okay nearly at the end

the closest thing we have to an Ivy League is the Russell Group, but it's not as prestigious. Russell Group unis tend to be higher ranked, offer niche courses and demand high grade requirements.

Oxford and Cambridge are not normal universities. i CANNOT stress this enough. you apply through ucas, but the courses themselves are unique and highly competitive (the one i applied for had like 10 spaces)(i got rejected lmao). also they are arranged in colleges within the uni, so it's like a collection of tiny unis linked by a larger institution. colleges are not subject specific and most of them have weird cults. if you're writing oxbridge students, google it, not just for accuracy, but because it's absolutely hilarious.

interviews are also more like interrogations. i was reduced to tears on several occasions, and you also have to swear not to reveal the questions you were asked (everyone does it anyway but STILL IT'S WEIRD). for example, one of my interviews, i was given a poem about feet and asked to analyse it on the spot over a blurry zoom screen. they don't ask you about yourself. they don't ask you about school. they just quickfire questions at you for forty minutes and roll their eyes when you take more than a few seconds to answer.

we also don't have majors/minors. you choose one subject that you apply for specifically, and spend 3-7 years studying that subject pretty much exclusively. the only deviations from this might be if you were taking archaeology and took an art history class or something — everything is really closely related.

we can also drink at 18. not that an age limit has ever stopped anyone in the uk from getting drunk. getting pissed in a field is a major pastime for anyone from the ages of 12-28. it's a problem.

instead of having dorms at uni, most people live in flats. there will be like ten people on a corridor with a shared kitchen. you only live in university housing for your first year, unless you are at oxbridge, in which case i think it's mandatory to live in your college for your whole course.

community college and private universities aren't a thing either. when you apply to uni, you apply to student finance (unless your parents are absolutely LOADED and pay for you) and get a loan for your tuition, and also a maintenance loan based on your household income, which is used to pay for rent, food, etc. you cannot be exempt from financial aid but a lot of people do not receive enough, particularly in recent years when the cost of living in the uk has gone up so much.

university is roughly £9-10k per year (depending on where you study) which is a Lot. but why are people in the US paying hundreds of thousands of dollars, are you guys okay???

also, if you're scottish, university in scotland is free. they also have a standard four year systm rather than the three year system in england and wales (idk about ni i didn't apply there). why?? because the english government is absolute shite and they got rid of the state university programme for england (blame the tories)

don't do your research on the student room. just don't. for your own sake.

and a couple more cultural things before we leave off

we all wear uniform until we get to year twelve. everyone. even the four year olds.

Nottingham Trent university is just the butt of so many jokes and I really don't understand why (they're not even the lowest in the league table 😭😭)

Durham is full of Oxbridge rejects who are in denial about it, and is also the butt of a lot of jokes

everything i have mentioned so far is about STATE education. private education runs on different tracks: you have prep schools, which run from yR-8, and senior schools that run from y9-11, and most of them have attached sixth forms. there is a massive cultural and economic divide between state and private school kids, because they get so much more help applying for uni, and also there is so much nepotism in our government. like. politicians wear their old school ties in parliament so they know who to give favours to. it's AWFUL.

some private schools are so fancy they loop back around and are known as "public schools". they're schools like Eton, Harrow, Winchester, Marlborough, etc. really old institutions that basically guarantee you a place at oxbridge because of family legacy (though this has got a lot better over the last decade or so)(but they still have an unfair advantage).

a lot of compulsory education schools are really religious because education in the uk used to be run basically by the church, and the church still own a lot of schools. universities though, even the ones with roots in the church, are atheistic, their religious links symbolic or supplementary to their main purpose.

okay that ended up being way longer than i thought, but i hope someone finds this useful when writing, or at least interesting.

[princesscatherinemiddleton]

Sorry but are you being hyperbolic or kids in the uk learn fractions and multiplication by his age? I know that the english curriculum is ahead of the american one but didn’t realize it was that much

I'm being serious! Louis is 6 so would be in Year 1. The National Curriculum for Year 1 includes:

solve one-step problems involving multiplication and division, by calculating the answer using concrete objects, pictorial representations and arrays with the support of the teacher

recognise, find and name a half as one of two equal parts of an object, shape or quantity

recognise, find and name a quarter as one of four equal parts of an object, shape or quantity

[cometsama]

Blue Lock AU Thought Dump

Hi, I'm Comet and I have this massive AU that's taking up way too much space in my mind. So I'm just gonna dump it all here. This is basically a self-insert in second person pov lmao (if you recognise me no you don't)

I'm not a writer so it's just going to be random plot bits. Had to guess parts of the timeline to make it work...

Parings: possibly Sae x reader??? Idk lol, Ness is pretty cute

Timeline:

Age 2:

Your family moves into the Itoshi's neighbourhood

Your mom becomes besties with Mrs Itoshi

You befriend Sae (3) and Rin (1)

You enter kindergarten a year early (with Sae)

Age 5-10:

You attend primary school and develop an interest in data analysis while observing the Itoshi brothers' football practice (think Momoi from KnB)

Age 11:

You enter middle school with Sae

Sae (12) gets scouted and goes to Spain

You go abroad to study and get into coding (and eventually machine-learning + AI)

You remain close with Rin (10) but drift apart from Sae

Age 15:

Sae (16) briefly returns to Japan at the same time as you

The fated fight occurs and you take Rin's (14) side

While you understand Sae's pov, you do not agree with his approach and additionally blow up at Sae for being distant and not communicating

Communication with Sae completely stops

Age 16/17 – Present:

You graduate and return to Japan after deciding to take a gap year

You land a job as a lab assistant at a university research lab which somehow leads to you becoming a part-time manager/data analyst at Blue Lock

Notes:

Rin views you as a big sibling and calls you (name)-nii/nee (gender neutral honorific where?).

You are super observant and have an innate talent for spotting trends.

Where you study doesn't really matter but I did it with the UK (England specifically) in mind. Cuz I studied there and they have an extra year of secondary school compared to Japan. Also, the UK does year group cut-offs at September while Japan goes by birth year (I think...) so international students usually round down even if they can technically enter the year above. But you're smart so they put you in the year above.

Also, British slang is fucking hilarious and I want silly Manshine antics.

Unlike the US, it is really hard to skip grades in most other countries since the curriculums are so rigid but with this I can make Reader graduate early without making it too contrived lmao.

Also, independent schools (private schools but that means something else in the UK) tend to force you to learn all modern foreign language in lower years before you decide on your GCSE language. So I can have Reader have rudimentary understanding of French, Spanish and German. Full coverage baby!

The specific language you pick doesn't really matter but it's NOT Spanish (cuz Sae)

It's actually pretty much impossible to get a placement at a research lab right out of highschool cus demand is insane (I would know 😭😭) but let's pretend you have a super banging resume cuz you're smart as fuck idk

Still undecided on exactly when you join BL tho cuz I need Sae to be taken by surprise about you being there but I also want Reader to bond with the boys before NEL. Especially Shidou. So after third selection but a few days before Sae takes Shidou? Coincidentally, you are off-site for whatever reason.

Also, I want Reader to drag Rin out for the outing during the post U-20 break.

Hmm introducing Reader right after the win would also be interesting. Especially with Rin being in peak-angst mode. I want himself to do another behavioural 180° (more like 120°). Sae wouldn't be there cuz he'd be in the U-20 changing rooms. The outing thing could still happen if you exchange numbers with Bachira.

Actually, I like this idea more so I'm going with that. The Shidou bonding could wait.

Job description:

The next bits are completely pseudo-science and I'm bs-ing 💀💀

Anyway, the lab develops simulations of athletes as a training aid. They're collaborating with Blue Lock cuz where else can you find such a large sample size of athletes at a similar stage of development who also conveniently wear fancy biosignal-recording suits 90% of the time? Literally no where.

The only issue is that all the data is stored in servers located in the compound and, for data-protection reasons, need to be completely anonymised. For plot reasons, someone needs to be on-site most of the time to sort out server shit.

The data stuff is real in the UK and EU btw. That's why there's such a big fuss about certain US corps selling personal info. Not sure about Japan in particular tho but most BL participants are also underage so...

This is actually the reason they hired you lol. Especially since you're already familiar with the sport.

So you now have the job of making sure the data is being anonymised and transferred properly while the lab sends you occasional projects to work on. Which isn't too bad but Ego decided to make you a part-time manager to assist Anri (who's super busy with BLTV's explosive popularity) after witnessing your analytical skills.

At least it's amazing for your resume and you're paid EXTREMELY well...

[emmashouldbewriting]

I don’t know anything about the US education system but since Archie and Lili have British titles even though they’re not working royals, they should go to British schools and learn about British history etc! Yes they’re American but it doesn’t seem right that their family are British royals and they aren’t being taught about things from that country. I’m British so I learnt about things like Henry Vlll, suffragettes and world war 1 and 2 etc.

American here -- we do learn about those topics in school though not to the extent that a British student does. As one would expect, we study American history so we do study WW1, WW2, the suffragettes, but through an American lens. Henry VIII, King John, Magna Carta, etc. is also in our history curriculum -- because the US was formerly a British colony, a lot of our early colonial history is tied to British history so we do study a bit of British history as it impacts the founding of the US and our parts in WW1 and WW2, but not a whole lot.

But at a minimum in terms of history, the way it's generally broken out is:

elementary/primary years (grades 1-5 or ages 6-10), you learn the basic fundamentals of American history (explorers, colonies, conflicts with Native Americans, founding fathers, manifest destiny, etc.).

middle school years (grades 6-8/ages 11-13), you do a bit of a deeper dive into American history, you learn civics, and you start learning world history.

high school (grades 9-12/ages 14-17), it's more world/western history (which covers some basic British history but still not anywhere close to the scale Brits do), another round of American history, and another round of civics/government.

And while it wasn't mentioned, I do want to give a shoutout to British literature. Our literature classes (we call them English classes here) also go into quite a bit of British history as well through the books that are read. A unit on Shakespeare or Dickens or Jane Austen/Bronte Sisters would also go into what was happening in Britain at the time to give context to the stories, characters, and settings.

The way the US education system works is that it's pretty fucked up. Between politics and the other thing American schools make international news for, it's been fucked up for a long time. I apologize for my French but there's really no other way to describe how messed up our education system is. Almost any American parent you speak to, we would all JUMP at the chance to send our kids anywhere else in the world for their education. That's why Meghan's choices to leave the UK and raise her children here in the US is so mindboggling to many of us (well, me and my friends). Yes, the US is her home and yes, she deserves the chance to raise her children the way she was but: why would you keep your children in a country where they may not ever come home from school one day when you have a better choice?

Anyway. I digress. From a politics standpoint, every president has their own program for the education system (No Child Left Behind for Bush, Common Core for Obama, School Vouchers for Trump) so the standards change every four years based on whoever gives the president the most money for their campaign to influence the education platform. Then on top of the national education program, all the states have their own education programs, which are also at the mercy of politics and lobbyists and those are changing often too based on whichever party runs the state legislature and whoever the most powerful education lobbyist is in that state, which 9 times out of 10 is probably someone with stakes in standardized testing or textbooks.

this is from our school discussion for the sux the other day and I'm posting it even though I've forgotten half of what I was saying because 1: this is informative and 2: anon put a lot of work in so THANK YOU!

[theladyofbloodshed]

You’re a teacher in UK (I’m assuming based on a few posts from before). Rishi Sunak (the new prime minister) is making plans to make maths compulsary for kids upto 18 years old.

All over social media, british people have different opinions about it. Most are however against it. The most common reason is that they believe it kills creativity, and that the cirriculum could use some other useful subjects.

What is you opinion on the matter as a teacher?

(Sorry if you only take fandom related questions. You can totally ignore it if you don’t like non fandom related questions)

I think it is ridiculous. Long post so I'll put under a read more

If everybody studied maths to 18, it wouldn't make anybody more employable because all would have that qualification. The majority of jobs do not require you to use maths. So often my kids will ask me why they have to learn something and the honest answer is that the government told me I have to teach it.

The shift between GCSE to A Levels was hard. That was ten years ago for me, but it was hard. It's a big jump in terms of depth of learning. In order to study maths to 18, either students have to drop a subject they had wanted to take to fit it in (in the UK, you generally take 4 subjects for AS Level then drop one for the final year. I took biology, chemistry, psychology and philosophy & ethics then dropped the latter) or will have an extra subject wedged on top which gives them less time to focus on each class - or they won't actually care about taking maths so won't put effort into it.

I work in a primary school and how it works here is you teach the same 30 children every subject for a year. My role is slightly different as I am a cover teacher and cover all across the school so when a teacher has the afternoon to plan, I'll teach their class which means I can teach from 4-11 years old in the same week. We already have children who declare they hate maths and its hard. We have parents who when we ask them to support their children's learning will say that they were bad at maths so it doesn't matter if their children give up on it. I had a child last year who at 11 years old was greater depth for writing and reading (the highest level you can be) but wasn't secure in her number bonds to ten so massively struggled with all areas of maths. Number bonds to 10 should be secured at age 5. Our curriculum is so big that sometimes we run out of time to teach everything or children have absences and they have so many gaps. She was missed every year as somebody who should have been higher and I spent so much time trying to catch her up by filling in all of her gaps on number bonds and times table knowledge which filter into every strand of maths. We had 2 years of covid so maybe if that hadn't happened, the gaps would be apparent sooner, but she's not the only child like that.

Maths isn't valued here. Partly that comes down to the way it is taught. It's not a criticism of teachers, but the syllabus is so massive that you have to hit everything at pace and for those who can't keep up, they end up with massive gaps in their learning. If they've struggled with fractions for the 3 weeks they've studied it, too bad we're onto area and perimeter now, you'll do fractions next year!

In the mornings, I tutor a group of children who have fallen behind and I have to plug any gaps and try to catch them up to age related expectations. This past week, I taught them bus stop method for division because that was what I was told to teach by their regular teacher. I then found out what we aren't supposed to teach that method until next year.

But they had understood it, because they know how to exchange from subtraction because we ensured they really were secure and understood what exchanging means rather than "you add a 1 to the next number".

So then we had to go back a step because the government said they need to learn how to partition it into a whole part model... which is actually harder because they didn't know how many tens or ones they should be splitting it to. It's just so ridiculous. They completely understood the one on the left and will be taught that next year and will use that method forever. But the one on the right has confused them - and they won't need to do that ever again after this year - but we have to teach them like that because that's what the government says?

I didn't really enjoy maths. I never gelled with my teacher and I had the same one for 4 years and I knew I wasn't taking it beyond a compulsory level. I got a B at GCSE which was bad in my school so I had to go to a remedial math class at the start of year 12 because there was maths in biology/chemistry which I had chosen. But in the first lesson my teacher was like "why are you here?" because the small branch of maths that I needed for my science subjects was secure. I've not needed trigonometry or the quadratic equation ever in my life.

I've needed maths to teach maths but actually my understanding of fractions and place value has only become secure since I've had to teach it.

That time would be better spend in teaching young adults how to apply for jobs, for understanding taxes and insurance, for developing contacts in careers etc. The average grade for maths at GCSE level is around a low B/high C. At my school, if you received a B in a subject that you wanted to take for A Level, you would be warned that it would be difficult. If you had a C, they'd advise you against taking that subject because it would be too hard.

It would be better for the government to look at the national curriculum and see how many hoops educators have to jump through and how many boxes we have to tick to please them first. It's so stupid!!!

[alienorstyx]

The ocean of fate

previous part: 1

Chapter 1:

As soon as America had crossed the front door, her little sister New Zealand jumped on her, making them fall on the ground. While shouting a whole lot of incomprehensible gibberish to her older sister. To stop this , America pushed with a certain violence  the little girl, who fell on her back.

"Why did you jump on me? Did Dad had again the crazy idea of learning to cook  because if that's the case I'm going to sleep at Japan's house. " Asked America as she get up.

"No, I mean yes... he's trying to cook, but it's not important right now. I'll tell you the other news afterwards. First of all, what interests us the most is the result of the competition that you did about six months ago ..."

"For wildlife and maritime life in Europe ", continued America . "Yes I remember. Wait, do you mean I received a reply."

Her little sister smiled at her, then give to America an envelope and a small parcel. America sat on the ground and feverishly opened the envelope. Reading the main lines, she was thrilled to learn that the jury gave her the first place. The other sheets concerned the terms of a trip for 10 people and plane tickets. New Zealand handed her the box. Once America had opened it, her surprise face didn't escape  to her little sister who look to what was inside.

"These are bracelets! Do you think they are made in gold, Ame?"

"Of course not . Did your snake eat  your brain?! I do not remember that they were part of the first prize. It's strange."

"It's okay, at worst it's a mistake on their part....Wait, I think there's a card inside."

"You are right."

America looked at the little card and threw it behind her .

"Well , from what was written on the card , it was in the first set prize , these bracelets come from the island in question."

"Oh, okay. Can I have one? " asked New Zealand with stars in her eyes.

" Of course ."

America put the sheets back in their envelopes and went into the living room. To see her father doing house cleaning  while Australia and Canada were eating cookies on the couch. The two boys were hanging on their cell phone, America could bet they were having a chat with their respective girlfriends. America was wondering how these two were able to date two of the prettiest girls on the campus, which was Vietnam and Mexico. And whenever she had feelings for another woman, these two would tried to flirt with her and even sometimes in front of their girlfriend.

America had never understood how their girlfriends didn't dump them after those incident. But their grandmother Wales would have told her in a firm voice that it was her jealousy that spoke. It was true that America was jealous of her brothers, of the facility they have to  seduce the young women and of their carelessness.America, despite her twenty-five years, she had known only love failures and the few girls with whom she had a relationship, one had cheating her with another girl from their curriculum while another suddenly cut all contact , America had learned from a mutual friend that the girl she was dating was declared of another gender and had accused her of mistreating her and telling false rumors on campus.Most of the people she knew who were part of the LGBT+ community had excluded her without giving her a chance to tell her side of the story. The violence against America was so extreme that she had to stop coming to college. And after much conversation with his father, they had finally moved to another town where no one knew them. It was at the small university that she met her best friend Japan with whom she had a short romantic relationship during primary school.

UK finally noticing the presence of his eldest daughter , he greeted her joyfully before asking her in the same tone.

"America, since you're back, you can go and get one of the wine bottles in the basement, I asked your brothers, but even if there was an earthquake they wouldn't move."

"Are we hosting someone tonight?"

"Yes, I have met a lovely woman for several months now, I am sure that you two would get along just fine."

"What's her name?"

"Come on, America, I already told you her name. AH no! It was New Zealand."

"That still doesn't tell me who it is."

"It's France."

"Oh! Wait a minute how did you meet her? She hardly even leaves the library."

"Well, you see. You remember when you caught the flu and had to give back books on the study of the plague of the fourteenth century in Europe and on the Eastern Roman Empire, or something like that.I didn't remember quite the name.Whatever. But , that's when I went to return your books, I dropped them off at the reception desk of the old Hortense and then I wander into the shelves. I was looking at the books on late antiquity section , when France had passed near me and asked me what I was looking for . And we began to discuss , she informed me about any kind of information about Roman antiquity , which I used for my book of inquiry. I went there almost every day to be able to see her and we often ended up discussing at her house about the books we had read,but also about the various ancient legends . And to thank her for all the loving days we spent together, well, I invited her to dinner at home."

"I hope you ordered food, because if you cook, we'll all have to flee the house and call the fire department."

"Don't be spiteful, I asked your little sister to help me."

"Oh my God..."

Before her father could say anything the bell rang . United Kingdom rushed to the front door. After brief greetings and kisses, they went into the living room. The sight of France had at least the merit of winning the gaze of Canada and Australia who murmured that it was a ten. Which had the gift of annoying America but she had to keep quiet to make a good face because after all France was one of the professors of her university. And it had been so long since his father had had anyone in his life.

Everyone sat down at the table and New Zealand brought the main course, to the view of it America took out her phone and ordered pizzas. United Kingdom distributed to everyone a share of this indescribable meat both visual and gustatory.

Fortunately the pizzas arrived quickly enough to save them from this inedible meal. America was surprised that France had not already apologized and going back to her home.

In the end, it was a TV-pizza party which embarrassed United Kingdom but it did not seem to bother France.

During the meal, New Zealand told how America had won a search contest and now had plane tickets to go to an island in the Aegean Sea. America said she had ten bills and that she was going to give one to Japan, which would probably go, one to New Zealand, one to their grandmother. As for what was left she didn't know if her father was up for it, but he seemed to wonder at the idea of a family trip. And asked France if she was willing, she hesitated, but the insistence of New Zealand, Canada and Australia had overcome her hesitation. She asked if it didn't really bother America that she takes part of this travel, and America gave her a simple no.

After France left, Canada and Australia informed America that their girlfriends were also coming. America ignored them while she was chatting with Japan on her phone.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

This day in history

Today (Jun 1) at 2PM, I’m in London to give the annual UCL Comptuer Science Peter Kirstein Lecture.

On Saturday (Jun 3) at 1:30PM, I’m in Edinburgh for the Cymera Festival on a panel with Nina Allen and Ian McDonald.

Then it’s back to London, then Berlin!

#20yrsago Can Mozilla live without Netscape? https://www.salon.com/2003/06/02/unholy_alliance/

#20yrsago FCC loosens media concentration, screws America https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/02/business/fcc-votes-to-relax-rules-limiting-media-ownership-2003060292418873791.html

#20yrsago Kids spend six years recreating Raiders of the Lost Ark http://legacy.aintitcool.com/node/15348

#15yrsago Canada’s DMCA: a guide to the likely talking points https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2008/06/unofficial-cdmca-backgrounder-2/

#15yrsago Canadian DMCA will take $500/download from your kids’ college fund https://web.archive.org/web/20080604015130/http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2989/125/

#10yrsago Gezi protester kicking away teargas cannister https://occupygezipics.tumblr.com/post/51912890789/a-young-woman-kicks-back-the-tear-gas

#10yrsago How markets allow people to violate their moral codes https://web.archive.org/web/20130607154129/https://www.uni-bonn.de/Press-releases/markets-erode-moral-values

#5yrsago Youtubers with millions of followers are dropping out, citing stress and burnout from algorithm kremlinology https://www.polygon.com/2018/6/1/17413542/burnout-mental-health-awareness-youtube-elle-mills-el-rubius-bobby-burns-pewdiepie

#5yrsago Leaked document shows Trump officials planning to force Americans to spend $311m-$11.8b/year to keep unprofitable coal and nuclear energy plants from shutting https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-01/trump-orders-perry-to-stem-coal-nuclear-power-plant-closures-jhw8smiv?leadSource=uverify wall

#5yrsago Citing bad publicity and internal dissent, Google announces it won’t renew contract to supply AI for US military drones https://gizmodo.com/google-plans-not-to-renew-its-contract-for-project-mave-1826488620

#5yrsago Tax-funded charter schools textbooks deny evolution, teach human-dinosaur cohabitation, endorse slavery and indigenous genocide https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2018/06/01/private-schools-curriculum-downplays-slavery-says-humans-and-dinosaurs-lived-together/

#5yrsago Amid wage stagnation, corporate leaders declare the end of annual raises triggered by increased profitability https://www.axios.com/2018/05/27/broad-based-pay-rises-retraining-automation-executives

#5yrsago Former Tory chancellor takes over newspaper, sells “money-can’t buy” coverage to Uber, Google and others https://web.archive.org/web/20180715000000*/https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/james-cusick/george-osborne-s-london-evening-standard-promises-positive-news-coverage-to-uber-goo

#5yrsago Stanford prof Niall Ferguson conspired with campus Republicans to do oppo research on students who opposed invited eugenicist speaker https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/31/emails-between-ferguson-scr-reveal-opposition-research-against-ocon-prompt-fergusons-resignation-from-cardinal-conversations-leadership-role/

#5yrsago Southwest wouldn’t let mixed-race family fly until mom “proved” parenthood https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2018/05/29/she-attempted-to-fly-with-her-biracial-son-southwest-asked-for-proof-she-was-his-mother/

#1yrago House sales are cratering but inventory is soaring https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/02/residential-casino/#asset-or-shelter

Catch me on tour with Red Team Blues in Edinburgh, London, and Berlin!

[uksresort]

Why Should You Organise a School Trip? - One-Day Trip to UK’s Resort

You might think about putting your plans for a school trip then is the best idea. It has a lot of benefits. Let's look at the benefits that can be obtained by planning one for both students and teachers. Make plans now for a One-Day Picnic Resort in Khopoli. There are so many fun and educational adventures for students.

Students have the opportunity to learn while traveling and experience the joy of exploration in schools that have fun and study trips into the curriculum. Tours are a great way for students and teachers to learn, interact, and apply the theory. They are not only a much-needed break for both students and teachers, but they are also beneficial to both of them in terms of education.

Most Important Benefits of the School Trip

1. Social Skills and Confidence

Students frequently experience problems with public speaking anxiety, poor speaking abilities, and poor presentation, which ultimately prevents them from discovering and reaching their full potential. Students who may be shy or find it difficult to interact with strangers are forced to step outside of their comfort zone and face these challenges by traveling and participating in educational excursions. 

2. Exposure to the Real World

Children have a natural curiosity and desire to travel. Everyone will find it to be a thrilling experience, especially with a group of nearly 50–100 children. The students will benefit from this and learn something from it. Students will enjoy themselves more and be better able to understand the theoretical concepts they are learning. Students have the chance to investigate unusual objects and environments.

3. Past, Present, and Future

Travel and school trips are a great way for students to better understand the world around them from a political, economic, and social perspective. Activities such as educational trips will allow students not only to see the country and culture as they are today, but also to understand their past, present, and future.

4. Experiential Learning Takes Place

The classroom is an effective simulation of the natural world, but experiential learning claims that when learning is transferred to a real-life situation, it becomes more effective for people. This supports the idea that in order to effectively prepare students for life, we must provide them with memorable memories.

5. Stronger Connection between Students and Teachers

Getting to know your students while on the road is a great way to build strong relationships with them. You will reap the benefits of this for the rest of the school year. Students who have a personal connection with their teachers are more motivated and involved in what they are being taught.

6. Make Memories for a Lifetime with Friends 

The Best Resort in Pune is the best for trips and always leaves an indelible mark on the memory of students. From the idea of ​​a trip to its end, every memory, good, bad, or funny, will remain in the memory of the students. Students tend to make friends and lifelong memories not only with their peers but also with new people and places.