Tesco boss raps school standards

lostinrates

Mr_Matey wrote: »

I wouldn't have picked you as a non native-speaker from your posts. English is a second language for my fiancee too, so I often have to help her. As Sir Humphrey said, quite a lot of the time English is illogical, but then again it's a mish-mash of numerous different languages.

I learnt a bit of French and German in school, enough to get by but nowhere near fluent. I could probably get by with a French-speaking lover, so long as she only says "oui, oui!".

I do like to try the local language wherever I go though, so have picked up a little bit of a few languages.

No, English was a mother tongue, and French was simultaneous! See, I can't
even get my point accross clearly :rotfl:

My first language...is the language of love, baby.:cool:

I've never, ever spoken German, but one night, I fell asleep in the sofa, watching open university. I woke up when I thought I heard a programme on old English and it was a German programme . I've never forgotten: Das ist meine tochtor (sorry if the spelling is frightful any german speakers)

Mr_Matey

lostinrates wrote: »

No, English was a mother tongue, and French was simultaneous! See, I can't
even get my point accross clearly :rotfl:

My first language...is the language of love, baby.:cool:

I've never, ever spoken German, but one night, I fell asleep in the sofa, watching open university. I woke up when I thought I heard a programme on old English and it was a German programme . I've never forgotten: Das ist meine tochtor (sorry if the spelling is frightful any german speakers)

Maybe that was just me misreading your post.
Isn't French the language of lurrve?

Does anyone here understand Glaswegian? :rotfl:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/editors-choice/2009/10/14/london-firm-launches-hunt-for-glaswegian-translators-86908-21745828/

JayZed

1/2(a+b)h.

lostinrates

Mr_Matey wrote: »

Isn't French the language of lurrve?

No, honey, the language of love has few words.

macaque_2

Count_Dante;25966103]It was ever thus. He could have said that in any decade in any era.

Children emerge from school with low motivation, dubious qualifications and little work ethic. For far too many are washed up by the age of 16.

Who supports the current education system? It's not the parents or the school leavers. Good teachers are not impressed either as their flair and energy gets crushed by mountains of paper work and micro management. Bad teachers on the other hand like teaching for its job security and long holidays. Above all, council education authorities, teaching unions and whitehall suits love the current education system for its magical ability to generate huge employment empires and 6 figure salaries.

Like Russian wheat harvest reports of old, annual school results improve with each passing year. Like Russian harvests however, the amount chaff that can be reclassified as wheat also increases every year. Exam standards have slipped so badly that many private schools are opting for different exam boards, IB or they are setting up their own systems.

The top Universities are still world class? Correct. This means that schools must be getting something right? Wrong. The most demanding courses in top Universities are now heavily populated by foreign students and students from private sector.

Was it 'ever thus'? Perhaps we have educated people this badly before but we have never wasted so much money doing so.

kennyboy66_2

For some unbiased info;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment

which are done every 3 years and are based on standardised tests in maths, reading, science and problem solving.

The UK performs at the same level as Germany , above the USA, but below say Australia

macaque_2

kennyboy66 wrote: »

For some unbiased info;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment

which are done every 3 years and are based on standardised tests in maths, reading, science and problem solving.

The UK performs at the same level as Germany , above the USA, but below say Australia

Kenny

Which bit are we supposed to be looking at? In the 2006 data the UK did not make it onto the list for maths. It is 14th in science and 17th in reading. How can you be happy with those results?

Your choice of USA and Germany for comparison was unfortunate. The fact that you refer to US schools in the same breath as UK schools is perhaps an indicator of how far we have sunk. America is a land of extremes and historically has had a notoriously patchy school system. The German education system is very different to ours. They have a selective system with a much stronger focus on vocational training and apprenticeships for the less academic students. We could learn much from them.

Mr_Matey

macaque wrote: »

Kenny
Which bit are we supposed to be looking at? In the 2006 data the UK did not make it onto the list for maths. It is 14th in science and 17th in reading. How can you be happy with those results?

Chin up old chap, your sporting teams are getting better, and I think Britain's got talent was a lot better than the US, Finnish and South Korean versions.

Get your priorities right.

A_fiend_for_life

I had to find an anagram with an unhealthy ring for Sir Terry:

'Rarely !!!!!! Rye'.

baby_boomer

The interesting bit from Sir Terry was on the catastrophic mismanagement of schools from above.

Top heavy, interfering, bossy government and local authorities - with no clear and consistent management but plenty of red tape and boxes to fill in which gets in the way of actual teaching. Draining resources from the schools themselves.

This is bad enough. However, in an era where cuts are necessary it at least provides a wide open goal for the next government - of whatever political hue.

One of the many reasons for the discrepancy between state and private school performance is that the private schools don't have to dance to so many of the educational establishment's daft tunes . I've come across many good teachers who have torn their hair out before finally giving up in despair at the madness that cascades down from on high.