How Much is a Billion?

Gratefully received from my Dad!

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about how much that actually might be... A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective:

• A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
• A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
• A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
• A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
• A billion pounds ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government [or local council!] is spending it.

Also, a billion years is how long it is likely to take to pay off the country's national debt!

Impoverished Learning? Who Are They Kidding?

Yesterday it was reported that Professor Robin Alexander, in the Cambridge University Primary Review, has concluded that primary education in this country is 'too narrow'. The study covers education in England over the last 40 years and the interim report concludes that targeting and testing has lead to an overemphasis on 'the basics', ignoring other subjects such as History, Geography and Science. The government has responded saying the report is an insult and 'flies in the face of international evidence'. The report goes on to suggest that primary school education should be restructured around 12 aims in three categories: the needs of the individual; the individual in the wider world; and learning, knowing and doing. These aims would then be achieved (the report proposes) through teaching in 8 'domains': arts and creativity; citizenship and ethics; faith and belief; language, oracy and literacy; mathematics; physical and emotional health; place and time (geography and history); science and technology.

As an individual I have had the benefit of an exceptionally good education, but also a bad one. The first primary school I attended was well below par. After over two years of primary school education I could barely write and didn't know any times tables and tragically there were, I believe, other children in my class that were at an even lower eductional level! The school did not, as far as I can recall, have a set or structured programme of teaching. All our work was 'project' driven, spending our valuable time writing short fictional nonsense and stories about tadpoles (I have some of my old school work to prove it), most of which I'm certain this was of questionable educational value. Fortunately, my parents recognised early on that the education I was receiving was sub-standard and they moved me to Heathcote Primary School in Danbury. Heathcote had a set structure of learning which taught separate subjects including art, science, maths, english and computing. I was even taught French although it never stuck, probably because I was already so far behind my intake.

I started out two years behind the rest of my year knowing very little, but, thanks to a wonderful school and faculty (in particular Mrs Willis and Mrs Frasier - English and Maths - occupy a particular soft spot in my memory), by the time I left I was at a stage where I could breeze through the first year of high school in Scotland with little effort, while everyone else caught up with me! As a result, I am the first person to recognise the value of a good education versus the danger of a poor one. I believe primary schools should teach separate subjects and that kids should sit exams to get used to this as a testing method before it really matters. I also believe in a varied education, incorporating a wide spectrum of experience. However, I am not convinced that the Cambridge Review is taking the right approach.

As I review the aims the Review hopes to achieve in Primary Education and the 'domains' through which they propose to achieve them I wonder how much a school should actually be responsible for. Under the group of aims related to 'the individual in the wider world' there are subject aims such as 'encouraging respect and reciprocity' and 'local, national and global citizenship'. True, these are things which should (and I believe are already) encouraged in our primary schools, but surely it is the responsibility of the parents to instill this? I also question the practicality of a teaching a curriculum on this basis: how does the study propose to measure how well 'empowerment' and 'autonomy' are being taught in a school?

I completely agree that children have an entitlement to be given a broad ranging primary education but it is essential to remember that primary education provides a foundation on which an individual will build the rest of their knowledge and experience. It is imperitive that skills such as literacy and numeracy are well established because these are basic life skills that can be expanded upon later in the individuals' education and are essential throughout life. I know too many adults that lack the basic ability to construct a conherant sentance and are unable to perform basic calculations such as percentage and area. My 12 year old nephew has just progressed beyond primary education into high school and has, I believe, an excellent grounding in the basics so I understand when the government labels this study 'insulting'. The Cambridge Review seems to imply a stilted and stunted education system where all that is taught is literacy and numeracy, as if there is no mention of any other subject area. This is simply not the case. Of course these skills are emphasised because they are targetted and measured. They are targetted and measured because they are important! When taught well, these skills can be embedded into all the other subjects that can be and are taught in our schools.

Finally, it is also important to remember that it's all very well to discuss how education should or shouldn't be conducted but at the end of the day, it is more important to remember that if a change is made for the worse, it will impact on the lives of thousands of children around the country. It is not acceptable to tinker and experiment with a child's primary education - it could limit their potential for life if it doesn't work. Any change to education should be viewed, at best with caution and suspicion. We should be wary about sweeping away a system which does appear to be giving our children a good start - the government points out that "English children were recently recognised as being the highest achieving in maths and science among European countries."(quoted on news.bbc.co.uk) so we must be doing something right! I believe there are bigger priorities in education than the limits of the Cambridge Review can identify.

Cannabis: the 'Soft' Drug

In the news today is the latest campaign to alert young people to the long term dangers of cannabis. I can't applaud this, and similar campaigns, enough because young people often think they are indestructable and don't fully understand the potential interpersonal and mental problems that they expose themselves to. I have known several people that have used cannabis recently or in the past and I will freely admit that on the surface the 'damage' is minimal. However, what they have in common is a an inability to concentrate - a certain scattiness, if you like - that has undoubtedly limited their intellectual potential. In common too is a tendancy towards long term depression requiring medicated treatment.

There is often a sense that whatever danger exists in drug abuse, it is in some far off, distant place called the future and therefore doesn't matter. I believe that it's this same attitude that leads young people to frequently binge drink and smoke despite the clearly documented medical evidence that proves they will shorten their life expectancies. We live in an instant, temporary, throw-away culture that lives in the moment: Sod the consequecies! And when I look around, conscientiousness and responsibility often seems to be a thing of the past... the very distant and ever receding past.

Roads? Where We're Going We Don't Need Roads!

Ok, enough of the frivalous fun stuff... the cow story and my iTunes whinge were the blog equivalent of chocolate. Today is time for the meat and two veg.

This week has been a most frustrating week for me politically. And surprisingly (or unsurprisingly?) my frustration is not with national government! Hubby has recently become politically active. I suspect that this is partly inspired by my Dad, who became a local councillor last year, but mostly inspired by his ongoing crusade to address the shocking condition of Salford's local roads.

To provide a little background, anyone who lives outside of Salford and has cause to regularly travel into our area will be able to identify the border based solely on the condition of the roads. Salford's roads are a mixture of potholes, exposed cobbles and surface defects interspersed by speed bumps. Urban Vision, who are responsible for maintaining Salford's roads claim that they have a regular programme of inspection and repair but our road has been seriously pot-holed since the day we moved in (over two years ago) and the only repairs that they have carried out were the ones that we complained about in July last year. It took 3 months or more of complaining before they were eventually patched - poorly! This week hubby went to a local community committee meeting to see a presentation of 'Salford's Draft Integrated Transport Strategy'. He returned shaking his head.

It appears, from what he has seen, that the purpose of the so called 'strategy' is to make travel a living hell for anyone heading into central Salford and Media:City... unless they are travelling by bicycle! The plan includes the narrowing of Langworthy Road - already a slow moving artery into Salford Quays - by introducing cycle lanes and 'traffic calming'. Langworthy Road is already quite congested in the morning and it seems that the Integrated Transport Strategy will not only direct more traffic down this route, it will also reduce the traffic flow. This is a ludicrous plan tantamount to closing a lane on a motorway in rush hour. There also appears to be little consideration of the local economy in this plan, since the introduction of heavy congestion combined with increasing thru traffic will only harm the businesses on the road.

As if this wasn't insult enough to local residents and road users, we also found out this week that Salford Council intends to increase our Council Tax this year, while reducing Council spending on education and social care. They have already terminated a community policing trial that was universally heralded as a success. So what are they going to spend all this extra income on? If national government is anything to go by - on themselves!

Don't get me wrong, I believe that we should adequately reward people who work in local and national government, but at a local level, I expect and demand a certain service for the money I pay in. I want police on my streets, schools for my kids, my bins emptied every week, and maintenance of public property, including parks, council housing and offices, and our streets. I don't think that is too much to ask. Instead I get a community policing service canned, schools being closed and consolidated with little regard for the problems that might create, houses demolished around me, roads that are in such a poor condition that you find yourself doing a slalom down the street and a crazy 'plan' that will cause traffic chaos.

The most frustrating thing is that in the midst of this I don't have the time to commit to trying to make any of it any better!

Apple's Got the Microsoft Bug

Just when I thought it was safe to come out from under the technological bed it seems that my beloved Apple has gone all Microsnot on me!

For years I have been convinced that there is a conspiracy on behalf of Bill Gates to consistently release rubbish software that you constantly have to update to try and improve. Invariably updates usually lead to more problems... I mean 'undocumented features' and the need to perform more updates. Occasionally they fix an issue or two only to introduced at least one or two brand new issues just to keep you on your toes. Of course, each update takes up more space on your HD and slows down your operating system so that eventually you despair and go out and buy a new computer in the vague and often futile hope that this time out something will be different. As such, for the last few years I have been cursing the name Microsoft and setting my sights on that lovely shiny thing of beauty known as MacBook.

Unfortunately, it seems that even Apple aren't immune to the Microsnot virus. Recently, after encountering a problem downloading a track from iTunes (one that was caused by my shoddy wireless connection, not iTunes itself!) I made the decision to update my software before attempting to re-download the damaged track. Oh boy!

I have spent the last two weeks trying to get iTunes up and working again, each time spending H-O-U-R-S trying to rebuild my library (8+ GB of data) and each time encountering errors. Finally, after much messing around, I have discovered that millions of others are having similar problems because - basically - iTunes 8 doesn't work.

As I type I am downloading an old version. Hopefully now I can go back to the good old days of functioning software. Then again, maybe I am becoming delusional from all the faffing of the past two weeks! *sigh*