Category Archives: education

Does the London Borough of Havering have a Two-Tier School System?

Posted on January 21, 2026 by odeboyz

Introduction An analysis of the 2025 GCSE results suggests Havering’s academies have reinvented a two-tier school system. The tiers are wealth related. Disadvantaged Students1 did badly in their examinations. Under-achievement isn’t caused by poverty but is correlated with poverty. Under-achievement … Continue reading →

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Frankie Howerd at the Oxford Union*

Posted on September 6, 2025 by odeboyz

“Because you are students, so naturally to you I’m not what you call an academic, and no way at all could you call me an intellectual. Which is why I feel so at home here tonight.” *The Oxford (University) Union … Continue reading →

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The show must go on

Posted on July 2, 2025 by odeboyz
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Rational Truancy: A Consumer Choice?

Posted on July 2, 2025 by odeboyz

Rational decision-making can be described as a process of selecting the best option or course of action based on a careful and logical evaluation of the costs, benefits, and risks associated with each potential choice.1 Rational truants don’t break the law … Continue reading →

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Does Trump have a point?

Posted on May 10, 2025 by odeboyz

. “I used to invigilate exams at a well-known university and recall my strangest session: invigilating a student who required two extra desks to accommodate the 33 soft toys needed to ensure ‘emotional security in a stressful environment’. I still … Continue reading →

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Four Outstanding Schools and Disadvantaged Students

Posted on May 7, 2025 by odeboyz

In the 2022 to 2023 school year….25.2% of disadvantaged pupils and 52.4% of all other pupils got a grade 5 or above.1 The attainment gap disadvantaged children suffer is a chasm. Those schools which reduce the gap are adding value … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Wes Streeting ~ One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry up: A memoir of growing up and getting on (2023)

Posted on October 9, 2024 by odeboyz

To be honest I was repelled by this book before reading a page. I assumed he was presumptuous.1 I believed he was careerist student politician who’d got lucky. Wrong! Streeting is fascinating. He comes from a working-class background. (Most Labour … Continue reading →

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Kier Starmer’s Cabinet ~ Shirkers and Strivers, October 2024

Posted on October 2, 2024 by odeboyz

George Osborne divided Britain into ‘Shirkers and Strivers’.1 Keir Starmer is a Super-Striver, who has had two stellar careers. Firstly, as a senior lawyer and latterly as Prime Minister. He’s a Super Striver but what is his cabinet like? The test: … Continue reading →

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Disadvantaged Students and Educational Innovation

Posted on February 14, 2024 by odeboyz

“…in 2014, only 36.5 per cent of disadvantaged pupils achieved 5 A*-C including English and maths GCSEs, compared with 64.0 per cent of other pupils.”1 Bright Futures Educational Trust2 controls South Shore Academy, Blackpool. Achieving 5 Grade ‘A*-Cs’ is remote … Continue reading →

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Woody Allen quip

Posted on November 18, 2023 by odeboyz

“I had a terrible education. I attended a school for emotionally disturbed teachers.”

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