Category Archives: School

How stupid rich kids get into Oxford University

Posted on May 1, 2023 by odeboyz

“The future journalist Toby Young, rejected after failing to get the two Bs and a C1 at ‘A’ level that Brasenose College had required of him, was lucky enough to have a father well positioned to phone the admissions tutor … Continue reading →

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Is Michael Fabricant MP a good role model?

Posted on January 5, 2023 by odeboyz

Role Model: a person looked to by others as an example to be imitated. Michael Fabricant is Lichfield’s veteran MP. His majority has increased by a hundredfold between 1997 and 2019.1This is despite the fact that he isn’t an indentikit … Continue reading →

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Institutional sadism at Repton School 1930s

Posted on November 17, 2022 by odeboyz

“Michael [Dahl’s friend] was ordered to take down his trousers and kneel on the headmaster’s sofa with the top half of his body hanging over one end of the sofa. The great man then gave him one terrific crack. After … Continue reading →

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Hitler copied the USA’s segregation policies…and then some

Posted on September 12, 2022 by odeboyz

‘Segregation Forever’ documents the legal establishment of a racial purity regime as strict as any of its 20th-century European competitors. North Carolina required not only separate schools for black and white children but segregation of textbooks (‘Books shall not be … Continue reading →

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School uniform as a fetish

Posted on July 25, 2022 by odeboyz

The recent heatwave1 revealed problems with school uniform. Schools, however, have devoted huge emotional capital to student conformity and they didn’t like seeing their efforts going down the drain. This insight produced an intellectual meltdown but they couldn’t prevaricate because … Continue reading →

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Faith based science?

Posted on March 31, 2022 by odeboyz
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Sarah the Supply Teacher

Posted on February 21, 2022 by odeboyz

Sarah the supply teacher watched the boys having fun kicking a football. She went across to Harry, who was standing by himself, and asked if he was OK. ‘Sure.’ “You can go and play with the other boys.” “It’s best … Continue reading →

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Social Class and Test Cricket

Posted on January 27, 2022 by odeboyz

“We looked through all the specialist batters that debuted (for England in Tests) since 2011, and we found that 95 per cent of them have been white, 77 per cent of them have come from private schools, only 30 per … Continue reading →

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The Institutional Failure of Disadvantaged Students

Posted on November 18, 2021 by odeboyz

School leaders are best placed to assess their pupils’ needs and use the funding to improve attainment, drawing on evidence of effective practice. It is up to school leaders to decide how to spend the pupil premium.1 ‘Closing the attainment … Continue reading →

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An Awkward Question

Posted on September 30, 2021 by odeboyz

Harpurhey, north Manchester, is a poor area, and was in the 1950s and 60s as I grew up. Rows and rows of terraced houses, with no bathroom or indoor toilet, straddled the Rochdale Road. There were no luxuries, but my … Continue reading →

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