Historian, playwright, broadcaster. Chair of Govs. Hon. Visiting Fellow at Anglia Ruskin University. Author of British History for Dummies. And other things.
Spare a thought for Nick Hilton, TV critic on The Independent, who got Mr Bates v The Post Office so catastrophically wrong: "It is hard to imagine many will stick with Mr Bates vs the Post Office for the full duration of its four-night run."
What sets
#CalltheMidwife
apart is how it treats the Big Questions as normal parts of life. So this series' train disaster climax wasn't really about rescuing the victims; it was about deeper questions of mortality, loss, humanity, faith and meaning. Sheer class.
@StephenMcGann
The lesson from MR James's ghosts stories is: Academics, don't stay in under-subscribed hotels while conducting archival or archaeological research during the university vacation.
Sir Michael Wilshaw said on Newsnight tnt that Ofsted's claim that all Inspectors are school leaders does NOT mean, as Spielman says, that they are headteachers. It can mean middle management, effectively Heads of Dept with no specialist knowledge of what they are inspecting.
#callthemidwife
Powerful and moving mental health storyline - a reminder of how mental hospitals used to be used to punish behaviour of which society disapproved. Well done to all the production team and cast.
People outside Cambridge may not realise what the cause of history has lost in today's sad news of the death of Allan Brigham. He was a history graduate, an Hon MA of Cambridge University, a road sweeper who cared about the city he cleaned, and a huge enthusiast for history /1
Absolutely shocking revelations about Ofsted's methods from former Ofsted inspectors. One calls the process 'callous' and 'evil'. If you thought Ofsted arrived with their minds made up - read on:
This must be the first British royal wedding where the acknowledged stars of the day - the bishop, the mother, the cellist and, of course, the bride are all black or part-black.
@Joannechocolat
Hello, I teach history. You may know me from my greatest hits. "I'm sorry to hear you hated it at school", "Yes, people do get jobs with history GCSE, actually", "No, I don't know what's going to happen with Brexit".
It is a scandal that schools have no independent appeals panel to which they can appeal after being mauled by Ofsted bullies. Every other area of work has one, including schools for exam results. There used to be one for inspection - bring it back!
My mum, Patricia Lang, died last night, a couple of months short of her 97th birthday. She was wonderfully cared for at Coloma Court care home in Kent, and we all had the chance to say goodbye before the end. RIP
Italian priest saying Mass this morning, in England to improve his English. "I-a hope", he said, "you will-a all-a be very-a passionate with me".
It took a moment to realise he meant 'patient'.
The description of the bullying, sneering condict of the Lead Inspector is an almost exact replication of the conduct of the Lead Inspector at Queen Emma. Sheer contempt for the staff, governors and headteacher. Because inspectors know they are completely unaccountable.
I teach at
@AngliaRuskin
& I know the dedication of my colleagues to our students, the quality of their teaching, and the enthusiastic appreciation our students show. We offer HE to many who might otherwise never have access to it. Today I am prouder than ever of where I work.
@RevRichardColes
The Rector of Kettering said
"It's green, but it's made see red.
A car-crashing curate?
I will not endure it.
She'll have to start cycling instead".
I don't think I have ever in my life known a situation in which there is more honour, moral consciousness and courage in the England football team than there is in the Cabinet.
Some have misunderstood the coroner's verdict that the conduct of the Ofsted inspection 'contributed to' Ruth Perry's suicide as a suggestion that there were other factors involved. The other factors she identified were Ofsted's procedures. So, yes, Ofsted caused her death.
To those who say you don't change leader during a war crisis, you might like to tell that to Pitt, Lord Aberdeen, Asquith, Chamberlain, Eden and Thatcher.
It's definitely an interesting time to be living and voting in Cambridgeshire. One MP is in prison, another has just joined the Independent Group and one is the Brexit minister. I tell you, it's never a dull moment round here!
It's very important to be aware that there are plenty of dedicated, professional and responsible Ofsted inspectors. If they identify weaknesses in a school, then the school should certainly take note of their judgement. But: 1/3
Congratulations to
@BBCRadio3
, the only outlet to broadcast the superb pre-Coronation concert conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. It takes searching on BBC Sounds to find it, but it's worth it. I'd have much preferred more of this to some of the studio guests on the day.
c) nor does it justify Ofsted's routine refusal to accept that its inspectors can be very badly in the wrong or the near-impossibility of getting a change of grade
d) the bullying incompetence of some inspectors undermines the professionalism of the others. 3/3
@StigAbell
'Unelected' PMs: Balfour 1902; Campbell-Bannerman 1905; Asquith 1908; Lloyd George 1916; Bonar Law October 1922; Baldwin 1923; Chamberlain 1937; Churchill 1940; Eden 1956; Macmillan 1957; Home 1963; Callaghan 1976; Major 1990; Brown 2007; May 2016. It's virtually the norm.
Unpopular Opinion Alert! I really dislike introductory paragraphs in essays. Complete waste of precious wordspace. I don't need to be told what you're going to say - I'll find out in a minute. Get stuck straight into the answer and make sure you write a good conclusion!
@victorianclare
PG Wodehouse - The Lack of the Bodkins
Thomas Mann - Debt in Venice
Winterson - Oranges Are Not the Cheapest Fruit
Austen - Price and Prejudice
@HistoryExtra
The question is wrong. What is in question is our search for heroes rather thsn heroic moments. To save both Britain and the world from Nazism while staring down defeat is breathtaking heroism. It doesn't efface his faults but neither do they efface the heroism of that moment.
@Edmund_B_W
Edmund, you and Julia have been utterly heroic. You have both evinced dignity, rock-like tenacity and courage on behalf of the whole teaching profession. If this HoC report does bring in change, much of that is down to you both.
@branwenjeffreys
It seems incredible that Ofsted inspectors should need special training to teach them to try not to drive fellow professionals to suicidal despair.
@RevRichardColes
The Marquess of Queensberry said,
"When I curl up my toes and I'm dead,
I shall not lie cosy
Like Wilde or Bosie:
Cremate me in Woking instead."
The real issue in the Statues controversy is not race or slavery; it is our insistence on making heroes, venerating them and putting them on pedestals. Why do we always feel the need to? It will always be highly selective and will always end in tears. Yet still we do it.
Well, I am proud to teach at
@AngliaRuskin
and I know the high quality and worth of our degrees, of my students and of my colleagues. And I think foul scorn of anyone who thinks otherwise.
a) even the most professional and reliable inspection does not justify a one-word judgement on the school as a whole
b) the professional conduct of most is of no comfort to those subjected to the unacceptable behaviour of the minority 2/3
For those arguing that slavery has been ignored in school history. The major problem is not the history curriculum but the severely restricted time available to it and the fact that it is not compulsory beyond 14 and often not beyond 13.
This was the wording of the National Curriculum from 2008-2014. The wording may not be perfect and there are clear ways this could be improved. Keep in mind, though, that its presence on the NC doesn't mean it was always taught, or taught well.
@Edmund_B_W
Edmund, your reports have been invaluable. The coroner's verdict is damning, because it does not point to one mishandled inspection, but to a combination of the inspection and the whole, rotten Ofsted system itself.
You know that thing about the first sign of ageing being noticing how young policemen look? For me, it seems to be noticing how many people you knew in your twenties are now bishops.
@RichardEvans36
I cannot vote for a party whose leader has infected it with a powerful overtly anti-Jewish dynamic. The Chief Rabbi's statement tonight is astonishing and a terrible judgement on a once noble party.
- specifically this history of the people and town of Cambridge, as opposed to the university. He ran tours, he spoke, he wrote, he broadcast, he invited local people to discover a history they never knew they had and which he, through his cleaning work, saw up close. /2
To all those who think that Ruth Perry's suicide is being used for political purposes, this powerful post reminds us that hers is far from the first or only such Ofsted-induced tragedy. This issue has not gone away. We need to fight for change.
At the end of a beautiful half-term week when I hope everyone in education managed to switch off completely and recharge and as we look forward to sports days, residentials, trips, transitions, let's not forget the still unfinished business...
He was much loved in Cambridge and rightly so. There may well be such people in your own towns. If so, look them out, listen to them and learn - even the most learned have much to gain from the most local. /3
I have worked at Anglia Ruskin for sixteen years and working here has filled me with pride, for what our students achieve, often against the odds, and how we all try to help them get there. I have never prouder than now, to see all our work recognised nationally.
I am prepared to campaign for an Independent Appeals Panel for school inspection. DM if you'd be interested to join me, and please retweet as widely as you can.
It is a scandal that schools have no independent appeals panel to which they can appeal after being mauled by Ofsted bullies. Every other area of work has one, including schools for exam results. There used to be one for inspection - bring it back!
@ProfGSheffield
Don't know about you, but I get very tired of this journalistic use of "forgotten" to mean "history I've never bothered to read about".
Do these politicians not realise that some of us are going to have to TEACH all of this in due course with at least the appearance of a modicum of understanding?? Have they no soul?
On the British Boer War Concentration Camps,
#JacobReesMogg
got two things right but the rest was dangerous and either ignorant or disingenuous nonsense. The two things he got right were: 1/
@jennyfog2
Primary schools are society's rock. If they fail, we have no future. Primary headteachers are among the most important citizens we have and they should be supported and treasured, not bullied, scorned and treated as mere political collatoral.
This is brilliant and hilarious and dreadfully, scarily, unbelievably - true. Tom Peck: Grenfell residents too stupid to live and Tony Blair death celebrations — what did we do to deserve this idiots-only Battle Royale?
Oh, come on Ten Pound Poms. No-one in the 1940s/50s said "I was like..." or referred to "The UK". No point getting the cars and clothes right if the language gives it away.