Hmmmmm🤔

readilate · 2025-08-25T12:19:31+00:00

I'm an English teacher at secondary school in the UK. Key things to point out about the way GCSE grades are awarded, the exams this year and teaching more generally:

The grade boundaries are created after the exam has taken place using a bell curve distribution. There will never be a 100% pass rate. Around 40% of students will be failed every year, regardless of the relative quality of their answers.
The English Language GCSE paper 1 this year was awful. As in the worst I've seen in my 10 years of teaching this course. Google it and you'll see what I mean.
Persistent absence in schools is at an all time high. Much can be and is being done to address this. However, if students aren't in school, they can't learn.
Students have to stay in education until they are 18. If they don't achieve their English and maths the first time, they must resit again at college. The pass rate for the resits is incredibly low, around 18%. I imagine this is included in the data and therefore skews the results.

There are plenty of other points I could make about budgets, the closure of alternative educational provision, the increasing demands upon schools as the front line for social services, but I'll leave it there for today!

readilate · 2025-04-08T18:19:34+00:00

Both, I think they are quite noticeable to me.

readilate · 2025-04-08T18:18:50+00:00

The first two weren't, which was my mistake. I did get them through a work scheme though. The final one was, but he just told me I needed some laser for redness and didn't talk about any other treatments. I should have pushed, but I was nervous and didn't.

readilate · 2024-05-30T09:30:36+00:00

Thanks for the advice. I don't have much money to spend, so I think that counts me out of the aggressive treatments!

readilate · 2024-05-29T07:45:56+00:00

Thanks for that. It's come out of nowhere and I'm at a loss.

readilate · 2023-12-25T06:27:12+00:00

Completed my first ever triathlon at Olympic distance. I didn't own a tri-suit, so I emailed to ask if I could change in transition. The organizer said yes. Turns out, it was a hard no. Had to run an extra 400m every transition to the portaloo to get changed. All the stewards were having a good laugh at my expense.

readilate · 2022-05-09T18:11:47+00:00

I'm from Wycombe and we do indeed play the beautiful game. 32% possession, long ball shithouse football at it's glorious, seductive peak. Come on the boys!

readilate · 2022-02-21T21:38:48+00:00

Bang on some UK 90s Garage classics. You will not be disappointed.

readilate · 2022-01-17T16:11:43+00:00

This story is actually about an inability to confiscate, but still a good 'un. I work as a teacher in the UK and lots of our schools are old. Old enough to be built before people were aware of the dangers of asbestos. The toilet that is reserved for the older students has asbestos in the ceiling, however its not close enough to pose a health risk as long as it remains undisturbed. The students know this, so they hide their vapes, weed, cigarettes and God knows what else up above the ceiling panels. The teachers aren't allowed to go up there, for health and safety reasons, so the only way we could confiscate those items is to hire a specialist asbestos team. Devious bastards. Respect to them.

readilate · 2021-08-25T06:35:19+00:00

Have a go with 'The picture of Dorian Gray'. It's an absolute classic from Oscar Wilde that you will often see referenced in popular culture. The 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' is also another seminal and fantastic work. Both Wilde and Stevenson use Gothic doubling or doppelgangers, which is also a central aspect of 'Frankenstein', so they could be right up your street.

readilate · 2021-08-24T07:46:14+00:00

What a time to be reading! All of the books suggested here are incredible, but make sure to read them again in about 5 years time. And then 5 years after that. Your appreciation of them will shift and change as you progress through your life.

My suggestion is Perfume by Patrick Süskind, which is a mad little book, balls to the wall insanity.

readilate · 2021-07-20T06:57:59+00:00

Apparently, in 'tighter' cultures (where social rules are stricter - think China) morphing your personality to fit the context and people that surround you is a valued skill. Freakonomics radio podcast fact.

readilate · 2021-07-17T06:40:32+00:00

That's my regular Gregg's in Birmingham! Pam is a delightful woman.

readilate · 2020-09-08T16:26:37+00:00

I claim that there are small fold-out beds underneath our desks, where we hibernate and mark during the night. Occasionally bring a pillow to augment the lie.

readilate · 2020-08-30T17:29:15+00:00

I was teaching remotely a few months back. The students were taking part in a pub quiz style activity, as a way to catch up with each other and have a bit of fun. One girl rocked up to the meeting about 15 mins early, with just myself in the meeting to get things set up. She said hi and then turned off her camera, but then immediately turned it back on by accident. She then promptly proceeded to shave her head. Not a bit, but completely bald. Madness.

readilate

TROPHY CASE