Tag: education

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Why is Scotland able to train almost TWICE as many nurses as England?

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By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Faculty Research Ethics Chair, UWS The Scotsman today is front-paging Alarm over fresh drop in applicants for nurses course based on a 2% reduction in applications, from 4 650 to 4 560, six months before ‘clearing’ processes in the week and months before course start, can fill the missing places. The ‘alarm’ is from a union rep and, evidence-free, the fall in applications is explained by poor working conditions, which in turn, is based upon a small sample, self-selecting (squeaky wheel) survey. Not mentioned, of course, is how this level of nurse training compares with other parts … Continue reading Why is Scotland able to train almost TWICE as many nurses as England?

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The other SNP iPad story you won’t hear – a game-changer in education, the narrowing of the attainment gaps and the increased attainment of the most disadvantaged

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson Professor John Robertson OBA, former Associate Dean (Quality Assurance) Faculty of Education, UWS No doubt, you’re thinking of the Michael Matheson iPad story thoroughly plastered across moronic media for months on end but there’s another SNP iPad story, getting local press coverage but, as far … Continue reading The other SNP iPad story you won’t hear – a game-changer in education, the narrowing of the attainment gaps and the increased attainment of the most disadvantaged

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Labour Government to force cuts that further widen the staffing spending and consequently the attainment gap between schools in Scotland and England

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Associate Dean (Quality Assurance), Faculty of Education, UWS From the Guardian today: Cash-strapped schools plan to lay off teachers in blow to Labour’s promiseDespite government pledge to recruit 6,500 new teachers, headteachers are under renewed pressure … Continue reading Labour Government to force cuts that further widen the staffing spending and consequently the attainment gap between schools in Scotland and England

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Glasgow Council to maintain one of best pupil/teacher ratios in UK as pupil numbers fall.

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA BBC Scotland today is making much of teacher strikes planned for Glasgow this month. There is no context offered. Here is some. The first reliable school statistics, avoiding double-counting,1 were published in December 2013. There were, … Continue reading Glasgow Council to maintain one of best pupil/teacher ratios in UK as pupil numbers fall.

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‘Tawdry’ Labour spin doctor pretends to know something about education to undermine Nicola Sturgeon, SNP and Scottish schools

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The Talking-up Scotland fund raiser primarily to enable the recruitment of some research assistance, in order to take pressure off me [74 in June and tiring] and hopefully to further improve the blog, has made a good start. To contribute, only if you can (!) go to: Talking-up Scotland – a Politics crowdfunding project in Ayr by Professor John Robertson By Professor John Robertson OBA former school teacher, education lecturer, Associate Dean (Quality Assurance) Faculty of Education, Research Ethics Chair and Research Methods Tutor to BA Journalism (!) UWS Peter MacMahon is in the Herald with: Has anything changed since Sturgeon’s education pledge? Not long after she became First … Continue reading ‘Tawdry’ Labour spin doctor pretends to know something about education to undermine Nicola Sturgeon, SNP and Scottish schools

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Privately-educated Alex Massie of the Times with more fake news on Scotland’s state schools

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Professor John Robertson OBA, former schoolteacher, education lecturer and Associate Dean (Quality Assurance) Faculty of Education, UWS Alex Massie of the Times and Spectator, today claims: Scotland’s schools are failing, but it doesn’t have to be this way He’s right. It doesn’t have to be this way because it isn’t. Massie knows little of anything but of education, even less. Massie was educated at St. Mary’s School, Melrose, Glenalmond College in Perthshire and at Trinity College Dublin but offers no detail of degree subject or classification. Given the kind of guy he seems, a first would have been mentioned. What he doesn’t know: From Literacy and numeracy standards reach record high, published … Continue reading Privately-educated Alex Massie of the Times with more fake news on Scotland’s state schools

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More news you won’t hear – Over 98,000 children are now benefiting from new learning environments and over 10,000 people are benefiting from new affordable homes

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By cuckooshoe The SNP proposed a Scottish Futures Trust in their 2007 election manifesto. The Scottish Government owns the SFT which they established in 2008. It is an independent, arms-length company that works with the public and private sectors to maximize the benefits of infrastructure projects. “To further demonstrate the impact of our work, we produced this website with our ten outcomes detailed below. Within each of the outcomes, we have listed a number of facts and figures that reflect the quantitative impact our work is having. And across the ten outcomes, we have added 23 more case studies (on top … Continue reading More news you won’t hear – Over 98,000 children are now benefiting from new learning environments and over 10,000 people are benefiting from new affordable homes

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The Idiocrat

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By Professor John Robertson OBA, former Associate Dean (Quality Assurance) Faculty of Education, UWS In the Herald today, recycling the recent lies of Prof (sic) Lindsay Paterson, Neil Mackay has: The debasement of Scottish education is turning us into an idiocracy. Takes one to know one I suppose but I guess he’s not that daft, just desperate to keep his job. The facts: First, in Secondary schools: At SCQF level 7 (Advanced Higher), the gap in 2009/10, two years after the SNP first came to power, was 24.1 and by 2021/22 it was 22.2, though down from 25 in the previous year but more important … Continue reading The Idiocrat

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A retired Scottish head teacher explains why England has no idea where many of its children are or what they are doing

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By Alasdair Macdonald The reason why there are so many children in England out of school is because local authorities now have very little to do with the management of schools. Academy trusts now run a high proportion of schools and many of such trusts have a rather cavalier attitude towards exclusion from school, particularly of children from materially poor backgrounds and those with social and behavioural difficulties. In Scotland, where schools are still run by Councils (c96%), the names of pupils excluded from school or missing from school are reported to Social Work via Councils and alternative provision can … Continue reading A retired Scottish head teacher explains why England has no idea where many of its children are or what they are doing

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Herald stupidly fakes news about teacher numbers and attainment in Scotland as additional support teachers increase

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Professor John Robertson OBA, former Associate Dean (Quality Assurance) Faculty of Education, Research Ethics Chair and Research Methods Tutor to BA Journalism (!) UWS The Herald today has: Teacher numbers fall again as additional support needs reach record levels – Latest figures also reveal the persistent attainment gaps for literacy and numeracy amongst school pupils. In 2024, there were 621 fewer teachers in Scottish state schools BUT, more important than a one-year fluctuation, there were also still 1 453 more than there had been in 2018 AND there were 3 100 fewer pupils for them to teach in 2024. In 2024, there were also 260 … Continue reading Herald stupidly fakes news about teacher numbers and attainment in Scotland as additional support teachers increase