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Gill

@gillmc

Mum, dog walker, reader and Childhood Practice lecturer. Passionate about FE education. Committed to social justice and inclusion 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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14.08.2024
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Latest posts by Gill @gillmc

Ditto for FE

25.02.2026 08:07 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Definitely the guinea pigs!

11.09.2025 18:03 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
How Much I Dislike the Daily Mail 
 
I would rather 
eat Quavers that are six weeks stale, 
blow dry the man bun of Gareth Bale, 
listen to the songs of Jimmy Nail, 
than read one page of the Daily Mail. 
 
If I was bored 
in a waiting room in Perivale, 
on a twelve-hour trip on Network Rail, 
halfway through a circumnavigational sail, 
I would not read the Daily Mail. 
 
I would happily read 
the autobiography of Dan Quayle, 
1001 Things You Can Do With Kale, 
selected scripts from Emmerdale,
if it meant I didn’t have to read the Daily Mail. 
 
Far better to 
stand outside in a storm of hail, 
scratch a blackboard with a fingernail, 
be swallowed by a humpback whale, 
than have to read the Daily Mail. 
 
If I was blind  
and it was the only thing in Braille, 
I still would not read the Daily Mail. 

 
Brian Bilston 

How Much I Dislike the Daily Mail    I would rather  eat Quavers that are six weeks stale,  blow dry the man bun of Gareth Bale,  listen to the songs of Jimmy Nail,  than read one page of the Daily Mail.    If I was bored  in a waiting room in Perivale,  on a twelve-hour trip on Network Rail,  halfway through a circumnavigational sail,  I would not read the Daily Mail.    I would happily read  the autobiography of Dan Quayle,  1001 Things You Can Do With Kale,  selected scripts from Emmerdale, if it meant I didn’t have to read the Daily Mail.    Far better to  stand outside in a storm of hail,  scratch a blackboard with a fingernail,  be swallowed by a humpback whale,  than have to read the Daily Mail.    If I was blind   and it was the only thing in Braille,  I still would not read the Daily Mail.    Brian Bilston 

Today’s poem is called ‘How Much I Dislike the Daily Mail’.

20.08.2025 09:06 👍 961 🔁 302 💬 31 📌 32
Preview
Joint letter on the impact of the UN liquidity crisis and the UN80 Initiative on children’s rights Joint letter on the impact of the UN liquidity crisis and the UN80 Initiative on children’s rights to Permanent Missions to the United Nations in Geneva and New York and the Secretary-General of Unite...

Over 100 civil society children's rights organisations have issued a joint letter to the UN Secretary General and to States raising concern about the impacts of the UN liquidity crisis on the protection of children's rights.

childrightsconnect.org/joint-letter...

19.08.2025 11:42 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Graphic featuring a quote from Nicola Killean, Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland. The quote reads: “The UNCRC has been part of our law in Scotland for one year now – it’s a huge step forward for children’s rights but there is still much more to do.” The text is in bold blue and red font. The Commissioner’s logo appears in the top-right corner, and a stylised sunrise icon in blue, yellow, and orange appears in the bottom-right.

Graphic featuring a quote from Nicola Killean, Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland. The quote reads: “The UNCRC has been part of our law in Scotland for one year now – it’s a huge step forward for children’s rights but there is still much more to do.” The text is in bold blue and red font. The Commissioner’s logo appears in the top-right corner, and a stylised sunrise icon in blue, yellow, and orange appears in the bottom-right.

Today is the first anniversary of UNCRC incorporation into Scots law. Having children’s rights in law is a huge milestone but it’s just one step. We’ll keep holding people in power to account so every child in Scotland can have their rights respected, protected, and fulfilled.

16.07.2025 09:28 👍 16 🔁 14 💬 0 📌 1

Lovely! Showing also the importance of that ‘safe base’ that is crucial for play.

21.06.2025 11:24 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Being replaced with ‘assistants’. Or in other words, people expected to do the same job but without the specialised knowledge and less than half the pay.

21.06.2025 11:03 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Did Bruin the polar bear statue also delay you? If not look out for him if you are ever back in Dundee.

30.05.2025 20:47 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Preview
Scotland's travellers suffered 'cultural genocide', report says - Bytes Europe BBC Scotland News

Scotland’s travellers suffered ‘cultural genocide’, report says

https://www.byteseu.com/1057772/

Andrew Picken and Kate Bissell BBC Scotland News BBC Davie Donaldson says the state was complicit in the removal and segregation of traveller children Social experiments on Scotland’s Gypsy …

30.05.2025 06:39 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Videos of bodies of burnt, dismembered children. Images of a small child trapped in a burning school.

How many more dead girls and boys will it take?

The children of Gaza need immediate, collective action to 
stop this once and for all.

Videos of bodies of burnt, dismembered children. Images of a small child trapped in a burning school. How many more dead girls and boys will it take? The children of Gaza need immediate, collective action to stop this once and for all.

Since the end of the ceasefire on 18 March, 1,309 children have reportedly been killed and 3,738 injured.

In total, more than 50,000 children have reportedly been killed or injured since October 2023.

The children of Gaza need protection NOW: unicef.link/3ZCg0wJ

28.05.2025 14:06 👍 39 🔁 38 💬 1 📌 6
Preview
As Gaza's children are bombed and starved, we watch - powerless. What is it doing to us as a society? | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett I thought we all believed in a collective responsibility towards children. This terrible conflict has made me question that, says Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

24.05.2025 17:18 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Thank you Gary Lineker for using the platform you earned with your talent and charm to stand up for some of the most victimised people in the world. You're a shining example to us all.

20.05.2025 05:06 👍 2115 🔁 379 💬 24 📌 14
Preview
Child Well-Being in an Unpredictable World Innocenti Report Card 19: Growing up in a wealthy country with abundant resources does not a guarantee a happy, healthy childhood

Growing up in a wealthy country does not guarantee a happy and healthy childhood.

Some of the richest countries have seen significant declines in academic performance, mental health & physical health.

Read @‌UNICEF's latest Report Card & find out more: www.unicef.org/innocenti/re...

14.05.2025 06:54 👍 9 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 1
Preview
There’s one slight issue with Labour’s immigration plans: they’re completely untethered from reality | Jonathan Portes The government’s new policy will take us back to an uglier, more dangerous place – and it’s not even supported by the data, says professor of public policy Jonathan Portes

"Migrants.... are overall more likely to be in work and have slightly higher wages. It follows almost automatically that their short-term impact is to boost, not reduce, GDP per capita. Indeed, that’s exactly what the ONS says.”

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

14.05.2025 07:00 👍 231 🔁 90 💬 11 📌 11

Great professionalism shown. Why they have these people on though is beyond me. Incapable of having a balanced conversation.

14.05.2025 07:25 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

Truly unbelievable.

14.05.2025 07:21 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Listening just now. Horrific stuff!

14.05.2025 07:20 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
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Scotland's biggest teaching union, the EIS, has released a statement in response to the recent Supreme Court judgment regarding sex and the Equality Act.

25.04.2025 16:05 👍 19 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 0

The land of the free 🙄

05.03.2025 14:31 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

We could all do with a trip to the sea-shore. Jackets on. A flask of tea (or coffee) sausage roll ... and a long look at the sea.

#StayCalm

05.03.2025 07:37 👍 144 🔁 12 💬 12 📌 2
In Their Own Words: Children's Experiences in Temporary Accommodation
In Their Own Words: Children's Experiences in Temporary Accommodation YouTube video by ShelterScotland

Temporary accommodation isn’t a home.

When one child's sister is forced into an electricity cupboard, another is terrified of violence, and a third suffers damp conditions, it’s clear: 10,360 kids in Scotland deserve better.

We owe them our fight. #HousingEmergency www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhlh...

03.03.2025 08:59 👍 20 🔁 17 💬 2 📌 2

Word of the day is ‘huff-snuff’ (16th century): a hectoring bully or braggart.

28.02.2025 18:05 👍 8366 🔁 2478 💬 200 📌 187

Utterly depressing

27.02.2025 19:13 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Mountain and blue sky

Mountain and blue sky

Sunday morning fabulousness

09.02.2025 10:57 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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The @Telegraph, @thetimes, @MailOnline & @TheSun publish corrections to their scaremongering on undocumented migrants in London.

Imagine between them the reach & power of these papers.
The fact is they are using that power to instil Trumpist hate & we are ill-equipped to resist.

01.02.2025 10:09 👍 2450 🔁 955 💬 103 📌 59

Word of the day is one I may have mentioned (frequently): a ‘snaccident’ is the inadvertent eating of an entire packet of biscuits.

31.01.2025 13:18 👍 3080 🔁 389 💬 127 📌 72

#EndChildPoverty

29.01.2025 17:09 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Quite.

22.01.2025 17:16 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Cuteness!

19.01.2025 14:35 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0