Sally Nicholls

Controversial because parents go bananas over tutoring, which is bad for child mental health, and advantages middle-class kids. Not all intelligence can be measured in a test and some SEN makes it harder to pass the 11+. And removing a proportion of bright kids from secondary moderns isn't great.

Standard system in the UK between 1945-1970s. Now replaced by comprehensives, but because the change was voluntary there are surprisingly many little 11+ areas left.
In some areas, every child in the county does the 11+. In others, there are a couple of superselectives with their own entrance tests.

State vs Penn and Meade (Penn of Pennsylvania fame). It solidified the right of a jury to vote according to conscience.

I do not think the police have ever raided the Quakers and been on the correct side of history

That seems like it might help!

Could you put a sign on your door? No mail for Shop please?

Every kid who visited in Reception/nursery days, wanted to play with the dressing up box. Costumes regularly turn up at charity shops. (Mine got lots of use out of costume jewellery). See also red t shirt for Red Nose Day, yellow for Save the Children and Christmas fucking jumper.

A great bit of parenting advice I got was, get a dressing up box. Make sure there's something superhero, pirate, Halloween, historical, career, ideally mostly hats and capes and wands they won't grow out of. There are SO MANY dress up days and themed parties. Also they get loads of play out of it.

I'd be interested to see more detailed analysis of 'most common use'. If 4000 people are asking two homework questions a month and 10 people are asking thirty therapy questions every day, the most common question asked is therapeutic. (8000 per month vs 9000). What exactly does that stat mean?

i wind up tweeting this basically every time there's an article like this, but the fundamental thing to me: ask yourself whether you earnestly believe there's more social pressure to be trans, or more social pressure to be cis. it's actually a super easy one!

There is a bursary up for grabs for the YLG Conference #YLGOxford26 for someone that lives &/or works in London, from @ylglondon.bsky.social (ticket price only). Deadline to apply is 20th March, details in link below www.cilip.org.uk/events/Event...

Sorry to hear that. Yes, fortunately my son passed the Blue Coat test so I don't need to worry for another three years until it's my youngest's turn.
Fingers crossed she gets something on a waiting list.

It is National Offer Day in Liverpool and the 27 children in my son's class are going to ten different (state) schools and counting. Liverpool be like that.

Today is St David’s Day: patron saint of Wales, of course, but also of vegetarians and poets. He was reputed to have helped introduce bees to Ireland. He is famously quoted as saying “Gwnewch y pethau bychain”, meaning “Do the little things”. Small changes and good choices matter, especially now.

Bought a new Big Woolly Cardigan to replace my old Big Woolly Cardigan which got lost. Very happy about this.

@greenpartyhan.bsky.social

We Lived Happily during the War And when they bombed other people's houses, we protested but not enough, we opposed them but not enough. I was in my bed, around my bed America was falling: invisible house by invisible house by invisible house- I took a chair outside and watched the sun. In the sixth month of a disastrous reign in the house of money in the street of money in the city of money in the country of money, our great country of money, we (forgive us) lived happily during the war.

"in the street of money in the city of money in the country of money,
our great country of money, we (forgive us)

lived happily during the war."

- Ilya Kaminsky

Or, yeah, um, children's ideas. Children. This is a comic for children.

Cousin Art the New York Bagel ... the horror!

Which is cheaper for the NHS and much easier for me to get to than the hospital.

The nurse does that at my GP practice.

I feel like there must be some way to profit legitimately, like Star in a Comic. (I'm personally hoping for the day Commander Poppyseed discovers some bagels have - gasp! - fillings.)

Which makes way more sense, honestly - why pay doctor's wages to do a very routine test?

Mine's done by the nurse practitioner at my GP, not a doctor. But yes, every three years.

Whereas in the US it's easier to get access to expensive procedures or regular check ups because ultimately you're the one paying for them. The only time I've ever seen a gynaecologist in the UK is for pregnancy or birth control.

The NHS also much more concerned with preventative medicine eg free flu javs because it's in their interests to keep the population in general good health. She said an American she knew was horrified by the concept of health visitors because they felt how they raised their child was their business.

Was talking to a doctor friend about this. Her take was that the NHS is much less concerned with exact diagnosis and more concerned with broad strokes treatment. When my son was in NICU they didn't know if it was an infection or side effect of my diabetes but just gave antibiotics anyway.

Well, the Industrial Revolution has a lot to answer for ... not least as a major contributor to climate change.

Have persuaded Youngest Child to do after-school dance at the same time Oldest Child does after-school choir, which means I get A WHOLE EXTRA HOUR OF WRITING TIME!
Will this last longer than a term?
Probably not, but I'm taking it.

Obviously Andrew.