Wednesday 24 April 2019

Education, education, education...


The headline on the Northants Telegraph 28th March made worrying reading - School Places Crisis.

I read Sarah Ward's report - there will be a shortage of secondary school places in Kettering, Corby and Northampton from September, and a deficit in the county as a whole for as long as projections are available.

The reasons given were a baby boom which is now hitting secondary school, migration to the county, the number of new homes being built, and the local education authority's reliance on academy trusts and free schools to provide additional spaces.

Then I read "Education levels are not at the level we would wish them to be", this from Cllr Fiona Baker, the county councillor responsible for education in Northamptonshire.

Shockingly, over a third of secondary schools in the county are ranked by school inspectors as 'requires improvement' or 'inadequate'.

Interestingly, 40 out of 42 schools in Northamptonshire offering mainstream secondary provision are run by academies or have free school status.

Therefore, although the county council is the local education authority and has ultimate responsibility for the education of the county's youngsters, most of the schools aren't actually under its direct control.

Apparently, as a minimum, extensions are needed to six existing schools, and two new secondaries are needed by 2023. 

But into this mix must be highlighted the fact that this crisis will be passed onto the two new proposed unitary authorities once NCC is disbanded in 2020.

Cllr Matt Golby is quoted as saying "Schools are going to be the big question as we move to unitary as well.  Whether we set up two local education authorities and how we are going to provide the infrastructure is a massive, massive ask and so that is another big strategic question that we need to be dealing with on this road to unitary."

As a concerned parent, could I please suggest that all relevant bodies urgently get together and sort this out.  The children of Northamptonshire deserve so much better.  So much for Tony Blair's clarion call of 'Education, education, education' and his legacy of academies.

Cleaning


Now, to anyone who knows me this won't come as much of a shocking revelation, but I don't consider myself much of a housekeeper.

Yes, I do my own cleaning, washing and ironing, but it's not something that I relish and enjoy - I do it because I have to.

So I couldn't quite get my head around the latest social media stars who love cleaning and share pictures of their newly polished sinks, for example.

Don't get me wrong, I love a clean sink as much as the next person, but I wouldn't have dreamed of taking a photo of the areas I've cleaned to post on social media, and not just because my cleaning prowess would be negatively critiqued by all and sundry.  Up until this point, I figured that nobody would be interested, but it appears that my assumption would be wrong.

I read an interview in a Sunday paper with Sophie Hinchliffe, AKA Mrs Hinch, who is a superstar in the world of cleaning.

She has a loyal band of followers - the Hinch Army or Hinchers - the verb 'to Hinch' means to clean, and areas that have been cleaned are dubbed 'Hinched'.

Even as a non-fan of all things domestic, I couldn't help but warm to her, and she imparted some interesting hints, tips and short cuts which I may try out.

She mentions various products, and I do use some of the same stuff, perhaps just not as effectively.

But even I can't deny the joy I get from treating myself to a new dish-washing brush or wave-shaped sponge, which I always thought was a little bit sad to admit!

In the spirit of sharing the knowledge, Helen's Handy Hint to deodorise and clean the inside of your microwave without using harsh chemicals, is place half a lemon in a dish of water, heat on full power for three to five minutes to create some steam, remove very carefully as contents will be hot, and then wipe out the inside of the microwave with a cloth, et voila!