Archive | June, 2015

How about a parent premium?

Following the results of a Department for Education study, I’ve no doubt that somewhere in UKIP central someone is formulating the right quotes to whip up fury over the under-achievement of working-class white kids as compared to their ethnic minority peers. It’s classic UKIP fodder isn’t it? Perhaps they will try to lay the blame […]

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The productivity gap

Despite working some of the longest hours in Europe, UK business is not as productive as many of our competitors on the continent. There are numerous reasons for this, but there does seem to be one reason that analysts are not focusing too hard upon. Sure, you can invest in faster computers and printers. You […]

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The unthinkable Grexit

Back in 2012 I was blogging about The Greek Tragedy. The ongoing saga of Greece is compelling viewing in exactly the same way that motorists can’t help slowing down to gawk at a crash. I don’t usually like to slow down to look at a crash, but I do like to thank my lucky stars […]

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Mapledurham Playing Fields – a follow up post

Whoa. I honestly didn’t expect some of the feedback I got on my previous post regarding siting The Heights Primary at Mapledurham Playing Fields (MPF). There was a lot to take in very quickly. But I’d like to tackle a few of the criticisms that have been made of that post, and also point out a few things that […]

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Our community deserves better than this

The controversy surrounding The Heights Primary serves to highlight deficits in democratic processes that people not just within Reading, but I suspect UK-wide are struggling with. In Mapledurham in particular, it seems like there has been a perfect storm of obstacles that have stopped the development of a new school. For starters, Mapledurham is the […]

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