My current background
I change my desktop background fairly often. (Known as a ‘wallpaper’ way back in Windows 95, it is irritatingly referred to as a ‘screensaver’ quite a bit these days.) It goes from Doctor Who wallpapers to scenic views and cool photography, until I get bored with it and change it again. I’ve gone back to this photo a few times though, taken from a nice collection at wstaylor.net and – I think – included in Windows Vista.
What’s yours?
[Have Your Say: pretentious post titles – yay or nay? Results may not be indicative of public opinion]
Tomorrow, I have my Physics Practical Exam. Readers with long memories may recall an occasional tendency to appear ever so slightly negative about this, and it remains true that in ordinary circumstances I’d be egesting clay blocks (sorry!), but I’m actually not. Perhaps because, as the shadow of the beast of the synoptic exam looms darkly, the practical no longer carries the mantle of world’s-scariest-exam.
This week in general is the last week of the half term. On Friday, I’m going off to Blackpool for a mini-holiday with Nic, Josie & Andy, Lucy and lots of other exciting people, which I’m really looking forward to 
Even if I’m leaving on my mum’s birthday hehe. Oh, and we’ve decided I’m going to hide behind all of those lovely Midlands accents, for Blackpool is up in the far North tundra, where other Southerners fear to tread 
(Grammatical note – this has been bugging me for ages: an emoticon takes the place of a full stop, OK?!)
Once back at school after the week’s holiday, I’ll have a final week of lessons, revision and please-god-no-more-revision until my first ‘proper’ exams on June 11th. Then I’ll be gone! No more school, no more tramping in the Science corridor, no more silly assemblies, no more lesson timetables, no more bells, no more sneaking dominicself.co.uk onto the corners of various whiteboards, no more exercise books (yes, I still 
exercise books, whatever people say). Still got exams to pass first though of course, so I’ll save the retrospective for another day
And how could I forget? We had another Babble Radio Night last night, and congratulations to Nathan, Nic, GG and Pingu for everything they achieved. It got me addicted to Rhianna – Umbrella too. Ella, ella.
After Emily’s dad accidentally booked too many tickets, and then Emily passed the spare tickets along to me and Sanna, and then Sanna was sadly too ill to attend, it eventually transpired that Robert and I went to see Radio 4’s The News Quiz being recorded. Hosted by Sandi Toksvig (can you not love her?) with Mark Steel (weep with joy, Saoirse, weep with pure unadulated joy) Alan Coren, Phil Jupitus, some-new-and-quite-funny-woman and the sexy Radio 4 newsreader-voice guy.
Anyway, it was great fun, with most of Mark Steel’s contributions being utterly libellous and not able to be transmitted. Got slightly worried when I spotted a bloke reading the Morning Star in the audience though, and thought the Radio 4 listenership was about to get revolutionary. Oh and a mobile went off in the audience – to which the team responded by shining a spotlight on the guilty woman. Haha! Props to Emily for getting the tickets for us. 
They also teased vegetarians in a rather amusing fashion 
sorry, Emily \ Sanna \ Joshua \ everybody else.
In other news: I have now applied for my student loans! Which is exciting, especially if I end up dying very young and therefore not paying any of them back. (Accidents happen…)
The Tories are finally abandoning their symbolic commitment to grammar schools, of which there are only 164 left in England anyway, with a ban on any new ones. Sure, the change is designed to allow them to appear to be ‘Blairites’ in supporting city academies more forcefully than Gordon Brown, but it does lead to the semi-amusing and semi-frustrating situation of waking up to hear David Willetts on Radio 4 ‘explaining’ what we’ve known for decades.
So for hopefully the final time, why are grammar schools – and the associated academic selection at age 11 – such Bad Things again?
- One Size Fits All? – it’s somewhat strange that this charge is levelled at comprehensive schools by those who think you can judge a child through a single entrance test at eleven years old. Those who develop later don’t stand a chance.
- Tutoring – the richer parents simply pay their way into grammar schools, as well as strategic house-buying.
- Unnecessary – can’t bright kids do well in mixed ability education? Of course they can. If you have some kind of mental block at the idea of going to school alongside less academically able students, get a grip. If the teaching isn’t good enough, or the discipline isn’t strong enough, then challenge it.
- Divisive and Demoralising – who wants siblings to be divided into the haves and the have-nots on the basis of a test at age 11? Don’t bother claiming that they’ll get the education ‘best suited’ to them – you ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ an entrance exam for a reason. In the meantime, grammar schools drain the best teachers away from the others, leading to a worse education for those who need it most.
- Inflexible – schools can’t magically grow bigger and smaller each year. Select at age 11, and children who don’t quite pass the test but could have done equally as well as those who do are locked out.
- Unimaginative – don’t cream the most academically able kids away – allow them to contribute to a genuinely comprehensive school and see what exciting things can happen. It’s not very impressive that a pre-selected cohort of clever students get good exam results. Deliver value added and make a difference to children’s lives, rather than just taking them along a set path.
It’s Eurovision tonight, and on the BBC News website readers were debating the tricky problem posed by: “Will you be watching Eurovision?”. One response from a ‘Frank Balkus’ (Detroit, Michigan, United States) raised a confused smile from me:
“I’ll watch it if it has 24 hour a day news WITHOUT entertainment, with out American Hollywood, or Indian Bollywood, no American Idol, no rubbish, we are living in trying times, some would say biblical. I find media to be too feminist, and too morally disturbing. If Eurovision is clean and informative, without entertainment, I’ll watch it.”
There isn’t much you can say to that! Similarly, there isn’t much you can say to the latest comment to my long-running Hillsong debate started back in, ooh, March 2005. I’d say it was a special case of the you’re-wrong-but-even-if-you-were-right-you’d-still-be-wrong class of arguments: the you’re-wrong-on-so-many-levels-that-perhaps-we-better-just-leave-it.
On the upside, for ICT the other day Katie (Year 7) had to produce a questionnaire that could be used by a dating agency. To see ‘straight’, ‘gay’ and ‘bi’ proudly listed as orientation options gives me hope that – at least in this house – the liberal brainwashing has worked wonders 
Rob Bell on Baby’s first blog: “Congratulations! Sounds like you are really enjoying the first few weeks which is great. Time flies!” Oct 13, 12:59
