(22 Mar 2016, 9:08 pm)NK53 TKT wrote Now, I disagree with some of Trump's policies (islamaphbic comments and sexist comments) however some do make sense such as a wall between Mexico and America to stop illegal immigration and drugs

The wall wont stop illegal imigrants, plus its going to cost billions to build.

(22 Mar 2016, 9:08 pm)NK53 TKT wrote Now, I disagree with some of Trump's policies (islamaphbic comments and sexist comments) however some do make sense such as a wall between Mexico and America to stop illegal immigration and drugs

To stop illegal immigration in America? Lets not forget that the Europeans entered America as immigrants way back, and pushed the natives out. 

Building walls between borders solves nothing. You only have to look as far as the Berlin wall for that.

(22 Mar 2016, 9:19 pm)Adrian wrote To stop illegal immigration in America? Lets not forget that the Europeans entered America as immigrants way back, and pushed the natives out. 

Building walls between borders solves nothing. You only have to look as far as the Berlin wall for that.

Look no further:
https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/i...ion-reform

(22 Mar 2016, 9:08 pm)NK53 TKT wrote Now, I disagree with some of Trump's policies (islamaphbic comments and sexist comments) however some do make sense such as a wall between Mexico and America to stop illegal immigration and drugs

Who will he get to build that wall?

(22 Mar 2016, 9:32 pm)NK53 TKT wrote Look no further:
https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/i...ion-reform

You do know that people have boats and stuff? If he's serious, then he needs to build fortresses all along the coast. Why do you think there's so many castles on the Northumberland coast?

(22 Mar 2016, 10:50 pm)BusLoverMum wrote Who will he get to build that wall?

He wants the Mexicans to pay for the wall so i would imagine he'll want them to build it..

Like the Mexicans would agree to that.

I'd be more inclined to help Canada against the influx of Americans wishing to escape if Trump gets elected:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2016/03/...89574.html

Come to think of it, I think we should help the Mexicans too...

(24 Mar 2016, 5:23 pm)Adrian wrote

You evil, baby-eating communist.
What would all the moderates and communists think of posts like this?

(24 Mar 2016, 6:02 pm)Andreos1 wrote You evil, baby-eating communist.
What would all the moderates and communists think of posts like this?

They'd be thinking outside of the box

Don't you just hate all those politically-motivated climate change myths propagated by those who have spent years undertaking research and collating evidence to support their claims?

(24 Mar 2016, 6:52 pm)MurdnunoC wrote Don't you just hate all those politically-motivated climate change myths propagated by those who have spent years undertaking research and collating evidence to support their claims?

Or all the safety legislation that was written on the back of industrial disasters, and the investigations into those?

(24 Mar 2016, 10:25 pm)Adrian wrote Or all the safety legislation that was written on the back of industrial disasters, and the investigations into those?

The Soviet Union and Chernobyl springs to mind.

(24 Mar 2016, 10:27 pm)R852 PRG wrote The Soviet Union and Chernobyl springs to mind.

There's a million and one examples. From the railways, to building sites, to nuclear power stations.

Teachers' union votes for strike ballot over academies

Teachers are calling for a one-day strike as part of a campaign against plans to force every school in England to become an academy.

The National Union of Teachers says there is no evidence to show academy status will improve schools more rapidly than local authority schools.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35905064


White Paper proposals:

• All schools in England to move to academy status
  
• New funding system designed to benefit disadvantaged areas
  
• Heads who take over struggling schools given a two-and-a-half-year reprieve from Ofsted inspections, to enable them to turn things around
  
• An end to the legal obligation for academies to have parents as governors in all schools
  
• A shake-up of governance, with a greater obligation to consult with parents
  
• Accreditation system for teacher training to be approved by head teachers - scrapping the current "qualified teacher status".
  

Just seen an advert for a program on channel 4 about Trump, on tomorrow.

I'm sure i heard him say "If i stood and shot someone i wouldn't lose voters"

Typical red neck yank!

(29 Mar 2016, 12:09 pm)Michael wrote Just seen an advert for a program on channel 4 about Trump, on tomorrow.

I'm sure i heard him say "If i stood and shot someone i wouldn't lose voters"

Typical red neck yank!

The man is a fucking idiot, a very dangerous one at that and I worry for America if the daft bastards voted him in

(29 Mar 2016, 12:26 pm)MrFozz wrote The man is a fucking idiot, a very dangerous one at that and I worry for America if the daft bastards voted him in

Complete tool Fozz, i dread to think what he'll do to America if he gets in.

Yet, he seems to get more supporters, to me that shows he'll be in the election vote...

(29 Mar 2016, 12:36 pm)Michael wrote Complete tool Fozz, i dread to think what he'll do to America if he gets in.

Yet, he seems to get more supporters, to me that shows he'll be in the election vote...

I like this whole Mexican Wall idea to keep the Mexicans out, he will get the Mexicans to build it...

If I was a Mexican on that job I would be adding my own little things to aid others getting through...

The man is deluded fool in my opinion and I think he is most likely going to be on the Republican Ticket come Election time

GrownUpPolitics - Green Party 2016 Party Election Broadcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2dNEQiHUUo

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Not a fan of the Green party but this advert good haha

(06 Apr 2016, 12:58 pm)Michael wrote GrownUpPolitics - Green Party 2016 Party Election Broadcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2dNEQiHUUo

----

Not a fan of the Green party but this advert good haha

It's just appeared on my fb.

I quite like it.

(06 Apr 2016, 6:23 pm)Andreos1 wrote It's just appeared on my fb.

I quite like it.

They had Boris to a T.... hahaha

So Cameron has confirmed he has '30k' in an offshore tax haven.

The same fella who said he was going to get serious about tax avoidance.

I would bet my total #NEBpoints that he has more than 30k hidden away.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35968423

YES

Our education system is set up to push young people into further and higher education and damn them if they'd like to do anything else. 

The people in charge of education live in an isolated bubble world where they themselves have obediently travelled through the education system right through university and have then landed a job in education to start the whole cycle again. What's missing is any real experience. It's then compounded by teachers getting so wrapped up in meeting targets and getting pupils through tests with such narrowly defined curriculum that the end result is not a well rounded individual coming out of school but a trained dolphin who can jump through a hoop and tell you some very specific facts about a book they studied for two years or some alien maths formula which has no application in the real world. 

Said pupil then goes off expecting employers to throw jobs at them because young people can see so many wealthy adults (teachers mainly) around them that it must be easy to get a job. The teachers haven't bothered to teach the qualities pupils really need as it isn't on the curriculum. The same teachers then turn around to now unemployed 17-year-old and say 'well you should have stayed on at college and then you'd get a job'. The same applies to 19 year olds who opted not to go to university. By the time they're 22 and an unemployed graduate its the economy's fault and nothing to do with the school, apparently. 

As a youth I knew I wanted to work in hospitality. At every turn in school teachers told me it was a waste of time and I was 'bright' so should be academic. I trusted them and carried on through college. I got a part time job as a waiter and loved it so much I was soon assistant manager for a well known chain and learning so much more than I was at college. Teachers said it was the the wrong thing to do, so I went to uni. Two years at uni and I hate it. Still a part-time restaurant manager I eventually snap and quit uni, go full time and within months I'm Deputy Restaurant Manager for the company's largest UK branch earning a respectable amount of money. Fast forward a few years and I now run my own place with my partner and doing very well utilising almost zero skills I gained from school. 

The same school bullied my brother and sisters in the same way and they both dropped out. Both of my sisters have very professional jobs, one in finance and one in nuclear electrical engineering (learned on-job not in school) and both own their own homes before age 30. My brother is 18 and is doing very well in the RAF an  couldn't be happier. I believe my parents are very proud, they always encouraged us to do what we wanted and not what we were told was right.  

If any of the forum's younger members feel like their school is pressuring them into following a path they don't feel comfortable in; please know that all you need is the determination and a clear mind to achieve what you want to do. 

Teaching is a wonderful vocation and very few of us are brave enough to take it on. Most teachers are wonderful people and inspire children every day. It's the people in charge of the education system who are guiding teachers and their pupils in the wrong way.

(08 Apr 2016, 1:50 pm)James101 wrote http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35968423

YES

Our education system is set up to push young people into further and higher education and damn them if they'd like to do anything else. 

The people in charge of education live in an isolated bubble world where they themselves have obediently travelled through the education system right through university and have then landed a job in education to start the whole cycle again. What's missing is any real experience. It's then compounded by teachers getting so wrapped up in meeting targets and getting pupils through tests with such narrowly defined curriculum that the end result is not a well rounded individual coming out of school but a trained dolphin who can jump through a hoop and tell you some very specific facts about a book they studied for two years or some alien maths formula which has no application in the real world. 

[snip]

Teaching is a wonderful vocation and very few of us are brave enough to take it on. Most teachers are wonderful people and inspire children every day. It's the people in charge of the education system who are guiding teachers and their pupils in the wrong way.

Sadly they get no say in this. Any deviation from the expectation and they are performance managed back into compliance. Or out of the profession.

It does appear that many schools have been turned into sausage factories which do not serve the needs of many young people at all well. Compulsory academisation is, unfortunately, going to be the git big hammer whacking the final nail into that coffin.

While it comes with its own headaches, it is a slight relief for them that my boys are completely side-stepping mainstream secondary school.

(08 Apr 2016, 8:03 pm)BusLoverMum wrote Sadly they get no say in this. Any deviation from the expectation and they are performance managed back into compliance. Or out of the profession.

It does appear that many schools have been turned into sausage factories which do not serve the needs of many young people at all well. Compulsory academisation is, unfortunately, going to be the git big hammer whacking the final nail into that coffin.

While it comes with its own headaches, it is a slight relief for them that my boys are completely side-stepping mainstream secondary school.

Many friends I went to school with have now gone full circle and are now qualified teachers. I know they've done it out of a love for the profession and a genuine passion for imparting knowledge which is a far more noble thing than I've ever achieved. I worry as time moves on that their devotion to teaching is being ebbed away by the pressure and processes put before them that dilutes the pure essence of teaching. 

Looking back to my time at school now as an adult it's clear to see the teachers who had lost a passion for teaching and children and we're now motivated by their own career development. This could have meant they were striving for results in the same way a salesman uses tactics to get their commission. I recal a German teacher who gave 'clues' to us during our exams (there was only 6 of us in the class). I got an A in GCSE German but can barely speak a word 8 years on. So who really benefited? 

The opposite is also true for the passionate veteran teachers who stood steadfast against the changes to their profession. I recal a teacher having a blazing row with our head of year in front of the class regarding the utter tosh that was the PHSE/social & health education lesson plan when we could be discussing the real things that concern teenagers about the big scary world. That lady I hold as a true inspiration, she understood my conundrum and organised a work placement with a catering company for me alongside my a-levels.

UK student loans: 'we will trace and prosecute borrowers who don't pay'

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/...s-dont-pay


Also:

Stop plans to make it a criminal offence to not pay back your student loan

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/121888


----

That's me screwed... i owe like 25k

(10 Apr 2016, 3:13 pm)Michael wrote UK student loans: 'we will trace and prosecute borrowers who don't pay'

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/...s-dont-pay


Also:

Stop plans to make it a criminal offence to not pay back your student loan

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/121888


----

That's me screwed... i owe like 25k

As far as I can see, there's no mention of the threshold (currently at £21,000 for most recent loanees and somewhere in the region £17,000 for those who took out their loans prior to 2011/12) of either being removed or amended so I wouldn't worry that much.

(10 Apr 2016, 3:28 pm)MurdnunoC wrote As far as I can see, there's no mention of the threshold (currently at £21,000 for most recent loanees and somewhere in the region £17,000 for those who took out their loans prior to 2011/12) of either being removed or amended so I wouldn't worry that much.

When reading it, i have to admit i was confused, i wasn't sure if it was for past/current students or the new Uni year.

(10 Apr 2016, 3:35 pm)Michael wrote When reading it, i have to admit i was confused, i wasn't sure if it was for past/current students or the new Uni year.

Irrespective of start-date, the current system still applies. What the article sets out are the proposals to chase loanees who choose to avoid paying their loans either by moving abroad; or by somehow disappearing from records held by HMRC.