Netra
netratakwale.bsky.social
Netra
@netratakwale.bsky.social
Primary teacher. Interested in politics and policy.
Reposted by Netra
Word of the Day is ‘uhtcearu’ [ucht-kay-aru, with the 'ch' as in the Scottish ‘loch']:

Old English for ‘the sorrow before dawn', when you lie awake in the darkness and worries crowd your mind.
January 10, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by Netra
‘The point is that patriarchy puts women in a sceptical scenario, making the distinction between the men you can and can’t trust difficult to draw.’

Sophie Smith on the Pelicot trial: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Sophie Smith · Sleeping Women: On the Pelicot trial
Gisèle Pelicot doesn’t conceive of her now ex-husband or the other men who raped her as ‘bad apples’, aberrations...
www.lrb.co.uk
January 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Netra
Don’t look for heroes or heroines in history. Most people in the past won’t live up to our ideals. Look for complex individuals who did some admirable things and may have done some atrocious things, and study them for who they were within their own time.
December 15, 2024 at 10:42 AM
Reposted by Netra
Meet the “sickfluencers”: disabled people turn to TikTok for help accessing disability benefits - and the media says they’re scroungers gaming the system.

My col. on Fraser Nelson’s stitch up job, and the paranoia those with the least might get an advantage. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Meet the ‘sickfluencers’ of TikTok – and don’t be fooled by the outrage obscuring the real scandal | Frances Ryan
That desperate people have to look online for help accessing disability and sickness benefits is what should truly upset us, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2024 at 8:57 AM
Reposted by Netra
"When the expected standard is 54 marks out of 110 (as it was in 2024 KS2 Sats), it’s clear that we do not really have a mastery system."

It's always baffled me how there has been a sustained national push towards a mastery approach, yet the assessment framework has remained woefully misaligned.
How to fix the primary maths curriculum
‘Phonics’ for maths and more pleasure in the subject should be the aim of the primary maths curriculum, and this is how we achieve it, argue Peter Foulds and David Thomas
www.tes.com
December 6, 2024 at 12:31 PM
Reposted by Netra
"The main thing TfL has done with its new names is to highlight the contribution to London’s life made by people who are not the Queen of England. Anyone who sees this as virtue signalling may, in fact, be signalling rather more about themselves."
In defence of the London Overground rebrand
At the unveiling ceremony for the newly named lines, I found more than expensive virtue signalling.
www.newstatesman.com
December 1, 2024 at 8:15 PM
Reposted by Netra
‘We live on Pot Noodles’: rickets hits homeless families with no kitchen
www.theguardian.com/society/2024...
‘We live on Pot Noodles’: rickets hits homeless families with no kitchen
Families placed in hotels in England are being forced to live on snack foods, putting young people’s health at risk
www.theguardian.com
December 1, 2024 at 9:56 AM
Reposted by Netra
This argument but with an accurate list of the downsides. "Stopping the 2021-3 wave meant saying no to Ukrainians and Hong Kongers, the NHS and universities falling over, and continued high vacancy rates and inflation. But that's a price we should've paid"
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Liberals have lost the argument on migration
To stave off the far right, tough decisions must be made, and made soon
www.thetimes.com
December 1, 2024 at 8:29 AM
Reposted by Netra
Just taking a moment to think about how normal it is now for women to have a job that is talking, writing, or presenting on football.

It was inconceivable not that long ago. There is much progress still to make, but I'm proud of all of them 💪⚽️
December 1, 2024 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by Netra
This is the thing we so rarely talk about: The role of NGOs, think tanks charities and pressure groups to improve political debate. Was crucial today, but all took place in the background.
Today I feel both for and against, all serious major points on assisted dying got good airing. Given this was not a government but a Private Members’ Bill, that fact stands to enormous credit of civil society on both sides who briefed & resourced a major debate with expertise and skill.
November 29, 2024 at 9:49 PM
Reposted by Netra
Word of the day is ‘quiddler’ (19th century): one who pays great attention to trivial matters as a way of avoiding the important ones.
November 21, 2024 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Netra
Do they know it’s Africa, at all? Great piece by David Pilling on that song. www.ft.com/content/8292...
Do they know it’s Africa, at all?
Ed Sheeran is right — the Christmas classic is painfully out of step with reality, much to the detriment of the continent
www.ft.com
November 24, 2024 at 6:48 PM
Reposted by Netra
it’s actually very easy to give people earworms, or at least that’s what someBODY once told me
September 8, 2024 at 3:34 PM
Cannot agree more. Seeing hospital letters with predominantly medical - and often worrying - words, but no explanation, can be so challenging.
open.substack.com/pub/rorycell... My latest healthtech Substack post is about those annoying letters that are addressed to your GP but should be written for the patient
This charming gentleman has had enough of GP letters
Time for hospital doctors to write direct to patients
open.substack.com
November 16, 2024 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Netra
Statutory reporting of use of reasonable force makes sense to me
I'd also like to see some clear evidence collected on assaults on staff.
The recording and reporting of incidents of reasonable force in schools is set to become a legal duty, @tesmagazine.bsky.social understands.

It comes as @teachertapp.bsky.social polling reveals 1 in 4 primary teachers have used restraint on a pupil this half-term ⬇️

www.tes.com/magazine/new...
1 in 4 primary teachers has restrained a pupil this term
But most teachers have had no training in how to restrain a student, according to a new Teacher Tapp poll
www.tes.com
November 16, 2024 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by Netra
New post just out:

"Dropping Out"

Why improvements to school standards are at serious risk.

(Free to read)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/d...
Dropping Out
Why improvements in school standards are at serious risk
open.substack.com
November 16, 2024 at 9:36 AM
Reposted by Netra
Ofsted working hard at writing their new framework. #exemplary
November 16, 2024 at 10:52 AM
Reposted by Netra
❤️
November 9, 2024 at 7:43 AM
Reposted by Netra
I just wish they’d read the national curriculum before demanding that things which are already in it should be in it.
August 20, 2024 at 10:48 AM
Reposted by Netra
I think

(i) the Conservative Party are *nuts* not to acknowledge that their coalition collapsed because they trashed trust in MPs

(ii) Labour is nuts not to prioritise immediate action on this - both to continue attacking Con on their weakest point but also to preempt defend themselves
Labour sleaze row gathers momentum because of govt continuing past Tory jobs and donor malversations. Starmer has Ignored warnings on need for anti-corruption agency and statutory basis for Nolan rules www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...
Conservatives urge for an investigation into alleged 'cash for jobs'
Ian Corfield (pictured), a former banker, was given a top Treasury job after donating £20,000 to the Labour Party .
www.dailymail.co.uk
August 19, 2024 at 11:08 AM