Apparently teenagers aren't being lazy when they lie in, it's the way they are built. Dr Paul Kelley, headteacher at Monkseaton Community High School, is advocating schools starting lessons at 11am to help teenagers perform better. According to research by Professor Russell Foster at the school, teenagers brains work better in the afternoon.
Professor Foster claims that our body clocks shift at age 10 leaving teenagers 2 hours out of sync, shifting back from age 20 to arrive at pre-teen stage at age 55. In other words most of us need a lie in - no argument there! I wonder if teenagers who don't watch tv or play computer games into the wee small hours have the same body clock as those who do.
Dr Kelley also advocates 20 minute lessons broken up by 10 minutes of physical activity. This is based on an experiment he did which resulted in pupils achieving up to 90% in Science GCSE after only one hours study. Needless to say cynics have claimed this says more about the standard of the GCSE than the teaching method.
Dr Kelley is no stranger to controversy. In 2000 one of his pupils was turned down by Oxford despite 10 GCSEs at A* and 4 A grades predicted at A level. When Laura managed to obtain a place at Harvard Kelley cried foul accusing the university of discrimination against northern comprehensive schools like his. Gordon Brown personally took up the case saying it was time Oxford opened its doors to women and people of all backgrounds. It was Oxford's turn to be indignant: 22 had applied for the 5 places (all with grades as good as Laura's) and of the 5 who got places 3 were women, 3 were from ethnic minorities and 2 were from comprehensives. They claimed the problem was that pupils from comprehensives lacked confidence in interview. This explanation was later given greater credibility when Laura said she had always agreed with Oxford's decision, she hadn't prepared well enough for interview.
Dr Kelley also attempted to get exemption from the requirement for collective worship in schools.
Anyhow, I'm off to negotiate an 11 o'clock start to my day to improve my performance!
Last Updated ( Mar 15, 2009 at 10:11 PM )
Opportunities to teach abroad
Written by Administrator
Mar 03, 2009 at 07:35 PM
From Hebron School Lushington Hall, Ootacamund , TN 643 001, India
We require the following teachers at Hebron School. Do you know of anyone?
Art English (able to teach ‘A’ level Literature) Geography Modern Languages (French and German) Music and Technology (able to teach IGCSE and ‘A’ level) Business Studies (‘A’ levels only) Religious Studies (GCSE and ‘A’ level and Head of Department)
Please note:
Prior experience of GCSE/A level is highly desirable unless otherwise indicated.
Applicants will only be considered if they are:
Committed, practising Christians Fluent in English Suitably qualified – degree plus education diploma/certificate (preferred) Willing to serve for a sacrificial salary Willing to participate fully in the life of a busy boarding school (including extra-curricular activities and Dorm support or parenting)
For Faith Academy in Philippines
We badly need a GCSE geography teacher for Faith Academy in Philippines for next year if you know anyone interested … just for one year.
Other openings
The following positions need filled by August 2009 (long term or short term interest can be accommodated):
Primary school classroom teachers (year 1 - 6, P2 - P7): PE, Special Ed.
Middle School: Computer, Drama, English, ELL, Math, Girls PE, Science, Industrial Arts and art.
Contact Irene McMahon at
or the OMF office in Belfast.
Last Updated ( Mar 03, 2009 at 08:06 PM )
Multiculturalism and the dictionary
Written by Administrator
Dec 15, 2008 at 09:50 PM
Lisa Saunders, a mother-of-four from Northern Ireland, was horrified to discover the number of words associated with Christianity that are missing from the latest edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary.
Words like "aisle", "chapel", "bishop", "disciple", "sin" "minister", and "devil", have been dropped in favour of "blog", "MP3 player", "democratic", and "celebrity", in the 2007 edition of the children's dictionary. According to a story in The Telegraph, she first realised the words were missing when she couldn't find "moss" and "fern," while helping her son with his homework.
When she began to compare with earlier editions she was completely horrified by the vast number of words which havd been removed. "We know that language moves on and we can't be fuddy-duddy about it but you don't cull hundreds of important words in order to get in a different set of ICT words" she told The Telegraph.
According to Vineeta Gupta, head of children's dictionaries at Oxford University Press, the changes were made to reflect a "multicultural" society. "People don't go to church as often as before. Our understanding of religion is within multiculturalism, which is why some words such as 'Pentecost' or 'Whitsun' would have been in 20 years ago but not now," he said.
In the Beliefnet Crunchy Con blog Erin Manning described the decision by OUP to discontinue particular words as a form of "verbal engineering". Manning cited Catholic moral theologian William Smith as saying, "All social engineering is preceded by verbal engineering."
"Deciding to drop a word that has already fallen out of use, become obsolete, from a dictionary is not a political act," said Manning, "but removing words still in everyday use just because you've decided they ought not be important in the vocabulary of a modern child most decidedly is."
NIACT is not a lobby group and the views of members differ on many subjects. However, we do care enough to want to offer a reasoned and professional Christian perspective when responses are invited.
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