Herald Saturday mag August 9 2010
“Mum, it’s fine.” Even on the other end of a mobile phone I can tell my 13-year-old daughter is rolling her eyes. “What could happen?” What indeed. She and my friend’s 12-year-old son have jumped in an auto rickshaw and headed across uptown Delhi to go shopping – without permission.
From the Education Guardian
Scottish universities are breaking new ground this summer – literally – as work begins on Heriot-Watt’s bespoke £35m campus in the Middle Eastern state of Dubai.
From the Herald 25 Jul 2010
The French may not yet be talking about ‘le glamping’, but they are certainly au fait with the concept. From gypsy caravans to an atmosphere-controlled plastic bubble with a clear view of the sky to a sumptuous two-bedroom treehouse, where breakfast is hauled up each morning in a basket on the end of a rope, the campsites on France’s Atlantic coast offer an a la carte choice.
The Times July 1 2010. There were tears and a rousing final chorus of the school song as St Margaret’s pupils, staff and parents said goodbye. Photo Tom Main.
What should be in the curriculum? Thanks to a cutting-edge initiative at a Scottish school, SpongeBob SquarePants, Dr Who, The Titanic and Famous People are currently taking top billing in the classroom.
From the Education Guardian, June 15 2010 with added material which did not appear in the published article.
Photograph: Murdo MacLeod for the Guardian.
St Mary’s primary in Leith, Edinburgh, is taking advantage of wide freedoms under the new Scottish Curriculum for Excellence to allow the children to choose their own topics as a jumping-off point for learning.
The use of topics as Trojan horses for smuggling maths, literature and science into children’s heads has been popular since the 60s, but in the recent past much more detailed national curriculums both north and south of the border made it harder for schools to do this and gave them a more limited choice of themes.
From the Herald Saturday magazine, June 14.
A travel writer who, after 25 years of immersion in Asia has graduated to a historian, William Dalrymple is fired up about his next project. “It’s about the First Afghan War: 2,100 East India Company troops march into Afghanistan in 1839, one single Brit rides out three years later,” he says, with obvious relish. Dalrymple has recently returned to India from a month in Afghanistan where he is excited to have found five previously untranslated Dari chronicles about the war. This, he feels, will enable him to “give the Afghan perspective” on that forgotten imperial adventure.
Published on 8 Apr 2010. Dougie Campbell, who has died aged 65, was a businessman leading light of Glasgow’s folk music scene as the bandleader of The Last Tram tae Auchenshuggle, which played at the weddings of supermodel Kirsty Hume and actor John Hannah and twice won the world ceilidh band championship.
From The Herald, Friday April 2 2010
Critics say NTS management is stuck in the present and using government money to undermine the language. Observer March 26.
Recipe for health: Jackie Kemp and family, including son William, were able to enjoy Delhi’s exotic cuisine. Mail on Sunday Jan 10.
Travel writer is turning his attention to the family legacy from the Times Dec 24
The Herald 23 Nov 2009. Excessive salaries in the public sector are wrong and help to exacerbate social problems such as obesity, drug-taking and violent crime, an academic and author has claimed.
Ask children instead of ignoring their feelings, says report. 20 November 2009 – From the Guardian Society Website.
The Guardian – Tuesday 27 October 2009
Is it only one in three teachers who are falsely accused of misconduct, as a survey this week suggests? One might have expected it would be more, children being what they are.
Sportswomen step out with their Hobos – Herald Saturday mag. We all know about the Wags, but what about the men who stand behind successful sportswomen? First there was the unstoppable rise of the Wags, the smart, supportive and often glamorous women behind many a sporting success. But what about their counterparts on the opposite side of the gender divide? Meet the Hobos. Forget the sportsmen – the Wags wield the real power behind the thrones. From Coleen Rooney, the wife of England and Manchester United striker Wayne, or Amy Mickelson, spouse of US golfer Phil, to model Leah Shevlin, the fiancee of Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor, the wives and girlfriends often take centre stage.
The Times – October 23, 2009. A couple whose overweight children were taken into care by social workers are to be reunited with their newborn baby this week.
Agnes Houston, nurse-manager of a busy chiropractor’s clinic, lynchpin of her family and carer for her ailing father, thought of herself as the strong person, the one who organised others. Until things started to go wrong.