More study aids and generous grade boundaries for 2021's exams will be welcomed by many teachers and students. But doesn't address a fundamental problem of the next exam season: equity. Because there's great variation in how different schools have been affected by self-isolation.

Let's take the most recent attendance stats which I still don't think have really registered.

Most recent data- attendance rate across England of 83%

In secondary schools it's 78% (!)

So more than 1 in 5 secondary pupils are off school, largely for Covid related reasons.
But that’s just an average. Some schools’ attendance are at levels where they can’t really function, or certainly provide the quality of education they normally do.

Teachers’ are split between trying to run online lessons and those in schools.

Whole year groups are off.
Some students are in isolation, return to school and within days are in isolation again.

As I’ve reported before, IT provision is still patchy. Lots of reports of kids not doing work at home either because they get of the swing of it or they don’t have the IT resources.
And that’s before we get on to staff isolation, which is also proving a nightmare in many places.

In other words, you have to have everything go right for your education not to be impacted by Covid right now. And that’s affecting some places more than others.
So question is, is it far for a student in Cornwall say, who has had little to no disruption to their education since September to be given the same dispensations as one in Hull whose school may have been closed for a period?
There is no easy answer to this- Gavin Williamson has said that the the DfE is looking for ways to address the equity issue. But it’s a profound challenge. As I’ve said, I’m not sure it’s really registered the extent to which many schools are really, really struggling.
NB bear in mind this is also a cohort who missed months of their education in the first half of 2020. Many are still reporting behavioural issues and teachers tell me some are still far, far behind where we would expect. That’s the context they’re dealing with.
For example, Beacon Hill Academy in Dudley where Ive been filming today: the whole of Y7 and Y8 are in self isolation and will have been for two weeks. At one point much of the senior staff were off too. Some kids having to have repeated bouts of isolation.

More from Lewis Goodall

Some quick thoughts on what we just saw

Firstly hardly a unique insight but hard to overstimate the difference between the two last inaugurals. America has meandered sharply along its political arc.

Biden's rhetoric reached high. Every sentence seemed purposefully...


...constructed to negate every political and personal characteristic of his predecessor.

And insofar as he's not Trump, that he does accept, cherish and understand democratic norms, institutions and conventions in a way that Trump never could, Biden will make a real difference.

He will change the tone and tenor of politics, not only in America but across the West. As I've said before, just replacing Trump is a substantial victory for him and will earn him praise from historians.

But that aura will disappear quickly. A governing project it will not make

But how much praise he receives and stature conferred by posterity will depend on what happens next.

Because the big overarching question for me, watching this, is which of those two inaugurals, Trump or Biden's, is going to seem unusual in the future.

The relief that many are feeling is predicated on a type of politics ending. But it is at least as possible that it is Biden ..not Trump who is the last gasp of something. Is it Trump who is the dying embers of a dying, increasingly powerless old white America...

More from Education

You asked. So here are my thoughts on how osteopathic medical students should respond to the NBOME.

(thread)


Look, even before the Step 2 CS cancellation, my DMs and email were flooded with messages from osteopathic medical students who are fed up with the NBOME.

There is *real* anger toward this organization. Honestly, more than I even heard about from MD students and the NBME.

The question is, will that sentiment translate into action?

Amorphous anger on social media is easy to ignore. But if that anger gets channeled into organized efforts to facilitate change, then improvements are possible.

This much should be clear: begging the NBOME to reconsider their Level 2-PE exam is a waste of your time.

Best case scenario, you’ll get another “town hall” meeting, a handful of platitudes, and some thoughtful beard stroking before being told that they’re keeping the exam.

Instead of complaining to the NBOME, here are a few things that are more likely to bring about real change.
I get asked a lot how you can improve your skills and chances of getting a job as a developer. Best way is to work on a real-world project, deploy it, make it open-source, get feedback from others, share your knowledge, rinse, repeat.

Here are my top 7 project ideas. Thread 👇

1. 📊 Build an embeddable user feedback form (clone of
https://t.co/xFHvT7iFEf) . Have a top notch design, fully working, minimal bugs, open-source, deploy it free on Heroku / Netlify / Vercel. If you can spare $11, buy a domain. Share with the whole world when done.

2. 🚀 Build a product roadmap SAAS.(https://t.co/Rq9DBeCMlh) Users can create new projects, create different stages for their projects. The community can submit project ideas, vote on existing ideas. Project owners pay a monthly fee per project.

3. ⛈️ Build a digital marketplace. (https://t.co/BWd1aeWMt5) Sellers can upload digital products for sale. Customers can purchase digital products and securely download. Sellers are paid out at the end of every month. Don't make it complicated, implement a great design.

4. 👨‍🏭 Build a job board software (https://t.co/EjWoMyqi9H). Companies can post jobs for a price, providing a link to the job application form. Jobs can be highlighted as urgent for an additional price.

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