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Scotsman
6 days ago
- General
- Scotsman
Nicola Sturgeon's education legacy? PE is now third most popular Higher
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Like many households across Scotland with teenagers, last week our home saw a flurry of excitement over exam results. The outcome of the Nationals 4 and 5, Highers and Advanced Highers arrived through the post or on text messages, being greeted either with joy or dismay. It is customary for politicians at these times to congratulate all the young people who have done so well, and the teachers who guided them to what are, hopefully, good outcomes and better opportunities for their lives ahead. However, it is also necessary to take a cool, hard look at what exactly these results tell us. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There was certainly an attempt to put a positive spin on the overall numbers by the SNP Education Secretary, Jenny Gilruth, who highlighted that the number of pupils achieving an A-C grade across all levels has increased compared to last year. PE was once a rare exam subject, but has become the third most popular Higher, apparently because it is thought to be easier than subjects like maths (Picture: Fox Photos) | Getty Images Highers getting easier? Whether this tells us much in itself is debatable. Pass grades will always vary, due to a variety of factors, not least the relative difficulty of the exam papers. Just because the pass rates increase doesn't necessarily mean that either pupils or schools are performing better, and of course the converse is equally true. I can well remember a recent conversation with a retired maths teacher who lamented the fact that, in her opinion, Higher maths exam papers were easier than a generation ago, and therefore better pass rates were only to be expected. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Others will be better qualified than me to comment on the accuracy of that assessment, but it certainly appears to be a common view amongst those who have been within the teaching profession over a long period. In assessing the overall impact of rising pass rates, we also need to look at the subjects being chosen by pupils. PE is now the third most popular subject being taken at Higher. In the experience of my youngsters and their peers, this is because they believe that PE is a subject which is easier to pass than, say, maths, chemistry or physics. We also know that more children now choose a PE Higher than one in all modern languages put together, which surely must be of concern to the Education Secretary and schools. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Steady decline of Scottish education A better comparison rather than simply looking at year-to-year changes in pass rates is to consider where Scottish education sits in relation to other countries. And here the picture is not so rosy. Outcomes in Scottish education have been in steady decline compared to many other countries, as evidenced by comparative international tests. It is hardly something to celebrate. But our Education Secretary was particularly keen to seize on one figure last week, and that was the reduction in the attainment gap between pupils in most and least deprived communities. For Higher results, this has indeed declined, with the difference in attainment of A grades reducing from 22.1 percentage points last year to 22 in this year. When looking at all passes from A-C at Higher, there was no reduction at all, although for National 5s the reduction was more marked. Those minimal improvements only reflect what has happened over the past 12 months. Look further back, and the story is even less positive. The attainment gap for all Higher passes has actually widened since 2019, when it sat at 16.9 percentage points. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad None of this gives us much confidence that Scottish education is safe in the SNP's hands. And what is most worrying is not Gilruth's attempts to put such a positive spin on the figures, but the fact that, in 2016, the then SNP First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made closing the attainment gap a priority for her government, on which she asked to be judged. In the same year, her then Deputy and Education Secretary, John Swinney, said that he wanted to see the attainment gap 'substantially eliminated' within ten years. That just gives us one year to go with no significant progress having been made. No wonder my Conservative colleague Miles Briggs, who speaks for our party on education, responded by saying: 'No amount of spin from them can avoid the fact that Nicola Sturgeon's promises in relation to the attainment gap lie in tatters.' Young Scots being let down In a week when we read wall-to-wall coverage of Sturgeon's memoirs, there has been a great deal of commentary about her legacy. Yet, on the very topic that she wanted her leadership to be judged on, it has been shown to be a failure. Too many young Scots have been let down by nearly two decades of the SNP in power, and the inability to tackle the significant issues facing Scottish education. None of this is due to a want of resources. Spending per head on Scottish pupils substantially outranks that south of the Border, perhaps by as much as 20 per cent or more, and yet educational outcomes in England are significantly better than here. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It is a reality that the education reforms in England over the same period that the SNP have been in power here, delivered either from Labour or Conservative governments, have driven up standards and improved results. In the meantime, the SNP have preferred a one-size-fits-all approach to Scottish schooling, and have stuck doggedly by the Curriculum for Excellence, which is clearly long past the point it needed to be ditched, or at the very least substantially revised. Young people only get one chance at education. Despite the good work being done in Scottish schools, too many are being failed by an antiquated system that doesn't recognise the challenges of the modern world. Responsibility for that must rest at the door of SNP ministers, chief among them Nicola Sturgeon. That is how we should judge her legacy, not on self-serving memoirs.
Courier-Mail
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Courier-Mail
New book reveals shocking age Prince Andrew lost his virginity
Don't miss out on the headlines from Royals. Followed categories will be added to My News. Prince Andrew lost his virginity aged 11, according to a startling claim made in a new biography. The Duke of York, now 65, is the subject of a bombshell book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, which has aired a litany of damning allegations about the ousted royal in the wake of controversy over his relationship with dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The book, which was written by renowned royal biographer Andrew Lownie, attempts to uncover when Andrew became 'obsessed with women', pinpointing it back to his premature sexual experiences. According to a chapter titled 'Randy Andy', the prince had his first sexual experience aged just 8 before losing his virginity at 11. A 1972 photo of Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Edward and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Picture: George Freston/Fox Photos/MORE: $57m Queen lodge now a dump under Prince Andrew A source said, 'He admitted that his second sexual experience came before he turned 12 and when he was 13 he had already slept with more than half-a-dozen girls.' Another unnamed source who knows the prince added to The Telegraph they were, indeed, aware of Andrew's 'sexual experiences at what most of us would consider as too young an age.' 'The Duke's personal story is far more complex than people realise or have ever been prepared to properly consider,' the source went on. Lownie wrote of his decision to include the unsavoury claim in his book, arguing, 'It seemed to me it was part of building a picture of behaviour, and how it shaped his life. 'It does perhaps explain some of the behaviour later on. 'I think he [Andrew], in some ways, has been a victim. It does make him much more sympathetic, in a way.' The Duke of York is the subject of a bombshell new book, which explains how he became 'obsessed with women'. Picture: Michael Stephens – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images MORE: Insider's expose Prince Andrew's 'wasted' life Lownie is said to have interviewed more than 100 people to build the explosive book, which took him four years to write. It comes after another damning excerpt was leaked this week pertaining to Andrew's links to Epstein, who died aged 66 in a Brooklyn jail in 2019. It included allegations Andrew met Epstein years earlier than he claimed, that they had 'shared women', and that Epstein once said the duke was 'perverted animal in the bedroom' and 'the only person I have met who is more obsessed with p***y than me.' In 2019, Andrew told the BBC during his infamous Newsnight interview he first met Epstein in 1999, but Lownie alleges that Andrew's former private secretary Alastair Watson confirmed the duo were introduced in 'the early 1990s'. According to Lownie, Epstein once described the duke as a 'serial sex addict.' Andrew is yet to respond to claims made in the book. Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage A 2000 photo of Melania Trump, Prince Andrew, Gwendolyn Beck and Jeffrey Epstein at a party at the Mar-a-Lago. Picture:'From the reports I've got back from the women we've shared, he's the most perverted animal in the bedroom. He likes to engage in stuff that's even kinky to me – and I'm the king of kink,' Epstein reportedly said. Ivan Novikov, Epstein's personal driver in New York, also told Lownie, 'Whenever Andrew was in town I'd be picking up young girls who were essentially prostitutes. 'One time I drove him and two young girls aged around age 18 to a hotel. Both girls were doing lines of cocaine. Prince Andrew was making out with one of them.' Prince Andrew is yet to respond to claims made in the book, which also delves into his unusual relationship with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York hits stands August 14. Originally published as New book reveals shocking age Prince Andrew lost his virginity
Indianapolis Star
07-05-2025
- General
- Indianapolis Star
See the scenes as the Germans surrendered in World War II
German soldier and Chief of the Operations Staff Alfred Jodl flanked by his aide on the left and Grand Admiral Hans Georg von Friedeburg on the right, signs the unconditional surrender document imposed by the Allies at General Eisenhower's HQ in Reims on May 7, 1945. Hulton Archive, Getty Images AFP/BELGA/AFP Via Getty Images An American soldier in London reads the news of the German surrender at the end of World War II, May 7, 1945. J. Wilds, Getty Images A wounded American serviceman during a ticker tape parade in New York following press reports of the unconditional surrender of Germany on May 7, 1945. Fox Photos, Getty Images Mrs. Pat Burgess of Palmer's Green, north London, is thrilled to get the news that her husband will soon be home for good from Germany on May 7, 1945. Reg Speller, Getty Images On VE Day, 7th May 1945, in London, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill leaves 10 Downing Street by the back entrance to avoid the large crowds awaiting his appearance. Keystone, Getty Images Former French prisoners of war, political prisoners who had been incarcerated by the Germans as forced labour and refugees of all nationalities returning home on a road west of Berlin on 8th May 1945 near Berlin, Germany. Fred Ramage/Keystone/Picture dated of May 8, 1945 showing Parisians buying the newspaper saying "Capitulation" as Parisians celebrate the unconditional German capitulation in the streets of Paris, at the end of the second World War. AFP Via Getty Images A group of women wearing dresses representing flags of the Allied powers (left to right: the USA, France, Britain and the Soviet Union) outside the Eglise de la Madeleine on VE Day in Paris, 8th May 1945. Keystone, Getty Images Inhabitants of the town of Schwerin digging graves for the victims of the nearby concentration camp of Wobbelin on May 8, 1945, supervised by the American military administration. A. Drummond, Getty Images American soldiers listening to Winston Churchill's radio broadcast on VE Day, May 8, 1945. Topical Press Agency, Getty Images American President Harry S Truman reading the text of his announcement of the unconditional surrender of Germany to news reporters, a few minutes before he broadcast it to the American people, Washington DC, 8th May 1945. Fox Photos, Getty Images Crowds in Piccadilly Circus climb lampposts and the Eros statue's protective container, on VE Day May 8, 1945. Keystone, Getty Images Crowds on the Champs Elysees celebrate Victory in Europe at the end of World War II with a joyful procession on May 8, 1945. Keystone, Getty Images Members of the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) , driving through Trafalgar Square in a service vehicle during the VE Day celebrations in London, 8th May 1945. R. J. Salmon, Getty Images
Irish Daily Star
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Star
Royal Family fans gush over touching reason Prince Louis got his name
Prince Louis, the third and youngest child of Prince William and Princess Catherine, is turning seven today. Time has flown since the young Royal first came into the world in 2018, when he was originally given the title His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Cambridge as his parents were Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the time. Four years later, this changed to Prince Louis of Wales after his parents became the Prince and Princess of Wales, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. As the youngest member of the Wales family — behind Prince George, 11, and Princess Charlotte, 9 — Prince Louis has become known for his adorable antics during Royal events. One of those memorable moments occurred during the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee Parade in London in 2022. Prince Louis stole the show with his expressive reactions and playful demeanor, which endeared him to the public. He's also made Royal fans chuckle while appearing at prestigious events such as Trooping the Colour and church services. But this doesn't overshadow his importance. Prince Louis is currently fourth in line to the British throne, after his grandfather King Charles III, his father Prince William, and his elder siblings. Story behind his name The young prince was named after Lord Mountbatten, pictured here in 1965 with the late Queen Elizabeth II (Image: Fox Photos/) The story behind Prince Louis' name is a touching one as a TikTok user explained he is named after Louis Mountbatten, the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, who was born on June 25, 1900. The video, by Royal fan @ showed a collection of clips from Prince Louis' young life mixed with a brief clip of Lord Mountbatten delivering a speech. Lord Mountbatten was the maternal uncle of the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and second cousin of King George VI. He was tragically killed in an IRA bomb attack on his fishing boat in Mullaghmore, County Sligo, in 1979. Royal expert Robert Lacey once shared with People magazine: "It shows the romance of this name associated with the hero and family mentor whom William never met — his father's 'honorary grandfather'." When it comes to King Charles III's life, Lord Mountbatten was a towering figure, frequently around during his younger years, yet he departed five years before Prince William came into the world. The middle moniker "Arthur" is one that Prince Louis shares with his father (Prince William Arthur Philip Louis), grandfather (King Charles Philip Arthur George) his great-great-grandfather (Albert Frederick Arthur George — King George VI). While the Royals themselves have never confirmed it, there's widespread talk that the name Arthur nods to the fabled King of old, Arthur. This practice of passing down regal names through generations is nothing new, with Royal watchers often singing their praises about the endearing custom. One TikTok user said: "I find it cute how all the children has Charles in their name or someone linked to their family." Another commenter chimed in: "Oh, I love it! I'm surprised they went with Louis because it's already one of Prince George's middle names, but I think it's much nicer than Albert/Arthur/Alfred which seemed to be the top guesses." Prince Louis' nicknames Prince Louis is known affectionately as "Lou Lou" by his siblings (Image: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images) While attending school, the Royal children don't use their official titles such as Prince or Princess – to maintain a low profile. Instead, they adopt their parent's title as a surname. With Louis having being in school since last September, he can follow his siblings' lead and, being the child of the Prince and Princess of Wales, he would be referred to as Louis Wales. Prince Louis also has some nicknames. According to Life & Style magazine, Prince George and Princess Charlotte have been calling him "Lou Lou" for years. However, Louis' siblings have also earned themselves nicknames. Friends of George at school have reportedly called the Prince both "PG" and "Tips", based on the popular tea brand PG Tips and his Prince George initials. The name has been such a hit that his parents have both adopted the nickname for him at home too. Charlotte, on the other hand, has reportedly come to be known as "Lottie" by her classmates. This is also what her mother calls her at home.
BBC News
05-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Sportshour The Grand Opening
A new era for sports broadcasting starts with a grand opening. What better way to announce our transformation from Sportshour to Not by the Playbook than with some of the grandest people you'll ever meet! We have an exclusive interview with Grand Slam tennis legend Bjorn Borg. He's been revealing how happy he is that for some people in Scandinavia they don't know him for winning Wimbledon five years in a row, but instead as the man who makes underwear. We celebrate the most famous horse race in the world, the Grand National. From hedges to ditches, it is a challenge of mind and body. But what exactly is it like to face this terrifying race? We visit the stables of former jockey Geraldine Rees who, in 1982, became the first woman to complete the course, riding a horse called 'Cheers'. (PHOTO: Bjorn Borg of Sweden holds the trophy aloft after defeating Jimmy Connors during the Men's Singles Final match at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship on 8 July 1978 CREDIT: Fox Photos/) Plus, is there any other grand better than a grandmother?! We hear from 'IronGran' herself Edwina 'Eddie' Brocklesby who at the age of 81 is still taking part in Ironman competitions, and just a reminder that means a 4km swim, a 180km bike ride, followed by a full marathon run.
