Dear Prudence.
The sun is up, the sky is blue. Spring, I think. Feels like it anyway.
Nearly a quarter of the year is gone. GCSE season will be upon us soon. Last time it came round I could recite various English Literature quotes and poems from memory — hours spent rehearsing with my daughter. It’s all in there somewhere. Ready to be retrieved for this year’s run-through.
The time before that was my own GCSEs. The less said about that, the better. I managed to match subject names to grades. G for Geology. F for French. A for Art.
My brain just doesn’t work when I’m not interested. Never has.
If I were Prime Minister — and I appreciate this would be a disaster for everyone involved — I’d completely revamp school.
We’d end up with young people who could think for themselves. Critically. I know. Terrifying.
Here’s what I’d do. I’d make school about three things: making, moving, and getting on with people. Some base-level maths and English — enough to navigate regular life. Everything else learned through doing. Because doing is where confidence comes from, and confidence is the thing that actually sets people up.
And I’d make every student train for a triathlon.
Hear me out.
It’s competitive. It teaches you to manage multiple disciplines at once. There’s science in it, and planning, and camaraderie. And at some point, someone’s going to have to learn to build a bike.
Not for everyone, perhaps. But most people would find their angle.
And above everything else, it teaches hard work and discipline — which will serve anyone better than three hours in an exam hall writing about a poem they’ve already forgotten.
A nation of triathletes. That’s the vision.
And while I’m in Number 10, here are three things I’d do on day one:
1. Make the BBC licence fee a subscription. If you want it, pay for it. If you don’t, don’t. Fifteen pounds a month. Your choice.
2. Abolish the planning system. Replace it with codes, zones, and clear rules — a bit like permitted development, but at scale. Planning happens at the strategic level: making beautiful places, protecting what matters, and otherwise largely staying out of people’s lives. It would be run by people who got an A for Art.
3. Send all the pigeons to Diego Garcia. They are making an absolute mess of our patio, and I’ve had enough.
Vote for me.
No licence fee. No planning. No pigeons. A nation of triathletes.
Have a great weekend.
All the best
This Week’s Links:
Country in the city.
A fresh take on country in the city in a designer’s Thameside flat.
Sagrada Familia
Lego to mark Sagrada Familia completion.
And finally
Dear Prudence.
Main Image credit: The only campaign that solves everything and nothing at the same time.(ChatGPT)
Thoughts for the Weekend & this Week’s Links
Share with
Dear Prudence.
The sun is up, the sky is blue. Spring, I think. Feels like it anyway.
Nearly a quarter of the year is gone. GCSE season will be upon us soon. Last time it came round I could recite various English Literature quotes and poems from memory — hours spent rehearsing with my daughter. It’s all in there somewhere. Ready to be retrieved for this year’s run-through.
The time before that was my own GCSEs. The less said about that, the better. I managed to match subject names to grades. G for Geology. F for French. A for Art.
My brain just doesn’t work when I’m not interested. Never has.
If I were Prime Minister — and I appreciate this would be a disaster for everyone involved — I’d completely revamp school.
We’d end up with young people who could think for themselves. Critically. I know. Terrifying.
Here’s what I’d do. I’d make school about three things: making, moving, and getting on with people. Some base-level maths and English — enough to navigate regular life. Everything else learned through doing. Because doing is where confidence comes from, and confidence is the thing that actually sets people up.
And I’d make every student train for a triathlon.
Hear me out.
It’s competitive. It teaches you to manage multiple disciplines at once. There’s science in it, and planning, and camaraderie. And at some point, someone’s going to have to learn to build a bike.
Not for everyone, perhaps. But most people would find their angle.
And above everything else, it teaches hard work and discipline — which will serve anyone better than three hours in an exam hall writing about a poem they’ve already forgotten.
A nation of triathletes. That’s the vision.
And while I’m in Number 10, here are three things I’d do on day one:
1. Make the BBC licence fee a subscription. If you want it, pay for it. If you don’t, don’t. Fifteen pounds a month. Your choice.
2. Abolish the planning system. Replace it with codes, zones, and clear rules — a bit like permitted development, but at scale. Planning happens at the strategic level: making beautiful places, protecting what matters, and otherwise largely staying out of people’s lives. It would be run by people who got an A for Art.
3. Send all the pigeons to Diego Garcia. They are making an absolute mess of our patio, and I’ve had enough.
Vote for me.
No licence fee. No planning. No pigeons. A nation of triathletes.
Have a great weekend.
All the best
This Week’s Links:
Country in the city.
A fresh take on country in the city in a designer’s Thameside flat.
Sagrada Familia
Lego to mark Sagrada Familia completion.
And finally
Dear Prudence.
Main Image credit: The only campaign that solves everything and nothing at the same time.(ChatGPT)
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