I learned this week the origin of this phrase - apparently it comes from a Punch cartoon of 1895.

I’m sure I’ve used the phrase when marking the occasional essay that fits this description … hopefully the similarity with this week’s blog ends here.

That said, I’m trying something different this week, something a little more in line with the blog/blogger that/who led me to this site as a platform in the first place. Although he’s now outgrown Revue (exponentially?), I still receive Azeem’s thoughts weekly, and I like how he presents, week on week, a panoply of findings on a diverse range of topics … like these light-hearted ones on coffee naps or the ‘distracted male’ meme or these more challenging ones on AI copyright or peanut immunotherapy alongside all manner of topical discussions. I’m not for one minute suggesting that Azeem produces curates’ eggs, I’m just hoping that I don’t fall into that trap myself!

I’ve been storing away a few different pieces in my revue ‘my items’ receptacle, wondering when to use them. In the immortal words of Stephen Morrisey et al, How Soon is Now?

Here’s all the stuff I’ve been saving for a rainy revue day:

The Guardian on how Private schools can help the state sector. Interesting to come from a ‘leftist-liberal’ point of view.

Possible plans for ‘May’ schools, Sir Anthony Seldon in The Telegraph. A case against grammars.

Arguments from Charles Bonas for ignoring league tables, also The Telegraph. I’m no advocate for League Tables, but it is not beneath me to use them to my school’s advantage - like we all do - when my school fares well.

Leading vs following - from Medium’s Danna Colman. Why leaders also need followers.

Reduce, reuse, recycle - the emergence of trash/waste cafes. An interesting indictment on what we currently waste.

Why we should talk to strangers in The Guardian. My own children think this is a ‘north of Birmingham’ behaviour (as exemplified by their mother, who makes friends returning a supermarket trolley to its bay).

An interesting case for the educators on Project Based Learning from Edutopia; another, but containing advice specifically for first year teachers.

Why first-gen university students need mentors.

A frivolous piece which had been doing the rounds within my peer group, with some resonance for those of my vintage (or perhaps those a little younger)  … pitted against a more worthy piece along some similar lines.

Here are a few items that have come across my desk this last week:

A heartwarming piece on a Columbian refuse collector collecting dumped books and building a library. 

The BBC on what schools should put first - creativity or discipline - alongside another school’s super-strict head’s rules.

On the Sutton Trust’s grammars and private tuition hot potatoes, specifically the difficulties faced by the average working class white child, from The Telegraph and BBC News.

On uniform: one school’s  gender neutral approach - from BBC News alongside The Guardian on the Kepier school’s hard-line shades of grey debacle. 

Tips for teachers on getting a good night’s sleep, in The Guardian.

In Higher Education news in The Guardian, plans for a university where students set their own fees.

Global news, from the BBC: Unicef has claimed that 123 million school-age children are without schooling, and that little progress has been made to rectify this by world leaders, alongside an article by another BBC writer on investment and results’ outcome.

As I sign off blog #60, I realise that I may be in danger now of succumbing to repetition and rehashing … So I’m considering this different type of digest, with the occasional opinion weeks when a theme/topic presents itself. This may also mean that I will cut back the regularity with which I send these Revues out: I would rather avoid irrelevance for the sake of regularity.