Emma Knights

Yes finances can be a significant driver, but it is the SAT's board of trustees who will take the decision - and often locality is very important to them. We have a schools system which is very confused - at least on paper - about place. This needs more thought. The White Paper can't ignore place

Thought-provoking @adammorton.bsky.social
And what a fab legacy...

Today - 07/11/2025 - BBC Sounds News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

Short interview on the BBC Today programme with Amol Rajan, discussing the upcoming Brazil COP and how the so-called “cost of living crisis” is being (mis)used by leaders and high emitters to avoid taking meaningful action on climate change.

Starts at 2.36.30. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The text of a post from the minister on X thanking trustees

The schools minister Georgia Gould MP thanks trustees and school governors #TrusteesWeek

The language of governance being 'overlooked' came from a landmark research report in 2008 and largely applies all these years later. So it's pleasing to see a small acknowledgement from the powers that be

A screenshot of the Institute for Government's Performance Tracker 2025 report on Schools, showing key findings. These include: • The equivalent of 23,000 primary school classrooms are empty across England, the highest number since records began back in 2009–10 • Meanwhile, two-thirds of state special schools are now operating over capacity • The average education, health and care plan cost £1,000 more than the funding it attracted in 2023/24 • Pupils with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) now miss a full day of secondary school every week, on average. • In 2023–24, there were an average of five suspensions in every secondary school class, more than double the highest rate seen before the pandemic.

I’ve spent the last few months doing a deep dive into the scale of the challenge the English schools system faces, looking at: pupil numbers; SEND and financial pressures; staffing; and the performance of schools.

Which research does this recommendation come from? The main problem surely is the size of the school funding pie. Advocating for increased rates of pupil premium is a better way to go while schools across England are struggling to balance budgets

Today David Holdsworth, CEO of the Charity Commission opened #TrusteesWeek beautifully at the Festival of Trusteeship

Trusteeship 'an act of radical optimism'; 'building the infrastructure of a compassionate society'; 'charities are civil society'

Here here. A v positive vision

A photo of the room in which the session took place with its title: Environmental Crime, taking on the big boys

Great session today at Stratford Literary Festival: Saabira Chaudhuri on Consumed (about the plastic crisis) & Julia Shaw on Green Crime. Holding the big boys to account. And it wasn't all doom & gloom. Looking forward to reading their books & learning more

#StratLitFest

‘Enforced veganism’: Ofcom lets GB News flout accuracy rules, say climate campaigners Exclusive: Regulator has received 1,221 complaints about UK broadcasters since 2020 but found no breaches of its code

Just when honest and truthful reporting on climate change is most urgently needed, Ofcom under its current chair has effectively suspended its accuracy rules on this life-and-death issue. /1

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Well said. Irish history doesn't get the profile it deserves even tho lots of us in GB have Irish ancestry and we do care & know a little. NI is absolutely & definitely not boring

I love Blue Lights ... too many police dramas & murders on TV but this is in a different league

Thanks. Given political thinking is also a R4 programme, might it be worth sitting your analysis to R4 Feedback? The lack of rigour & environmental knowledge of news journalists is depressing

There's been little bandwidth to develop with the school inspection plan so controversial & wrong headed. MAT inspection surely needs to start with a focus on trust governance, executive leadership & their strategy: what value is it adding?

How very disappointing esp considering the number of organisations working to support schools with sustainability: but given all the other challenges schools face, leadership is needed from DfE

China makes landmark pledge to cut its climate emissions It is China's first firm goal to reduce emissions but falls well short of what is needed to meet global targets.

'Leader' of the 'free' world calls #ClimateChange a hoax at UN...
Meanwhile, the not-so-free nation of China is leading the way on #Renewables
This headline belies the vast ramping up renewable infrastructure in China ( #R4Today report 6.20am)

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Sure, but most people do buy things on-line (even though it's wrecking the local economy: different argument I know). So they're willing to take the risk #bbcaq

Interesting that people are so concerned about Govt having data on ID system when we're all handing so much digital info to the private sector & so many other countries have them

There's always been issues with those entitled to benefits claiming: perhaps this could help in the future? #bbcaq

I'm no expert but they did have slower trains before. Think they are just so much better at engineering & project management. But probably easier without national elections! No need to little to give in to every complaint from Chilterns consistencies. Wish HS2 had started in the North #bbcaq

Just been to China: such a terrific high speed train system. On time, seats for all, clean & often through mountains. Plus the metros so cheap & well used

Why oh why are we in Britain so unable to modernise our railway system? #bbcaq

Important research. Maybe we need to return to the length of the summer holidays debate? @ioe.bsky.social

Coram Family and Childcare Improving life for UK families through better childcare and early years support, creating lasting impact for today and the future.

#r4today can't quite believe that short piece on childcare. 20 years when I was co-CEO of predecessor of Coram Family & Child care all the same issues. So sad there hasn't been progress on pay & status of early years workers www.coramfamilyandchildcare.org.uk

Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged his hometown of New Orleans, Jon Batiste has released a new song imploring people to take action against climate change “by raising your voice, and insisting, and voting the right people into office.”

At Europe's melting glaciers, signs of climate peril are everywhere Europe's glaciers are shrinking faster than anywhere else on Earth, leaving behind unstable landscapes.

Glaciers in the Alps and Pyrenees have lost about 40% of their mass since 2000. www.nbcnews.com/science/clim...

Scrapping of audit watchdog for English councils ‘led to soaring costs and chaos’ High critical report finds that instead of promised annual saving of £100m, fees have rocketed amid financial crisis

Yet another retrospective triumph for Cameron and Osborne.

I love My Brilliant Friend: it was in my 20 most memorable books in #Skybooks #Bookchallenge. But I just didn't find the 3rd compelling. But hope you're enjoying it

This comes across v pro air conditioning, but there needs to be much more attention to other ways of reducing summer heat - don't air pumps help?

Adapt to thrive: preparing the UK for climate change In this report, we show that the UK is underprepared for the impacts of climate change and outline a roadmap to an adapted and more resilient future.

🌡️☔ New report | The UK isn't prepared for the impacts of climate change, and they're already here.

Nearly 3k deaths from excess heat in 2022. £2.4bn annual flooding costs. 6m homes at flood risk.

Yet 2/3 of #adaptation actions are inadequate for the scale of the challenge.

🔗 buff.ly/v9yl5ln

1/6

The phrase "hiking the Appalachian Trail" became a euphemism for infidelity after South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford used it to explain his absence while visiting his mistress in Argentina. In 2009, Sanford disappeared for six days, claiming he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. His aides repeated this story, but it was later revealed he had been with his mistress, María Belén Chapur, in Buenos Aires. The incident gained significant media attention and led to the phrase becoming a widely recognized euphemism for extramarital affairs

I wonder if 'walking the Salt Path' will become a euphemism here the way 'hiking the Appalachian Trail' has in America?

"I've been walking the Salt Path" = I've not been entirely honest

The real Salt Path: how a blockbuster book and film were ... Penniless and homeless, the Winns found fame and fortune with the story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. We can reveal that the truth behind it is ve...

observer.co.uk/news/nationa... as mentioned on ##bbclaurak. Good journalism but what a shame. What were @penguinbooksuk.bsky.social doing or failing to do?! Hope the next book is cancelled #SkyBooks

Great to see NGA's latest report on an important topic: collaboration matters

Ask your Government to rescue our Forgotten Forests! 40% of the UK's ancient woodlands are vanishing before our eyes. Now, we have one golden opportunity to save these Forgotten Forests. The English and Scottish Governments must put plans in place to re...

The Woodland Trust has a new campaign calling on the Government to restore Britain's (much depleted) ancient woodlands campaigns.woodlandtrust.org.uk/page/166361/...