Mundane facts about your day...

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staffordjas

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Briefly lost power twice during this latest thunder & lightening storm and heavy rain.
Always think back to my MRI ( Meters, Relays and Instruments to the younger ones who weren't around in those days..) / GEC Measurements days where the one thing that I rememberer from a presentation was how the Relays actually worked..
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Briefly lost power twice during this latest thunder & lightening storm and heavy rain.
Always think back to my MRI ( Meters, Relays and Instruments to the younger ones who weren't around in those days..) / GEC Measurements days where the one thing that I rememberer from a presentation was how the Relays actually worked..
This looks like the breaker failing, but it's actually the CTs behind it, I think.


Looks like a lightning strike, venting the middle one and igniting it, and that then igniting the other two.

There are two breakers of a very similar style to that one at the back of Wickes.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Just met up with a very nice man outside the pub :)

Cheers @Gramaisc . It was a pleasure to meet you and put a face to the name.
Thanks again , very much appreciated :up:
I think we got away with it, but I'm sure a couple of people made notes, in the hope of there being some reward from Crimestoppers for information about people dealing in car parks.

Anyway, make sure Hubby gets his oats now.
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
Had lunch in a nice little restaurant today. Spoilt only by the car refusing to start afterwards. After 45 minutes fettling with a spanner and a screwdriver and threatening to hit it with a bloody big hammer, normal service was resumed.

The locals seemed to find it most entertaining...
 

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
I think we got away with it, but I'm sure a couple of people made notes, in the hope of there being some reward from Crimestoppers for information about people dealing in car parks.

Anyway, make sure Hubby gets his oats now.
Think ears cocked when I told hubby I was going outside to get my oats...

On Nobby's nuts with my Strongbows now :D
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
31yrs ago today I started on my journey at St.Georges. It hasn't always been plain sailing, and there's been a lot of times I've questioned my sanity as to why I'm still there. I'm still trying to work that 1 out.
I suppose I do love the place, after a fashion.
I'll let you know how I really feel in another 31yrs.

If it helps any, my Grandmother and Uncle (on the Clay side) and my Old Dear (on the Ryan side) worked at St George's long ago (well before your time) and as a kid I used to go to the Christmas Staff Parties and get a free Orange and an Apple (and in those days it wasn't a f***ing phone. :teef:) so I do have memories of that place although I doubt I'd even recognize it now. ;)
 

Glam

Mad Cat Woman
If it helps any, my Grandmother and Uncle (on the Clay side) and my Old Dear (on the Ryan side) worked at St George's long ago (well before your time) and as a kid I used to go to the Christmas Staff Parties and get a free Orange and an Apple (and in those days it wasn't a f***ing phone. :teef:) so I do have memories of that place although I doubt I'd even recognize it now. ;)
I've seen a few photos of the new Apartments, (aren't they just posh flats?) Look very nice, tho I wouldn't/ couldn't live there. Seen and heard too many things, I'd be more of a nervous wreck than I am!
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
I actually find this really insulting and have tried not to take it personally....
Shit, dude, it absolutely was not meant as any kind of reflection on you personally, and i'm really sorry if it came across that way. I wasn't suggesting that this is how you would behave, but teacher's come in all shapes, sizes, and competencies, and i was just trying to frame the argument, probably a bit crassly, with examples of the limitations of teacher-based assessments.

In the interests of full disclosure let me make it quite clear that you won't find a stronger supporter of teachers than i - both my parents were teachers, as is one of my brothers, as well as many of my friends. I know that teachers have had a really difficult time, and i hope that they ultimately receive the recognition they deserve.

The thing is, though, we actually know that teachers are not the best at judging outcomes for their students. A recent statistical analysis of 'centre-based' (ie teacher-based) assessment at GCSE level had every single subject at a higher level than the average of last year - variance was between 0.3 and 0.8 of a grade. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which being that, as you rightly point out, generally teachers are very lovely people, who tend to see and want the best in and for the young people they care for.

I was perhaps a bit curt - it was one of those days where you hear a lot of people who don't actually know what they're talking about talking a lot about things they clearly know very little about. Even many teachers, who you might think would know a lot about 'marking', but you'd be surprised how little they know on this kind of 'macro' scale.

I hope that people appreciate the difficult position that our teachers have been put in to arrive at what will inevitably be an imperfect outcome, but i also hope you can spare a thought too for the invigilators, who have also been put in a difficult position.

It is also worth bearing in mind that even in a 'normal' year, with exams going ahead and completed papers flying through the ether, standardisation models are applied to the results - movement of grade boundaries etc - to bring them broadly in line with previous results. There is no real reason why the same sorts of standards should not be applied to this years awards.

In conclusion, i apologise unreservedly if i made you feel even in the least bit shitty, that was bad.
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
Regarding results... it’s basically irrelevant long-term anyway

GCSEs are meaningless once you go to college, and once you go to uni your college results are meaningless...
Stepping stones...

When you get your 'A' level results, your GCSEs ('O' levels in old money) become irrelevant

When you get your Bachelor's, your 'A' levels become irrelevant

A Masters rends your Bachelor of the A/BSc/BEd/Whatever irrelevant

A PhD overrules all that comes before it

Tenure is the end of a long and arduous journey - once there, who gives a shit what they put after your name?


League tables have been a terrible legacy - teachers should spend more of their time telling kids that a 'pass' is what they should aim for, anything more is just wasted effort...
 
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Lucy

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My sister heads up a charity for social mobility. I'd link it but then my anonyminity has completely gone - PM me if you want to know which one it is. She was saying the best thing that could happen is this cohort spend the next 3 years in education of some sort. It makes sense, they get their qualifications, whatever type they are, at the time when there is going to no jobs for the age group.
 
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