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I care not one jot if you approve. However, as my kids are outstripping their peers to a scary degree I can afford to be smug but I understand why you have the approach you do and I'd not criticise it.

And I believe that every child should have an equal chance regardless of the wealth of their parents.

Yep. I believe in a society based on ability, not the wealth of the parents. I've little to no time for the trustfund brigade. I was thinking for along the lines on academic/trade/profession routes that are open to them. We try to shoe horn all our kids through a poorly designed system.

Then you should know that the only reason they were going to blow up parliament is was because the king was going to be there. He was the target. Don't wanting you getting your analogies all wrong would we.

F**k me. This place never ceases to amaze me. Fair play Serg'.

Personally I thought he looked like a right scruffy bugger and his "camp" was a deffo eye sore but fair play to him for sticking to his guns.

And have a catholic monarchy you mean and come under the sway of a foreign power? Of course, you knew that was the aim of the plot. Won't want you to look silly now would we.

No, comparing a protest about a war with a man who led the world to war. If you couldn't work that out yourself then you're not as bright as I gave you credit for.

Local grammar has an intake of 70 on which a whole 7 aren't fee paying. My mates daughters both had scholarships there and had a terrible time as they were "poor". I appreciate that this wasn't always the case. My boss, from sunny scunny, and as working class and left wing as they come, went to the local grammar but times and schools have changed, and not necessarily for the better.

You're better than that.

I can't think of anything worse then sending my kids to a grammar school with all the chinless Tarquins and Sophies that populate our local one even though both would breeze through the 11+. I prefer my kids to be grounded and rounded. We will look at all the local schools, I would expect them to all be academies by then, and choose according to what they wish to study. My nipper will want to do maths and science and my eldest daughter English and the humanities. Personally I'd adopted the German model.

Let's not forget, that one of the reasons for shutting the mines was all the cheap gas, that would last 100s of years, below the North Sea. We wouldn't need the coal for energy production. Now we import gas & coal to meet our energy needs and are are hostage to others. Great plan Maggie

They may go, but their businesses remain and until the tax loopholes are closed on these the sense on injustice will prevail. This is a global issue, not just a UK one. I notice the banks have gone awfully quiet about quitting the UK despite the decision to separate the retail from the commercial. Why? Because they were never going to leave despite their rhetoric. Only an idiot has an issue with some one making plenty of cash but everyone should pay their fair share and the simple truth is that plenty of very wealthy people avoid doing so and that, IMHO, is wrong.

Good attitude. Trust me, be at home with the kids, it's way more important than money and if you missing them growing up you'll regret it till your dying day. I've chased the big bucks and now I'm happy with the quite life with the kids. I watch the young turks climbing the ladder and smile knowingly.

I was bounced by my 3 at early o'clock and after lunch it's time for Kung Foo Panda II. I love being a dad.

I understand that Jamie, but it wasn't the point being made.

That wasn't the analogy. Simply put, someone earning less can be working harder for it. Salary isn't necessarily an indicator of effort. You should see that everyday in your own job.

Let's see if you are not bleating when you've got kids and not seeing them due to work, getting older and feeling it and still doing that. I know where my money is.

The reasons for this are multi-layered IMHO but my experience is only based on teaching in Stoke-On-Trent and the West Midlands, especially the Black Country, since 1994. 1) Chronic lack of maths graduates/specialists in primary education. They are rarer than hens teeth and that impacts the early learning and underpinning skills. My kids school have the only maths specialist in the borough and it shows! 2) Failure to recruit, maintain maths graduates in the classroom at 11-16. This has a greater impact on the tougher schools. I can speak from my everyday experience that the vast majority of schools that I come into contact with have non maths teachers teaching the subject as they can't recruit qualified staff. This dynamic changes in the "better" schools where the majority I come in contact with have fully staffed maths depts. The was a survey done regarding maths grads, in the TES iirc, that showed the average salary of a maths grad' in teaching to be £28k, outside of teaching £37k, that's a 30%+ difference. Of my maths class I am the only one still teaching. 3) Teaching only to exams. Kids are being taught only what they need to know so if they are foundation level maths they are only being taught those skills and as so many are arriving in secondary schools with very low level skills they are already playing catch up. Too many schools then just write them off and concentrate on getting the all important A*-Cs. 4) ******ing about with the curriculum every 5 mins and changing everything so less skills are taught. 5) Societies failure to recorgnise that poor numeracy isn't a badge of honour but is as bad as poor literacy.

LOL. What a 'kin bunch of deluded morons.

We were gobsmacked at the amount and calibre of the staff who wanted to take the redundancy package. What the usual thickies don't understand is that it's those of us in the frontline who are taking the hammering whilst those over paid, over blown and over promoted managers have insulated themselves. We've shed 14% of teaching staff and 20% of support staff this year, on top of last years, but not one senior manager plus we've already had a pay freeze for 2 years but of course, we don't live in the real world.

We'd also have one full pension plus my TPS which is worth a few quid in addition to other investments and inheritence so we're not going to go short. Perhaps it's just time to look at things differently than before and to accept that saving for the future in the traditional way no longer applies.

We may withdraw from one scheme and use the the money we would have paid in to pay our mortgage off quicker (5 years quicker saving well over £10k) and then invest the money we would have paid on that mortgage + the pensions payment to buy another house to rent out. May workout a much better deal.

Exactly. Our worst home performance wasn't "poor opposition tearing us a new one" but us playing sh*t and not taking chances.

My 9yo will be turning 10 when we destroy you at SMS, hopefully to relegate you and we are going to ruin your Xmas by taking you apart at your dump so yes, I guess I am looking forward to it.