Emily (my eldest daughter) got her A/S Level results today, and she's done very very well.

She has grade As for Latin, History, Greek and English Literature, all averaging at over 90%, including a few (5 I think) papers with 100% scores.

This means that she now only () needs to get high grade Cs in her A2s in order to get a clean sweep of A grade A levels.

Lots of the usual bluster in the news about how A levels are dumbed down and easier, but the reality of it is that schools are now teaching to the exam/coursework criteria, and the kids are also working shed loads more than I did at that age. 

Anyone of my age wouldn't know what the mark schemes and grade boundary criteria were, but these are the kind of things that schools are now teaching the A level students of today in order that they can maximise their attainment.  And given that this is the way schools and therefore teachers are judged these days, who can blame them?

So well done to all you A/S and A2 students, you deserve your moment of pride after all the hard work.  Especially you Em!

My Nan died on Sunday morning.

We'd travelled down to Redhill to celebrate her 90th Birthday on Sunday - even though technically it wasn't her birthday until Monday. 

We met up with my Mum & Dad on Saturday night who had driven up from Cornwall and were going to see Nan in hospital in the morning - where she'd been for a little over a week with an infection.

Mum got a phone call early on Sunday morning from the hospital to say she'd died. 

I'd travelled down a few weeks ago to see her - as she was in hospital before - and said my goodbyes to her then.  I'm really glad I made that journey now.

Despite clear opposition from the majority of Manchester residents, it seems our council leaders continue to express their "nanny knows best" attitudes and are marching ahead with congestion charging that will affect most people in the Manchester area in some way or another..

I have a few issues with the scheme, which largely lead me to believe that this is just another tax - pure and simple.  Having reviewed the no doubt expensive literature from the scheme that will be paid for out of my pocket in some way or another, it appears to me that the plan is designed to maximise revenue without actually benefitting the travelling and working public.

And in no particular order:

1) Why does the scheme start at the M60 (Manchester ring road)?  If the scheme is aimed at reducing congestion in Manchester the boundary should be starting inside the ring road.  This means that the area covered by the Manchester congestion charge is larger than that covered by the London charge.  Is our problem bigger than London's?  Or is it so the councils can maximise the number of travellers who will pay the charge?

2) Why does the outer ring have a higher charge than the inner ring?  Again if this scheme was to discourage travellers into Manchester itself and to reduce the knock on effect, it would be the other way around.  Or is it so the councils can maximise the number of travellers who will pay the charge?

3) Why do all the park and ride facilities exist within the outer charging ring (e.g. Ladywell park and ride on the Metrolink)?  If the scheme was to discourage city car use and to promote public transport, using park and ride facilities would be encouraged by not making drivers have to pay a congestion charge first.  Or is it so the councils can maximise the number of travellers who will pay the charge?

4) Why are all the new transport junctions inside the charging zone - this is particularly bad if your destination isn't city centre   Is this so any journey which doesn't have a destination in the city centre is so awkward that you take the car anyway so the councils can maximise the number of travellers who will pay the charge?

5) Why are the councils being disingenuous about the charge?  Figures of £2 and £1 per boundary crossing are being quoted, however, when you read the small print, this will actually be more when the scheme comes into effect.  What they aren't saying is that they are already planning to raise the price based upon those figures being subject to inflation from today.  If it actually going to cost £6-7 a day, why aren't they saying that explicitly?  Or is it that only a fiver a day sounds affordable, whereas £45 a week to stump up is actually a lot of money in anyone's books.

There's a load of guff being talked about how there will be investment into public transport befoire the charging scheme is implemented. Surely the routes and needs of the travelling public should be consulted on before we start consulting whether the idea of charging the crap out of everyone who needs to travel in order to work is a good idea?

I have serious doubts about how effective this investment will be given that Manchester, unlike London, does not own its own transport infrastructure.  Private tram, bus and train companies are going to focus on the most profitable routes and ramming as many passengers per vehicle as they can get away with  - which, as an aside is why bikes aren't allowed on the Metrolink in my view.

If you need convincing, just read their annual reports to verify this - they are focussed on shareholder value, not on providing a service to their revenue stream paying customers.

Anyway, did I mention that I think its a crap idea?

The good news is that I didn't come last (again)!

Although I am listed on the last page of the official finishers at 412th out of 437, which isn't exactly a sparkling performance.

Just to get my excuses in, it was very warm on the day - the hoped for cloud cover and showers didn't materialise, and the new course has an easier start than last year, which meant I was fooled into running way too fast (for me) over the first three miles, and so I struggled a bit on the bits I was quite confident I would be ok on.  And I'm now officially a veteran runner, so I should expect to be overtaken by all the young whipper-snappers too.  Ho Hum!

Anyway, not to be too negative about the whole thing, I did achieve a couple of good things - like I managed to complete the entire climb up the Garburn pass without stopping (something I didn't manage last year).  Just in case you're wondering why that's an achievement, here's a height profile of the course (tracked using my Garmin - its still a cool gadget! ) which might give you a feel for the challenge:

That big spikey bit in the middle is what I'm talking about

Other good things aboout the event were that I also completed the course without any injuries, blisters, breaks, cuts or insect bites. .  The view was again spectacular, and for reference, here's what the course looks like from space:

The dark blob on the left hand side is Windermere - which is apparently not a lake according to a recent episode of QI

My legs have now stopped aching 4 days after the event, which leaves me to think I might have to do more training for next year...

Teen Mum High was shown on BBC2 last night, featuring my wife, Jane.  Not as a teen mum you understand, but because she works at Moat House School as an English teacher. 

If you saw it, you may recall her reading Jane Eyre to some of the girls at Howarth, natilly dressed in a pale blue waterproof...

The showing last night was the culmination of a fair amount of stress for the staff and girls at the school, mainly as the project started off following pupils at two specialist referral units - one in Newcastle, and Moat House - but for reasons I won't go into, the other school had to withdraw, meaning that all the footage was from Stockport, and to ensure there was enough footage to construct the documentary, the crew went way over their original agreement for number of hours on site etc.

Anyway, I've been busily printing off the reviews from various newspapers today so that Jane can read them later - I haven't found any negative views, plus the program was pick of the day in a bunch of telly guides yesterday too. 

There was, however, a marked contrast between the trailer the BBC used to advertise the program, and the pace and content - I think maybe someone had decided to 'sex-up' the trailer and hadn't realised how gentle and sympathetic the documentary actually was.  If you watched thinking there would be salacious details that re-enforced the tabloid view of teenage mothers, then I suspect you would have been disappointed.

Being involved in the program was a difficult decision for Jane, herself being adopted, and some years ago traced her birth mother who was in her teens when Jane was born, so taking part required a fair amount of soul searching.  Jane's birth mum was actually quite upset at some of the comments Jane made in the program, but I think that's because she is personally involved and so it was far more poignant than it would have appeared to other viewers.

Overall I was impressed with the program - and think it shows the girls and the school in a very positive light.  I think it goes to show how a caring and supportive environment is way more productive than castigation and vilification.