@cheshirepolice Traffic has been released in lane 4 on the #M6 in #Cheshire northbound between J20 #AppletonThorn and J21 #Warrington following a collision.
@cheshirepolice remain on scene.
Lanes 1, 2 and 3 remain closed for clean-up.
30 minutes delays and 2 miles of congestion on approach.
@Collywigwam13 Hi, thanks for your message. We are preparing to release traffic past the scene in lane 4. We are waiting for the police to confirm it is safe to do so. ~ Natalie.
Traffic is being held on the #M6 in #Cheshire northbound between J20 #AppletonThorn and J21 #Warrington following a collision.
Emergency services are at scene. There is a large amount of debris in the carriageway.
Delays of up to 30 minutes on approach. We'll keep you updated.
@MichaelDPotts Hi, thanks for your message. The collision has left a significant amount of debris in the carriageway. We are working alongside police to get this cleared so we can open a lane running past the scene. We have no confirmed ETA for this at present. ~ Natalie.
This sums it up for me. A load of people who’ve never led a school, have no idea what that’s like and don’t have a clue what some schools are dealing with every day, setting arbitrary targets and then telling heads that “everyone can do it”. I’d like to see them try.
Suicide.
I'm choosing to be deliberately blunt and provocative in this post because it's necessary. Government, charities, football clubs are all pushing water up a hill in highlighting what is undoubtedly a major health crisis.
You take a rope.
You put it up in a garage or a tree nearby or far away.
You're thinking about every loved one you'll leave behind as you put that rope around your neck.
Then you drop.
Some are decapitated.
Some aren't.
All are found by someone who has a lifetime of trauma that will never leave them.
A son.
A daughter.
A brother.
A sister.
A mother.
A father.
I know 2 men who hung themselves.
One was found by his Mom.
One was found by his brother.
Neither have recovered fully. 20 and 30 years on.
A life sentence for people who were already worrying, terrified their loved one may do something.
So just visualise the above and ask, "is there another way"?
A segway for a moment.
I do a few Q&A's every year. Tales of yesterday with a 99% male audience of my age group.
After the stories and fun, my last question back to the audience is..
"Hands up if you struggle with a mental health issue".
Nobody ever puts a hand up. Despite 1 in every 3 of 500 attendees statistically struggling.
"Ah, nobody, that's fucking brilliant! Well I do! ". I then graphically tell people, stunned into silence about how a rope around my neck in the middle of nowhere jolted me to go home and cry like a baby to my Mom.
After the Q&A has finished, something always happens. I'll be chatting to a few guys, saying bye and one by one, men will come over and whisper " I struggle".
Or my mailbox the next day will have 30 emails from guys, their partners or kids saying " Dad/Uncle /Brother was there last night and what you said hit them hard".
And that's how some people realise that it's time to speak to a pal or family member or even rant to me in an email. It works, I often get a follow up email a year or 6 later saying that they took responsibility for their suicidal feelings and are now flying.
Humans are programmed to want to live, to have families and to keep the species growing and thriving. So for a human to want to short circuit that desire isn't normal, and it should never be spoken of as normal. It's the ultimate red flag.
If you suspect your mate, Dad, Brother, Uncle is struggling mentally, they deserve your intervention.
They deserve a " are you OK, please tell me what's up".
They deserve an opportunity to get past wanting to hang a rope over a tree or in a garage and slowly struggle until they die and you find them.
If you've been there and trust me I have plenty, then you'll know that text out of the blue, or a footie mate or one of your kids asking jow you are can open the curtains to some sunshine.
Because when suicide is your only answer, the room is already dark, and you can't see a way out.
So please, fucking pretty please, ask that husband, Dad, Uncle, Cousin, footie pal TODAY how they are.
You may be shocked what comes back but extremely glad that you asked.
For those who struggle, you're not alone.
On a serious note. There is an answer.
* If the government releases age-standardised scores, where the raw score is adjusted based on the student's exact age in months and days, the birth month effect on the reported score will be significantly mitigated.
* If the government reports only raw scores and a fixed national pass/expected standard, then the birth month effect will be starkly visible, as the summer-born children will pass at a lower rate than their autumn-born peers. This is what currently happens with the Phonics Screening Check pass/fail metric.
Today Bridget Phillipson announced that a new target will be set of 90% of 6-year-olds passing the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1. Currently 83% pass at the end of Year 1 and 89% at the end of Year 2.
They also announce a new reading test for children in Year 8 at age 13.
They say that this is because strong reading skills are the foundation for everything else in education.
These measures will backfire, and here’s why.
You can’t make children learn faster by setting more tests. You can’t help struggling readers by putting them under more pressure. You don’t allow teachers to teach better by making them teach to the test.
We are already putting too much pressure on our very young children. There is no evidence that pushing academic skills on them earlier leads to later success.
The result will be a narrowing of the curriculum, more anxiety about reading, and more children who start to see themselves as stupid and inadequate before they’ve even turned seven. How children think about learning is the real foundation for everything else. If they’ve decided that it’s boring and hard before they’re out of the Infants, then no one is a winner.
Yes, reading is important. No, more testing and early pressure isn’t the way to raise standards. It will create more of the problems the government say they want to avoid. Our children need something better.
https://t.co/8nwb4lpJqB