Andrew Cook

Inconsequential ramblings about music, books, football, education and other random topics

[Andrew Cook @Gingerclaret]

This is a remarkable book.
It is published next week.
Read my review.

https://t.co/da5hW4ytg5

[Andrew Cook @Gingerclaret]

This is disgusting. Ofsted has not been fit for purpose for a long time and this puts the tin lid on it. As the father of two grown up autistic children and as a former school safeguarding lead-and as someone who believes in common decency-I find this horrifying.

[Andrew Cook @cooksta_]

‘If Ofsted was a school that treated children the way they treat teachers they would be closed down’. 100% correct. My 35 years of teaching was overshadowed by the constant menace of an impending Ofsted inspection and all that it entailed. And now they’ve made it even worse.

[Mr P MBE @ICT_MrP]

Imagine saying to a room full of school leaders that if you think the new inspection framework is penalising schools with higher levels of poverty and SEND that they have low expectations, but that’s what Ofsted did last week!

[Andrew Cook @cooksta_]

They just get better and better!

[Burnley FC @BurnleyOfficial]

Everybody be cool, this is a signing 🍔🥤

[Andrew Cook @cooksta_]

This. 100%. ‘Fear driven obsession with accountability’ means common sense goes out of the window.

[Mr P MBE @ICT_MrP]

Are you expected to get children to write out the learning objective in an exercise book even though it could waste over a weeks worth of learning the year?

[Andrew Cook @Gingerclaret]

Read Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan. Epic state of the nation tale. Large cast of (mainly unsympathetic) characters including Russian oligarchs, minor aristocracy, traffickers and gang members. Their existence orbits around a celebrity art critic suffering a midlife crisis 4/5

[Andrew Cook @cooksta_]

Sir Ken Robinson is 100% correct. I worked for a head who glorified McDonalds as a template for how education should be served up. Soulless consistency no matter how far removed it is from the real needs of learners. Sir Ken talked so much sense. He’s sadly missed.

[Alvin Foo @alvinfoo]

Our current education system is flawed - here's why we must change it. Sir Ken Robinson's critique of education is spot on.

By moving from fast food to Michelin-star education, we can nurture talents, foster creativity, and prepare students for the 21st century.

[Andrew Cook @cooksta_]

@hacking4chorltz @The_Lowry @CateAllison Completely agree. Extremely silly. Extremely funny.

[Andrew Cook @Gingerclaret]

I fully agree. Through my years in teaching I was a strong advocate for the importance of music in schools. Yet as a Peer he supported Michael Gove and the Tory Government while they squeezed creativity, personal expression and the simple joy of learning out of the curriculum.

[Andrew Cook @Gingerclaret]

Read The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry. Heavy drinker and doper Tom lives in a lawless Montana mining town in the 1890’s. He elopes with Polly, newly arrived mail-order bride of a God fearing bore. A chaotic posse of Cornish mercenaries is sent out to capture them. Excellent 4/5

[Andrew Cook @Gingerclaret]

Hills shrowded on mist today. #twitterclarets

[Andrew Cook @Gingerclaret]

The Ashes commentary on @tntsports is appalling. Makes your appreciate how good the Sky coverage is. Currently trying to sync the TV feed to @bbctms

[Andrew Cook @cooksta_]

Read Pity by Andrew McMillan. Set in Barnsley, Simon is a drag artist who includes a parody of Margaret Thatcher in his show. His dad and uncle are former miners taking part in a project run by earnest academics. A powerful exploration into male identity across generations. 3.5/5

[Andrew Cook @Gingerclaret]

Make this man Secretary of State for Education. Absolutely spot on. His comments on the recent obsession with accountability is so true. People have to spend more time trying to prove they can do a job they are capable of doing than they actually spend doing their job. Madness!

[Andrew Cook @cooksta_]

Read Sandwich by Catherine Newman. Every year for the past 20 years Rocky has spent a week at the same holiday rental in Cape Cod with her husband and (now grown up) children. This year she’s forced to confront changing realities. Hilarious, poignant and extremely relatable. 5/5

[Claude Taylor @TrueFactsStated]

This is Jane Goodall’s final message recorded in March that was only to be released upon her passing. What an amazing woman. It’s worth a listen.

[Andrew Cook @cooksta_]

Read The Catchers by Xan Brooks. John Coughlin is a mercenary 1920’s song catcher in New York. He travels south to a flooded delta region in search of talent that might sell half a million records, where he meets Moss Evans, a talented black teenage guitar picker. Excellent 4/5

[Square Peg @teamsquarepeg]

Our amazing Ambassador Anna Maxwell Martin continues to shine a light on the tensions, perverse incentives and urgent opportunity to find Another Way. Together.

#supportnotsanctions
#decriminaliseschoolattendance

[graham chatterley @grahamchatterl2]

Tom Bennett is no doubt to education what Nigel Farage is to politics

Causes harm but claims success (Brexit/behaviour hubs)

When all evidence points to the failure, lie and deflect

Find obscure statistics to support falsehoods and claim to be evidence based...