Posts in Higher Education
Latymerians celebrate university offers
Latymerians celebrate university offers

I had meant to post this on the day after it had been posted by Latymer Upper. Much has now changed and Latymer Upper has been in the media relating to a toxic harassment and assault environment. I am hoping the school can move forward in a positive manner, learning from all mistakes that have been made.

Congratulations to our Year 13 student, Ariana, who has secured a place on the prestigious Huntsman Programme at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Huntsman Programme in International Studies & Business is a unique undergraduate dual degree programme in language, the liberal arts and business, jointly administered between the Wharton School and the College of Arts and Sciences at UPenn. It supports the development of globally-minded scholars who go on to become leaders in a wide variety of sectors. Just 50 students are enrolled on this extremely selective programme each year from the many thousands who apply. Ariana is the first Latymerian ever to win a place on this programme and we are incredibly proud of her achievement.

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Education, Exam Results, Higher EducationSarah NorrisLando EducationLatymer upper school, Lando Education, Lando, Latymerians, prestigious Huntsman Programme at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania, prestigious Huntsman Programme, Huntsman Programme, prestigious, year 13, A'levels, International Studies & Business, dual degree, Ivy League colleges, Wharton School, College of Arts and Sciences at UPenn, UPenn, OxbridgeComment
The Times: Tencent: Tech giant backed by Beijing funded Cambridge research
The Times: Tencent: Tech giant backed by Beijing funded Cambridge research

Cambridge University received a “generous gift” from a Chinese software company with links to the communist regime to fund an engineering fellowship, The Times has learnt.

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Business, Charity, Education, Higher Education, Media Article, politics, STEAM, STEM, Technology, ChinaSarah NorrisLando EducationCambridge University, Lando, Lando Education, Jesus College, Chinese, Chinese software company, gift, financial gift, Tim Davie, BBC, media article, The Times, Webchat app, Tencent, Pentagon, artificial intelligence, AI, lap for Xi Jinping: An Awesome Speech, Dowling postdoctoral research fellowshipComment
The Times: The world’s finest maths brains By Monique Rivalland
The Times: The world’s finest maths brains By Monique Rivalland

Grigori Perelman, 54

Alex Gerko, 41

Demis Hassabis, 44

Terence Tao, 45

Sir Martin Hairer, 45

Alexandra Botez, 25

Wang Pok Lo, 16

Sir Roger Penrose, 89

Jim Simons, 83

Hou Yifan, 26

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Education, Higher Education, Maths, Media Article, STEAM, STEMSarah NorrisLando EducationGrigori Perelman, Alex Gerko, Demis Hassabis, Hou Yifan, Jim Simons, Sir Roger Penrose, Wang Pok Lo, Alexandra Botez, Sir Martin Hairer, Terence Tao, maths, mathematician, mathematics, Lando, Lando Education, chess, Beth Harmon, Queen's Gambit, International Mathematical Olympiad, Breakthrough Prize, reakthrough Prize in Mathematics, mind-boggling maths, chess whizz, BotezLize, Twitch, Nobel prize, theory of general relativity does form black holes, black holes, hedge fund, mathematical models, algorithms, pattern recognition, string theory, DeepMind, AI, Google, heme Park, Theme Park, maths prodigy, Bloomberg Billionaires Index, XTX, Fields MedalComment
The Times: INTERVIEW - Meet Milo Beckman, the whizz-kid making maths supercool
The Times: INTERVIEW - Meet Milo Beckman, the whizz-kid making maths supercool

Milo Beckman was studying advanced algebra when he was 8. By 15, he was a Harvard prodigy. Now aged just 25, he’s written a brilliant book that takes everything we know (and fear) about maths out of the equation – starting with numbers.

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Education, Higher Education, Interview, Maths, Media Article, Reading, Science, STEAM, STEM, WritingSarah NorrisLando EducationThe Times, Interview, Lando, Lando Education, maths, mathematics, mathematician, Milo Beckman, algebra, equation, Harvard, Harvard University, The Harvard Crimson, Cambridge, Math Without Numbers, Penguin Publishing, academiaComment
Evening Standard: Languages mustn’t become the preserve of the rich
Evening Standard: Languages mustn’t become the preserve of the rich

In Junior School, my daughter was introduced to: French, Spanish, German and Mandarin. In year 7, she was taught how to learn any language and spent a term learning: German, Russian and Mandarin. In year 8, she’s now being taught: Latin, German and Italian.

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Education, English, Family, Higher Education, Languages, Media ArticleSarah NorrisLando EducationLando, Lando Education, languages, Russian, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Latin, Italian, Germans, foreign language, MFL, Google translate, Brexit, Melanie Mcdonagh, GCSEComment
The Times: University students ditch arts degrees and opt for medicine
The Times: University students ditch arts degrees and opt for medicine

New medical schools have opened, allowing 12,000 students to start medical degrees last autumn

The arts degree is in steady decline as medicine, computing and engineering soar in popularity, university entry figures show today.

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Arts, Education, Exam Results, Higher Education, Medicine, Media Article, Science, STEAM, STEMSarah NorrisLando EducationLando Education, Lando, medicine, medical schools, further education, university, medical degrees, degrees, art degrees, STEM, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, The TimesComment
The Guardian: Manchester students organising 'Covid Positive' parties
The Guardian: Manchester students organising 'Covid Positive' parties

Dress codes are nothing new to students going out in Manchester – no trainers, no football shirts and, increasingly, no man bags. But one student party this weekend had a special entry requirement: Covid.

According to one fresher at the University of Manchester, the “Covid Positive” party in the university’s Fallowfield campus halls of residence was broken up by security on Saturday. It is just one of the increasing instances of students’ risky behaviour during lockdown restrictions.

“There was a flat party a few days ago which had a policy that you could only get in if you were positive. It was like their health-and-safety measure,” the 18-year-old physics student said.

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Education, Health, Higher Education, Lockdown, Media Article, PandemicSarah NorrisLando EducationLando Education, Lando, The Guardian, Covid19, Pandemic, Manchester, Manchester University, parties, covid positive parties, Manchester Metropolitan University, flare-ups, students, Prof Fiona Measham, drug deaths, drugs, teenagers, university, university students, University of Nottingham, Greater Manchester policeComment
The Times: Afghan bomb victim Shamsea Alizada is nation’s top pupil
The Times: Afghan bomb victim Shamsea Alizada is nation’s top pupil

Another article about Shamsea Alizada, which makes her achievement even more inspirational.

A coalminer’s daughter whose tutoring centre was bombed by Isis has come top in an Afghan entrance exam.

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Education, Exam Results, Family, Higher Education, History, Interview, Media ArticleSarah NorrisLando Educationthe Times, Lando, Lando Education, Afghan bomb victim, Shamsea Alizada, nation’s top pupil, Afghan entrance exam, Kabul, Taliban, The bombing of Mawoud Academy, Mawoud Academy, AfghanistanComment
TED Talk: the Danger of a Single Story
TED Talk: the Danger of a Single Story

My daughter was asked to watch novelist Chimamanda Adichie’s TED talk for her geography homework. I was listening to it the background and it made me smile/laugh, quite a lot.

Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

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TED talk, Television, Arts, Charity, Education, English, Family, Higher Education, History, Languages, Media Article, Reading, WritingSarah NorrisLando EducationChimamanda Adichie, TED Talk, Lando, Lando Education, geography, cultures, lives, overlapping stories, novelist, authentic cultural voice, cultural voice, homeworkComment
The Guardian: Oxford moves to protect students from China's Hong Kong security law
The Guardian: Oxford moves to protect students from China's Hong Kong security law

Students will submit work related to China anonymously and told not to record classes.

Students at Oxford University specialising in the study of China are being asked to submit some papers anonymously to protect them from the possibility of retribution under the sweeping new security law introduced three months ago in Hong Kong.

The anonymity ruling is to be applied in classes, and group tutorials are to be replaced by one-to-ones. Students are also to be warned it will be viewed as a disciplinary offence if they tape classes or share them with outside groups.

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Education, Higher Education, HistorySarah NorrisLando EducationThe Guardian, Lando, Lando Education, Oxford University, students, China, Hong Kong, anonymously, classes, protect, new security law, one-to-ones, Beijing, Hong Kong security law, Chinese government powers, Universities UK, the vice-chancellors’ group, Chinese scholars, academic, Chinese students, Overseas students, Patricia Thornton, associate professor of Chinese politics at Oxford University, associate professor of Chinese politics, academic freedom, Princeton University, Harvard Business School, Lord Patten, Eva Pils, professor of law at King’s College London, King’s College London, British Association for Chinese StudiesComment
The Guardian: Schools in England told not to use material from anti-capitalist groups
The Guardian: Schools in England told not to use material from anti-capitalist groups

Idea categorised as ‘extreme political stance’ equivalent to endorsing illegal activity.

The government has ordered schools in England not to use resources from organisations which have expressed a desire to end capitalism.

Department for Education (DfE) guidance issued on Thursday for school leaders and teachers involved in setting the relationship, sex and health curriculum categorised anti-capitalism as an “extreme political stance” and equated it with opposition to freedom of speech, antisemitism and endorsement of illegal activity.

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Business, Education, English, Exam Results, Higher Education, History, Media ArticleSarah NorrisLando EducationDepartment for Education, Lando Education, Lando, extreme political stance, anti-capitalist, anti-capitalist groups, The Guardian, school leaders, teachers, British History, John McDonnell, freedom of speech, antisemitism, democracy, capitalism, British history, politics, Jessica Simor QC, international lawComment
The Times: Cheated in class? No mortgage for you, Chinese government warns
The Times: Cheated in class? No mortgage for you, Chinese government warns

The Chinese government is threatening to withdraw a postgraduate’s ability to secure a mortgage if they are found to have plagiarised someone else’s work.

In a joint statement, the ministries of education and finance and the National Development and Reform Commission announced they would include academic dishonesty as part of the country’s social credit scheme.

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Business, Education, Exam Results, Higher EducationSarah NorrisLando EducationChina, Cheated in class, Chinese governmen, Lando, Lando Education, The Times, media article, mortgage, antisocial behaviour, degree dissertations, punishmentComment
The Times: British universities charter jets to fly in Chinese students
The Times: British universities charter jets to fly in Chinese students

A flight carrying hundreds of students to Belfast from Beijing has become the first of several expected to be chartered by British universities to bring a record number of Chinese people into the country to study.

More than 24,000 Chinese students sought admission to British universities this year, up by 23 per cent, of which 8,570 were accepted, a rise of 14 per cent.

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Business, Education, English, Higher Education, Lockdown, Pandemic, Media ArticleSarah NorrisLando EducationLando Education, The Times, Lando, flights, students, Belfast, Beijing, chartered flights, Chinese, Chinese students, British Universities, universities, global travel, pandemicComment
The Times: Pupils aren’t up to sitting exams next year, say teachers
The Times: Pupils aren’t up to sitting exams next year, say teachers

A survey found that over 50 per cent of teachers with pupils due to take exams next summer felt they were not on track to get the results they should achieve.

Questions surround next year’s GCSE and A-level exams after ministers, unions and private schools raised doubts that they would run as normal.

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Education, Exam Results, Higher Education, Lockdown, Media Article, Pandemic, ScotlandSarah NorrisLando EducationLando Education, Lando, lockdown, pandemic, The Times, teaching, exams, schools, GCSEs, pupils, teachers, survey, Scotland, Highers, Higher Education, National Education Union, Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference, HMC, Simon Hyde, curriculum, Teacher Tapp appComment
The Sunday Times: UK university rankings: the best universities by subject
The Sunday Times: UK university rankings: the best universities by subject

As well as institutional rankings, The Sunday Times and The Times have identified the centres of excellence within each of 67 subject areas. The subject rankings are based on student opinion on teaching quality and their wider university experiences, combined with the outcomes of the 2014 research assessments, graduate job prospects and course entry standards.

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Education, Exam Results, Higher Education, Languages, History, Maths, Media Article, Medicine, Music, Science, Space, STEAM, STEM, Technology, WritingSarah NorrisLando EducationThe Sunday Times, UK University Rankings, university, rankings, sujects, research assessments, graduate, graduate job prospects, Cambridge, Aeronautical and manufacturing engineering, anatomy and physiology, anthropology, archaeology and forensic science, biological sciences, chemical engineering, chemistry, civil engineering, classics and ancient history, computer science, East and South Asian studies, education, electrical and electronic engineering, French, geography and environmental science, geology, German, history, history of art, architecture and design, Iberian languages, Italian, land and property management, materials technology, maths, mechanical engineering, Middle Eastern and African studies, physics and astronomy, Russian and eastern European languages, sociology, theology and religious studies, town and country planning, landscape, Economics, English, linguistics, medicine, psychology, Oxford, Glasgow, St Andrews, University of Edinburgh, Birmingham, Strathclyde, Bangor, Bath, Bristol, LSE, Animal science, dentistry, food science, sports scienceComment
TES: Why we must scrap GCSEs: 4 ways to form a better system
TES: Why we must scrap GCSEs: 4 ways to form a better system

Sarah Fletcher, the high mistress of St Paul's Girls' School in London and a member of the HMC, offers thoughts on better ways young people can be assessed than out-dated GCSEs.

Everything has changed over the past few months.

We have put students from across the world in the same classrooms, safeguarded new ways of working and shared resources and online platforms.

Most extraordinary of all, teachers have helped in the awarding of grades and we have cancelled all assessments from key stage 1 to key stage 5.

Imagining the unimaginable is something we should do more often! And what better place to start than with the curriculum?

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Education, Business, Exam Results, Family, Higher Education, Lockdown, Media Article, Pandemic, Self & WellbeingSarah NorrisLando EducationSPGS, St Paul's Girls' School, independent schools, private schools, state schools, GCSE, kill off GCSEs, Sarah Fletcher, headmistress, students, classrooms, teachers, key stage 5, modern curriculum, outdated system, demagogy of a cyber world, demagogy, cyber world, Global affairsComment
The Times: I’m a graduate. There are no jobs since Covid for me
The Times: I’m a graduate. There are no jobs since Covid for me

I never thought I’d hear myself say those words: I want to receive a rejection email. I want to be told that on this occasion I have been unsuccessful; that after careful consideration we will not be continuing your application. Because at least then I know.

With unemployment rates continuing to rise, it is young people who are being hit hardest by the coronavirus job crisis. Jobs are like gold dust, the applicant/position ratio is ever-growing, and many companies are failing to inform applicants of their unsuccess. This leaves you deflated, tired and obsessively checking your junk mail.

A 23-year-old, class of 2019 graduate, I moved to London in February, excited by the prospect of starting a career and creating a new home. I started off with high hopes, and a cushion of savings to get me through the initial couple of months.

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Education, Higher Education, Media Article, PandemicSarah NorrisLando Educationgraduate, The Times, media article, Lando, Lando Education, no jobs, pandemic, Covid19, unemployment rates, London, Flora Godfrey HenryComment
The Times: Postgrad degrees are not the path to a bigger salary
The Times: Postgrad degrees are not the path to a bigger salary

Taking a postgraduate qualification may earn extra letters after your name, but it won’t bring you more money in the long run, research suggests.

Those paying to continue their studies in some subjects can end up with lower salaries as a result, suggesting that extra years of study should be done for love of learning, not lucre.

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Education, Higher Education, Media ArticleSarah NorrisLando EducationThe Times, Lando, Lando Education, postgraduate, degree, higher education, salary, job, research, Institute for Fiscal Studies, earnings, postgraduate degrees, average salary, Department for Education, master’s graduates, master’s degree, Law, Business, Creative arts, Economics, English, Languages, PhilosophyComment
The Guardian: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé: the 21-year-old British student with a million-dollar book deal
The Guardian: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé: the 21-year-old British student with a million-dollar book deal

Very inspiring. I have been toying with writing a novel… we’ll see if I can find some free time.

Author says she was ‘just a broke student writing to make myself some fictional friends’ in her debut Ace of Spades, about two black students navigating racism at an elite school.

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Arts, English, Higher Education, Media Article, Reading, WritingSarah NorrisLando Educationauthor, The Guardian, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, novel, million-dollar book deal, university student, Ace of Spades, elite school, school, thriller, black students, rumours, UsborneComment