Please Support Continuous Local Covid-19 Coverage on Glenside Local The Upper Moreland Police Department honored the retirement of Officer Joe Staufenberg with a proclamation to commemorate his career Officer Staufenberg joined the department in February 1997 and has since served as an Officer In Charge of numerous patrol squads department armorer and Motor Carrier Safety Inspector He also served as a negotiator on the Eastern Montgomery County SWAT team Prior to his service to the citizens of Upper Moreland Township Officer Staufenberg served in the Marine Corps “Affectionately known throughout the community as “Joe the Cop” Officer Staufenberg has a unique way of connecting with everyone he meets through humility generosity and his ability to make people laugh,” the department said in a post stories and unmatched work ethic will be sorely missed around the station but his legacy will endure by the example he set for younger officers We should all be so lucky to be a little like Joe the Cop.” For all the latest news, follow us on Facebook or sign up for Glenside Local’s “Daily Buzz” newsletter here — The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office arrested 29-year-old Justin Staufenberg on 10 weapon and motor vehicle related charges the Sheriff's Office say a deputy conducted a vehicle stop on South Pawling Street in Hagaman for multiple traffic infractions MORE:Albany man pleads not guilty to weapon and drug charges after parole release Staufenberg is accused of operating his vehicle under the influence of a drug a second deputy conducted a search of Staufenberg's vehicle and found a loaded handgun along with ammunition They also found that Staufenberg does not have a NYS Pistol Permit and is not legally allowed to be in possession of any handgun The Sheriff's Office says the firearm's serial number was intentionally tampered with and removed for unknown reasons resulting in the firearm being a “ghost gun." TRENDING:Social media erupts over new McDonald's side item Here is the complete list of charges Staufenberg is facing: Staufenberg is being held in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility to be arraigned on the charges listed above We have the address for the funeral home & the family on file If you're not happy with your card we'll send a replacement or refund your money The family of Barbara Ruth Cornachione created this Life Tributes page to make it easy to share your memories Barbara Ruth Cornachione (nee Staufenberg) age 81 o.. © 2025 Brunner Sanden Deitrick Funeral Home & Cremation Center Made with love by funeralOne The Dublin Link served as the inspiration for two new ‘riverboxes’ the Dublin Arts Council activated Aug where Dublin artist Don Staufenberg greeted fans of geocaching Like the other 18 riverboxes along the banks of the Scioto River within Dublin’s city limit the two new riverboxes are built into two permanent public-art pieces titled "Equal East" and "Equal West," installed on either bank of the Scioto River The Dublin Link is a pedestrian bridge spanning the river and connecting Bridge Park said the Dublin Arts Council challenged him to use the Dublin Link as a focus to illustrate Dublin’s past and future as the bridge links the city’s historical district to Bridge Park a mixed-use development that continues to build out today “I saw the bridge as the ‘equalizer,’” something that joined both sides and made each equal Staufenberg said each piece of artwork has symbols and materials to illustrate traits of the city The city provided Staufenberg with leftover materials that were used in making the handrails of the Dublin Link The Dublin Historical Society provided him planks from a barn at Coffman Park Dublin East is located at Riverside Crossing Park while its counterpart is at the bottom of the staircase descending from the Bridge Street bridge Both pieces contain one of the city’s current 18 riverboxes Riverboxes are part of the Dublin Arts Council’s continuing participation in geocaching According to geocaching.com geocaching uses global positioning systems usually via a geocaching mobile app on a smartphone to find a “cache,” an object that could be any number of things which remains at the site for others to discover The website also includes an explanatory video on geocaching The first series of six boxes were placed in 2007 and the number of riverboxes has since grown to 18 with the addition of the two new riverboxes Aug The riverboxes first were placed for educational purposes and in response to a community survey in which Dublin residents voiced a desire to learn more about the environment and the ecology of the Scioto River but eventually were converted from 'letterboxes' to also serve as 'caches,' Cooper said Each of the 18 riverboxes is covered with original and unique artwork created by an individual artisan we think ours are unique because they are also public works of art,” Cooper said The Dublin Arts Council publishes a “passport” that contains the name and location of each riverbox in Dublin The location is described in the passport as a worded clue but also includes GPS coordinates and a QR code The passport is available at the offices of the Dublin Arts Council the passport can be presented to the DAC or mailed to receive the organization’s geocoin a specially minted coin to illustrate the completion of the geocaching of the Dublin Arts Council’s riverbox series The Dublin Arts Council hosted the event Aug 20 in conjunction with International Geocaching Day For further information about the Dublin Art Council’s riverbox series, visit dublinarts.org/riverboxes kcorvo@thisweeknews.com Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker there is a well-worn cliché that warns to be wary of an injured player someone who shouldn’t really contend given their physical ailments but who often gets up to win against all odds We’re not sure of Janus Staufenberg’s ability to swing a club but we know for certain it takes more than a little road rash to keep this up-and-coming triathlete down The Dunedin-based Wanaka 23-year-old claimed a maiden elite title at European Premier Cup Holten on Saturday edging Australia teen sensation Bradley Course by 11 seconds to continue his steady ascent up the Kiwi pecking order crossing the line just seconds after the men took the start hooter “We had to put Wels behind us quickly after last Sunday because sport especially triathlon with all its uncontrollable especially when you know you can be competitive up front,” Staufenberg told Triathlon.kiwi.“I had a few extra days out of the pool to allow wounds to heal and the body to recover after the crash It was frustrating but had to be positive for this weekend.”Staufenberg is riding high on confidence just now He hinted at his undeniable talent with second at Oceania Cup Taupo in February pipped by Spaniard David Castro Fajardo in a photo finish and was 10th at World Cup New Plymouth.On Saturday he won the 750m swim 20km bike and 5.5km run sprint in 53:49 with Kiwi teammates Trent Thorpe (54:24) Saxon Morgan (55:56) and Ivan Abele (56:54) claiming 9th “I definitely took confidence from the New Zealand season and being ranked 2nd for the third week in a row has given me a positive mindset to know that if I am there off the bike stayed out of trouble; the good ranking helps that Being on Trent’s feet out of the water is often an indicator you’re near the front Slippery roads from the rain meant I was playing it safely trying to take control by sticking around near the front of the bunch and away from trouble Found my legs early and then I was keen to drive the pace and not leave it for a sprint finish.”Staufenberg gapped Course the 19-year-old who won the recent Oceania Standard Distance Championship in Port Douglas early on the run and held on with a 16:36 split It wasn’t the fastest 5.5km of the day – that belonged to Brit Hugo Milner who ran to 6th with a 15:59 – but Staufenberg’s fourth best of the day split was still impressive and spoke to his relative control of the race from the bike onwards.Next up is a fourth successive weekend of racing at World Cup Tiszaujvaros Kyle Smith and Thorpe and will hope to crack the top 10 to better his best result at the second tier of global triathlon in New Plymouth in late March.“I’m absolutely stoked to put a complete race together here where everything fell into place Time to recover before we go again next weekend.” Ainsley Thorpe (41st) and Brea Roderick (76th) more to do with a lack of racing at the top level as she prioritises her medical studies While van der Kaay and Thorpe are the Kiwi female favourites for Paris the 25-year-old Southlander will want to stay in the selectors thinking by continuing her strong start to 2023 after claiming Oceania Cup bronze in Wanaka and finishing 9th  She’ll get further chances to do just that at the Oceania Triathlon Championships (Standard Distance) in Taupo on April 14 and World Triathlon Cup Wollongong (April 20).Thornbury will face oodles of class in Hong Kong with Summer Rappaport to wear the No.1 bib after finishing 11th in last year’s WTCS rankings A crash in Super League denied the American a chance to race the points rich WTCS Grand Final in Pontevedra so her final ranking in 2023 was perhaps unflattering.The race to represent Team USA in Paris is one of the intriguing subplots in Hong Kong Erika Ackerlund and Katie Zaferes are all desperate for points to join the already qualified Taylor Knibb while Taylor Spivey and Qwen Jorgensen head to the World Triathlon Indoor Cup Lievin in France next weekend.Thornbury will also be wary of Italian Ilaria Zane who so impressively won Oceania Cup Wanaka is eyeing the XXXIV Los Angeles Olympics with renewed relish after placing 5th in a quality field at the Oceania Sprint Championship in Devonport on March 16 It was the Christchurch 23-year-old’s best performance since finishing 8th in the U23 race at the World Triathlon Championships in Abu Dhabi in November 2022 and will give him hope of eclipsing his 22nd place at World Triathlon Cup Napier last month.Morgan is ranked 39th to Staufenberg’s 38th for Hong Kong with the duo sitting 110th and 108th respectively in the World Triathlon Rankings 5th and 6th of the Kiwis behind Hayden Wilde (No.1) Tayler Reid (44th) and Trent Thorpe (78th).Like his partner and fellow Otago Medical School student Thornbury Staufenberg is taking a temporary break from the text books to race Hong Kong The Dunedin-based Wanaka 24-year-old showed his potential with a top campaign during the last European summer highlighted by victory at European Cup Holten and 27th at the World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships in Hamburg later in July.Staufenberg will be keen to recapture some of that form after not quite firing at his two Oceania starts earlier this year – 6th and 23rd at Oceania Cup Wanaka and World Triathlon Cup Napier respectively Japan’s Kenji Nener wears the No.1 bib in a 64-strong field Watch also for a trademark swim lead out from Hungarian Márk Dévay while Luke Willian and Jacob Birtwhistle are match hardened from the recent Oceania campaign finishing second and third respectively behind McCullough.American Matthew McElroy will look to kick on from his silver in his last start at the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games By Kent Gray/Triathlon.kiwiWhile Tayler Reid and Nicole van der Kaay prep for Super League Triathlon’s atypical Saudi Arabian decider Tri NZ’s other power couple are in Japan quietly determined to rachet up the heat on their much-vaunted compatriots as Paris 2024 Olympic Games selection looms Otago Medical School students Olivia Thornbury and Janus Staufenberg are part of a five-strong Kiwi contingent racing World Cup Miyazaki on Saturday  (TriathlonLIVE.tv from 12.50pm NZT) As it is for teammates Dylan McCullough the sprint distance race on the island of Kyushu is a critical experience and Paris qualification points gathering exercise RELATED: Dylan McCullough itching for World Cup Miyazaki return Diving into post-grad medicine this year has been no cinch not while also trying to juggle elite-level training with the busy academic workload It’s also been tricky trying to secure top-level race starts coming out of the pandemic so both are keen to up the ante in Japan it’s always in the back of the mind,” Thornbury said when asked if the 2024 Olympics are on the radar “It’s pretty soon now so we’ll see what happens We can always take a year off or two in between [studying] Next year is similar to what we’ve just done in terms of being at Uni and content learning but a couple of years later we do placement so it could be a good time to take some time off and concentrate on triathlon 100 percent.” Saturday’s races will be the couple’s first starts since Staufenberg finished an eye-catching 11th  in his second World Cup start and Thornbury an eye-opening 44th on debut at Huatulco in Mexico in July They’ll kick on from Japan to Asian Cup Ipoh on November 26 making the most of the Continental Cup race in Malaysia to drag themselves up the world rankings “A lot of the focus this year has just been trying to find the points to get on to start lists so we’ve been kind of choosing and picking where we can get on starts lists so we can slowly progress up the world rankings,” said Staufenberg “This year it didn’t quite work out for us to go to Europe because we didn’t have the points … we would have ended up sitting there and not being able to race as much so hopefully next year we can look to get over there and do some more races the Australia-NZ season is already looking way better so we’ll definitely target that [to collate points for European starts later].” Staufenberg is sure of plenty of support at the Friday night February 17 Oceania Cup sprint race set to start the elite 2023 domestic calendar and headline the wider Challenge Wanaka weekend There is also a Conti Cup and the alluring Oceania Mixed Relay Championship in Taupo on Feb 25-26 plus the return of World Cup New Plymouth on March 26 Staufenberg has warmed up by winning the New Zealand 10km road running title in early September but is glad to be back at it in the three disciplines that was pretty good to get a second World Cup in and just keen to build on that in Japan really,” Staufenberg said making the best of it down in Dunedin’s winter For me probably a limiting factor is just getting some more of those race experiences…just refining the process on race day especially getting use to that swim environment There’s no way you can replicate it except for being in races That’s certainly the case for Thornbury who admits getting “beaten up” during her debut World Cup swim in Mexico “Disappointed to travel so far and not be able to execute a race I know I am capable of and worked so hard towards I’ve learnt loads and had a lot of fun along the way!” Thornbury said on social media afterwards The race in Mexico came a week after the former Verdon College (Invercargill) student made her debut in the Mixed Team Relay at World Triathlon Championship Series Leeds Andrea Hansen (nee Hewitt) and Thornbury finished 12th Lining up on the start line over and over and getting used to that feeling Confidence is a big thing,” said Thornbury “I want to put down a performance [in Japan] I’m proud of to be honest The training has been going really well so If I can put something together on race day that would be awesome top-10 would be fantastic but we’ll see what happens I can only do what I can do but I’ll be giving it my all.” You must be logged in to post a comment For Twins, London-based portrait photographer Alma Haser explores the uncanny bond shared between duplicate individuals. Her models, Mona Ali and Jessica Staufenberg, are not literal twins, but working together on set, they have learned to echo one another in movement and expression. Says Haser, “they now call each other Afro sisters.” The project touches not on the reality of twins but on the theme of twin-ness, with the subjects themselves abandoning individual personas for a harmonious and joint identity. Dressed in the same outfits and isolated against a uniform backdrop, the twins’ bodies become undifferentiated parts of a single seamless formation. In this surreal space, they become alienated from the outside world, existing solely in relation to one another. This image appears in Part 1 of Haser’s project. The upcoming Part 2 is to be set in the an open air, wooded landscape. Twins is a collaboration with Art Director Gemma Fletcher and Stylist Helen Astaire. Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. The discovery shows a professional relationship between two rival musical talents I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice A long-lost musical composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has been discovered in a museum The collaborative effort, a libretto, between Antonio Salieri and Mozart was found tucked away in the reserve collection of the Czech national museum, according to The Local. "It's a joint composition by Mozart and Salieri, a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte put to music," Sarka Dockalova, the museum's spokeswoman, told AFP. Salieri, a key figure in the development of late 18th-century opera, was described by Mozart in various letters as a "favourite" Italian composer of the Emperor of the time, Joseph II, and his rival in musical terms. "It's a really valuable work [...] long thought to have been lost," said Ms Dockalova. According to letters sent to his father, Mozart said "the only one who counts in [the Emperor's] eyes is Salieri." Rumours circulated after Mozart's early death in 1791 that Salieri had poisoned the Austrian composer, which were further compounded by a 1984 film of his life, "Amadeus". The discovery of a co-authored composition would appear to support the long-since dismissed theory that Salieri might have played a role in Mozart's death. Alexander Pushkin's 19th century poetic drama "Mozart and Salieri" had also sought to dramatise the mysterious circumstances surrounding Mozart's death at the age of 35. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image. He led the 10km Otago race from the start with Liam Chesney (Wellington) on his shoulder but, as the speed went on over the final 2km, Chesney was unable to match Staufenberg’s turn of unforgiving pace. Staufenberg crossed the finish in a smart 35min 8sec with Chesney 21sec back in second. As Chesney is registered with the Wellington centre, his silver medal went to third-placed Joel Carman (Hill City-University), who finished in 37min 9sec. Nathan Shanks (Caversham) won bronze in 37min 15sec. It has been a busy year for Staufenberg. Before the world triathlon championships, he was prominent in Oceania triathlon championship races, finishing fifth in the Taupo and New Plymouth events and second in the Mount Maunganui race. In her first race of the year, Margie Campbell (Hill City-University) led the senior women’s field on the same Otago cross-country course from start to finish, winning in 42min 59sec. Campbell saw off the early threat posed by Olivia Thornbury (Leith), who finished second in 43min 47sec. Third was Florence Reynolds (Leith) in 46min 19sec. A competitive race took place in the junior men’s under-20 event , Reuben Beard showing a turn of pace in the final stages to win the 8km title in 28min 23sec. Hill City-University clubmate Luke Clements was second in 29min 17sec, and Grayson Westgate (Ariki) third in 29min 31sec. Becky De La Harpe (Caversham) made her intentions clear early in the race for the 6km women’s under-20 title, leading from the start to cross in 25min 37sec. Caversham clubmate Sophie Shallard was second in 26min 56sec, and Olivia McLachlan third in 28min 23sec. The race of the day was arguably for the women’s under-18 title over 5km. Catherine Lund (Ariki) turned the tables on national secondary schools champion Zara Geddes (Hill City-University), winning in a smart 19min 3sec with Geddes second in 20min 1sec. Kennedy Taylor (St Pauls) was third in 20min 51sec. Local runners to watch in the coming years are the Hill City-University pair of Jake Owen and Matthew Bolter. Both displayed a rapid turn of pace over the 6km course, Owen eventually getting the jump on Bolter to win in 21min 34sec. Bolter crossed for second in 21min 43sec and third was James McLeay (St Pauls) in 22min 13sec. Another highlight of the championship was the run from Jennifer Walker (Ariki), who won the 6km masters women’s title in an impressive 25min 49sec, almost 4min clear of the field. Oliver O’Sullivan (Hill City-University) was equally as impressive in his run to victory in the masters men’s 35 grade over 8km, crossing in a smart 28min 36sec, 2min clear of the Leith pair of Glen Chisholm and Andrew Lonie. The cross-country section of the winter harrier season will conclude with the national cross-country championship in Taupo in two weeks. As social media users in China develop a code to evade censorship filters Jess Staufenberg explores the ways activists around the world are getting their messages heard If you were scrolling through Twitter and saw a post saying "someone is playing hide-and-seek again. These people can grass-mud horse," you might be more than a little mystified. But if, say, you were Chinese, didn't think much of your government, and knew something about fooling its stringent online censors, you may well understand the coded message. To Chinese microbloggers, "hide-and-seek" means there has been a death in police custody. And "grass-mud horse"? It suggests the perpetrators go f*** themselves. These are just two of a number of phrases employed by users of Sina Weibo, the "Chinese Twitter", to dodge censorship filters of the authorities in a state where internet browsing is filtered and mainstream social media such as Twitter and Facebook are blocked. Sina Weibo has more than 500 million users, over a third of the population of China. Around 198 million of these accounts are active, but these users are fettered by many common censorship practices. As well as keyword blacklists, individual users are monitored. Even though there are around 100 million posts a day, researchers found that offending items are taken down very quickly, with 30 per cent disappearing in under half an hour, and 90 per cent deleted within 24 hours. Sina Weibo users have come up with coded phrases to share information and criticise and mock the state, explain Perry Link and Xiao Qiang in their book, Decoding the Chinese Internet: A Glossary of Political Slang. The authors uncover, for Western readers and no doubt Beijing censors too, the meanings behind these underground internet phrases. "Grass-mud horse" in Mandarin sounds similar to the phrase "f*** your mother", enabling users to swear in a Weibo post. When a policeman comes knocking, a Weibo user might warn that someone is "checking the water meter" as it's known that Chinese police officers often pretend they are there to check the meter. When a user account is deleted, Chinese activists say that the account has been "river-crabbed". This word, in Mandarin, sounds like "harmonise", so its use pokes fun at the government's stated reason for censorship – to keep society "harmonious". Dan Wallach, a professor of computer science at Rice University in Texas, says that the phrases could remain undetected in China as long as they didn't go viral. "Once a phrase or misspelling grows sufficiently in popularity, the censors crack down on it everywhere. Historical posts suddenly and quietly disappear," he says. "China has been very vigilant at being able to attach real names to online users. They only have to arrest a few people for the message to be quite clear." Patrick Poon, a researcher on China for Amnesty International, says that many users have turned to private text messaging service WeChat instead. "For some of the activists I know, their Weibo accounts have been deleted more than 10 times. More people tend to use WeChat for private conversations on human rights and political issues now. But some activists and public intellectuals complain that even their public WeChat accounts were blocked after they have posted 'sensitive' content." Humans are as creative about the method of communication as they are about its meaning. In South Korea, 20ft-tall helium balloons have been sent over the border to North Korea. The balloons carry DVDs, USB drives and radios for curious eyes to unpack and upload. In war-torn Syria, a special tech support network has sprung up to help those resisting the government to stay connected. An activist group called Telecomix sends messages for protesters as tweets, as well as sharing access to dial-up internet via its own cryptic tweets. In Europe, tech-savvy activists help other web users dodge draconian laws by setting up bridges to virtual private networks. By downloading a "Tor bridge", an encrypted version of the user is bounced outside of Turkey, allowing them access to an uncensored internet without fear of being tracked down. It's a cat-and-mouse game, says one activist, and the mice are putting up a surprisingly good fight. So the authorities can grass-mud horse, right? So when is the optimal time for each age group to have sex The best time of day for having sex with your partner depends on how old you are there are in fact times of the day when libido is higher depending on whether someone is in their twenties fifties or seventies according to Dr Paul Kelley "Your body clock changes with age, when you feel like waking up. It actually controls every body system and controls every one of the trillion cells in your body," Dr Kelley told the Telegraph. "In most things we've got the timings right, but we haven't accounted for these changes". So when is the optimal time for each age group to have sex? * Twenties - 15:00. Dr Kelley has narrowed down the peak of libido for this age bracket to three o'clock in the afternoon. While they can want sex at any time of the day, there is a peak of sexual energy at this point for the twenty-somethings. * Thirties - 8:20. A shift in body clock at this age means you wake up earlier - so having sex earlier is a good idea. Dr Kelley pinpoints the magic minutes around 8:20 am, when sunlight boosts testosterone in both men and women. * Forties - 22:20. Again, you will feel more alert earlier the older you get, so you need to go to bed earlier. Dr Kelley recommends sex some time after 10pm before you go to sleep. * Fifties - 22:00. As bedtime gets earlier, time for sex does too. The mornings tend to be busier for 50-something-year-olds, Dr Kelley told the Telegraph, so is not an ideal time for intimacy. * Sixties - 20:00. After an orgasm you release oxytocin, which is a wakefulness hormone - and as you go to bed earlier in your late age, you may want to have sex sometime before trying to sleep. * Seventies - 20:00. The same as above is true of 70-year-olds, who should rise earlier around 6:30am and will need to hop into bed earlier too. says expert","description":"So when is the optimal time for each age group to have sex DHL Supply Chain has implemented a fully automated robot picking system at a logistics center in the Lower Saxon municipality of Staufenberg for fashion retailer Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf The automated storage and order fulfillment system is made by robot company Element Logic and covers 6,000m2;; it’s located in one of the five halls at the facility each offering 10,000m2 of space and 50 loading bays It is DHL Supply Chain’s largest facility of this kind The basis of the system is a 16-level-high aluminum framework in which inventory is stacked and stored in 196,000 plastic bins the aluminum framework forms a structure called the grid use the grid to maneuver while picking the items for each individual order fully automatically The goods are then further processed and prepared for shipping by their human counterparts at 21 ports The AutoStore system enables merchandise inventory to be fully monitored and controlled This is to enable customer orders to be processed and shipped with greater speed and reliability The interplay of the flexible and modularly expandible robotics solution with the local employees is intended to reduce throughput times for individual customer orders from order placement to dispatch from the warehouse; simplify operational processes for employees; and increase operating efficiency DHL Supply Chain operates this logistics center for a range of customers The location also ships merchandise to end customers in Austria The center handles inbound new merchandise and returns the warehousing of 3.5 million fashion items and the shipping of the goods to end customers “We are thrilled to facilitate the omnichannel growth of a long-time customer like Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf with the help of this automated solution It enhances our partnership and is an investment in the future success of both our companies E-commerce is one of DHL Supply Chain’s strategic growth sectors The use of this system is another important building block in the expansion of our e-commerce business and automation strategy Staufenberg is an ideal location for this operation in terms of transport connections and offers us a direct link to our sister divisions DHL Paket and DHL Express On average we can deliver 85% of parcels by the next day to recipients in Germany.” “This type of solution enables us to better meet the needs and expectations of our customers And the higher speed and reliability of the system makes it possible for us to easily handle our steadily growing order volumes Our vision is to be the leading multi-brand omnichannel retailer for fashion in Europe by 2026 and AutoStore is an important milestone on that path We’re happy to have DHL Supply Chain as our partner It’s a company with whom we can develop and implement new solutions hand-in-hand.” “That area is the location of what we often call ‘DHL City’ the DHL Paket center and DHL Express center all in one place The logistics sector has been a welcome partner for the town of Staufenberg for years now More from this author The “existential decline” of the adult education sector because of drops in funding status and public awareness of provision is a national tragedy FE Week can reveal a mass move among adult education providers towards fee-paying courses as free languages and creative arts provision is squeezed out; preventative programmes under threat from a new government consultation; and a residential adult provision that believes its specialist funding will be pulled from 2023 It comes at a time when the case for lifelong learning has perhaps never made so much sense A potent combination of the skills shortage laid bare by the pandemic and Brexit people living longer lives and a public largely sick of austerity measures means the timing seems politically ripe Visit either of the main party conferences and you’ll hear “skills” mentioned on repeat Perhaps not since the end of the world wars has the case for lifelong learning seemed so important Adult education – which is delivered by general FE colleges but more broadly by the adult community education sector – could finally get the recognition it deserves The debate rages on between ministers and providers – and the heat has turned up after the government proposed narrowing the ‘outcomes’ it is willing to fund to those only related to employment the adult education sector is no longer engaging anywhere near the number of adults it once was Despite an additional £900 million pledged in last year’s spending review for adult education by 2024–25 total spending on adult education and adult apprenticeships will still be 25 per cent lower in 2024-25 compared to 2010-11 according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies.  is there will be £1 billion less in adult education in 2025 compared to 2010 (and the 2010 level wasn’t even high enough The result of these cuts – also fuelled by the 2013 switch to advanced learner loans for those over 24 studying levels 3 and 4 saddling adults with debt – has been “plummeting participation” in adult education chief executive at the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) It means there has been a 50 per cent fall in adults taking qualifications at level 2 and below alongside a 33 per cent fall in the number of adults taking level 3 qualifications since 2010 that meant about four million “lost learners” according to LWI But adult education also includes non-accredited courses relating to personal growth data on participation is harder to come by – but providers have widely told FE Week they have been forced to introduce fees for formerly free courses and focus their scarce resources on the most vulnerable the adult education budget is about £1.5 billion a year and is divided into two funding lines.  The first is the ‘education and training’ funding line which is for accredited courses and usually covers English and maths with various entitlements to free courses depending on your situation This funding line is delivered by both general FE colleges and adult education community providers.  The second is the ‘community learning’ funding line which covers both accredited and non-accredited courses both free and fee-paying (depending on who and where you are) This funding line is not delivered by general FE colleges but by adult communication education providers only specialist ‘institutes of adult learning’ colleges and charities such as the WEA It’s an especially varied sector encompassing 200 providers But it only has a budget of £215 million a year (almost unchanged since 2005) which amounts to less than one per cent of the entire post-18 education and skills budget (for context 84 per cent of that budget goes to universities).  adult education – and community education particularly – is now a tiny drop in the ocean of the entire education budget of £99 billion a year After the First World War the newly formed ‘ministry of reconstruction’ launches a sub-committee for adult education It calls for ‘extra mural’ departments (meaning ‘outside the walls’) to be set up in every university to engage adults in the community in non-vocational non-accredited courses – a national commitment to adult education for education’s sake Then before the end of the Second World War the 1944 education act empowers local authorities to get more involved in delivery The following 1960s and 1970s are the “heyday” of adult education professor of adult education at Nottingham University trade unions (who often fund their workers’ courses) and community groups The 1980s then bring “enormous change” under a Conservative government with a drive towards employability outcomes the 1992 further and higher education act separates FE and HE funding so breaking up the partnership between the WEA and extra mural departments The 1980s brought enormous change for adult education adult education stops being a ringfenced funding stream for higher education community providers such as local authorities and FE colleges are the main players By 2000 the new adult learning inspectorate is launched (later rolled into Ofsted) with regulations and outcomes continuing to be firmed up the Leitch review of skills argues employers should be directly involved in deciding what the training priorities should be It also says individuals and employers should pay towards any courses which only have a “private benefit”.  The sector does get a welcome 2011 policy document which states that community learning should “develop stronger communities” improve personal confidence and social wellbeing New Chances strategy also calls for public funding to be focused on those most disadvantaged with fees for “people who can afford to pay” there is a rush of reports arguing for a more generous adult education model from 2016 onwards.  mental health” and saves the NHS and social services money.  By 2019, the ‘Centenary Commission’ calls for a clear national strategy for adult education and lifelong learning an Oxford university academic and former civil servant the education select committee produces “A Plan for an Adult Skills and Lifelong Learning Revolution” in 2020 calling for a community learning centre in every town it adds: “The report finds that the Department for Education does not fully grasp the value and purpose of community learning” By contrast the committee dubs community learning the “jewel in the crown” of adult education But the DfE is headed in a different direction.  The “employer-led system” approach is well under way with local skills improvement plans with higher technical skills having been prioritised with free level 3 courses from 2021 (despite the government’s own research revealing in July that many people can’t get onto these courses because they haven’t got lower-level qualifications) And then this summer a funding and accountability consultation quietly announced the “need to re-orientate the vision for non-qualification provision” along three new objectives: employment outcomes for all learners progression into further learning that moves learners closer to the labour market and helping those with special educational needs and disabilities with their personal development The “stronger communities” and “confidence” objectives have both disappeared  Double whammy: review and recruitment FE Week spoke to 16 members of staff in organisations dedicated solely to adult education – institutes of adult learning local authority adult education services and adult community learning providers.  an institute of adult learning college in London Norfolk county council’s adult education centre in Norwich With 93 per cent of the adult community education sector graded Ofsted 1 or 2 it is unsurprising to find some brilliant practice across the board the local authority applied to the government’s community renewal fund and landed £600,000 to develop two new construction skills centres this year It is expecting 900 adult learners to attend the two new sites on non-accredited courses and is working with City & Guilds to develop qualification pathways one learner says he sees the construction skills as a “back up” to his job in computing and he can now do some home DIY without having to pay someone FE Week also met a class of four ESOL learners from Ukraine (the service works with about 500 displaced people) three apprentices on a level 4 accounting apprenticeship and a roomful of older clients learning the ukulele Half of the council’s provision is for education and training the other half is for community learning.  But it is rare for community adult education providers to access capital funds for new premises “Whereas colleges have been able to access pots of capital funding We really need more of that type of funding stream if you want us to be able to respond to the labour market.” especially for construction and in accounting where pay in the industry is so high,” he says the service pays for people to do the level 3 and 4 education and training qualification in teaching training about 12 staff a year this way – but there are still vacancies the Westminster adult education service delivers everything from level 1 to 3 graphic design courses working with partners such as the Royal Palaces and Transport for London to the library information and archive service apprenticeship with the British Library and Tate Modern But other programmes would be under threat from the new objectives proposed in the funding and accountability consultation The council spends 20 per cent of its budget on community learning This includes a course on household finances which “isn’t about getting into work but is about protecting the most vulnerable helping them improve their credit rating,” says Edeh.  there’s a course on how to use your phone – so people can access services online but not necessarily find employment – and a programme called ‘Brave’ which “helps parents spot signs of radicalisation “Community education is rarely in the first instance about getting into work,” Edeh adds “All of that would be under threat from this review.” At Lewisham council in south London, the local authority delivers a mental health course called Mindlift for £100,600 a year, which Sidra Hill-Reid, head of adult learning, says helps ease pressures on the NHS But as the local authority’s transition data for all its courses shows 76 per cent progress into other adult education courses and only four per cent straight into employment so she again fears the provision could be under threat “That lovely outcome around ‘building communities’ isn’t in there anymore,” she worries recruitment of staff is also a big problem “They jump to an FE college where they can get a permanent contract which is understandable,” continues Hill-Reid.  Staff jump to an FE college to get a permanent contract The last government pay survey shows that teachers in adult education are paid £17,500 a year on average compared to £27,000 in colleges – a huge gap an adult education tutor with the WEA who delivers confidence-building courses says her job is “very rewarding” but not paid “what it deserves”.  such as how to plan a day-trip focused on strengthening family relationships wouldn’t clearly fall under the consultation’s new objectives Multiple providers tell FE Week their family learning programmes feel particularly under threat from the review But aside from the threats to their existing courses providers also warn about the ongoing issue of fees where 65 per cent of adult education is community learning Of its £4 million in income for adult education last year 12 per cent (£470,000) came from residents paying fees of which £167,600 were for community learning courses there were such significant cuts to funding that local authorities had to make tough decisions about who they were going to target,” explains Hill-Reid adding fees from wealthier residents are used to subsidise courses for their poorer neighbours But residents “still come through who say ‘I can’t afford this’ “There is a gap in provision for those who earn over the London living wage but still can’t afford to do this stuff.” Adults are reluctant to take on learner loans Community learning fees are also rising at the council: from £6 on average an hour (£3 when subsidised) last year to £6.50 (and £3.25) this year Similarly at Bristol city council about a quarter of income for adult education comes from fees bringing in £378,000 a year (though all community learning is kept free) The most expensive course is £253 for 36 hours – with the reduced fee usually 70 per cent of the full fee – and the least expensive £12 “What about all these other people on low incomes we don’t have the funding for that,” she says “It means that languages and arts are not so widely available.” Languages and arts are now not widely available She adds: “In days gone by we had more adult education centres in Bristol Meanwhile at Birmingham adult education service the council has seen its fee income drop because of the need to focus staff and resources on courses for the poorest residents “As we are reengineering the curriculum to offer more to the most disadvantaged we’re getting less from fees,” explains Ilgun Yusuf Whereas the council got £1.4 million in fees in 2016-17 “Of course we need to make sure we’re not using public funds for courses people can afford we have to prioritise certain things,” continues Yusuf I call it the existential decline of adult education.” We also spoke to five colleges: four institutes of adult learning and one general FE college Two are the only residential adult education colleges left in the country taking some of the most vulnerable learners in the Yorkshire area (Northern College) and West Midlands (Fircroft College) Other residential colleges have closed or merged which have relatively small incomes of only £4 million and £2.6 million respectively have been threatened for several years with the removal of their funding uplift for residential placements which is worth 4.7 times the base funding rate Now, FE Week can reveal that Northern College says it has been told by the ESFA “not to expect residential funding from DfE” from 2023-24.  “That’s massive for us,” says principal Yultan Mellor “It would be a very silly move to whip away residential funding next year when the market has bounced back and we are oversubscribed.” She has even reduced the length of residential stays from a full week to three days because “so many people need to work as well as study” This has doubled residential placement availability adds: “Residential provision is unique because it’s a wraparound experience for our most vulnerable adults.” Half of her students declare a mental health need when they enrol “We can’t just expect that type of adult to succeed on a limited set of outcomes.” A DfE spokesperson said no decision on residential adult education funding had been made Less residential provision has also reduced the space where people could learn how to transform their communities assistant professor in educational leadership and management at Nottingham University the working-class MPs Dennis Skinner and John Prescott both went to residential colleges (now closed) and on to Parliament The focus on individual health and wellbeing overlooks the importance of social and political education who also sat on the 2019 centenary commission “It’s not about individual social mobility but about returning to your own community and enacting change That small ‘p’ political purpose is being lost.” vice principal for curriculum and standards at John Ruskin College says adult learner numbers “are not the same as they were” due to funding cuts “We’ve had to focus on competency-based offers rather than the more diagnostic work that is more exploratory and will help someone decide what they might like to do.” During the pandemic colleges found it so hard to spend their adult education budgets that 103 institutions had to return money to the government Finally, FE Week’s tour around the sparkling facilities at City Lit in London revealed fantastic children’s illustration exhibitions a classics and American history departments “Adult education is a way to find respite from the day-to-day,” explains principal Mark Malcolmson.  Adult education is a way to find respite from the day-to-day “But my biggest worry is adult education could get priced out very expensive.” His institution doesn’t have sliding fees but does have bursaries and instalment payments for some programmes But the pressure is on: the college’s fee income dropped from £10.1 million prior to the pandemic to £7.4 million in 2020-21 is now back on track to producing more than half its income through enrolment fees Experts are clear – the current situation is serious Sixty-three per cent fewer adults are in literacy and numeracy classes now than in 2010 a complete crisis,” says chief executive Stephen Evans.  He adds: “The other depressing statistic is it’s not just about government spending Employers are spending 28 per cent less on employee training than in 2005.” There have been good policies – the apprenticeship levy Multiply and devolution – which just need tweaks should also be accompanied by “much simpler eligibility criteria” so people are less confused A big government push for greater awareness of adult education is also needed head of education at the Centre for Social Justice Research shows degree-educated people are more likely to know about adult education than those without “So what opens up is this cumulative learning gap,” says Wilcock she calls for a “lifelong learning strategy that starts at foundation level not level 3” and “a place to tell people centrally about what opportunities are open to them” Community providers must also be brought to the table to help determine local skills improvement plans More high-quality career coaches in both adult education colleges and services could be a good idea There is one career coach at Bristol city council Do such roles need to be more widespread to aid transition into work director of community learning at Morley College believes “simple and effective ways to measure the impact” of adult education holistically is genuinely possible He sits on a government working group on how such outcomes might be measured (although it’s not clear whether it will continue under the new government) The next battle is the funding and accountability consultation “I honestly think that a society that doesn’t look after itself is headed for a massive disaster.” Richmond and Hillcroft Adult & Community College Engagement should be the first priority in cognitive assessment An engaging assessment is an inclusive assessment — when cognitive.. Skills Bootcamps are evolving as funding moves to local control and digital skills trends shift Are you struggling with T Level curriculum and implementation "Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement" - Hattie and Timperley 2007 Mary Ward Settlement had 'serious' cash problems and has been ordered to improve But not all councils are aware of the DfE's plans Up to two-thirds axed from devolved procured budgets Funding will prioritise ‘essential sectors’ when allocations are released next month and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" and peaks and troughs in funding follow which Government is in power 2010 is often used as the benchmark for funding and numbers (change of Gov) but that followed a decade of significant funding increases Using it as the pivot point to make a case simply politicises the debate and guarantees that the Gov won’t budge The sector needs to be assessed with robust metrics looking at volumes (reach and need) funding per learner hour (efficiency) and wider outcomes (impact) Let the politicians of the time decide whether it’s public funding or paid for by the individual the product needs to be saleable either to Government or individuals If it isn’t saleable to both then a change of Government will always be an issue and it is a failure of leadership not to recognise and respond to that Adult learning accounts are suggested by some (ie Government underwritten loans) Loans put the less affluent at a numerical disadvantage eroding social mobility and widening the ever growing wealth gap Calling for loans and saying it’s for the benefit of the individual is sleight of hand Great article on Adult Education Jess….bottom line is the DfE/Government do not want educated adults capable of critical analysis..they want a skilled and compliant workforce jewellery-making and ceramics courses create educated adults capable of critical analysis The taxpayer shouldn’t fund people’s hobbies ‘the taxpayer shouldn’t fund peoples hobbies’ That is how govt sells community education for adults that isn’t linked to employment Since 2005 cuts to FE (the New Labour govt started cutting back funding as part of a general package of cuts to the Public sector) and the sector in disarray as govt pursues a narrow furrow of everything having a visible outcome Not content of course with throwing the sector to the wolves in 1992 (incorporation – ie forcing Colleges out of LEA control) after foisting on it the internationally criticised NVQ’s govt has made the ‘Cinderella’ sector the ‘pauper’ sector as costs have been transferred to learners along with the decline caused by govt demanding one on the one hand higher takeup of their poorly policed ‘apprenticeships’ and yet refusing to provide additional funding on the other What govt and their targets (hi Mrs s) fail to understand (or care) is that non employment based courses provided a way for older learners in particular My older students gave a very good reason why – because by being stimulated How many of the thousands of older students lost as successive govts slashed funding to ‘unimportant’ courses from 2005 onwards the cost to country and that elusive taxpayer (who never gets mentioned when govt isn’t wasting billions on daft projects or paying into its pals bank accounts) will run up a tab exponentially higher than funding courses at £5000 a year Become a subscriber and stay up to date with the latest breaking news and industry discussion Website by Creative Sponge Unhealthy eating overall contributes to more deaths than any other factor - because they can lead to ischemic heart disease Unhealthy eating has been named as the most common cause of premature death around the globe, new data has revealed. A poor diet – which involves eating too few vegetables, fruits, nuts and grains and too much red meat, salt and sugar - was shown to be a bigger killer than smoking and alcohol. But for the UK, unhealthy eating is still pipped to the top spot of high-risk factors in early death by smoking. Low levels of activity are at number 5, and alcohol use is at number 9. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in the US has found that high blood pressure, to which diet, exercise and obesity are key factors, is the biggest cause of premature death in countries across the world. And unhealthy eating overall, characterised by high consumption of red meat and sugar-sweetened beverages, contributed to more deaths than any other factor - because they contribute towards ischemic heart disease, strokes and diabetes. The study was the most recent update on the 2010 report on the Global Burden of Disease, considered the most authoritative work on the causes of ill-health. “There’s great potential to improve health by avoiding certain risks like smoking and poor diet as well as tackling environmental risks like air pollution," IHME director Dr Christopher Murray told The Guardian. “The challenge for policymakers will be to use what we know to guide prevention efforts and health policies.” Data from 108 countries from 1990 to 2013 was used in the study, and the number of risk factors in premature deaths was increased from 67 to 79, to provide a broader study. Happily, in the UK all the risk factors have decreased since 1990 - with the exception of alcohol, which has increased by 9.5% over that time. Blood pressure and cholesterol saw the biggest drop, at about 55% each. High-income countries tended to have smoking as their number one cause of premature death. In India and elsewhere in south and south-east Asia, air pollution was a leading problem. In Latin America and the Middle East, meanwhile, obesity came out as the biggest risk for poor health. But sub-Saharan Africa has a different pattern of risks from the rest of the world. Its combination of childhood undernutrition, unsafe water, unsafe sex and alcohol use is unseen to the same degree elsewhere. The eagles appear to take the drone to their nest to examine it A video has emerged showing two eagles attacking a drone and flying it back to their nest The recreational drone was being flown for fun by Patrick Pircher in Austria when two birds of prey swooped into sight and snatched the toy As the DJI Phantom 3 drone flies over mountains and forest scenery two eagles begin circling the piece of equipment They soon grab the drone in their talons and appear to carry it to the ground and then their nest It is turned over several times by the inquisitive birds providing up-close views of their feathers and beaks Eventually the pair realise the gadget is not food and leave the machinery on the ground Mr Pircher was apparently able to find his drone, and the eagles were unharmed owing to the drones flexible blades, according to WhatsTrending. Non-disclosure agreements and confusing freedom of speech policies are silencing college staff with potentially valid insights and criticism of the sector Multiple current and former college staff who have signed NDAs as both employers and employees say their use tends to be automatic and unquestioned across FE – and could cover up discrimination against minority groups.  the huge variation in freedom of speech policies for staff wishing to share their professional opinion in public forums means some risk losing their jobs while others are encouraged to share.   It comes as part of an FE Week investigation revealing data on NDA use and the content of media engagement policies in colleges for the first time.  We sent Freedom of Information requests to 60 colleges – the 20 largest and 20 smallest colleges by ESFA funding allocation – to get a spread of responses across college sizes It shows the use of NDAs affects only a small percentage of staff in colleges as a general rule 111 staff signed confidentiality agreements in 2021-22 equivalent to 0.5 per cent of the total staff employed a rate not much changed from 2018-19.  the biggest increases in use of NDAs and confidentiality settlements between 2018-19 and 2021-22 was at Leeds College of Building (from 0.5 to 1.5 per cent of staff Luminate Education Group in Yorkshire (from 0.1 to 1.1 per cent of staff or from one to 20 people) and Capel Manor College (from none to 0.8 per cent of staff However these figures will include confidentiality clauses that are routine in many settlement agreements and not necessarily targeted ‘non-disclosure’ or gagging clauses despite the small proportion of individuals affected staff claim that the route to non-disclosure agreements is often too quick and their impact on both individuals and the sector unconstructive.  and signed an NDA with an employee last year says NDAs “don’t serve anyone particularly well”.  Firstly “there’s a history of them being used for failed chief executive staff and then that can just lead to people popping up elsewhere” This is also true of poorly performing employees who “might go off sick and stop engaging.”  which provides full-time sick pay for the first six months if the employee threatens an employment tribunal “it really raises the stakes” with colleges unsure if they may end up paying out £20,000 or £200,000 (the amount is uncapped if a discrimination claim is won).  “You can end up paying people more than they should get,” says the college leader It means colleges are often “strongly advised” to offer an NDA – including an agreed reference for their next job.  They’re familiar tools to HR practitioners Those are often the three people sitting in the room.”   there is a “tyranny” of NDAs in further education how do you manage sector quality when no one is allowed to talk about it?”  how do you manage sector quality when no one is allowed to talk about it The issue of NDAs has attracted attention from MPs and government too.   In 2019, the women and equalities committee said it was “particularly concerned that some employers are using NDAs to avoid investigating unlawful discrimination and harassment complaints”.  the government said NDAs must not include “provisions” that prevent or imply that someone cannot pass information to the police The move led universities to commit to a pledge not to use NDAs with students who bring sexual harassment claims in January this year.  But the issue of poor performance doesn’t seem to have been resolved under this clarification. It is more clearly touched upon in 2015 Cabinet Office guidance on settlement agreements which states: “Settlement agreements should not be used to cover up individual or organisational failure”.  a former college leader who issued NDAs and been subject to one “If someone were to wrongly raise allegations against a college after being dismissed then surely the college has remedies under libel and slander law?” he asks.  “It’s almost now seen by many HR lawyers as standard practice as if it’s just the preferred route to go down I’m not sure if anyone’s really thought through properly why we do this.”  I’m not sure if anyone’s really thought through properly why we do this Forbes says NDAs are also being used to cover up discrimination despite the government’s rhetoric that this is not acceptable.  “There is such a lack of transparency it is difficult to evaluate but I suspect this is having a bad effect for staff from black and minority ethnicity backgrounds The danger is NDAs stop the discussion and debate around that.”  FE Week heard of three examples of college leaders signing non-disclosure agreements and having to leave their jobs in circumstances they believe may have been related to discrimination.  says he was on the senior leadership team of a college where the principal was bullying a female member of the SLT.  “My colleague came to see me and she was in floods of tears and I said I will try and put a stop to it She was on the verge of a breakdown.”  But the principal said not to get involved and continued to bully the female colleague in the end I contacted the chair of governors He told the principal that he needed to retire.”  But in the final months before the principal retired he threatened to fire the senior leader who had alerted the chair of governors unless he left with an NDA and who had also been “whistle-blowers” to governors about the principal and I got booted out for trying to resolve the issue I had tried to stand up for a female member of staff and I lost my job.”  The governors should have set up a formal investigation into the discrimination claims against the principal says their chair of governors wanted to remove them with an NDA after they were prevented from attending college every day by a long-term health condition.  Their lawyer said they had a case for discrimination on disability grounds “But I decided not to pursue it as the courts were backed up two years and it could cost up to £50,000.”  Trade unions such as UCU offer legal services for tribunals free of charge but do not cover the costs of any costs or damages awarded against union members The former leader says the chair’s move came after they had tried to improve minority ethnicity representation on the governing board “It does seem to me there is conscious or unconscious bias,” they added.   says their career was “ended” when they challenged their chair of governors over their persistently derogatory remarks about female managers They reported the behaviour to the college’s lawyers but later received a call from the same lawyers saying the chair had lost confidence in them as chief executive and they needed to sign an NDA and leave.  “I went for a couple of CEO jobs afterwards and I don’t know if they’d found out what happened but I felt on both occasions I’d got no chance Like multiple other members of staff FE Week spoke to the former CEO says misuse of NDAs is worsened by chairs being too unaccountable.  This particular chair had built a little powerbase on the board Another former college principal says they and their chair of governors were told to resign by the FE Commissioner’s office when the college got two ‘requires improvement’ Ofsted outcomes and a financial notice to improve.  The chair resigned but the principal refused: “It’s not standard practice to remove a principal for a ‘requires improvement’ judgment.”  A monitoring inspection found improvements and the following year the college moved into a surplus position But the new chair of governors offered the principal “two press releases – one saying nice things if you settle they considered an unfair dismissal claim – but “that could have cost me £30,000 Colleges should be accountable to the local authority and not governing bodies so if there is an issue with governance or the FE commissioner there is an official route for escalation within a public body In a 2020 report entitled ‘Voices of the Shamed’ the now-closed Further Education Trust for Leadership echoed the above concerns It said “the regulator seems to put pressure on governing boards to collude in a diagnosis” of weak leadership adding “non-disclosure agreements prevents challenge An independent office for college staff to raise concerns about governors is needed “It would be better to have a system like they have in Scotland and Wales where chairs of governors are public appointments and have to be ratified by the education department,” he says.  Improving the expertise of governors is in the Department for Education’s sights The skills for jobs white paper states the government wants “strong expectations” that corporation board members “undergo suitable training” and also recruit more minority ethnic board members.  But while the paper calls for better governor expertise around finance and estates it doesn’t mention expertise around good HR and staff development practice.  senior advisor for college leadership at ASCL says governors unhappy with a principal’s performance should have procedures in place to ensure their concerns are “watertight” before acting.  “The chair might make a complaint to a committee and a committee of governors would need to check that the chair’s complaint was correct An appeals procedure should allow a principal to challenge the action against them and they can also involve their union.  Confidentiality agreements also should not prevent whistleblowing senior associate solicitor at law firm Irwin Mitchell also lawyers for the Association of Colleges.  a ‘qualifying disclosure’ about an organisation can always be made if it is “in the public interest” and shows one or more of the following has occurred or is likely to occur: a criminal offence; failing in a legal obligation; a miscarriage of justice; threat to health and safety and environmental damage.  Discriminatory activity would fall under failing a legal obligation But the “public interest” element means it “has to affect more than one individual” an individual can’t “blow the whistle on their own treatment” after signing an NDA and instead “it’s about things that have a wider impact”.  Mulrey would advise caution to an employee who has signed a settlement agreement.  “They would need to be pretty confident that the disclosures they were making were clearly permitted under the terms of the contract if they wanted to whistle blow.”  Muddying matters further is disagreement around what staff should be able to speak and write in public spaces College staff have raised concerns about being prevented from publishing written articles despite not using hate speech or evidently bringing the college into disrepute a member of staff reports they lost their job over the issue.  It comes as FE Week can reveal only a few colleges have a clear media policy with the majority only having social media policies.  We asked 60 colleges to provide their stated policy or contractual terms around staff expressing their opinions in a public space such as in the media or on a panel discussion.  only six had policies with explicit instructions on media engagement: Hereward College College of West Anglia and Sheffield College.  Hereward College in the West Midlands says “employees should not speak give interviews or take telephone calls for information relating to the college” “any staff directly approached by the members of the news media should re-route all enquiries to the head of media relations”.  But this advice largely imagines that a staff member has been approached by a journalist to comment or make a statement.  Only three of the media engagement policies are clear about whether a member of staff may write a piece with their own views that can then be published in the media or elsewhere that isn’t social media.  East Coast College states that staff who wish to write in the media “on any aspect of the college’s affairs” must obtain permission in advance the question remains what does and doesn’t count as college affairs.  the writer must not be associated with the college group’s name to publish something If “staff publish any material that explicitly mentions the group or one of its brand by name” or even if “it is well known in the sector that a member of staff works for the college” then college approval is needed beforehand there is a mish-mash of approaches to public speaking and writing Staff are required to hazard a guess from across social media policies codes of conduct and their contract of employment.  Harlow College and Leeds College of Building) all provided the same wording from a paragraph in employee contracts of employment.  It states staff must not share confidential college information but “affirms that academic staff have freedom within the law to question and test received wisdom relating to academic matters”.  They may also “put forward new ideas and controversial or unpopular opinions about academic matters without placing themselves in jeopardy or losing their jobs and privileges”.   says they thought they were covered by this general principle of academic freedom – and the legal right to freedom of expression – when they wrote an opinion blog sharing their thoughts on pedagogy and policy.  summoned them to a disciplinary investigation.   “The senior leaders were making remarkable accusations about the reputational damage and how it could impact the future funding of the college It’s like saying the DfE are a corrupt organisation,” they said the blog had “circulated in professional circles and been positively received.  It was just part of the culture of the place you know you’re in a position where there isn’t a future ahead of you.”  The staff member was asked to take voluntary severance pay and now works elsewhere in the sector.  you would expect them to contribute to academic debates You wouldn’t expect them to go through marketing every time.”  They add: “It’s restricting your own professional development and your professional profile if you’re not allowed a voice You want to put that kind of thing on your CV or LinkedIn.”  Another member of staff in a different region of the country published an opinion blog about their profession – one they say was signed off by two line managers.  they say college leaders emailed them condemning the article in “strong words” The staff member says they met with HR to ask questions.  are you saying no to publishing anything ever we should be training our students to articulate their arguments freely But we seem to promote the opposite for our staff.  “I’ve been angry and shocked about it,” they add I don’t want to be a person who doesn’t wish to be named.”  FE Week can reveal the college attended by the above staff member is one of the many who provided us with their ‘freedom of speech’ policy.  These policies state the college’s commitment to freedom of speech as enshrined in law by the European Convention on Human Rights and Human Rights Act 1998.  But sometimes other college guidelines seem contradictory the code of conduct at one college group says “employees have academic freedom within the law…to put forward new ideas or controversial or unpopular opinions”.  says employees must not post anything “critical of the college” or “contradictory” to the college website and advises they “avoid arguments” online.  senior associate solicitor at Irwin Mitchell says her team is seeing increasing enquiries about staff expressing a written view.  it seems a pretty harsh response,” she says of the employee who says they lost their job over their opinion blog.  “Sometimes we have to challenge clients to some degree as theirs can be a knee-jerk reaction Employers might say ‘this is damaging to our reputation’ without any evidence to suggest the reputation has been damaged That must be proven to justify a fair dismissal.”  which is a non-departmental public body that provides advice around employment rights “When establishing media engagement policies employers should agree the details with employees and employee representative groups,” adding policies should be “reviewed regularly”.  By Kent Gray/Triathlon.kiwiLargely lost in the hullabaloo surrounding Dylan McCullough’s runaway hooter-to-tape victory at the Oceania Sprint Championships a week ago was Saxon Morgan’s equally momentous 5th place result.On Sunday the 23-year-old Cantabrian enjoyed the limelight all to himself with 10th at World Triathlon Cup Hong Kong It was career-best result poured on top of his breakout performance in Devonport and showed Morgan might just be ready to fulfil the promise he showed by finishing 8th in the U23 race at the 2022 World Championships in Abu Dhabi.Morgan’s 54:24 effort was backed-up by a solid 16th place from fast-finishing Kiwi team-mate Janus Staufenberg in 54:35 Staufenberg clocked 15:42 to Morgan’s 16:19 for the 5km run by found himself with too much ground to make-up after missing the initial bike breakaway The Wanaka 24-year-old’s partner and fellow Otago Medical School student Olivia Thornbury was a disappointed 26th in the women’s race won by Brit Sian Rainsley from Americans Katie Zaferes and Kirsten Jasper from a parochial Team NZL standpoint at least  “I probably rate that my best result in terms of quality of field I was ranked 39th coming into it so to come out 10th I was super stoked,” Morgan told Triathlon.kiwi after Alberto Gonzalez Garcia and Antonio Serrat Seoane had made it a Spanish 1-2 in Hong Kong ahead of Japan’s Kenji Nener The result eclipsed Morgan’s previous World Cup best of 22nd in Napier last month and continued an encouraging 2024 trend after 15th place in his final U23 Worlds appearance in Pontevedra last September was small consolation for a challenging 2023 results wise “I was coming into this race with a fair amount of confidence from last week in Devonport I’m a very confidence-based athlete and once I have a few good results under my belt I seem to carry that on throughout the next few races so really happy to come home with 10th.”Has there been a change-up in your off-season training regime “I haven’t changed anything with [coach] John Hellemans specifically week-in and week-out and it’s finally starting to pay off now,” he said super stoked with the last two races and hopefully more to come It’s a big confidence kick leading into Taupo next and then Wollongong so hoping to really step it up in those two.”Taupo will host the Oceania Triathlon Championships on April 14 a week before the final Down Under World Cup of the season in Wollongong on April 20 While others are chasing critical Paris Olympic Games qualification points He’s also mindful a string of three good results don’t make a season.“Yeah Los Angeles [the XXXIV Olympiad in 2028] is still my goal and just slowly starting to work my way towards that Still a long way to go and still a lot to more improvement to be done to be anywhere near that but Morgan’s World Triathlon Ranking of 110th will certainly improve when the weekly re-ranking is published on Tuesday morning NZT.A solid week of training at the Hong Kong Sports Institute post Devonport helped him stay connected to the leaders out of water and then pull plenty of big turns on the front of a breakaway pack on the bike quickly whittled down to 12  “I got a little bit swum over at the start but found some clear water and managed to come out towards the front of the race and got in the breakaway of about 12-15 guys and we all worked pretty solidly together.“Came off the bike just ran past my bike [station] and had to run back again into the traffic a little bit but found my rhythm on the first K and a half of the run and felt alright I got pretty hot halfway through the run and definitely faded between K three and four but managed to pull myself together for the last K and hold onto 10th.“That’s my best World Cup result for sure.” never recovered from a slow start in the swim It was more invaluable learning to tack on encouraging bronze medal and 9th place finishes at Oceania Cup Wanaka and World Cup Napier respectively as she and Staufenburg also eye Taupo and Wollongong.“Not my best today body didn’t quite fire how I would’ve liked it to,” Thornbury said.“Got caught up in the carnage of the swim so hadn’t set my race up like I had intended Kept fighting till the end…it was very hot out there.“I’ll take a lot away from today in what was a world class field I’m grateful for the valuable experience which I will take into the next race.” Full results are available HERE. The image was likely the result of an optical illusion known as a 'Fata Morgana' - or a Photoshopped hoax Extraordinary cloud formations over two cities in China appear to have created an apparition of a floating city Footage of the phenomenon appears to show towerblock-like formations over the city of Foshan in the Guandong province of China apparently bringing many people to a standstill in the street It reportedly lasted only a few minutes before disappearing Experts said the phenomenon, a video of which was shown on Chinese television, was a common optical mirage, according to The Inquisitr. Some internet users claimed the footage was evidence of "Project Blue Beam technology" based on a conspiracy theory that Nasa will at some point attempt to simulate the second coming of Christ or an alien invasion Online commentator Julie Wagoner said: "In my opinion HAARP and Project Blue Beam could all have a little something to do with this We just never know because the media only tells what the "elite" allow to be told I am certain there are those of you who know what and who I am referring to when I say ,"elite" This is definitely something we will be seeing more of." What if it really is a city from a parallel universe But such outlandish suggestions were dismissed by experts who say the visages are a trick of the eye resulting from warm and cold weather bending light so that objects appear higher and larger than they really are Doubt was also cast on the validity of the video which was the only apparent source available with others claiming it had been Photoshopped One such mirage phenomenon is called a Fata Morgana where the image of an object or objects is distorted from its original appearance as to be almost unrecognisable It occurs because rays of light are bent when they pass through air layers of different temperatures The clouds resembling skyscrapers in China did not emit any light, but were dark and grey. In the first of a new investigative series journalist Jess Staufenberg takes a closer look at the state of pay in further education – where staff get on average £9,000 less than their colleagues in schools the sector’s union and membership association all join Jess to discuss this red-hot topic…as living costs keep climbing Join us next month for the episode two – you can subscribe across all platforms Come and inspect the inspectorate with The FE Week Podcast Education journalist Jess Staufenberg speaks to former inspectors often stuck in legal limbo – refugee and asylum-seeking students.. Is device use seriously negatively affecting student learning education journalist Jess Staufenberg explores disability – or differing ability – and what it means as.. And what is the situation with device poverty The FE Week Podcast looks at the use of phones social media and more among students and staff – from all angles of the debate Tune in with education journalist Jess Staufenberg as she chats to psychologists staff and students on the frontline as they spill the beans and shine a light on this big More from this author Education has “not done anything” to improve social mobility and has made inequality worse according to the education economist Stephen Machin Speaking at a debate held by the Sutton Trust on Wednesday in central London Machin said education had been a “dequaliser” because it benefited rich pupils more “Education has not been the great leveller It’s either done nothing for social mobility or it has reinforced existing inequalities.” Time at school strengthened the link between pupils and their family backgrounds a professor at the London School of Economics meaning more rich pupils ended up in higher education There is a danger this aspect of education would get lost in our disappointment that it’s not a route for social mobility There have been some “minor improvements” in school outcomes but “in terms of the bigger picture these are not really that important” professor of education at the University of Cambridge said the government would have to “disproportionately” invest in poor pupils’ education to help them to get high-status jobs and wages She suggested removing the subsidy for childcare for higher earners directing the money instead towards poor children in early years she predicted that “you would see the middle and upper classes continue to outstrip any investment the state could make” It comes as a report by the Sutton Trust showed an increasing public pessimism about social mobility 53 per cent of respondents said “people have equal opportunities to get ahead” But 2,000 respondents to an Ipsos MORI survey have faith in the capacity of comprehensive schools to enable social mobility with 47 per cent backing high-quality schools over other educational alternatives Vignoles said poorer children were already left behind by primary school and continued to “divide” according to family income throughout school until they got lower grades This meant that many of the “policy levers” used to help poorer pupils achieve would fail as family background continued to dominate while it was “also true” that poorer children earned a “high return” from investments they put in education rich children on average benefited from education more But Vignoles said education enhanced “lives and skills” and should “not be given up on” “There is a danger this aspect of education would get lost in our disappointment that it’s not a route for social mobility.” Schools must concentrate on teaching pupils skills for weathering a new technological era of jobs […] Staufenberg, J. (2017, July 16). Education has ‘done nothing’ to improve social mobility. Retrieved from Learning and Skills Events Consultancy and Training: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/education-has-done-nothing-to-improve-social-mobility/ […] You are not permitted to download, save or email this image. Visit image gallery to purchase the image With the temperatures set to reach 27degC in the afternoon an early morning start was a win for competitors in the Gate Lake Dunstan Triathlon and Duathlon The event was part of the Cromwell Summer Series Organiser Bill Godsall said he was pretty happy with the day The first group set off at 8am for the Olympic-distance triathlon involving a 1.5km swim and 40km bike ride It was a hard course and the last competitor in the Olympic-length section crossed the line nearly four hours after starting Among the athletes in that group were two members of the New Zealand high-performance triathlon team - Janus Staufenberg and Olivia Thornbury Both have just completed their second year of medicine at the University of Otago while competing in triathlons internationally and at home It was a workload that took some balancing Mr Godsall said the great thing about the event was all ages could compete There were a couple of school teams in the shorter triathlon and being able to compete at an event with athletes such as Mr Staufenberg and Miss Thornbury was huge for beginners Christchurch couple Francesca and Chris Kappely entered the duathlon and both were competing for the first time Mr Kappely said they were holidaying in Wanaka and his wife had found out the race was on They regularly cycled and ran for fitness and his wife had been wanting to compete for some time Olympic triathlon: Open male - Janus Staufenberg Sprint triathlon: Open male - Laurie Watson Paralympian Anna Grimaldi is in some sort of form Grimaldi set a national record at the international track meet in Christchurch on February 6 But at the Otago Championships at the Caledonian Ground at the weekend she went past that Her three successful jumps all went further than the previous record Her other two successful jumps 5.76m and 5.86m Grimaldi (24) won the senior women’s competition with that mark of 5.91m well ahead of Palmer twins Leonie and Joccoaa Leonie recorded 4.99m while Joccoaa was just back on 4.95m starting with a long jump record set in Dunedin in October She is moving into top form with the national championships set for next month in Hawke’s Bay and the Paralympics later in the year The Staufenberg family recorded a 1500m double Janus won the 1500m men’s event and younger brother Leo won the under-20 1500m There was an intriguing competition in the javelin in which Anton Schroder threw 56.45m in the senior men’s competition to finish in front of Ethan Walker Tony Tan set Otago masters records in the 55 year age-group in the 60m The pair returned to their medical studies at the University of Otago — and running as representatives of the Dunedin Leith club — in mid-June after three months of intensive racing on the world triathlon circuit and contesting elite grades at the World Cup in Huatako Both had an immediate impact on the local harrier scene Thornbury (24) finishing runner-up in the senior women’s section of the Otago cross-country and Staufenberg (23) winning a fourth consecutive senior men’s title Having missed the past two seasons with an Achilles injury Thornbury topped the podium on the Mt Maunganui leg of the Oceania Triathlon Cup series in April and on Saturday was again at the top of the Otago road race who took to an early lead and continued to stamp her authority on the women’s field to finish the 10km event in 37min 26sec almost 5min clear of second-placed Hannah Kempf (Timaru 42min 8sec) and third-placed Laura Bungard (Caversham Thornbury said the weather and track conditions were ideal for helping her to achieve the goals she set for herself pre-race "I’m in off-season [for triathlon] at the moment while training for a couple of world cups the first one coming up in October [in South Korea]," she said "So it was good training in aiming towards those triathlons "It’s really good to be back and [this result] shows the training is paying off." Staufenberg hit his straps early on to get clear from the field He seemed to cruise to victory in 31min 14sec more than 2min clear of second placed Finn Molloy (Hill City-University) "That was a good hit-out," Staufenberg said at the finish adding that he thought the course was good for a fast 10km Although in off-season training mode with a focus on world and Oceania elite triathlon racing over the summer months ahead although almost 2min down on his personal best for 10km of 29min 40sec I think there was a bit of wind coming back Staufenberg has made some "good gains" in his running in recent times and is looking at contesting the national road championships in Upper Hutt early next month National secondary schools cross-country champion Zara Geddes (Hill City-University) showed the field a clean pair of heels in her dominance on the combined 5km course winning the under-18 women’s title in a smart 18min 19sec Kimberley Iversen (Invercargill) was second in 19min 3sec while third-placed Becky De La Harpe (Caversham) claimed the under-20 women’s title in 19min 41sec Josh Hou (Hill City-University) led from the start to win the under-20 men’s title on the 8km course Matthew Bolter (Hill City-University) won the men’s under-18 title in 20min 29sec As new figures show the number of school exclusions of traveller pupils is rising and works with traveller pupils in a primary school in the east of England a name given to a nomadic people believed to have crossed from northern India into Europe roughly a millennium ago As a support worker who understands their language he acts as a guide to Roma parents and pupils at the Beeches Primary School in Peterborough bringing them to school when transport is a problem and making sure they have the admissions forms they need to secure school places the school has seen a rise in the number of Roma pupils over the past 10 years Of the two traveller groups recognised in England – the other being Irish travellers – the biggest increase in primary and secondary schools has been Roma and Gypsy pupils Schools Week analysis shows a 37 per cent increase over the past four years alongside a 10 per cent rise in Irish traveller pupil numbers The expansion of the European Union throughout the 2000s to include Romania Slovakia and the Czech Republic helps explain the increase which believes that many more traveller pupils are either not in school or attend but do not give their ethnicity for fear of discrimination But while initiatives such as employing Rudolf to engage Roma families are helping meet that rise Meanwhile new exclusions data shows pupils from traveller backgrounds are the most likely of any ethnic group to be excluded with boys excluded at a particularly alarming rate said many Roma children were “slipping through the net” once they left primary “We do worry about the transition to secondary schools,” he told Schools Week we sometimes think it could have been done better.” said Roma boys at secondary schools need a “role model” to feel like they belong but schools do not always “fully understand the importance” Her words are backed by data obtained by Schools Week from councils with the highest proportions of Irish traveller which has the fifth-highest proportion in the country at 1.2 per cent there were 193 GRT pupils enrolled in primary school this year The Appleby horse fair (pictured) is nearby and has traditionally brought travellers to the area The absence of traveller pupils at secondary schools reflects a national picture where half the number of GRT pupils reach year 11 than are in primary school That proportion has not changed since 2012 Other research cited in LKMCo’s report claims that about 12,000 traveller pupils are not enrolled in secondary school at all a former executive headteacher at Cottenham Village College near Cambridge said the Catholic background of some Irish traveller families could make lessons such as sex education and PE at secondary school unappealing “Parents fear their children might be inculcated into a value system they don’t buy into,” he said rather than one point of contact as in a primary school which for Irish traveller pupils is four times the national average and for Roma pupils three times the national average Ellison’s school had a council support worker who offered introductions to secondary school teachers which has the highest proportion of GRT pupils in the country at two per cent a dedicated ‘new communities and travellers team’ helps Roma families “navigate” the school system including making applications for primary and secondary school and ensuring attendance which has the third-highest proportion of GRT pupils at 1.7 per cent has an education service for travelers as well as an ‘EU parental involvement worker’ to talk to parents from Europe about continuing their child’s education wants headteachers to employ community members to help pupils find a “clear path” to secondary school new data from the Department for Education demonstrates that pupils from GRT backgrounds are being excluded in greater numbers than ever before Irish traveller boys were excluded at a rate of 0.5 per cent of their cohort Roma and Gypsy boys have also been excluded more from a rate of 0.34 three years ago to 0.54 last year which is happening at a higher rate than for any other ethnic group pupils experience “early onset adulthood” in their communities which can make accepting authority in school difficult pupils are often called names or discriminated against in school pupils become disengaged due to low attainment The average Progress 8 score for Irish traveller pupils is the lowest of any group at -1.16 worse than the -0.47 for pupils on free school meals The percentage of Gypsy or Roma pupils getting five good passes at GCSE including English and maths has also stagnated at about eight per cent since 2009 and for Irish traveller pupils at about 17 per cent Mulcahy wants headteachers to make sure they speak to GRT parents about any discrimination concerns they may have and encourage them to ascribe their child’s ethnicity rather than hide it Schools should also not “silence” traveller history in the curriculum and their persecution during the Holocaust for example It is excellent that the difficulties of GRT pupils have been highlighted The three reasons given – early adult hood discrimination and bullying and disengagement due to low attainment are correct However what is mentioned only in passing is the reference to cultural difference – concern with sex education and PE for example at secondary school GRT culture and history is not in the school curriculum and knowledge of the culture is not included in teacher training courses so the prejudice of the mainstream remains unchallenged Why attend school if your culture is not recognised and your particular needs are not met Private schools are bumping up their fees while state school funding remains flat, widening the attainment gap between the state and independent sectors Research published this week by the UCL Institute of Education titled The labour market benefits of private schooling has found that fees within the private sector have increased well above the rate of inflation (see graph) Researchers said private schools had used some of the extra cash to modernise facilities – resulting in private school pupils having three times more spent on them than their state school counterparts professor of education at the University of Cambridge and a co-author of the report said: “We’ve been looking at adults whose private schooling happened two decades ago But what we can see is that the resourcing levels within private schools have increased exponentially since then.” Her research found adults in their 40s who had been privately schooled on average earned 35 per cent more than those from the state sector and if resourcing is increasing we can expect that advantage to become greater too.” £12,200 is spent annually on a privately schooled pupil compared with £4,800 on a state school pupil about £12,200 is spent annually on a privately schooled pupil in primary school compared with £4,800 on a state primary school pupil £6,200 is spent on each state school pupil a year while in a private school that figure is £15,000 for a day pupil Green said parental demand had led private schools to modernise their facilities to keep up with the competition pushing up fees to a level that only the very wealthy could afford “Parents are prepared to pay these higher and higher fees So schools compete with each other to provide better facilities – a state-of-the-art theatre or Olympic size pools.” Green also said the extra cash coming in to private schools allowed them to employ more teachers meaning more time on developing pupils’ “non-cognitive skills” Vignoles said: “There is no evidence that teachers in private schools are necessarily better But the class sizes are two-thirds of what they are in a state school Better teacher pupil-ratios are crucial.” A spokesperson for the Independent Schools Council which represents more than 1,200 private schools said citing money as the reason for higher educational outcomes was “over simplistic” “Fees have increased but schools are very mindful of the struggles hard-working families can face in paying them both those paying full fees and those receiving fee assistance This creates demonstrable social mobility.” ‘…demonstrable social mobility’: offering a few bursaries to a small number of ‘poor’ pupils is not ‘demonstrable social mobility’ education’s contribution to social mobility is over-stated It’s more to do with the supply of jobs which pay well enough for young people to live at least as well as their parents and social policies which lift people out of poverty The government is facing a potential judicial review over “confusing” guidance about the use of isolation booths in schools after one pupil reportedly made a suicide attempt while in one Lawyers have delivered a pre-action letter to the Department for Education demanding it review the guidance and particularly consider the impact of isolation on pupils with additional needs If the DfE does not respond satisfactorily to Simpson Millar – the law firm representing two families in the case – the lawyers will launch a judicial review against the department It comes after the same law firm launched legal action against Outwood Grange Academies Trust in December for a pupil who had spent up to 35 days in isolation – a case which has now been dropped after the trust promised to review its behaviour policy The issue of isolation booths has received increased attention in education circles this year, following a Schools Week investigation which revealed two-thirds of the largest academy trusts use isolation, sometimes for up to a week and including primary school pupils What was originally a method for dealing with an immediate crisis is now being used as a low cost solution for the long-term management of pupils made an attempt on her life after being put in an isolation booth for more than a month. Meanwhile the boy would be placed in isolation as a sanction for “failing” the isolation room Government guidance states “schools can adopt a policy which allows disruptive pupils to be placed in an area away from other pupils for a limited period” Schools should “ensure that pupils are kept in seclusion or isolation no longer than is necessary and that their time spent there is used as constructively as possible” said the government’s guidance needs to be “much clearer” because of growing evidence isolation rooms were being used as a “dumping ground” for pupils particularly those with special educational needs “What was originally a method for dealing with an immediate crisis in a classroom is now being used as a low cost solution for the long-term management of pupils to the detriment of their mental health and education” The DfE has 14 days to respond to the letter A DfE spokesperson said: “We are considering the letter carefully It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage” A hometown victory looks to be on for leading Otago distance athlete Oli Chignell in the New Zealand cross-country on the Chisholm Links course today on the undulating and challenging Dunedin course Chignell returned from injury to finish third behind Olympians Hayden Wilde and Sam Tanner He is a mature and astute racer with the 2018 national cross-country title already to his credit Three-time Otago champion Janus Staufenberg will look to improve on his 11th place in last year’s event He chose to match Wilde in the early stages of the 2020 race and paid for that indiscretion Staufenberg will have learnt from that experience and looks sure to finish much closer to the front this year Several provincial champions will venture to Dunedin for the cross-country Former Otago and now international marathon representative Caden Shields will line up in the red and black colours for the first time has medalled in this event and can never be discounted Daniel Jones (Wellington) and Ronan Lee (Auckland) will be buoyed by their provincial victories and will feature on the five laps of the course Otago and Canterbury look to be strongest contenders for the men’s team title The senior women’s cross-country is much more open and will include our middle-distance performers Katherine Camp and Angie Petty Camp won the Canterbury title two weeks ago and Petty will be a welcome addition to the senior women’s field North Island champion Susannah Lynch is a strong contender for top honours Ruby Muir is a versatile distance runner and comfortably won the Wellington title Otago will miss the presence of Rebekah Greene Liliana Braun will likely be first Otago athlete home several talented emerging athletes will feature Rotorua’s Hannah Gapes dominated the New Zealand schools cross-country and was an impressive winner on this course 12 months ago She is a clear favourite to win the under-20 women’s event Queenstown’s Hannah Prosser won the Otago junior title three weeks ago and is an athlete of much promise The junior men’s event will feature Otago champion Jacob Weston with Canterbury’s Cameron Clark sure to make a bold showing The under-18 men’s and women’s fields are very strong Otago’s Zara Geddes and Catherine Lund are expected to run well George Hamilton is the in-form local hope in the under-18 men’s race Among the 400 athletes contesting the championships the masters athletes have a significant presence Several former Otago international athletes — Robbie Johnstone Blair Martin and Shireen Crumpton — remain very competitive within their age groups and the senior championship races will get under way at 1.50pm A community fun run/walk over the Chisholm Links course begins at 12.40pm