Outdoor Learning Meets Count Binface

Hi Everyone

This week in Parliament, a lady MP has proposed legislation to provide children at school with a minimum of 30 minutes of outdoor learning each day. It has apparently passed its first stage and will now be back in Parliament fot it’s second reading in the middle of October. Having passed that stage, it then goes to the House of Lords before coming back to Parliament, probably in early 2027, to be hopefully passed into law. Back when I was in the infant and junior stage of my education, I cannot remember any of us having any outdoor learning as we sat in rows in our wooden desks and seats, gazing at a board and easel in fear of not knowing an answer if we were unfortunate enough to be picked out by the teacher. On the other hand, once the school day ended, we mostly spent the rest of the day outside, even in wet and cold weather and in the school holidays we were outside for most of the day. Now, it is staggering to know that the time that children spend outdoors has fallen by 50% in a single generation. Outdoor learning is interesting, stimulating, challenging, presents new boundaries and is, above all, fun. We have an Education Minister, education ‘experts', Head teachers, and teachers. Surely it is obvious to all of them that their students well being and mental health would benefit from outdoor learning. So why do we have to have an expensive and long winded process to crack a nut that does not need cracking? All the Education Minister has to do is send an email to every school in the UK with an appropriate instruction. Sadly, in this complicated and bureaucratic world we now live in, the simplicity of that has been lost forever.

For years, our elections have had a touch of humour with members of the Monster Raving Loony Party putting themselves up for election to Parliament, usually against a prominent member of the main parties. They usually get only a few hundred votes, but it is a welcome distraction from the relentless and mainly boring political campaign of the main parties. Now we have a new kid on the block, Count Binface. I am not sure whether other outlandish characters emerge in other countries across the world, unless you include Trump in that company, but it is great to see that the British silly sense of humour is alive and well. Now the leader of our Reform party has resigned as an MP to force a by-election so that he will be reelected by the public. What he is trying to prove is beyond me, as all the other main parties have declined to challenge him, leaving a choice for the public between the leader of the Reform party who dream of forming the government at the main election, and Count Binface. Could it be that the great British public will elect Count Binface as their next member of Parliament. Now that truly would be a dream. 

Saw an interesting observation this week which said that if you read the news and socal media about the US at present, you will get a very negative view of the country, but that if you travel the country as a visitor you will find friendship, a warm welcome, and a memorable experience. In our experience, that is so true. Let us hope that very soon the US can again portray its true identity ro the rest of the world.

Just a Thought:

Teaching children about the natural world should be seen as one of the most important events in their lives. 

As our Chancellor said “If he wants to spend the summer arguing with a bin, I won’t stop him”. 

My friend was very unpopular until he stood on a globe. Now he has the world at his feet.

Brian