All posts tagged: improve

DfE seeks to ‘improve’ school spend reporting

DfE seeks to ‘improve’ school spend reporting

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles The government is seeking to “improve” the way schools report on pupil premium spending, as an influential committee demanded officials follow up with settings that fail to do so. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the public accounts committee, warned today that “for too many schools, the government is not sighted on how money that ought to be spent on helping disadvantaged children overcome their circumstances is actually being used”. It comes after a National Audit Office report last year found the Department for Education “cannot demonstrate it is achieving value for money” in the way it uses £9.2 billion a year to narrow the disadvantage gap. It warned the DfE had “limited evidence” on how well almost half of its disadvantage funding is spent. Geoffrey Clifton Brown It also found that one in five schools had failed to meet their duty to report how they spend the pupil premium – which makes up £2.9 billion of disadvantage funding – in 2023. The committee has now recommended the DfE introduces …

How schools can improve gender equality in Latin America

How schools can improve gender equality in Latin America

Published by skeptic

In Latin America, deeply ingrained cultural beliefs about gender roles – what women and men should and shouldn’t do – persist. This is despite increased involvement by women in traditionally male spheres, such as business and politics. And these ideas are held among young people, too. A study in 2020 found that only 32% of adolescents in Latin America fully support gender equality. My past research has found that in Mexico, 63.6% of teenagers believe women should not be involved in politics. In Chile and Colombia, however, teens’ support for gender equality is much higher. This disparity suggests that gender attitudes are shaped by broader social and political contexts. My recent research with colleagues suggests that schools have the power to shape students’ beliefs about gender equality. We found that there is a link between classes in which open discussion takes place and students with a strong grasp of civic topics and support for gender equality. We also found that schools with supportive and inclusive environments are linked with more positive attitudes among students towards …

Australian state to amend its assisted dying law to improve access

Australian state to amend its assisted dying law to improve access

Published by skeptic

In 2017 Victoria became the first state in Australia to pass an Assisted Dying Act. The Act came into force in 2019. Today a review of the Act has prompted the Victorian Government to propose changes to the law to improve access – in ways that should be instructive to UK politicians as to how our proposed laws can best be constructed. Here’s everything Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision think UK politicians could learn from Australia: A six-month eligibility clause is too narrow The Victorian law requires that the patient accessing assisted dying must have six months left to live or less, or twelve months left to live if they have a neuro-degenerative condition. The proposed law in England and Wales is six months for everyone, although an amendment has been put forward to change that to the same system as Victoria. In New Zealand (a six-month limit), many people lost their decision-making capacity before they could proceed. In contrast, in Victoria, only 7% lost competence during the process. However, as the 12-month …

‘Sleepmaxxing’: What is the viral trend, and will it improve your sleep? | UK News

‘Sleepmaxxing’: What is the viral trend, and will it improve your sleep? | UK News

Published by skeptic

As a journalist who does shift work – I’m obsessed with sleep. I don’t get enough of it, and it’s pretty irregular when I do. And so, when my Apple Watch informs me I’ve had more than 8 hours – with solid REM metrics – everyone will know about it. Image: Sleepmaxxing is ‘a cornerstone of wellness’. Pic: iStock ‘Sleepmaxxing’ is a concept I came across on TikTok – it describes viral hacks to optimise your sleep, from drinking magnesium-laced ‘Sleepy Girl’ mocktails to sleeping with your mouth taped. It’s a trending topic – with millions of videos on it. But what is ‘sleepmaxxing’, and does it work? ‘A cornerstone of wellness’ Image: ‘Sleepmaxxing’ is a viral TikTok trend. Pic: iStock The catch-all term is a wellness trend popular with Gen-Z and millennials – a perceived blueprint to help you catch a deeper, longer slumber. It’s a nod to ‘looksmaxxing’ – another TikTok trend popularised on the app, focused on enhancing physical attractiveness. Sleep specialist Sammy Margo told Sky News it’s a fad among those …

Promote secularism to improve community cohesion, NSS urges

Promote secularism to improve community cohesion, NSS urges

Published by skeptic

Secular principles should be central to efforts to promote community cohesion, the National Secular Society has told a House of Commons committee. Responding to a consultation from the Women and Equalities Select Committee, the NSS said the changing demographics of the UK means the country needs a a long-term settlement on the relationship between religion and the state. The committee’s inquiry aims to investigate barriers to cohesion, examples of best practice, and how to ensure cohesion for the next generation. Recent censuses revealed Christians to be a minority in England and Wales for the first time, and the majority in Scotland to be nonreligious. Members of minority religions including Islam and Hinduism were found to have steadily increased across the UK. Educating children together “one of the best means available” to promote social cohesion The NSS said “one of the best means available” to promote social cohesion is to end religious segregation in schools, by educating children from different backgrounds together. Around a third of English and Welsh schools are faith schools, with Scottish and …

Google’s X spins out Heritable Agriculture, a startup using AI to improve crop yield

Google’s X spins out Heritable Agriculture, a startup using AI to improve crop yield

Published by skeptic

Google’s X “moonshot factory” this week announced its latest graduate. Heritable Agriculture is a data- and machine learning-driven startup aiming to improve how crops are grown.  As the firm noted in an announcement post published Tuesday, plants are incredibly efficient and impressive systems. “Plants are solar powered, carbon negative, self-assembling machines that feed on sunlight and water,” Heritable wrote.  Yet agriculture puts a massive strain on the planet and its resources, accounting for around 25% of anthropogenic greenhouse emissions. It’s the planet’s largest consumer of groundwater and can lead to soil erosion and water pollution via pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals. The newly independent startup is approaching these global issues by doing what Google does best: analyzing massive datasets through artificial intelligence and machine learning. Data collection is the easy part, relatively speaking. The hard part is transforming all that data into actionable instructions for growers to help bring the 12,000-year-old industry into the 21st century. Heritable Architecture’s seeds were planted by founder and CEO, Brad Zamft. The physics PhD served as a program officer …

How the science of tiny timescales could speed up computers and improve solar cell technology

How the science of tiny timescales could speed up computers and improve solar cell technology

Published by skeptic

Attosecond science, the laser-led study of what happens to matter over very short timescales, could lead to major advances in our understanding of nature’s fastest processes. It could enhance the problem-solving capabilities of computers, develop more efficient solar power cells, and both identify new medical treatments and improve diagnostic processes – all vital areas of research as we look for solutions to climate change and innovative ways to combat illness. An attosecond equates to one-billionth of one-billionth of a second. Attosecond science – the subject of the 2023 Nobel prize in physics – involves using such almost unimaginably short, intense pulses of laser light to transfer lots of energy to a “target” material. This causes the material to emit very fast-moving electron particles along with ultraviolet and X-ray light – allowing the motion of electrons to be observed in real time. Physicists such as myself can then measure or predict how these electrons move, something that can’t normally be done. And by making attosecond pulses even shorter, we can get more information on how the …

5 ways to rapidly improve your company culture

5 ways to rapidly improve your company culture

Published by skeptic

Sign up for the Big Think Business newsletter Learn from the world’s biggest business thinkers Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. Your organization’s culture will either enable you to achieve your strategic goals or get in the way. However, the received wisdom is that an organization’s culture can’t be changed rapidly. If this were true it would be seriously bad news for the organizations that are hurtling towards a cliff edge and need to rapidly turn around performance. It would also be really bad news for organizations that have great growth ambitions and need to evolve rapidly in order to beat off the competition. And organizations that can see disruption coming at them at speed? Well, they’re going to get run over faster than you can say “Blockbuster Video.” True — there is a direct correlation between the size of the organization and how long it takes to change the culture. The bigger you are, the longer it will take to reach the fingers and toes of the whole organization. But it does NOT …

How vaccines can improve cardiovascular health in the EU

How vaccines can improve cardiovascular health in the EU

Published by skeptic

Vaccines Europe has recognised the importance of vaccination as a prevention tool, as outlined in the Council Conclusions on the Improvement of Cardiovascular Health (CVH) in the European Union. In particular, the organisation supports the acknowledgement of the value of vaccination against infectious diseases, including flu, pneumococcal, SARS-CoV-2 and RSV, as important for patients with an increased or existing risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). While congratulating the European Commission and the Council for these efforts, the EU still needs additional measures to address existing gaps and further enhance the effectiveness of these initiatives. How respiratory infections affect cardiovascular health Respiratory infections can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease among all people. Studies show that for CVD patients diagnosed with flu, the risk of experiencing a heart attack increases by 6-fold. Additionally, patients have a three times increased risk of experiencing a stroke after a systemic respiratory infection. Therefore, vaccination against respiratory infections can reduce the risk of complications associated with CVD. With a strong foundation laid by the Council Conclusions on improving cardiovascular health in …

Improve your balance and strengthen your ankles with this beginner-friendly trick from a Pilates instructor

Improve your balance and strengthen your ankles with this beginner-friendly trick from a Pilates instructor

Published by skeptic

Having sore ankles and achy feet can really mess up your workout plans. Squats can become impossible, your 5K run is completely off the table and even a 10-minute walking workout can be too much. One of the best ways to protect yourself against potential ankle and foot injuries is by strengthening the muscles in this area—and this simple trick from Pilates instructor Zoe Lewis can help you do just that. All you need to do it is a towel and Lewis says the move will strengthen the toes, foot arches and ankles. How to do Zoe Lewis’ feet and ankle strengthening exercise To do this move, roll up a towel and stand on it with one foot, balancing for one minute or longer. Your ankle and foot muscles will jump into action and stabilize your body. Doing this consistently will improve your balance and muscle strength. If you find it too challenging, try doing it without a towel to start. “This exercise needs to be done daily—even a few times a day—for a minute …