Date of birth and achievement in GCSE and GCE A‐level

General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations are taken by almost all pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland at age 16 years. General Certificate of Education Advanced level (GCE A‐level) examinations are normally taken by relatively able students at age 18. The effect of month of birth on attainment in these public examinations is investigated through a database which brings together the 1991 GCSE results and the 1993 GCE A‐level results of all candidates born between September 1974 and August 1975. Older pupils perform best at GCSE but not at GCE A‐level. Selection effects on entry to A‐level courses appear to explain why this is the case.     

Two tests of approach-iron golf skill and their ability to predict tournament performance

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the convergent and predictive validity of two skill tests that examine the ability of golfers to hit accurate approach-iron shots. Twenty-four high-level golfers (handicap = 2.6 ± 1.7) performed the Nine-Ball Skills Test (assesses the ability to shape/control ball trajectory with high accuracy) and the Approach-Iron Skill Test (assesses the ability to hit straight shots from varying distances with high accuracy). Participants then completed at least eight rounds of tournament golf over the following 90 days and reported an indicator of approach-iron accuracy (per cent error index). A moderate correlation (r = 0.50, P < 0.05) was noted between scores for both tests. Generalised estimating equations, using two covariates (lie of the ball and distance to hole), were used to determine model fit and the amount of variance explained for tournament per cent error index. Results showed that the Approach-Iron Skill Test was the slightly stronger predictor of on-course per cent error index. With both test scores considered together, a minimal amount of additional variance was explained. These findings suggest that either of the tests used individually or combined may be used to predict tournament approach iron performance in high-level golfers.     

Family involvement in PSE: international schools easing the transition of mobile families

The impact of family mobility from domestic or international moves can be challenging for families. Some families adjust and other families experience crisis. For some families, relocation may be due to a job promotion and transfer, while for other families moving may be due to divorce, loss of employment or other stressful circumstances. Regardless of whether the family perceives relocation as positive or negative, moving places demands on families and consequently families experience varying degrees of transience. This article is based upon a qualitative research study about internationally mobile (IM) families managing relocation and transience and the place of international schooling in that process. 90 semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 45 (IM) families at an international school in southern England. The study included an intervention that consisted of implementing a personal and social education (PSE) programme for families with adolescent children. Family involvement in PSE facilitated parent‐adolescent communication at a critical transitional stage as IM teenagers who grow up ‘on the move’ were experiencing complex emotional and social upheavals in relationships with their peers and their families. Although the focus of this study explored the experiences of a small sample of IM families, there are wider implications from the study. Family mobility presents an opportunity for schools to also work with families who experience domestic moves to ease the transition of children through pastoral care.     

Give Them Time – an analysis of school readiness in Ireland's early education system: a Steiner Waldorf Perspective

This paper examines a Steiner Waldorf Perspective to School Readiness and applies that international ideology to educational practice and curriculum policy in modern Ireland. The case for a later school start is championed with strong arguments underpinning the reasons why a later start is better in the long run for children's formal learning capacity and enthusiasm. Current primary school curriculums for the early years are also analysed and catalogued against Steiner philosophical best practice in early learning to promote a child-centred early learning curriculum within the Irish primary educational system.     

School choice: neoliberal education policy and imagined futures

The launch in Australia of a government website that compares all schools on the basis of student performance in standardized tests illustrates the extent to which neoliberal policies have been entrenched. This paper examines the problematic nature of choosing schools within the powerful political context of neoliberalism. It illustrates how key elements of the neoliberal worldview are normalized in the day-to-day practices of schooling and how certain norms and values that characterize neoliberalism are shaped and reinforced in the education system and also in personal, family and social imaginaries. The task for educational sociology, therefore, is to problematize and ‘re-imagine’ the prevailing neoliberal imaginary.     

Bringing modern languages into the primary curriculum in England: investigating effective practice in teacher education

This paper presents the results of an investigation into the effectiveness of an initiative in a large education faculty in the North West of England, designed to ensure that all generalist primary teacher trainees on an undergraduate course are prepared to support the implementation of the UK government’s National Languages Strategy in primary schools. The results suggest an overall positive response from trainees, but indicate a need to ensure that schools provide more explicit and targeted support when trainees are on placement.     

The Logic of Conquest: Tripoli, 1289; Acre, 1291; why not Sis, 1293?

In 1289, Tripoli was taken from the Franks by the Mamluk Sultan Qalāwun. In 1291, Qalāwun's son al-Ashraf Khalīl captured Acre, the last capital of the Crusader "kingdom of Jerusalem", and the few surviving Frankish outposts on the Levantine coast were swiftly abandoned. Next in line seemed to be the Armenian kingdom in Cilicia and the Taurus mountains - but it was to be a further 84 years before Sis, the kingdom's capital, was to fall to the Mamluks. It does not seem unreasonable to ask why the Mamluks should have let it survive so long: indeed, how did it survive the 1290s?     

Multi-segment trunk models used to investigate the crunch factor in golf and their relationship with selected swing and launch parameters

The use of multi-segment trunk models to investigate the crunch factor in golf may be warranted. The first aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the trunk and lower trunk for crunch factor-related variables (trunk lateral bending and trunk axial rotation velocity). The second aim was to determine the level of association between crunch factor-related variables with swing (clubhead velocity) and launch (launch angle). Thirty-five high-level amateur male golfers (Mean ± SD: age = 23.8 ± 2.1 years, registered golfing handicap = 5 ± 1.9) without low back pain had kinematic data collected from their golf swing using a 10-camera motion analysis system operating at 500 Hz. Clubhead velocity and launch angle were collected using a validated real-time launch monitor. A positive relationship was found between the trunk and lower trunk for axial rotation velocity (r(35) = .47, P < .01). Cross-correlation analysis revealed a strong coupling relationship for the crunch factor (R² = 0.98) between the trunk and lower trunk. Using generalised linear model analysis, it was evident that faster clubhead velocities and lower launch angles of the golf ball were related to reduced lateral bending of the lower trunk.     

Wetekia kia rere: the potential for place-conscious education approaches to reassure the indigenization of science education in New Zealand settings

Cultural Studies of Science Education - Wetekia kia rere is an expression in the Māori language that refers to unleashing potential. This paper discusses questions of power relevant to...