… To be considering leaving the UK?

Hi, I agree with you about the UK education system (the worst bit is in Scotland, using the Curriculum for Excellence which is full of skills and competencies but has no actual knowledge base). And teachers are overburdened with paperwork because the system of accountability is managerial and technocratic. It stifles education and 'teaching to the test' is the antithesis of learning.
But 'explicit teaching' is not 'teaching to the test'. It is making sure by explaining and showing the students how to do what they are learning and leading them in doing it and letting them become independent. Tests are to discover knowledge of the concepts taught. 'I do, we do, you do' with lots of interaction, teacher and student talk achieves this unlike discovery/progressive methods which allow the students to 'productively fail' - if you keep productively failing with maths or science you will cease to be interested; if you productively fail at writing history essays and are fed a diet of snippets to analyse instead of learning and discussing who did the event, what they were thinking (as far as we can know) why they did it, when did it (context) and what was the outcome, one is likely to end up not liking history.
The phonics check - so hated by my union - is not a 'test'/exam either, but what it says: a check on whether a child can decode English phonics (a complex lot, but learnable). There is no need to 'teach' to that test, but just to teach phonics properly - so that the young reader can decode any word (at year 1 that is limited to the phonics then known, of course, but those who reach the benchmark are going to be good readers).
I wish more people went to university in the UK and I wish we taught every child a secure knowledge base so that they can look critically about them and analyse what is being done to them and find ways to improve the lot of us all. Without knowledge you can think.

It doesn’t matter how much you explain it, some people still consider that living off other people’s earnings somehow makes them morally superior to the people who they are living off. Plain lunacy.

Lighten up, Canada is a great country. (Well the people are, I can’t say I agree with the political leadership)

It’s the equivalent of the teacher’s pet in class that never gets in trouble.

Well your schadenfreude aside, Canada certainly isn’t in the hot seat.

Many US states pay far more minimum wage than we do and there is a big tipping culture on top. If we roll out a much higher minimum wage those on the lowest incomes would be in a far better position to pay tax.

I'm sure I read somewhere, that a move should be a pull to somewhere you want to go not a push from somewhere you want to get away from. The latter are far more likely to be unsuccessful.

Err because it makes it clear that people pay into a system as well as withdrawing from it, when they can?

My understanding is there is no tax free allowance so even those on the lowest incomes pay tax. You really want those in the uk under minimum wage to pay tax so those at the top pay less?Then you get the fact that so many don’t have health cover. Why would anybody aspire to that?

In America 60% of people pay tax compared to 50% here.

Long term unemployed? no thanks, our elderly and children deserve better than people who are unemployable.

Oh, joy, so now we're identifying people who don't have to work at all, and wondering why we have Labour shortages in some sectors. 🤦‍♂️

I'm leaving the last word to others, we've derailed this thread too much already.

This- our unemployment rates are hugely better than France, Italy, Spain, Canada and on a par with the US and Australia.

My friends live in Vancouver - same age as my DT’s. At high school age the Canadians could run rings around my DT’s in math - who were at a high achieving private London school and got A’s each week.
Unfortunately there are good and bad schools in every country

You are clearly commentating from a position of great ignorance.

Can you point me to where we pay people NOT to work?

As its strange that the UK still has over 26 million people in FT employment, with a further 8m in PT work.

With just 1.2million unemployed, most of those are churn, between jobs, with only 350k long term unemployed many of whom will be unemployable.

Yet according to your oracle, we pay everyone to sit at home.... 😂

Oh on potential care/nursery workers? no they left the sector to work in other areas.
Long term unemployed? no thanks, our elderly and children deserve better than people who are unemployable.

In Western Canada. I was also very surprised as had assumed the schools would be really good but the mum has told me that the maths in particular is a long way behind what they were doing here, and the children (who are all bright and academic) have been very bored at school.

Wow what a truly ignorant and naive post. Care work and nursery work is some of the hardest and most important work we have. These are people with responsibility for the daily needs of our most vulnerable members of society. Not enough is put into training, wages or working conditions.Its not something just anybody can or should be doing. In Norway and Sweden nursery workers have high qualifications and good wages with the resulting excellent provision. We should be striving for that not just forcing anybody into the very low paid and often gruelling sector.

Funny how the "going rate" is always applied to those at the top but those, such as care workers or nursery workers can claim top up benefits instead, despite there being a huge shortage in these sectors.

A shortage of workers is exactly what you get when you pay people not to work. And yes the going rate is distorted by that to the point where customers can't/won't pay what people will work for. If potential careworkers don't get paid to stay at home all of a sudden those care work jobs are going to look highly desirable.

Seems like you've spotted the problem and the solution. ✔️

It can also be very insular. I found it to be a very them and us situation. If you are not a born local living in the country parishes, you will never really belong. You will always be labelled 'an outsider'. In the capital of St Helier, there are many different languages to be heard from the many nationalities of support staff for farming, hospitality and service jobs. Most of these people live in flats built around St Helier. It can be very cliquey amongst the richer classes too - the in set.

I do appreciate that the numbers don't stack up but it should be remembered who allowed this to happen? seemingly done to make the unemployment figures look good plus in work benefits are propping up or rather allowing business to make huge profits off the back of the tax payer.

Labour haven't abandoned benefit cuts & restrictions, more delayed them until the Timms report.
Their previous plan was very unfair, needs a lot more thought.

Check out the gov.je website for full details. Seasonal staff often live in the hotel or farmworkers on the farm. There are bedsits with shared facilities too. If you have a profession, teacher, nurse, accountant, surgeon, GP etc you can rent a proper flat with your own kitchen and bathroom or if you have a family a house. There are categories of living accommodation depending on how long you are in the Island.

Repressing wages and services of the majority and curtailing to the few at the top order in order to stop 0.5% of the wealthiest leaving doesn’t sound like the way to go.

Just because someone of non British descent, who was here for just a few months of the year and now isn't, doesn't mean people are "leaving in droves"

No, one family going means nothing. But clearly the ratio of people paying in and paying out of the state is rapidly changing. 20% of us are now claiming disability benefits and that number is predicted to continue to rocket. So fewer tax payers are carrying a heavier burden. Even a government with a massive majority can't stop it. It's self fueling and only ends one way.

Funny how the "going rate" is always applied to those at the top but those, such as care workers or nursery workers can claim top up benefits instead, despite there being a huge shortage in these sectors.

We have no money! yet its all ok to write off billions in Covid support and not go after the fraudsters... even vote them in to govern us.