1. Young people don’t feel they can make a difference is the sad message from this article by Andreas Schleicher of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on what schools can do to support the climate: https://oecdedutoday.com/green-at-fifteen-schools-support-climate/ However, he suggests, schools can help students develop a stronger sense of agency.

2. Bags of good stuff on the new UK National Poetry Day website  https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/ including free posters and lesson plans to download https://nationalpoetryday.co.uk/education/free-education-resource-downloads/  and some BBC counting songs https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-counting-songs/zn67kmn You might find you have to right click on some of the resources and select ‘open in new tab’ – on the other hand, you might not! I’ve attached a John Hegley poem example below.

3. I was once (perceived to be; I wasn’t really) the first Sassenach to lead the British Council Scotland team. Early in my time in Scotland, I made the journey by train across from Edinburgh to Glasgow, to visit Glasgow University. On arrival in Glasgow I took a taxi whose driver confirmed my suspicion that a certain kind of Scot was not prepared to make any linguistic allowances at all for visiting Sassenachs. The Glaswegian rapper Loki’s accent in this short video, however, is clarity itself in comparison! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jd7kHjsYNU&feature=youtu.be

Once you’ve tuned in, try this interview of Loki’s with Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy https://youtu.be/9sxENe4cvGU

4. This week’s phobia is trypanophobia, from which I’m glad to say I did not suffer yesterday when I joined the very privileged minority of the world’s population to have been vaccinated against Covid.

5. And, finally, and available only until Sunday, a tribute to the World War One jazzman James Reese Europe and his band, The Harlem Hellfighters: https://youtu.be/5UCwuV2tFNk

Here’s the Wikipedia entry on the 369th Infantry Regiment, which was one of the first African American regiments to serve with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, and their extraordinary regimental band: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/369th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)#369th_Regiment_Military_Band