1. Something I didn’t know before today is that today’s the International Day of the Girl Child – more info and stacks of interesting links here https://www.un.org/en/observances/girl-child-day “Did you know that the global internet user gender gap is growing, from 11 per cent in 2013 to 17 per cent in 2019, and is widest in the world’s least developed countries at 43 per cent?” That first stat is perhaps (just) the more surprising of the two.

The site includes a Thomas the Tank Engine video on Gender Equality https://youtu.be/WWkrQMVqB3s. I’m not quite sure about Thomas’s new accent …

2. Just in case you’ve not yet heard about PRELIM 2, here on the IATEFL website is all the info you need to apply on behalf of your teachers’ association: https://www.iatefl.org/prelim-2 and, if you’re an accredited UK language centre, here on the English UK website is what you will need https://www.englishuk.com/prelim-project

PDF copies below of the application form for teachers’ associations and the report that Rose Aylett and Martyn Clarke from NILE wrote on PRELIM 1; the UK application form is an online one, available from the page above and direct here https://englishuk.wufoo.com/forms/prelim-project-ii/

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3. My favourite ex-prime minister and Allan Goodman, the President of the Institute of International Education, have written a powerful piece on Education in an Age of Displacement for the Project Syndicate website https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/graduate-education-fellowships-for-refugees-and-displaced-people-by-gordon-brown-and-allan-goodman-2021-10

In Brown and Goodman’s own words, “With the number of displaced people on course to double by mid-century, if not sooner, developing their potential is crucial. Extending hope and opportunity to young people at risk of being left behind is a powerful way to advance human rights, promote equality, and foster peace and stability.”

4. This month’s issue of HLT has just been published https://www.hltmag.co.uk/oct21/ For starters, try either

Alan Maley on Wisdom Stories https://www.hltmag.co.uk/oct21/wisdom-stories-for-teacher-education

or Surati on Using Quizizz https://www.hltmag.co.uk/oct21/using-quizizz-as-a-formative-assessment

You can check out Quizizz – which started life in Bangalore – for yourself here https://quizizz.com/

5. And, finally, some unreconstructed Thomas the Tank Engine for comparison purposes https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo5AoxvDzhX1Gua_aU2Rr6w