54 h. ago The Penguin Lessons review – Steve Coogan seabird comedy drama tries to sell feelgood mood

Coogan does his best, but there’s a tonal mismatch here: the animal-teaches-lonely-human narrative jars with a depiction of lives in totalitarian ArgentinaHere is a well-meaning, awkward tonal jumble of a movie, based on the bestselling memoir by former teacher Tom Michell; it is a quirky true-story heart warmer, in which an adorable penguin is apparently supposed to redeem not merely the human hero’s personal heartbreak but maybe even the agony of Argentina during the 70s junta. It stars Steve Coogan, who has often in the past shown brilliant technique as a straight actor, and in Philomena with Judi Dench proved he is perfectly capable of carrying an un-ironised emotional story. But his performance here is bafflingly underpowered and opaque, as if he is slightly perplexed by the script he’s been given.Coogan plays Tom, who takes a job in Peronist Argentina in 1976, teaching English at a stuffy private school for the sons of wealthy expatriates, and is wary of the overbearing headte...

Events

3 d. ago Mobile phone ban helps top private school become first in Scotland to win prestigious status

Famous boarding school now drawing up plans to become a ‘research hub’

Politics

3 d. ago Young student loses her doctor parents and both her siblings in horror private plane crash that killed six

A high school senior lost her entire immediate family in a horror private jet crash that killed six in upstate New York.

Events

3 d. ago Primary school teacher who called Muslims 'entitled' and showed blackface film to children is spared classroom ban

Grace Whiley played a video of an old Sinbad film during an English lesson at Bluebell Primary School in Norwich.

Culture

5 d. ago Scottish private school announces parents can pay fees using Bitcoin

Boarding school is thought to be the first in the UK to accept the cryptocurrency

Economics

6 d. ago Expelled! review – deliciously daft private school murder mystery

(Inkle; Nintendo Switch, iPhone/iPad, Mac, PC)Prove that Verity Amersham is innocent of trying to bump off the head girl in this ingenious whodunnit from the makers of Overboard!There’s been a murder – or an attempted one, at least. At sunrise someone shoved Louisa Hardcastle, soon to be crowned head girl of Miss Mulligatawney’s School for Promising Girls, through the school’s stained-glass window. Your character, Verity Amersham, stands accused, and must present an account of her day that proves her innocence. This is achieved via a Groundhog Day structure: you repeatedly play through the hours leading up to Verity’s expulsion as an interactive flashback, from the moment she woke, through to attending chapel and classes, and the accusation on which the story pivots. There’s no magic involved: you’re simply recounting the day’s events to your concerned father as you construct your alibi, establish whether Verity committed the crime – or if not, by whom she has been framed.Developed ...

Events

8 d. ago Children have access to porn in the classroom, education union head says in call for phone ban

The National Education Union warns that children currently have access to ‘hardcore pornography’ in the classroom

Politics

9 d. ago Classroom assistant took matters into her own hands after teacher left pupil locked in without food and drink

A child shut himself into a small toilet cubicle for hours because he didn't want to attend school assembly until staff were able to open the door

Society

9 d. ago Most of the families applying for Alabama's new school vouchers have kids in non

More than half of families who applied for Alabama’s new school voucher program have children attending a private school or are home schooling

Politics

9 d. ago Private school sports teacher who let pupils drink alcohol on hockey trip to Belgium and told them 'what goes on tour, stays on tour' avoids classroom ban

Gregory Durston 'turned a blind eye' while children as young as 15 bought rounds of beers and ciders, a Teaching Regulation Agency panel heard.

Society

1 week ago 'I went to private school and every stereotype you've got about people like me is wrong'

'I am more of a typical private school student than the stereotype many people have', says Natasha Asghar, Welsh Conservative MS for South Wales East

Politics

1 week ago Camping in the wild heart of Italy – en suite rooms and fabulous restaurant optional

In the rugged Maiella national park, a secluded campsite offers everything from pitches to hotel-style rooms, guided walks to Abruzzo hospitalityThere was a shift in atmosphere as a pewter cloud rumbled overhead. As we approached the end of our walk in the Maiella national park, we stopped beside the remains of a second world war prison camp, deep in the park’s corn-coloured hills, and Lisa, our guide, told us a story as dramatic as the simmering sky. In 1943, a band of prisoners, including New Zealand corporal John Broad, fled the camp and spent seven bitter winter months hiding out in caves before eventually making it across British lines. That they survived was thanks to the kindness and bravery of local families, who risked their own safety, and hunger, to help them stay alive and avoid German patrols.Lisa told us that Broad later described the impoverished Abruzzesi as the country’s true gold, and the sun suddenly sliced through the cloud as though in d...

Politics

2 w. ago School boss who kept condoms in his desk and told female teacher he wanted to 'wrap his snake around her neck' before asking others their favourite sex position AVOIDS classroom ban

Gareth Linwood, a headteacher who kept condoms at his desk and sent female staffers photos of sex positions asking which their favourite was, has avoided being thrown out of the classroom.

Politics

2 w. ago Labour ignored education department plea to delay VAT on private school fees until new year so Government could net almost £1bn extra from families

Lawyers for the Government have told the High Court bringing forward the date by eight months would raise 'an additional revenue of over £900 million'.

Economics

2 w. ago I put the Married at First Sight ‘experiment’ to the test. The results are stark | Gideon Meyerowitz

I’ve become addicted to the show. But as a scientist I wonder: how many couples actually stay together?It has finally happened. After a decade of avoiding the show, my wife and I decided that we would try out the new season of Married at First Sight. We consume quite a bit of reality TV, so it’s not that we avoided it precisely, but something about the idea of watching people struggle to build a healthy relationship amid a storm of cameras and manufactured drama just never drew us in. At least until we watched Married at First Sight and realised it was actually kind of fun.Relationship drama makes for addictive viewing. But after watching most of a season of weird “marriages”, screaming matches and couch quizzes accompanied by deep and meaningful music, one part of the show has struck me as really weird. Everyone keeps referring to the saga as an “experiment”. From the narrator to the experts who counsel the hapless couples on their relationship dramas, the entire show seems to be c...

Politics

2 w. ago Shooter meticulously planned Nashville Covenant school attack for years. Here's how that happened

A new police report shines more light on the person who killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private Nashville Christian elementary school in 2023

Events

2 w. ago Parents of SEND children fight private school VAT hike in court: ‘We’re working seven days a week to pay fees’

Education Not Taxation found that more than 98 per cent of parents with SEND children didn’t believe the state sector locally. to them would meet their children’s needs properly

Economics

2 w. ago VAT on private school fees is ‘wrong tax’, says father in legal challenge

Several private schools, children who attend them and their parents are bringing legal action against the Treasury over the imposition of VAT on fees.

Economics

2 w. ago Legal challenges to VAT on private schools fees to be heard at High Court

Nearly 20 families and several faith schools are bringing legal action against the Treasury, claiming the new VAT on fees is discriminatory and a breach of human rights law

Events

2 w. ago Legal case against tax on private school fees reaches court today

Nearly 20 families and several schools are bringing legal action against the Treasury

Economics