News THE WEEK
www.theweek.co.uk
Childhood autism in geek heartlands
It’s well known that there is a high concentration of geeks in Silicon Valley, California, said the New Scientist. It is, after all, where computer whiz-kids go to find work. But what is less well known is that there are also more likely to be children with disorders on the autistic spectrum (ASDs) there than elsewhere. In the first study of its kind, researchers compared the rates of ASDs among children in Eindhoven – the Dutch technology centre, where 30% of jobs are in IT – with two other cities. Tey found that ASDs were four times more common in Eindhoven than in Utrecht, and twice as common as in Haarlem. Teir findings suggest that people who are drawn to IT – which demands the kind of analytical and systemising skills often seen in people with ASDs – are more likely to have children with the disorders.
It wasn’t all bad
A Croydon schoolboy has invented a door- bell that enables householders to speak over the intercom, even if they’re not at home. Laurence Rook, 13, designed the Smart Bell – which phones the householder on their mobile if the door goes unanswered – because his mother kept missing Royal Mail deliver- ies. But after developing the idea for a school competition, he realised it could also be used to trick burglars into thinking a property is occu- pied. He has sold 20,000 units to a telecoms company, and has another deal worth £250,000 in the pipeline.
Paltrow: hunting for a £63k super-nanny
Gwyneth Paltrow lives a life of “sparkling” perfection, says Janice Turner in The Times. And – as recipients of her “inspiring” Goop mailouts will know – the actress has equally high standards when it comes to her children. Apple, seven, and Moses, five, are strangers to refined sugar; they are dressed in unbleached French cotton; and after play-dates with non-celebrity children they are decontaminated with the organic hand sanitisers that Gwyneth keeps ready in the car. The children are enrolled at an elite London school that many would envy – but that’s not enough for Paltrow and her husband, rock star Chris Martin. They are now also seeking a private tutor for evenings and weekends. The candidate, the
12 FirstEleven Autumn 2011
ad specifies, must be well-versed in Latin and Ancient Greek, fluent in at least two languages and schooled in philosophy. Additionally, he or she must be musical, fit, youthful and outdoorsy, with a passion for drama, sailing and sports. My first response, on reading the advert, was “Good luck, Gwynnie”, said Jojo Moyes in The Daily Telegraph. Most people who employ a nanny struggle to find the right person, even if their only requirements are kindness and the ability to cook fishfingers. Paltrow is looking for a genius capable of running the UN to mind her kids. True, the job pays well (£62,000pa, plus a flat, for a 25 to 35-hour week), but the tutor will earn every penny. Children who spend up to four hours after school, and much of the
OF THE WEEK Almost
STATISTICS
of women in the UK born in 1965 are childless
19% Daily Mail
weekend, in the care of staff tend to be spoilt and attention-deprived. And even if the children are a delight, the parents may not be: nannies employed by celebrities must deal with egos, heightened sensitivities and – crucially – their own lack on importance. In the end, they’re servants, and treated accordingly. As a former tutor, I have plenty of horror stories about wealthy clients, said James Miller in The Times. But home tutoring is a boom industry, and it’s mostly being fuelled by ordinary people seeking to give their children (often at state schools) a bit of a leg-up in a competitive world. So while it’s easy to mock Gwynnie, says Janice Turner, she’s really no different from countless middle- class parents, feverishly doing whatever they can to ensure
their own children succeed.
www.firstelevenmagazine.co.uk
Britain’s leading current affairs digest rounds up the main education stories exclusively for First Eleven magazine
PHOTOS: ISTOCKPHOTO
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116