DRAKE - DARK LANE DEMO TAPES

The European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill got the Royal Assent this week. It was then solemnly signed, sealed and ratified by Ursula von der Leyen, the new President of the European Commission. We’re finally out.

I’m not sure it was wise for Nicola Sturgeon to invoke Nelson Mandela in her speech on the next steps (sic) to independence. He was a revolutionary who pursued a campaign of non-violent direct action, including strikes, boycotts and other acts of civil disobedience. That’s what many ardent Yessers were hoping against hope she might authorise.

It was a normal Friday night in the Red Lion pub in Whitehall, where journalists gather to gossip about the week. Charlie Whelan, former chancellor Gordon Brown’s personal spin doctor, was holding court as usual, white wine spritzer in hand.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans has always had a gothic element. The voodoo culture dates from the African American diaspora, though it’s now mostly for tourists. But this year there was an authentically macabre dimension to Fat Tuesday.

The Scottish political world is holding its breath this weekend.

The Meadowbank Stadium was one of the shabbier landmarks in east Edinburgh until it was knocked down last year. A new one is rising from the ashes, looking like one of those massive cruise liners that appear in the Forth.

Writers have been ransacking the Brainy Quotes website looking for inspiration for their coronavirus think pieces. But there is really only one that matters: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”. Franklin D Roosevelt’s epigram is appropriate because it is as disingenuous as it is paradoxical.

Next week, Nicola Sturgeon is promising to outline her proposals for lifting the lockdown. Good luck with that. She is unlikely to open the schools because she can't rely on parents to send their children.

Nicola Sturgeon won plaudits from some unlikely quarters this week for her “grown-up conversation” on lifting the lockdown.

“It's not the end; it's not even the beginning of the end; but it is perhaps the end of the beginning”. Churchill's famous wartime speech after the battle of El Alamein in November 1942 was an ambiguous rallying cry. After all, by saying it was only the beginning, he was suggesting that there could be worse to come.

FACE it – we are going nowhere. Even if we had a particular place to venture the regulations would not permit. For the foreseeable we shall have to contract out our travelling to others. On the upside, no airport hassle. On the downside, no giant Toblerone.

Co-hosts Keith Lemon and Anna Richardson talk to Gemma Dunn about their new show, The Fantastical Factory Of Curious Craft.

THE market for TV historians is crowded and fiercely competitive. Drop your guard for a second and Dan Snow or Bettany Hughes will be in the door and taking your gig faster than you can don a pair of those special white gloves all in the trade must have. Lucy Worsley made her name by combining immense knowledge – she is the chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces – with a steadfast dedication to raiding the dressing up box.

One of the biggest pieces of unfinished business for education groups when it comes to federal help with the coronavirus is connectivity and online learning. But what's the state of play?

E-learning may help some schools keep instruction flowing but major gaps in access and resources mean not all schools are ready to offer virtual classes, and not all students are equipped to learn online.

Educators are struggling to learn how to use new tech tools—devices, apps, software, and online textbooks—in greater volume than ever before.

The Federal Communications Commission is engaging Congress to expand funding for in-home connectivity and devices for teachers and students grappling with the coronavirus crisis.

The director of teaching and learning for a Minnesota district talks about putting e-learning days into action under difficult circumstances.

Schools and tech companies in the U.S. and abroad have experience deploying virtual learning should a coronavirus emergency arise.

As millions of students nationwide start to settle into virtual learning programs to slow the spread of the coronavirus, a massive new research analysis sounds another note of caution about the effects of exposing significantly more screen time.

SCOTTISH Government ministers have appealed to Westminster for financial support to be handed over to universities during the Covid-19 pandemic amid a pledge that Holyrood is “ready to stand by” institutions.

EDUCATION Secretary John Swinney does not expect schools to reopen overnight as he stressed they would only do so when it was safe for public health.

HELP is on hand for parents hoping to inspire their children at home during the coronavirus lockdown – and it’s all free.

THE teacher had four pupils yesterday. Just four pupils out of a class of 33 took part in virtual online lockdown lessons.

SCOTLAND’S universities must play their part in adapting to the “new normal” amid warnings that institutions could be forced to merge in return for government support.

Everyone who knows anything about education seems to now be running a livestream from their room, and the explosion of home-schooling resources can be enough to send a busy parent into lockdown meltdown. That's why we've created a check-list of some of the books and sites that could help. It’s not all about BBC Bitesize and the Khan Academy – it can be all the more fun when you go a little off the beaten path.

Schools in Wales could be allowed to reopen their doors next month in a phased approach, the first minister has said.

Colin Turner thought he understood the dynamics of race and privilege. Until one of his students called him out for some insensitive comments he'd made in class.

The slur isn't appropriate for school personnel or students of any race to ever use, writes Tyrone C. Howard.

The Long Beach, Calif., school district is deploying a multifaceted strategy to put more students of color in high-level math courses and help them succeed.

With more than 40 million unique visitors a year, GreatSchools.org is a wildly popular source of information on K-12 schools. Though the site has added more factors and nuance to how it rates schools, researchers argue that it’s exacerbating already existing patterns of segregation.

Quiz yourself: What do census statistics reveal about school enrollment, classroom diversity, and education outcomes, and how could the 2020 Census impact school services?

And four strategies for fixing the underlying problems most often laid bare, from Great Schools Partnership’s Craig Kesselheim.

A pair of new studies find that, when given a choice, white parents tend to send their children to schools that are predominantly white.

School dress codes are clashing with students, parents, and researchers who see the rules and their enforcement as rife with racism and sexism. Some school leaders say the codes are important for safety and teaching kids to comply.

Thanks to the coronavirus epidemic, America is facing a school shutdown of historic proportions, deepening learning divides among students and taking away the centers of communities. Can we ever make up the lost learning time?

When schools reduce racial segregation between schools, racial isolation within the classes inside those schools goes up, according to an analysis of 20 years of North Carolina data.

Here are five takeaways on the teaching profession from the newly released 2017-18 National Teacher and Principal Survey.

In the face of well-funded opposition to organized labor, teachers will not be silenced, writes NEA President Lily Eskelsen García.

Within days of the Supreme Court’s decision to abolish union fees for nonmembers, conservative groups—including ones with ties to Ed. Secretary Betsy DeVos—launched email, social media, and billboard campaigns to try to convince teachers not to join their unions.

As teacher take the lead in protests over pay, unions face an uncertain future, writes Berkeley sociologist Bruce Fuller.

In the wake of the 'Janus' Supreme Court case, teachers' unions are facing more than a dozen legal challenges backed by right-leaning groups that could further dampen their membership numbers and finances.

The recent Chicago Teachers Union strike drew attention from Democratic presidential candidates in Illinois, a state won by Democrats in the last White House contest. For 2020, it's possible we could see a twist on that story: big-city teacher strikes in states with less predictable outcomes.

The UK looks likely to operate under slightly different lockdown rules next week after announcements by the leaders of the Welsh and Scottish Governments suggested deviation between nations.

The Government has defended missing its key 100,000 target for coronavirus tests for the sixth day in a row, highlighting “daily fluctuations” in availability.

BORIS Johnson has said Britain needs the "same spirit of national endeavour" to defeat the coronavirus as Second World War veterans demonstrated to topple Adolf Hitler.

THE SCOTTISH Government is reviewing its Covid-19 testing strategy after the Deputy First Minster has been left “frustrated” by reports home care workers have been told to travel to the other side of Scotland for tests.

SCOTLAND’S Economy Secretary has penned a letter to the UK Government venting her frustration at being given “insufficient time” to consider workplace safety proposals.