SanSay.Co.Uk

The new changes to the national curriculum sound like a good idea - proscribe less, allow teachers more flexibility. Just the ticket. I hope, though, that the teach-children-about-climate-change bit doesn't get too superficial. The 11-14 curriculum should still be about education, not training. The idea should still be to teach them the basic science of the matter first and leave them to figure out the details themselves. Constantly telling children "carbon is bad!" isn't going to give them much by way of an understanding. Same goes for the teach-children-about-mortgages idea - teach them about percentages and compound interest, how to use a spreadsheet. Mortgages are simple after that - a mental image comes to mind of a generation of savvy borrowers turning up at the bank, laptop in hand, saying to the mortgage broker - "About this variable rate that you reckon will save us money. Prove it.".

The tallest order, however, is going to be getting past the tits-and-bums aspect of the British sense of humour. Cows produce methane. Yes, we're talking about cows farting. YOU AT THE BACK! Stop giggling, this is serious - your average cow has the same daily greenhouse gas output as a 4X4 doing the school run. YES, I said fart, stop gig... oh, forget it...