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From Penzance to Berwick in six days

With free bus travel for England's over 60s, how long would it take to cross the country using local services? The answer is six days and here's how. All times are in BST and are correct for this week (March 31-April 6). Day One From Penzance to Lyme Regis, via Plymouth and Exeter At Penzance, take the 1010 X18 service to Truro, arriving at 1116 At Truro, take the 1130 424 service to Trekenning, arriving at 1200 At Trekenning, take the 1230 593 service to Liskeard, arriving at 1321 At Liskeard, take the 1330 592 service to Plymouth, arriving at 1420 At Plymouth, take the 1459 X80 service to Torquay, arriving at 1650 At Torquay, take the 1741 X46 service to Exeter, arriving at 1837 At Exeter, take the 1848 X53 service to Lyme Regis, arriving at 2006 Day Two From Lyme Regis to Bath, via Bournemouth and Salisbury At Lyme Regis, take the 1006 X53 service to Poole, arriving at 1310 At Poole, take the 1320 M1 service to Bournemouth, arriving at 1349 At Bournemouth, take the 1441 X3 s...
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Analysis: Why the second Covid wave is nothing like the first

Dig into the data, and the narrative that the current wave is deadlier than the one that hit in the spring begins to unravel. The UK has yet to hit the daily death levels seen in the first wave On Jan 13, Dr Yvonne Doyle, the medical director at Public Health England (PHE) issued an alarming statement claiming that Britain had reported the highest number of coronavirus deaths on a single day since the pandemic began. She also alleged that there have now been more deaths in the second wave than the first. Both these statements were "technically" true. On that day, 1,564 people were added to official mortality figures , the highest number ever, while the 44,198 "second wave" coronavirus deaths passed the 40,563 recorded up to August 31. Yet dig a little deeper and the narrative that the second wave is more deadly than the first begins to unravel. I make an early caveat here that I firmly believe we are having a deadly second wave , and thousands more people are dying...
Inspiring day for Future Scholars One hundred students from 21 different state schools were welcomed to Cambridge for a day of activities aimed at inspiring the students and informing their teachers about the opportunities available at leading universities, including the University of Cambridge. Today has helped to break down barriers, helped our students to aspire, and encouraged them to reach for the skies. Michael Gannon, Assistant Headteacher, Arthur Terry School, Sutton Coldfield. The Future Scholar Awards programme is a Department for Education initiative, focused on young people who have the academic potential to win places at selective universities but who might lack the confidence to see themselves as realistic applicants. Students came to the University of Cambridge from schools in East Anglia, London, the West Midlands and Yorkshire.  Their day included a tour of one of Cambridge’s 29 undergraduate Colleges, a Q and A with current underg...

Arthur Terry Government & Politics Students meet Ed Miliband

On Saturday 23 rd March 2013, sixteen Arthur Terry students who have opted to study Government and Politics at A Level from September attended and participated in the Labour Party’s innovative public listening exercise, ‘The People’s Public Policy Forum’ at Birmingham’s ICC. The students; Daniel Jones, Simon Martin, Charles McGuigan, Tom Bevington, Will Bennett, Viccy Littleford, Sam Bowker, Nathan Bell, Chris Deekes, Kyle Cookson, Miles Gregory, Harry Plaistowe, Guy Merrington, Georiana Louka, Florence Plant and Harry Bennett, battled through the snow and ice to trade questions with both Stephen Twigg, Shadow Secretary of State for Education and the Labour Leader himself, Ed Miliband. Even Government and Politics Subject Leader, Mr Zarifeh got in on the act asking the Leader of the Opposition a question during the main Q&A chamber session.

More tea Minister?

On Thursday 7th March, I travelled down to London to shadow Andrew Mitchell for Independent Women's Day 2013. I was up at 5am and got to London at 9:45, then caught the tube to Westminster, where I arrived at Portcullis House. Here I met Isabella, one of Andrew's interns. She took me for a tour around Portcullis House and then to Andrew's office. We met briefly and he wished me a nice day. Isabella then took me to the MPs Assistant's office where I met his 2 other assistants, Hugh and Sarah. They were all very friendly and welcomed me throughout the day. Isabella then took me back to the lobby of Portcullis House where me and 4 other girls, shadowing different MPs and from all over the country, walked to Downing Street. We went through airport-type security and some very chirpy police officers assisted us. We then went through the famous black door and had a tour of number 10 Downing Street. (This was a complete surprise as I had no clue this was going to happen until ...

The Olympic Legacy – One year on ………

It has been a year since Emma and I visited the Olympic park as correspondents for the BBC School Report. Although the euphoria surrounding the Olympic Games has faded, the lasting affects from the Games is all around. Lord Coe spoke about the “Olympic Legacy” and “Encouraging social change”, developing sports facilities, and encouraging participation in schools and clubs”. From my perspective it is now all coming into play. I run for Birchfield Harriers and have done so since the age of eleven. From time to time new athletes join and in the past only a small proportion would continue on for a whole athletic season. However this year the flood gates opened and a much higher number of young people from the ages of 9-16 have stepped through the doors and look keen to continue. My uncle Philip Brown a former team mate of Lord Coe in The1984 Olympic Games has also noticed the changes that the Games have brought “It’s a great seeing fresh new talent across different athletic disciplines. H...