Thread by @Sakura509

"The former Scottish Tory leader is temporarily fronting the party’s group in Holyrood following the ousting of Jackson Carlaw, and the uncontested election of Douglas Ross as leader."

"Though it was claimed at time that Carlaw had chosen to stand down of his own accord, the process has been dogged by claims of a plot."

"It's known that Davidson and Ross met just days before their colleague decided the top job wasn't for him."

Such loyalty is a rare thing!

“Next week marks five years since Nicola Sturgeon announced that education would be her number one priority," she said.

"Davidson added: “John Swinney has been the common denominator through all of this and the First Minister's loyalty to a colleague may be commendable but her real loyalty should be to the parents and the pupils of Scotland."

bylinetimes.com/2020/07/30/joh…

Evidently, #Davidson missed @JohnSwinney's excellent speech directly addressing the concerns of pupils, parents and teachers!!

Tories are too blinded by corruption to notice the success of others!! 🤑🤑🤑

A major oversight in #Davidson's criticism is the failure of Tory UK Governments to provide governance - too overwhelmed by pursuit of Brexit at any and all costs to UK - completely overlooking devastating impact on UK citizens!!

#JohnsonHasFailedTheNation
#JohnsonMustGo

"Can I gently suggest to Ruth Davidson, that when it comes to holding to account and scrutinising politicians, she's really not coming at this from a position of strength, because it is not me, who's running away from democratic accountability."

😀👍

bylinetimes.com/2020/07/21/the…

"Ruth Davidson made an absolute travesty of not only her first #FMQs back but the first FMQs since this government's single biggest u-turn. Open goal, missed. The House of Lords is lucky to have her..."

— Ross Greer (@Ross_Greer) August 12, 2020

@JohnSwinney & @scotgov called it right, after weighing up the unprecedented and as yet, unquantified impact of COVID-19 for young people and their future prospects and opportunities.

UK awaits revelation of devastation in aftermath of #LiarJohnson's pursuit of 'no deal' Brexit!

thenational.scot/news/18645868.…

"Now all eyes are on England because the statistical model being used to predict English exam results shares basic principles with the Scottish one."

theguardian.com/education/2020…

"Statisticians have criticised Ofqual’s algorithm, saying it does not have sufficient data to award grades fairly to most state schools in England, because of wide variations in results within schools and between years."

"The Royal Statistical Society has called for an urgent review of the statistical procedures used in England and Scotland, to be carried out by the UK Statistics Authority."

“This should consider both the substantive issues of the data used and the adjustment algorithms of the various nations, but also whether greater transparency would have been possible and beneficial,” the society said."

theguardian.com/education/2020…

"Having observed decisions taken by @JohnSwinney, #Williamson has frantically tried to avert a similar outcry when the awards are reported for English schools, but to no avail.

"Ministers made an 11th-hour bid to stave off a revolt over the handling of exam results on Tuesday night, granting pupils in England the right to use mock exam results if they are unhappy with their grades."

"The intervention, on the eve of the release of 730,000 A-level results decided by an algorithm on Thursday, follows growing alarm in Downing Street."

"Jules White, head of Tanbridge House secondary school in West Sussex, said: “What about the schools that were set to have mocks after lockdown occurred? What about students who may not have revised hard for their mocks, and what about the reliability of the mocks themselves?"

"It seems like a knee-jerk decision caused by the U-turn made in Scotland.”"

theguardian.com/education/2020…

huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/a-level-…

Scotland - leading by example!! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/uk-gover…

“The Scottish Government remains fully focused on tackling the coronavirus pandemic - but it’s now clearer than ever that people in Scotland have confidence in the SNP, and in Scotland’s ability to govern itself."

Scots believe in hope and prosperity NOT Unicorns!! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

“It is now the established majority view in Scotland that we should be an independent country."

“There is now unstoppable momentum behind an independence referendum – and that will be a decision for the people of Scotland, not Boris Johnson or any other Westminster politician.”

thenational.scot/news/18644646.…

"Teachers say it will be “heartbreaking” to watch their personal assessments of students overruled by a “biased” computer algorithm that has been found to disproportionately penalise students from poorer backgrounds."

"The (UK) government’s latest U-turn “blows my mind”, said A-level law teacher Naomi. “It clearly shows the lack of understanding [education secretary] Gavin Williamson has for A-levels and how they work.”"

"Grading a pupil based on their mock exams “is like asking someone to take their driving test after only half the lessons”. “It’s clearly a knee jerk reaction to what we have seen in Scotland,” she told HuffPost UK."

"She also worries how this will impact her pupils and their families. “Some students are going to feel utterly let down by the system and I don’t blame them. The impact of this on our young people’s mental health is going to be witnessed for years to come."

"Naomi insists her school was “extremely responsible and fair” with allocating A-level grades to their pupils. “We want the students to do well, but teachers know what their students are capable of."

"Vix Lowthion, who teaches A-level history, classics and geology, agrees teachers “are professionals who are experienced at accurately predicting grades”. “I take fairness very seriously,” she told HuffPost UK."

"Lowthian teaches at a school on the Isle of Wight – an area once described as a “ghetto” by a former chair of Ofsted – also believes her grades will be marked down. “I will be gutted for my students if they are downgraded by computer modelling."

"They are talented and confident and have worked really hard."

“They have had all the opportunities taken away from them. The least we can give this bunch of students are fair results based on their hard work and effort.”

"A-level teachers across UK have told HuffPost UK they feel “undervalued”, “disheartened” and “anxious”. Many felt their profession had been “scapegoated” by politicians and press since start of lockdown, and government’s recent flip-flopping was “mind-boggling” and “laughable”."

huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/teachers…