Rishi Sunak announced plans amid great fanfare last year to keep children studying maths until the age of 18, claiming the ‘anti-maths mindset’ was undermining the efforts to improve numeracy in Britain.
The Prime Minister may not, though, have reckoned on facing opposition from one of the country’s most prominent dames.
Former Strictly Come Dancing judge Dame Darcey Bussell believes children need to study less mathematics, not more.
Asked what she thinks should change within the education system, she replies: ‘Less maths, more dance — there, I said it.’
Once principal dancer at the Royal Ballet, she now runs her educational charity, DDMix. Standing for Diverse Dance Mix, it delivers a dance and fitness programme for primary school children as well as offering adult dance classes. ‘Technology is all there at our fingertips, but what we don’t have is proper movement available to all, and people understanding how it can help break up those long classroom hours,’ she explains.
Former Strictly Come Dancing judge Dame Darcey Bussell believes children need to study less mathematics, not more
Darcey, who has two children with her businessman husband Angus Forbes (pictured), retired from the world of ballet in 2007
Rishi Sunak announced plans amid great fanfare last year to keep children studying maths until the age of 18, claiming the ‘anti-maths mindset’ was undermining the efforts to improve numeracy in Britain
‘A small movement class could help children to focus and get their attention back, which can really facilitate their learning. Dance, and picking up steps, are really very good for sharpening the brain as well as promoting a sense of wellbeing.’
Dame Darcey, 54, says use of new technology is making children less active. ‘We’re very good at getting kids involved in technology, and they’re very savvy about that, but they’re not so brilliant at moving any more.
‘Time spent on screens means that they are potentially becoming more sedentary.’
Darcey, who has two children with her businessman husband Angus Forbes, retired from the world of ballet in 2007. She later quit as a Strictly judge in 2019.
Royal flash: Lady Amelia poses in just her smalls!
Lady Amelia Windsor made history last year when she became the first member of the Royal Family to carry out jury service.
Now, the Duke and Duchess of Kent’s 28-year-old granddaughter has notched up another first.
Lady Amelia, who was once described as ‘the most beautiful member of the Royal Family’ by Tatler magazine, is the first royal to show off her knickers.
Lady Amelia, who was once described as ‘the most beautiful member of the Royal Family’ by Tatler magazine, is the first royal to show off her knickers. She assures her social media followers that the pants are made of ‘wood-based fibres that are fully biodegradable’
She is pictured modelling the red pants, by underwear brand Stripe & Stare, in a photograph she shared online yesterday.
Appropriately, the undies were emblazoned with the word ‘Monday’.
An environmentalist who serves as ambassador for conservation charity the Blue Marine Foundation, she assures her social media followers that the pants are made of ‘wood-based fibres that are fully biodegradable’.
As I reported last year, Lady Amelia had become eligible to perform jury service because of a change in the law in 2003. Until then, all royals were exempt from a civic duty that might well have seen them consign a fellow citizen to a custodial sentence at His Majesty’s Pleasure.
She undertook her courtroom stint in Cambridge, where she grew up and where her parents, the Earl and Countess of St Andrews, still live.
Goga enjoys a wickedly fun birthday
Goga Ashkenazi cast a spell over the buyer of Prince Andrew’s house, arranging the sale of Sunninghill Park in 2007 for £15million — £3 million more than its asking price.
So how fitting that the Kazakh businesswoman and socialite should attend her birthday party dressed as a witch.
Goga Ashkenazi cast a spell over the buyer of Prince Andrew’s house, arranging the sale of Sunninghill Park in 2007 for £15million — £3 million more than its asking price. So how fitting that she should attend her birthday party dressed as a witch
Oxford-educated Goga, who turned 44 earlier this month, dressed up in the Maleficent-style headdress made famous by actress Angelina Jolie in the 2014 film about the Sleeping Beauty villain, known as ‘the mistress of evil’.
Goga, who runs the fashion label Vionnet, jokes: ‘It’s my party. I can fly if I want to.’
Esther’s forbidden childhood romance
Dame Esther Rantzen has revealed that senior figures in the Church of England prevented her from going out with the first boy she was smitten by because she was Jewish.
‘There was someone I thought was attractive and he had a lovely, outgoing personality,’ the former That’s Life! presenter says.
‘He was very funny, and he took to me. But his family were very high up in the Church of England — you couldn’t be much higher.
Dame Esther Rantzen has revealed that senior figures in the Church of England prevented her from going out with the first boy she was smitten by because she was Jewish
‘They did not like the idea of him taking a Jewish girl out. He was forbidden.’
Former Top Gear star Paddy McGuinness announced in 2022 that he had split from his wife, Christine, an ex-model, after 11 years of marriage. It followed reports that he had been spotted kissing a TV presenter and had sent messages to a different TV host on social media.
It now appears that McGuinness feels he may have spoiled Christine. ‘I bought my Mrs a Range Rover Sport,’ he says. ‘And she got in it and she went: ‘There’s no heated steering wheel.’
‘So I said: ‘With the money you’ve not spent on that car, buy a pair of f***ing gloves.”
What a charmer.
With the Garrick Club in ceaseless turmoil over admitting women, another gentlemen’s club, the Savile, is going to ask its members what they think of the issue. The Mayfair-based Savile is best known for its cigar evenings and a snuff box which can be passed round the dining table.
The Savile’s chairman is Gareth Neame, who produced Downton Abbey, in which Dame Maggie Smith (pictured) starred as a dowager countess. Gareth has a soft spot for old dragons
Sounds just the place for the likes of Harriet Harman and Baroness Hale. The Savile’s chairman is Gareth Neame, who produced Downton Abbey, in which Dame Maggie Smith starred as a dowager countess. Gareth has a soft spot for old dragons.
Comedians Miles Jupp and Josh Widdicombe have revealed Scrooge producers of BBC game show Mock The Week would film a Christmas special free of charge.
Jupp refused to play ball when he found out that bosses were encouraging contestants to discuss Christmas-themed topics. They would then piece those clips together to create a festive special.
On a podcast with Jupp, Widdicombe says: ‘We never got paid for the Christmas special. Miles would refuse to speak during the Christmas story.’ Jupp says: ‘I did think it was cheeky.’
Kirsty Gallacher has joked that she would move in with the husband of her best friend, Gabby Logan, if fellow TV presenter Logan died first.
Gallacher, 48, divorced rugby player Paul Sampson, 46, in 2015, while Logan, 50, is happily married to another former rugby player, Kenny Logan, 51.
In a pretend eulogy to Gabby Logan, on the podcast Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake, Kirsty Gallacher teases: ‘I was thinking, Kenny’s going to be quite lonely in that big house, isn’t he?’ Gabby responds: ‘I didn’t see that ending coming. Lucky Kenny — she’s gorgeous.’
In a pretend eulogy to Gabby, on the podcast Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wake, Gallacher teases: ‘I was thinking, Kenny’s going to be quite lonely in that big house, isn’t he?
‘I know that you’d want me to maybe move in and look after the animals, and your wine cellar, and your wardrobe. I know you wouldn’t mind, would you?’
Gabby responds: ‘I didn’t see that ending coming. Lucky Kenny — she’s gorgeous.’
