Have you ever been to an Apple Store?

Here is the one in Regent Street, London.

It is very impressive and is always crowded with people using the computers.

However, there is a problem beecause too many of them are accessing "MySpace" and hogging the computers.

So Apple has blocked access to "MySpace" by people using the machines in its retail stores.

The company confirmed that the popular social networking site will not be available to the two million people visit Apple Stores every week.

'We want to provide everyone a chance to test drive a Mac, so we are no longer offering access to MySpace in our Stores,' it said.

Apple has more than 180 retail stores in five countries, including nine in the UK plus at least another eight in the pipeline: Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Brighton, Solihull, Liverpool, Exeter, Lakeside Thurrock and Reading.

BANK TELLS WOMAN 'YOU ARE DEAD'

A bank has apologised to a 77-year-old woman for refusing to hand over her £3,000 savings because she was listed as dead.

Mary Welsby, of Albrighton, Shropshire, was told her Abbey Isa account had been closed.

She battled for nine weeks to get the money back, but only received the apology after the BBC investigated.

The bank blamed the mistake on an accident and said she would receive the money back plus compensation.

Mrs Welsby said when she visited her branch to investigate, the cashier told her: "I don't really know how to tell you this Mrs Welsby but according to our records, you are dead.

Mrs Welsby added: "It really was quite a shock to me. I'm 77 years old, a widow, and I simply don't know how I got home from that interview.

"There's no doubt in my mind what the problem is - they have given my money away.

"I just don't want this to happen to other people - £3,000 may not be much to Abbey, but it's my savings."

When Mrs Welsby initially complained in April, the bank phoned her on 11 May to apologise and said it would investigate.

On 25 May she received a standard letter saying an inquiry would take four weeks.

But on 23 June she received another letter from Abbey saying it was not sure it "understood the problem".

Following investigations by the BBC, the bank issued a further apology and promised compensation.

Mary Welsby insists she is very much alive

Here is a question for you:

When the UK smoking ban comes into force on 1st July, what will happen to the hundreds of thousands of redundant pub ashtrays?

Suggestions welcome.

LAW-ABIDING MAJORITY 'IS A MYTH'

More than six out of 10 people regularly commit crimes against the government, their employers or businesses, research suggests.

Keele University researchers said it showed petty crime was rife among the middle classes and exposed the "law-abiding majority" to be a myth.

Their poll of 1,807 people in England and Wales found 61% had committed one of a series of offences.

They included paying "cash in hand" to avoid VAT and stealing items from work.

The study found that around one-third of those questioned (34%) paid "cash in hand" to avoid taxation and about one in five (18%) had taken something, such as stationery, from work.

Other findings included:

One in 11 had wrongly used identification for their own gain

7% of those questioned had padded out an insurance claim to get more money

One in 10 (11%) avoided paying their television licence

A total of 8% did not disclose faulty goods in second-hand sales

And 6% asked a friend in a bureaucratic job to bend the rules

Of those who admitted to an offence, nearly two-thirds (62%) had broken the law on up to three occasions and 10% admitted to nine or more offences.

The study's author, Professor Suzanna Karstedt, said: "Contempt for the law is as widespread in the centre of society as it is assumed to be rampant at the margins and among specific marginal groups.

"Anti-social behaviour by the few is mirrored by anti-civil behaviour by the many.

"Neither greed nor need can explain why respectable citizens cheat on insurance claims or in second-hand sales, and do not hesitate to discuss their exploits with friends in pubs."

How many of us can truthfully plead "Not Guilty"?

SUPERMARKET MEAT 'COULD BE MRSA INFECTED'

Pork, beef and chicken in supermarkets could be infected with a strain of MRSA, according to a report today by organic campaigners which warns that the issue could become "a new monster".

The bacterium is sweeping northern Europe and has already infected one in five of all pork products on sale in Holland, from where Britain imports almost two thirds of all its pork, the report claims.

The strain found in Holland, Denmark, Belgium and Germany is different from MRSA found in British hospitals, which was a contributory factor in 3,800 deaths in 2005.

However, the report by the Soil Association, the organic pressure group, claims that the bug found in European meat is just as deadly and infectious. It is resistant to tetracycline antibiotics, the most common drugs used to cure hospital MRSA.

So far no meat or farm animals in this country have been found to be infected with the European strain. However, no testing for the microbe in pork or chicken is done.

Only cattle are tested - the least likely animal to be infected - and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) does not test any imported meat.

The Soil Association is calling on the Government to start testing for the superbug in meat as a matter of urgency.

The FSA yesterday said that it was monitoring the situation closely but added that worried consumers should follow the advice given to avoid salmonella. "Proper cooking will destroy MRSA," it said in a statement.

The worry, however, is that though the bug is killed by cooking the meat thoroughly, it is easy to become infected by handling raw meat.

Richard Young, of the Soil Association, said: "It is all very well cooking the meat well, and washing your hands before sitting down to eat your meal. All you need to do is scratch your nose while handling the meat for you to become infected."

Almost half of Dutch pig farmers carry MRSA - a prevalence 1,500 times higher than in the overall Dutch population. The Netherlands exports six million pigs a year to its neighbours.

The Soil Association claims that it is only a matter of time before MRSA is found in domestic meat, and that the heavy use of antibiotics in British farming makes infection more likely.

A spokesman for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: "Antibiotics are vital to protect the health of farm livestock."

He reiterated that no cases of MRSA had been found in Britain. "Defra keeps the surveillance of MRSA under active review and surveillance is prioritised in consultation with colleagues working in the medical field, bearing in mind the most recent findings relating to humans in the UK."

Edvard Munch - "The Scream"

A GP's innovative scheme, "prescribing" art therapy for patients instead of drugs, is expanding.

Dr Simon Opher has been offering poetry, art and ceramics classes to patients at his May Lane practice in Dursley, Gloucestershire, since 2001.

He said it had helped more than 400 people with a variety of complaints, ranging from stress to drug misuse.

Ten other surgeries and four hospital wards across the county are now adopting the scheme.

Dr Opher said the project had helped to cut his consultation rates.

"We need to develop more evidence for this, so we can persuade health planners to put more funding into this type of work, which I believe will take pressure off other parts of the medical system," he said.

A way to save money for the NHS?

Five million US kids may be addicted to the games

Compulsive video game playing should be officially declared a psychiatric disorder and treated as such, according to a proposal to be debated by the American Medical Association tomorrow.

If it were classified as a mental illness health insurance companies would be forced to pay for treatment.

Backers of the proposal say being hooked on computer games can be as dangerous and devastating as heroin addiction and the disorder should have its own entry in the authoritative guide to mental disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association.

The video games industry rejects the notion its products can cause a psychiatric disorder. It says the claim lacks any scientific backing. Even some mental health experts believe classing the pastime as a formal addiction is a step too far.

Up to 90 per cent of American youngsters play video games and as many as 15 per cent - up to five million children - might be addicted, says an AMA report.

Do you, or your kids, play video games?

Do they do any harm?

"GIRL, 5, LIED 0VER SEX CLAIM WITH YOUTH"

That is the headline in my local weekly newspaper. The full article reads:

A fourteen-year-old boy from Walton accused of sexual activity with a five-year-old girl has been found not guilty at Kingston County Court.

(Walton and Hersham News & Mail)


Now, I have no wish to defend paedophiles and I have great sympathy for the child, but this case provokes several questions:

How does a 5 year-old child imagine such incidents?

Is it possible that, during the inquiries, someone asked leading questions and put the thoughts into her mind? (I know that professional child-abuse interviewers are trained NOT to do that.)

One of the charges was rape.  Was there any medical evidence?

Was it necessary to put a 5-year-old through a court ordeal?

Was she really able to distinguish between the truth and lies?

Did she just agree with all adults who put statements to her?

Is it right for a newspaper (or a blog for that matter) to publish such detail of a court case involving youngsters (although no names were given)?  I thought that style of reporting had gone long ago.

Please let me have your views on this case.  Although tragic, to me there seems something odd and not quite right about it.

What do you think?

I was visiting my brother in West Wittering, West Sussex, a few weeks ago and I took this photo of a gravestone in the local churchyard.

Is it in bad taste?

Here is what other people have had to say about death:

If your time ain't come not even a doctor can kill you. ~ American Proverb

I don't believe in an after life, although I am taking a change of underwear. ~ Woody Allen

IS IT A SEX TOY OR A MEDICAL AID?

A vibrating condom has sparked a fierce debate in India, over whether it is a sex toy - which are banned - or a means of birth control.

The controversial condom has caused outrage in the state of Madhya Pradesh, because a government-owned company is involved in marketing it.

The pack of three condoms, branded as Crezendo, contains a battery-operated ring-like device.

Critics say it is in fact a vibrator, and should therefore be banned.

Sex toys and pornography are illegal in India.

The condom was given a low-key launch across the country three months ago. At that time many critics failed to notice that it had government backing.

A promotional message from the company, Hindustan Latex Limited, describes Crezendo as a product that "provides ultimate pleasure by producing strong vibrations".

That has caused an outcry among many in conservative India, including the Madhya Pradesh minister for road and energy, Kailash Vijayvargiya, who argues that it is nothing more than a sex toy.

"Sex toys are banned in India and the vibrating device is nothing but a sex toy being sold as condoms.

"The government's job is to promote family planning and population control measures rather than market products for sexual pleasure."

The Hindustan Latex company says that the new condom was launched to promote the use of condoms in order to prevent the spread of Aids.

"The product was launched with the primary objective of addressing a fall in condom usage... A major reason cited by users was the lack of pleasure when using condoms.

"So we added the vibrating ring as a pleasure enhancer. It helps to hold the condom in position besides producing a vibrating effect."

The company says the condom pack, priced at 125 rupees ($3, £1.50) has been "well received".

It has strongly rejected allegations that its product is a sex toy, but has offered to withdraw the product from Madhya Pradesh if the state government asks for it.

(From a BBC News article)

I don't think Ann Summers would have much chance of opening stores in India, but there must be a big black market in sex toys.

SMOKERS ARE TO BE ASKED NOT TO SMOKE IN THEIR OWN HOMES TO PROTECT COUNCIL STAFF.

Health and safety officers at Liverpool city council have drawn up plans to request residents not to smoke at least half an hour before a visit by staff and to open windows and not light up during a home visit.

The plans are to protect employees from exposure to second-hand smoke. The council says the rules are not a "ban" and it will not be able to force householders to comply.

But if residents insist on smoking at home during a visit from a council employee the visit will be ended and they will be asked to attend a council office - which comes under the nationwide smoking ban from July 1.

The rules will apply to residents in both council houses and private homes being visited by staff, including social workers, enforcement officers and planning officers.

The report says: "In circumstances where staff are undertaking prearranged visits, service users will be requested to refrain from smoking in their own homes prior to and during the visit."

Risk assessment exercises will be carried out in cases where exposure to tobacco smoke cannot be prevented.

A spokesman for Liverpool city council said: "We are not banning people from smoking in their own homes. All we are asking, and it is a reasonable request, is that people respect the views and the health of visiting council staff and ask them not to smoke while council staff are visiting.

"This is a reasonable way in which to deal with this. It is a request to residents and we, as an employer, have a legal duty to protect the interests and health of our staff."

Is it a reasonable request, or another intrusion?

How long will it be before smokers will have to desist (and open all the windows?) an hour or so before the arrival of EVERY visitor?

Using a mobile phone before going to bed can double the time it takes to fall asleep, research has found.

Signals from the devices also change brain activity during sleep for several hours afterwards, according to a study by the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University.

Prof James Horne, who led the researchers, said that using a mobile before sleep had a significant impact on brain activity.

He said: "People took much longer to fall asleep when they had been exposed to the signal emitted by a phone when it is in talk mode, so it appeared to be having an alerting effect on the brain, the equivalent of having a cup of coffee.

"It was surprising to find that the signal from mobiles could delay sleep in this way."

He did not believe the changes were enough to be harmful.

The researchers used 10 volunteers who were exposed separately to three types of signal emitted by mobiles held to their ears for 30 minutes.

The microphones and earpieces on the phones were disabled to ensure that the participants were only exposed to the microwave signal and were not affected by other stimuli such as talking.

Compared with when the phone had been turned off, the volunteers took 25 minutes longer to fall asleep after they had been exposed to the talk mode signal, while when it had been in stand-by they took about 10 minutes longer to doze off.

Royal Mail has admitted selling off thousands of items that got 'lost in the post' to help meet its running costs. The troubled company sells the contents of about 75,000 undelivered packages every year, at the risk of enraging hordes of customers already frustrated that their post has gone astray.

Even customers who paid over the odds for premium 'secure' services to cover valuable items have been shocked to find their goods put up for auction, in an operation that could be netting the postal giant millions of pounds a year.

The scandal was exposed by retired teacher John Beattie after he discovered that a set of antique bagpipes, which Royal Mail had lost, were for sale on internet auction site eBay.

He had originally sold the rare 1910 Henderson bagpipes to a fellow collector in Belgium for £1,500 last July, and despatched them using the Royal Mail's Airsure premium airmail service, described as 'fast, secure and reliable'.

Although the package was correctly labelled, it vanished without trace. However, in March this year a friend spotted the bagpipes online.

It turned out that the package had spent three months languishing in the national undelivered mail centre in Belfast, before the Royal Mail sent it to Surrey auctioneers Wellers.

In turn, they sold the bagpipes to an online bidder for £60. The instrument then turned up on eBay, advertised by a man in the Glasgow area.

Fifty-five-year-old Mr Beattie, of Northwich, Cheshire, is furious at how he has been treated.

"I've spent a year trying to sort this out," he said. "I did everything I should have. I clearly addressed the box containing the bagpipes, and Royal Mail labelled it with its own stickers, too.

"It even had an online tracking tag attached to it, and this was supposed to enable Royal Mail to follow the progress of the package.

"After months of phone calls and countless letters, I've lost my bagpipes, lost money and I am worried this is happening to plenty of other people, too.

"Royal Mail does not answer to anybody. If something goes missing, it is not interested in returning it."

Royal Mail has paid Mr Beattie the maximum £500 compensation offered under its Airsure scheme, but he is still £1,000 out of pocket.

Watchdogs Postwatch said: "We are asking Royal Mail to explain its process. It would be good news if it paid Mr Beattie the money he is out of pocket by."

Meanwhile, Strathclyde police are holding the pipes advertised on eBay until they determine the rightful owner.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman admitted: "About 500,000 undeliverable parcels are sent to Royal Mail's return letter centre every year.

She said some of the money was given to charity, but would not disclose how much.

PARENTS FACE TOTAL BAN ON SMACKING

Parents could be banned from smacking their children after the Government announced a full review of the law.

Under current legislation, mild smacking is allowed

Family campaigners immediately denounced the move as "unnecessary state interference" and warned that it could criminalise responsible parents.

Beverley Hughes, the children's minister, said that the Government would be seeking the views of parents and professionals this summer about changes that were made to the law three years ago.

The Government ruled out a total ban on smacking in 2001, saying that the law, which allowed "reasonable chastisement", sufficiently protected children in England and Wales.

Under tougher laws introduced in 2004, mild smacking is still allowed but parents who hit children hard enough to leave a mark can face up to five years in prison.

"The law is clear - violence against a child is illegal," said Miss Hughes. "Parliament did not go as far as to ban all smacking because it didn't want to see decent parents criminalised."

She added: "We have no reason to believe that the law needs to be changed; however, in 2004 we made a proper commitment to examine the practical consequences of the changes to the legislation."

Child protection charities welcomed the announcement, saying it was "unacceptable" for parents to hit children.

Colette Marshall, the UK director of Save the Children, said: "Children are vulnerable and are currently treated unequally. They must have the same protection from assault as adults."

What do you think?

Way back in March I posted here several of Banksy's "works of art" - mostly paintings and drawings, which have appeared in public places.

Now he is at it again, at the Glastonbury Festival, which will be held over the weekend of June 22-25.

However, this time he is producing an "installation' - his interpretation of Stonehenge, made with portable toilets.

The Guardian reports:

"The altar stone at Stonehenge, installed around 2,600 BC, is a six ton slab of sandstone brought by means unknown from Wales to Salisbury plain.

The central monument in Banksy's latest installation, a replica of the ancient monument built on the site of the forthcoming Glastonbury festival, is a portable toilet that has been sawed in half and sunk into the Somerset field.

A photograph taken by the graffiti artist himself and published exclusively in the Guardian today, shows a druidic figure standing atop the monument, in tribute, the artist's spokesperson Jo Brooks said yesterday, to the summer solstice on June 21, the first evening of the festival."

Said the artist: "A lot of monuments are a bit rubbish, but this really is a pile of crap."

I hope there will not now be a shortage of toilets at Glastonbury!

Do you think anyone could crawl inside one of these without them all tumbling down?

First it was conkers . . .

Then playground swings . . .

Now schoolchildren may be banned from blowing bubbles on "Health and Safety" grounds.

Thia follows the case of clown who has had to stop blowing bubbles for children to chase after being warned it could be a safety hazard.

Tony Turner, also known as Barney Baloney, will now stick to clowning and juggling after being refused insurance by several companies which feared youngsters might slip on the bubbles' residue.

Mr Turner, 47, who is married with three children, said yesterday: "The fun is being taken out of children's lives by bureaucracy.

"This whole health and safety business has gone too far. Kids eat jelly and ice cream and that gets on the floor and is slippy. Does anyone want to stop them eating that?"

Equity, the actors' union, has now agreed to insure the Sheffield clown's act but, after taking advice, he will no longer be blowing bubbles.

Another case of the world going mad?

Herpes Simplex

No sorry, I didn't mean to talk about that . .

But this:

What do you call it?

If you live in the United States or are ignorant (or both) you may call it "Cold Slaw".

However, it should be called "Cole Slaw" - from the Dutch for “cabbage salad.”

Because it is served cold, Americans have long supposed the correct spelling to be “cold slaw”.

Are we too protective of our kids?

Children should be encouraged to climb trees rather than stay indoors playing computer games, even if it means they occasionally fall and and break their bones!

So says ROSPA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

"Youngsters can learn 'valuable life-long lessons' by scraping knees, grazing elbows and bumping heads."

It said parents were becoming too risk-averse and suggested that suffering a knock while playing outside was preferable to developing repetitive strain injury by playing computer games.

ROSPA is calling for the introduction of "wild" areas where children can wander around and take risks.

The comments came after a study by the Children's Society found that 43 per cent of adults thought children should not be allowed out with their friends until they were 14 or over.

It is so different from when I was a youngster and was allowed to roam freely in the countryside at a much earlier age.

How about you?

LANGUAGE CLASSES REDUCED TO 'HOLIDAY PHRASES'

Foreign language classes in state schools have been reduced to a "survival tool kit for a holiday abroad", says a report published this week.

Lessons have been stripped of any serious linguistic or cultural content in an attempt to boost interest, it is claimed.

The conclusions are made by Civitas, the Right-wing think-tank, in a study which warns that modern syllabuses have been dumbed down over the past 20 years as teachers react to the latest fads to revive pupils' waning enthusiasm.

The comments come amid fears that languages are becoming the preserve of independent schools.

"Foreign languages are once again becoming an elitist subject area."

The number of state-educated teenagers taking GCSEs in foreign languages has plummeted since the Government allowed 14-year-olds to drop them three years ago. About half of pupils now sit exams, compared to more than three quarters in 2004.

"The knock-on effect on universities in the next few years will be devastating. Already, 30 per cent of all new, young, modern languages undergraduates come from the independent sector, where the study of languages continues to be compulsory to GCSE level.

The state curriculum has become more "functional" and entertaining - to help pupils appreciate languages as relevant to future business needs or employment.

"As well-intentioned as these initiatives were, the emphasis on the functional use of language in practical situations paved the way for an emptying out of any serious linguistic or cultural content in favour of what was to become little more than a survival tool kit for a holiday abroad," it was claimed.

The findings follow a Government report on the future of languages which recommended in March that children should be allowed to drop traditional French and German GCSEs in favour of exams in many languages, but only requiring a tourist's grasp.

Foreign language study in our state schools is being reduced to a functional skill that teaches the sort of thing you find in a 'get by' phrase book.

"It is selling young people short and is unlikely to inspire anyone to see languages as anything other than mechanical and boring."

How do you see it?

Are foreign languages just useful for your job and travelling abroad, or does deeper study help you understand the life and culture of other countries?

From time to time I am going to feature here common errors in English - words and phrases that are confused and misused.

Here is the first:

BUTT NAKED

The standard expression is “buck naked,” and the contemporary “butt naked” is an error.

However, it might be just as well if the new form were to triumph. Originally a “buck” was a dandy, a pretentious, overdressed show-off of a man.

Condescendingly applied in the U.S. to Native Americans and black slaves, it quickly acquired negative connotations.

To some people, “buck naked” conjures up stereotypical images of naked “savages” or—worse—slaves labouring naked on plantations and is thought to be politically incorrect.

Consider using the alternative expression “stark naked.”

Scientists say that lack of sleep 'is creating a zombie nation'.

In the early 1900s people slept for more than nine hours. In the 1960s they slept for more than eight. But now we, here in the UK, are sleeping for about six hours.

It is feared that this lack of sleep could sap the ability of Western society to develop the next generation of technology.

We are being warned that the rise of sleeplessness in increasingly sophisticated economies such as Britain could lead to the creation of a "zombie nation"

Because of the rise of cheap labour in countries such as China, there has been an increasing emphasis in the West on the ability to innovate.

But an eminent chronobiologist has told the Cheltenham Science Festival that a "zombie nation" could sleep walk to economic disaster.

If given the chance, we spend more hours sleeping than doing anything else.

Symptoms of deprivation range from weight gain to irritability, hallucinations and depression, estivalevent sponsored by Wellcome Trust.

Along with the rise of the light bulb, 24-hour society and shift work we might soon be able to drug ourselves to stay awake without resorting to caffeine or amphetamines, said Prof Foster.

Prof Russell Foster, of Oxford University, said "The problem is that shortened sleep directly impairs those brain mechanisms that allow our brain to innovate."

"There are two opposing interactions in the developed economies," he said. "First, extended work hours and increasing 24/7 behaviour is reducing the overall amount of sleep.

"Second, with the demise of manufacturing an increasing dependence on our ability to innovate and problem solve - the organisation of others. These two trends are, unfortunately, on a collision course".

Prof Foster has campaigned for years about how modern society means that we are sleep deprived, harming our mental dexterity, memory and health, as well as putting us at greater risk of accidents.

Of course, it is only of academic interest to me personally. I have been retired for several years and I can sleep as long, or as little, as I wish.

How about you?

NOTE: I am away for the weekend - so there will be no more posts here until Monday.

MOON MADNESS

Brighton police are to put more police on the streets at full moon.

Folklore has long associated the lunar cycle with strange happenings.

But now a connection has been identified by a policeman between the full moon and bad behaviour.

Insp Andy Parr, of Sussex Police, looked at crime statistics for the Brighton and Hove area's nightlife.

He said: "I compared a graph of full moons and a graph of last year's violent crimes and there is a trend. People tend to be more aggressive generally."

The force is now planning to put extra officers on the streets for key dates during the summer - including the next full moon on June 30.

Insp Parr said his findings were also backed up by his experience on patrol.

"When you try to reason with people on a full moon they become more aggressive and less rational," he said.

"When you try to reason with them on a full moon they become more argumentative."

Peter Davenport, 38, who is a former pub landlord in Hove, endorsed the police findings.

He said: "I'm not one to believe in folklore or superstitions or anything, but I honestly believe the full moon sends some people a bit loopy."

Some studies have suggested a link between the lunar cycle and criminality.

A three-month psychological study of 1,200 inmates at Armley jail in Leeds in 1998 showed a rise in violent incidents in the days either side of a full moon.

Insp Parr hopes his findings could lead to further research which would be of use to police officers.

He added: "When we have the resources and if we can plan for it we will put on an extra officer or two."

Emily Dickinson wrote about madness:

Much madness is divinest sense
To a discerning eye;
Much sense the starkest madness.
'Tis the majority
In this, as all, prevails
Assent, and you are sane;
Demur,--you're straightway dangerous,
And handled with a chain.

And in the 18th and 19th centuries asylum inmates were confined in "Lunatic Boxes" until they became calm.

Violent or “out-of-hand” patients were placed in standing position in the coffin like box until he or she became calm.

In total darkness, 'lunatics' would be made to stand for hours in their own excrement until their attendants decided they were controllable.

It looks like a WC to me.

ARE CHILDREN'S SUMMER HOLIDAYS TOO LONG?

The six-week school summer holiday should be consigned to the educational dustbin, according to a school which has radically boosted its exam results by introducing a four-week break.

Greensward College, Essex, a secondary school and sixth form college, has introduced a radical five-term year - with four equal breaks of two weeks and a four-week summer holiday. Under the new system, the number of pupils gaining at least five good GCSEs has leapt from 70 per cent to 88 per cent.

Teachers say the shorter break ensures children retain their focus, but parents have warned that staggered holiday timetables will spell havoc for families with children at different scho