@EllieERussell
@ellieerussell.bsky.social
Manchester high school science teacher since 1999…Still enjoying trying to get better at my job. Kids eh…? Never dull!
Reposted by @EllieERussell
Good and important piece by @chrisgiles.ft.com. One implication: if you look at the revised figures for 2014-5, then frankly any talk that 2015 was a 'shock' win for David Cameron starts to look really silly and you just go 'oh yeah, figures': www.ft.com/content/5aff...
The UK economy is not nearly as bad as you’ve been told
A huge pessimistic bias in our national accounts leads us to doom and gloom which turns out to be nonsense
www.ft.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Good and important piece by @chrisgiles.ft.com. One implication: if you look at the revised figures for 2014-5, then frankly any talk that 2015 was a 'shock' win for David Cameron starts to look really silly and you just go 'oh yeah, figures': www.ft.com/content/5aff...
Reposted by @EllieERussell
Reposted by @EllieERussell
Day 5 of the 2025 Appvent Calendar
Welcome to Day 5 of the 2025 #24DaysOfAI Appvent Calendar! It is fair to say that today's tool is one that I have mentioned in almost all of my 85 keynotes, inset days and workshops across 2025 and shared even more widely in conversations on social media and with…
Welcome to Day 5 of the 2025 #24DaysOfAI Appvent Calendar! It is fair to say that today's tool is one that I have mentioned in almost all of my 85 keynotes, inset days and workshops across 2025 and shared even more widely in conversations on social media and with…
Day 5 of the 2025 Appvent Calendar
Welcome to Day 5 of the 2025 #24DaysOfAI Appvent Calendar! It is fair to say that today's tool is one that I have mentioned in almost all of my 85 keynotes, inset days and workshops across 2025 and shared even more widely in conversations on social media and with educators in online places and spaces. I simply love it, and had today's choice not been taken by the guest author today, I would have included it myself.
ictevangelist.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:42 AM
Day 5 of the 2025 Appvent Calendar
Welcome to Day 5 of the 2025 #24DaysOfAI Appvent Calendar! It is fair to say that today's tool is one that I have mentioned in almost all of my 85 keynotes, inset days and workshops across 2025 and shared even more widely in conversations on social media and with…
Welcome to Day 5 of the 2025 #24DaysOfAI Appvent Calendar! It is fair to say that today's tool is one that I have mentioned in almost all of my 85 keynotes, inset days and workshops across 2025 and shared even more widely in conversations on social media and with…
Reposted by @EllieERussell
Day 1 of the 2024 Appvent Calendar
Consensus: Evidence at Your Fingertips The first day of this year’s Appvent Calendar sets the tone for the month ahead. With so much attention on rapid advances in AI, it feels right to begin with a tool that brings us back to what matters most in education:…
Consensus: Evidence at Your Fingertips The first day of this year’s Appvent Calendar sets the tone for the month ahead. With so much attention on rapid advances in AI, it feels right to begin with a tool that brings us back to what matters most in education:…
Day 1 of the 2024 Appvent Calendar
Consensus: Evidence at Your Fingertips The first day of this year’s Appvent Calendar sets the tone for the month ahead. With so much attention on rapid advances in AI, it feels right to begin with a tool that brings us back to what matters most in education: clear thinking, sound evidence, and informed professional judgement. Before we dive into that, though, a moment about this year's calendar.
ictevangelist.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Day 1 of the 2024 Appvent Calendar
Consensus: Evidence at Your Fingertips The first day of this year’s Appvent Calendar sets the tone for the month ahead. With so much attention on rapid advances in AI, it feels right to begin with a tool that brings us back to what matters most in education:…
Consensus: Evidence at Your Fingertips The first day of this year’s Appvent Calendar sets the tone for the month ahead. With so much attention on rapid advances in AI, it feels right to begin with a tool that brings us back to what matters most in education:…
Reposted by @EllieERussell
Schoolreadinglist.co.uk wants to make it as easy as possible for you to choose children's and YA books for your school, home, library or gifts. ✅ Our site is optimised for accessibility. ✅ Lists are clear and easy to use. ✅ Pages load quickly on any device.
November 30, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Schoolreadinglist.co.uk wants to make it as easy as possible for you to choose children's and YA books for your school, home, library or gifts. ✅ Our site is optimised for accessibility. ✅ Lists are clear and easy to use. ✅ Pages load quickly on any device.
About time too 😉
Also this week we became the biggest substack in the UK on any topic which is pretty cool.
November 29, 2025 at 4:15 PM
About time too 😉
Reposted by @EllieERussell
Less than 1000 signatures to go
Just 13k more signatures and the call for a public inquiry into Russian interference has to be debate in Parliament
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
Petition: Call a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy
We are concerned about reported efforts from Russia to influence democracy in the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere. We believe we must establish the depth and breadth of possible Russian influence campaig...
petition.parliament.uk
November 29, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Less than 1000 signatures to go
Reposted by @EllieERussell
BOOM! Now over 90,000 signatures. Let’s get it to 100,000 and get this done!
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
November 28, 2025 at 11:04 PM
BOOM! Now over 90,000 signatures. Let’s get it to 100,000 and get this done!
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
Reposted by @EllieERussell
What do you get when you mix the best selling single of the king of pop with the lately departed queen of MAGA?
This is what we get: a parody of Billie Jean about #mtg #maga #marjorietaylorgreene 🎶🕺
youtu.be/Xr0_HN9KNCs
This is what we get: a parody of Billie Jean about #mtg #maga #marjorietaylorgreene 🎶🕺
youtu.be/Xr0_HN9KNCs
"MTG Has Broken Cover" - Marsh Family parody of "Billie Jean" by MJ about Marjorie Taylor Greene
YouTube video by Marsh Family
youtu.be
November 26, 2025 at 9:00 PM
What do you get when you mix the best selling single of the king of pop with the lately departed queen of MAGA?
This is what we get: a parody of Billie Jean about #mtg #maga #marjorietaylorgreene 🎶🕺
youtu.be/Xr0_HN9KNCs
This is what we get: a parody of Billie Jean about #mtg #maga #marjorietaylorgreene 🎶🕺
youtu.be/Xr0_HN9KNCs
Reposted by @EllieERussell
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
November 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
Reposted by @EllieERussell
This was very cathartic to write, and I'm grateful to @samfr.bsky.social for giving me the space to try and set out just why the two-child limit must go, and go in its entirety
[mini 🧵]
[mini 🧵]
New post out:
"The worst social policy ever"
Today we have a guest post from @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social on the abomination that is the two-child limit and why Labour need to scrap it ASAP.
Lots of data but also powerful testimony.
(Free to read)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
"The worst social policy ever"
Today we have a guest post from @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social on the abomination that is the two-child limit and why Labour need to scrap it ASAP.
Lots of data but also powerful testimony.
(Free to read)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
"The worst social policy ever"
We have a couple of bonus guest posts over the next week.
open.substack.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:14 PM
This was very cathartic to write, and I'm grateful to @samfr.bsky.social for giving me the space to try and set out just why the two-child limit must go, and go in its entirety
[mini 🧵]
[mini 🧵]
Reposted by @EllieERussell
Said deep dive on this is here, thanks @oldandrewuk.bsky.social.
TL;DR: the headline numbers aren't plausible.
More research would be good on this topic. It would also be good to figure out what's happening here, as the underlying dataset is nationally important.
open.substack.com/pub/andrewol...
TL;DR: the headline numbers aren't plausible.
More research would be good on this topic. It would also be good to figure out what's happening here, as the underlying dataset is nationally important.
open.substack.com/pub/andrewol...
October 24, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Said deep dive on this is here, thanks @oldandrewuk.bsky.social.
TL;DR: the headline numbers aren't plausible.
More research would be good on this topic. It would also be good to figure out what's happening here, as the underlying dataset is nationally important.
open.substack.com/pub/andrewol...
TL;DR: the headline numbers aren't plausible.
More research would be good on this topic. It would also be good to figure out what's happening here, as the underlying dataset is nationally important.
open.substack.com/pub/andrewol...
Reposted by @EllieERussell
"That's a robot, a Nazi, and a poorly-disguised Russian. Give us your phone, love."
Brilliant. ~AA
Brilliant. ~AA
![1
Nurse:
It’s become a real problem in this area
2
Nurse:
We’ve seen the whole community lost to addiction
3
Show a building sign posted:
Westminster ‘X’ Addiction Clinic
With various Westminster people or looking at their phones outside it
Nurse:
Ministers, Spads, Researchers…
4
Nurse:
Most mornings we’ll get a call about someone acting strangely
[Nurse on phone taking a call]
Ok - we’ll be right over
5
Nurse:
We just have a gentle chat
[Nurses approach a minister –Robert Jenrick? - standing in the Palace of Westminster
Minister:
I understand your concerns…
6
Nurse:
Are you OK love?
Minister:
Yes I’m just hearing legitimate concerns from real voters
7
Nurse:
That’s a robot, a Nazi and a poorly-disguised Russian
[Show that the people he is talking to are precisely these characters]
Nurse 2:
Give us your phone, love
8
Nurse:
At the clinic we put them in a Grass-Touching Pod, with a real voter to talk to
[We see them back at the clinic, holding the minister's head and pushing him into a glass isolation booth with a grass floor. And it is a baffled looking woman, on a chair, ready to talk to him.]
9
Minister:
YOU MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT THE COMING CIVIL WAR
[woman looks baffled]
10
woman:
I just want a bus service
Minister:
LOOK AT MY FLAG
[produces a St George's flag]
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreicahofq6s4xow7vowj7dx6odw6ejdwr4kwcmzta7qwi4hg2nvywji@jpeg)
October 20, 2025 at 8:40 AM
"That's a robot, a Nazi, and a poorly-disguised Russian. Give us your phone, love."
Brilliant. ~AA
Brilliant. ~AA
Reposted by @EllieERussell
This is a welcome antidote to Jenrick’s bunkum by @zackpolanski.bsky.social
and the much-missed Benjamin Zephaniah
youtube.com/shorts/GHUKF...
and the much-missed Benjamin Zephaniah
youtube.com/shorts/GHUKF...
Zack Polanski heads to Benjamin Zephaniah's hometown after Robert Jenrick calls Handsworth "a slum"
YouTube video by Bold Politics with Zack Polanski
youtube.com
October 18, 2025 at 11:27 AM
This is a welcome antidote to Jenrick’s bunkum by @zackpolanski.bsky.social
and the much-missed Benjamin Zephaniah
youtube.com/shorts/GHUKF...
and the much-missed Benjamin Zephaniah
youtube.com/shorts/GHUKF...
Reposted by @EllieERussell
Above all, the police approach in that decade culminated in the unlawful killing of 96 people and decades of cover-up.
Jenrick casting 1980s British football hooliganism as something that was easily dealt with by police and not an era defining issue which we're still living with the consequences of today... He's genuinely the most unserious person in British politics rn
October 17, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Above all, the police approach in that decade culminated in the unlawful killing of 96 people and decades of cover-up.
Reposted by @EllieERussell
The old Saudi brand was “austere theocracy,” but the new one is “fun, fun, fun, but still with beheading.” - brilliant piece with so many laugh out loud moments:
"Sometimes you have to ask yourself: How did I get here—sitting in Saudi Arabia, listening to Louis C.K. do jokes about Barely Legal magazine?"
I went to Riyadh to see the transformation of a country with the world's biggest cultural chequebook. Gift link:
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
I went to Riyadh to see the transformation of a country with the world's biggest cultural chequebook. Gift link:
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
How Many Comedians Does It Take to Change a Country?
What it’s like to watch Louis C.K. do stand-up in Saudi Arabia
www.theatlantic.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:28 PM
The old Saudi brand was “austere theocracy,” but the new one is “fun, fun, fun, but still with beheading.” - brilliant piece with so many laugh out loud moments:
Reposted by @EllieERussell
Worth a read!
October 10, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Worth a read!
Reposted by @EllieERussell
Yes, yes I know I keep banging on about my fucking book! However, if you want one repost this and I’ll do a random winner pick thing by the end of the week because I’m great like that. ♥️📚
#amindofmyown
#amindofmyown
October 7, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Yes, yes I know I keep banging on about my fucking book! However, if you want one repost this and I’ll do a random winner pick thing by the end of the week because I’m great like that. ♥️📚
#amindofmyown
#amindofmyown
Reposted by @EllieERussell
This is just incredible work form @greigarjohnson.bsky.social and pals: *this* is how you do HHGG.
Somebody please given them the budget (but, crucially, not *too much* of a budget) to do the rest, please. Please.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-431...
Somebody please given them the budget (but, crucially, not *too much* of a budget) to do the rest, please. Please.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-431...
Ford Prefect shows Arthur Dent The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy
YouTube video by Greig Johnson Making
www.youtube.com
September 18, 2025 at 9:06 AM
This is just incredible work form @greigarjohnson.bsky.social and pals: *this* is how you do HHGG.
Somebody please given them the budget (but, crucially, not *too much* of a budget) to do the rest, please. Please.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-431...
Somebody please given them the budget (but, crucially, not *too much* of a budget) to do the rest, please. Please.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-431...
Reposted by @EllieERussell
Reposted by @EllieERussell
Strategy Grand Old Man, Lawrence freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social weighs in on the latest Russian provocations. Do read:
samf.substack.com/p/russian-pr...
samf.substack.com/p/russian-pr...
Russian provocations
How should NATO and the EU react?
samf.substack.com
September 27, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Strategy Grand Old Man, Lawrence freedman @ldfreedman.bsky.social weighs in on the latest Russian provocations. Do read:
samf.substack.com/p/russian-pr...
samf.substack.com/p/russian-pr...
Reposted by @EllieERussell
What do you do when your media org is captured? You start your own.
Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social
We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week.
Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊
Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social
We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week.
Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊
Former Observer big-hitters inc @carolecadwalla.bsky.social launch new title The Nerve with redundancy payouts
After Observer sale: "We decided to launch a title that the journalists themselves would own, that would be truly independent"
pressgazette.co.uk/news/former-...
After Observer sale: "We decided to launch a title that the journalists themselves would own, that would be truly independent"
pressgazette.co.uk/news/former-...
Former Observer big-hitters launch new title with redundancy payouts
Five former Observer journalists including Carole Cadwalladr have launched their own culture publication using their redundancy money.
pressgazette.co.uk
September 26, 2025 at 11:03 AM
What do you do when your media org is captured? You start your own.
Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social
We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week.
Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊
Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social
We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week.
Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊
Reposted by @EllieERussell
Feel like we should bring back the old twitter follow friday to boost good people on here who maybe didn't get an initial boost from the starter packs.
So follow @psurridge.bsky.social and @profjanegreen.bsky.social - two excellent and thoughtful political scientists.
So follow @psurridge.bsky.social and @profjanegreen.bsky.social - two excellent and thoughtful political scientists.
September 19, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Feel like we should bring back the old twitter follow friday to boost good people on here who maybe didn't get an initial boost from the starter packs.
So follow @psurridge.bsky.social and @profjanegreen.bsky.social - two excellent and thoughtful political scientists.
So follow @psurridge.bsky.social and @profjanegreen.bsky.social - two excellent and thoughtful political scientists.
Reposted by @EllieERussell
New post just out:
"Burn it down vs build it up"
With the right radicalising by the day - how can the argument be won on the key dividing line in politics?
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...
"Burn it down vs build it up"
With the right radicalising by the day - how can the argument be won on the key dividing line in politics?
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...
Burn it down vs build it up
Winning the argument on the key dividing line in politics
open.substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 10:47 AM
New post just out:
"Burn it down vs build it up"
With the right radicalising by the day - how can the argument be won on the key dividing line in politics?
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...
"Burn it down vs build it up"
With the right radicalising by the day - how can the argument be won on the key dividing line in politics?
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...