Mark Solomons
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Investigative journalist, pianist, chainsaw operator. Not all at once
Articles by Mark Solomons
How West Ham turned on Karren Brady
Baroness Karren Brady has finally stepped down as vice-chair of West Ham United and the fans are delighted. Never mind blowing bubbles, they’re cracking open the bubbly. Her role as deputy to diminutive porn baron David Sullivan over the past 16 years has seen this odd couple steer West Ham through relegation, promotion and, a couple of seasons ago, their first trophy since 1980 – and a European one at that.
Pep Guardiola should pipe down about politics – and Palestine | The Spectator Australia
It will be refreshing to see Pep Guardiola back in the dugout today. The Manchester City manager has been rather busy off the pitch lately, taking centre stage as he flexes his self-importance: first on the thorny subject of Gaza, and then lashing out at the rules that apply to every football club but which he appears to think shouldn’t apply to his own team. Who does he think he is? Has that success gone to Pep Guardiola’s head?
well being
It is no secret that we are currently living in uncertain times – the cost of living is at an all time high, the UK…
Thriving not just surviving: Creating a personal road map to wellbeing | FE News
The end of another academic year and the summer break – time to reflect on the past and plan ahead. Hopefully, the new government’s plans for education will make a difference, but it won’t be a quick fix. So how can you best help yourself and invest time in your own personal development and wellbeing? After all, you’re the person with the vested interest. The end of term always seems far away and then it’s suddenly here, giving time to take a breath.
Why staff wellbeing isn’t improving!
In May, we had Mental Health Awareness Week, April was Stress Awareness Month, and various other awareness events are observed throughout the year. With the proclaimed focus on staff wellbeing from trust leaders, we should be seeing improvements. Yet, statistics show the problems continue to increase.
Managing a sustainable workload | FE News
The pressure of work can be positive and beneficial, however, if this turns into ongoing stress, it becomes negative and can lead to health issues and declining productivity. Improving your personal effectiveness is one way to help restore balance, support your own personal wellbeing, and be better able to support colleagues and students. Personal effectiveness is integral to managing a sustainable workload and promoting and protecting personal wellbeing.
Stress in the Workplace
We all know that our mental health plays a fundamental role in shaping our overall well-being and happiness. Now imagine the impact of mental health…
Women in leadership
With women making up the majority of the further education workforce, it seems surprising that consideration for those experiencing the menopause has only fairly recently…
Stay interviews and staff retention | FE News
As recruitment for the next academic year moves into overdrive, what about those staff who are staying – what do leaders know about how they are feeling? Taking time to find out now by conducting ‘stay interviews’ may help prevent them saying goodbye next year.
Creating a menopause-friendly workplace | FE News
With women making up the majority of the further education workforce, it seems surprising that consideration for those experiencing the menopause has only fairly recently made it on to the agenda. This is not just an age or gender issue, it is an organisational one, with a huge impact on the workforce, either directly or indirectly, one that should be addressed under the umbrella of staff wellbeing.
Using boundaries to manage workload | FE News
Workload and well-being go hand in hand. With the recent ratification of initial recommendations from the Workload Reduction Taskforce, by the Minister of State for Schools and the general secretaries of the four main education unions, attention is once again focused on the expectations placed on leaders, teachers and support staff.
18 practical mental health strategies school staff education classroom teaching teachers
The 2023 Teacher Wellbeing Index, published by Education Support, reveals that school leaders, teachers and support staff are all suffering from increased levels of work-related stress – in fact a fifth of teachers and a quarter of leaders felt they were facing acute work-related stress. Of course, it will not come as a surprise to many of those working in schools to learn that wellbeing is declining. But what’s the solution?
The Value of Appreciation | FE News
According to a study by the HAAS School of Business at UC Berkeley, when people are recognised for their work, they are 23% more effective and productive compared to those not receiving recognition. People who feel valued and appreciated by their manager and team are 43% more effective and productive – delivering nearly twice the impact. That’s the quantifiable value of appreciation.
Building a culture of trust | FE News
TRUST – ‘Having a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone’ (Oxford Dictionary). Trust is crucial in building a healthy culture, effective communication, collaboration and commitment. It underpins strong working relationships and greater creativity and innovation, generating solutions that deliver better results. Trust also improves the engagement and wellbeing of staff, leading to improved retention and lower absences. On the flip side, low trust has a detrimental impact.
Leader Wellbeing | FE News
The statistics are stark – according to Education Support’s ‘Teacher Wellbeing Index 2022’, 61% of FE staff ‘had actively sought to change or leave their current job’ with staff burnout cited as the major contributor. If leaders are to help turn this around, they must ensure they take care of their own wellbeing first – only then will they be capable of supporting the wellbeing of others.
Stag don’t: Britain’s deer problem is out of control
Britain’s annual wildlife spectacular is just warming up. From the Highlands to the New Forest, the raucous bellowing of amorous stags fills the air. Stags trek up to 50 miles to find herds of hinds to mate with – fighting off other males before they can get down to business. Granted, it’s hardly the migration of millions of wildebeest across the Serengeti, but deer rutting season is a feast for both eye and ears.
What makes teachers unhappy?
Outdoor learning, looking back through the Ofsted window, choosing a maths app, and leadership lessons from a Disney+ show Sensitively written and thoroughly well-informed, this is the guide every educator needs right now to ensure everyone in the... Leadership learning For pupils, staff and senior leadership teams alike, returning to school after the summer holidays offers a... Truly the Rolls Royce model of sharpening policy and practice. Now someone please make an accessible one, says Robbie...
Get a grip, YouTube hustlers. Don’t watch football with the camera on
Once upon a time, football fans used to come home from seeing their side lose, and they would shrug their shoulders, kick the cat or get roaring drunk. But now, a new generation of self-obsessed morons are taking out their angst by switching on a video camera, putting on the latest multi-sponsored £100 football shirt of their team and, literally, screaming into the microphone. Welcome to the world of fake outrage spouted by, predominantly, young and often photogenic YouTubers and vloggers.
Developing leadership competencies that promote a positive culture | FE News
How well does your college or school culture positively promote the wellbeing of all staff, faculty and students? Is your leadership team aware of the impact their behaviours have on those around them? The academic year has begun, time to plan ahead and welcome new and returning staff and students. It’s also an opportune time to think about how you and your leadership team can help support the wellbeing of everyone in the community, starting with staff.
Shocking study finds a third of Britons have Vitamin D deficiency due to spending too much time indoors, poor diet and failing to take supplements
The so-called ‘sunshine vitamin’ is beneficial to bone and muscle health Staying indoors too much could be the reason why more than one in three of us is suffering from a Vitman D deficiency, a new study suggests. The so-called ‘sunshine vitamin’ is beneficial to bone and muscle health, helping to reduce the likelihood of osteoporosis in later life – and is also thought to lower the risk of type-1 diabetes, respiratory diseases and other ailments.
A study has revealed why one in three are suffering from Vitamin D deficiency
Spending too much time indoors is one of the main reasons more than one in three of us is suffering from a Vitamin D deficiency, a study suggests. The so-called ‘sunshine vitamin’ aids bone and muscle health, helping to reduce the likelihood of osteoporosis in later life. But Britons of all ages are not getting enough of it, with other factors including poor diet and failing to take supplements.
Shocking study finds a third of Britons have Vitamin D deficiency due to ... trends now
Shocking study finds a third of Britons have Vitamin D deficiency due to ... trends now The so-called 'sunshine vitamin' is beneficial to bone and muscle health View comments Staying indoors too much could be the reason why more than one in three of us is suffering from a Vitman D deficiency, a new study suggests.
DeSantis PAC accused of astroturfing in Iowa
Never Back Down PAC, the political action committee supporting Florida governor Ron DeSantis, has caused a stir in early voting state Iowa — but maybe not in the way they had hoped. The PAC is being accused of disrespecting the Black Hawk County Republicans by sending too many activists to the group’s participation in a local parade last weekend. Sign up for Culture Shock A newsletter from Amber Athey bringing you stories from the front lines of the culture wars.
Biden’s age and Trump’s legal problems are inescapable
For all the vagaries of presidential contests, we know two things about 2024: Joe Biden’s age and Donald Trump’s legal troubles are the unavoidable dynamics of this election. Both are impossible to ignore, and are the first things everyone brings up about the current and the former president. Absent an incredible legal sprint through the courts or the discovery of the long-rumored fountain of youth in the great marshes of Rehoboth, these two factors are set in stone.
The earned smugness of Ulysses readers
Happy Bloomsday everybody. Today, June 16, is the day on which the events of James Joyce’s epic novel, Ulysses, is set and the anniversary is celebrated every year by fans, scholars and people who simply want to look clever. Millions of people either cite the tome as the greatest piece of literature ever written, or as the biggest load of pretentious drivel: so complicated that you can’t get past page 46 before giving up.
Readers of Ulysses have a right to be smug
Happy Bloomsday everybody. Today, 16 June, is the day on which the events of James Joyce’s epic novel, Ulysses, is set and the anniversary is celebrated every year by fans, scholars and people who simply want to look clever. Millions of people either cite the tome as the greatest piece of literature ever written, or as the biggest load of pretentious drivel: so complicated that you can’t get past page 46 before giving up.
Smutty TV - Mark Solomons
"The Oldie is an incredible magazine - perhaps the best magazine in the world right now" Graydon Carter, founder of Air Mail and former Editor of Vanity Fair Blog Magazine Podcasts Greatest Hits About Us Literary Lunches The Directory Courses & Tours Shop Blog | By Mark Solomons | Feb 02, 2023 The latest TV trend is risqué show titles, but Mark Solomon argues that they're not nearly as witty as they think they are A recent TV show by the former Top Gear team was called A Massive Hunt.
Operation Turtle Dove: can these birds be saved?
With the exception of turkeys and geese, turtle doves are perhaps the birds most associated with this time of year. They are, of course, the second gift in The 12 Days of Christmas and they also feature in the nativity story – in the Gospel of Luke, a pair of turtle doves are sacrificed at the temple at Jesus’s circumcision. From Roman mythology through to Vaughan Williams, turtle doves have long been symbols of love and devotion in western culture.
Smutty TV - Mark Solomons
The latest TV trend is risqué show titles, but Mark Solomon argues that they're not nearly as witty as they think they are A recent TV show by the former Top Gear team was called A Massive Hunt. How Clarkson, Hammond and May, the public-school version of Last of the Summer Wine without the charm or wit, must have laughed. There is a trend for nudge-nudge TV-show titles. The current crop includes Schitt’s Creek, PEN15, Trucking Hell, Pawn Stars and Hardcore Pawn. Snigger.
The Day Ossie Bought Me A Pint Of Lager
This August will see the 70th birthday of Osvaldo Cesar Ardiles, the mercurial and groundbreaking Argentinian World Cup winner who came to England in 1978 in a blaze of publicity…and stayed. One of the first big name foreign imports to English football, he joined a newly promoted Spurs and we welcomed his home debut with a South American style ticker tape entrance…before losing 1-4 to Aston Villa.
Hornets | The Spectator Australia
There’s surely not a more despised creature in Britain than the hornet. They have long been viewed as yellow jacketed killers: wasps on steroids with Hannibal Lecter tendencies. Unlike bees, a member of the same insect family, you’d be hard pushed to find a friendly portrayal of a hornet (with the exception, perhaps, of Watford FC’s mascot). Yet hornets are misunderstood villains. Like bees, they are important pollinators.
Malvern College to open school in Tokyo
Malvern College has announced the opening of its seventh overseas school in Tokyo, Japan. The school is set to open in 2023. Malvern College Tokyo is located 40 minutes outside of central Tokyo in the suburb of Kodaira and will provide 950 places to both Japanese and expatriate pupils from Years 1 to 9. The opening of the Tokyo school brings the number of campuses in the institution’s ranks to 10.
Isn’t it time to prioritise whole school wellbeing for staff and students alongside attainment?
The key priority for the leadership of any independent school is student attainment – ensuring students achieve the best they can, develop to their fullest potential and flourish. A school’s success is measured by the success of its students – and this is reliant on the expertise and dedication of the staff. Staff wellbeing is therefore vital to an efficient and effective school. A workforce that feels valued works better.
Will Sizewell C see off the avocet?
There are many reasons why birds disappear — and why they return. The avocet, however, is probably the only one that owes its resurgence to the Nazis. After a 100-year hiatus in Britain, this elegant black and white wader reappeared after the second world war. Four pairs were found in Minsmere nature reserve and another four in Havergate Island, both along the Suffolk coast. These areas had been flooded to prevent a German invasion, making them ideal nesting grounds.
Why egrets keep making headlines
Great and small: egretta garzetta and ardea alba. Credit: iStock There’s an unwritten rule in newspaper journalism that any story about egrets must have one of two headlines. Either ‘no egrets’ if numbers are dropping or ‘egrets, we’ve had a few’ if they are booming. At the moment, fortunately, it’s the latter. The little egret (egretta garzetta) can be seen as something of a trailblazer.
A 'Large Taxpayer-Funded Pile Of Scrap'
Home Energy Posted By: Mark Solomons June 20, 2019 The world will be littered with failed solar and wind projects like this one that are pointedly unable to ever deliver on their utopian promises. Meanwhile, taxpayers get hosed while fat-cat Technocrats get paid hefty salaries.
Palmer's not on the ropes, he's in his element
Updated May 06, 2016 16:48:48 The news headlines have made Clive Palmer look down and out, but his recent court manoeuvrings around Queensland Nickel show the litigious businessman-cum-MP has a few tricks up his sleeve, writes Mark Solomons. Clive Palmer's political future is in doubt, but it's far too early to write him off. The headlines in recent weeks have made the businessman, MP and occasional vaudeville performer look wounded and threatened.
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Linc Energy's Qld plant built using 'cheap, unsafe and illegal' equipment, former engineer claims
Linc Energy's underground coal gasification plant in Queensland was built using cheap, unsafe and illegal equipment, a former engineer at the company claims. Explosive allegations in mechanical engineer Dennis Orford's witness statement to the Queensland Environment Department, obtained by the ABC, include a claim the company had no serious intention to produce fuel but was instead attempting to manipulate the stock market.
Richard Huckle jailed for life after Queensland Police operation targeting online paedophiles
A British man described as the UK's worst paedophile has been jailed for life at the Old Bailey in London after being identified by Queensland-based child protection detectives. Photographer Richard Huckle, 30, was given 22 life sentences for a string of offences against dozens of babies and young children, mostly in Malaysia, where he talked his way into orphanages and shelters while posing as an English teacher in order to find victims.
Gold Coast councillors under scrutiny over campaign funding link to LNP MP Stuart Robert
Gold Coast City councillors and their financial backers are under scrutiny by state and federal authorities following allegations of undisclosed Liberal National Party (LNP) funding of candidates in the March local elections. It comes after revelations federal Liberal MP Stuart Robert channelled tens of thousands of dollars from his national LNP campaign fund, the Fadden Forum, to council candidates who stood as independents.
Palmer's not on the ropes, he's in his element
The news headlines have made Clive Palmer look down and out, but his recent court manoeuvrings around Queensland Nickel show the litigious businessman-cum-MP has a few tricks up his sleeve, writes Mark Solomons. Clive Palmer's political future is in doubt, but it's far too early to write him off. The headlines in recent weeks have made the businessman, MP and occasional vaudeville performer look wounded and threatened.
Rebels bikie spokesman has Brisbane tattoo business shut down by police
Queensland police have shut down the tattoo business of high-profile Rebels member and bikie spokesman "Little" Mick Kosenko in north Brisbane. The move comes just weeks after a promise by the Palaszczuk Government to overhaul Queensland's controversial suite of bikie laws introduced under the previous Newman LNP administration, with recommendations for tattoo licensing changes supported by police.
Charges dropped against pair accused of links to 'boiler-room' fraud
A Gold Coast accountant and a business owner accused of involvement in a "boiler-room" fraud are no longer facing charges after a magistrate declined to proceed against them, citing a lack of evidence. In September, the Commonwealth brought charges of dealing with the proceeds of crime against Anthony John Restaino, 43 and Graeme Dwyer, 67, as part of a major fraud investigation involving the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) and Queensland Police, called Lima Violin II.
Clive Palmer's Yabulu refinery under environmental scrutiny as $93m clean-up bill revealed
The Queensland Government says it will cost $93 million to begin the clean-up of environmental damage at Clive Palmer's Yabulu nickel refinery in Queensland. The Environment Department figure, obtained by the ABC, represents the initial cost of dealing with millions of tonnes of toxic sludge in the tailings dam and ponds at the plant near Townsville. The area covered several hectares and sat a few hundred metres from the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef.
Nev Houses: Designer Nev Hyman creating flat-pack, cyclone-proof housing for vulnerable Pacific nations
For decades, Australian surfboard shaper Nev Hyman shaped boards for world champions, but now he is shaping something quite different: affordable, cyclone-proof housing. After launching three surfboard brands — the first in 1973 — Mr Hyman initially invested in plastics recycling. "Being in Bali in the late 70s and early 80s and seeing how fantastic [Bali] was, and then going back there and seeing more and more rubbish in the oceans ...
Sacked Queensland Nickel workers helping others with food hampers
A grassroots support network helping increasingly desperate former workers of Clive Palmer's north Queensland nickel refinery has so far fed hundreds of families. Sacked worker Joe Collocott has turned his house into a food distribution point for others in the same position now struggling to make ends meet.
Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale under investigation over shares held by family company Waltill
Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale is the subject of a fresh misconduct investigation, this time over alleged failures to disclose his ownership of shares in two companies. Cr Pisasale was last year cleared of wrongdoing after an 11-month investigation by Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) into alleged campaign funding irregularities and failures to declare gifts and donations. The new investigation relates to shares held by Cr Pisasale's family company, Waltill.
Arrest warrant for former nightclub owner, alleged boiler room scammer Phil Cropper
Former nightclub owner Phil Cropper, who was acquitted of an attempt to extort film star Russel Crowe more than a decade ago, has had an arrest warrant placed on him by Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC). Cropper's has been under investigation for his alleged role in running so-called "boiler rooms" or high-pressure sales offices selling fraudulent investment schemes.
Oliver Bridgeman: Arrest warrant issued for Queensland teenager in Syria
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have issued an arrest warrant for Queensland teenager Oliver Bridgeman, who says he has been in Syria doing aid work since May 2015. Two AFP officers attended the Bridgeman family home in Toowoomba on Wednesday to inform his parents about the warrant. The ABC understands the AFP suspects Mr Bridgeman, 19, has committed offences against Australian laws prohibiting "incursions into foreign countries with the intention of engaging in hostile activities".
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