Tell him Rachel

A great way of mitigating the sometimes bittersweet regret of forthcoming retirement is to attend as many meetings as possible running up to the finishing line

Was having a procedure and asked in pre-assessment whether I might be pregnant. I did the usual half hearted joke about it’d be a miracle at 64 The nurse responded “Well these days you have to check” I’m still trying to work out what that means 🤔

The venue at which we’d all planned to gather on the last day before the Southend university campus closed has ironically just announced its own closure.

This feels about right …

My dad partly decided to retire because computers started to edge into his workplace in the 1980s. I thought him a dreadful Luddite. But here I am retiring now that AI is edging into mine!

Half-expect to be told next the £5m was for a secure ballroom in Clacton.

Working your redundancy notice period is a bit like being dumped by a partner who still wants you to pretend to be together for the sake of appearances

Drifting towards a redundancy/retirement date is an odd sensation — a growing sense of invisibility and inconsequence, coupled with the certainty that staying in HE would be far worse.

Unless we change the voting system, we will see this at the next general election as well. With votes split across five or more parties, power can be won on as little as 25% of the vote. This needs to be a wake-up call.

I hope all those who voted in Reform are prepared to step in once their grans home help gets cut in the name of ‘efficiencies’

The local Labour candidate knocked on the door this evening asking if I’d voted and tentatively for whom. It felt like breaking up with a long term partner when I said I’d voted Green It’s not me it’s you…

I always used David Attenborough to try and inspire my late dad to keep mobile I’d tell him that he was the same age as Attenborough who was camping out on some remote tundra My dad would always counter with wounded assurance how he managed to get to the post box last week Happy Birthday 🫡

You know, in universities, I think it’s fair to say that everyone is just really tired.

I find myself longing for the days of slightly inelegant sentences and mildly imperfect articulation of concepts.

This won’t matter for me as I’ll shortly be off to watch the wind move through the trees. But for those left behind on the battlefield of Higher Education…

Best quote of the day: The forest was shrinking, but the trees continued to vote for the axe. For the axe was clever and convinced the trees that, because its handle was made of wood, it was one of them.

Thursday university of Essex staff will be taking to the picket lines to say no to cuts, no to job losses and no to the closure of the Southend campus. @jeremycorbyn.bsky.social stands with staff, students and @unison.org.uk as we fight together.

University of Essex putting up a big new billboard in Clacton ('Your Local University') to attract students after closing their Southend campus, ruining young Southenders' plans, and putting 400 staff up for redundancy seems like a bit of a poor taste pisstake somehow, I don't know.

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.

Alex from our time working together, while he was in nursing school. Later, he moved to ICU, working as a nurse to support critically ill Veterans. He had such a great attitude. We’d chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now

If Trump was my relative I’d be pushing for an urgent referral for a capacity assessment. Only he’s not he’s the man with the nuclear codes

Spray paint a plane and they'll detain you without trial and call you a terrorist. Kidnap a foreign head of state - and Keir Starmer will make it clear we've played no part in it but will wait for the scheduled press conference in a few hours before potentially condemning it

Essex students found out their campus was closing from a link in a WhatsApp chat. 800 students uprooted. 400 jobs cut. One university in crisis. Students and staff deserve better. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

400 redundancies at the University of Essex, of which 200 will be academics. A bloodbath drawn out over the next few months. Grim.

Our nursing students face a five hour round trip to their new campus. Students from marginalised backgrounds who are already struggling www.timeshighereducation.com/news/essex-c...

It’s hard to read this without thinking about nursing in the UK. When universities slip into “survival mode” for nursing this means cutting back on staff time, pastoral support, digital infrastructure, equipment, learning spaces and genuine partnership with students, engagement inevitably drops.

“Understanding the distinct experiences of diverse groups of students (e.g. apprentices, online learners and commuter students) is of critical importance” wonkhe.com/blogs/studen...

NEW on Wonkhe: Jim Dickinson explores the hidden depths of the higher education iceberg - from misperceptions about value to the quiet crisis of overstretched resources and shrinking provision buff.ly/3Y2U9aj

Some great advice for university leaders at all levels in this article. Listening to staff is always a good start!

MAYBE DON’T EMAIL ME AT THE WEEKEND, THEN.

As it ever was 🙄

When I’m Empress Of All I Survey I will be recommending short to medium prison sentences for the inappropriate use of the word ‘Iconic’

The NHS needs more #blooddonors and it’s on amber alert. So you check out where you can go and donate…Except you’re in a 23 min queue to even access where the available appointments are

Care home investors rake in billions from pensioners 96% of elderly care privatised. Private equity moving in. Focus on short-term profits, cut wages/staff, low investment, poor care. 27% price hike. £1.5bn taken by shareholders. Need integrated healthcare, not sharks. archive.ph/0HR8Y

I had assumed that vocational degrees like nursing would have some protection as they are critical to NHS delivery and planning. The funding crisis in HE thinks otherwise.

Just preparing my session on what to expect in placement for new students. Having to add a slide to my PowerPoint on corridor care/escalation spaces was something I never imagined I’d need to do

Fascinating read. Lots of lessons about leaders who operate within echo chambers and dismiss instead of debating opposing views

It appears that 2025 problems cannot now be dismissed 😬

The white van outside my house seems to be hosting a remarkably civil dialogue…

Lovely to have family stay over the festive period and everything but one of them just walked past me while I was on the floor doing some yoga and wondered if I’d had a fall. 🙄

The space between Christmas and New Year (which we call the festive perineum) is like floating through space where everything can be filed under “A 2025 Problem”

I know they’re evil and everything but I REALLY need a Norbot #WallaceAndGromit

This 👇🏻👇🏻

Would it be considered rude to receive Christmas guests whilst in bed due to this never ending cold virus?