We lived and breathed Gatsby ... for a while we felt like we were in 20s New York, driving over the bridge in an open top car...chiffon scarves floating and excitement in our veins .... looking to the future.
We savoured the quotes like an exquisite sweet ...tasting the very essence of that summer ...
we debated the characters and how they felt... why had Gatsby done this ... and had the films portrayed it well.
A friend introduced me to the world of the film producer Baz Luhrmann.
But in the end, just as Jay Gatsby had reached out for what was unattainable, it turned out that passing the English exam was also unattainable.... but do you know ... I think we still love that book .... it has quietly sat back and closed its covers and is waiting ... for perhaps some future moment when hopefully it will be opened again .. the dust blown off and perhaps it will again spring to life and the sun will rise above the waters of East Egg and West Egg and sparkle on the waters as we again witness a summer with Jay Gatsby and his neighbour ... and exams will seem a long way in the past !
Keywords : Higher English, Curriculum for Excellence, CfE
Friday, 4 September 2015
Thursday, 25 June 2015
Mums can be all in a lifetime - SAHM, Part Time, unemployed, Full Time Working
Mums can be all in a lifetime - SAHM, Part Time, unemployed, Full Time Working
How many surveys do you hear which tell Mums what they should be. I say bin them all ! Listen to your instinct and if you want to stay home with your kids because you just know that is best, then do it ! And lets hope that finances and government subsidies are such that you are able to do this for a few years until your little people are heading for school.
But even then it can be tricky to find work or to manage all the pressing demands in family life. Work does not always fit in with age-ing parents, kids who need to be in three places at once etc. And the weather is not always on their side either. If they have over a mile to walk to school and nowadays the rain is invariably falling then it can be great to take them to school occasionally.
Anyway back to my original point. These surveys seem to assume that in a Woman's working life of 50 years they can be a stay at home mother for fifty years .... I doubt many people do that !!
Here is what the people I know have done :
10 years working...10 years SAHM...10 years self employed ...aiming to work for 15+ more years
Others work part time when babies are small.
There are all sorts of options.
Many have returned to their original careers, others have taken the chance for a change of career.
Still more have retrained.
Some regret not taking more time off.
But for the sake of equality - listen to your instinct and insist on staying off with your kids at whatever time in their lifes you feel they need you. They are your number 1 priority ....
And government should do more to find part time jobs for women who want to return to the workplace, instead of this constant push to force women with very young babies to go back to work.
How many surveys do you hear which tell Mums what they should be. I say bin them all ! Listen to your instinct and if you want to stay home with your kids because you just know that is best, then do it ! And lets hope that finances and government subsidies are such that you are able to do this for a few years until your little people are heading for school.
But even then it can be tricky to find work or to manage all the pressing demands in family life. Work does not always fit in with age-ing parents, kids who need to be in three places at once etc. And the weather is not always on their side either. If they have over a mile to walk to school and nowadays the rain is invariably falling then it can be great to take them to school occasionally.
Anyway back to my original point. These surveys seem to assume that in a Woman's working life of 50 years they can be a stay at home mother for fifty years .... I doubt many people do that !!
Here is what the people I know have done :
10 years working...10 years SAHM...10 years self employed ...aiming to work for 15+ more years
Others work part time when babies are small.
There are all sorts of options.
Many have returned to their original careers, others have taken the chance for a change of career.
Still more have retrained.
Some regret not taking more time off.
But for the sake of equality - listen to your instinct and insist on staying off with your kids at whatever time in their lifes you feel they need you. They are your number 1 priority ....
And government should do more to find part time jobs for women who want to return to the workplace, instead of this constant push to force women with very young babies to go back to work.
Tuesday, 23 June 2015
Higher Maths
There has been controversy this year over the SQA Higher Maths exam in Scotland.
However .... many people I have spoken to, including some in my family, did not have a particular problem with the exam. Although others were reporting some pupils to be quite distressed by the exam.
Some of the questions were designed in a way that had been experienced by those doing the new Higher. So that would have been a disadvantage to those sitting the old Higher.
There has also been some discussion over the wording of questions, where the question was not entirely clear.
Now the problem is that if they were to remove these questions and base the exam results on the other questions then this could actually disadvantage someone who had originally done better in the exam and could lead to people who originally had a lower mark coming out on top ...
Some pupils just did not even attempt certain questions...and it is possible that these pupils therefore had more time to check their other questions ... whereas those who struggled with the difficult questions may have had no time to go back and check their answers.
On a simple level lets take an example of a eight question exam for a total of 20 marks, with questions increasing in difficulty as the paper progresses.
If achieving full marks, the marks per question would be ... 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4
Now lets assume Pupil 1 finds maths quite hard so they achieve the following marks :
1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 3, 0, 0 (total = 10 / 20)
Pupil 2 is better at maths and achieves :
1, 0, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2 (they have attempted the last few questions but had no time to go back and check the earlier questions)
(total = 16 / 20)
Now, if the last two questions were removed as deemed too difficult, the marks for both pupils would then be Pupil 1 = 10/12 and Pupil 2 = 11 / 12
Now,... these pupils now appear to be much closer in results than the actual marks illustrate.
So ... how can these pupils be differentiated ? Should they both now get an A ?
Well perhaps that would be OK .... BUT there must never be a case where a pupil ends up with a lesser mark having originally had more marks.
For example lets say there was a Pupil 3 who achieved 1, 1, 0, 1, 3, 3, 4, 3
This pupil originally achieved 16 / 20 (equal to pupil 2 and much more than Pupil 1)
but if the last two questions are removed Pupil 3 would only score 9 / 12 and may well be allocated a B .... which is LESS !! than Pupil 1. This is patently unfair ...
No pupil should ever achieve a mark less than they originally achieved. So if they were heading for an A or a B on their original score then that should not be reduced.
Fine, there may need to be some adjustment for pupils who have taken the wrong meaning from a question if there is agreement that the question was badly worded.
But these decisions must not be taken lightly as people's futures depend on these results.
This is unfair to that pupil but also negative to society in general if we don't get those who are best at maths into for example engineering etc.
However .... many people I have spoken to, including some in my family, did not have a particular problem with the exam. Although others were reporting some pupils to be quite distressed by the exam.
Some of the questions were designed in a way that had been experienced by those doing the new Higher. So that would have been a disadvantage to those sitting the old Higher.
There has also been some discussion over the wording of questions, where the question was not entirely clear.
Now the problem is that if they were to remove these questions and base the exam results on the other questions then this could actually disadvantage someone who had originally done better in the exam and could lead to people who originally had a lower mark coming out on top ...
Some pupils just did not even attempt certain questions...and it is possible that these pupils therefore had more time to check their other questions ... whereas those who struggled with the difficult questions may have had no time to go back and check their answers.
On a simple level lets take an example of a eight question exam for a total of 20 marks, with questions increasing in difficulty as the paper progresses.
If achieving full marks, the marks per question would be ... 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4
Now lets assume Pupil 1 finds maths quite hard so they achieve the following marks :
1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 3, 0, 0 (total = 10 / 20)
Pupil 2 is better at maths and achieves :
1, 0, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2 (they have attempted the last few questions but had no time to go back and check the earlier questions)
(total = 16 / 20)
Now, if the last two questions were removed as deemed too difficult, the marks for both pupils would then be Pupil 1 = 10/12 and Pupil 2 = 11 / 12
Now,... these pupils now appear to be much closer in results than the actual marks illustrate.
So ... how can these pupils be differentiated ? Should they both now get an A ?
Well perhaps that would be OK .... BUT there must never be a case where a pupil ends up with a lesser mark having originally had more marks.
For example lets say there was a Pupil 3 who achieved 1, 1, 0, 1, 3, 3, 4, 3
This pupil originally achieved 16 / 20 (equal to pupil 2 and much more than Pupil 1)
but if the last two questions are removed Pupil 3 would only score 9 / 12 and may well be allocated a B .... which is LESS !! than Pupil 1. This is patently unfair ...
No pupil should ever achieve a mark less than they originally achieved. So if they were heading for an A or a B on their original score then that should not be reduced.
Fine, there may need to be some adjustment for pupils who have taken the wrong meaning from a question if there is agreement that the question was badly worded.
But these decisions must not be taken lightly as people's futures depend on these results.
This is unfair to that pupil but also negative to society in general if we don't get those who are best at maths into for example engineering etc.
Saturday, 16 May 2015
Time Out !
Take Time Out for Kids !
Children are the most important thing. They are our futures.
And every family should be able to take Time Out to enjoy bringing up their kids.
They should be supported if they want to take some time out from work for a few years to rear their young age 0 - 3. And once the kids are at school, right up to the teenage years, there should be the possibility to work part time for at least one parent.
The current push to make the school day longer will not suit many kids. The school day is long enough and many kids just need to get home to relax after school.
We need to stop thinking that people who "stay at home" with kids (a misnomer if ever there was one !) are somehow a different species !
Many mothers, and a few fathers, take a few years out when their children are babies and toddlers. This is what many want to do and its great for the kids. Relaxing in the playpark while playing with friends, running across the grass after toddler group, visiting friends, going shopping, going swimming, picking strawberries at a fruit farm, playing football, going to playgroup. Now most of these things I have listed are free things to do, or at least very inexpensive, as parents work together to run toddler groups and playgroups. Its a community effort ! Now surely that is worth valuing.
So lets all realise that Time Out With Kids can be a good thing. It has been shown to be good for the children's mental health with respect to bonding with their parents, attachment theory etc. and apart from anything else it is good fun. It is what life is about.
I like this piece which was a reading at a funeral I was at recently, of a friend's father who was very much a "family man", it makes me think of how there is a "time to work, a time to spend with your young children, a time to support your older children, a time for your parents, etc." :
Children are the most important thing. They are our futures.
And every family should be able to take Time Out to enjoy bringing up their kids.
The current push to make the school day longer will not suit many kids. The school day is long enough and many kids just need to get home to relax after school.
We need to stop thinking that people who "stay at home" with kids (a misnomer if ever there was one !) are somehow a different species !
Many mothers, and a few fathers, take a few years out when their children are babies and toddlers. This is what many want to do and its great for the kids. Relaxing in the playpark while playing with friends, running across the grass after toddler group, visiting friends, going shopping, going swimming, picking strawberries at a fruit farm, playing football, going to playgroup. Now most of these things I have listed are free things to do, or at least very inexpensive, as parents work together to run toddler groups and playgroups. Its a community effort ! Now surely that is worth valuing.
So lets all realise that Time Out With Kids can be a good thing. It has been shown to be good for the children's mental health with respect to bonding with their parents, attachment theory etc. and apart from anything else it is good fun. It is what life is about.
I like this piece which was a reading at a funeral I was at recently, of a friend's father who was very much a "family man", it makes me think of how there is a "time to work, a time to spend with your young children, a time to support your older children, a time for your parents, etc." :
There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven:
A time for giving birth, a time for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting what has been planted.
A time for killing, a time for healing; a time for knocking down, a time for building.
A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time for dancing.
A time for throwing stones away, a time for gathering them; a time for embracing, a time to refrain from embracing.
A time for searching, a time for losing; a time for keeping, a time for discarding.
A time for tearing, a time for sewing; a time for keeping silent, a time for speaking.
A time for loving, a time for hating; a time for war, a time for peaceWhat do people gain from the efforts they make?
I contemplate the task that God gives humanity to labour at.
All that he does is apt for its time; but although he has given us an awareness of the passage of time, we can grasp neither the beginning nor the end of what God does.
I know there is no happiness for a human being except in pleasure and enjoyment through life.
And when we eat and drink and find happiness in all our achievements, this is a gift from God
Thursday, 14 May 2015
Plastic Packaging
It is my belief that we could easily have a law which required that companies had to use recycled or re-usable packaging or biodegradable packaging wherever that is possible as an alternative to using plastic which comes from a finite resource on our planet of oil.
Currently I have collected 8 Persil tubs (photo to follow !!) and am about to send them back to Unilever via their FREEPOST address with the suggestion that they could require us to re-fill our (very substantial well made) plastic tubs at the supermarket. There could easily be a large skip at the supermarket with the liquitabs in it and a dispensing drawer at the bottom which allowed 20 capsules out at a time. This type of machine is available at driving ranges to dispense golf balls, and I am pretty sure it could be designed fairly quickly. If they want to contact me, even as a non engineer, I am pretty sure I could design it in a day. It would need to be only for adults to use though as these liquitabs have been mistaken by children for sweets on occasion.
Another area which I allude to in another post, is the current use of plastic packaging for feminine hygiene products, where there is a perfectly good cardboard alternative which will biodegrade and not end up washing up on the beaches half way across the planet. This is Proctor & Gamble who are currently guilty of promoting this.
Currently I have collected 8 Persil tubs (photo to follow !!) and am about to send them back to Unilever via their FREEPOST address with the suggestion that they could require us to re-fill our (very substantial well made) plastic tubs at the supermarket. There could easily be a large skip at the supermarket with the liquitabs in it and a dispensing drawer at the bottom which allowed 20 capsules out at a time. This type of machine is available at driving ranges to dispense golf balls, and I am pretty sure it could be designed fairly quickly. If they want to contact me, even as a non engineer, I am pretty sure I could design it in a day. It would need to be only for adults to use though as these liquitabs have been mistaken by children for sweets on occasion.
Another area which I allude to in another post, is the current use of plastic packaging for feminine hygiene products, where there is a perfectly good cardboard alternative which will biodegrade and not end up washing up on the beaches half way across the planet. This is Proctor & Gamble who are currently guilty of promoting this.
Why Every Political Party Should Support "Stay at Home Working" Mothers or Fathers as well as "Working" Mothers and Fathers
If you think a about it, Stay At Home Mothers (or Fathers), certainly of small children aged 0-3, should fit in to each Political Party's idealism, along with Working Mothers, who currently fit into the supposed "economic model family" currently being pushed in society.
Here we go :
Green Party
A Stay at Home Mother (or Father) is a Green alternative. Not adding to the materialistic push to own belongings (usually made of the earth's valuable resources). And taking time to appreciate such things as the local park and to get out and about to appreciate the environment. Not adding to the carbon footprint by driving to a nursery etc.
Conservatives
A Stay at Home Mother (or Father) is taking responsiblity for their own children and their upbringing. Standing on their own two feet. Taking time to educate children about society and values. Mums or Dads often volunteer as part of the "Big Society" taking part running playgroups and toddler groups etc. And if parents do their own childcare then those young workers who are employed on low wages in childcare could get out and train for a better paid job which would bring in more tax return. The mums or dads can then return to the workforce rejuvenated once their children are a little older.
Labour
Labour had the Sure Start centres which seemed like a good idea. A place where mothers and fathers could go to find out more about parenting. By looking after your own children, this is often the first real responsibility many people have had to care for another human being. But we need to care for families and those who have family responsibility so that they are supported in this vital role for society. Being a parent of a young child gives you a chance to get out and meet people and mix with others. You can learn new skills and take this chance to learn about parenting etc. Labour should be ensuring that every mother has the option to take a few years out with their children and not just those who have saved beforehand or who have a partner working. And Labour should prioritise a review of family budgeting and finance to find out why so many families are currently visiting Food Banks.
LibDems
The Liberal Democrats are famous for being "Liberal" - what does that mean exactly ? Well the definition in the Oxford dictionary should mean that Stay at Home Mothers are definitely on the agenda !
1 Willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own, open to new ideas
2 (of education) concerned with broadening a person's general knowledge and experience, rather than with technical or professional training.
SNP and UKIP
See above - or are you just here to add some colour to the political party spectrum !!
So overall I would suggest we need a major review of Family Policy as this new Parliament of 2015 starts out. We need to review taxation and benefits. Obviously benefits must have limits, there is not enough money to go round to support everything, but we need to think what is it we want from and for families if our society is to improve. We also need to look at the school years and work out how to improve our education system and set higher standards for our teenagers. And we need to review such things as internet access, pornography etc. and how this is affecting all of our children, whether they are directly viewing these things or being affected indirectly. And.... as well as young children, we should look at how society is treating our older family members and also how this impacts on wider families as well. There is a big difference between having a grandparent who needs help, whether a small amount or large amount to having either no grandparent around or having a very active and involved grandparent who is lucky enough to have retained all physical abillity. And in fact the age range of grandparents that I know varies from 40 right up to about 80 - now that is going to make a lot of difference in a family.
So let us all call on our Political Representatives to make the case for ALL WOMEN, MEN and FAMILIES !!
Here we go :
Green Party
A Stay at Home Mother (or Father) is a Green alternative. Not adding to the materialistic push to own belongings (usually made of the earth's valuable resources). And taking time to appreciate such things as the local park and to get out and about to appreciate the environment. Not adding to the carbon footprint by driving to a nursery etc.
Conservatives
A Stay at Home Mother (or Father) is taking responsiblity for their own children and their upbringing. Standing on their own two feet. Taking time to educate children about society and values. Mums or Dads often volunteer as part of the "Big Society" taking part running playgroups and toddler groups etc. And if parents do their own childcare then those young workers who are employed on low wages in childcare could get out and train for a better paid job which would bring in more tax return. The mums or dads can then return to the workforce rejuvenated once their children are a little older.
Labour
Labour had the Sure Start centres which seemed like a good idea. A place where mothers and fathers could go to find out more about parenting. By looking after your own children, this is often the first real responsibility many people have had to care for another human being. But we need to care for families and those who have family responsibility so that they are supported in this vital role for society. Being a parent of a young child gives you a chance to get out and meet people and mix with others. You can learn new skills and take this chance to learn about parenting etc. Labour should be ensuring that every mother has the option to take a few years out with their children and not just those who have saved beforehand or who have a partner working. And Labour should prioritise a review of family budgeting and finance to find out why so many families are currently visiting Food Banks.
LibDems
The Liberal Democrats are famous for being "Liberal" - what does that mean exactly ? Well the definition in the Oxford dictionary should mean that Stay at Home Mothers are definitely on the agenda !
1 Willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own, open to new ideas
2 (of education) concerned with broadening a person's general knowledge and experience, rather than with technical or professional training.
SNP and UKIP
See above - or are you just here to add some colour to the political party spectrum !!
So overall I would suggest we need a major review of Family Policy as this new Parliament of 2015 starts out. We need to review taxation and benefits. Obviously benefits must have limits, there is not enough money to go round to support everything, but we need to think what is it we want from and for families if our society is to improve. We also need to look at the school years and work out how to improve our education system and set higher standards for our teenagers. And we need to review such things as internet access, pornography etc. and how this is affecting all of our children, whether they are directly viewing these things or being affected indirectly. And.... as well as young children, we should look at how society is treating our older family members and also how this impacts on wider families as well. There is a big difference between having a grandparent who needs help, whether a small amount or large amount to having either no grandparent around or having a very active and involved grandparent who is lucky enough to have retained all physical abillity. And in fact the age range of grandparents that I know varies from 40 right up to about 80 - now that is going to make a lot of difference in a family.
So let us all call on our Political Representatives to make the case for ALL WOMEN, MEN and FAMILIES !!
Friday, 8 May 2015
History of Scotland Independence Voting - Lukewarm to say the least!
I can remember the Scottish Assembly referendum in 1979 under James Callaghan's Labour government. I was still at school but I can remember we had an SNP sticker on our car !
To win the vote for a Scottish Assembly :
SNP MPs then put down a motion of no confidence. And then with Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Thatcher and LibDems supporting, an Opposition motion was put down and the debate was scheduled for Wednesday, 28 March 1979. The motion moved by Margaret Thatcher MP was :
There was then the following vote, on September 11th 1997 and I was living in Perth and can remember voting at the local school. I remember voting for the Parliament but against the tax varying powers. (from the results it looks like about 200,000 agreed with me (astute people !!) :
The result was as follows :
I agree that there should be a Scottish Parliament. 1,775,045 74.3%
I do not agree that there should be a Scottish Parliament. 614,400 25.7%
I agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax-varying powers. ,512,889 63.5%
I do not agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax-varying powers. 870,263 36.5%
So a more resounding result but again it was only based on a 60.43 % turnout so not great for such an important issue.
In 1999 the Scottish Parliament was formed and Donald Dewar http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/345189.stm). (The new Scottish Parliament building finally opened in 2004)
of the Labour party was our first First Minster. It was a proud moment for Scotland as they marched up the Royal Mile from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to the Court of Session building. (Ref:
And then in 2014 we had the important Scottish Independence Referendum, agreed to by David Cameron.
This was a large turnout of 84.6 % and a very close result.
So....what I want to know is why do we now seem to heading towards Independence ? There has never been a vote in favour. The first vote was 32.9% of the electorate in 1979 and in 2014 we had 45% of the electorate.
Yet now in the 2015 General Election, David Cameron has used scaremongering tactics and politics of fear tactics to frame the SNP as something to fear. And this tactic has led to him being elected to "protect" the English electorate in some way. And we could well see a beginning of very extremist/ divisive politics that is not wanted by at least 50% of those in Scotland. At this 2015 election it was again 50/50.
So where do we go from here. Half the electorate in Scotland are consumed by a feverish evangelical vision of the future while the other half do not necessarily share this vision - perhaps having analysed the figures and maybe raising some questions e.g. why are college places cutback etc. But these people dare not admit their view as they will be "shouted down" by family members/work colleagues/friends. Some retain a quiet British-ness. Not the triumphalist flag waving or flag-wearing type. But the quiet type where you might not even admit it to yourself but just accept that this is how we have lived together and shared a history for the last 200 years - and its not been too bad really......
To win the vote for a Scottish Assembly :
- 50% of votes cast had to vote in favour AND at least 40% of the electorate had to vote in favour.
SNP MPs then put down a motion of no confidence. And then with Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Thatcher and LibDems supporting, an Opposition motion was put down and the debate was scheduled for Wednesday, 28 March 1979. The motion moved by Margaret Thatcher MP was :
- "That this House has no confidence in Her Majesty's Government".
"We can truly say that once the Leader of the Opposition discovered what the Liberals and the SNP would do, she found the courage of their convictions. So, tonight, the Conservative Party, which wants the Act repealed and opposes even devolution, will march through the Lobby with the SNP, which wants independence for Scotland, and with the Liberals, who want to keep the Act. What a massive display of unsullied principle! The minority parties have walked into a trap. If they win, there will be a general election. I am told that the current joke going around the House is that it is the first time in recorded history that turkeys have been known to vote for an early Christmas."The Campaign for a Scottish Assembly was formed afterwards to continue the campaign.
There was then the following vote, on September 11th 1997 and I was living in Perth and can remember voting at the local school. I remember voting for the Parliament but against the tax varying powers. (from the results it looks like about 200,000 agreed with me (astute people !!) :
The result was as follows :
I agree that there should be a Scottish Parliament. 1,775,045 74.3%
I do not agree that there should be a Scottish Parliament. 614,400 25.7%
I agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax-varying powers. ,512,889 63.5%
I do not agree that a Scottish Parliament should have tax-varying powers. 870,263 36.5%
So a more resounding result but again it was only based on a 60.43 % turnout so not great for such an important issue.
In 1999 the Scottish Parliament was formed and Donald Dewar http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/345189.stm). (The new Scottish Parliament building finally opened in 2004)
of the Labour party was our first First Minster. It was a proud moment for Scotland as they marched up the Royal Mile from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to the Court of Session building. (Ref:
And then in 2014 we had the important Scottish Independence Referendum, agreed to by David Cameron.
This was a large turnout of 84.6 % and a very close result.
- Yes 1,617,989 No 2,001,926
So....what I want to know is why do we now seem to heading towards Independence ? There has never been a vote in favour. The first vote was 32.9% of the electorate in 1979 and in 2014 we had 45% of the electorate.
Yet now in the 2015 General Election, David Cameron has used scaremongering tactics and politics of fear tactics to frame the SNP as something to fear. And this tactic has led to him being elected to "protect" the English electorate in some way. And we could well see a beginning of very extremist/ divisive politics that is not wanted by at least 50% of those in Scotland. At this 2015 election it was again 50/50.
So where do we go from here. Half the electorate in Scotland are consumed by a feverish evangelical vision of the future while the other half do not necessarily share this vision - perhaps having analysed the figures and maybe raising some questions e.g. why are college places cutback etc. But these people dare not admit their view as they will be "shouted down" by family members/work colleagues/friends. Some retain a quiet British-ness. Not the triumphalist flag waving or flag-wearing type. But the quiet type where you might not even admit it to yourself but just accept that this is how we have lived together and shared a history for the last 200 years - and its not been too bad really......
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