Katherine Forster

To anyone who has dreamed of becoming a journalist, the thrill of walking into a national newspaper office never goes away. My desk is in the glass-clad offices of the Sunday Times, next to the Shard; the outside ‘walls’ are all windows and the views from the ninth floor are spectacular. When I first came here, as an intern, I was too scared to admire anything. Now I’m back, this time on the news review section and in charge of the interns, which entertains me no end. Many are from Oxbridge, and all are super-smart. I try to sound authoritative, hoping my age — I’m 48 — will help me do so. But there’s little point in my pretending to have been doing this for years, since often they’ve googled me before they arrive.

Boys are behind girls: at primary school, secondary school and at university. In the UK, white working-class boys have long been at the bottom of the heap in terms of attainment, but these days boys of all backgrounds are underperforming relative to girls. Last year, girls got two-thirds of the new top grade 9 scores at GCSE, while just 32 per cent of boys applied for university, compared with 44 per cent of girls. It’s not just in Britain either. Across the OECD countries, a study has found that 15-year-old boys are 50 per cent more likely than girls to fail to meet the baseline standards in reading, maths and science. So the question is why? How do boys and girls differ in their approach to learning? And what are schools doing to help boys learn effectively?

As a Yorkshire lass living in London I’m struck by the difference in transport provision between the north and south of the UK. Put simply, they feel like different countries. Taking a train from my home in west London into town, I ride on shiny, modern trains (if they aren’t cancelled that is, or on strike – thanks Southern!). Taking a train from Leeds to my home town of Harrogate, I ride in rolling stock that’s had a hard life; noisy and old. King’s Cross and St Pancras stations seem to me places of architectural wonder. Not so Leeds station. Similarly, I’ve driven from Leeds to Manchester via the bleakly beautiful M62 motorway (the highest in the UK near Saddleworth Moor) more times than I care to remember.

One day in February each year, my three children come home from school in London, but go to sleep in Germany. We pile into our old Rover 75 Estate, take the tunnel to Calais, then drive through France, Belgium and the Netherlands before collapsing into bed in Aachen: five countries in an afternoon. The next day we cruise down the Autobahn to Munich or Salzburg, potter around the city and have an early night. The following morning we are on the ski slopes, hours before the plane gang arrive. For a ten-night ski holiday in February half-term, the most expensive ski week of the year, our total spend is less than £3,500. For five people. That includes travel, accommodation, eight-day lift passes, ski lessons, equipment hire and food.

 Austria One day in February each year, my three children come home from school in London, but go to sleep in Germany. We pile into our old Rover 75 Estate, take the tunnel to Calais, then drive through France, Belgium and the Netherlands before collapsing into bed in Aachen: five countries in an afternoon. The next day we cruise down the Autobahn to Munich or Salzburg, potter around the city and have an early night. The following morning we are on the ski slopes, hours before the plane gang arrive. For a ten-night ski holiday in February half-term, the most expensive ski week of the year, our total spend is less than £3,500. For five people. That includes travel, accommodation, eight-day lift passes, ski lessons, equipment hire and food.

Last week, I took my two youngest sons to the Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park. It is quite unlike other memorials or fountains. It forms a circular river which changes every couple of metres: shallow to deep, rushing to calm, springs to waves. Dozens of children were playing in the water; bare feet clambering, little limbs lying down in the pools, small voices raised in laughter and excitement.  A fitting tribute to an extraordinary human being. Today, 20 years after her death, Diana continues to divide the country. A great many people still cannot work out what the fuss was, and still is, about. Yes, she was a good woman who did not deserve to die. But isn't that true about lots of women, every day? Surely she was just another celebrity?