Monday morning discussion group.

Have you ever opened your Sunday paper and spotted something you wanted to think about in more depth? Or perhaps you listen to news on the radio and wonder what on earth they are talking about. If you want to explore something topical with others, why not join our discussion group?

We meet on the second and fourth Monday (forthcoming dates below) 11.00am to noon.

 Come and join us!   One meeting each month we consider whatever has caught our collective eyes in the news, the next we have a planned discussion, led by different members.  

A sample of our recent planned discussions:

Driving after 70

We heard about plans to update the ‘Road Safety Strategy’ which may include changes to the way driving licences are reviewed every three years once we reach 70. We discovered we are one of only three European countries that rely on us to update information about our eyesight personally. 

We recognised accidents are far more common amongst younger drivers but heard that the review was in part informed by a Senior Coroner who considered self-reporting meant some drivers were unsafe. We will be looking out for any announcements in the near future. 

Immigration

Ian encouraged us to look at this topic from a very different angle to usual debate, starting with exploring the reasons people choose to move country in significant numbers. We saw that although the countries from which people migrated had changed over time, the main reasons why they did so had not. Whilst war and persecution were common factors, poverty and climate change were also catalysts – and we had to acknowledge the latter means migration could grow significantly. We looked at how artificial borders, usually imposed externally meant people who had not historically been friendly found themselves trying to live together in very different ways to their ancestors, often leading to persecution. Inevitably discussion touched on our ability as a country to accept more immigration, but shared facts about where we rank as a country, accepting that many smaller countries take in a more refugees relative to their size.

What should schools be teaching and our children learning?

We considered how education has changed over the centuries from boys doing archery and horsemanship and girls sewing – if they were privileged – or at the mill or on the land if not, to English maths and science with foundation subjects and more post national curriculum.

And we came up with our own ideas of what we think should be the focus for the future.  In no particular order:

How to learn; Life Skills; Speaking and Listening; Financial Skills; Emotional Intelligence; Thinking and Logic; Critical Thinking and Analysis; Computers and Artificial Intelligence; Creative Education; Religion, Philosophy and Morality; Health, Nutrition and Mental Health; Sex and Relationships.

Plans for the rest of 2026

We have three terms each year running from January to March, April to June and September to November. In January we debated ‘Living in our valleys’, in February we looked at the impact of AI and in March we debated the Monarchy. In April we looked at ‘working from home’. Our plans for the rest of this term are as follows:

Monday May 18^th                   ‘Voting and the outcomes’

Monday June 8^th                  Open topics

Monday June 22nd               ‘What make you laugh’ 

We will then break until Monday 14^th September