Shorthand blues

Today was a big one. This morning I had four hours of public affairs and shorthand, followed by two hours of law this afternoon. The law class was the highlight of the day. For the first hour we watched a BBC in-house training video on contempt. The film was made in the 1980s, but it was still informative and entertaining. The second hour of the class was spent studying past NCTJ law papers. There is a lot of law to get through in a short amount of time, and I was wondering how the college would approach this problem. I think the introduction of past papers is a great idea; it allows the class to focus on what we specifically need to know. It also strips the exam of its mystique. It all reminds me of my A Levels. I remember seeing my first past papers a few months before the final exams. A few of my friends who went to Manchester Grammar School told me they were shown the past papers on day one of lower sixth. All their teaching was focused around the exam, not around the subject. They all did brilliantly, while I did ok.

However, today was defined by the shorthand class and that test. I scored 5 marks out of a possible 30. This was then followed by an hour of dictation, during which I struggled to keep up. I really need to knuckle down and understand this subject in the coming weeks.

Nick Clarke

While listening to Radio 4 on the way out of Liverpool, I heard about the launch of a new competition. It will be named after the late Nick Clarke, who died last year. The competition will award a prize for the best interview of the year, either on radio or television. Sounds like a good idea, and a worthy tribute to Nick Clarke’s work and life.