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Last broadcast on Wed, 15 Jun 2011, 10:00 on BBC Radio 4.
Synopsis
Presented by Jenni Murray. It's being proposed as part of the new School Admissions Code due out this August that twins always start their primary education at the same school even if this means exceeding the statutory class size of thirty. When school places are so keenly sought after, is it right that multiple children are made an exception in the new School Admissions Code - how important is it that twins are kept together starting school? Also on the show: Rock Choir, five years of "Women to Win": getting more women into power at Westminster, author Ruth Dugdall talks about her new book.
Should twins be in the same class at school?
It’s being proposed as part of the new School Admissions Code that twins always start their primary education at the same school even if this means exceeding the statutory class limit of thirty. When school places are so keenly sought after, is it right that an exception is made for multiple children? Prof Pat Preedy from the Twins and Multiple Births Association, and Dr Claire Hawarth, Lecturer in Psychiatry at King’s College London, discuss the issues involved.
Probation Officer turned crime writer Ruth Dugdall
Ruth Dugdall worked as a Probation Officer for ten years before becoming a crime writer. Her first novel, 'The Woman Before Me', won the Debut Dagger Award. She joins Jenni to discuss her latest book, 'The Sacrificial Man', which investigates the grey area between murder and euthanasia.
'The Sacrificial Man' by Ruth Dugdall is published by Legend Press
Rock Choir
Rock Choir is the largest and most popular choir in the UK, with 150 rehearsals in 90 towns across the country and more than 8000 members. It’s come a long way from a small advertisement put up in a coffee shop in Farnham by music teacher Caroline Redman Lusher five years ago. Now they’ve spawned a three-part documentary series on ITV. Anna Bailey reports.
Women in Westminster: shifting the balance
Today is the fifth birthday of Women2win, a support network set up by Conservative party activists to help get more women elected as MPs for the party. And at the last election 49 women were returned as Tory MPs – that’s up from 17 at the election in 2005. It’s progress, but with women making up only 22 percent of MPs, there’s still a long way to go. All the major parties are committed to a 50/50 gender balance in Parliament eventually, but what are they doing to make it happen? Jenni is joined by Helen Grant, a Conservative MP who was helped into Parliament at the last election by Women2win, Labour MP Rushanara Ali, and the only woman to be newly elected to the House of Commons for the Liberal Democrats in 2010, Tessa Munt MP.
Chapters
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Chapter 1
On the fifth birthday of Women2win, a support network to help get more women MPs into the Conservative Party, what is being done to achieve a 50/50 gender balance in Parliament?
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Chapter 2
The Probation Officer turned crime writer on her latest novel, 'The Sacrificial Man'.
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Chapter 3
The choir that started as an advert in a coffee shop in Farnham five years ago is now the largest and most popular in the UK.
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Chapter 4
Discussion with Prof Pat Preedy from the Twins and Multiple Births Association, and Dr Claire Hawarth, Lecturer in Psychiatry at King’s College London.
Broadcast
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Wed 15 Jun 201110:00
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