An A* for effort to Chris Mothersdale, the Carlisle physics teacher who has just set a world record for preparing a half-hour science lesson up Mount Everest. It is to be hoped that the teenagers for whom he recorded the temperature of his bare skin in the icy Tibetan blasts, among other self-sacrificing feats, are suitably grateful - but what of the shiver his achievement will send through colleagues?
Will OFSTED-conscious heads now expect staff to risk life and limb preparing that perfect lesson? Are teachers flicking frantically through the Guinness Book of Records in search of milestones to be overtaken? Are swivel-eyed over-achievers looking out scuba gear or contacting the Russian space programme? But remember: someone has to be first to plan a biology lesson on over-eating while consuming 10 packs of biscuits, or create a citizenship lesson in a bath of baked beans. England expects every teacher to do their duty.
