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Barry: Lessons Ofsted needs to learn

‘As I understand it, today’s teachers are over-burdened by a regime of constant testing and assessing and league tabling that takes the fun and spontaneity out of the job’ Read

I am self employed and had planned to retire this year at 65, but falling annuity rates have made me wonder whether to keep working. I have been saving in a pension plan for nearly 30 years and this is worth about £180,000. What annuity would this buy? L.W.

Rates have fallen, but some annuity providers are still noticeably better than others. A fund of £180,000 will currently get you about £13,800 a year from Aegon Scottish Equitable. This is a flat rate, with no increases for inflation and no provision for dependents. Postponing retirement will earn you more, even if your fund stays at £180,000. At age 70, for example, this would buy you a pension of just over £15,300, again from Aegon Scottish Equitable. If you have health problems, or you are a smoker, then annuity rates are higher. A local financial adviser can give you a tailor-made quotation based on your health. Read

What a lot of stuff to shift

Ex-pat GRAHAM DENBY continues his series on creating a new life in sunny Portugal. Today: the big move Read

Denis Kilcommons: Bedroom pet hates

GOODNESS knows what the neighbours think. Read

Denis Kilcommons as the next Doctor . . ?

ACTOR Matt Smith has been named as the next Doctor Who, which is a bit of a choker. I was hoping maybe I would get a go myself. Read

Denis: Go green, ditch those gadgets!

THERE I was, contemplating life in the bathroom, when it struck me. The recession need not bite so fiercely if we only stopped using an electric toothbrush. Read

Denis: When going to the dentist is a laughing matter

I HAD heard all the scare stories about the shortage of National Health Service dentists. Read

LITTLE boy: My teacher is daft.

Mother: Why? Read

“WHO was that lady I seen you with last night?”

“You mean, ‘I saw’.” Read

Denis: A musical mystery

IT is always annoying when your television reception goes wrong. Especially when it’s a sports channel. Read

What’s in a name?

WHICH football league club’s name ends with the letter r? This soccer puzzler had one friend scratching his head. Doncaster? No, because it’s Doncaster Rovers. Crewe Alexander? Sorry, I think you mean Crewe Alexandra. He eventually gave up. The answer? Tottenham Hotspur. Read

Denis: I don't recognise my own Facebook

THE President of Guyana in South America is the latest person to be impersonated on the social networking site Facebook. Read

Wilf Lunn: Why I’m allergic to nuts

NUTS can be very dangerous. Nut allergies must be taken seriously and it doesn’t just apply to peanuts. Read

Wilf Lunn: Signs of an all too orderly mind

DO you remember coming out of Leeds on the train there used to be a sign saying: “Proctors Anything in Wire”. Anything? Read

Wilf Lunn: Accent on convenience

I SEE the demolished art deco loo at Moldgreen is being replaced by what I think may be a taxi office. Read

Wilf Lunn: Unforgettable experience

AN explorer walking through the wild jungle came across an elephant with a huge thorn stuck in its foot. Read

Denis: Back to the future with a new Old Moore

HERE is the future, according to Old Moore’s Almanac for 2009. Read

Denis: Resolve to rekindle conversational art

I HAVEN’T bothered with new year resolutions. Read

Read Denis Kilcommons’s look at life

LOSING the Wonder of Woolies is a tragedy, for the people who are losing their jobs and because a piece of retail history is closing on our high streets. Read

Stephen Jackson: Blinis with soured cream and smoked salmon

Blinis are like little yeasty pancakes, and are the perfect way of stretching out those remaining slices of smoked salmon or Gravadlax. Read