During my year as President of The Mathematical Association the government began a review of the curriculum across all subjects taught in school. Given the constant tinkering with the education system by every government, this is probably a sentence that any MA president could write during their tenure. But 2013 saw government really trying to layout their vision for what education should deliver in the coming decade.

In English, an aim of the curriculum review is to develop a student's love of literature through widespread reading for enjoyment. Students will get to read Shakespeare, romantic poetry, the great novels of the nineteenth century together with seminal works of world literature. It is hoped that this will expose students to the great works of literature and allow them to acquire an appreciation of ‘our rich and varied literary heritage’ [1, p. 13].

In science, by building on fundamental ideas and concepts, the curriculum review aims to foster in students ‘a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena’ [1, p. 99]. Students will study the fundamental mechanics of the cell, learn about stem cells, photosynthesis and genomics; they will be exposed to radiation (in a theoretical sense) and the evidence for the Big Bang. Such fundamental ideas will give students the scientific knowledge to be able to understand the uses and implications for the impact of science on society.

In his article on the flexagon family [1], R. F. Wheeler uses a mapping scheme which illustrates the behaviour of a flexagon. I shall introduce an alternative scheme and use it to expound a method of constructing and folding the net of any flexagon.

The sequence 0,1, a, aa, a(aa), . . . has certain unexpected features which may easily be demonstrated with the aid of a programmable pocket calculator. The investigation of the convergence of this sequence provides an exercise which is both interesting and informative.