Today I found myself talking about education and, at one point, specifically about my education. I started off my secondary education at a mixed school in Hong Kong, which was wonderful, but quickly found myself at a boys' grammar school in Kingston, Surrey.

To be frank, I missed the sunshine, the lunchtime sessions in the outdoor swimming pool and, even at that young age, the girls. But, those exotic items aside, I enjoyed school. I was naturally academic, stocky enough - and, later, taller and fit enough - to make the rugby team, and I had friends who shared my interests (even when I started buying Gary Numan records). It was an easy ride.

At my school, if you weren't an academic chap, you could make your way by being sporty or very musical but, fundamentally, if you didn't fit the grammar school model you were in for some pretty unsympathetic treatment.

Conversely, the secondary school in the town where I live couldn't be more inclusive. It works on the - I think largely accurate - assumption that all children have something to offer, have something they're interested in, that there is some path through education that will make them feel valued and part of a community.

However, if you read the papers or watch the news, you'll know that Michael Gove is moving education back in a direction that favours a minority who are like me. And even as one of that minority, I think that's a bad idea. A terrible idea, actually.

Tonight, I went over to Kendal College to pick up one of my daughters, who's doing an evening class there. She's smart, very funny, interested in loads of things but far less academically inclined than her sisters. On the way home she was marvelling how the three hours at the evening class fly by "even though it's like half a school day!"

You don't need me to join the dots on this one. Here's a photo from inside the college.