Armidale’s Skeptics In The Pub recorded its highest ever audience with 116 people at the Welder’s Dog Brewery on Wednesday night.

The presentation by two distinguished academics from the University of New England, Emeritus Professor Brian Byrne and Senior Lecturer Sally Larsen, challenged many common misperceptions about childhood education.

This included a powerful expose on the weaknesses of NAPLAN, resounding proof that education standards are not slipping but are improving, a critique of the so-called advantage of pre-school, and data showing that children who do well at school will do so whether they attend a private or public school.

A round of applause was also given to the Welder’s Dog Brewery for its commitment to the community by providing Skeptics In The Pub with a free venue for the monthly event.

Skeptics In The Pub is a volunteer-run, community organisation affiliated with Australian Skeptics Inc which promotes critical thinking, reason, logic, and the scientific method for all aspects of life.

Everyone is welcome. The event is free and there is no need to book.

Next month’s topic, on April 16, is Drink, Drugs and Democracy. Dr Matthew Allen, Senior Lecturer in Historical Criminology at UNE, will provide an incisive and witty critique on Australia’s fuzzy boundaries, from the arrival of the convicts to the present day, marking the legal, illegal, normal and deviant when it comes to laws and policies on alcohol and other drugs.