I once experienced something strange in school. It was as I approached the staff room door in my first few days of a remote school in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. The staff room was a cool respite from the blinding sun bouncing off the red soil of the school yard. I could hear a … Continue reading Getting Under the Skin
Algorithmic Amnesia
The grade calculation cock-up has broken students’ belief in what they have achieved. This is more important than whether it is ministers, civil servants or Ofqual who should be held accountable. We need to celebrate the achievements of this generation properly to correct this rite of passage, and introduce them to adulthood with a little … Continue reading Algorithmic Amnesia
What we have to give
Small changes will help us confront what’s wrong, support those who need it most and remind ourselves what we have to give. My son begins his primary PGCE in September. He leaves self-employment and begins life as a teacher. What a year to start. I’m excited for him, but also afraid of what lies in … Continue reading What we have to give
Building Character: Being More Marcus
I like Marcus Rashford. I like the fact that he’s from Wythenshawe and not part of the establishment. I like that, although he’s a football star, he describes himself as pretty ordinary. And I like that last week with quiet dignity, he reminded those in power of their responsibilities for our poorest children. We see … Continue reading Building Character: Being More Marcus
Part 2/ Helping our children to be happier – mental health and Maslow
In Part 1: Part 1/What's wrong with our children? I described how children have been affected by Covid-19 and tried matching this with the Maslow model. I explained that establishing positive mental health will mean recreating pleasure in the physical world, building the happiness that only people bring and finding again the lack of purpose … Continue reading Part 2/ Helping our children to be happier – mental health and Maslow
Part 1/ What’s wrong with our children? Mental health and Maslow
Children have made it most of the way through this pandemic. But having spent three months isolated from friends, stuck with their family and watching the adult world grind to a halt around them, many are mentally in a mess. It’s been tough for all of us. Some have faced the deep pain of loss, … Continue reading Part 1/ What’s wrong with our children? Mental health and Maslow
Words – Lost and Found
In 2017 I bought the beautiful ‘Lost Words’ by nature writer Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris. Each page is a visual hymn to the beauty of nature nouns. Macfarlane’s conjuring poems and Morris’s glowing watercolours summon lost words back: “Once upon a time, words began to vanish from the language of children. They disappeared … Continue reading Words – Lost and Found
Kayaks and Cairns
Whenever lockdown ends, I imagine we all have a special place (other than the pub) to which we’re yearning to escape. On this Bank Holiday, I’m thinking of two days spent with my boys in the great outdoors a while ago, which didn’t quite go as expected, but where we’ll definitely be heading again when … Continue reading Kayaks and Cairns
What we ration grows in value
The experience of millions of parents battling with home learning may help schools when children return. By restricting freedom and limiting exercise to once a day, the government has inadvertently raised the value of physical activity. In an incredibly short space of time, that hour of exercise has become precious. Indeed, we feel short-changed by … Continue reading What we ration grows in value
Pianos and Care Homes
Recording took three attempts. Nerves, a talking-piece to camera and a certain “Are we really doing this?” got in the way. But once complete and sent, it was only minutes before he’d had the first reply. "Harry they'll love the pieces. It will mean a lot to hear you and see you. It’s really hard … Continue reading Pianos and Care Homes
Open the Box
This has been a pretty unique week. Since Easter, teachers, schools and Trusts such as Greenshaw Learning Trust, Oak National Academy and Robin Hood Trust have opened their doors to the world and shared all of their subject resources. Teachers have uploaded clips for other schools and pupils not at their school to use. Books … Continue reading Open the Box
I am because we are
Warm weather this week means the government is telling us to stay in. Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer has resigned because she didn’t. And then the Queen spoke. Despite the detached weirdness of working remotely in lockdown, there are elements about it I’ve secretly enjoyed. In our whirlwind world there is something attractive about being solitary … Continue reading I am because we are
“Nothing is Wasted”
He'd known for a while it was coming. But he got the news this week. My 21-year old son was told by his university that his finals were cancelled. They were planning to ask the biochemists to 'sit' an online essay style exam across 24 hours, but even that imperfect possibility had been pulled. We … Continue reading “Nothing is Wasted”
More than I expected
It felt awkward – just clapping our hands outside our front doors as a sign of support for NHS staff on the frontline of their fight against CV. And yet, reluctantly I stood there in the dark hoping I wouldn’t be the first, or the only one. Armed with my instruments: a saucepan and wooden … Continue reading More than I expected
The Village of Albion
Once there was a dreaded plague which came to the Kingdom of Albion from the desert across the sea. The first signs were coughing. Next came sickness, and then some of the elders began to die. And the villagers were very sad because the people of Albion were a loving people who cared deeply about … Continue reading The Village of Albion
Our Singing Curriculum
Choirs are mushrooming across the country. I first joined a choir at the tender age of six and I’ve never really shaken it off. Tuesday nights are special for me. I look forward to the camaraderie of the choir, the collective endeavour, the hope that we will crack this tricky piece, the soaring sound of … Continue reading Our Singing Curriculum
Detecting the curriculum: Holmes, Hirsch and Jim Hawkins
Driving back home along the M5, my son and I are listening to Sherlock Holmes. Watson is stunned by Holmes’ all round ignorance, and gives an informal school report: “Knowledge of literature – nil; philosophy – nil; astronomy – nil; politics – feeble; botany – variable (well up in belladonna, opium and poisons generally, but knows nothing … Continue reading Detecting the curriculum: Holmes, Hirsch and Jim Hawkins
Dolphins and Butterflies
My young son and I cycle around Strumble Head, in wild west Pembrokeshire, squeezing through tall, mossy hedgerows on tarmac made glass-smooth by years of sheep droppings. We leave our bikes on the dry Prehistoric drystone wall and walk round the peninsular towards the lighthouse. The wind hugs us tight to the cliffs and as … Continue reading Dolphins and Butterflies
Getting our teachers back. Getting our teachers’ back.
"I was much further out than you thought And not waving but drowning." Stevie Smith 1. Getting our teachers back: The moment it hit home for me was when I heard that X had left teaching. I knew then with absolute clarity that we had a problem. Why in that moment? Because she was simply brilliant. … Continue reading Getting our teachers back. Getting our teachers’ back.
Teamwork 3/ Characteristics of world class teams
This, the third of three blogs about teamwork, looks at the qualities of world class teams and what sets them apart. Here are the first two: Teamwork 1/ Building teams, building trust Teamwork 2/ Organising your team James MacGregor Burns, writing Roosevelt's biography, said: "Great teams happen when people engage with others in such a way … Continue reading Teamwork 3/ Characteristics of world class teams
Pirates
Pirates Buckets full of crabs, Decent shrimp, bigger fish than we've a right to land With that children's bamboo net; and a baby eel. Satisfied, smug and sat, hands flat upon Four inches of warm waves and corrugated sand I'm braced against the unexpected sun As lazy, loud gulls wheel above my head. Secretly my … Continue reading Pirates
Teamwork 2/Organising your team
“Life punishes the vague wish and rewards the specific ask” Tim Ferris So now we have the right balance in the team how do we get it to function well? Some teams just hum. Seeing them operate is like watching the peleton in a cycle race. While a crocodile of lycra streams along a sunflower-strewn … Continue reading Teamwork 2/Organising your team
Cobwebs
Low-slung nets made visible by dew Appear suddenly one morning. Trampolines of soft breath And parachute precision. Ghostly nets lassoed Between teasels, while the see-saw Song of the Chaffinch, slides Along the rigging. Hammock-heaven. Twigs become cats-cradles, and every bush, Every stalk is wired up For spiders to go-ape.
