This is the first post in a series about how we can build our confidence: It can be a real eye-opener when we realise just how much success and happiness is based not on people’s talent or knowledge, but on the strange lightness of spirit we call confidence. We often lack confidence because deep down … Continue reading How confidence works

First I brought you petals from collapsed roses And you would hold them wet and full of dew And marvel with me the drops reflecting Shifting clouds across a happy sky. You would colour shells, throw and catch, Dry-run obstacle courses, play chase On hazy, butterfly-full, yawning days. I’d hand you pictures painted Pots I’d … Continue reading Mother

Try to fail more. That’s my one resolution this year. To be fair I’m already fairly well qualified. I’ve failed so many times at so many things that it would be difficult to know where to begin. At work, friendships, unfinished projects, decisions regretted. On the surface I see this as serial failure. A litany … Continue reading Ten ways to deal with failure

If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word. Margaret Atwood Ever spent too long on a Powerpoint presentation, quit a project or found yourself going over an essay for the tenth time? Perfectionism creeps into every facet of our lives. We want to be perfect at work, we're obsessed with our appearance, … Continue reading 5 ways to kick perfectionism

In September 2021 Dame Kate Bingham, the woman tasked with chairing the government’s Covid-19 vaccine task force, told the Times Education Commission that she had doubted her abilities when asked by Matt Hancock, then health secretary, to lead procurement of vaccines. “Why me?” She asked, “I can’t do this. There must be someone better.” Bingham … Continue reading 3 ways to manage my imposter

We seem to have a problem in Britain with whether we want to help our poorest families. It’s not just a problem with definition – who is and who isn't poor - it is where two groups of people talking about poverty are coming at it from two totally different places. This is marked by … Continue reading No such thing as a free lunch

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

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