“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” – Coretta Scott King. Back in September, I wrote about the breathtaking book, ‘Poverty Safari’ by Darren McGarvey, a must-read for anyone who works in areas of ‘disadvantage’, works with pupils who are ‘underprivileged ’, or with communities that are ‘broken’.… Read More An Hour for Others
60 years ago – yes, 60 years ago – the musical ‘West Side Story’ was performed in the West End for the very first time. It is a work of pure genius. One of my most precious memories is seeing it live at the Liverpool Empire with my eldest son. Still now, ten years on,… Read More Gee, Officer Krupke…you still here?
Firstly, our visit to Somerset on Thursday to see @oldprimaryhead1 and the staff at Brookside Academy School was a treat – a great example of collaboration between schools nationally and internationally (a group of Hungarian students were also there). More on that at the end. But the key point of this blog is to highlight… Read More The M6, School Collaboration, and ‘Papering Over the Cracks’.
On Thursday, I was fortunate enough to be at the Liverpool Philharmonic to see Sheku Kanneh-Mason play Elgar’s Cello Concerto. Prodigiously talented, Sheku rose to fame as Young Musician of the Year and played at Harry and Meghan’s wedding. It got me thinking again about the friction between ‘standards’ and talents. A common feature of… Read More Standardisation or Talents. Or both?
Last week, I returned from a trip to China and soon after set off to London for a visit to the Palace of Westminster. These two highly enjoyable and constructive trips have highlighted to me one engaging feature of good leadership – namely a lack of cynicism. How weary must people be of disengagement, suspicion… Read More China, Ceramic Poppies and a lack of Cynicism.
Last week, I suggested some core reasons as to why pupils require a curriculum that is different to the industrial model of the previous century. Below are some core principles for a such a primary school curriculum. This could be much more suited to an age much changed from thirty years ago, and where the… Read More Curriculum for Changing Times
On 10th October, the subject of mental health was once again front-page news due to frenzied governmental activity marking World Mental Health Day. Teresa May, in a speech at Downing Street, pledged to spend more money on this area. Unsurprisingly, schools were mentioned. She said in her speech, And we need that true parity between… Read More Feeling Excluded.
