Whilst Ofsted prepares to roll out its new inspection framework, Diocesan inspectorates are still in the early stages of reacting to these changes; they will no doubt roll out their own adaptations, but very much in the slow lane. As things stand, their remit covers the teaching and assessment of RE, the quality of worship… Read More Future of Catholic Schools

This phrase – The Age of Impunity –  is I think recently attributed to David Miliband, the ex-Labour Foreign Secretary from a time when politics seemed quite sane. The phrase attempts to capture how nation states feel they can get away with pretty much anything without any resulting intervention from their neighbours. Think Putin, Trump,… Read More The Age of Impunity

One of the most significant deficits faced by pupils in more challenging socio-economic communities is one of vocabulary. Department for Education research suggests that, by the age of seven, the gap in the vocabulary known by children in the top and bottom quartiles is something like 4,000 words (children in the top quartile know around… Read More Oracy, and Feeling Warm in Iceland (Foods Ltd)

I may be straying into controversial territory but here goes… A week or so ago, I led a most joyful (and slightly bonkers) assembly. Our pupils were in their usual place, though decked in the bright primary colours of their houses. I was also in my usual place, but alongside me I had seventeen students… Read More Too Many Words?

We are now half-way through the visit of fifteen teachers and pupils from Sierra Leone. Our two major events – a concert at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Thursday, and two Conferences (pupils and teachers) on Friday – are now almost upon us and I will blog afterwards with some reflections. What has been notable… Read More Inspiration: The Best of People

In Lady Windermere’s Fan, Oscar Wilde had Lord Darlington quip that a cynic was ‘a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.’ This quote was used last week in various interviews given by Mariana Mazzucato, a mega-brained economist, whose latest book, ‘The Value of Everything’, has some harsh words for the private… Read More The Value of Schools

The Government’s new bad behaviour Tsar, Tom Bennett, writes in the Telegraph this week that using progressive teaching techniques for all children, regardless of their background, is a “very good way to maximising misbehaviour”. I began this blog with the intention of disagreeing with him, but reading his subsequent blog http://behaviourguru.blogspot.com/2019/05/good-schools-help-children-behave.html there is more that… Read More Oh, Behave Yourself!