On Sunday, I’m off to Freetown as part of a British Council ‘Connecting Classrooms’ visit, meeting up again with our partner schools, our friends and our teacher colleagues in Sierra Leone. We have an ambitious objective. (Actually, we’ve several, but for the purposes of this blog, I’ll stick to this one). We’re going to try… Read More Teaching Schools International

“Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else.”  Judy Garland. Last week, I had a meeting with the manager of a local community centre. As so often happens when those now out of the education system meet someone who’s very much in it, they begin to… Read More Be Yourself.

The above picture is from a TalkTalk advert currently adorning a reputable bus stop near you. It makes a virtue of multi-tasking (with the focus on the mother by the way. No Dad in the picture). Multi-tasking? Well, my Mum certainly used to multi-task when I was a toddler, but one of those ‘tasks’ was… Read More Talking and TalkTalk

Manchester United have played five games since sacking their manager, Jose Mourinho, and they’ve won them all. Coincidence maybe, but one thing seems to be certain. Jose has not been missed at Old Trafford. And why would he be? For me, Mourinho says a lot about the wrong kind of leadership, out of fashion not… Read More Bye Bye Jose.

Ten years ago, I had a mini-meltdown. Actually, it was a bit more than that and, like many people, I tried to put it down to feeling inadequate, telling myself to snap out of it. But it was a cocktail of stress and depression. I had a number of days away from school and then… Read More Ten Years After

Predictions of our earth’s future are often full of doom-laden and eschatological (fantastic word by the way) hyperbole. ‘12 years to limit climate change catastrophe’, ‘Planet on the brink of destruction’ Climate sceptics cry ‘Project Fear’ and carry on gas-guzzling. Last week, there were great grounds for optimism after thevisit of author Arlene Gormley to… Read More 2030: Not a Fairytale.

“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.