Since retiring from headship 16 months ago I have been working with numerous schools across the country. It has been both a privilege and a delight to support colleagues as they strive to improve the quality of teaching & learning…
This much I know about…how to decide what to cut from your school budget
I led Huntington School from 2007 to 2021. During that time, school budgets were cut by 9% in real terms, the biggest reduction in 40 years. I wrote at length about how I managed the impact of the drop in…
This much I know about…teaching what you love
Dave Williams always makes me laugh. He is a very funny man. And I thought of him last weekend when I listened to Barbara Oakley’s keynote speech at researchED Dublin. With utter clarity, Barbara explained how our brains learn. What…
This much I know about…loneliness, postal workers and the current industrial dispute
Uckfield Post Office, 1955Harry Tomsett, second row, centre But little do men perceive what solitude is, and how far it extendeth. For a crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling…
This much I know about…the principles and parameters of curriculum design
“What should be taught to whom, and with what pedagogical object in mind? That master question is threefold: what, to whom, and how?” Jerome Bruner What gives teachers the authority to decide what our children should be taught? Why don’t…
This much I know about…Hannah Lowe’s “The Kids” and the sonnet form
I have written about sonnets many times; Hannah Lowe’s “The Kids” is a striking volume written entirely in that particular poetic form. “The Art of Teaching II” will resonate with every teacher in the land. You can read it here….
This much I know about… our next books – SEND Huh and Alternative Provision Huh
Huh? is my usual response when I enter a Year 6 grammar class! But little did I know when I began working with the indefatigable Mary Myatt that Huh would prove to be the perfect title for our current curriculum…
This much I know about…sticking stuff in exercise books
The triangulation of speaking to colleagues, being in lessons and looking at students’ work is crucial to appreciating the quality of the curriculum. When looking in books recently, I have seen two things which have made me think. Firstly, the…
This much I know about…Huh and the power of curriculum conversations
“Through conversation…we may whet and sharpen our wits by rubbing them against those of others.” Michel de Montaigne [1] Huh is the Egyptian god of endlessness, creativity, fertility and regeneration. He is the deity Mary Myatt and I have adopted…
This much I know about…why the quality of time spent in classrooms matters, not the duration!
There is a lot of publicity about the DfE’s declaration that schools must be open for 32.5 hours a week. Accepting that most schools are already open for longer than 32.5 hours a week, what the DfE need to realise…