In 33 years of teaching I have taught subjects way outside my English literature specialism. I think the most challenging was attempting to teach the Level 2 GNVQ in Leisure & Tourism. I was, metaphorically, only ever one page ahead of the students in the text book. I say metaphorically,…
Last year I published An Angler's Journal, my first foray into writing about fishing. You can buy a copy on Amazon by clicking the image below. A few weeks ago The Economist magazine advertised for a writer for their "Britain" section. All you had to do…
I have just finished Professor Stanley Fish’s, How to write a sentence and how to read one. It was a delight. Whilst I was reading it, I thought of two John Steinbeck sentences which I have always admired. Now feeling sufficiently emboldened, here is my attempt to explain why…
This much I know about why we must pay our NHS staff properly. ‘Tis now Spring, and all the pleasures of it displease me; every other tree blossoms, and I wither: I grow older, and not better; my strength diminisheth, and my load grows heavier. John Donne I will begin…
I have been a teacher for 32 years, a head teacher for 17 years and, at the age of 56, this much I know about what it feels like when you are criticised about your remote teaching. We don’t mine coal. We don’t perform lifesaving surgery. We don’…
I have been a teacher for 32 years, a head teacher for 17 years and, at the age of 56, this much I know about when it is time to move on. One of Huntington’s most notable alumni, Oliver Burkeman, after a decade writing for The Guardian, concluded his…
I have been a teacher for 32 years, a head teacher for 17 years and, at the age of 56, this much I know about where you can find school leadership wisdom in a challenging world. I am up early on a Saturday finishing my slides for next Tuesday night’…
I have been a teacher for 32 years, a head teacher for 17 years and, at the age of 56, this much I know about my modest proposal for grading GCSEs and A Levels this summer. A level results Day 2020 was the worst day of my professional career, and…