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It has struck me before that the HEART values can be deceptive: they are Good Values that are about fairness and decency and respect and striving for something better for us all and for the world we inhabit. They are also exacting, in some ways unforgiving, and intensely difficult to live out daily. Carrying these…

We belong in a bundle of life. Ubuntu says: a person is a person through other persons. It says: I am human because I belong. Archbishop Desmond Tutu Irrespective of a child’s background, abilities, sensibilities or disposition, a sense of belonging is critical. Identities matter to us and a large part of construction of identity…

The South West is the most academised region on the country. As such it becomes something of a vanguard for collaborative practice and trust-to-trust engagement and support. Although this has not yet led to significantly increased performance on a national league table, there is a need to recognise that the very shape of the system…

When we tell the story of state education in the UK, what do we say? We often cut straight to the most pressing and most recent element of the story, missing out the opening chapters, the character development, the careful scene-setting. There tend to be heroes and villains in a saga so heavily politicised that…

I spent the majority of my education in a setting that taught me, fiercely, to believe in myself and my own capabilities and not to let anything stand in the way of reaching my goals. I didn’t believe myself to be a feminist. In fact, growing up in such an egalitarian system, surrounded by women…

February half term this year has felt a little different: I’m reacclimatising to the UK weather and time zone after seven days spent in Singapore as part of the DfE and British Council’s “Building Educational Bridges” programme. It’s not just the jet lag and the need to wear a cardi that’s causing me to feel…

In light of this news story: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/feb/19/london-to-offer-free-school-meals-to-all-primary-pupils-for-a-year I thought it useful to publish something I wrote some time ago, in 2021, that never saw the light of day. I’m so glad to see this step taken in London, and keen to determine what impact it might have: almost certainly, the effects will be long term…

It’s probably no surprise that as a teacher of English I’m passionate about language, about its use and abuse, about how it can lift us up, cut us down, betray us and expose us. Shared language can become a powerful shorthand by which we can reconnect with one another and reiterate shared values and intent.…

Twenty years ago this month I had an interview for a place on an English PGCE. As part of the interview I was asked to look at a poem and come prepared to talk about how I would teach it. I don’t remember much about the experience, in all honesty, but I can vividly remember…