Dear Department for Education Thank you for your recent guidance to schools. To be honest, I might not have read it, and if I did I doubt I digested it very well. As a headteacher, I've been quite busy, and what I have found in recent months is that much of the guidance issued hinders … Continue reading An open letter to the DfE

Never in the field of schooling has so much effort been expended by so many for so few. Am I still allowed to reference Churchill? I've lost track. In fact, I've lost track of everything over the last 11 days. The task of bringing just two year groups back into school for a day a … Continue reading Flipping school

Imagine, if you will, a weird race which takes place once each year. The participants in this race have one hour to run as far as they can. Each year, different participants take part and the distance they travel is recorded. Of course, some participants run many miles, while other struggle to keep running the … Continue reading Knee-jerk, ill-informed ‘catch up’ plans

If you are outside of the education system it is difficult to appreciate quite how uncomfortable those inside it are feeling right now. There are many reasons for this, not least of all the responsibility we feel for the children about to come back to our schools, and for their families who are trusting us … Continue reading School’s out for summer

How many plans have been laid this week, only to be relaid? Last Sunday, the Prime Minister announced that primary schools may welcome back Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils from as early as the 1st June. He also stated his 'ambition' that Year 10 and 12 students would get 'some time with their … Continue reading Best laid plans

School (as we know it) is the best way we have come up with so far for the mass education of the nation's youth, given the level of resource we choose to allocate to it. However, it is far from perfect. There are significant constraints that arise from the logistics of having children all in … Continue reading You had to be there

Setting work for children to complete at home during a period of lock-down is not easy. You might think it is, until you try it and see the consequences. You may make the mistake of thinking that it is just like setting lots of homework. It isn't. Homework is an add-on to lessons. It is … Continue reading What have we learnt from 18 days of ‘suck it and see’ schooling?

There appears to be a lot of home baking going on at the moment - a useful distraction from the less enjoyable task of home schooling, I imagine. As with baking, the recipe schools are asking parents to follow will to a large extent determine the quality of the end product. You can add your … Continue reading The recipe for misery