Blog
Insult of the week
In the last year or so I have been sharing some of the more comical insults I receive on twitter. They’re always my most popular tweets.
Staff Morale & Behaviour
Seemingly constant ‘Bad Behaviour’ without resolutions can make for a very despairing atmosphere in schools. As leaders, it is our position to support the staff within the moment, as well as find longer-term solutions.
Being an ally – how far should we go?
What is ally-ship and what does it really mean? How far should we go?
How far do we put ourselves out or inconvenience ourselves and how much extra time do we spend making equality happen in our classrooms and schools?
Tough Love
The importance of skills such as compassion, patience, understanding and nurturing cannot be underestimated in our roles as educators.
You can’t do everything (and that’s OK)
Take your time to learn, build important new relationships and get to know your pupils, so that you can create long-lasting impact on our young people, their learning and our society.
First Encounters: Getting to know your new pupils with behaviour challenges
First impressions count, and clearly I still need to work on the Children’s TV presenter style that can slip out when I’m nervous and meeting 30+ year 10s whom I will be teaching for the next two years
Traditional vs. Progressive? – that’s not the question
Down my Twitter feed recently there’s been a lot of time spent on educators debating traditional vs. progressive methods, surely the answer is -we need both.
Stop! How do we actually switch off?
When the summer holidays arrive how exactly do we switch off? In this post I share my key ideas to making the shift.
Happy Holidays – not for all
Most pupils look forward to their summer holidays, but for some it might be quite the opposite and this may show in their classroom behaviour.
Worst nightmare? – How to organise a successful school trip (with students who may just possibly swear in public)
School trips can be a little daunting – last week Sarah was swearing in my face and threw a box of slime at my leg… can we really release her onto the general public?
What can Mark on the 12.46 from Euston teach us about building relationships?
Today I would like to share what I learnt from Mark, the Onboard Supervisor on the 12.46 train from London Euston – Crewe on 17th May this year, 2019; because what Mark showed me was how easily and quickly we can build positive relationships – which is of course absolutely key in education.
Like a bull at a gate: how do we ease problems in Education?
We have problems in our schools, and we need solutions. We;ve all suffered at the hands of ‘new solutions’ and ‘big initiatives’being implemented before the problems have been fully understood. This blog examines how best intentions aren’t always that helpful.
How useful is perfectionism in Education?
Can perfectionism be useful in education? Should we strive for perfection ourselves as educator? How about for our pupils, classes, schools? Or can perfectionism be destructive?This blog examines these questions.
Can young people with challenging behavior contribute positively to social change?
I want to provide education and personal support for young people, aged 11-16yrs who have been excluded from the mainstream secondary education system. The Problem: Mainstream schools are increasingly under pressure to gain high results and therefore funding. With...
Teaching students with Emotional, Behavioural and Mental Health Difficulties
I often get asked ‘How’ I work with young people who display such extreme and challenging behaviour - even by fellow teachers in mainstream. There is, of course, no one stop ‘How’ but in this blog I share some best practices for working with such students both in...
Miss, are you a lesbian?
This month is LGBT History Month in UK schools. I am an out teacher, and as it happens, no, I am not a lesbian - I'm bisexual. (although it's tricky sometimes to say the B word in front of 30+ teenagers - it has the word SEX in, and can lead a lesson astray for a...
Finnish Education: Balance for Better – Part 3
I returned from my month's Education trip to Finland a few days ago. The questions I am now being asked on a regular basis are: - Is it just amazing? - Do they have loads of resources and money? - Are all the students well behaved? Overall the answer is: well,...
Finnish Education: Part 2
With my second school visit under my belt, my head around the main points and differences between Finland and the UK, I have been able to find many surprising similarities, and have even found the odd thing about the British system that I think works better! Missed...
