Headteacher’s Blog

Although we can mark the Christmas season until the Feast of the Presentation, or Candlemas, on 2nd February, we have now entered the Ordinary Time of the liturgical year. There in one sentence is the finely strung balance between the sacred and the ordinary which Christmastide celebrates. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales […]

In an age where we are taught to distrust strangers, where schools regularly receive nasty alerts of real life dangers to children, it is important to remember that there is also a place for pushing at open doors and knocking on closed ones. All too often schools tell parents “your child just needs some confidence” […]

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the Alzheimer’s Society, all prompted by a 1979 radio broadcast by Professor Davison on his research into Alzheimer’s disease.  A former carer, Cora Phillips, contacted him to set up a charity and Professor Davison put Cora in touch with Professor Gordon Wilcock who had contacted him about the […]

This is a shaggy dog story. It is Easter, which is possibly one of the loveliest times of the year. The days are lengthening, Spring flowers surprise you, birds sing again, wild garlic proliferates and every year I plan to use those delicious leaves for some kind of foraging recipe. Easter is also when I […]

Sometimes it takes time away to understand the implications of the lives we lead. When faced with the sheer bliss of another place, another reality, the impact of the West’s rampant consumerism on the environment and on our lives can be realised and reflected on, a different perspective seen. This Christmas I was fortunate enough […]

Are you helping your child to enjoy the snakes and ladders of outrageous fortune? We all have the potential to be gamechangers.  In this article by Headteacher, Mrs Raffray, first featured recently in ‘Primary Times’, a way in which all parents can be gamechangers in the lives and education of their children is examined.  And […]

Women’s Wellness Week – What aren’t we talking about? It is spring.  Yes, finally, green buds are appearing and whatever we have all made of this unusually bitter winter it appears to be ending.  At this time of year some people’s thoughts turn to their gardens, or interior decorating – but for me it is […]

Did you know that “whatevs” has entered the English dictionary?  You probably knew that “mankini” is used frequently enough to have become a “real” word but did you know that words, which have evolved from texting, have formally been acknowledged?  Do you use “Truthiness (n): the quality of seeming or being felt to be true, […]

“Comparison is the Thief of Joy”: Why Careers Education is about Knowing Your Soul. Every now and then there come moments of real satisfaction as a Head. Week in, week out I give assemblies and recently British and global events have given richly in the way of opportunities for comments on the rule of law, […]

I have finally acknowledged that I am no longer a young teacher. Various moments have prompted this epiphany and it was sealed recently as I reflected upon schools’ responses to the new curriculum. I realised that I am one of just a few people in the staff room who remembers teaching A Levels before Curriculum […]