60 years ago – yes, 60 years ago – the musical ‘West Side Story’ was performed in the West End for the very first time. It is a work of pure genius. One of my most precious memories is seeing it live at the Liverpool Empire with my eldest son. Still now, ten years on,… Read More Gee, Officer Krupke…you still here?

Firstly, our visit to Somerset on Thursday to see @oldprimaryhead1 and the staff at Brookside Academy School was a treat – a great example of collaboration between schools nationally and internationally (a group of Hungarian students were also there). More on that at the end. But the key point of this blog is to highlight… Read More The M6, School Collaboration, and ‘Papering Over the Cracks’.

On Thursday, I was fortunate enough to be at the Liverpool Philharmonic to see Sheku Kanneh-Mason play Elgar’s Cello Concerto. Prodigiously talented, Sheku rose to fame as Young Musician of the Year and played at Harry and Meghan’s wedding. It got me thinking again about the friction between ‘standards’ and talents. A common feature of… Read More Standardisation or Talents. Or both?

Last week, I returned from a trip to China and soon after set off to London for a visit to the Palace of Westminster. These two highly enjoyable and constructive trips have highlighted to me one engaging feature of good leadership – namely a lack of cynicism. How weary must people be of disengagement, suspicion… Read More China, Ceramic Poppies and a lack of Cynicism.