Whilst acknowledging all the criticisms of Dominic Cummings in regard to his recent behaviour, I’d prefer to reflect on his time at the Department for Education from 2011 – 2014 and use it as a trigger for a reflection on leadership. In this period, he and his boss Michael Gove ripped through the department, triggering… Read More Reflections on Leadership (without mentioning Dominic Cummings…well not much anyway)

I want to talk about Foday*. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a pupil like him. Not that I’m doing anything myself for his care- that’s down to several members of staff who are working magic, and I do not exaggerate. Foday requires two adults at all times. We’re used to 1:1 arrangements in… Read More Vulnerable

International comparisons are ‘bedevilled with difficulties’ (Boris Johnson, 30/04/20) Throughout this…wait for it…unprecedented crisis, scientists and politicians are fond of following the facts and deifying the data. Decisions are taken less from a political or ideological point of view, but in an emotionless state of being, coldly analysing the impact on deaths and, for those… Read More Misleaguing Tables

A long time ago, I was friends with a girl who was very clever. Destiny Oxbridge, IQ off the scale, you get my drift. Thing is, she used to get teased by some of us for her lack of common sense and inability to pick up on things that required more lateral thinking. She comes… Read More Ignorance

‘Oi, Williamson, NAOH! I respect your journey from Chief Whip to Education Secretary, but…’ Like Frank Doberman, the grotesquely funny creation of Harry Enfield, there is always a danger in offering pub-discussion solutions to complicated matters, but what the hell, here we go. Here are my thoughts on a post-Covid19 full school opening for primary… Read More Open All Hours

Well, what just happened? And what is about to happen? The whole of the last week or two has been a period of questions, often unanswerable ones, as those of us in educational leadership positions have tried to follow national guidance, local contingency planning, whilst dealing with the concerns of pupils, staff and parents. Much… Read More Covid-19: Compassion and Continuity

A week or so ago, Mrs Bald Headteacher related to me the story of a Year 2 pupil she knew well – you know, one of those pupils we all know well because, more than often, they are up to no good. He’d just been in an RE lesson about forgiveness before coming along to… Read More Forgiveness

In today’s society, to call someone a ‘Philistine’ is to decry that person’s lack of education and culture. It has an interesting etymology. Apparently, the Victorian literary critic, poet and Her Majesty’s School Inspector, Matthew Arnold, was fond of using it, bringing it into regular use. This seems rather appropriate now. A debate is raging… Read More Culture Wars

My 100th blog as BaldHeadteacher has surely to do with Brexit. For it was the referendum in 2016 that started me off. It wasn’t really the European Union part of it, but the wider reasons behind it that I had perceived in the years and months that preceded it. A harsh, unforgiving and individualistic atmosphere… Read More The Folly of Brexit

“In order to become irreplaceable, one must always be different.” Coco Chanel Difference and identity are hot currency in the modern world. As we approach a new decade, barely a day goes by without me reading about the rights of so and so to express their identity, or such and such a group to be… Read More Classroom Differences

Well, we’re nearly there. It’s election time this Thursday and we’re told how crucial this one might be. Sadly, we are not blessed with strong options. The other day, I read an article written by my late uncle, John Harriott, which began, ‘At home, when members of the Government appear on television, even our potplants… Read More The Family Vote

I wandered through St Helens last weekend. I cannot stress enough how shocking it is to see shops boarded up, streets left lifeless and mute. Bookies, pawnbrokers and pound shops seemingly now the only traders left doing business. People trudging around in a state of somnambulation, many visibly pale and unhealthy. This is a classic… Read More Heads in the Sand