The A grade – once a very real currency – has been devalued. In my distant youth, an A grade at A-level was a rare beast, most often seen in maths and science subjects. It seemed to me even then that maths and science A-levels tested what you knew, whereas subjects like English lit and… Read More: Making the grade »
Schools offer something more important than lessons and grades
Thoughts on the revolution of the classroom in days gone by, and the past year
A lifetime from now we’ll be wondering what came to pass as a result of the Covid pandemic. Lord knows the effects will be many and various, as well as tragic and heartbreaking in many ways. One – surely unexpected – consequence of the pandemic will be a whole new kind of access to classrooms,… Read More: Welcome to our world »
Once upon a time, I thought I was the bees’ knees in the classroom. I loved teaching and I flattered myself that the pupils I taught loved learning. Sadly – or perhaps luckily for my ego – mine was an era in which students were not canvassed for their opinion of lessons/teaching. Inspection-ready proof, therefore,… Read More: Even I saw the massive value of making learning active,… »
I love Hong Kong. China, not so much, even after a couple of splendid trips to Hong Kong and China, on behalf of all the British boarding schools. If the younger me had had a bucket list of places I’d like to see before I popped my clogs, Hong Kong would have been pretty high… Read More: Just possibly, it was going to be the saviour of… »
There are a lot of them. You could say they measure out my life. Maybe that’s why they are still with me, even though on a daily basis I could trip over some of them. Others are under beds, which is a good place for them, long and flat as they are. Stacked at the… Read More: Every picture tells a story »
Some conversations, for better or worse, you never forget. Maybe it was a shock at the time and the recall is vivid – true in this case. Maybe new and surprising developments raise the ghost. And yes, that is also true. I recall from a very distant past talking to two young women my own… Read More: Exam boards: ‘Now, more than ever, every decision is worth… »
Scan the many virtues – selling points – of independent schools which parents believe to be important when choosing a school for their child, and class size will come high up on the list. Chinese schools do things differently – huge classes, excellent results – but in Britain, we cherish the belief that small classes… Read More: Hey, I’m important »
I’m beginning to develop ‘a thing’ about speech days. I know, it’s now out of season – in most schools, speech day, prize-giving or founder’s day celebrations sit happily at the end of the school year, handily filling a niche between the end of exams and the official last day. They bask in the summer… Read More: The award that mattered most to the boys was for… »