Whenever I meet up with my brother-in-law during the holidays, he regularly insists we do long cross-country runs in the early morning. And because I know it’s good for me, I nearly always end up agreeing (even if I end up bleating all the way around about the cold and rain), particularly as we always […]
I’ve now been blogging for five years. By the numbers, I am pleased to share my Serendipities.blog has now reached the giddy heights of 111 signed-up subscribers. Over five years, I have somehow managed to knock up 92 posts, written over 83,000 words, and last year the blog site was visited 28,900 times from readers […]
A few weeks ago, my wife of twenty-something-odd years and I were running late and debating what to eat. I suggested what I often suggest in these moments: Baked beans on toast. She hesitated. Then said, almost apologetically, “You know what, I’ve never really liked baked beans.” After twenty years together, I couldn’t count the […]
Ok, given the relatively few books I read each year, it’s statistically unlikely I have actually read the best books (for education folk) in 2025. But here’s the thing: it’s my blog post, my ball, and so I get to choose the teams! So what follows isn’t a definitive list, but a reflective one. These […]
Passing through the Primary School library this afternoon, I saw two children leaning over a table, staring intently at an open book between them. Curious, I went to go and see what was capturing their attention. Child 1: Can you see it? Child 2: No. Child 1: Bring it closer to you. Can you see […]
A classic trilemma: When you build a tank you can make it faster, more armoured, or more lethal. You can’t do it all. The world feels increasingly binary these days. Everything is reduced to its simplest, sharpest form: You are either with us or against us. It’s black or white. You are right or wrong. […]
We thought the Government was only adding VAT to private schools. But it turns out it’s adding it to every school, just not in the way we expected. Yes, the Government really is changing VAT in education. Well…sort of… Ministers have promised to simplify the post-16 educational landscape. From 2027, students will now choose between […]
“If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck”. So said my dad, often (1947-2016) Today I’m writing about the proposed changes to the school curriculum and assessment in England from 2027. Obviously, it helps if you read the review itself, but I […]
Book Mountain I love books. Indeed, for most of my life, I have always kept a stack of books by my bedside. Not the books I have read (those go on the bookshelf, if there is space), but those that I have yet to read. Some are gifted, some are borrowed, some are bought impulsively, […]
I’m currently on a rather fast (and rather efficient) train from Beijing to Nanjing, so I have about three hours to throw down some thoughts before I need to get my head back into the family holiday again. Game Night Most Thursday nights, when any sensible school leader would be catching up on sleep or […]
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