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 […]
“On October 3rd, he asked me what day it was,“ “It’s October 3rd“ Mean Girls, 2004 I had no idea 3rd October was “Mean Girls” Day. For many years, I have worn pink on Fridays to show my support for inclusion and LGBTQ+ inclusion – not that anyone has ever asked me. So it was a […]
When I’m interviewing potential new teachers, I often ask, “Can you share an example of where your thinking has shifted from: I used to think this, but now I think this?” I don’t ask this because I’m seeking a dramatic conversion story. I ask it because I’m genuinely curious about how people open themselves up […]
-ocracies Often, the best learning in our classrooms is not planned for. In one of my lessons this week, we went off on a tangent about how different governments might respond to the same issue differently. We thought that a democracy might call for a vote, an autocracy might impose a decree, a technocracy might […]
At the end of every school year, I feel it: the compression. Teachers are finalising reports, marking exams, writing references, and preparing next year’s curriculum and timetables. Parents are emailing. Students are burning out. What should be a celebratory end to a fantastic year starts to feel like siege warfare. Everyone is trying to get […]
I am trying to decide whether I have read a lot of books this year or not. Not that it matters, of course. I’m not counting. It’s just that I know that reading is a great place for me to “be well”, and that does matter. As much as I would love to have a […]
There’s an old English saying that I often mutter when I’m being worn thin by seemingly excessive demands: “Do you want the moon on a stick?” This week alone, the question has crossed my mind on at least five occasions in conversations I have shared. They (parents) say They (teachers) say They (parents, teachers, students, […]
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