Jul 27
Last Saturday morning, towards the end of my short visit to Sydney, I hopped on to the train into the city and sauntered cheerily down towards Circular Quay for a matinee performance of The Merry Widow at the Sydney Opera House. It had been a lovely week – one of those weeks that leaves you …
Jun 18
‘I wasn’t feeling that story anyway’ … so says Robert Peston in the British Airways safety video, as he dutifully demonstrates packing away his laptop, and storing it securely for take-off. As I head to Japan (on a BA flight) for the Hakuba Forum, where I hope to learn, grow and explore, alongside other educators …
Jun 04
I have felt ridiculously, joyfully pleased with myself several times over the past ten days. It has been amazing! At moments, I have felt like singing from the rooftops, as I have taken enormous pride in the achievements of those with whom I have worked, and have felt the glow of satisfaction for having helped …
Feb 19
The Middle East School Leadership Conference takes place on Wednesday and Thursday of this week (21 and 22 February), and so I am back in the sleek hustle and bustle of Dubai, ready to speak at, and enjoy, the event. My talk will be on ‘Self Compassion for School Leaders’, and so – in amongst …
Nov 14
I haven’t written a blog for several weeks, because my time and inspiration has been directed elsewhere, to a range of demanding but satisfying projects and commitments – including for the Boards of which I am a member, international leader recruitment with LSC Education for a range of schools from Armenia to Switzerland, and coaching …
Sep 11
I learned of The Queen’s death in a Board meeting on Thursday 8 September, as the news flashed up on my phone, and I confess to having spent the best part of the past few days in a mournful mode, as the impact has hit of the loss which we have collectively experienced. Her Majesty …
Aug 25
I really had forgotten until this week just what it felt like to experience the sheer joy and exuberance of the Edinburgh Fringe. As a family, we were regular attenders up to and including 2019, throwing ourselves into the unexpected and extraordinary variety of shows; Covid put a stop to that. Admittedly, this past week …
May 31
Sitting in the warm sun outside a café in North Parade in Oxford on Friday afternoon last week, sipping tea with a friend and colleague in education, and reflecting on how we had both come to be where we were, we ruminated upon the imperative that exists to ensure that leaders in education have their …
Mar 10
Sometimes the weight of the stories reported in daily news bulletins can, quite simply, be overwhelming. Pestilence, War, Famine, Death … if we listen carefully, can we hear the thunderous hooves of the Four Horsemen? Fear and anxiety certainly inhibit the creative act of putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, to capture and …
Feb 03
One of the joys of living at a latitude of 55.953251 is that the change in seasons every year is really quite dramatic. It is a marvellous source of conversational material – almost every interaction I have had this past week has been punctuated by references to the current change in the season. ‘It’s definitely …