I spoke to a group of colleagues a week ago who seemed to sum up my own feelings about this term; so much good has happened over the last few months at Wyedean School that we don’t want the term to end but at the same time staff and students are exhausted and cannot wait … Continue reading “My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?” Bob Hope →

"Following a period of turbulence when the school was in special measures and staff felt very pressurised, the new Headteacher has worked tirelessly to develop a culture of openness, transparency and trust. In particular, leaders have been empowered and are enjoying the freedom to innovate. As a result, the school now has a clear vision … Continue reading School Improvement through peer review and collaboration →

“I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but the wise men ever rule under this roof” John Adams When Founding Father and second US president, John Adams, entered the newly built but largely undecorated White House in 1801, it is alleged … Continue reading Leadership & Optimism →

I walked my children to school this morning in the bright autumn sunshine. I dropped them off, hugged and kissed them, wished them a good day in class and watched them skip into school with their friends to be greeted by their teachers. It’s hard not to weep reading or hearing any of the testimonies … Continue reading “Why do we commemorate so many things? Because we are a people who remember” Father Michael St.Clair speaking at the anniversary of Aberfan →

The follow up to our school Open Evening on the 27th September has been overwhelming and there is nothing ordinary about choosing your child’s next secondary school even if for them it feels as such. I have spoken to a wide range of parents over the last week on their follow up tours around the … Continue reading “Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds the ordinary” Blaise Pascal →

My room here at Wyedean often witnesses a whole range of interesting conversations, meetings and dialogues through the course of a week and I can only imagine what has been said between these four walls over the decades from my four predecessors. It wasn’t my first choice of location for a Head’s study when I … Continue reading “It takes a whole village to raise a child” African proverb →

Well the first signs of the new academic year are manifesting at the end of only the second week back – coughs and colds. I have had a sore throat this week but I am fairly sure that it is the amount of talking I have been doing after a near monk’s like silence in … Continue reading “Enjoy the little things in life because one day you`ll look back and realise they were the big things.” Kurt Vonnegut →

Hard to believe it is Friday already and the first week is out of the way. The Year 7s I have been speaking to this week, especially the ones at lunchtime today, appear to have had a really good first week. And they like the new dress code! All the year groups seem to have … Continue reading “Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn” Elizabeth Lawrence →

"But to go to school in a summer morn, O! It drives all joy away; Under a cruel eye outworn, The little ones spend the day In sighing and dismay."  William Blake I’m not sure I would agree with Blake having experienced school enrichment opportunities in these last two weeks but this week in particular … Continue reading “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor” F.D. Roosevelt →

I spent Sunday afternoon on the eastern side of the Severn looking across to Wyedean from Old Down Country Park as my kids ran around in the sunshine. Apart from feeling exhausted at the end of this academic year and my first year as Head my thoughts on a summer’s day were on the week … Continue reading “Culture eats strategy for breakfast every day of the week” Sir Kevin Collins →