Author Archives: jameswilding

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About jameswilding

Academic Principal Claires Court Schools Long term member & advocate of the Independent Schools Association

The Reclaim Forms

I have sat through eleven education secretaries. I know that because someone once made me count. Fifty years of running a school teaches you not to get too attached to any one minister, because they are, on average, gone before … Continue reading

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The Defensive Substitution: Why Britain must recover the courage to play forward.

Back on 12 July 2019, I wrote about jinxing things. A year earlier, in a newsletter to parents, I had briefly reflected on the challenges facing the England football team just after their World Cup semi-final exit, alongside observations on … Continue reading

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“The Tale of the Principal Emeritus”

(after the manner of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner) & with apologies to Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This tale of heroic contribution, spoken on the leaving thanks after staff Inset at Claires Court Senior Boys School, commemorates the contribution made … Continue reading

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Beyond the Thunderdome: Reclaiming Childhood from the Algorithm

I was standing at the school gate on Thursday, doing what I’ve done for fifty years and counting — watching children arrive — when I noticed something that stopped me mid-thought. A line of Year 8s, games bags on backs, … Continue reading

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Claires Court – a partnership worth backing

The header shows our Junior playing fields set out for Sports Day; as ever, a welcoming place for all sports, summer or winter! This week’s news that the Department for Education is scrapping the £320 million PE and Sport Premium … Continue reading

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“Burnham Wood, If He Takes the Chance”

There’s a scene I still enjoy teaching, every time I get the chance: Macbeth, told he’s safe until Birnam Wood marches against him, treats the prophecy as a kind of cosmic permission slip — an impossibility dressed up as a … Continue reading

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Track, Field, and Open Water: Reclaiming Childhood in the Spirit of the Three Lions

This week, as thousands of England fans have poured into stadiums across the USA — with reports of up to 15,000 Three Lions supporters turning out in Dallas to watch England beat Croatia 4-2 in their first game in the … Continue reading

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‘Nudge Theory’ and why schools should model rather than demand compliance to achieve success.

When principals, teachers, parents and children turned up for work at our Junior school on Friday, two deputy heads were on welcome duty at the gate, as you can see. On the left is Mrs Lindsay King, Deputy Head and … Continue reading

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“Christian schools win right to landmark Supreme Court appeal” dateline Friday 5 June 2026

I have copied below the article published on the Christian Concern website, in which they give the remarkable news that the stoicism of the campaigners supported by the Christian Legal Centre has paid off. In short, the Law Lords have … Continue reading

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Podcast Episode: “Heart in the Game” inspired by Will Greenwood*  

Pip: There’s a version of civilisation that runs on broadcast rights and wage bills, and another that runs on hay bales, after-match pints, and children learning to fall over without crying. james wilding has been thinking hard about which one … Continue reading

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