Author Archives: jameswilding

I find Radio 4’s specialist programmes during the day remarkably good at bringing together sufficient expertise in areas of considerable complexity and bring clarity at a time when problems seem too complex to deal with. On the Tuesday edition this … Continue reading →

The full quotation from which I have drawn my headline is really worth reading: “Because children grow up, we think a child’s purpose is to grow up. But a child’s purpose is to be a child. Nature doesn’t disdain what … Continue reading →

A shortened version of this blog led my closing bulletin words for the Senior Boys newsletter on 10 July 2020. If ever there was a time when C.S. quote rings true, it is now. When ‘lockdown started, none of us … Continue reading →

It is very likely that by the time my words are published, the ‘news’ has broken that our entire junior and nursery school is to be back up and running from Monday 22 June. Now we have chosen to do … Continue reading →

The Government has asked schools in England to reopen, carefully, for some of its junior year groups, namely Reception, year 1 and Year 6 from Monday 1 June. Many schools have been open throughout the period of #lockdown for the … Continue reading →

Two weeks ago on Saturday 8 May, I received the above comment in a longer, affirmatory email from one of our parents in the school. The first half of the summer term is now done, it’s Bank Holiday Monday, and … Continue reading →

I see no need for a long preface introducing the subject of my blog today. It’s Thursday the 30 April, so I am deliberately posting a day early, in case my readers take this for a May Day joke. I … Continue reading →

After Easter my school has this week returned to work, and it seems we have made a good start, though we have more to do over the coming days to redevelop the richer social experience of real school too. I … Continue reading →

It is inevitable that so many of our metaphors on crises point at our country’s war experiences of the last century, and encouraged by Dad’s Army etc. that ethos still flows rich in our writing. I’ve chosen the ‘weather’ metaphor … Continue reading →

Dear Parents and Guardians On Wednesday, Gavin Williamson, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that as part of the country’s ongoing response to COVID-19, schools, colleges and early years settings have been asked to close to everyone except children … Continue reading →