A Principled view

Given the cataclysmic battles taking place in Ukraine and Gaza, the extraordinary impact those conflicts are having on the innocent citizens caught up therein are causing emotions to run high. Both wars are unfolding catastrophes, amplified by the immediacy of the documentary evidence of suffering, loss and destruction. Last week, to inform and advise my staff returning from half term, I wrote the following commentary to them:

“Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, the Minister for Schools and the Minister for Skills have written to schools and colleges on 17 October 2023 to provide advice on how to respond to the Israel-Hamas conflict in the classroom – you can find that advice here.

Over the half-term break, our own community leaders covering the faith represented in the war, Imam Abid Hashmi, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain and Reverend Sally Lynch all met at Maidenhead Mosque to each read a prayer for peace from their own tradition. I attach the newspaper article covering that appeal, and I quote one element from that which covers our needs so well, that by Imman Hashmi: “[We said] not to let that disturb our peace here in our Maidenhead community. No matter what happens over there, here, Jews, Muslims, Christians, we are all brothers,” he said.

Clearly we will have members of our school caught up in this conflict, and some I fear directly with the loss of loved ones in Israel and Gaza. In addition, we have in our midst 12 Ukrainian children and young people, for whom war back home remains a lived reality. With such conflicts in mind, the DfE produce additional guidance and support last year, to help teachers and schools navigate issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the legacy of the British Empire or societal responses to racism in accordance with the law. We recognise that teachers must not promote partisan political views and should offer a balanced overview of opposing views when political issues are taught, and it is certainly important we keep well clear of the toxic comments and expressions of hatred visible on social media, consumption of which will herald no victory!“

This Sunday heralds the arrival of Remembrance events across the nation, led by the central National Service of Remembrance to be held at the Cenotaph on Whitehall, London. Starting at 11am, the service will commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women involved in the two world wars and later conflicts. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport co­ordinates the event, alongside colleagues from across government, the armed forces and veterans’ organisations. Those more recent conflicts, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan have renewed our nation’s focus on the loss to parents, wives and husbands, children and family and there is no doubt that the nature of the services is to focus on that sense of loss in the cause of heroic service by serving military, called to action by their country, our nation, the United Kingdom.

The phase ‘Lest we forget’ predates the First World war by many years, written first by one of our country’s greatest poets, Rudyard Kipling, coming from his poem ‘Recessional’, written for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, published 17 July 1897. I’ve posted the full poem at the close of this blog, and Wikipedia’s excellent short commentary describing the poem has this to say:

“Initially, Kipling had not intended to write a poem for the Jubilee. It was written and published only towards the close of the Jubilee celebrations, and represents a comment on them, an afterword. The poem went against the celebratory mood of the time, providing instead a reminder of the transient nature of British Imperial power. The poem expresses both pride in the British Empire, but also an underlying sadness that the Empire might go the way of all previous empires. The title and its allusion to an end rather than a beginning add solemnity and gravitas to Kipling’s message. In the poem, Kipling argues that boasting and jingoism, faults of which he was often accused, were inappropriate and vain in light of the permanence of God.”

From the outbreak of the First World War, Kipling wrote propaganda for the British government and as an expression of his patriotism managed to persuade the military authorities to permit his son John, initially rejected for service because of poor eyesight, to be commissioned as a second lieutenant into the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards on 15 August 1914, two days before his seventeenth birthday. Not 6 weeks later, John was reported injured and missing in action during the Battle of Loos, and despite the frantic searches of both parents, John’s body was not found. Rudyard became involved with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and wrote as an epitaph “If any question why we died, / Tell them, because our fathers lied.” It’s perhaps nice that in 1992, the same Commonwealth War Graves Commission discovered a mistake in the paperwork and identified his grave changing an inscription on the gravestone of an unknown soldier to read John Kipling, which lies in the St Mary’s ADS Cemetery in Haisnes.

Kipling used his powerful writing at the time to validate another poet’s words, those of Laurence Binyon. Right from the start of the Great War in 1914, long lists of the dead and other casualties were appearing in newspapers, and looking at across the sea in Cornwall, Binyon composed nded were appearing in British newspapers. With the British Expeditionary Force in retreat from Mons, promises of a speedy end to war were fading fast.

Against this backdrop Binyon, then Assistant Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, sat to compose “For the Fallen”, a poem that Rudyard Kipling would one day praise as “the most beautiful expression of sorrow in the English language”.

Whilst the 11th hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month of 1918 was when the fighting stopped with the signing of the armistice by the allies and Germany, the war itself continued into 1919 until the signing of the peace treaty of Versailles on 19 June 1919. There was nothing neat about the close of that war, and the ensuing months and years that followed saw continued suffering and misery across Europe. On On 14 May 1921, the various associations that provide diverse support for the surviving military ex-servicemen chose to come together and the Royal British Legion was formed, who oversee this charitable work to the present day.

The following statement comes from their website today and it makes a defining statement of the purpose for Remembrance:

Remembrance honours those who serve to defend our democratic freedoms and way of life.

We unite across faiths, cultures and backgrounds to remember the service and sacrifice of the Armed Forces community from United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. We will remember them.

• We remember the sacrifice of the Armed Forces community from United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
• We pay tribute to the special contribution of families and of the emergency services.
• We acknowledge innocent civilians who have lost their lives in conflict and acts of terrorism.

Wearing a poppy is is never compulsory but is greatly appreciated by those who it is intended to support. When and how you choose to wear a poppy is a reflection of your individual experiences and personal memories.

Remembrance unites people of all faiths, cultures, and backgrounds but it is also deeply personal.

It could mean wearing a poppy in November, before Remembrance Sunday.  It could mean joining with others in your community on a commemorative anniversary. Or it could mean taking a moment on your own to pause and reflect. Everyone is free to remember in their own way, or to choose not to remember at all.  

To conclude the point I have been illustrating, Remembrance as both a process have been deeply woven into the British and Commonwealth’s psyche for over a century, and unlike most other services covers all faiths and none. As child, the old, injured and invalided ex-servicemen from the legion wore their medals with pride and by engaging with them though the purchase of a poppy we felt we assisted in obeying Kipling’s warning, Lest we forget, obey Binyon’s instruction “We will remember them” and concur with that witness articulated by Kipling that it was his lies that killed his son. So many young men went to war willingly, not knowing the horrors soon to befall them, and the catastrophic effect on all the countries involved must not be forgotten. 25% of entire military population of France was lost, that’s 1.3 million men, exceeded only by Russia with 1.8 million, with Britain & empire not far behind with 913,00 (715,000 UK, 198,00 dominions).

The ghastliness of both conflicts in Ukraine and Israel cannot be underestimated, indeed barely comprehended at present, but whatever views we might have about the various legitimacies of action, we are surely best off keeping those views separate from the genuine and solemn purpose Remembrance has at the heart of our national life in Britain. Kipling’s Recessional below mourns the passing of our Empire 120 years and more ago, but those in Empire did not let us down in the 14-18 war. Year 9 boys and girls in our school last month have been studying in depth the contribution made by the Hindu and Urdu populations of the Indian sub-continent, as well as those from the other dominions too; neither would really have understood the Christian prayer-type structure of the poem, but they truly understood and honoured the loyalty they felt for our King and country, and over 1.3 million gave service during the war across all arenas, from the Western Front, Turkey, Iran (to protect our oil fields), Egypt, its own frontiers with its neighbours, Singapore and China. In teaching this history in school, we bring to the attention of the next generation the knowledge and understanding of the past, by writing an assessment on same, we test their knowledge and help embed the memory in their consciousness that the Great War took place, and left nobody across the world in any doubt of the subsequent devastating effect of war.

Remembrance does not glorify war and its symbol, the red poppy, is a sign of both Remembrance and hope for a peaceful future.

‘Building the future for our children and young people’ – Your place is here

Our development as a school over the last three years may seem to have been slowed by the interruption caused by Covid-19 and the refusal by the National Planning Inspectorate of our plans to develop a one campus solution. Yet, we’ve managed to relocate all of our juniors onto our Ridgeway site, bringing boys and girls together for the first time in our history. Our academic staff at all levels have achieved so much including the diversification and expansion of classroom and co-curricular activity and the winning of regional, national and international championships. I show below images in our Flikr album of some of our remarkable ‘new’ developments we have achieved, worthy of celebration in their own right.

They include ‘Forest School’, Combined Cadet Force (CCF), Sailing, Kayaking & Canoeing (all part of our Outdoor Ed offer), Expansion of teaching facilities for Senior Girls and for Sixth Form and our New Classrooms at Juniors.https://www.flickr.com/photos/199286161@N08/albums/72177720312054765

Perhaps the most remarkable achievement for our community is the way in which we have been able to welcome and absorb into our community across the school the now 13 Ukrainian children sheltering with their mothers from the spectre of War back home. Peace there seems inconceivable currently, as it does in Israel where war has broken out once more, following the terrorist violence in Israel.

This half-term sees a wide range of small but important infrastructure improvements on all three sites that ought to improve our ‘lived’ experience and demonstrate that our ongoing ‘evolution’ as a school will continue apace. These include the laying of reinforcement for our overflow parking at Claires Court Juniors and the installation of new temporary accommodation to expand the Speed, Agility & Quickness facilities for Senior Girls & Sixth Form.

In the longer term, I am delighted to confirm that our planning Application for new Music and Food Technology facilities at Senior Boys has now been received by RBWM Planning and we await the consultation process with interest. For the record our application reference is Ref No: 23/02394/FULL 

Whilst it is always sad to see valued teachers and support staff move on, the arrival of new colleagues and leaders certainly provides new angles, interests and enthusiasms. We are certainly benefiting from that throughout the school this autumn, perhaps doubly enhanced by the lovely weather we have enjoyed until recently. Our PTA Fireworks last Saturday evening certainly benefited (in the main) and provided an excellent celebration of our school and its community in action. Though I mentioned good weather, if your car ended up ‘stuck’ in the field, do please accept my apologies – that sharp 30 minutes of heavy rain circa 5.30pm prove a challenge too far!  This video from the #CCCSc Drone squad gives a short glimpse of us all from above! 

The photo (from the Computer Science Drone Team) shows the event in full flow, clearly ‘lightsabers’ sold well! On this link you can see a little of the movie footage 

I do hope that I can post an even more positive postscript after half-term, highlighting the remarkable Senior School Choir tour taking place in Belgium, and as part of their tour performing under the Menin Gate in Ypres at the 8pm Remembrance ceremony. At this time of appalling events in Ukraine, Gaza and Israel, there is no better sign of hope that our young people can participate in is that profoundly moving ceremony in which we make clear that “We will remember them”.

With all good wishes for the half term ahead,

James Wilding

Academic Principal and Head of Senior Boys 

Friday 13 October update – last week’s blog is rather kindly validated by Professor Alan Smithers’ letter in today’s Times newspaper –

Readers who have engaged with my writings over the years know that, where I can, I give credit where credit is due. Education is deeply indebted to the Thatcher government’s reforms of the 1980s, most notably to Lord Baker who as Education Secretary at the time led the change from the tripartite system of O’Levels, CSEs and other stuff through to the development of the GCSE programmes we now have in our schools. Move on 15 years, and Education becomes indebted again to the reforms led by David Blunkett in the Blair government period, tightening up GCSEs, widening the 16+ curriculum, funding new school developments and releasing local school managements from the very tight strictures of local authority management.

“Be careful what you wish for” I hear you say, because of course between the 2 decades of progress we have also enjoyed the ‘reigning back’ by more conservative politicians, most recently by Michael Gove from 2010-14 and his reforms subsequently supported by 9 Education secretaries that have followed, current incumbent being Gillian Keegan, appointed in October 2022, just coming up to the end of he first year of tenure, so that means of course that she’s due to be replaced some time soon.

Of course there are some that might believe that my school would be much better off if I (and my brother Hugh) would choose to retire now, having just completed 42 years in charge. The good news for those who know Claires Court, is that leadership here has been of the matrix kind before I joined in 1975, my parents before me working with colleagues who were also heads in leadership. Legends in our life time have included Karen Rogg, Trevor Sharkey, David Course, Ann Pitts, Andy Giles, Jeff Watkins, Liz Green, John Rayer, Steph Rogers, Paul Bevis, Maggie Heywood and the current amazing colleagues, Leanne Kirby, Gary Hope and Steve Richards. That sense of continuity and institutional knowledge holds us in very good stead. The school was set up to offer for each child the opportunity to be the best they can be, and it remains that to this day.

We seem to be in full swing for the various party conferences, and I certainly don’t envy Gillian Keegan as Secretary of State for Education, arriving in Manchester shortly. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to wonder out loud whether or not he should be changing A levels for a new approach now is as disturbing as it has been for those running transport policy as he suggest now might be the time to cancel HS2 north of Birmingham.

Here’s the simple education situation in terms of accountability to research methods. When you change a system, you need to run it for at least 5 years to see whether the changes have been worthwhile and added value. A levels and GCSE changed 6 years ago for most subjects, but of course we lost 3 years of data because of the Covid pandemic. The country has implemented T levels, a vocational alternative, with the first cohort graduating this Summer, and that too will need a further 4 years of research data before we tinker further.

That’s not of course stating that we should not consider additional changes, but that we need to bear in mind that every change bears a cost and causes unforeseen circumstances. Currently, we have the most efficient process for permitting students to excel in their subjects at 18, and then release them to University to graduate in 3 years time. We are the most successful country in graduating students through their degree in a specified time, and the methodology for charging has been proven on balance to work well.

If we reduced the depth of understanding at 18+ in favour of a broader curriculum, such as the IB, we then are asking students in many disciplines such as Medicine and Engineering to study a further year at University. And in turn, we don’t provide for our amazing expert teachers for A level the opportunity to carry out the depth study work they wish in their graduate discipline – there is no guarantee that such specialist A level staff would be willing to switch to a different grade of teaching and learning. These choices have existed for decades, and through care and evolution we have managed in the 3 home countries of England, Wales and Northern Island to keep ‘home’ education in schools to age 18. Scotland’s different choice continues not to play in its favour, offering a less standardised approach at secondary school, though covered by the general principles of their ‘Curriculum for Excellence’. Introduced in 2014, CfE was flagged at increasing breadth and choice at secondary level, and actually the reverse has happened, and the narrowing of the curriclume has also led to a drop in overall standards as well.

A much similar outcome would be from a decision to remove GCSEs at 16+, because the Core and Options choice at 14+ would disappear straight away. Over the past 12 or so years DfE has tried to impose a Baccalaureate approach for this phase, with every one following History or Geography and a Foreign Language. Of course the EBacc is one approach, but my RS staff would argue that the elements of Philosophy and Ethics they teach would genuinely benefit all students, as of course would all the other artistic, creative, design, business, musical and technical disciplines too. I’m currently leading a school-based initiative to introduce AI, Coding and Drone-led Computer Science here, and for those with a real interest in this area, for them its clearly of more value than an MFL. Indeed whilst we can argue that A levels are a ‘Gold Standard’ there are certainly not the only way to assess performance and competence at 18+, with BTECs being a popular alternative, including more coursework assessment at the point of completion.

The news currently is dominated by international issues such as Climate change and the Ukraine conflict, about which we can do little. Other really important issues are such more straightforward; HS2 is a plan to link the North to the South, and there’s no point in beheading it. Border controls, Prison security, Justice delivery and even National Heath and Care services can only function well if they are valued, well-led and supported. The fragmented and fractious approach since the demise of the Blair-Brown governments commenced with the Osborne’s austerity cuts of 2010, a classic example of a plan utterly failing, when we are now spending more public money than ever. It seems that politicians simply can’t stop cutting off their own nose to spite their face, most recent example being that the costs to the NHS to cover the current nurse and doctors strikes has cost them more than the initial pay rise requested.

Those that know my school are very aware of the encouragement we have offered to mature entrants to the profession, with many now in middle and senior levels of management having had careers elsewhere first. The government sets targets for teacher recruitment, aiming to attract for example 20% of Maths graduates to join the profession, which is a really tough ask given the salary levels used by industry to attract these skills their way. The job of teaching Maths though needs more than just ‘nous with sums’, and the mature entry incumbents have such real life experience to offer as well. Trouble is, those with such life experiences simply won’t put up with the cannon-fodder approach schools and colleges have adopted, with 40,000 teachers quitting for other employment last year.

So to conclude, there are a number of orthodoxies I am promoting that politicians could learn by.

• Evolve not Revolve;
• Invest in people first, and do keep abreast of what technology can do;
• Don’t overspecify on physical infrastructure investments, we can often to just as well with less;
• Maintain breadth, depth and diversity, though we need the core skills of English, Maths and Sciences, other methods to encourage engagement and reasoning are just as valuable;
• Be careful what you wish for – suggesting the French Bacc and education system are to be admired is not borne out by reality;
• As with politicians, encourage those entering any of the professions to have gathered a good deal of experience elsewhere first, and value that experience on the entry pay grade.
• And for goodness sake, celebrate and make education in schools fun – it’s the consumers’ childhood and we mustn’t lose sight of that!!!

Firstly, I extend a warm welcome to all of our Claires Court Schools community, returning as we have this week from our Summer break. From the many parents, teachers and friends I know, our own country seems to have been the most popular destination, though with such a diverse set of ages and stages, I do appreciate most parts of the world will have been included in individual family choices. And perhaps somewhat ironically, after such a wet period over the break, we’ve returned to scorching sunshine and the hottest temperatures of 2023 to date. Actually, school is always so much more pleasant when the sun is out and the children can exercise outside; the buzz on all sites was full evident on Thursday morning, though Mrs Kirby and the ‘Welcome’ balloons up the Ridgeway driveway did rather take the trophy for ‘best dressed’ school!

It must be said that the national picture for public Education (or for that matter Health or Care) could not be much grimmer than it is at present, suffering as such services so obviously are from the austerity cuts of the ‘coalition’ government of 2010, maintained by the subsequent variants of Conservative rule since, where expert report after expert report seems to have been ignored because the conclusions requiring long term government investment in buildings, resources and staffing have been ignored in favour of political expediency, the consequences of Brexit and of course the C-19 epidemic. The latest ‘salvo’ of criticism hitting Prime Minister Sunak and his cabinet is the RAAC fiasco, in which thousands of public buildings housing schools, hospitals and public services more widely have reached well beyond their end of life period, and have now had to be closed because their occupancy truly threatens life and limb. What seems most disappointing of all is that such buildings are being identified in those communities across the country whose voice at national level has been hardest to hear, being most likely from those parts of the community which is most disadvantaged. Having said that, Maidenhead no longer has a central car park to support its high street; at the best of times it’s not been a real attraction and now it resembles many of those satellite shopping streets in city suburbs, hardly one to celebrate the town’s boast of being the ‘Jewel on the Thames’, because you can’t easily drop in by car.

At the Senior Boys assembly this morning, I reminded school that most of the concrete present in our school follows the recipe the ancient civilizations 1000 years before the Romans brought it across some 2000 years ago, and as Hadrian’s wall reminds us, it does last well through the centuries. The principle ingredients for our modern education systems certainly have been known for the same long amount of time – promoted by Socrates during his lifetime 470–399 BC. He believed that as self-learners we must first admit to our ignorance and realise that there is a world of knowledge ready to be accessed, but only once we can accept that we don’t already know everything. So here goes!!!

Firstly, we have to accept that those who write, publish and broadcast the news do so knowing that only ‘bad news’ sells papers. Current government policy on Assessment in Education is so very confused that it’s no surprise that the newspapers have been heralding a catastrophic decline in secondary school standards at both GCSE and A level as being indicative of ‘Trouble’ this August. In terms of results, there has been no decline, just a decision this year in England to reduce the percentage of candidates in each grade band, which was delivered by simple statistical manoeuvre. If only 3% of the country at GCSE are to be awarded top grade 9, then you raise the mark at which a grade 9 can be achieved until only 3% can receive it. Across every subject area, this mechanism was used, so last year’s 54% permitting a grade 5 to be awarded is lifted to (say) 60%, so that we move down the % gaining grade 5 or above from 60% of the population back to 50%. I can give you a real example from our own experience in using a common exam across England Wales for Drama – the grade differentials are 5% – so you needed to gain 5 more marks in England than Wales to reach the threshold of the same grade. And of course, that’s across every subject (just happens we actually use the Welsh board for Drama!!!

Spoiler alert – this section is a little technical. When as Education Secretary, Michael Gove changed both the GCSE and A level examination systems, he did so simultaneously for the period 2017-19, against all professional advice. He wanted to improve and extend the content of the exams to match the most rigorous of other countries in the world, but even in the best of worlds, we would not know whether the curriculum and exam changes have been effective until we had 5 years of data, taking us to 2024 and beyond. For many subjects the only years in which the harder exams were actually sat were 2018 and 2019, and the marking actually was probably softer then than it will be in the longer term as teachers get more experienced and there are mote past paper worked examples. This year’s grade boundaries in Drama are actually higher than in 2019, so Drama teachers (and indeed teachers of all the arts & design subjects) across the country are absolutely up in arms because artificially crushing arts grades (which has happened) drives people out of the creative subjects which of course we are still desperate for in employment terms and in industries where indeed we lead the world.

At our staff Inset on Tuesday at Norden Farm this week, I shared this very short video of Sir Ken Robinson talking about creativity; please watch it because in less than 3 minutes Sir Ken highlights just how creative young children are, and that education has the very really danger of crushing the innovation out of children to their and of course wider society’s detriment.

Education is so much more than Instruction and Compliance checked by testing. Research consistently highlights that children of all abilities do so much better in cities and communities where aspiration is alive and evidence of social mobility is visible. Born in the shadow of Big Ben or Canary Wharf exemplifies that sense of opportunity all can have, as did a hundred years ago when people and communities were embedded around ports, mining, coal and steel manufacturing. Take the complexity and quality of those industries away, replace them with warehousing, prisons, or perhaps even less mass unemployment and both aspiration and ingenuity are killed stone dead.

Nationally over the span of time, government knows this; the effect of moving museums and public broadcasting out of London into our other major cities has rebirthed industries galore. Government needs to understand its role in leadership – crossing your fingers and hoping that we’ll get wind farms to replace the petrol forecourts due to close by 2035 just won’t work. What this means in schools and colleges is that the investment in rebuilding them that was cancelled in 2010 has to restart, and at the pace of 400+ a year. There will be squabbling about new schools needed on green fields (you don’t need to lecture me about those), but creating vibrant learning spaces for children is the prerequisite of those children in due course ‘making the grade’.

And then providing vibrant learning, with modern ways of assessment that don’t hark back to the same methods as those used in the Victorian Era would be the next best thing. Here’s such a report from Her Majesty’s School Inspector back then:

The amount of money that schools were given in the Victorian years often depended on the marks obtained by the children in the school examinations. The main problems were caused by the absence of many children from school for various reasons. This meant that they missed a lot of lessons and might do badly in the exams, or of course not even appear. Really, it’s not change much over the last 143 years; this month’s headlines tell us we have school absence as a major issue in 2023 – here’s the BBC report on that 1 in 5 children missing school statistic from earlier this week -https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66701748. Great news perhaps that Eton and Star academies are coming together to open up 3 new aspirational Sixth Form Colleges in Dudley, Middlesbrough and Oldham, but when that could indeed be at the expense of the DfE and Treasury being required to have a proper plan to fund and renew the public estate of schools.

To summarise, back in 2010 we had a clear plan for the refurbishment of schools at 400+ a year and the redevelopment of our curriculum in schools to be truly suitable for the 2020s and beyond. As a leading headteacher then, I’d regularly been at DfE meeting with ministers and civil servants to ensure that the Independent Sector played its full part in these developments. The money was cancelled by George Osborne, Coalition Chancellor, and the Curriculum was set back at least 10 years by Michael Gove’s reforms in 2014. Where our sector has been able to flourish is because we can choose to be independent, move to international qualifications and of course not rely upon 3rd party system builders to throw up school buildings with finite life spans of 30 years or less. In 2023, our own A level and GCSE results remain very high quality, matriculating our students for their future chosen degrees, apprenticeships and careers. We’ve been able to ‘dodge the bullets’ of government decisions, and across the piece of education, health and welfare, I am delighted that Claires Court Schools Ltd. remain in robust good health. But when we look at the huge criticism that national politicians make of Education, please let’s bear in mind that both the provisioning of and decision making that has been in their hands for the past 13 years, and they are the ones who chose to break the plans, change the grades and … fail.

The summer break gives staff, families and our wider school community a break from the tyranny of school routines. We know for some though that breaks in routine are a curse, not a blessing, part of the widely accepted condition that as humans, we are actually very different! Neurodivergence as a concept emerged in the education sphere as recently as the 1990s, and in many ways those whose set-up is divergent from the norm (neurotypical) are still often treated using the ‘deficit’ model, i.e. there is something ‘missing, rather than just being different. Our special report this month is on Neurodiversity and published on the school’s TV service. The report can be found here on the school’s schools website – https://clairescourt.uk.schooltv.me/newsletter/neurodiversity

Neurodiversity emphasises the natural variation in how an individual’s brain functions and how they perceive and interact with the world, leading to diverse ways of learning and communicating. While most young people are neurotypical, some exhibit variations in brain development, such as ADHD, autism or dyslexia, making them neurodivergent.

Embracing neurodiversity involves accepting, celebrating, and supporting neurodivergent children and adolescents without attempting to change or treat their differences. Using respectful language, challenging unhelpful attitudes, avoiding assumptions, and actively promoting inclusivity can help embrace neurodiversity effectively.

Acknowledging the unique ways neurodiverse young people do things and then adapting tasks and activities to ensure their full participation will encourage them to develop strategies that feel natural to them. It will help improve their mental health, wellbeing and sense of self. By recognising and nurturing their strengths, parents and caregivers can contribute to building an inclusive and compassionate society where all young people can thrive.

Learning more about neurodiversity, equips caregivers with insights into effective communication techniques, educational strategies, and parenting approaches tailored to the specific needs of their neurodivergent child. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this month’s edition, and we always welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school when we are back in session for further information or if urgent, please do seek help from a medical professional.

Thirteen years ago, the future direction of English Education was changed by the appointment of Michael Gove as Secretary of State for Education. With the simple click of a question to an AI bot, I can publish the following ‘lowlights’ of his tenure to 2014, in terms of those as they affected the classroom:

1. Gove’s introduction of the new National Curriculum was met with criticism for its rushed implementation and lack of consultation with educators.
2. Lack of consultation: Gove was criticized for his top-down approach and limited consultation with educators, parents, and other stakeholders in the education sector.
3. Decline in creative subjects: The narrowing of the curriculum and emphasis on core academic subjects resulted in a reduced focus on arts, music, and other creative subjects.
4. Increased emphasis on exams: Gove’s focus on exam results and league tables created a high-pressure environment for both students and teachers, resulting in teaching to the test.
5. Widening attainment gap: Despite the government’s intention to reduce the attainment gap, under Gove’s tenure, there were concerns about a widening gap between disadvantaged students and their peers.
6. Removal of mandatory sex education: Gove’s decision to remove the requirement for mandatory sex education in schools was criticized for neglecting the importance of comprehensive sexual education.

In addition, the wider environment of education was seriously damaged as well

1. Strained teacher relations: His confrontational style and criticism of teachers led to strained relationships with the teaching profession, leading to low morale and strikes.
2. Funding cuts: Budget reductions in education during Gove’s tenure led to a strain on resources and impacted the quality of education in some schools.
3. Increased academization: Gove’s promotion of academies and free schools led to concerns about accountability, lack of local authority control, and potential inequality in education provision.
4. Scrapping of Building Schools for the Future: Gove’s decision to cancel the Building Schools for the Future program resulted in the cancellation of numerous school building projects and left some schools in need of repair and expansion.

The ‘bot’ also summarises 10 possible highlights, and I’ll refer to those later, but ‘mid-flow’ so to speak, there’s nothing to admire about Gove’s bravery in risk taking and radical reform agenda.

The source material for ChatGTP predates the last 2 years, but I can certainly confirm that the arc of 24 months since continues to be very unkind to Mr Gove and the choices he made for our children’s future. Our current Chief Inspector of schools, Amanda Spielman, addressed the House of Lords Education committee yesterday and ‘blamed’ specialisation available at 14 for GCSE, and that we had not yet learned how to make ‘harder subjects’ attractive to girls at 16+ – Spielman, 62, told the committee: “I think some of the people who’ve looked very hard at things like girls’ take-up of subjects like physics have recognised that there is a strand that’s down to individual choice and how you make it attractive to girls to opt for triple science rather than double science. It is a real conundrum without taking away that permissiveness that is a very deeply ingrained property of our system.”

Ms Spielman compounds the felonies from where Mr Gove left off. What the Gove reforms have done is to cause school curricular development to come to a juddering halt. By driving through content reform coupled with the regression to examination is to at a stroke limit the ability of researchers to check whether the reforms have worked for about a decade – back in May 2017, Lord Baker (formerly Secretary of State for Education under Margaret Thatcher) launched an alternative set of proposals in the light of the available evidence then of the ever-onward march of technology and the need for skills development to match. Do please bear in mind that Baker’s reforms in the 1980s supported the development of the GCSEs we now enjoy, uniting a school population that had been previously divided by the 25% who followed O levels and the majority left behind taking either Certificate of Second Education (CSE) or other lower level vocational courses. You can read Lord Baker’s reform agenda here, which makes some very telling points, but in no way is deliverable without establishing an agreement that there is a core methodology that teachers, instructors, educators and parents need to adopt.

Throughout the development of humanity, we have required multiple pathways for the successful development of children’s knowledge, skills and understanding. Genuinely successful schools throughout the world know this, and so apply the clear principles of providing Alternative Instruction within and around the curriculum. The essence of the excellent Early Years Foundation covers 7 stages, and they do really cover the piece, and demand of course that EYFS leaders keep separate the various areas, because they need to be delivered in a rainbow spectrum of ways :
Communication and language development. …
Physical development. …
Personal, social, and emotional development. …
Literacy development. …
Mathematics. …
Understanding the world. …
Expressive arts and design.

The trouble is of course, is the Gove/Spielman approach is to ‘inspect’ the success of settings (nurseries/schools) covering this stage (and all the others of primary, secondary and sixth form) via measurable outcomes. No credence at all is given to the successful elements of the programme that are simply unmeasurable. Even worse, you see that inspecting agencies and commercial providers reduce the elements of their approach by combining sections (even if they are uncomfortable cohabitees) thus changing the priorities of the teachers accordingly – here’s one commercial product providers derivative =Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design.

Correctly spotted dear reader, the setting has been let off having to worry about some of the ABSOLUTE fundamentals that drive successful child development, such as speaking, listening, sharing, collaborating, engaging physically, failing, falling and resilience building. A very good friend and highly respected researcher in her own rights, Professor Pat Preedy has railed against the DfE’s failure to include physical movement and assessments of same in the foundation stage, and even produced for schools a free-to-use resource programme, Movement for Learning, for schools to adopt if they lack the confidence of their own knowledge in this area. Sadly the programme was disrupted by C19 epidemic, DfE lost interest it seems and with so much changeover at the top of Secretaries of State, it’s unclear how this can be reprioritized for the nation.

The requirements for the Alternative Instruction model in schools is so obvious, and we have always needed those AIs to keep up with other developments in society, be they academic, social, technological or even collaborative against individual. How does the latest incarnation of AI fit within my model and what recommendations do I make for schools seeking to adapt?

The most important skills children need to acquire in schools is ‘good oracy’, which is all about speaking and listening out loud together. If children can listen to others, speak about and share their ideas then we have the elements of a successful workplace too. We’ve been running Merlyn Mind, an AI classroom tool in our primary or secondary classrooms for almost 2 years now, and as we merge our junior school classes onto one site in September, we will have Merlyn in every classroom from Year 3 to Year 6. The AI engine (built from the IBM Watson project) only focusses on the data set the teachers wish the children to use, and as a consequence is both safe and enables some genuine child autonomy to their learning. If childrens’ junior education is supported by ubiquitous keyboard & screen, then IT ceases to be a subject that children can fail and becomes yet another tool in their ‘pencil case’.

When 17 Ukrainian children joined our school last May, they had none or very little English, and family backgrounds either completely absent (the children were unaccompanied) or with just a mother, herself with no english either. Educationally, pretty well every one was slipped into the correct year for their age, all were provided with a chromebook, and most had a mobile phone as well. And guess what – almost all the children quickly and successfully embedded into their peer group. Google Translate did most of the heavy lifting, fine tuning from an amazing EAL teacher we have on the staff hlped ,assively of course, who also helped some of the mothers with their baby steps into our language too. The oldest students switched in to those subjects at Sixth Form which were visual or suitably creative to meed those skills, or into content familiar areas such as Business Studies for which the separation by language was perhaps less obviously because of the world-wide harmonisation of trade, marketing and commerce. All 17 are now consummate users of technology, and are capable of asking and answering complex questions in both languages.

Technological change will continue to be with us, as long as humanity is there to push the boundaries. Some technologies are eternal, the wheel for example, others such as the fountain pen one now to be found as an affectation if still in use, yet others typewriters a footnote in history. Of course society needs to worry about cheating, after all even prime ministers can be found out for breaking the rules, so teachers must not set homeworks for children to complete which just require a cut/paste/ask Siri approach. Teaching techniques can be changed (flipping the learning) so that the students are asked to carry out activities at home which are information gathering and skills rehearsal, so that lesson time is used to demonstrate those skills and synthesise some new questions for the next steps along the way. Flipping doesn’t suit many situations and can be ‘gamed’, so having a diversity of approaches in the style bank ensures learning stays active, real and dynamic. Perhaps my biggest caution is to avoid the top&tail approach, where students of design and technology are marked for their design ideas but never make anything, as often can be the case in Food & Nutrition, where their ability to read a product label in a supermarket is valued more than their understanding and physical ability to prepare edible and tasty food safely. I’ve given some obvious examples, but it’s just as likely that children will learn and follow revision guides in English Literature as opposed to reading the book and making their own views clear.

Having lived through Cold War, I am very aware of how dangerous a weaponised world is, though given we survived that with only a few casualties, war used to be a whole lot more dangerous of course. As the use of Artificial Intelligence moves through the gears, from physical holes in physical tokens (paper ticker-tape) to digital ‘tokens’ enabling data to be searched, captured, reshaped and formed into a response in different outputs – the latter very much in its infancy. What we do know is that for IA to work, the algorithm must be able to take risks; as a consequence it frequently writes factually incorrect material, often with the ‘sources’ completely made up, even ignoring the instructions you give it! As a consequence, and in whatever domain decision makers, quality assurers and integrity checkers work, they’ll need to have the educational background and experience in the specific industry concerned. That’s why it is so dangerous for successful business leaders to jump channels, even more dangerous when they leave the sector and enter for example into surgery or social work with no practical experience.

Every adult decision maker has a view about education, as in whatever way they have been a child, they have learned ‘stuff’, and most of that happened in schools! Unfortunately, any individual’s memories of what worked for them are in no way scientifically endorsed, and certainly cannot be extrapolated out into successful approach for the wider society at large. What the chief inspector of schools should be saying is that ‘no matter what subject a child chooses to pursue when educational choices are available, those channels have to include lots of different skills, technologies and approaches. Focussing specifically on my school, every artist will use hands, crayon, brush, camera, screen and develop both analogue and digital skills. Sporting activities will include physical athleticism, and include mathematical reasoning, data handling and instructional coaching techniques. Actors and musicians will perform, learn, practice, record, digitise, blend their (and others) work, in-front and back-stage. My research groups of 14/15 year olds in Higher Project Qualification have used Artificial Intelligence and Alternative Instructional approaches, gathered insights into ethics and journalism, learned more about the ‘real world’ because of their research than they would have done if they had set out to study the ‘real world’.

So to conclude, all children and adults must be able to follow the same broad spectrum approach through their chosen years of education. Current education leaders call this levelling-up, but all too often they design an next stage model that embraces levelling down. DfE and Oftsed’s activities almost always do both, because they proscribe too much, fund it too little, and blame those who are are successful across the age range as taking unfair advantage in some way or other. The easy A2I (aid to information) for my recommendation is to pursue the healthiest approach you can find, which will include lots of variety and yet seek to be well-balanced.

Appendix – Gove’s 10 Good things from ChatGPT and my commentary to the right.

10 possibly Good Things

I am of course deeply indebted to Wikipedia for filling me in on the expert knowledge needed to write this half-term posting.

But before I do, and to get you in the mood, please consider watching this wonderful curtain raiser to the Disney Stage show “The Lion King”.

The Lion King is a Disney media franchise comprising a film series and additional media. The success of the original 1994 American animated feature, The Lion King, directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, led to a direct-to-video sequel and midquel, a 2019 film remake, a television film sequel, two spin-off television series, three educational shorts, several video games, merchandise, and the third-longest-running musical in Broadway history, which garnered six Tony Awards including Best Musical.^[1] The franchise mainly revolves about a pride of lions who oversee a large swath of African savanna as their “kingdom” known as the Pride Lands, with their leader Simba watching over it as “king“. The first three animated films are widely known for being influenced by the works of William Shakespeare,^[3][4] as well as other works based on his material.

So, over the last 2 days at Claires Court Junior Boys, 2 casts of some 90 boys led by our Head of Music Emma Stevenson pulled of 4 showings of the most amazing junior school production I have ever attended. The scale of difficulty cannot be overemphasised, singing in tongues, moving choreographically with mechanical costumes, acting in the spirit of the great emotions the storyline brings and staying in character throughout, one cast of stars being the supporting cast for the other and performing faultlessly for 2 hours. Honestly it brought more than a few prickles to my skin and tears to my eyes. In short, I and 4 audiences were genuinely blown away and of course transported to the plains of Africa, where the story is set.

For the most complex of human activities to be successful, they have to be rehearsed, iteratively repeated for many hours before they become second nature. Early steps are slow, because the new pathways that need to be created linking all the senses, fine and gross motor control and body movements take time to get learned and embedded. We now know this arises because the learning process lays fatty sheaths around the nerve axons, enabling the messages to travel faster, quicker and more autonomously. The hardest thing to learn is to play a musical instrument, yet in turn because it gives you visual and auditory feedback, the repeated hours of practice lay down even thicker layers of insulation, essentially brining mastery to the instrument.

Teaching is not the requirement by the way, but learning and practice are, and in recent UK studies, researches have been able to prove that 3 hours of instrumental practice quickly make you 10-15% cleverer. What’s not to like, I hear you say, and I’d say ‘nothing’ – it’s a slam dunk and we have not needed 21st century research to confirm that which educators have known for generations. What is required is the time, space and culture around children’s learning environment (that’s a grand set of words for school), and that space must be open enough not just for the teaching to happen but for there to be the time and space for the learning to happen too.

Whether you look at my junior or senior school provision, children’s extended day stretches from 8 til 5pm and beyond, with so many opportunities for informal rehearsal and private practice. The science of learning makes it quite obvious that mechanical dragooning can cause troops to stay in line, but that’s not the same as creating a major stage production with 9 and 10 normal mortals, who need to be able to practice their roars and squeaks in their own ways.

It’s of course a huge responsibility to run a school and make sure the environment is fit for learning; it’s a great pride I take in realising that my colleagues are so capable of demonstrating every working week that the evidence of children, boys and girls getting cleverer is self-evident for all to see. In the Lion King, Pumbaa the Warthog teaches us all his core philosophy of life – Hakuna Matata. I leave the lyrics of this for you to read – I’m off on half-term to enjoy my own next steps in the Circle of Life:

Hakuna Matata!
What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata!
Ain’t no passing craze
It means no worries
For the rest of your days
It’s our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata!

Because parenting doesn’t come with instructions, SchoolTV is a wellbeing resource implemented at our school to help support you in the challenges of modern-day parenting. Parenting is a learning journey and it’s easy to feel stressed and overwhelmed when faced with raising happy, well and resilient young people today.

Every family has experienced some sort of difficulty or adversity in recent times, some more than others. As mental health concerns continue to rise, there have been some alarming statistics reported in relation to the mental health and wellbeing of young people. Unfortunately, the blueprint for parenting is often based on our own experiences, but this is no longer fit for purpose in raising children as citizens of tomorrow. Parents and caregivers play a vital role in providing the guidance needed to support children and adolescents as they reframe their worries and focus more on the things they can control in their life.

In this Special Report, we are seeking parent participation through a short survey. The survey is designed to provide a barometer to help gauge the state of student wellbeing within our community. We encourage you to take a few moments to complete the survey as this will help our school know the nature and extent of your concerns and determine how best we can support families in the months ahead. Responses remain anonymous and will only be reported on an aggregated basis. You are asked to base your responses on observations made in the last 12 months.

By working together we can continue to build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers as we navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for all students. Please reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback. If this raises any concerns for you or your child, please reach out to the school or seek professional medical advice.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

The PTA are delighted to announce that the table reservations for the annual ball are now available. So, get your table guests ready! We have managed to keep the ticket prices the same as last year at £85 each which gives you a three course meal and a great evening.

• Each table will require a designated ‘Table Leader’. As ‘Table Leader’ you will be required to coordinate the payment for the other guests on the table.
• ‘Table Leaders’ must reserve a table for either 10 or 12 people by sending an email to pta.ccgs@gmail.com including ‘Table Leader’ name, table of 10 or 12 and contact number. 
• For those that do not have enough to make up a table of 10 we can create a mixer table with other guests. Please advise this via email pta.ccgs@gmail.com 
• Information on how to pay for the table will follow but this year we will have a dedicated payment system.
• On receipt of payment and nearer the time, the table leader will receive a booking form which needs to be returned with guest names and allergy information. 

So, please, PLEASE, PLEASE consider joining our Summer BIG TOP ball. The funds that the PTA make available through their efforts have this year made the most remarkable difference to

• Our 17 Ukrainian students (now 14), who found the safest of settings for themselves at Claires Court, and our work with English tuition, pastoral support through the employment of a Ukrainian national qualified teacher to support teaching and learning and also family communications;
• a host of projects at local level, most recently at Seniors, the most modern of keyboards to implement our new creative music opportunities for boys and girls;
• our many and various community activities in school, social events, prize giving and speech days, through the provision of human hands to support, funds to provide awards and prizes as well as
• the central background to the PTA Foundation activities, including the arrangements that enable the Summer Ball, the Fete and Christmas market and the Autumn Fireworks event.

I’ve worked with the PTA board (in the main made up of current and former parents), amazing people led brilliantly by their President, Phyllis Avery MBE, and now more than ever, their efforts deserve our 200% support!!!

The TES (Times Educational Supplement as was) is the profession’s major journal which is dedicated to supporting the world’s teachers. “Our mission is to enable great teaching by helping educators to find the tools and technology they need.” This week TES published the ‘School Wellbeing report’, which is largely reporting back for the teaching professionals and their views aligned to their work. The report reminds its readers that we do have to worry about retention of colleagues within the sector, though is optimistic in confirming that teachers do wish to care for the children and colleagues they work with, and that good relationships are key to successful outcomes arising.

Regular readers of my blog will know that the school has recently adopted SchoolsTV to provide its own media channel providing a one stop shop for parents and our community, which will over the next few months provide we hope a concerted approach to declutter the advice the now certainly can overwhelm us, and to provide a sense of calm and focus to our lived experience.

I walk. Not every night, because I might very much have been on my feet at work and at home doing ‘other’ things. But when I walk, sometimes I let my brain do the ‘talking’, and step by relentless step for the 45 minutes or so the ‘white noise’ settles down and my thoughts and priorities seem more aligned. As often as not though, I’ll stick a podcast on, and listen to BBC or some other channel that I find of interest and value. I’ve always been a bit geeky, so science and/or history work best for me, building knowledge and understanding in equal measure.

From a professional point of view, I like a range of podcasters and include ‘The Therapy Edit’ with Anna Mathur in my channel listings. After a seizure I experienced last August, I recognised I had ceased to value sleep sufficiently, and so I have recovered same by banning my phone from the bedroom and by imposing a 60 minute shutdown on use of digital screens inc TV before going to bed. I’ve also recognised that alcohol needs to be consumed on a minority of days and in moderation for the same reasons – both badly affect the hormonal balance, the biological cycles when sleep happens and exclude the natural routines that good sleep hygiene requires. You can catch Mathur talking to Dr Ranj Singh on this Sleep podcast, and (skipping the first 2 minutes of Lloyds bank advertising) gives you a good insight into the topic as well as Mathur’s easy listening style. Our own SchoolTV channel covers the full sweep of advice here.

More recently I have caught Anna Mathur (a pyscho therapist) being referenced by Fiona Cowood writing in the Telegraph in an article she has entitled “You could do a lot worse than being a lazy parent – and here’s how’. Sadly the article is behind a pay wall, but it highlights the fabulous advice that parents of children in the 2020s need to heed more of, which is “Do less”. That’s not an admonition of the work focussed beasts we may have become (I’ve always worked flat out), but actually advice to parents to adopt a lazier more hands-off style of parenting. Mathur makes the same point in the article, highlighting the twin curses being the ‘guilt’ and ‘too much research’.

The rise in mental health disorders reported both here and across the pond is linked the child’s loss of freedoms and abilities to roam. Dr Vyas-Lee, co-founder of the mental health clinic Kove writes “We definitely have a problem with children’s resilience; it’s about building up a tolerance for things being hard or difficult. If you never fall, or if everytime you call someone catches you, where is the resilience building?’ She continues “It’s useful to be reminded that allowing our kids to fail is good for them. It’s much better to spend 20 minutes one to one with your children that to give yourself over to their every whim day in, day out. Mathur adds “Children’s brains need to be bored, because those are the cracks where creativity, resilience and self-esteem grow.’

Of course life’s problems are more than just the above, but having had our lives turned upside down by #lockdown, #austerity and #working_from_home, we do need to reconvene and sort out getting the compartments of a well-ordered life back into place. Working from home is often a great reality for many adults, so separating workspace and playspace is vital, and enabling switchovers from one phae to the next is vital. Mealtimes need to become properly re-established ; the number of families that have abandoned eating together causes as much alarm in my mind as poor sleep hygiene and excessive screentime.

All of the experts I list above and so many more shine a light on us all to ‘DO LESS, RELAX, TAKE SOME TIME, SLEEP WELL’. And how did my Easter break go you might ask? A mix of schoolwork, carpentry, allotment, family time and much sleep too, thank you.

Claires Court’s own primary and secondary Wellbeing survey will be further advertised next Friday, once we have every body back into the ‘swim’ – catch that here on https://clairescourt.uk.schooltv.me/, Primary or Secondary.