“Time passes, Lives change, but Memories last forever.”  Reflections on Thank a Teacher day.

Posted on 05/06/2025 by jameswilding

National Thank a Teacher Day is an annual celebration of teachers and support staff across early years settings, schools and colleges. This year it will take place on Wednesday 18th June 2025. Last year over 82,000 Thank a Teacher Day personalised e-cards were sent​ and we had a media reach of 60,000,000 including national coverage on BBC, ITV, The Sunday Times, The Daily Express and The Sun​ https://thankateacher.co.uk/nationalthankateacherday/

After our prep school years which lasted until the end of Year 8, my brother Hugh and I pursued our Senior School Education to University entrance at Douai School, Woolhampton, one of the great Benedictine monastic schools in existence in the 1960s-1990s. The plan had been for us to study much more locally at Beaumont College in Old Windsor, owned and run by the Society of Jesus, another monastic order known as the Jesuits. The school announced its closure in 1965, deciding to focus the community’s efforts on their other school in England, Stonyhurst in Lancashire. Given that Douai was in easy reach of Maidenhead Thicket via the 1/1A bus service to Woolhampton, and a 15 minute walk up the hill to Douai Abbey and its school, as well as, of course, by car, the decision to board locally was one our parents found easy to make.

I left Douai in December 1971, having stayed back a term after A levels to take Oxford Entrance exams to Pembroke College and to play Rugby for the 1st XV. As anyone of our age will relate, a boarding education anywhere in the country was both spartan and at times, notoriously physical by way of punishment to manage behaviour. My first year at the school included ‘fagging duties’ which meant attending to the Sixth Form at meal times to serve them food, as well as cleaning the prefects’ shoes and meeting their idle needs as they felt fit. What made this apparent reincarnation of Tom Brown’s violent school days acceptable was the incredibly strong pastoral care given by my housemaster, Father Bernard Swinhoe, of Walmsley House. Throughout my time at Douai, he kept his eye on me as he did on the other 80 boys in the House, and communicated particularly well to my parents on my conduct (good or bad) in school. For example, he wrote to my parents during my O-level Christmas term that ‘Jimmy has joined a smoking gang’; this did not actually come as a surprise to my parents, both at the time habitual smokers, but it did cause me to take stock and be reminded that I was not after all quite so invisible at school as perhaps I thought. And that warning certainly caused me to avoid further physical punishment at school.

My final 4 terms at Douai were spent even closer to Father Bernard; his seemingly massive interest in, and knowledge of, everything made him an ideal mentor for A-level General Studies; together with the Head of English, William Bell, I was scrubbed up well for the exams I needed to take for A-level and Oxford, as well as taught niceties of working in seminars via an evening dining club known as ‘Parnassus’. He took an enormous interest in my exploits on the Rugby field as open side for the 1st XV, and kept in touch with me during the 3 years at university beyond. Father Bernard’s perceptible joy at being asked to assist at my wedding during the hot summer of 1975 was perhaps his recognition of the strength of admiration I held him in. As his obituary written by a fellow monk from Douai makes clear, the way he lived his life and the way he formed relationships were indeed remarkable, and I am one of his many charges who will never forget how he made us feel, welcome and wanted. 

The abridged version of his obituary is below, the fuller version can be found here on pages 127-129 of the Douai Magazine.

If I were writing to Fr Bernard now, I’d add the following:

“Dear Bernie, above all of the many happy memories you helped create for me, it was your ability to keep the tuck shop fully stocked before film night, that you ran the best ‘smokes’ during the weekday evenings when we could come together and listen to the latest LPs that we had managed to buy from the Reading record shops, and above all, not to mock me too much when I forgot where I was and called you ‘Dad’. You saw my disappointment when I received the rejection letter from Pembroke, and made it quite clear that ‘Oxford’s loss was to be Leicester’s gain’. You never met the 2 sons that Jenny and I have brought up and now grandparent for, but they would hear your stories and completely agree that ‘Jimmy’ hasn’t changed much since, interested in everything and everyone, a chip of the same block from which you seemed to have been carved!”

We never had ‘Thank a Teacher Day’ during my childhood, and it’s a very good idea now that’s been around for 27 years. You can read more from their official website and as Michael Morpurgo makes clear,  ““For so many of us, it was someone at school who changed our lives, was at our side through hard and difficult times, lifted us up when we were down, helped us find our voice, gave us confidence when we needed it most, set us on a path that we have followed ever since.”

Father Bernard at the Tuck shop

Fr Bernard Swinhoe OSB, 1931-2020
Our much-loved Father Bernard slipped away into the hands of the Lord on Maundy Thursday night. It was no surprise; he had long been failing with gentle dementia, then a two-week stay in hospital over Christmas was followed by some weeks in a care home. What a fitting, peaceful end for a gentle, kind and sensitive monk. Charles Swinhoe was born in Rochester on 20 June 1931. His father was an army colonel in India, so he spent time there as a child. He was then some years at St. Richard’s Prep School at Little Malvern. He and his sisters and younger brother lived with their mother in a number of rented houses during the war years. Family was always important to him; mother, sisters and brother mattered a lot. In 1944, he came to Douai School, where he distinguished himself in many sports, captaining the rugby and cricket teams.

After National Service as a commissioned officer with the King’s African Rifles in Kenya, he joined the monastic community in 1952, taking the name Bernard. He was professed in 1953, obtained an English degree at Oxford and was ordained priest in 1961. He was, however, always somewhat less comfortable as a priest than as a simple monk. His mastery of English stayed with him all his life, and he loved to painstakingly hone his writing. His sermons were always beautifully crafted and elegantly delivered. One of his brethren once cheekily quipped that his university degree was in punctuation. Quintessentially a monk and full of life, Bernard was quietly self-effacing. Deeply rooted in the Douai soil, where he belonged for 67 years (or 72, including school days) he is now buried in that earth. Stabilitas loci! He was faithful to the end to the community and to the round of Divine Office, the praise of God. In his last fading months at Douai, he especially loved sharing the night prayer of Compline. He naturally accepted his final lot in hospitals and care homes, remaining ever appreciative of the nurses’ attentions.

Bernard’s genuine self-deprecation was not false humility; rather, reticence, scrupulosity, and dissatisfaction with himself. Mindful of the dangers of self-satisfaction, to which most of us are prone, St Benedict in chapter seven of his Rule strongly insists on turning from this undermining vice. It has been said that “the secret of one person’s success is another person’s success remaining a secret; some people would not provide to be so pivotal in your life had they been more concerned with their own”. And this was Bernard’s humility, mixed as has been observed, with a measure of quiet roguishness. One remembers his merriment recounting somewhat scurrilous anecdotes heard in an august commission on which he sat. For one former pupil, Bernard “did not suggest or rely on a hierarchical relationship with us as boys, he displayed an openness both to his own uncertainties and to your possibilities”.

Bernard had the inestimable gift of being ever available and accessible to all, boy or fellow monk. He would repair your rugby boots, fix your watch, mend your lock and make you a key, fill a gap to play double bass in the school orchestra, bind the monastery books or paint the missing oil portrait of a long-deceased abbot he had never met. His natural curiosity about everything, how many interests, his enthusiasms and skills, his practical knack and unremitting generosity remained with him until the end. He has left a mark on us all.

Fr Bernard died quietly on 9 April, during the COVID-19 lockdown, and was buried simply in the monks’ graveyard, after a private Requiem celebrated by the community on 17 April 2020. May he rest in peace.
Peter Bowe OSB

To repeat, Michael Morpurgo makes clear,  ““For so many of us, it was someone at school who changed our lives, was at our side through hard and difficult times, lifted us up when we were down, helped us find our voice, gave us confidence when we needed it most, set us on a path that we have followed ever since.” I see this happening every day here at school, brilliant leading & learning relationships being forged between adults and children, and I do thank them (and my lucky stars) that I have so many teachers and support staff who have this vocation to make a difference to the lives of the children and young people they teach. If as a consequence of reading this blog, you feel moved to thank a teacher, please do so – it will really make their day!

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‘Death is swallowed up in Victory’ – The Reverend James Wilding 1781 – 1863

Posted on 22/05/2025 by jameswilding

During this term, and not for the first time as part of the Year 3 curriculum, they have been studying the history of Claires Court School, and as a consequence of their searches of old magazines etc. the year group asked to have their photo taken with the Principals, Hugh and James Wilding. It’s been a real pleasure to deepen the research resources for this topic, and clearly the project has gone really well. It’s interesting to appreciate why such collaborative work led by children of the ‘Big Question’ variety works so well. The children have choice on the research materials, retain almost total control on the ‘how’ they carry out their project, and yet there are very clear objectives on what a successful outcome might include  – it was they that demanded the photocall!

I chose the title for this blog because we are approaching the feast of Ascension Day, that day as written by 2 of the gospel writers, Mark and Luke, in which they record the event after Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection “So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.”

Of the many things we know about for education to be successful, children need to discover ‘stuff’ beyond their ken and use that curiosity to search, unpick, learn, forget and return to discover more and bit by bit ‘mastery of the topic’ will be built. It’s why teaching can be the most exciting of professions, which has nothing about easy wins, but about the potential epic fails that take the learner to the brink and then back again, keen and eager to study more. This is as true of 7 year olds as 70 year olds!

I have in my possession a family heirloom, a Gold medallion presented to my ancestor and namesake, James Wilding (below right). Dated with his birthday, 1781, James received this as a prize for his studies whilst at Magdalen College Cambridge. The coin carries the quotation that heads my blog, very much a Christian idea based on Christ’s resurrection from the dead, and quoted in the New Testament by another of the gospel writers,  that being that ‘Death is swallowed up in Victory’(Matthew 28: 1–10).

Given that most faiths and religions believe in an afterlife (only agnostics and atheists yet to be persuaded), it’s a simple idea really to understand that there will come a judgement day when a personal life well led, perhaps a personal sacrifice for the betterment of others will be rewarded, that Victory will come to all, even after death. In Christian theology, this is made very clear: “Death is swallowed up in victory” signifies the ultimate triumph over death. It refers to the final, complete defeat of death, not just as an end to earthly life, but as a victory that grants eternal life and immortality for believers. This victory is achieved through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who conquered death and sin, paving the way for humanity to share in his victory.

Coming to terms with any theology always takes the student to that ‘cliff edge of failure’, and of course, often causes clashes with the conscious knowledge of the practicalities of daily life.Yet, leaving those aside, areas of school activity would simply disappear if learning to fail did not exist. My grandson has yet to beat me at chess; aged 6, he’ll keep cracking on at after-school club and return every week or so to have another crack at his Oompah! We see this curiosity turn up time and again in school, most so in the Sixth Form where depth studies often mean just that. Subjects such as Sociology and Philosophy & Ethics (Religious Studies) permit students to challenge received wisdoms to a high degree, and that’s definitely to be encouraged!

I’ll close with a bit more on that other James WIlding, who was a teacher too, and from a family of teachers then as my brother Hugh and I are now. Below is a lithograph of that venerable Ancestor, the Reverend James Wilding MA, whose lifespan covered the late end of the 18th century, the Napoleonic wars, and well into the Victorian era, the development of railways and the wider industrial revolution, the abolition of salvery and expansion of the British Empire. The drawing appears to date from the mid 1820s.

James clearly was a remarkable man, as the following record suggests:

He was the son of James Wilding, who was a master at Shrewsbury School, and his son James went to that school for his education. He went on to Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he was 15th Wrangler (a first in Maths!). Subsequently, he entered the teaching profession, in those days very much a respected role; as preceptor, he was an experienced practitioner who guided, supported, and mentored newly qualified professionals during their training. He was master of Cheam School, Surrey until 1840, when he became Vicar of Chirbury. The 1841 census records him as living in Chirbury Vicarage. He died in 1863, at a very good age for the Victorian era of 82.

I have 2 other artifacts presented to James, one being a scroll (plus a mention of a Silver plate) presented to him by 86 students at Cheam School to thank him for his stewardship of their studies in 1828 (sadly the piece of silver plate was stolen during my lifetime from the family home) and another silver plate presented to him by his congregation during his time as vicar in Wyre Piddle in Worcestershire in 1830.

As and when I have the time, I am really curious to find out the identities of the 86 scholars in the list below. They were the sons of important people at the time, well enough off to fund such a generous gift. I’m guessing there might be one or two seriously distinguished adults in the making then in his care, as of course there are now in 2025 in my care. Everyone has a chance for victory!

Cheam School in 1821 looks a grand place!

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“Conversation is a catalyst for innovation.” – John Seely Brown*

Posted on 16/05/2025 by jameswilding

Our annual Parent survey assists us – Principals and Heads – in hearing the voices of our customers, celebrating the successes and noting the ‘pointers for improvement’ as appropriate. All our staff met at the start of this term with me to check through the Summer weeks ahead; in addition to their academic and pastoral roles, they were asked to focus even more clearly on collaboration, not just with each other and the children, but also with the parent body and the wider community. As John Seely Brown’s (JSB) quote makes clear, conversation is not just about the sharing of ideas, but an opportunity for challenge and a way of sparking new ways of acting and thinking.

In many ways, that’s how my brother Hugh and I join together the many threads of chatter that pass through Claires Court every day, and as that voice builds into a common set of ideas and questions, in turn, that helps us share amongst our leadership how best to respond and affirm priorities. In big project terms, so we can realise developments at pace and benefit quickly, they bounce across the sites. Last year, our critical focus was to provide the new Food and Workshop studios to enhance secondary technology facilities; this year, the new Astro at Ridgeway and the new Sixth Form Study pavilion at College, both now in use. New of course helps in the repurposing of the existing, so for the summer term for the first time in perhaps three decades, our Senior Girls have won back their sports hall and stage from the tyranny of public exams, that in their own way have grown like Topsy and have strangled so much ‘testing’ space usually reserved for PE and Drama.

As a school we are always forward-thinking so our attention turns next to Senior Boys, where we have building permission to replace the Music School as well as retaining momentum at College for the further advancement of fitness studio facilities for both seniors and sixth form.  However, there is a fine balance and, in keeping with our promise to our fee payers, these will have to wait in abeyance until continued growth in pupil numbers bring the additional revenue in to fund those developments.

At the same time, we continue to explore the business efficiencies to be gained by working smarter, and the acquisition of three new minibuses is reducing our reliance on third-party contractors to provide transport overall at a lower cost; just one example of proactively reducing expenditure. The growth of adult use of our buildings and playing fields during the weekday evenings and weekends means external revenue streams can grow and we have other ideas in the pipeline too.

There remains no doubt that our curriculum and pastoral innovations are also attracting considerable interest as opportunities in the wider education sector narrow further, and where innovation has been less obviously in the mix. We were really proud to host the first RBWM school and educators conference on developing ideas for a smartphone-free childhood last Friday (9 May) with our own junior school leading much of the thinking in this field. Just a footnote in history, it must be said, but worth noting, that Claires Court was the first school outside of California to invest in Yondr bags to house mobile phones in school, way back in the autumn of 2017, long before Yondr had a footprint in the UK. In practice, it’s our experience that phones have to be handed in, separation from device being as important during the adolescent years as separation from parents for EYFS learning is at the much younger age. Four years ago, we were the first school outside of the US to innovate with the use of Agentive Artificial Intelligence, and the Merlyn tools our junior classes have been using for two years now, are just being rolled out in Ireland and the US. The UK education gurus are yet to be convinced that schools know what to do, yet actually, in many settings, pioneers have got on with the safe use of technology, as we have, and the children are benefiting.

Over the next six weeks, I will be at every school event I can, so that conversation and ideas can be promoted and shared. At the Cocktails and Canapés PTA event on Friday 6 June, where our top musicians in the school are performing, I will be there to talk through those other ideas (as yet unspoken perhaps) that might catalyse those next innovations to take us to 2030 and beyond. The lifeblood of every school is the dynamism to be found in the way the children and staff take every day in their stride. Sure, for those in Y11 and Y13, it’s exam time, but that’s always been a given and dare I say, what sets the UK apart from the other countries in the Western World. We remain the best at qualifying our young people to be ready for employment at 18, probably best via apprenticeships, or higher education at University; the rest of Europe struggles to keep up, with the USA perhaps taking three more years to do so. 

As with my other recent blogs, I’ve captured here in *John Seely Brown (JSB) the name of an academic researcher whose influence has been significant on the world. His research interests include the management of radical innovation, digital culture, ubiquitous computing, autonomous computing, organisational learning and of course Artificial Intelligence. AI works because we have identified how we can link ‘hardware’ together and cause the system to capture and recycle knowledge and ideas, and now repurpose them as we would wish. The ‘software’ of Humankind has learned how to do this for millennia, it’s called conversation, could be via Cocktails and Canapés perhaps? Wherever, and whenever, so parents, if you see me there, please come over and have a chat – I’d love to hear from you.

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Lamplight of Peace – lessons from VE Day

Posted on 09/05/2025 by jameswilding

80 years ago, over 5 million British men and women were recruited into the armed forces and deployed across the world. Thursday, 8 May 1945, saw Germany’s formal unconditional surrender, marking the end of World War 2 in Europe. While street parties were organised across the UK, publicity outside of the country had to be curtailed, because so many were still serving to keep order in Europe, whilst others were in Southeast Asia and the Pacific fighting Japan. 

This year’s celebrations are entitled, “Lamplight of Peace,” referring to a tradition of lighting lamps, often ruby red, to commemorate significant anniversaries connected with past wars, D-Day and VE Day being two examples. The lights represent the “light of peace” emerging from the darkness of war and symbolise the sacrifices made during those conflicts. The red colour of the lamplights often signifies the ultimate sacrifice of those who fought in the war. The use of cmajor worldwides strange to me, as, growing up in the 1950s in London, I only recall a world of black and white, anthe COVID in the summer of 1967, when I was taking common entrance and scholarship exams aged 13, that I first saw colour TV, showing the Wimbledon tennis tournament!

Reprocessed photographs and film of the 1945 street parties abound in this year’s media, and honestly, they almost all could have been taken yesterday, so normal do they look in terms of humanity at play. The absence of men is obvious, and outward migration of women from communities who suffered many male casualties led to a diaspora south and into more affluent areas, in search of a future yet to be imagined.

In looking at the lessons to be learned from that major worldwide conflict, there seem to be quite a few that chime with the lessons we are now learning as we recover from the worldwide COVID pandemic. Of course, these could be coincidental, but as the son of two History graduates and married to a third, I know the importance of learning from the past!

1. Economic Disruption and the Need for Rebuilding

Post-WWII: Britain faced a severely damaged infrastructure, the need to retool industries for peacetime production, and significant national debt. Rationing and economic controls persisted for years.

Post-COVID: The pandemic caused a sharp economic downturn, business closures, supply chain disruptions, and a substantial increase in national debt due to support measures like furlough. Certain sectors, such as hospitality and tourism, faced prolonged difficulties.

2. Social and Psychological Impact

Post-WWII: the war led to immense loss of life, displacement, and trauma. Returning soldiers needed reintegration, and society had to adapt to a new demographic landscape, including the changing roles of women. There was a strong desire for a better future and a sense of collective experience.

Post-COVID: the pandemic also resulted in significant loss of life, widespread anxiety, isolation due to lockdowns, and mental health challenges. There’s a shared experience of navigating a global crisis and adapting to new ways of living and working.

3. The Role of the State and Public Services

Post-WWII: the war led to a greater acceptance of state intervention in the economy and society, culminating in the creation of the National Health Service (NHS) and the expansion of the welfare state. There was a strong emphasis on social solidarity and “building back better.”

Post-COVID: the pandemic highlighted the crucial role of public services, particularly the NHS. There are renewed debates about the size and scope of the state, social care provision, and addressing inequalities exposed by the crisis. Calls for a “new settlement” echoing the post-war era have emerged.

4. Shifts in Social Norms and Behaviour

Post-WWII: the war accelerated social changes, including shifts in gender roles and a greater awareness of social inequalities. There was a gradual move towards a more egalitarian society.

Post-COVID: the pandemic has also prompted changes in work patterns (rise of remote work), increased reliance on technology, and potentially a greater focus on local communities and personal well-being. The long-term impact on social interactions and community bonds is still unfolding.

5. National Identity and Purpose

Post-WWII: victory in the war fostered a strong sense of national unity and purpose, albeit one that had to adapt to Britain’s declining global power. The focus shifted towards domestic reconstruction and the creation of a fairer society.

Post-COVID: the pandemic has, at times, invoked a sense of national solidarity, particularly during the initial phases. However, it has also exposed divisions and challenges to national identity in a more complex and interconnected world.

After both events, the ‘winners’ have seen major political disruption, and in many ways, not for the better. Delighted as Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill would have been to sit down to plan the end of the war in March 1945, within 2 years, the Cold War had broken out; the US, Britain and its allies had brought western influences to bear across Europe and Asia, whereas the USSR occupied eastern Europe and developed the ‘Iron Curtain’ to protect the countries newly within the Soviet bloc. Fueled by ideological differences (capitalism vs. communism) and geopolitical rivalries, the Cold War lasted for 46 years, until the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

Looking to the present, we see ideology dominant in both the UK and USA, in which both countries are governed by ‘leaders’ who suggest that their election victories permit them to impose changes to the ordered way of doing things, ungoverned by the usual rules of democracy and consent. The two ‘wars’ may have different durations, but as the nations emerged, the public was utterly fed up with being hoodwinked and failed by the political and economic classes in government beforehand. During the 1943 to 45 period, time was spent planning for the introduction of both universal healthcare and education, developed under the coalition, but enacted by the newly elected Labour government in July 1945. 

2024/25 feels very different. Despite the Labour party winning the election on the back of the public’s dislike of the chaotic behaviour of the previous, mainly Conservative administrations, what it hasn’t done is settle the country down and unite the public. My perspective is on Education, Health & Care, and no visionary policies are being unfolded as they were 80 years ago. A solution to the crisis in care provision has been kicked down the years for a future administration to resolve, the Health service remains a battlefield still to find a ceasefire yet alone peace, and Education has been broken in two ways by a Secretary of State hell bent on stating that those in private schools have never had it so good, so must be taxed for the privilege, but at the same time doing her best to undermine the more general successes won by the local decision making brought into state education over the past 30 years by seeking to renationalise and regulate.

Looking back some 13 years, Harold McMillan used hindsight to suggest that ‘Jaw-Jaw’ was always better than ‘War-War’, and I am utterly convinced society could be so much better if we stopped the posturing, lowered our defences and worked together to provide the improvements to British society all call for. Unlike the 1940s, we have some of the best advances in technology now in our hands, but we must work ‘new’ with ‘old’. A Change for the Better is always a contradiction in terms, and we can see that in the entrenched views of ‘Remainers & Brexiteers’ and all that they don’t have a positive story to tell us, about how collaboration and the rebuilding of our education, health, care, housing and public service systems can take place at pace and using the resources we havemore smartlyy. 

The technological capabilities and the role of media were vastly different in the post-war era compared to the digital age of our post-COVID period. The computer age was just starting and the Space race still ahead, whereas now we have all the advantages of vast processing power at our disposal and are back exploring the stars in so many ways. Examining the parallels offers valuable insights into how our society responds to large-scale crises, and the long-term social and economic consequences when we get them right or wrong. 

In Education terms, the Butler reforms in the Education Act 1944 aimed to build a en education to age 15 for everyone, not just those fortunate enough to be wealthy or win academic selection. It was a great story, long in the telling but by the close of the Labour government in 2010, we had managed to create a heterogeneous mix of state, private and special education that could meet the needs of the vast majority of the population. University expansion had taken place and whether for academic or vocational reasons, a breadth of pathways had been developed for the many to follow.

That story has been lost over the past 15 years, in which the treatment of children and teachers have been treated more like towels, to be used to soak up knowledge and work and then wrung out periodically for the purposes of assessment and performance management. As the academic curriculum in the state sector has been narrowed to reduce costs and restrict the need for diversity in teacher training and curricular provision, it’s become clear as it was in the 1930s and ‘40s  that private education offered advantages worth pursuing for reasons of choice and educational need. As I wrote last week, we need to see a return to the diversity of provision for everyone, and that can clearly come from the partnership of the willing that both private and academy schools offer to the government.

I suspect we need something a little brighter than a Lamplight to show our politicians the way, and lit by a more powerful fuel than dogma that only permits ‘might to be right’ rather than reason. As the months pass since the imposition of VAT in January and April’s increases in employer and other business costs, with teacher pay changes to come in the future, I remain deeply thankful that we have the opportunities provided by technology to broaden and enhance what we do in our schools. Another Labour Prime minister, Harold Wilson spoke powerfully in 1963 of the “white heat of technology” in his famous speech at the Labour Party Conference in Scarborough in 1963, one I saw on the black & white telly at home. Now we see what’s possible in technicolour – perhaps the orange smoke from the Vatican in Rome might offer some new insights after Pope Francis. What he got right of course we can all follow, which is ‘above all, be kind’.

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Diversity in the curriculum matters 2025

Posted on 01/05/2025 by jameswilding

How do we educate our children to take their place in the Economies of the 21st Century, given that we can’t anticipate what the economy will look like at the end of next week?  I aim to answer what Claires Court is doing a few paragraphs down, but there exists a serious background that’s worth sharing first.

In a remarkable presentation given to the Royal Society of Arts back in 2010, Sir Ken Robinson posed this question and helped the entire education industry by then elaborating the why, how and what we should do to ensure those future generations of workers were able to rise to the, then and now, unseen challenges that lay in their wake. Sadly, Sir Ken passed away back in 2020, aged 70 of cancer. As Professor Reason (see last week’s blog) was to the world of Human Error (an expert), so Professor Robinson was to Creativity specifically and to Arts Education in general. You can see the RSA Animate of his speech here, and it’s a master class that sadly has “only” been watched by 17 million people. It’s very disappointing that it is barely understood by politicians, whose choices have already been made by the dogma they choose to follow.

The last government failed to invest in the arts, creative industries and skills economy, undervaluing and often ignoring further education completely. Their suggested, yet narrow replacement for the multilayered ecosystem of City & Guilds awards and BTEC, known as T levels, has barely got going, in the main because they don’t reflect the dynamism needed for skills in industry. At least they did expand the possibilities within state structures, through permitting the development of academies and encouraging their further growth to support failing schools where possible. Britain’s “strictest headteacher”, Katherine Burblesingh, was able to transform school opportunities in Wembley by opening Michaela Academy, perhaps the country’s most successful state school in terms of Progress 8 measures. Despite the opportunities given by the government, she and many others have been clear that their failure to invest financially in the buildings and infrastructure has left the country’s education estate facing immense challenges. 

Now we have a Labour government that has made the decision to launch the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, one that had not really received any scrutiny prior to its launch in December. Like many proposed Acts of Parliament, there is a lot of clearing up being undertaken in its various sections, some of which have the full approval of the profession (and indeed the opposition). For onlookers from the private sector, you will guess correctly that we’ve not been involved in any consultations, despite some of us being very keen! Whilst the ‘puff around the Department for Education’s publicity references that state schools and academies are keen on the changes planned, matters such as restricting uniform to three items, reducing schools abilities to plan for new buildings (down to bike sheds) and perhaps as importantly as any, restricting state schools to using only qualified teachers whatever the school’s core aspirations seems to tie in heads to petty bureaucracy and box ticking at the micro level never imagined to date, and certainly not envisaged by Sir Ken. If you want to read what the state sector’s strictest head thinks of this, you can read Burblesingh’s article in the Spectator here. 

Not just because of the change in US Presidents, almost every bit of the world has been turned upside down and will continue to baffle and frustrate us all. Gaza and Ukraine seem insoluble, Yemen and Sudan unreachable, so it is brave to suggest we can actually plan and provide for our children and future adults pretty well. Human youth and their spirit is always encouraging, often inspirational, and in most schools, we have local examples of ‘Greta Thunberg’ and Malala Yousafzai’ in our midst, warriors and refugees both showing us that there is much hope for the future. Our entire school curriculum across the age range is designed to create curiosity, and in its own way, manages to support children from diverse perspectives for learning, and specialisms are encouraged in so many ways.

What last Friday’s Careers Fair stall holders provided for Years 10 and 12 were appropriate deep dives into their current states of learning. We had 36 exhibitors, a mix of employers, apprenticeship providers, visionary placement agencies for elsewhere in the world, public services and a raft of Colleges and Universities. I visited all the stalls (but not the student workshops that were also run to steer the day to a successful conclusion), and it’s very clear that the world very much remains their oyster. There were pearls to be found everywhere; when the largest British bank, Lloyds, is clearly trying to show that going to Uni is certainly NOT the only destination they’d encourage, when the RAF, police, Cliveden Hotel and college courses locally were swarmed, it’s clear that our young people are being pretty discerning at the ages of 15 and 17!

I am delighted that the University of Cardiff were due to be in attendance (one of two dozen Unis) in part because the enthusiasm of our rowers around the Oxford Brookes stall did need some balancing, and we have lots of Cardiff University Alumni now doing really well out in jobs they could not possibly have imagined after A-levels. Sam MacGregor’s Geography degree was never going to open the doors of Radio 1 for him, but uni provided the vehicle to learn how to broadcast. 

I’ll close with the story of another Cardiffian & Claires Courtier, Jo Beck, who chose Journalism, Culture and Media studies for her BA and then completed her journey into broadcasting by studying for her Master’s. After a starter career at BBC Berkshire, she’s spent the last 4 years with CNN, where she is now both a producer and host for CNN’s “5 Things” podcast. With Pope Francis’s funeral needing to have a suitably sensitive commentary, CNN turned to Jo, and her 10-minute ‘Remembering Pope Francis’ is a great listener’s summary of one amazing human’s life and times. You can listen to that podcast here. As you can see in this review from X, Jo is highly thought of by her audience:

It’s natural for parents and grandparents to worry about what the world has to hold in store for our young children, facing such a troubled landscape as we do. In next week’s blog, I will publicise the 80th Anniversary of VE Day, probably the first ray of sunshine seen by Britons for six years. Post-war society was built on the ruins of the world’s worst conflict, and yet, my own and subsequent generations have enjoyed the most prosperous and healthiest of times. Then, as now, it was the diversity of opportunity that had to be sought for and grasped, and it was certainly a world for all sorts and types. Now, as then, and as so clearly demonstrated by Jo’s approach to her work, we just need to radiate the sunshine and keep looking for the upsides – there’s room in the world for every type and style of learning, and those of us who lead independent schools know we can celebrate that diversity and revel in it every day!

PS 

Here’s Sir Ken’s lecture to teachers on being a teacher – it’s my ‘go-to listen’ when my academic mojo needs stirring! 

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Academic Principal’s Blog 25 April 2025

Posted on 24/04/2025 by jameswilding

Firstly, may I give all of our parents, guardians and supporters a warm welcome back to school for the Summer Term. To those 14 new children and their families joining Claires Court this week, I can assure you of the sincerity behind this introduction, and I look forward to meeting with you somewhere on campus sometime soon. Whilst the world outside remains fraught with complexity and confusion, we have every intention of staying fully focussed to provide the best we can for our children, young people and adults. 

Please read my tribute to the best teacher I have ever had, James Reason, who taught me Psychology at the University of Leicester. Perhaps his greatest claim to fame was his explanation of why things fail, storytelling at its best, using the Swiss Cheese model; a metaphor for analysing and preventing accidents that envisions situations in which multiple vulnerabilities in safety measures – the holes in the cheese – align to create a recipe for tragedy. I do my best to keep many layers in place and reduce the number of holes to the minimum! 

Our regular weekly bulletins aim to provide sufficient information to allow our school community to know what’s happening in the days and weeks to come. We know that if we send out too many communications, these can be overwhelming, but by having different channels of communication, we can not just inform but affirm and celebrate too. That’s why the website news pages and school App are really helpful – when they work! Sadly, all META (for example) has to do is tweak its API and our news may not break through at all, so this does require pretty constant vigilance on our part as those pesky APIs seem to change relentlessly!

The major Parent Teacher celebration this summer is our PTA Cocktails & Canapés event to be held in the magnificent surroundings of Moor Hall in Cookham on Friday 5 June. The ongoing contributions to the PTA via their various fund-raising events and activities continues to support our awards and accelerate our developments and facilities in school. I cannot thank our parents, guardians and staff community enough for their generosity with inspiration, perspiration and (it must be said) money, and to that I add our PTA chairs and trustees, whose stewardship guarantees the funds ‘reach’ the target.

The Easter break, for watchers of Netflix, was dominated by the screening of “Adolescence”, a British television psychological crime drama series centering on a 13-year-old schoolboy, Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) who is arrested after the murder of a girl in his school. It’s no surprise that schools have been focussing on the growing burden placed on our children through their engagement with social media. To meet this specifically at Claires Court, we have refined over many years our twin strategies of “Girls on Board” and “Working with Boys” which have opened up ongoing dialogues with our young people, not just “one offs.” 

In light of the above, I do commend to parents our dedicated health channel, https://clairescourt.uk.schooltv.me, which provides a wealth of support and information for parents. Published today is our Special Report: Social Media & Comparison Culture.

Young people today are growing up in a world where exposure to other people’s lives is constant. Through social media and other platforms, they are regularly presented with curated highlights – from flawless holiday photos and academic milestones to the latest fashion trends and fitness achievements. This continuous stream of idealised content fuels what is known as comparison culture, where self-worth is often measured by how someone stacks up against others.

For children and adolescents, who are still figuring out who they are, this culture can be particularly damaging. Constantly comparing their appearance, achievements, or social standing to friends, influencers, and even strangers can lead to unrealistic expectations and a skewed sense of self-worth. This relentless need to measure up can contribute to feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, and anxiety – undermining both confidence and emotional wellbeing. Here is the link to that special report:

https://clairescourt.uk.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-social-media-comparison-culture

‘Ut Omnes Unum Sint’ – the school motto – declares “Let All be One”. Here’s hoping the highway ‘elves’ remember to keep all the local roads open in school time, because our work is made all the harder by those wretched traffic lights that keep popping up to break the traffic flow! 

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The best teacher I ever had – Professor James Tootle Reason RIP 4 February 2025

Posted on 23/04/2025 by jameswilding

The very nature of Humans is that we make mistakes, and most of the time, not deliberately.

During the early introduction of ejector seats, the list of instructions to the pilot was firmly glued to the canopy. When identifying why pilots were involved in too many errors when using the said emergency escape, the accident investigators pointed out that Step 1 of the instructions, “Release Canopy” was the cause, because not only did the canopy fly off, but so did the rest of the instructions as well!

One of my inspirational teachers at Leicester University was Dr James Reason, who taught the module of Psychology known as ‘Man in Motion’, and because of him I chose in due course to become a teacher too. Just because Mum and Dad were teachers causes many to imagine that I had no choice other than to choose this vocation. The reality is far from that, and it was Dr Reason’s ability to tell stories, make difficult science accessible that gave me the inspiration to do the same, and hence became a  Maths and Science teacher.

Jim moved on to Manchester for a professorship, and amongst other notable achievements, it was his Swiss Cheese Model for the description of accidents that helps explain that accidents will happen only if multiple barriers fail, thus creating a path from an initiating cause all the way to the ultimate, unwanted harms assets, the environment, property and of course human life itself. 

I met Professor Reason much more recently, when his grandchildren joined the junior school, and now the last is completing their A-level studies with us in the Sixth Form. My tribute to James Reason appears now because he passed away on 4 February, having suffered a short illness. He was 86. Such was his fame that the Times newspaper (amongst others) carried his obituary, and his daughter tells me he would have been delighted to have been alive to have read them! Perhaps the best can be found here in the New York Times, which carries a photograph of Jim as I remember him at University or on the CBS news channel live. 

Youtube carries the Professor in action, buying the Swiss cheese in his local shop:

I quote from his obituary – “In the Chernobyl nuclear accident, he identified latent conditions that had been in existence for years: a poorly designed reactor; organizational mismanagement; and inadequate training procedures and supervision for frontline operators, who triggered the catastrophic explosion by making the error of turning off several safety systems at once.” 

“By analyzing hundreds of accidents in aviation, railway travel, medicine and nuclear power, Professor Reason concluded that human errors were usually the byproduct of circumstances — in his case, the cat food was stored near the tea leaves, and the cat had walked in just as he was boiling water, and thus made a cat food cuppa — rather than being caused by careless or malicious behavior.

That was how he arrived at his Swiss cheese model of failure, a metaphor for analyzing and preventing accidents that envisions situations in which multiple vulnerabilities in safety measures — the holes in the cheese — align to create a recipe for tragedy.”

In his own field, Professor Reason was as notable as any in research, and given the inevitable reality that we humans will continue to make errors, his name is worth remembering!

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Academic Principal Review of the Spring Term 2025

Posted on 03/04/2025 by jameswilding

Everyone in school looks forward to the second half of the Spring Term; not only are the dark days of winter behind us, but we still have everyone in full productivity mode, to the extent that this School Principal finds himself invited to all and everything, which is of course a great pleasure. Those who manage my diary remind me that I have work to do as well, hence my absence from some events (the Parent Questionnaire tells me that it was once noticed) for which I will always apologise – the offence was never intended!“Ut Omnes Unum Sint” is the school’s motto, meaning “So that all may be one”, being as we are one school that covers the age range from 2 to 18. Because we are appropriately separated across our three sites for age, stage and gender, providing information that covers all that we do is best left to our social media channels on Facebook, Instagram and our own app. It’s genuinely fair to say that all the year groups are having their day in the sun and not just because of the good weather we’ve enjoyed recently. 

A Term of Growth

This term, we’ve all witnessed extraordinary moments of growth. Our pupils and students  have excelled in the classroom, on the sports fields and water, in creative pursuits and with some great efforts working in the community, making a real difference with their charity work and fundraising. The Claires Court App captures so many moments – from the Nursery exploring how best to use PE equipment to an individual player’s best moments winning the UK county tennis cup for Surrey – to show progression over 16 years! 

Divisional Highlights

The Juniors have been mastering the acquisition of academic skills together; particularly impressive is the obvious and visible joy of reading and writing, re-enacting the Battle of Hastings and so much more. The extended playing fields, swimming now in the open air, use of the new Junior Astro, and performing together quite brilliantly in Bugsy Malone, all go to show just how exciting coming to school is! With the support of the PTA, we have added a Flexi tent to provide both a cover and focus for our summer activities. With other really generous donations, it means that we have already been able to invest in new stage curtains for our drama events with an even better sound system to follow.

Life at Senior School for our young people very quickly grounds them in how to tackle common tasks and challenging coursework, because in whatever way their modes of learning are tested, they will need great research skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with others. Year 7 have just completed their forensic challenge, determining who had stolen the Axolotls (boys) or sports trophies (girls). In terms of what’s gone particularly well, the new Food Studio at Ray Mill Road East and its Technology counterpart at College Avenue have become a major focus in recent weeks, as the various year groups called in staff ‘volunteers’ to test their practicals; thank you for some great breakfasts and evening meals I have enjoyed at school! 

With 166 in our Sixth Form, incredible developments continue apace there as well; for example two of our A-level economics students have now got work at the Bank of England with one taking the opportunity to pursue work experience (and has sat in on the Monetary Policy Committee discussions about bank base rate) whilst the the other has landed an internship there for next year. The photo below shows the new study pavilion opening at the start of next term, acting as a separate examination hall for the summer exams and study and recreation facilities for the rest of the year. Our student leaders have developed specifically close relationships with the Thames Valley Hospice, the plan being to use their ‘upcycling’ skills to furnish the pavilion every summer once the exams are over, introducing them to the joys of setting up living accommodation for university and beyond. 

Looking forward

You, our parents, need to be celebrated too and every year we arrange events to bring as many people together as possible. This year we have ‘Cocktails and Canapés’ at the CIM in Cookham on Friday, 6 June.  This event is organised by the PTA, not just to raise funds, but also to bring the whole parent body together from Nursery to Sixth Form.  We’d love to see as many of you there as possible so to book, please use this link here. 

In short, every division has shone brightly this term. The examples above, and so many more, showcase the depth of talent and commitment here at Claires Court. I will always admit there are bumps in the road, not least caused by the government and its imposition of new taxes and employment levies. I was present outside the Royal Courts of Justice this Tuesday morning to support the parents’ groups and their challenge against the unfair imposition of VAT on tuition fees, as well as to show solidarity to the Independent Schools Council, who are also contesting this appeal on behalf of the 1400 schools it serves. However, I am deeply proud of my colleagues in leadership and more broadly our staff; we have worked tirelessly to foster an environment where academic excellence and personal development go hand in hand, and it’s a joy to see your children thrive as a result. 

Enjoy the coming break—I’ll be reflecting in my blog (www.jameswilding.blog) on Professor James Reason, my Psychology tutor at University, who first taught me that most disasters arise from small issues; he sadly passed away this February and whose grandchildren I still have the privilege to educate, and whose storytelling was inspirational. 

Reminders

  • Summer Term: Begins on Wednesday 23 April 
  • Holiday Club: Book via the Parent Hub.

Thank you for your support, and to our staff for their tireless work. 

Wishing you a joyful Easter!

Warm regards,

James Wilding

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In an era of ‘fake news’ the role of trained and professional journalists has never been more important. Wes Streeting Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, MP for Ilford 

Posted on 28/03/2025 by jameswilding

I will have been one of many millions this week who chose to watch and listen carefully to the Chancellor’s Spring Statement on Wednesday, to glean as best I could what the near and medium term economic future for the country looks like. The pundits reporting on the success or failure of her speech span from “She didn’t spook the markets” through to “If you want to look at a recipe for disaster, that is it.”  Clearly we all wish that Rachel Reeves has got it right, though I know I have to do much more than just keep my fingers crossed!

My headline this week highlights that, even when in power, politicians make the point about the value of political journalism and the need for some objective review by their parties of what Government says it is currently doing.

Rather handily, and it does help me make my point quite nicely, on Wednesday our work at Claires Court featured significantly in the Daily Mail in an article written by the distinguished veteran journalist, Robert Hardman. You can read that article here, and with the online version, I also feature with Harry and Amaya, Junior Head Boy and Head Girl, on the lawn at Ridgeway. The interview was two weeks ago which seems a very long time now, given the ongoing pressures emerging as 2,500 independent schools continue to fathom as best they can the morass of consequences from the changes in taxation law, business rates and national insurance contributions streaming in, without a great deal of sense emanating from central and local government. As example of that, read here this week’s letter sent by ISBA and ISC to James Murray, Exchequer Secretary to HM Treasury, MP for Ealing and on BBC Question time last night, https://schl.cc:443/gO.

Harman’s article is very well written, though the number of schools set to close nationally is now 22 and rising. As a journalist he meets all the criteria that Streeting lists in the quote that leads this blog. The article’s publication arrives just in time as the High Court at the Royal Palace of Justice is to hear the case against the imposition of VAT on education – and the Government’s defence of it – between 1 and 3 April in London.  The action has been lodged by the Independent Schools Council, a parent group, “Education Not Discrimination” and a third group representing faith schools.  The Government is gearing up for a fight, spending tens of thousands of pounds a day to employ four senior barristers (King’s Counsel) to defend their tax, ironically all four privately educated themselves. You can read more about the case here, written up by Tony Perry, the parent who started the battle last spring.

I copy below some of the passage that relates to Claires Court from the news article, published in the Daily Mail on Wednesday, 26 March.  

Britain’s longest-serving school head, James Wilding, is a mine of experience whose advice was frequently sought by previous governments of various administrations. A teacher for 50 years and head for 44, he shows me his thoughtful emails to Ms Philipson’s office both before and since the election, asking for an opportunity to explain how the private sector can work more productively with the State. He eventually received a stock ‘thank you for your correspondence’ reply but nothing more.1

Despite the clear voice I have had on the matters of working with the incoming government for well over 18 months now, it’s not actually diverted my attention from the day job, working in school, engaging with my colleagues and students to maximise the opportunities available to them. At every level over the last 5 days, amazing achievements have occurred, not just #CCMakingHistory for the individuals but collectively and collaboratively engaging with academics, rugby sevens, football tournaments, tennis championships and perhaps above all performing Bugsy Malone at Juniors, the Senior Girl’s dance show and the music making at the Seniors’ concert too. The school’s website and app covers all these successes as the stories break, and Hardman might have actually added more than just Sailing and Tennis to the list of the best things we do! Fast on the heels of the Junior Astro Turf opening, we are seeing the rapid completion of the Sixth Form study pavilion at College in time for the start of the summer term.

I’ve spoken before, and indeed Hardman refers to this in his article, about the importance of partnerships and collaboration. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working in depth with the leading performing Arts school out of London, Redroofs School2 here in Maidenhead, to establish a direct link between what we offer in terms of education, and what they offer in terms of Performing Arts. We are both really excited about the possibilities we are creating for the future, and we are introducing such opportunities to start with next term, with Miss Ellie Mayling joining our staff to extend the range of LAMDA opportunities for Juniors and to support our drama and music work. Our longer term plans are to consider the establishment of both BTEC Performing Arts at Sixth Form, and if possible, a Foundation Arts programme beyond Sixth Form to help students prepare for audition for the most competitive assessments of them all – to ArtsEd, GSA, Guildhall,  Mountview and RADA.

To be in government is clearly the greatest responsibility of them all, and beyond my aspirations certainly. What is important though, if I can misquote Wes Streeting a little, is that “In an era of ‘difficult news’ the role of trained and professional politicians has never been more important.”

And where their training or experience might fall a little short, they need to consider taking the opportunity now, as David Blunkett, David Milliband, Estelle Morris, Charles Clarke and Ruth Kelly did during their time at the Department of Education to work with our sector. Blunkett and Millband were incredibly talented and committed politicians to the cause of Education. Many of Blunkett’s reforms are still with us, the Literacy and Numeracy hours, his focus on SureStart to raise standards for EYFS and his expansion of Higher Education recognisably attracting many of the most talented students from across the world to the UK. Now Baron Blunkett, he does admit that perhaps the Labour Party’s mistake in office in 1997 was to abolish the Assisted Places scheme, through which children whose families could not afford private school fees could nevertheless be supported by government subsidy to access the opportunities available in such schools. 

Next week sees the Spring term close, with all the excitement that comes with the forthcoming Easter holidays beyond. The Royal Courts of Justice may spend a very busy three days hearing the arguments for and against the discrimination case brought against the government. As Parliament is sovereign, if the government loses the argument, the Court will send the matter back to Parliament to resolve, and the actions required to align two centuries and more of education legislation setting it apart from government influence (and thus exempt from taxation) will take some sorting out. In the meantime, this seasoned, trained and professional school Principal will do his best to ensure that Claires Court children and young people continue to flourish, making the most of all the opportunities they can.

1 During the Blair-Brown years, both DfE and the Labour government genuinely lived out the ‘Education, Education, Education’ mantra. Over this 12 year period, I was regularly invited to work with the government of the day, representing ISA in my capacity from time to time as the National Chair of our Association, the Chair of Inspections and the Chair of Professional Development. We were asked to contribute in every way we could to partnerships and cross-sector collaboration, and yet despite this ‘cost’ we were given complete respect by Labour politicians then in power.

2 Claires Court Alumni whose skills in Performing Arts were honed at Redroofs include Gary Russell (70s), Adam Stafford (80s), Lee Martin (stage name Mathieson – 90s), Allie Bastien (00s) to name but 4. 

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“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Attr. Albert Einstein

Posted on 20/03/2025 by jameswilding

Whether the inventor of 20th-century physics actually said the above is of course neither here nor there. What’s true to understand is that ‘if we are what we repeatedly do’, then it’s best we as humans don’t keep doing that thing otherwise World War 3 is just around the corner. Oops, I didn’t write that. Einstein’s contribution to modern Physics is quite extraordinary, in so far as he invented it, single-handedly, either on a chalkboard as shown, or using only pen and pencil. Einstein was a true genius, and there are few men and women we can actually say that about. We commemorate his contribution to the world via the award of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. However, Albert himself appreciated the genius of Marie Curie for winning 2 Nobel Prizes, Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911 – the answers for our problems he argued as follows: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them”.

Once again, it’s time for all that lead Claires Court in its various enterprises to take stock of what we have been able to achieve over the last 12 months, both by asking our parents and guardians how they feel we have done formally through the annual questionnaire and through the regular meetings of our parent/teacher committees and through their AGM take stock there as well. The whole purpose of our questioning approach to our work is to ensure we take the best as victories, learn from the failures too as best we can, and work with our staff, parents and pupils to adapt and change our plans to adapt and flex for the future that lies ahead. In short, I am pleased to report that the outcomes are really very positive

Interested parties can read the summary of our Parental Feedback here – link. Both the Principals and Heads have held follow-up meetings with those giving constructive feedback, and we appreciate that those sessions are held with our duty of candour on display. Schools cannot get everything right for all parties all the time, and as the Academic Principal, I can honestly say that what catches us out most often are ‘events dear boy, events’, as Prime Minister Harold MacMillan made so clear over 60 years ago. The same is true for most leaders and organisations. Events Happen. When they do a lot of things are at stake: lives, livelihoods, reputation. Last year, we had due cause to celebrate the very positive outcomes achieved from the visit by the Independent Schools Inspectorate, whilst at the time we were having to manage the closure of Cookham Bridge and the chaos that brought to arrivals and departures across the schools.

This year’s questionnaire captured parental views during the midst of the storm caused by the implementation of 20% VAT on school fees, whilst capturing a range of views on everything from facilities for Food & Nutrition, Design & Technology and Computer Science to Car Parking, Friendships and Gender matters. Given the age spread of the school, stretching from 2 to 19 for pupils and from 18 to 80+ for staff, parents & guardians, it’s a pretty complex Venn diagram of comments that we get to study, review and provide solutions for. As Academic Principal, I am currently working really hard (informed as best I can through my position as a Google Certified Innovator) to see how we can plan for the education of future generations through Claires Court by making the best use of AI, implementing technology changes both sensibly and rapidly, and yet providing for our children to be able to ‘go off grid’ and have a smart-phone free childhood.

In my leadership career, I have learned how to navigate through changes that include

  • removing corporal punishment as a sanction, let alone as a tool to improve learning;
  • forbidding the use of tobacco, whilst still endemic in the adult population;
  • changing young people’s attitudes to alcohol, weapons and fireworks, all considered suitable souvenirs to be brought back from school trips in Europe.

All 3 were of course issues of the last century, long since departed from any school development plan this side of the millennium! Of course I jest, yet it is noticeable that times are changing without what is now popularly referred to as ‘Impact Assessments’. When every motor car now seems to occupy a footprint 30% or more bigger than its predecessor, brought upon us by the need for yet more airbags, passenger protection and EV propulsion units. The last building I personally oversaw (before legislation changed) was 20 years ago, that being the construction of the Juniors’ Sports Hall, car parking and access road at Ridgeway which required just 3 professional documents from the school, the 4th being a summary of the correspondence with regards to the planning application and the approval certificate itself. The recent construction of the MUGA has to date required over 50 professional reports, taken 3 times as long and I haven’t yet completed achieving appropriate permission for the planting of 34 suitable trees as part of the Eco-diversity net gain plans. We know the lunatics have taken over the asylum when no consideration at all can be given to the planting of over 5000 trees we caused 3 years ago as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee!

It takes such a long time now to acquire planning permissions, and at such a cost, that we have to embark upon the process as being part of a wish list, not actually something we can afford to do as a school with so many additional financial burdens being placed on both school and parents by budgetary changes by the government without due consideration as to the consequences. It is here where the growth and activity of the PTA, its charitable foundation and the work of its trustees and local chairs have been of immense benefit over many years, particularly now as they publish their accounts which show over the past 2 years adding well over £300,000 into the school’s economic activities. At their AGM on Friday 7 March, their current President and Chair of Trustees, Phyllis Avery MBE, made it abundantly clear just how dynamic and vibrant the association’s work continues to be. You can read her full report here and view Treasurer Simon Ball’s financial report to the AGM here.

Steve Rider managed the formal opening for the new Astroturf for Juniors really well, commentating on the various activities by young and old with all the aplomb of a seasoned sports journalist. As he made clear during the hour or so of activities, the new facility will do so much more for the range of other users we are now encouraging to be part of what we do across the schools. Over the next few months, without reducing opportunities for our own, we expect more than a thousand local children, young people and adults from the wider Maidenhead area will be visiting and paying their way to ensure the facilities in the longer term are able to be renewed and refreshed. One of the specific requirements for Sport England’s approval of our sporting developments is that our community partners are asked to contribute sufficiently in this way, which is very helpful in many ways. It certainly makes it clear that RBWM expects its community to be active and assist itself in staying healthy and well, and that schools such as Claires Court should not carry that burden alone.

Where we can do better next year, we sincerely hope we will. We can’t put everything right overnight, yet I will do my best still to ensure where we can we will. The wider political climate still is dire for education, health, care, welfare, business, the wider economy and world peace even, but as best we can at Claires Court, we will continue to celebrate that children can enjoy their childhood within our nurturing environment and at every level. Just today I have seen postings on the Year 2 footballers over in Henley at Rupert House, whilst actors and musicians alike are getting ready for Bugsy Malone and the Senior Music concerts next week. The Spring Term is coming to a fitting conclusion it seems with the sun shining and the warmth that comes with it cheering us on. Long may that continue, though Albert Einstein had something to say about that as well:

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