Reflections on a post I wrote last week while up in the North East. Yesterday was a day I met myself in so many ways. Being back in the North East, where I was born and spent my earliest formative years reconnects me to my earliest sense of being. I don’t always have the key…
I came across a poem and the extended metaphor just struck a chord with me today, on Key Stage 2 SATs results day.I was once told that my job rested on that one set of results , that if they weren’t better than the year before I was done. I cried with relief when I…
Boundless adjective unlimited or immense. Learning abstract noun the acquisition of knowledge or skills through study, experience, or being taught. My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet When I…
My foundational purpose as an educator has been ensuring that emotional intelligence( EQ) and emotional literacy is embedded at the heart of everything and leading learning, so that effective cognition is facilitated, thus deep and connected learning develops, and that the whole ethos of a school , or classroom, is focused on balancing secure sense…
‘Stories were different though: they came alive in the telling. Without a human voice to read them aloud, or a pair of wide eyes following them by torch light beneath a blanket, they had no real existence in our world. They were like seeds in the beak of a bird, waiting to fall to earth,…
At the end of the academic year, many people will be reflecting and considering their hopes for the Summer, and looking to their next steps. As a former Headteacher, I’m only too aware of the transitional feel of the last week of term ( which is this week in Leicestershire). It’s also the 23rd anniversary…
I’m engaging in some learning of my own at the moment. I’m at another stage of evolution in this Boundless adventure, and reflecting on some of my amber and red lights, in the words of Matthew McConaughey. It’s taken me back to some words I wrote a little while ago about play… Sometimes, and certainly…
I’ve had a roller coaster of a 10 days. Two days before Mothers’ day ( a day I find both challenging and beautiful since I lost Mum and subsequently ,the best friend who used to help me through Mothers’ day following her loss) I received a letter from the NHS summoning me to hospital following…
There is a constant voice speaking to me about transformation, about connection and about refueling. My mantra for this year is playful curiosity. To me, this was about growing into my role, about exploration of possibility, but also in terms of the versatility of my leadership journey. I was reminded of my key values, and…
The clear bead at the center changes everything. There are no edges to my loving now. I’ve heard it said there’s a window that opens from one mind to another, but if there’s no wall, there’s no need for fitting the window, or the latch. RUMI This poem arrived on the last day of a…