Four weeks ago, on a Friday afternoon, I received a text saying the government had dumped me. After three and a half of years of head-to-head battle with the department for education over some free school documents – including endless … Read More
I received a phone call last week from a scam artist. It was obvious from pretty early on that he was going to pretend I had a bunch of computer problems and then either sell me a really expensive download to … Read More
Yesterday I went to a concert with my other half. It started about 4pm. Five minutes after we arrived the row in front, behind and to our left filled up with young people who looked like they'd been imported in from … Read More
A single rule plagues the land of blogging: White’s Law - The number of people who read your work is usually inverse to either (a) time spent on it, or (b) your level of pride about it. So every year I write a … Read More
Another Christmas Eve, another Education Secretary's Reading List. Over the first months of the year I kept my usual notes of what Gove might be reading. And then he left us! Nightmare. Nevertheless, do not fear, the reading list has been revised … Read More
Two common complaints: From 'the public' - "Women aren't asked as often as men to sit on panels, speak at events, write expert columns, etc..." From commissioning editors - "Women are harder to find" Question is: why are they harder to find? A weird … Read More
The 'lack of wanting to be clever' problem is something anyone working in classrooms will encounter. One of the things I learned to ask disaffected students was: what would you have to sacrifice if you suddenly did really well, academically speaking? This is … Read More
Michael Gove has been hiding lately. Could it be that he has run out of steam and is looking for another job? Or perhaps he is out back reading a few more books? This time last year he was busy … Read More
99% of the time, I forget I am a woman. At least, I think about it no more than I think about my being short, or Northern, or a Leeds Rhino fan. Other people might think about it. And because … Read More
A couple of weeks ago I spent a few days in New York meeting people involved in education. The result of what I found is described in my latest LKMCo post here: What If Everything You Thought About Education Was … Read More