Teaching was at the core of my existence for over ten years. I worked in several ‘challenging’ comprehensives in London and Plymouth, teaching English, Drama, Media and Film. I was particularly interested in approaching education holistically, creatively and democratically, leading initiatives across the curriculum (which dovetailed with my Master of Teaching degree) and sitting on the Senior Leadership Teams of two schools.

Although I am not currently teaching I most certainly have not left the world of education behind. I am a governor at my local secondary school and have recently been appointed to Ofqual’s panel of external experts.

I keep a close eye on developments in the world of education, both from the perspective of an educationalist and a parent, and blog about anything that gives me pause to ponder. You can read some of those posts below.

Why setting children by ability does more harm than good

Why anyone has to be better than Gove

Why schools fining ‘bad parents’ is a really, really bad idea

Why schools need to do what they know is right (just don’t tell Gove)

Resisting the ‘inevitable’

Why the DfE is wrong to dismiss OCR’s new English A-Level as ‘rubbish’

Why we need to lay off the tests and give our children space to learn 

Why Gove getting down with the kids really gets my goat

Comprehensive, creative and democratic: my three wishes for education

Why we should not ignore teachers’ ever-increasing workloads

Why ‘passivity’ in our learners is most definitely something to be criticised

Why all this talk of character and resilience education is totally topsy-turvy 

Why more time at school is not the answer

Why private school’s not all it’s cracked up to be