I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the opposition’s Education Policy announcement ‘Teaching the Basics Brilliantly’. In a nutshell, after some rhetoric about how our system is failing students, they’ve outlined the following. What is ‘Teaching the Basics Brilliantly’ 1. An hour each on Reading, Writing and Maths each day – share best practice guidance…
Leadership Playlist – Chasing the Covid Blues Away
Here in Aotearoa, New Zealand, it is the end of Term One, and we are on our Easter holiday break. Term One has been long. Not just because it was an eleven-week term, but because it coincided with the Omicron outbreak. Week three felt like week thirty and the end of term could not come…
Calming the Chaos: Part 1 – Leadership Learnings
Leadership during complex and tricky times requires more of us as leaders. It is a time where we need to dig a little deeper, tap into reserves we often do not know we have, and sometimes we need to learn new ways of operating. The last few months have been like nothing I have ever…
Welcome to FSIOK!
Kia ora Finally, I have made the shift from Blogger to WP. If you are new to my blog, welcome. If you have been wondering when you would see a new post, welcome back, and thank you for your patience. It has been a bit of a journey! It has taken a global pandemic to…
The Tomorrow’s School Review – A Quiet Optimism – Part One
‘Why are you in such a bad mood?’ ‘Experience!’ Lord Berric to the Hound, in Game of Thrones. Todays post outlines some of my reflections on the TSR, and to be clear, they are wonderings that I have personally. I wear a number of hats in the educational world, which include sitting on a number of…
School Choice – You Are Not Everyone’s Cup of Tea
You are not everyone’s cup of tea – and this is ok! Today when I was scrolling my social media feeds, I came across a meme called ‘you’re not everyone’s cup of tea’ and I started to think about how this applied to school choice and that it is ok if your school is not everyone’s…
There is Trouble Brewing on the Horizon
Please note – this is a longer post than I anticipated so feel free to skim the bolded bits I began writing this as we drove through (stress not, I was a passenger) the leafy green suburbs of Vancouver.Vancouver you ask? Long story – I will fill you in another time as there is indeed…
Intuitive Assessment, Teacher Agency and Being a Disobedient Educator – Part 2
At the beginning of term three, my SLT (Senior Leadership Team) and I provided our teaching team with the opportunity to be a little ‘disobedient’ and to try something a little different and unconventional in relation to assessment. You can read the blog post that outlines the process and background as to why and how,…
Intuitive Assessment, Teacher Agency and Being a Disobedient Educator – Part 1
I have been thinking, wondering and considering various innovations around assessment. It has been sparked in part by a request that was made in a closed leadership environment on social media by another principal, and by the timely words in the latest hit book about education, which is currently going viral in New Zealand, Disobedient…
When Your Blog Goes On Sabbatical! (6 Reasons to do it)
I have been a little quiet of late. To clarify (before those of you who know me personally start piping up to argue the ‘quiet’ bit) I mean quiet on the blog writing front. I am not going to jump into a whole pile of excuses and blame it on being busy, because I am…