Are We There Yet?
02-08-2021
Not so long ago I was reminded of a time when I was working with a group of excluded 14-year-olds. As an outsider, I often find that children and young people will open up to me more readily than someone working inside the system. Although it breaks my heart when they look to me for solutions I am powerless to provide.
Childcare Expo Article
21-09-2019
I wrote this blogpost for Childcare Expo last year, and as I currently have lots of work in infant schools, it seemed timely to give it another airing:
How Can We Use Creative and Performative Techniques in the Classroom?
On the surface, there may not seem to be a particularly obvious correlation between the working life of a professional performer and that of an EYFS practitioner, but the similarities are there. Our Statutory Framework lays down three different ways that children learn: playing and exploring; active learning; and creating and thinking critically - not just characteristics of effective teaching and learning, but essentials in the toolkit of any performer!
Best Days of your Life?
17-08-2019
So it's time to start thinking about the school year that lies ahead for our little darlings. How well do you remember your own school days? What are the things you remember most powerfully? Do you feel in touch with your own childhood? Does the remembering make you feel good or bad?
Create, Perform, Teach!
13-07-2019
It was only a month or so after my publishers and I decided on the title for my book that I realised it pretty much summed up my entire working life. I am passionate about these three things, and most passionate of all about the places where they conjoin.
Teach the Arts to Overcome Robot OverLords!
23-03-2019
Following on from last week’s blogpost, I’d like to draw your attention to a speech given by Jack Ma at the World Economic Forum last year.
Jack (also known as Ma Yun) is one of China’s most successful, powerful, wealthy and philanthropic business leaders who lectures widely about how to, in his own words, “help more people to make healthy money, 'sustainable money,' money that is not only good for themselves but also good for the society. That's the transformation we are aiming to make.”
