Makenzie, belief and the hard miles

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The Knowledge Debate: an anecdote about my embrassing brush with a music superstar and why children need to acquire knowledge

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The story you are about to read is true (I really wish it wasn't); it involves my chance meeting with one of my musical heroes in a motorway service station which led to a moment of such utter and complete cringeworthy embarrassment that I still get the sweats every time I hear him on the radio (which is every Sunday). I wonder whether he would remember the moment a random bloke repeatedly questioned his knowledge about HIS OWN SONGS and argued the toss after he was kind enough to stop and chat. I call this story 'The Curse of the Music Streaming Service'... Back in the late noughties, I was the fairly new head teacher of a large urban primary school in East Manchester and, along with some colleagues, I was taking a group of year 6 children down to an activity holiday in London. Partway down the M6 motorway we decided to pull in at a service station (again) to allow the kids to visit the toilet (again) as they weren't allowed to use the loo on the coach (what is it abou...
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Autumn Glory and Appraisal: in praise of the scenery proppers as well as the show stoppers.

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I live in the Scottish Highlands and, at this time of year, I'm surrounded by the sh owy and delicate glory of spectacular autumn colours. The incredible tapestry of reds, golds, ochres and yellows of the birches, rowans and beeches etc make for a truly breathtaking vision. However, what people tend to notice less are the evergreens; the tall understated beauty of the pines and the firs which create the perfect counterpoint to all the other astonishing colours. Something even more wonderful is created when the astonishing autumn colours are punctuated by the straightlined shadows that are the native conifers, standing throughout the year in dark relief against this seasonal technicolour display. Unbelievably, staring at this incredible palette of colour made me think about appraisal (I know, I know). The autumn term is all about appraisal for school leaders. For so long, so many schools have persisted with systems that glorify data, the showy highlights of the end-of-year numbers t...
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