Aug 13
Unsurprisingly, I really, really enjoy engaging with people who are relentlessly, strongly, determinedly optimistic, and it was therefore a joy to hear the author Malorie Blackman in conversation at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Sunday. She was talking about her latest book in the Noughts and Crosses series – Crossfire – although she ranged …
Aug 01
If you are in Edinburgh before 22 September 2019, do consider visiting the Bridget Riley exhibition in the Royal Scottish Academy (part of the Royal Scottish Galleries) at the foot of the Mound. Impressive, and beautifully situated across 10 rooms, her work seems to come alive in front of your eyes – a testament to …
Jul 29
It was an enormous privilege to meet, talk with, and then hear speak, one of the great old Headmasters of our age, Shomie Das, at the World Leading Schools Conference in Prague recently. What a life he has led! And what lessons we can learn from it! From a highly educated family, steeped in the …
Jul 22
It was a huge pleasure this past weekend to chair one of the panels at the World Leading Schools’ Association (WLSA) in Prague, and I want to say an enormous thank you to my wonderful fellow panellists: Teresa Blake (Director of Social and Emotional Learning – Positive Education at Appleby College, Canada), Michelle Quinton (School …
Jul 15
For a number of reasons, which would take too long to explain just at the moment, I have recently been researching and learning a lot more about autism in girls, and I have a number of observations. First, there really is an inequality in how autism is understood in girls when compared to how it …
Jul 09
If you have followed this blog over a number of years, then you will know that my movie-watching habits are limited to occasions when I travel on long haul flights. I cannot claim, therefore, to be anywhere approaching a seasoned critic or an aficionado, but I do usually find one or more films which make …
Jun 25
I recently picked up a secondhand copy of Padraig O’Sullivan’s book on coaching for expat leaders – ‘Foreigner in Charge’ – and although he wasn’t writing specifically about international school leaders, he might as well have been; his insights into the process that leaders go through when they move to new roles in new countries …
Jun 18
I spent time last week in a brilliant library – Double Bay Library in Woollahra, Sydney, and the experience was too good not to share. I had to find somewhere to dial into a board meeting in Hong Kong, and so I was on the hunt for good WiFi in the area – which indeed …
Jun 11
A great day last Friday at the AIS Leadership Centre in Sydney, working with new Principals on how to enable their schools to become world leaders in the field of global education. It was gratifying to receive 5/5 ratings from all the participants (thank you!), but what really uplifted me were the ‘lightbulb moments’ that …
May 14
Two very different events which I attended at the end of last week in Edinburgh ended with a very similar message about the importance of getting to know the people around us, and I thought this was worth reflecting on for a moment. The first event was a session on diversity – and, specifically, how …