Category Archives: Schools

The Wrong Sort of Child

Posted on June 26, 2018 by suecowley

Do not apply to come to our school If you cannot comply with every rule And if your child has SEND We’re not the place for them to be. There’s another school just up the road And we don’t plan … Continue reading →

Posted in Compliance, Education, Expectations, Schools, Selection | 9 Comments

Working with the Enemy

Posted on April 6, 2017 by suecowley

I have a confession to make. I have taken my children out of school for educational reasons. Personally I’d never do it just ‘to go on a holiday’, especially not to Disneyland (which they’d hate anyway). Even though we have … Continue reading →

Posted in Parents, Schools, Teachers | 2 Comments

Eyes of a Child

Posted on January 13, 2017 by suecowley

“A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.” Groucho Marx You are drifting along the canals of Amsterdam, gazing out of the windows at the houseboats that line the banks. Outside the windows … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Parenting, Schools | Leave a comment

Tear Down the Wall

Posted on February 16, 2016 by suecowley

I was thirteen years old in 1979, when Pink Floyd’s double album “The Wall” came out. When my friends and I first heard “Another Brick in the Wall”, we didn’t need to ask what Pink Floyd meant by “no dark … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Children, Schools | 2 Comments

Shame on You

Posted on January 29, 2016 by suecowley

This week there was a story in the news about a school where the head teacher wrote a letter to parents, politely asking them to stop dropping off their children in the mornings while still wearing their pyjamas. Only a … Continue reading →

Posted in Parents, Schools | 13 Comments

Hate Will Tear Us Apart

Posted on May 12, 2015 by suecowley

I guess it was inevitable that an Election defeat would be followed by a period of brow-beating, on the part of the politically minded. I’m not a member of the Labour Party, but their philosophy is just about the closest … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Schools | 1 Comment

Knowledge: The First Five Years

Posted on February 17, 2015 by suecowley

When I was born I didn’t know much I knew how to scream And I knew how to touch. I didn’t know who All the big people were My eyes didn’t focus My world was a blur. But now five … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Knowledge, Learning, Play, Schools | 4 Comments

Not Enough Kittens

Posted on December 8, 2014 by suecowley

Perhaps it’s just me, but it feels as though the language, attitudes and rhetoric around education are going through a peculiarly masculine phase. Grit, resilience, DIRT, rigour: there’s definitely a lack of fluffy kitten type words such as empathy, kindness, … Continue reading →

Posted in Schools | 4 Comments

Ask Sam

Posted on October 22, 2014 by suecowley

Yesterday, the new Childcare Minister Sam Gymiah gave a speech to Policy Exchange about how he sees the future of childcare, and why he wants more schools to offer childcare provision for two-year-olds. At the moment, the school sector makes … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Early Years, Schools | 8 Comments

Sledgehammer

Posted on July 27, 2014 by suecowley

At first glance it is hard to question. A policy that all children should be in school during all of term time. Very well done, Mr Gove. Back up your policy with a fine, have a focus on attendance in … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Flexibility, Government, Schools | Leave a comment