Posted 20/01/2021

As a teacher of English, I spend the vast majority of my time reading, writing, and thinking about other people’s words. Therefore, when reflecting on my first term as a newly qualified teacher at the Fulham Boys School, I turned to literature. I thought about Shakespeare. I thought about Austen. I thought about Virginia Woolf. But, eventually, I settled on Dickens. The following quotations - the opening lines of some of his most famous pieces of writing - seemed to me to sum up what teaching has taught me thus far… It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. - A Tale of Two Cities 1st September 2020. The best of times: the beginning of an exciting new chapter. The worst of times: beginning this chapter in the midst of a global pandemic. The challenges I faced starting out in teaching in 2020 were unprecedented; the rewards have been unimaginable. Lesson: There is always a silver lining.

Posted 11/01/2021

January has always been my least favourite month. Christmas is over, the summer is millions of miles away, it’s cold and dark, and getting out of bed, let alone onto my bike to cycle to work, takes all I can muster up of that old ‘can do attitude’. And that’s a normal January. A January during the best of times. January 2021 is not normal. And definitely not during the best of times. So how do we get through January 2021 and beyond? Let me suggest ten things.