Author Archives: Joe Kirby

Imagine working for an organisation where there are no annual performance meetings, no bureaucracy, where you do not need permission to take time off, and where the expense policy is just five words long: ‘act in our best interest’. Imagine … Continue reading →

“Education made Shakespeare what he was” Soul of the Age: Life, Mind and World: Jonathan Bate ‘with his Tiger’s heart wrapped in a player’s hide … Shakes-scene’ Robert Greene, Shakespeare’s contemporary “Shakespeare’s schooling provided an excellent resource for the future … Continue reading →

What can we learn from a top private school? King’s College School Wimbledon is one of the most academically successful schools in the world. 96% of pupils achieve A*-A at GCSE, and 41 pupils gained A*s in every one of … Continue reading →

The Signal Sharpens If felt like in 2016 the signal sharpened. The education blogosphere improved its curation of quality posts. This is mainly thanks to Andrew Old’s work on the Echo Chamber. In 2015, 6,000 blogposts were published (over 100 … Continue reading →

Remember like an elephant I’ve always loved mnemonics. One of the first ones I learned was for the points of the compass, clockwise: Naughty Elephants Squirt Water. Why does it work so well to help young children remember? I think … Continue reading →

Our school, Michaela, has very, very high standards. We expect every pupil to arrive at school on time every day, and we expect 100% attendance. We expect every pupil to arrive in school fully equipped for learning. We expect every … Continue reading →

One of the best questions from the Michaela Battle Hymn event was: ‘how would you draw the distinction between authority and authoritarian?’ It is a vital distinction, and one that must be disentangled rather than conflated.   My definition of … Continue reading →

“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say you did not know.” William Wilberforce 1791 Reading Tom Bennett’s book about behaviour, based on his many years of writing for the TES about misbehaviour in … Continue reading →

  ‘Isn’t is nice when things just… work?’ One of the most memorable advertisements of the last decade was the beautiful arc and elusive sequence of the Honda machine. Somehow, it was deeply satisfying to watch. It captured the elegant … Continue reading →

A provocation? Incontrovertible? Iconoclastic? A landmark? This November, we are publishing our book, Battle Hymn of The Tiger Teachers. Here is what 20 visitors to the school (and readers of an early draft) say about the book:   “An engrossing … Continue reading →