Words and ideas can change the world

Hello King’s, it’s great to be here.

I love this image from the iconic film Dead Poets’ Society. It marks the magically spontaneous moment when the pupils of starchy Welton Academy suddenly and unwontedly break free from their previous strictures and hoist John Keating (played by Robin Williams) triumphantly up into the Vermont dusk.

Having inspired his pupils to revel in their learning and implored them to embrace their passions and follow their own paths in life, Keating made an early and formative impact on my choice of career back in the late 80s and remains a wonderful blue-print for the very best teachers today. I have tried to emulate Keating’s approach in every school I have worked in and it remains a foundation stone of my educational philosophy.          

Whilst I am not sure these words will change the world, I am really looking forward to sharing my thoughts, ideas and reflections with you via HEADlines which I hope to post every three weeks or so. Most will have educational slants and relate to various aspects of life at King’s and I hope that a fair few, in time, will be written by guests; students, staff and other members of the King’s community.      

Although I hope to inform, engage and entertain with these posts, the one thing I will remain deadly serious about is the exceptional quality of education that we will provide for all King’s pupils. So let me spell out my fundamental educational beliefs.

Firstly, it’s a given that the pupils will always be our main priority. That’s pretty straightforward. Allied to such a pupil focus, I also believe that schools should be essentially concerned with making the very most of each individual so that they can go on to live happy and successful lives that matter to the world we live in. Finally for now, I have always believed that learning at school, in all its forms, should be enjoyable and stimulating. I want King’s pupils to smile when they remember their time at school (for all the right reasons!).    

John Keating got it, urging his students to ‘seize the day and make your lives extraordinary’.    There’ll be more about my educational philosophy in the weeks to come. In the meantime, I am delighted to say the term has got off to a cracking start following our fantastic A level and GCSE results (wonderful to see us in The Times’ top 50 schools in the UK) and that I am hugely looking forward to making a big difference at King’s, particularly to the experiences of the pupils but also to its staff, parents, alumni and the broader Chester community.

Hold on to your hats!

Picture Reference :

No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.

John Keating, Dead Poets’ Society (1989)