Exploring the heart and soul of school communities — Recently, I attended a principal’s tour of a new local school because the time has come to enrol our kindergartener in “big school”. As you might expect, the brand-new buildings were impressive, the furniture immaculate, and the attention to detail shown was first class. The luxury of this new school…

What kind of problems do we want? — A radically student-centered classroom doesn’t have fewer problems than a more traditional approach, it just has better problems. Better problems revolve around community building, social justice, and purpose finding. They are rooted in developing trust and agency and choice instead of mindless compliance and distrust. …

Exploring Acceptance, Access, Abundance and Attention — When students returned to our classroom from a COVID-19 enforced change to how and where we do school, I asked what they enjoyed most about doing school from home. The answers, not surprisingly for middle schoolers, mostly centred around sleeping in! …

Reflecting on a year of writing with a creative, highly capable group of year 4 children — This is a guest blog post from one of the best educators I know. I’ve been pestering Victoria Edwards for several years to let me publish some of her reflections, I’m thrilled to do so here— Abe. Writing is an ongoing process and children need the time and space to…

A letter to the class of 2020 from the class of 2019 — Dear New Kid, Prepare to enter a world where you get to take serious responsibility for your learning. You will need to forget everything you think you know about school. In this class, YOU drive your learning, not the teacher. Perhaps the most important thing you need to understand is…

Four simple tips for primary teachers chasing the work/life balance unicorn — When time becomes scarce, teachers are usually asked to pick their guilt trip: ignoring work, family, or their health and wellbeing. The ‘teaching as a vocation’ narrative suggests the best teachers are willing to sacrifice their personal time and health because ‘great teachers take extra time to do it right’…

We ARE capable of taking charge of our learning — This is a guest post from a year 6 student in my class. His contribution to Project Reimaginate was quite incredible, and his drive and work ethic are unmatched in my time as a primary school teacher. I’m happy to be able to share his story here. I’m a kid…

Why we should “Let The Children Play” — “The future prepared for is a long way off; plenty of time will intervene before it becomes a present. Why be in a hurry about getting ready for it?” — John Dewey, Democracy and Education (1916) There is a growing misconception that giving a child the best start in life…

Snapped at the end of a gruelling month in which we barely saw the inside of our classroom, this photo sums up the colossal effort it took… — Snapped at the end of a gruelling month in which we barely saw the inside of our classroom, this photo sums up the colossal effort it took for 25 children and a few adults to completely reimagine where and how children play at our school. Our project’s mission was to…