Category: Head’s Blog

3rd December 21

Disappointment comes in many guises. It strikes at painful times. Even on Christmas Night, if Santa has a problem with his reindeer. Acceptance of setbacks is a major clause in the grammar of education. Of course, the only way to avoid disappointment is not to harbour hopes; not to attempt to get better; not to…

19th November 21

I may have forgotten to wear odd socks at the very start of the week, but I still remember this message from my childhood: “If you can’t find something nice to say to somebody, then don’t say anything at all.” In a week when we have concentrated on being kind to one another, this old-fashioned…

12th November 21

When an important Humanities topic was brought vividly to life this week, it allowed us to get a real sense of life in bygone Britain. We may already have known that, when it was discovered in the village of Hammerwich near Lichfield just 12 years ago, the Staffordshire Hoard was the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon…

5th November 21

Back in the day, any youngster seeking stardom needed to come armed with a sickly smile, two pigtails or a pair of very pushy parents. Preferably all three. I am talking of a time when ‘Wayne’ was a surname prefaced by ‘John’, and not a given name followed by ‘Rooney’. Thankfully, the world has moved…

15th October 21

I have a confession to make: when Mrs Ayub told me that ‘her’ children were going to hear Karl Nova speak, I was left completely in the dark. That may be because Karl deals in rap lyricism and hip hop, rhythm and poetry. Not among my strong suits – especially the first two! Mr Nova’s…

8th October 21

Blue Coat? Nothing quite so monochrome! We went really vivid this week – and the school became a kaleidoscope of colour. Green came into focus (symbolically, at least) as we tackled the concept of envy and jealousy. Reddish-brown filled many a table as some of our youngsters got their hands busy moulding clay. Earth pigments…

1st October 21

Queues on the garage forecourts, incessant rain, temperatures dropping through the floor, a rare white deer shot down on Merseyside, The United States shooting us down in Wisconsin. What a miserable week it has been! It’s almost enough to make you envious of the humble tortoise. With the dismal weather, and a natural loss of…

24th September 21

A friend of mine has just returned from Buckinghamshire, where he went specifically to visit the Roald Dahl Museum in Great Missenden. He tells me that the experience was ‘delightful’. Dahl himself would probably have invented a new word to describe the museum tour: after all, during decades of working in his shed at the…

17th September 21

As we reach the end of Week Two, it feels as if we have never been away. The children have quickly settled into life at BCS under the excellent guidance of the staff. ‘In loco parentis’, teachers are, of course, significant role models for all our children. This term they will be reinforcing the importance…

14th July 21

Honoured Guest, Chair of Governors, Governors, Ladies and Gentlemen and every member of The Blue Coat community. A very warm welcome this evening to our annual celebration of the academic year just finishing; a time both to reflect and to look ahead.  This is a day of firsts and lasts. It is one of the…