laurence ferrigan

so 007 is now an Amazon product. It's over folks, it's all over. Thankfully Sir Rog and Sir Sean aren't around to see it.

"Civil war is inevitable". I think the dubious individual who described the UK in those terms was actually talking about their own (adopted) nation - judging by the unprecedented attempt at dismantling the rule of law that's going on in Washington right now

And you had the added bonus of our star HLP pupil !

Sounds exactly like the approach we take at Haringey Learning Partnership, which is changing lives in one of London's most disadvantaged boroughs. Perhaps this Government will appreciate the importance of well run AP schools and support them.

Despite the doom & gloom & icy weather- there are always reasons to be cheerful;
1- one of our ex-pupils gave a star performance speaking at the IncludEd 2025 conference
2- Bannon attacking Musk, a week after Musk attacking Farage
3- We live in a country where there's a No Trousers on the Tube day

Gromit v Feathers McGraw stands alongside Holmes and Moriarty and Bond v Blofeld as one of the great screen rivalries.

Watching the scoreline at Anfield, after seeing Gladiator 2 recently, i'm reminded of the saying that 'All Empires Fall'.
Tomorrow off to see Conclave. Can't help wondering if Stanley Tucci will break off from papal intrigue with Ralph Fiennes to talk about a sumptious pasta he tasted recently.

taking students to the Sky Up programme at Sky Studios and finding out this morning that India's bowlers have torn through the Aussie batsmen

Hard to find a comparison for this RFK appointment- but imagine if Andrew Wakefield had been made Health Secretary back in the day.

Tell me about it - spending so much time doing assessments for SEN children that mainstream schools have ignored , sometimes even up to year 11.

Went up to see family and friends in Cambridge, and take in Cambridge Utd v Barnsley.A stirring League 1 encounter and a great atmosphere. There was a lad a couple of seats away who was probably neurodivergent- he kept all us entertained with his commentary & was having the time of his life-joyous.

So how many millionaires are flying out of Heathrow today, after that 'terrible' budget which gave money to schools, hospitals and lower paid workers ?[ how shocking ! ] Has that plumber bloke from Pimlico gone yet ?

RIP Dame Maggie Smith. Truly one of THE great actors of her generation. These days she'll be remembered mainly for Downton and Potter, but do check out her earlier film work; especially Jean Brodie, and two fine comedies with Michael Palin- The Missionary and A Private Function.

Headline in the Guardian about Ormiston MAT going phone free. We have been doing it in our AP school for several years. There are still multiple issues caused by 'GC's' (group chats) etc outside school but during school hours the learning space is calm . Should be a national policy.

People's love of quizzes and trivia shows there is indeed a deep appreciation of knowledge for its own sake . I find many students lack a cultural hinterland and building up wider knowledge of the arts, history and politics outside of the restrictions of curriculum is surely a good thing

I am of an era where there were a number of teachers like Hector (in more ways than one sadly) and where we had the late but not particularly lamented General Studies course.
I do believe there is room for a course /sessions where students can do some freestyle learning and just have fun ...

yep, had my first and only one a few months back. I'm not usually claustrophobic but it was bloody uncomfortable . Your Mum deserved that brandy -probably 2 or 3.

Huw Edwards, Jermaine Jenas and now Jay Blades. The BBC will be running out of presenters soon. What is going on - Aren't there any blokes there who know how to behave ?

it was Chancellor Osborne who froze the payments from 2016 to 2020 though, a period where inflation rose by about 8%. Inflation from 2016 till now is about 33%- basic rate of income support has risen by 23% , a significant gap

That's 14 years of austerity for you

So Liam Gallagher doesn't care much about fans having to pay extortionate ticket prices. What a huge surprise ..not. Well he knows what he can do with his reunion

Also, no one from AP as far as I can see , which is a ridiculous omission. However, we have worked with Tracey Campbell and she is extremely competent.

Emotional Intelligence features and sentence threads

What I love about this infographic by Sean McPheat, is not only is it visually appealing and covers the core areas of #EmotionalIntelligence but it also gives great sentence threads. Ideal for leaders who want to develop these areas & support their staff. #TalkSavvy #CommunicationSkills #Leadership

YouTube video by John Barry - Topic Wednesday's Child (From "The Quiller Memorandum")

Meanwhile it's Friday & time for a film theme.
John Barry is famed for Bond themes such as Goldfinger but wrote many other soundtracks.
Wednesday's Child was written for a 60s spy movie, The Quiller Memorandum, with George Segal & the late Sir Alec Guinness.Enjoy.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa2x...

Lost learning at record high: School exclusions continue to rise, especially among poor, study shows Those who get free school meals are nearly five times more likely to be permanently excluded and four times more likely to be suspended than their peers.

Nice to get some recognition. Our school featured on Sky News this week. Exclusions and suspensions are growing yet again so it's good to see the problem being highlighted on national media #thisisAP
news.sky.com/story/lost-l...

Ann Marie Christian | Bringing Safeguarding to Life Safeguarding consultant, speaker and author Ann Marie inspires and motivates organisations in keeping children and adults safe.

Inset day 2 today and the annual Safeguarding update. Our Keynote speaker was Ann Marie Christian who was excellent. Check out her website annmariechristian.com.

Be More Alfred! (Let Batman be Batman) A couple of weeks ago I read a fab blogpost by @thatboycanteach, he was encouraging teachers to be more Batman. Whilst I wholeheartedly agreed with the concept, one flaw struck me: For Batman to be Ba...

My first blog that anyone read.

All about Servant Leadership and how we need to create a climate to help our teachers be great. Feels like a lifetime ago.
Thanks @aidansevers.bsky.social for encouraging me to write 8 years ago. You gave me a voice. smithsmm.wordpress.com/2016/10/08/b...

Every school should have an Alfred Pennyworth- i probably qualify as ours, not through any great insight, but just accumulated anno domini. Excellent post

On a lighter note, a cinematic post. I've spent some time re-watching old Batman movies. I was always a Bale man , but- dare i say it- is Keaton superior ? What a hugely underrated film Batman Returns is - brilliant ensemble playing by MK, De Vito, Walken and Michelle Pfeiffer's superb Catwoman.

What a week. Great fun with our summer camp for local kids, incredible exam performance from our AP students and then Charlton round it off with a 2-0 victory , making it 3 wins from 3 and no goals conceded. Can't complain .