About

Until 2018, I was a head of a primary school on the west flank of Milton Keynes in the UK. Before that I did a similar job for over 8 years in a wonderful school in Shropshire, which taught me the value of bringing my faith in Jesus Christ into a largely secular setting. Before that, in 2002, I was the acting head of a small school in Shropshire for two terms, but left prior to the predicted coronary! Over the years, I have learnt tons from people in the profession, especially in Europe, and especially in the early years.

I trained as a teacher at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth in 1993-4 and taught firstly in the Swansea Valley and then north of Telford before getting into headship.

Before all that happened I followed my first passion and worked as a geologist in South Africa. After completing a Masters degree at the University of the Western Cape in ore petrology and structural geology, I spent 3 years working in mining geology and then went back to academic earth sciences at the University of Cape Town  (doctoral research in metamorphic petrology and mineral geochemistry). Married (one amazing wife). 4 amazing kids – and now 4 beautiful grandchildren. We came back to the UK in 1991, and to a change of direction.

These days I am getting interested more in the theology of education, and in what is it that church schools could do that would align them less with the current orthodoxy and more with biblical views on human flourishing, the nature of community and the purpose of learning, as part of the mission of the gospel. For some reason, I have registered for another doctorate to focus on all this – and am currently studying at Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln.

At the beginning of 2021, I was appointed Senior Lecturer in Primary Education at the University of East London, so I can keep on serving teachers. I have been a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching since 2019, and a member since 2017.

So, this blog is a place to explore all sorts of issues around education and Christian faith, as well as art, gardening, music and the natural world. I am trying to bring some sort of Christian perspective, above all, on the more destructive and backward-looking parts of the current educational debate. It is vital that our children grow up in freedom and community, able to become deep thinkers and not regurgitators, but also aware that faith and reason are partners in learning. The spiritual and educational health of our children and young people is deeply contested both by the current administration and its detractors, and by more unseen forces at work in our society. It is a battle for all of us to fight.

Let me know what you think.

The header pictures on this website are all from Milton Keynes. Those who live here will recognise some of them. Those who don’t may be inspired to visit our modern, beautiful city.