A Principal's view

I was standing at the school gate on Thursday, doing what I’ve done for fifty years and counting — watching children arrive — when I noticed something that stopped me mid-thought. A line of Year 8s, games bags on backs, walking in a tight little knot, and not one of them talking to another. Six thumbs, six screens, six separate worlds, all occupying the same six feet of pavement. Nobody bumped…

The header shows our Junior playing fields set out for Sports Day; as ever, a welcoming place for all sports, summer or winter!This week’s news that the Department for Education is scrapping the £320 million PE and Sport Premium in favour of a new “partnerships network” will, understandably, be met with some anxiety across the profession. No one can ever welcome a cut in funding, and school…

There’s a scene I still enjoy teaching, every time I get the chance: Macbeth, told he’s safe until Birnam Wood marches against him, treats the prophecy as a kind of cosmic permission slip — an impossibility dressed up as a guarantee. Forests don’t walk. And then, of course, they do; not by magic, but because an army cuts down branches and carries them, and what looked fixed and immovable turns…

This week, as thousands of England fans have poured into stadiums across the USA — with reports of up to 15,000 Three Lions supporters turning out in Dallas to watch England beat Croatia 4-2 in their first game in the 2026, a historic line in the sand has been drawn back home. With the government’s landmark announcement legally banning social media for children under the age of 16, the public…

When principals, teachers, parents and children turned up for work at our Junior school on Friday, two deputy heads were on welcome duty at the gate, as you can see. On the left is Mrs Lindsay King, Deputy Head and to the right is Mrs Chantal Hankin, Deputy Head Lower Juniors & Nursery. As you can see from the kit, Mrs Hanking is wearing the current England Hockey kit, ready to play in the 4…

I have copied below the article published on the Christian Concern website, in which they give the remarkable news that the stoicism of the campaigners supported by the Christian Legal Centre has paid off. In short, the Law Lords have permitted the appeal to the Supreme Court on the matter of the blanket imposition of VAT on private school fees. Permission to appeal to the Supreme Court is…

Pip: There’s a version of civilisation that runs on broadcast rights and wage bills, and another that runs on hay bales, after-match pints, and children learning to fall over without crying. james wilding has been thinking hard about which one actually holds. Mara: This episode sits inside that tension — community infrastructure, the economics of survival, and what it takes to keep the lights on…

Over the 15 years I’ve been blogging, I’ve covered everything from the small & trivial to the earth-shattering and society-shaping that individuals have caused. When I posted about Will Greenwood’s work last month, https://jameswilding.blog/2026/05/08/the-cracked-pot-the-heart-of-the-game/, I’d become increasingly aware of the fragility of the professional game. The professional rugby model is…

The following post is written in response to the Governments much stated ambition to rapidly adopt AI and become a world leader in AI.  With ChatGPT now at version 5.5 — and entire articles being written wholly by GPT-5 with zero human input — the integration of Artificial Intelligence into the classroom is no longer a dystopian prospect or sci-fi gimmick. It is a reality fundamentally reshaping…

When my wife Jenny and I entered teaching in 1975, the choice was both deliberate and happenstance. I was the son of David and Josephine Wilding, who met at Kings College London when undergraduates studying History, who entered teaching as a career in the early fifties. They determined to set up their own Prep School, found a property called Claires Court in Maidenhead and opened for business in…

The Cracked Pot* is a famous fable about a water bearer with two pots—one perfect, one cracked—who carries water daily. The cracked pot feels ashamed of leaking half its load until the bearer reveals it watered seeds planted along the path, creating beautiful flowers. It teaches that flaws can create beauty, urging acceptance of imperfections. One of the opportunities I have always loved about…

In the quiet rhythm of a good school, you can often sense when things are working as they should. A teacher adjusts the work to the child in front of them — stretching one pupil who is racing ahead, gently supporting another who needs more time. The lesson flows. Confidence grows. Character is quietly formed through effort and modest success. Yet for decades, this natural rhythm has too often…

As I write this, the air in the halls of Claires Court has shifted. It is late April 2026, and the “stratosphere” of school life feels particularly charged. For our Year 13s, the countdown has reached its final sequence. Next week, the familiar rhythm of the school bell will be replaced by the quiet, intense focus of study leave. I found myself standing before them this morning—joined by our…

“Evening all,” as Dixon of Dock Green used to say. It is a strange and wonderful thing to be an in-service Principal leaning back to watch a younger, more talented generation lead your school toward a bright new future. The Handover Passing the baton to Christine Cunniffe and the team at Claires Court in the early Spring of 2026 has been a strategic necessity. While it successfully shielded a…

During this Easter break from the routines of school life, I’ve managed at last to catch up on some private reading and reconnect with what’s happening in the wider world.My goodness, what a sobering contrast it presents. With the terrifying war continuing to grind on in Ukraine and the Middle East now in flames following the choice of Trump and Netanyahu to take on Iran and their allies, and our…

Here in the United Kingdom in 2026, education centres are rapidly moving from the cold, dank days of winter with what now feels like lightning speed. With spring sunshine abounding, the mood can’t help but be optimistic for the future beyond the Easter break. In school and our wider town, the shorts are out, the sculls on the river, the rollers flattening the cricket squares, there’s a smile on…

Reflecting on the milestone year to date of 2026, I find myself looking at the long arc of my journey alongside Claires Court. Earlier this year, I shared thoughts on “Making the Magic Happen”—observing those quiet, vital moments in our classrooms. More recently, in “Fifty Years and Counting,” I looked back at the evolution of leadership and pedagogy, mindful of the foundations laid by those who…