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Headmaster's Blog
It is always comforting to know that a policy developed by Clifton Hall, and very much one that flew in the face of conventional wisdom, has been proven to be an educationally sound one. Today’s... I am sitting at my desk listening to the statement from Nicola Sturgeon regarding education and am shaking my head in utter bewilderment. Let me say from the outset that I have been fairly vocal... The Kafkaesque surveillance of our schools: Walter Humes As Scottish schools re-opened last week after the summer holidays, a rather unusual event took place. Amid the excitement of the start of the new session, a dissident voice was... Published, in full, The Herald, Thursday 14th August 2014 Do you remember the old adage about your school experience as being ‘the best days of your life’? I do, and they were. What I remember... Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement that from 2018 all new Head Teachers will require to have passed a Masters’ Qualification in Headship is an interesting move. She insists that having ‘the best qualified’ people in charge will... Published, The Scotsman, 12 November 2013 Sir John Major’s assertion that “it is ‘truly shocking’ that the private-school educated and affluent middle class still run Britain”, certainly resonates with me. I completely understand why there... Published as an Interview, Scotland on Sunday, October 13th, 2013 Published as an Interview, Daily Mail, Monday October 14th, 2013 Published in whole, Edinburgh Evening News, Tuesday October 15th, 2013 The issue of homework... Local authorities in Scotland, and particularly the one in Edinburgh, are currently encouraging fewer deferrals amongst our youngest pupils who are earmarked for going into Primary 1 in August. There has been a significant push... Published as an interview, The Scotsman, Tuesday 7th May 2013 ‘For more than 30 years, primary schools have been in the habit of grouping children according to ability. So, in almost every primary up and... Published as an interview, The Scotsman, Friday, 10th January, 2013 I am becoming a little concerned about the use of the word ‘bullying’ and all the negative connotations that word naturally evokes. There seems to... 
