First of All...

First of all, many thanks to a professional photographer friend of mine who runs her own blog and inspired me to do the same. I use the term friend in the social networking sense; I haven’t seen her face to face since high school. However, and despite the distance of the Atlantic Ocean between us (me in London, her in our native New Jersey), she has known me for 44 years; when I sat next to her in Mrs Lemke’s First Grade classroom. I remember wanting desperately to be the fastest reader in the class but she was easily quicker. She would have safely accounted for Dick and Jane’s missing red balloon before I had even managed to rouse Tag the dog from the porch.

HEAD LINES. OK, not the most original but it seems a reasonable description of what this blog could evolve into, if only in that our careers define us as people. I am the Head Teacher (principal) of a large primary (elementary) school in London. My current posting is my fourth headship in our capital’s schools. I am drawn to dysfunctional schools; learning communities that are broken and need fixing. Schools that are waiting for a fat Yank riding in on a white horse like Hoss in Bonanza. And when the job is done, the townsfolk gather to watch the wannabe cowboy ride to the edge of town and on into the sunset; to the next place in need of saving.

My other is life is as a husband and father of five children. We live in a cramped flat in the heart of London’s Theatreland. My wife is a local girl; a modern cockney.

To readers, this blog will aim to reflect the daily frustrations, humour and hopefully warmth that permeate a life in service to others.

To me, it will hopefully be a cathartic exercise in stress relief. 

Keep The Faith,

The Head