Blog
Last Tango in Halifax. A post in praise of Head Teachers, with help from John Hegley, John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett and Kate and Caroline.
Date posted: Friday 7th November 2014
Ms Jill McCann?
For a number of years (four) I worked in a large town, leading a small team that supported the education of children from the Traveller community. We worked with families who lived on the permanent Travellers’ site, families who were no longer mobile but now ‘settled’ in housing, and children who visited the town with travelling fairgrounds (Showmen) and circuses. Our main priority was supporting Traveller families who suddenly arrived in town and illegally parked their caravans on waste ground or on industrial estates, in public parks and sometimes literally by the side of the road. We enjoyed our work, which involved finding places for the children in local schools and supporting the staff to meet the children’s needs. (more…)
Helping children who are anxious about talking. With help from Stevie Wonder, Play for Change, and The Woodcraft Folk!
Date posted: Saturday 25th October 2014
For most of the 1990s I was involved with a brilliant group for children and teenagers called The Woodcraft Folk. Woodcraft is a national organisation that believes in cooperation and helping boys and girls to enjoy the outdoors. Our group used to go hiking and camping as often as possible, and in the early summer we would spend a special weekend at a local campsite, learning about pitching tents, collecting wood, building a fire and cooking outdoors. On Saturday night everyone would meet around the campfire and sing songs and act out sketches that the children had been making up and practicing throughout the day. (more…)
Breaking Bad, or Break Like the Wind? An adventure with a vanload of resources for training, with help from The Incredible String Band, Morrissey, Bonnie Raitt, Heisenberg and 20 bags of coffee grounds from Starbucks!
Date posted: Friday 10th October 2014
Werner Heisenberg?
Now you may have observed if you walk into a wall
You get a certain sensation of reality
The Incredible String Band: Puppet Song
When I’m ‘on tour’ across the UK I have two main fears: that I’m going to get a flat tyre or get searched by Customs. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got nothing to hide. It’s just that my van is always stuffed to the gills with resources to use on my training courses, and when I lead activities with staff and children in nurseries as part of my ‘on the job training’. It takes me the best part of a day at home in France to get everything ready, and to make sure that all my kit fits in. I’ve got a Citroen Berlingo, and the spare tyre is in a totally inaccessible place under the floor, so if I get a flat then most of the resources end up on the side of the hard shoulder while I scrabble around trying to work out how to release the spare wheel.
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Ça plane por moi! Or how to help children who are learning a second language. With help from Plastic Bertrand and The Boss Hoss!
Date posted: Tuesday 30th September 2014
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I am ze King of ze Divan/ Ooh ooh ooh ooh
Plastic Bertrand: Ca Plane Pour Moi
In 1978 many people in the UK were ignorant about Belgium. A popular joke went like this:
Can you name three famous Belgians?
No? How about Hercule Poirot, Tin Tin and Hertz Van Rental?
In that same year Margaret Thatcher was leader of the Conservative party, who at the time were Her Majesty’s Opposition. We couldn’t have imagined it then, but a few years later Maggie would be Prime Minister, and life in Britain would never be the same again. The Conservatives of late have become divided about whether the UK being part of the European Union is a good idea or not. In 1978 the Shadow Cabinet was very clear about the EU: certain influences from continental Europe were eating away at the very fabric of British society. The most serious European threat- and particularly to our youth- came from Belgium. He was called Plastic Bertrand, and he was a punk. (more…)
A tale of tight trousers: or talking about what you know. With help from Led Zeppelin, Guns N’ Roses and a nurse with ‘O’ Level biology.
Date posted: Friday 19th September 2014
Doo doo doo doo dooh! Robert Plant in his prime
Led Zeppelin. What do these words mean to you? I suspect if you are under 50 or have never been a teenage boy, then not a great deal. But in 1974 (when I was a teenage boy) this band ruled the world. And most boys of my age wanted to be like either singer Robert Plant or guitarist Jimmy Page. (We didn’t aspire to be like drummer John ’Bonzo’ Bonham, as he was a bit pudgy, had a dodgy tash and was usually photographed in the middle of a 10-minute drum solo and dripping in sweat- not a good look. Nobody knew what John Paul Jones looked like as he was the bass player-nuff said.) (more…)
Every breath you take: or the origins of, and remedies for, bad breath. With help from Michael McIntyre, The Police and The Corrs!
Date posted: Monday 15th September 2014
 Berlin: breathtaking? |
 The Corrs: leaving you breathless? |
Before you read any further, please join me in an experiment. I’d like you to lick the inside of your wrist (left or right, it doesn’t matter). Now wait for five seconds and smell it. Apparently, that’s what your breath smells like at this very moment. (I forgot to mention that you should check whether anyone is watching first.) Now let’s move on. (more…)
The real ‘Fifth Beatle’? On death and dying and saying ‘Goodbye’
Date posted: Friday 5th September 2014
So It Goes: a play about speaking about the unspeakable, without saying anything
In all my posts I try to say something funny about communication and link everything to classic tunes from the 1960s and 70s. However, I’m not one to make jokes about people dying or the grief that is felt by those left behind. And just for once I’m going to use the post to shamelessly advertise someone else’s work. (more…)
I hear the dribble of Lorraine: or what’s wrong with being quiet or an introvert? With help from Paul Simon, Eva Cassidy, Susan Cain, The Ramones, the Clash and the Specials!!
Date posted: Thursday 17th July 2014
 Paul Simon and Kathy Chitty on the cover of Simon’s first album. |
 Paul and Arty: matching jumpers. Arty: slightly creepy persona? |
I hear the drizzle of the rain/ Like a memory it falls/ Soft and warm continuing/Tapping on my roof and walls.
Paul Simon: Kathy’s Song
I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with Simon and Garfunkel: while most of the boys I knew at school loved them, I hated their guts. It’s not really anything to do with Paul Simon’s mawkish lyrics or Art Garfunkel’s oh-so-pure voice and slightly creepy persona, but more about the negative association their songs quickly built up in my little 10-year-old mind as I was being walloped. (more…)
Being a quiet and sensitive child. With help from Black Sabbath, The Who, The Beatles, Elton John and Lesley Duncan!
Date posted: Saturday 12th July 2014
When I was a boy I was often found sitting on my own somewhere. Actually, I was often not found, because I was quite keen to be undisturbed. I think I was OK, but I enjoyed having time to think big thoughts. One day, aged seven, I was lying under the big tree in the garden, wearing my favourite shoes for the last time. They had become too painful to wear, because my feet had grown. There I lay, looking up into the branches, wondering about whether my mum would be able to find me an identical pair of shoes. Suddenly my reverie was broken by a rustling in the trees. My dad later explained to me, as he washed my hair, that in some parts of the world what had happened to me is considered to be a sign of good luck. (more…)
How many claps in the theme song for FRIENDS? Or how music, memory, language and wellbeing are powerfully entwined. With help from The Allman Brothers Band, Iggle Piggle, Mr Tumble, James May and the cast of FRIENDS!
Date posted: Thursday 3rd July 2014
 The Allman Brothers Band, Knebworth 20.7.2014 |
 Knebworth 20.7.2014: Where’s Jonesy? |
They say that if you can remember the 1960s then you couldn’t have been there. I was a teenager throughout the 70s and remember it all as if it were yesterday. Actually that’s not quite true- the afternoon and evening of 20th July 1974 are a complete blank. (more…)