Jan 12, 2025 | Business, Leadership, Partnerships, Professional development, Science, Updates
10 year anniversary blog – what I’ve loved and learned about being a freelance consultant, and some tips for anyone considering a similar move. “What are you prepared to give up in order to have what you truly want?” This question changed my life. It was on a wall calendar in 2013 and prompted my move away from classroom-based teaching towards consultancy, with considerable soul-searching along the way. In short, it launched Astin Consulting which last term, unbelievably, celebrated its 10th birthday. So what did I give up? A...
Sep 2, 2024 | Business, Partnerships, Primary, Professional development, Secondary, Updates
My 17 year-old son came home from school last term with the (presumably AI-generated) results of his careers questionnaire. He’s not really sure what he wants to be when he grows up, maybe designer or diplomat. Though right now it’s all about more immediate university and gap year decisions. So, what did the careers questionnaire reveal as his top two profile matches? Circus performer or head of state. Yup. Those two well-known ‘careers’. Needless to say this has generated considerable family hilarity – both the...
Oct 19, 2022 | Business, Communication, Leadership, Partnerships, Primary, Professional development, Science, Secondary, Updates
This is an article based on a talk given at the WomenEd Global Unconference on Saturday 1st October 2022 by Christina Astin (Chair of Planet Possibility), Marilyn Comrie (Director of The Blair Project) and Olivia Keenan (SEPnet and QMUL). Some young people, including girls, are put off studying physics because of misconceived stereotypes. Planet Possibility is a consortium working to change this, radically. Read on to find out what we are doing and how education leaders can be part of the solution. In this article we want...
Jun 28, 2018 | Business, Updates
One year ago, six schools and a university in East Kent agreed to do together what we could not do alone. A year into the partnership and over thirty events later, what have we learned? This article has grown from a talk we gave twice to gratifyingly large audiences at the Schools Together Group conference in York in May 2018. We were pleasantly surprised that so many schools were interested to see what can be achieved in a year and are delighted to share our experiences if it helps others considering doing something similar....
