Like many of us working in the field of education or working in schools in the UK, I have been reflecting with deep sadness about the death of headteacher Ruth Perry this week. Discussion of her passing has involved an understanding that she was under intense pressure having had her work leading a school scrutinised by an external inspection body.

It was Mother’s Day in the UK last weekend but I have been firmly focused on fatherhood research this week. An old friend from university is about to become a first-time dad in his late forties and understandably, is keen to rapidly educate himself about doing the best for his baby.‘What book should I buy?’, he texted. “What do I need to know about being a dad and how to be a good one?”

Who hasn’t been touched, inspired or motivated by the extraordinary story of Professor Jason Arday? At 37, he is the youngest Black person ever appointed to a professorship at Cambridge University. He works in the field of sociology within the Faculty of Education where his academic interests will centre on race, inequality and education.

Last Saturday, I had every intention of spending the day shopping; an activity that I view as a form of relaxation and as a means of taking my mind off the working week. However, this time I paused before I headed out, remembering a podcast interview that I recently recorded with Dr Verity Jones, and thought twice about my consumption!

Last week, I had the good fortune to be invited to Harrow School to deliver a talk to Heads of an International Coalition of Boys’ Schools on ‘Contemporary Issues Affecting Teenage Boys’. There, I enjoyed some wonderful conversations with colleagues, but the highlight of the day was a private tour of this 450 year old educational institution.

My social media threads currently seem to be full of accounts of children enjoying themselves; family ski holidays abroad, school and sports’ trips, and half-term visits to interesting places in their local area. During the pandemic, our ability to explore was severely limited, so there is a particular joy in witnessing children venturing off with their peers and teachers. For some this will have been their first time away from home.

Last week, I made a brief return to my home town of Belfast in Northern Ireland to deliver a series of talks. The first was to a group of parent employees in a bank, the second was to over 200 eleven year olds and the third, a talk for teens. The latter session addressed the topic of performance anxiety, which people at all ages and stages can suffer from. However, for adolescents, typically sensitive to peer judgement, the prospect of putting their hand up in class or presenting in front of their peers can be particularly daunting.

Who or what can influence and inspire our children as they grow and develop? Who can inspire us as adults and why? How can we support our children to reach their physical potential when there are so many digital temptations to stay inside and on the sofa? What difference can one person make in shaping our children’s decisions about their futures? These were some of the questions I was mulling over last week, before a series of interviews with elite athletes.

‘Safer Internet Day’ will soon be upon us in Britain; a title that always irks me somewhat, mainly because it implies that we can teach children to be safe online in the same way that we might instruct them on matters like road safety. This is an attractive but simplistic analogy, which fails to take into account the expanse and complexity of the online world. It also implies there is a clear cut, evergreen set of rules to follow, and that, once you know them, you’ll be ok. This is far from the case.

The New Year nearly always means having to tolerate conversations about transformative change, resolutions and goal-setting. For those determined to set goals and to meet them, I am full of admiration.