1. Your Excellency, Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic, Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces and Patron of the Head of State Award Scheme – Ghana, 2. Your Royal Highness, Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex and Chairman of The Duke of Edinburgh Award’s Foundation. 4. Hon. Ministers 5. Trustees, Fellows and The International Council,…
“Soft skills” are in the news at the moment. A quick Google search for media articles on the subject comes up with about 164,000 results. LinkedIn defines them as the skills that are “less tangible and harder to quantify, such as etiquette, getting along with others, listening and engaging in small talk.” Soft skills are…
It’s the beginning of the school year, in England at least. 50 years ago, I was just starting school at Eaton House, on Eaton Square in Westminster – the same pre-prep school as Bear Grylls, as it happens, though he was there some time after me. My uniform included a green blazer, green cap and…
They sharpened their pencils when they were 7. They sucked on the ends of their Berol handwriting pens in the summer of their last year of primary school. Today, thousands of sixteen-year-olds in England are getting the results to their GCSEs. If you know someone who’s going to be making that trip to school to…
This year’s theme for International Youth Day is “Safe Spaces for Youth”. It’s a timely reminder to us all in the education and youth sectors worldwide that we have a responsibility to work in partnership with young people to ensure that they can develop and thrive in environments that are free from discrimination, harassment, or…
I’m updating this post as the story plays out. Scroll down to see the latest developments… 31st July 2018 Dear Turkish Airlines, On the evening of the 30th July, your agents at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul refused to check me on to my return flight to the UK (Flight 1987). The reason they gave…
Gosh, it was hot in London this afternoon. But, so far, we haven’t seen the temperatures and drought of the summer of 1976. In 1976, there were 15 consecutive days when temperatures reached 32C (89.6F) or higher somewhere in the UK, according to the Met Office. We haven’t managed that yet. As I sat in St…
For all my teacher friends, whether finishing their first year in the classroom or their thirty-first… Have a wonderful summer holiday. I Didn’t Know I didn’t know that years of school and a university degree would be of little consolation when facing a room full of bright little eyes on the first day of school….
If you missed the first installment, read this first: johnccmay.net/the-disgraceful-behaviour-of-green-star-energy/ Green Star Energy. Here’s where we’ve got to (in the company’s words): “As you discussed, Joanne (the CEO) instigated a full end to end review of what happened and as a result we have a clear and defined plan to not only address what happened…
This evening, I am probably more angry than I have ever been in my life. My mother turns 80 this year. She is active, feisty, articulate and, I am reliably informed, the Devil to beat at bridge. A leading print and broadcast journalist in her younger days, she broadcasts on Radio Gloucestershire regularly with Dominic Cotter….