Meditate often on the swiftness with which all that exists and is coming into being is swept by us and carried away (Marcus Aurelius)

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Change is constant.

Recently, I heard a friend say, "I hate change".

To me, that is like saying, "I hate life", because change is constant. To get upset by change is to wrongly assume that stability is possible.

Schools are incredibly unstable places - every period is different, the students are different each day (not just behaviourally, but physically, and academically). The periods change at the end of every hour. There's a change-over and a new set of students arrives. Every day is different. In schools people come and people go constantly. Every year staff come and go, every student advances to a new year level. We are in a constant state of flux in a school.

No man steps in the same river twice (Heraclitus) - because the river has changed and so has the man.

I am in the process of a change to a new school. I am mindful that every school is different. I embrace that idea and I am excited by the prospect of having to learn new ways, meet new people, teach new students. That gives me a strong sense of purpose.

Some of my students and colleagues may have struggled to understand why I have changed schools. I loved my job, why would I change?

My former head of department said in his farewell speech to me that - at this point, "Warren has earned the right to go and do whatever he wants to".

I embrace the idea that everything is change, and in the end, it doesn't really matter because I can't control change. Yes, I made a conscious decision and applied to a different school, but I didn't control the outcome. Events have conspired to indicate that the time is right to change to a different place.

At this point, it feels right to go with that flow.

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe (Marilyn vos Savant)

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Next year I am taking the Purdzilla Show across town to a new school - Iona College.

I am very aware that scrutiny will be high (plenty of first impressions) and the need for relationship building will be at the forefront of my thoughts once again. 

I will also be observing, careful not to weigh in with my opinions too quickly. No one likes a clever Trevor, do they?

The above quote from Marilyn vos Savant is spot on - I will be studying, definitely, but mostly I will be observing the culture; looking for all of those unspoken rules that underlie what is done around a school.

It will be fascinating to compare the Woodford Way to the Iona Way. I was introduced to the concept of 'Sits' recently - this is the name for the year level common rooms at Iona. Fabulous. I'll be keen to observe how they operate.

My antennae will be on high twitch mode in my first weeks of next term as I begin my induction into the Iona Way.

The results you achieve will be in direct proportion to the effort you apply (Denis Waitley)

This week marks the end of my time on the staff at Hastings Boys' High School. It's been real!

Thanksgiving was last week in America and I have a lot to thank Hastings Boys' for.

Thanks for the opportunity to get back into the classroom full-time. It's what I needed.

Thanks to the boys I've taught for their warm acceptance and generosity. I'm going to miss the handshakes and the playful sass. It's been fun.

Thanks to my colleagues on the staff - akina! respect! I've loved working in the English/maths block with people who have become friends. We've shared many laughs!

This week, it will be, as Robbie Robertson says at the end of The Last Waltz: Thank you, goodnight, goodbye.

I am a cage, in search of a bird (Franz Kafka)

In New Zealand, at the moment, our Ministry of Education seems to make stuff up in the morning and announce it later that day on TV news.

Earlier this year, Erica Stanford (our Minister of Education) announced via the media that AI was being used in marking students' scripts for literacy and numeracy credits in NCEA. Who knew? It was never discussed. Apparently, we are world leaders in this, according to Erica. Did I miss something in the fine print? If I did, so did all of my colleagues at school. This has now been accepted as fact.  

Recently, we found out via an official notice and the media at the time that the government was eliminating NCEA. Did I miss the consultation on this as well? Nope. 

Seems Erica will listen to a few Principals when they agree with her, but ignore all the noise from an opposing viewpoint.

Now school boards of trustees are no longer legally required to consider the Treaty of Waitangi ("give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi" in Ministry speak). Where did this come from? It has a strong whiff of David Seymour and his ACT party about it. NZ voters did us no favours lumping us with his smarminess.

Luckily, school boards have a lot more sense than Erica and they are rejecting this instruction in droves. I am proud that Hastings Boys' High School is amongst the schools that are posting letters on social media indicating they'll ignore this nonsense.

Two weeks ago, I attended a Kafkaesque curriculum information session during a Teacher Only Day. We (a hundred or so English teachers) were told by ministry promulgators that 'we don't know what the curriculum will look like [in the senior school], but you should prepare for it anyway'. I laughed. They were serious. The day was given to us by the government to consider the curriculum.  

We live in strange times when quasi government officials join us in the fog, government ministers use Trump's chaos theory to rule us, policy is announced via the media, teachers and nurses and doctors and firefighters have to strike to have any kind of voice, and National supporters wonder what all the fuss is about.

Could we please have some consistency (improve NCEA/don't junk it), normal routines (meaningful consultancy) and order (not chaos) restored to NZ educational practices.

That isn't too much to ask for, is it?

In a school carried on by sheer cruelty, whether it is presided over by a dunce or not, there is not likely to be much learnt (Charles Dickens in David Copperfield))

TV One news 18th November 2025: David Seymour is asked, "Isn't it possible to do both, you can uphold the treaty while also still prioritising academic achievement?" 

His response, "Well actually if you do one thing by definition you can't do another thing at the same time."

Woh. Genius! Standing ovation!

So, it's one thing and that one thing is academic achievement. Full stop. And quite right too!!

It's about time someone like DS spoke the truth.

According to David Seymour (the associate Minister of Education, thank goodness) you can't, by definition, do two things at once.

So, if it's academic achievement full stop - extra-curricular activities must cease, right?

That means getting rid of any activity at a school pursued in addition to the normal course of study. Because, 'you can't do another thing at the same time'. 

That means no music, no sport (NCEA PE is safe for now), no clubs, no cultural activities, no games (debating would be fine but no chess), no fringe hobby subjects like cooking and the like, no art. 

The popular saying - all work and no play makes David a dull boy would have to go, and about time.

Far too many resources, far too much teacher time, and loads of precious student time is spent away from class on sport in New Zealand. Just academic achievement. What an enlightened view - NZ will once again be the envy of the world! Let's make NZ great again!!

I fully support this sincere attempt to bring back a Dickensian style school system.

Oh, and here's an idea - while you're at it Mr Seymour - let's bring back the birch!

True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country (Kurt Vonnegut Jr)

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Each school I have worked in has been its own unique world. More accurately, each school has been like a different country.

Each with its own borders, cultures, languages, government, traditions, dress, rituals, and routines.

There are leaders, and an overall leader. There are financial controllers, and there are people to be governed.

When you leave one country and travel to another one, there are protocols to observe.

Schools are endlessly fascinating places. 

Politicians don't really get that. They think every school is the same; they think teachers are all the same; they think students are all the same. They think parents are all the same. 

So, they devise curriculums and rules that are standardised and homogenous. For them - in an effort to control, they think one size fits all.

That's a fatal flaw in their thinking.

Won't you roll away the stone (Mott the Hoople)

Lame duckhood. I'm familiar with the feeling. It's that weird twilight zone area between leaving a job and taking up a new one.

It's about fighting the checked out feeling and planning for the next role. It's also about putting up with a lot of stick. I'm moving from a traditional boys' school to a very prestigious girl's school across town, so the genial banter has been relentless.

As I write this, my senior classes are on study leave, and with only two junior classes to teach I now have time to tidy up all of my resources, start taking my personal stuff home, and looking at how I can safely take down my Beatles, Arsenal, Star Wars posters (my passions have remained constant).

That's happening while completing the junior teaching programme, completing my appraisal for the year, and continuing to be here now.