Category Archives: Education

Dreaming spires

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Jamie Jauncey

Six years ago, in March 2011, we were about to set out for our second ever Dark Angels masterclass at Merton College, Oxford. I had written the previous week in this blog about a strange dream I had had, in … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged Merton College, Mount Rushmore, The Guardian, Tycho Brahe | Leave a comment

Bamboo business

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Jamie Jauncey

Earlier this week I went to hear a talk by a young neighbour who returned two weeks ago from a year-long, 15,000-mile cycle trip with a friend. Both recently qualified doctors, they had ridden from London to Singapore in aid … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged Bamboo Bicycle Club, Cycling Without Borders, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Nicky Moore, Pamir Highway, Tom Roberts | 4 Comments

True grit

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

As someone generally preoccupied with stories, I’m particularly interested when a single story is open to diametrically opposing interpretations. Once one starts to think about it, it’s surprising how many of these we carry around with us. Looking for an … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged Alex Renton, boarding school, Boarding Schools Association, Ray McGovern | 7 Comments

Prison reading

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

A few years ago I visited a prison to give a reading and run a writing workshop, the only time I’ve ever done such a thing. I wrote about it here at the time, but even without referring back to … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged Carol Ann Duffy, Chris Grayling, Mark Haddon, Philip Pullman, reading in prisons, Salman Rushdie | 6 Comments

Foundations of knowledge

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Jamie Jauncey

There’s a photograph in one of the private meeting rooms at my local library of the building’s foundation stone being laid in 1895. Following the example set by Andrew Carnegie in Dunfermline, the benefactor in Perth was Archibald Sandeman, heir … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged AK Bell Library, Bell's Whisky, John Dewar & Sons, libraries, Sandeman Library, scotch whisky | 4 Comments

Gwynne’s Grammar

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Jamie Jauncey

I hadn’t heard of Nevile Gwynne until this morning. Michael Gove clearly has. Gwynne is a former businessman and self-taught grammarian whose primer has been endorsed by the Education Secretary as one of the books he wishes his civil servants … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged Gwynne's Grammar, Michael Gove, Nevile Gwynne | 7 Comments

Childish thinking

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Jamie Jauncey

A writer branded ‘unteachable’ as a child, and diagnosed as severely dyslexic aged 12, wins children’s literature’s most prestigious prize, the Carnegie medal. An Indian professor and TED prize-winner proposes an educational system that produces people who can ’think like … Continue reading →