What’s in the school toolkit? What’s in the pencil case? Parents may remember their gold and blue Helix Oxford maths tin: compasses, protractor, set square, all neatly packaged and compact. Yes, it still exists.
I was rather shocked to see ‘back to school’ stationery stocked in a supermarket even before the last academic year had finished. I imagined the children relishing the new-found freedom of summer witnessing a stark reminder that freedom has a use-by date. No doubt Christmas fayre will soon appear – maybe even Easter eggs?
In August I wrote about the end of the school year, considering what gentle reflections there could be over the summer regarding the academic year just finished. Seemingly, suddenly, here we are: the new year. Hopefully last year’s reports have been re-read, advice registered and targets set for the new year. What else can be done to prepare? The practical elements speak for themselves: the full pencil case, shiny new stationery, the backpack with age-appropriate technology. Over-sized uniform: ‘They’ll grow into it.’
But what of the emotional, psychological backpack? To the older amongst us the pace of change today is dynamic – dizzyingly so. To pupils and students this is their world: they need to be nimble, having the ability to adapt. Experience and hindsight inform foresight making for measured, calculated decisions and actions.

The nineteenth century nursery rhyme instructed Jack to be nimble, to be quick – to clear the candlestick. To do so without extinguishing the flame was said to bring good fortune. For me, the word ‘nimble’ effectively describes an essential twenty-first century attribute for our young people. Athletic and sporting quite possibly but, above all, mentally, emotionally, tactically and strategically agile.

SATS, 11+, school entry tests, GCSEs, A Levels and the IB are the backbone of our schooling system. To what extent they are measures of intelligence is a deeper debate and not for now. Results, however, can dictate progression to the next stage; yet education is so much more than that. It must inculcate problem-solving as a mindset. No, let’s not call it that, let’s talk of solution-finding. Teachers have their resources. Pupils have theirs, stationery and tech, but the characteristic – the skill to encourage and develop – is resourcefulness.
What of the disappointments which the new year will inevitably bring: targets set; some not achieved? Resilience is not hard-wired: it matures like a fine wine. I worry about today’s risk-averse education; the fear and avoidance of ‘failure’. It is sometimes through trial and error, with consequent, occasional disappointment, that we grow – with the proviso that we should reflect on the reasons, the causes, the considered risk assessment.
So, it’s all change as everyone embarks on the new school year. New classes, new teachers, new schools, new challenges. Very best wishes to all children and students – and to their parents. Have a go; take advantage of every opportunity. Be bold and use mistakes as building blocks.
‘Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.’ Though there is some doubt over the provenance, the exact words, let’s give credit to the remarkable Stephen Hawking for his wisdom.

“Resilience is
not hard-wired; it matures like a fine wine”

You can read more from Mike in his new book, ‘Careering’ out now with Troubador Publishing. troubador.co.uk