School attendance has never returned to pre-pandemic levels. So someone thinks it’s a good idea to issue parents of children who are missing without permission even bigger fines. It’s mad! Why? Families need support not penalties & the fines in place at the moment don’t work!

It’s a secure children’s home, a school and a health centre all wrapped into one. Oasis Restore is a revolution in justice for children. If you care about creating a different future for children in the justice system, why not think about joining our team! oasisrestore.org/join-us/vacanc…

“Too much education is designed to weed students out, not to find out their skills and encourage them in what they can do.”

Geoff Barton.

A child who enjoys security is free to come to school in search of learning. A child who lacks that security, for whatever reason, comes to school first and foremost in search of comfort.

This morning’s Guardian headline says it all! Investing in teachers and the education of our children should be a no-brainer. It’s an opportunity for huge longterm savings & wealth creation. It’s a policy that pays for itself, not just for a lifetime, but for generations to come.

The story of my vision for Oasis & stuff I've learned along the way! My conversation with Iain Dale for his All Talk podcast. Hilariously LBC have put Liz Truss' picture on it! But listen here & you'll spot the difference! 😂
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/259…
Or open.spotify.com/episode/08oQ5J…

“The rise in the number of children experiencing mental health problems is an ongoing crisis not only for those children and families experiencing it now, but for our country’s future”, writes Anne Longfield. I agree! Read the rest of her insights here👇🏼standard.co.uk/news/politics/…

A one-word judgement on the govt’s view that one-word judgements from Ofsted should stay: blind! Blind to the pain of Ruth Perry’s family. Blind to the stress & trauma caused to countless teachers, school staff, children & struggling communities. Blind to the future of education!

“You're gonna have to face it, you're addicted to love.” So says the famous lyric from Robert Palmer’s song. He was right. Just as our lungs need oxygen, so our souls hunger for belonging & acceptance. Listen to my reflection for Radio 2 here bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0…, or read it👇🏼

NEW EPISODE OF THE IAIN DALE ALL TALK PODCAST

259. Reverend Steve Chalke

I chat to author, social entrepreneur and Baptist minister Steve Chalke about optimism, religion, making a positive difference and much more.

Listen
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/259…

Even if children attend school every day, this amounts to less than 20% of their time. The majority is spent elsewhere. Where are they? What are they doing? Who is with them? Are they safe?

Read about what I believe we should be doing to protect children👇🏼churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/…

If you are up and about tomorrow morning at 7.20, or still enjoying a last 30 minutes or so in bed, tune in to the Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 where I’m looking forward to chatting with Gaby Roslin over a little pause for thought and reflection all about love!

The 300-year-old St Martin-In-The Fields High School for Girls in Lambeth which closes this summer will become ‘Oasis St. Martin’s Village’, a therapeutic centre supporting vulnerable children at risk of exclusion from other schools. Opening this September.standard.co.uk/news/education…

Just as the brutal murder of innocent Jewish people by Hamas on October 7th 2023 can never be forgotten, so the ongoing and brutal murder of innocent Palestinian people by Israel ever since will never be forgotten.

You can’t heal young people by hurting them. That’s the philosophy that underpins the therapeutic design and practice of Oasis Restore, the UK’s first Secure School, which will open to children next month. A revolution for the youth justice system!

The first smartphone arrived in 2007. Since then, their effect on how we live, communicate, work & play has been extraordinary. As founder of almost 60 schools I know the behaviour of tech giants, for all the good they bring, needs more regulation. More👇🏼 churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/…

'Without question you can't disconnect the £2.5 billion government has taken out of youth work over the last decade with all the challenges we're seeing in children's lives right now.'
Listen to principle 6 of my manifesto.oasisuk.org/episodes/7 with Mark Russell 🇺🇦 (he/him) CEO of The Children's Society

Thank you Southwark Cathedral & Mark Oakley for hosting as Steve Chalke introduced his Manifesto for Hope. Buy the book and listen to the podcast series here: manifesto.oasisuk.org

Morning has broken! Just stayed the night at Oasis Restore, the UK’s first Secure School, with a wonderful bunch of youth justice partners, to experience a day and night in the life of the children who will join us here due from next month when we open.

Carl Jung, Jesus, and a talking greyhound. My Pause for Thought, with Zoe Ball for Radio 2 yesterday morning
Listen here - bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0… or read below!