The choice. Erika Kirk: “I forgive…because the answer to hate is love”. Donald Trump: “I hate my opponent. I don’t want the best for them.”

Whenever Christianity is co-opted to support violence, misogyny or racism it loses its very soul. Here’s the letter I and a group of friends wrote over the last few days, was then signed by senior church leaders across denominations and published by The Sunday Times & Sunday Mirror today.

Hate talk and a Christ-centred life do not, and have never come from the same well.

My kind of Union Jack!!

When a child is physically ill we instantly understand. But those who struggle with poor mental health, who have suffered life-changing trauma, who are being abused, bullied or exploited, who have special educational needs, are too often labelled as difficult & then written-off!

In 2021 this team set up a pilot; Oasis Nurture provides personalised therapeutic care for children facing multiple adversities, making sure that no child feels excluded because of the emotional challenges they face. Now we’re ready to launch the same approach elsewhere in London & Liverpool.

Too many young men are turning to toxic models of masculinity in search for direction. But there’s so much we can do about . In my view, there are a number of reasons. One, the absence of male teachers in our primary schools - such a critical stage in childhood development.

Yesterday we were privileged to host Prince William at Oasis St Martin’s Village in South London, as he came to meet the fantastic group of local charities working together there to create life l-changing opportunities for local young people. It takes a village to raise a child!

Until America stops supplying the Israeli Government with the very weapons they use to kill innocent people there is little point in Trump’s empty protests that he's "not thrilled" by Netanyahu’s murderous but totally within character actions. Trump is being played!

The biggest factor determining a child’s future in the UK is still their parents’ income rather than their ability!

Oasis Charitable Trust is 40 years old today. Here’s what I looked like on September 1st 1985 when we started the journey 😂. With huge gratitude to God and to everyone who has joined us in pursuit of our goal ever since. No One Left Out! #NOLO

It is very simple: If we are really looking to raise standards in schools we must also invest in children’s, youth and family support as well as a wider pedagogy and curriculum. It is the only way to ensure every child is given the best possible start in life.

I understand that local councils are broke & so feel the need to sell off closed schools & other community assets. But the long-term cost in terms of healthy community life is massive. Find out more about Oasis use of a redundant school building to build community at oasisstmartins.org

Hamas is a monster. Netanyahu has become as brutal a monster as the evil he seeks to destroy. To rob countless innocent Palestinians of life & hope - using Hamas as an excuse to fulfil his long held religious goal to wipe Gaza from the map - is a crime the world will never forget.

For many students the problem isn’t learning Maths or English, instead it’s to do with the way we insist on teaching Maths & English. That’s why forcing students who have failed them to resit the same style of exam produces such poor results & such high levels of disillusionment.

On this important day for all students picking up GCSE results - huge congratulations to all who achieve your goals or even more!! And to those of you who don’t, I didn’t either! But I’ve since learned that beyond the disappointment there is a world of opportunity!

“When I give bread to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor are hungry they call me a communist.” Dom Helder Camara. Catholic Archbishop of Olinda and Recife (1964–1985) and outspoken advocate for poor and oppressed people of Brazil’s northeast region.

When a child lacks security they come to school in search of what they are starved of. It’s only when a child enjoys security that they can come to school fully focussed on learning.

Just as you can’t hurt someone in order to heal them, you can’t punish someone into genuine change. That only comes through depth of relationship, care, love, the slow development of trust, the growing ability to self-regulate and the desire to live differently.

Power to the people! We need a huge reset in the relationship between government & the people. It’s time to trust communities instead of ignoring them, to harness their common sense rather than being led by the half-baked ideas of those far removed from the reality of daily life.

As the saying goes “If the child doesn’t learn the way you teach, start teaching the way they learn.” Why? Because it’s impossible to create inclusion for all via a curriculum and a style of learning - a pedagogy - that only works for some.

When a child has experienced trauma, their behaviour isn’t a moral failing, it’s communication. The anger you see? That’s pain. The defiance? That’s fear. And the silence? That’s a survival strategy. None of this is about excusing bad behaviour. It’s about understanding it!

Some choose to ridicule the idea of being ‘woke’. But for me it’s about the huge challenge of working to be well-informed, thoughtful, compassionate, respectful & alive to the insights, contexts & needs of others, in order to make the planet a more just place for all!

Homo Sapiens have been on Earth for at least 200,000 years. Until very recently no child was raised in a nuclear family, let alone by a single parent. Human beings are made to be nurtured in community. To ignore this fact is to jeopardise the health and the safety of our society.

On BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning at 7.50 talking about why fewer students are taking up modern foreign languages - especially at A Level? My answers poverty (much more take up in affluent areas), lack of opportunity & therefore aspiration, plus relative scarcity of language teachers.

To starve a child is a crime against humanity. We call for: Adequate food & aid supplies for Gaza now. A permanent ceasefire now. All hostages & captives held by Hamas to be released now. Any policy which amounts to the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population from Gaza to be renounced now.

You can’t build a successful education system around shame, embarrassment, detention & exclusion. You can’t create inclusion for all via a curriculum that only works for some. So as the saying goes “If the child doesn’t learn the way you teach, start teaching the way they learn.”

Israel’s steady annexation of Gaza & the West Bank is a moral outrage. The murder of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians is diabolical. The recognition of a Palestinian state has been discussed internationally for 51 years now. It is time to find the courage to act!

"Recognise the state of Palestine while there’s a state of Palestine left to recognise" said Wes Streeting. That’s our challenge because of the inhuman narrative driven by an alliance of fundamentalist Christians & Jews intent on the total eradication of both Gaza & the Westbank.

It’s extraordinary - but sadly utterly predictable - that the giant money grabbing tech companies are having to be forced to protect children, rather than having the moral compass to self-regulate. Just like the oil, tobacco, betting, alcohol and junk food industries before them!

The child is never the problem. It is our systems that are the problem! That’s what we have to change. The abolishment of the Adverse System Experience!

The promise of longer prison sentences may win votes but won’t stop crime! We already have harsher sentences than any other European country including Russia. But all the research shows though they don’t lower crime or successfully rehabilitate offenders, they are very expensive!

Despite their sickening protestations it is Netanyahu and his morally bankrupt regime who are not only ‘disconnected from reality’ but from their own people! And besides everything else have shredded the reputation of and respect for their country.

A word of advice for Nigel Farage & Reform. It’s naïve to believe the pathway to a reduction in crime is about getting tougher on it with more Stop & Search. Instead, it’s about being smart about the causes of crime and investing in opportunity for every child and young person.

UK law sets out 9 characteristics protected from discrimination: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage & civil partnership, pregnancy & maternity, race, religion or belief, sex & sexual orientation. I believe protection for children leaving care must become the 10th!

Palace has been part of my whole life. So the honour of becoming a patron of Palace for Life is a huge privilege; one which integrates my love for the Eagles with the passion to serve & support young people across South London together. Read more here! www.palaceforlife.org/news/about-u...

In my view, the main reason we’re living in an age of ‘over diagnosis’ of mental health issues, is because we have an ‘under investment’ in community development and well-being.

Whatever we do to reshape our welfare and health systems the cost will continue to rise dramatically until we learn to invest more in children, especially those born into poverty. Only this will enable them to become lifelong contributors to our society and economy rather than an ongoing cost to it.

You can’t build a successful education system around shame, embarrassment, detention & exclusion. You can’t create inclusion for all via a curriculum that only works for some. So as the saying goes “If the child doesn’t learn the way you teach, start teaching the way they learn.”

When a child has experienced trauma, their behaviour isn’t a moral failing, it’s communication. The anger you see? That’s pain. The defiance? That’s fear. And the silence? That’s a survival strategy. None of this is about excusing bad behaviour. It’s about understanding it!

The main reason the Education Health Care Plan system is overwhelmed is simply because of the lack of low level social, emotional and mental healthcare for children & young people both in and beyond school. If society invests in this, the need for many EHCPs will fade away.

The debate shouldn’t be about whether we keep Education Health Care Plans or not. We all know the present EHCP system is slow & leaves too many children behind. Instead, we need to develop a system that creates better, faster & more effective support for every child who needs it.

More power to those who can deliver the Prime Minister’s five missions - will Labour put rocket boosters under their priorities by joining up communities. Read my article for @SchoolsWeek here: schoolsweek.co.uk/more-power-t...

A child’s education isn’t just about school - it’s about the whole ecosystem of their life & their family’s life. Tragically, it’s still true that the biggest indicator of a child’s life - their choices & even its length - is their parents’ income rather than their ability.

For too many children school is a miserable experience. Why? Because we’ve still not learned that if the child doesn’t learn the way we teach, we need to start teaching the way they learn.

Out today. Why schools don't work for far too many children - and what should we be doing about it! My conversation with Amal Rajan! Available from BBC Sounds now.

We’re thrilled to announce that Oasis Academy Enfield is partnering with the world-renowned Paris Saint-Germain Academy! A collaboration that will bring elite football coaching, incredible opportunities & world-class training experiences to our students! Thank you PSG!!

When a child is physically ill, we instantly understand. But those who struggle with poor mental health, who have suffered life-changing trauma, who are neuro-diverse, who have special educational needs, who are bullied or exploited, too often end up being labelled & written-off!

“It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” Eleanor Roosevelt. American political figure, diplomat & activist. Wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt's who served four terms as president from 1933 to 1945.

You can’t build a successful education system around shame, embarrassment, detention & exclusion. You can’t create inclusion for all via a curriculum that only works for some. So as the saying goes “If the child doesn’t learn the way you teach, start teaching the way they learn.”