As I write, I find myself two-thirds of the way through the excellent annual Choir Schools’ Association conference, this year being wonderfully hosted by Wells Cathedral School.

With the Senior production of ‘The Wind in the Willows’ just around the corner – and the Year 5 and Year 3 production of ‘Omelette!’ not too far behind us – I thought it would be a suitable time to take readers back to their own school days and reflect for a moment on what makes the coming together of a drama production such an important experience for the children involved.

Certain events around the world are throwing this particular question starkly into the foreground. 

Yesterday, we were interviewing for our next Head of TPR: a hugely enjoyable process, not least because it gave a chance to discuss the value of the subject and the skills it can help confer. This included pupils’ ability to ask the most revealing questions.  

But we are in a world where we increasingly understand that attention and the ability to hold it are under attack from every angle. I have written a number of times about the importance of language and of word choice. With the decline of attention, I genuinely think that this is an area under some considerable threat.