Playing with Fire: Embracing risk and danger in schools

There is a misconception, within the teaching profession and the general public, that Ofsted, the Health and Safety Executive and the establishment are against children being exposed to danger and that schools are prevented from giving children experiences which involve risk. Mike Fairclough, headmaster at West Rise Junior School, has blown that theory out of the water.

In the superb Playing With Fire, Mike urges all schools to follow his lead, empowering other Heads and their schools to provide activities for their pupils which include an element of risk and danger. With entertaining and visual examples of his work at West Rise, including bee keeping, water buffalo breeding, shooting, archery, Forest School, paddle boarding, and skinning rabbits, Mike breezily demonstrates how teething problems and mistakes are part and parcel of risk-taking and should be embraced.

The result is an empowering book that urges educators to cultivate their own resilience, courage and trust in the same way that we are hoping to foster those qualities within our students.

Reviews

“This is a very important, very necessary, and very beautiful book for all parents educators around the world to treasure. Read it and rediscover the best of your childhood—and how to bring it to children everywhere.”
Barbara Oakley, PhD, author of New York Times science best seller, A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science, and instructor of Learning How to Learn, the world’s largest online course.

“This is a stunner. A beautifully written account of how to get a jaw-droppingly powerful curriculum, complete with water buffalo, 1000 bees, shooting (yes,
shooting) endorsed by the establishment. Mike Fairclough and his colleagues have shown how, by removing the cotton wool culture, they are able to give children a truly amazing deal. ‘Playing with Fire’ shows how it is possible to do the same in any school, in any environment.”
Mary Myatt, advisor, inspector, author of High Challenge, Low Threat

“A fundamentally vital book that challenges our risk averse culture and demonstrates in a very candid and honest way the importance of giving children
the space to be creative and questioning. West Rise Juniors is a phenomenal place and Mike Fairclough is an exceptional educationalist.”
Dr Henry Ward, Head of Education, Freelands Foundation

 

“You don’t read a book like this every day about how to run a school! I read this at one sitting – it proved riveting!”
Paul Garvey, education consultant and owner of QA South-West

Mike Fairclough is headmaster at West Rise Junior School, the TES Primary School of the Year. He is a regular contributor to the TES and conference speaker.