Field Notes

Writing for the people building Kenyan schools and homes.

Short, useful essays on safeguarding, healthy school cultures, mental health, behaviour, and the daily craft of parenting.

Parenting & Home

Parenting the Anxious Teenager Without Making It Worse

Anxious teenagers do not need their feelings managed. They need parents who are not destabilised by them.

19 Jun 20267 min
adolescentsanxietyfamily

Mental Health in Schools

The Staffroom Conversation That Decides Whether Teachers Seek Help

Stigma is local. It lives or dies in your staffroom, not in national policy.

17 Jun 20265 min
stigmaculturestaff-wellbeing

Safe Administration

What to Do in the Sixty Seconds After a Student Discloses

The first minute after a disclosure shapes everything that follows. A short, practical script.

15 Jun 20265 min
safeguardingdisclosuretraining

Parenting & Home

Parents and Schools: The Partnership Most Schools Pretend to Have

Parent-teacher meetings are not a partnership. A practical sketch of what a real one looks like.

13 Jun 20266 min
parentspartnershipcommunication

Behaviour Challenges

The Student Everyone Calls 'Behaviour Challenged' Is Usually Telling You Something

Behaviour is communication. A reframing for teachers and deans who want to respond to the cause, not just the symptom.

11 Jun 20268 min
behaviourdisciplinecommunication

Spotting Distress

Spotting a Distressed Teacher Before They Leave or Break

Teacher burnout is a leadership failure dressed up as a personal one. How to see it coming and how to respond.

9 Jun 20266 min
staff-wellbeingburnoutretention

Spotting Distress

Spotting a Distressed Student Before the Crisis

The early signs are quieter than most teachers think. A practical guide to noticing what classrooms tend to miss.

7 Jun 20267 min
studentsearly-interventionsafeguarding

Mental Health in Schools

Mental Health Literacy: A Common Language for Schools

Why every school needs shared words for what teachers are seeing in classrooms — and how to build that vocabulary without medicalising childhood.

5 Jun 20266 min
mental-healthtrainingvocabulary

Healthy Schools

What a Healthy School Culture Actually Feels Like on a Tuesday

Healthy cultures are not motivational posters. They are how staff speak to one another in the corridor on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon.

3 Jun 20267 min
cultureleadershipstaff-wellbeing

Safe Administration

Safe Administration: What It Actually Takes in a Kenyan School

A clear-eyed look at the policies, structures and habits that make a school genuinely safe — beyond the safeguarding poster on the wall.

1 Jun 20268 min
safeguardingpolicyleadership

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