Hi friend!
As I get ready to launch the Maverick School Podcast, I’m simplifying this newsletter. From now on, each issue will follow the same format: five things worth your time, thinking, or attention.
The Five:
- A quote to think about
- An insight worth considering
- A resource to explore
- Something small that helped me lately
- A question to sit with
Here’s this week’s edition.
1. Quote to Think About
“An expert is someone who is afraid to learn anything new, because then they wouldn’t be an expert anymore.”
— Harry S. Truman
In the Age of AI, we will all become permanent ‘beginners’ – as well as our students, we must keep learning.
2. Insight Worth Considering
This week I saw the unemployment figures, and my heart sank.
Our young people are getting a raw deal.
UK unemployment has jumped to 5.1%, up from 4.3% last year.
But here’s what really got me.
85,000 more young workers aged 18–24 became unemployed in just three months — the biggest jump since late 2022.
It’s easy to look at these statistics as just numbers on a spreadsheet.
But these are our former students — the kids we told to work hard, get good grades, go to uni and everything will work out.
But it isn’t.
And to add a giant barrel of sea-salt to injury: average earnings are still outpacing inflation, and the cost-of-living crisis is outstaying its welcome like your drunk uncle on Boxing Day.
How are you going to tell young people to climb the ladder when there is no ladder?
Unless the kid is Spiderman, they’re toast.
The adults know it. The kids definitely know it.
And this is exactly why what teachers do matters so much right now.
When the path isn’t clear, young people don’t just need qualifications — they need guidance, belief, and someone showing them how to navigate uncertainty.
We may not control the economy.
We can’t promise our students an easy path.
But by golly, we can prepare them to handle a difficult one.
And that work — the conversations, the encouragement, the belief we show them — matters more than most people realise.
That’s the quiet work happening in classrooms every day.
It might not fix the economy.
But it absolutely shapes the people who will.
Don’t you dare forget that.
Here’s the full report if you’re interested
😎👉🏾https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98nqe0m008o
3. Resource to Explore
Why aren’t young people working?
https://youtu.be/fYzAWA6VZQw?si=RGnX7eC7rFsUT5R6
Professor Emeritus of Accounting Richard J Murphy breaks down how the current economic malaise is negatively affecting our young people and why they are more cynical.
Worth watching if you’re thinking about where education, culture, and work are heading.
4. The Small Thing That Helped Me This Fortnight
Rooibos and vanilla tea.
Brews beautifully. Add a little honey, and it’s close to perfect. Got me feeling calmer than a zen teacher on a Caribbean beach.
5. A Question to Sit With
In a time of rapid change and uncertainty:
How can I model the behaviours my students will need to navigate it well?
Thank you for reading!
Your next TOTR newsletter comes out on Thursday 5th March 2026.
Until then, take care.
Karl
