Listening to the Secretary of State for Education Ed Balls yesterday reminded me of being back in school. It was, after all, the Department of Education’s review and update on how schools can help tackle violent extremism. But it did also remind me of sitting in an assembly and he did have a look of my former headteacher as he walked about on the stage.

We were invited to the event as producer of the online resource Where’s The Line which helps teachers deliver lessons in what must be the most sensitive topic around at the moment. We were all sat on chairs in neat rows for the assembly and then there were staff in uniform, a bit like prefects, to make sure we all got to the right workshop (lesson) on time during the day. Having said all that lunch was slightly better than I remember all those years ago.

I always worry about taking the time out to attend a conference but this was a clear success – an interview during the morning saw us in today’s Daily Telegraph and strong interest from all over the UK in the Where’s The Line resource.

So why did our resource stand out? It’s online, it tackles all kinds of extremism, not just racism or faith based extremism, it gives teachers confidence and avoids confrontation.

Perhaps most of all it helps teachers to give pupils the knowledge and skills they need to identify materials designed to recruit them into a cause. (...continues after image)

With Local Authority education advisers queuing up for more information and a demonstration it hit the ‘back at school’ button again and I started sweating thinking about a time I had to wait in line for what was in those day called ‘corporal punishment’. A cane across the hand.

 It’s strange being on the other side of the fence now creating whiteboard activities and other online resources for the same group of people that made me nervous as a child. I could at long last take back to my old school the report that said the standard phrase ‘could do better’ and perhaps say … “The Department of Children, Families and Schools think you got it wrong sir!”