Simon Lewis
Principal. Poet. Podcaster.
(and some would add other P words)
Scroll down to read more about my work.
Simon Lewis juggles life as a principal, poet, and podcaster, occasionally with success. By day, he runs a school; by night, he writes poetry and opinions about education; and somewhere in between, he records podcasts that might just be worth a listen. This page is a collection of the projects he’s put his heart into—some practical, some creative, and all slightly overthought. Have a look around—you might find something useful, or at least mildly entertaining.
Sites
Anseo.net
Anseo.net has grown from humble beginnings as a basic resource-sharing web site in April 2005 before becoming one of the first educational blogs in Ireland by 2007. It hosts one of Ireland's most popular education podcasts: If I were the Minister for Education
Mash.ie
Mash.ie is a marketplace of resources that’s not just created and rated by Irish Primary Teachers, it’s also loved by those they teach too. Through partnership, it brings world class resources from local sources into every Irish classroom.
Opting Out
Being obsessed with school patronage, Simon decided to make a website all about the main downside to it. After 5 years of research, this is everything he found out about it.
Mash.plus
A playground of AI-generated resources for primary school teachers featuring a daily guide for what to teach, thousands of units of work, printable resources. Using artificial intelligence and automation tools, Mash.plus lets people play around with what can be done.
Writes
Jewtown
Simon’s debut poetry collection Jewtown was a finalist in the Shine/Strong Award. It chronicles the experiences of Lithuanian Jews who in the late 1880s-90s settled in an area of Cork city that became known as Jewtown.
Ah, Men!
Ah, Men! is the 2nd poetry collection by Simon Lewis. In these new poems, Lewis considers what it means to be male in 21st century Ireland, reflecting on how the role of the male in Irish society is changing rapidly.
My Medium Blog
Simon has a lot of opinions on primary education in Ireland. He shares many of them on his Medium blog.
Speaks
Simon is an experienced speaker and award winning poet and is always happy to be asked to perform his work or discuss the themes of his work.
He appears regularly in the national media on radio and print mostly covering issues in the Irish primary system.
If you’re a journalist or researcher, you probably have his number already but, if not, get in touch.
Latest Personal Posts
May 26th 1989 has always been embedded in my mind. It was the day before I started supporting Sheffield United. The scene: the living room and me, my dad and a student that was lodging with us were watching...
About 15 years ago, I went to my local writing group as a sort of spy. Rozz sent me as she was interested in joining and she wanted me to go and check it wasn’t full of weirdos. Some of those weirdos...