About Ian
My name is Ian Caldwell. I am the Head of School at Ladybarn Primary School, part of a Trust of high achieving schools in South Manchester. I have been a Head for 5 years and led across the Trust as Director of Teaching and Learning. I have over 20 year’s experience of teaching and leadership, and I have earned consistently outstanding grades as a classroom teacher and senior leader in a range of school inspections, including Ofsted. Alongside my Head of School role, I am a Taekwondo Instructor and hold a 5th Degree Master grade Black Belt. I began my Taekwondo journey in 1993. Across the last 30 years I have spent time living in China and Korea developing my knowledge. I have gained experience and success in competitions and bring that experience and enthusiasm to my teaching.
I am the lead for the Kicks For Change Curriculum, which is a project trialling Taekwondo as part of a mainstream school P.E curriculum. The success of trialling this for 5 years in my own school has led to me being approached to work in partnership with British Taekwondo to grow this project. I have also been asked to speak at National events, such as the UK Sport Event Partners Day at the Emirates Stadium and the Taekwondo European Championships at the Manchester Regional Arena.
The project takes a pioneering approach to wellbeing as it incorporates physical, mental and emotional development work, and has been highly impactful for behaviour, motivation, self-esteem and physical and mental wellness.
I am passionate about using sport as a platform for positive social change and the role that martial arts can play in building physical and emotional resilience through developing a strong moral code and high levels of discipline.
Having trialled this project successfully in a range of school settings in Manchester in 2023-2024, British Taekwondo are looking to scale this project still further from 2025 onwards.
