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Thirty years and counting
29 Sep 2023
I started teaching 30 years ago, 300 metres away and less than 3 months after Stephen Lawrence was murdered. Justice and fairness still not resolved. The level of necessity to be community grounded in education, housing, social care, mental health support and pathways has never been more acute.
High stakes. So it makes sense for heads to protect themselves
26 Mar 2023
The pressure and impact of Ofsted has created such sad results this last week. The necessity for headteachers to seek independent support has never been greater.
AI and ChatGPT. An asteroid hitting our Education system.
18 Jan 2023
Artificial intelligence in natural language processing is the comet that is hitting our education system. Taking google to a whole new level. What does this mean for schools, teachers and students?
After a successful and 'normal' Autumn Term; the first for a long while, it feels like it is crunch time in schools. As we move swiftly to January 2023, there is a feeling of reaching a crucial point or situation, typically one at which a decision with important consequences must be made.
Only two weeks to go until the end of term and we are now clearly in the run up to Christmas with fairs, Christingles, and play rehearsals.
For some, Ofsted have made their call this term and I hope that the inspection went as well as you had anticipated, with few surprises. The last few weeks has been really tough for many with staff absence rates so high and so I wonder how many of you have managed to complete all performance management reviews this term?
Re-engaging the parent community. A real school leadership challenge.
05 Oct 2022
Autumn 1. What are we learning? With the whole shake up, post Covid, this term could be the greatest one of the year. But how to dial up, when we have had two years of dialling down?
Return to school. Keeping calm and carrying on. Leading with integrity. #headship.
04 Sep 2022
Most headteachers will have returned to school already and embraced this new academic year with zest, vigour and a renewed focus. Leading all your stakeholders with conviction, integrity and containment is going to be no mean feat this term for obvious reasons.
Headteachers as ethical leaders look like the last bastion of probity.
12 Apr 2022
The moral code of public service includes some key principles; selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. These are the ethical standards those working in the public sector are expected to adhere to. These apply to all government and elected members of parliament. With today's final announcement of these standards clearly and deliberately NOT adhered to; how do we as the general public react to this? The intention for Joe Public is media fatigue and the distraction of war in Ukraine.
A recent survey by Ipsos and the Global Institute of Women's Leadership found a third of men in the countries surveyed think feminism does more harm than good (32%) and that traditional masculinity is under threat (33%). While theses numbers are uncomfortably large, it’s still worth recognising the fact that the majority of men don’t feel this way.
School leaders are still necessarily consumed by the management of the every day. Will next half term feel the same? We are entering the next phase of the Covid era and this is bringing a whole new set of systems, processes and expectations from all of your stakeholders.
