I recently got this message from a headteacher: ‘We are a school that has moved from Special Measures to Requires Improvement in 11 months.All indicators suggest we will be good however I am not aiming for Good for Ofsted. I want an outstanding provision for our students and any CPD that makes us think […]
For over a decade I’ve been helping sort out those tricky staff issues in schools; the ones which require a difficult conversation to fix. Soon after I started, I noticed some issues cropping up regularly. So I started to ask other schools if they needed to have a conversation about any of these issues with […]
It’s hard in school right now. Falling rolls. Recruitment challenges. Complex needs like we’ve not seen before. I get it. What can you do about it? There’s only so much in your control. And sadly a lot of aspects that aren’t. I’m always looking for those schools who are achieving above average success, in […]
I know a lot of you are having difficult conversations with parents. And there seem to be more of these conversations. And they seem to be harder. Do you have a parent who keeps coming in for a range of issues? A tip many find useful is to arrange a regular meeting with […]
Welcome back after the Easter holidays. Summer 1.And we all know this is an important term for resignations. I’m not trying to depress you, I promise. But we all know May half term is crunch time. With recruitment more challenging than ever, it’s understandable if you want to hold onto every member of […]
Last week I shared the inspiring story of Jo and the team at Clockhouse and their journey to outstanding. In that story I mention the cultural eco-system. What on earth is the ‘cultural eco-system’? It has 3 elements: Vision Values Strategy And they are critical to creating a high-performing, outstanding, team. […]
Jo had a problem that a lot of headteachers will be familiar with. She had a good team, who worked hard and were mostly fully onboard with her goal of delivering excellence to all her children (though some of them ‘didn’t get it’, most did). They didn’t have the easiest of contexts, being a large […]
Do this with me: Grab a piece of paper. Write down how many people are in your team (the number on payroll, but don’t worry about being exact). Now write down these three headings side by side: Some issues Solid […]
Would you like to improve your team, with minimum input and maximum output? ‘Yes!’ I hear you cry! I mean, who wouldn’t? So let me share this tool which school leaders love (after all it’s Valentine’s day next week so let’s share the love). It’s great for creating high performance. It’s beautifully simple […]
I’ve spent over a decade walking into schools and talking to school leaders trying to answer this question: What stops us breaking through the ceiling of normal, and move beyond delivering good education to providing exceptional education? Thinking about how to share what I’ve learned puts me in mind of the old game show ‘Family […]
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