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Ever felt like you’re walking on eggshells with a parent? Maybe they storm in. Raise their voice. Question your judgement.
Or drop a comment that sticks in your head for days. Other times, they’re less direct, but you still leave the conversation second-guessing every word.
Are parents harder to work with now?
It’s not your imagination. The generation of parents you're dealing with today experienced school very differently — and it shows in the way they respond today.
In this short video, I unpack why conversations with parents can feel more emotionally charged, and what school leaders can do to stay calm, confident, and clear.
East Wichel isn’t a shiny outlier. It’s a large, two-form entry school with high mobility and a deeply mixed pupil population. It’s in a town that’s been publicly called out as an education “cold spot” — a place often overlooked and unfairly judged.
But under the leadership of Paula Phillips, something different took root.
Why does my inbox look empty, but it isn't…
Because I snooze emails. A lot.
Maybe you’ve found ‘snooze’ already. But if not, you’re in for a treat 🙂
It’s one of the best ways I’ve found to protect my time, my brain, and my well-being.
September INSET is coming. Faster than we’d like!
There’ll be the usual - mandatory training, safeguarding updates, maybe some new policies.
It’s one of the few moments in the year when *everyone* is in the room.
So here’s a question:
How could you use INSET to grow culture, not just compliance?
Do 95%+ of your team work at least as hard as you?
58% of school leaders say *no*.
And yet…
77% say 95%+ of their staff are driven by what’s best for the children.
So where’s the disconnect?
Do you have great staff well-being in your school?
It’s something we all want.
But here’s a thought…
Well-being isn’t something *we do to* people.
It’s something we *create with* them.
Yoga, breakfasts, early finishes—great.
But they only go so far.
True well-being happens when everyone takes ownership.
You create the conditions.
They bring the awareness.
You make a decision.
Your team nods along.
But do they actually support it?
40% of school leaders say no.
That means nearly half of schools are pushing forward with decisions that don’t have full team buy-in.
People problems are inevitable. You work in a team. They’re doing their best, and so are you. But here’s the thing—there really don’t need to be as many people problems as there are. 97% of schools have at least one of the five common difficult conversations that crop up in schools. And they can all be fixed.