Blog

The 4 reasons people seek legal advice when going through capability

Last week we held our annual capability conference: Tackle Under-Performance Quickly, Kindly And Legally   Clare Fowler, Employment Solicitor at the charity YESS Law, shared the four most common reactions from people who are unhappy when you start talking to them about improving their performance: It came out of the...

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Do you know the 3 patterns of a school’s Ofsted history?

I look at school Ofsted history all the time.   I know, I know; you don’t do what you do for Ofsted. But I find the majority of Ofsted judgements are accurate. Controversial, I know, and there are exceptions. So if we say 80% of judgements are right then what...

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Five common difficult conversations we find in most schools

Since 2011 my team and I have been helping school leaders to resolve their difficult conversations. As you can imagine we’ve seen a lot in that time. There are five common conversations we see pop up all the time. In fact only 4% of schools have told me that they...

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Consistency: Do you ever feel like you’re herding cats?

Herding cats?Sticking jelly to the wall?Same stuff, different day? Whatever phrase you like to use, my guess is the idea is a familiar one – the quest for plans and policies to be followed with consistency. This is a hallmark of schools who are stuck in ‘good’.I call them the...

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Do you know how to legally manage under-performance?

Who told you that as a Headteacher you’d have to fulfil so many roles? Granted, as a teacher, you wore a lot of hats. But as a head you’re a budgetter, HR, health and safety and so much more. And when it comes to people, well, how well do you...

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Hello again, did you know priority was a singular word?

How are you? I hope you were able to have a wonderful Christmas break, a great time with loved ones and hopefully some rest and relaxation. I learnt something recently which shocked me. Priority was originally a singular word. Mind. Blown. Because we always talk about priorities. It got me...

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