Blog
This strategy is about letting everyone be excellent at what they do. Typically, what happens when a school is in ‘RI’ is they do what I call ‘wholesale’ training; training which everyone needs and everyone attends. This is the right thing to do at this stage. But what happens when you get to ‘good’? Usually, […]
Hugh Gaitskell Primary School has just about every demographical challenge available in their school. I had the pleasure of working with them to create a powerful vision and to set the direction of the school as they move from good to fabulous! Take a look. Hugh Gaitskell Primary School Vision Together, we will make the […]
It’s probably not a surprise that we’ve seen less outstanding schools since February. I’ve done some initial analysis on what’s changed between 2017 and 2018, and the percentage has definitely dropped. Looking at 2017 (the calendar year), 4% of schools inspected were judged as outstanding. Looking at 2018 (up to May), we see only 1% […]
Some people automatically flee from conflict. Perhaps they run away like a frightened child or flounce off with a flourish in a huff, or storm out angrily! What should you do? Let them walk away and then arrange another meeting, informing them that it is inappropriate to walk out of a meeting about work; such […]
As a leader, you are not going to witness everything that happens in your school. This means that your difficult conversations can be about things you have been told about but not seen first-hand. This is fine; it’s part of your leadership responsibility and an expectation that staff can come and report things they are […]
These tips and mistakes may sound obvious when they’re set out in black and white but, from my experience, these mistakes are frequently made by managers. Tackling someone’s poor performance can be very stressful for managers too and, at times of stress, we often forget to take basic steps before plunging into the middle of […]
Culture usually evolves by accident; as soon as you have two or more people come together repeatedly, you have shared behaviour (because they interact), so behaviours become established (good and bad) and voila! You have a culture. It might be a great, high performing culture. The fact is most cultures are ‘ok’ not terrible but […]
If you want to have a successful difficult conversation you need to make sure 3 core components are in place. If you miss any one of these you will find one of three common problems occurs: They don’t hear what you need them to hear. The conversation drains your energy. They don’t make the changes […]
To be honest, this is a bit chicken and egg (ok, I know the answer is egg, but you know what I mean). The two work together, they are symbiotic and symbolic. Let me explain: Symbiotic When I walk into an outstanding school, and I walk into a lot, the environment demands more of me. […]
