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School plays. Religious festivals. End-of-term deadlines. And Christmas chaos on top. Everyone’s busy. Everyone’s tired. Here’s a light-touch wellbeing boost that works — without burning you out

Is morale dipping? And the usual things aren’t working? Morale isn’t built in away days, sugar highs, or quick “pick-me-ups.” Those can be nice in the moment — but they fade fast. Lasting morale comes from tiny moments of care, consistently given. Things that tell your team: “I see you, I value you, and I’m here with you.”

How healthy is your school — not in fruit bowls and yoga mats, but in the strength of your team? You see, every school has an organisational health check hiding in plain sight. There are two numbers that tell you more than you might think. Numbers you already have, but probably don’t look at in this way. In this week’s short video, I’ll show you: What those numbers are Why they’re powerful indicators of organisational health And how you can use them to get perspective on where your school really stands It’s simple, practical — and might just change how you see your school’s data.

Feeling like things have gone a bit wobbly lately? Maybe your team isn’t clicking quite as well as they were before half-term? Staff are a bit more tired, a bit more tense. Behaviour feels trickier. Parents are knocking a little louder. It can feel like the wheels are starting to come loose — but there’s a reason this happens every year around now.

What I’ve noticed from over a decade of working with high-performing, fantastic schools: Without reflection, schools drift. With it, they grow. Reflection isn’t sitting around staring at your shoes. And you’ve definitely had it before. Maybe on a train journey to a conference, where the conversation flows there and back. Or on a precious SLT away day, where the fog lifts and you leave buzzing with ideas. And at some point you’ve said: “We should do this more often.”

Your Home-School Agreement is one of the most under-used tools for managing parental relationships. Most of the time, it goes like this: A child joins the school, parents are given a copy, they sign it… and it disappears into a folder. Rarely looked at. Rarely remembered. Which is a shame — because if it’s done well, it can head off many of the parental issues you’re facing.

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?