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Successful difficult conversations

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Look Outstanding, Become Outstanding

Category: Creating a Great Vision

Reflection isn’t a luxury for leaders — it’s survival

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.”

A small shift can make your Home-School Agreement a game-changer.

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.

High achievement without burnout — and national recognition to prove it

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.

Thinking about Sept INSET? 5 tips to help you.

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?

The difference between good and great teams isn’t hours

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?

Want better well-being? Try this easy shift

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.

Does your team back your decisions? Here’s how to tell

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? This is what’s really causing them

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.

Wishing you a smooth and successful exam season!

Exam season is here! For primaries, Year 6 SATs are around the corner.For secondaries, GCSEs and A-Levels are kicking off soon.And for infant schools—formal assessments may be optional now, but this time of year still brings plenty of big moments. It’s a lot. So here’s to you—the leaders, the teachers, the teams making it all […]