Breaking the glass ceiling of good workshop

Outstanding against the odds conference

Successful difficult conversations training

Training Services

Successful difficult conversations

Educational Excellence Mastermind

Look Outstanding, Become Outstanding

Category: Excellence in schools

When did you last walk around your school like a child?

“I’d stopped seeing it.” A head said this to me about her school environment. Not because she didn’t care. Not because standards had dropped. She’d just been there a long time. Same corridors. Same classrooms. Every day. And over time, things had become… normal.

What is your school environment saying right now?

What is your school environment saying right now? Not what you intend it to say. What is it actually communicating — to pupils, staff and visitors? Because environment is never neutral. It’s always telling a story: • what matters • what’s expected • what’s tolerated And the challenge? We get used to it.

You can’t control who leaves. But you can control how you respond.

It’s half term. Resignation season is here. Some notices may have landed. Others you’re still waiting on. If it feels a bit heavy, that’s normal. But movement in schools isn’t new — what matters is how we respond.

When your strongest teacher leaves… what then?

When your strongest teacher leaves… what then? Every school has that person. The one who carries huge knowledge. The one you hope doesn’t hand their notice in. But here’s a leadership question: If they left tomorrow, would the school wobble? Or would it carry on calmly? I’ve written about a simple shift that turns dependency into strength — without undermining the brilliant people you value.

What if losing someone actually strengthened your team?

Can I offer a different take on resignation season? What if losing someone didn’t automatically lead to ‘oh no’. What if it meant space. Space to strengthen. Space to raise standards. Space to shift the balance of your team. Recruitment isn’t just about filling posts. It’s about increasing the number of people who make your school stronger.

It’s exam season. You’re more ready than you think

It’s exam season. If you’re leading a school right now, you’ll be feeling it. The preparation. The pressure. The responsibility. But here’s the thing — you’ve already done the work.

The mistake most heads make after a resignation

When someone resigns, it’s easy to panic. Advert. Replace. Move on. But sometimes that instinct costs more than we realise. Before you automatically refill a post, there’s one smarter question you’ll love asking!

The 31 May resignation deadline

31 May is closer than you think. It’s resignation season soon. And even if nothing has happened yet, there’s often that little flicker of: “Here we go again…” Before the notices land, there’s one simple shift that makes recruitment season steadier and stronger.

What this term proved about your strength, courage and heart

There’s a particular kind of tired that only school leaders understand. It’s the tired that comes from holding the impossible — and still creating magic anyway. Every head I’ve spoken to this term has carried some version of the same heartbreak: There isn’t enough funding. There isn’t enough support. There isn’t enough of you to go around.

For the head who feels ‘good but stuck’ right now

When you’re in the thick of school life, it’s easy to forget this simple truth: You’re closer to great than you think. I’m reminded of it every time I walk into one of the schools in Outstanding Against the Odds. None of them started in an easy place. Many began where you might be now. And yet they moved.

Category: Excellence in schools

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