Books that were marked on time in September. Behaviour policy followed. A TA who was always on time.

Six weeks in, some of that’s slipping.

Not badly. Not dramatically. Just slipping.

And here’s the trap: it’s tempting to wait. Tell yourself you’ll raise it at review time. Or that they taught a good lesson last week, so maybe it’s not really an issue. Or that someone else on the team will mention it.

How do you know when it’s time to raise it?

Here’s a simple test I use instead: how many times have you seen it?

• Once, and it’s probably nothing — everyone has an off week. Let it go.
• Twice, and it’s worth a light-touch word in the moment if you can – but if not, as they say 2 points make a line, not a pattern.
• But…three times, and it’s a pattern. It needs addressing, before it becomes the norm.

And as you know, some things don’t need to be seen 3 times to be addressed.

I learned this long before I worked in schools. In my first management job, one member of my team made his point quite forcefully in a meeting — enough that it shut the discussion down early. I put it down to a one-off. A few meetings later, he did it again.

So I had a quiet word with him afterwards, just the two of us. I told him what I’d noticed and how it had landed on the room. He had no idea — he wasn’t trying to dominate, he just got passionate. I never saw it again. If anything, he became one of the people I could rely on to make a strong case for something without shutting anyone else down.

No confrontation. No drama. Just naming the pattern before it becomes a habit.

The same applies to a dip in standards. You don’t need a performance review to say “I’ve noticed your last two sets of books weren’t marked — is everything okay?” That’s not a difficult conversation. It’s just noticing, out loud, kindly and for your pupils.

Leave it for a review meeting, and by then it’s not two sets of books. It’s ten. And the conversation that would have taken two minutes in November now needs a plan, a timeline, and possibly more than that.

What’s the small dip you’ve been waiting for “the right time” to mention?

Here’s to catching it while it’s still small, 

Sonia

P.S. Next week: why one low mood in the staffroom can set the tone for everyone else — and the short, kind conversation that catches it early. 

If a dip in standards somewhere in your team is playing on your mind, don’t wait for review time — just get in touch, we might be able to help. Simply reply to this email or go to Contact us – Heads Up. 

PLUS — if you’d like to hear directly from heads who’ve turned exactly these situations around, join us at our Excellence in Education conference on Thursday 19th November. Places are limited: https://ukheadsup.com/events/excellence-in-education/