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Where is the Love? The Moral Imperative in Educational Leadership
My favourite inquiry, “Where is the love?”, functions as a crucial cultural constant for any educational institution. This question moves beyond abstract definitions of vision and values to challenge leaders, educators, and subject specialists concerning the demonstrable, everyday expression of their core professional purpose. It seeks to ascertain how the profound dedication which drew professionals… — read more
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The Authentic Leader’s Playbook: Learning from The Devil in the Details
If you were to hire a consultant to design the perfect villain for humanity, they would eventually invent Satan. His journey from a minor celestial bureaucrat to the Prince of Darkness is history’s most successful case study in what Steven Pinker calls “Common Knowledge.” Pinker argues that social coordination requires a recursive state of awareness:… — read more
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The Authentic School Leader’s Communication Conundrum: “Shaka, When the Walls Fell”
The modern school leader’s kryptonite isn’t budget strategy or curriculum mapping—it’s the calendar. Specifically, knowing when to hit “Send” and when to call an “All-Staff Meeting.” For authentic leaders, this is less about simple task management and more about an act of curation—an intentional choice rooted in respect, transparency, and intentionality. The authentic leader understands… — read more
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The Dawn of a Nuanced Accountability
The policy landscape, often a dense thicket of regulatory minutiae, has recently presented us with a vision of genuine clarity and strategic purpose in the form of the proposed Progress 8 reforms. For too long, the accountability metric, like an over-zealous accountant, valued the EBacc structure with an exclusionary zeal, subtly relegating the Arts to… — read more
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A Green and Pleasant Curriculum: initial thoughts on the Francis Review outcomes.
Key Reforms in England’s National Curriculum: The government has confirmed the most significant overhaul of the National Curriculum in over a decade, largely adopting recommendations from Professor Becky Francis’s Curriculum and Assessment Review. The reforms are aimed at equipping pupils with “skills for life and work” for the 21st century. Implementation Timeline Progress 8 (P8)… — read more
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The Pit and the Pendulum: Turning Self-Awareness into Growth
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary… I sometimes have the huge capacity to get in my own way; we all have the capacity for self-sabotage; by using the mantra, the commitment to elevate intentionality, combat complacency, champion growth, and inspire deeper connections, I might have a way forward for me… — read more
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Read Between the Lines: The Real Stakes of the Year 8 Reading Test
This article aims to provide a strategic analysis of the proposed Year 8 reading test in England, examining its stated purpose, underlying rationale, design features, and potential risks. While the test is presented as a diagnostic tool to identify literacy gaps and support classroom planning, concerns persist about its use as an accountability measure. Drawing… — read more
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Inspiring Deeper Connections: The True Test of Senior Leadership
Approaching October half term is always an important time for our senior leaders to focus on fixing behaviour. The new intake, hormonal battles and plans in the summer that seemed so sweet are now in action as we descend into darkness. The challenge is joining up two big, different ideas. To get it right, they… — read more
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The Moral Imperative: Cultivating Authentic Professional Growth in Teaching
I know I have been quiet. It means I have been noisy elsewhere. For me, this blog is a therapy; an expression of the soul of what I am doing. For those that read this and know me, this is a peek behind the curtain. For everyone else, I hope that this might offer an… — read more
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The UK’s School Funding Crisis: A Call to Action: The “Hit Rock Bottom” Reality
I have never been a fan of donning the hi-vis. Admittedly, part of it is a matter of vanity; a dislike for man-made fibres and my compulsion to remind colleagues and others that teaching is a graduate profession and not a glorified babysitting service. However, from a safeguarding point of view, it makes perfect sense.… — read more
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