Building A Compassionate School System

In the ever-evolving world of Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), creating nurturing and inclusive coaching cultures can stand as a beacon of hope and growth. It’s a

Thank you for your recent visit to our school. While your team was lovely and your impression of our school ‘outstanding’, I’d like to share

Dear Boris Johnson, I am writing to you with a plea at a time when your mind may well be on other matters but my

“There’s a crack in everything and that’s how the light gets in.” This being the famous line from the Leonard Cohen song, “Anthem”. When we

It is our belief that over the last few years, our education system has lost sight of one of its strongest and most important

As I write this it is a cool spring day during the Easter holidays and I am sat in my newly created office, carved out

School Leaders are not Data Technicians and children are not units of data. This mechanistic approach can be damaging to Headteachers, because there are

The pace and volume of change in educational policy over the last decade has led to increased ambiguity, inconsistency and insecurity. Schools are sailing uncharted

Earlier this year, the TES quoted a report by the NAHT that revealed, ‘65% of School Leaders “strongly agree” that cutbacks have already had a

It was the late Psychologist Carl Rogers who over forty years ago said; “Our educational system takes the view that the nature of the individual

Over the last few years, it’s fair to say that many changes have taken place in our education system that have transformed relationships between Headteachers.

Recently, I received a letter from my son’s school. He is sixteen and in the midst of exam season. The school wrote to parents of

I have always believed that schools are about people and human connection. I remember my very best teachers. I have fond memories of a maths

I hear and have sympathy with many complaints about the accountability system for schools in England and Wales. They echo around our professional community: …encourages

Education has and always will be my ‘first love’. Although I didn’t have the best experience of school growing up, l fell in love with

How many schools do you know that following an OFSTED visit, their staff have felt an upsurge in energy and have been inspired and motivated

As volunteers, usually with busy professional and personal lives of their own, Governors are asked to carry a heavy responsibility. How can they sort out

For more than a few School Leaders, it’s going to be incredibly difficult to believe that there is anything that could be more important than

Are we at a tipping point? Have we now reached a time where in our attempts to improve the education system, we can stop putting

It is almost two years since the Government published its response to the Workload Challenge – and very little if anything has changed. Teachers and

Dear Amanda,   Since taking up your post as the new Head of Ofsted, you have made it known that you, “want everyone to see

We’ve all been there. I know I have. That moment when you realise that the person you are talking to is not listening. They are

Several weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to be asked to appear on Sky News to share my thoughts on the Headteacher recruitment and retention

  It was once common for education to be described as one of the ‘caring professions’.   Lately, however, we have become used to hearing

  My parents were part of the Windrush generation of migrants from the Caribbean, and I am a child of the inner city. At school