27 months have passed and the phone is due to ring. I wasn't quite waiting by the phone at one o'clock on Wednesday, but I marked the passing of this moment in my mind. When no-one called, I knew we were home and dry for half term. I didn't want the call, but in another … Continue reading Waiting for Ogod

We introduced a five-minute movement time between lessons this year. It works really well. Every transition (between lessons, start of the day, end of breaks) is five minutes long. Given the layout and size of our school, this is enough time to walk purposefully to the next lesson, get lined up, enter the classroom, get … Continue reading Metamorphic problems

Common and unusual problems I am fortunate to have had little need for medical attention in my life so far, but recently I've been able to observe the great cogs of the NHS turning (oh so slowly) for someone close to me with a rare and chronic condition. The monolithic organisation is littered with specialists … Continue reading The Curse of the Specialist

The fundamental decision I make each day is around how to direct my attention. As a headteacher, I have more autonomy over how I choose to spend my time than anyone else in the school. It is both a blessing and a curse. I can choose to fill my days with meetings, observing teaching, doing … Continue reading Live with complexity, attend to the complicated

Have you noticed how many of the problems we face in schools never actually get solved? Think about student behaviour, attainment gaps, workload or mental health... conceiving of these as problems for which we will find 'solutions' is daft. We don't solve these problems in the sense of solving a crossword puzzle, or fix them … Continue reading Problems require resolutions

As I write, Roy Batty is dying. The humanoid anti-hero of the film Bladerunner sits facing his adversary, the assassin known as Decker, and utters one of the most compelling monologues in movie history. During his brief existence, Roy is on a quest to escape his destiny – to be more than a ‘replicant’ of … Continue reading Replicating leadership

As featured by @TeacherTapp https://teachertapp.co.uk/what-drives-us-to-try-new-things-in-the-classroom/ 

“You are not special. You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We're all part of the same compost heap. We're all singing, all dancing crap of the world.” Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club (1999) You're not a beautiful and unique snowflake It is easy to come to … Continue reading You are not special

Part of the accepted wisdom of leadership is that successful leaders vary their style according to the situation they are facing. The classic version of 'situational leadership' was developed by Hersey¹ and Blanchard throughout the 60's, 70's and 80's. The basic premise is that effective leadership is task-relevant i.e. leaders respond to the nature of the … Continue reading Why style should go out of fashion

When we think of experts (you know, the ones we've had enough of, according to Michael Gove) we might think of a specialist surgeon, a researcher into climate change, or a Nobel prize winning physicist. Perhaps we'd think of a more everyday expert, like a financial advisor, or that talented mechanic who worked out what … Continue reading The Two Forms of Expertise