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

There has been an interesting exchange of views this week on Twitter following a post from Professor Becky Allen (@profbeckyallen) titled The Ungameable Game (which would be a good name for a Queen song by the way). In the blog, Professor Allen playfully suggests a system for school performance measures which is, by design, ungameable. … Continue reading The Market for Schools

I haven't taught any A Level subjects for a few years now, and my favourite - Economics - for even longer. But I'm back in the game, and three lessons in I'm loving it. Being a headteacher, I don't teach much. For the last two years I filled a gap teaching Computing to Year 7 … Continue reading Greeting an old friend

The most difficult thing of all... was the lack of teaching. Students began the day by working on their own weekly plan, approaching teachers in the middle of the 'market square' for advice when needed. Uutiset News (Finland), 15.8.2019, 'Parents file complaints over "failure" of new school' Two contrasting news stories have caught my eye … Continue reading Order and Chaos