Following on from two posts here and here in which I made a case for the importance of leadership knowledge, and against the idea of generic leadership competencies, this series of posts will explore the parameters of a domain of knowledge to be developed by all school senior leaders. *** Part 1: Overlapping roles and … Continue reading The domain of senior leadership (I)

I've just finished Robert Peston's book WTF? (that's what it is called, not my attempt to sound cool). It is about Brexit and politics, which won't be everyone's idea of a good read. I liked it. It passed the time and I learnt a few things. What I take away from the book is that … Continue reading What remains

I don't usually share resources, but thought these may be of use to someone. These are my notes and slides from the introductory session on teaching vocabulary I ran this week. I think I have referenced sources quite well, but please excuse any omissions. Please take my sharing as an advert for the brilliant work … Continue reading Vocabulary training

I closed our school today. We had no water. It was a simple decision to make, even at 6.30 in the morning. You can't have over 1000 people on site with no way of feeding them or for them to use the toilet. The problem affected the whole of the surrounding area, so clearly not … Continue reading I wasted £20,000 today

Professional autonomy is an attractive concept. Who doesn't wish to be left alone to get on with the job when the tendrils of interference begin to bind their decisions? The removal of control is often perceived as a threat; our right to act freely sabotaged by a central power which subverts us from meaningful and … Continue reading Is professional autonomy overrated?

Galled by my own predictable slavishness to the Gregorian calendar, I find myself reflecting on the year gone by. The whole New Year shebang is mawkish and overblown in my opinion. If we are going to celebrate new beginnings, let's make it Spring when the world is truly re-born and we can literally and figuratively … Continue reading The fall and rise of educational orthodoxy – 2018 revisited

In the past month I have been distracted from the things I would like to be doing at work. It is immensely frustrating. I have been drawn to things that really need my full attention, and so I have focused almost entirely on these matters. The result is a deep sense of dissatisfaction and even … Continue reading Distraction is dissatisfaction

CODE, SCHEDULE IV. I. - Every School must have:- (e) A Punishment Book in which all cases of corporal punishment must be recorded. I have the Punishment Book for our school. It resides, along with other archive documents, in my office; a reminder that we are mere custodians of the school's heritage. It begins on … Continue reading The Punishment Book

Scene 1 The glass doors slide open and a middle-aged lady enters the hall. She is dressed as if she has arrived straight from work and appears in a hurry. She scans the hall and refers to the flimsy piece of paper in her hand, trying to find where she should be going. Finally, she … Continue reading Sliding doors

My wife doesn't wear earrings. She stopped wearing them 25 years ago when she met me. I was an opinionated young man (as opposed to the opinionated older man I am now) and made it clear that I had no time for jewelry and piercing. She should have just carried on wearing them anyway, but … Continue reading Wear the damn earrings