Waves are repeating and periodic disturbance that travel through a medium from one location to another location. secoora.org One of many moments... Recently, I was engaged in a discussion with a colleague about one of our school policies. The policy in question made reference to 'differentiation'. I do not remember exactly how the conversation went, … Continue reading Is CogSci in education a surging wave?

The existential question for a multi-academy trust: are the schools within it better off as a result? By 'better off' I mean do the schools deliver superior outcomes (in the broadest sense) for the children who attend them? If you cannot confidently say yes then there is a problem. If you cannot provide evidence to … Continue reading Leveraging expertise

Chances are, you’ve read one of my blog posts before. Hopefully you got something from it. Perhaps you’ve followed my ramblings for years. You might even be one of those special people (thank you!) who say nice things about my writing. You may have noticed that I haven’t asked you to ‘buy me a coffee’. … Continue reading Carry on Climbing

For the past 13 years, I have had the pleasure of joining groups of 16 and 17 year old students in climbing some of the highest and most scenic mountains in Britain. We call it the 3 Peak Challenge. In the early years, this meant scaling the highest mountain in Wales, England and Scotland in … Continue reading Meritoxicity and the Good Life

But this debate about the relative importance of knowledge and skills, people outside the education world are baffled by it – and they’re right. Everyone with their feet on the ground in the real world knows you need both, and these old arguments, old practices, old divides – they’re holding our children back. Keir Starmer, … Continue reading Those who keep the pendulum swinging

The ifs and buts of multi-academy trusts fascinate me. Genuinely. I've studied organisational behaviour for decades. I've played with it for some time too. The reformation of the school system in England is intriguing, occasionally frightening and frequently baffling. The obvious enquiry questions include whether being in a MAT is better than not being in … Continue reading Is it rational to want to join a MAT?

One of the things I like most about the work of the educationalist Viviane Robinson is her concept of 'open-to-learning conversations'. These are interactions about performance, improvement, or educational problems between leaders and teachers. Robinson advocates a particular approach to such conversations, one whereby the leader is ready to have the validity of their assumptions … Continue reading Think big, start small

The strange loop of school improvement There come moments where, despite travelling further and further from a starting point, one is surprised to find oneself back at the beginning. School improvement is one such strange loop. There is a sense of making progress: each challenge that presents itself is tackled with degrees of success; matters … Continue reading The End is the Beginning (Strange Loops)

It has been a funny few weeks in which I have had cause to question the reach of schools into the lives of families and society. Like all secondary heads, I've spent countless hours (whilst conscious and also whilst asleep) picking over this summer's exam results, wondering what I should make of the tail-end of … Continue reading What are the limits of ‘school’?