If you’ve been around long enough in educational leadership, you start to see cycles. One statement that never seems to go away is the - We take all the children with SEND whilst that school up the road does nothing....... Continue Reading →
5 minutes read time.
For more than a decade, I’ve led a 0-11 (All Year Round - 0-18 in holidays) mainstream primary school for over 600 children. We run a highly successful 55‑place specialist provision embedded within the heart of our school. Over 130... Continue Reading →
Why “Internal vs External Support” Risks Becoming a New Source of Unfairness The 2025 Education Inspection Framework (EIF) brings a major shift in how leadership, governance, and improvement capacity are judged.Much of this shift is positive: schools should know themselves... Continue Reading →
Sorry, this blog is a little messy – but I think it is one of the most important ones I’ve written this year. The issues have been burning away for some time. I came into teaching to educate; to build knowledge, understanding and prepare children... Continue Reading →
This week’s Government announcement of at least £3 billion to expand specialist places within mainstream schools could be a significant moment for creating more inclusive schools. The plan is to create tens of thousands of tailored spaces in local schools,... Continue Reading →
This week, scientists discovered that your nose gets colder when you’re under stress. If that’s true, there must be a legion of icy-nosed school leaders across the country right now, bracing themselves for November and the looming shadow of Ofsted. ... Continue Reading →
Atelophobia is an extreme fear of imperfection. Someone with this disorder may be terrified of making mistakes, or go to great lengths to avoid new situations because they can't guarantee that they'll succeed. The current education system is adding to School Leader Atelophobia... Continue Reading →
CONTENT WARNING - Once again – this is a ramble – this topic is huge and I start to hit on issues that I could spend thousands of hours on (And still get nowhere!). That’s not the purpose of a... Continue Reading →
Old Primary Head 