"How does this end? Tell me how this ends!" Phone Booth. Affirmation is something every head teacher needs. Some leaders may think they are at the summit of educational achievement. They may have an aura of power and mystery about them... Continue Reading →
I have been pondering this one for some time. I have no new answers. I do have a perspective and a will to do something about it though. I am in the middle of a wellbeing survey of teachers at... Continue Reading →
It has been a tough few weeks. I used to say, "I never get stressed”. I was an idiot. What I should have said was, “I never noticed my stress”. I have allowed the adversities and complications of headship to... Continue Reading →
You're an idealist, and I pity you as I would the village idiot. Stanley Kubrick I am an optimist, an idealist. I am sure that in the future someone will read this blog with a mixture of bewilderment and contempt... Continue Reading →
There has been a lot of ‘debate’ this week about lesson observations based on the following ‘Starter for Five’ (Advice for new teachers) from mylifeasacynicalteacher. The post advised: Find out what the observers are looking for Give them what they want... Continue Reading →
The curse of knowledge is insidious, because it conceals not only the contents of our thoughts from us but their very form. When we know something well, we don’t realize how abstractly we think about it. And we forget that... Continue Reading →
An over-reliance on past successes is a sure blue print for future failures - Henry Petroski I once worked with a head teacher whose school was graded outstanding and had the following opening lines in Ofsted’s letter to the children,... Continue Reading →
It was my first ever social with governors. It was my second year in teaching – All foppish hair, ideals and green ill-fitting corduroy jacket. I had a pint and we moved to the circle of chairs. There were seven... Continue Reading →
“Fight! Brian, there’s a fight in the Nursery!” I make my way across the hall, in to the Nursery and my jaw drops. Two mothers are entwined on the nursery playground floor, faces red with hate, fingers digging into skin... Continue Reading →
Old Primary Head 