Parents can become disengaged with school – this post looks at overcoming common barriers so parents can have maximum impact on their child’s education.
Delegation sounds like a simple thing… Ask other people to do things. But it’s clearly not as simple as it sounds or we’d all be a lot better at it wouldn’t we? When talking to middle and senior leaders in schools and colleges, they often give similar reasons why they fail to delegate: It feels […]
Twitter and Facebook feeds are awash with adorable pictures of kids starting school this week, but they’re not the only ones facing the new term with excitement mixed with a little bit of uncertainty and trepidation – plenty of school staff are too. This is especially true for colleagues entering into their first leadership role. […]
The window for schools to opt into the new performance measures a year early in 2015, has now opened and will remain open until the end of June 2015. Secondary mainstream maintained schools, academies and free schools can all opt in. Headteachers and principals were sent the procedure and details for opting in on 20 […]
The role of form tutor can be very rewarding, it’s a great opportunity to have a real impact on the well-being and achievement of a specific set of students, and a great chance to really get to know and understand them too. In this post we’ve summarised some of the things that we think make the best […]
Honestly, how many hours have you wasted in this week, this month? How many meetings you’ve attended have been clear, focussed and prompt? How many have just descended into random discussion?
Follow the steps below and I think you can cut the time you spend in meetings by half. Imagine what you could do with all that extra time in your day!
How can I be a good leader? Teachers, academics and politicians have been trying to answer that question for as long as there’s been education of any sort. When it’s one of our leaders we’re critiquing, you often have 20:20 vision about their strengths and weaknesses. But when it’s ourself we’re looking at, that picture […]
If you’re a new governor, particularly if you have had experience of working in schools before those first few meetings can be particularly daunting. Education can be like its own language sometimes that seems to take delight in describing the very simple through the most complicated collection of terms and acronyms possible. With that in […]
Presenting an assembly for any teacher can be an extremely daunting task. Many pastoral leaders who spend a great deal of their time successfully dealing with managing behaviour in group or one to one sessions have many a sleepless night before “performing” in front of a whole year group. In some schools, the trend has […]
When it comes to being a governor we all know that it’s easier to ‘support’ rather than to ‘challenge’, especially as the headteacher and their senior leadership team hold all the cards: they have all the information about how the school is doing, they know their way around the key educational issues.
It’s the nightmare scenario. You pass by the newsagent, just to see the local rag’s billboard outside: “Your school in shock incident.” So when people write bad things about your school, how do you make sure you know about it first? Fortunately there’s an easy tool out there, that’s really simple to set up and […]
An effective leader can motivate, communicate well and plan effectively. The qualities that make a leader involve creating fresh possibilities and moving a team forward to develop what is needed in their role. The management of groups or teams within a school or college is very much dependent on the leader of the group. […]
About two years ago I joined the governing body of an infant school. The school in question, it was fair to say, was on its knees. There was no chair, the school had half its complement of governors, an acting headteacher and some serious serious problems. Yet just a few years earlier it was a […]
Use these ideas to maximise attendance and minimise lateness with an effective attendance policy.
Reflecting on your leadership style can lead to even better practice
