In stark contrast to the grey drizzle and swirling mist that had been our first experience of the North (our visit to Parklands Primary, Leeds the day before), we arrived at Wilmslow Grange, just south of Manchester, on a bright November Friday. As with Parklands the previous day, it was their reputed excellence and ambitious […]
“… ‘ere’, Mister… You them visitors what have come’t see school?” The small moon-faced boy beamed up at us. He’d been waiting for our arrival and pounced upon us the very moment we set foot through the door. It had taken four and a half hours to travel from Bristol to Leeds through ever gloomier […]
“Don’t do it Simon!” My Deputy was quite sure that it was a terrible idea. I looked out of the window in the airless training room and inwardly fumed. “They need to know!” I countered, “We’d been through it a hundred times! If they’d stuck to the bloody script we wouldn’t be here!” “It’s still a terrible […]
This is a copy of an article I wrote for Primary Leadership Magazine. When colleagues asked me what I’d learnt from my Ofsted training, I told them I’d “Mastered the ability to write on a clipboard whilst simultaneously raising a single eyebrow, shaking my head and tutting.” I was joking, of course. But ask any […]
I stood in my classsroom in my ill-fitting Burtons Sports Jacket and waited. Some of my new colleagues would pop their head round the door and wish me luck, others would give an encouraging wave as they hurried to the photocopier. One just glowered at this callow youth stood in a classroom pretending to be […]
“It’s not good Simon. Not Good at all!” She fired the words out like a Gatling gun; her eyes making no attempt to hide a mixture of disappointment and contempt. I had been a new Head at my struggling school for about ten months and this was the LA’s second ‘Teaching and Learning Review’ – […]
So you’ve clung on through the dark, wintery months of the ‘Spring Term’ and faced the challenge of making your bold vision a reality through rigorous action and monitoring to ensure said bold plans bed in. Well done! Compared to this, the summer term (with warm sunny days and children playing happily on the school […]
Where does ‘character’ come from? Is it something divine – fixed and determined at birth? We all know that character is the product of environment and experience but what impact do our schools have on children’s characters? And do we do enough to shape them? Children spend 192 days of the year in our schools (52% […]
With the New Year now upon us, and with the traditional window for Headteacher recruitment just beginning, some of you will be considering whether now is the time to take the leap and apply for a headship (or even your first leadership post prior to headship). You should – school leadership is brilliant and, despite what […]
“What do you mean ‘a bit of a fight…?” I said drowsily, seconds after my mobile had rudely interrupted my Saturday morning lie-in. “Parents?” “Twenty!! That’s not a fight; that’s a bar-room brawl!” “I think you’d better come in.” Murmured the Chair of Governors. Having started my first Headship in the April, the end of […]
