Attention, cognitive load and forming meaning | How do schools improve?

Ultimately, school improvement is about better outcomes for children. We can look at outcomes for children in a number of ways beyond what immediately comes to mind about attainment and progress, all of which are desirable for any school leader. At the heart of school improvement though is learning. Schools improve when children learn more,...

Choosing where to deploy teachers

How should we choose which year groups to place teachers? Most will come back to asking ‘What’s best for the children?’ But this is quite vague and needs unpacking more. What’s best for children is motivated, expert teachers who enjoy working with the colleagues that they have been thrown together with. Therefore what’s best for...

Problem solving from the classroom to the wider system

The ultimate anchoring concept Sitting at the core of what schools are for is children’s learning and therefore the expertise that teachers and leaders need in order to maximise it. Viviane Robinson puts it succinctly: Whether we’re teaching a class, leading a phase / department, leading a school or leading multiple schools, this model is...

Team meetings | A driver of school improvement

For those fortunate enough to work in a year group or department with multiple colleagues, the opportunities for collaboration - working together on common problems to achieve common goals - are brilliant. A combination of sharing workload and having plenty of developmental conversations make being a part of a team incredibly important. But every team...

Nine lies about school #5 | People need feedback

Nine Lies About Work (Buckingham and Goodall, 2022) does an interesting job of explaining some of the misconceptions that we have about organisational culture. This is the third in a series of posts examining the implications of these lies for school leaders. The first is here and the second is here. If you want improvement,...

Leaders – what does your mental model of great teaching look like?

Quality first teaching is a strange phrase. I may be wrong but I think its origin can be traced back to the SEND code of practice. Its most recent iteration is 'high quality teaching' as a catch all for all the great things that should be under universal provision. Regardless of origin, it is certainly...

How can senior leaders support subject leaders?

Subject leaders do an incredible job. In the average primary school, most get minimal additional non contact time and often lead more than one subject. They contribute to curriculum design, champion their subject and support colleagues with subject knowledge, Subject leaders are the engine room of school improvement and the support that senior leaders provide...

4 things that great subject leaders know and do

Leading a subject is a tough job. ITT prepares teachers to teach but as soon as the induction period is completed, teachers often take on the leadership of a subject without any sort of training. In schools with good systems, clarity of direction and excellent role models to learn from, subject leadership can be a...

What leaders need to know about impact

Leaders need to know the difference between the actions that they take and the result of those actions. This can sometimes be blurred, particularly because our ultimate goal - outcomes for children - can often take some time to manifest at scale. Leaders must seek to influence other realms that will in turn lead to...

What I think about…professional learning

Moving schools and with more than an eye on headship is sure to get you reflecting. The following posts are what I think about various things, in no particular order. Previous posts were about displays, learning generally, maths and reading. Next up - professional learning. What should leaders prioritise? With likely a range of often conflicting priorities,...