Effective Courageous and Difficult Conversations for Leaders in School.
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Effective Courageous and Difficult Conversations for Leaders in School.

How to Have Difficult Conversations in Schools Leading difficult conversations is not about power or forcing people to do as they are told. It is about accountability, gaining buy-in and building trust. When holding conversations around practice, or conflict there will be specific elements of people management but that is not leadership. As a leader…

Powerful Leadership Lessons From Challenging Times
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Powerful Leadership Lessons From Challenging Times

Leadership Lessons From The Coronavirus Pandemic and Other Challenging Times. Research conducted during the pandemic suggests that schools facing challenging circumstances need leaders who demonstrate a broad range of leadership approaches. This study “Leadership for Challenging Times” by Gurr and Drysdale (2020) gives some insight. Skills in these areas are most effective when underpinned by…

Imposter Syndrome in Education
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Imposter Syndrome in Education

Imposter Syndrome for Teachers and School Leaders Imposter syndrome is a really common issue for teachers and school leaders in education. I started this website as a reflective blog whilst completing the NPQML leadership course, since then it has evolved into a special education teaching resources and ideas website. Over the last 5 years, over…

Putting SEND On the Political Agenda
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Putting SEND On the Political Agenda

The UK SEND Policy Guide This document captures the discussion between, parents, carers, educators and people with SEND about the state of special education in Britain in 2019 and the messages they want to send to politicians. We asked 6 questions to include in the #SENexchange SEND Political Manifesto. The answers to which we have…

The Quality of Teaching: Ofsted Framework
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The Quality of Teaching: Ofsted Framework

Thoughts on the Ofsted Framework Relating to Curriculum. The Ofsted Inspection Framework was updated in September 2023. These are my thoughts on how the Ofsted framework may affect your school and some ideas that may help to formulate your response. One of the biggest changes is to Conduct during an inspection. Ofsted outlines clear expectations…

The Mental Health crisis facing our most vulnerable children.
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The Mental Health crisis facing our most vulnerable children.

There are many many children out there who are crying out for help. There are many dedicated, enthusiastic, creative and compassionate people who are desperate to help. These people need help, we are increasingly facing highly complex issues that very few educational professionals are equipped to deal with. I am writing this as a teacher but I know there are CAMHS workers, social workers and support staff throughout the country who are feeling like this.

10 Game Of Thrones Quotes For Teachers
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10 Game Of Thrones Quotes For Teachers

There are some excellent lessons us educators can take  from George RR Martin’s epic tale of the fight for the throne of Westeros. Game Of Thrones has some brilliant quotes about Friendship, the struggle against adversary, loyalty to name just a few. Here are a selection of quotes that you may find apply to you…

6 Practical Ways To Make Your CPD More Effective
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6 Practical Ways To Make Your CPD More Effective

6 Essential Practical Elements of Effective CPD Training is big business. The reason for this is because Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is such a wide term. A school’s training budget can cover a multitude of areas, non teaching and learning areas such as: health and safety, food hygiene, seagull avoidance, first aid, fire awareness, the…

Get Off the Negativity Bandwagon!
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Get Off the Negativity Bandwagon!

Positivity in the staffroom Negativity in schools in commonplace. I think it is incredibly important to be positive about the work you do. If you work with children then it is vital. However the school ecosystem is a complex organism, easily affected by external inputs. As staff we have worries and dilemmas that play on…

Teachers: The Real Motivational Speakers.
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Teachers: The Real Motivational Speakers.

Educational Motivational Speakers Inspiration is all around you. To be inspirational is a resource some people harness to make a living out of. There are schools full of people at this very moment who are giving inspirational speeches, to classes, and to individuals. There are those who are changing the ways people think about aspects of…

Equality and Diversity in implementation of Staff training.
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Equality and Diversity in implementation of Staff training.

Equality and Diversity in Staff Training This is the notes form of an Equality and Diversity presentation I wrote as part of my certification as a PBS instructor. I am now a Principal Instructor for our area in Positive Behaviour Support (PBS is an area I have been putting much thought into). I must stress…

15 Tips For Creating a Positive School Ethos
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15 Tips For Creating a Positive School Ethos

Tried and Tested Ways to Create a Positive School Ethos and Culture Education can be is a very stressful industry to work in. However for the many teachers who would not consider working anywhere else there are ways to make the job much less stressful. Creating a positive school ethos and atmosphere of your school,…

The Influence of School Leaders on Inclusion
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The Influence of School Leaders on Inclusion

Improving Inclusion Through School Leadership This post builds on the input of 30 school leaders during an SLTChat educational discussion. It also references two papers (see references section) Inclusive education has become a global priority, with countries worldwide seeking to provide quality education for all students regardless of ability, disability, language, culture, gender, or background….