From the category archives:

Inspiration

4 elements to consider when setting a vision

May 17, 2010

In the best schools I know, the vision is embedded in everything every stakeholder does, be it Headteacher, staff, students, parents or governors.Many of these visions have been driven by an initial spark from a visionary head teacher, but then this headteacher has skilfully involved each and every stakeholder in defining the vision and keeping [...]

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Shout out about what you are great at

May 9, 2010

A good friend and fellow leadership coach,  Eilidh Milnes, posted on her forum this week a post recommending that every school should seriously consider have a banner outside shouting out how great they are. Eilidh got the idea when driving past a high school in the Congleton area with a banner on the boundary fence which read: I [...]

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Do you perform a full-time role within part-time hours?

April 7, 2010

My heart goes out to those part time workers who are given a full time role and expected to perform as well as their full time colleagues. When I was ‘hating’ my job two years ago I calculated the hours I actually worked in a week. I was working the equivalent of 6 days and being [...]

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What is the difference between a Headteacher and an Entrepreneur?

March 15, 2010

Within teaching there are some teachers that adamantly believe that they can’t learn anything from a primary school teacher if they work in a secondary school, or from an english teacher if they are a maths specialist. Frankly, I think this is rubbish! And I would go even further by saying that there is much [...]

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The only way to survive is to breath deep and dive

February 2, 2010

A dear friend, Lisa Gates, shared with me this 3 minute YouTube video clip of poet Andrea Gibson performing a piece entitled, “Dive”. (contains strong language)

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What have you done recently to create energy?

October 26, 2009

In his latest blog Paul Blogush writes: “The work that the kids do that is the best is always based on spontaneous ideas, not the ones that are slowly shaped over time, edited and revised. It seems as though sudden light bulb moments create an energy within them that carries through to the end.” Ain’t [...]

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A positive approach to leadership from within

October 1, 2009

This week I have been working with a forward thinking school who have recently established a Staff Welfare Group (SWG) with an aim of increasing the wellbeing of staff. This school knows that with happy, healthy and valued staff everyone benefits. The school recognised that it needed to bring the Staff Welfare Group and Senior [...]

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Be yourself, everyone else is already taken: the power of authenticity

May 25, 2009

Authenticity is a cornerstone of being an effective coach. While I found it difficult to be truly authentic in the corporate world, I am discovering so much more about me as a person when I am authentic and this change is being driven, at an emotional level, by ‘myself’ clamouring to be let out. Perhaps [...]

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When was the last time you told someone what you were great at?

May 16, 2009

Here is a dynamic exercise that any staff meeting could benefit from… Best bits speed coaching One of my secondary school clients put together a whole school staff meeting as an early step in to developing a coaching culture in her school. Positivity was encouraged as was focusing departmental teams on their strategic developmental needs. [...]

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Headteachers can save 30% of their time and up to £30,000.

April 10, 2009

I am always interested in ways of helping schools to save money, whether through motivated staff or better business practices.  As a result, I was drawn to the article on page 2 of this weeks SecEd on the results of a pilot scheme that concentrated on advanced school business managers (ASBMs) and school business directors [...]

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