One of the things I’ve been reflecting on recently is about the role of middle leaders within a school. …

I’ve recently just taken up a new post as a senior leader — Assistant Principal in charge of Teaching and Learning. This is my second bite at the SLT cherry, and I’m determined that this experience will go a lot better than it did the first time around. One of…

As many of you will know, I’m about to start a new job as Assistant Principal for Teaching and Learning. As a result, it may be that my History-specific blogging becomes less of a thing. …

I recently picked up a copy of Oliver Caviglioli and David Goodwin’s Organise Ideas. The reason being that I thought it might give me a different sort of input on teaching and learning ideas than I would normally seek out. A number of the ideas in the book link to…

I was initially going to write a ranty blog about private schools and Middlesbrough based on today’s education headlines, but I felt that might not be terribly constructive, so I thought I’d write something a little more reflective instead. In May 2016 I resigned from my Assistant Headteacher that I’d…

In my NQT year, I worked in an all-girls selective school in Birmingham. It was an exceptional school (grammar school caveats aside), and an incredible place in which to teach, and to learn how to teach in particular. My Head of Department, Julie, is a fantastic teacher. I imagine her…

I have a lovely Year 9 GCSE History class — but boy are they chatty. They fire lots and lots of questions at me. Sometimes it can feel like a barrage of them. One or two like to throw in ‘distractor’ questions to the point that it’s almost become a…

The ‘season’ for job applications is homing into view once again. Lots of prospective middle and senior leaders will be furiously writing their personal statements detailing their various accomplishments and their suitability for the new roles they are going for. …

In my career I’ve been a bit of a mini-whiteboard refuser. …