Stolen Snatches
I recently read Johann Hari’s excellent book on Stolen Focus. I realised that as a HT my clarity of thinking is regularly impeded by a lack of focus. Is it stolen? I think so. We are required to be strategic and yet have to have solutions to staff shortages or pupil behaviour at the drop…
What if..?
A key part of being an educator in contemporary Scotland is about always asking questions to improve. How Good Is our School? 4 (Education Scotland, 2015) is a book of questions. Any self-evaluation is predicated on questions. As an enquiring HT I also love asking questions. It’s what I’m good at. However, sometimes my questions…
Being a headteacher is a lot like… crochet
Been thinking about finding something that will take me off thinking too much about school, leadership and masters level learning. I decided that crochet could be for me. My mum has been crocheting since I was 7… four decades of watching her would clearly make me an expert.. right? Actually no!A lot like leadership, crochet…
Overwhelming questions…
Last Monday I tried to write a piece for my blog… it won’t be published as it really was a very angry version of what I wanted to write. As usual I was trying to find answers to those thorny issues and massive questions we encounter in Education and life, and which at times plague…
Three months in…
It has crept up on me so quickly and yet some days have felt like they lasted forever. A mix of heady moments of success and achievement and some days where just getting to the end of the day has seemed like a tall order indeed. I’m three months in to my first headship. Reflecting…
Lest we forget…
Remembrance is a special time of the year in terms of marking the contributions and sacrifices of generations gone before. This year, in my first headship, it struck me to be mindful about all that has gone before. We are all arriving from that other place, be it our history, our experiences, our emotions and…
Dilemmas … Dilemmas
This week has been characterised by a series of seemingly unresolvable dilemmas. Situations where there is no right reasoning, nor easy decision to take. Take for example the issue of requests for additional supports at meetings around the child. A technicist approach would say no to additional demands as there are no additional resources. However…
Questions…questions… and more questions!
After a very intense, though satisfying university day, considering thorny educational issues, I am left with the stark realisation that a Head teacher must square the circle. As always I have more questions than answers… I suspect this greatly frustrates even the most patient member of my wonderful team. We are asked to and tasked…
On becoming a Headteacher…
Last term I took up my first headship, in a new school and new local authority. I also hung up my doctorate boots and embarked on the national qualification for headship. I anticipated that it would be a wonderful, interesting and intense experience getting to know a new job, new staff, new learners, and new…
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The Enquiring Head Teacher 