I'm sure our students can't wait for this school year to end, but I'm also sure it'll feel bittersweet for them -- they've had to contend with yo-yo schooling and a significant dose of uncertainty thrown into the mix. They've had the security of normality stripped from them, reduced contact with their closest friends, they've … Continue reading Models of Excellence- Creative Writing →

We have just come to the end of our Virtual Transition Week for our 2021 cohort and we are happy to share our approach, to support schools completing similar events this year.  Birmingham City Council made an announcement in late June and made the decision, due to rising cases of the Delta variant of COVID … Continue reading Transition 2021: Account of Practice →

Having now worked for over 15 years in secondary education, I have come to realise how insular it is in danger of being. I often make generalisations to pupils about business leaders or entrepreneurs without fully understanding their working lives, their motivations, their modes of thinking and perhaps most importantly, their approaches to leadership. So, … Continue reading Book Review: The Magic of the Space Between- How a unique mentoring programme is transforming women’s leadership →

Creating a physical space in school for staff to read, research and hone their craft is a great way to elevate the importance of continued professional learning.  Around 2 years ago, I was fortunate enough to have been given a small budget by my headteacher and was given a space in the school to allocate … Continue reading A quick guide on how to create a Staff CPD Library and ‘Hot Desk’ Research Room →

A couple of years ago, I stumbled across 'Post Secret' which is an ongoing community art project, created by Frank Warren. The project involves people posting their secrets anonymously on a homemade postcard. Selected secrets are then posted on the PostSecret website, or used for PostSecret's books or museum exhibits. One glance through the website or … Continue reading GCSE Creative Writing Exemplars: Post Secret ‘ I’m having difficulty coming to terms with my mediocrity’ →

If you’ve dared to read the comments on various news articles published over the past year, you’ll have no doubt seen some quite hurtful and unfounded comments about the integrity and practice of colleagues in the teaching profession during the pandemic. If you spent long enough scrolling through the comments, you would see how poor … Continue reading Staff CPD During and After COVID →

In this week’s episode, I teamed up with Aidan Sammons, Head of Psychology and Professional Coach at King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls.  Now that we think we might have mastered the technological challenges of teaching remotely, there are many questions that arise about the successful delivery of learning and how teachers might give … Continue reading TLA Meets: Aidan Sammons- planning effective feedback when teaching remotely →

At the bottom of the road near our school, there's a little cut-through called Crick Lane. It's a really helpful shortcut if you're aiming to avoid rush-hour traffic on the A41, but unfortunately it's also a fly-tipping hotspot. In spite of council efforts to clean this area regularly, they can't compete with the people who … Continue reading Year 10 GCSE Creative Writing Exemplars: The Crick Lane Chronicles →

I feel very proud to share the same corridors as an award-winning leader! Mick McCarthy is Head of Technology at King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls and was recently awarded the ENTHUSE Award for School and College Leadership in STEM. Mick has made excellent progress in transforming his department since joining the school; he … Continue reading TLA Meets: Award-winning STEM Leader, Mick McCarthy →