Blogs and articles

Outside Voices

I was very pleased to work on this valuable project – an anthology of lived experience and stories of connections with the outdoors. The Youth Hostel Association (YHA) has some amazing spaces in amazing places and ensuring access to them – for all – is their charitable purpose. They are working towards this goal and know it is… Read More »

Crisis management or new paradigm

Another week and another set of coronavirus restrictions to respond to. What can we do, what has to stop? Who’s on furlough? Who’s self-isolating? Another round of remodelling the cash flow, revising the budget, briefing the staff and communicating key messages to wider stakeholders. How many times has your charity been around this loop since March? Are staff… Read More »

Covid-19: Measuring the impact of school responses

I listened with interest to the Business as (un)usual: Supporting vulnerable learners through Covid roundtable (#CovidRoundTable). As the panel shared their experiences it occurred to me that at some point – maybe now, maybe later – that schools may want to evaluate what they have achieved during this time. So here is my contribution to the debate. Here are the beginnings of an outcomes framework that seeks to capture the extent of the current schools context.

Special School Leaders

NASS launches a new book ‘Special School Leaders – Case Studies from Leaders of Independent Schools and Non Maintained Special Schools’. Published by NASS and edited by Matt Overd and Anita Kerwin-Nye this resource shares the experiences of school leaders who took part in this year’s NASS Leadership Programme.

Every child should be resilient

Resilience is currently a bit of a toxic word currently. The idea that we need to build young people’s resilience to ‘survive’ some of society’s contemporary challenges has hints of ‘victim’ blaming. Living in poverty – toughen up. Experienced trauma – develop grit. Mental illness – not strong enough. This is not where Every Child Should is coming from.

How arts and culture can make invaluable contributions to education

Arts and culture can make invaluable contributions to the education, health and wellbeing of disabled people, but they do not have the same access as nondisabled people. Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Arts and Culture organisations have been setting a path towards greater inclusion of young people with disabilities for some time. And many research reports, networks, initiatives and conferences have highlighted this as a common theme.

What can education learn from the Police?

This is not a new question. There is much debate around the prescriptive nature of the qualification frameworks, the impact of the EBACC on other areas of education, the expansion of exclusive education and calls for teachers – not politicians – to set the education agenda.

Managing conflict in schools

Classroom banter, unruly pupils and aggression from parents are not new to those working in education.
This blog is about Managing Conflict, one of our middle leadership competencies. Get a quick insight into our competency framework with our Leadership Diagnostic.