Are school leaders the best people to run their schools?
This editorial welcomes Chris James, from Alan Patient & Co, to talk us through some of the financial difficulties schools may face and how they - with a little help - can find stability during turbulent times. Chris is a Chartered Certified Accountant and has been fortunate enough to support many schools and governors over …
Facts always help reduce the venom of a dispute
This Guest Editorial is led by Richard Clarke. Richard is the Manager Director of Leverstock Limited, providing specialist telecommunication and IT solutions to the education sector. We are in an ever-changing world of technology, attitudes, compliance and parents that know best thanks to Google. The task for teachers and headteachers to remain in control of …
Where is our future society heading
What will our future child need (and want) to learn? When we came to the realisation that our purpose as an education body is to “prepare children for a world that doesn’t yet exist” –we were taken aback by the starkness of our own language. Still, this has been true for any generation of school …
The future is creativity
How do we help children access that part of their brain The technological revolution is changing our world faster than anyone in our society can really understand, and within this mass shift there are a few statistics that really should be getting more attention in our education system. 20% of the jobs that exist now …
Is your Governing Board fit for the future?
“Governors and Trustees on the most effective Boards will not only hold the school to account, but also hold each other to account.” It is easy to just keep on doing the same things in the same way with the same people, but, when carefully planned, change can be exciting and rejuvenating, as well as …
Subject Access Requests should we be scared?
The current data protection regime in Europe is the most rigorous in the world. Individuals have been granted greater control over their personal information than ever before. As expected, data subjects are now exercising their rights following awareness campaigns by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Arguably, the greatest challenge for schools stems from the right …
You Are Valuable and full of purpose
It’s always great to begin with a success, so let’s try that now. Pick up a pencil or pen and draw a circle. Now draw a second circle and try and make it better than the first. Now draw a third circle and just try and make it better than the second. What did you …
Lessons from Hamlet
‘Look for the art in science and the science in art’, said Leonardo da Vinci. For the past 35 years I have had the great good fortune to work with doctors, psychologists and scientists in the areas of neurology, sociology, psychology and the science of ‘self-organising systems’. Through spending time with people from a variety …
Partnerships – Do you really need them or can you go it alone?
With the continued rise of Multi-Academy Trusts (MAT) and Federations, it’s easy to be rushed into a decision when considering partnerships. In this week’s insight, we take a look at the challenges facing schools when forming partnerships to help guide the best decision for your school. Partnerships between schools have grown at an exponential rate …