Appraisal: Development Pathways
In the previous two parts of the appraisal series, I explored the ongoing tension between appraisal and accountability expressed by the two dramatically different approaches to appraisal: the surplus and deficit models. I also looked at how to start changing the appraisal culture through the ‘gentle pressure relentlessly applied’ approach. In this part appraisal pathways…
Appraisal: Gentle Pressure Relentlessly Applied
Much has been written about the issues surrounding accountability in UK schools. Part 1 of the appraisal series was all about the tension between what the appraisers and appraisees are looking for in the appraisal process. In this blog I want to tackle the first big question I arrived at in my musings: How do…
Appraisal: More Questions Than Answers
Reflect for a moment on your professional career, has your appraisal experience contributed to your professional growth? Have you been lucky enough to have an appraiser who cared and sought to help you grow? Should it have been down to luck? There are two things I am excited about for the next academic year and…
How to lead on teaching and learning as a middle leader? Part 2
Reading this brilliant post from Paul Cline (@PaulCline_psy), inspired by yet another excellent post from Dawn Cox (@missdcox), made me reflect on my many years of experience as both a middle and senior leader. This is part 2 of my reflections on how to drive teaching and learning as a middle leader. Last week I…
How to lead on teaching and learning as a middle leader? Part 1
Reading this brilliant post from Paul Cline (@PaulCline_psy), inspired by yet another excellent post from Dawn Cox (@missdcox), made me reflect on my many years of experience as both a middle and senior leader. I led on T&L as an Assistant Head in inner London and delivered an Outstanding Teacher Programme for a teaching school…
Get Better Faster Book Review
Is there a book you wish you had read years ago? A deeply inspirational book that changed your outlook? Get Better Faster by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo is that book for me and I don’t use the word ‘inspirational’ lightly. Bambrick-Santoyo is the managing director of Uncommon Schools, co-founded by another big name in education, Doug Lemov.…
How do you turn book monitoring into a developmental exercise?
William (1998), Hattie (2008) and EEF (2018) all identified feedback as one of the key influencers on student attainment. Do note I say feedback not marking. I whole-heartedly believe that the quality of feedback and students responding to it is the single most impactful thing in teaching. How do you monitor it though? How do…
The Ghosts of Past, Present and Future Leadership
Managerialism Research We all want to be great leaders, don’t we? No one sets out to be a prescriptive and tyrannical boss. No thank you to being the Scrooge of the school, though I’m quite happily the Grinch when Christmas comes. Last November as a part of my MA in Educational Leadership, I read a…
Reading Matters
The article below is a piece I wrote for Renaissance on our successful implementation of the Accelerated Reader programme. The original is here. During my first lunch duty at the school, not a single student was reading in the library. Students were only paying attention to their devices. I looked at the number of books…
Aggressive Monitoring – A Smart Move?
Ask most teachers how they go about monitoring student work and they will most likely say “I start with the slowest or weakest student.” They will not say “I monitor aggressively.” unless they have read Get Better Faster by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo. I know that for sure. I polled my colleagues. One of the concepts mentioned…
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