As weeks go this one has been a pretty damn good one. Returning after a decent rest from February half term, I’m arriving at work in the light and on some evenings also set off home in the light. The long winter haul of driving in the dark seems to be over. Throw in an INSET day with the Family of Blackpool Catholic Schools and the inspirational John Tomsett key noting; spring, if not quite in the air, seems only around the corner. Continue reading
I was just about to start our latest CPD session on Teach Like a Champion and with a few minutes to spare I tweeted out a link to a related post. You can imagine my surprise and delight when Doug Lemov tweeted straight back. For the past fifteen years my experience of leading in Blackpool is secondary schools, in particular, had taken a good kicking with very few offers of support. Doug Lemov’s approach and interest in Blackpool was a welcome change. It was the second time in a week that Blackpool had been given positive preferential treatment; the other was from TeachFirst. Continue reading
If developing the quality of teaching is a leadership imperative is it possible for us all to teach like a champion with the right professional development? I’ve been reading, which is always a dangerous thing, or more correctly re-reading a number of books and documents in order to develop a new professional development programme. Continue reading