Do you know what to do?

So, here’s the quandary around School Culture: Everyone who leads in a school thinks it’s important. Very few School Leaders have any authentic idea of what School Culture is, beyond a feel or a vibe? The absence of an agreed definition makes working on School Culture impossible. Many School Leaders don’t even know what their…

When is enough …. enough?

This is Sarah.  She makes my coffee every morning and is one of those cool baristas that don’t ask for your order when you walk in … she just knows. Through our masks, we discuss all manner of things while she whips up my strong skinny flat white and Anthea’s latte.  Lately, and for obvious…

This one changes the game.

If I were to ask you why teachers continue to stand in authoritarian positions at the front of classrooms using the power of their title to force students into learning, would you have a good answer Or could it be that the answer would be something along the lines of “Well, that’s just what teachers…

Carrying a fragment of the system with them.

I’m going to be a little deep with you today.  I hope that’s ok.  After all, I’m a Victorian and the gloomy pallor of coronavirus descending on us has driven quite a few of us toward some deep contemplation recently. For me, I’ve also been driven toward some reading with more home time and less…

Introducing “Restoring Teaching”

I’d like to introduce you to the newest addition to the Real Schools family.  It’s called “Restoring Teaching” and I’m doing the whole proud parent thing about it.  We’ll do the whole naming day thing in an upcoming online book launch and details will be coming your way about that too. How to describe this little…

The truth about RP.

Here’s the truth about Restorative Practices and schools – it hasn’t always been rolled out so well.  Sometimes that’s been because you’ve been trained by people who just don’t get schools – the time constraints, the purpose, the pressure from parents who just don’t get it or the rusted-on staff member who says “but there…

The best you can do with the choices you have.

So, I had a tooth ripped out on Monday morning, although the dentist insists she doesn’t “rip out” anything but rather “extracts”. I’m running with “ripped out” for dramatic effect which fits in with the odd story about how it happened that I had a dodgy tooth in the first place – as a twelve-year-old…