Key takeaways:
1️⃣ Well-being strengthens outcomes, not weakens them.
2️⃣ Build flexibility into timetabling before you need it.
3️⃣ Leadership is about systems, not dependency.
4️⃣ AI could make time-off seamless.
5️⃣ Model the culture you want to see.
📌 With my daughter’s school on a training day, we had a day of cinema, sushi, and time well spent. A leader’s well-being is just as important as their team’s. We model what we expect from others.
✨ The next couple of years are going to revolutionise how tools support our leadership of work like this.
🔹 AI-driven scheduling will optimise staff flexibility
🔹 Tools will predict cover & adjust timetables dynamically
🔹 Personal Days integrated with minimal disruption
📣 I say staff well-being matters—but continue to question whether our systems make it possible? There are risks that time off is met with stress, guilt, or extra work for others. Culturally , mutual support should be a given, not a favour.
🤝 We've improve a lot over the past 18 months through a lot of visible and invisible leadership. Proud to say that things don’t fall apart when a leader steps out. It wasn't always this way. We built better systems and structures, and balanced impact and presence.
📅 We build flexibility into our timetable. Every teacher has some bonus time, meaning staff can support each other without scrambling for last-minute cover.
💡 Well-being isn’t separate from excellence, it strengthens it. When leaders model balance, staff feel valued. But here’s the key: this only works if it’s systemised. A school that relies on individuals rather than systems could be fragile.
A school where EVERYONE can take time off—guilt-free? Build this.
This week, I took a Personal Day—a trust-wide initiative supporting staff well-being. But how do you ensure this works without disrupting learning?
A 🧵 on leadership, timetabling, AI, and protecting your team.
Love notifications like this!
Tomorrow is our House Competition: The Masked Reader! 📚🎭 Inspired by The Masked Singer, but with books! Which House will shine? A brilliant way to celebrate creativity, teamwork, and reading.
The impact can be transformational:
✅Teachers feel less rushed and have more energy for teaching.
✅Classrooms become hubs of learning, fostering focus through stability.
✅The school runs more smoothly, with fewer disruptions.
Our decisions reflect our core values.
⭐Belong: Teachers and students feel supported with consistent spaces.
⭐Excel: Teachers focus fully on high-quality education without logistical barriers.
Building a strong timetable takes practical and values driven thought (all at once):
✅Use school layouts to group rooms effectively.
✅Prioritise rooms that match subject needs.
✅Manage student flow to prevent bottlenecks.
✅Seek feedback from teachers to improve.🤝
🚨My challenge - Science!
With high demand for labs and limited capacity, achieving sufficiency is tough. We’re exploring:
🔬 Rotating practical / theory lessons to maximise lab time.
🔬 Long-term planning to identify demands.
🔬 Reviewing regularly & adjust as needed.
Our timetable tools enables us to:
✅Quickly analyse room usage and find inefficiencies.
✅Visualise scenarios for room and teacher allocation.
✅Match subject needs to the best available spaces.
✅Adjust this throughout the year as needs change
Subjects like science, art, and music need special facilities:
✅Prioritise these rooms for practical lessons.
✅Ensure resources are available when needed.
✅Optimise how these spaces are used to maximise learning.
Specialised rooms mean better experiences! 🔬🎨🎼
Home rooms give teachers a consistent base:
✅Materials and resources stay organised.
✅Students benefit from stable, familiar environments.
✅Teachers save time setting up, letting them concentrate on their teaching.
Long distances between classes waste time and energy:
✅ Assign rooms close together, especially for consecutive lessons.
✅Group related subjects or year groups in nearby spaces.
✅Keep walking distances short so teachers can focus on teaching.
🧵 Timetabling to Remove Struggle & Maximise Impact 🧵
Timetabling isn’t just about scheduling classes. It’s about creating systems that save teacher energy, minimise movement, and maximise the wellbeing of our staff and their impact. How we do it: 👇
🌟 Fads fade. Leaders should prioritise scalable, sustainable projects that enhance curriculum delivery over time. The TES article asks, “What if schools had unlimited budgets?” Often, innovation isn’t about money, it's about intent, partnerships, and focus.
📊 Leaders should be as critical as possible and come up with some success criteria for any tech investment. For us, it’s about engagement, critical thinking, and student reflection. Regular feedback from students and staff ensures we refine future efforts.
The experience was, for many today, a transformative one. I firmly believe that technology works best when it complements teaching. Today VR helped immerse students in a complex scenario, but the learning was solidified through teacher-led reflection.
🤝My school didn’t need to buy the VR headsets. The team brought the tech, expertise, and structured the learning. In principle, I'm drawn to letting big business absorb the high early adopter R&D costs while waiting and using proven tools to deliver real educational value.
💷 Schools have overspent on flashy tech without clear impact. I started teaching when interactive whiteboards were so very expensive and costly shiny tablets couldn't replace pen and paper! A strong TES article recently warns against chasing trends.
https://buff.ly/4amuzc5
💡 Start with why. In this case, VR enhanced the usual PSHE input, offering immersion, decision-making, and reflection that short films or talks can’t replicate. The tech supported—not replaced—human-led teaching and rich student discussions.
🧵 Virtual Reality Decisions Got Me Thinking About Real-World EdTech Choices 🧵
Today students had a Virtual Decisions workshop, exploring real-world scenarios through VR technology. Here’s what I think school leaders should consider when investing in tech-driven experiences.
Flexible PPA is part of a bigger conversation about workload and well-being. Future posts will explore Bonus Time and Personal Days, and how these fit into our broader approach to building a supportive school culture.
✳️ Options Where Possible - Flexibility doesn’t mean a one-size-fits-all approach. We work with staff to offer options, balancing individual preferences with the wider needs of the school.
✳️ Prioritising Curriculum Needs - While flexibility is important, we place curriculum and lesson delivery first. I'm not splitting a class if I don't have to. Flexible PPA is timetabled around teaching priorities and operational needs, ensuring students always come first.
✳️ Balanced Distribution Across the Week - Flexible PPA sessions are distributed carefully across the week. This avoids timetable bottlenecks or pressure on certain days while ensuring curriculum priorities are met.
✳️ Equity for All Teachers - Ensuring fair access to late starts and early finishes is crucial. All staff should benefit from this flexibility, regardless of seniority, department, or timetable constraints.
