Stories of School Leadership

Stories of School Leadership Episode 25 - Hannah Wilson

In this episode the wonderful Hannah Wilson, Leadership Development Consultant, Coach and Trainer; Founder and Director of Diverse Educators, shares her journey into education and leadership and candidly explores her experience of leaving Headship which involved being put on gardening leave. In her own words’ we need to share the warts and all’ and in doing this she helps us feel less alone. Hannah has been hugely supportive and inspirational for me during the past 18 months as I step out of Headship. She lives her values, constantly creating spaces where others can lead and elevating their voices. I loved hearing Hannah’s viewpoints and reflections on her career to date in education and I hope you enjoy listening.

Stories of School Leadership Episode 24 - Malarvilie Krishnasamy

The podcast is back after a long summer break, and this is a great episode to kick off with. Malarvilie shares, with openness her experience of school during challenging times including riots. We talk about her journey into teaching following a different sort of leadership, and into educational leadership. Malarvilie shares her passion for coaching, equality of opportunity, and leadership communication strategies.
I loved talking to Malarvilie and I hope you enjoy the episode.

Stories of School Leadership - Episode 22 - Andy Downing

In this Episode I am joined by vastly experienced senior leader Andy Downing. As he nears retirement Andy and I take the opportunity to revisit his career spanning over 50 years in the sector leading in schools and authorities. We explore the difference educators make to young people, how important people centred leadership is and what it’s like to take on your first headship closer to the end of your career than the start! 
Andy and I talk about the current challenges in leadership and explore the value of autonomy and trust. It was a pleasure to hear Andy’s journey, I hope you enjoy listening.

Stories of School Leadership - Episode 21 - Yvonne Hogarth

In this episode I'm joined by Yvonne Hogarth, Education Consultant, Trainer and Coach. Yvonne shares her journey  into Education and leadership working in a range of roles and phases. We explore how challenging it is for middle leaders in education - particularly programme or curriculum leaders - who might be juggling teaching and leadership without a roadmap! 
Yvonne highlights the amazing possibilities for upskilling that being a governor can offer, and the transferable skills we gain in education including the many opportunities that there are across different sectors to use these skills. Yvonne is passionate about cross sector networking and so we dig into the power of sharing practice across different educational sectors.

Stories of School Leadership - Episode 20 Paul Jones

Episode 20 marks the halfway point in my goal of interviewing 40 leaders for my 40th year, and it felt only right to include someone at this point in the journey who knows me quite well… my former boss! 
 
Paul Jones, Educational Consultant, kindly joined me for a chat about his dedication to education including his work teaching the Travelling Community in Devon and his journey into leadership. We talk about what it was like to start one of the UK’s first Federation of Primary Schools! Paul shares insights into how and why collaboration is vital to support our developing profession, and how education and leadership has changed over time including the removal of autonomy for schools. Some great insights into Multi-Academy Trusts and what could have been, to share this week as we begin to hear what the new Government will be focussing on for the sector. 
 
I really enjoyed hearing Paul’s wisdom and reminiscing about some of our work together! I hope you enjoy listening, or watching!

Stories of School Leadership - Episode 19 - Jonathon Nicholls

In Episode 19 I’m joined by Jonathon Nicholls, a former Principal and Executive Principal, who shares his journey into, and within, the Education Sector. Jonathan’s background in engineering features both as a key part of his journey, but also brings a fascinating angle in his reflections about education and leadership; the challenges and the possible future. We explore childhood, autonomy and disrupting the current curriculum. Jonathan shares insights into his leadership experience, which spans a vast range of settings, and his learnings about discomfort in challenge, the impact of coaching, and managing the balance of leadership and the rest of our lives!

Stories of School Leadership - Episode 18 Dr Jo Trevenna

This episode is full of joy and understanding its importance. I am joined by the incredible Dr Jo Trevenna who shares her journey into education and in leadership. We dig into the challenges of the sector currently and Jo shares her fascinating research into the idea of Carnivalesque Leadership, its origins and how understanding its importance can have a huge impact on how we lead for ourselves, our staff and our young people. I learnt so much recording this with Jo, I hope you find new learnings to take into a more carnivalesque approach. Follow Jo for more information and to hear about the launch of her book when it arrives!

Stories of School Leadership - Episode 17 Leanne Galloway

In this episode I am joined by Early Years Consultant, inspector, colleague and friend Leanne Galloway. Leanne shares her experience of growing up in small village in the UK, finding her calling into Education and her passion for the Early Years. We explore the challenges of balancing teaching with leadership, experiences of International Leadership and what it's like to be an Ofsted Inspector!
 

Stories of School Leadership Episode 16 - Nancy Lhoest-Squicciarini

In Episode 16 I’m joined by the brilliant Nancy Lhoest-Squicciarini sharing her journey in education. She shares her own experience of connection at school, I think a record for bringing my teary eyes at just 5 minutes in! Nancy’s energy is infectious, and her insights into facilitation are incredibly valuable. We explore creating and embedding norms into cultures, bringing fun to meetings and training with the value of human capital, and the impact of collectives where strong facilitators are at play. Nancy’s insights into the responsibilities and development of middle leaders show the global challenges faced by those in these roles. We touch on some big issues for leaders - why job descriptions are so important for middle leaders, middle leadership training and, when meetings should just be emails! This is a great episode to challenge thinking for leaders at all levels - How can we do better for middle leadership?

Stories of School Leadership - Episode 15 - Alex Neophitou

This episode touches on such a range of valuable topics. I’m joined by Alex Neophitou, former Senior Leader, now Freelance Education Consultant for his business New Education Outlook. As Alex shares his journey with incredible honesty, we explore how viewpoints of leadership evolve, finding joy in education and the importance of teams. He shares his decision making processes at key points in his educational career including trying to balance family life with leadership. Alex’s passion for curriculum shines through and we talk about subject leadership and how to manage the role when you’re not a specialist but seem to have landed a subject leader role sometimes off the back of a project you did in secondary school! I really enjoyed this discussion, you can tell because it’s over an hour long! But there’s so much value that Alex shares, I really hope you love it too.