My door will always be open...

Over 24 hours since the outcome and now reflecting on the result of the referendum, I feel more gutted and depressed this morning that yesterday. 

Being a Headteacher, I have the pleasure to meet, support and work with families from a range of backgrounds from a host of different countries. Seeing parents crying at the school gate yesterday worried and unsure about their future and their children's future is heartbreaking. Hopefully, their status in this country will not be changed but the damage this referendum has done in isolating and ostracizing large groups of people within their own communities is terrible!

All families from Europe and further afield will always be welcome in any school I am lucky enough to lead. I have seen first hand the benefit you bring to the community, your work ethic and determination to add to society and make communities strong. 

My door will always be open!

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Manage your workload and get organised with this simple approach...

A colleague shared this approach with me, I have made some small changes and I now find it effective in prioritizing and ensuring the important things are done right!

Here I explain a simple and effective way to organised tasks and the constant stream of work that you get as a Headteacher or leader. This approach can also work well and be effective for teachers in managing their PPA and non-contact time.

If you adopt this approach please let me know how it goes, especially if you make changes and improvements - tweet me at @MrB_Online

This approach works best as a display in your office, inside of your cupboard door or on a spare wall.

It uses a simply 'Inbox' system and is set up like this:

As a task/ job comes across your desk you write it down on a card and add it to your 'Inbox' under one of three heading -  Red, Amber or Green.

Red: Urgent
Amber: Will need completing soon
Green: Plenty of time 

What you consider as a red, amber or green task is up to you, it depends on how you work and the type of task. For example, planning an assembly would be Green two weeks before, amber the week of the assembly and red if it's tomorrow morning. A Headteacher Report to FGB that would be red two weeks before the meeting as it needs to be sent out with the agenda.

The movement of tasks around your inbox might work abit like this:

When you start a task it needs to move to the 'In Progress' section of your board and then when complete you can bin the task card or file under 'Complete' for future reference.

The task cards themselves need additional information, be generous with their size so you can add notes and edit - I use these cards.

The card includes the estimated completion time and the due date.

Write on the cards, makes notes and edit.

Explain the system to other leaders so this system can also help you delegate effectively

Keep the 'In Progress' section manageable and leave tasks in your Inbox until you start them.

Use this board along with your Outlook Calendar booking in 'board time'.


Got a better system or have adapted this approach and made it better - I would love to hear about it!

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My experience of the new 'one day Ofsted inspection' and how to ensure HMI see your 'good' school

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Are you a school leader? Read my top 5 tips!

Being in a position of leadership in any business or organisation is important but none more than leaders that are shaping education and the lives of young people.

This job is not only highly rewarding but can be stressful and consuming! Your approach to leadership will differ from mine but below are currently (I say currently as they change from week to week as I develop further and meet new challenges) my top tips to effective leadership and managing a stressful and sometimes very isolating job.

These are in no particular order!

1.       Networking…

Always pick up the phone, ask questions, bounce ideas and drink coffee with colleagues. Making time to share ideas and ‘vent’ is extremely beneficial and you and your colleagues will normally take more away from these meetings than most CPD courses. Do this regularly for your development, reflection and well-being. Meet, wherever possible, in other schools and off site and never feel guilty about doing this!

2.       Prioritise, delegate and spend time with kids…

Even in the smallest school you can delegate to make the running of the school more effective and make sure your energy is on the strategic leadership. When you are prioritising your work just ask yourself one question – ‘Does your piece of work have direct impact on child outcomes?’ If the answer is ‘yes’ - crack on and do it, if the answer is ‘no’ – stick it to the bottom of your ‘to do’ list. Use an Outlook calendar (or something similar) and plan your work. Make sure you get into classrooms, on the playground and spend time with kids every day without fail – that’s the reason you got into education in the first place!

3.       Be decisive and stick by your decision…  

Buy time and make sure you make the right decision. If possible delay decision and take time to think. Parent, colleagues and children will respect a well thought out decision rather than a quick decision that you have to change later. Trust your professional judgement, pick up the phone if you need to and once you have made your decision stick by it and follow it through. By doing this you will gain trust and respect that money can’t buy!

4.       Inspire…

Do not lead by example! Leading by example is assuming you are the best at everything and that can’t be possible. During my last headship I was not the most skilled EYFS practitioner so I relied on the EYFS team to set the bar and develop the provision under my supervision. Lead by inspiration – inspire the best people in your team to be the best they can be within their role – trust them but don’t neglect the support they might need and hold them to account for the work they do!

Quality school leadership is about not ‘reaching the top of the mountain’ but how many people you take on the journey with you. Developing leadership within your school not only makes the school better and more effective but will make your job as a leader easier as well!

5.       Feedback…

Feedback to everyone in your team, it can be small things as you pass in the corridor or full coaching sessions. The impact of your presence can have a direct effective on the effectiveness of the school and being positive about something can raise moral and help people reflect. Use the line ‘That is great because… it would be even better if….’. Finish with a smile and a well done!

Agree or disagree with my top 5? Let me know!

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