Blog

SSAT’s CEO, Sue Williamson, shares her thoughts on women in leadership and education and reflects on her experiences and her journey to headship.

The word inspirational was the most common feedback from teachers to describe the Dylan Wiliam events in March. I asked several teachers why they described the day and Dylan this way. The answers were all similar. Dylan is no nonsense, straight to the point with clarity on where there is and isn’t an evidence base to improve student achievement.

Prior to the pandemic, mainstream schools were saying they were unable to get timely support for students who needed more than they themselves could provide – particularly in respect of learners who needed CAMHS support and special schools were telling us that they were operating with over-commissioned places.

Since the pandemic, we know that behaviour has become a greater concern for many schools and this is inevitably impacting on the wellbeing of staff. We partner with a number of organisations who work with schools. This piece shares the experiences of the team at humanutopia.

Everyone in education’s thoughts this week are with the family, friends and colleagues of Ruth Perry, the Reading headteacher who took her own life in January. No one at this stage can know the thoughts that were in Ruth’s head at the time and it would be completely wrong to speculate.

We would like to offer our deepest sympathy to the family, friends and colleagues of Ruth Perry.

The latest tranche of messages between Matt Hancock and Gavin Williamson shows a shocking disregard for teachers and children. School leaders suffered from a lack of clear direction from the DfE during the pandemic. School leaders, teachers and all staff worked incredibly hard to educate children and young people, and to keep them safe. Today, teachers and young people are still suffering from the effects of the pandemic. Our teachers deserve respect for the incredible work they do.

Peter Drucker, the management consultant, author and educator, is quoted as saying “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. You may have heard this phrase before, but culture can be difficult to pin down.

The key issues relating to teacher recruitment and retention were considered by our CEO Sue Williamson and Professor John Howson in a conversation last term. It is significant that teachers are striking for better working conditions due to a perceived crisis in education, a crisis of teacher retention most likely linked to low morale and high workload. A large number of teachers don’t stay beyond the five-year mark according to DfE figures.

After more than 24 years, Marva Rollins OBE retired from her role as headteacher in 2019. Marva now uses her wealth of experience of leading schools to support school leaders in schools in challenging circumstances.