Blog

An important job for any parent is choosing their child’s primary school. It is the start of their schooling journey and one in which you want them to develop a love of learning.

In my first blog on National Service, I described my late husband’s personal experience, and this has undoubtedly influenced me.

I was interested to read that the Conservative Party are planning to introduce national service if re-elected. John, my late husband, participated in the original scheme.

The next government needs to fight for deep social justice for all children and young people; and prepare young people, whatever their ability or context, to leave school fully equipped to lead fulfilled and purposeful lives.

More people in schools, whatever the setting or phase, should take up SSAT’s Lead Practitioner accreditation to benefit themselves and their school in equal measure.

What comes to mind when we think of an exceptional leader, or an exceptional school? There are many ways in which a leader or a school might be exceptional, but a characteristic they often share is that they do not consider themselves to be anything special.

I have begun tracking Ofsted reports: ‘What does the school need to do to improve?’ I’ve identified 3,858 specific areas from inspections since January 2024.

To coincide with the launch of our new behaviour audit tool and support programme, Jackie Rose, Senior Education Lead, describes two ‘reminders’ about behaviour practice that educators should know and utilise in current practice.

“We would like you to act up until we can recruit a permanent headteacher.” My CEO sat in the still warm seat of the previous headteacher and looked at me across the desk. I agreed, reluctantly, as I knew the enormity of the task ahead, but also knew as I spoke that my two conditions, finding a permanent solution, and giving me more financial support, were unlikely to both be met.

We are delighted to offer a new programme for serving and experienced headteachers, SSAT’s Rethinking Headship. In preparation for this programme, we have summarised and synthesised recent research focused on headteacher retention. Our aim, in this phase of our work is to stimulate discussion about how individual headteachers rethink their approach to headship. At the same time, we want to draw on your insights gained through the wisdom of your experience to provoke a rethinking of headship at a systemic level.