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Autumn's top 10 posts on Key insights

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10. Confidence, respect, teamwork, discipline and enjoyment: core values on and off the rugby pitch by Andy O'Rourke, The Key

"Regardless of whether your school has a rugby team or not, I hope you can take away one idea from reading this. Each time our nation gets behind one of these sport spectacles, the legacy has to trickle down to the youngest in our society ..."

 9. Getting to know you: interview with Justine Berkeley, SBM Services Ltd

"In the last 18 months, the cuts have started to feel very real. SBMs will have to be much more creative. There will probably need to be more emphasis on income generation and marketing aimed at bringing more pupils and income into the school ..."

8. My headteacher? He's made all the difference to my life by Michael Sturman, personal tutor at Avocet House special school

"‘You need to get out of there, now!’, he boomed. This is one of my earliest memories of my then headteacher, Jon Lees. I was 10 years old and had locked myself in my mum’s car,  terrified about the prospect of living at Eaton Hall, a residential special school for young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties ..."

7. Assessment without levels: The Key's Will Millard reports on Tim Oates' expert presentation at The Key's Life After Levels event

"Assessment ‘professionals’, teachers who confidently and effectively conduct a range of assessments during their lessons, are usually ‘assessment kleptomaniacs’, constantly on the lookout for new assessments and tests ..."

6. Let's start the new academic year on a high by Fergal Roche, The Key

"My 15-year-old is not sleeping properly and feels ill. She is about to start Year 11. The ‘back to school’ feeling has struck, and I know that as well as pupils, there will be many heads, teachers and school staff battling the jitters across the country ..."


 The new academic year? I can't wait to start! by Rob Carpenter, executive headteacher

"We own the agenda for school improvement, and we write it using our own knowledge and expertise about what works best for our children. We have become the masters of change instead of servants to it ..."


7 leverage strategies for school leaders by Nina Siddall-Ward, associate education expert at The Key

"Lead by example. Some call it 'walking the talk' or 'getting your hands dirty'; knowing what’s expected of everyone and who’s responsible and accountable for actions makes a difference ..."



Beware the hippos! Why is successful CPD so rare? by Ben White, director of curriculum at Highworth Grammar School in Kent

"In the 1970s Ernesto Sirolli headed to Zambia, keen to play his part in helping a developing nation. He failed. But he also learned and improved. It seems to me that we could also learn from Ernesto’s mistake ..."


What does #Corbynmania mean for schools? by John Davies, The Key

"The education policies Corbyn has announced so far read a bit like a wish-list for those put off by the pro-accountability, pro-choice agenda that’s dominated the last 15 to 20 years. For starters, he’s firmly against free schools and academies ..."


My first governors' meeting: expectations vs reality by Katie Tiller, The Key

"I was excited when the clerk’s first email appeared in my inbox. That was, until I noticed the number of attachments. No fewer than 24 documents would be reviewed at my first governors’ meeting, all carefully itemised in the order they appeared in on the agenda ..."

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