This time of year brings movement: new roles, new schools, internal promotions as people begin looking ahead to September. If you’re stepping into a Head of Department role, some of what follows may be useful. As a new HoD there’s an undercurrent of pressure - perhaps, in part, self-imposed - that becomes more explicit as the year goes on. The clock is ticking and you’ll feel like you need to make an impact, and quickly. Perhaps the best way to make a positive impression with new students,...

With the hump of World Book Day disappearing over the horizon, here’s a little insight into what that looks like if you’re spinning a few too many plates. An overall theme is decided and a plan of activities put together for the week. The department know that reading for pleasure isn’t cutting it any more - just reading at all is the message. Our Head of Key Stage 3 English has been grafting for a year embedding a whole school reading program. Students compile and share presentations of books...

Coming from a British state education background, and being trained during the tail end of the Gove era, the pressure felt enormous during lesson observations. Some of this was, admittedly, self-imposed. The number of variables in a classroom, coupled with a value-based judgement of a snapshot of teaching with a feedback-as-dictat chaser always seemed at odds with the supportive model one aims to build for students. I was lucky to have some fantastic mentors at various points during my PGCE...