You don’t always need more. Sometimes you need better return from what’s already in place. Before adding another strand to your CPD plan or commissioning new training, it’s worth asking a harder question: are you getting the full impact from the development, expertise and resources you already have?

Five common time traps, and practical ways to tighten them up 1. The “One More Thing” Trap A new idea lands brilliantly. It sounds sensible enough. It’s added to the list without anything being removed. Before adding anything new, ask: What are we stopping to make space for this? If nothing moves, you’re increasing load, not improving focus.

Meetings are full. Training is scheduled. Initiatives are underway. Updates are shared. From the outside, it can look busy and purposeful. But the real test of strategy isn’t how much activity is taking place — it’s whether the people doing the work understand what it’s all for.

Deciding what’s actually worth staff time You’re making decisions right now with limited budget, limited time, and limited capacity. Most of them aren’t ideal choices — they’re more like trade-offs. If something new comes in, something else has to give. If time is spent in one place, it’s taken from another. That’s why return on time is a useful lens. But that isn’t what the new EIF is asking for.

For a long time, schools have felt pressure to demonstrate activity. More initiatives. More training. More strategies. More evidence folders. But volume has never been the same thing as quality — and under the new framework, that difference is becoming harder to ignore. But that isn’t what the new EIF is asking for.

When frameworks change, expectations tend to creep up with them. There’s a sense that schools should already have answers, already be further along, already be able to point to impact everywhere at once. But that isn’t what the new EIF is asking for.

If it feels like every conversation in education right now eventually lands on outcomes, you’re not imagining it. Outcomes are everywhere. In meetings. In inspections. In improvement plans. In emails you haven’t quite had time to read yet. Outcomes. Progress. Impact. Evidence. On repeat.

One of the most powerful — and often overlooked — leadership skills under the new EIF is noticing. Inspectors are placing high value on how leaders understand the real lived experience of staff and pupils: confidence levels, attendance patterns, small shifts in behaviour, subtle barriers emerging in particular groups.

Term has finished. Classrooms are quiet. You’ve finally stepped out of “school mode” and into something slower, softer, and—hopefully—restorative. Before you switch off completely, I wanted to send a small Christmas message and a few thoughts that might make your January return feel a little steadier.

Under the new EIF, staff voice is no longer incidental — it is a core part of how Leadership + Governance is evaluated. And inspectors aren’t listening for slogans. They’re listening for alignment, confidence, understanding, and culture.

Curriculum conversations during inspections are already looking different. Inspectors are digging into how knowledge is introduced, revisited, and adapted - and how teaching works for every learner, not just those who pick things up quickly.

Now that the new EIF is live, the old comfort blanket of a single overall judgement has disappeared. Instead, schools receive a profile across multiple evaluation areas, each graded from Exceptional to Urgent Improvement. It creates a fairer picture but demands much clearer evidence.

The new EIF is officially live, and Inclusion is already proving to be the area schools feel most exposed in. Inspectors want to see how consistently staff remove barriers, how leaders know what’s happening in classrooms, and how schools track the difference this makes for pupils who face disadvantage or additional needs.

(For teachers on summer break, from people who totally get it) During the term, there’s barely space to pause—let alone think about small...

(Because your brain deserves rest and a recharge) You’ve made it. The classroom is empty. Your inbox is blissfully quiet. You’re finally...

If you work with children with SEND, you’ve almost certainly come across the terms hypo and hyper. They’re everywhere—in behaviour reports, sensory profiles, training materials, and staff room conversations. But what do they really mean? And more importantly—how do they help us support the children in front of us?

Death isn’t on the curriculum. But given the statistics—and the lasting impact of unresolved grief—it probably should be. Every 22 minutes in the UK, a parent of a child under 18 dies. And according to national estimates, 1 in 29 children aged 5–16 has been bereaved of a parent or sibling. Statistically, that’s a child in every average classroom. While the loss may directly affect only one child, the ripples can be felt across the entire school community—peers, teac

Embedding Learning School-Wide

Completing a course is only step one. The real value of CPD comes when strategies become second nature—not just something you remember, but something you rely on. But how do you turn new learning into lasting change? The answer lies in habits.

Maintaining a calm and safe classroom is essential for effective teaching and learning. When challenges arise, your response can make all the difference. By employing micro-strategies, you can better manage difficult behaviours and create a positive learning atmosphere. This post explores practical techniques to enhance your classroom management and foster a supportive environment for all students.