This podcast is for headteachers, executive heads and trust leaders who want to lead well without losing themselves in the process.
I'm Paul Collin, former head and leadership coach. I talk about isolation, pressure, governing bodies, staff dynamics, attendance and the inner work of staying grounded. I also run a funded Senior Attendance & Leadership Resilience Check for heads in complex schools — for when attendance feels fragile and rests on too few people.
Apply now → https://atrejwhi.formester.com/f/hwL9GCyin/
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In this episode of Headship After Hours, Paul Collin is joined by Tom Sherrington, former headteacher, author, educator and creator of Teaching WalkThrus, for a wide-ranging conversation about teaching, professional development, behaviour, inclusion and what school leaders need to understand about improving classroom practice.
Tom explores the continuing influence of Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction — and what Rosenshine might think about the way his ideas are being implemented in schools today.
The conversation goes beyond individual teaching strategies to a much bigger leadership question:
How do we create enough structure for every child to participate without turning good teaching into a compliance exercise?
Tom argues that structure and warmth aren't opposites. In the strongest classrooms, clear boundaries can create the conditions for freedom, relationships and joy.
Paul and Tom discuss:
What Rosenshine's Principles actually mean
Where schools can misinterpret research
Why implementation often becomes mechanical before becoming sophisticated
Retrieval practice and instructional coaching
Why inclusive teaching requires structure
Behaviour, boundaries and relationships
Why strict classrooms don't have to be fearful classrooms
Oracy and pupil participation
Checking the understanding of every learner
Formative action
What great teaching could look like in 2035
Why professional development needs to move away from judgement
Creating a culture of collective professional improvement
Tom also makes a powerful case for systematically involving every student, rather than allowing classroom participation to be dominated by the pupils most willing to volunteer.
For headteachers and senior leaders, this conversation is ultimately about creating the conditions in which excellent teaching can happen consistently — without losing professional judgement, relationships or humanity.
🎙️ Headship After Hours — honest conversations about school leadership and the realities of leading education.
Timestamps
00:00 – Why Discipline and Warm Relationships Can Coexist 00:58 – Introducing Tom Sherrington 02:34 – Tom's Journey From Physics Teacher to Headteacher 04:06 – What Are Rosenshine's Principles? 08:44 – Are Schools Getting Rosenshine Wrong? 13:10 – When Good Ideas Become Too Mechanical 17:42 – Why Inclusive Teaching Needs Structure 20:20 – Behaviour, Boundaries & Relationships 22:33 – Can Schools Become Over-Engineered? 26:51 – What Will Great Teaching Look Like in 2035? 28:09 – The Future Is Inclusive Teaching 30:20 – Why Oracy Matters 32:58 – From Formative Assessment to Formative Action 35:30 – The Ideas Influencing Tom's Thinking Now 42:18 – Tom's Advice to School Leaders 44:44 – Where to Find Tom
What Great Headteachers Refuse to Accept | Dame Alison Peacock
Saison 1 · Épisode 45
vendredi 2 octobre 2026 • Durée 48:37
What happens when school leaders refuse to put a ceiling on what children can achieve?
Most heads aren't short on effort when it comes to attendance.
The harder truth: so much of it often rests on one or two people — and when that's the case, it never feels steady, however hard everyone works.
That's the work I do. I run a funded Senior Attendance & Leadership Resilience Check for headteachers and trust leaders in complex schools.
It starts with a short strategic assessment. For eligible schools, it opens into a full process:
- On-site school visit
- Detailed, school-specific report
- Follow-up strategy session
- Practical leadership tools for a clear 90-day plan
Typically valued at £1,000 — currently funded for eligible schools.
Apply here → https://atrejwhi.formester.com/f/hwL9GCyin/
In this episode of Headship After Hours, Paul Collin is joined by Professor Dame Alison Peacock, founding CEO of the Chartered College of Teaching, for a conversation about leadership, high expectations, research, school culture and creating schools built around possibility rather than limitation.
Alison traces her journey from the classroom to taking on her first headship in a school in special measures — and eventually to founding leadership of the Chartered College of Teaching.
Does Your School Have an Attendance System — Or Just a Person?
Saison 1 · Épisode 44
vendredi 25 septembre 2026 • Durée 11:51
Does your school genuinely have an attendance system — or does one highly capable person quietly hold the whole thing together?
Most heads aren't short on effort when it comes to attendance.
The harder truth: so much of it often rests on one or two people — and when that's the case, it never feels steady, however hard everyone works.
That's the work I do. I run a funded Senior Attendance & Leadership Resilience Check for headteachers and trust leaders in complex schools.
It starts with a short strategic assessment. For eligible schools, it opens into a full process:
- On-site school visit
- Detailed, school-specific report
- Follow-up strategy session
- Practical leadership tools for a clear 90-day plan
Typically valued at £1,000 — currently funded for eligible schools.
Apply here → https://atrejwhi.formester.com/f/hwL9GCyin/
In this episode of Headship After Hours, Paul Collin explores a hidden vulnerability in school attendance leadership: personality-dependent systems.
Many schools have an attendance lead who knows the families, patterns, histories, anxiety triggers, sibling dynamics and which interventions are most likely to work.
That expertise can make the system appear strong.
Why Great Headteachers Know When to Slow Down | Rob Connolly
Saison 1 · Épisode 43
vendredi 18 septembre 2026 • Durée 31:59
What makes a school somewhere people genuinely want to belong — and stay?
Most heads aren't short on effort when it comes to attendance.
The harder truth: so much of it often rests on one or two people — and when that's the case, it never feels steady, however hard everyone works.
That's the work I do. I run a funded Senior Attendance & Leadership Resilience Check for headteachers and trust leaders in complex schools.
It starts with a short strategic assessment. For eligible schools, it opens into a full process:
On-site school visit
Detailed, school-specific report
Follow-up strategy session
Practical leadership tools for a clear 90-day plan
Typically valued at £1,000 — currently funded for eligible schools.
In this episode of Headship After Hours, Paul Collin sits down with Rob Connolly, Executive Headteacher of Harleston Sancroft Academy, to explore school culture, belonging, authentic leadership and what it takes to sustain yourself through the pressures of headship.
Rob has spent 15 years serving the same school community. Today, he leads an all-through school spanning nursery to Key Stage 4, having led the process of bringing previously separate primary and secondary schools together.
What Strong Headteachers Do in the First 10 Days
Saison 1 · Épisode 42
vendredi 11 septembre 2026 • Durée 10:40
The first 10 days of the school year can reveal an enormous amount about your school culture, leadership and consistency.
Most heads aren't short on effort when it comes to attendance.
The harder truth: so much of it often rests on one or two people — and when that's the case, it never feels steady, however hard everyone works.
That's the work I do. I run a funded Senior Attendance & Leadership Resilience Check for headteachers and trust leaders in complex schools.
It starts with a short strategic assessment. For eligible schools, it opens into a full process:
On-site school visit
Detailed, school-specific report
Follow-up strategy session
Practical leadership tools for a clear 90-day plan
Typically valued at £1,000 — currently funded for eligible schools.
In this episode of Headship After Hours, Paul Collin explores what strong headteachers do differently at the beginning of a new school year — and why trying to launch every priority at once can actually weaken your start.
Behaviour. Attendance. Teaching. Safeguarding. Systems. Vision. Values. The improvement plan.
They all matter.
Why Behaviour Strategies Fail When Children Don’t Feel Safe | Neil Moggan
Saison 1 · Épisode 42
vendredi 4 septembre 2026 • Durée 38:17
What if challenging behaviour isn't simply a discipline problem — but a sign that a young person doesn't yet feel safe, connected or regulated enough to learn?
Most heads aren't short on effort when it comes to attendance.
The harder truth: so much of it often rests on one or two people — and when that's the case, it never feels steady, however hard everyone works.
That's the work I do. I run a funded Senior Attendance & Leadership Resilience Check for headteachers and trust leaders in complex schools.
It starts with a short strategic assessment. For eligible schools, it opens into a full process:
On-site school visit
Detailed, school-specific report
Follow-up strategy session
Practical leadership tools for a clear 90-day plan
Typically valued at £1,000 — currently funded for eligible schools.
In this episode of Headship After Hours, Paul Collin is joined by Neil Moggan, founder of Future Action and author of Time to Rise Up, to explore trauma-informed practice, behaviour, relationships, mental wellbeing and the role movement can play in helping pupils regulate.
Neil shares his own journey from PE leadership into trauma-informed practice, including how changing his approach helped reduce send-outs in his PE department by , while attendance and predicted grades for some of the most challenging pupils also improved.
When Mainstream School Isn’t Working | Hugh Viney
Saison 1 · Épisode 41
vendredi 28 août 2026 • Durée 42:18
What happens when a young person wants to learn — but the traditional school environment simply isn't working for them?
In this episode of Headship After Hours, Paul Collin is joined by Hugh Viney, founder and CEO of Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA), to explore online and hybrid education, school attendance, SEND, emotionally based school avoidance and what happens when we begin designing education around the needs of the child.
Hugh shares the story behind Minerva Virtual Academy and why growing numbers of families began looking for alternatives when their children were struggling with anxiety, neurodivergence or the demands of mainstream education.
The conversation explores:
Why some pupils thrive outside a traditional classroom
SEND, anxiety and barriers to school attendance
Emotionally based school avoidance
The four barriers some children experience in mainstream education
Making the school fit the child rather than forcing the child to fit the school
Online, asynchronous and flipped learning
The role of one-to-one mentoring and pastoral support
Using engagement data to identify when pupils need help
How schools and local authorities can use alternative provision
Whether hybrid schooling could become a mainstream option
Why online education doesn't necessarily mean isolation
Hugh also challenges one of the biggest assumptions surrounding virtual education: that learning online automatically means less community, fewer friendships and weaker outcomes.
For some young people, he argues, removing barriers associated with the physical environment can actually allow them to engage, build relationships and rediscover confidence in learning.
How Great Headteachers Build School Culture
Saison 1 · Épisode 40
vendredi 21 août 2026 • Durée 01:34:05
What really changes a school?
After more than 26 years in education, including 10 years as a headteacher, Paul Collin reflects on the leadership lessons that shaped his career and why sustainable school improvement always begins with people.
Most heads aren't short on effort when it comes to attendance.
The harder truth: so much of it often rests on one or two people — and when that's the case, it never feels steady, however hard everyone works.
That's the work I do. I run a funded Senior Attendance & Leadership Resilience Check for headteachers and trust leaders in complex schools.
It starts with a short strategic assessment. For eligible schools, it opens into a full process:
On-site school visit
Detailed, school-specific report
Follow-up strategy session
Practical leadership tools for a clear 90-day plan
Typically valued at £1,000 — currently funded for eligible schools.
In this conversation, Paul discusses school culture, leadership, behaviour, attendance, relationships, teacher development, school improvement and why young people thrive when they feel genuinely valued.
The discussion explores:
• Why culture matters more than quick fixes• Building sustainable school improvement• Relationships before behaviour• Leadership beyond job titles• Why attendance starts with belonging• Developing teachers through coaching rather than pressure• Why schools must create environments where young people can succeed
The Part of Headship Nobody Prepares You For
Saison 1 · Épisode 39
vendredi 14 août 2026 • Durée 11:25
Nobody prepares you for the emotional switching required in headship.
Most heads aren't short on effort when it comes to attendance.
The harder truth: so much of it often rests on one or two people — and when that's the case, it never feels steady, however hard everyone works.
That's the work I do. I run a funded Senior Attendance & Leadership Resilience Check for headteachers and trust leaders in complex schools.
It starts with a short strategic assessment. For eligible schools, it opens into a full process:
On-site school visit
Detailed, school-specific report
Follow-up strategy session
Practical leadership tools for a clear 90-day plan
Typically valued at £1,000 — currently funded for eligible schools.
In this episode of Headship After Hours, Paul Collin explores the hidden emotional labour of being a headteacher — moving from deeply personal or confidential conversations straight into assemblies, meetings, difficult decisions and moments of celebration.
The school doesn't pause while its headteacher processes what they've just heard.
Paul explores the emotional weight created by safeguarding concerns, staff conversations, parental situations and the confidential information school leaders are often required to carry without being able to openly share it.
Jack Mallaby: Stop Making Pupils Fit the System
Saison 1 · Épisode 38
vendredi 7 août 2026 • Durée 35:41
In this episode of Headship After Hours, Paul Collin is joined by Jack Mallaby, assistant headteacher and SENCO, for an honest conversation about SEND, neurodiversity, emotionally based school avoidance and attendance.
Most heads aren't short on effort when it comes to attendance.
The harder truth: so much of it often rests on one or two people — and when that's the case, it never feels steady, however hard everyone works.
That's the work I do. I run a funded Senior Attendance & Leadership Resilience Check for headteachers and trust leaders in complex schools.
It starts with a short strategic assessment. For eligible schools, it opens into a full process:
On-site school visit
Detailed, school-specific report
Follow-up strategy session
Practical leadership tools for a clear 90-day plan
Typically valued at £1,000 — currently funded for eligible schools.
Jack reflects on his own experiences of ADHD and dyslexia, his journey from mainstream education into specialist provision, and why inclusion must sit at the centre of school culture rather than being treated as an additional intervention.
Together, they explore why many neurodiverse pupils experience anxiety around school, how educational trauma can shape attendance, and why relationships with young people and families are essential when attendance becomes fragile.
This episode discusses:
One idea has remained consistent throughout that journey: moral purpose.
Alison shares why she has challenged assumptions about fixed ability throughout her career and why leaders need the courage to ask whether the language, structures and expectations within their schools are expanding children's possibilities — or quietly restricting them.
In this episode:
Taking on a school in special measures
Leading through moral purpose
Why Alison challenged ability grouping and fixed expectations
Research-informed school leadership
Creating a genuinely listening school
Pupil voice and democracy
Oracy, cognition and learning
Why potential shouldn't be treated as fixed
Making school “irresistible”
Attendance, belonging and anxiety
Designing environments around possibility
Why culture must include staff as well as pupils
Holding high expectations without compromise
The language adults use about children
Why headteachers shouldn't carry leadership alone
Alison also shares the story of a young pupil who profoundly influenced her thinking about possibility and expectations — reinforcing her belief that when someone genuinely believes in a child, extraordinary things can happen.
Towards the end of the conversation, Alison offers a particularly important message to headteachers:
Don't think you've got to do this on your own.
Leadership can become isolating. Strong schools are built collectively.
🎙️ Headship After Hours — honest conversations about leadership, education and the realities of leading schools.
00:00 – Building a Listening School 01:00 – Introducing Dame Alison Peacock 02:12 – Why Alison Challenged the Status Quo 05:05 – Taking on a School in Special Measures 12:34 – Leading From Moral Purpose 15:38 – The Child Who Changed Alison's Thinking 20:24 – Why Schools Need to Listen to Pupils 23:11 – Oracy, Cognition & the Research That Matters 27:23 – Rethinking What Educational Success Looks Like 31:49 – How Would Alison Design a School Today? 36:21 – Why Belonging Is Foundational 38:08 – High Expectations Without Compromise 43:24 – The Language That Limits Children 45:54 – Alison's Advice to Headteachers
But the more knowledge that lives in one person's head, the less knowledge belongs to the organisation.
And that creates risk.
Paul explores:
Why an effective attendance lead can unintentionally become the attendance system
The difference between individual expertise and organisational resilience
Why knowledge needs to become shared practice
How dependency appears in everyday school routines
Clear attendance roles, thresholds and decision-making
Why staff changes can suddenly expose weaknesses
Protecting high-performing attendance staff from burnout
Building systems that survive absence, turnover and pressure
Creating shared professional judgement across pastoral and leadership teams
Paul also gives leaders a simple stress test:
Could a capable new colleague step in and understand enough of your attendance system within a week to keep it moving?
If not, you may have a highly capable individual — but not yet a resilient structure.
Strong attendance systems should be stronger than any one individual carrying them.
🎙️ Headship After Hours — honest conversations about school leadership, attendance and the realities of leading schools.
00:00 – Do You Have a System or a Person? 01:30 – When Efficiency Hides Fragility 02:18 – What a Resilient Attendance System Looks Like 03:33 – When Knowledge Lives in One Person's Head 04:29 – Building Shared Attendance Practice 05:01 – The One-Week Stress Test 05:54 – Turn Individual Knowledge Into a System 06:11 – Protecting the People Carrying Too Much 07:12 – What This Looks Like on an Ordinary Tuesday 08:35 – Test Your Team's Alignment 09:31 – Attendance Is a Whole-School Culture Issue 10:05 – The Question Headteachers Need to Ask
The conversation explores:
Why Rob believes people must come first
Building school culture intentionally, every day
Why relationships can't be reduced to a leadership strategy
Recruiting the person, not simply the CV
Bringing primary and secondary cultures together
Creating curriculum continuity from Early Years to Key Stage 4
Belonging, trust, respect, care and love in schools
Holding high expectations without losing humanity
Protecting culture when leadership pressure increases
Staff retention and investing in people
Why leaders don't need to have every answer
Finding an identity outside headship
Why sustainable leaders sometimes need to slow down
Rob also shares a powerful lesson from more than two decades in education:'
“Lead who you are. Teach who you are.”
This is a conversation about creating great schools without losing sight of the people inside them — including yourself.
🎙️ Headship After Hours — honest conversations about school leadership and the realities of leading schools.
Chapters:
00:00 – Building Community Through Relationships 01:02 – Meet Rob Connolly 03:10 – Rob's Journey Into Headship 07:16 – Putting People Before the CV 08:57 – The Challenge of Leading an All-Through School 13:16 – How Do You Actually Build School Culture? 18:41 – Protecting Belonging Under Leadership Pressure 23:56 – High Expectations Without Losing Care 26:09 – Finding an Identity Beyond Headship 27:44 – Rob's Advice to New Headteachers 29:46 – Lead Who You Are
But when everything becomes a priority, staff and students can struggle to understand what matters most.
Paul explores five leadership principles for the first 10 days: creating simplicity around a small number of high-leverage behaviours, purposeful leadership visibility, recognising what is working, listening without constantly changing direction, and responding calmly when the first inevitable wobble arrives.
You'll hear practical questions for headteachers and senior leaders around:
school culture and consistency
behaviour expectations and routines
attendance
leadership visibility
staff alignment
recognition
communication with families
responding when systems are tested
building credibility with staff and pupils
The goal isn't to win the entire year in 10 days.
It's to establish the conditions that make the rest of the year possible.
Because school culture isn't built by how strongly you launch. It's built by what adults repeat once the launch is over.
🎙️ Headship After Hours — honest conversations about school leadership and the realities of leading schools.
00:00 – What the First 10 Days Reveal 01:21 – Why September Gets Overloaded 02:08 – Strong Leaders Create Simplicity 04:59 – Why Adult Consistency Matters 05:55 – Visible Leadership With Purpose 07:00 – Recognise What Is Working 07:53 – Listen Without Losing Direction 08:43 – How Leaders Handle the First Wobble 09:34 – 5 Questions to Ask Before the Year Begins
95%
Paul and Neil explore:
Why safety and connection come before learning
Trauma-informed approaches to behaviour
Why relationships should sit at the heart of school improvement
Movement as a tool for regulation and belonging
Supporting pupils with ADHD and additional needs
Maintaining high standards without re-traumatising young people
Staff regulation and teacher wellbeing
How leadership pressure can affect relationships with pupils
Practical strategies schools can use to create calmer environments
Why belonging matters for behaviour, attendance and learning
Neil also explains the Rise Up approach and shares practical examples of how movement, inclusive activities, stress-busting strategies and relationship-led practice are being used across mainstream, specialist and alternative provision.
One example comes from a specialist school where physical holds for one cohort reduced from 50 in Year 5 to 10 in Year 7 after the development of a Rise Up Sports Sanctuary and personalised regulation strategies.
The central message is simple:
Help children feel safe. Help them regulate. Then create the conditions for them to learn.
🎙️ Headship After Hours — honest conversations about school leadership, attendance, culture and the realities of leading schools.
00:00 – Safety Before Learning 00:18 – Introducing Neil Moggan 05:58 – What Is Trauma-Informed Practice? 08:58 – Movement, Regulation & Belonging 10:53 – The Rise Up Approach 17:34 – What This Looks Like in Real Schools 18:28 – From 50 Physical Holds to 10 21:08 – Why Relationships Matter in Implementation 23:25 – Education, Belonging & Human Connection 24:47 – When Leadership Pressure Changes Relationships 27:32 – Did Schools Get Behaviour Wrong After Lockdown? 29:06 – Staff Wellbeing & Self-Regulation 33:59 – One Simple Strategy Leaders Can Use Tomorrow 36:19 – Neil’s Advice for School Leaders
About Minerva Virtual Academy
This episode is supported by Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA), a DfE-accredited online school working with young people for whom traditional school attendance may not currently be working.
MVA works with families, schools and local authorities to provide an online educational pathway, including live teaching, independent learning, mentoring and pastoral support.
For school leaders considering alternative or complementary provision for a young person, further information about Minerva Virtual Academy can be found at:
Hugh Viney is the founder and CEO of Minerva Virtual Academy. After founding Minerva Tutors, Hugh launched MVA in 2021 as an alternative educational model for young people who may not thrive within traditional mainstream schooling.
In this conversation, Hugh shares his perspective on the future of virtual and hybrid education and why he believes alternative models should increasingly be viewed as a genuine educational choice rather than simply a last resort.
🎧 Headship After Hours — honest conversations about the realities of school leadership, education and building better systems for young people.
00:00 – Why Some Children Thrive Outside Mainstream School 01:50 – About Minerva Virtual Academy 02:10 – Introducing Hugh Viney 08:19 – Why Minerva Virtual Academy Grew So Quickly 11:38 – SEND, Attendance & School Avoidance 13:09 – Why Families Look Beyond Mainstream School 15:22 – What COVID Revealed About How Children Learn 18:57 – Making the School Fit the Child 19:52 – The Four Barriers to Mainstream School 24:20 – The Power of One-to-One Mentoring 27:19 – Technology, Learning & Human Connection 33:18 – What School Leaders Can Learn From MVA 34:44 – Can Online School Lead Pupils Back to Mainstream? 37:22 – The Future of Hybrid Schooling 39:12 – The Biggest Myth About Online School 41:10 – Belonging, Happiness & High Expectations
Whether you're a headteacher, teacher, trust leader or aspiring leader, this conversation offers practical insights into building schools where both staff and pupils thrive.
00:00 – Why School Culture Changes Everything 01:48 – Introducing Paul Collin 02:40 – Who Is Paul Outside Education? 05:10 – When Headship Becomes Your Identity 06:14 – Work-Life Integration for School Leaders 08:43 – 26 Years in Education & 10 Years in Headship 11:54 – Why Paul Left Headship 14:28 – The Truth About School Improvement Consultancy 17:18 – Leadership, Trusts and Executive Leadership 19:23 – Should CEOs Have Teaching Experience? 23:20 – Why Relationships Matter More Than Behaviour 24:31 – Attendance, Leadership and School Improvement 25:36 – Why Teachers Must Keep Growing 27:40 – Dream-Weaving: The Teachers We Never Forget 29:52 – Behaviour Is an Outcome, Not the Problem 35:21 – Culture Is the Foundation of School Improvement 36:01 – What Excites Paul About Transforming Schools 37:45 – Why You Can't Rush School Improvement 39:32 – The First Thing to Fix in Any School 41:05 – Why Uniform Still Matters 46:30 – Standards, Pride and Professionalism 50:58 – Rethinking 'Disadvantage' in Education 52:30 – Closing the Attainment Gap 57:18 – The Education White Paper 01:01:30 – The Questions We Should Ask Pupils 01:04:25 – Mobile Phones, Schools and Social Media 01:10:00 – What Makes a Great Teacher? 01:20:00 – The Power of Relationships in Schools 01:30:40 – Why Headship After Hours Exists
This episode explores:
• The emotional labour of headship • Compartmentalisation versus processing • Confidentiality and isolation in school leadership • Emotional switching between difficult conversations • Why headteachers need trusted professional networks • Creating small resets between high-pressure moments • Recognising when carrying too much starts changing your leadership • How to care deeply without disappearing beneath the weight
Headship needs humanity.
The goal isn't to stop caring. It's learning how to care without disappearing under everything you carry.
00:00 – Nobody Warns You About This Part of Headship 00:24 – Why Headship After Hours Exists 01:23 – The Invisible Pressure of Headship 01:39 – Emotional Switching Between Conversations 02:19 – The School Doesn't Pause for the Headteacher 02:55 – Becoming the Holder of Other People's Stories 03:35 – Compartmentalisation in School Leadership 04:15 – Why Headship Becomes Emotionally Exhausting 04:34 – Attendance & Leadership Resilience 05:43 – The Internal Processing Nobody Sees 06:24 – When the Emotional Weight Hits You 06:46 – Emotional Labour in Headship 07:06 – Caring Without Losing Yourself 07:22 – Resetting After Difficult Conversations 07:58 – Confidentiality Doesn't Mean Silence 08:32 – Every Headteacher Needs a Safe Network 09:04 – When Emotional Switching Starts Changing You 09:41 – The Holder of Stories and Confidences 10:01 – Care Without Disappearing Under the Weight 10:22 – Leadership Shouldn't Be Carried in Silence 10:40 – Attendance & Leadership Resilience Check
SEND leadership in mainstream and specialist schools
Emotionally based school avoidance
Neurodiversity, anxiety and attendance
Why relational practice matters
The importance of primary-to-secondary transition
Child-centred attendance strategies
Preparing young people for adulthood
Why schools should adapt systems around pupils
Jack’s central message is clear:
It should not be about making young people fit the system. It should be about making the system work for them.
00:00 – Educational Trauma and School Avoidance 01:21 – Introducing Jack Mallaby 02:20 – Jack’s Role in Specialist SEND Provision 03:12 – Growing Up With ADHD and Dyslexia 05:00 – Why Jack Moved Into SEND Leadership 07:05 – Leaving Mainstream for Specialist Education 08:10 – Inclusion as Culture, Not a Bolt-On 09:28 – Relationships and Consistency in Specialist Schools 12:07 – What Is Emotionally Based School Avoidance? 12:53 – Educational Trauma and Distrust 13:26 – How COVID Affected Neurodiverse Learners 14:25 – Why Attendance Systems Respond Too Late 15:31 – Identify, Stabilise and Restore Attendance 16:40 – Relationships With Pupils and Families 17:37 – Supporting Anxiety Without Labelling the Child 18:50 – Preparing Neurodiverse Pupils for Adulthood 20:08 – Compassion, Consistency and Capacity 21:34 – What Schools Still Get Wrong 22:36 – Primary-to-Secondary Transition 25:03 – Why One Transition Day Is Not Enough 27:04 – Supporting Complex Attendance Cases 27:41 – A Child-Centred Attendance Strategy 29:55 – Rethinking Educational Success 33:41 – Jack’s Advice for School Leaders 34:00 – Make the System Work for the Child
