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The No Silver Bullets Podcast — Series 2: The Nine Steps to Executive Headship

In this episode, Paul Ainsworth is joined by James Pembroke and Richard Selfridge, co‑authors of Data Proof Your School, to explore Step 7 of the Nine Steps to Executive Headship: developing effective data usage.

James and Richard offer clear, practical guidance on how leaders can simplify data systems, improve reliability and ensure that information genuinely supports school improvement. They discuss the illusion of accuracy in teacher assessment, the value of standardised testing, and the importance of consistency across schools.

The conversation covers how to build a purposeful assessment strategy, how to avoid distortion when staff feel judged by data, and how leaders can keep data simple and focused on learning. Their advice is particularly helpful for executive headteachers working across more than one school.

About the Series

This episode is part of the Nine Steps to Executive Headship series, supporting Paul’s forthcoming book: 📘 Nine Steps to Executive Headship, published by Routledge in December 2026.

Connect

Follow Paul on LinkedIn: Paul K. Ainsworth | LinkedIn

Find out about the book: https://www.routledge.com/Nine-Steps-to-Executive-Headship-A-Practical-Guide-to-Systems-Leadership-Across-Multiple-Schools/Ainsworth/p/book/9781041274117

Find out about Insight Inform: https://www.insightinform.co.uk/

Read the companion blog: Blog – Day in, day out, school improvement.

Explore Richard’s work: https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Richard-Selfridge/author/B09FQ781PX

The No Silver Bullets Podcast — Series 2: The Nine Steps to Executive Headship

How do executive leaders really know what’s happening in their schools when they’re not there? In this episode, Paul Ainsworth speaks with Lianne Lomas, Director of School Improvement at the Mater Christi Trust, to explore Step 6: Impactful Quality Assurance.

Lianne leads improvement across 18 Catholic schools in Cumbria and North Lancashire. She shares practical, honest insights into building trust‑wide quality assurance that is coherent, developmental and grounded in collective responsibility.

You’ll hear:

• How QA becomes an organisational act, not an individual task
• Why shared language and codified practice reduce variation across schools
• How cluster‑based peer review strengthens accuracy and belonging
• The trust’s Quality Development Review Cycle
• The balance between monitoring and development — “weighing the pig vs growing the pig”
• How geography, time and capacity shape QA in rural MATs
• Why QA must be systematic, low‑stakes and improvement‑focused

If you’re an executive head, CEO or aspiring system leader, this episode offers clear principles and practical tools for building quality assurance across multiple schools.

About the Series
Part of the Nine Steps to Executive Headship series, supporting Paul’s forthcoming book:

📘 Nine Steps to Executive Headship — Routledge, Autumn 2026.

Next episode: Step 7 — Effective Data Usage, featuring James Pembroke and Richard Selfridge from Insight Inform.

Connect

Follow Paul on LinkedIn: Paul K. Ainsworth | LinkedIn

Follow Paul on Instagram: Paul K Ainsworth (@paulkainsworth) • Instagram photos and videos

Follow Lianne on LinkedIn: Lianne Lomas | LinkedIn

Read the companion blog: Blog – Day in, day out, school improvement.

Episode 1: Step 5 — Developing the Curriculum (with Ben Erskine)

The No Silver Bullets Podcast — Series 2: The Nine Steps to Executive Headship

What does it really take to build a coherent, equitable curriculum across multiple schools? In this episode, Paul Ainsworth is joined by Ben Erskine, Executive Principal and now CEO‑Designate of the Four Cs MAT, to explore Step 5 of the Nine Steps to Executive Headship:

Developing the Curriculum.

Ben leads four primary academies within a seven‑school trust, each with distinct contexts — from large inner‑city primaries to rapidly growing township schools. Drawing on his experience of system leadership, curriculum design and trust‑wide collaboration, Ben offers a grounded, highly practical look at what it means to shape curriculum at scale.

This conversation digs into:

• Curriculum equity vs professional autonomy — how executive leaders strike the right balance
• The power of trust‑wide collaboration and why shared curriculum work reduces workload and increases quality
• Sequencing, coherence and knowledge progression — and why high‑level subject expertise matters
• The role of the executive principal in shaping curriculum across effective schools
• Barriers to building a trust‑wide curriculum — time, pace, workload, and how to overcome them
• Developing leaders through cross‑school curriculum projects
• Why pace is everything — moving fast enough to maintain momentum, but slow enough to keep trust
• Servant leadership, influence and system‑wide impact — Ben’s advice for new and aspiring executive heads

Ben also shares examples from the Four Cs MAT, including trust‑wide writing development, direct instruction approaches, and how collaboration across schools is becoming essential in a tightening financial landscape.

If you’re an executive head, CEO, senior leader or aspiring system leader, this episode offers clear principles, practical strategies and honest reflections on what it takes to build a curriculum that genuinely serves every child — regardless of school, postcode or teacher.

About the Series

This episode is part of the Nine Steps to Executive Headship series, supporting Paul’s forthcoming book: 📘 Nine Steps to Executive Headship, published by Routledge in Autumn 2026.

Connect

Follow Paul on LinkedIn: Paul K. Ainsworth | LinkedIn

Follow Paul on Instagram: Paul K Ainsworth (@paulkainsworth) • Instagram photos and videos

Follow Ben on LinkedIn: Ben Erskine | LinkedIn

Follow Ben on Substack: Ben Erskine | Substack

Read the companion blog: Blog – Day in, day out, school improvement.

In this episode of The No Silver Bullets Podcast — a leading school leadership podcast for executive heads, trust leaders and coaches — Paul Ainsworth is joined by Sam Strickland, Principal of The Duston School and CEO of The Luminara, a DfE Behaviour Hub Lead School, and acclaimed author of Education Exposed, The Behaviour Manual and They Don’t Behave for Me.

Following last week’s conversation on Turning Processes into Teaching Habits with Ross McGill, this episode continues to explore Step 4 of the Nine Steps to Executive Headship by considering Turning Processes into Behaviour Habits — and Sam brings deep, practical insight from leading a 2000‑pupil all‑through school.

If you’re searching for an educational leadership podcast or a leadership podcast for coaches, this conversation is packed with actionable guidance.

Sam shares:

• Why processes only matter when they become living, breathing habits
• How to narrate the why so staff and pupils genuinely buy in
• The values‑driven behaviour system used from age 4 to 19
• How to build consistency across multiple phases without becoming robotic
• Why culture change requires “dogged relentlessness”
• How to train staff, induct pupils and sustain routines across the year
• The leadership structures that unleash capacity in a large, complex school
• How he supports CEOs and executive heads through Behaviour Hub work

This is a rich, practical conversation for executive heads, trust leaders and anyone responsible for behaviour, culture and teaching at scale — and a standout episode for anyone looking for a high‑quality leadership podcast.

🎧 Listen now to learn how to turn processes into habits that stick.

About the Series

This episode is part of the Nine Steps to Executive Headship series, supporting Paul’s forthcoming book: 📘 Nine Steps to Executive Headship, published by Routledge in Autumn 2026.

Connect

Follow Paul on LinkedIn: Paul K. Ainsworth | LinkedIn

Follow Sam on LinkedIn: Sam Strickland | LinkedIn

Read the companion blog: Blog – Day in, day out, school improvement.

Explore Sam’s work: Amazon.co.uk: Samuel Strickland: books, biography, latest update

Reflecting on Step 4: Turning Processes into Habits

In this short reflection episode of The No Silver Bullets Podcast, Paul Ainsworth explores Step 4 of The Nine Steps to Executive Headship: Turning Processes into Habits. Drawing on insights from Ross McGill (Teacher Toolkit), Paul unpacks why habits matter more than policies, how leaders build coherence over consistency, and why improvement must outweigh monitoring.

A powerful listen for anyone seeking a school leadership podcast, an educational leadership podcast, or a leadership podcast for coaches focused on practical, research‑informed strategies.

Next week: Sam Strickland on turning behaviour processes into habits.

In this episode of The No Silver Bullets Podcast — a leading school leadership podcast for executive heads, trust leaders and coaches — Paul Ainsworth is joined by Ross McGill, globally known as Teacher Toolkit, one of the most influential educators in the UK and author of 13 books on teaching and learning.

Following last week’s conversation with Donna Winters on unleashing leadership capacity, this episode dives into Step 4 of the Nine Steps to Executive Headship: Turning Processes into Habits — and Ross brings a masterclass in how schools can embed routines that genuinely improve teaching and learning.

If you’re searching for an educational leadership podcast or a leadership podcast for coaches, this conversation is packed with practical insight.

Ross shares:

• Why habits matter more than policies
• How to simplify Rosenshine’s 17 principles into four memorable habits
• The difference between consistency and coherence
• How executive leaders can use the macro–meso–micro model to influence practice across multiple schools
• Why implementation takes “18 months to four years” — and how to plan for it
• His powerful “upside‑down staircase” model for embedding routines
• The unforgettable “weighing the pig vs growing the pig” analogy that every leader should hear
•  

This is a rich, practical conversation for executive heads, trust leaders and anyone responsible for improving teaching and learning at scale — and a standout episode for anyone looking for a high‑quality leadership podcast.

🎧 Listen now to learn how to turn processes into habits that stick.

About the Series

This episode is part of the Nine Steps to Executive Headship series, supporting Paul’s forthcoming book:
📘 Nine Steps to Executive Headship, published by Routledge in Autumn 2026.

Connect

• Follow Paul on LinkedIn: Paul K Ainsworth https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-k-ainsworth-20b0a41a/
• Read the companion blog: Blog – Day in, day out, school improvement.
• Explore Ross’s work: Teacher Toolkit https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/
• Read Ross’s books: https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/books/

In this reflective episode of The No Silver Bullets Podcast: The Nine Steps to Executive Headship, Paul Ainsworth revisits his conversation with Donna Winters, Executive Head of the Spires Federation in Lincolnshire, and explores what her leadership reveals about Step 3: Unleashing the Capacity of Your Team.

Donna leads three small rural schools — Digby, Dunston and Nocton — and her federation offers a powerful example of how executive leadership can create capacity rather than consume it. Paul reflects on Donna’s honesty, her innovative leadership structure, and the systems she has built to ensure clarity, trust and consistency across all three schools.

This episode explores:

• Why executive headship requires a shift from doing to enabling
• Donna’s key insight: “You cannot do it all — and that is okay”
• How resisting the replication of leadership posts can strengthen a federation
• The impact of shared subject leadership across small schools
• How clear systems, flow charts and communication structures unlock capacity
• Why caring for your team is a leadership strategy, not a soft skill

Paul also connects Donna’s insights to the arguments in Step 3 of The Nine Steps to Executive Headship, publishing at the end of 2026.

Looking ahead, Paul previews next week’s episode on Step 4: Turning Processes into Habits, featuring Ross McGill (Teacher Toolkit) and Sam Strickland. If Step 3 is about unleashing capacity, Step 4 is about what that capacity does in classrooms — through routines, modelling and consistent teaching habits.

If you find these reflections useful, please like, comment, subscribe and share the podcast with colleagues. Your support helps the series reach more leaders — and ultimately, more children.

In this episode of The No Silver Bullets Podcast, a school leadership podcast for leaders, coaches and educators, Paul speaks with Donna Winters, Executive Headteacher of Spires Federation in Lincolnshire. Leading three small rural primary schools, Digby, Dunston and Nocton, Donna has developed a distinctive and highly effective leadership model that distributes expertise across the federation rather than replicating roles on each site.

As part of this educational leadership podcast series, Donna explains how she reshaped the senior team into a three‑person structure working across all schools, why trust is the foundation of unleashing capacity, and how shared subject leadership has transformed curriculum quality. She also reflects on the federation’s remarkable improvement journey, including Digby’s move from double RI to Outstanding.

Listeners will hear practical insights on:

• Designing leadership structures that increase capacity without increasing cost
• Building trust so colleagues feel empowered to lead
• Creating consistent systems across multiple schools
• Developing subject leadership across a federation
• Managing communication, visibility and parental relationships as an Executive Head
• Balancing strategic oversight with the realities of three small schools

A thoughtful, grounded conversation full of real‑world examples from a leader who has built a federation model that genuinely works for staff, pupils and communities and a valuable listen for anyone seeking a leadership podcast, a leadership podcast for coaches, or deeper insight into what effective school leadership looks like in practice.

n this reflective episode of The No Silver Bullets Podcast: The Nine Steps to Executive Headship, Paul Ainsworth revisits his powerful conversation with Kulvarn Atwal, Executive Headteacher of Uphall Primary School and Highlands Primary School, and explores what leaders can learn from Step 2: Fostering a shared purposed.

The conversation reflects on fostering a shared purpose in school leadership, emphasizing the importance of values, consistency, and emotional landscape. It also explores the challenges and strategies for building shared purpose in a federation of schools.

Takeaways

• Shared purpose is felt, not written
• Consistency is a consequence of shared purpose, not a substitute for it
• How these ideas connect to the forthcoming book The Nine Steps to Executive Headship (publishing end of 2026)

Paul also previews next week’s episode with Donna Winters, focusing on Step 3: Unleashing the capacity of your team — the perfect follow‑on from today’s themes.

Finally, Paul invites listeners to take part in recorded discussions about the episodes. If you’d like to receive an advance podcast and share your reflections on air, get in touch.

Fostering a Shared Purpose — Step 2 with Dr Kulvarn Atwal

In this episode of The No Silver Bullets Podcast, Paul speaks with Dr Kulvarn Atwal, Executive Headteacher of Highlands and Uphall Primary Schools in Redbridge. Known for his values‑driven leadership and research into teacher learning, Kulvarn explores what it truly means to build a shared purpose across two large and very different school communities.

He explains why shared purpose starts with values, not actions, and how leaders can model those values so they cascade through every layer of the organisation. Kulvarn shares the story of taking on Uphall — a five‑form‑entry, high‑disadvantage, double‑RI school — and how deep listening, trust‑building and a relentless focus on teacher learning led to remarkable improvement, including disadvantaged outcomes above national advantaged averages.

Listeners will hear practical advice on:

• Leading authentically across multiple schools
• Building trust in a struggling setting
• Creating one learning community while respecting context
• Staying visible, calm and present as an executive leader
• Designing sustainable structures that outlast individuals

A powerful, honest conversation about leadership, values and the real work of bringing people together around a shared purpose.

Links:

The Thinking School: Developing a dynamic learning community

The Thinking Teacher: How to transform your mindset and your teaching

Follow Kulvarn on X

In this reflective episode of The No Silver Bullets Podcast: The Nine Steps to Executive Headship, Paul Ainsworth revisits his powerful conversation with Anthony Benedict, CEO of Ambition Community Trust, and explores what leaders can learn from Step 1: Building One Vision.

Anthony’s clarity of purpose — “I came into teaching to change the world” — sets the tone for a discussion about why executive leadership must begin with a deeply personal and child‑centred “why”. Paul unpacks how Anthony’s approach to relational inclusion, staff culture, and co‑constructed vision aligns with the core arguments of Step 1.

This episode explores:

• Why your personal ‘why’ matters more than any document or strategy
• Vision as a lived practice, not a laminated poster
• How Anthony built a culture rooted in relational inclusion
• The role of collaboration, co‑construction, and shared language
• Why a vision only becomes real when staff, pupils, and parents echo it back
• How these ideas connect to the forthcoming book The Nine Steps to Executive Headship (publishing end of 2026)

Paul also previews next week’s episode with Dr Kulvarn Atwal, focusing on Step 2: Fostering a Shared Purpose — the perfect follow‑on from today’s themes.

Finally, Paul invites listeners to take part in recorded discussions about the episodes. If you’d like to receive an advance podcast and share your reflections on air, get in touch.

Links

• Educating Everyone by Anthony Benedict - Educating Everyone: An Introduction to Relational Inclusion in Schools
• Anthony’s Substack on relational inclusion - Anthony Benedict | Substack
• Trauma Informed Schools UK - Trauma Informed Schools UK
• The Nine Steps to Executive Headship — publishing end of 2026

Series 1: The Nine Steps to Executive Headship

Episode 1 — Step 1: Building a Vision (with Anthony Benedict)

In this episode, Paul Ainsworth speaks with Anthony Benedict, CEO of Ambition Community Trust and former Executive Headteacher of Tameside PRU. Anthony is also the author of Educating Everyone and a leading voice on relational inclusion.

Together, they explore Step 1: Building a Vision — how Executive Heads create a clear, values‑driven vision across multiple schools, and what it takes to make that vision lived rather than laminated.

Anthony shares his personal “why,” shaped by years working with disadvantaged pupils and a desire to change the system from within. He reflects on stepping into Executive Headship during Covid, leading two PRU centres while also working to reduce permanent exclusions across the local authority, and realising how much he still had to learn.

The conversation covers practical strategies including developing a 100‑day plan, investing in meaningful CPD, and building a culture rooted in relational inclusion. Anthony explains how he co‑constructed policies with staff, introduced daily regulation routines, and created Relational Inclusion Champions to support pupils at risk of exclusion.

This episode offers a powerful look at how clarity, humanity and moral purpose can shape leadership across complex settings.

Key Themes

• Finding your personal “why”
• Leading across multiple sites
• The role of a 100‑day plan
• Trauma‑informed and relational practice
• Moving from behaviour policies to relational policies
• Co‑constructing culture with staff
• Daily regulation routines
• Relational Inclusion Champions
• Creating a trust‑wide vision that is lived, not laminated

About the Guest

Anthony Benedict is CEO of Ambition Community Trust, serving PRU and SEMH schools across Greater Manchester. A former mainstream English teacher, head of department, deputy head and headteacher, he moved into Executive Headship to make a deeper impact on vulnerable young people. He is the author of Educating Everyone and writes a widely read Substack on relational inclusion.

Timestamps

00:00 — Introduction
01:20 — Anthony’s “why”
03:30 — Leading more than one school
06:00 — CPD that shapes leadership
08:20 — Becoming Executive Head of Tameside PRU
10:30 — Balancing two centres and LA‑wide work
12:00 — The 100‑day plan
14:00 — Building a trust‑wide vision
16:00 — Guiding principles and relational inclusion
20:00 — Bringing the vision to life
23:00 — Co‑constructing culture
25:00 — Daily regulation routines
27:30 — Relational Inclusion Champions
30:00 — Staying grounded as a leader

Links

• Educating Everyone by Anthony Benedict - Educating Everyone: An Introduction to Relational Inclusion in Schools
• Anthony’s Substack on relational inclusion - Anthony Benedict | Substack
• Trauma Informed Schools UK - Trauma Informed Schools UK

The No Silver Bullets podcast introduces the Nine Steps to Executive Headship, providing a structured approach to understanding and practicing executive headship. The conversation begins with an introduction to executive headship and then delves into the role of an executive head, highlighting the skills, challenges, and goals associated with the position.

Takeaways

• Nine Steps to Executive Headship
• Structured approach to executive headship

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to Executive Headship