Best review I’ve had for my blog
paulurry68.substack.com
I find your writing invaluable for its clarity and practical insight. You articulate complex leadership dilemmas with honesty and offer grounded, workable solutions. Your perspective bridges theory and practice that supports school leadership.
A small shift I’ve been exploring:
Learning objectives as questions, not statements.
Instead of:
“Understand…”
Try:
“Why…?”
“How…?”
It changes the feel of the lesson.
Pupils aren’t just completing tasks — they’re working towards an answer.
paulurry68.substack.com/p/the-excell...
Big week for education policy.
Yes, the White Paper matters — but so do:
• Neurodivergence report
• Children of the 2020s data
• English Hubs evaluation
• School & College Voice surveys
• Kinship care reform
School leadership guides for each of these here:
paulurry68.substack.com/s/dfe-decoded
I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership cohesion recently.
Not the kind that looks neat on an organogram — the kind that feels safe in a room.
This clip is a short reflection on building that safety deliberately.
The full piece is here
paulurry68.substack.com/p/the-art-of...
Pupils don’t learn what we say.
They learn what they think about.
If learning looks secure in the lesson but disappears a week later, this unit digs into why.
Memory. Attention. Schema.
Clip below. Full article here paulurry68.substack.com/p/the-excell...
One of the most underestimated aspects of deputy headship is personal credibility.
Module 1, Unit 5 of The Art of the Deputy explores how trust is built quietly — through presence, consistency, and how leaders show up under pressure.
🔗 paulurry68.substack.com/p/the-art-of...
Leadership gets harder when you realise nothing happens in isolation.
This unit explores what it means to see the whole school as a system — and lead more thoughtfully because of it.
Read here:
paulurry68.substack.com/p/stepping-i...
I’ve written a short reflection about creating space for better leadership — space to pause, think clearly, and respond rather than react.
Nothing clever. Just honest.
If you’re in school leadership, you might recognise it.
paulurry68.substack.com/p/making-spa...
Some weeks, leadership isn’t about plans or data.
It’s about belief—in people, in the work, and in why you started.
This piece explores how vision, faith (not just religious), and service actually keep leaders standing when things get tough.
Full read here:
paulurry68.substack.com/p/becoming-a...
Vision isn’t the statement on the wall.
It’s how people behave when things get busy or uncomfortable.
This unit explores how leaders (at every level) shape culture through the small, daily choices they make — often without realising it.
Here’s the piece:
paulurry68.substack.com/p/stepping-i...
New article in my series The Psychological Work of Headship.
This one focuses on the headteacher as an emotional container — holding staff, pupils, parents, and systems without absorbing everything.
Part 4 here:
paulurry68.substack.com/p/the-psycho...
I’ve only just spotted this change to PPG on the DfE website from June 2025
There’s been a quiet change to FSM / Pupil Premium eligibility for families with no recourse to public funds. Easy to miss, but significant for schools and children.
paulurry68.substack.com/p/dfe-decode...
Norway doesn’t ask how children with SEND can fit into schools.
It asks how schools should be designed so everyone belongs from the start.
This piece explores inclusion as architecture.
Global Insights #17
Norway: Inclusion, SEND, and Belonging by Design
🔗 paulurry68.substack.com/p/global-ins...
Leadership feels different when values and culture pull in the same direction.
This clip explores alignment — not as comfort, but as integrity.
The longer piece reflects on why misalignment drains energy.
full article:
paulurry68.substack.com/p/becoming-a...
Leadership isn’t a performance.
This clip explores why self-awareness matters more than style, confidence, or authority when stepping into leadership.
Clip + full article here:
paulurry68.substack.com/p/stepping-i...
Leadership grows when identity is understood.
I used to go to find useful stuff or systems for school, now I go to look at and compare ideas.
This year I'm on the hunt for data visualisation ideas and budget friendly science ideas/kit.
Cheers Tim!
Schools don’t just respond to what leaders decide.
They respond to how leaders carry emotion
This latest article in my psychology of headship series looks at emotional regulation as a core leadership skill—and why calm matters more than charisma in headship
paulurry68.substack.com/p/the-psycho...
Heading to the BETT Show this Wednesday with a simple intention:
to discover what I don’t yet know that I don’t know.
If you’ve seen something genuinely useful or future-facing at BETT, I’d love your recommendations.
#BETT #EdTech #Education #SchoolLeaders #ProfessionalLearning
This week’s DfE Decoded covered four different areas of policy — reading, attainment, elective home education and children missing education.
Together, they point to the same leadership challenge: visibility, belonging and early support matter more than ever.
paulurry68.substack.com/s/dfe-decoded
Yes - it is an idea that should be taken up here. I know different states approach it in a variety of ways, but the value of it - and for teaching - is strong for wellbeing.
Australia’s education system offers a familiar lesson for England:teacher wellbeing doesn’t fail because people care too little
My latest global education insights piece explores workload, professional agency,and why wellbeing must be designed, not delegated
paulurry68.substack.com/p/global-ins...
Moral leadership isn’t about statements or slogans.
It’s about what leaders do when decisions are difficult, pressured, or unpopular.
Unit 2 explores leadership as a moral responsibility — lived daily through judgement, integrity, and courage.
New leadership unit for deputy heads.
This resource explores the head–deputy relationship as a professional partnership,built on trust,discretion,honest challenge, and alignment rather than agreement.
Available as a full learning package:
• Video
• Podcast
• Written article
• Accompanying workbook
Teaching is one of the professions that is both moral and intellectual
Module 1, Unit 2 explores how excellent teachers protect dignity while designing learning with precision, balancing care and challenge, compassion and clarity, every day in the classroom
paulurry68.substack.com/p/excellent-...
My latest piece in The Psychological Work of Headship.
Self-awareness before strategy — why your inner world shapes judgement, tone, and decision-making far more than we like to admit in school leadership.
paulurry68.substack.com/p/the-psycho...
DfE Decoded is published weekly on Sundays.
Clear, calm analysis of new DfE policy — written for school and trust leaders who want understanding.
Each one with a leadership reference, challenge and action guide
paulurry68.substack.com/s/dfe-decoded
My DfE Decoded #56 unpacks the Children’s Wellbeing & Schools Bill as a leadership issue, not a compliance one.
It reframes safeguarding, attendance and wellbeing.
There’s also a leadership reference sheet for heads and governors.
paulurry68.substack.com/p/dfe-decode...
Before leadership becomes visible, it becomes personal.
Module 1, Unit 1 of Becoming a Future Head creates space to reflect on purpose, values, and what truly anchors leadership
Not techniques.
Not performance.
Just clarity of why — before questions of how.
paulurry68.substack.com/p/becoming-a...
