Our mission is to make all UK Primary Schools outstanding.
13/08/2026
Working hard but not seeing the impact you expected?
Take the FREE School Team Strength Quiz to uncover what may be holding your team back—and identify your next high-impact leadership move in just a few minutes.
Link in the comments 👇
12/08/2026
Difficult conversations don’t have to feel daunting.
Join 1,400+ school leaders who’ve gained the confidence and practical tools to handle challenging conversations and create lasting change.
Find out more. Link in the comments 👇
11/08/2026
Pretty lights! 🤩
11/08/2026
Strong schools start with strong leadership.
Get weekly leadership tips packed with practical ideas to help you build a positive culture, develop your team, and create a school where children and adults flourish.
Sign up via the link in the comments. 👇
10/08/2026
We had great fun yesterday at the @
Jamie Oliver Cookery School in John Lewis Oxford Street. Japanese cooking - delish, nourishing and so much fun!
10/08/2026
How's your break going, really?
I plan my summer on a big A3 planner — pink for fun, black for fixed meetings, purple for exercise, orange for house projects, blue for work. Time blocks, not lists.
But one of my Mastermind heads, Vicki Lord, took it further. She used an idea from Jay Shetty — that your values are shown by your life, not what you say — and fed the answers into AI to plan a break built around what actually matters to her.
Three steps: look at when you've felt most alive. Look at when you've felt most frustrated. Then work out what's really yours versus what you've inherited.
Full exercise in this week's email on comments 👇
Building Confidence for Difficult Conversations in Schools
Difficult conversations don't get easier just because you've been a leader for longer.
Most school leaders know what needs to be said. The challenge is knowing how to say it so the conversation improves performance instead of damaging relationships.
In this video, Headteacher Flora Cooper shares how Heads Up's Successful Difficult Conversations training gave her practical strategies, realistic rehearsal and a clear framework for handling challenging conversations with confidence.
You'll discover:
Why practising difficult conversations changes everything.
How realistic role play helps leaders prepare for real situations.
Why having practical resources means the learning lasts long after the training ends.
Because difficult conversations aren't about being confrontational.
They're about helping people succeed.
Link in the comments 👇
06/08/2026
School summer holiday jobs:
✅ hair cut
⏰eye test booked
⏰check ups booked
Such a well trodden path! 😂
03/08/2026
The first two weeks of September shape far more of the parent culture than we realize.
Not through policy.
Through lived experience.
Parents learn:
- what gets a response
- what gets escalated
- what gets tolerated
- and what partnership with your school looks like
And sometimes, by October, schools are dealing with patterns that were unintentionally reinforced in September.
In my latest blog, I share:
- a simple summer reflection exercise
- the patterns worth analyzing
- and why tiny gaps can create huge emotional energy for leaders
If parent issues felt heavy at times this year, this might help you head into September differently.
Link below 👇
03/08/2026
Conflict costs more than you think.
The CBI estimates leaders spend 20% of their time managing conflict. Find out what that could mean for your school with our FREE Conflict Cost Calculator.
Link in the comments 👇