Stuart Rowntree

1/3 I do wonder why we're so reluctant to have that conversation properly. Is it partly the investment we've already made in how education works or is the whole thing simply so complicated & interwoven that even knowing where to begin becomes difficult?

2/3 Perhaps there's a fear that once we start questioning what education is actually for, we'll find ourselves pulling in so many different directions that reaching any meaningful agreement becomes impossible. We might want good things for chn, but not necessarily agree on what matters most.

1/3 Thanks for sharing this, Mark. There's a lot I agree with, particularly the need to restrain the number of priorities and give teachers time to embed and refine practice. I think we're often guilty of moving on before we've really understood whether anything meaningful has changed.

2/3 Where I'd want to build on this is in what we're sustaining. Not just about seeing a particular practice become more consistent, but developing the understanding and judgement that allow teachers to use it well, adapt it & recognise when something isn't working.

1/7 Thinking - as always - about what we actually expect CPD to achieve. We've become quite good at organising professional development. I'm less sure we're always as good at enabling professional learning.

6/7 We also need to be more thoughtful about evaluating CPD. Did teachers enjoy it? Was it well attended? Useful questions, but insufficient. What did we understand better? What changed in practice? Did chn benefit? And can we ask those questions without creating another layer of accountability?

1/7 Thinking - as always - about what we actually expect CPD to achieve. We've become quite good at organising professional development. I'm less sure we're always as good at enabling professional learning.

4/7 Keep coming back to the importance of learning alongside colleagues. Not simply sharing what we do, but examining why we do it, questioning assumptions & exploring what chn are actually learning. Collaboration isn't automatically effective, but thoughtful professional dialogue feels essential.

1/7 Thinking - as always - about what we actually expect CPD to achieve. We've become quite good at organising professional development. I'm less sure we're always as good at enabling professional learning.

2/7 Perhaps the starting point is expertise. Good teaching isn't simply knowing which strategies to use. It's understanding why they might work, noticing what's happening in front of us & making informed decisions. CPD should develop that judgement, not just secure greater consistency of practice.

1/4 Autumn is easily my favourite time of year. Skeletal branches, leaves aflame on rain-soaked pavements, early morning mist and that wonderful crispness in the air, tinged with woodsmoke and spice. There's something about the slow, beautiful decay of it all that I absolutely love.

3/4 I think it's a more evocative word, too. Autumn sounds elegant, almost romantic. Fall feels earthier. More elemental. It captures something of the change, the passing and the gradual surrender of the landscape. Perhaps I'm overthinking a single word - almost certainly, in fact. That's me!

1/4 Autumn is easily my favourite time of year. Skeletal branches, leaves aflame on rain-soaked pavements, early morning mist and that wonderful crispness in the air, tinged with woodsmoke and spice. There's something about the slow, beautiful decay of it all that I absolutely love.

1/9 How we approach school improvement. We're often quite good at identifying what needs to change, looking at the evidence & introducing new approaches. But I wonder whether we're always as careful about understanding what's already working, & why.

8/9 I think this matters particularly when leadership changes/experienced staff leave. Schools can lose knowledge that was never formally recorded. Sometimes that knowledge remains in the building, but the people holding it no longer have opportunity to contribute. This isn't insignificant.

1/9 How we approach school improvement. We're often quite good at identifying what needs to change, looking at the evidence & introducing new approaches. But I wonder whether we're always as careful about understanding what's already working, & why.

6/9 Perhaps there's a distinction between improving a school's systems & improving what it's actually capable of doing. A clearer inclusion policy doesn't necessarily mean better inclusion. A more coherent curriculum document doesn't guarantee better learning. Though both might help, obviously.

1/9 How we approach school improvement. We're often quite good at identifying what needs to change, looking at the evidence & introducing new approaches. But I wonder whether we're always as careful about understanding what's already working, & why.

4/9 We rightly want greater consistency, stronger systems & approaches informed by evidence. Children shouldn't depend on the preferences or goodwill of individual adults. But change doesn't happen in a vacuum. It happens amongst things that may already be serving children well.

1/9 How we approach school improvement. We're often quite good at identifying what needs to change, looking at the evidence & introducing new approaches. But I wonder whether we're always as careful about understanding what's already working, & why.

2/9 Schools don't begin again each time something new is introduced. They carry years of accumulated knowledge, relationships, routines & experience. Some valuable - some less so. Much of it isn't written down or even recognised as particularly important - until it's no longer there!