• ‘Students come first…’ - a simple mantra to guide all decisions (inspired by Dulwich)
• ‘Listen first, then listen again…’ - the lost art of active listening needs cultivation for all to be heard (inspired by Dalai Lama)
• ‘Intercultural awareness should always be in your thoughts…’ whether you live in Thailand, Egypt or Mexico or your students within your community come from Bhutan, Armenia, or the UK (inspired by E. Meyer (Culture Map))
• ‘School culture needs to be cultivated, not left to chance…’ so that all can belong through systems that support the community and all its stakeholders

• Understand ‘habits of mind’ or ‘phrases to live by’ – as they can demonstrate your vision better than any mission statement (inspired by D. Coyle (Culture Code))
• A ‘caring and competent teacher in each and every classroom…’ shows the importance of the relationships between students and teachers to ensure learning can happen, the same is true between leaders and teachers. (inspired by K. Bartlett)
• ‘Relationships should always be the priority…’ as we all know learning can rarely happen in the classroom otherwise, and the same is true with teachers and leadership
• ‘When you are wrong, admit you are wrong …’ acknowledge your limitations show humility, that we are all equal and human in this school environment (inspired by many a mistake!)

• If learning is the ‘main thing,’ then keep it the main thing (inspired by S. Covey)
• ‘Subtraction and simplicity are key…’ (inspired by Hattie against ‘initiativitus,’ and P. Dix (When the adults change…))
• ‘Learning skills can be taught…’ and metacognition, self-regulation and oracy processes should run throughout your pedagogy (inspired by J. Mannion (Fear is the mind killer))
• A deputy dead at Regents, said ‘why are you so driven…’ - I do not know, but leading by example and showing vision to have influence on students’ lives is the essence (inspired by T. Bayley)
• ‘Data is there to start, not end the discussion…’ where the variety of data utilised is crucial (street/exam/wellbeing) to act on pro-actively (inspired by S. Sufir (Street Data) or CEM system by R. Clark)
• ‘Distributed leadership models simply work…’ allow leaders at all levels to take ownership and pride to succeed

• ‘Authentic vertical groups that can share a pizza…’ that involve stakeholders from all areas of the school is the only way to lead to successful change (inspired by J. Mannion, and a little Bezos)
• ‘A smile, can go a very long way…’ and maybe laugh on occasion as well; students, parents, fellow teachers can see you love what you do and will want to join and follow (apologies I tend to smile!)
• ‘Fail well, fail early, fail often…’ the same ‘habit of mind’ I use with students, if the culture does not allow you to have the autonomy to make mistakes, how will you get better (inspired by L. King)

• ‘Wellbeing Wellbeing Wellbeing…’ for everyone - sleeping, breathing, recovery it all matters for students and teachers alike. It is also important to remember everyone has off days!
• ‘Language is a student’s identity…’ and simple things like mispronouncing a name can represent a lack of support for diversity. An authentic and intentional focus on first language (mother tongue) empower and embed identity
• ‘You belong here…’ is the phrase that should be demonstrated to the range of diversity I hope we all aspire to support in our schools (inspired by the simple posters of E. Meadows)
• Embrace instructional coaching through a triad structure. to enable and encourage conversations about learning to support the idea that ‘…no-one but everyone is an expert in teaching and learning.’

• ‘Change is the only constant in life,’ embrace it… (cliché inspired by Benjamin Franklin, or Heraclitus)
• ‘Embrace flexibility consistency…’ rather than argue about UDL or direct instruction, open up your approach (noting hardly any research agrees!) and agree as a school; so that inquiry-based learning can utilise the best of core competencies such as cold calling (inspired by T. Sherrington and more (Walkthrus))
• Embrace technology ensuring ‘… the right tool for the right job…’ and please stop mentioning the ‘digital native’ argument (inspired by my favourite Digital Society teacher?)
• Allow teachers a ‘growth and hypothesis-based model’ for their teaching and learning reflections, and then encourage conversation

I love to read both in my academic discipline areas of Design and Computer Science / Digital Society / Theory of Knowledge alongside a voracious appetite to read around the world of education and pedagogy. Please check out my Goodreads page for more excellent books to dive into.

I am a keen traveller and I love to participate in outdoor experiences including trekking, diving and cycling. And yes, you can cycle in Bangkok; along the ‘stinky khlongs’ and beyond with my 10-year-old! Recently for 14 days I trekked to 4,900 metres in the Langtang Valley / Gosaikunda in Nepal, simply stunning! I am a late convert to the pain / pleasure of jogging up to 5K and maybe beyond? I have a passion for art galleries, watching my football team Portsmouth win (but mostly lose) and live music especially when I can visit a festival in the UK in summer, recently Latitude 2023. Finally, cliched I know but I love to read especially non-fiction books that feed my thirst for knowledge and inform many a teaching moment or grand idea.