"Excellence is not a singular act but a habit. You are what you do repeatedly." Shaquille O'Neal

12 days of Christmas [educational] inspiration - from 2023

"Go and take action...and you will be phenominal".

Sarina Wiegman, the manager of the Lionesses, was rightly given her share of the credit for the team's incredible successes we all enjoyed during the summer. The Lionesses brought joy to the nation and of course have joined a whole host of other sports personalities who are excellent role models to young people. Participation in grass-roots football continues to rise, thanks in part to the conduct and mindset the national team showed on and off the pitch.

Sarina Wiegman was interviewed by The Times soon after the World Cup. It gave a glimpse to her coaching and leadership style, and provided me with some useful soundbites for my start of term assembly, where I introduced the theme for the year: achieving excellence in heads and hearts. In the article, she reflected on instilling four key traits in her players and the culture of the England Team:

1. Do not hide behind excuses - get on with it
2. Make an improvement each time
3. Make mistakes
4. Support one another

As well as providing some salient lessons for our students, I found this simple formula to be really strong for educational leaders, especially when engaged in embedding change in schools.

Change management has dominated my time as Head of St George's School Windsor Castle , with the move to International Baccalaureate , a new wellbeing framework and a focus on global citizenship by becoming a member of Round Square , to name a few 'new things'. One of the biggest changes, though, has been our approach to learning and teaching. Becoming a High Performance Learning 'World Class School' has probably been one of the toughest, but also most rewarding challenges, and has required all four of the traits Wiegman speaks of. Our journey in embedding the High Performance Learning (HPL) philosophy across the school hasn't been altogether straightfoward, but within this imperfect journey, I have learned some valuable leadership lessons:

Do not hide behind excuses - get on with it

Rather like a curriculum change (such as introducing the IB) and a big school-wide decision (like changing house names), both of which I have experience of, leading a complete overhaul to the philosophy behind learning and teaching in a school requires tough, bold and decisive leadership. There is no good time to introduce something like this to staff. Whilst we developed much of the overaraching philosophy that drives HPL very early on, I stalled on the key aspect - introducing the 30 learning dispositions and mindsets in the classroom. Having now fully embedded these, it wasn't anywhere near as difficult as I thought it might be (not least because HPL does indeed make sense in the classroom), but I learned that, as a leader bringing change to a school, there is a lot to be said for getting on with it, especially when it makes a positive impact to the students.

Make an improvement each time

This speaks to other sport leaders who have demonstrated the impact of marginal gains. Sir Clive Woodward and Dave Brailsford are good examples of increasing a team's performance through making a number of small, forensic improvements. Change management takes time, patience and perserverence. It cannot be rushed; if you do you are in danger of only scratching the surface and not embedding deep impact. What is key, though, is identifying areas where progress - however small - can be made. Providing the environment and support for this progress to be made, then showing how it has made a difference and celebrating this.

As teachers, we found this when embedding HPL, both the philosophy & framework and the VAAs and ACPs (see here for information about HPL). For our learners, we have seen the results of bringing about small shifts in the learning process. The old saying 'Rome wasn't built in a day' is very true when going through change management, as frustrating it can be to slow down!

Make mistakes

Barely a day will pass in any school when children are not encouraged to make mistakes, take risks and develop a growth mindset. How often, however, do we allow ourselves as leaders and teachers to make mistakes, especially in the process of trying out a new idea or practice. Changing anything in a school requires flexibility and an agile mindset - there has to be the realisation, acceptance and celebration that mistakes will be made, u-turns will be required and there will be times when you feel there is one dead-end too many. Teams make limited progress without the mindset to explore possibilities, try out a range of methods and work together to find the right solution.

The whole approach to HPL consists around encouraging teachers to play around with ideas, try some new strategies, and in doing so encourage students to do exactly the same.

Support one another

If an academic strategy makes sense and is seen to be making a positive impact on students, then a strong staff team will work together to bring in the changes. A school team - incorporating everyone: caterers and cleaners, teachers, leadership, administration, pastoral teams etc - is no different to a football team, rugby team or cycling team. Any team that has ever succesfully navigated change, made progress, tasted victory and gained a formidable reputation, always has one thing in common - everyone in this team has worked together to realise the vision, values and core mission.

Making a success of HPL requires buy in from everyone and an understanding that, whilst there will be times when people feel out of their comfort zone, it is a true team effort.

The brilliant founder of HPL, Deborah Eyre , speaks of the success of HPL being dependent on a deliberate and systematic approach by everyone in the school. She is absolutely right and this is a lesson for all of us in bringing about progressive, relevant and positive change in our schools. It speaks to this quote by former basketball player, Shaquille O'Neal:

"Excellence is not a singular act but a habit. You are what you do repeatedly."

What a great mantra for us all to follow in schools.

Deborah's famous 'red book', High Performance Learning: How to become a world class school, is a great first step for anyone who would like to learn more about High Peformance Learning. St George's School Windsor is hosting an introductory session for schools on Wednesday, 10 January 2024, for anyone who would like to hear from Deborah Eyre and understand the journey we have been on.

Tomorrow's inspiration: Mental Health inspiration from Matt Pinkett , author of 'Boys Do Cry'.