Making Room for Impact by Arran Hamilton, John Hattie and Dylan Wiliam

I am always alert to anything new by Dylan Wiliam. He has a clarity of thought and expression that I love. In my opinion, he sits alongside David Didau in having a wonderful talent when explaining challenging educational ideas clearly and cutting to the point. This book is a collaboration with two other educationalists (one

Reduce Change to Increase Improvement by Viviane Robinson

In all the school I have worked there has always been a focus on an annual improvement plan cycle and the approaches have largely been top-down – albeit informed from feedback from across the school. I have seen some excellent initiatives lead to real, sustainable change but have always found the overall process seemed flawed-

Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek

Not quite sure how I ended up reading this book thinking it was a new release. It was actually released in 2014 as a follow up to Start with Why and I can’t be 100% sure I didn’t read it at the time. If I did, I have little memory.  The book itself promoted the

The ResearchEd Guide to Leadership Edited by Stuart Lock

I was excited about this addition to the ResearchEd series. I was intrigued as leadership seems to be a vaguer term/concept than some already covered and the research less convincing. I had expected it to be a series of essays on key leadership theories or traits. Instead, it opened with a couple of chapters that

Intelligent Accountability by David Didau

As with any book by David Didau I was tremendously excited about reading this. He writes with an insight, rigour and clarity that only a select few (think Daisy Christodoulou and Dylan Wiliam) match. As expected, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. That said, it was the Didau book that most challenged my own thoughts and

Educating with Purpose by Stephen Tierney

I read and thoroughly enjoyed Stephen Tierney’s Liminal Leadership. This newest book received lots of mentions and enthusiasm on Twitter so I was delighted when it arrived. The book lacks the humour that came with his earlier book- it was a delightful look back on a career. This is a far more academic and rigorous

Improving Schools from Within by Roland Barth

This book was recommended in glowing terms in one of my recent reads- either by John Tomsett or Roy Blatchford. It is thirty years old but the vision it outlined was extremely wise. It contained an overview of an experienced American principal’s vision for a great school. It emphasised the point that the vision may

The Three Minute Leader by Roy Blatchford

This was a quick and satisfying read. It contained 101 one-page insights into leadership. Each was wise and thoughtful. After every ten tips it paused for a brief reflection and invariably added a wise tale or thoughtful story on which to reflect. I read it on a sunny day at the start of half-term and

The Restless School by Roy Blatchford

I read this book before I started writing my book reviews. However, I was reminded of it by my previous boss when I referred to Roy Blatchford’s new book when I reflected on the political leadership of our country. It is a great book and was part of the reason I always look out for

Education Exposed by Samuel Strickland

This is a 90page book, less than an hour’s reading, short and sharp. It basically summarises one leader’s thoughts on successful schools. It is the kind of summary I can imagine writing when leaving teaching- my best ideas on behaviour, leadership, curriculum and staff-wellbeing summarised. As I read it, I didn’t find much to disagree