‘The question should be, is it worth trying to do, not can it be done?’ Michael Johnson
Look forwards, look backwards. Aspice Porro, Aspice Retro.
Each year, for the past 2 3 … 15 years, I have record my academic and career aspirations and reflected on my achievement and shortfalls. Originally these pages focused on my own teaching, then the view point moved to assessing what the learners were achieving, before including a management review, primarily on the IT Strategy at Hamble Community Sports College as I transitioned onto the Senior Leadership Team. As my career developed, so the focused shifted towards leadership and strategic planning and deployment. On taking on a VP role, for a short while this blog and this page received less attention as the responsibilities of the role increased.4 5
Blogging to reflect
The first year of this blog, newly married, eager to progress, it would be fair to say that I was a little over ambitious. The second year, I tried to be more conservative after all my wife and I had just become parents to Harry Still. By the end of the second year I was working more closely with Senior Leadership themes and the third year was focused on significant IT projects before accepting an Assistant Headteacher position at the school. The fourth year of the blog reflected on my first full academic year as a Senior Leader, it also saw the arrival of Freya Still and the retirement of the headteacher that appointed me and the arrival of a new Principal. (To whom I will also be indebted.)
A move to the role of VP followed together with a sigificant professional challenge. The shared hour commute provided constant leadership conversation and development it also added 10 hours to the week. Olly Still arrived. As I said, time for the blog deminished and the posts were less frequent.
Finally the step into Headship and a very different experience of teaching.
A step out to the Middle East did not go as we had hoped and I returned to the classroom full-time for two years.
A return to school leadership as Deputy Head Academic and the development of an professional interest in human cognition, retrieval and successive relearning.
Year summaries cabe be found on Aspice Porro, Aspice Retro. I keep this blog open, the good, the bad and the even the posts I regret. It hopefully provides a full and honest account of my career.