Strategic Schools

<p>Many school improvement plans are overloaded from the start. In this episode, Simon explores how to integrate The Pruning Principle into your planning cycle - by subtracting before you add. Learn how to reduce...

<p>By trimming just one hour of meetings per week, you could reclaim a full work week each year. In this episode, Simon explores how small shifts in meeting cadence, duration, and structure can unlock major time savings...

<p>In this episode, Simon shares why the best place to start pruning isn’t at the system level - it’s in your own life. From deleting unused apps to unsubscribing from email lists, he offers practical, low-stakes ways...

<p>In this episode, Simon Breakspear unpacks the sunk cost fallacy - a powerful cognitive bias that keeps educators clinging to ineffective programs simply because they've already invested time, money, or energy. This...

<p>In this episode, Simon reads from Chapter 2 of The Pruning Principle, his recently released book, exploring how ancient horticultural wisdom — yes, pruning olive trees and grapevines — can offer a fresh lens for...

<p>Explore the idea of "frenzied stagnation" - the state where educators are busier than ever but making little meaningful progress. In this episode, Simon unpacks the "additive trap" in schools: the relentless habit of...

<p>Leading complex improvement requires learning, making mistakes, offering alternative perspectives and asking when we aren’t sure about the next steps. To enable this, we need a safe platform for interpersonal...

<p>It’s time to move beyond the notion of heroic educational leadership. Improvement is a team sport, and leaders need to purposefully team the teams they are in. In this episode, Simon shares his concept of Team...

<p>In this episode, Simon shares one of his favourite tools for helping teams reflect, learn and adapt: The Retrospective. This simple routine involves teams systematically working through a series of questions at the...

<p>What if the answer was less? In education, we naturally tend to try to solve problems and improve things by adding additional programs, initiatives and responsibilities. Too often, we overlook subtraction as a...

<p>Building social proof is a crucial step in any school change journey. When individuals see that others within your context have embraced the change and experienced positive outcomes, they are more likely to feel...

<p>We are looking for ways to better structure and organise our work during long-term improvement projects. The Kanban approach to team rapid action planning can provide enhanced clarity, motivation and transparency...

<p>Working in 5-8 week cycles can unlock new progress and momentum. At Strategic Schools, we help teams to get out of yearly implementation plans and into working in shorter, more responsive cycles of implementation...

<p>How can you build and sustain momentum through complex improvement journeys? In this episode, Simon identifies the overlooked role of leaders in sustaining momentum through improvement work. He unpacks simple...

<p>What are the essential things that only you can do? In our overwhelmed and overloaded state, we often lose the ability to prioritise effectively. Simon unpacks a simple framework for pausing and identifying what...