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Sir Tim Brighouse was an extraordinary man who embraced so many paradoxes, perhaps that is why he was so extraordinary. He was understated and humble, yet had significant influence at the top levels as well as local ones. He was all about school improvement at a system level and yet always remained the champion of teachers and students, never losing his connection with, or love of, the classroom. He was incredibly intelligent and insightful and yet never used that over people nor ever used it to make others feel inferior, he had a way of elevating others. I knew of him long before I met him, when my father, Sir John Rowling, went to work for the London Challenge with Tim Brighouse, it was an incredibly exciting time in his life, and in the life of the schools who were part of it and I remember as a young teacher myself at the time, hearing all about it and marvelling at the change that was occurring as they crossed metaphorical borders between schools working together and working with independent schools. It was so exciting and significant in improving outcomes and life chances, in fact, that when the London Challenge funding stopped, the majority of the headteachers in the room opted to fund it themselves and continue with their work with Sir John. It was in that room that what became PiXL, was born. A large number of those original founding schools are still members working with us. We celebrate 20 years of working with them in some form or other, next year. A remarkable legacy from the work of Sir John, Sir Tim and others.

I also knew Tim through the work he and Mick Waters wrote together – what wisdom, what intelligence and what humanity both of them showed and Mick continues to show. I am proud that Mick is part of all of our conferences this year bringing his wisdom, insights, intelligence and humility to PiXL members – we are richer for it. The books they wrote, with the number of contributors involved, of all different persuasions and politics, says a lot about them both. 

Then I was fortunate to spend a morning with Tim in 2022 when we filmed PiXL in Conversation together. What we got on camera was only a quarter of what was spoken when the cameras stopped. In fact, the conversation was flowing so much and so naturally it was almost impossible for the film crew to work out what was on and what was off! We talked about all types of things, including some reflections that were poignant and moving. You can hear them for yourself in this episode which we are releasing to everyone below.

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 Listening to Tim was a special experience and what we talked about afterwards was a significant moment in my early PiXL leadership as he encouraged me on, to speak up, to bring people together, to lead the way I wanted to and to keep young people and teachers at the heart. We talked about like-minded people in education, and those who were different in their thinking and how we could continue to get people in the same room together, finding commonalities, finding differences and engaging in debate, not alienating or polarising but coming together to think, to learn and to be…together in healthy, dignified debate. I told him I would do this and would continue to try to do this, we even wrote a list of people who he felt would be excellent to contact – the list was long and varied. We had several more cups of tea and hatched several plans in the trendy AirBnB London flat we had rented for filming. I left energised and excited, grateful and reflective – he was the same era as my father who we had only recently lost. It gave me chance to reflect on that too. Neither of us wanted to leave, he was so relaxed he was almost off the chair in which he was sitting, we laughed and we reflected. It was a conversation I will always be grateful for.

I am grateful that I have been brought up watching leaders like Tim Brighouse and others of his generation – who were not afraid to speak out, were convicted about what they believed, who were change makers and giant battlers but did it all with heart, humanity and humility. And yet he too was a giant, even though at times he was the underdog, another paradox. We stand on the shoulders of giants in this work and Sir Tim Brighouse was one of those giants.

Rachel Johnson 
PiXL CEO

  • PiXL’s work is truly remarkable and has been a saviour and sanctuary of common sense and really useful strategies at a time of madness!

    Headteacher, PiXL Secondary school

  • For me, PiXL is a community of like-minded learners who have a moral imperative to raise standards and support children and schools to be better – who wouldn't want to be in PiXL?

    Executive Headteacher, PiXL Primary school

  • PiXL provides a reassuring touchstone, and never more has that been so important to school leaders. PiXL is populated with like-minded and motivated colleagues who give due thought and consideration about how to best approach the myriad of decisions school leaders take every day. I've worked with PiXL for 8 years now and every meeting leaves me inspired to try new ideas, reassured about things my school is doing well and resolved to continually do better for the young people in my school.

    Headteacher, PiXL Secondary school

  • Post-16 support and resources are top quality — the adaptability of resources makes tailoring them to your students straightforward. The PiXL team are always open to suggestions and strive to ensure hard-working and innovative staff have a support base. They inspire teachers of all levels of experience.

    Senior Leader, PiXL Post 16 school

  • I can honestly say this has been one of the instrumental factors in our success story. The ideas, resources and expertise, which has been so willingly shared by the whole PiXL team, has enabled our Sixth Form to continually change and radically improve. Every single meeting has been packed with fresh ideas and practical tips to help students thrive, both academically and also as a well-rounded individual.

    Headteacher, PiXL Post 16 school

  • PiXL is more than just a network of schools; it is a welcoming organisation, with highly experienced people, offering unparalleled professional support and CPD. PiXL will continue to improve the education system and culture of the schools, Sixth Forms and colleges who introduce and embed their strategies, as it has already.

    Senior Leader, PiXL Post 16 school

  • We have used PiXL in our personal development package, in our interventions, in whole-school teaching and learning CPD and with our staff through PiXL Change. My respect for PiXL has grown and grown.

    Senior Leader, PiXL Post 16 school

  • PiXL has been a huge support network for our academies during these challenging times and has guided us, assisted us and provided us with resources to support our leaders, teachers and pupils. The PiXL team listen to us, take on feedback, ask us what we need and adapt their research and provision in order to suit all of our school’s different needs.

    Executive Headteacher, PiXL Primary school

  • As a member, PiXL provides our school with a wealth of professional development opportunities and high-quality resources for all areas of the core curriculum. Their approach of diagnosis, therapy, testing and revisiting enables us to easily identify children’s next steps on a one-to-one, small group and whole-class basis and then tailor our interventions and whole-class teaching to fill their gaps.

    Executive Headteacher, PiXL Primary school

  • The opportunity to work with such a strong, supportive, diverse team of highly–skilled professionals from across the country, as a PiXL family, has been a very valuable experience in developing the breadth and depth of my knowledge and skill–set, both as a teacher and a leader. Schools, staff and children lie at the heart of everything they do. The question on everyone’s lips is always: ‘What do schools need?’

    Executive Headteacher, PiXL Primary school

  • The beauty of PiXL is that you can pick and mix what you need and make it work for your school; you can be as PiXL as you want to be – it's a continuum.

    Headteacher, PiXL Secondary school

  • I trust my leaders with PiXL: PiXL leadership moves with the times and develops all tiers of leaders, ranging from my new middle leaders to my most experienced Heads of School. It has inspired them to question and challenge themselves, whilst holding their hand and supporting their next steps.

    Headteacher, PiXL Post 16 school

  • In a world of uncertainty, PiXL continues to show its true worth to schools across the nation. The integrity and humility with which the organisation works are quite unique in the world of education support and their drive to focus on the best for our young people is indubitable. Constantly offering support in key areas where the need is greatest, PiXL continues to be the greatest source of support imaginable.

    Headteacher, PiXL Secondary school

  • PiXL is completely driven by its values and moral purpose, acting solely in the interests of the young people in our schools by helping and supporting staff to choose the most appropriate, evidence-informed strategies and resources for their students. PiXL is an incredibly agile organisation in which the exceptional team is able to provide whatever support schools need in the interests of their students.

    Senior Leader, PiXL Post 16 school

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