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Have you ever felt like you were unequipped for the responsibilities of leadership you found yourself in?
This is a common occurrence within the educational landscape and Rachel Johnson, CEO of PiXL, even has experiences of this too.
She knows all too well how easy it is to get caught up in the day-to-day grind, but importantly, how much more there is to being a leader than just getting things done.
“I was excited about the chance to lead others and move things forward in my department but there was one problem, I didn’t know how. It wasn’t pedagogical knowledge that was the challenge, nor understanding assessment or the exam system, nor planning or writing the curriculum.... It was the human part of leadership, the unspoken things that I had not been trained on.”
Check out her recent article for some practical advice that she has sourced on her personal journey from educator to leader.
From mastering the art of having crucial conversations to the strategies for successful delegation, Rachel outlines the actionable insights that can transform your leadership style. She also delves into the complexities of navigating leadership's inherent paradoxes – the delicate balance between responsibility and daring, autonomy and accountability, and trust and verification.
If you find this helpful and want more practical advice sourced from research and made applicable to education, take a look at Rachel’s Time to Think book series:
This book is for those who need practical ways of tackling the tricky issues in leadership to move forward courageously. From people-pleasing to crucial conversations, this book examines the areas that can cause us to be 'stuck' and how we can get ourselves free.
Time to Think 2: The things that stop our teams and what to do about them
This book is for people who want to be daring and responsible in their leadership, who want to embrace paradoxes, and understand how to create and maintain thriving teams. Use this book to help you work through the issues that are most relevant to you and your teams so that you, and they, can thrive.
If you are a PiXL member, you may be interested in our School of PiXL Leadership.
There is a comprehensive CPD programme for whatever stage of school leadership you’re in!
Courses available this year:
New Middle Leader
Established Middle Leader
Making Change Leader
Raising Standards Leader
Exceptional Senior Leader
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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