Our monthly highlights Steve Willshaw ​​ July Newsletter Welcome to the July edition of my newsletter! I've had a busy and rewarding few weeks, full of deep-dive conversations into school culture and the launch of some brilliant new resources for the classroom. Here is a look at what’s been happening.  Functional Fluency I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Paul Collin for the latest episode of the Headship after Hours podcast. It was a fantastic opportunity to u

We’ve made it to June! Between the relational fatigue of the summer term and the high-stakes pressure of finalizing next year's curriculum, it’s incredibly easy to drop into pure survival mode. But June is actually where the magic happens. It is the bridge where your grand strategic intent meets next year’s classroom reality. If we want next year to feel different, the work starts now—not in September. In this, my first monthly newsletter, I’ll highlight some key develo

The Functionally Fluent Teacher and The Ambitious Years The core mission of The Functionally Fluent Teacher aligns perfectly with the work I’m doing with The Ambitious Years: the pursuit of intellectual equity. We believe that every learner has a unique potential, and it is our mission to empower those who teach them to unlock it. But we cannot achieve intellectual equity if our "operating systems"—our relationships—are broken. Central to Functional Fluency is Accounting

Alongside The Functionally Fluent Teacher, I’ve provided a suite of resources to help you and your pupils map out your "internal theatre". The Accounting Framework is the "operating system" for this work. When a situation feels like it’s spiralling, we use the Accounting tools to "Get Grounded" and ask: What are the simple facts? What is my emotional state? Additional free resources: Mode Cards: A dual-coding visual aid for modes like "Nurturing" (accepting, empathic) vs. "

We often talk about classroom management in terms of "rules" and "consequences," but what if we looked at it as an economy of Strokes? In my book’s sample chapter, "The Heart of the Matter," I dive into this concept from Transactional Analysis: a stroke is a fundamental unit of human recognition. The reality for many of our students is "stroke starvation": Students who are ignored or overlooked at home arrive "stroke starved". To survive, they will demand attention by a

How one school's strategic investment in physical resources provides a powerful model for making Reading for Pleasure tangible and...

As a school leader, you've likely encountered countless leadership theories. But how many have truly translated into tangible, lasting...

In today's interconnected world, the challenges and triumphs of school leadership often echo across continents. While each school...

Participating in the OU Reading for Pleasure conference in Doncaster recently was a great experience. The conference was a dynamic...

In the recent Teacher Wellbeing Survey conducted by the NASUWT, 86% of teachers surveyed said that their job had had a negative impact...

Uprooted by Su Blackwell, currently on show at the National Centre for Craft and Design in Sleaford. Reading can have a transformational...

This blog was written a while back and then forgotten about. Since then Functional Fluency International has developed considerably. It...

Back in November 2010 I was invited to go down to London to lead a research seminar at the DfE on the reading for pleasure promotion...

The following piece by Ben Wilkinson and Sonja Bredgaard was published on The Guardian's teacher blog back in 2012. Interest in reading...

The second passport we produced, the blue one, was conceived as a more primary-orientated version of the original green passport. The...

1. The green passport was the first one in the series. Indeed, when I wrote it I thought it would be the only one but then when my...

It occurred to me recently that, although Rooted in Reading has now been around for over a decade, there are still many teachers out...

Listening recently to Andy Hargreaves talking about professional capital on YouTube , I was struck by his definition of the third element...

I am updating this blog, which dates from July 2018, in January 2022. The issues it highlights have been considerably exacerbated by...

Education is an exchange, but not a monetary one in most circumstances. Instead of exchanging money, a symbolic representation of labour...