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* Schools will stock allergy pens and train staff to use them. Following the death in school of a 5 year old boy from an anaphylactic shock in 2021, schools will be required to stock two spare allergy pens and train staff to use them. This is a good thing but it will have an impact in terms of time and money. Neither is significant in itself but it does reflect the increasing complexity of schools as the range and number of responsibilities grows. Teacher Tapp asked teachers about a number of tasks like bulk photocopying or putting up classroom displays which were ‘outlawed’ by the DfE’s workload guidance in 2024. Yet since these rules were introduced there has been virtually no change in the percentage of staff saying that they are doing them most likely because schools do not have the resources to pay for someone else to do them. Teachers do them either because of commitment e.g. putting up attractive displays, or because not doing them would make their jobs harder e.g. photocopying. As with the allergy pens, this relates to the insight from Professor Francis Green at UCL who identified intensity caused by the range of tasks and responsibilities as one of the drivers of stress in teaching.

* A packed professional development schedule is not the same as a learning culture. Luis Valentino suggests that leaders who want to develop in their roles should consider their own objectives and plan their own learning cycle by; identifying what they need to grow, setting goals, seeking partners to work with, reflecting and adjusting for the future. His first steps are:

* Building a learning network by connecting to other educators

* Attempting a solution to one problem in your own practice

* Reflecting in writing

* Setting one learning goal per term

All of this can be done in a Resilience Community with The Growth Network. Click here to find out how you can join.

* The most significant influence on any employee is their line manager. Alex Atherton describes different generational expectations of line management. For example older colleagues are more likely to be compliant and prefer communication by email whilst younger ones are more likely to prefer to speak face to face and ask questions. The point is to understand how each member of your team (including yourself) seeks support and build relationships accordingly. Allied to this, Sahil Bloom reminds us of the power of expectation. He talks about the Pygmalion Effect which came from from a study which found teachers displayed unconscious micro-behaviours like increased eye contact and offering more detailed feedback, towards students, who they had been told, had greater potential. The study leader wrote: “When we expect certain behaviours of others, we are likely to act in ways that make the expected behaviour more likely to occur.” What it means for leaders is that we need to seek out those who have high expectations of us and be the people who have high expectations of those we lead whether they be students or staff.

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