* Ofsted part 3 - Achievement. Again, the framework is not making significant changes. The most significant change is that achievement does not just mean exam results but also the wider curriculum including music, sport and the arts. Whether you are responsible for a subject, a cross curricular theme like literacy, an area of the school e.g. sixth form or enrichment should ensure that students achieve:

* what they need for their future

* in line with national trends in progress and attainment

* appropriately for their starting points

Perhaps the most important point here is not a new one, we should not confuse achievement and progress - a grade is only ‘high’ if the student has made the expected progress from where they started. Sometimes the worst rates of progress can be from coasting high prior attaining students.

* The curriculum review (Francis review) has been published and the government has responded. The review recommended small changes to all subjects e.g. a greater emphasis on climate change in geography and some bigger ones in others, e.g. English language. The time students spend taking exams will be reduced by 10%. The consequence for you as a leader is that you will have a new national curriculum and new specifications from 2027 but they will not be significantly different from the ones you have now (in most cases). There will be more tests though, in year 8 students will be checked for progress in English and maths although this does not mean SATs are back in key stage 3, instead schools will have to choose how to assess this progress.

In addition, the government has made some changes to Progress 8. The EBacc is gone and the buckets are changing. What this means in practice is that students will need to do 4 subjects from at least two of; humanities, languages and creative subjects. What this probably means is, slightly fewer students studying geography and history and slightly more studying creative subjects.

Finally, there is a move towards greater accountability based on similar schools meaning that your outcomes will be compared less to national averages and more to schools with students like the ones in your school. So, if you are a comprehensive in a deprived area or a selective school serving an affluent area your impact will be considered in comparison to schools like yours not schools in general.

* Abandonment. Finally, a tip for managing overwhelming workload. Abandonment is the habit of letting go of tasks when there are just too many to do. We talked a couple of weeks ago about success lists rather than to do lists. This could be seen as the next step, once you have identified the ‘one thing’ that matters most you may want to trim things from your to do list that actually do not need doing. This is not failing to take responsibility but asking for each thing, ‘what purpose does this serve?’ if you cannot easily answer that question you have three options:

* Let it go - maybe it does not need doing anyway

* Do it differently - based on what the purpose is

* Reimagine it - maybe it matters but you need to do it differently

For example, if you need to review your school improvement plan, do not see it as a task that has to be done because someone told you to. See it as an opportunity to check your progress to achieving your objectives. When you do this you get greater clarity about what you are trying to do, your strengths and what you need to do next. As a consequence you will begin to see things differently, they will become more achievable and you will find you have greater energy.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thegrowthnetworkuk.substack.com