What does it actually take to build a great school? Not just good exam results – but a place where kids genuinely thrive.

This week Adam and Andy are joined by Mark Wignall, a former headteacher with 36 years in education, to talk values over rules, the attendance crisis, marginal gains in the classroom, and why understanding your brain might be the most important lesson schools aren't teaching.

If you need any specific help with this, don't hesitate to email the show [email protected]

We Read Your Comments!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

Buy us a Coffee!: https://ko-fi.com/onebrainpodcast

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Chapters:

00:00 - Clip

00:50 - Intro & waffle (ft. the heatwave & cold pan nonsense)

01:57 - Meet Mark Wignall – 36 years in education

02:53 - What Action Your Potential does & why small changes matter

05:50 - Mark's career journey to headteacher

07:00 - What makes a great school?

09:30 - Exam results vs. the whole child

11:20 - Building a school around values

13:38 - School as a community – it takes everyone

14:47 - Values over rules: building behaviour into the brain

17:09 - The kindness & compassion curriculum

19:50 - Marginal gains & the Team Sky parallel

21:14 - Does the 1% approach actually work in schools?

23:10 - Ofsted & why inspection misses the point

24:09 - The attitude shift — parents & schools

25:49 - Post-austerity & the collapse of support services

26:14 - The attendance crisis

28:00 - Why kids build up school in their heads (& how the brain does it)

30:01 - Neuroscience as an icebreaker — not a blame game

31:27 - What school actually teaches you (beyond the subjects)

32:00 - The power of doing things you don't love

32:24 - Emergence claxon 🚨

34:07 - Outro

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This podcast will change your life, if you let it.

Welcome to One Brain At A Time, an Action Your Potential podcast.

At the top of your neck you have the most powerful processing device in the known universe. But no-one's ever told you how it works... until now.

Each Monday, Action Your Potential consultants Adam Wright and Andy Feist strip away the jargon and break down the neuroscience into practical tools you can apply straight away.

Entertaining, evidence-based, and 100% woo-woo free. That's a guarantee.

Subscribe today wherever you get your podcasts and watch the full episodes on Youtube.

If you want to learn more about the work we do at AYP, you can find out more information on our website!

📧 Email us questions at [email protected].

👀 Watch our episodes on our youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@OneBrainPodcast

📲 Follow us on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@one.brain.podcast

📲 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/one_brain_podcast?igsh=MTdxMmVvMndoeDNydg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

📬 Subscribe to the AYP Newsletter: https://substack.com/@actionyourpotential

One Brain At A Time is written and presented by Adam Wright & Andy Feist. Production from Adam Wright and Andy Feist. Intro Music: “Happy Life” by Fredji (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvQ-5RCt9xs&list=PLfP6i5T0-DkK-1uhfhicxlQ2FJwbuA7uU&index=26). One Brain At A Time is an Action Your Potential production.

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