Katharine Birbalsingh is the founder and head of Michaela Community School. She and her staff wrote the book, “Michaela: the Power of Culture” which you can find anywhere books are sold.

• Michaela is a different kind of school.
• High standards of discipline - silent corridors
• Knowledge is our goal in the classroom
• Why don’t people do things to get the results - People are critical of just focusing on the test.
• Public appreciation during family lunches.
• What tests should be like.
• Cutting the crap - kids usually learn in pretty much the same way.
• We’ve assumed that the differences of the subject also apply to the differences of the students.
• Personalized learning is where we disagree.
• Teachers don’t spend all their time chasing naughty behavior.
• Teachers aren’t inventing what they teach, they’re sharing and pulling them.
• How to plan ahead, making sure people have time to do that.
• No support staff, so there are fewer staff
• Turn down teachers for doing things for five kids.
• Personalized learning -
• The power of saying no.
• Most staff want to be heard
• I seek out the ideas of staff all the time.
• I depend on you to tell me when they
• Bribing people to tell me what is wrong.
• You’ve got to inspire people and win hearts and minds.
• Sorting out behavior - start with the small things. You need consistency throughout your schools.
• You’re pretending that kids are learning when they’re not in a progressive classroom.
• Small c conservative vs. progressive approaches.
• Personal responsibility, duty to community, Dressing well, having a sense of decency about yourself.
• Having pride in yourself for the right reasons.
• Far too much negativity.
• Gratitude.
• They see themselves as victims.
• Free schools started only in 2010.
• I remember what I’m in it for.
• How to be a transformative principal? You’ve got to have courage. You have to not mind being disliked. You must never think I want people to be happy.
• Do the right thing.

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John Catt

Today’s Transformative Principal sponsor, John Catt Educational, amplifies world-class voices on timeless topics, with a list of authors recognized globally for their fresh perspectives and proven strategies to drive success in modern schools and classrooms.

John Catt’s mission is to support high-quality teaching and learning by ensuring every educator has access to professional development materials that are research-based, practical, and focused on the key topics proven essential in today’s and tomorrow’s schools.

Learn more about professional development publications that are easy to implement for your entire faculty, and are both quickly digestible and rigorous, by visiting https://us.johncattbookshop.com/. Learn more about some of the newest titles:

• Michaela: The Power of Culture by Katharine Birbalsingh
• Teaching WalkThrus: Visual Step-by-Step Guides to Essential Teaching Techniques by Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli
• Putting Staff First: A blueprint for revitalising our schools by John Tomsett and Jonny Uttley
• The Teaching Delusion: Why Teaching In Our Schools Isn’t Good Enough (And How We Can Make It Better) by Bruce Robertson
• Stop Talking About Wellbeing: A pragmatic approach to teacher workload by Kat Howard

John Catt is also proud publisher of the new book from Transformative Principal host Jethro Jones: SchoolX: How principals can design a transformative school experience for students, teachers, parents – and themselves Visit this page to learn more about bulk orders and how to bring John Catt’s research-based materials to your school: https://us.johncattbookshop.com/pages/agents-and-distributors