"Resilience, adaptability, inquisitiveness, imagination and an ability to think for one’s self are all qualities that will not only be front of mind for tomorrow’s employers but will also be fundamental for personal happiness and wellbeing."

In this episode I'm joined by the brilliant Richard Jones, Head of Bryanston School, who shares his thoughts on the above and insights into how education is evolving to include less traditional areas of focus, all with the aim of preparing students for their journey in the real world. 

References and Resources
Bryanston School
Bryanston Education Summit 2022
Times Education Commission Report

Catch up on previous podcast episodes at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/podcast

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

What does saying 'no' have to do with strategy?

Schools are busy places and people are full of good ideas, but you can't do everything. If you do, the best outcome to hope for is you'll do everything just ok and the worst outcome is burnout and frequent mistakes.

So mastering the art of saying 'no' is critical in order to have the capacity to say 'yes' to the right things.

In this episode I share three steps which will help you say 'no' with confidence.

References and Resources
Episode 71: Your strategy blueprint

Catch up on previous podcast episodes at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/podcast

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

Inclusivity and changing lives with education is something I am passionate about and so I'm excited to share this interview with the brilliant Laura Firth, Director of Development and Alumni Relations at Bolton School.

Laura shares with us her belief in the importance of stewardship - the way schools look after their donors. She explains how she's put stewardship at the centre of Bolton's fundraising strategy, with great effect. 

References and Resources
Episode 083: Strategic school leadership with Philip Britton MBE, Head of Foundation, Bolton School

Catch up on previous podcast episodes at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/podcast

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

Strategy can not be done alone, so it will inevitably include meetings.

However, meetings often require a lot of time and sometimes unnecessarily so. 

In this episode, I explore one of my frequently asked questions - how can our meetings be more strategic? 

I share with you three things that you can do to make your meetings more efficient and effective, allowing you to use the rest of your time to deliver and enjoy the strategy you've developed. 

References and Resources

Episode 015: Supercharge your strategic thinking

Episode 041: Governors and strategy

Episode 067: Divergent thinking

Catch up on previous podcast episodes at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/podcast

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

In this episode I'm joined by Margaret Giblin, Head of Marymount International School London. 

Margaret has over 23 years of experience in education both in the UK and Ireland. Prior to her commencement at Marymount in 2021, she was the Deputy Head People at Woldingham Catholic School for Girls, where she has been working since 2012 in various roles.

Margaret  champions all-girls education, the value of the IB curriculum and the benefits boarding offers in terms of supporting the international environment she leads.

For a strategy to be effective in your school, you have to include others in the creation of it. In this episode, we explore how to get people involved in  strategy - utilising the wealth of experience Margaret has with doing so.

References and Resources

Marymount International School, London

Catch up on previous podcast episodes at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/podcast

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

In this episode I'm joined by the insightful Julie Robinson, CEO of the Independent Schools Council (ISC).

Julie and I have a conversation to share with you regarding trends in the independent school sector and how these interact with government priorities, policy-making and the media.

Julie's role as CEO regularly involves navigating relationships with these external groups, bringing a fresh perspective to our podcast conversations.

References and Resources
Independent Schools Council

Schools Together

Catch up on previous podcast episodes at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/podcast

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

I often talk with school leaders who are concerned that the strategy they have is not as effective as it needs to be.

To know whether your strategy is fit for purpose, you have to start at the beginning and create a shared understanding of what a strategy is and how it's going to help.

In this episode, I reflect on what defines a strategy and how to build a good one.

If you're asking yourself 'Do I have a strategy?!' consider each area that I share with you in the episode and you'll be able to answer that question.

If people around you are still asking for a strategy when you have one, it is highly likely to be a communications or involvement issue, which I cover in this episode too. 

 References and Resources

Episode 71: Your strategy blueprint

Catch up on previous podcast episodes at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/podcast

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

In this episode I'm joined by the brilliant Paul Dwyer, Head of Redmaids' High School. 

Paul has worked in all-girls education for much of his career and is currently Head at Redmaids' High School, the oldest girls' school in the UK. He is a passionate advocate for the use of research to inform best practice in schools, having been a Founding Trustee and President of the Council for the Chartered College of Teaching. He is currently a Foundation Director for the Cardinal Newman Catholic Education Trust in Bristol. 

We explore the post-covid trends that are present in the independent school sector and Paul shares his insight and experiences. 

References and Resources

Redmaid's High School

Catch up on previous podcast episodes at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/podcast

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

I recently attended the IDPE annual conference, both in-person in Nottingham UK and virtually, where there were many brilliant sessions covering the latest topics development professionals are talking about in the independent school sector.

Here are the four key takeaways for me - three are trends that I was already aware of, but one was a big surprise!

Listen to find out more...

References and Resources
For support with the Ukraine crisis and the wider impact it can have on your school, take a look at my new resource: Preparing for economic downturn: A checklist for private schools

Catch up on previous podcast episodes at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/podcast

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!

Whether you're creating a new strategy or developing an existing one, it can be difficult to decide exactly what timeframe you should be thinking about. Set your strategy too far into the future and it may become irrelevant as your environment changes over the years, but set it too short and it's not really a strategy.

In this episode, I explore the recommended timeframe for your strategy and what to cover in that time.

References and Resources

For support with the Ukraine crisis and the wider impact it can have on your school, take a look at my new resource: Preparing for economic downturn: A checklist for private schools

Catch up on previous podcast episodes at www.consultjuliet.co.uk/podcast

Thank you so much for listening to The Independent School Podcast. I would be grateful if you could spare a couple of minutes to send me some feedback here. This helps me make the podcast as helpful as possible to listeners. Thank you!