Who is this blog for then?

Hello world. My name is Cassandra, I'm an ex-teacher of Languages with 10 years as a Head of Department in Secondary State Education in the UK. I left teaching at Easter 2020 (right at the beginning of C19) to run a family business. I started an MBA in October 2020 to upskill myself quickly with the knowledge and tools I’d need to run the family business efficiently. 

I realise I didn’t need to complete an MBA to run a family business well. But I’m so glad I did. Education is my spiritual home and a return to learning felt exactly what I needed during a career change. I’ve been enriched in so many ways through doing the MBA. I feel like I’ve seen behind the matrix of society. I better understand the interplay between what we see, what we experience, what we buy, how we live. I’ve met people who have enriched me, challenged me (young Tory voters exist - go figure!). I’m grateful for the growth I’ve made through the MBA.

I never wanted to leave education. I wanted to continue having a direct impact on the life chances of young people. I wanted to keep developing me and my colleagues’ teaching practice. I wanted to remain committed to using education to reduce inequality and promote social justice. I wanted to be promoted to Assistant Head. That never happened in spite of my skills, results, experience and wider school impact. I got frustrated with the system and left. I returned as a supply teacher in February 2023 and at Easter 2024, I signed my first full time, permanent position back in state secondary education. I now teach business and entrepreneurship. Oh and French and Spanish.

I still have a social mission. That drive to use education to improve the life chances of young people is still there. However, I have other skills and interests I can draw on to channel that drive. I see now how siloed we were at school. We could only cope with what was in front of us, laying down the track just before the train came rattling along. 

It breaks my heart to see the issues the education sector is suffering how it is today. The system is under-resourced, over stretched. Teachers are expected to deliver a packed curriculum, achieve aspirational results, meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the students without the time, resources or support they need to do a good job. I started as a teacher under Tony Blair’s government with Specialist Schools, extra admin support for our department, national bodies that would provide training and resources for career education in our subject. I left teaching after the new GCSEs, the 1s - 9s, Progress and Attainment 8, ALPS and EBaccs. I return to the profession seeing that nothing has changed. And pressure to achieve, no matter what, except this time the behaviour of our students is totally different - far more challenging. Teachers are leaving the profession with their professional confidence on the floor.

The biggest loser is of course the student. They are living a childhood or adolescence that is completely different to what their parents experienced. They have a better understanding of what they need for their mental health than the adults ever did at the same age. They were subject to spending a large proportion of their childhood isolated during Covid 19. They have this extra dimension of a digital life to contend with. Children and young people have never been under so much pressure at a time when they have been so vulnerable. Why are we doing this to them?

This is what this blog is for: to explore solutions that can have lasting impact on the improvement of education. How do we do a better job for young people? How do we equip them with the skills they need to lead fulfilled lives in their adulthood? 

My aim is to build a coalition of voices from across the sector that can make an impact on policy. Are you with me?