New Beginnings: Starting Afresh After 13 Years

September 2023 marks the beginning of a new chapter for me.

I'm leaving the school where I've taught for 13 years and making my way across Leeds to a different school as Lead Practitioner for Mathematics and Teaching. I don't like change, so I'm finding this quite tough, but I'm incredibly excited about the opportunity I've been given.

Changing schools is tough, apparently, when you're 13 years in you probably don't think that the day will come, and don't want to move on. I've felt that over the last six weeks, but I've also felt a giddiness about new challenges and the chance to test the Dave Taylor magic in another corner of the city.

For context, we went on a journey over the last 13 years from 38% C+ to 75% 4+ in Maths, with approximately 50% of our cohort being disadvantaged, and I couldn't be more proud of the things that we've achieved.

I spent today in my new role for an induction day, and it was weird. I felt a little disconnected from what was going on around me, but also so distant from the school I'm currently teaching in - a little like 'limbo', I guess. Having researched the data, having had conversations with teachers at the school, and having had an induction day today, I'm becoming aware of the challenges that I'm about to face...

• Unfamiliar surroundings.
• Unfamiliar pupils.
• Unfamiliar colleagues.
• A commute which is twice as long.
• Higher proportions of disadvantaged pupils.
• Higher proportions of EAL pupils.
• A more transient cohort.
• A different scheme of learning.
• Outcomes which are about 10 years ago on my journey with my current school.

All of these things are worrying me, but also exciting me. I'm spending a second day in my new role tomorrow within the department and I'm very excited about what this role holds for me.

• A new challenge.
• New faces.
• More podcast time.
• A chance to have a greater impact in more challenging circumstances.
• A chance to improve outcomes again.
• A four-day working week.

I'm thinking of blogging my experiences as I go, and hope that they might support other people in potentially making a decision to go somewhere else. See you in September!