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A Tech-Lover’s Guide to Surviving Paper, Sharpies, and Emotional Honesty 23 August 2025 Fliss Falconer I'm now the other side of three days' mandatory training. Day 2 was particularly brutal - I succumbed to tiredness and emotional upheaval and 'passed' on a contribution to a group chat, stuck whether I would cause more of a scene to get up and leave or to sit still and hope that everyone would ignore my brimming eyes. However, the whole process was made more... (chooses adje

How do I stop barrelling in half-cocked? Two weeks ‘off’ and I’ve been planning how to plan: how do I pause before I pounce? 16 August 2025 Fliss Falconer Not quite off-grid I turned off my work phone. It was my best attempt to step away from work for two weeks - it didn’t last. I still checked my emails. I didn't respond to any though. Progress. I also am attempting to quash the worries that threaten to rise when I consider that my first week back will include a full week of

As close to a YES DAY as I hope to have! 27 July 2025 Fliss Falconer 'Adventure is out there!' On Saturday, we were packed and we headed out of the close at 6am on the dot, sailing off to a major UK theme park, ready with sunscreen and snacks for a birthday treat. It had been booked for a month or two and so much of me was glad that it was just we two, as opposed to the 50+ students and odd (number of) staff that accompanied me last time I went there. Gone was the clipboard,

Coming to you live following Chris Martin's revelations... 19 July 2025 Fliss Falconer 'If it's not written down, it didn't happen' is a mentality that is advocated at work, as we take our accountability to the core as a key value. The need to record everything accurately can feel daunting at times - it requires us to use our time wisely and document how those hours are spent. A bit like planning a road trip or your summer calendar (tick that off my list!) you need to calcula

I'm just saying that a friend used this phrase to describe the score of a musical for which he was trumpeting... and it made me giggle. 12 July 2025 Fliss Falconer And, I thought it was also a good metaphor for tooting your own trumpet when you feel like a fraud… which is where this week's blog comes in... Take a breath It brought a surprising and humbling moment: I was asked to write a piece for the Gloucestershire County Council's Weekly Bulletin, reflecting on the recent a

From Fog to Footprints: Guiding Schools Through Legal Intervention 05 July 2025 Fliss Falconer “It’s like starting a journey with a well-marked map versus walking blindly for a few miles and then asking if you're on track.” —Julie Zhuo, The Making of a Manager  (2019) How many times did I encourage pupils to plan before putting pen to paper? How many times did I play Mr Davis’ The Power of Y - a YouTube video now sadly lost to time - to show the value of brainstorming, priori

Gearing up for the start of the Senior Leader Diploma Apprenticeship with the University of Gloucester 25 June 2025 Fliss Falconer Strategic Thinking Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a jump-in-without-looking kind of gal. It’s ‘never done me wrong’—but in reality, living this way means relying on my wits, fuelling stress and anxiety with copious coffee, and mastering the deep-breath pep talk. I think the biggest part of my personality that makes others look on either wide-