The Leadership Lens

The Leadership Lens

Hosted by: Rachael Snowdon-Poole

The Leadership Lens Free Podcast is your weekly dose of insight, inspiration and practical strategies for school leadership. Each episode gives you bite-sized reflections, tools and ideas to help you grow in...

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Episodes

Half Term Reset: The 1% Shift That Protects Your Leadership

Half Term Reset: The 1% Shift That Protects Your Leadership The Leadership Lens – Episode 29 February half term is not just a break. It’s a checkpoint. Far enough away from January to see what’s actually stuck. Close...
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Early Writing, Strong Foundations and The Writing Framework

🎧 The Leadership Lens Early Writing, Strong Foundations, and the Writing Framework In this episode of The Leadership Lens, we focus on one of the most important — and often least secure — areas of curriculum...
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When the Behaviour Policy Isn't Enough: Supporting Pupils With Additional Needs Without Burning Out Staff

When the Behaviour Policy Isn’t Enough Even in schools where behaviour systems are strong, there is often a small number of pupils whose needs sit outside the universal approach. Their behaviour escalates, staff...
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Why Early Reading Still Matters - But Not in Isolation

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Interventions: Choosing the Right Support and Proving It Works

In this episode, I’m talking about choosing the right interventions for pupils - and especially for pupils with SEND — and why, in so many schools, it can start to feel confusing and over-complicated. In lots of...
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Inclusion, SEND and the Leadership Work That Actually Changes Outcomes

SEND has rightly been reframed around 'inclusion' and the Ofsted toolkit echoes this approach through every evaluation area. In this episode, we explore how leaders can ensure that pupils with special educational...
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Designing Personal Development on Purpose - From 'We Do Lots' to 'Here's Our Curriculum'

Personal development is one of the judgements school leaders talk to me about more than any other — and often with the most uncertainty. Not because schools aren’t doing good work. Not because leaders don’t care...
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Staff Wellbeing Is Not Yoga (And Other Things We Need to Stop Pretending)

Over the last few years, staff wellbeing has become one of the most commonly used phrases in education leadership. Yoga after school. Mindfulness apps. Staff breakfasts. Wellbeing days. And yet — teachers and support...
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Getting the 'Achievement' evaluation judgement right using the Ofsted toolkit and your school's IDSR

Achievement is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Ofsted toolkit on inspection — and even the most experienced leaders can misjudge it. In this flagship episode of The Leadership Lens, I take a deep, unhurried...
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Time Management Hacks for School Leaders: Why I Believe in a Work Life Blend vs. a Work Life Balance

As we reach the end of the autumn term and step into the Christmas holidays, this episode of The Leadership Lens takes a different pace. This is a reflective, honest, and practical conversation about time management...
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Pupil Premium in Practice: Using the DFE Menu of Approaches With Integrity

🎙️ THE LEADERSHIP LENS Episode: Pupil Premium in Practice: Using the DfE Menu of Approaches With Integrity In this in-depth episode of The Leadership Lens, Rachael Snowdon-Poole explores one of the most significant...
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Teaching That Sticks: The Mechanisms Behind Truly Effective Professional Development

⭐ Show Notes — The Leadership Lens: Teaching That Sticks: The Mechanisms Behind Truly Effective Professional Development Welcome back to The Leadership Lens — the podcast for primary and secondary school leaders who...
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