Tom Sherrington

Time for a Sabbatical. I’m taking a break! See you in March!

At the end of this week I’m signing off from work for the next six or seven months. My wife is taking a sabbatical from her job as Deputy Head and I’m doing the same so we can go travelling. We’re going to France, then Australia and Indonesia before heading back to the UK at the end of February next year. I’ve got 5 or 6 days’ work during that time – some conference events in Australia and a job in Brunei- but otherwise, I’m going to take a full break – deleting Twitter from my phone and pausing my blogging.

I’ve managed to sustain my blogging output reasonably well for 12 years, passing the 10 million mark earlier this year, but for sure I’ve been flagging so it was probably a good time to pause anyway. My last two posts are a round-up of the things I’ve seen in the last year where schools and teachers are doing great work:

I’ve had such a great time in the last year working with Emma Turner on our podcast. We’ve nearly reached 250,000 downloads – averaging around 3000 per episode. We’re thrilled about that. The recent episodes are superb – our guests all brilliant. Check it out.

Keeping Great Teachers with Dr Haili Hughes, Mind the Gap, Ep.129 (S7,E2) – Mind the Gap: Making Education Work Across the Globe

On this episode of Mind the Gap, Tom Sherrington and Emma Turner are joined once again by Dr Haili Hughes, Associate Professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, for a wide-ranging conversation about teacher development, retention, professional identity, and the conditions that help teachers thrive. Drawing on her recent books Coaching for Adaptive Expertise and Love the One You’re With, Haili explores why retaining experienced teachers requires more than recruitment initiatives or performative wellbeing, arguing instead for cultures built on strong relationships, professional trust, meaningful development, and leadership that removes barriers so teachers can focus on teaching. The conversation also tackles the de-intellectualisation of teaching, asking what happens when consistency becomes prescription and teachers are reduced to simply following techniques rather than understanding principles and making informed decisions. Haili makes the case for professional agency rather than unfettered autonomy: shared mental models, playbooks and codified practices matter, but they should provide the knowledge teachers need to think, adapt and exercise judgement in their own subjects and contexts. Along the way, they explore mentoring and coaching, the importance of making expert teacher thinking visible, the value of purposeful rehearsal, and what Haili’s move from England to Australia has taught her about different education systems.Haili Hughes is a distinguished figure in the field of education, currently serving as an Associate Professor at La Trobe University and formerly the Director of Professional Development at All Saints Multi-Academy Trust. With a rich background that spans over 16 years as a teacher and leader in secondary schools, Haili has contributed significantly to UK education. Her work extends to advising on Initial Teacher Training (ITT) policy for the Department for Education (DfE) in the UK, facilitating programs like the Early Career Framework (ECF) and various National Professional Qualifications (NPQs). Haili has also authored several educational books and is a recognised speaker at educational conferences worldwide, where she shares her expertise on mentoring and teacher retention. You can subscribe to her substack for free here: https://hailihughes.substack.com/Tom Sherrington has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specialising in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. He regularly contributes to conferences and CPD sessions locally and nationally and is busy working in schools and colleges across the UK and around the world. Follow Tom on X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@teacherhead⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Emma Turner FCCT is a school improvement advisor, education consultant, trainer and author. She has almost three decades of primary teaching, headship and leadership experience across the sector, working and leading in both MATs and LAs. She works nationally and internationally on school improvement including at single school level and at scale. She has a particular interest in research informed practice in the primary phase, early career development, and CPD design. Follow Emma on X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@emma_turner75⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This podcast is sponsored by Teaching WalkThrus and produced in association with Haringey Education Partnership. Find out more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://walkthrus.co.uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://haringeyeducationpartnership.co.uk/⁠⁠
  1. Keeping Great Teachers with Dr Haili Hughes, Mind the Gap, Ep.129 (S7,E2)
  2. Making Coaching Work in Schools with Matt Stone, Mind the Gap, Ep.128 (S7,E1)
  3. Why Executive Function Matters for Every Child with Sarah Oberle, Mind the Gap, Ep.127 (S6,E25)

The big news is that Mind the Gap will continue in my absence with the brilliant Jon Hutchinson joining Emma as co-host. They’re already lining up guests for the new season in autumn!

It’s been an incredible five years since Walkthrus was conceived – with now over 4000 schools using our materials and nearly 3000 subscribing members. It’s been pretty full on all that time but I feel I can step away for a while knowing Walkthrus is in safe hands with Matt Stone running the show alongside Oliver. They’ve got tons of school projects lined up and we’ll be working towards writing and publishing our coaching book next year. The team of consultants is brilliant – and you can find out more about working with them via the Walkthrus site;

More widely I think I feel a kind of deep tiredness – common to most teachers reaching the end of term, I know! As well as Walkthrus growing into something bigger than I ever imagined, I’ve been on the road visiting schools for 7 1/2 years, going anywhere that invites me! I’ve done a lot of miles and it now feels like a good time for a break. Thanks to everyone who has invited me to work with them since 2017 – it’s been an incredible experience for me to meet so many teachers and school leaders all over the UK and around the world. I’m continually inspired by the wonderful people I meet, doing incredible work.

OK -so it’s goodbye for now. I might dip in and out occasionally, but I’m unlikely to reply to any emails or tweets once I’ve shut down. I will be back in March 2025 ready for action. So – see you then. Have a great summer if you’re nearly there. Hope all goes well in the new school year. There’s an optimism in the air …

If you ever wonder where I am, picture me doing this….

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