Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

The New Abnormal

It’s not coronavirus alone but it was almost a final straw on top of other financial threats. Schools are braced for a dose of tough reality.- UK private schools feel pandemic squeeze And so it begins – the great corona virus contraction of 2020. The old new normal is now the new abnormal normal. After the global recession of 2008-2009…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Schools and COVID-19: Gloom and Doom, Hope and Glory

What Schools Have To Be About Now A colleague shared an article  – That Discomfort You’re  Feeling Is Grief from the Harvard Business Review and it struck a chord. Suddenly – with the pandemic – the future, that had been lurking and looming on a horizon in plain sight, had arrived all at once. And everything was different and everything…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

Onwards: The Strategic Advance

I’ve long thought that the word retreat should not be linked with strategic planning. It’s a bit of a misnomer for what should be a process of setting direction forward. There’s nothing wrong with “retreats” and often they are essential components – creating the thinking space for assessment and reflection. That kind of indwelling can contribute to the careful assessment…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

A Guide to the Agony and Opportunity of School Right-sizing

Those of us who were heads of school in 2008-9 probably remember all too well the pain of school downsizing and some may still bear the scars to show for it. It was a tough time all around. And that’s what made it easier. The whole world was struggling and any particular school or enterprise or person was not alone.…

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Education, RattleBag and Rhubarb

The School of Now, the Future of Work: Learning by Doing

The strategic planning process to date has primarily been one of listening and paying attention. When we look at the comments from the parent and faculty surveys and the listening sessions we are struck by the thematic congruity. One thread – woven throughout – can best be summed up as Learning by Doing  – a desire for school to be…

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