If You Had a Stone in Your Shoe…
If you had a stone in your shoe, you’d stop and deal with it. At first, you might keep walking. It’s uncomfortable, but manageable. You tell yourself you’ll sort it out later. But once it becomes a pressure point, you stop. You unlace your shoe, sit down, shake it out, remove the stone. You don’t […]
The Things We Carry Quietly
On wrapping up work that matters, and what it asks of us There is a particular moment during the deep coaching work that I do not think I will ever quite get used to. It is the moment when someone who arrived carrying something enormous looks back and can finally see how far they have […]
Be in the 2%. Take the stairs, not the lift
As 2025 comes to a close, many are taking stock. Plans are reviewed. Decisions revisited. Quiet questions begin to surface about what stays, what shifts, and what comes next. All of that matters. But alongside reflection, strategy and planning, there’s another layer of reflection that’s easy to miss, and yet shapes everything else. How did […]
Collective Courage: Normalising Hard Conversations
We all know what it feels like to sit in a meeting and sense the unspoken. The decision no one wants to challenge. The concern no one wants to raise. The feedback everyone is thinking but no one is saying.
From Grief to Growth: What My Story Teaches About Leadership, Coaching, and Supervision
I don’t believe in leaving parts of ourselves at the door. The truth is, what shapes us most is often the thing people don’t see. For me, that truth is this: I am a bereaved parent. Losing a child changed me forever. Grief like this is not something you “get over”. It weaves itself into […]
Unplug for a few minutes…including you & your team
In many workplaces today, overwork has quietly become the norm. Calendars are packed, emails never stop, and exhaustion is almost worn as a badge of honour. But does it have to be this way? But long hours do not equal high performance. Workplace wellbeing and sustainable success come not from doing more, but from protecting […]
A love that never fades
I first wrote this original article three years ago. At the time, I shared my personal experience of losing my son, Joshua, and how his birthday, 23rd March, will never be just another day. Three years later, its relevance remains. Grief does not fade. Child loss is not something we “move on” from. It shapes […]
KCSIE 2025: Why this year’s update matters more than ever
Each year, those of us working in education and safeguarding wait for the Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) draft guidance to drop. By now, mid June, we’re usually reviewing the detail, updating training slides, and getting ready for implementation in September. But this year? We’re still waiting. And for good reason, I think. The […]
Have children lost the art of playing outside?
Not long ago, childhood meant grazed knees, muddy hands, and imaginations fuelled by nothing but the natural world. These days, I often wonder if children have lost the art of playing outside. For many of us, the answer feels uncomfortable. The pull of screens, tightly packed schedules, and growing worries about safety have shifted the […]
The hidden weight of safeguarding and coaching
Coaches and Safeguarding Lead roles come with significant responsibility, as they involve navigating complex and often emotionally demanding situations. If you work in safeguarding or coaching, you’ll know just how demanding these roles can be. The weight of responsibility, the tough decisions, the emotional toll, it’s a lot. And yet, so many professionals carry this […]