
Introducing a new member of the John Taylor Free School team
30 Jan 2019
This week we welcomed Pluto to the team. He is a 5 month old Labrador who is undergoing training as a school dog. We have been considering having a dog at John Taylor Free School for quite some time....

100 Days
06 Dec 2018
Often in leadership development training, the facilitator will ask the question; “’what will you achieve in your first 100 days and how do you know you have made an impact?” Thi...

8 weeks gone in record time!
26 Oct 2018
The last 8 weeks have been the fastest 8 weeks ever. We opened our gates on 5th September to a large group of students who couldn’t wait to be the first through the gate and what an exciti...

National Young Mathematician's Award
24 Oct 2018
The National Young Mathematician's Award aims to inspire the next generation of mathematicians. Teams from schools across the UK have the unique opportunity to tackle a never-before-seen mat...

#ilovemyjob
07 Oct 2018
It has been an incredible week. We have hosted a Royal visit and the National WomenEd Unconference in the same week – quite a lot to pack in but I have never felt so proud of my job and pl...
John Taylor Free School is Officially Open!
06 Oct 2018
Staffordshire’s first brand new high school for nearly 30 years has held its official opening. His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO was present to cut the ribbon on the new £...
The Opening Week of John Taylor Free School
07 Sep 2018
“Success has always been easy to measure, it is the distance between one’s origins and one’s final achievement” The team of staff and students at John Taylor Free...
2 weeks to go!
23 Aug 2018
A year ago this week, I saw an advert for Head of School, John Taylor Free School. The role it described was my dream job. A forward thinking Multi-Academy Trust with a Teaching School, a brand new b...

New Beginnings
17 Jul 2018
The last week of term is finally upon us. For myself and my 11-year-old daughter it is a week full of mixed emotions.Back in April, I wrote about transition but now that it is finally here, it seems m...

Coaching for Excellence
19 Jun 2018
Coaching has been a valid tool for improving performance in sport, business and industry for many years and on Friday I attended a National Coaching Conference where 200 repr...

Have you earned your Stripes?
06 Jun 2018
We have had a very exciting week with the new staff induction and a “getting to know you evening” for students and parents. Throughout these events, I have been explaining to the new commu...

The Challenge and Opportunity of Recruiting Staff to a Brand New School
06 Jun 2018
John Taylor Free School is in the unusual position of being able to recruit a team from scratch. This presents some challenges, in terms of getting the right “fit” for the team from the ou...