When I told my family in Liverpool that I had been given the chance to attend the COP, they assumed that I was referring to the Kop at Anfield and that I had somehow managed to but tickets to watch my beloved football club. Sadly I haven’t got any football tickets,...

It was a great privilege to be invited to be the guest speaker at the African Confederation of Principals Conference in Eswatini. I had heard a great deal about ACP from my colleagues, particularly my predecessor as ICP President, Alta Van Heerden, who was a former...

Many ICP colleagues have asked us to re-publish this wonderfully perceptive article by ICP's former President, the late Alta Van Heerden The wellbeing of school principals has been the study of Prof. Phil Riley and others for a number of years. Statistics coming out...

If I had to use two words to sum up my time as ICP President it would be ‘a privilege’. To have the opportunity to work with and learn from colleagues across the world is a once in a lifetime experience that I will always treasure and value. This week, as I stood up...

Last week we held  our first Forum for Life Members. The Forum was a wonderful opportunity  to bring together a group of colleagues who had made a distinguished contribution to the work of ICP, representing areas as diverse as North America, Europe, India...

I can’t claim to be a fan of the Eurovision song contest. Yet two things about it caught my attention this year. One was the fact that it was held in my home city of Liverpool and the other was the impact of countries around the world spending time with each other. I...

Dear Colleagues I hope that you were able to enjoy a well earned rest and some time away from the job over the past few weeks. As we move further into April many of us find ourselves either starting or about to start a new term. During my 23 years as School Principal,...

You Don't Walk Alone Alongside my family and love of porridge, the great passion of my life is following Liverpool Football Club. LFC is of course famous for its anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ The problem for many of us in the leadership community is that we often...

I know that everyone associated with ICP  will share the great sadness felt by all of us on the ICP Executive  at the news that our dear colleague, Alta Van Heerden, ICP’s Past President, passed away on 24 August 2022. In a blog last year Alta wrote about...

The wellbeing of school principals has been the study of Prof. Phil Riley and others for a number of years. Statistics coming out of these studies regularly indicate that school principals experience higher workplace demands, higher burnout, higher stress symptoms,...

One of the UK’s best known newspapers, The Times, has just brought out the report of its Education Commission, a one year study into how to improve and develop the education system. Many of its recommendations echo the priorities identified by leaders worldwide during...