Boardrooms are fascinating places of both courage and avoidance. Hours spent talking about budgets, policies and data.... But the real issue? The actual tension that's eating away at the partnership between a headteacher and their board? That sits in perfect silence. What fascinates me most is how these partnerships develop sophisticated architectures of avoidance. The head who's frustrated with the board's micromanagement smiles through another committee meeting. The board c

Too many head-governor partnerships have become exercises in box-ticking and data presentation.

Too many governors are thrown into the deep end with concrete boots. Expected to be strategic oversight experts from day one, while our schools' futures and our students' chances hang in the balance. What's the result? Boards diving into operational details because it feels safer than strategy. Governors hesitating to ask crucial questions. Talented leaders stepping away. We need to shatter the myth that strategic thinking is innate. Governance is a skilled profession that de