My final face to face engagement of 2025

As 2025 draws to a close, this week marked my final face-to-face engagement of the year - and what a fabulous week it has been!

I had the pleasure of visiting Leigh Academy Ebbsfleet,Leigh Academy Snowfields,Leigh Academy Tonbridge, and Leigh Academy Rainham, where I worked with dedicated educators and school leaders to deepen our shared understanding of assessment practices. Each academy offers something different but all with a shared goal and the commitment of staff to reflective, student-centred practice was evident at every turn.

A central focus of our time together was the use of learning walks. These provided rich opportunities to observe learning unfolding in authentic contexts, celebrate strong pedagogical approaches, and engage in professional dialogue grounded in what we saw. The insights gained allowed us to explore feedback and feedforward strategies that honour student voice, support diverse learning needs, and connect assessment meaningfully to real-world application.

The conversations that emerged at each of the Academies were thoughtful, future-focused, and deeply grounded in the belief that assessment should be responsive to student voice, individual learning needs, and meaningful real-world contexts. It was inspiring to see teams so committed to continuous improvement and to creating learning environments where every student can thrive.

My sincere thanks to Richard Silvester, Alex Cramlington, Jenny Gray, Michael Crow, James Doddington, Niall Slowey, Gurjit Kaur Shergill, and Heidi Dennis for their ongoing support and unwavering commitment. Your leadership continues to shape thoughtful, innovative practice across your academies.

I’m so grateful for this final highlight of 2025 - and looking forward to all that lies ahead in 2026. But first I’m looking forward to spending 3 weeks at home with friends and family to enjoy this very special time of year – wishing you all a merry Christmas and happy New Year!