What Great Headteachers Refuse to Accept | Dame Alison Peacock

What happens when school leaders refuse to put a ceiling on what children can achieve?Most heads aren't short on effort when it comes to attendance.The harder truth: so much of it often rests on one or two people — and when that's the case, it never feels steady, however hard everyone works.That's the work I do. I run a funded Senior Attendance & Leadership Resilience Check for headteachers and trust leaders in complex schools.It starts with a short strategic assessment. For eligible schools, it opens into a full process:- On-site school visit- Detailed, school-specific report- Follow-up strategy session- Practical leadership tools for a clear 90-day planTypically valued at £1,000 — currently funded for eligible schools.Apply here → https://atrejwhi.formester.com/f/hwL9GCyin/In this episode of Headship After Hours, Paul Collin is joined by Professor Dame Alison Peacock, founding CEO of the Chartered College of Teaching, for a conversation about leadership, high expectations, research, school culture and creating schools built around possibility rather than limitation.Alison traces her journey from the classroom to taking on her first headship in a school in special measures — and eventually to founding leadership of the Chartered College of Teaching.One idea has remained consistent throughout that journey: moral purpose.Alison shares why she has challenged assumptions about fixed ability throughout her career and why leaders need the courage to ask whether the language, structures and expectations within their schools are expanding children's possibilities — or quietly restricting them.In this episode:Taking on a school in special measuresLeading through moral purposeWhy Alison challenged ability grouping and fixed expectationsResearch-informed school leadershipCreating a genuinely listening schoolPupil voice and democracyOracy, cognition and learningWhy potential shouldn't be treated as fixedMaking school “irresistible”Attendance, belonging and anxietyDesigning environments around possibilityWhy culture must include staff as well as pupilsHolding high expectations without compromiseThe language adults use about childrenWhy headteachers shouldn't carry leadership aloneAlison also shares the story of a young pupil who profoundly influenced her thinking about possibility and expectations — reinforcing her belief that when someone genuinely believes in a child, extraordinary things can happen. Towards the end of the conversation, Alison offers a particularly important message to headteachers:Don't think you've got to do this on your own.Leadership can become isolating. Strong schools are built collectively.🎙️ Headship After Hours — honest conversations about leadership, education and the realities of leading schools.00:00 – Building a Listening School01:00 – Introducing Dame Alison Peacock02:12 – Why Alison Challenged the Status Quo05:05 – Taking on a School in Special Measures12:34 – Leading From Moral Purpose15:38 – The Child Who Changed Alison's Thinking20:24 – Why Schools Need to Listen to Pupils23:11 – Oracy, Cognition & the Research That Matters27:23 – Rethinking What Educational Success Looks Like31:49 – How Would Alison Design a School Today?36:21 – Why Belonging Is Foundational38:08 – High Expectations Without Compromise43:24 – The Language That Limits Children45:54 – Alison's Advice to Headteachers