by Keziah Featherstone @keziah70

One of the fundamental responsibilities of any leader is to look after their staff team. Even in relatively normal circumstances that’s difficult; recently it has been a momentous challenge.

I’m the Head of a large secondary school in the Midlands. I have 130 staff – and because we are under a BSF contract I don’t employ the cleaners, caterers or site team. Like most schools the vast majority of the team are female; in addition a significant number are part of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities. The staff team span all ages, some have underlying health conditions and many are parents or carers.

by Lizana Oberholzer @LO_EduforAll

It is only a few days before the #WomenEd ITT/NQT/ ECT event, hosted by @WomenEdLondon,and I am keen to reflect back on what difference #WomenEd has made to me personally and beyond.

I joined #WomenEd, when I transitioned to a new role in Higher Education (HE), and a whole new world of learning was about to unfold in front of me. What I thought I knew about education, leadership and my role, was about to be reshaped and reimagined at a rate that I had not expected. I thought I was well prepared, understood my field, and understood HE. However, I soon realised that whatever I knew, will need to be reshaped to help me with the challenges of my new role.

by Nichola @Nichola80

'I’d like to offer you the job'. The best sentence I’ve heard during lockdown and possibly the best one for a very long time. Doing an interview in the middle of a pandemic was strange to say the least. No shaking hands, no tour of the school or teaching a group, sitting in a room socially distant from the 2 people in the room and a 3rd member of the panel via video. But ultimately I’m still me, still the same passionate teacher. Turns out they thought so too. So in September my new challenge begins.

by Iseabal Fincher @FincherScience

 I’ve been reading a lot recently about women’s careers through the decades, the barriers we face as women and just how strong we can be. This has inspired me to share my journey. It is a long read so feel free to read the first and last paragraphs to get the flavour of it.

I’m 42 and according to Douglas Adams this means I am 'The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything'. In many ways I really do feel like this is true. I’ve reached an interesting point in my life where so many of the worries I had before seem insignificant. I have dreams and ambitions that are my own and I’ve made peace with my journey.

 by Amy Carson @TitchyDitch

I feel as though a wound has finally started healing.

Nearly 3 years ago I was approaching the end of my maternity leave. I wasn't happy about it; I was unsure about what it would mean about me as a mother if I returned to work up, I didn’t know how I would cope with working and parenting, how would my mental health fare? As for all people returning to work after an extended period and a life-change I was afraid and had many questions. I decided a good halfway house as I navigated this new duality of mother/ teacher was to return to work part-time in the first instance, so as to have time to find my feet.

by Vivienne Porritt @ViviennePorritt #BirthdayCelebration

I loved our 5th #WomenEd birthday party on May 19th, 2020. Nearly 500 people booked it, over 300 joined on the evening.

I’m looking forward to reading all the comments and have appreciated going through the amazing tweets from the party. 

The video from the evening is on our YouTube channel as are videos from some of our brilliant network leaders: please subscribe. 

by Susan Strachan  @SusanSEnglish  #BirthdayCelebration

Tonight on 18th May, , I met virtually with 300 other women to listen, learn, reflect and be inspired by a plethora of strong women, who are not afraid to have their voices heard. Some of these women know what it can be like to have the guilt of not doing enough or being enough. They banish that guilt  (No 3 in the tips from Zara, @zssnas) or remind themselves that they are enough.
It gave me hope. Hope that this guilt will be banished for good. Not only from myself, but from my own daughter and every other female that I come into contact with, not only in my professional life, but in my personal life too.

by Kaley Riley @MrsRileyEng #BirthdayCelebration

Four years ago, I was asked by my then Head of Department/Assistant Teacher (and, one of my loveliest friends), if I would present on some of my marking ideas at The Priory Witham TeachMeet. I hesitated, and I was nervous, but I said yes. At this point, I was not very far into my teaching career, and public speaking to peers had always been something that I struggled with and wished to overcome.

Nobody really believed it when I told them how I hated public speaking.