Dr Simon Breakspear is a researcher, advisor and speaker on educational leadership, policy and change, and a father of three. As the founder of Strategic Schools, Simon focuses on supporting teams to enhance their impact on learning through evidence-informed processes and tools, which are actionable and easy to understand.

Over the last decade his capability building work has given him the opportunity to work with over 100,000 educators across more than 10 countries.

Simon is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He serves as an advisor to the NSW Department of Education on leadership development and curriculum reform, and sits on an expert steering committee for the Australia Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.

Simon began his work in education as a high school teacher. He received his first degree, a Bachelor of Psychology (with Hons) from the University of NSW, his MSc in Comparative and International Education from the University of Oxford, and his PhD in Education from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Gates Scholar.

Simon delivered the session live on 10th December 2024. He focused on themes from his book with Michael Rosenbrock, ‘The Pruning Principle: Mastering the Art of Strategic Subtraction within Education’, which offers a groundbreaking approach to educational leadership, drawing inspiration from horticulture to address the chronic issues of overwork in schools. This webinar was full of practical tips to try out, starting the very next day! If you were unable to attend the webinar and would like to refer to the full slide presentation you can see in Simon’s summary film, please contact edspll@educationscotland.gov.scot using ‘Simon Breakspear slides’ in the subject line.

‘Practical frameworks for implementation in schools.’

‘The whole concept gives permission to review and adapt.’

‘Challenging the ingrained feeling that caring is paired with doing more.’

‘Simon was an incredible speaker and provided realistic frameworks and strategies.’

‘Most valuable was the workbook and practical tools, in conjunction with Simon’s clear thinking and explanations.’

‘The whole session was invaluable. Really eye-opening and a really interesting way to look at workload and how we look at improvement and growth.’

‘The content was highly thought provoking.’

‘As always Simon Breakspear delivers on inspiration and practical solutions to the real dilemmas facing school leaders.’

You can use the short video to open a dialogue with a small group of colleagues about strategic subtraction. This should connect to work already ongoing, or planned, about capacity and workload; be clear on your purpose in sharing the video. What do you want to achieve by showing it and how will you agree actions, for example?

Before sharing this video with others as part of their professional learning, watch it yourself to ensure you know the key messages. You might also want wish to familiarise yourself with some of the additional resources listed below and perhaps pick out one or two that are useful to signpost.

It is important to consider how best to ensure a safe space for sharing and reflecting on the topic Simon covers in the video. You should agree ways of working with the group beforehand so everyone knows the behaviours that are expected, e.g., attentive listening, respectful comments, inclusive practice and language. These ‘ground rules’ should be generated by the group and recorded where they can be seen and referred to if needed.

You could use a few of the following prompts to facilitate professional dialogue in pairs or small groups, or perhaps private reflections and note making where the questions feel more personal.

• What most resonated with you from the film? Why?
• Do we stop to think enough about what needs pruning?
• Is your setting guilty of continuing to add more, more, more in the quest for improvement? If yes, what could you do differently?
• What might it mean for you and your individual practice?
• What could it mean for practice in your department/ whole setting?
• What conditions exist in your setting that might support strategic subtraction?
• Is there more we could do to strengthen those conditions?

Encourage the group to identify a small number of manageable, collective actions that will contribute to a pruning culture at work. You might ask the group to note down an individual action that they will commit to, that you can revisit at a later date.

Simon kindly provided a workbook to attendees, to support his webinar. If you would like to receive a copy, please email edspll@educationscotland.gov.scot

Visit Simon’s website at www.simonbreakspear.com