Summary of "NPQH Understanding culture and ethos - the why and how?"
Core message
School leaders have a profound, intentional influence on school culture and ethos. Strategy is necessary but not sufficient: culture determines whether strategy succeeds. Leaders must deliberately shape culture so staff and pupils can flourish.
Why culture matters
- Culture = the guiding beliefs, values, attitudes and expected behaviours that shape how a school operates.
- Strong culture produces buy-in, consistent practice, higher morale, better relationships and improved pupil outcomes.
- Poor leadership corrodes culture and undermines any strategy.
- Quote:
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” — strategy needs a supportive culture to be embedded and sustained.
Foundations of culture (key elements)
- Relationships: Trust, honesty, visibility and authentic leadership are the foundations. Leaders must model the behaviours they want to see.
- High expectations and mindset: Leaders must truly believe every pupil can achieve; staff mindsets shape daily actions and outcomes.
- Trust: Essential for staff to accept hard or unpopular decisions and to seek and act on feedback.
- Professional learning culture: Distinguish training (doing) from deep professional learning (mindset and application). Staff must be learners too.
- Reflection and continual improvement: A culture that seeks, receives and acts on feedback.
Practical approaches and tactics — how to build and embed culture
Lead deliberately and consistently
- Be authentic, visible and model desired behaviour — walk the walk, talk the talk.
- Build relationships from day one: one day → one week → one month → one term → one year.
- Explain the “why” behind decisions wherever possible (if legal/compliance limits what you can share, explain that explicitly).
Start with the why (Simon Sinek principle)
- Engage staff with the problem and rationale first so solutions are owned bottom-up, not imposed top-down.
Develop mission, values and a behaviour framework with staff
- Co-create school values and specify concrete behaviours you want to see (and behaviours you don’t).
- Use the staff-generated behaviour framework to hold people to account.
Use appraisal and performance management as an empowerment tool
- Allocate significant, uninterrupted time for appraisal meetings.
- Start appraisal from teacher standards/job descriptions, not pre-populated targets.
- Co-create targets in dialogue to ensure ownership; document why each target was chosen.
- Ask staff to bring examples of where they lived a value and where they fell short — enable reflective growth.
Foster a professional learning culture (not “done-to” training)
Invest in:
- Time and budget for staff reading and research (e.g., “inspiring learners time”).
- Participation in research projects and university partnerships.
- Professional qualifications and coaching.
- A staff professional learning library.
Prioritise professional learning that changes mindset and application, not only knowledge of tools.
Change is incremental and strategic
- Start with early adopters or eager, capable teachers to create momentum (pilot → scale).
- Expect a tipping point to come from staff momentum rather than only leader-driven change.
Build a feedback culture
- Explore staff experience of receiving feedback first — walk in their shoes.
- Design feedback systems that consider emotions, climate and receptivity.
- Encourage staff to seek, receive and act on feedback.
Address misalignment and difficult behaviours with courage
- Use the behaviour framework to raise awareness and intervene early and calmly.
- Have open, honest (but not aggressive) “fierce conversations” when needed — confront issues that will otherwise undermine culture.
- Small, immediate interventions (e.g., privately noting a lapse in behaviour) can prompt reflection.
Concrete examples of actions taken (from the speaker’s practice)
- Introduced dedicated reading/research time for staff and allocated cover and funds.
- Participated in and adopted findings from a spelling research project with the University of Manchester.
- Invested in professional qualifications and started rolling out coaching.
- Set up a professional learning library in each school.
- Reworked the feedback policy by starting from staff feedback experience and then translating to pupil feedback practice.
- Identified and worked intensively with a small group of motivated teachers to shift whole-school practice within ~18 months.
Top tips
- Be authentic and deliberate in behaviour and non-verbal communication.
- Communicate consistently; every message should align with the culture you want.
- Be visible around the school — don’t stay in an office.
- If you’re new, understand existing culture before imposing change; be the role model from day one but listen first.
- Empower staff: co-create mission/values, use appraisal well, and design CPD that fosters ownership.
- Never apologise for having high expectations — model and hold people to them.
Final outlook on the leadership role
A head’s direct classroom impact is limited, but the indirect influence through culture is huge. The leader’s role is to inspire, enable and empower staff so they enact strategy and improve pupil outcomes.
Speakers / sources featured
- Kylie — Head of Inspiring Learners Trust; Executive Headteacher for Tinter’s Field and Bowling Primary Schools (main speaker)
- Michael (likely Michael Fullan) — referenced on school culture
- Peter Drucker — quoted (“culture eats strategy for breakfast”)
- Simon Sinek — referenced for the Golden Circle and “start with the why”
- Susan Scott — referenced for the book/concept “Fierce Conversations”
- University of Manchester — research partner on a spelling project
- (Also implied) English lead and staff at the speaker’s schools, and the Inspiring Learners Trust as an organization
Category
Educational
Share this summary
Is the summary off?
If you think the summary is inaccurate, you can reprocess it with the latest model.
Preparing reprocess...