My Mum used to say that the public sector worked on a seven-year cycle. As someone who spent most of her career in social care, she’d seen “the next big thing” come and go and come back around again. Every few years there would be a new initiative, a new framework or a new way of working, which she would take in her stride with just a small “tsk”.
The tools might evolve. The language might change. The technology might improve. But fundamentally, she believed we were all still trying to achieve the same outcomes. To help people live safer, healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives.
Are we healthier today than we were in the 1960s? Or the 1980s? Or the 2000s? Advances in medicine, for example, would suggest we are. Yet modern lifestyles have created entirely new health challenges that previous generations rarely faced.
Education feels remarkably similar. Schools have changed beyond recognition since I became a School Business Leader (SBL), let alone when I was a pupil! We’ve seen curriculum reforms, academisation, new inspection frameworks, funding changes, accountability measures, digital transformation and now we are looking at the rapid emergence of artificial intelligence.
The system looks very different. But I think we are still pursuing the same fundamental purpose, and it reminds me why I chose ‘1st Pillar’ as the name of my SBL consultancy.
The first pillar of social justice is Access, the ability to obtain the resources and opportunities people need to thrive. Education is perhaps the most important of those resources, and why so many influential people have said such similar things.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
Malcolm X
“When girls become educated, their countries become stronger and more prosperous.”
Michelle Obama
Education shapes individuals, families, communities, economies and societies. So why does it sometimes feel as though we spend so much time debating what schools should do, and far less time understanding how they actually achieve it?
There is growing consensus across the political spectrum on many of the challenges facing education.
- We need to improve teacher recruitment and retention.
- We need to reform SEND.
- We need to improve attendance.
- We need stronger technical and vocational pathways.
- We need to prepare young people for an increasingly digital future.
Few people would disagree with those ambitions. But each of those priorities raises deeper organisational questions.
- What motivates teachers to stay?
- How do we create a system that recognises children are not all the same?
- What genuinely makes being in school valuable?
- Which skills will employers actually need in ten years’ time?
- How do we introduce artificial intelligence safely, ethically and meaningfully?
- How do we prepare young people for jobs that don’t yet exist?
These aren’t simply policy questions. They’re organisational questions. Every decision affects something else.
Improve attendance and it influences safeguarding, curriculum delivery, staffing and finance. Strengthen SEND provision and it changes workforce planning, estates, budgets and professional development. Introduce AI and suddenly governance, cyber security, data protection, procurement and training all become part of the conversation.
Nothing exists in isolation. Perhaps that’s why SBLs have become such an important part of modern education. Whilst others quite rightly focus on curriculum, pedagogy or policy, School Business Leaders spend their time connecting the organisation. They understand:
- how finance influences strategy.
- how governance shapes decision making.
- how risk informs priorities.
- how systems affect productivity.
- how operational decisions ultimately influence outcomes for children.
In many ways, SBLs are the people asking not just what we are trying to achieve, but how do we create organisations capable of achieving it?
Perhaps my Mum and her seven-year theory was right. Every generation believes it is facing entirely new challenges. The context changes. The technology changes. The language changes. But the fundamental question remains remarkably consistent.
How do we build education organisations today that help people thrive tomorrow?
That feels like a conversation worth having.
