The Rule: When staff capacity is stretched, every new initiative no matter how good feels like a burden.

— Simon Clark

One Thing Tuesday: If you don’t actively protect staff capacity, it will quietly collapse your best intentions.

The Headteacher in Your Network

You’re not short of ideas.

You’re short of room.

Mocks are done, but the pressure hasn’t lifted.
Attendance is still uneven.
SEND needs are louder, not quieter.
And your staff are doing their best while quietly carrying more than they should.

You’re being offered solutions from every angle.

New programmes.
New tools.
New pilots.

All well-intentioned.
All asking for time, energy, or buy-in you don’t really have.

And the truth is, the question keeping you up at night isn’t:

You’re weighing every decision against staff goodwill.
You’re filtering ideas through capacity, not ambition.
You’re trying to protect morale while still moving the school forward.

And that tension between care and progress is exhausting.

So the question isn’t whether change is needed.
You already know something has to shift.

The question is how to move forward without adding pressure.

That’s where the idea of One Big Change™ comes in.

Not another initiative.
Not a whole-school overhaul.

But one focused adjustment that reduces strain while creating momentum.

Your One Thing This Tuesday:

Write this sentence down and finish it honestly:

That answer usually reveals your real priority …….
and quietly rules out everything else.

If you want support that aligns to that one thing, rather than competing with it:

👉 Clarify your One Big Change™
Explore what other schools are prioritising

With you this term,
Yvonne

LocaeShift

Change, handled well.