Flourishing

There is a metaphor quietly shaping how we lead schools. Most of the time, we do not even notice it. If we see schools as machines, we try to fix them with tighter policies, sharper monitoring and new initiatives bolted on like replacement parts. When results dip, we assume something is broken. When behaviour slips, we assume something needs tightening. But what if schools are not machines? What if they are ecosystems? That shift in metaphor changes everything.

Let us talk about mock exams. Those curious, slightly intimidating rehearsal dinners of the assessment world. Mocks sit at an awkward crossroads. They are summative. They generate numbers. They invite comparison. They trigger emails. And yet, in a flourishing-centred culture, they can become something far more interesting than a grade generator. They can become a diagnostic mirror. The question is not whether we should use summative assessment. The question is how we interpre

Let’s talk about a word that has been quietly staging a revolution in education: flourishing. Not achievement, not compliant, not even “wellbeing” in its laminated, poster-on-the-wall sense. Flourishing is bigger. Wilder. More human.