About this Talk
As a headteacher for over a decade I have seen how kindness is too often sidelined in favour of control compliance and competition. I believe the opposite is true. Kindness is not a soft extra. It is a form of strength. It takes emotional intelligence to lead with empathy in a system that rewards performance over people. But it is the only way to build schools where everyone belongs.
My talk explores what it means to rewild education and lead with emotional intelligence. I will reflect on my own journey as a school leader shaped by early experiences of anxiety and exclusion from the curriculum. That has become the driver for my leadership. I want to create spaces where children and staff feel safe understood and empowered.
I will share real stories of children who are masking struggling and quietly opting out. Of families who feel judged rather than welcomed. Of staff burning out in cultures of fear. And I will show what becomes possible when we replace fear with trust and pressure with purpose.
Rewilding education means returning to what really matters. Human connection. Compassionate leadership. Kind systems. It means seeing behaviour as communication not defiance. It means listening before labelling and trusting before testing.
I want to reach leaders who want to create change from the inside out. Who value emotional literacy as much as outcomes.
My hope is to offer a message that is both practical and hopeful. Because kindness is not a weakness. It is a strategy for lasting change.
Tags: Talk, Everyday Kindness