What we need in education is a way forward that drives through the middle of a stale progressive vs. traditionalist debate – and that is what Powering Up Your School provides.

It is rare to read a book that combines the key features of successful school leadership without being mired in a “grand theory” or sitting in front of an ideological redoubt. Here, however, the authors recognise that there are no quick fixes, stress the importance of vision and culture, and acclaim inclusion. The school leaders who feature in the book offer sustainable, long-term models that can be adapted easily to the kind of society that students are growing up in, rather than first principles drawn from dated models.

Powering Up Your School will be on the core reading list for students on my master’s in education leadership at the University of Birmingham in the new academic year, as it combines research-based evidence of impact with leadership journey narratives.

​Powering Up Your School provides an outstanding framework to enable school leaders to encourage, support, and – above all – enable their students to access the knowledge, practical skills, tenacity, and resilience that will help them to live fulfilling and happy lives. A key factor in the quality of the text is the credibility of the co-authors, who are committed exponents of the Learning Power Approach (LPA).

The wide range of experiences and ideas discussed enable the reader to gain insight into the successes and areas for development with regard to the practical applications of the LPA. The focus is on improving schools’ current systems and how making small tweaks to existing practice can shift learning away from dependency on the teacher towards an ethos of greater learner independence and personal responsibility. In this respect, the LPA gives equal measure to character development and academic success.

A must-read for leaders and policymakers at all levels.

Grounded in research, rooted in practice, and oriented to the future, Powering Up Your School is an excellent guide to help school leaders bring about much-needed changes in education. In particular, it offers a combination of professional guidance and personal reflections to leaders interested in implementing powerful approaches to learning.

Educators in many countries and regions buy in to the philosophy of the Learning Power Approach, and the essential message in Powering Up Your School is that school reform is a kind of culture change that should be pursued by all educators who wish for the all-round growth of their students.

From this book, school leaders will obtain detailed ideas about how to achieve sustainable development of their schools for generations to come. Readers will be convinced of the potential of the LPA and, via the various case studies, gain invaluable tips on how to accomplish it. They will also learn how best to cultivate the approach in their own school setting by responding to the invitations to reflect that are scattered throughout.

School leaders worldwide will learn a lot from this book.

Energising and refreshing in equal measure, Powering Up Your School is a down-to-earth and practical book for all those school leaders and teachers who want to help their students to become more powerful learners. The insights into how leaders can help to develop an improvement culture among both staff and students are particularly valuable.

Powering Up Your School is filled with insights, ideas, wonderings, honest reflections, and useful tools and resources. It is an inspiring read and a valuable practical contribution to current thinking about schools as learning organisations.

Powering Up Your School deliberately and proudly conceptualises schools as centres of learning, rejecting all the distracting paraphernalia of narrow metrics and crushing accountability. It’s about how we empower young people as learners ready to take their place in a complex world, and provides a powerful and practical mandate for teachers and leaders to make it happen. The ambition of the book, combined with the credibility of its team of authors, makes it a compelling read.

When it comes to growing as a professional, the light-bulb moments and the most telling advancements often occur when research collides with practice. Powering Up Your School illustrates the benefits of such a combination, and the fruits of Guy Claxton’s lifelong work are there for all to see in the real-life experiences of a range of school leaders driving their schools onwards and upwards.

The stories which feature throughout the book are strong and are presented in a succinct and targeted way which is easily accessible. Furthermore, readers are given the opportunity to get to know the leaders and their stories over time and in context: the gradual reveal of their full stories is engaging.

Best of all, the book doesn’t simply paint a rosy picture where the world is entirely wonderful; instead, the authors communicate the real work that is involved in changing school cultures, practices, and, ultimately, student learning. It is real work that has its challenges, but we see in Powering Up Your School that it is very possible, in different ways and in different contexts, and exceptionally rewarding.

For those seeking to move beyond the paradigm of judging a good education by academic outcomes – and in Australia that would be inclusive of all independent schools that offer a liberal, holistic educational experience – this book provides practical, honest, and realistic insights into the journeys that school leaders have taken to transform their school’s provision and equip students with the dispositions, skills, and knowledge that they will need in order to live fulfilling and satisfying lives.

The authors understand that one size does not fit all, and so while driven by similar educational visions, each leader’s pathway is different – thereby opening up a range of possibilities, approaches, challenges, and solutions for readers. As a result, the book abounds with collective wisdom that is very readable and accessible, and inviting of a collaborative and distributive style of leadership.

I have no doubt that Powering Up Your School will resonate with all school leaders and provide inspiration for determined, resilient, and visionary leadership.

Guy Claxton and his co-authors have written a remarkable book. Drawing on decades of rich learning from approaches such as Building Learning Power, the authors have created a powerful framework within which to think about how create a school culture that promotes what they call “results plus”.

This open, honest, and very personal book is not a one-size-fits-all blueprint of what leaders should do. Nor is it another set of generic leadership attributes or processes. Powering Up Your School is a book firmly rooted in the belief that a culture that enables every adult and child to develop powerful personal habits, can unleash huge potential in our next generation of leaders, teachers, and their students.

Using powerful practical examples that don’t gloss over how hard change can be, the authors set out what an effective change process could look like: developing clarity about the “why”; building buy-in through wide discussion; and creating long-term change that leads to deep, sustainable benefits. But this book is far from being a prescriptive manual. As the authors suggest, think “garden” rather than “model aeroplane kit”. It’s about creating the conditions within which children and adults can all thrive and grow.

Written by highly respected and successful school leaders, Powering Up Your School is a must-read for anyone who believes our role as educators is to enable each and every pupil to achieve more than just a great set of exam results.