The Leadership Lens

Strong Foundations, Part Three: Talking Our Way to Learning - How Language Shapes the Early Years Episode of The Leadership Lens with Rachael Snowdon-Poole Series: Strong Foundations in the First Years In this week’s episode, we turn our attention to something absolutely central to early education and to the renewed Ofsted framework: spoken language. Under the renewed framework (live from November...

In this episode, I continue the Strong Foundations series by exploring what strong curriculum design looks like in the earliest years of education — how it’s structured, how it’s experienced, and how it prepares children for what comes next. The episode unpacks how to design a curriculum that is intentional, coherent and ambitious, helping every child — including those who haven’t yet reached a go...

In this episode, I explore what “strong foundations” really mean in early education — why they matter, how they’re formed, and what effective leadership looks like in making them secure. You’ll learn about: The neuroscience of early learning and why repetition matters. How language shapes everything else children learn. Strategies to ensure the quietest pupils have a voice. How to strengthen early...

Episode Title The Leadership Lens: Achieve, Belong, Thrive – Leading with Confidence under the Renewed Ofsted Framework ✨ Episode Overview From November 2025, Ofsted’s renewed inspection framework will change the way schools are evaluated — but it doesn’t need to change how we lead. In this extended masterclass, Rachael Snowdon-Poole unpacks what the new framework really means for leaders and sta...

🎙️ The Leadership Lens Episode Title: Behaviour for Learning – Building the Conditions for Thinking Episode Summary: In this episode of The Leadership Lens, Rachael Snowdon-Poole — serving Headteacher in a recently Outstanding school, Director of Performance & Standards across 20 primaries, and Trust Safeguarding Lead — explores one of the most powerful levers school leaders have: Behaviour fo...

Getting Inclusion Right – What Ofsted Really Means by Inclusion Episode Summary: In this episode of The Leadership Lens, host Rachael Snowdon-Poole — serving Headteacher in a recently Outstanding school and Director of Performance & Standards across 20 primaries — unpacks one of Ofsted’s sharpest priorities under the renewed Education Inspection Framework: Inclusion. Rachael explores how inclu...

Episode Title:   From Novice to Expert: Building Knowledge Across the Primary Curriculum   Description: How do children really learn to think critically? In this episode, Rachael explains how knowledge builds across the curriculum — from Year 1 through to Year 6 — using three cognitive domains: basic, advancing, and deep. With examples from history, geography, French, and art, she shows...

Written marking takes hours… but does it really change learning? In this episode of The Leadership Lens, I share how our school moved away from time-consuming marking towards feedback that actually transforms learning. I created The Leadership Lens to cut through the noise of leadership. With so many frameworks, Ofsted updates, and research papers to keep up with, leading schools can feel overwhel...

Episode Summary In this episode of The Leadership Lens, Rachael Snowdon-Poole takes us inside her own school’s journey with retrieval practice — the scepticism, the design choices, and the lessons learned along the way. Starting with Ofsted’s 2019 definition of learning as “an alteration in long-term memory”, Rachael explores how this shifted thinking in curriculum design and assessment. From the...

In this episode of The Leadership Lens, Rachael Snowdon-Poole unpacks the EYFS specific areas of learning and how to teach them by design, not by chance. We start with Mathematics (joy, purpose and intentional talk), move through Expressive Arts & Design (techniques, sequencing and the role of adult modelling), explore Understanding the World (past/present, people/culture/communities and the n...

In this episode of The Leadership Lens, Rachael Snowdon-Poole explores the three prime areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage — communication and language, personal, social and emotional development, and physical development. These aren’t just early childhood “add-ons” — they are the foundations upon which every other area of the curriculum stands. When they’re strong, children flou...

Strong Foundations: Why EYFS Leadership Shapes the Whole School In this episode of The Leadership Lens, Rachael Snowdon-Poole unpacks why the Strong Foundations in the First Years guidance is one of the most important documents for school leaders in 2025. We explore the three critical areas for Reception: - Communication & language, PSED & self-regulation, and early maths. - What Ofsted an...

Episode Summary In this episode of The Leadership Lens, Rachael Snowdon-Poole explores one of the most critical – and often misunderstood – areas of school leadership: Alternative Provision (AP). With more pupils entering AP each year, school leaders must understand what effective provision looks like, how to commission it well, and how to ensure pupils are receiving education that makes a real di...

The Leadership Lens – Free Podcast Episode Title: Safeguarding in Schools - What Every Leader Needs to Know Episode Summary Safeguarding isn’t just compliance — it’s culture. In this very first episode of The Leadership Lens Free Podcast, I share why safeguarding must go beyond policies and procedures, and how school leaders can create a culture where every adult feels confident and every child fe...

✨ Episode Overview One of the biggest inspection worries leaders share with me is: what will inspectors ask about safeguarding — and how do I make sure everyone is ready to answer?   In this episode of The Leadership Lens, I unpack the key safeguarding questions Ofsted typically ask DSLs, staff, leaders, and even pupils. More importantly, I explain why those questions are asked — so you can...

Safeguarding and Inspection: A 'Deep Dive' into What Every Leader Needs to Know Episode 2 – Free Version Welcome back to The Leadership Lens with me, Rachael Snowdon-Poole — headteacher, Trust leader, Trust safeguarding lead, and passionate advocate for making professional development more accessible and affordable for schools. In this episode, we continue our safeguarding mini-series by unpacking...