Andy Homden looks at inspirational teacher Jaime Escalante (1930 – 2010), whose work in a deprived area of Los Angeles was dramatically portrayed in the 1988 movie Stand & Deliver.
Financial crises, ash clouds, haze, epidemics, regulatory changes, geopolitical instability – all are beyond a Headteacher’s control, and all pose a threat to a school’s health and growth. Andy Homden, who was in his first headship at the Alice Smith School in Kuala Lumpur during 1997 recalls how a combination of existential threats lead to the development of a new and flexible approach to strategic planning which has been put to the test more than once in the last 15 years.