Insights

Thinking from the practice.

Articles on leadership, governance, and education in Switzerland. Written for school leaders and families navigating complex decisions.

For Schools

Professional development: where school coherence is built or lost

Most professional development in schools is well-intentioned but poorly designed. The gap between attendance and changed practice remains wide, and it is not an accident. The deeper problem is that schools have stopped using professional development for what it is genuinely good at.

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For Schools

The head-board relationship: what good looks like

Governance failures in schools rarely stem from bad intentions. They more often arise from unclear expectations, insufficient structure at the top, and a gradual drift in the roles that boards and heads are supposed to play.

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For Families

Choosing a school in Switzerland: the questions that matter

The school selection process in Switzerland is genuinely complex. The range of systems, languages, and fee structures requires careful navigation, and the right answer is rarely obvious from a school's marketing materials.

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For Families

The IB v Swiss Matura v A-Levels: how to choose

For families weighing secondary school options in Switzerland, the difference between the International Baccalaureate, the Swiss Matura, and English A Levels is significant and worth understanding before the choice is made.

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For Schools

Leadership transitions: the first hundred days

The first months of a new head's tenure set the conditions for everything that follows. The decisions made, and the decisions deferred, in this period are often more significant than they appear at the time.

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For Families

Moving country with school-age children: what to plan, what to leave to chance

International moves with school-age children are among the most demanding family decisions. The temptation is to plan everything, which usually backfires.

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For Families

Choosing a Bilingual or Multilingual School: What Parents Often Miss

Bilingual schooling can be genuinely transformative for a child. It can also fall short of its promise in ways that are rarely visible on an open morning, and rarely surface until several years in, when the options for changing course have narrowed.

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For Schools

AI in schools: why governance now matters more than policy

Most schools that have addressed AI have done so by writing a policy. The schools that get the next decade right will recognise that policy is not enough, and that governance is a different and more demanding task.

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For Families

When independent school advice adds value, and when it does not

Most families make school decisions without independent advice, and most of those decisions turn out well enough. But there are situations where an independent perspective adds genuine value, and situations where it does not.

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