Neil Renton

Written for all school leaders and headteachers who are feeling daunted by their new role or need a little inspiration and encouragement in an existing role. Neil Renton answers that simple question - what now? - with guidance to help navigate feelings of self-doubt and overcome leadership challenges.It is based on the author's own experience as he tells the uplifting and incredibly honest story of his leadership journey as the new headteacher of one of the largest comprehensive schools in the North of England. Neil Renton captivates you with his story, from being appointed in late 2018, leading through a pandemic, and coping with an Ofsted inspection. It examines the kinds of challenges that new leaders face and how they can be overcome, dealing with both one-off events and the every day of school leadership.The book provides a clear focus on those first moments, months and years of being a new school leader. Its four part structure covers navigating doubt, conquering challenges, the basics of leading every day, and creating the right mindset and culture. It encourages critical reflection based on both serious and humorous stories while offering practical advice and strategies for effective educational leadership.

Neil Renton and Mark Fleming met through The Changing Room, a 12-week support program run by Scottish Action for Mental Health. The Changing Room was pioneered at Hibernian FC in Edinburgh before similar sessions were rolled out across many other senior Scottish football clubs.Attending these drop-ins, Neil and Mark discovered a shared interest in creative writing, both admitting they found this activity inspirational and therapeutic. This led to them bouncing ideas off each other, initiating fiction writing via simple prompts. They took turns sending each other song titles randomly selected from their phone playlists. These prompts became the spark to construct a short story. This exercise proved to be cathartic, giving both ideas for plots, characters, and settings. If 'writers block' ever set in, the next selection of songs would be requested Taking this a step further, they began not only crafting new pieces inspired by these random songs, but also digging into their respective back catalogues of fiction, revamping older stories. As well as stories, many containing semi-autobiographical elements, they wrote essays about how their musical tastes have benefited their wellbeing. Finally, they interviewed each other about their respective mental health journeys, transforming sometimes harrowing flashbacks into poignant memoirs.HEIDS UP is the result: a collection of flash fiction, longer short stories, essays on musical appreciation, and descriptions of lived mental health experiences. This book will resonate with anyone who has faced issues of their own, directly or indirectly.Crucially, HEIDS UP does not represent the conclusion of Neil and Mark's collaboration. It is the start.

Written for all school leaders and headteachers who are feeling daunted by their new role or need a little inspiration and encouragement in an existing role. Neil Renton answers that simple question - what now? - with guidance to help navigate feelings of self-doubt and overcome leadership challenges.It is based on the author's own experience as he tells the uplifting and incredibly honest story of his leadership journey as the new headteacher of one of the largest comprehensive schools in the North of England. Neil Renton captivates you with his story, from being appointed in late 2018, leading through a pandemic, and coping with an Ofsted inspection. It examines the kinds of challenges that new leaders face and how they can be overcome, dealing with both one-off events and the every day of school leadership.The book provides a clear focus on those first moments, months and years of being a new school leader. Its four part structure covers navigating doubt, conquering challenges, the basics of leading every day, and creating the right mindset and culture. It encourages critical reflection based on both serious and humorous stories while offering practical advice and strategies for effective educational leadership.