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The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

The Optimus blog

The blog that inspires leaders in the UK education sector

Liz Worthen

Liz Worthen taught English at a London comprehensive school before getting engaged in the world of CPD through roles at London Gifted & Talented and Teachers TV. Now head of content at Optimus Education, Liz oversees conference production and the development of resources for our network members.

Latest blog posts

Liz Worthen

18 October 2022

★ UPDATED 07 November 2022

A time to reflect and celebrate

The inaugural MAT Excellence Awards give school trusts the opportunity to be recognised and celebrated for their work. What achievements would you like to share? What are you most proud of about your multi-academy trust? Is it the wellbeing support you offer to pupils, staff and families? Is it the...

Liz Worthen

22 February 2022

Changing and challenging perceptions about disability: the Power 100

The Disability Power 100 list is all about challenging negative perceptions about disability and celebrating the achievements of the many successful and influential disabled people in the UK. How can you get involved? Did you know that a fifth of the UK’s population has some kind of disability or...

Liz Worthen

20 December 2021

The best that we can be: why behaviour management starts with self-care

Liz Worthen speaks to Adele Bates about what inspired her book, “Miss, I don’t give a sh*t” , and what she’s learned in the process of becoming an author. Regular blogger Adele Bates has published her first book, “Miss, I don’t give a sh*t”: Engaging with Challenging Behaviour in Schools , in which...

Liz Worthen

14 October 2021

What can we do about sexual harassment in schools?

Liz Worthen shares her key takeaways from the Delivering Statutory RSE conference and signposts useful resources. Not surprisingly, one of the main topics for discussion on the part of both speakers and delegates at the Delivering Statutory RSE conference was sexual harassment. Of course, child-on-...

Liz Worthen

23 July 2020

Reconnection, co-construction and courage: how we create a safe space for learning

How do we create a sense of safety in schools? Sharon Gray OBE on the importance of vulnerability, trust, collaboration and community re-building. Sharon Gray OBE is a Pride of Britain award winner, a national leader of education and a consultant who puts emotional health and wellbeing at the heart...

Liz Worthen

18 June 2020

What’s been keeping you going through lockdown?

Feeling the lockdown fatigue? From kayaking to dancing, dog walking and coffee with an unusual view, the team @OptimusEd share their wellbeing strategies. I’m not the only person to have found themselves pondering ‘lockdown fatigue’ in recent weeks. Try googling it and you’ll find over five million...

Liz Worthen

12 October 2017

When finance met fine dining: modelling efficiencies in MATs

Our MATs Summit prelude brought financial management heads together to discuss fairer funding and money-saving in multi-academy trusts. Models for growth The afternoon began with an exploration of models and structures led by Matthew Clements-Wheeler, business manager and deputy headteacher at...

Liz Worthen

24 November 2016

Leadership shorts: holding honest conversations as an executive headteacher

Letting go of the 'super exec head' armour can seem like a path to crisis. In this podcast, we consider how executive heads can empower others while maintaining ultimate accountability. In this conversation with Viv Grant, executive coach and director of Integrity Coaching, we explore the...

Liz Worthen

18 October 2016

‘Because you care, you can pull it off’: Lord Blunkett at the MATs Summit 2016

Grammar schools, career pathways, dealing with controversy and creating change: David Blunkett reflects on the current landscape for leaders in education. One of the highlights of the Optimus Education MATs Summit was hearing Lord Blunkett in conversation with Laura McInerney , editor of Schools...

Liz Worthen

10 August 2016

Developing sustained, effective middle leadership: keys to success

With middle leaders as the vital cogs in the wheel of school improvement, how can we best enable them to operate smoothly and effectively? ‘There was a common thread in schools that struggled over many years of persistent weaknesses in middle leadership.’ (Ofsted annual report 2014/15) ‘It’s not...

Liz Worthen

8 June 2016

From differentiation tips to mastery: the changing world of gifted and talented

Liz Worthen takes a reflective look back at what’s changed (and what hasn’t) in regards to stretch and challenge for more able pupils. When the gifted and talented initiative launched , back in the heady new Labour days of 1999, our first (and ongoing challenge) was the name itself: what did it...

Liz Worthen

4 May 2016

Collaboration for professional development: what makes it work?

Collaboration sounds great, but how do you make it work in practice? Some thorny questions and success stories from a teaching schools workshop session. Collaboration was a key theme running through the programme of the Optimus Education Teaching Schools Summit . There was talk about collaboration...

Liz Worthen

24 February 2016

The stretch zone is for grownups too

Good leaders find the stretch points for their team and empower them to take action. Proofing the entirety of our primary and secondary Insight magazine is a somewhat arduous task. However, it does give me the opportunity to fully appreciate (and actually read!) the resources which the Optimus team...

Liz Worthen

14 October 2015

Achieving value for money: a team approach

Is your school budget spent wisely? Staff training is key to creating a value for money culture. As a school business manager, how many times have you tried to explain value for money to the budget holders on your staff? Are you one of the lucky ones with a financially-literate governing body, or...

Liz Worthen

20 June 2014

Creating a buzz around CPD

Thursday afternoons at Bluecoats Academy in Nottingham are CPD time. Official teaching finishes early and staff all engage in CPD activities (while pupils benefit from extra-curricular activities, coaching and specialist teaching). Lisa Harrison, Assistant Principal in charge of CPD, told us about...