Teach Secondary Issue 14.8

ExamStress (KatharineRadice,BloomsburyEducation,£20) GCSE exams – and O Levels before them– have always been that last, big challenge that students must face before leaving school behind for good. Yet there’s a prevailing sense that in 2025, the exams in question have becomemore intensive, that the stakes involved are higher than ever – and that many students today are finding it harder to cope with what the GCSE examprocess as a whole demands of them. In the straightforwardly titled ExamStress , Katharine Radice attempts tomake those often nebulous concerns around students’ attitudes towards examsmore concrete by unpacking the specific causes of examstress, drawing on research fromthe fields of neuroscience, psychology and adolescent development. Readers after a searing critique of the examsystemas it stands should look elsewhere, however. Radice is nothing if not thorough in her survey of factors both internal (the workings of the brain, behaviours, personal habits) and external (social media, pressure from family) that can lead students to see exams as insurmountable obstacles, but this is no angry polemic. It’s a clear-eyed diagnosis of where we are,with a series of practical suggestions for strategies, approaches andways of talking about exams that can help students feel better, and ultimately achieve positive outcomes. The book is strikinglyhonest – didyou discuss what youwanted to includewithyour colleagues? I had a certain amount of freedomwhen writing it, sincemost of the events and people I talk about are in the past – but yes, how the bookwould be received by governors and parents at the school nowwas a constant consideration. In the end, the only person really‘exposed’ bywhat’s in the book ismyself. I don’t mind being open about my thought processes –my SLT know that if I’ve got a decision tomake, I’mprepared to sometimes say‘ I don’t know if this is going to work. ’ There are often somanymoving pieces involved that you can only ever do what you think is right.We headteachers need to free ourselves fromthis belief that we’re supposed to know everything and somehow predict every outcome. It’s simply not true, and I don’t mind being open about that. Howdifferent are the challenges confronting headteachers now, compared to 2006,when youfirst assumedheadship? In terms of leading people, I don’t think the role’s changed.The need to keep everybody together, the importance of consistent messaging and a unified purpose, that’s all still there.What’s different now are the external factors. Ofsted has always been a challenge, and increasingly so, for reasons that are well- documented.Accountability has increased over the years, and the ways in which schools are pitted against each other with league tables and such hasmade a huge difference. Ifyourbookhad a singlemessage about headship,whatwould it be? That school leadership can be a job that ends in burnout, but it doesn’t have to be. I’m someone who’s been in the job for 19 years and still enjoying it, and a living example of the fact that it doesn’t have wear you out, or make you old and cynical.The difficulties I describe in the book date back to an early period ofmy headship, at the point where many leaders will be weighing upwhether to continue – but you can you can push through that, change howyou approach the job emotionally and recognise that it’s difficult because it’s supposed to be . If you go in expecting that difficulty, then you won’t feel at fault when problems inevitably arise. It’ll always be hard, but you canmake it feel easier over time by adopting the right kind ofmindset. PatrickCozier is headteacher at Highgate WoodSchool,Haringey, amember of the Headteacher’s Roundtable and a trustee of the national charityShowRacismthe RedCard ON THE RADAR Meet the author PATRICK COZIER Vermeer:ALifeLostandFound (AndrewGraham-Dixon,AllenLane,£30) Graham-Dixon does an excellent job here of conveying his original and archival research into the life of Johannes Vermeer, with the Dutch artist and his works carefully considered in the context of the time and place in which he lived. Graham Dixon is well-known for his analysis of paintings in terms of their allegorical significance, and duly picks up on a whole host of small details which certainly I, and I suspect many others would hardly notice after detailed study, nevermind at first glance.That said, some of his suggestions, critiques and assertions can seem like a bit of a stretch at times.Are we really to believe, for example, that a distinctly unbiblical figure is, in fact,meant to represent MaryMagdalene? Quibbles aside, however, there’s plenty of nourishing food for thought to be found in this sumptuously illustrated book. Recommended. ReviewedbyTerry Freedman CalmLeadership (PatrickCozier,CrownHousePublishing,£18.99) We’ve seen a number of titles penned by serving headteachers over the years that are effectively part memoir, part practical guide – but not many that are as admirably frank about the brutal levels of difficulty and self-doubt that come with the job as CalmLeadership . Cozier is an engaging writer, and not afraid to take readers deep inside the deliberations and uncertainties experienced by a headteacher getting to grips with the demands of the role. That said, the book’s overall narrative ismuch more concernedwith how headteachers can become better , and ultimately succeed – and given Cozier’s 19-year (and counting) continuous stint as leader of HighgateWood School, his perspective is one that’s worth paying attention to.The ‘calm’ of the titlemay be an acronym for a leadershipmodel that readers are invited to try out for themselves, the inspirational quotes at the start of each chapter are present and correct – but in all other respects, this a book about and for headteachers that stands apart fromthe rest. 47 teachwire.net/secondary B O O K R E V I E WS