About

As a school leader, you want to make the biggest difference you can to improving the life chances of children in your care. That’s why you moved into leadership, away from the classroom, doing a job you loved and were great at.

Unfortunately, circumstances beyond your control often get in the way, especially in challenging schools where change efforts come and go, and nothing seems to move forward.

JEC provides support for school leaders who want to implement change but don’t currently have the resources. The help is targeted, timebound, and outcome driven. Leaders are developed, personally and professionally, and systems and structures shaped, such that change is sustainable beyond the period of engagement.

Ethos

The concept for Johnston Education Consultancy (JEC) was inspired by the assistance provided to its founder, Sam Johnston, during a challenging time in his first headship when significant change was needed and there simply wasn’t the money to add to the senior leadership team structure.

Our ethos is characterised by tireless positive reinforcement, consistency, follow through, commitment to quantifiable goals, and belief in the 100% bar. We have an unshakeable conviction, and are driven by that conviction, that all schools can achieve the highest standards.

Beliefs

By accepting, understanding, and embracing the change process schools will be constantly evolving, self-improving centres of excellence, always searching for ways and opportunities to raise standards.

Schools will be constantly evolving, self-improving centres of excellence, always searching for ways and opportunities to raise standards.
Understanding what needs to change is only possible if a school knows itself without prejudice, bias, or interest.
Even in the most turbulent times, leaders can thrive if they know how to deal with the emotional, physical, and psychological impact of change on their personal and professional lives.
In the right environment, teaching is the best job in the world.
When schools live by their values, keeping pupils’ interests at the heart of decision making, all pupils look forward to coming to school.

Mission

To improve outcomes for children in schools struggling to implement change

Vision

All children look forward to going to school excited by the opportunities made available to them, which support and match their own ambitions.

School leaders have an unshakeable belief in the capacity of children to achieve amazing things and to make a positive difference to society. They systemically revitalise and regenerate ideas, unapologetically fomenting change, and capitalising on the success of their own school and that of others across England. The school system is driven by educators who display unyielding commitment to the cause, who understand what is at stake, and who understand their responsibility as the custodians of our future’s leaders.

Bio

Sam began his career in 1996 as a music teacher in a deprived area of London. Over the next 25 years, he developed his teaching practice in schools in the U.K. and U.S., where he gained an MA in Educational Leadership. Seeking to expand his impact beyond the classroom, Sam enrolled in a fast track to Headship programme in 2010, working in challenging schools across the south coast of England.

In 2017, Sam gained his first headship and led the school to become one of the most improved in the country in 2019. Sam stepped up to lead a Multi Academy Trust in 2020, a month before schools were locked down. In the role of CEO, Sam expanded his understanding of system leadership, gaining an NPQEL and becoming a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching.

In 2022, Sam founded Johnston Education Consultancy (JEC), where he is Director.

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