A Compassionate Approach to Whole School Culture with Vic Goddard
Thursday 20th March 2025 – 7pm to 8pm (UK time)
BOOK TICKETS HERE
What to expect?
As part of our MiSP Speaker Series for 2024/25, you are warmly invited to join us online to hear Vic Goddard, CEO of Passmores Co-operative Learning Community (PCLC) and featured on Educating Essex. He will be in conversation with Faiy Rushton, Education and Training Development Manager at MiSP.
Join us on 20 March 2025 7pm -8pm (UK time) for a live conversation followed by a Q&A with Vic.
Known for compassionate leadership in challenging circumstances, Vic has huge experience as a leader in education and is author of ‘The Best Job in the World’. Come and hear him talk about his leadership style and where it comes from. He’ll share the importance of empathy and connection and how that helps children and young people as part of a wider society, plus the essential role of inclusion in this. Vic and Faiy will be discussing: What does a compassionate whole school culture look like? Where/who does it come from? What structures and support resource us to deal with the challenges we meet in the classroom and help the children and young people we are working with?
Vic is an inspiring speaker and draws on his experience to weave stories through his talks which really brings them to life.
If you personally have a question for Vic, please email support@mindfulnessinschools.org one week before the event (i.e. by Thu 13th March 2025). We will try to ask as many of these as possible during the session.
This session is set to provide thought provoking and inspiring reflections. It will be a chance to come together as a (global) community, including warmly welcoming any familiar and newer faces!
Who is invited?
The webinar is open to ALL so please do invite colleagues and friends.
We are very grateful to Vic for donating his time to support this MiSP fundraising Speaker Series.
About the Speaker
Vic Goddard is amazed that so many years after Educating Essex was on TV people are still
interested in what he has to say. You will still see him in the media banging the drum for
young people and education professionals as he is determined to use whatever platform he
still has.
Vic is ‘South London and Proud’, as his beloved Crystal Palace often say, and he knows how
lucky he was to have the parenting and schooling he received that allowed him to build a
career. Vic, from a young age, wanted to be a PE teacher and following his degree course in
Chichester enjoyed 2 years working on the south coast at Angmering School learning from
two of the best PE teachers you could ever wish to meet. This led to him moving on from
jobs sad to leave but determined to make the next career step. Four years in Cheam
followed by a three-year stint working in an international school in Cairo followed where he
took on the role of Head of Faculty. Very early in his career Vic realised that he wanted to be
a headteacher and set himself the target of being a head by 40 and on the golf course by 50;
he made the first target but is a few years late on the second.
On returning to the UK Vic was fortunate to work with a truly inspiring headteacher, Kevin
Sadler in his first SLT role and in 5 years went from Assistant Head to Head at Passmores
School (now Academy) in Harlow. Vic is the CEO of a Trust of 4 local schools across primary
and secondary with specialist provision but is desperately trying to not lose the connection
he has with his community. Vic feels privileged to be a headteacher and is humbled
every day that parents/carers are willing to trust him to educate their children.
Vic has a passion for inclusion and has been very vociferous in calling out practices that go
against this. ‘Family comes in many forms’ is a phrase you often hear Vic use when
explaining what makes his schools special places, although not always the easiest to work in!
This event is part of the Speaker Series 2024/25.