The Journal for Executive and Governance Leaders

The Journal for Executive and Governance Leaders

Peter Hyman and Liz Robinson

Big Education is a new organisation with a mission to change the way we do education in this country. The aim of the organisation is to develop schools, programmes and movements that develop the whole child - head, heart and hand. He is the co-founder and the first headteacher of School 21, a pioneering 4 to 18 school that opened in Stratford, East London in 2012. The school has a growing reputation for developing oracy (speaking) skills having set up Voice 21, a charity working with more than 400 schools across the country. It has also developed sophisticated programmes for real world learning and wellbeing. For nine years to 2003, Peter worked as a strategist and speechwriter to the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. He left to become a teaching assistant in a challenging Islington school, before training as a history teacher and working his way up to become a headteacher. He is author of 1 out of 10, from Downing Street Vision to Classroom Reality. Liz is a school and system leader, working to ‘change the story’ about how education is delivered in England. As head teacher of Surrey Square in Southwark for 13 years, Liz used values as a key driver to redefine the purpose of the school and radically reshape the teaching approaches. As a National Leader of Education, Liz worked with many schools to develop practice and raise standards. She co-founded the International Academy of Greenwich, motivated to be part of creating a forward thinking secondary school, delivering an IB (International Baccalaureate) education. Since September 2018, Liz has worked as co-founder and co-director of Big Education, a new organisation running schools and programmes to inspire and provoke change in the sector. Liz has a particular interest in developing values-led leadership, and has worked extensively as a speaker, trainer and coach. She is passionate about asking bigger questions about what school can or should be about and finding new ways of working. Liz is a Trustee for the National Literacy Trust. As mum to two young girls, Liz works flexibly to manage her roles.

Articles from this author

Why we need a ‘Big Education’

There are growing numbers of people - teachers, parents, students, employers - who believe that our current education system and the debate around it is too narrow, too small, too introspective and ultimately not living up to the vision needed for the challenges the country faces. It is clear what…

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