‘You campaign in poetry and govern in prose’. That was the phrase that we often quoted from American politician Mario Cuomo, when we were finding it hard going in government. I think he meant that you can be lyrical and rhetorical in pursuit of winning an election or campaigning for change but when in power, pragmatism, compromise and the hard graft of ‘delivery’ takes over. 

The last two years have certainly been more prose than poetry in our schools. A lot of logistics. A lot of keeping children and families safe. A lot of crisis management. It has often been draining, thankless and frustrating. 

Yet as we emerge from the pandemic, I get the strong sense that people are desperate for some poetry; for rekindling that sense of mission and change  – looking once more for the higher purposes in what we are doing. 

A return to satisfying Ofsted, jumping through the same old hoops, squeezing more out of the toothpaste of our tired exam system is not enough. In fact it’s quite demoralising.  

We want something to believe in again.  

Strategy can provide that. But only if that strategy starts from vision and values. 

Too much writing on ‘strategy’ treats it purely as a managerial tool. Something to provide structure. And that of course is one of its purposes. 

But for me it’s all about working back from a vividly drawn picture of what success looks like – in the case of education, what do we really want to offer young people? 

From my experience of both politics and education, I am more convinced than ever that energy and  momentum comes from having that driving sense of narrative – a compelling story in which the central characters – in our case, our teachers, families and children – are building something special.

So how do we construct an ambitious strategy going forward?  Context is everything. For this government at this time, this means constructing a vision of what Britain looks like outside the EU. In education it means understanding what young people need to prepare them for this rapidly changing world, particularly after the trauma of the last two years.

So story and strategy need to weave together as we try to answer some big questions.