Succeeding as Deputy Head with Chris Passey and Adam Kohlbeck

Nov 15, 2025

Guest

Chris Passey

Guest

Adam Kohlbeck

In this conversation, Adam Kohlbeck, an experienced deputy leader and co-founder of EduPulse, teams up with Chris Passey, a senior school leader and author. They delve into the transition from teacher to deputy head, exploring the challenges of maintaining classroom influence and the significance of relational leadership. Guest insights include the importance of vulnerability, setting boundaries, and fostering a thriving culture within schools. They discuss their forthcoming book, emphasizing the diverse paths to deputy headship and preparing for future leadership roles.

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INSIGHT

Loss Of Classroom Routines

Senior leadership removes your classroom routines and relationships, which weakens your immediate instructional toolkit.
Deputies must engineer practice opportunities and modelled teaching to influence pedagogy without a daily class.

ADVICE

Engineer Practice Opportunities

Teach other teachers' classes or cover lessons deliberately to trial approaches you want the school to adopt.
Use those engineered opportunities to collect evidence and refine implementation before wider rollout.

INSIGHT

From Doing To Delegating

Effective deputyship shifts from doing to delegating because any organisation is too large for one person.
Deputies must invest in relationships to delegate well and avoid becoming the perpetual fixer.

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Episode 254: In this episode I am joined by Adam Kohlbeck and Chris Passey to talk about the messy, human reality of deputy headship and the work they are doing and their forthcoming book. We dig into why the move from classroom teacher to senior leader can feel like a shock to the system, what it means to hold decency and high standards together, and how deputies can build cultures where staff and students actually thrive rather than simply survive policy changes and external pressures.

Across the conversation we explore:

The origin story of why Adam and Chris wanted a more nuanced, less binary space to talk about leadership The mindset shift from “my class, my room” to “our school, our culture”. How deputy heads can lead through relationships without becoming everyone’s fixer or emotional sponge. The role of vulnerability, boundaries and “being yourself” in leadership, rather than performing a caricature of a deputy head. Working with tricky dynamics, including resistant headteachers and complex teams, without losing your sense of purpose. What they hope readers will take from their book, including the idea of deputy headship as a long, evolving craft rather than a short stop on the way to headship

If you are a deputy head, assistant head, aspiring leader or simply someone who cares about the culture of schools, this is a wide ranging, honest conversation about leadership, relationships and staying decent in the middle of it all.