Do you wish that the focus of accountability measures within schools is broader than just progress and academic achievement? Well, be careful what you wish for because it might just be about to happen.

Apprenticeship Levy payments are due to start next month and we are asking colleagues who recognise the value of Evolve Health Mentors to show their support for the development of a new Trailblazer Apprenticeship that will further enhance their training.

Thou shalt pay HMRC 0.5% of your wage bill to invest in apprenticeship training from April 2017 if: (*) Your annual wage bill exceeds £3m (**) You are based in England (***) It is spent within 24 months (****) It is used for Government-approved courses (*****) You use Government-endorsed training providers

Do you want a trip to Kuala Lumpur in two weeks time to attend an entrepreneurial conference to help inform Malaysian government strategy?

Presenting to a group of health experts at the Henry Wellcome Auditorium at the Wellcome Collection in London was a little daunting. If I had been talking to a group of headteachers or educationalists about health and wellbeing instead, it would have been a very different proposition. After all, I have been doing that for the past 15 years.

Evolve Managing Director John Bishop supports recommendations from a recent report that calls for a greater focus on children’s mental health in schools and a new approach to how children’s services are funded by the Departments for Health and Education.

Laughter helps learning, why every school needs charcoal powder and what a cwtch is. These are all things that I learnt last week at a School Wellbeing Workshop that we hosted in three schools in Cardiff, Birmingham and Nottingham.

I have twice had the privilege of hearing Professor Graham Donaldson of Glasgow University - a former teacher and head of the Scottish Inspectorate - outline his views about education and am encouraged at how closely his thinking is aligned with our ethos at Evolve.

The recent doubling of the PE and Sport Premium for primary schools to £320 million a year from September 2017 gives headteachers welcome scope to increase the quality and breadth of PE provision.

The desperate shortage of teaching staff is a real challenge facing schools that is spiralling out of control. It is the deepest crisis that I have experienced during my 20 years of solving challenges within our education system.