About this episode

This episode discusses the Management Mastery program created by Poppy Nobes to better prepare teachers for management roles in schools.

Most schools pour resources into developing brilliant teachers and then promote those same people into management roles with almost no preparation for what comes next. This episode centres on a genuinely exciting initiative: Management Mastery, an in-house leadership development programme created by Poppy Nobes, Head of Professional Development at Aldridge Education. Poppy built the programme after recognising a gap that formal qualifications like NPQs simply can't fill; the operational, contextual, and deeply practical side of managing people in your specific organisation. From handling difficult conversations to structuring communication channels, Management Mastery is designed to make the implicit explicit. You'll hear how Poppy and her team started by working backwards from the problems they were actually seeing in their workforce, grievances, repeated sick leave, unsupported staff, and designed a programme around the skills leaders needed to prevent them. Shane and Poppy discuss why practice-based professional development is just as vital for managers as it is for classroom teachers, the power of a shared language (including the "balcony and dance floor" concept that keeps…

People in this episode

Host: Shane Leaning

Guest: Poppy Nobes

Topics covered

• leadership development
• management training
• education
• professional development
• communication skills

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Aldridge Education

More episodes of Education Leaders | Strategic School Leadership

• 10 Million Views Later | A Conversation with Tom Sherrington · July 20, 2026 · 45 min
• Rethinking Equity Through Learning Science | A Conversation with Zaretta Hammond · July 14, 2026 · 34 min
• How to Defuse Defensive Teachers · June 29, 2026 · 10 min
• Education Leaders LIVE | June Reflections · June 25, 2026 · 48 min
• When Scientists Enter Your Classroom | A Conversation with Patrice Bain · June 22, 2026 · 33 min
• How to Catch a Straw Man · June 15, 2026 · 15 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Education Leaders | Strategic School Leadership podcast page.