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There can’t be many people left in the UK who haven’t heard of head teacher and Independent Thinking Associate Vic Goddard.

He came into public view several years ago through Educating Essex, a fly-on-the-wall documentary filmed in the Harlow secondary school he leads and capturing the ups and downs, tears and laughter of typical school life.

It was a seminal and highly popular TV programme that spawned several spin-off series, not to mention a great deal of publicity in the national press, a highlight of which was being referred to as ‘the worst headteacher in the country’ by the Daily Mail, a rag that never lets the facts get in the way of its prejudices.

Thrust into the limelight, Vic became a national figure and is still a regular visitor to various breakfast TV sofas to talk about the latest government policies or educational issues of the day, as well as a founding member of the Headteacher’s Roundtable pressure group.

He also found time to write a book for the Independent Thinking Press entitled The Best Job in the World, a title he only occasionally regrets as he goes about doing such an inspirational leadership role, despite the immense pressures of Ofsted, underfunding and the relentless pressure to achieve ever-better exam results.

Since that time, Vic has become one of our most in-demand speakers when it comes to sharing his views, his approaches and his wisdom on school leadership generally but also on what it takes to lead a school in what is a challenging socioeconomic area with vulnerable children and families.