No Excuses
Turning around one of Britain's toughest schools
An unputdownable true account of how a tenacious head teacher led one of the most challenging schools in the country to excellence.
No Excuses charts an extraordinary principal’s journey in diary form from the moment she took over at a failing secondary school in a deprived area of the country, where less than a quarter of children attained five or more A*–C GCSEs, and how she set about the gruelling task of transforming its reputation using her zero-tolerance, tough-love approach.
Armed only with a wicked sense of humour, fearless energy and a powerful vision, Alison Colwell put in place a stringent set of rules, including a strict uniform policy and a complete ban on mobile phones, provoking resistance and hostility from some parents, the wider community and on social media.
This is the darkly funny, moving story of how, together, teachers and their — often troubled — pupils rebuilt a school and community, with an inspirational head at the helm.
Charming, touching and full of brilliant leadership advice, this is the diary of the woman the Daily Mail labelled Britain’s strictest head teacher.
Alison Colwell, originally styled ‘The Secret Head Teacher’ until the Sunday Times blew her cover in an interview in 2020, has spent several decades in teaching. She has held senior leadership positions across a number of schools, including Ebbsfleet Academy in Swanscombe. Under her leadership, Ebbsfleet succeeded in turning around its reputation, resulting in an Ofsted report judging the school ‘good’. Alison now lives and works in Mallorca.
