North East Education Leader Launches Novel That Sends A 21st-Century Headteacher Back To A 1960s School

One of the North East’s most respected education leaders, Les Walton CBE, has swapped policy papers for fiction with the launch of his debut novel, The Chronicles of a Time Travelling Teacher – a story that uses the past to ask urgent questions about the future of education.

Drawing on more than fifty years as a teacher, head, adviser and policymaker, Walton’s book imagines a modern-day principal suddenly transported back to a 1960s secondary modern school.

The novel’s protagonist, Kingston, is plunged into a staffroom with no safeguarding, no SEND provision and corporal punishment on the timetable – while carrying around in his head, all the values, dilemmas and challenges of 21st-century leadership.

“Stories can say what reports and frameworks cannot,” says Walton. “By stepping back in time, we can see the present more clearly – what we’ve gained, what we’ve lost, and what kind of school system we want to build next.”

The book combines humour and sharp observation to explore issues every school leader grapples with today and asks:

•                Are we building schools around compliance or creativity?

•                Do accountability systems drive improvement – or fear?

•                Have we replaced trust in teachers with surveillance?

•                Are we truly inclusive, or are some pupils still being left behind?

While the themes are serious, the tone is light and often funny, offering school leaders a chance to reflect without adding another burden.

“I wanted to write something teachers could take on holiday and enjoy,” Walton adds. “No checklists. No bullet points. Just a story that lets you laugh, think and reconnect with why you chose this profession.”

Les Walton CBE is Chair of the Association of Education Advisers and a lifelong advocate for schools that serve every child with dignity and ambition. The Chronicles of a Time Travelling Teacher is available now online at Amazon http://link.www.clothierlacey.co.uk/7A7K0l and also online at Waterstones, Blackwells, Foyles and WH Smith.