A fascinating and hilarious insight into the world of teaching, this had me gripped from the first page. At times witty and sarcastic, at others poignant and sad this book also has a serious side in highlighting some of the issues in education today. I found it gripping and highly recommend reading it.

Head Trauma follows a diary format, tracking Nick Smith's relentless pursuit of senior management in schools. Shocking, occasionally witty and relentlessly focused, Smith describes his teaching journey from dramatic career switch straight out of medical school, to floundering trainee teacher, to competent people manager and student advocate. In this book he talks about the pressures on teachers from all sides, including welcome criticism of ever changing government education policy - but also the delights of working with young people. He carries a gentle message of encouragement throughout, imparting wisdom in bitesize, easily readable anecdotes and giving the whole book a feel of friendly openness. His happiness to acknowledge teaching failures and moments of loosing his cool alongside the wins kept me gripped throughout. Easy reading from a perspective not often represented in popular educational writing, Head Trauma is a fantastic read

Well written book covering a lot of ground. The author doesn’t have a clear purpose for the book and although written partly in Diary form he branches into snapshots of characters encountered in his career and a discussion on education policy which although relevant don’t progress the narrative. Left me feeling there could have been a great deal more interesting and amusing tales to tell.