The AI Questions I Think Every Headteacher Should Be Asking This September

I've now met with dozens of Headteachers to talk about AI in schools.

Quite often, the questions are:

"How do I make a custom Gem?"

"What's NotebookLM?

"How do I get Gemini to do this?"

And these are useful questions and help in the micro sense of a school.

But increasingly, I think there are more important questions that school leaders need to be asking.

1. How much AI is already being used in my school?

Particularly by ECTs and younger, more tech-confident members of staff.

AI use isn't necessarily waiting for a school policy to be written. You can be sure staff are using it quite broadly.

2. What safeguards do I have in place?

Do staff understand what they can and cannot put into an AI system?

Do they understand GDPR, safeguarding and the boundaries around appropriate use?

And perhaps most importantly:

Does your school have a clear set of values around how AI should be used?

It seems to me that SLT can be worried about saying the wrong thing, creating a policy that quickly becomes outdated, or opening a conversation they don't feel equipped to lead.

So sometimes nothing gets said.

But that doesn't mean AI isn't being used.

Five Principles I'd Consider for September

In my training, workshops and CPD sessions, I keep coming back to five simple principles.

1. Adapt Every Final Output

AI should never be the final author.

Whenever staff receive an AI-generated output, their job is to review it, improve it and take ownership of it.

2. Test Your Outputs

If Gemini produces something based on data, research or a large collection of documents, don't automatically assume it's right. Test it.

Where appropriate, use a controlled environment such as NotebookLM and trusted source material to check whether the output is actually supported by the evidence.

3. Keep Human Jobs Human

This one is really important to me.

If AI can save you hours creating a Scheme of Work, developing vocabulary banks or producing lesson resources, brilliant. Use that time.

But there are some things where we shouldn't be looking to remove the human from the process. Student reports are a good example.

If AI gives you back hours elsewhere in your week, I'd rather see teachers use that time to personally reflect on and write meaningful reports about the pupils they actually know.

Don't take the person out of the picture.

4. Zero Personal Info into an AI

My rule is simple:

No names. No identifying information. No unnecessary personal data.

Staff should understand exactly what information their school's approved AI platforms can process and what should never be entered.

Safeguarding and data protection have to come before convenience.

5. Choose Your Platforms — And Stick With Them

If schools want genuine organisational change, I think there is real value in giving staff a small number of approved platforms and environments. Ideally 1 or two max.

We want everyone to develop confidence in the same tools.

The confident users can support colleagues who are less confident. Staff can share prompts, workflows and ideas. Training becomes more focused. Leaders have greater visibility.

You don't need 15 different AI tools.

You need people who are really good at using the right ones.

So, What Should SLT Be Doing Now?

I don't think every Headteacher needs to become an AI expert.

But I do think every Headteacher should be able to answer:

How is AI being used in my school?

What are my safeguards?

What are my expectations?

Which platforms are approved?

And how am I helping my staff develop the skills to use them well?