NEW FROM THE FOUNDERS OF TICK HUB
EVERY CHILD, EVERY FUTURE
VISIONARY LEADERSHIP FOR
DISADVANTAGED LEARNERS
How can educational leaders create the conditions for every child to thrive?
Every Child, Every Future explores how schools and education settings can move beyond narrow definitions of disadvantage and create environments where every child can belong, participate, achieve and see a positive future for themselves.
CHILDREN CANNOT BE WHAT THEY CANNOT SEE
Every child deserves the opportunity to see themselves as successful, capable and able to shape their own future.
This book asks educators to think beyond short-term attainment and consider the wider experiences, opportunities and expectations that shape children’s lives.
A WIDER VIEW OF DISADVANTAGE
Disadvantage is more complex than a label.
Children’s experiences of education are shaped by many interconnected factors, including leadership, inclusion, belonging, curriculum, diversity, language, life skills, expectations and access to opportunity.
Every Child, Every Future explores how educational leaders and practitioners can recognise these influences, remove barriers and create the conditions in which disadvantaged learners can thrive rather than simply survive.
It combines reflection with practical thinking, encouraging readers to question established assumptions and consider what meaningful change could look like within their own settings.
WHY WE WROTE THIS BOOK
We wrote Every Child, Every Future because we believe that educational leadership has the power to make a profound difference to children’s lives.
Through our experiences across education, we have seen how decisions about leadership, curriculum, inclusion, expectations and opportunity can shape children’s experiences of school – and ultimately how they see themselves and their futures.
This book is about asking difficult questions, challenging assumptions and considering what we can do differently.
Above all, it encourages educators to move away from asking:
“What is wrong with this child?”
and instead ask:
“What can we change in their environment, experiences or support to help them thrive?”
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION?
When we talk about children’s futures, it is important that their voices remain part of the conversation.
We asked children what they thought the purpose of education was. Their answers remind us that education is about far more than academic outcomes.
PRIMARY EDUCATION
SECONDARY EDUCATION
WHAT YOU WILL FIND IN THIS BOOK
Across eight key areas, Louise and Rebecca explore how educational choices and leadership decisions can shape children’s experiences, opportunities and futures.
01
Understanding disadvantage
Understanding disadvantage and recognising the varied barriers that can shape a child’s educational experience.
02
Challenging unconscious bias
Exploring how unconscious assumptions and expectations can shape children’s experiences and future opportunities.
03
Creating a sense of belonging
Considering what genuine inclusion and a meaningful sense of belonging should look and feel like for every child.
04
Representation in the curriculum
Exploring diversity and considering who children see represented throughout their curriculum and wider learning.
05
Preparing
children for life
Looking beyond attainment to the knowledge, skills and experiences children need to prepare for their futures.
06
The power
of vocabulary
Exploring how language and vocabulary influence children’s participation, understanding and future opportunities.
07
Designing an enabling curriculum
Considering how purposeful curriculum choices create meaningful opportunities for every child to learn and thrive.
08
Creating change through visionary leadership
Bringing these ideas together and considering how visionary leadership can create meaningful and lasting change.
WHO IS THE BOOK FOR?
Every Child, Every Future is for people across education who want to understand disadvantage more fully and create better experiences and opportunities for children.
School & setting
leaders
For leaders considering
how their vision, decisions
and culture can create
greater opportunity.
MAT & school
improvement teams
For organisations developing
consistent and meaningful
approaches to disadvantage
across schools.
Teachers & classroom practitioners
For teachers seeking
practical ways to understand
disadvantage and respond
in the classroom.
Teacher educators
& students
For those exploring
educational leadership,
inclusion, social justice
and disadvantage.
SENCOs & inclusion leaders
For those working to remove
barriers and create genuinely
inclusive learning
environments.
Improving children’s
futures
For anyone who believes
education should help every
child see and shape a
positive future.
WHAT WILL YOU TAKE AWAY
Every Child, Every Future encourages educators to look at disadvantage from a wider perspective and consider how expectations, language, representation and belonging shape a child’s experience of education.
Readers will be prompted to reflect on their own settings, think beyond short-term attainment and consider whether their curriculum genuinely prepares every child for the future. Most importantly, the book offers practical ways for leaders and practitioners to identify barriers, challenge established thinking and create meaningful change.
MEET THE AUTHORS
Louise Lawton and Rebecca Tarplett are the founders of TICK Hub, an education consultancy providing training, coaching and practical support across education settings. Their work is centred on helping every child achieve and thrive through an approach that considers the whole child, not simply academic attainment.
Working with early years settings, schools, alternative provisions, Teaching Hubs, multi-academy trusts, education providers and families, Louise and Rebecca bring extensive educational experience to their work. Their approach is practical, collaborative and inclusive, with a clear focus on improving outcomes and expanding opportunities for children and young people.
WHAT WILL WE DO DIFFERENTLY
Every Child, Every Future invites educators to pause, reflect and ask challenging questions about their own settings.
Meaningful change does not necessarily begin with a huge initiative. Sometimes it begins by looking again at the decisions we make, the opportunities we create and the expectations we place on children.
What could we change tomorrow that might make a difference to a child’s future?
Every Child, Every Future: Visionary Leadership for Disadvantaged Learners by Louise Lawton and Rebecca Tarplett is published by Routledge on 16 October 2026.
Order your copy and join the conversation about how educational leaders and practitioners can create better futures for every child.