ABOUT
An azimuth is a bearing. The direction you navigate by.
A clearer sense of where you are going, and someone to think it through with.
I started Azimuth after more than thirteen years in senior leadership in schools, because I kept noticing the same thing.
Schools are full of capable, committed people who want to do well by the children in front of them. What they often lack is time: time to think clearly about direction, and someone to think it through with.
Leaders carry a great deal. The day fills with the urgent, and the important waits. Plans get written under pressure and never quite take hold.
Good leadership begins with a clear sense of where you are going, and people who believe they can get there.
That belief runs through everything I do. Whatever the brief, the aim is the same: clearer thinking, steadier direction, and leaders who feel more confident about the calls they have to make.
WHO’S BEHIND IT
I am José Picardo, founder of Azimuth.
I have led in UK independent schools, most recently as a deputy head, and I serve as an ISI inspector. My work has spanned academic leadership, curriculum, staff development, and digital change, always coming back to the same conviction: that good education depends on people who are trusted, supported, and clear about what they are trying to do.
I came into this as a classroom teacher who cared about curiosity, rigour, and the connection between a teacher and a class. I bring the same things to the work now. The job has changed. What makes it work has not.
Fellow, Chartered College of TeachingFellow, Royal Society of ArtsApple Professional Learning SpecialistPearson Teaching AwardILM Level 7 Coaching and Mentoring (in progress)Keynote SpeakerAuthor
Every school knows roughly where it wants to go. Azimuth helps leaders hold the bearing.
Or email jose@azimuth.org.uk
