Sally Brown
@profsallybrown.bsky.social
Author and independent HE consultant based in NE England. Interests include assessment, valuing teaching in promotion criteria, baking, gardening, fiction and grandchildren not necessarily in that order
That’s why I only ever cut chilies with a pair of scissors over kitchen paper so I don’t have to touch them. Kitchen scissors then go into the dishwasher and paper towel goes in the bin once Ive put the chilies in the stew.
Hope it’s not going to bruise.
Chris likes to cook with fresh ingredients and some time ago was using the fresh chillies 🌶️ I’d grown in the garden. Like onions they can make you cry if you don’t wash your hands after chopping and have an itch that needs scratching!
Chris likes to cook with fresh ingredients and some time ago was using the fresh chillies 🌶️ I’d grown in the garden. Like onions they can make you cry if you don’t wash your hands after chopping and have an itch that needs scratching!
February 5, 2026 at 4:43 PM
That’s why I only ever cut chilies with a pair of scissors over kitchen paper so I don’t have to touch them. Kitchen scissors then go into the dishwasher and paper towel goes in the bin once Ive put the chilies in the stew.
Just a surface wound as Monty Python’s knights would say
Ouch!
February 5, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Just a surface wound as Monty Python’s knights would say
What’s the most middle class accident you can have around the home? I have cut my nose while cleaning the bread maker and the lid fell on it. Can you beat that?
February 5, 2026 at 3:40 PM
What’s the most middle class accident you can have around the home? I have cut my nose while cleaning the bread maker and the lid fell on it. Can you beat that?
Feel free to use it, although it might upset some people’s sensibilities
#LTHEchat A6 I love this analogy!! You're awesome, Sally!!
February 4, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Feel free to use it, although it might upset some people’s sensibilities
Yes smashing thank you
Huge thanks to @cardiffrutherford.bsky.social for the great questions!
See you next week - same time, same place! #LTHEchat
See you next week - same time, same place! #LTHEchat
February 4, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Yes smashing thank you
The thing is, I don’t want the heavy commitment of something like a book, but writing the odd overview article, etc. turns out to be quite good fun
February 4, 2026 at 8:57 PM
The thing is, I don’t want the heavy commitment of something like a book, but writing the odd overview article, etc. turns out to be quite good fun
#LTHEChat but it’s difficult to take risks in the current environment of precarity and uncertainty
#LTHEchat A5 Absolutely!! There needs to be openness to innovation, and also a certain amount of courage to allow staff to take risks and be supported for those risks. Knowing someone will have your back if things don't quite work out is essential! (and often lacking, sadly)
February 4, 2026 at 8:55 PM
#LTHEChat but it’s difficult to take risks in the current environment of precarity and uncertainty
Thank you Danielle! Having sworn blind that I’d finished writing about learning and teaching I’ve been doing a couple of things this week thoroughly enjoying it. It’s being part of the community that does it #LTHEChat
A1 #LTHEchat
@maryjacob.bsky.social
@virnarossi.bsky.social
@suebecks.bsky.social
@nigelfrancis.bsky.social
@puiyin.bsky.social
@louiserees.bsky.social
@profsallybrown.bsky.social
You All
@maryjacob.bsky.social
@virnarossi.bsky.social
@suebecks.bsky.social
@nigelfrancis.bsky.social
@puiyin.bsky.social
@louiserees.bsky.social
@profsallybrown.bsky.social
You All
a close up of a statue of yoda with the words `` learning you are '' written above him .
ALT: a close up of a statue of yoda with the words `` learning you are '' written above him .
media.tenor.com
February 4, 2026 at 8:49 PM
Thank you Danielle! Having sworn blind that I’d finished writing about learning and teaching I’ve been doing a couple of things this week thoroughly enjoying it. It’s being part of the community that does it #LTHEChat
Reposted by Sally Brown
Join us tonight at 8 pm GMT where we’ll be exploring empowering students to be part of a larger university Learning Community with @cardiffrutherford.bsky.social
Read the blog for more: lthechat.com/2026/01/30/l...
Read the blog for more: lthechat.com/2026/01/30/l...
LTHEchat 352: How can we empower students to be part of a larger university ‘Learning Community’?
Join us on Bluesky for #LTHEchat on Wednesday 4th February at 8pm GMT with guest Prof Stephen Rutherford to discuss how can we empower students to be part of a larger university ‘Learning Community…
lthechat.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Join us tonight at 8 pm GMT where we’ll be exploring empowering students to be part of a larger university Learning Community with @cardiffrutherford.bsky.social
Read the blog for more: lthechat.com/2026/01/30/l...
Read the blog for more: lthechat.com/2026/01/30/l...
This is brilliant and poignant. Well done the Marsh family. I am so enjoying seeing your family growing up and you have such beautiful voices.
We hope the good people of #SanFrancisco will forgive us for adapting a song about their city in 1967 to address the shocking and tragic events in #Minnesota in recent weeks. This is dedicated to Renée Good and Alex Pretti, and in solidarity. Our version is called "Minnesota" ❤️
youtu.be/BRHxXHZmVAM
youtu.be/BRHxXHZmVAM
"Minnesota" - Marsh Family adaptation of "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)"
YouTube video by Marsh Family
youtu.be
February 1, 2026 at 10:19 AM
This is brilliant and poignant. Well done the Marsh family. I am so enjoying seeing your family growing up and you have such beautiful voices.
I used to call it management by cake. Sitting in uni cafes so people could talk to me and I was visible and approachable
A6 #LTHEchat
Spend time in the “in‑between” spaces. Culture shows up most clearly where no one is performing.
• Sit in atrium, café, or library & watch how people interact
• do students mix across groups or stick to silos
• listen to the tone of conversations
• how do staff & students share space
Spend time in the “in‑between” spaces. Culture shows up most clearly where no one is performing.
• Sit in atrium, café, or library & watch how people interact
• do students mix across groups or stick to silos
• listen to the tone of conversations
• how do staff & students share space
a man with glasses and a fake nose and mustache
ALT: a man with glasses and a fake nose and mustache
media.tenor.com
January 28, 2026 at 8:59 PM
I used to call it management by cake. Sitting in uni cafes so people could talk to me and I was visible and approachable
But if you find you were wrong and the plan isn’t working be humble enough to acknowledge it and change
A5 for senior leaders - Make up your mind, don’t change your mind unless things are heading for a car crush, stick to your plan you decided 5 mins ago… give us a chance to make it a reality. Give us more freedom to contribute to key institutional wide decisions. #LTHEchat
January 28, 2026 at 8:58 PM
But if you find you were wrong and the plan isn’t working be humble enough to acknowledge it and change
So few senior managers have training in this area. Decades ago I taught English for Secretaries in FE and learned a lot
Training on how to chair meetings and get from agenda to achievable actions would be a significant and positive step #LTHEchat
January 28, 2026 at 8:57 PM
So few senior managers have training in this area. Decades ago I taught English for Secretaries in FE and learned a lot
But we never could. That’s why we developed sketchy handwriting
But I can’t spell with a pen! 😢 #LTHEchat
January 28, 2026 at 8:56 PM
But we never could. That’s why we developed sketchy handwriting
Absolutely but it must be genuine rather than performative
A6 a sense of shared purpose and values. Acknowledgement that everyone in a university from grounds staff, cleaners through to the VC are utterly essential to a flourishing university with a positive and effective culture. #LTHEchat
January 28, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Absolutely but it must be genuine rather than performative
And having silly contractual limitations for Professional rather than academic staff is particularly fatuous
All staff can be involved in SoTL - regardless of background. #LTHEChat
January 28, 2026 at 8:51 PM
And having silly contractual limitations for Professional rather than academic staff is particularly fatuous
Now that is an ambitious plan; getting senior managers to work together to create shared priorities. ( I speak as a previous PVC)
Q5 Senior leadership agreeing on priorities and sending down a unified message about what to prioritise, that aligns w. promotion and PDR criteria. Have seen great initiatives fail because one PVC doesn’t talk to another and consider workloads of all initiatives for those on the ground #LTHEchat
January 28, 2026 at 8:50 PM
Now that is an ambitious plan; getting senior managers to work together to create shared priorities. ( I speak as a previous PVC)
That’s how it used to be when I started in HE
#LTHEchat A5 Not a serious proposition - but if emails were replaced by handwritten memoes that had to go in the internal post ... oh the message reduction - the hours we would save every single day!
January 28, 2026 at 8:48 PM
That’s how it used to be when I started in HE
A5 #lthechat surely huge meetings and cc all emails are the biggest time wasters
Q5. If 'flourishing lives in the operational details,' what one thing would streamline HE workloads?
Reply with A5 #LTHEChat and your response
Reply with A5 #LTHEChat and your response
January 28, 2026 at 8:47 PM
A5 #lthechat surely huge meetings and cc all emails are the biggest time wasters
Reposted by Sally Brown
Join us tonight at 8 pm BST where we’ll be exploring Leadership and Academic Flourishing with @profdamienpage.bsky.social
Read the blog for more: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
Read the blog for more: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
LTHEchat 351: Leadership and Academic Flourishing
Join us on Bluesky for #LTHEchat on Wednesday 28th January at 8pm GMT with guest Prof Damien Page to discuss Leadership and Academic Flourishing. University leaders juggle a lot. Financial sustaina…
lthechat.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Join us tonight at 8 pm BST where we’ll be exploring Leadership and Academic Flourishing with @profdamienpage.bsky.social
Read the blog for more: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
Read the blog for more: lthechat.com/2026/01/26/l...
I used to do this a lot. I called them statement banks at least 40 years ago
Some of my colleagues collate a bank of their own feedback snippets and then mix, match and personalise for each student depending on case and issues.
January 21, 2026 at 9:09 PM
I used to do this a lot. I called them statement banks at least 40 years ago