Interview with John Rose at Inspiring Leaders Conference June 2025
At the Inspiring Leadership conference, John Rose caught up with international speaker, author, and advocate Jaz Ampaw-Farr to talk about the teachers who changed her life, the unseen power of small acts, and why her new documentary is both healing and harrowing.
John Rose: Jaz, thank you for being here at Inspiring Leadership. I’d say there’s no better embodiment at this conference of how teachers can shape lives for the better. In your case, five teachers played a vital role. Can you tell us more?
Jaz Ampaw-Farr: Absolutely. In my book Because of You, This Is Me, I’ve dedicated chapters to each of those teachers—Mrs Cook taught me compassion, Mr Redmond taught me truth—and while I sum up each in one word, their impact is far deeper. They were like runners in a relay race, handing me forward. Each one showed up with humanity. They didn’t know each other, but they changed the trajectory of my life.
John: Were these five teachers all in one school, or was it just serendipity?
Jaz: They were spread out across my educational life—primary to secondary. It wasn’t one perfect school; it was five very human individuals in different places. I once asked a room of Year 11s if they felt their school was for them. Almost no hands went up. Then I asked if one or two teachers were for them—and every hand went up. That tells you everything about the power of one relationship.
John: Did those five teachers earn your trust straight away?
Jaz: Not at all! I had this internal adult-categorisation system from when I was six. Category one were great adults—safe, warm, present. Category two liked you but didn’t have time for you. Category three? Dangerous or dangerous idiots. I misread a lot of good adults because I was on high alert. Growing up in chaos teaches you to read people fast, but it doesn’t mean you’re always right.
John: You returned to one of your primary schools and saw Mrs Cook comforting a child—just like she once comforted you. Do we lose something between primary and secondary?
Jaz: Oh, we lose a lot. I call it the “summer of no belonging”—that awkward gap between leaving primary and starting secondary. For some kids, school is home. We have to do better with transition. At my local secondary, Hazeley Academy, they run HazeleyFest where Year 6s stay overnight. It’s brilliant. You see who turns up with a camping mattress and who has a bin bag and a cushion. You see the stories—and most importantly, they leave knowing where they belong.
John: And so many of the actions that shaped you were small, weren’t they?
Jaz: Oh my gosh—tiny! A TA once gave me a classroom teddy when I was being taken into care. She reframed it as an adventure. That changed everything. And Peggy—our terrifying dinner lady with her purple rinse and bosoms like airbags—brought in a toaster and started making us toast when she noticed my brother and I hanging around school early. She told the head, “Sack me!” when he objected. And then started charging the teachers for toast! These are the people who saw us. Not for what we were doing, but for who we were.
John: You’ve made a documentary—Re-Story Your Life—which is being screened here at the conference. That must have taken huge courage.
Jaz: It was the most harrowing and healing two days of my life. The film let me go back to my old junior school and work with children in the exact area I grew up in. That neighbourhood hasn’t changed—but I have. I speak from healed scars, never open wounds. But some of what’s in the film is still raw, so I actually leave the room when it plays. Ed—my husband—takes over. Because although it’s tough for me, it’s too important not to share.
John: Why is it so important?
Jaz: Because we’re in one of the hardest times in education right now. Teachers and leaders are exhausted. They’re not being paid enough, thanked enough, or supported enough. This film—and the book—are my way of holding up a mirror and saying: you matter. You’re an everyday hero. Your small acts have impact. Even when no one tells you.
John: And that level of transparency—you even have a page on your website now, right?
Jaz: Yes—jazampawfarr.com/BOYTIM. It’s full of behind-the-scenes videos where I’m completely honest about imposter syndrome, burnout, wellbeing… all of it. We need more real talk. I’m well supported, I’ve got a brilliant team, but I still collapse in a heap afterwards. I take care of myself now so I can keep showing up as Full Fat Jaz.
John: And we’ll make sure there’s a comfy chair for you at the ICC! Jaz, thank you so much for this conversation—and for all that you bring to the profession.
Jaz: My pleasure. Thank you, John.