Education Executive December 2022

Editor’s comment

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… and boy am I happy about it! This year has been another tough one; just as we were starting to move forward, post-COVID, the cost of living crisis, political turmoil and what seems to have been an endless cycle of bad news have ensured that we haven’t rested on our laurels yet! Now, though, the Christmas lights popping up in our towns and houses are starting to bring some much-needed sparkle and, although this Christmas may be tougher as costs rise, I hope you get to enjoy some quality time with family, friends or whoever you choose to spend the festive period with.

Our December issue is, once again, filled with expert insight and adviceand, in honour of the season, lots of our December articles come with a festive feeling! Christmas is a time for merriment which, for some, may involve a tipple or two. David Carne explains why, as well as enjoying their products, we have a lot to learn from winemakers about leadership. Phil Burton offers some great ideas on how you can make your team feel appreciated during the festive season, and Simon Hepburn discusses how you can take advantage of the festive season to market your school really effectively and engage with your community.

Many of us enjoy sitting down to watch a special film on TV around this time; Laura Williams takes inspiration from one of her favourite Christmas films, The Wizard of Oz, to explain why you already have the tools you need to succeed. Christmas is also a time for giving and gratitude, and Helen Burge shares her advice on how you can ensure you and your school develop a global mindset to care for both yourselves and others around the world.

Despite the financial hardships of 2022, Sue Birchall is determined to celebrate some financial successes to bring a measure of cheer at this festive time of year and Emma Gray brings this issue to a close by reflecting on a tumultuous year; she is looking to 2023, hoping that it will open up a road that leads to recovery and not to nowhere.

As always, we’d love to hear any suggestions you have for the magazine. If you’d like to get involved with EdExec, or if you want us to cover a certain topic, please do let us know. Contact eleanor@intelligentmedia.co.uk, or tweet @edexec, with ideas, opinions or success stories.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

From all of us here at EdExec, we wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year! See you in 2023!

Is your school doing something wonderful? Do you have an opinion or experience you’d like to share? A story suggestion? Or some advice you’d like to share with your peers?

Get in touch – email eleanor@ intelligentmedia.co.uk

ELEANOR POTTER EDITOR

Contributors

The education sector can be difficult to navigate at times, and those in school business management play a pivotal role in steering schools to success. Tasked with everything from finance and procurement, to HR and admin, you keep the education cogs turning. Education Executive addresses the most pressing matters faced by SBMs, offering meaningful insights and practical advice.

ELEANOR POTTER Editor Education Executive

HELEN BURGE Deputy COO ThePrioryLearningTrust

DAVID CARNE School business professional and executive coach CardinalGriffinCatholicCollege

PHIL BURTON Business manager HallbrookandCosbyPrimarySchool

SIMON HEPBURN Founder MarketingAdviceforSchools

SUE BIRCHALL Long-standingschoolbusinessleader

NIGEL MILLIGAN IT technician manager StHerbert’sRCPrimarySchool

LAURA WILLIAMS Founder L J Business of Education

NEIL LIMBRICK Founder theEducationCollective

EMMA GRAY Chieffinanceandoperationsofficer CotswoldBeaconAcademyTrust

London, E8

info@intelligentmedia.co.uk Web www.intelligentmedia.co.uk

Education Executive is the first business management magazine written exclusively for school business managers and bursars, bringing you the latest issues affecting your role, from finance to premises, procurement to HR. EdExec delivers the lowdown on all the hottest topics in education management right here, every month.

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The latest news and views from the world of education

Horwich mayor’s Christmas card competition winners revealed

The Mayor of Horwich has announced the joint winners of the ‘Design a Christmas Card’ competition, The Bolton News has reported. There were a total 48 entries from seven schools in the area, for which the brief was ‘Christmas in Horwich’. The mayor and mayoress picked one winner each – Isla-Jay Cheetham, a year four pupil from Chorley New Road Primary School, and Jonah Arstall, who is in year five at St Mary’s Primary School, both hit the brief with their creative designs.

“From the shortlist we have chosen two fantastic winners whose designs have been turned into Christmas cards by Craftprint,” town mayor, Cllr Steven Chadwick, said. “They will now be sold to raise funds for my mayoral charities and groups. Both designs absolutely fulfilled the design brief ‘Christmas in Horwich’. Isla’s design was incredibly clever; using the geography of our area and a Christmas pudding to make the Pike hill was fantastic.

“Jonah’s design recognises Horwich’s proud heritage as a historic railway town, with a train arriving into Horwich full of presents - again, a very clever idea. Thank you to all who entered. There were some fantastic designs - and a special thank you to Craftprint of Horwich, who not only provided the posters free of charge to advertise the competition, but have also donated 200 cards of each design, and certificates, free of charge to support this community initiative.”

@susie_dent: Word of the day is ‘hibernacle’ (18th century): a retreat or refuge in which to sit out the winter and wait for sunnier days.

Selfless Warrington pupil fundraises for her school Christmas Fair

Six-year-old Sienna Reading took it upon herself to visit businesses across the town to raise awareness of her school’s Christmas Fair and collect raffle prizes. Oakwood Avenue Primary School, where Sienna is a pupil, is holding the event to fundraise for school trips, visits and experiences to enhance the children’s curriculum.

Sienna asked her mum, Danielle, why the fundraising was needed and why some children’s parents couldn’t pay for these kinds of experiences. After Danielle explained about the recent rise in bills, and how some families may need some extra support to pay for all of these things, Sienna didn’t want any of her classmates to not be able to go on these trips so asked how she could help.

The inspiring youngster then set to work – borrowing her mum’s laptop, she typed her own letter to ask local businesses for raffle prizes. She then printed them off and delivered them to various places across Warrington; each time Sienna went inside all on her own while Danielle waited outside.

At each business, Sienna asked for the manager and then gave them her letter explaining that she was fundraising for her school and why it was important - and so far she has managed to raise 25 prizes

@MrBoothY6: I’m not saying it’s definitely going to be a belter of a day, but shuffle just put on three Girls Aloud songs in a row. Feels like a sign.

Schools receive early Christmas present from

Earby-based Robert Windle’s Foundation

Several schools in Craven have recently received an early Christmas present of £500 each from Earby-based charity, the Robert Windle’s Foundation, the Craven Herald and Pioneer has reported. The charity, based at The Old Grammar School in Earby, has given grants to 10 schools in the area.

A spokesperson for the charity said it had been a good year for the charity, with its continuing programme upgrading and maintaining the old grammar school, and the giving of grants to local groups and schools. Its kitchen upgrade is completed and has been awarded a five-star hygiene rating from Pendle Borough Council, and the new Morris Cafe opened earlier in the year is proving very popular.

M&S Christmas ad stars Valley Invicta Primary School Majorettes from Maidstone

As reported by Kent Online, a group of majorettes have gone from playground performances to a role in this year’s M&S Christmas TV advert. The Valley Invicta Primary School Majorettes, from Maidstone, have been featured in this year’s M&S festive clothing and home ad. The retail giant has partnered with giving platform Neighbourly to share £1m between community groups. Neighbourly and M&S worked together to identify the 1,000 organisations which will receive funding, as well as shortlisting nine to feature in the TV campaign.

Banbury school children design Christmas elves for new book

The Banbury Guardian has reported that four children from the Bishop Loveday CoE Primary School have had their Christmas elf designs picked as characters for a new children’s book.

Pupils were asked to design their own spirit elf by local author Clare Anderson, with each student coming up with a name and superpower for their creation. The young artists’ prize was to have their ideas turned into fictional characters by a professional illustrator, and then to be featured in Clare’s children’s fantasy adventure book, The Lost Wish.

Over 120 children, aged between five and 10, from the school submitted drawings with the winners chosen as Florence, and Joseph, aged five, Nancy, seven and Sofia-Rose who is 10. Joseph named his space-traveling elf Giddy Up Harry because he rearranges stars into arrows to help people who are lost, whilst Sofia-Rose’s creation, Victer the Animal Finder, uses his super hearing to help find lost animals. Elfsa, whose superpower is kindness and sharing toys, is the brainchild of five-year-old Florence while, for Nancy, it was all about Starlight the Elf, who reads people’s minds to help their dreams come true. “I chose the superpower of reading people’s minds and making dreams come true because it would make my elf really kind,” Nancy said. “I am so excited that Starlight, my own elf, will be in a book!”

The Valley Invicta Primary School Majorettes is an afterschool club made up of 12 girls which meets at the school in Maidstone. The group has only ever performed in the school playground, making their debut in M&S’ Christmas campaign even more special.

@WrexhamSBP: School funding is rightly in the news a lot of late, for obvious reasons, but please can we acknowledge that the school workforce comprises BOTH teachers AND support staff. Some schools even have more of the latter than the former.

#schools #schoolstaff #staffinclusive

Schools may go online one day a week to cut costs

Wearing coats in classrooms, and leaving jobs unfilled, are other cost saving ideas sent to headteachers in Powys in a briefing document.

Every option must be considered in order to try and deal with a financial crisis, said the county’s cabinet member for education. Each school will be asked to decide for itself how to make significant savings next year.

Pete Roberts, the Powys cabinet member for education, told a meeting of the council that school budgets were being looked at “in detail” for “potential solutions”.

“We did suggest the possibility of a four-day week,” Roberts said, “with a fifth day being taught virtually, as well as blended weeks of learning, as extreme cases for consideration.” However, he stressed that schools had been given no “clear directive” to do this, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. “Ultimately, it is the decision and responsibility of headteachers and their chairs of governors regarding the school budget,” he said, “and one size does not fit all.”

Deborah Davies has a teenage daughter who goes to school in the county. She said pupils are already struggling after the COVID pandemic. “It makes me very, very, angry,” she said. “I think the (UK) government needs to intervene and speak to the energy suppliers and get something sorted.” As a single parent, she said keeping pupils at home one day a week would be a “hard struggle,” going on to explain how she would struggle to deal with childcare issues.

Another local parent is Kazryel Bolwell who has two children at school and runs a business in Powys. She understands the difficulties schools face in trying to balance their books but questioned the logic of closing a building for one day a week. “Will one day make a difference in terms of not having children in school?” she asked. “Does the maths really add up to it being a

big benefit?”

She believes it will cause problems for parents who work. “If I’m not here, and I’m at home with my children, homeschooling them, my shop isn’t open and I can’t make any money,” she pointed out.

Eithne Hughes, director of the Association of School and College Leaders Cymru, said the suggestion “underlines the very seriousness of the situation that we have here in Wales... Obviously, if we’ve got children at home for one day a week, or half a day a week, we’re going to compound the problems of the children who are in the greatest need. So it has to be an absolute last solution,” Hughes told the BBC Radio Wales Breakfast programme

“The fact that it has been considered, I think, really is a sign of how difficult the whole situation is. Schools at the moment are trying to juggle, and make books balance, when actually they just don’t balance. It’s going to lead to redundancies.”

Schools have been asked to produce plans explaining how they will continue with children’s education, Cllr Roberts said, explaining that online learning could, “reduce the utilities costs for the schools and lead to a considerable saving”.

Wearing coats in classrooms, he added, is something pupils have already been doing.

“For the past two winters, in some instances, a few children have had to wear their coats in their classrooms due to windows being open as part of the COVID guidance,” he said, “not because the school could not afford to pay the heating bill.

“With COVID increasing, this situation is likely to happen again this winter.”

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on BBC News

Pupils could be taught online one day a week to help schools balance the books, a council has suggested

The fact that it has been considered really is a sign of how difficult the whole situation is

SPOTLIGHT ON NEWS AND VIEWS

SPOTLIGHT ON

Headline facts and figures on schools, pupils and their characteristics for the academic year 2021/22

T

HEADLINE STATS

Headcount - Total 9,000,031

All schools in England - increase of 88,000 from 2021

Number of schools 24,454

All schools in England - increase of 41 from 2021

Average class size 26.7

Infant classes - up from 26.6 in 2021

FSM - Percentage of pupils 22.5

Becoming a global citizen

the penultimate article of HELEN BURGE’S series covering

area of the Eco Schools Award,

Have you ever had a revelation about the life that goes on around you that you don’t see because you are so focused on, and caught up in, your own issues? For example, you have to do something outside of your normal routine - like go to an appointment during your working day - and are amazed at just how many other people are also not at work, and are doing something other than work. This might sound basic, but sometimes it really surprises me that we are not all in the ‘same boat’ - an expression which originated in the 16th century and equated to ‘having the same fate’.

During the pandemic British writer Damian Barr wrote, ‘We are not all in the same boat. We are all in the same storm. Some are on super-yachts. Some have just the one oar.’ The COVID vaccine roll out, worldwide, is testament to that. We

in the UK, with nearly 90% of people aged 12 years and over having received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, are on a super-yacht, whereas some countries like Nigeria and Ethiopia, where only eight per cent of the population is vaccinated, don’t even have one oar! I feel powerless to help those countries and yet, as a global citizen, I do have a responsibility.

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

‘Global citizenship’ is the concept that everyone is a member of a worldwide community, although your life might not always look like the lives of people in other countries. Global citizenship includes civic responsibilities, cultural awareness, the environment and the global economy. All people are connected by our shared experience of living on earth - some people are

In

each

Helen shares her advice on how you can ensure you and your school develop a global mindset to care for others around the world

paying more for it than others, though.

One such experience is having a coke. More than 200 countries sell Coca-Cola™ and, where it isn’t manufactured, it is often imported. Originally, in Samoa, an island in the Pacific Ocean, Coca-Cola™ sold their fizzy drinks in glass bottles with an incentive scheme to return them. In February 2021, CocaCola™ switched to plastic bottles as, economically, this was better for them. However, there is no facility to recycle plastic on the island so, in order to avoid being overrun with single use plastic, volunteers collect, clean and sort the plastic bottles and get them compacted and sent off the island for recycling. Their civic responsibility has compensated for Coca-Cola™ walking away from the impact of their actions.

Coca-Cola™ sells over 100bn single use plastic bottles every year; they are the world’s worst plastic polluter for the third year running according to The Brand Audit Report. The soft drinks industry produces 470bn plastic bottles annually. How does that make you feel as a global citizen?

In terms of the Eco School framework, global citizenship means taking an active role in your community and striving to make the planet more peaceful, sustainable and fair. So, what does this mean for your school?

IDEAS FOR ACTION

● Your school could donate to its local foodbank.

● Consider which charities your school raises funds and awareness for; does this include a global or environmental charity?

● Reflection time in assemblies – sharing how students learn in other countries, or how their everyday lives are different, can help students understand their own privilege.

● Purchase fair trade products for the staff room or school kitchen and/or sell them at PTFA events. Maybe your school would be interested in becoming a Fairtrade school? Go to https://schools.fairtrade.org.uk/fairtrade-schools-awards/

● The Global Education Collective (https://thegec.org/theapped) as part of their EDI app includes Global Citizenship. They also provide a lot of supporting resources.

● Create volunteering opportunities for students.

● Review your procurement - is it ethical? Are your suppliers ethical? Could you shop locally?

One of the recommendations for being a better global citizen is to increase your awareness of other countries and cultures by travelling - which, as we all know, can have a bit of a negative impact on your carbon footprint. I know when my eldest spent 10 days volunteering in Morocco when he was in Y10, he returned with a far greater appreciation of his life, and also an awareness of how different other people live and work. He was no longer so black and white about things; he thought and reflected more.

However, the carbon footprint of that trip wasn’t offset –oh the complexities of becoming a global citizen!

Global citizenship means taking an active role in your community and striving to make the planet more peaceful, sustainable and fair

What winemakers can teach us about organisational leadership –part one

Those who know me well, know I am passionate about wine. Don’t misunderstand that statement, I’m not indicating that readers should stage an intervention; instead, I am indicating that, beyond the drinking of wine (which I enjoy), I am fascinated by the process of producing a quality wine. It strikes me that there are several lessons for organisational leadership which winemakers can teach us.

PLANNING AND DESIGN

Winemakers understand the ‘terroir’, the context and geography in which their wine is being produced. The taste of wine is planned, not accidental, and terroir is a vital component of this. Typically, the winemaker is looking at the balance between sunlight, rain, irrigation and soil composition.

The best winemakers work with the terroir, not against it. I would suggest that school leaders look at the context, culture and ethos which best fits their leadership

styles and preferences. This includes the demographics, the staff makeup, the internal culture, needs of pupils, parental engagement, social and cultural capital, and the traditions/history of the school in which they work.

Understanding where you ‘plant your vines’ as a school leader will significantly impact your ability to be successful. Some varieties of vine do better in certain terroir, and the same is true of staff at all levels. It is amazing how many good school leaders who have been successful in one context, flounder in another.

USING GOOD ROOT STOCK

Up until the 1850s, European vines were grown from cuttings. However, Victorian botanists introduced American vine varieties to England which contained phylloxera, an insect pest that feeds on vine roots, decimating up to 90% of English and European vines by the end of the century. Today, pretty much all vines in Europe are grafted onto American root

stock, which is resistant to phylloxera. Having strong roots is essential in leadership. In tough times, being rooted in personal integrity, moral purpose, passion and having strong internal ethics, are essential. Just as a strong root stock adds character and strength to a vine, so too strong roots add character and strength to a leader.

CREATING CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS

Good winemakers understand that placing vines too close to each other is going to reduce sunlight - which is a key component in growth. In a school context, having too many strategies or initiatives which are competing for resources will similarly stifle effectiveness. Equally important is ensuring that vines do not get overtaken by frost. Often stony ground which retains heat into the evening is selected; wind machines, fires or water jets are sometimes used to prevent frost, but my personal favourite method is using

a

As the festive season approaches, the sale of alcohol increases as people begin to get merry - but as well as enjoying their products,

DAVID CARNE, school business professional and executive coach, explains why we have a lot to learn from winemakers about leadership

helicopter to circulate air.

The point here is that external events will always happen but, to some extent, you can plan for them. Leaving some slack within a budget to deal with unplanned events, and releasing this for wishlist projects at the end of the year if it is not needed, can be effective. As school leaders we can also scenario plan for different eventualities. We don’t wait for the vine to freeze before taking action; we are proactive.

Similarly, winemakers also know that a degree of stress to the vine is actually beneficial. A stressed vine will put its energy into its fruit rather than its leaves. Sometimes leaders do have to apply pressure, drive things forward and disrupt complacency in order to achieve improvement. This is about ensuring that energy goes into innovation, rather than perpetuating the status quo at the expense of outcomes.

However, winemakers also seek to balance the stress. Too much stress and the vine will struggle to produce fruit at all. As leaders, our job is to balance the expectations so that people are thriving and producing the ‘best fruit’, rather than pushing out lots of fruit of low quality.

MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Viticulturists know that you cannot plant a vine and leave it - you have to maintain and manage your vines. The vine canopy has to be arranged so that the leaves do not block the sunlight, and shoots have to be pruned because reducing the number of grapes improves the quality of those that are left.

As leaders, we have to maintain both ourselves and others. This is about developing, and appropriately deploying, growing, training and coaching our staff teams. However, at times, having developed and coached staff, it may also be about pruning staff who still do not buy into our culture, ethos and values, or who are not producing the ‘right fruit’. Hopefully, this is a rare occurrence.

JOURNEY AND CUSTODIANSHIP

Winemaking is not about short-term profit. Typically, a vine will not produce any useable fruit for three years after it is grafted onto root stock. Winemaking requires patience. As vines mature, so does the quality of the fruit. Most winemakers see themselves as the custodians of the vines for the future. A good vine will easily last for 100 or more years and, therefore,

is likely to outlast the winemaker.

Leadership is also rarely a quick fix; lasting and meaningful change take time and require significant patience, persistence and the grit to keep going. For a winemaker, typically two-inevery-10 years, the weather will ruin the harvest, and two-in-every-10 years will be bumper years. In schools there are great years, rubbish years and a lot of alright years in between. Having a custodian attitude means ego gets removed from the equation and we have the humility to see our own mistakes, and correct them.

Just like winemakers, school leaders need to ensure that we match the context of our school, have deep-rooted, positive character traits, create the conditions for success, continually manage and maintain our organisations and are committed to serving our organisations for the long term.

Keep an eye out for part two in our January edition of EdExec where we will look at what leaders can learn from the winemaking process itself.

As leaders, our job is to balance the expectations so that people are thriving and producing the ‘best fruit’

How to access support from school hubs

Teaching school hubs are lead schools that deliver evidencebased continuing professional development (CPD) to schools in a designated area of the country; this professional development covers every stage of a teacher’s career and is designed to work for all subjects, phases and schools.

TRAINEE TEACHERS

Teaching school hubs deliver high quality school-based initial teacher training, underpinned by the initial teacher training (ITT) core content framework, either as an accredited ITT provider or a partner school.

Cost Where applicable, there will be individual funding arrangements in place between the accredited ITT provider and their placement schools; this reflects the additional roles and responsibilities associated with hosting an ITT trainee, such as the placement school providing a mentor for the trainee.

EARLY CAREER TEACHERS

Teaching school hubs deliver free, DfEfunded, training to early career teachers and their mentors to ensure their practice is based in the evidence set out in the Early Career Framework. They can also quality assure the statutory induction that the early career teacher receives through the appropriate body role.

Cost Early career teachers and mentors in state-funded schools and 16-to-19 organisations are funded by DfE to complete the Early Career Framework full induction programme.

MORE EXPERIENCED TEACHERS AND LEADERS

Teaching school hubs deliver the full suite of national professional qualifications (NPQs), consisting of:

● specialist NPQs for teachers and leaders to enhance and develop their existing skills and knowledge both inside and outside of the classroom;

● leadership NPQs for existing and aspiring leaders to develop their

knowledge and skills for leadership roles in schools and multi-academy trusts.

Cost Teachers and leaders working in state-funded schools and 16-to-19 organisations can access fully-funded training scholarships for all NPQs. Full details of scholarship eligibility are available which includes eligibility in early years and other settings. Some small settings may also be eligible for a £200 grant payment to help access the courses.

TEACHERS AT EVERY STAGE IN THEIR CAREER

The additional CPD provided by teaching school hubs complements existing DfEapproved programmes, and existing hub offers, to meet local needs. A total of 87 teaching school hubs have been designated across all areas of the country, meaning all schools have access to the professional development that hubs offer.

Who can access this support Any state-funded school, 16-to-19 organisation, special school, alternative provision settings, or early years settings in England

Here’s how school leaders can get support from other schools in their locality to improve a specific area of teaching or leadership

can access a teaching school hub. How to access this support Use the list of teaching school hubs by area to find your local teaching school hub.

SUBJECT HUBS

This support is designed to develop expertise in a teaching a specific subject or discipline and complements the Early Career Framework and national professional qualifications.

Cost Support is either fully-funded or subsidised, depending on the programme. Who can access this support All state-funded schools and colleges, special schools and alternative provision settings in England are eligible for support - but some hubs only target specific phases of education.

English hub support is currently available for primary schools; modern foreign languages support is available for secondary schools.

ENGLISH HUBS

English hubs offer a range of support and CPD to primary schools to improve the teaching of early reading, with a particular focus on systematic synthetic phonics, early language and reading for pleasure. This consists of tailored support from a literacy specialist, CPD and funding to buy phonics and early language resources. There are 34 English hubs.

Cost The support offered by English hubs is mostly free and funded by the Department for Education (DfE). Contact your English hub for details. How to access Find your English hub and contact them directly.

MATHS HUBS

Maths hubs provide support to schools and colleges to help them continuously improve mathematics education. This consists of working with teachers and leaders from reception through to Key Stage 5 via CPD, leadership communities

and early career teacher professional communities. More information on different support offered for each phase is available on the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics’ website.

There are 40 maths hubs.

Cost All of the support offered to schools by maths hubs is entirely free of charge for state-funded schools and colleges. How to access Find your maths hub and contact them directly.

COMPUTING HUBS

Computing hubs offer CPD, guidance and support to local schools and colleges to improve the teaching of computing and increase participation in computer science qualifications.

Computing hubs work with teachers from Key Stages 1-to-5 via development programmes, certification and peer networking; they also signpost to teaching resources and lesson plans. More information on different support offered for each phase is available on the teach computing website. There are 34 computing hubs.

Cost For state-funded schools and colleges, all resources and online CPD is entirely free of charge, whereas CPD delivered by hubs is subsidised. Schools and colleges are eligible for fully-funded support from a subject expert if they meet one of the following criteria:

● they are located in local authority districts five and six;

● they are not currently offering GCSE computer science;

● they only started teaching GCSE computer science in the last two years.

BEHAVIOUR HUBS

The behaviour hubs programme matches lead schools or multi academy trusts (MATs) with exemplary behaviour practices, to partner schools or MATs which want and need to improve behaviour culture. There are 50 behaviour

hubs lead schools, and 10 behaviour hubs lead MATs.

Cost The programme is fully-funded for partner schools.

Who can access The behaviour hubs programme is open to schools in England that are rated ‘good’, ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted. Support is available to senior leaders in: ● MATs;

● primary and secondary schools;

● alternative provision settings;

● special schools.

How to access To apply for support, use this application form. To find out more, email behaviourhubs@ educationdevelopmenttrust.com.

CAREERS HUBS

The Department for Education funds

The Careers & and Enterprise Company to co-ordinate careers hubs. What support is available Careers hubs offer school and college careers leaders and senior leadership teams support to develop their careers programme in line with the Gatsby Benchmarks of good careers guidance. This includes:

● training for careers leaders;

● bringing employers, educators and providers together through the hub network;

● sharing digital tools and resources.

Cost The programme is fully-funded for state-funded schools and colleges.

Who can access Mainstream state-funded schools and colleges in England, special schools and alternative provision settings.

How to access Where a careers hub exists, the enterprise co-ordinators should already be in contact with secondary schools in their area to offer support. If there is not a careers hub in your area, or your school or college is not currently part of a careers hub and you would like to join one, contact The Careers & Enterprise Company.

Making your team feel appreciated during the festive season

PHIL BURTON, SBM at Hallbrook and Cosby Primary Schools, on how to celebrate your team this Christmas

As we rapidly approach the Christmas period now is a great time to focus on your team’s wellbeing and how you can inject some fun in what are, undoubtedly, some of the busiest weeks of the year. Research has shown that individuals’ stress peaks during the festive period - what can we do about it?

EMBRACE THE FESTIVE SPIRIT

Engaging employees and boosting morale during this time has its benefits and staff will be thankful for some light-hearted relief.

● Arrange your Christmas party.

● Decorate your office.

● Take part in fun events like jumper days.

● Hold fun days.

● Design daily optional activities such as quizzes, anagrams and problemsolving games

● Signpost to, or provide, support

Many families will be worried about the festive period, whether this involves financial concerns or maybe the thought of meeting up with family they have historic issues with. Have an opendoor policy where your team feel they can come and talk to you about their concerns if they feel this is appropriate.

If you are not able to facilitate this,

make sure that you are signposting your staff towards resources that can help with their concerns. There are lots of external agencies out there which have skilled professionals who can deal with this sort of thing and offer advice.

THANK THE TEAM Research shows that 84% of people admit that a non-financial perk motivates them to work harder and makes them feel more valued. Whether this is just saying ‘Thank you’ for their hard work, or taking it a step further, a simple gesture can go a long way. Make it your mission to say ‘Thank you’ every day –and not just at Christmas.

If thought suitable why not set up the 12 days of Christmas where, each day, there is a special treat. I have done this before, and it went down a storm. Simple ideas work really well, such as:

● Satsuma Day.

● Mince Pie Day.

● Hot Chocolate Day.

● Bacon Cob Day.

Many managers will purchase a gift for staff as a way of thanking them for their work. Try to avoid generic gifts as this can often lose the personal touch. Often a card with carefully thought out words will also add to meaning and thoughtfulness.

ADOPT A FLEXIBLE APPROACH

Whilst this may be more difficult to do due to the operational running of the school, could you adopt a flexible working approach over the Christmas period which allows your staff to benefit from time during the day whilst also getting their work completed?

Is there an opportunity for finance staff to maybe have an afternoon away to do the Christmas shopping whilst it is quieter in the stores and then complete the finance work in the evening? Could those on PPA take this time away from the school and adopt a similar approach by completing the work in the evening?

Finally, to get you in the festive spirit, have a go at these festive quiz questions:

● If you add up all the gifts given in the 12 days of Christmas, how many gifts would there be?

● In what year was the first Christmas card created in England?

● What colour are the berries of the mistletoe plant?

● In what year did parliament pass the law to make Christmas legal?

● Who is officially credited as the author of Auld Lang Syne?

How you can use the festive season to market your school

It’s almost the end of what has been, as usual, a challenging term; but it’s also the run up to Christmas and other winter festivals - a time when children (and even some adults) get excited and want to get together and celebrate! Are there ways to make the most of this time of year to really connect with your wider community - without further burning out school staff? Here are some ‘festive principles’ to consider for this year, and the future and, if your school celebrates other festivals at any time of year, these ideas can be adapted and re-used.

having to open the school on multiple nights and set up lots of locations; instead, think about how to maximise the impact of a small number of events – for example, you could take your Christmas production on a tour of care homes, or to a local nursery, or present parts of it at your School Fair.

day. Another example would be that, if you have a new sports hall and want local sports teams to book it, invite them to the Christmas Fair you’re holding in it.

3

2

DON’T TRY TO DO TOO MANY THINGS – school business leaders, support staff and teachers are busy enough at this time of the year without

1

THINK ABOUT WHO YOU’RE INVITING – in a similar vein to the first point, make sure that you’re focused on engaging the people who matter most to the future of your school. For example, it can be tempting to do lots of events for current parents and students but, if you’re worried about future admissions, you could instead look to engage feeder schools, or re-invite parents who have attended your open

KEEP YOUR PLANNING AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE – start early and involve a wide range of people in the process; this will make it easier to get hold of resources (such as costumes for productions, or items to sell at your fair). I’d also recommend that you don’t worry about reusing ideas from previous years - just focus on making your events of the highest quality.

4 INVOLVE YOUR STUDENTS

– they’re the greatest resource in your school, so get them to plan, write, direct, sell, make things, film, write

December is a time for celebration and SIMON HEPBURN, founder of Marketing Advice for Schools, believes you can capitalise on the festivities to market your school and engage with your community

about and market your events. Andrew Goff runs School Media Team (www. schoolmedia.team), which trains pupils in media production. He points out that, “they’re also gaining experience in areas that are in high demand from employers – and, as well as technical skills, they’re growing in confidence and self-esteem”.

5 USE TECHNOLOGY TO

MANAGE EVENTS – many of us will have booked commercial events using systems such as Eventbrite (www.eventbrite.co.uk) but it’s now very easy to get them to host your events. Alternatives, such as Ticket Source, (www.ticketsource.co.uk) will let visitors book seats via your online seating plan and create e-tickets with QR codes, reducing both paper waste and time.

I’d also recommend creating Facebook Events which let people see which of their friends and family are attending!

6

FOUR NEW IDEAS FOR YOUR SCHOOL TO TRY

A school Christmas message –traditionally the preserve of royalty but, perhaps, an opportunity for your students to share their thoughts and aspirations for the year ahead, as well as demonstrating their media creation skills?

‘12 days of social media’ Christmas Day is often ‘new ‘phone day’ – so why not take advantage of tools such as Buffer (https://buffer.com) to programme a ‘greatest hits’ social media updates starting from that day, while enjoying time off yourself?

A livestreamed production rather than creating a DVD filmed from one camera for sale at a much later date, why not share a production while it is happening?

USE

CHRISTMAS EVENTS TO LAUNCH LONGER

CAMPAIGNS – this may be the time of year when you get most visitors into your school so take the opportunity to engage them with your long-term development ideas, whether that’s fundraising for a new building or creating a contact database of local businesses to improve careers education. Make sure you gather people’s details before they leave your school – you can do this via an online survey linked to a QR code or similar (this is also a great opportunity to gather feedback and ideas for the future). 

School Media Team’s Andrew Goff says, “Today’s technology means that you can invite relatives to view the performance live, enabling far more people to watch it, including those who are at work, housebound or even in a different country.”

A craft fair – why not celebrate the people in your local area by inviting them into your school for a festive fair. With the recent rise in working from home it’s amazing how many people would welcome the chance to sell things they’ve made as a hobby or as their ‘side hustle’.

Make sure you gather people’s details before they leave your school

Let’s celebrate

Despite the financial pressures this last year has brought SUE BIRCHALL, long-standing school business leader, chooses to celebrate some financial success to bring a measure of cheer at this festive time of year

As we near the end of 2022 for those of us who work within school finance it is hard to maintain an optimistic outlook! Having struggled through the restrictions of the pandemic, and all the additional costs, it looks like our next crisis is going to be the affordability of the much-deserved pay increases that are being agreed as we speak.

It is true that school funding has increased over the past few years (although it could be argued that this is, in reality, a real-time reduction due to the spiralling costs that we are all facing.) It is also clear that any benefit this brought is fast fading into the ether. With no additional monies to cover the increases agreed in November for support staff, and the unfunded five per cent increase for teaching staff across the board - which still has the capacity to be more - we could be excused for panicking a little.

A POSITIVE SPIN

However, the festive season is approaching, and it is important to look for all things merry, so I decided not to write about the above. They are pretty self-explanatory issues, and no amount of complaining that they are deserved but unaffordable is going to change them. No. We are going to put the worry aside until the new year and look for some positives leading up to Christmas. This actually didn’t prove as hard to do as I was expecting, and some of my, nore positive, thoughts are set out below.

Based on the outline above, I guess the first thing to be positive about is the fact that budgets are not as awful as they once were. Fewer schools are now in deficit across the country and, whilst I would be the first to say that this is down to better management (pat on the back SBLs) it is, generally, also down to higher levels of funding and more

support, whether through the academisation programme or local and central government.

FUNDRAISING

My second positive is a personal success and involves fundraising. I have been fundraising in schools for many years, with varying levels of success, and it is something I think had become harder leading up to the pandemic. However, this year we have achieved, particularly through crowd funding. Our school is the proud owner of the village lake - a beautiful local resource which, to date, has been used sparingly by the school but definitely by the local community. We led a crowd funding campaign to enhance the area with information boards, owl and bat boxes, and better access - as well as being able to support our local residents who look after it.

We were so pleased to be able to raise over £18,000 for the project through local donations, some industry support and successful bids to the local authority and the Lottery Community Fund. (Incidentally, I have placed another bid to the Community

Fund for a new website in the village where I live off of the back of this.)

This got me thinking about fundraising as a positive. There is a successive wave of great outcomes from a successful fundraising campaign - of which, the fact that you reached your target is, of course, paramount. It brings your school community together with a common aim, creates new partnerships, is aspirational for your school and extremely rewarding to celebrate when you have some success. On a personal level I feel that it helps everyone to ‘look up’ from the day-to-day, be inspired by the support that they receive and reaffirm their faith in the kindness of others.

As with all things, start small, aim high, and enjoy.

My last positive thought is…well it is Christmas. This year we can meet up with friends, spend time with our loved ones, take a break from the stress and enjoy. So I would wish everyone a Happy Christmas and, well, let’s just wait and see what the new year brings.

We are going to put the worry aside until the new year and look for some positives

There’s no place like home

If you know me well, then you know that Christmas is my favourite time of year.

Twinkly lights, open fires, advent calendars, sparkly frosts and, of course, Christmas films. The Holiday, Love Actually, Home Alone, Die Hard, Elf… I love them all!

In our house we also have non-Christmas films that we watch around Christmas for no other reason than it has become tradition. At the top of the list are the Harry Potter and Avengers films (because we love them) along with some random, iconic classics – like The Shawshank Redemption and The Wizard of Oz.

This year, more than any other, it’s kind of ironic.

‘THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME’ – RIGHT?

If you follow me on social media, or receive my weekly emails, then you’ll know that over the last few months my mental capacity has been completely consumed by the process of buying a house and moving.

It’s fair to say that the last few months has been a time in my life that has required me to use all the SBL tools I have in my toolbox – project planning, organisation, negotiation, data analysis, risk management and relationship-building being the main ones!

All things that I’m pretty good at…normally. When I’m in SBL mode I’m quite happy to stand in the eye of the storm, take in everything that’s going around me, observe the big picture, make the tough calls and do whatever is needed to be done – which usually involves running into the hurricane on a daily basis!

When I’m ‘just Laura’, being in the eye of the storm is difficult. It’s hard to stand firm in one place; I feel like I can’t see my hand in front of my face, and the anticipation of being knocked right off my feet at any moment takes my breath away.

My life is usually (thankfully) pretty calm and storm-free but, over the last twelve months, it feels like I’ve been cycling through one storm after another, just trying to hang on and find something to tether myself to. On more than one occasion, it’s been my SBL skills that have saved me, even when I’ve had to dig twice as deep to access them.

On days when I doubted my judgement, my abilities and myself it was working with SBLs, and writing my weekly emails, that helped me to keep some semblance of perspective and objectivity. I made a conscious effort to try something that I am notoriously terrible at doing - following my own advice. It’s not easy, and it really was an effort but, when I found

LAURA WILLIAMS, L J Business of Education, takes inspiration from one of her favourite Christmas films, The Wizard of Oz, to explain why you already have the tools you need to succeed

myself scrambling, I asked myself – what would I tell someone else who feels like this right now?

Here’s what I came up with.

IF YOU’RE FEELING OVERWHELMED, LOST AND DRIFTING or, in my words, ‘Like I’ve been scooped out of my goldfish bowl, plopped on a draining board and now I’m flapping around.’

Turn down the noise in the planning part of your brain - not the to-do lists, but rather the need to know what is going to happen tomorrow, the next day and ten days after that. Focus on a small chunk of time with a more refined list of to-dos with one goal – to get your goldfish bowl in order. Our environment (our goldfish bowl) should be a haven; if we don’t have that, we can feel even more overwhelmed, lost and drift than ever before.

The important thing to remember is that we can create our own haven (even if it’s in an office in a sea of chaos!) and, if we need to, we can recreate it, we can move it, we can shape it. If you’re feeling displaced, and out of sorts, go to or create that place for yourself. That place where you can feel safe, breathe, think and get the perspective you need to tackle what’s in front of you.

HERE’S ONE I WAS REMINDED OF BY GLINDA THE ‘GOOD WITCH’

When Dorothy asks Glinda to help her get home, Glinda says, “You don’t need to be helped any longer; you’ve always had the power to go back to Kansas.” When the Scarecrow asks why Glinda hadn’t told Dorothy this before, she replies, “Because she wouldn’t have believed me - she had to learn it for herself.”

It’s natural to doubt yourself and your abilities but you should remember that, to get where you want to go, to be what you want to be and to do what you want to do…you already have everything you need.

Face-palm, right? Sometimes, we just need a reminder of that, and this is yours.

If things aren’t going well, if you’re not where you want to be, if you want to make a change, if you’re sitting in a metaphorical tornado-tossed house and wondering how to get ‘home’, turn down the noise and remember – you can create one, you can find a new one.

Don’t worry about the how. Because you already know.

Have a wonderful break and I’ll see you in the New Year. 

When I’m in SBL mode I’m quite happy to stand in the eye of the storm

SWITCHED ON

The latest news and views from the world of ICT and edtech

Instagram debuts new age-verification tools in UK and EU

Anyone trying to edit their date of birth from that of an under-18 yearold to that of an over-18 must verify their age, BBC News has reported - but now, users have the option to record a video of themselves that will be analysed by age-estimation technology, instead of uploading ID.

Instagram said this would help ensure users’ experiences on the platform were ‘age–appropriate’. In June, Instagram announced it was exploring ways for teenagers to verify their ages and comply with platform rules, and in a US trial, they were given three ways to verify they were over 18:

● upload ID;

● ask three adult users to vouch for them;

● take a video selfie.

Instagram says it already uses artificial intelligence, and in-app reports, to help determine whether users are under 18 and, indeed, under 13, its minimum age - but according to research commissioned by UK media regulator Ofcom, one-in-three

children lies about their age to access adult content on social media.

Instagram accounts for under18s:

● are set to private by default, to reduce unwanted contact from strangers;

● use in-app notifications known as ‘nudges’ to encourage users to explore a range of content or spend less time on the app.

Instagram public policy director

Tara Hopkins said video age verification was an “important step” in delivering safer and better experiences for teenagers on the platform. “We want everyone to experience Instagram in a way that’s appropriate for their age, which means we need to know how old they are - and this is a challenge across our industry,” she said.

Instagram already uses video selfies to verify the identity of users locked out of their accounts. It has now extended its partnership with UK digital identity provider Yoti to also use them to verify age.

As reported by Bdaily, Zen Educate - a London-based platform that connects schools with temporary and full-time teachers and teaching assistants - has secured a £19.3m Series

A extension round. ‘Series A’ funding is the initial investment given by venture capitalist firms to a startup after it has shown good initial progress and development. The investment was led by Brighteye Ventures, Adjuvo, and several notable private investors and family offices, including Simon Rogerson and Chris Hulatt, the founders of Octopus Group.

Zen Educate has previously raised £9.4m, bringing the total the company has raised to £28.7m. The new funding will be used to continue to grow the platform across the UK, support further market expansion in the United States - where it has already seen ‘explosive growth’ - and complete its first acquisitions to consolidate the market.

@garyhenderson18: Looking forward to taking part in a webinar, and chatting about the future of technology in schools, including school data and how technology might be able to help with better data-driven decision-making.

Zen Educate believes it has built a ‘fairer, more ethical alternative to traditional agencies, removing the hassle of archaic processes’. Its online platform provides a secure, one-stop shop, to solve a school’s staffing needs, giving schools and teachers an online alternative to recruitment agencies.

Edtech to ‘change the world of substitute teaching’ via £19.3m funding round

Five UK edtech startups to watch

The UK edtech industry is on the rise, having received $609m (£527.3m) in investments in 2021, a major increase from the $164m (£142m) in the previous year, according to Statista Whether the industry will grow by that much again this year is unknown; however, the many promising edtech startups in the UK will be looking to help carry the industry to new heights. Here are five UK edtech startups to watch this school year, as shortlisted by UK Tech News:

@TrainingMindful: “Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn.”

Teaching that bridges tech’s gender gap

As seen on the Evening Standard, learning two facts about Britain’s tech industry inspired Anna Brailsford to launch entrepreneurial training business Code First Girls. The first fact was that the UK’s tech job market is projected to grow to six times its current value to be worth £30bn by 2025, and the second was that only onein-five people in the current tech workforce are women.

“I realised that the existing model of tech education was broken,“ Anna explained. “Girls and women were not being encouraged into tech careers throughout their educational and professional lives. If we rely on higher education alone, there will be one qualified woman for every 115 roles in technology by 2025. Companies are facing a colossal skills

gap, and dearth of talent.”

So, the 36-year-old decided to tackle both issues with Code First Girls, which has grown over the past almost two years to become the largest provider of free coding courses for women in the UK. CFG already existed as a campaign group, started by Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford - the people behind the start-up incubator Entrepreneur First - but, in June 2019, Anna became its third co-founder, turning the non-profit into a commercial business.

Firms now pay between £28,500 and “going into the millions” for an annual subscription, which gives them access to a set number of well-qualified female coders each year. This income covers all course fees for women candidates and current turnover exceeds £5m this year.

We’ve always done it that way!

'We’ve always done it that way!’

These are the most expensive words to hear in any organisation, especially a school. As we come to the end of what is turning out to be a very expensive year, with the costof-living skyrocketing, it’s certainly a time to review everything you do and ask some serious questions about how you could be more costeffective. For many years. in my role as an IT manager in schools, I have experienced a lot of opposition to doing things in a different way in order to innovate, and become more effective.

Gen Z and many other generations in 2022 do not have any computers in their homes; most online content and apps are accessed with smartphones, tablets and smart home devices such as Alexa and Google Home etc.

Many businesses now use mobile devices for home delivery and service technicians etc. By the time adults have to use a Windows-based business system they already understand the fundamental skills involved and, in most cases, will receive some form of formal training.

Why then do we need to force pupils from early years into having to sit at a Windows desktop or laptop in preparation for a future that will either have completely transformed again or which they can easily adapt to when they get there? Schools need simple, manageable, solutions that work and don’t need a large amount of support to maintain.

So, here’s the big question: why is it that Microsoft Windows is regarded as the main goto solution for education?

Answer: Generation X

NIGEL MILLIGAN, IT manager to schools and businesses, argues now is the time to stop ‘doing it the way it has always been done’

In nearly every scenario, each time a conversation is to be had about IT systems in schools, many of the decision-makers are from Generation X and have not known, or wanted to, change to anything else other than Windows. They are recommending what is comfortable for them, and not factoring-in the sensible alternative options available to them. Many revealing comments you will hear from IT managers and technicians include, ‘I don’t trust Google’ or ‘I hate Apple devices’ – but these professionals are supposed to be supporting everyone, and should be open minded to all new technologies.

Let’s now look at this from the highest level. Trust boards, and even the DfE, are advised by the same generation of advisors who are recommending ‘what’s always been done’. Many senior decision-makers who should be visionary

are not being this; yet they are in a privileged position to change the way things are done, to transform the way that teaching is delivered, to provide a much better future for pupils and staff in schools.

Please don’t read this article and come to the conclusion that I favour all other solutions over Microsoft - the collection of systems and products I work with on a daily basis is wide and varied. I have been fortunate enough to be empowered, and to have open discussions with the decision-makers to allow them to make an informed decision as to what is right for their schools, pupils and staff.

We all need to remember that the solutions to all our problems need to be the right ones. Do not try to shoehorn the wrong solution into place because it’s what you’ve always done!

Do not try to shoehorn the wrong solution into place because it’s what you’ve always done!

'

Techno Geek

How to evaluate your IT provision

NEIL LIMBRICK, partner and IT consultant, Limbrick Consultancy LLP, founder of theEducationCollective and ambassador for the Association of Network Managers in Education (ANME), shares his expert advice on how you can effectively evaluate the IT provision in your school

There is an old joke that crops up from time-to-time – ‘Words cannot describe your beauty, but numbers can; six-out-of-10.' This is a great demonstration of how selecting the right way to evaluate information can determine how successful it will be.

As a full time IT consultant for the education sector, I have to quickly evaluate elements of a school’s IT provision. Systems, people and vision all play a part in working out where to invest time and money. Initial questions like, ‘What keeps you awake at night?’ or, ‘What works really well?’ help unearth issues and highlight individual perspectives on the provision based on what is important to the school.

Over time I began to realise there are three key zones; this applies to everything from use of software, like your MIS, to staff effectiveness or investment in equipment.

The three zones then form a development timeline:

● Crisis management ● Value added ● Stable and reliable

Crisis management – if you have ever had to think about whether to use a system because it might not work then this sits squarely in the crisis management zone - or if you spent money on something that is not being used - like interactive screens/white boards.

Stable and reliable – at this point the provision is effortless to engage with and you do not give using it a second thought. It does exactly what you expect it

to and provides everything you believe you invested time and money to get.

Value added – sometimes a product or service exceeds our expectations; it not only achieves what you set out to do but it also does a whole lot more – giving you the maximum value out of your investment. A specific example could be Office 365.

When you adopt an eco-system like O365 there are teething problems – staff need to learn and engage, filters and other settings need to be adjusted to get the flow of email right. At this point you are somewhere to the left of stable and reliable to some degree. Then you get the hang of the system as an organisation and people use O365 for email effortlessly with some people, perhaps, using it for saving files to the cloud. Email is the most common reason people adopt O365 and so, at this point, you are squarely at ‘stable and reliable’.

If you then seize the opportunity to use some of the additional features like Forms, Teams or Sharepoint, you are really getting the maximum value out of the system and probably save money from not having to have other solutions in place, or even ditching on site servers completely.

Hopefully, none of the provision in your setting is to the left of ‘stable and reliable’ but, if it is, then this is probably the first thing to address. Beyond that it is about looking for the opportunities, perhaps balanced with likely impact, and with a strong influence from your school development plan.

LGfL - the not for profit charity advancing education through the effective use of technology

There are thousands of reasons why we are growing … Just ask our schools

LIVE IT

Time to take a few moments out for some light and interesting reading – a wellearned break from numbers and statistics!

Caption competition

Let us know your funny caption ideas by tweeting us @edexec

LIFE HACK

flavour, try adding some frozen grapes to your glass instead of ice cubes.

Pub quiz

1. In the Dr Who Christmas special in 2017, which actress made her first official appearance as the 13th Doctor?

2. Alphabetically, which of Santa’s reindeer comes first?

3. Who is generally recognised as the author of the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas (also known as Twas the Night Before Christmas)?

4. Snowflakes are often portrayed as being sixsided but studies suggest that fewer than what percentage of snowflakes exhibit the ideal sixfold symmetric shape? a) 0.1% b) 1% c) 10%

5. Who wrote the Band Aid song Do They Know It’s Christmas?

Answers: 1. Jodie Whittaker 2. Blitzen 3. Clement C. Moore 4. 0.1% 5. Bob Geldof and Midge Ure

Magic mushrooms for mental health

A single dose of a hallucinogenic chemical found in magic mushrooms can dramatically reduce the symptoms of intractable depression, according to the largest ever study of its kind, Sky News has reported. Around a third of patients given a 25mg dose of a synthetic form of psilocybin, along with psychological support, were still in remission three weeks later. All had failed to respond to traditional antidepressant treatments. In the international trial, 233 patients were allocated to one of three different doses of a manufactured psilocybin called COMP360. They also had support from a therapist to prepare them for the six-to-eight-hour hallucinogenic ‘trip’, which was clinically supervised; a further session after drug treatment cemented the experience.

If you want your wine chilled over the festive season, but don’t want to dilute the

DID YOU KNOW?

We all know that the same few handfuls of Christmas songs play at stores, and on the radio in a loop, all season long - but one of them has been adapted more than any of the others.

Silent Night earns that title, as the most-recorded Christmas song in history, with more than 733 different versions copyrighted since 1978.

“ “

Andy Rooney

The love bus

A couple who got married after meeting on a coach when a breakdown forced passengers to switch services have recreated the journey 30 years later, BBC News has reported. Alison and Paul Forrester’s eyes first met when they were travelling from Glasgow to Manchester in 1991; Alison was travelling home from a wedding when her coach broke down and she had to board another.

There was only one seat available - next to Paul - and the rest is history for the Bury pair, who now have two daughters. They have now recreated the journey after National Express put out a call for people to share their stories to mark the company’s 50th anniversary.

A SPROUTING SMELL

As reported by Sky News, Cambridge University Botanic Garden has revealed what it calls a ‘special gift’ to plant enthusiasts - and it’s a ‘total stinker’. Visitors will know they are close to the orchid bulbophyllum phalaenopsis when they start to smell the ‘delicate aroma of rotting cabbages’, the garden’s Facebook page says. ‘The odour has also been described as smelling like dead rats decomposing next to rotting fish, but to the carrion flies and beetles that pollinate it in the wild, it smells amazing.’

The orchid was collected from Papua New Guinea and is rarely seen flowering outside its natural habitat. The botanic garden said it was flourishing thanks to the care of its volunteer orchid expert Phil.

‘Our glasshouse team think it will reach its ponging peak any time soon,’ they said.

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas Day.

THUMBS

Well, knock me down with a feather!

The road to nowhere?

When I look back on 2022 I don’t just see the tumble I went through personally. At the time of writing (and the year isn’t over yet!) we are on our third prime minister, our fifth education secretary and a new monarch; no wonder we are all reeling from change.

Inevitably, central decision-making has been delayed for months and we are all left worrying about our budgets, energy use, the cost-of-living and maintaining our homes. For the school business leader, these concerns are not only personal but can often extend to everyone in our community.

Should we be doing more to ensure our pupils are well-nourished? Are our staff

struggling to pay their bills? When can we afford to put the heating on? Am I ever going to fill that vacancy? Can we find any funding to fix the hall roof this year? Should we still be putting money aside for a rainy day because it sure feels like it is coming down cats and dogs right now!

WE NEED STABILITY

Ever the optimist, I’m hopeful that, even with everything going on, we can find some stability going into 2023 as we start to take some measure of the new government. I might be biased, but I do tend to judge the incumbents on their approach to education. I know they have a lot of other things on their plates, but the importance they place

EMMA GRAY, chief finance and operations officer, reflects on a tumultuous year and looks to 2023, hoping it will be a road that leads to recovery, and not to nowhere

on our young people is key for me. I look around my trust and see that staff value every single pupil, and want the best for them. We celebrate achievement along the way, however small that might be, and we work to maintain some consistency in what, for many children today, is an increasingly inconsistent world.

I think it’s important to consider each school in the UK as its own vibrant community. Whether you’re a large secondary academy, a small maintained primary or part of a multi-academy trust, every school has its own identity - but we are all working towards shared common goals. Is now a good time to remind the new ‘powers that be’ of those goals?

● The ability to live in, and contribute to, the community.

● Happiness and wellbeing.

● Opportunity and achievement.

● Independence and resilience. Would you add anything else to that list?

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT FUNDING

Most headteachers and SBLs will tell you it is not just about funding. It’s about using the resources we have in the most efficient way we can. It’s about focusing on what is important, and working together to achieve it. I think it is also about being agile to change, embracing new ideas and keeping up! When I think back over my career, I’m often amazed at how much our world has changed in twenty years - but also how much our schools have remained the same.

Our industry seems to be reluctant to take risks, or embed new technology, and it can be very slow to respond to change. Is this because school leaders fear that a wrong step would adversely affect whole year groups of pupils, or that they don’t want their schools to be unwilling guinea pigs for change, or just that they like sitting in that comfortable chair?

Around the world, the education sector is changing; the way pupils learn is changing

It’s important to consider each school in the UK as its own vibrant community

and the skills they need to live in their future world is changing. My biggest fear is that UK school children will be left behind in a future global employment market because our education system was poorly-led from the top, reluctant to innovate, and underfunded.

PERSONAL RECOVERY

My key takeaway from 2022 is the knowledge that, when you’ve been through a tough time, you are not going to fully recover in a few short weeks. I’m in no doubt that I have changed significantly from the person I was in 2021. In a way, I’ve had to say goodbye to the me that has now gone and rediscover a ‘new’ person. Weirdly, I rather like who I am now. My experience has changed my skillset and my outlook making me, I think, more useful to my community. I’m not afraid of what has happened, or my new phase of my life, but I am determined to get the most out of it and enjoy it!

In the same way, we are not going to

bounce straight back from the national changes and challenges we have all experienced during 2022. We need to be gentle with ourselves, give everyone the opportunity to reflect, and decide what we want to do, going forward. What is important? I look at this time as a clear chance to reset. Are we going to take the opportunity, and initiate new ways of working in our schools, or are we going to trudge along with the ‘this-is-how-we’vealways-done-it’ mindset?

Change is not easy, but I’ve come to realise that it is a whole lot harder if you fight it. As the saying goes ‘Change is inevitable; growth is optional’. I believe that now is the right time for our education systems to start making changes for the future - to embrace the post-pandemic world of the early-twenties, and to look at what we have learned as an opportunity.

We want to put ourselves, and our communities, on the road to recovery, not the road to nowhere.

We need to be gentle with ourselves, give everyone the opportunity to reflect, and decide what we want to do, going forward