We did it, we got through January! Although at times January felt like it lasted an eternity, we are now finally in February and I know that, for me personally, the increased hours of daylight are already lifting my general mood – so I hope you are all feeling more uplifted too!
In this issue we take a look at how to evolve current strategies, practices and thinking. David Carne kicks things off on this theme by using Albert Einstein as an example to explore why leaders must constantly develop their thinking and Stephen Mitchell discusses how to find new and creative ways to approach the challenges SBLs may face. Alison Kriel gives her advice on how schools can take a more proactive, rather than a reactive, approach to tackle hateful language and Phil Burton emphasises the importance of the report, rectify and record strategy when it comes to fire safety.
We also turn our attention to evolving digitally, including how online searches could enhance the recruitment process and Laura Williams shares some helpful advice on how you can manage those never-ending emails in a more effective way. Austen Puleston explains the importance of the DfE’s digital and technology standards on elevating the discussion around IT, Neil Limbrick gives his top tips on how to segment your IT planning and Nigel Milligan discusses the benefits of Wi-Fi 6 on the Connect the Classroom scheme.
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’d like 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.
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
DAVID CARNE
School business professional and executive coach
CardinalGriffinCatholicCollege
ALISON KRIEL
Experienced headteacher and CEO
LAURA WILLIAMS
Director
L J Business of Education
STEPHEN MITCHELL
Director
KeystoneKnowledge
PHIL BURTON
Business manager
HallbrookandCosbyPrimarySchool
AUSTEN PULESTON
Head of IT
BirminghamDiocesanMulti-AcademyTrust
NEIL LIMBRICK
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
Founder theEducationCollective
NIGEL MILLIGAN
IT technician manager
StHerbert’sRCPrimarySchool
NEWS & VIEWS
04 NEWS
Latest school business management news in brief
06 SOUTHAMPTON SCHOOL OFFERS FREE MEALS AFTER MAN DONATES PENSION
How a donation has enabled more children to have free school meals
08 SPOTLIGHT ON Vulnerable children and young people survey
26 6
10 SAME QUESTIONS, DIFFERENT ANSWERS
Why leaders must constantly evolve their thinking
14 WHY SCHOOL LEADERS MUST DO MORE TO COMBAT DIVISIVE AND RADICAL LANGUAGE
The approaches schools can take to tackle hateful language
16 WHAT ROLE DO ONLINE SEARCHES PLAY IN THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS?
How the extra step of online searches could enhance recruitment strategies
18 EDEXEC LIVE 2023: AN EVENT MADE FOR THE SBL
Join us for EdExec LIVE 2023 – a day that is tailor-made for the SBL
20 MANAGING YOUR MAILBOX
How you can manage those never-ending emails more effectively
22 THE 2023 VERSION OF ‘THINKING OUT OF THE BOX’
New and creative ways to approach the challenges SBLs may face
24 FIRE SAFETY IN YOUR SCHOOL
Best practice for fire safety in schools
16
ICT MATTERS
26 SWITCHED ON The latest news and views from the world of ICT and edtech
28 ELEVATING THE DISCUSSION: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DFE’S DIGITAL AND TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS
How the new standards can be used to simplify conversations
30 BREAKING DOWN YOUR IT STRATEGY Advice on segmenting your IT planning
32 TECHNO GEEK
Connect the Classroom scheme
LIVE IT
34 LIVE IT
Close your eyes. Inhale. Count to five… now exhale. Time to take a few moments out for some light and interesting reading – a wellearned break from numbers and statistics!
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.
@EdExec
Design
Graphic designer Amanda Lancaster alancasterdesign.com
Editorial Editor Ellie Potter eleanor@intelligentmedia.co.uk
Sales info@intelligentmedia.co.uk
Publisher
Vicki Baloch vicki@intelligentmedia.co.uk
As reported by Bristol 24/7, three more schools could become part of Bristol’s growing School Streets initiative. The programme looks to improve safety and air quality and reduce congestion outside school gates.
St Bernadette Catholic Primary School in Whitchurch, Fair Furlong Primary School in Hartcliffe, and Ashley Down Primary School look likely to be the next three schools to introduce School Streets. It will increase the number of School Streets participants to 11 across the city, following an initial pilot scheme in 2020, with some campaigners saying that the initiative is not being introduced fast enough due to red tape.
The School Streets initiative turns the streets outside schools into ‘priority zones’ for people to walk and cycle, as well as restricting car use at the start and end of the school day. Only people walking, wheeling, cycling and scooting are permitted access to the School Street zone while the restriction is in place, with exemptions given to emergency vehicles and blue badge holders and permits given to residents and businesses living or working within the zone.
@exciteddaytrip: I bumped into two members of SLT today who told me that they really appreciated me looking after the staff with my emails, particularly the ‘menopause’ and ‘schedule send’ ones. Newly qualified and new to post in September - that really filled my bucket today #sbltwitter #sbm
@Ed_Dorrell: I’m a governor of a new secondary school that is trying to do incredible things in incredibly challenging circumstances and today I learnt that its football team managed to register a result for the first time *ever* (a 2-2 draw), and honestly it’s completely made my week.
Two Essex schools ban pupils from hugging and holding hands
BBC News has reported that pupils at two schools in Essex have been banned from having any physical contact while at school. Parents and carers at Hylands School, in Chelmsford, were told in a letter the ban included ‘any aggressive contact’, ‘hugging’ and ‘holding hands’.
Southchurch High School in Southend wrote, ‘Students are not allowed to touch each other’, with performing arts, sport and PE the only exceptions. Both schools said they had received positive feedback.
In the letter seen by the BBC, the school’s assistant headteacher, Catherine McMillan, said, “We will not tolerate any physical contact within our community. This includes any aggressive physical contact, hugging, holding hands, slapping someone, etc. This is in order to keep your child safe. If your child is touching somebody else, whether they are consenting or not, anything could happen.
“It could lead to an injury, make someone feel very uncomfortable, or [lead to] someone being touched inappropriately.”
As reported in The Guardian, headteachers and school leaders are becoming increasingly worried that a ‘cultural shift’ in attitudes is causing a crisis in attendance, with more pupils absent than before the COVID pandemic.
Teachers say parents are now more reluctant to send children to school - and more resistant to efforts to encourage attendance - with school leaders in England warning it may take years to repair national attendance figures. Specialists who spoke to The Guardian said fears around illness had been heightened since the pandemic and are being driven by worsening support for mental health, as well as the strain experienced by the NHS and the cost of living crisis.
Their fears are supported by figures from the Department for Education showing a sustained increase in authorised and unauthorised absences in state schools across England.
A primary school in Burnley has thanked a charity for lending them a minibus after theirs was ‘damage beyond repair’ by thieves who siphoned diesel from it, the Lancashire Telegraph has reported. Pupils at Cherry Fold Community Primary School were facing a future without day trips or extracurricular activities after their minibus’ tank and fuel cap were damaged.
After hearing of their plight Burnley charity, Healthier Heroes CIC, has donated its minibus to the school until theirs can be fixed or replaced. “When I heard about the minibus being vandalised, I was gutted for them, so I reached out to help the school,” explained the charity’s director, Rio Powell. “The thieves stole around £15 worth of petrol but actually caused a couple of thousand pounds worth of damage.”
Rio and the team have also offered to pay for the children’s taxis to activities if the minibus is ever out of use, or needed by Healthier Heroes.
Police chiefs have defended a 43%, year-on-year, rise in the number of officers based in UK schools. The Runnymede Trust race equality think tank found that there were 979 safer schools officers (SSOs) in schools last spring, compared with 683 in 2021. It found that SSOs are more likely to be based in schools with higher numbers of children on free school meals, often with higher numbers of black pupilsbut the national police chiefs’ council says SSOs play an essential role.
The Runnymede Trust gathered the freedom of information data following the case of Child Q, a 15-year-old black girl who was strip-searched by the Metropolitan Police at school without an appropriate adult present. Children from ethnic minority groups are up to three times more likely to be stripsearched by police after an arrest than white children, according to Met Police data.
Dr Shabna Begum, head of research at the Runnymede Trust, is concerned that schools could be leaning too heavily on police to sort out ‘quite trivial’ behavioural or pastoral problems that should be dealt with by teaching staff. If this is happening, black children may face harsher consequences – creating a pathway to the criminal justice system.
@susie_dent: Two, once very literal, expressions: a ‘backlog’ was a large log at the back of the fire that kept smouldering away while smaller wood came and went, and the original ‘deadline’ was a boundary around a prison; any inmate attempting to cross it was liable to be shot.
A school in Southampton has been able to launch a scheme to offer free school meals to families on universal credit following a donation from a pensioner
John Draper, headteacher of Swaythling School, had been looking into the cost of this plan when a man walked into the school with an envelope of cash. Since then about 15 families have benefited from the scheme which costs £8,000 a year.
John started to develop the plan last year. “I named this initiative ‘Operation Moonshot’ partly as a nod to the old saying ‘Shoot for the moon - even if you miss, you’ll land amongst the stars’ and partly out of frustration at the realisation that, in 2022, we have the wealth and technology to take people to the moon but, somehow, we can’t ensure that children are adequately nourished in the
sixth richest country in the world.
“Longer term, we want to run a breakfast club and after-school provision for those working parents who need it - the small profit we generate, we will reinvest into additional free school meals.”
The government earnings’ threshold for free meals is £7,400 a year, or £142.30 a week; school meals are charged at £15 a week. “We’ve actually noticed over the last few years, although we can see deprivation has increased for the children, the eligibility has gone down slightly which is really surprising.” John said.
Fidaa, a school governor and parent,
explained, “Now everyone knows their kids will be well-fed and they won’t have to worry about coming up with the money every month. A child going to school hungry is not going to study. If they feel left out, and everyone else is having a nice hot meal while they’re eating a cold sandwich - that’s not right. Some people are a bit proud to ask for help but the school did not disclose any names.”
John describes the donation as ‘the miracle of Swaythling’, with enough money provided to fund the extra meals for ‘a good few months’. “For some families, it will be the only hot meal that a child is getting throughout the day.”
Print probably isn’t on your mind right now. We understand why. Energy bills have shot up, and every pound of your budget is being squeezed. Printers sit quietly in the corner and, as long as they’re filled with paper, free from jams and have enough toner, there’s no need to give them a second thought. But to overlook print – especially during an economic crisis – is to overlook an area that’s waiting for significant cost savings to be made, where efficiency can be optimised and ease of use and security can be improved dramatically.
Most important of all, with PaperCut, implementing solutions to help you make print savings is easy. So easy in fact, that we’re already a favourite in many schools across the UK, while one in three schools in the UK and Australia have standardised on solutions from PaperCut. They’ve come to appreciate how PaperCut solves print needs while lowering costs, protects the environment, enables seamless print from any device and doubles down on data protection.
But there’s more. The Copyright Licencing Agency – who’ll you’ll know from every time you’ve had to log information about books you’ve photocopied – liked our print solutions so much, it chose PaperCut to create its CLA Copy Button, which makes it much easier to automate reporting, save time and reduce paper waste whenever you’re copying.
Taking control of your print costs will bring financial stability and sustainability to all aspects of your print. Visit papercut.com/education to see how PaperCut makes your print one less thing to worry about.
John describes the donation as ‘the miracle of Swaythling’
The number of children looked after (CLA) between May 2020 and July 2022 was, on average, three per cent higher than the same period in 2019-20.
Between May and December 2020 the number of children on child protection plans (CPP) was, on average, two per cent higher than in 2019-20. From January 2021 onwards the survey reported a lower number of children on a CPP compared to 2019-20, and continued to do so.
Between May 2020 and July 2022 a large proportion of CLA, children on a CPP and other children in need (CIN) had been in contact with a social worker in the last four weeks. For children on a CPP, this
proportion remained above 90% in all waves of the survey. For CLA and other CIN, the average proportions were 67% and 61% respectively.
The number of referrals to children’s social care services reported in the survey between May 2020 and July 2022 were around nine per cent lower than an average of the same weeks during 2017-20. In May 2020, the number of referrals was16% lower than average; however, this fell to its lowest point in January/February 2021, when referrals were 23% lower than usual. The number of referrals started to return to being closer to usual levels from May 2021 and, by July 2022, they were just five per cent below average.
Teachers, students and administrators all generate huge volumes of data. From attainment and demographics to perceptions, this data can offer valuable insights into your school’s performance. However, it is often unstructured, messy and stored in multiple locations and formats, making analysis challenging.
CCS has launched a new commercial agreement for data and analytics. Through it, you can buy software and services to store, manage and analyse your school’s data sets. It can help you save time and money, enabling you to:
• track and monitor progress for effective performance management
• make data-backed decisions that can lead to improved learner experiences
• buy with ease, and get on with what matters most - running your school
CCS category experts can help you unlock the hidden value of your data: Power
crowncommercial.gov.uk/data-analytics
There is a great story about Albert Einstein and his teaching assistant at Princeton University. Einstein was administering a second-year exam when his teaching assistant, in a state of anxiety, informed him that he had administered a paper the group had completed the previous year. Einstein showed little concern for his blunder. “Why,”asked the teaching assistant, “would you do that?” “Because”, Einstein replied, “the answers have changed!”
This story illustrates a powerful lesson for us as leaders; answers change! Just as in physics, new discoveries occur and new knowledge is created so, too, nothing stays static in organisational leadership.
Einstein is widely credited with saying that, “The thinking that got us to
where we are is not the thinking that will get us to where we want to be.” In other words, we cannot assume the answers that led to today’s success, will sustain that success, moving forward.
Neuroscience tells us that deep thinking is incredibly energy-intensive and that once we have an answer to a question our preference is to continue using the same answer when we encounter similar situations, rather than assessing each situation on its own merits. As an executive coach my experience is that the biggest barrier to people reaching goals and resolving problems is often not their ability, but an unwillingness to think differently and generate different answers.
When asked how they might approach an issue it is not unusual for clients to give a single answer, where multiple answers exist. One of my favourite questions when coaching is, ‘What else?’
DAVID CARNE , school business professional and executive coach, explores why leaders must constantly evolve their thinking and strategies
This challenges clients to move beyond the first answer and suggest multiple ways forward.
Some people reading this article may remember video rental store operator Blockbuster. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, if you wanted to watch a movie, you went to a Blockbuster store to rent a physical copy. In 2004, Blockbuster was a multi-billionpound business; just six years later it was bankrupt. In 2000, Netflix offered to sell Blockbuster their business for just $50m. Their offer was rejected because Blockbuster’s CEO believed that Netflix was a ‘very small niche business’. Had they taken up the offer, Blockbuster would have survived and now have a $125bn company, with 150m subscribers worldwide. Blockbuster believed the answer to renting a movie would always be to rent a physical copy - and that belief killed their business.
As leaders it is wise to recognise that there is rarely a single answer which will last forever. Here are some ways we can guard against this type of thinking.
To some extent, all of us are a sum of our experiences - and, usually, wisdom comes from experience. Often we take what we learnt in one role or situation and use that to inform strategy in another. However, we need to ensure that, in doing so, we are not just sticking with what is comfortable for us as leaders at the expense of what is right for the organisation. Our experience is why we are appointed as leader but it should not be a limit which we are not prepared to grow beyond. Being open to adopting different solutions, and ways or working, depending on the context helps ensure that our experiences enhance, rather than constrain, our ability to generate innovative answers.
Decline often happens rapidly and current results are a poor proxy for successful strategy
Many organisations assume that the same systems and style of leadership can be maintained regardless of scale or maturity level. Leaders who have been hands-on, and had a good personal grasp of every issue when their organisation was expanding, are likely to have to take a step back, become systems leaders and rely on professional management as their organisations grow. As organisations mature, their leaders often need to move from a ‘directing’ to a ‘coaching’ style of leadership, giving others greater autonomy. As our organisations change, as leaders our role is to change with them.
Peter Drucker, the ‘management guru’, once said, “If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.” I am a big advocate for collective wisdom and borrowing the best ideas from others but leaders also need to push the boundaries and challenge conventional approaches. Within appropriate limits, our thinking and action needs to rise above what everyone else does, and to constantly question ‘Why?’ it is done that way and ‘How’ could it be done better.
John Kotter once said, “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.” His research indicates that successful organisations tend to focus on themselves and ignore contra-indicative evidence about their success. Seeking out this counter-evidence is, arguably, more important than seeking supportive evidence for our strategies, as is ensuring that evidence is being correctly and objectively interpreted, rather than being made to fit what makes us feel good.
One of the risks of listening is that you may hear things you do not like. However, often the less you like what you hear, the more powerful the potential lesson - if you are willing to take it on board. As leaders, we must have conviction in our ideas, but also be open to the possibility that we are wrong. Listening to others openly can be a powerful way to avoid mistakes; often people have insight we lack, or perspectives to which we have been blind.
We use the expression, ‘pride comes before a fall’ and, all too often, complacency is the enemy of success. Decline often happens rapidly and current results are a poor proxy for successful strategy. Today’s results are a result of yesterday’s strategy, but future results will be a consequence of today’s. As leaders our role is to treat today’s results with extreme caution and suspicion, and to keep focused on today and the future, not the past.
So, what answers are you holding on to, that may have changed?
As our organisations change, as leaders our role is to change with them
There are thousands of reasons why we are growing … Just ask our schools
LGfL - the not for profit charity advancing education through the effective use of technology
ALISON KRIEL, experienced headteacher and CEO, on why schools need to take a more proactive, rather than a reactive, approach to tackle hateful language
Last year racist hate crimes reached over 100,000 for the first time. Social platforms, such as Twitter, have become breeding grounds for radicalised thoughts, and stories such as the backlash faced by Nicola Sturgeon on a visit to a diverse Scottish school show how quickly - and openly - racist sentiment can be shared.
Radicalisation online, whilst often fuelled by the echo chambers of social media, is something that schools are certainly not immune to. We all know how children are quick to pick up things from others, and when language such as ‘invasions’ or ‘illegals’ become normalised, this quickly filters through to the school playground. But for those children who may be refugees, or new arrivals to the country - or even children whose families have been in the UK for much longer - hearing these words, and the wider sentiment around them, is hugely damaging, and that hurt never goes away.
From personal experience, I know how much it can make you feel like an outsider. The way in which migrants are discussed, even by those who are compassionate to the cause, is so negative and perfunctory that we can often feel uncomfortable and unseen, even when we have been here for a long time. It’s also harmful for the children in the class who are not from a migrant backgroundand staff too; exposure to these kinds of attitudes, and this kind of
language, can feed directly into the perpetuation of prejudice, as well as risking opening the door to deeper radicalisation. There’s not only the fear that pupils will move into deeper and more active radicalisation, but that these pervasive attitudes will continue to warp the perception of migrants in ways which contribute to further division and day-to-day prejudice.
A report from UCL’s Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research, Addressing Extremism Through the Classroom, found that increasing exposure to radical material online has made the issue worse, whilst lockdown made it much harder to have face-to-face conversations or create safe spaces for discussion – this is why schools must act to both recognise this radicalisation when it happens, and work hard to make sure all children feel welcomed and valued. School leaders need to think about what more they can be doing to ingrain anti-racist action within their school cultures.
In UCL’s report they also found that teaching around extremism was ‘highly variable’ and sometimes ‘tokenistic’, and that a focus around reporting this behaviour, rather than educating against it, does little to address the problem - and can even make educators less likely to act.
Why school leaders must do more to combat divisive and radical language
It’s not just a case of challenging the language itself; working to simply ‘stop’ the kind of comments being used in school settings, or apologising after the fact, won’t go far enough to tackle the roots of the issue which are already wellembedded. Schools need to take a proactive approach, with clear strategies for supporting pupils who are new arrivals to the UK, or from migrant families.
Organisations like HOPE Not Hate have been able to offer fantastic whole school support, pushing for behavioural change and offering training to enable schools to take an active anti-racist approach. Training plays a dual role in learning how to better tackle prejudice and, perhaps more importantly, in providing the tools needed to spot it in the first place.
Extremism cannot be challenged until it is understood. In teacher and author Jeffrey Boakye’s book, I Heard What You Said , he argues for racism to be seen as a safeguarding issue. “In the same way that you can’t get hired as a teacher until you know the basics of how to keep children safe, perhaps you shouldn’t be allowed to teach in a modern, multicultural society unless you know the basics
of racist abuse and how it can harm all children.”
There needs to be greater support for school staff to spot the signs of radicalisation before it’s too late, and resources put in to take the matter seriously. At a much broader level, there are issues that need to be addressed through the curriculum, with considerations of how we frame wider conversations around race. With unparalleled access to hate speech online, and several content-creators producing steady streams of far-right, misogynistic and racist content, the problem will continue to grow exponentially if left unchallenged. Most often, it is the offhand comments, or ‘banter’ that show the signs of radicalisation; these are, too frequently, brushed off, despite the fact that it is these kinds of comments which can spread most quickly.
With last year’s hate crime statistics providing evidence of the rising intolerance in this country, which many - in education and beyond - can easily attest to anecdotally, it’s fundamental that we take the issue more seriously at every level.
It is the role of school leaders to set examples from the top, as well as to dedicate time and resources to providing a meaningful path towards eliminating radicalisation.
Extremism cannot be challenged until it is understood
Schools have a responsibility to safeguard their students - how can they use online searches to proactively identify unsuitable candidates in their recruitment processes?
The latest version of the statutory guidance for Keeping Children Safe in Education came into effect in September 2022 and introduced a new requirement for schools to consider carrying out online searches for shortlisted candidates. Whilst employers have been checking the online and social media presence of candidates for some time, for many schools this may be an entirely new step in the recruitment process. To get started, schools can use the following guidance.
Online searches are not a requirement, but they can develop a school’s safeguarding process by identifying incidents, or information posted online, that might indicate a candidate as unsuitable to work with children. This could include:
● Offensive or inappropriate behaviour or language.
● Drug or alcohol misuse.
● Inappropriate images.
● Discriminatory behaviour.
● Any other information that may raise concern as to a candidate’s suitability to work with children.
WHEN SHOULD THE SEARCHES BE COMPLETED AND WHO SHOULD DO THIS?
The guidance states that online searches should only be carried out as part of the shortlisting stage of the recruitment process. It should be completed before an interview in order to identify any information or incidents that need to be raised with the candidate.
The process should be carried by a member of staff not directly involved in the recruitment process to avoid bias. Alternatively, schools can use digital onboarding platforms to carry out these searches.
WHERE SHOULD SCHOOLS LOOK, AND HOW FAR BACK SHOULD THEY GO?
There is no direct guidance for where schools should look and how far back in time they should go, but it is a good idea for schools to look for information that is publicly available online. A starting point could be searching the applicant’s name on a recognised search engine, followed by a review of social media sites.
Schools should develop their own process for online searches, including which sites they search and how far back in time they will go. This could be influenced by the number of previous
roles the candidate has had, and how they were employed in those roles. Clearly defined parameters must be set out to ensure a consistent approach is taken for all candidates.
HOW SHOULD THE INFORMATION BE STORED?
The information that is found through online searches should be used in the same way as any other information gathered in the recruitment process. It should be reviewed and explored with the candidate at interview if this is deemed necessary. The information should also be retained on the candidate’s file, along with records of discussions and decisions made in respect to it. Data relating to online search criteria, results of searches and decisions relating to this data should be held securely and confidentially with other data collected during the recruitment process.
Whilst online searches do not have to be recorded on the School Central Record (SCR), schools may choose to include them in the SCR to ensure all the documents used in the recruitment process are in one place.
For candidates where the online searches did not reveal any relevant information, a note of this should be made on the candidate’s file along with the search criteria used, the name of the staff member who carried out the search and the date of that search. It is not necessary to retain any search results in these circumstances.
The process should be carried out by a member of staff not directly involved in the recruitment process to avoid bias
Join us for EdExec LIVE 2023 –a day that is tailor-made for the SBL
EdExec LIVE is an event specifically aimed at school business leaders which offers an interactive learning and networking experience, quite different from other events currently on offer. You’ll experience tangible, targeted, relevant information that makes a difference to your role and your school or academy. We have a stellar line-up of expert speakers, presenting on a broad range of school business management aspects, which we’ll be announcing in the coming weeks.
We have been running EdExec LIVE events for over a decade and they only continue to grow in popularity and success. So, what is our winning formula for a truly beneficial school business management experience, and what can you expect from our upcoming events?
New year, new challenges, new content
● All-new seminars – expert-led – addressing the topics most pertinent to school business management today. Think finance, funding and income-generation, marketing, premises, management - and all the acronyms – CPD, HR, ICT, GDPR…
● Make it work for you – you choose your own seminars enabling you to curate your own day and create your own timetable.
● Get involved - whether workshop, presentation or panel debate, attendees are encouraged to engage with both content and speakers – after all, EdExec LIVE is all about active learning. , sharing experiences and solving mutual challenges as a collective.
WE’RE BACK! On May 18th in Manchester and June 7th in London
Expert-led SEMINARS, valuable NETWORKING, innovative EXHIBITORS
Flag your interest for discounted tickets by emailing
hello@edexeclive.co.uk
● Our speakers are sector-leading specialists, practicing school business leaders, independent consultants and commercial experts – all with proven experience in the education arena.
● An SBM is a jack of all trades; we invite speakers who can drill down into your areas of responsibility and use their expertise to help you skill-up.
● We keep hold of our popular, familiar speakersand bring on board talented new faces too!
● You’ll be able to network with a cohort of fellow school business leaders in their many different guises – representing the whole spectrum of schools and learning organisations.
● We’ve made sure that there’s plenty of time –over coffee and a delicious hot lunch – to meet and speak with colleagues and peers, continuing the conversation and forging mutually beneficial relationships.
● More exhibitors and supplier partners mean more
opportunities for you to see what’s on the market and to discover and compare and what fellow SBMs are using to streamline business management in their organisations.
● Stay and continue the talk over post-conference drinks – always a winner!
Join us in Manchester on May 18th or London on June 7th by emailing hello@edexeclive.co.uk Use the subject line ‘I want to come to EE LIVE 2023!’ to get FREE or DISCOUNTED tickets!
*Standard ticket price is £50 which includes all seminars, the exhibition, refreshements including a fab hot lunch and post-conference drinks.
Swamped by your email inbox? LAURA WILLIAMS, school leadership coach, trainer and SBL podcast host, shares some helpful advice on how you can manage those neverending emails in a more effective way
The odds are, if you’re reading this, you received an email from EdExec to let you know that their latest issue has been published, along with a clickable link to bring you right here. This is good because it means you’re taking a break from the chaos that is swirling around you right now to read this – hopefully with the door shut and a cup of tea!
However, I reckon that, at the start of your day today, reading the latest issue of EdExec was probably not on your to-do list - and yet you’ve found yourself doing it anyway!
THE LIFE OF A SBL SUMMED UP RIGHT THERE. Not that reading EdExec isn’t a good use of time (because it definitely is!) but rather because it’s so easy to find ourselves doing things that we never planned to do or, even worse, doing things we shouldn’t really be doing at all.
The biggest culprit for this? The SBL inbox.
*Cue hissing and spitting sounds at the Outlook icon and red notification bubble!
Emails are a big part of school life and, broadly speaking, they are a force for good but, for an SBL, they have the potential to send us into a tailspin as fast as when we hear the words ‘unfunded’ or ‘broken boiler’!
Leaving the window open, the notification sound on and glancing, almost subconsciously, at the screen every three minutes serves not only as a distraction from other work but also as a gateway to countless more distractions that can (and do!) land throughout the day.
Working out of your inbox is a brain-taxing and busy job but, productivity-wise, it kills off your plans, steals your focus and works your anxiety up like crazy. It’s like you’re in a perpetual state of ‘waiting’, constantly on alert for the next drama to deal with, and revert to our default setting with the email window open… taking a breath and gathering our thoughts and then, guess what, another ping and we’re off again!
It does feel strangely satisfying to tie off a loose end, to achieve something tangible, to see the number of ‘unreads’ reduce - or at least not grow (!) - but, in reality, all we’ve really done is allow other people to dictate our work agenda without even realising it.
Sure, they haven’t waltzed in the doorway and dumped a bunch of to-dos on your desk while demanding that you drop what you’re doing - but they may as well have done! You have to triage and gatekeep your inbox, and manage it robustly without allowing it to manage you.
Your inbox is not your job.
It’s a part of it, certainly, but it’s not all of it
HERE ARE SOME IDEAS TO HELP YOU:
1
Shut down the window and silence/hide all notification alerts
Seriously, if there was a fire somebody would come and tell you – they wouldn’t email you – and, if something does come in that’s urgent, you’ll find that the person who sent it will follow-up with a visit to your office or a phone call to see if you’ve read it!
2
Check your emails at a time, and for a length of time, that works for you
Block yourself some inbox slots in your calendar so you can review what’s come in; reply to what you need to, delete what you don’t need and add any actions to your to-do list – try first thing in the morning, around lunchtime and as the last task you do before you go home.
Set yourself a time limit, say 15-20 minutes per block, to complete this task. This will stop you from falling down the rabbit hole of random to-dos and other people’s emergencies.
3
4 Keep your to-do list separate from your inbox
Sure, there will be things that you need to refer to in your inbox and you may have a very colourful flagging system to help you keep track of everything, but your inbox is not your only workload source.
Bring your to-dos from your inbox, your team, your head, external deadlines etc. together in one place (whatever works for you!) and prioritise them as a whole - which will help you keep an eye on the bigger picture and make sure things don’t get missed or delayed by less urgent tasks.
Checking your emails is different from replying to emails
It may be that you need to spend some time drafting a complex email, or pulling together some information, or crafting a politically-worded response to someone – these are separate tasks from checking your emails, as outlined above. Add this kind of task (ie. anything quicker than a simple answer or acknowledgement) to your to-do list and revisit as outlined below.
Use your calendar as your priority tool, not your inbox or your to-do list
We love making lists. We’re good at it – epic, in fact – but making a list is only the first task in the productivity chain. We then have to prioritise the list and the best way I’ve found of doing that is through my calendar – it helps me keep to deadlines and break tasks down into smaller jobs that can be scheduled ahead of time to help keep me on track.
Time-block to create focused time, group types of tasks to suit mindset/time of day, for example, writing tasks in the morning, bitty jobs in the afternoon, collate emails/useful docs within your calendar so you don’t need to hunt for what you need and you’re ready to start work instead of getting lost in your files.
When people are emailing you fast and furious, it can be difficult to remember that your inbox is not your job. It’s a part of it, certainly, but it’s not all of it.
‘If you don’t like change, you’ll like irrelevance even less.’
So goes a quote I read several years ago which became one of those screenshots that I keep on my phone. Brutal, but true - and as school business management continues its inexorable curve of seemingly getting ever harder, it’s also ever more important that we can find creative ways of approaching the challenges in front of us.
We talk a lot at Keystone about embracing the ‘art of the possible’; it’s not just a glib marketing slogan but a key cultural attitude.
It’s a shortcut for focusing the mind on looking at what can be achieved, not just the easy or common route. It means going beyond how things are done now and pushing towards what is possible - exploring and questioning how things can, and should, be better. It helps the schools and trusts we work with develop a clear sense of their aspirations and develops an ethos of going beyond in the way they think about how they manage their schools and trusts
to provide better outcomes for pupils.
It’s a powerful approach. So, what does this really mean in practice, and how can we practice creative thinking in roles in schools.
There are two schools of thought (no pun intended) about creativity; both have their merits; which one works for you?
Schumpeter puts forward a theory of creative, destruction. Simply put, significant progress occurs when we do something differently and this is likely to mean that something we currently do has to stop. You can’t make an omelette without first breaking some eggs. Right? Often, we get concerned about protecting the status quo, and this can significantly limit the creative thinking we can do.
Children entering reception this year will still be in classrooms in 2036 if they stay on to age 18. A lot will change in 13 years, and you can bet the last pennies in your tight
STEPHEN MITCHELL, director, Keystone Knowledge, on finding new and creative ways to approach the challenges SBLs may face
The 2023 version of ‘thinking outside the box’
budgets that the way we teach in 2036 will be significantly different to how it is in 2023. Therefore, don’t we owe it to the children to be thinking creatively about what needs to change and start engaging in that process now?
The other model is known as the Austrian model, but it has pretty much zero to do with the country in the way it’s practiced. This theory talks about ‘iterative development’, consciously putting a focus on continual improvement. It requires a mindset of recognising that nothing is quite the finished article, and we can always build on what we have.
Too often, we set out on a project with an end point in mind - this model of creative thinking recognises the journey, and that the horizon moves as you get closer to it. This gives you a broader perspective of your position in the grand timeline of your school and what may come down the road.
I’ve personally found tools such as fishbone diagrams really useful for understanding the core issue of a problem - this opens the possibilities of true creative thinking and then allows you to explore the art of the possible.
They start with the problem you’re trying to solve - this could be something like ‘our payroll process isn’t efficient’ and this is the
problem that goes at the ‘head’ of the fish skeleton diagram. Draw a spine horizontally and then six or so ‘bones’ going off at angles. Give each of these the title of a broad relevant area, such as ‘staff, software, regulation, budget, processes’. Along the bones of these areas, you can then list the reasons that contribute to your problem, and so on.
It means going beyond how things are done now and pushing towards what is possibleSimple fishbone diagram
Part two
Astudy in 2019 by the Fire and Rescue Services stated that there were around 40 fires a month in schools in the UK, and that English schools were twice as likely to suffer a fire as other buildings! The report, conducted in conjunction with Zurich Municipal, said it was a perfect storm of risky buildings and poor fire detection and prevention measures.
Fire alarm panels – these should be checked twice a year by a professional contractor and a report generated stating any faults or concerns. These concerns should be followed-up and rectified as soon as possible. On a daily basis the premises officer should visually check the panel to ensure it is working and that there are no faults. If there are faults – report and record them!
Fire call points – you must test the alarm every week! Call points should all be numbered and you must check them in rotation to ensure that, when pressed, they activate the alarm. Every one should be tested within six months, as a minimum. You should activate the alarm and then check that the panel is showing the correct call point. Top tip – remember to put the alarm into test mode!
Firefighting equipment – this should be checked by a professional annually; this includes extinguishers, blankets, safety evacuation chairs and any other specific pieces of kit. For extinguishers, a discharge test is required every five years. You should also check that suitable signage is located near every item and that the signs are there on your walk arounds.
Fire shutters – any shutter which is linked to the fire alarm should be inspected every year by a professionalyou should also check that they close properly when you do your weekly fire alarm test.
Emergency lighting – this whole system should be checked professionally once a year. Some schools may split this into quarterly inspections of areas, or similar. On a monthly basis all drop switches must be checked to ensure that they work. As always report, rectify and record your findings. Housekeeping – this is usually one of the biggest challenges; however it could be the difference between a successful evacuation or not. During your daily walk a round you must check that there are no areas which have combustible materials stored or built up which may cause or enhance a fire. If any material poses a risk it must be dealt with. Challenge those poor behaviours which are creating the issues.
My final thoughts on this fire safety light touch would be: Report, rectify and record
REPORT – if there are any issues you must report them to your contractor and to the headteacher so they are aware. RECTIFY – this means get it fixed. If there is going to be a delay, what actions do you need to take in the short term – how does this affect the risk assessment?
RECORD – write down everything – this is your evidence that you are complying with all the requirements.
In part two of his series on fire safety, PHIL BURTON, SBM at Hallbrook and Cosby Primary Schools, shares best practice for fire safety in schools
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The latest news and views from the world of ICT and edtech
Schools across the North East are being urged to finalise approved projects under government tech funding before the current scheme closes, Bdaily News has reported. A total of £150m is available through the Department for Education’s Connect the Classroom scheme. This funding aims to help schools pay for upgrading old networks and investing in new superfast Wi-Fi 6 environments. The move seeks to boost access to improved eLearning and digital resources for thousands of students and teachers. However, the current round of approved projects under wave three will see their funding packages close at the end of February. As a result, dozens of schools could potentially risk being unable to pay suppliers for any work completed after this date even if the work has been previously agreed, warns Gateshead technology specialist Advantex. The Connect the Classroom programme covers 55 Education Investment Areas across the country - regional ‘cold spots’ identified by the government as part of their levelling-up agenda.
Highly confidential documents from 14 schools have been leaked online by hackers, the BBC has reported. One of these was Pates Grammar School in Gloucestershire, targeted by a hacking group called Vice Society. The documents, seen by the BBC, include children’s SEN information, child passport scans, staff pay scales and contract details, taken in 2021 and 2022. A spokesperson for Pates Grammar School said it took the security of its systems and data extremely seriously. The Vice Society has been behind a string of high-profile attacks on schools across the UK and the USA in recent months. It allegedly stole 500 gigabytes of data from the entire Los Angeles Unified School District, according to technology website Wired; the FBI in America has already released an alert on the group’s activities. When data is stolen, Vice Society makes demands for money before leaking the documents if payment is not made.
As featured by Sky News, ChatGPT, the online chatbot which can generate realistic responses on a whim, has taken the world by storm with its ability to do everything from solving computer bugs to helping write a Sky News article about itself.
Recently, concerned about cheating students, America’s largest education department banned it. New York City’s teaching authority said that while it could offer ‘quick and easy answers to questions, it does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic and lifelong success.’
Of course, that’s not going to stop pupils using it at home - but could they really use it as a homework shortcut? Sky News asked a secondary school science teacher from Essex, who was not familiar with the bot, to feed ChatGPT a homework question.
Galaxies contain billions of stars. Compare the formation and life cycles of stars with a similar mass to the Sun to stars with a much greater mass than the Sun.
It’s fair to say that ChatGPT let the mask slip almost immediately. Asking ChatGPT to answer the same question ‘to secondary school standard’ prompted another detailed response.
“Well, this is definitely more detailed than any of my students. It does go beyond what you’d expect for GCSE, so I would be very suspicious if someone submitted it. I would assume that they’d copied and pasted from somewhere.”
So just as copying straight from a more familiar website is going to set alarm bells ringing for teachers, so too would lifting verbatim from ChatGPT. However, pupils are among the most internet-savvy people around, and ChatGPT’s ability to instantly churn out seemingly textbook-level responses will still need to be monitored, teachers say.
Jane Basnett, director of digital learning at Downe House School in Berkshire, told Sky News the chatbot presented schools with some “key decisions” to make. “As with all technology, schools have to teach students how to use it properly,” she said. “So, with ChatGPT, students need to have the knowledge to know whether the work produced is any good, which is why we need to teach students to be discerning.”
Given its rapid emergence, Jane is already exploring how her school’s anti-plagiarism systems will cope with auto-generated essays.
The DfE has now released two sets of digital and technology standards for schools and colleges, with more in the pipeline. I believe these standards are sorely needed and can be used in your organisation to elevate the discussion around technology.
Historically, the education sector has suffered from a few conceptual misunderstandings when thinking about IT and how it supports learning:
1 Schools have underestimated the value technology brings to the business and operations side of an organisation, and how that then empowers teaching and learning.
2 Schools have invested in exciting new technologies without the proper planning, infrastructure and security to enable them to work correctly and safely.
These are multi-variant problems, but it is possible to identify a common theme; too often, IT is not taken seriously by an organisation, and most organisations don’t really know what ‘good’ looks like.
The fact that many schools lack an appreciation of how dramatically technology could assist them is not surprising; budgets are always challenging, time is precious, and the
other pressures upon schools are significant. This is also compounded by the fact that the education sector finds it difficult to recruit and retain technical staff with the relevant expertise, as well as the natural doubts that arise when engaging third party suppliers for strategic advice. Are their goals sufficiently aligned with your own?
The DfE’s digital and technology standards go a long way towards addressing these problems. Firstly, they start in the correct place - connectivity, infrastructure and security form the bedrock of any provision of technology in education. It is not advisable to invest significant money into some of the more exciting tech before you’ve got these fundamentals right. To use an analogy from the road network, no matter how fast the race car is, all vehicles travel at the same speed through the traffic jam at rush hour.
The standards are impartial and were developed in consultation with IT professionals from around the education sector, including some ANME members. Each of the standards clearly indicates when you should be meeting them, allowing you to rate your school (or schools if you’re a trust or service provider) to see how you’re doing.
AUSTENPULESTON, head of IT, Birmingham Diocesan MultiAcademy Trust, on how you can use the new DfE standards to simplify conversations around infrastructure and cyber-security
Elevating the discussion: the importance of the DfE’s digital and technology standards
These standards are likely to have the most significant impact at senior leadership, executive leadership, and board levels because they allow you to quickly simplify some of the conversations around infrastructure and cyber-security. Certain questions can focus conversations on these critical areas and help to highlight the importance of investing capacity and money in them. Some examples are:
● Are we meeting all the standards?
● Which gaps are most concerning to us?
● How will we target investment over the coming years to bridge these gaps?
can focus conversations on these critical areas and help to highlight the importance of investing capacity and money in them.
At the Birmingham Diocesan Multi-Academy Trust we have developed a self-assessment tool that allows us to show our current position against the standards and record progress over time as any resulting actions are completed. This now forms part of our reporting to our board, and supports us in demonstrating the reasoning behind our decisions on cybersecurity, connectivity and infrastructure.
So, what can you do if you’ve not properly looked at the standards yet, or you’re struggling to get the traction that you need in your school?
1 Start with the Cyber-Security Standards. In my opinion, these are the most important as they indicate how well-prepared you are to deal with a cyber-attack and how well-protected you are against some of the current threats. Identify which actions are critical, and resolve those immediately. Look at the RPA cyberprotection requirements and include these in your efforts if you have that cover.
2 Once you’ve done this, start working your way through the other standards, identifying which gaps need addressing in the short term, and making notes on the technical specifications that any new projects should meet.
3 Finally, return to the remaining actions required to meet the Cyber-Security Standards and work your way through these, adapting your plans to pair up with any connectivity and infrastructure projects you identified in step two.
For those schools and trusts that already have existing tools and standards, the DfE standards provide valid confirmation and reinforcement of your actions. For those just starting to think about technology, they give you a way to catch-up much more quickly and with less effort. Enhancing this understanding and knowledge will be a considerable undertaking, but at least the DfE standards give a decent idea of what the underlying infrastructure should look like.
The standards are impartial and were developed in consultation with IT professionals from around the education sector, including some ANME members
NEIL LIMBRICK, partner and IT consultant, Limbrick Consultancy LLP, founder of theEducationCollective and ambassador for the Association of Network Managers in Education, gives his top tips on how to segment your IT planning
As I write this my internet access at home is down. I am sitting in the dark because the lights in my office are controlled by a smart device that does not work if it cannot connect to the internet. I could turn the lights on manually, but this means moving some furniture to get at the plug. Most of the other things I would do right now need internet access to some degree. The TV is also out because it relies on the internet, most games now need to be able to either connect to servers for multiplayer options or, on a mobile device, they need to access video servers to play adverts to strike the balance between affordable and profitable. The hobbies I have either require being outside (and it is just too cold) or some element that requires the internet - and I live in a place that has only a casual relationship with 4G.
IT is no longer a single box in the corner you use and then walk away from; it is embedded in every element of what we do.
This makes the job of developing an IT strategy overwhelming when you take into account all these areas. A schools’ digital estate is now as complex and wide-reaching as the physical one and so it is important to find ways to break it down into smaller elements – and these are the five areas I recommend segmenting your planning around.
EADMIN – business functions of the school, generally covered by statutory requirements - taking registers, school lunches, HR, finance and census returns.
ETEACHING – staff using technology to help deliver learning - using presentations, recording assessments, creating resources, recording behaviour.
ELEARNING – students using technology to support learning.
CUSTOMER SERVICE – areas where you are providing a service to parents, students, staff, the wider community, etc.
COMMUNICATION – everything in school is about communication so it needs to be a consideration on its own.
Once you break down IT like this it becomes easier to measure success and look to bring about improvements - there is not a huge crossover between them and so it is relatively easy to implement changes in just one area without impacting another.
● eAdmin might be about looking at whether you are duplicating entries of data, or whether there is too much
paper involved.
● eTeaching is generally about making tools available and ensuring staff are trained and enthused. This is the most expensive element as it usually involves the most devices and a complex infrastructure.
● Customer service is about making things easy for people to deal with you, providing information and keeping your audience is informed.
● Communication is about striking a balance – it should be easy to communicate, but without overloading people with too much.
Remember – IT Strategy is about improvement, in the same way your school development plan is, so it does not need to be a hugely complex document –just some bullet point aims and objectives that you can then work together to achieve.
IT Strategy is about improvement, in the same way your school development plan is, so it does not need to be hugely complex document
Throughout the pandemic the government issued devices to many schools across the country to enable pupils to complete their schoolwork at home. It soon became clear upon returning these devices to the classroom that the school wifi and infrastructure wasn’t of a good enough standard to sustain the ongoing use and addition of more much-needed devices in school.
In 2021 Connect the Classroom was introduced as a pilot scheme for 1,000 schools. The scheme allowed these schools to upgrade their wireless networks to the next gen Wi-Fi 6 standard to future-proof them for many years ahead. This scheme has now been extended to the 55 areas selected as education investment areas to raise school standards.
The resources that can be provided are extensive, and will ensure that all parts of the
wireless infrastructure are sufficiently upgraded. The summary below highlights what is possible; CAT6 cabling to all wifi AP data points, core and edge switches, Wi-Fi 6 system, all installation costs and licensing/support for many years, plus links between buildings can also be upgraded to fibre to improve all round connectivity.
The invite will be sent to each school and the first step will be to return a completed network asset Form which your IT support provider will need to help you complete. The more information you can provide on this form, the better. It is important to highlight any weaknesses in your current system so that these can be taken into account.
If the DfE accepts your application to replace the existing system, they will send you a confirmation email containing a number of documents including technical guidance,
supplier information, a cost matrix and a technical summary. Once you have this you are then ready to contact an approved partner who can help deliver the project. At the time of writing this article, if you Google ‘DfE Connect the Classroom 2022’ there are many approved suppliers listed. Your existing IT support provider should be able to provide guidance for you and assist accordingly.
This month some of the schools I work with have already started to receive the invites and their network asset forms have been duly completed and returned. The process is simple enough, and easy to complete.
Why Wi-Fi 6, you may ask? At this time, only the latest of devices support wifi 6; most modern devices in the last few years support the AC (WiFi 5) standard which is still fast. However, Wi-Fi 6 has much more to offer such as improved device battery life and much faster speeds than Wi-Fi 5.
It has improved safety protocols and an increased number of devices supported by one router. The main downside to Wi-Fi 6 is the higher cost of installation and requirement for the latest device models that support Wi-Fi 6.
We don’t have the latest up-to-date deviceswhich new devices support Wi-Fi 6?
Apple iPads - 10th Generation iPad, iPad Air and iPad Pro. The 9th Generation iPad is still the most popular iPad in schools but still only supports Wi-Fi 5 (AC).
Windows Laptops, Apple Macbooks and Chromebooks - Wi-Fi 6 is available on all of these. Again, the cost of these devices is much higher than the affordable devices that most schools use in larger numbers for pupils.
It will be a few more years before Wi-Fi 6 is standard on all the affordable devices that schools will purchase. The main benefit of this scheme is to ensure that the infrastructure is in place for the future to provide the best service possible for all devices.
Time to take a few moments out for some light and interesting reading – a wellearned break from numbers and statistics!
Hundreds of fruit trees are being planted to help tackle climate change, say BBC News.
Gloucestershire Orchard Trust (GOT) has given away 450 trees to individuals and community orchards, free of charge, to replace ones that have been lost to ash dieback disease in recent years. The trust says that, even though the project is in its first year, it is already fully-subscribed. The scheme is part of a Woodland Trust rewilding project to encourage wildlife and give people access to fruit. Martin Hayes of GOT said, “There are lots of different reasons why fruit trees are really good. They have dense foliage, spaces you can walk in quite easily, and you can eat an apple, a cherry or a plum as you go!”
1. How many permanent teeth does a dog have?
2. What is the most sold flavour of Walker’s crisps?
3. What is the full postcode of the Houses of Parliament?
4. What does the Latin word tempus mean in English?
5. How many chukkers are there in a polo match?
42
Answers:
Want fresh smelling sheets in between washes? Dissolve some Lenor scent boost in warm water and pour the mixture into an old spray bottle and then spray onto your sheets.
Let us know your funny caption ideas by tweeting us @edexec
Armadillos swallow air to become buoyant when they swim, according to the Library of Congress. So, when armadillos go swimming, they don’t need a flotation device to keep them from sinking— they are the flotation device!
Ewe won’t believe the trouble Wales’ roaming sheep can land themselves in! RSPCA Cymru inspectors have been called out repeatedly over the past year, with sheep common among the rescues, BBC News has reported. In one, inspectors made bleating noises in order to get a ewe to respond so that they could pinpoint its location after it fell and became stuck in brambles by its fleece. Four days earlier, the animal had tumbled about 20m (65ft), and ended up in a tangle but unhurt. RSPCA inspectors had to cut through bracken for over an hour while making bleating noises to encourage it to call back so they could find it on Conwy’s Mynydd y Dref, also known as Conwy Mountain.
“To our relief she replied,” said Insp Andrew Broadbent. “We kept ‘talking’ to her, getting closer and closer all the time and, eventually, found her sheltering on a little ridge surrounded by thick brambles. After cutting her free, and checking for injuries, we then followed the path we had just come down, both of us part carrying, part pushing her back up the mountain so she could re-join her flock.”
As reported by Sky News, a frog that travelled more than 4,000 miles on a bunch of bananas was among the RSPCA’s most ‘weird and wonderful’ animal rescues of 2022. The RSPCA was called in September after a Hispaniolan common tree frog travelled 4,300 miles from the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean to the UK on a bunch of bananas. Iain Holloway, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, said: “We were unpacking the shopping in the kitchen and my wife turned to me and said ‘Look, there’s a frog in the bananas!’ and I said ‘Sorry, there’s a what in the bananas?’”
Rescuer Jonny Wood said the frog was in good condition despite the long journey.
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The road to success is always under construction. Lily Tomlin
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