Education Executive September 2022

EDUCATION

EXECUTIVE

THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE

Lorraine Langham gives her advice on school transitions

WHAT DOES AN OLD SBL KNOW ABOUT WELLBEING?

Emma Gray emphasies the role that schools play in wellbeing

Same old, same old or a new MO?

Val Andrew gives her advice on seizing the new academic year

ISSUE 167

Supporting business and f inancial excellence in schools and academies September 2022

TIME TO TALK ENERGY: BUY, USE AND GENERATE WELL Helen Burge on how SBL’s can mitigate the rising costs

HEALTH AND SAFETY AS A CULTURE Phil Burton offers his top tips to achieve H&S excellence

A TAILOR-MADE DAY FOR SBL SUPERHEROES

We may not have tailor-made tights, capes and pants-on-the-outside for our SBL superheroes, but we are one of the only events that allows you to build your own itinerary and select only the seminars that are of interest to you and your school.

By selecting specific seminar topics relevant to you, you can be sure that your day will be filled with information and learning that will be directly relevant to you and your school’s current requirements.

Manchester6th October 2022

It’s

LIVE, contact hello@edexeclive.co.uk

Contents

LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE

06

NEWS

Latest school business management news in brief

08

NEWS REPORT

Cost of living crisis harming pupils’ education

10

SPOTLIGHT ON Calls for free school uniforms during costof-living crisis

11

ISBL NATIONAL CONFERENCE: LEADING POSSIBILITIES Join other leading professionals at the ISBL national conference this November

12

EXPECTATION

OVERLOAD

A new school year means new expectations for schools

Your buying decisions are helping teachers to teach (Thank you)

SCHOOL BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS AS COACHING LEADERS David Carne on the art of leading people

16

MAKING THE GRADE: HOW A SLICK DIGITAL OPERATING PLATFORM WILL HELP MATS THRIVE IN THE TOUGH TIMES AHEAD Civica’s Stewart Mcluskey explains why having the right digital operating system must be front of mind

18

THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE

How mentors can alleviate the struggle of transitioning from primary to secondary school

22

SAME OLD, SAME OLD, OR A NEW MO FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR? Why Val Andrew believes that this year is different

MANAGEMENT ICT MATTERS LIVE IT

26

WHAT DOES AN OLD SBL KNOW ABOUT WELLBEING?

Emma Gray emphasises the role schools play in pupil wellbeing

Time to talk energy: buy, use and generate well

28

TIME TO TALK ENERGY: BUY, USE AND GENERATE WELL Helen Burge on how SBLs can mitigate their school’s rising energy costs

30

HEALTH AND SAFETY AS A CULTURE Would you be comfortable walking an inspector round your school, delving into your practices?

32

WHY 1:1 DEVICE ACCESS UNLOCKS THE MOST POWERFUL KINDS OF LEARNING Incorporating children’s knowledge and experience of technology into work in the classroom

36

ADOPTION ISN’T A ONE OFF EVENT Why now is a good time to revisit the key technology enabled changes made last year

Close your eyes. Inhale. Count to five… now exhale. Time to take a few moments out for some light and interesting reading –a well-earned break from numbers and statistics

On the cover

A NEW START Why we all need to consider taking a different approach to living and working as the new September term begins

Editor’s comment

We at Education Executive hope you had the most amazing summer. Whether you managed to get abroad, enjoy a stay-cation or just spent some quality time with family or friends, we hope you managed to enjoy some well-earned rest. September of course means the start of the new academic year and I’m sure you have all had a busy start full of mixed emotions such as stress, excitement, fatigue, optimism, despair… the list could go on, probably as long as your to-do lists already are!

Every September presents new challenges for education staff, though it seems this year there could be even more than usual. The cost-of-living crisis is affecting us all, and the impact on schools and pupils is already evident. In our news section we report on the calls for free school uniforms during cost-of-living crisis and a survey which demonstrates the impacts of the crisis on pupils and schools.

Another new challenge for this September is the agreed pay rises for teaching staff. Sue Birchall discusses the difficulties schools will face when budgeting for these additional costs. September is a period of change for lots of us and change isn’t always easy. For some young people, transitioning from primary to secondary school can be a challenging time. Lorraine Langham, CEO of the charity Future First, describes how relatable mentors can alleviate the struggle. Val Andrew tells us why she believes that, this September, things are different – and we all need to consider taking a different approach to living and working as the new September term begins.

With the march towards multi-academy trusts gathering pace, we have an industry expert explain why having the right digital operating system must be front of mind for school leaders to help schools thrive in the tough times which are ahead. School business professionals lead systems, services and organisations, but, primarily, they lead people. In order to become an effective leader you need to improve your coaching skills, David Carne explores the ways in which you can become a successful coach.

As part of our monthly ICT MATTERS segment, Sarah Evans and Fiona Aubrey-Smith discuss why 1:1 device access unlocks the most powerful kinds of learning. The pair believe we need to consider how we can make the most of children’s ever-increasing knowledge of technology in the classroom. After discussing technology and the world of IT, unwind with our collection of life hacks, quotes, facts, trivia and good news stories.

As always, we’d love to hear any suggestions you have for the magazine. If you’d like to get involved with EdExec or want us to cover a certain topic, please let us know.

Contact eleanor@intelligentmedia.co.uk or tweet @edexec with ideas, opinions or success stories.

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.

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

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 – essentially, all you need to run your school. Our contributors, drawn from the Education Executive team and sector innovators and experts, offer invaluable business insights from both the sidelines and front line.

ELEANOR POTTER Editor Education Executive

DR FIONA AUBREY-SMITH Director OneLifeLearning

DAVID CARNE

School business professional and executive coach

CardinalGriffinCatholicCollege

HELEN BURGE Deputy COO ThePrioryLearningTrust SUE BIRCHALL School business leader

PHIL BURTON Business manager HallbrookPrimarySchool LORRAINE LANGHAM Chief executive EducationcharityFutureFirst VAL ANDREW

Programme manager Best Practice Network DSBM Level 4

The latest news and views from the world of education

London’s “remarkable” turnaround in school performance will be put at risk if funding is diverted away from the capital to boost other areas, education experts have warned.

The latest GCSE results show London pupils have pulled further away from those in the rest of the country, with around one third of GCSEs taken in the capital given top grades compared with a quarter or less in most other regions.

But experts fear that in order to narrow the gap between London and elsewhere, resources could be redistributed which would hamper the capital’s hard-won success.

London schools have improved dramatically since the early 2000s, partly due to the London Challenge, an improvement programme that focused on schools sharing good practice.

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, said: “The turnaround in London’s results has been remarkable — from one of the poorest-performing regions it has risen to the very top.

“London students deserve considerable praise for doing so well.” He added: “The brilliance of its results does tend to suggest it is affluent and mask areas of real poverty and disadvantage, which are as much in need of financial support as other parts of the country.

“The government’s ‘education investment areas’ omit London entirely so money will, in effect, be transferred away from the capital. This will put the great gains that have been made at risk, and while inequalities between the regions may be reduced it will be levellingdown rather raising performance.”

@susie_dent: Word of the day is ‘estivate’ (19th century): to spend a prolonged period of hot and dry conditions in a state of torpor or suspended animation

Thousands of children affected by missing SATs grades

Earlier in the summer some Year 6 SATs papers went missing, and others were marked incorrectly. Though 99% of pupils received their results, some pupils’ marks were late. The assessment organisation, Capita, claims that fewer than 3,800 scripts are thought to be involved.

“A very small number of scripts, fewer than 0.1% of the total, are currently flagged as missing,” a Capita spokesperson said.

@awakeaccelerate: Remember that not all kids are returning to school with sun-drenched memories of vacations and camps. Some just made it through till they could return to the consistency and safety school provides. #sundayvibes #edutwitter #BackToSchool

However, headteacher of Bishop Wilson Church of England Primary School in Birmingham, Des Ricketts, has said that 14 out of 59 of his Year 6 pupils were still missing their results. “It is deeply unfair to all of these children who have worked so hard and deserve to know how well they did. This will also impact on their progress in secondary schools.”

Paul Whiteman, the NAHT’s general secretary, commented that the situation was “deeply worrying”.

London schools’ success ‘at risk’ if funding is diverted from capital to help other areas

Schools in England are facing major challenges in recruiting school governors and trustees, with 67% of governing boards reporting at least one vacancy. The new research, published by the National Governance Association (NGA) as part of their 2022 annual governance survey, shows that vacancies are at their highest since 2016. The pandemic has made recruitment more challenging, with two-thirds of respondents (63%) reporting that they faced issues compared to 55% in 2019. Overall, the NGA estimates there are currently more than 20,000 vacancies. “It certainly requires some creative thinking and we’re constantly looking for people who could take on governance roles and to also ensure we have the right mix of talents to be effective,” said David Brown, chief executive of the Eynsham Partnership Academy Trust.

The research also found that the number of governors and trustees under the age of 40 was just six per cent – the lowest since 2015. Half of governors and trustees are over 60 years but just one percent were under 30, suggesting schools are missing an input from volunteers who have recently experienced school.

Teacher shortages at crisis point

More than nine-in-10 schools in England are experiencing difficulties in recruiting staff. The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) believes that shortages are at crisis point.

An ASCL survey of 766 state-sector school and college headteachers and principals found that a high number of schools (95%) have been experiencing difficulty in recruiting teachers, with 43% saying it is ‘severe’. Of these, 72% are using supply staff to cover for vacancies, 69% are using non-subject specialists to teach classes and 31% said pupils were having to be taught in larger classes. Physics was the most commonly cited subject where recruitment was difficult, followed by maths, design and technology, chemistry and computing.

Nearly two-thirds (65%) of schools have been experiencing difficulties with teacher retention. The most common reasons were workload pressures - which are driven by government underfunding of schools and colleges together, with an excessive accountability system - and pay levels, which have been eroded by a fifth in real-terms since 2010.

Recruitment was not much better, with 92% also reporting difficulties in recruiting support staff – leaving many schools and colleges with serious challenges across their workforces.

Response to teachers’ pay award

The ASCL has responded to the 2022/23 announcement of the teachers’ pay award.

“This pay award is wholly inadequate and represents the worst of all worlds,” ASCL general secretary, Geoff Barton, said. “This represents a substantial real-terms pay cut for the majority of teachers which will worsen teacher shortages, and no additional money for schools to afford the cost of the award, thereby exacerbating the dire financial situation they face because of rising costs. It is a ‘doublewhammy’ that lets down the teaching profession and the pupils in our schools.

“The higher awards for those on starting salaries affect a relatively small proportion of teachers and, while this increase is welcome, inflation means that the planned £30,000 starting salary will, in reality, be worth significantly less than when it was first proposed in 2019.”

@SbmMentors: New Year, new start. Could you be a mentor to an SBM colleague? We’re looking for volunteers to help support SBMs in the secondary sector as well as allthrough? Can you help? #SBLTwitter #SBM #SBLConnect

Vacancies for school governors and trustees are at their highest since 2016

Cost of living crisis harming pupils’ education

Teachers are providing money, food and clothing to help children and families dealing with the deepening cost of living crisis. The survey also found that many teachers are routinely providing referrals to foodbanks as families struggle to cope with the rising costs of food, fuel and energy bills.

As pupils return to school, the survey of more than 6,500 teachers paints a disturbing picture of the crisis being experienced by children and young people in England and Wales.

Six in ten teachers responding to the survey said that by the end of the last academic year more pupils were coming to school hungry and nearly seven in ten said more of their pupils were lacking in energy and concentration.

Three-quarters said they had experienced more pupils with behaviour problems and 65% said pupils did not have the equipment they needed for their lessons. Approximately, 63% said pupils were wearing dirty or damaged clothes and 67% said pupils did not have footwear that was appropriate for school.

Over half (58%) of teachers said they had given food or clothing to their pupils and six in ten said they had made referrals to outside agencies, with 35% saying they had helped a pupil’s family get access to a foodbank. In fact, 15% had lent or given money to pupils and 24% had seen money lent or given to pupils by colleagues or their school.

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT general secretary, said: “This is a deeply disturbing picture of the damaging impact of the cost-of-living crisis on children and young people the length and breadth of the country.

“There can be little doubt that the cost-of-living crisis is harming pupils’ education, learning and development. An emergency response is needed to deliver extra help for children, schools and families.

“At a time when many teachers are already struggling financially, many have dug deep into their own pockets to provide urgent help to their pupils, in the absence of additional support from the government.

“It is outrageous that we should be

seeing more and more families who are struggling or unable to feed, clothe or keep a roof over their children’s heads. The financial worry and anxiety that many parents are already experiencing is also being felt by children and is likely to have a negative impact on their education.

“It’s vital that schools and wider children’s services are funded to provide more by way of support, advice and counselling for children, parents and carers who are struggling.

“Regrettably, the government has simply failed to recognise the depth, breadth and urgency of the financial difficulties that increasing numbers of families are under. It cannot be left to schools and teachers to pick up the pieces of the cost-of-living crisis or to provide from their own budgets financial help and assistance to families in desperate need.

“We need to see immediate action from the new prime minister to provide much more help and assistance to children and families to mitigate the dire financial crisis that millions are facing this autumn and winter.”

Schools are increasingly seeing the devastating effects of the cost of living crisis on pupils, a survey by NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union has revealed

Your buying decisions are helping teachers to teach

With budgets and resources in education more squeezed than ever, procurement is no easy task. So why not take some pressure off by choosing to buy with CCS? We can help you save time and money on procurement, allowing you to get on with what matters most – running your school.

• tap into our national buying power to make big savings on school essentials

• we provide support to help you navigate the world of procurement

• our expertise in the education sector means you get the best deals

• choose with confidence – many of our deals are supported by the Department for Education

To find out how CCS can help you make smarter buying decisions, visit crowncommercial.gov.uk/schools

Power to your procurement

Calls for free school uniforms during cost-of-living crisis SPOTLIGHT ON

The Cardiff-based charity, A Better Fit, claims that the second-hand clothes they give are leaving their warehouse as soon as they arrive. Kathryn Wakeham, the charity’s founder, said the rise was “over tenfold”.

“Most parents say they can source basics like the school trousers and polo shirts”, she continued. The cost of blazers and PE kits is astronomically high, and you need more than one. Often there is a complete school uniform change when children move years, so you have to buy new, regardless of the size of the child. It is really difficult for parents to keep up with the sheer amount of cost to kit a child out for school.” In 2020 The Children’s Society, which campaigns for more affordable school uniforms, estimated that the average secondary school uniform cost was £337.

The Welsh government has stressed that grants are available for those eligible for free uniforms. “Learners who are currently eligible for free school meals can apply for a grant towards school uniforms, school trips, and kits. The grant this year is £225 per learner, or £300 for those going into year seven to recognise the increased costs associated with starting secondary school.

“For this year only, the grants are an extra £100”. However, Kathryn Wakeham insists this is not enough. “We’re seeing working parents finding things really difficult now –and not just parents who aren’t on such a secure income.”

The National Education Union (NEU) are also calling

on boards of governors in Northern Ireland to amend their policies in line with inflation. They say families are struggling with household bills because of increasing food, fuel and energy bills which puts pressure on household budgets before the new academic year as parents and carers are facing the purchase of new uniforms, PE kits, trainers, and school shoes.

GENDER EQUALITY

“Uniforms should be a leveller, but are a significant cost pressure for parents at this time of year,” said Danielle Black, regional officer at the NEU. “Branded and specialised uniforms place unnecessary financial pressure on families when similar, cheaper, options are available in supermarkets and the high street.

“The solution is not complicated. With the current cost of living we need to reflect on the costs associated with education. In addition, many schools continue to unnecessarily prescribe different clothes for girls and boys which prevents clothing being passed on to siblings, and stops some pupils from being able to participate fully in their education.

“This stance on uniforms denies our pupils, mainly girls, comfort, choice and practicality, and reinforces unfair gender expectations. Families from different ethnic backgrounds may prefer a longer skirt or trousers for their daughters; for practical subjects and the primary play-based curriculum trousers are a more sensible option for all pupils.”

Demand for free school uniforms has increased since the start of the current, once-in-a-generation, cost-of-living crisis

ISBL National Conference: leading possibilities

Following the release of the White Paper1 in the spring and the Schools Bill2 consultation, there is further change and reorganisation expected to come across the sector. With change comes opportunity and possibility, so join other leading professionals at the ISBL national conference this November, to discover more.

School business professionals (SBPs) have a wealth of responsibilities demanded by the role, including delivering personal ambitions alongside their organisation’s strategic aims. These two deliverables are not always aligned, as many SBPs are highlighting, so professionals are having to consider whether remaining within their current setting will best suit their personal career plans.

Now is the time to assess where you are in your career, what options are developing, and where you feel your skills are best placed. There is no better place to consider your future than at your professional body’s national conference, which is developed to focus solely on the needs of your profession. Our guiding principle is your progression and the recognition of the profession.

This year’s ISBL national conference will provide the opportunity for horizonscanning, with professional insights from trailblazers about their strategic growth, knowledge development on how to deliver change, and a chance to see how other professionals are achieving a collective focus on integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP).

With the onslaught of rising costs, growing inflation pressures, and the most significant pay award for teachers and support staff in a generation, the demands

BOOK YOUR PLACE

on school leaders to manage and optimise school resources have never been greater.

At the conference, you will hear from pioneers of cost management from estates to technology enablement. Sessions will explore effective workforce planning to maintain outcomes while optimising resources, and we’ll invite the practitioners developing agile methodologies and mindsets to stem the shrinking headroom. It’s not just our speakers and workshop leaders who’ll deliver essential insights. As a profession, your strongest link is each other. The national conference offers an unrivalled resource of peers who are ready to help you both in self-reflection and in revising the 2023–24 forecast.

PROGRAMME CONTENT

This year’s programme has been specifically developed to help SBPs look ahead to what the future may hold for sector reorganisation and the role of the school business leader.

The event provides a chance to network, share, and take stock with other colleagues from different regions, phases, and school types – offering professionals the chance to engage with those facing similar challenges or already pursuing collaborative opportunities.

To access the full programme and the complete list of workshops, visit our dedicated event microsite: https://isbl.org. uk/isblnationalconference/agenda/

The ISBL national conference is taking place on 10-11 November at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole. There is a high demand from SBPs to return to in-person events and 150 delegates have already booked their places. To avoid disappointment, book your place today at: https://isbl.org.uk/ isblnationalconference/registration/ 1DfE White Paper March 2022, Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child 2www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-bill-policy-statements

GREY MATTER

Expectation overload

It is fair to say that the increases were expected but the level was unknown; SBLs will have made some contingency for the additional costs, as part of good risk management. However, this does not take away the impact of the lateness of the award; maintained schools are 5/12ths of the way through their budgets and academies well on the way to setting theirs.

In addition, support staff unions have put forward an ambitious claim for a one year offer which includes a significant increase of between 4.04% to 10.5% on pay and allowances, a one day additional leave day and deletion of the minimum pay level.

It is hard to see how schools will be able to fund these increases without additional support. Despite the extra funding that we have been receiving, many schools and academies still survive just within their budgets; what will we do when all of the additional support stops?

OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL?

The education white paper also brought with it some considerable changes and expectations. The proposals are forward thinking, if not all new, offering ‘Opportunity for All’ - a sentiment that all who work in education would happily applaud. We cannot doubt the need to recruit more teachers into the professions; all SBLs will all have struggled with recruitment of staff at all levels. Higher salaries and better training should help to enable this. I don’t even want to go down the route of ICT and technology - gives me sleepless nights just thinking about it.

Let’s save the rest for another article!

On that note, another area of concern for schools is not only the impact of COVID, and loss of learning and progress, but also the inevitable effect on our school communities in the current economic climate. As someone who has worked in schools for a number of years, I have seen the pressure that the education system comes under when there is a period of recession and social stress. The amount of work that it generates is significant and this would create a ‘perfect storm’ in the balancing act of staff wellbeing and retention against the extra expectations on us all.

CONSISTENT APPROACH NEEDED

Often these pressures revolve around offering additional support and services, all of which need funding for staff and goods. As an example, the government’s statutory guidance on school uniform policy recognises the financial pressure put on our parents by the cost of such things. Along with the direction that all schools have a policy in place, and evaluate the cost of their uniforms, comes the responsibility for schools to look at ways to make this more affordable. This inevitably means schools looking at ways of providing reduced cost

uniform or funding it themselves.

As a long serving SBL I support all these initiatives. What I would ask for is a more consistent approach to funding and for funding levels to ‘keep up’ with the cost pressures we now all face as a result of these additional expectations as we appear to head into recession.

As we enter a new school year we are, once again, faced with changes and expectations for schools - the key one of which is the agreed pay rises for our teaching staff with no indication of any further funding to cover these increases, writes SUE BIRCHALL

What I would ask for is a more consistent approach to funding

Don’t pay until your current

ends

School business professionals as coaching leaders

School business professionals lead services, organisations - and even systems - but, primarily, we lead people writes DAVID CARNE, executive business manager

Whether we lead one member of staff, or thousands, we achieve effectiveness through others. A school or trust will have support staff from a range of disciplines and backgrounds, all of whom need to be working towards the mission and objectives of the organisation. SBPs want our staff to be highly engaged and high performing; to achieve this, as leaders, we have the opportunity to invest time developing those in our teams who wish to grow and supporting those who, for whatever reason, are not reaching their full potential or performing at their best. One potential way of doing this is by adopting a coaching leadership style.

Coaching leadership is distinct from more traditional, directive, leadership, where we tend to tell people what they

need to do to perform. It is collaborative and supportive in nature and primarily focused on the employee’s needs. The leader and employee work together to identify appropriate goals and find ways for the employee to achieve them. Coaching can be used to address a huge range of issues such as developing new skills, modifying behavioural styles, improving relationships and building confidence. If done correctly, it can also transform an employee’s mindset, improve their ability to identify solutions for themselves and raise their selfawareness.

Coaching can be highly effective for staff who have ‘blind spots’ to behaviours and patterns of thinking which get in their way. There are, of course, occasions where coaching is not appropriate and a more directive style of leadership is necessary or more

traditional training is appropriate; coaching works best where staff have a desire to improve, but do not know how.

Coaching leadership is about asking questions that build insight through a mix of support and challenge. These questions tend to be non-judgemental and open, rather than closed and rhetorical. In essence, coaching is a guided conversation, focused on supporting an individual to identify and work towards achieving a specific goal.

HOW TO HAVE A COACHING CONVERSATION… There are numerous coaching models, but one simple one is the GROW model which was developed by John Whitmore in his book, Coaching for Performance. Goal: the coaching conversation starts by identifying the goal, fleshing it out, getting more specific, exploring what it

is, why it’s important and how we will know when it has been achieved. Reality: next we explore where we are now - honestly. What is the current reality and what is the gap between this and the goal? At this stage we might look at what it is that is holding a member of staff back – is it a need for training or resources, is it about patterns of thought and behaviour which are getting in the way, is there a relationship barrier with others which needs to be overcome? We explore this from both their perspective and that of others’ by asking questions about how others may perceive the current reality and whether that is different from the employee’s perspective. Options: here we start to thrash out what we can do to start moving towards the goal. This might involve breaking it down into smaller steps, identifying additional resources and support from others, or challenging some of the beliefs and behaviours that are getting in the way of moving forward. We explore all options, from the employee’s perspective, including any perceived barriers and tactics to overcome them. They are identifying as many realistic options as possible. People are more likely to make incremental progress over time. Way forward: at this stage, they select from the options in the stage before. What is manageable, and what

is possible? What are they prepared to do? This is about building commitment and also putting in place accountability. How will the individual feel when they achieve their goal? What will happen if they don’t? What is their commitment if they were to score it out of 10? At this point, we create a SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound) goal, which they commit to.

Once agreed, it is important to check-in, support and review – again through questioning. What progress have they made? What have they learnt? How have their attitudes and beliefs changed as a result? What helped them achieve the goal that they could use next time? This type of personal development tends to be more longlasting because individuals have done the work themselves, giving them a sense of achievement.

Most people do not come to work intending not to perform well; coaching can help create pathways by which they can be more successful - and success drives success. So, if you are looking for ways to develop your team, why not start by developing your abilities as a coaching leader - and, of course, identify someone who can coach you too.

David is a serving school business professional and executive coach.

Coaching can be used to address a huge range of issues

Making the grade: How a slick digital operating platform will help MATs thrive in the tough times ahead

With the march towards multi-academy trusts gathering pace, Civica’s STEWART MCLUSKEY explains why having the right digital operating system must be front of mind for trust leaders

The Schools White Paper, published earlier this year, chartered a clear course for our education system, with an entirely trust-led environment envisaged by 2030. For schools, parents, and pupils alike, the move towards multiacademy trusts (MATs) has the potential to be a real game-changer. Faced with rising costs, and ever greater demands on their finite resources, schools are already feeling the pinch. In this new climate, MATs can deliver economies of scale by pooling vital central functions, delivering greater efficiency, and ensuring that every pound saved is diverted towards pupil outcomes.

BEST IN CLASS

As MATs scramble to bring more schools into their orbit, they must ensure they stand out from the pack. With food prices soaring, teacher wages set to increase by six per cent, and energy bills having the potential to soon consume up to eight per cent of their entire budget, schools around the country are facing ever-mounting pressures. In this context, a key attraction of joining an MAT will be a world-class digital operating platform which simplifies and streamlines time-consuming, though fundamentally important, functions from finance to people management and

wellbeing to catering. For ambitious MATs leaders, a slick operating platform will also make it easier and faster to onboard new schools with minimal hassle or disruption for either staff or pupils. For schools and existing trusts, therefore, the direction of travel set out in the Schools White Paper has the potential to be a win-win.

Building that slick operating platform is not, however, as simple as it may seem. Pooling your back-office functions is one thing; doing it right, is quite another. MAT leaders have a world of choice when it comes to digital technologies - and therein lies the challenge. To deliver efficiencies at scale, the ideal operating platform must be built around agile, adaptable, digital technologies working together in tandem. The more interoperable your finance, HR, catering, and maintenance systems are, the less human input and time required. Conversely, if your technologies are not talking to one another, you will end up creating more work – and costs.

The right operating platform will, almost certainly, require technologies supplied by multiple different providers. So long as these technologies benefit from continuous investment, and can be easily integrated to your operating platform, they will deliver the outcomes you want.

The more interoperable your finance, HR, catering, and maintenance systems, the less human input and time required

STAYING THE COURSE –THE DIGITAL JOURNEY SMARTER FOUNDATION FOR A BETTER FUTURE

Just as pupils are on an educational journey, so too must be their learning environments.

Building a digital operating platform is a vital part of that journey - but it’s only the beginning. MATs must be on a continuous digital journey, so they are prepared for the challenges over the horizon. The financial pressures facing our schools are well known, but what about more global challenges like climate change? There’s a rapidly growing expectation amongst the younger generation, in particular, that schools should be in the vanguard of climate action. MAT leaders will, therefore, need to ensure they have a greener approach to everything they do.

With multiple school buildings in various states of repair across their estates, however, this will not be a straightforward task, and nor is cutting down on food waste in their catering operations. For hard-pressed parents, in particular, universal free school meals, which were recently announced in Scotland and Wales, will be warmly welcomed - but with every free school meal comes the potential for food waste and the carbon footprint associated with it. Making every crumb count, and ensuring no watts are wasted, will be made a whole lot easier with a digital platform which can help measure and manage your overall environmental performance.

In the coming months and years MAT leaders will be at the forefront of transforming our educational system. Success in that endeavour will result in a generation of young people with better career and life opportunities in an increasingly uncertain world. This success, however, will hinge on building and maintaining the right digital operating platform. This will be the enabler of everything a MAT is trying to achieve, from attracting other schools, and building scale, resilience and efficiency, to becoming more sustainable and – ultimately - channelling more funding towards learning outcomes.

MATs face a host of different challenges and, when it comes to their digital operating platform, one size won’t necessarily fit all. A key task over the coming months, thereforefor both MATs and the software sector - will be understanding what sort of optimum digital platform will deliver the best outcomes for MATs and their pupils.

As a leading provider of software for the education sector, we at Civica are keen to work with MATs, individual schools and the wider software sector to help define and build that platform so that, together, we can deliver the best possible future for our children.

Stewart Mcluskey is divisional MD (Education) at Civica

ABOUT CIVICA:

Civica is the UK’s largest software company focused on the public sector. With over 30 years of proven expertise, we hold an undisputed leadership position in our markets around the world: www.civica.com

Thechallenge of change

For some young people, transitioning from primary to secondary school can be a challenging time. LORRAINE LANGHAM, CEO of the charity Future First, describes how relatable mentors can alleviate the struggle…

For many children, the transition from primary to secondary school is a positive experience of excitement and growth; for others, it can be a time of anxiety, challenge and disruption, impacting not only on a child’s attainment, but also their general wellbeing.

In a post-pandemic era, the number of children requiring extra support has naturally risen. As we all know, the leap from a small primary classroom to a huge, unfamiliar, building -shared by a thousand secondary students - is daunting at the best of times. Now consider the children who spent a good portion of their recent education working on a laptop from their kitchens; you can imagine how overwhelming this transition might be for them.

At Future First we are already hearing from teachers reporting a strong decline in children’s social skills due to the pandemic, with many being as far as two years behind. The social skills these children are missing are critical tools for the transition between schools and are instrumental in helping develop new friendships and relationships with teachers, meaning many more will certainly struggle with the change.

TRANSITION FOR CHILDREN FACING ADVERSITY

Transition is most challenging for the children who are already facing adversity - for example, those living in households with low socio-economic status may be anxious about accessing a suitable uniform. Those who do not have contact with a trusted adult may not be able to seek practical advice or ask for help related to their new school (such as how to get the bus, or find their class). If English isn’t your first language you may be fearful of meeting peers or communicating with new teachers and, if you are from a background where you’ve experienced trauma or domestic violence, simply experiencing change or disruption may make a school transition significantly more difficult.

In short, the challenges children already face can make change more problematic, and secondary schools may not always be able to support children in the ways primary schools can. Consider, for example, a child in a primary school who may have received support from a single teacher. Primary teachers are able to adapt the support they give as they have a better opportunity to understand each child’s

A secondary teacher, however, may teach up to 300 different students, and may not understand the background of each child, especially those new to the school. This means that, for some children, the support they had in primary school ends. Which is why, for many children, having the opportunity to reach out to a mentor, in the form of a person with similar lived experience, can help.

CONNECTING WITH A MENTOR

Having a mentor can enable a child who is struggling with a transition to be able to reach out directly to someone who may have previously faced similar issues, or been on a comparable journey. Whether they are from a similar household, live in the same regional area or estate, or have the same religious faith or background, easily accessing unbiased advice or guidance can help considerably.

This help may come in the form of an answer to a simple question related to their lived experience such as, How did you make friends? How did you learn to find your way around a bigger school? Or, Who can I talk to about my problems? To which a mentor can give their personal advice or support.

There are lots of different mentoring and support services available, but schools may not have thought about asking their past pupils to do this. Future First has helped many schools to use their alumni as mentors and we are happy to support others. Schools can also do this themselves, signing up past pupils, getting them DBS checked and training volunteers to provide support. Giving students a choice of mentors that mirror their background or interests, empowering them to choose who they connect with, is a strong factor in successful mentor matching.

The mentor can then be accessed via a fully-safeguarded

and moderated online platform; we use one provided by Brightside. Children are not limited to using the technology during school time and can ask for support from their ‘phone or any other device at any time. This allows mentors to help students who are school refusers, or those who have high levels of social anxiety, and are, therefore, not attending school.

THE POWER OF A POSITIVE NETWORK

For many children the opportunity to ask questions, seek guidance, or obtain information, simply isn’t available; making a connection with a person who has been where they are, and successfully finished school, is invaluable during transitionespecially as our research shows that 43% of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds do not think, or are unsure of, whether people like them can be successful.

The transitional stage is a vital time that determines how well a young person settles into secondary education and, in the wake of the pandemic, more children need help to adjust. Our work with children has demonstrated that access to a relatable mentor makes a huge difference, especially in relation to confidence.

Using past pupils as relatable mentors with lived experience is just another way schools can support children to thrive at secondary school.

Lorraine Langham is chief executive of Future First, the UK education charity helping young people in state schools and colleges broaden their horizons by connecting them with former pupils and other positive role models.

Our research shows that 43% of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds do not think, or are unsure of, whether people like them can be successful

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Same old, same old, or a new MO for the new school year?

Over the years, I’ve penned many an article for publication at the beginning of September.

These have been structured to acknowledge the incredibly hard work of school business professionals through the last academic year - and through the school holidays too - whilst also providing encouragement for a positive mindset to tackle the new academic year ahead with a similar kind of enthusiasm displayed by those who’ve had the benefit of a five/six-week break!

This year feels very different - it is a long time since we all felt the sheer weight of the challenges ahead that we are faced with this year. So, I’m going to try out a slightly different approach...

The challenges are huge, and it’s going to be a very difficult year for us all. Harping back to the ‘good old days’ and what we used to do is neither helpful nor productive in this context, and it’s clear that this time round we need to look at the forthcoming year through a different lens.

September brings both challenge and opportunity - something that has become particularly apparent for me in the last few weeks as I have been helping prepare my first grandchild for starting school. Amelia starts school on 6th September and she is

apprehensive, tired, yet quite excited too.

This mirrors what most of us are feeling –right?

Without wishing to sound in any way patronising I thought that some of the suggestions I’ve given to Amelia might also be relevant for you all too.

PATIENCE – the official definition is ‘the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious’. Patience is a key skill for all SBPs.

We need to be patient with the new children joining our school for the first time, as well as with new members of staff, new parents, new systems and processes, and also with existing staff returning for another year too. Being patient is EXHAUSTING, and can be in short supply when you are crazy busy all the time. We have to be patient with all staff –especially those ‘Harry Potter Dementor types’ who tend to suck the life blood out of you in one brief exchange!

As a grandparent I’m learning to be calmer and more patient, and I’ve loved helping Amelia learn how to fasten her shiny new school shoes, and change into her PE kit all by herself, etc., but being patient doesn’t just stop there – we also need to be patient with ourselves too. Workloads are huge, and becoming more so – you can only do what is

VAL ANDREW believes that, this year, things are different – and we all need to consider taking a different approach to living and working as the new September term begins

humanly possible in one day, so perhaps think about being more patient in terms of not meeting some deadlines - which might mean assessing what is absolutely urgent/needs doing now and what could wait?

This leads nicely to my next suggestion which is:-

GOAL-SETTING - and making sure these are realistic goals. Goal-setting is another key skill which can help us turn ‘stuff’ into reality. You all know what SMART goals are, and don’t need me to remind you, but maybe think about this in another context.

Working practices are established and have contributed to your feeling washed out and exhausted – right? How about doing something different in the new term? Start small and get braver; for example, why not commit to NOT being the last one out of school at least one day every week and sticking to it? Why not stop taking work home – I used to carry a ‘guilt’ bag home every night and most weekends, and rarely opened it. What was the point in that? I know many of you are still managing to negotiate some periods of working from home, which is great – if this is working well for everyone AND you’re managing to be productive on those days, perhaps that’s a good enough reason to continue with this. Interruptions are one

of the key reasons cited for increasing SBP workloads so working remotely for a little of your working week might eliminate this, albeit briefly, and that’s a positive step.

Amelia and I have been talking about goalsetting – we have been practising the skill of listening so that she’ll understand exactly what her teacher wants her to do.

STOP MULTI-TASKING – it doesn’t work! It took me ages to realise it was pointless and, in reality, it leads to screwing up lots of things at the same time. The new thing is ‘single tasking’. Concentrate on one thing, commit time and effort to that one thing, and do it well. Think about your daily routine of getting up and getting to school. How many things do you try and juggle, and what happens? If you feel the need to wean yourself off a culture of multi-tasking why not try one day a week having a ‘touch and do’ day?

TOUCH AND DO – this was suggested to me some years ago by a colleague who watched me shuffle paper day in, day out, and achieve little. I thought she was a bit bonkers, and you’ll probably think the same now –BUT, I challenge you to give it a try because it works! Every Thursday we had a ‘touch and do’ day; this meant that every time you picked up a piece of paper you had to finish the task before turning to something else. (The secret is

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

I hope at least one small idea in this has been useful and I wish you all (and Amelia of course!) good luck dealing with the challenges on the road ahead from this September.

Remember the famous Henry Ford quote:

not to touch too much!) Give it a try – it works brilliantly and this turned out to be my most productive day each week.

DEFINE SUCCESS FOR YOURSELF –we spend most of our adult lives at work and aspiring to earn more, do more, care more, eat and drink less, spend more time with family and friends etc. We have high aspirations and are often disappointed when we can’t achieve our dreams. What do you want to achieve –what will make you feel that you’ve succeeded, personally and professionally? Introspection is hard, and makes us feel uncomfortable, but maybe this year we all need to just stop for a minute and think about it. Once you’ve decided what success looks like for you work on trying to achieve that. This could link to the goal-setting mentioned above or, perhaps, trying (once again) to establish a more balanced work-life plan.

WILLPOWER V HABITS - I read an article recently that encouraged us all to replace willpower with habits. Willpower is apparently in limited supply every day, and uses up lots of energy. Once that energy is exhausted you need to rest to get more. If we change our habits then they become automatic behaviours and use up less energy – sounds simple enough?

It made me reflect on professional habits

we all have. Think about Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. All seven habits are highly relevant to the theme of this article, but habits six and seven perhaps even more so. Covey talks about synergy and using a combination of the win-win motivation we all have along with empathic communication to achieve a paradigm shift which can result in moving away from a transactional way of doing things to embark on something transformational. Habit seven is very focused on the individual – the greatest asset you all have is YOU! So, you need to preserve and protect that.

Along the same theme, I’m a huge fan of Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s books including The Stress Solution and his ‘4 Pillar Plan’ because they set out the simplest of strategies that are so easy to factor into our daily lives and can have such a positive impact in terms of preserving and protecting you as an individual. Well worth a read.

I feel September 2022 requires us all to choose a different way by abandoning ‘the same old same old’ mantra and looking to create a paradigm shift which sees important changes happen when the usual way of thinking about, and doing, something is replaced by a new and different way.

VAL ANDREW

● Programme manager for Best Practice Network

DSBM Level 4 - find out more: https://www. bestpracticenet. co.uk/dsbm-l4

● Patron of ISBL.

● Formerly ASCL School Business Leadership Specialist (2010 - 2018).

● Recipient of ISBL CEO Award for exceptional contributions to school business leadership in 2018.

● Semi - retired SBL and very proud grandma.

What do you want to achieve – what will make you feel that you’ve succeeded, personally and professionally?

What does an old SBL know about wellbeing?

It’s really tough being a kid. How many of us would choose to go back to our childhood and live through it again? Not me. Youth is wasted on the young (or so the saying goes) but there is no way I’d go back, and I can’t help but feel for our young people going through it today.

They seem to have so much more to deal with now - pressure to perform academically and to always behave themselves and an expectation that they will share toys, look after siblings and, often, other family members too. Pressure to keep active while also keeping up with the latest gaming, in which the only body movement required is eyes and digits. An expectation to have all the latest and ‘right’ gear, to keep up with the online conversation, to make sure they are watching the current popular (dare I say unsuitable?) TV programmes - but also to

get enough sleep.

When did we start making so many demands on them? When did they start expecting so much of themselves and their young lives?

If ‘the child is father of the man’ I must question what we are setting this future generation up for? Will theirs be a life of ill health, disappointment, conflicting demands and unachievable expectations? Or will they still develop the resilience, adaptability, patience and acceptance required of a successful adult of the future?

As a new Gran I do worry about what is in store for my grandson. He is, as a toddler, gorgeously unaware of what’s ahead and I want it to stay that way for as long as possible. Currently, his only concern is whether his Mum will let him have an ice-lolly when he

gets home from nursery.

As an old school business leader I still want to do everything in my power to support our students through these years - but how? With funding growing ever tighter, costs increasing, and the staffing required to support the different needs of students going up, it’s beginning to feel like an unachievable challenge. I often think we could just keep channelling funding into our pastoral care provision, but it would never be enough, and I don’t think we could ever completely meet the growth in demand.

A HUGE SUBJECT

So, how does the SBL support the staff supporting the students? How do we keep well-being and mental health right at the top of the agenda for everyone?

When Education Executive asked if I

A school sits in the centre of every community and, EMMA GRAY believes, needs to be ready to take on a bigger role if we are to prepare our young people for a healthy and successful future, with memories of a happy childhood

would like to write a series of articles for 2022-23, I could only think of one topic I wanted to write about. Wellbeing. I’ve declared it to be one of two focuses for my work in the trust this year, and it’s a HUGE subject, but the most interesting thing about it is how recently, and quickly, the landscape has changed.

There is no doubt that COVID-19 had an enormous effect on, and continues to influence, our mental health. Suddenly our mortality and vulnerability were bought sharply into the spotlight. The message was that we weren’t safe in our schools, that the very process of coming together for teaching, learning and being with our friends and colleagues put us at risk, and schools were closed.

Family structures were interrupted as we tried to protect relatives, and there was that constant ‘death toll’ barrage on the news. It’s no wonder that the youthful feeling of invincibility, which we all had the luxury to grow up with, has gone. Now the priority is to stay safe, wash your hands, isolate, stay online and be risk-averse. To someone who spent her childhood climbing trees, swimming in the local stream, and helping her Dad turn dandelion leaves into wine, that doesn’t sound like much fun.

So, over the next few months, I’m going to try to explore what we perceive to be ‘wellbeing’ today. I want to identify ways in which we, as school business

leaders, can support our communities.

I want to consider how we might push back on the limitations that this ‘new normal’ is imposing on us and ask whether all the labelling is helping.

I want to think about ways in which we can keep everyone safe but still encourage them to challenge boundaries, step outside their comfort zones and, yes, take some considered risks.

I’m not promising to find answers; there are already a lot of links, resources, services and advice out there supporting wellbeing (take a look at the DfE publication, Mental Health and Wellbeing Resources for Teachers and Teaching Staff, to see what I mean).

No. I want to ASK the questions. I want to look at the bigger picture, and the future we are creating for our young people. I want to consider whether now is the time to:

Bring the focus back to ‘childhood’ for everyone under 18?

Discard all the old wisdom about how teaching and support staff contracts work, and listen to what our staff actually want from their time delivering and supporting education?

Get everyone out into the environment, using it as a classroom while inspiring its protection for the future?

Encourage a wider engagement with the school community, increasing opportunities for social activities?

Bring in extended family connections to support the wellbeing of staff and students, and share skills?

Plan to share resources among schools and trusts so that we don’t all feel compelled to buy those big-ticket items, or state-of-the-art facilities.

NO SIMPLE ANSWERS

There are no simple answers, but it’s important that we start the honest - and at times controversial - conversation. We have become so rigid in our efforts to keep the world out of our schools (and students in), building fences and limiting movement, that we’ve forgotten the benefits and opportunities which our extended community and environment brings.

Do we need to think about adjusting our thinking to adopt a more commonsense approach? In our efforts to risk assess every activity, have we lost spontaneity, adventure and fun – those things that traditionally make up a childhood?

At the heart of the argument is that schools know children. A school sits in the centre of every community and, I believe, needs to be ready to take on a bigger role if we are to prepare our young people for a healthy and successful future, with memories of a happy childhood.

NEXT TIME: Let’s start with us. What does wellbeing look like for the SBL? 

It's important that we start the honestand at times controversialconversation

Time to talk energy: buy, use and generate well

SBLs spend and awful lot of lot of their time and energy strategically thinking about how they can mitigate their school’s rising energy costs in their budget says HELEN BURGE

SBLs may have considered their options around the security of the international supply of energy and, I am hoping, to have started implementing strategies to reduce their school’s carbon footprint.

The energy industry feels like it’s become the Grand Elder of Energy Vampires! The ongoing energy crisis drama is draining us emotionally and financially at work and home. The usual weapon of choice for slaying a vampire is not going to be the solution this time; however, it is a good time to talk about energy and sustainability with your governors, trustees and leadership teams - discuss buying your energy well, using your energy well and generating your energy well.

BUY IT WELL Pre-COVID, the DfE reported that schools were spending £630m per annum on energy. Time will tell what that figure is like post the energy price crisis we are currently all experiencing. Even if our energy consumption has been reduced due to implementing a range of energysaving initiatives our costs will still have increased considerably. I don’t need to tell you the impact this is having on the rest of your budget and, therefore, your school’s strategic plans. Procurement is a complicated and long-winded task, which even the most dedicated school business leader may have to steel themselves for, and energy procurement is on another level again! If you’re not already engaged with an energy procurement expert, surely now is the time to find one. You may also have considered purchasing your energy through a DfEapproved gas or electricity framework. However, you chose to do it, please don’t do it on your own – get expert advice to buy your energy well.

USE IT WELL - GET SPARKIE! After buying your energy well, the next thing is to use your energy well. You will need to understand when and

how it’s being used, so make the most of smart metering and get your Excel nerdy pants on with some data analysis. Have a look at https://energysparks.uk/ The DfE is using Energy Sparks during 2022-23 to trial the delivery of energy management systems in schools with real-time information about their energy usage, presented in a user-friendly online portal. It’s supported with an energy education programme for KS1 through to KS5, so you really can influence changes in behaviour patterns for all again, at home as well as school.

Energy Sparks can also conduct energy audits either for free virtually or at the cost of a visit (which includes a thermal imaging camera). You may also want to engage with http:// www.schoolenergyefficiency.co.uk/, or register your school with https://letsgozero.org/ - an organisation which will support your school to set zero carbon targets.

If your school has usable floor space of over 250m2 it is a legal requirement to have a display energy certificate (DEC). They last for one year for buildings with a total useful floor area of more than 1000m2 and for 10 years when the total floor area is over 250m2 and up to 1000m2. The advisory report which accompanies the DEC includes recommendations for improving the energy performance of the building. Are you able to implement any of those recommendations? Can’t find your DEC? take a look at https://find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk/find-a-certificate/type-ofproperty. If your home has one it will be on here too.

If you’re fortunate enough to be involved in a new school building project, how can you ensure it’s as energy efficient as possible? Maybe network with other SBLS via the operations strand of https://www.transform-our-world.org/ukssn for ideas and support.

If your organisation meets two of the following criteria:

250 or more employees;

balance sheet assets of £18m or more;

turnover greater than £36m; then you should be reporting on your streamlined energy carbon annually in your year-end accounts. Understanding your school’s intensity ratio (total gross emissions in metric tonnes – CO2e per pupil), and sharing this with the school community, could focus minds on working together to reduce it.

GENERATE YOUR ENERGY WELL I know my trust is looking to expedite our plans for installing solar panels across the estate, maybe funded by grants or through leases. Most of our roofs are now suitable for solar panels having been repaired and replaced. Depending on your context, some schools might be able to use unused fields of their estate for solar panels, or maybe a wind turbine. Again, get expert advice on this as what works well for a school down the road, might not be the right solution for your school despite the fact we are all sharing the same renewable energy shining down on us or blowing our hair into our eyes.

Some schools might be able to use unused fields of their estate for solar panels

Health and safety as a culture

Alongside the newly announced HSE asbestos inspections, and the ongoing COVID safety measures schools are expected to maintain, are we needing to see a greater focus in the education sector and how we manage this area of our schools? If you are hoping to achieve excellence in this area here are a few things to help you on your way.

SHAPING A CULTURE

Firstly – H&S is all about culture –everyone should be invested in ensuring you have great practices and that people follow

the rules. Culture is shaped by your own experiences and your school’s appetite for risk. The benchmark is set by your trustees, governors and leadership team who should all be saying the same thing and challenging behaviours where they fall short. (Hopefully this is a rare occurrence).

PEOPLE

Secondly – look after your people – an excellent induction will deal with most of the key areas but, when I travel around, this seems to be something that is not well done across schools. Ensure you have a robust

Would you be comfortable walking an inspector round your school, delving into your practices - whether this be your induction process, management of risk assessments, or simply the way you communicate the latest information? PHIL BURTON explores

process which covers all the key areas of H&S. Ensure you also get a signed copy to say they have not only read, but have understood, the content - for me, a person can ask the same question a dozen times to make sure they understand the concept.

As part of looking after your people ensure that the training is suitable and sufficient for their role. Many business managers and site managers are undertaking NEBOSH training to demonstrate their knowledge of the subject. It would also be good to have premises officers undertake the IOSH Managing Safely course and to have other staff conduct a simple 10 question quiz around key areas of H&S every year. This provides great evidence of ongoing CPD in the area.

KEEP RECORDS

Thirdly – Keep records – sadly this seems to be the way of the world and you must keep records of all training and compliance checks; there are a lot of things out there to help with this. It is up to you how you manage this - whether totally online, paper-based or a hybrid of both. I prefer

a hybrid approach, with routine daily and weekly tasks recorded in my one-stop-shop log book and annual statutory inspections recorded on an online platform. My biggest tip is to ensure that someone is checking the checker at least every three months to make sure they are doing it right.

MONITORING

Finally (for now) – monitoring. Do a termly inspection of the school and record it. Have a governor focus session each term looking at a key area of H&S (fire, Legionella, or maybe ask the children what they think). Where you can, bring in the experts; have the local authority do a termly focus inspection with you. Remember the day-to-day inspections too; it all counts. Once you have this information create an action plan which is reviewed by the appropriate committees so you can show how you are ticking off these issues.

H&S is a key and vital part of school life, ensuring everything remains legal and compliant – and safe. You really do not want to be sat with a HSE inspector (it is not a pleasant experience even if you do everything right).

H&S is all about culture – everyone should be invested in ensuring you have great practices and that people follow the rules

Why 1:1 device access unlocks the most powerful kinds of learning

As a result of the pandemic the children in our classrooms today have an unprecedented level of experience in using technologies as part of their learning (APPG, 2021). As we all move forward from the pandemic, and find our own ‘new normal’ ways of working, one of the significant conversations has been about how to incorporate these experiences meaningfully into planning for today and tomorrow. As recently published by the DfE Education Technology Survey, a majority of schools are now working towards a 1:1 device approach (DfE, 2022). Different schools and groups are at varying stages of enabling this. The most common approaches are:

● Class-Based Device Access: schools have laptop trolleys in classes or year groups so that teachers can permit devices as part of classroom activities.

● Devices On Demand: schools provide devices in class that children can choose to access when it supports or enhances their learning.

● Targeted Provision of Devices: schools provide targeted children with a school-owned device (e.g. for particular year groups, or learning needs).

● Loaned Devices: schools loan a device

to each child for the duration of the school year, or school career, that they can use both in class and at home.

● Bring Your Own Device: Children bring their own devices into school (BYOD) to enable fluid learning both at home and at school.

● Bring Your Own/Loaned Device Mix: children bring their own devices into school and those unable to do so are loaned school devices – so that every child has access to their ‘own’ device both in class and at home.

A combination of children bringing their own devices from home and providing school-loaned devices for those unable to do so is, arguably, the most pragmatic and powerful. This is largely because it is the most cost and timeefficient way of ensuring every child has access to a device that they can call their own. From a pedagogical perspective, it is this sense of ownership that will bridge device usage from being a novelty to being transformational in terms of educational outcomes.

Drawing upon the research evidence, Twining and Maher (2017) found that when students were given the opportunity to choose when and where to use their devices they became more discerning

about the technology’s use and its impact on their learning. In other words, they focused on what would help their learning (increasing metacognitive skills) rather than the novelty of using devices.

Furthermore, Liu et al. (2014) found that student access to 1:1 devices was attributed to a blurring of boundaries between ‘formal and informal learning space’ and extending learning from school into the home. Children at Sherborne House School very much reflect this:

● “I can have my own layouts on my screen. I can do my work more quickly because I know my own keyboard and shortcuts.”

●

“I’ve used my own device for maths and English…I can leave tabs open from work I’ve done in class….and use it for homework too.”

●

“The good thing about using your own device is that access is quicker and you have your own home screen so you know where everything is.”

●

“I like having the opportunity to choose to use my own computer to help me in my learning. It means I can choose how to present my work.”

Once children have the fluidity of access to a device that they can think of as their own, this opens up all kinds of

SARAH EVANS and FIONA AUBREY-SMITH believe we need to consider how we incorporate children’s knowledge and experience of technology into work in the classroom as effectively as possible

WE GO ABOVE AND BEYOND

creative opportunities to enhance teaching and learning purposefully. The necessary adaptation of lessons for online delivery during the pandemic has empowered teachers with a plethora of new skills - a very steep learning curve for many, but one which has had wide-reaching consequences. The way that learning takes place has changed rapidly, with staff and students readily tackling the complexities of working online, managing content in the cloud, collaborating on shared projects, engaging with interactive tools and embracing new presentation methods.

EMBRACE TO ENGAGE

These kinds of approaches encourage the creation of a more engaging learning environment, with adaptations to suit different learning needs and opportunities to form connections and apply transferable skills. Embracing technology as a tool for students to use alongside other, more traditional, educational resources, reflects the way that they use technology at home, and is more representative of how they are likely to use technology in their future careers. Today’s young people are unafraid of technology and willing to explore its uses and limits in all aspects of their lives. Without embracing this in the school environment, we would be hampering a way of learning that is more natural to them than it is, perhaps, to their parents and teachers. Allowing our students to drive their learning through inquiry and

research, with the use of the most up-todate web content, fosters independent thinking skills and helps create more active and focused learning.

It is up to us, as teachers, to decide how we engage with, and embrace, these opportunities. Large-scale studies by Twining et al., (2017) found that the use of technologies amplifies the existing pedagogical stance of children’s teachers - in other words, technology highlights the way that we teach, and the types of learning experiences we provide for our children. Selwyn (2019), refers to the role of teachers as ‘pedagogical gatekeepers’ to student learning experiences – bringing to the fore our decisions about what we allow or encourage children to do using their devices as part of their learning.

At Sherborne House School we believe in using technology to make activities meaningful, engaging and personal for our children. For example, this term the children have used their own devices to engage interactively with live video lessons, re-watch teacher instruction at their own pace, research information as part of their learning projects, move through sequences of activities based on their individual attainment and confidence, choose platforms on which to publish their writing in a variety of different ways, create collaborative documents to co-construct work with other students and to drive their own progress through the use of adaptive online questions.

As highlighted in the Oxford University Press (2021) Addressing the Deepening Digital Divide report, if the digital divide is left unaddressed, the gap between the under-connected and the hyper-digitalised will widen, aggravating existing inequalities. So, the decisions we make are about more than just engaging children in their learning; they are fundamentally about social justice and equality – ensuring meaningful and purposeful learning for all students.

COST-EFFECTIVE SUGGESTIONS TO FACILITATE EVERY CHILD HAVING 1:1 DEVICE ACCESS

● Purchase low-cost devices (e.g. Chromebooks, starting from £109).

● Purchase reconditioned laptops from reputable organisations (e.g. 2econd chance – starting from £59).

● Repurpose old devices (e.g. install Chrome OS on old MacBooks/ Windows laptops).

● Remove restrictions on where existing devices are being kept or stored so that they are more freely accessible to students as and when they need them.

● Accept donations of tablets and laptops.

It is up to us, as teachers, to decide how we engage with, and embrace, these opportunities

Senses pollutants

The Sensor Pod measures pollutants and communicates results back to the purifier.

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HEPA filter captures pollutants

The HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter captures 99% of airborne viruses and allergens down to

microns.

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Pollutants destroyed

The UV-C lamp destroys the pollutants that have been captured by the HEPA filter, including 99.99% of airborne coronavirus.*

Adoption isn’t aonce off event

As we start a new academic year now is a good time to revisit the key technology enabled changes made last year. And to ensure everyone knows why they were made and is confident in how to use the IT in their work.

There will be new staff, pupils and established staff in new roles. Pupils will transfer from other schools and their families may be used to other systems to interact with school.

So:

1 Keep everyone aware of the Vision – state where that new system fits to the big picture for the school

2 Leadership should continue to be proactive in encouraging the need for the change andencouraging feedback on what works

well and what needs improving

3 Change leaders continue to act as a champions’ helping everyone get the best from the technology and working with IT and suppliers to get issues addressed

4 Educate all who are impacted by change using most appropriate formats of education to engage and support users

Examples of the type of IT enabled change:

● Where we store documents

● Our MIS system

● Our email

● Subject specific online learning

● Cyber security

● Classroom computers and projectors

● Parent communications

● Parent payments

Adoption of new technology is not just a one-off event. When a school puts in new technology, they need to continue to ensure it is being used in the way they first imagined.

ROYDEN GOTHELF discusses how you can make sure you your school uses technology well

KEEP EVERYONE AWARE OF THE VISION

Organisational messages paint the big picture, for example, “we’re changing the MIS system as we can provide better intervention strategies with the new system”. When this comes from the Head the messages have better impact than those coming from IT or business manager as it is the broader context that is important. Other members of the leadership team and IT can then say, “and this is what it means to you”. So, we separate school wide from personal impact.

Leadership should continue to be proactive. – continue to be proactive in communicating the change and supporting staff and pupils

Best practice is to appoint a change leader who can be the Head teacher or a senior leader that the head nominates. This change leader is not just to get the change in, this is continuous improvement role. To support the change leader appoint change champions in the staff who have a level of expertise in the technology to support colleagues.

To keep a focus on change, have a steering group. This can be the business manager, change leader and IT manager to talk about what is working well and where interventions are needed. Interventions can be anything from a tech fix to retraining of users. And these interventions can be done with internal resources or bringing in expertise from suppliers. It is likely

that where the digital change is like MIS, a Ed Tech learning tool or Cloud e.g. Zoom, M Soft, Google then you will have access to support expertise. This is not just to get the initial project work done, keep this in place year on year.

EDUCATE ALL

People forget what they learnt, people change roles, people tend to only remember the things they use frequently. Offer refresher training, it may just be reminding people where to find the online self-paced learning. Get the ‘how to’ materials off the virtual shelf and provide training for those that need it. Do this so everyone can do their jobs efficiently.

All users can get frustrated if they get stuck doing and often are too embarrassed to ask for help. Be proactive and provide the help. It can make a huge difference if training is offered as people realise they aren’t the only ones who need a refresh.

Just as I am not using all the features of Word as I write this it is more likely that I don’t know about them rather than don’t need them. The same will apply to most of the technology you have at your disposal.

Best practice in bringing in a new change is to be clear on what the benefit of the change is, who is impacted by the change and what needs to be done. Change is ongoing improvement not a once off event.

Leadership should continue to be proactive in encouraging the need for the change

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

HACK

Caption competition

THUMBS UP!

Pub quiz

1. In mythology, which animal raised Romulus and Remus?

2. On which Japanese city was the first atom bomb dropped by the USA?

3. Which is Britain’s oldest Sunday newspaper? First published in 1791

4. What was Wolfgang Mozart’s middle name?

5. Who was the ‘Sportsman of the Century’ in 1999 according to the US magazine Sports Illustrated and the BBC?

Answers:1.Wolf

Drone saves 14-year-old from drowning in Spain

A pioneering drone lifeguard service, which was rolled out across Spanish beaches recently, saved a 14-year-old boy from drowning in Valencia.

General Drones Supplies operate on 22 beaches in Spain. Their drones can fly at 15 metres per second (50km per hour). “When we arrived, what we saw was a kid that was already in quite a bad condition with almost no energy to keep floating, so I sent over the lifejacket,” explained drone pilot for General Drones, Miguel Angel Pedrero. “Because of the heavy waves it was a complicated manoeuvre, but we finally managed to give him the vest so that he could float until the lifeguards reached him by jet ski.”

A video of the dramatic moment shows the drone dropping a life vest on the teen and providing assistance until a lifeguard could arrive.

MuhammadAli

Keep mint around you (e.g. in your pencil case). This can help reduce headaches and boost your concentration.

Tigers in Nepal back from the brink of extinction

Nepal has reported that its wild tiger population is 40% higher than in 2015. The latest data shows that Nepal has nearly tripled the number of tigers in the wild. The historic 190% increase since 2009 is a result of the protection of tiger habitats, partnership with local communities and cracking down on poaching.

“Nepal’s new tiger population estimate shows that it is possible to save a species from the brink of extinction, and gives us a real reason to celebrate this Global Tiger Day,” said Ginette Hemley, senior vice president for Wildlife Conservation for WWF in the USA.

‘LIFE-CHANGING’ NEW TINNITUS TREATMENT DEVELOPED

Tinnitus, a ringing inside the ear, is often seen as a phantomcondition with no cure. A new mobile ‘phone therapy to stop tinnitus has been developed anda team at the University of Auckland in New Zealand has reported that 65% of participants showed improvement. About five per cent of the population experience tinnitus to a distressing degree which means thatthey have trouble sleeping and carrying out daily tasks. Earlier trials showed that white noise, goal-based counselling, goal-oriented games and other technology-based therapies are effective.“What this therapy does is, essentially, rewire the brain in a way that de-emphasises the sound of the tinnitus to a background noise that has no meaning or relevance to the listener,”explained researcher Dr Searchfield.

Well, knock me down with a feather!

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Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow Anthony J. D’Angelo DID YOU KNOW? The word ‘strengths’ is the longest word in the English language with only one vowel.

Manchester6th October 2022

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