NAHT Leadership Focus April 2017

Issue 77 / April 2017 / £5

THE MAGAZINE FOR NAHT AND NAHT EDGE MEMBERS

FOCUS

Education’s

black hole The funding crisis – what does it mean?

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LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

OPINION

KIM JOHNSON: NAHT president 2016/17

A year to remember t seems quite unreal that my year as your national president is coming to an end. I know it’s a well worn phrase but the time has really flown by.

In all honesty I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to travel throughout England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man visiting branches, schools/ academies, ‘energetically’ taking part in meetings with local/ national politicians, chairing our hardworking National Executive and speaking at a variety of conferences/events. The privilege has been immense and I trust that I have served you well in all that I have engaged.

It has had its challenging moments and at times the implicit frustration has called upon all my tactical reserves and experience of working many years in the SEMH sector. The lack of real engagement and understanding by some in political high office has been disappointing as they talk of ‘Education for All’ yet absent many and choose to be exclusive rather than inclusive.

What has been all too clear is that the current politics of 2017 does not ensure full debate and sufficient challenge. The outcome too often being that

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subsequent policy fails to ensure a basic right for all children and young adults to excellent, well-resourced and fully funded educational opportunity with clear pathways to employment, training and further education.

So there remains much to do and NAHT has clearly been at the forefront of challenge in a highly respected solution-focussed manner ... and must continue its role in ‘Leading the Way’.

The work of Russell Hobby has been key to our success and his departure, albeit a great loss, opens the door for a new general secretary to build on our achievements and take us forward.

As I hand on the chain of office to Anne Lyons, a primary colleague from London, I have to reflect that illness has robbed dear Colm Davis of his year as president. His diagnosis of motor neurone disease meant he had to stand down and it is heart warming to see his resolve to lead as normal a life as possible and retain that ever-present and charming smile. At the Belfast National Executive Meeting we launched the start of our year with the Motor Neurone Disease Association as our

Above: Kim Johnson

national charity. The sight of Colm being brought to us by eight leather-jacketed Harley Davidson riders (all ex-Northern Ireland police, surgeons, solicitors and deputy heads no less!) was a sight to behold. I trust you will take a moment to visit his Justgiving (www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/Colm-Davis) page and help raise funds for further national research and treatment.

Enjoy this edition of our much improved Leadership Focus and if you are at National Conference I trust that you will contribute to the occasion to ensure the debate and decisions represent all our membership.

Best wishes to you all and thank you for your support, encouragement and hard work this year.

The lack of real engagement and understanding by some in political high office has been disappointing as they talk of ‘Education for All’ yet absent many and choose to be exclusive rather than inclusive.

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CONTENTS

ASSOCIATION AND EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES NAHT and NAHT Edge 1 Heath Square, Boltro Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 1BL www.naht.org.uk www.nahtedge.org.uk Tel: 0300 30 30 333 Editorial Strategy Board: David Gilmore (chair), James Bowen, Tim Bowen, Nick Brook, Colm Davis, Tony Draper, Steven George, David Gilmore, Nicky Gillhespy, Magnus Gorham, Russell Hobby, Steve Iredale, Kim Johnson, Helena Macormac, Judith Stott, Paul Whiteman, Rob Williams.

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@nahtnews

EDITORIAL TEAM Editor: Nic Paton Publisher: David Gale

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SALES DIRECTOR Ian Carter Tel: 0207 183 1815 Leadership Focus is published on behalf of NAHT by Headlines Partnership Publishing Ltd, Headlines MediaHub, Radian Court, Knowlhill, Milton Keynes MK5 8PJ. www.headlines.uk.com Tel: 01908 393303 Email: nic.paton@headlines.uk.com

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Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation: 28,060 (July 2014–June 2015) ISSN: 1472-6181 Š Copyright 2016 NAHT All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be copied or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. While every care has been taken in the compilation of this publication, neither the publisher nor NAHT can accept responsibility for any inaccuracies or changes since compilation, or for consequential loss arising from such changes or inaccuracies, or for any other loss, direct or consequential, arising in connection with information in this publication. Acceptance of advertisements does not imply recommendation by the publisher.

The views herein are not necessarily those of the publisher, the editor or NAHT.

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LEADERSHIP FOCUS |APRIL 2017

Contents 6

News round up The latest from across NAHT and NAHT Edge.

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10 The funding crisis We look at the growing financial crisis within the education sector.

19 NAHT at 120 As NAHT celebrates its 120th year we reflect on a lifetime of campaigning.

22 A year in the life Outgoing president Kim Johnson highlights some of the organisations that have inspired him during the past 12 months.

24 Employee engagement A look at the success of the NAHT-led Primary Futures initiative.

30 Annual Conference 2017 What this year’s conference has in store.

32 SEND review Two successful NAHT conferences that put SEND at centre stage.

35 A legal view

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Your legal questions answered.

36 Supporting governors How schools can be improved by working with your governing body.

42 West Midlands region A look at the challenges facing this area.

44 Russell Hobby

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Message from the general secretary.

46 Reflections of a general secretary Russell Hobby reflects on his seven years in office.

50 Collaboration How collaboration and partnership doesn’t necessarily mean academisation.

54 The Motor Neurone Disease Association Learn more about our new charity partner.

56 Your professional development A round up of the best courses and conferences.

58 Edge Advisory Council Meet the new team supporting middle leaders

Every school should be collaborating, whether that’s internal collaboration or looking at more formal, legal structures. Valentine Mulholland

60 Top 5 Advice Guides Find out about the most popular resources being downloaded from our website.

62 The final word How one school is addressing the funding crisis.

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NEWS ROUND UP

T H E L AT E S T F R O M A C R O S S N A H T A N D N A H T E D G E Get in touch and share your thoughts on this month’s news via publications@naht.org.uk

School Leadership podcast

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Colm hitches a ride on a Harley ur much-loved vice president, Colm Davis, arrived in style at NAHT’s National Executive Conference in Belfast on Thursday 2 March, on a Harley Davidson trike.

The Harley Davidson Owners Group (HOG) agreed to take part in the surprise for Colm, picking him up from Tor Bank Special School where he is Principal, and delivering him to the Europa Hotel. Sadly, Colm

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was diagnosed with motor neurone disease last year. To support our friend and colleague, NAHT set up a JustGiving page to raise funds for the MND Association and we are pleased to announce that we have exceeded our target of £1,000. Many thanks to everyone who has donated to this worthwhile cause. www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ colm-davis

Our monthly School Leadership podcast provides an opportunity to hear from some of the leading voices in education. Last term we were delighted to bring you the first recorded interview with the new Chief Inspector of Ofsted. Amanda Spielman talked about her vision for Ofsted as a force for improvement as well as her approach to her new role.

She said: “The vision is: how do we make sure that what we do adds up to a force for improvement? That’s not the same thing as being a school improvement agency, it’s how we look at the aggregation of everything we do to make sure that the different strands of work, and before reporting, add up to making us what we ought to be: a constructive force. And that takes a surprising amount of thinking about. I mean, there’s the basic level of making sure that inspection is done really well by the right people and in the right way. That’s always going to be a big part of it. And there’s providing the honest and useful feedback at every level and that has to be based on our evidence and insight. As you think about and develop it, we’re working on that strategic development to really think through all of the ways in which we act on the system to make sure that we understand that we evaluate and that we iterate to take forward and make sure that we are as constructive and as valuable as we can possibly be.”

Spielman also shared her thoughts on the purposes of Ofsted grades and their relative importance, as well as her intended work on inspection ‘myth busting’. You can listen to the podcast episode in full here: www.naht.org.uk/ Spielmanpodcast You can find our latest School Leadership podcasts with the leading voices in education on iTunes and SoundCloud. If you have an idea for a podcast topic or host please contact nahtedge@naht.org.uk

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

NAHT campaign success: Compulsory Relationships and Sex Education announced, paving the way for statutory PSHE n 1 March, Justine Greening announced the biggest overhaul to Sex Education in 17 years. The intention to make Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) compulsory across all schools has been announced after lengthy campaigning by NAHT on behalf of our members.

The government announcement is set to pave the way for every child to be able to access ageappropriate Relationships and Sex Education. Until now, Sex Education has been compulsory in all state maintained secondary schools but this latest reform will be applicable to all schools across the board although primary schools will be expected to deliver Relationships Education.

The Department for Education will engage with stakeholders to develop suitable age-appropriate content and there will be a full consultation on proposed guidance later this year. This guidance will help schools to deliver high-quality, inclusive Relationships Education and RSE. Greening announced that schools will be expected to deliver this content from September 2019.

The amendments proposed to the Children and Social Work Bill would also allow the government to require all schools in England to teach Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE), although they do not propose to take up the powers at present.

Following our campaigning for all pupils in all schools to have access to PSHE, NAHT is pleased to see this step in the right direction.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of NAHT, commented on the importance of this reform to young people’s safety. “We welcome the announcements made today.

We have long advocated ageappropriate Sex Education and PSHE, for all pupils in all schools,

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to help prepare young people for the challenges they will encounter in their adult lives and the current challenges they face beyond the school gates. It is so important for young people to be taught about appropriate relationships, and the duties set out today bring that one step closer. NAHT has long argued that SRE is best fulfilled as part of statutory PSHE, and we welcome the announcement of a review into the shape of this. We look forward to playing our part in ensuring SRE/PSHE delivers for young people.”

NAHT will continue its campaigning work, engaging with the government and other stakeholders to ensure the development of clear guidance materials for schools on inclusive RSE and ensuring full involvement in the DfE’s work to determine the future regulations and statutory guidance on PSHE Education.

Above: Education secretary Justine Greening

Comment from Jonathan Baggaley, chief executive of the PSHE Association PSHE Education must be statutory in its entirety from 2019. As well as helping to keep pupils safe, good PSHE supports children’s mental and physical health, reduces the risks of drug and alcohol misuse and has a positive impact on academic attainment, particularly for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.

However PSHE Education is a subject, not a list of topics, and must be taught as such, providing developmental learning that can be connected and applied to a variety of life’s challenges and opportunities. Strengthening only some aspects of PSHE would cause confusion for schools and effectively downgrade

The work to consider content will begin this spring, and we expect that it will result in draft regulations and guidance for consultation this autumn.

Following consultation, regulations will be laid in the House, alongside final draft guidance, allowing for full and considered debate, and we expect that statutory guidance will be published in early 2018, once the regulations have been passed and at least one full year before the academic year 2019-20.

other key elements of the subject.

Therefore we will work with key partners such as NAHT to ensure the government considers five priorities central to successful implementation: Statutory PSHE Education should be taught …

• Regularly – regular lessons on the timetable like other subjects • As a whole subject – from RSE to mental and physical health, online safety to job skills • By trained teachers – PSHE covered in teacher training and ongoing opportunities to learn • In all schools – including academies, free schools and independent schools • To all pupils – from Year 1 to finishing secondary school.

IF YOU HAVE A NEWS STORY TO SHARE THEN CONTACT THE EDITOR Email: nic.paton@headlines.uk.com

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NEWS ROUND UP

Spotlight on our new vice president: Andy Mellor s he starts in his new position as vice president, we catch up with Andy Mellor. A head teacher at St Nicholas C of E Primary School, Blackpool, for 14 years in April, Andy trained at Matlock Teacher Training College and previously taught in Birmingham, Preston, Fleetwood and as a deputy head teacher in Blackpool.

For Andy, education is a passion that runs strongly in both his professional and personal life. “I am a dad to two beautiful daughters and husband to Andrea who is a teacher at one of our local primary schools.

I love to travel with Andrea and the girls when we get the chance, visiting new places and seeing new things. I am a season ticket holder at Preston North End FC and enjoy ‘coaching’ the team from the sidelines! I have two sisters: Sue who teaches in Dubai and Debbie who is a head teacher in Preston.”

Having been a member of NAHT for 18 years, Andy’s affiliation to the association started early. “The value of NAHT became clear to me at the unusually early age of seven. I remember my parents, both of whom were senior leaders and members of NAHT, talking about the association at the dinner table so I have been brought up with NAHT being held in high esteem.

“The opportunity to help lead this fantastic association and the faith put in me by fellow National Executive members is incredibly humbling. My time at Matlock College was supplemented by a year as vice president of the Students’ Union and it was here that I developed a sense of indignation towards the actions of government towards students.

“Fast forward 30 years and I still feel aggrieved by how my peers as teachers and school leaders are treated by government. I have a strong sense of

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The funding crisis that we face in schools is taking our schools back 60 years: to levels of funding that we saw post-war as a percentage of GDP.

justice and what is right and am prepared to stand up and be counted when it comes to the injustice that our fellow school leaders, their pupils and schools face in general. I was one of those who boycotted the SATs because we had to lay a marker down.”

Andy also feels strongly about the lack of funding that schools are experiencing and passionately believes that investment is needed to support learning. “The funding crisis that we face in schools is taking them back 60 years: to levels of funding that we saw post-war as a percentage of GDP. Do we, as a country, really believe that investing only 4 per cent of our national turnover in the future of our children and our country is right?

“Do we really believe that testing children and schools to the point where we are creating a mental health time-bomb for the future, to a point where we create tick-lists for writing accuracy rather than encourage a fluent imaginative and creative style, is really where our education system should be?

“We have a recruitment and retention issue across the country and we know that only too well in Blackpool. Creating a heavier workload and asking school leaders who already work 70 hours plus a week, to do more with less, is a recipe for meltdown. However, I have always believed that it is better to be inside the negotiating room than stood outside banging on the door. I am determined to continue the excellent work of Kim Johnson and previous NAHT presidents in supporting Anne, our president for this year.

“I look forward to meeting lots of our members over the course of the next three years to gain an insight into how best NAHT can support members from across the country in addressing the concerns that they have locally and nationally.”

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

Considering retirement? hether leaving a labour of love or embracing a life of leisure, there can be no doubt that retirement from school leadership marks a huge change in lifestyle. There will be adjustments to make, new challenges to take and a range of new opportunities. At a time like this it is very important to ensure that you do not lose all the support you received in your working life. NAHT life membership can help maintain that support.

To be eligible for life membership you just need to be entitled to take your retirement benefits, usually from 55 years of age, whether

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or not you choose to do so. Life membership provides you with the reassurance that, should any action be taken against you arising from your time in service and as a full member of NAHT, we will be there to help you, providing advice and representation to achieve the best result for you.

So why delay and risk being unprotected? Become a life member and gain peace of mind that will allow you to enjoy your retirement to the full.

You can find out more about converting to life membership here: www.naht.org.uk/life

BREAKING NEWS NAHT DELIVERS FOR MEMBERS ON PRIMARY ASSESSMENT Last month the government published its long-awaited consultation on primary assessment. NAHT has long campaigned on behalf of its members for a fair assessment system which benefits both school leaders and children.

Through our campaigning work we managed to secure a number of important proposals in the consultation: • The end of secure fit in writing teacher assessment.

This should be the last year of use and we should return to some model of best fit for next academic year.

Invite a colleague to join NAHT today With a new term comes the inevitable movement of people. They may have changed roles, climbed up the career ladder, taken on more responsibility or added to their current commitments. With these changes comes an opportunity for you and your colleagues to share in the rewards of NAHT and NAHT Edge membership.

You already know the benefits of membership so why not strengthen your team by encouraging your colleagues to join NAHT or NAHT Edge too? As a thank you, if someone you refer joins us, you’ll receive £20 in M&S or Amazon vouchers and they’ll receive vouchers to the same value too.

To help you to spread the word about the advantages of membership we’ve included a booklet with some vouchers in this magazine. The booklet explains how to refer to NAHT and NAHT Edge and who’s eligible for referral.

If you run out of vouchers simply visit naht.org.uk/voucher for NAHT recommendations or nahtedge.org.uk/referralvouchers for NAHT Edge. Or if you would prefer to refer colleagues online visit naht.org.uk/refer to recommend senior leaders for NAHT membership or nahtedge.org.uk/refer to nominate middle leaders for NAHT Edge membership.

IF YOU HAVE A NEWS STORY TO SHARE THEN CONTACT THE EDITOR Email: nic.paton@headlines.uk.com

• The end of KS1 SATs altogether, to be replaced by a properly designed reception baseline. This significantly reduces the volume of high stakes testing during the primary phase.

• The consultation also acknowledged the specific difficulties faced by single and cross key stage schools in terms of progress measures and is seeking a solution for them.

At the time of writing, we are currently collating member views on the primary assessment consultation and Rochford Review recommendations and will keep you briefed on the next steps of our campaign. You can keep up-to-date with the latest news on our website campaign page, newsletters and Twitter channel, @NAHTnews.

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FUNDING

The fund ding g LEADERSHIP FOCUS takes a look at the growing financial

crisis within the education sector and speaks to some of the people on the front line facing the challlenges ahead.

ast month, on March 4 to be precise e, an estimated ople marched 250,000 peo through London to protest about the ongoing funding crisis within the NHS. Twitter and Facebo ook were awash with people – many of them public sector wo orkers and also many teache ers – either posting from the #ourNHS march or expressing their support.

The solidarity was stirring – and may yet need to be re eciprocated.

Why? Because, while it is the NHS’s financial crisis that has been making the headlines in the past

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few months, the looming financial crisis unfolding within education is, arguably, potentially just as bad.

The figures are certainly bleak, as NAHT’s Breaking Point survey in January highlighted. Nearly threequarters (72%) of head teachers and school business managers polled warned they believed their budgets will be “untenable” by 2019/20.

Looking at the figures (and see our panel on this) it is clear this is a crisis that is accele erating, with 18 per cent of schools po olled admitting to running a deficit la ast year, compared with 8 per cent in 2015. Schools are increasingly ha aving to dip into

72% of head teachers beliieve their budgets will be untenable by 2019/20.

reserves or make cuts just to make ends meet, with the Department for Education’s own data suggesting the education system will be 0. running a £3bn deficit by 2020 Although the phrase ‘perfect storm’ gets over-used, it is perhaps an appropriate way to describe the concatenation of pressures and rising costs currently affecting g schools. Pay and inflation; rising pension and National Insurance costs; the introduction of the apprenticeship levy from this month; cuts in educational services and d grants, notably the £600m cutt to the Education Services Grant and,

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 20117

crisis of course, rising pupil nu umbers untry. in many parts of the cou Then there is the infl flue ence off academisation and the gradual erosion of local authority y support, creasingly meaning schools are inc y in services having to provide or buy that would have once be een cil. And delivered via their counc this is all before we even n get to pressures of rising utility y costs and decaying infrastructure (despite last month’s announcem ment in the Budget of an extra £216m to refurbish school build dings).

However, there are sig gns the public, and the media, arre beginning to wake up to the crisis, not least because of the NAHT’s School Funding in Crisis campaign, which began rolling out in February,

with events being he eld up and down the countrry. This is king to mob bilise sch hoolls, work head teachers and parents to raise awareness with MPs and in their communities about the crisis, as well as work to get the government to agree to key aims (see panel).

The Association off School and College Leaders (ASCL), echoed NAHT’s position last ed GCSE month when it warne and A-level subjects will need to be axed, class sizes will increase and support servicess will have to be cut as schools struggle with funding. The crisis ev ven prompted one head, Mary Sand dell of Forest School in Winnersh, Berkshire, to resign in protest in n February.

CHILDREN ARE GETTING WORRIED TOO …

In March, seven-year-old Libby James, a pupil at Hilary Alcock’s Buntingsdale Primary School in Shropshire, wrote to Liz Gray, editor of Newport Advertiser & Market Drayton Adver tiser, to express her concerns about the schools’ funding crisis.

The letter was passed to Leadership Focus and is published with kind permission from her family.

Dea ear ar Liz Liiz, z I am m worriied ed about ab b utt the th he fut utur ture r of our urr sch cho hools. o In thr th hree reee yea ear ars’ r tim ime me th the heey y are arr not no o goin ing ng to hav ha ave v eno en noug ough g mone mo oney ey for ever evveryth r thi hiin ng n g the th heey y nee neeeed d to do. My big iggest g worry is for my y frie ien en nd d who ds ho o nee neeeed d extra ex x heellp hel p Lots of p. sch cho hools o wil ill ll hav ha ave v to los lo ose s TAs or tea eac ac ch heeerrs. h r Some mee of my y frie ien en nd d hav ds ha ave v brai ain ins n tha th hat a work a bit itt dif iffer f eren rent nt to min miin nee so th the heey y nee neeeed d extra ex x heellp hel p at sch cho hool o . I am m worriied ed the th heey y wil ill ll not no o be able ab blee to leea lea arrn r at sch cho hool o bec eca ca au u the use th heey y wil ill ll not no o hav ha ave v the th he TA or tea eac ac ch heeerr the h th heey y nee neeeed d d.

My mum mu um sho howed o ed d mee a web ebsit b ite t tha th hat a sho hows o how ho o muc mu uc ch h eac ea ac ch h sch cho hool o wil ill ll lo los ose. s My sch cho hool o wil ill ll los lo ose s the th he amo am moun ount nt itt cos co osts s to pay ay y 1 tea eac ac ch heeerr. h r I am m at a sma mal allll sch cho hool o so thi th his i woul uld ld mak ma ake k a big ig g dif iffer f eren renc nc cee. e Mos ost s sch cho hools o wil ill ll ha hav ave v the th he sam ame me proble lem em .

We are arr goin ing ng to hav ha ave v a mar ma arch rch h on the th he 11th th h of Mar arch rch h in n Shr hrew rewsbu w ury. r Lots of par aren rent nts, t pup upil pils l and an nd peo eople o lee who ho o car ca are r about ab b utt sch cho hools o wil ill ll be goin ing ng. g I thi th hiin nk n k itt is imp im mportan p ant nt to go on the th he mar ma arch rch h so tha th hat a peo eople o lee lea leea arrn r how ho o worriied ed we are arr about ab b utt sch cho hools. o I hope ho o some mee of you wil ill ll join in n us.

From Li Lib ibby b (ag age g 7)

SCHOOL FUNDING IN CRISIS – IN FIGURES 72%

Heads/SBMs believe their budget will be “untenable” by 2019/20

18%

Heads/SBMs say their school is in deficit, compared with 8% in 2015

72%

Heads/SBMs admit they were only able to balance their budget last year by making cuts or using reserves, compared with 64% in 2015

89% /86%

Heads/SBMs report increasing pension and National Insurance costs, respectively

83%

Heads/SBMs feel dealing with additional needs of pupils is creating added financial pressure

47%

Heads/SBMs report declining local authority services/support

65%

Heads/SBMs within academies say they are worried about the impact of the reduction in the Education Services Grant (ESG)

82%

Heads/SBMs admit they are reducing investment in equipment to make ends meet, compared with 64% in 2015

66%

Heads/SBMs have reduced the hours of teaching assistants, compared with 59% in 2015

31%

Heads/SBMs have reduced the hours of teaching staff, compared with 25% in 2015 Source: NAHT Breaking Point survey, 2017

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FUNDING

CASE STUDY: ‘WE ARE REALLY AT THE EDGE’ Steve Rees is head teacher at Evenlode Primary School, Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, which has 450 pupils on its roll. He is also vice president of NAHT Vale of Glamorgan branch “It is pretty hard going in Wales. Lots of schools across the Vale are facing deficits of £25,000–£150,000 and there are likely to be many redundancies along support staff. We are really at the edge.

“We’re having more and more responsibilities being pushed on to us. For example, we have taken over the responsibility for dinner money, including chasing debtors. We now have responsibility for health and safety and grounds’ maintenance, which is about

another £2,000, but for which we only received an additional £1,400 in this year’s budget.

We have already been told that next year’s settlement will be even worse.

“We try where we can to get parents to help – parents last year painted the outside of the school. We also do a lot ourselves. Last summer, I worked with a caretaker on a number of painting projects around the school. We rent out our hall and get some revenue in from that. The PTA is very active at fundraising.

“But we’re going to have to rethink what we can offer around early years.

We’ve had to stop a lot of group

activities simply because we do not have the facility to staff them. We will also have to think very hard about school trips because we do not have enough learning support assistants to staff them.

“It’s a lot of small things that, together, are really taking their toll.

More and more things are being pushed our way, yet we have less and less. The government says it is spending more money – it may well be, but it is not enough. If we want to have a world class education service in this country, we have to invest in it. There is simply not enough money in the budgets.”

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Above: Matthew ClementsWheeler

But, hang on, doesn’t the DfE argue school spending is at record levels? And wasn’t the national funding formula supposed to even out financial discrepancies and mean a more equitable funding distribution for schools? So, what is going on?

“We do recognise that as a profession, from an historical context, we are relatively well funded at the moment. But the demand and expectation – the

need to deliver an effective, world class education system – has also never been greater,” points out Matthew ClementsWheeler, deputy head teacher and strategic business manager at Bordesley Green Girls’ School and Sixth Form in Birmingham.

“We have expanded curriculum programmes to deliver longer teaching hours, more resources and facilities to manage. Schools have become very cash-hungry

places because everything we do has a labour cost attached to it.

“When you talk to SBMs around the country, you realise everyone is pretty much in the same boat.

Schools in some of the less well-off authorities have already reached breaking point. But even for those that are OK at the moment, if you look at their five-year forecasts, it is looking very difficult ahead.

“When your usually mildmannered, amenable business

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

CASE STUDY: manager says ‘this is not sustainable’, then I think you should be really worried,” he adds.

“What school leaders are saying is that since 2010, with the cuts in other public services (for example the NHS and social services), they have been left picking up the pieces, especially around things such as children’s mental health and family support services,” agrees Rob Kelsall, NAHT senior regional officer.

“School leaders, by and large, felt the national funding formula was something that was going to deliver support for them; we were led to believe the formula was going to provide a better deal. But when you look at the figures, it is clear this is not the case. The government is essentially dividing-up a cake that has been shrunk by £3bn.

“Devon schools, for example, are facing something like £36m cuts in their budgets, Cornwall is going to have £25m less in the system, in Manchester 98% of schools are set to lose funding and on average £647 per pupil.

“We feel we have been duped by the government, and many heads, to be frank, are quite bitter about it – we have been inundated with calls from all parts of the country, wanting to run or support School Funding in Crisis events,” said Rob. In many respects, however, it is not the national funding formula that is the issue, emphasises NAHT head of policy Valentine Mulholland – it is simply the fact there is not enough cash in the system.

“We have been asking for a new formula for many years, and that is what the DfE has come up with. The proposals are reasonable, the issue is that there is no more money,” she explains.

“Yes, there is more funding than there has ever been before. The problem is that NI and pension costs are going up, we’re seeing 1 per cent pay increases, we have the National Living Wage, the apprenticeship levy, and cuts in educational services and grants – all these things are unfunded.

It is not the formula, it is the fact the funding settlement for schools itself is insufficient.”

So, given that the government appears prepared to tough

“WE WILL STRUGGLE TO MAINTAIN OUR CURRENT FOUR CLASSES FROM SEPTEMBER.” Hilary Alcock is head teacher of Buntingsdale Primary and Nursery School in Market Drayton, Shropshire, which has 83 children on its roll.

“We’re an unusual small school in Shropshire because we’re situated near to an army base, with usually 60 per cent of our pupils from armed services’ families.

However, we share many of the same issues that are common to many small schools. Although most of our parents are in work, we are not a high-income area.

Since 2013, we have needed to manage a deficit budget of around £50,000 – so things are difficult already. We have cut back within all areas of expenditure already. We have protected money for TAs to work with children who need emotional health support but this essential provision is increasingly vulnerable. We have no alternative but to make cuts to staffing from this summer term.

“The fact we are a small school, combined with the tendency of services personnel to move frequently, makes us financially very vulnerable because we cannot be sure how many children we will have on our roll on census day. If just 5–10 children are not there on that day, that will mean us losing funding.

“There are a lot of extra costs that are all, in themselves, relatively small amounts but which, together, add up to

a significant chunk of money. We have less money for books. We have had to cut back on after-school club provision because we cannot afford to subsidise it, and that is something the children and parents really used to value.

“We’ve had to deal with a new SEND policy, a new national curriculum, new assessment and new requirements for safeguarding. Even if some of the training for these changes is free, you still have to release staff to attend and then have to pay for cover. So, in effect, we are having to pay extra just to implement government policy. It all adds to the breaking point within our budgets.”

“We will be losing some TAs after Easter this year, and we will struggle to maintain our current four classes from September.

The cohorts are rarely even in a school like this, as children come and go, and it is going to be quite difficult to group classes together. It is going to make it much more challenging when it comes to trying to cater for children’s individual learning.

“If every NAHT member contacted their local MP and spread the word, that would make a big difference. This is actually happening – now. We have a collective moral responsibility to give the best education to our children that we can. But I feel incredible apprehension.”

If every NAHT member contacted their local MP and spread the word, that would make a big difference.

13

FUNDING

School Funding in Crisis – NAHT’s aims ● Make the case – to government, local MPs and parents – that the funding settlement for schools is insufficient to meet inflationary and policy costs and must be uplifted before budgets become unsustainable for all schools and academies.

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● Make the case that the burden of government policies on flat cash budgets is the main reason why school budgets are at breaking point. ● Make the case for an urgent review of pay and reward for education staff, teachers and leaders to address recruitment and retention issues. ● Reverse the government’s proposals for high needs funding, which amount to a £124m shortfall. ● Reverse the government’s £600m cut to the Education Services Grant. The impact of cuts to ESG in academies betrays the basis on which schools converted, and creates significant cost pressures on academies. ● Highlight that the 0.5 per cent apprenticeship levy on some academies and all maintained schools will have a significant impact on budgets. As a minimum, small maintained schools must receive the same protections as small academies and be excluded from the obligation. ● Ensure children eligible for the pupil premium are registered automatically. Ensure the early years phase is eligible for the same amount of pupil premium as the primary phase. ● While NAHT has secured additional funding protection for nurseries up to 2020, this needs to be secured for the long term.

out the NHS crisis, let alone education, what is NAHT actually hoping to achieve?

“We want to raise awareness of the fact that school funding has not been protected. And we also want to make it clear that, when members are writing to parents to ask them for a voluntary contribution or to inform them that that valued after-school club can no longer continue, it is not their fault – it is not the fault of the school being ‘greedy’, it is the fault of the government,” points out Valentine.

“What we want from this campaign is to inform and mobilise head teachers about how bad it could get over the next two years,” agrees NAHT deputy general secretary Nick Brook.

“There is going to be a £3bn shortfall by 2019/20. The only way that many schools will be able to make ends meet will be by reducing teacher numbers, employing fewer support staff, investing less in CPD and cutting back on enrichment activities for pupils. This is going to be felt in the quality of education schools are able to deliver.”

He adds: “We need to make the case to the government that education should be seen as an investment in this country’s future, and not merely a burden on the Treasury. To do that we need the support of parents, and the wider public.”

And the voice of parents – and, indeed, of children themselves, as seven-year-old Libby’s letter to her local paper (see panel) has highlighted – could yet be a powerful weapon.

“The schools’ funding issue is currently under the radar, but as parents it is important we also make our voices heard; it is about the parental voice being listened to,” says Jo Yurky of the parent-led Fair Funding for All Schools campaign.

“Awareness among many parents of what’s going on is quite low.

Often parents don’t understand why these things are happening

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

CASE STUDY “IF WE ALLOW THIS JUST TO HAPPEN, WE WILL HAVE FAILED AS A PROFESSION.”

– why teachers are not being replaced, why TAs and support staff are being reduced, why there is reduced SEN provision. They may not fully understand why, say, something they value, like the after-school music or science club, has had to be stopped.

“Parents need to get involved and lobby their local MPs, and we have templates parents can use.

We are also encouraging parents to work with local media and to start up local campaigns,” she adds.

With senior and middle leaders bearing much of the day-to-day consequences of constantly trying to do more with less, this

Jamie Barry is head teacher of Parson Street Primary School in Bristol, which has 500 children on its roll “I would say schools have been feeling pressures for some time now, even before the funding formula came in.

When staff have left they haven’t been replaced; we’ve had to change or reduce services, or have made cuts already.

“Last year our deprivation funding formula was revised, which had a significant impact. We’re going to be losing £250,000, which is a huge loss.

“Costs are also going up, pension and NI costs are rising, and there’s the apprenticeship levy – they are all contributing to making the system no longer sustainable. Trips that would once have been subsidised have been cut back and parents are increasingly being asked to make a contribution.

Things such as extra music provision have also been reduced or cut.

“We are being proactive, not just moaning about it. For example, we recently had a school sleepover for parents and children, where they paid

£1 each, just to create some money.

But we are going to have to look very hard at the budget to see where we can save money – whatever we do it is not going to keep pace with the rate of cuts we’re facing.

“Many parents think education money is protected, so we are having to be really honest and open with the community. They’ll often have no comprehension of what the really big numbers mean, but if you say something like ‘this is the equivalent of losing ten teachers’, that can be really powerful. We’ve written letters and have held presentations; we are trying to raise knowledge within the community.

“If we allow this just to happen, we will have failed as a profession. The government says it is going to happen, and it probably will. But we have a moral imperative not just to stand back and do nothing. We need to be united as a profession and stand up for what we believe in.”

Many parents think education money is protected, so we are having to be really honest and open with the community.

is also a campaign that NAHT Edge members are being urged to get behind, explains NAHT Edge director James Bowen.

“NAHT Edge members have told me that, along with assessment, funding is their number one priority. They are feeling the effects of the funding crisis first-hand.

Whether it is a smaller number of teachers or teaching assistants in their teams or fewer resources in the classroom, there is a strong sense that the financial pressures are really beginning to bite.

“They face a real challenge

in maintaining the highest possible standards with everdwindling resources,” he says.

Funding is a pressing issue for NAHT members in Wales and Northern Ireland, too. In Wales, the general lack of cash is being compounded by the variability of funding across local authorities, explains NAHT policy director Cymru, Rob Williams.

“Historically, the funding formula in Wales has been unfathomable; nobody really understands it. The idea that schools are protected is no longer true,” he emphasises.

15

FUNDING

CASE STUDY “WE’VE BEEN TOLD OUR CLASS SIZES WILL HAVE TO GET BIGGER.”

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Sarah Ellis is lead teacher for English at Oak Grove College in Worthing, a SEN secondary school with around 250 students on its roll.

“We are being expected to take on more and more students from across the county. For example, back in September we were directed to work with two students who need huge amounts of support.

“We have, of course, done that. But the only way we were able to create the space they needed was to use one of our meeting rooms, a room that had already previously been repurposed as an office for four people.

“Some of our TAs support students on a one-to-one basis, as they have very complex needs. But money is, clearly, an issue. The funding we get direct from the county only covers about 60 per cent of the cost of a TA, and so the school has to find the rest of it.

“It’s a lot of small things. We are having to photocopy more and more resources. But now we have a fixed photocopying budget, so you have to go and beg for copies. My team is amazing but we do all buy resources ourselves, from our own money.

“We’ve had to rejig the English curriculum so that texts are being rotated, rather than one year group all doing the same thing, because there are just not enough books to go around. There are just lots of small, additional barriers day to day.

But it’s the overall impact when you add them together; it is just getting harder and harder.

“We are looking at a real-terms decrease of 8 per cent in our budget for the next financial year, which is massive. The school, I know, will do everything it can not to lose staff, but everyone is having to make incredibly hard decisions. We’ve been told our class sizes might have to get bigger, even though part of our ethos is that we have small classes so as to better support the students.

“It is a really worrying time; a lot of our students are very vulnerable. We are in danger of not being able to give them the support they need, not because we lack the expertise or professionalism to do so, but simply because we do not have the money.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO? Write to your MP. Use our template letter on naht.org.uk in our School Funding in Crisis campaign section

Tweet using the #SchoolCuts hashtag and our @NAHTnews handle with examples of how the cuts are biting in your school

Sign the petition at www.school cuts.org.uk

Get active on local media in your area promoting these messages

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

CASE STUDY: “IT LOOKS LIKE IT IS GOING TO MEAN MORE REDUNDANCIES.” Sam Offord is head teacher at Birchfields Primary School in Manchester, which has 725 pupils on its roll.

“Our budget has been frozen since 2010 so we have already been affected. In 2013 we had Ofsted and achieved our best results – considerably above the national average – but then we had our biggest staff to child ratio; that was no coincidence.

“In 2015 I had to make five teachers redundant. Last year we lost some support staff and, looking at the budget this year and for the next five years, we are going to have

to make considerable changes and restructure again. So, it looks like it is going to mean more redundancies.

“We are not replacing teachers and TAs who leave, and parents have already noticed this. They say ‘what has happened to Mrs so and so?’, and I just have to say that I cannot replace them.

“The governors are having to make decisions that are financially extremely difficult. We have been discussing a lot of business cases and a lot of alternatives, and the governors have been trying to make choices based on what is going to have the least impact on the

children. But it is the first time since I have been in teaching – since 1989 – that I have been privy to conversations this drastic.

“When standards drop, which inevitably they will, it is school leaders who will get the blame for it.

If we do not make it clear that this is what we are struggling against, and the amount of money being taken out of the system, people will just think we’re not doing our jobs properly. We need to be talking honestly and openly about what is happening.”

Funding is a pressing issue e for NAHT mem mbers in Wales and Northern Irela and d too o.

The apprenticeship levy, which starts from this month, will mean any employer with a wages bill of more than £3m will be charged 0.5 per cent of this (so a minimum of £15,000). And for many schools this additional burden is going to hurt, says Rob..

“I had contact recently from th he head of a large special school, with e le evy a budget of around £6m. The is going to be a huge chun nk going g out for something that,, for mosst schools, they are no ot going to be e able to get any ything g back k from m.””

The rece ent collapse e of the e No orthern n Ireland d Executtive has put an extra sp panner in n the finan nciall works for sch hools in Norrthern Irela and, on top of th he general financial presssures, says NAH HT (NI) policy dire ector Helena Macormac.

The ongoing po olitica al crisis has mean nt grea ater budg getary unce ertainty for the e 2017/18 8 financia al

yearr, de espite th he factt scho ools have e alsso bee en assked d by the Edu ucatiion De eparrtme entt to make e saviingss over th he nex xt thre ee ye earss.

“In contra astt to o the e restt of the e UK K, in North herrn Irela and 41 pe er ce ent of the ed ducatiion n bu udge et is spen nt on cen ntrral adminiistra atio on.

We e have lon ng bee en cam mpa aignin ng fo or scho ool le eade ers herre to o ha ave more fina ancial autono omy y to o ensu ure e fundiing can go to the frron nt lin ne whe ere e itt is needed d mo ost. Witth th he devolv ved go overn nment havin ng now bee en disso olved d, everythin ng iss up in the air,” sa ays Helena..

“M Many princiipals feel at breaking g poin nt. We have se een warniings from m head teacherss in n Co ounty y Down that they are e fa acing g finan ncia al disaster;; they arre havin ng to o conssider thin ngs suc ch as a fourday week, or biggerr class size es.

They simply y cann nott ope erate on the money th hey have,,” she ad dds.

Communicate with, and involve, parents and your governing body about the funding crisis and encourage them to pressure their local MP, again through our template letter

Come along to NAHT campaign events around the country

17

Tell parents about the parent-led Fair Funding for All Schools campaign at www.fairfundingforallschools.org

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017 LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 20

Celebrating 120 years of representing school leaders

THIS YEAR marks a significant milestone for NAHT as we reach a momentous 120 years of national representation of school leaders. A lot has changed in this time, but our commitment to campaigning for positive change on behalf of our members remains much the same. n 27 March 1897, the first ever Annual Conference was held in Clarendon Street School in Nottingham, a small conference by today’s standards with just 14 representatives in attendance. But although small in number, those 14 individuals united an array of local head teacher associations in towns across the country for the first time.

These representatives voiced the opinions of members from London, Liverpool, Manchester, Salford, Nottingham, Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Newcastle, Sunderland, Gateshead, Merthyr,

O

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Above: Clarendon Street School in Nottingham, site of the first ever conference in 1897.

Portsmouth, Norwich, Grimsby, South Shields and Brighton.

The head teachers who arrived at Clarendon Street School had one collective aim: to consider education beyond their locality and thereby improve it through a united voice. At the close of the Victorian era, the function of the school was evolving, and the importance of the school as a place to prepare children for life was growing.

With this notion came a new and urgent sense of responsibility for head teachers. It became clear that there was an immediate need

to join together in their work to educate and nurture children.

They could no longer function efficiently as isolated units merely acting under a code of regulations issued from Whitehall, which lacked both knowledge and inspiration. It became clear that school leaders themselves needed to create a common policy and in order to do this they would need to organise schools from all parts of the country to share ideas, disseminate information and talk.

A number of local associations and groups of head teachers were already undertaking work to better

120 YEARS OF NAHT

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Annual Conference has been a perennial calendar date since the founding of the union in 1897. There have only been two years where the conference has been missed; once in 1917 and again in 1944.

JOIN IN THE CELEBRATIONS

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the education system system. However, However these were bound by their locality. It became apparent that there needed to be one national organisation that united the head teachers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The London Head Teachers’ Association pioneered the idea of a unified national voice for head teachers and blazed the way for the national association’s future success. The intentions for the association were made clear in the founding president’s first address at the first annual conference for what was then the National Federation of Head Teachers’ Association. “I have the most sanguine hopes as to the future of the Federation and

We will be celebrating our achievements throughout our 120th year. Celebrations will commence with the unveiling of a special commemorative plaque at Clarendon Street in Nottingham. To find out more visit our website (URL) or follow us on Twitter @NAHTnews.

Above left: A volume of The First Fifty Years

that its efforts will be of the highest service to the country, to the children, to the teachers and to the cause of education generally.” The man who delivered these words, Edward Bolus, was indeed able to witness a sizeable portion of that future and the positive impact the association had on the education system throughout some of the most tumultuous times in recorded history. He died just shy of the association’s jubilee in 1946, at the age of 96.

The early days of the association were centred around East London

and the very first members were head teachers of board schools.

The new association had its trials; there were many in the ranks who opposed its foundation. During this time, there was a growing trend of professional bodies forming to galvanise a political voice. As ‘black coated’ workers, head teachers were told ‘it was not quite the thing’ to be involved in an association that campaigned for governmental change.

Despite forebodings of the loss of social status, and unperturbed by warnings of all kinds of dire consequences, the early members persevered and the association grew in size and influence.

As the association steadily grew its membership, more and more pressure was being put on the staff at NAHT, who were largely made up of volunteers and part-time staff. From 1906, the secretary was granted an honorarium of £21 to reward the post-holder’s efforts in voicing the opinions of the association’s members. General secretaries at NAHT were expected to undertake

NAHT’s s 120 year timeline NAHT was founded by Edward Bolus under the name National Federation of Head Teachers’ Associations.

1887

Annual Conference was cancelled at the request of the Government due to the imminent danger of the Second World War.

First paid employee was appointed – Reginald Shambrook, organising secretary

1903 Membership was extended to include Non-Provided schools, i.e. Church schools

1930

1934 Gordon Barry was appointed as the first full-time General Secretary. With the new set up NAHT was able to establish closer contacts with scattered local associations.

1944

1963 The association gained its first seat on the Burnham committee which advised on senior leader’s pay

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

MEMBERSHIP IN NUMBERS

1898 1,400 1947 10,000 1964 14,900 2017 29,000

A LOOK AT COMMUNICATIONS The Head Teacher Review, the first official magazine of the NAHT was published in 1910.

the role in tandem with the existing demands put on them as an active head teacher. With this double burden of responsibilities, the National Council concluded that the strain on the secretary’s physical and mental powers were too severe. Accordingly, in 1934 the first full-time general secretary was appointed which meant that the post-holder did not simultaneously need to be an active head teacher.

It is astounding how NAHT has evolved since its founding and the early years of its setup. Now representing more than 29,000 school leaders from an array of

Changed from an affiliation to a trade union under that year’s Industrial Relations Bill.

1971

The Life members newsletter was published in 1986.

NAHT first launched its original members website in 2000.

It is astounding how NAHT has evolved since its founding and the early years of its setup.

Deputy head teachers became eligible for membership.

2000

backgrounds and specialisms, it is safe to conclude that the association has grown in numbers and in strength. The political and cultural landscape of 1897 seems a world away from today, however a critical element remains unchanged: the desire to create a better education system for tomorrow.

On the occasion of NAHT’s 120th year, we would like to say a big thank you to our members past and present who have made NAHT the successful and highly influential association for school leaders that it is today.

NAHT launched NAHT Edge, a new trade union and professional association which now represents more than 1,000 middle leaders.

Assistant head teachers became eligible for membership.

1985

Leadership Links, the fortnightly newsletter, was launched in 2007.

2008 SBMs became eligible for membership.

2014

2017 NAHT marks its 120th year.

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REVIEW

An inspirational year president Kim Johnson nears the end of his term in office he reflects on some of the groups and organisations that have inspired him over the past 12 months.

AS NAHT

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Lego therapy in Wales

I visited two schools in Wales, Ysgol Y Gogarth in Llandudno and Ysgol Pen Coch, Flint, which are doing fantastic work around Lego therapy for children with disabilities.

The impact it has had on the children has been amazing; it is about using Lego as a therapeutic process, and working with children with complex needs. One teacher specifically has become an expert, and has been called upon to give presentations and work with other schools.

Our education system is renowned for its good practice but it can also be quite insular, and we do not tend to share things enough. So, this is about rectifying that, about sharing and publicising their work.

• You can find out more about this work at http://ysgolpencoch.org/ course/view.php?id=293

Healthy Food Guide magazine uring my year as NAHT president I have spent a lot of the time giving speeches, shaking hands and engaging with ‘big’ educational issues; with the DfE, with Ofsted, with the media, and so on.

But one of the things I have most valued about my term of office is the real opportunity it has given me to get out and meet people who are making a difference within education on the ground, who are often working out of sight, unsung and behind the scenes.

D

Anamaya for Schools

My aim in this article is, very simply, to highlight some groups that have inspired me, and which I feel members could find valuable – but which they may not necessarily be aware of.

I don’t pretend this list is in any way scientific or exhaustive, nor is it specially an NAHT endorsement. But as my term as president is now drawing to an end, I feel it is both incumbent on me – and simply useful – to share with you some of the contacts I have made.

Above: Kim Johnson addresses delegates at the 2016 Annual Conference.

Anamaya is a health consultancy – the word ‘Anamaya’ is Sanskrit for ‘health’.

It offers a range of complementary and other therapies. More relevantly from an NAHT perspective, it offers a programme for schools, Anamaya for Schools, an 11-week full-curriculum mindfulness and mind training course for children.

Its work also includes a programme focussing on how to reduce exam stress.

Alongside this, its school liaison and mindfulness guide, Laura Trenchard, has expressed a keen interest in working more closely with NAHT members.

• You can find out more about the programme at www.anamayamindstream.co or email laura@anamayaforschools.co

One area I’ve focused on during my presidency has been healthier eating, including encouraging schools to set up breakfast clubs and looking at tips and advice to make lunchboxes healthier.

As part of its wider work on healthy food and diets, Healthy

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

Food Guide magazine includes a healthy lunchbox guide that, I feel, is potentially a useful resource for schools and parents. It is about helping children to take more control of their diet, and this can be part of that.

• You can find the guide at http://www.healthyfood.co.uk/ article/healthy-lunchbox-guide/

CASE STUDY The I CAN speech, language and communication charity

Next year it will be ten years since the Bercow Review into speech, language and communicationneeds services for children and young people. It is a subject that has long been close to my heart, both as a head of a SEN school and because my daughter, Kara, taught John Bercow’s son, Oliver, who had speech and learning difficulties.

The links between speech and language therapists and schools are, I feel, often not as good as they could be, which is where a charity such as I CAN can help.

It offers a range of valuable services to parents, schools and practitioners, and runs two outstanding special schools: Meath School in Surrey and Dawn House in Nottinghamshire.

Alongside this ongoing work, next year in partnership with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, I CAN will be publishing a follow-up report to the Bercow Review.

The Bercow: Ten Years On report, which is expected to be launched in early 2018, will be a national review of the support and provision for children with speech,

Cao Consulting Services

language and communication needs (SLCN) in England.

• You can find out more about the Bercow: Ten Years On project at https://www.rcslt.org/ governments/bercow_ten and general information on I CAN at http://www.ican.org.uk

My aim very CASE STUDY The Coram Foundation simply The Coram Foundation is one of is to the UK’s oldest children’s charities, highlight having been established back groups in 1739 by the philanthropist Captain Thomas Coram. It that have works to provide practical inspired help and emotional support me. to vulnerable children, young people, and their families.

Cao Consulting is a new business – it was only set up at the beginning of last year.

But it is potentially offering an intriguing service to schools.

What it does is help organisations – small charities, not-for-profit organisations and schools, primarily – develop business partnerships and access finance and funding streams.

Even in the current cash-strapped

climate, there are always people who have money to spend and who are often looking for worthy schemes to invest in. What Cao Consulting does is essentially provide the link between schools and this potential funding. It can also help school leaders and business managers to apply for and access such funding.

• You can find out more about it at: http://caoconsultingservices.co.uk/

One of the reasons it has caught my eye is because it has some fantastic resources on SRE for primary schools. Its Coram Life Education (CLE) programme is, it says, the UK’s largest health and drug education programme, and it has been working with schools for more than a quarter of a century.

Moreover, through the contact I have had with it over the past year, through CLE managing director Harriet Gill, it is keen to work more closely with NAHT members.

• You can find out more about the foundation and its work at http://www.coram.org.uk/

CASE STUDY Greenhouse Sports

Greenhouse Sports is a Londonbased charity led by former NAHT director John Herriman.

It focusses on using sport to help young people living in inner cities. Founded in 2002, its coaches now run 40 programmes within secondary schools and nine in SEN schools.

In particular, the charity aims to nurture ‘Step’ (social, thinking, emotional and physical) skills in children who are perhaps disillusioned by or not engaged with education.

These might be children in pupil referral units or simply nonattending. It is simply all about helping to motivate children through sport, getting them to re-engage with schooling and, in the process, helping them to reach their full potential and ability.

• You can find out more about Greenhouse Sports at http://www.greenhousesports.org/

23

ENGAGEMENT

Employer

engagement

Leadership Focus takes a look at the success of the NAHTled Primary Futures initiative and how it helps children make connections between their learning and their futures.

“

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A few months ago, we had a volunteer come into the school and ask the children to guess what job she did. She was wearing a hard hat and carrying a 3ft-long steel spanner. She was an engineer in the merchant navy and told them how she spends three months a year away at sea.

“You should have seen the faces of the children – most of them had no idea a job like that even existed. It was especially inspiring to the girls, and she was able to emphasise the importance of maths, science and English to her job; so it lent powerful relevance to what all the children were studying and learning.”

So recalls Andy Mellor, head of St Nicholas Church of England Primary School in Blackpool, secretary of the Blackpool branch and the incoming NAHT vice president, about one of his many experiences of Primary Futures.

Primary Futures is the initiative set up two-and-a-half years ago by NAHT and the charity Education and Employers with the aim to “widen the horizons and aspirations of primary school children by helping them make the connections between their learning and their futures”.

It has a simple remit: to connect schools, through a free database, with volunteer employers, individuals and organisations within their area.

These volunteers then come into the school to talk about what they do, how they got to where they are today, how

learning and education helped them in this and to (hopefully) inspire the children about their own future goals and aspirations.

The fact it is now working with more than 3,000 schools in England (see panel) is testament to its success and popularity.

As Andy explains: “The reason why we do it is simple: it is to build the level of aspiration in our children. Blackpool is often treated as something of a basket-case nationally. But there is, in fact, a lot going on here.

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

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Above: Primary Futures helps children build levels of aspiration.

Left: Andy Mellor introduces volunteers to the pupils at his Blackpool school.

WHAT IS PRIMARY FUTURES?

Primary Futures was launched in October 2014 as a joint project between NAHT and the charity Education and Employers, which runs the Inspiring the Future scheme focussing more on secondary schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Its aim is simple: to widen the horizons and aspirations of primary school children by bringing employer volunteers into school to talk to them about what they do, to inspire them, open their eyes to future career and life opportunities they may not have thought of, and to make the connections between their school learning and their post-school futures.

It currently has a growing network of more than 35,000 volunteers going into more than 3,000 primary schools in England.

Primary Futures is free to use, and schools connect with volunteers through an online Primary Futures database, at www.inspiringthefuture.org

Teachers can view the proďŹ les of different volunteers in their area and contact any they would like to come into their school. There are also resources such as an FAQs section and guide on the website.

In Wales, schools can connect with volunteers in the same way, currently through Inspiring the Future although the aim is for the Primary Futures brand to roll out there in the next few months.

In Wales, there is currently a network of 54 teachers from 43 schools and colleges, working with more than 324 volunteers.

The charity has said it is keen to expand into Northern Ireland, and is looking to build up its database of schools, colleges, employers, professional bodies and individuals there. Anyone interested can contact it through enquiries@inspiringthefuture.org

ENGAGEMENT 26

CASE STUDY Jo Powell is deputy head teacher of Tredegarville Church in Wales Primary School in Cardiff, which has 254 children on its roll and has been running employer/ volunteer engagement programmes through Inspiring the Future since October 2014.

“For our Inspiring the Future Week, we get volunteers through the database and also from community partners. It is all about raising awareness in our children; encouraging them to understand why education is important to their future and for broadening their horizons.’’

“This year our volunteers included Emma Williams (Welsh Government), Tryfon Kalyvides Architects, Dilwyn Young Jones of the Welsh Assembly, The Cardiff Devils ice hockey players, The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff University School of Medicine, the author Dai Hankey, a cheerleader, a vet, our school governors, past pupils and many more.

“We’ve also tried to link our week of activities to our School Values. For example, a member of Cardiff Food Bank joined us this year.

“The week creates a real buzz.

The volunteers often discuss challenges they have had to overcome or things they’ve achieved in their role as well as offering an insight into the jobs they do. It also shows the children why you have to work hard at school if you want to achieve in later life – it inspires them and shows the importance of succeeding at school.

“Our Inspiring the Future Week has also resulted in developing positive partnerships.

We now take classes to Cardiff Medical School, where the children’s learning is enriched and enhanced. The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama students now join us

Above: Inspiring the Future Week introduces children to the world of work.

Left: Cardiff medical students help out as part of Science Week.

for our weekly ‘Do Something New’ sessions where our children have the opportunity to learn new skills.

“The Primary Futures website is easy to use. There are a variety of volunteers who you can contact to visit your school. In addition to the positive outcomes for our children, our partnership working was recognised as excellent during a recent Estyn inspection. With exciting times ahead, and with the development of the new curriculum, we will no doubt find Primary Futures a very useful resource to support our teaching and learning.”

It also shows the children why you have to work hard at school if you want to achieve in later life.

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

“Historically, the two biggest employers here have been traditional industries and tourism.

So, as a town, it is important that we diversify and, even more important, that we keep our most able people here.

Moreover, because we do not have a university in Blackpool, people who have wanted to go to university have had to travel, at the very least, to Preston, and then perhaps never come back.

“It is about trying to create a link between schools and businesses, trying to develop young people who are resilient enough to enter the world of work; it is also about developing and raising their aspirations about what ‘work’ entails and the variety of jobs that may be out there; and it is about breaking down gender stereotypes on what sorts of jobs are available.

“For example, we have a local nautical college near us – Fleetwood. We recently had a female marine biologist come into the school who really inspired the children and showed them what you can achieve if you work

hard at science. The volunteers we have had have been amazing.

They come into the school and the children get to see the link between the curricular subjects they are learning in the classroom and the world of work outside,” Andy adds.

Next month will also see Primary Futures events and activities happening across the borough during Aspirations Week from 22–26 May. Blackpool is, of course, one of the government’s 12 ‘opportunity areas’, along with Derby, Norwich, Oldham, Scarborough, West Somerset, Bradford, Doncaster, Fenland and East Cambridgeshire, Hastings, Ipswich and Stoke-on-Trent.

These are areas where the Department for Education is proactively working to target and establish programmes to support access to work and vocational opportunities and remove obstacles to social mobility.

The NAHT’s Primary Futures work clearly aligns with this aspiration. But there is also a

It is about trying to create a link between schools and businesses, trying to develop young people who are resilient enough to enter the world of work.

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ENGAGEMENT 28

THE EMPLOYER’S VIEW

Rachael Boaler is senior business manager at recruitment firm Randstad Education in Blackpool, and Effie Sharp is a primary education consultant. The firm is a Primary Futures volunteer and has worked with Andy Mellor at St Nicholas Church of England Primary School, among others.

“We feel very strongly that it is important for us to give something back to the community. We have done talks with schools and workshops across Lancashire; there are a lot of schools we are working with,” says Rachael.

“Everyone loves it; it allows the children to see someone other than their teacher. And, as an organisation, we get a lot back too.

It creates a real buzz and it is great for increasing the profile of the team.

“As a head, it is really very simple to do. You just go on the website and email the volunteer directly.”

richer pedagogical element to the programme – making the connection between the value of education and learning with aspiration and social mobility – that sets it apart from, say, a standard secondary careers’ event, as NAHT Primary Futures manager Steve Iredale explains.

“The key thing is that this is not about careers’ talks, although schools may also do that. This is more about why primary school learning is, and will be, important in later life; that education is a route through which to achieve your dream,” he says.

“What I would be encouraging schools to be doing is looking

“Rather than talking at the children, I like to get them involved, to ask them questions,” says Effie. “I ask them to guess what I do, guess what skills I need to do my job, that sort of thing. The children really relate to it.

“For instance, I travel quite a lot for work, and so I was able to talk to them about how a job like mine, even though I’m based in Blackpool, can give me the opportunity to go to lots of different places and meet different people. It helps them to see the bigger picture, such as you don’t necessarily need to move away to be successful.

“I try to avoid coming out with stereotypical advice – ‘you need to listen to your teachers’, that sort of thing – and make it more about stories, and then link it back to education. So I might explain that a lot of my job is about talking to people and helping them with things like CVs, so English and communication skills have been very important to me.”

at the curriculum and thinking about where local volunteers and employers might be able to come in to support and inspire the kids. For example, someone from your local museum if you’re doing a history-based topic. If you can’t find the volunteer on the database that’s often where NAHT can help.

“Volunteers can enhance the children’s learning and bring things to the classroom that the teacher often can’t; they just bring a different perspective and can give the children a dose of reality. The captivated look on their faces sometimes has to be seen to be believed,” Steve adds.

Below: Children enjoy finding out more about the world of work.

“Employer engagement is often seen as something quite secondary-specific, and it is often more about careers education, information, advice and guidance,” agrees NAHT policy adviser Siôn Humphreys.

“The trick at primary level is to make it part of the educational process, not just ‘an event’. It is more about introducing children to the world of work; giving children the opportunity to realise that education is not just good in itself, but something that serves the economy, the country, and which can serve them in terms of aspiration and social mobility,” he adds.

And, finally, there is an important role for these sort of programmes within special schools, argues Kim Johnson, NAHT president and principal of Bradfields Specialist SEN Academy in Chatham, Kent.

“It is quite clear that we want to raise children’s aspirations, to awaken them to the possibilities that are open to them. Getting people to come into the school and talk about what they do is a great way of doing that.

“From the perspective of a special school, it is also about encouraging the children to think about their abilities not their disabilities,” he points out.

FIND OUT MORE…

If you would like to register with Primary Futures and contact volunteers waiting to inspire your children, please visit the website www.inspiringthefuture.org/ primary-futures/

Unique websites for unique schools Engage parents and carers Raise pupil attainment Attract new families and staff Meet DfE and Ofsted requirements Save money and valuable staff time

01636 616 640

info@primarysite.net

primarysite.net

@PrimarySite

ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2017

LEADING AND LEARNING AT 30

NAHT Annual Conference 2017 e are expecting up to 300 delegates to arrive for our Annual Conference at the Telford International Centre in Shropshire the weekend of Friday 28 to Sunday 30 April.

The conference presents our annual opportunity to discuss relevant issues with delegates representing our members from all sectors and regions of our membership. Hosting hundreds of school leaders with myriad specialisms and backgrounds under one roof invariably leads to three days of lively debate and policy-making.

Delegates will hear addresses from general secretary Russell Hobby and incoming national president Anne Lyons, as well as an array of guest speakers on a wide range of educational topics.

Those in attendance will have the opportunity to engage with our conference sponsors and network with colleagues, and for those who are unable to make the event, we will make sure you are provided with all the latest conference news.

Who’s who at the 2017 Annual Conference?

W

Below: Delegates enjoy the chance to meet up with members from all sectors and regions.

This year, delegates can expect to hear from the following members of NAHT’s National Executive: General secretary - Russell Hobby Past president – Kim Johnson President – Anne Lyons Vice president – Andy Mellor Treasurer – Judith Stott

Thoughts on Annual Conference from NAHT’s leadership

Russell Hobby, general secretary of NAHT: “This will be my seventh annual conference with NAHT and I can’t wait to be back in its community of friends and colleagues. Certain topics are perennial favourites but this year, more so than any other time, funding will dominate all concerns. The education system is at breaking point. I expect conference will want to send a very clear message to government on this issue.”

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

THE PRESIDENTIAL HANDOVER Each year, Annual Conference marks the introduction of a new NAHT president.

Kim Johnson, President of NAHT 2016/17: “After a year in post as president the realisation of the prestige of the role being held by a Special Academy Principal has been enjoyed by both myself and the many NAHT members in that sector. Our voice has been truly heard ... beyond the hugely successful ‘Big Shout’ related to autism and girls.

On top of all that has been generic within educational settings, it has been particularly good to raise the profile of autism and speech and language so high on our agenda. I’m sure that conference will be pleased to note the impact and that the great work will continue.

Poignant for us at Telford will be the Conference Focus on MND Association as our charity following the diagnosis of our much admired, respected and loved colleague Colm Davis, who was due to take up national presidency at this event a timely reminder to us all that our health is paramount in the great job we do for children and young adults.”

PRESIDENT: Presidents always serve as vice president for a year before taking office.

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: Immediate past presidents are entitled to a personal vote at every subsequent conference after their year in office.

VICE PRESIDENT: This year’s vice president is Andy Mellor.

Find out more about NAHT’s new vice president on page 8.

This year we will be saying goodbye to Kim Johnson and we welcome in Anne Lyons who will be announced as president for 2017/18.

We also wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has helped raise money for Motor Neurone Disease Association on behalf of our friend and colleague, Colm Davis, who had to stand down from the post of vice president last year after being diagnosed with MND. If you are yet to donate to the Motor Neurone Disease Association, NAHT has set up a dedicated JustGiving page: www.justgiving. com/fundraising/Colm-Davis

Conference sessions, workshops and fringe events

Anne Lyons, president of NAHT 2017/18: “Our slogan, ‘For Leaders, For Learners’ reminds us that however great our progress seems to be, there will always be more that we need to do. What was true in 1897 is still true today in our 120th year. I’m greatly looking forward to discussing what that progress will look like with friends and colleagues at Annual Conference.”

GET INVOLVED

Stay up-to-date with the latest news from the 2017 Annual Conference by visiting our website www.naht.org.uk or follow breaking news on via Twitter #NAHTconf.

The conference will also allow delegates to discuss the issues currently at the fore of government policy in our policy workshops. This year’s conference will include a panel discussion on the detrimental impact that the funding crisis is having on schools across the UK. There will also be workshops on primary assessment, school structures and current policy issues for special schools.

In addition to the sessions and workshops, Annual Conference also provides delegates the opportunity to take a look around the stands of exhibitors that flock to the event to demonstrate the latest services

and products to hit the education market. This year’s exhibitors will be promoting a vast range of products and services from playground equipment to HR consultancy.

Motions at Annual Conference

Last year’s conference motions have been the focus of NAHT’s work over the last 12 months and we have secured a number of successes and policy developments since Annual Conference 2016 including: • FORCED ACADEMISATION: NAHT exercised significant influence in securing the abandonment of proposals for forced universal academisation.

• ASSESSMENT: NAHT campaigned for the DfE to abandon Year 7 resits and it was announced in October 2016 that the government would indeed withdraw this manifesto commitment and the resits would not go ahead. That was also the case for the threatened phonics resits in primary education and we secured a commitment to a fundamental review of primary assessment.

• CHILDCARE FUNDING: NAHT was instrumental in securing additional funding for nursery schools until at least 2020.

• COASTING SCHOOLS: We have campaigned on the coasting schools definition and secured an important shift to this being a prompt for support and dialogue with a school rather than an automatic steer towards forced academisation.

This year, the spotlight will be on the funding crisis and the impact that this lack of funding is having on schools across the country.

Despite government assertions to the contrary, school budgets are not protected. NAHT is at the forefront of efforts to expose this and make the case for a reversal of the realterms reductions that all schools are facing. Other motions that will be raised by our members include areas such as assessment, inspection, pay and conditions, teacher recruitment and health and wellbeing.

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SEN REVIEW

Thinking

BIG

Two successful NAHT conferences have put SEND issues centre stage this year.

‘The Big Shout’ – Girls on the Autism Spectrum Conference

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This event proved hugely successful in drawing attention to the misinformation and lack of representation for girls on the autism spectrum. It took place on Friday 27 January 2017 in central London. Organised by NAHT, the sell-out conference was attended by 300 teachers, SENCos, practitioners, academics, parents, carers and women on the autism spectrum.

Parents of autistic girls, including broadcaster and campaigner for the celebration of neurodiversity, Carrie Grant, talked about the need for strength and resilience.

They described battles with schools, local authorities and mental health

Carrie Grant

services to make sure that their daughters’ voices were heard, and lives valued.

Leaders in the field of research, education and training addressed gaps in research, training packages and opportunities. They explored the issue of under-diagnosis and suggested ways forward. In a moving and powerful presentation, girls from Limpsfield Grange school for autistic girls invited delegates to believe with them that “in the future autistic people can change the world for the better”. Robyn Steward, a trainer, musician and broadcaster who is on the autism spectrum, spoke about the power of believing in autistic girls to enable them to grow into successful and talented women.

Katie Buckingham, founder of Altruist UK, addressed issues of employment and surprised the audience by talking about autistic entrepreneurialism.

One of the speakers, Sarah Wild, head teacher at Limpsfield Grange, said: “Throughout each presentation came an urgency to make things better, to challenge the status quo and re-evaluate our long-held perceptions about autism and autistic people. The day ended with the rallying cry of ‘together we can make a big difference and move forward’.”

Covered extensively in the media, and highly influential on Twitter with the hashtag #autismgirlsconf, it was felt by those involved that ‘The Big Shout’ was heard.

Since the event, the National Forum for Neuroscience and Special Education has mapped out a Call for Action on girls with autism, based on the outcomes of the day. Details of this can be found on the NAHT website.

Professor Francesca Happe, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at King’s College, London, and co-founder of the National Forum for Neuroscience and Special Education: “Until recently, it was thought that boys outnumbered girls on the spectrum by five or even ten to one. However, recent epidemiological studies suggest we are missing autism in females, and there are in fact only two or three times as many boys as girls affected. That means there are potentially thousands of girls on the spectrum who have not received a diagnosis, or maybe have the wrong diagnosis. Unless we find out much more about female autism, girls will continue to miss out on the recognition and support they need.”

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

There needs to be personalised teaching to meet each individual’s unique needs.

Once you offer your engagement you can teach.

Special Schools, Specialist and Alternative Provision Conference 2017

From recent developments in neuroscience, to the Rochford Review, and the national funding formula for schools and high need – a range of subjects of interest to the SEND sector were covered in detail by leading experts in the field. More than 160 delegates attended the evening and one-day event over the 9 and 10 March in Birmingham.

Eminent speakers included Russell Hobby, Kim Johnson, Will Ord, Dr Rona Tutt OBE, Professor Barry Carpenter OBE, Diane Rochford, Judge Jane McConnell, Gareth Morewood, and Leslie Cox HMI.

Paul Williams, chair of the SEND Council at NAHT, and chair of the conference working group, said the central theme this year – ‘Creating Stability in Changing Times’ – was particularly pertinent.

For most SEND professionals, stability is difficult to achieve when there are unanswered questions around SEND assessment and high needs funding. “There are also unknowns and therefore instability around the neurological reasons why children have difficulties,” said Paul. “All these issues were tackled at the conference, so we hope delegates left feeling betterinformed, energised and prepared for the future, able to return to school with the knowledge to build on current best practices.”

Barry Carpenter

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Furthering the pedagogy of complex needs

Keynote speaker Will Ord, a highly regarded educational consultant, explored the benefits of introducing a framework for growth mindsets in schools, encouraging children to think more widely about what they can be good at, developing their resilience and independence. Will said: “For school leaders and their teams it’s important to acknowledge the difference between ‘schooling’ and ‘educating’. The former is about ticking boxes and working through the curriculum, the latter is about developing the person, motivating them, engaging them and helping them develop as an individual who is open to learning.”

Professor Barry Carpenter, OBE, outlined the latest thinking on ‘Engaging Learners with

SEN REVIEW 34

Complex Needs; From Neurons to Neighbourhoods’, sharing his extensive knowledge on “child centred, creative and responsive teaching”. Insights from neuroscience can shape how this can be put into action, while at the core of SEN teaching there should be a focus on “personalising teaching to meet each individual’s unique needs”. Engagement with the individual is the vital starting point. “Once you offer your engagement you can teach,” he said.

Final keynote speaker, Dr Rona Tutt OBE, closed the conference in her inimitable style. Her presentation had elements of mirth, but a serious side too, as she explored structural changes that have taken place in SEND, developments in the field of mental health and SEND, the place of girls on the autism spectrum, and the growing number of children being identified with co-existing conditions.

What the delegates said: Paul Mersh, head teacher at Pier View Academy in Gravesend, Kent

Paul Williams

At her session on the Rochford Review, Diane Rochford invited attendees to feed back their views on the Rochford recommendations, and hear the latest on the consultation process that will shape future policy in this important area.

Lesley Cox HMI, Ofsted National Lead for Disability and Special Educational Needs, held an equally popular workshop on ‘How Ofsted evaluates SEND provision in schools’. In feedback Specially many delegates said this gave commissioned them incredibly useful insights workshops – into how to be Ofsted-ready. empowering SEND In other workshops Larraine professionals Cooper shared her far-reaching Feedback from the event has financial expertise on ‘Securing confirmed how valuable delegates stability through the introduction found this year’s programme of the National Funding of workshops.

Formula for Schools and High Needs’, while Gareth Morewood motivated and encouraged The next Special Schools, on the theme Specialist and Alternative Provision Conference of ‘The SENCo will take place on as a Manager 9 March 2018 and Leader’.

On the legal side, there was a great deal of interest in Judge Jane McConnell’s session: ‘Coming to the Tribunal: Naming a school in an EHC Plan’. With many school leaders facing the prospect of SEND Tribunal cases, Lesley delegates welcomed the Cox detailed explanations Judge McConnell provided on what judges expect from parents, schools and local authorities at these hearings, and very usefully how to prepare for a Tribunal.

DIARY DATE

“With our next Ofsted inspection on the horizon it’s been very reassuring to get the latest advice from a SEND angle, which will help me prepare in several key areas. The quality of speakers at these events has always been excellent.”

Grace Kew, independent education consultant and lead associate at OnwardsandUpwards, previously head teacher at The Orchard Teaching School, Sandwell, West Midlands “This conference has provided me with a full update on the latest changes in education, and has covered new ideas of best practice in education, essential in my work. I’ve been impressed with how well tailored the content is for leaders from special schools. The workshops are very specific.

They know what we need and they get it right.”

Jackie Sumner, head teacher, Rachel Madocks School, Waterlooville, Hampshire “Whatever kind of school you lead, there are a great many pressures in headship today, and conferences like these help take the strain. They prepare you for what’s to come, and can leave you feeling inspired to face the everyday challenges, equipped with some new skills and ideas.”

Anne Clinton, head teacher at Oaklands School, Hampshire “I’ve attended for the Ofsted guidance, and for updates on the funding formula and changes to assessment with regard to children with SEND. For most of us it’s very important to get the latest information about how to prepare for Ofsted, and to understand changes in accountability. This conference is ideal because it’s so specifically tailored to special educational needs.”

Rona Tutt

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

Am I an employee or self-employed?

NAHT SOLICITOR Simon Thomas answers your legal questions.

I have been assaulted by a pupil. Am I entitled to compensation?

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) compensates victims of crimes of violence. The scheme has undergone a number of changes since it was first introduced in 1964. The latest and perhaps most significant changes were in 2012.

• In exceptional cases, an act may be treated as a crime of violence where the assailant is a child below the age of criminal responsibility {which is ten} who in fact understood the consequences of their actions. There is no guidance on what constitutes an exceptional case.

• The assault must have been reported to the police ‘as soon as is reasonably practicable’. This normally means within 48 hours of the incident and it seems it includes cases where the assailant is a child below the age of criminal responsibility or where for other reasons there is no realistic prospect of a prosecution.

• Claims must be submitted within two years of the assault.

• Compensation is awarded under a tariff which excludes minor injuries.

Claims for compensation can in principle be made against the assailant (which of course is difficult if the assailant is a child) or in some circumstances against the employer if it can be established that the assault occurred as a result of the employer’s negligence.

When is notice of dismissal effectively given?

The exact date of dismissal can be important for several reasons: it can determine entitlement to bring certain claims {eg unfair dismissal for which two years’ service is required}, entitlement to redundancy payment, whether an employment tribunal claim has been made in time {often within three months of the dismissal date} and in teachers’ cases where notice can only end on three dates a year, when notice expires.

In a recent case considered by the Court of Appeal, if the employee was dismissed on or after her 50th birthday (20 July 2011) then under her contract, she was entitled to a more generous

redundancy payment. Generally notice is effective or ‘given’ when it is received or communicated to the employee rather than when it is sent.

The employer attempted to give notice in three ways: • a recorded delivery letter sent on 20 April 2011 • a letter sent by ordinary post • an email to the employee’s husband’s address.

The employer purported to terminate the employee’s contract on 15 July.

To terminate the contract on 15 July notice would have to have been given on 22 April and so the last day of the 12th week would be Friday 15 July.

Issues of employment status continue to keep the courts busy. It is usually workers trying to establish they are employees in order to be entitled to certain rights, such as the right to claim unfair dismissal, which are not available to the self-employed.

The label the parties put on a role, e.g. ‘employee’, ‘contractor’, ‘consultant’, is not conclusive.

Neither, generally, is any one feature of the relationship likely to be determinative. The courts have cautioned against a ‘tickbox’ approach to determining employment status: one must look at the whole picture.

A recent case involved an NAHT member, who worked as a deputy head. In some documents he was described as a ‘consultant’, he invoiced the school at a daily rate and the school paid his ‘fees’ to the member’s company without deducting tax, NIC or pension. But most other features of the relationship pointed more towards employee status: the pattern of work was similar to the other assistant heads – who were unquestionably employees; he was expected to be there during the school day; he was sent on staff training courses and permitted paid days off for sickness. After initially denying he was an employee, the local authority/governing body eventually conceded that he was an employee.

Although the employee had used her husband’s email address she had not done so regularly and she had never given permission to send communications to her at this address.

The employee was on holiday in Egypt from 19–27 April {the employer knew she had booked leave but did not have details of when she was out of the country}.

Her father-in-law collected the recorded delivery letter from the post office and delivered it on 26 April.

The Court of Appeal decided (by a 2-1 majority) that notice was given when the claimant read the recorded delivery letter on 27 April so the termination date was 20 July.

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GOVERNORS

Governing good relationships LEADERSHIP FOCUS looks at the way in which schools can

be improved by working with their governing body.

s a former principal officer with Ofsted, Ian Hartwright’s inspection policy role created a potential conflict of interest when it came to volunteering as a governor, despite his extensive knowledge of governance policy.

But, on becoming senior policy adviser at NAHT last September, Ian decided the time was now right to take the practical step of joining the governing body of his son’s Catholic primary school as a foundation governor.

This new role has given Ian an even richer insight into one of the most challenging issues facing heads when it comes to successfully engaging with, relying on and using their school governors or (increasingly of course if an academy) their board of trustees.

Namely, the need for head teachers to have professional, engaged and exacting governors and, conversely, the very real impact a poor, maverick or incompetent governor can have on a school.

As Ian explains: “Having found myself in a training room full of new governors, it was inspiring to see that so many public-spirited people are still prepared to give the commitment to volunteer their time to govern schools.

“Yet, at the same time, it was very clear that for many of them it was going to be a very steep learning curve. Being an effective governor is not easy and is something very few people can just step into, whatever their professional background. But, as school governance evolves through the academisation process, it is more important than ever.

“There is a need to understand the strategic role of governance, and the distinction between the governors

A

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and the professional and operational role of a head. It is also important for governors to recognise and appreciate that a school’s focus will be on pupil outcomes, but this is not just about headline figures, it is also the outcomes for specific groups of pupils.

“For example governors will want to know about the relative progress of disadvantaged

Ian Hartwright

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

groups and their peers, or explore gender gaps in performance. It’s important therefore that governors can understand and interrogate the data, and ask targeted, probing questions.

“Central to the role of governors is the need to confidently offer both support and challenge where appropriate. Ultimately, the relationship between the governing board and the head teacher is at the heart of a school achieving its key strategic goals.

“The governing board also has a very important role in keeping pupils safe, through effective recruitment and safeguarding processes. Ofsted, certainly, interrogates the school’s single central record, and offers professional challenge to the governor with responsibility for safeguarding when conducting an

inspection. Indeed, inspectors will meet with the chair of governors and other key governors as part of any inspection, and will make a judgement on governance that forms part of the leadership and management judgement of a school,” Ian adds.

“The clear message here is that governance is a critical aspect of school leadership. At NAHT we believe that all governors should receive mandatory training, and that this should be funded centrally by government. Being a governor is a weighty role; governors need to be equipped with the skills to do that properly by understanding the distinctive, discrete roles that they and school leaders play. It’s important that all governors recognise their work as an act of public service and live up to the Nolan Principles

THE FUNDING CRISIS AND GOVERNORS The current headache for many heads is not so much whether to insist that all governors get the appropriate training and skills but simply, given the tightening financial straitjacket many schools are experiencing, whether they can afford to offer training at all.

NAHT believes the DfE should make funds available for the training of governors – as school budgets cannot support this.

Governors are unlikely to fund their own training ahead of school staff when, increasingly, schools are cutting CPD budgets for their staff in order to balance their budgets – 66 per cent of respondents to our Breaking Point report (July 2016) indicated that investment in CPD for school staff had been reduced; while our Balancing Act survey (July 2016) found that 30 per cent of deputy and assistant head members indicated that their CPD had declined over the previous year.

“The DfE needs to fund training for all governors – what is currently available is not nearly enough,” says Ian Hartwright.

While clearly no substitute for formal training, there are new resources available, too. The Department for Education earlier this year published a revised edition (with input from NAHT) of its Governance Handbook, which sets out school governors’ roles and functions, their legal duties, and sources of support. Its Competency Framework for Governance is also a potentially valuable resource, and again has had input from NAHT (and see the panels for more on this).

NAHT, NGA, LGA and ASCL have also set out shared expectations for head teachers and governors in What Governing Boards Should Expect From School Leaders And What School Leaders Should Expect From Governing Boards. For tackling recruitment and retention issues of new governors and trustees, the NGA’s The Right People Around the Table is useful.

Simply working with your chair of governors or trustees can often lead to imaginative and flexible solutions that do not necessarily require money to be thrown at them. “Is a four-hour meeting in the evening twice a term the best way to do it? What about learning walks or having governors involved with a particular part of the school or curriculum?” asks Ian. “Some governing bodies will be reluctant to spend the money on training for themselves.

But if they want to be effective when it comes to the strategic oversight of the school, they need to be ensuring they have up-to-date skills and knowledge,” he adds.

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GOVERNORS

NEW GOVERNANCE HANDBOOK The Department for Education published a revised edition of its Governance Handbook back in January. This sets out school governors’ roles and functions, their legal duties, and sources of support. NAHT was consulted on and contributed to it, and you can access a copy through the www.gov.uk website.

Within the handbook, the DfE defines the six key features of effective governance as being: 1. strategic leadership that sets and champions vision, ethos and strategy; 2. accountability that drives up educational standards and financial performance; 3. people with the right skills, experience, qualities and capacity; 4. structures that reinforce clearly defined roles and responsibilities; 5. compliance with statutory and contractual requirements; 6. evaluation to monitor and improve the quality and impact of governance.

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Alongside the handbook, the DfE has published a new Competency Framework for Governance, again available through www.gov.uk and to which, again, NAHT contributed.

This sets out the knowledge, skills

of standards in public life,” he emphasises.

Experience and competence are by no means the only challenges facing head teachers when it comes to school governance.

Recruitment and retention is another area of concern. Three years ago, for example, Governors for Schools warned that up to one in four school governor positions was vacant in some rural and deprived areas of England.

This, in turn, has led to a contentious debate as to whether paying governors for their time and effort is one answer, something NAHT has strongly opposed from the off.

“Payment to governors would risk undermining the very nature of governance. It has the potential to create damaging conflicts of interest, perverse incentives and a range of unintended consequences, narrowing the range of those who act as governors. At NAHT we feel strongly that paying governors

and behaviours required for the effective governance of maintained schools, academies and multiacademy trusts. It identifies a further 16 core competencies grouped under the below six broad principles of effective governance. These are: 1. strategic Leadership: setting direction; culture values and ethos; decision-making; collaborative working with stakeholders and key partners; and risk management; 2. accountability: educational improvement; rigorous analysis of data; financial frameworks and accountability; financial management and monitoring; staffing and performance management; and external accountability; 3. people: building an effective team; 4. structures: roles and responsibilities; 5. compliance: statutory and contractual requirements; 6. evaluation: managing self-review and personal skills; and managing and developing the board’s effectiveness.

The framework also makes it clear that all those elected or appointed to boards should fulfil their duties in line with the ‘Nolan Principles’, or seven principles of public life (see page 41).

will even change the reasons – the conversation – as to why someone might decide to become a governor; it can create a slant in the kind of governing body you end up with as a school,” says Ian. “But this also means, as most governors may be working, they can find it difficult to come into the school when it is at work, which can be a huge problem if you’re only seeing the school in the evening when it is otherwise all shut up,” he adds.

“In order to evaluate its effectiveness, governors need to be engaged in the life of the school so they know how it works, how well the school improvement plan is being implemented and critically what the impact and outcomes are.

“Lengthy evening meetings may not be the best way to fulfil this function. NAHT has long campaigned for all governors to be entitled to paid time off work, on the same basis as service in the armed forces reserves or as

magistrates,” Ian emphasises.

Gillian Allcroft, deputy chief executive of the National Governors’ Association, agrees that professionalising governorship monetarily is not the answer. But “professionalising” governance in a wider sense, through the richness, understanding and trust of the relationship between both sides, the governing board and the head teacher, certainly is.

“Basically, it is about having good, professional relations. The fact the board is not paid does not mean it should not be professional; it is about everyone understanding what everybody is there to do,” she argues.

“The governing body is not there to micro-manage the head, but the head also has to understand that he or she is accountable to the board and has to report to it. So, it is simply about people, on both sides, properly understanding their roles and responsibilities.

“The core role of the governing body of maintained schools has

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

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THE ROLE OF PROFESSIONAL CLERKS NAHT has long campaigned for the professionalism of clerks to be recognised, and for the importance and potential of their role to be better understood. NAHT believes professional clerking is critical to the effectiveness of a governing body.

As Ian Hartwright outlines: “The clerk’s role should not be limited to minuting the meeting.

The clerk should be advising

changed little in the last 20 years, but what has changed is the expectations on those undertaking the role and the level of scrutiny and accountability. Even ten years ago, it was often said that governors were good at support, but not always good at challenge.

“Governing boards have improved their effectiveness and take seriously their role as the accountable body and the need to ask questions to assure themselves that things are working well. These changing expectations have also

on the board’s strategic duties, making sure new governors have the had their vetting checks, and helping to inform the conversations that go on around the governing board table.

“This might be things such as advising on the frequency of Ofsted inspections, and what all the different inspection categories mean.”

The DfE has taken on board

proved difficult for some head teachers, who were perhaps more comfortable with the ‘supportive’, less challenging model of governance.

“Sometimes, it can be a case of the head not giving the body timely reports or, in fact, the opposite – where the governors are given hundreds of pages of documents, which obscures what is really happening. The best relationships between head and governing body are based on trust; when head teachers know

Above left: Gillian Allcroft, deputy chief executive of the National Governors’ Association.

NAHT’s arguments, and the result will be a forthcoming competency framework for professional clerks.

As Leadership Focus went to press, this was in the final stages of development. The framework will be aligned with both the Governance Handbook and the Competency Framework for Governance.

Keep an eye on the NAHT website for more updates.

the governing board is not going to interfere in the day-to-day management of the school, but understands and indeed welcomes the challenge that an effective board can bring,” Gillian adds.

Of course, the drift towards academisation has also changed the governance landscape profoundly. This has created a new level of legal complexity for governors, but sometimes confusion between the roles of members and trustees. This is especially the case when schemes

GOVERNORS

THE ‘7 CS’ OF GOVERNANCE

The Department for Education’s Competency Framework for Governance identifies a number of key personal attributes you, and your chair of governors or trustees, should look for in the members of your governing body. These are: Committed – prepared to devote the required time and energy to the role and ambitious to achieve best possible outcomes for young people. Prepared to give time, skills and knowledge to developing themselves and others in order to create highly effective governance;

1

Confident – of an independent mind, able to lead and contribute to courageous conversations, to express their opinion and to play an active role on the board;

2

Curious – possessing an enquiring mind and an analytical approach and understanding the value of meaningful questioning;

3

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Challenging – providing appropriate challenge to the status quo, not taking information or data at face value and always driving for improvement;

4

Collaborative – prepared to listen to and work in partnership with others and understanding the importance of building strong working relationships within the board and with executive leaders, staff, parents and carers, pupils/students, the local community and employers;

5

Critical – understanding the value of critical friendship which enables both challenge and support, and self-reflective, pursuing learning and development opportunities to improve their own and whole board’s effectiveness;

6

Creative – able to challenge conventional wisdom and be open-minded about new approaches to problem-solving; recognising the value of innovation and creative thinking to organisational development and success.

7

of delegation are unclear or poorly articulated, points out Ian Hartwright.

“While the principles of good governance are broadly similar, regardless of school type, the operation and responsibilities vary for maintained schools when compared to stand-alone academies; and MATs are different again. For example, some MATs delegate very significant functions to local boards, while other boards have a mainly advisory function.

“Whatever the scheme of delegation, ultimate responsibility for the schools remains with the MAT. A lack of understanding can therefore create difficulties for the head and leadership team of an individual school, whose roles will also vary dependent on the MAT’s approach,” he adds.

Nevertheless, the principles of good governance and oversight are just as relevant whether you’re a maintained school,

academy or MAT, as the NGA’s Gillian Allcroft highlights.

“Academies are a big shift in the legal structure, but the majority of the governance principles hold good. The main change is that the trustees, as directors, are governed by different compliance regulations.

But they are still holding the school and its processes to account, still asking the questions that should be asked; that is no different,” she adds.

With many schools really struggling to recruit governors, it is also important that the governing board is thinking about succession planning and conducting skills audits to look at where any skills gaps are, and actively recruiting to fill those gaps, Gillian recommends.

Understanding, for example, what the SBM is saying is vitally important, especially as so many schools are now moving into deficit budgets. It is worth heads

RECRUITMENT AND SUCCESSION PLANNING The NGA’s The Right People Around the Table document outlines some useful practical tips for recruiting governors to your governing body.

These could be useful to pass on to your chair of governors if he or she is not aware of them already.

Carry out a skills audit When seeking candidates for governor, it is self-evidently important that you know what skills are missing from your board. Before doing anything else, the governing board should carry out an audit of the knowledge, skills or experience that you need to plug.

Set up a ‘task and finish’ group When the governing board has decided to recruit, it will need to decide who will take the lead. This will depend on how many governors or trustees are needed. If there is more than one new governor or trustee to find, a good option can be to set up a ‘task and finish’ group to supervise, plan and carry out the process on behalf of the board.

Set up an appointment panel The appointment panel will coordinate the process from beginning to end, making its recommendation to the board. The clerk should be the single point of

contact for candidates looking to find out more information.

The appointment panel should: ● agree the role description where one has not already been approved; ● decide where and how to advertise; ● inform applicants about what’s involved, including key responsibilities, time commitment and the requirement to undertake an enhanced DBS check; ● keep the chair informed of progress (if they are not part of the group); ● take up references; ● shortlist and present its recommendations to the board; ● compile an induction pack.

The formal decision on the appointment of new governors or trustees cannot be delegated.

Once a shortlist has been decided, each candidate should be interviewed to discuss the role, responsibilities, time commitment and requirement for a DBS check.

The school’s reception will need to be informed that a board recruitment process has begun. Leave the clerk’s details at the desk for any enquiries to be redirected. The success of the recruitment process will, to a large extent, depend on this process being as smooth as possible.

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

being aware that NGA has skills audit tools that can be used by single schools and MATs. Heads also need to be thinking how they can go about instilling a greater understanding and appreciation of governance within their own leadership teams. This will mean, in time, when they step up to a headship, they will have the confidence and ability to manage the complexities of this relationship successfully.

As Gillian explains: “It can also sometimes be head teachers who need help and guidance. Especially for someone who is a new head teacher, they may have had little experience of working with the governing board. So, as a head, it can be worth encouraging your middle and senior leaders to become governors of a school other than the one they’re working at.

“Being a staff governor can be a tricky role because, effectively, you are overseeing your line manager; so it can be difficult.

But being a governor in another school can be a very worthwhile experience,” she adds.

Being a staff governor can be a tricky role because, effectively, you are overseeing your line manager.

THE NOLAN PRINCIPLES THE NOLAN PRINCIPLES

The Seven Principles of Public Life, also known as the Nolan Principles, were defined by the government’s Committee for Standards in Public Life. These are that holders of public office should display: 1. Selflessness In other words, they should act solely in terms of the public interest.

2. Integrity In other words, they should avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

3. Objectivity In other words, they should act and take decisions impartially, fairly and

on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.

4. Accountability In other words, they should be accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.

5. Openness In other words, they should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.

6. Honesty In other words, they should be truthful.

7. Leadership In other words, they should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and be willing to challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.

TIPS FROM THE NGA ON GETTING MORE PARTICIPATION FROM UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS

TIPS FROM THE NGA FOR RETAINING GOVERNORS AND TRUSTEES

Use appropriate language and imagery on adverts. For example, a stock photograph of an all-white, male group might send the wrong message when trying to attract those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Take the governance of your school (or group of schools) seriously. In other words, seriously enough to have a role description, person specification and code of conduct to demonstrate who you’re looking for and what’s expected of them.

Remember, people want experiences that are interesting, challenging, worthwhile, relevant to the rest of their lives and concerns, and can make a difference to others.

Look at your track record. Do new trustees come for the first meeting or two and then quietly disappear? This could be an induction issue. Make sure each new governor/trustee is mentored by a more experienced board member and ensure there is an effective induction programme.

1

2

3

Highlight the skills that young professionals can contribute but also gain.

4

Emphasise that all out-of-pocket expenses will be reimbursed.

Try recruiting through specialist centres and contacting organisations run by (or for) people with disabilities. For example, special schools, local university disabled students’ coordinators or committees.

5

6

Work with and through established community groups and volunteer networks, such as Volunteering England.

1

2

Review the commitment required. Are meetings sensibly timed, with board papers circulated well in advance of meetings? Are there briefing notes on topical matters written for the governor/trustee audience? Are visits to the school appropriate with a clear strategic purpose?

3

It is also important that the governing board is thinking about succession planning

41

REGIONAL REVIEW

Getting involved,

Getting organised With nearly 3,000 members, the West Midlands region is one of the biggest in the union and has consistently led the way on big issues in education, sometimes hitting the headlines over the more contentious issues, such as Trojan Horse. ith so much happening in education it’s easy to put your head down and focus on the day job but this isn’t stopping one of our most active regions in getting involved and getting organised.

The West Midlands was one of the first regions to embrace the Regional Review process, setting itself ambitious targets for engaging with members and drawing in those who hadn’t previously played an active role in the running of their branch. The region has organised several big conference events in Staffordshire and Birmingham and has been successful in training up more than 40 new representatives to assist in the support of members locally. The net effect of this increased activity has been a steady increase in membership and a higher profile in terms of the issues our members face across the West Midlands, in the press and with employers.

Tim Gallagher, the new regional secretary for the West Midlands, and a branch past president, and current branch secretary for Wolverhampton, is proud of the achievements he’s seen here.

“It’s a very, very active region, with a wealth of excellent head teacher experience, and a willingness to try new ways of working together,” says Tim. “A lot of our recent success can

W

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be attributed to the hard work and dedication of Dudley-based head teacher Mike Millman, who retired this year from the role of regional secretary.

We’ve also benefited from energetic, active members in the region driving things forward and raising our profile.

“Also my predecessor as president, and partner, was the late Cheryl Gould. She did magnificent service to the region and is being remembered through an annual Cheryl Gould award for outstanding school leaders. Others leaders of note include Bernadette Hunter – a past NAHT national president who never missed a regional meeting in all the time she was carrying out that role. Also there is Michelle Sheehy who has just been elected to the National Executive in a closely fought election. It’s a real privilege to work with these people, and many more, who put in the time and do a cracking job.”

The region is interesting says Tim, because it encompasses rich cultural diversity and very different types of schools. “We have small village schools in the rural areas of Herefordshire and Warwickshire, ranging to the large urban comprehensives of Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley and Sandwell. What’s been particularly effective is the drive of active members in the West Midlands to share best practice, and work towards

common goals when campaigning.

With better communications processes we can now open up invites to branch events so that colleagues in neighbouring branches are welcomed along. We look after each other, talk to each other, learn from each other, and this has led to very well attended events and growing participation in campaigns,” says Tim. It’s now more important than ever to get organised with schools feeling the combined pressures brought about by the government’s structural reforms within the education system and of course the dire situation regarding school funding not just in the Midlands, but nationwide.

Members across the region have also realised that much of the support they once received from local councils is drying up and so the challenges faced by school leaders must be tackled by school leaders themselves. West Midlands regional events on the funding situation have seen nearly 800 members briefed on the financial position in their area and have resulted in a strong local campaign, widely covered in the media and which cannot be ignored by the government.

West Midlands, like all our regions, has long played a significant role in the NAHT and whilst the landscape in education changes, and the difficulties our members face increase, they are in a great position to take on those challenges head first. Under strong leadership from newly elected vice president, Hilary Alcock, and new regional secretary, Tim Gallagher, the West Midlands seem poised to carry on the fight for school leaders across the region.

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

Number of Pupils (DfE, 2015)

Workforce data (DfE, 2014)

920,064

Total number of teachers:

total pupils in the West Midlands 14,377 SPECIAL STUDENTS 5,658 NURSERY PUPILS 1,316 PRU STUDENTS

354,735 SECONDARY PUPILS

500,158 PRIMARY PUPILS

PRIMARY

Predicted pupil increase from 2013/14 to 2018/19

SECONDARY

DfE, 2015

+8.9%

+11.0%

+6.7%

+7.9%

WEST MIDLANDS

ENGLAND

WEST MIDLANDS

ENGLAND

ENGLAND 69,315 teachers in the leadership group WEST MIDLANDS 8,160 teachers in the leadership group

Percentage of total teacher workforce from Ethnic Minority Groups:

WEST MIDLANDS

ENGLAND

13%

13%

Total teacher workforce: Gender 26%

74% WEST MIDLANDS

Funding (DfE, 2014 & DfE, 2015)

43

26%

Median per pupil funding in West Midlands

by LA and Academy*

74% ENGLAND

■ MALE ■ FEMALE

Total teacher workforce: Age

£82

£5,666

higher than national average

ACADEMY

18%

£3

£4,251 LOCAL AUTHORITY

lower than national average

82% WEST MIDLANDS

19%

81% ENGLAND

*Academies data excluding special schools

■ OVER 50 ■ UNDER 50

Types of school in the West Midlands 15% of these are academies (national average = 15%) 56% of these are academies (national average = 56%)

1,772

state-funded primaries

412

state-funded secondaries

209

independent schools

120

statefunded special

61

nursery schools

40

PRUs

2

nonmaintained special

OPINION

RUSSELL HOBBY: General secretary

Members together t’s not every day you get to celebrate a 120th birthday.

As I write this, though, NAHT marks the anniversary of its founding on 27 March 1897. How much has changed, but also how much remains. NAHT still holds true to its founding objectives to provide a voice and a helping hand for school leaders. The founding president, Mr Bolus, did not possess a Twitter account but he would recognise and be proud of the work we do today.

NAHT soundly deserves the plaque that was unveiled at the site of our first meeting in Nottingham.

I stopped to consider the work that has taken place during that century and a bit. NAHT has always relied on our volunteers: officials at every level from branch to region to National Executive; secretaries and presidents and treasurers; training, recruitment and equalities officers; informal case workers, mentors, delegates to Conference and attendees at consultations, round tables, enquiries and committees. At a rough estimate, our officials have committed more than 1,000 years of volunteer time during our history.

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A millennium of service!

We hear a lot about system leadership, about a moral purpose beyond one’s own school. It is clear to me that NAHT is one of the greatest repositories of system leadership and moral purpose in the world of education. An association of people who give their time freely to help their colleagues. Without thought of favour or advantage.

The association is the sum of its people. Those who have come before to build a structure and reputation. The hard-working staff at headquarters and in the field.

The officials and the members

themselves – more members than at any stage in our history, from a more diverse range of backgrounds. It is worth noting that nearly 40 per cent of our new joiners are middle leaders or business managers – creating a hopeful foundation for the future.

It is important therefore that members are able to act for NAHT as well as receive services from NAHT – it’s what you can do for your association as much as what your association can do for you.

School leaders acting collectively are a potent force. I can assure you that, when articulated, your will has caused ministers to think twice.

There are few better examples of this force of active members than the funding campaign running across the country at the moment. It is one thing for a union to complain of lack of funds; that’s par for the course and something we do as often as necessary. But when heads write to parents to tell them the cupboard is bare, people take notice. Education funding is now in the national consciousness.

People are increasingly questioning the government’s assertion that education spending is protected.

Instead, the realisation is dawning

Above: Russell Hobby

Nearly 40 per cent of our new joiners are middle leaders or business managers – creating a hopeful foundation for the future.

that we are witnessing the first real-terms cuts in a generation. This is not the fault of the controversial new funding formula, that did need revision. There is simply not enough money invested in the first place. No formula can be truly fair if there is not enough to go round.

The government is now turning to schools to find the money to correct the mistakes that others have made. You get to clear up the mess.

In reality, of course, teachers have already paid, in pension reductions and salary freezes. In reality, too, this money isn’t being taken from schools but from the pupils they serve.

What set of priorities does it take to see this as a fair trade?

No wonder school leaders are speaking up. There is more to be done, including in cooperation with our colleagues in other unions and associations. And, perhaps, having exercised their voices on this topic, leaders will continue to speak again on other issues. I have always said that there are two things required for the profession to seize control of its own destiny. We must take responsibility for each other.

And we must take ownership of standards – to crowd out political interference with a loud, clear, honest and ambitious vision for the improvement of our schools. I think parents will be ready to listen.

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RUSSELL HOBBY 46

Winning back standards Russell Hobby is stepping down as general secretary of NAHT. Here he takes a look back at his seven years at the helm.

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

Q

What were your first impressions of NAHT when you joined as general secretary?

Although I'd worked with individual members and officials before joining the association, my first encounter with NAHT en masse was seven years ago at the Annual Conference in Liverpool, May 2010.

Launching myself straight into Conference was the perfect way to meet as many NAHT colleagues and members as possible, and build a sense of what was being fought for, and achieved by, the organisation. From the start I’ve been in awe of the way our school leaders care so passionately about the profession, about their staff teams, and about the children in their care. Since day one I’ve admired members’ determination to stand up for what’s right, striving for improvements and change where they know it’s needed.

There’s a sense of real ownership of standards, and a willingness to stand up and take responsibility for what’s happening in education.

I’ve always felt these are people who want to lead, and are willing to campaign for the conditions and resources that will allow them to achieve the best for their students and communities. We are a union of leaders. And I think that shows.

In May 2010 Ed Balls, Michael Gove and David Laws were on the podium at NAHT’s Annual Conference, so a lot has changed politically since then. But in many ways the big issues we’re dealing with recur. In 2010 we were dealing with problems around assessment and exam reform, and talking about the pressures of Ofsted, and we are still dealing with assessment and accountability today. Funding and recruitment have risen up the agenda and become really pressing concerns in 2017. Our School Funding in Crisis campaign will be central to our forthcoming Annual Conference in Telford.

Q

What’s been the toughest part of the job?

As general secretary you spend a great deal of time on the road, heading to education conferences, meetings in Whitehall, regional events and of course visiting schools. It’s incredibly rewarding

work. I think the toughest part is pushing to make meaningful progress in government. This requires walking the tightrope between making constructive connections, engaging with those in power, and being able to challenge and disrupt over policy issues that are unacceptable to members. You have to get in there and talk to people and be able to strike the balance between cooperation and challenge. My belief is that to achieve real change you have to have a vision of a constructive alternative, not just a set of complaints. As an organisation we stand out because we don’t just shout about what we don’t like. We suggest ways to make change, to improve the system, and deliver results.

Sometimes achieving real change means taking small steps over time, working towards the long-term policy goals rather than settling for quick wins. We have to be careful that we’re always seeing the bigger picture. A fight can sometime feel good but it lets students down if it prevents a meaningful step forward.

That said, you've got to have limits to be taken seriously. I've rattled the sabre from time to time, threatened industrial action, stood up to personal attacks (my favourite headline over the years was one tabloid's description of me as the mastermind behind an evil plot to make our children illiterate). Indeed, I was the first general secretary in our history to lead the association out on a national strike.

Q

Above: Russell Hobby and Justine Greening

Q

What have you found personally rewarding about the role?

The most rewarding days have been those spent in schools. In particular time in Special Schools has left me feeling inspired and deeply moved. This is all down to the children themselves who are coping with huge complications and vulnerabilities, yet are learning and building their life experiences.

Their achievements wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of amazing staff in these schools around the country. I always walk out feeling uplifted and optimistic about what can be achieved.

It’s also been an honour to see the profession rise to the challenges of the day, and to have been involved in driving change on behalf of members, when issues are causing pain and members are threatened. My mantra is that as a profession we must distinguish

Which policy wins are you most proud of from your time at NAHT? It’s been fantastic to see policy wins come through, when you’re aware of how much work from so many people has gone into campaigning for change. Early into my time at NAHT we prevented ‘no notice’ Ofsted inspections, an important success, which blocked a lot of unnecessary fear and pressure for schools leaders. We’ve secured extra funding for nursery schools, achieved statutory status for SRE, prevented the 2016 data being used for formal intervention and helped to reverse the policy on universal academisation. We calculated that the action on pensions I mentioned earlier put back about £40,000 into the average member’s pension pot. That’s massive.

Last year NAHT’s campaign and lobbying work around SATs culminated in a very welcome DfE policy change, with the scrapping of Year 7 resits and the inability to use the 2016 data alone to trigger intervention. This year, we have been able to confirm the eventual end of secure fit and a plan to move away from statutory assessment at KS1 altogether.

These are relatively unusual achievements in the highly contested sphere of education.

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RUSSELL HOBBY

Q

You’ve been admired for your effective lobbying – what’s the secret?

At the heart of NAHT is the individual protection we provide to members at risk via our regional officers and branch officials. It’s the advice on the phone that prevents a huge mistake. This work is very individual and intense. And there is no doubt that we’re the best at what we do. I’m in awe of the courage and skill of my colleagues.

We also act collectively for all members. This is often less concrete but can have far-reaching effects. When it comes to big policy shortfalls, we have to engage with government head on. I think we have been influential at the DfE by being patient, constructive, and advisory, which can help steer those in power in the right direction. We have a fantastic policy team and a very strong presence in the press to help make this work.

This work by its very nature is low profile, so often goes unnoticed. Sometimes if you shout about the progress you’re making you can upset the process and lose that vital influence. It’s also often about what you ensure never sees the light of day. The stories I could tell about what might have happened ...

ourselves by taking responsibility for each other, and by taking back ownership of standards.

In everything I’ve fought for in the role of general secretary at NAHT, the core reasoning always comes back to this.

Right: Russell Hobby with Justine Greening (left) and Anne Lyons (right)

Q 48

Internally at NAHT what has changed in your time?

I’m very proud of our own projects within NAHT. The role of the association is not purely to react to problems and mistakes. We also need to prevent them happening in the first place and have a positive alternative vision of our own.

NAHT Aspire launched in 2013 and has helped nearly 100 schools make the journey to ‘good’ and beyond. Schools on Aspire improve at twice the national average rate.

It’s a very robust peer-support model which fills the gap between today’s higher expectation of schools, and the declining levels of support school leadership teams can expect to get externally.

As the profession evolves we need to think about challenges in the future too. The launch of NAHT Edge connects us to a whole new audience – those people who will very likely make up the next generation of senior school leaders. There’s been a big decline in career development, training and support for middle leaders in schools in the last decade, and Edge is well placed now to bridge part of that gap and ensure those people progressing towards headship will have the skills and support to succeed.

There’s an opportunity as the Edge membership grows – and it

Below: Russell speaking at NAHT Conference 2016

In terms of grammar schools, it is bitterly disappointing that the government is pressing ahead with a policy on grammar schools that is proven to reduce opportunities for the most disadvantaged. recently hit the 1,000 mark – to really encourage our future leaders, and give them the tools to thrive in their careers. As a brand new union, Edge provides a tangible way for us to reach out and engage directly with this new, potentially very large category of members.

We’ve also begun the 'Regional Review' in the last year. This is about transferring more power out to the regions and branches, enabling them to shape grassroots work for themselves, and get the backing from members at local level. We’ve made new communications tools available to regions and branches, and we are updating financial regulations and accounting systems to support the

financial autonomy of regions. This makes it easier for events to be organised and publicised locally.

On the individual representation front, regional officers are developing updated models of representation to help members get the right support from the right person at the right time. All this requires the latest IT systems, and training, which is progressing well. A big issue with self-managed communications and finance is the handling of highly sensitive data, so a lot of work has gone into data protection provisions.

Q

What do you feel are the current strengths of NAHT? A great strength of NAHT – now with more than 29,000 members – is the fact that we represent all elements of the education profession, with expertise and representation across Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Special and beyond. This gives us credibility in the corridors of power, and the ability to harness profound lobbying pressure when we need it, in a wide range of policy areas. In recent years we’ve worked hard to make sure each sector has its own voice, and the support needed to gain influence at national and local policy level; and to benefit from sector-

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

Leading stakeholders from across the education sector give their views on Russell’s time at NAHT Neil Carmichael MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee

“Russell has always been challenging, forthright and intellectually robust when giving evidence to the Education Select Committee. By doing so he has done a great service to NAHT members in ensuring their opinions are heard, and respected in Westminster. I sincerely hope that whatever he does next he will find an opportunity to continue in public service.”

specific advice and representation.

While our strength has historically been in the Primary sector, a great deal of progress has been made in Secondary. We’ve also built up our membership of and support for school business managers, and the same for school leaders with SEND responsibilities and for deputy and assistant heads.

Through our Sector Councils, tailored events and conferences, and our communications channels, we can ensure all these professional voices are heard and their needs supported. It’s important for NAHT to keep building on this so that each sector and specialism is brought into the heart of the NAHT community. Also, by drawing links between the different sectors it will be possible to take campaigns forward with a coherent voice.

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As a parent what are your biggest fears when it comes to education?

I’ve always been delighted with the education my two children have had. They’ve progressed happily through the system, inspired and encouraged by truly outstanding adults. Teachers I’ve met have been caring and determined to make it work, despite all the challenges of the profession.

My fear is that the workload and culture of expecting teachers to absorb ever more responsibilities will make the profession unsustainable. We’re already seeing problems with recruitment of teachers, and head teacher positions are increasingly hard to fill. We need to create working conditions in which talented professionals can thrive.

David Laws, Schools Minister 2012-2015, Executive Chairman of the Education Policy Institute

“When I was a DfE Minister, I would often sit in meetings with advisers and civil servants, considering some particularly sensitive and tricky issue. At the end of the meeting, I would often turn to an adviser and ask “What does Russell Hobby think of this? Does he think it’s sensible? Will he support it?” And if we didn’t know, we soon found out.

Russell has always been fair, constructive, thoughtful and trustworthy. As a consequence, he has been one of the most powerful influences in English education in the last decade. I wish him well and hope he will continue to contribute to improving education for all our children.”

Greg Hurst, Education Editor at The Times (2009-17) “Russell has been a leader in the true sense: leading NAHT to new positions that reflected his judgment as to how it could exert most influence. As a result, NAHT has exerted real and sustained influence on government policy under three education secretaries: on SATs tests, teachers’ pensions, through a series of curriculum and qualification reforms and the recalibration of Ofsted to name a few. He has been an effective communicator at a time of complex policy change and a wise and accessible source of comment and insight to the press. That’s quite a record.”

Dr Mary Bousted, General Secretary of ATL

Q

At the end of your time at NAHT what final message do you have for members?

NAHT has always been at its strongest when it works as a union of leaders. So my message would be to keep striving for what will be best for schools and best for children. That requires being proactive, rather than defensive, and continuing to stand up and fight for the very highest standards.

I’d also like to remind members that they are served by an amazing team at NAHT: at head office and in regions and branches. Most of what the general secretary does is merely the public face of the hard work of a great many colleagues – from branches to regions to National Executive; from member support to events and professional development; from recruitment to communications; from policy and research to the press office and democracy and governance; from advice to legal support to regional officers; IT, finance, HR, project management to the general secretary’s unit, facilities and the general office. It takes a lot to make this place tick.

I’d like to offer my thanks to all the staff at NAHT, and of course to members, officials and officers who have made my time here so memorable and rewarding.

“When I heard that the NAHT was appointing, as General Secretary, a management consultant with no teaching or school leadership experience, I must admit I had my doubts. But I was wrong. Russell Hobby has been an outstanding education leader. He has excellent qualities – the ability to focus on the key issues, to keep calm, to listen carefully to others and to use his keen intelligence to come up with solutions.

Russell has also been a committed trade unionist, bringing the NAHT into the TUC. On a personal level, I have valued Russell’s friendship and support. I wish him every success in whatever happens next.”

Kevin Courtney, General Secretary, National Union of Teachers

“During his time as General Secretary of the NAHT Russell has championed the hard work that schools do in increasingly difficult circumstances and worked tirelessly to hold the Government to account on policies that have been bad for head teachers, teachers and children. On many occasions the NUT and NAHT were able to campaign together. Working together makes real change for educational professionals and the children we teach. The NUT wishes Russell well in the next stage of his career.”

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COLLABORATION 50

the latest (February) figures from the Department for Education, there are now just over 6,000 (6,033 to be precise) open academies in England, with a further 1,188 schools in the pipeline to convert to become academies.

ACCORDING TO

Yet, while the government’s aspiration is clear enough, NAHT’s victory last year in helping to strong-arm ministers to pull back from forced academisation means ‘collaboration’ and ‘partnership’ need not automatically mean the A-word.

RIL L 20 017 7 LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APR

et’s be clear, for some schools academy status or leading or joining a MAT is going to be the best answer for them. But, at the other end of the scale, as NAHT head of policy Valentine Mulholland makes clear, glorious isolation, increasingly, is no longer a viable long-term solution, either.

“Every school should be collaborating, whether that’s internal collaboration or looking at more formal, legal structures,” she emphasises.

“We believe there is value for all schools to be collaborating, to be identifying what will be the best collaboration arrangement for the needs of their pupils, for their teaching and learning, and for their financial considerations.

“A lot of the focus, naturally, at the moment when it comes to collaboration has been around academisation. But there are still many members who are not sure whether academisation is for them and so are wanting to look at alternative models,” she adds.

The gradual decline (or, depending on which way you look at it, erosion) of local authority support for schools is another factor in this trend, points out NAHT past president Steve Iredale.

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“It is up to the sch hool leader, along with the goverrnors – who ortant role in need to play an impo this – to look at what is out there. It is also important to be considering al community the views of the loca and thinking long an nd hard about what is going to worrk,” he says.

“The role of the sc chool business manager is undoubtedly also critical, because therre will often be financial implicatiions that accompany collaborration, whatever model or structure you choose, for example perhapss because of duplication of stafff or roles or issues around gov vernance.

“At NAHT we are not saying one model is better than another; just that there are alterna atives out there that you should be lo ooking at and considering. The oth her point to emphasise within thiis, of course, is that for some scho ools the best collaboration model will simply be the status quo – it may be that, for you, the best way forward is no change at all rather than change for change’s sake,” he adds. gate this But how do you navig process? How do yo ou evaluate and decide which is the best partnership/collaborration model for you?

Part of this is goin ng to be taking soundin ngs locally, working with y, your governing body speaking to your SBM and senior leadership n also team. But NAHT can help, not least throug gh its document Collabora ation: The school leaders’ journey.

This sets out not ju ust how academies and MAT Ts work k, but also the most co ommon alternative collaboration models for schools. It also outlines key considerations and questions you need to think about.

You can request a copy of the full report through naht.org.uk but here, to get you started, on is an abridged versio of the alternative collaboration models available to schools..

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Every school should be collaborating, whether that’s internal collaboration or looking at more formal, legal structures.

COLLABORATION

NON ACADEMY BASED MODELS INFORMAL/FORMAL PARTNERSHIPS (OFTEN ALSO CALLED ‘SOFT’ FEDERATIONS) This is one of the most common ways in which schools work together.

These arrangements can simply be via verbal agreement, or more formally through a memorandum of understanding, or via a more detailed collaboration agreement.

Although generally straightforward and allowing for autonomy to be maintained while gaining the benefits of collaboration, they do tend to be quite heavily dependent on the personalities involved and the success of the personal relationship between the heads and other leaders.

‘HARD’ FEDERATIONS

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This is where two or more schools come together with a single governing body for all the schools in the federation. Hard federations may comprise schools from the same phase, or be used to support an all-through federation, which includes all phases and each school retains a full headteacher.

Schools in this model remain as maintained schools, and the governance and leadership models can be tailored to the schools’ circumstances. Schools in a hard federation will collaborate at all levels, including governor.

Schools may decide to pool procurement and achieve ‘sharedservice’-type efficiencies.

This collaboration model may be most appropriate where there’s a pre-existing relationship and a high level of trust between schools. However, difficulties can arise when one school within the federation wishes to become, or is required to become, an academy.

CO-OPERATIVE AND CHARITABLE TRUST SCHOOLS Trust schools are maintained schools supported by a charitable trust. Trust schools may be standalone schools, but this model can be used to support collaborative working when two or more trust schools share the same trust. Essentially, you should think of this as a halfway house between a partnership and a hard federation.

Under this model schools remain as maintained schools. Either a new or existing trust appoints governors, with the governing body becoming the employer of staff as well as the admissions authority. The trust also owns the land and buildings.

ACADEMY BASED MODELS

Heads may well be familiar with standalone academies and multiacademy trusts by now. But there are also other models that come under the aegis of academies.

UMBRELLA TRUST In this model, each academy has its own academy trust, connected through a shared ‘umbrella trust’.

This approach makes it relatively similar to a group of trust schools.

Under this model, each academy has its own academy trust that enters into separate funding arrangements with the DfE. The schools determine at time of conversion the trust’s right to appoint governors to each academy’s governing body.

The umbrella trust model can be attractive for voluntary-aided and voluntary-controlled schools that wish to collaborate with other schools, but they’re not able to do so under a MAT. However, schools in this model need to consider carefully the arrangement to ensure they’re comfortable with the balance between responsibility for school improvement across the academies within the umbrella.

COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP This is the loosest form of academy collaboration. It is similar to maintained school formal partnerships, where each academy trust signs up to a collaboration agreement that sets out how the academies will work together and how joint activities will be funded.

However, unlike a MAT or umbrella trust, a collective partnership can very easily involve all types of schools. Each academy is completely separate and only linked to the extent set out in the collaboration agreement.

As such, it can be ideal when schools can, and want to, convert on their own but also want to establish more formal ties with other schools in their area. A potential pitfall, however, is it may not be a strong eno ough bond to deal with re eally difficult situations. Anotther potentia al issue is that, unlik ke a MAT, this mod del is less liikely to foster effective colllaboration at governor level.

SOME CONSIDERATIONS BEFORE YOU TAKE ACTION • When trying to identify a potential cluster of schools, it is important to consider the connections you already have with other schools, and how they could be strengthened through a more formal partnership.

• Be mindful of addressing any potential inequalities or difficulties arising from historic arrangements, especially different values. New partnerships can expand connections and add new value. But do make a conscious effort to ensure that existing beneficial relationships do not suffer.

• Holding early discussions about goals can help to ensure that the schools and organisations you work with have the same values and vision, and that everyone is clear about the benefits they have to offer and to gain.

• Choose whether to work with schools in a small local area, or more widely across

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

Steve Iredale

Att NAHT we are not nott saying one mod dell is is be better th han anoth her: justt that tha at there are allternattives ives o out ut th here th hat you sh houlld b be e looking at and considering.

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the country. Think about the type of activities you foresee before choosing to partner with schools that are difficult to reach, or give early consideration as to how you will overcome this obstacle.

• If you are joining a large cluster, think about how close school-to-school relationships will be maintained. If joining a small cluster, consider whether you will be able to benefit from economies of scale in the way you wish.

more easily. Consider whether partnership with another school type could strengthen the phase or specialist expertise in your school.

• While it may be useful to set a timeframe or deadlines for key milestones during the transition process, ensure this allows long enough to consider each decision carefully and the process does not feel rushed. Think about setting up an informal joint committee or governing body, without delegated powers, to test out new arrangements during this process.

• While a ‘weaker’ school can benefit from partnering with a ‘stronger’ one, sharing practice is important to all schools. A mix of schools with a range of performance levels could ensure strong support for those that need it, as well as a range of environments for everyone to learn from and contribute to. Try to maintain a culture of learning from each other, whatever the current performance of the school.

• Ensure all partners are clear about the process required for formal collaboration.

Don’t underestimate the time involved in coordinating the move towards a partnership; you may need to appoint someone to take on this coordinating role. If this isn’t possible, make sure there is one clear point of contact.

• Think about how a partnership could benefit the local community, perhaps by creating stronger ties between schools to help pupils transition

• Allow sufficient time to consult with staff and the local community, especially if the change will affect the terms and conditions of staff. Identify and

address potential concerns early on through lots of opportunities to ask questions (including in private).

• Whichever partnership structure you choose, make sure all schools are clear about what is expected of them, and that there is some form of mutual accountability. If there are aspects of your school identity you want to retain, make sure you consider this in both the type of structure you choose, and the flexibility allowed.

• Use a period of informal transition to a new system as a means of developing the most effective governance structure for your partnership.

Consider the degree of local oversight that will be needed. Make sure the partnership model you choose allows you to work under the most appropriate governance structure.

• If sharing budgets, consider the different options available, such as a standing pooled-fund, or contributing on a case-by-case basis. Ensure there is a clear protocol, agreed by all schools.

CHARITY PARTNER

Supporting people living with motor neurone disease THE MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE ASSOCIATION

t Annual Conference this year we will be introducing our new charity partner – the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association.

“In light of the sad news that our wonderful vice president Colm Davis has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease, this charity is an obvious choice for NAHT. We look forward to supporting the organisation through fundraising, getting involved in campaigns, and awareness-raising across our network of school leaders,” says president elect Anne Lyons.

Oli Hiscoe, community manager at the MND Association said: “A partnership with the NAHT and its members is a fantastic opportunity for the MND Association to not only raise much-needed funds to support people living with MND, but to raise awareness of challenges facing young people and carers affected by motor neurone disease.”

life within a year; and more than half within two years of diagnosis.

Despite its devastating impact, MND remains a little-understood condition. A diagnosis of MND is extremely frightening, leaving those affected unsure of what to do next and where to turn. Without the right support, they can be left feeling fearful, isolated and alone. Many people with MND can deteriorate incredibly quickly, so it is vitally important for them to get the support of specialists in a range of areas as quickly as possible.

The Motor Neurone Disease Association was founded in 1979 by a group of volunteers with experience of living with or caring for someone with MND. Since then, it has grown significantly, with an ever-increasing community of volunteers, supporters and staff, all sharing the same goal – to support people living with MND and everyone who cares for them both now and in the future.

Working together to beat MND

The MND Association’s vision: A world free from MND

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is NAHT’s new charity partner for 2017.

Motor neurone disease is a fatal, rapidly progressing disease that affects the brain and spinal cord.

MND attacks the nerves that control movement so muscles no longer work; it can leave those affected unable to walk, talk, and ultimately, breathe. It usually progresses rapidly and there is currently no effective treatment or cure. One third of people with MND lose their

SILENCE SPEAKS EVENT

The MND Association organises lots of fundraising activities that schools can get involved in, including the national Silence Speaks event this October. School leadership teams can find out more by requesting the MND Association’s Teacher and Youth Leader pack at www.mndassociation.org/silencespeaks and everyone who cares for them are recognised and addressed by wider society.

Care and support

The MND Association provides care and support to around 3,800 people with MND. In 2016, it supported 3,495 people and their families through its MND Care Centre Network, developed in partnership with the NHS. A network of volunteer association visitors also supported 1,098 people and their families affected by the disease.

The charity’s MND Connect helpline responded to more than 8,400 requests last year and issued more than 26,000 pieces of care information to people with, or affected by, MND. A further 41,000 copies of publications were downloaded from the website.

The charity also loaned around 1,500 pieces of equipment and provided direct financial assistance support too, with £1m in support grants awarded.

• to provide expert support and care that helps people to live as well as possible, for as long as possible; • to invest in research that will help us revolutionise understanding of the disease and develop treatments and ultimately a cure to bring hope for the future; • to campaign and raise awareness so the needs of people with MND

FIND OUT MORE…

NAHT will be supporting the MND Association for 2017/18, so look out for our fundraising activities in the coming months. If you would like to make a donation, please visit our JustGiving page at www.justgiving. com/fundraising/ Colm-Davis

Children and young people

A review into support services for children and young people affected by having MND in their family led to a number of new initiatives including the launch of a Young Person’s Grant, a new age-appropriate guide So what is MND anyway?, a dedicated area of the website, and an app too. The MND Association has supported 200 children and young people with grants totalling £48,000 in the last 12 months.

NAHTURALLY TAILORED TRAINING FOR OUR MEMBERS’ NEEDS For occasions where standard ‘off the shelf’ training courses might not fit your requirements.

We offer value for money bespoke training, delivered to your staff, at your venue of choice by high quality facilitators.

For more information please contact events@naht.org.uk or visit naht.org.uk/events

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

What’s new in NAHT training?

NAHT IS here to help support your continuing professional development. In the coming months we’re running a range of courses and conferences, specially developed for school leadership teams.

New Early Years courses and conference AHT’s Professional Development team has developed two new courses and a conference specifically designed for those in the Early Years sector. Packed with the latest best practice advice and fresh ideas for effective Early Years teaching, the events are the result of feedback we received in our professional development surveys, confirming substantial interest in this area.

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LEADING CRITICAL THINKING IN THE EARLY YEARS: CHALLENGING CHILDREN’S IDEAS AND UNDERSTANDING This new course explores one of the

most challenging characteristics of early learning within the EYFS. Frequently schools plan well for ‘Playing and Exploring’ and ‘Active Learning’, but fail to sufficiently challenge their youngest children to stretch their minds to think creatively and critically in a range of ways.

• 23 May – London • 28 June – Birmingham CHILD DEVELOPMENT IN THE EARLY YEARS This is a course for school leaders and head teachers who want to know more about effective Early Years pedagogy. It covers essential aspects of physical, emotional and

cognitive development from birth to age seven, and the role of adults in providing the positive relationships and enabling environments that best support and extend young children’s natural love of learning.

• 14 June – London • 20 October – Birmingham EARLY YEARS CONFERENCE This October will see the launch of the Early Years Conference – a one-day conference focused on ‘Celebrating and Sharing the Principles of High Quality Early Years Provision’. Delegates will choose from a range of workshop options including: Why it’s OK for children to fall out of trees; Better together: A practical and reflective exploration of effective partnership working with parents; No more pretend thinking! Cognitive challenge in the early years; and Teaching, learning, assessment and accountability in the EYFS. • 6 October 2017 – Birmingham Full content and details of keynote speakers will be updated on the website. To book and find out more visit www.naht.org.uk/welcome/ naht-events/conferences/ early-years-conference-2017/ Watch out for details on our new Primary Conference on 24 November (Birmingham) in the next issue of Leadership Focus. Or for updates check the website www.naht.org.uk/welcome/ naht-events/conferences/

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

SCHOOL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2017 This conference is for all school leaders involved in the business side of their schools, at all types and phases of schools and academies.

This year’s programme will feature David Laws, executive chairman of the Education Policy Institute, alongside Valentine Mulholland, NAHT’s head of policy and Russell Hobby, NAHT general secretary, who is always up-to-date on the latest educational news. Delegates will be able to choose from a range of workshops covering themes such as the centralisation of services, promoting yourself and the SBM role, and the art of grant writing.

“We also have workshops for Special Schools SBMs, and an NAHT specialist talking about the Local Government Pension Scheme,” says Nicky Gillhespy, NAHT SBM Council chair, and SBM representative on the NAHT National Executive.

“This conference will help you feel empowered as an SBM and enable you to really take ownership of your role in the school.”

• Tuesday 20 June 2017 – Birmingham To find out more and to book, visit http://www.naht.org.uk/ welcome/naht-events/conferences/ NEW AND ASPIRING HEADS CONFERENCE 2017 If you want to build your competencies and excel as a new head teacher this conference is a must. Taking place in London on Wednesday 17 May, and in Manchester on Wednesday 24 May, this is an ideal opportunity to meet other new heads and share your visions, concerns and aspirations.

There will be opportunities to attend a range of workshops designed to provide delegates with practical tools such as templates, evaluation formats and planning documents. Bernadette Hunter – a past president of NAHT, and chair of the New and Aspiring Heads Conference working group, says: “We have tried to identify the key areas that the majority of new heads find challenging. So we’ll be covering finance, Ofsted, dealing with difficult people and the vital area of HR.

We have a range of courses available.

Full details and booking forms are available on our website www.naht.org.uk/ trainingcourses

In addition we have a workshop on how to look after yourself in headship which is really important in the first few years of a new job.“ The keynote speaker in London will be Andy Cope (inset) from motivational training and development company Art of Brilliance, who is an expert in positive psychology or ‘the science of happiness’.

At the Manchester conference, delegates will hear from equally compelling keynote speaker Ben Walden (inset), one of the founding associates of training and development company Olivier Mythodrama. Ben will be using Shakespeare’s Henry V as a way to demonstrate a leader’s ability to motivate and inspire.

• Wednesday 17 May – London • Wednesday 24 May – Manchester To find out more and to book, visit www.naht.org.uk/ welcome/naht-events/conferences/

A SELECTION OF POPULAR NAHT COURSES, DESIGNED FOR YOU ASSESSMENT IN PRACTICE • 14 June 2017 – Bristol • 18 October 2017 – Leeds

LEADING SCHOOL SAFEGUARDING • 25 May 2017 – Leeds • 28 September 2017 – London HR ESSENTIALS FOR THE SCHOOL LEADER • 22 June 2017 – Manchester • 12 October 2017 – Birmingham MOVING TOWARDS JOINING OR FORMING A MULTI-ACADEMY TRUST • 12 October 2017 – Manchester SCHOOL FINANCIAL HEALTH AND EFFICIENCY • 11 October 2017 – London SECURING LONG-TERM FINANCIAL VIABILITY FOR YOUR SCHOOL • 29 June 2017 – Birmingham • 8 November 2017 – London

For more information and to book on to any of these courses and conferences, visit www.naht.org.uk/events

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EDGE ADVISORY COUNCIL

Meet the Edge Advisory Council

ur Advisory Council exists to help direct NAHT Edge’s work. These individuals have been selected to represent the views of Edge members from various phases and specialisms across the country. The Advisory Council’s input shapes our position on educational policy, develops member benefits and services and represents NAHT Edge’s position in the media.

The Advisory Council meets six times a year to discuss the latest issues in education. To introduce the new council members we asked them some questions about themselves and their feelings towards their new roles as council members.

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Jo Payne 58

What is your role in school?

I work in a three-form entry primary school in West Sussex.

Having joined my current school as a Year 4 teacher, I am now leading a year team of adults supporting 100 children.

Sarah Ellis What is your role in school?

I am lead teacher for English and in my fourth year of this. I am also the staff representative on the governing body and have been for two years.

What do you enjoy most about your role? In the last few years, I have really enjoyed designing a curriculum which covers the national requirements and inspires pupils. I like having the freedom to find new ideas from books, Twitter and blog posts and try them in my classroom and year group. If something works well, it can then be tried in other year groups and filtered through the school.

What is the biggest challenge middle leaders face today?

Low funding, particularly in West Sussex where I work,

The students now have their hard work recognised through the introduction of different accreditations in Key Stage 4 and 5. I also love being able to contribute to discussions with other middle leaders and the senior leadership team.

Real difference can be made to the opportunities and life chances of our students.

What is the biggest challenge middle leaders face today?

The biggest challenge as a middle leader is being able to maintain a balance between increasing rates of progress, What do you enjoy most about staff stress and workload your role? I enjoy being able to levels and budgeting for the essentials, on top of implement change within the department. Since taking on the having all the day-to-day role the English curriculum has work of a class teacher. had a complete overhaul and we have seen some great progress. What appealed to you about

has contributed to many challenges over the last few years. Alongside that, teacher workload and wellbeing is a big issue and is something for which I’m passionate about finding a solution.

What appealed to you about NAHT Edge? I was intrigued to find a union dedicated to those in similar roles to my own which provides tailored support and advice. The podcasts with special guests also caught my attention.

Why did you decide to join the Advisory Council? I was excited to join the union and

NAHT Edge? NAHT Edge offers support to a section of the teaching community that I think can be overlooked in terms of the amount of work and the importance of the work they do. Middle leaders, I have found, tend to have to deal with the expectations of those higher up and with the demands of the everyday. NAHT Edge is dedicated to supporting colleagues through this and understands the difficulties middle leaders face. I also like the idea that NAHT appears to be listened to by policy-makers perhaps more often than other unions. This, I think, will be the only way the education system will improve.

Why did you decide to join the Advisory Council? I was getting more and more irate about the funding issues in schools and the seeming lack of understanding

wanted to be a part of shaping how NAHT Edge moves forward with various issues. I share my views on education on a blog, but joining the Advisory Council means I can be a small part of making some bigger changes to our profession.

What are your future ambitions within school leadership? I really enjoy my year leader role; having a class of my own at the same time as leading a team of teachers and other adults. Taking the role to other year groups and key stages is something I feel is important to do before moving up the leadership ladder.

from local and central government.

I saw the article about needing new members and thought that rather than sit quietly and fume about the situation, I would put my name forward. If I can make even a small difference to the future of education I will be thrilled. I wouldn’t make a difference just moaning with colleagues and friends.

What are your future ambitions within school leadership?

School leadership appears to be changing rapidly, particularly with the increasing number of academies and the need for an understanding of business. I became a teacher to teach young people and hopefully give them the opportunities and resources to achieve their best. I would like to progress further into senior leadership, but not if it means losing touch with the students.

LEADERSHIP FOCUS | APRIL 2017

Catherine Buckby What is your role in school?

I am an assistant headteacher

with responsibility for English and Pupil Premium and I teach in Year 6.

fulfil all of the roles we have.

developments and this seemed like a great opportunity to be able What appealed to you about to explore educational affairs from NAHT Edge? Being signposted an alternative perspective whilst What do you enjoy most about to current educational affairs was being able to share experiences your role? I enjoy the variety it a huge influence in me joining from myself and colleagues. brings; no two days are the same! NAHT Edge. I like that it has been created for middle leaders What are your future ambitions What is the biggest challenge as it gives us a voice alongside within school leadership? middle leaders face today? the well-respected NAHT. Currently, I am looking to I think one of the biggest develop my role as an assistant challenges middle leaders face Why did you decide to join the head teacher; I am new to the is being able to manage our Advisory Council? I have always role and I think it is important time effectively to be able to been interested in educational to gain experience in this.

• Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants (MITA) training programme lead – This involves planning and delivering in-house training for all teachers and all support staff.

• Upper school (Year 3–6 phase manager – I am also an appraiser for members of staff within this team.

What is the biggest challenge middle leaders face today? There are many challenges for middle leaders but ensuring they have the opportunity to receive the necessary training for their role really is key, and many do not.

The step from being a teacher to being a middle leader can be overwhelming without this.

What do you enjoy most about Lara Ginn your role? I particularly enjoy finding What is your role in school? The new and innovative ways of working current roles that I hold in school are: with staff who are struggling.

The opportunity to support their • Year 6 class teacher. development, to help them to • Teaching and learning team lead – become the teacher they want to This is a coaching and mentoring be and to have a positive impact on team that works with all teachers in the school to develop practice. the education of their current and • Maths lead (Nursery to Year 6) future pupils is extremely rewarding.

your role? As head of post-16 education I enjoy working with A-level and BTEC students at a time in their school careers where they aren’t just preparing for examinations, but also weighing up their options for post-18 education, training and employment.

Why did you decide to join the Advisory Council? I joined the Advisory Council as it was a fantastic opportunity to become actively involved in current educational issues and to raise the profile of the work middle leaders do every day in schools.

What appealed to you about NAHT Edge? NAHT Edge gives middle leaders a unique opportunity to learn from others, to keep up-to-date with educational developments and news (the newsletters and blogs really are invaluable) and it gives middle leaders a voice.

What are your future ambitions within school leadership? Currently I am undertaking an NPQSL and look forward to moving into a senior leader role in the not too distant future. Ultimately, I would like to be a head of a primary school in a diverse urban area. I enjoy the variety and challenge that such schools offer and believe it is where I can make the biggest difference.

changes at GCSE and AS/A-level in classroom teaching (particularly in Wales and planning for the implementation of the Donaldson Report) and the impact that these changes will have on evaluating and inspecting standards (both internally, locally and by HMI).

to discuss policy and provision with like-minded professionals, in the hope of staying abreast of developments across all key stages whilst having the opportunity to influence and advocate change from a middle/ senior leadership perspective.

What is the biggest challenge What appealed to you about What are your future ambitions middle leaders face today? I think NAHT Edge? I was looking for an within school leadership? it’s difficult to choose one from organisation which provided me The perpetual development an ever-increasing list! Principal with not only the security offered and restructuring of the post-16 What is your role in school? amongst them though must be by a teaching union, but one which and wider secondary sector My principal responsibilities in funding and the impact it has at was geared towards promoting on a local and national basis, my school are as head of post-16 leadership qualities in its members. encourages me to be optimistic education, associate SMT member, middle management levels for educational visits coordinator and both pastoral and departmental and open to higher managerial/ head of Media. In additional to leaders. A further challenge at Why did you decide to join senior leadership career secondary level is embedding the Advisory Council? opportunities at school, FEI or these posts I also chair the Seren new curriculum and assessment I was attracted by the opportunity even HEI level in the future.

Network for West Wales which aims to promote the highest level of university education for Wales’s These members are joined on the council by Joanne Gray. We look forward to seeing the brightest sixth form students. contributions of Edge Advisory Council in the coming year. You can stay up-to-date with the latest

Jon Hones

news and updates from the Edge Advisory Board via our website, Twitter and weekly newsletter.

What do you enjoy most about

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TOP 5 ADVICE TOPICS

The top advice topics from Spring 2017 We know how important it is for school leaders to stay up-to-date and be prepared for the most challenging and unexpected situations, which is why we provide our members with free practical advice guides to be used in school. This term our team of specialist advisers has created new advice guides on an array of topics and issues. Below is a summary of our most popular advice topics from last term.

Dress codes for school staff

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Our advice on dress codes outlines the benefits of delivering a clear and concise dress code for staff.

This handy advice document also lists some of the most common issues surrounding dress codes as reported by members.

Latest advice on coasting schools

Could your middle leaders answer these 12 questions?

Are your middle leaders ready to answer testing questions that might be put to them by outside agencies? Whether it’s a local authority adviser, an Ofsted inspector or anyone else seeking to find out more about the effectiveness of middle leadership in your school, there are some key questions that are worth everyone being prepared for.

Dealing with bomb threats and hoaxes in schools

Does your school have a Bomb Threat Response Plan?

Bomb threats and hoaxes are particularly difficult for school leaders to deal with, and while such incidents are rare, they do happen and can be hugely disruptive.

The key to dealing with such matters effectively is to be prepared, have a procedure, and stick to it. This guidance note sets out a summary of the actions schools should take if they receive a bomb threat or hoax.

Restructuring – a brief guide

Our latest advice outlines developments relating to schools that have recently been designated as coasting. This useful document sets out the coasting thresholds for both primary and secondary schools for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016, and covers areas that may be of concern to schools and our members. These include the data itself; the criteria; the possibility of raising an appeal; the implications of being a coasting school; and what you can to do if you are contacted about being a coasting school.

The process of making cuts to a school's budget will inevitably involve, at some point, consideration of reducing staff numbers. This brief guide will help to shape your early thinking about what to bear in mind when looking to reduce staff numbers, and the steps needed to achieve this.

NAHT members can find all of these advice documents in the advice area on our website at www.naht.org.uk/advice NAHT Edge members also have access to a library of advice for school leaders: www.nahtedge.org.uk/helpandadvice To keep up-to-date with the latest advice as it’s released, look out for our email newsletters where we announce a new piece of advice each week.

#ILConf17

Look who’s talking...

Inspiring Leadership Conference 2017

7–9 June at the ICC, Birmingham Our keynote speakers come with a wealth of stories; some have found their lives under fire and yet flourished, some have successfully challenged the status quo against all odds and others have changed lives through the smallest of actions.

Inspiring Leadership is the only conference of its type in the education sector; nowhere else will you find such a diversity of leadership speakers chosen for their value to you, combined with the opportunity to work hard with your peer group on the issues that challenge you.

On leaving Inspiring Leadership, you will not only be feeling refreshed and energised, but walk away with improvement plans formulating, new supportive contacts made, and a reminder of the difference your leadership can make.

“Inspiring Leadership is a ‘must do’ in my diary and has been for many years. I have encouraged all my headteachers to attend the conference, it’s not just about the speakers and the content it’ss about the people you meet…” (2016 delegate returning in 2017)

Be part of the conversation… find out who else is taking part and book your tickets at inspiringleadership.org @InspLdrshipconf

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THE FINAL WORD

SUSAN YOUNG: Education columnist

Creative fundraising or head teacher Helen Longton-Howorth the aspirations of those who built her primary school just after World War II are both a blessing and a curse.

When Carden was built on a generous downland site on the edge of Brighton, it was one of the UK’s first post-war schools, so modern it starred in a Pathe newsreel.

That innovative prefabricated concrete building is now a curse, as parents are turned off by its looks and, until recently, preferred nearby middle-class primaries. As a result, at Carden the financial squeeze is being exacerbated by empty desks in KS2 classes.

Founding fathers’ insistence that Carden pupils should enjoy plenty of green space and fresh air has at least one unexpected financial upside: hundreds of metres of rusting iron railings round the perimeter, perfect for displaying local adverts. Or it did: Helen is appealing a council decision refusing retrospective planning permission for the ads.

“The irony is that the adverts were refused on the grounds they have a detrimental impact on the character and appearance of the school – but what you see is black mould and rusting railings. The railings are not fit for purpose, and the advertisements were already raising money to replace them, with a waiting list of more local businesses ready to take part,” she sighs.

She’s not giving up: Helen worked in marketing before moving into teaching “and that’s what’s taking much of my time now: finding creative ways of marketing the school”.

She’s working closely with business manager Nicki Buttress, “the best appointment I’ve made, and I’ve made some pretty good appointments. She can tell me down to the last penny how much money we’ve got, and she’s got a very

F

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creative way about things.”

This creativity is applied both to the budget and fundraising. “Last year we were looking at a deficit and we tweaked and played and shifted and came in bang on in the black. Next year might not be quite so rosy, but I do feel confident we’re on top of what’s going in and out, and Nicky’s really got great ideas.”

They devoted almost as many hours to selling Christmas show DVDs to families. “The teachers laugh about it. It’s almost shameless – we don’t sell them for very much and all the money goes back to their children.

This year we filmed and edited it ourselves, and Nicky and I spent three days pressing the button to burn DVDs. We made about £700 and it was perfectly good quality.”

Enterprise Week sees classes competing to raise money – helping to keep school trips and visits going – and Helen’s ever-present notebook of cunning ideas includes the possibility of the field becoming a park-and-ride for Brighton and Hove Albion on match days, if it can be done without churning up the grass.

Bigger fundraising ideas include extending breakfast and after-school clubs, revamping opening hours at the school’s nursery to allow working parents to supplement free provision with paid-for care, as well as welcoming groups who are interested in Carden’s extraordinary success using nurture groups as pupil premium-funded early intervention.

But above all, Helen wants to fill her KS2 classes, adding 10-15

Above: Susan Young.

Enterprise Week sees classes competing to raise money.

children to each year. “We’ve got this really bizarre situation that in the city centre schools are rammed, as are the nearby middle-class schools, but our KS2 isn’t full – although Reception and KS1 are.

That’s causing a massive dent in my budget, before the apprenticeship levy or pension contributions.”

House prices are helping, but not fast enough. “This is a comparatively affordable area of Brighton, with middle-class families moving in, and teachers, social workers and probation officers sending their children.”

While achievement and behaviour are good (Ofsted’s inspector was challenged to find any child offtask: admitting defeat, he said he’d initially thought this was a joke) Helen reckons Carden needs unique selling points to compete, and to overcome its past reputation. So there have been externally funded Japanese classes, murals by a wellknown graffiti artist, a steel band, and now a forest school and an after-school club.

Effectively though, Carden is playing a waiting game, until the current Y2 reaches Y6 and every class is full.

“We got a very good Ofsted in November, with comparable results to the more middle-class schools, but parents make judgements on what the buildings look like from the outside. They should come and see.”

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