Disabled Members’ Network

Journalist Nic Paton looks at NAHT’s informal group for members who identify as disabled, where they can share experiences, and learn from and support each other.

T eachers and school leaders work every day with children and parents who are disabled. They bend over backwards to make sure they feel welcome and accepted, that the school or learning environment is celebrating and enabling their ability rather than putting in place ‘disabling’ physical, social or cultural barriers. don’t they tend to come into the profession?” he questions. a WhatsApp group for those wishing to communicate and share resources and learnings outside the meetings. other people are thinking and feeling. They can be very focused on the task at hand; he explains, for example, that he can often (barring interruptions) write a school business plan in an afternoon. They can excel at logical thinking and processing – all skills and attributes school leaders need in bucket loads. Yet, in other areas, he concedes that he struggles at times. For example, handwriting – being able to write neatly on whiteboards or, in the early days of his career, chalkboards. Being on the receiving end of criticism can also be something autistic people struggle with – potentially a problem in our current high-stakes accountability system. in a network meeting) was the first time I had ever met somebody, other than myself, who was an autistic school leader or teacher

Given this, it is perhaps surprising that this self-same acceptance, accommodation and even celebration of disability within school leadership is, arguably, often lacking.

This lack of acceptance of ‘difference’ can be even more so with invisible disabilities, such as neurodiverse conditions (like autism), hearing loss, mental ill health, diabetes and many others. Indeed, the very role of a head teacher or senior school leader –its brutally long hours, high-stakes pressure and accountability, and the need to be always visibly ‘a leader’ for your children, staff and the wider community – can itself deter disabled leaders either from being public about their impairment or from stepping up into a senior leadership position in the first place.

It is very hard to cope with the amount of work – it is very hard for everybody, but for autistic people, you’ll often work and work and work but then hit a brick wall. In my early career, when I did struggle, I think that was one of the reasons. But it wasn’t possible to say, ‘I’m experiencing autistic burnout. Could you give me a few minutes?’. There isn’t always a culture in schools of listening to colleagues about those things,” Patrick explains.

Yet, as Patrick Foley, head teacher at Southborough School in Bromley, south London, explains, this is sadly the case.

“There is little visible disability within the profession, and there are many things to consider in terms of why people with physical disabilities don’t come into the profession. People with mobility issues, for example; why

To work to rectify this, a year ago, NAHT launched its Disabled Members’ Network, which sits alongside the union’s LGBT+ Network and Leaders for Race Equality Network. One-hour meetings are held online once a term by the network, with an annual faceto-face meeting at the end of the school year. It also has

“We know school leadership is a very intense role,” explains Natalie Arnett, senior equalities officer at NAHT. “If you’re having to navigate that with a disability, perhaps one you haven’t felt able to disclose for whatever reason, and so you haven’t got the adjustments that you need, then the expectations and trying to meet them can be really challenging.”

The sad thing is we all know that having a more diverse and inclusive team in your school enables it to reflect your community better and be more creative, collaborative and innovative, so there is a huge amount disabled school leaders can bring to the leadership table.

As Patrick points out, people who are autistic can be hyper-empathetic, so they are better able to understand how

“That feedback system of being told you’re wrong is something that can weigh heavily on someone who is autistic. So the processes with Ofsted can be traumatic. I’ve sat in Ofsted meetings that have been, at points for me, really terrifying and traumatic. They just make no allowances at all for me as a person, let alone me as an autistic person,” Patrick explains. Also, of course, there is the issue of the sheer workload that comes with school leadership. “It is very hard to cope with the amount of work – it is very hard for everybody, but for autistic people, you’ll often work and work and work but then hit a brick wall. In my early career, when I did struggle, I think that was one of the reasons. But it wasn’t possible to say, ‘I’m experiencing autistic burnout. Could you give me a few minutes?’. There isn’t always a culture in schools of listening to colleagues about those things,” Patrick explains. Having a forum to highlight these issues – for disabled members to hear that they are not alone – and advocate for change has been hugely beneficial, he agrees. “It (being and was willing to talk about that, so that was positive,” Patrick says.

“It’s been a really good, cathartic process; listening to other people’s stories and telling your stories. It has enabled some members to get more involved in NAHT; I think we’ve really helped people. It is about giving visibility to disabilities, which is an important thing in our profession.” While it is early days, the group is already proving influential in articulating and promoting best practices for the union and the wider school leadership community.

For example, it has been instrumental in NAHT embracing the social model of disability (see panel at the end for more details).

JON BARR, RETIRED HEAD TEACHER

Life member Jon Barr, who retired as a head teacher in July 2021, recognised in his forties that he was developing hearing loss. “When went to have it checked, the audiologist identified that had moderate hearing loss and needed hearing aids,” he explains.

“I began to recognise it in the context of my work. I became more and more aware there were barriers within my work. One barrier for someone with hearing loss is the insensitivity, particularly at training events, to the need to use technology, such as a microphone.

“Head teachers would just say, ‘oh, don’t worry; I’ve got a really loud voice’. So, you have to stand up and say, ‘excuse me; you will have to use the microphone’. In my experience, there is a phase you go through where you become an activist; you actively want people to address this because you realise it is not just a barrier for you but for others as well,” says Jon.

“However, one of the things I gained from joining the network was that although the advocate/activist element is good, you realise it is also rather tiresome! Almost everybody in our network has found that if you’re in a position to make people aware of your impairment and what they need to do to make sure it doesn’t disable you, you want to be able to tell them just once. You don’t want to have to tell them again and again and again.

“Just being able to come and talk and be open about your impairment and the fact that you regard yourself as a disabled person is empowering as a leader. For many people in the network, it is the first time they have told any fellow professional ever that they have an impairment and that they regard themselves as a disabled person. So there is the opportunity to share,” Jon adds.

Just being able to come and talk and be open about your impairment and the fact you regard yourself as a disabled person is empowering as a leader. For many people in the network, it is the first time they have told any fellow professional ever that they have an impairment and that they regard themselves as a disabled person. So there is the opportunity to share,” says Jon.

FRANCES AKINDE, HEAD TEACHER, KENT

Another head teacher who has benefited from the Disabled Members’ Network is Frances Akinde. Until recently, she was head of a special school in Kent before being diagnosed with Ménière’s disease, a condition of the inner ear that can cause dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus and hearing loss.

“It is a horrible condition. You know what it’s like when you’re a head teacher, all the pressure. I’d just had a quality assurance review, and the school came out as good. I’d led my school through covid-19, and Ménière’s can be triggered by stress,” she tells Leadership Focus She has also been assessed as neurodivergent, something that she had long suspected. She is now looking forward and working to retrain to become a workplace adjustment assessor and an assistive technology trainer, mentor and coach to support others.

“I was in the Leaders for Race Equality Group and saw information about the Disabled Members’ Network. was nervous about joining because, in a way, it was an ultimate statement of saying, ‘I am a leader with a disability’,” says Frances. “But it was like there was suddenly a whole community of people like you, people who have gone through a similar experience. Every single person I speak to has had a similar experience.

“It’s so lovely to find somewhere you finally feel like you fit,” she adds.

“But it was like there was suddenly a whole community of people like you, people who have gone through a similar experience. Every single person I speak to has had a similar experience. It’s so lovely to find somewhere you finally feel like you fit,” says Frances.

Being disabled is something you can be born with, something that can develop in later life, especially as we age, or – in the case of the estimated two million people in the UK who have long covid –come completely out of the blue and overnight knock sideways someone who was previously completely healthy, active and able. This was the case for Alexis Gaffin, a head teacher at an independent prep school in Hertfordshire, who is slowly working her way back from what have been debilitating and disabling longterm after-effects following a bout of the covid-19 virus.

She caught covid-19 in October 2021 and ended up being off school for a year. “Covid-19 itself was not terrible, but then I had long covid and terrible symptoms,” she tells Leadership Focus. “I couldn’t walk or eat, my speech was badly affected, and I couldn’t bear bright light. There was terrible brain fog, fatigue and an inability to digest – even just getting dressed was tiring. A friend commented that it sounded like I’d had a stroke.

“It has, thankfully, improved a lot, and I started a phased return to work in the summer term last year, initially just a couple of hours a week and then, from September, doing a half day in school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“You put on a brave face; you put your war paint on and hope for the best. I’m halfway through the year but still not fully up to capacity. Sometimes have to come home and sleep during the day. This week, I’ve got the balance wrong because you feel ‘I must have a school presence; I need to be visible all the time’. Also, if you look OK, people just don’t realise or think that you are anything other than exactly the same as you used to be.

“My school has been very supportive and very respectful of the advice that has been given. But the problem is there isn’t a lot of clear information out there about long covid. I have weeks that are a black hole; I just don’t remember.

“A year ago, I was looking into an abyss as to whether I could ever work again. But it is possible to work again,” Alexis continues.

“For me, the network provides support, reassurance and a safe space to talk about how you’re feeling and how challenging it is to return to work. Although we all have different things, there is collegiality because we are all simply trying to manage in the workplace. All the meetings have been remote, so none of us has actually met each other yet.

But you know that when you go to the meeting, there will be a smiling face,” Alexis adds.

PAUL WHITEMAN, NAHT GENERAL SECRETARY

“I’m really proud of the groups we have put together,” agrees NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman.

“The response we’ve had from

The social model

Of Disability

The social model of disability, which both NAHT and the TUC have adopted, focuses on the ways in which society is organised and the social and institutional barriers that restrict disabled people’s opportunities.

The social model sees the person first and argues that the barriers they face, in combination with their impairments, are what disables them.

Barriers can be physical, like buildings not having accessible toilets, or social/attitudinal, such as assuming disabled people can’t do certain things.

The social model is important because it shifts the focus away from what disabled people can and can’t do and instead onto the barriers that cause difficulties.

members is fantastic; the fact members are picking up and running with those groups, almost as self-organised groups, which is exactly what they should be.

“The traditional approach from unions has sometimes been to create guaranteed seats on formal committees and within structures that are often more than 100 years old. And there can often be a degree of disappointment with what happens there. So, we decided on a slightly different approach, which was to say to members who have certain protected characteristics, ‘just come and talk; tell us what you want’.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do on this, but am very proud of the effort we are putting in and the return that members are bringing. And I look forward to meeting members of the Disabled Members’ Network at the earliest opportunity,” Paul adds.

Finally, as Jon Barr points out, the NAHT Disabled Members’ Network may still be relatively new and finding its feet, but its voice is increasingly being heard. And it is keen to welcome new members.

“We are a very young network, but I think it is incredibly rewarding to see colleagues being able to be open about the challenges their impairments create for them,” he says.

Removing these barriers creates equality and offers disabled people more independence, choice and control.

As the TUC has argued: “Barriers can make it impossible or very difficult to access jobs, buildings or services, but the biggest barrier of all is the problem of people’s attitude to disability. Removing the barriers is the best way to include millions of disabled people in our society.”

Importantly, the social model was written and designed by disabled people through conversations with other disabled people about their experiences, and so is based on disabled people’s lived experiences.

You can learn more about the social model of disability in the previous issue of Leadership Focus (see page 29). Don’t have a print copy to hand? Read it online here: www.naht.org.uk/RD/Leadership-Focus-issue-94

FIND OUT MORE…

To learn more about the NAHT Disabled Members’ Network, visit www.naht.org.uk/disabledmembersnetwork

“It is about being emotionally open about what has happened to them because of those impairments and gathering the energy to both be the leaders we are and the advocates for all of those in our schools, whether leaders, staff or pupils. And we have to be because this battle is not won by any means,” Jon adds.