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ANYONE who doesn’t work in education could be forgiven for thinking the budget delivered for our sector. Yes, sums were eye-watering, but so too is the state of our schools. Rebuilding them – literally in hundreds of cases – will cost significantly more than what was announced (see page four).
Schools and colleges so seriously underfunded for a decade before the pandemic are now also struggling in its aftermath with new crises. Attendance is one of them. On page ten, NEU Leadership member Jodie Hassan discusses the challenges. One child missing out on their education is a crisis, she says, and I agree. It should alarm the government that persistent absence, so strongly linked to poverty, doubled between 2018/19 and 2022/23.
It is especially disappointing, then, that the chancellor chose not to remove the two-child benefit cap or introduce free school meals for all pupils – measures that would have lifted thousands of children out of poverty, removing some barriers to attendance.
Thinktank Public First researched the attendance crisis and concluded: better-funded schools will have better attendance. That will hardly come as a surprise to leaders.
But if the government needs proof of the transformational power of proper funding, it need look no further than All Saints Catholic College (see page 16). Head teacher Andrew O’Neill explains how having adequate money has given him freedom and space to make the right decisions for his staff and students.
Every leader should have that opportunity, rather than being forced to choose the least worst option time and again.
Daniel
Kebede
General secretary National Education Union
7
10 National attendance crisis
Tackling school absenteeism post-Covid
15 NEU Leadership convention
An opportunity to learn, network and collaborate
Regulars
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4 Update Union response to Ofsted reforms; budget a disappointment for schools
22 Final word Daniel Kebede on why the government must act quickly on education
16 How I…
Head teacher Andrew O’Neill explains his approach to flexible working
19 Training The benefits of the Developing senior leaders course
20 Masterclass
How improving policy can help support women in the workplace
Budget falls short for schools in need of more funding, warns NEU
FUNDING for schools and colleges announced in the budget falls significantly short of what is urgently needed to reverse 14 years of cuts, NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede has warned.
“The education system, from early years through to post-16, is in dire need of funding and support,” he said. “We urge the government to move much faster to reverse the cuts to education funding made under the Conservatives.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves increased the capital investment budget by £1.2 billion, bringing it up to £6.7bn. Of that, £1.4bn is for the school building programme, but Daniel said that is only a “small dent” in the £40bn cumulative cut to capital funding since 2010.
He added: “We are still decades away from a full rejuvenation of the school estate.”
The £1.3bn announced for mainstream schools was insufficient and would put
WHAT WAS ANNOUNCED IN THE BUDGET
• The core schools budget is rising by £2.3bn for 2025/26, with £1bn for SEND.
• Further education received a £300m increase
• The capital funding increases from £5.5bn in 2024/25 to £6.7bn in 2025/26
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede says much more needs to be done to address crumbling schools
schools in “a very difficult position”, as they try to address the teacher shortage and the related pay problem affecting teachers and support staff.
And the £1bn for special educational needs was a step in the right direction but would not address the SEND crisis, which will only be resolved by significant system reform. The union welcomes the start of government work in this area.
The £300 million for further education would help colleges fund a 5.5 per cent pay rise for staff, giving them parity with school teachers, but falls “well short” of the overall investment needed in the sector.
Daniel said that it was “truly disappointing” that the government had failed to remove the cruel and ineffective two-child benefit cap, which would have lifted many thousands of children out of poverty.
Similarly, tripling breakfast clubs was an unambitious approach to tackling child hunger. Free school meals for all children, starting with every primary pupil, is what is needed.
The union’s campaign, Free School Meals for All, has won widespread support from MPs, health professionals and doctors (see page eight).
Resources on CO2 monitors and ventilation
VENTILATION is one of the best ways of keeping the risk of infection transmission as low as possible in autumn and winter. The joint union guidance on good ventilation in schools and how to achieve it, at neu.org.uk/latest/ library/ventilation-schools, reminds us that CO2 monitors (issued to all schools during the pandemic) show
when ventilation is poor and needs to be improved. NEU guidance on CO2 monitors is available at neu.org.uk/ latest/library/how-use-co2-monitorsposter. Now the weather is colder and Covid-19 and other infections are doing the rounds, it’s important to make sure CO2 monitors and good ventilation are in place in schools and colleges.
Ofsted reforms don’t go far enough, say union leaders
CHANGES introduced by Ofsted that include scrapping one-word overall judgements amount only to “refining the status quo” and the profession needs a new supportive, effective and fair inspection system.
That is the verdict of NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede, who said: “Ultimately, the NEU still thinks Ofsted needs to be abolished and replaced.”
The inspectorate has been under intense pressure to reform since NEU Leadership member and primary head Ruth Perry took her own life in January 2023 after her school was graded Inadequate.
In September, Ofsted announced there would no longer be an overall grade for schools and colleges, although sub-grades for quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and effectiveness of leadership and management will remain.
Head teachers are now only contacted about an upcoming inspection on Monday, although notification of an urgent or monitoring inspection can be on any day.
In schools where all areas are Good or Outstanding, and the only concern is around safeguarding, inspectors will now suspend their inspection and allow the school three months to resolve the issues, if they think there is a realistic prospect this can happen.
In response, Daniel said: “It will take a great deal more to convince our members that Ofsted is anything more than a recurring nightmare. It has caused untold damage and misery. Its time is up.”
He joined NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman and Julia Waters, Ruth Perry’s sister, at a fringe session on the future of accountability and inspection at the Labour party conference in September.
Julia, who has been campaigning for radical reform of Ofsted since her sister died, has welcomed the scrapping of one-word judgements. But she told the fringe the inspection system still needed urgent wider reform, and she called for a supportive and collaborative approach focused on driving improvement, rather than finding fault.
The NEU has said “report cards” for schools, which the government is due to introduce, should only be brought in following proper collaboration with the profession and the change cannot be rushed through.
The union is continuing to call on leaders to remove all references to Ofsted from school gates and letterheads, and not to refer to it during school parents’ evenings or open days. Along with sister union the NAHT, the union is also urging leaders who are Ofsted inspectors to step down from the role.
The NEU has produced some information on the changes introduced by Ofsted, including those proposed to the Education and Inspection Framework, and what they mean for schools and colleges in the Ofsted inspection ‘window’.
Go to neu.org.uk/ofsted-and-schoolinspection-changes
Award for NEU’s Ofsted risk assessment
LEADERS are being encouraged to use the award-winning risk assessment tool developed by the NEU to reduce the stress of Ofsted inspections. The union believes highstakes Ofsted inspections create a level of anxiety, stress and unsustainable workload for staff, including leaders, that mean they should be assessed in the same way as any other workplace hazard.
In September, it won an award at the annual Hazards Conference 2024.
The five-step risk assessment – identify the hazards, assess the risk, control the risk, record the findings and review the controls – is based on the approach recommended by the Health and Safety Executive.
The toolkit, which can be used in the run-up to and during inspection, is being adopted at schools and colleges across the country.
For more information, visit neu.org.uk/campaigns/ abolish-ofsted/ofsted-riskassessment-guide
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede, NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman and Julia Waters, sister of Ruth Perry, at a Labour party conference fringe session in September. (Photo: Jess Hurd)
Review offers school leaders a chance to influence change
THE union is urging members to take up an “historic opportunity” to influence the future of education by getting involved in the England-wide review of curriculum and assessment now underway.
Welcoming the review, which was announced by the government in the summer, NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede described the assessment system as “fundamentally broken”, adding that it is designed for school accountability rather than teaching.
The union has long been calling for a radical overhaul of curriculum and assessment and has sponsored reviews into both in recent years. Our members have repeatedly raised a range of concerns including the narrowing of the curriculum in primary and secondary phases and a government obsession with testing and formal written exams.
The NEU is calling for an end to testing in primary school and more diverse
“The assessment system is fundamentally broken.”
assessments in secondary to stop the exam factory culture.
Professor Becky Francis, chief executive of charity the Education Endowment Fund, is chairing the review, which is being carried out by a panel of 12 experts. They are examining key stages 1 to 5.
The NEU submitted written evidence on the problems with the current curriculum and assessment system to the team, which will also be running regional roadshows to gather views to feed into their report.
We want to see a broader, representative, flexible and engaging curriculum and an assessment system that gives teachers the time to teach.
The current curriculum is also not inclusive enough and too many students find it inaccessible, uninspiring and disengaging, particularly those with SEND or from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Daniel added: “We are pleased to see the review will consider how any changes would affect staff. The previous government’s changes were rushed through at an unmanageable pace and caused significantly more teacher workload. This review must learn the lesson from previous reforms.”
The review panel will publish recommendations in autumn 2025.
For more, visit neu.org.uk/campaigns/ assessment/curriculum-andassessment-review
New report shows inflexible hours and lack of support are driving exodus of women teachers in their 30s
RESEARCH showing that women in their 30s are the largest group leaving teaching has found workload, lack of flexibility and inadequate support for returning mothers are the main reasons they are being driven out.
Missing mothers, a report published by thinktank the New Britain Project and UK parent-teacher charity the MTPT project, cites data showing that 9,147 women teachers aged 30-39 left state schools in 2023.
It argues that addressing the exodus of women in their 30s will help ease retention problems, which receive less attention than the recruitment crisis. Figures for 2023 show a shortage of 8,585 teachers and the government is pledging to recruit an extra 6,500 teachers.
Researchers surveyed 383 women who left teaching in their 30s and found “simple yet meaningful” changes would
make a difference, such as being able to attend significant events in their own children’s lives and more adaptable timetabling.
The report makes five recommendations. Schools should be supported to develop flexible working cultures, say researchers, new mothers should receive coaching to support their return to work, and they should be offered priority childcare.
Pay should also be addressed, and the Burgundy Book updated to adopt equal and improved parental leave policies, and women should be supported to pursue leadership roles.
See How I… on flexible working page 16 and masterclass on support for teacher mothers on page 20 newbritain.org.uk/ missing-mothers
Report co-author and founder of Maternity Teacher Paternity Teacher project Emma Sheppard addressing leaders at the 2023 NEU Leadership convention
Photo: Rehan Jamil
Members gather for biggest ever BEC event
A RECORD number of members, among them NEU leaders, attended this year’s Black educators’ conference (BEC), where they heard from speakers including NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede (pictured above, right).
More than 500 educators attended the event in Birmingham.
Adrian Rollins, a head teacher in Wolverhampton, told Lead: “The workshops were powerful and informative – one of the highlights. The workshop on racial capitalism, for example, had me walking away in deep thought. I also enjoyed the leadership session and the evening meal on Saturday as it really got people together.
“However, what was overwhelmingly helpful was the coming together of Black educators, providing opportunities to network, bond and build moving forwards.”
Former deputy head and children’s publisher Juliet Coley led a session for leaders, highlighting Black leaders’ unique challenges and opportunities.
Akem Mundell, an assistant principal from Manchester, said the weekend had been “one of the most enriching I have had, surrounded by like-minded educators, who are passionate about fostering an inclusive, equitable, and empowered educational environment”.
Only 5% of heads are Black, NEU data shows
FIGURES published by the NEU show Black teachers remain underrepresented in leadership, are paid less than white teachers and are more likely to be driven out of the profession by discrimination.
The Black teachers pay & progression report, published in October, shows only eight per cent of deputy and assistant heads are Black, while the number falls to just five per cent for head teachers.
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “As part of its efforts to solve the recruitment and retention crisis, the Department for Education must address the loss of Black teachers at every career stage.
“We must tackle the barriers facing Black teachers. There are so many upsides for students of getting the chance to learn from, and be inspired by, teachers from different backgrounds.”
Go to neu.org.uk/latest/library/ black-teachers-pay-progressionreport
THE NEU has launched a toolkit to help leaders introduce traumainformed practices within their schools. These approaches to managing behaviour start by asking ‘What has happened to you?’ rather than ‘What have you done?’. The resources in the toolkit
outline why traumainformed practice is so essential to addressing behaviour that challenges and building effective support for SEND students.
To get started in your school, the model for whole-school development provides useful checklists and the trauma-informed development plan provides a template for auditing and planning.
Go to neu.org.uk/ advice/classroom/ behaviour-schools/ trauma-informedpractice-andapproach
is a course for Black teachers looking to move into leadership and middle leaders looking for promotion. Consisting of two in-person days and four online sessions, the course is fully funded by the NEU and starts in January 2025. neu.org.uk/courses /national-cpd
Primary teacher and NEU equalities officer Tashan Charles, NEU national executive member Louise Lewis and NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede; inset: Delegates at this year’s Black educators’ conference in Birmingham
Photos: Kois
Miah
Free
School Meals for All campaign bus hits the road to urge government to take action
PRIMARY school leaders joined the NEU’s national Free School Meals for All bus tour this September, adding their voices to the campaign to fund a free meal for every primary age pupil.
John Hayes, NEU Leadership member and head teacher at Gospel Oak Primary and Nursery School in Camden, north London, was among them. He said: “I am proud to support the NEU’s campaign for free school meals for all children. Ensuring every child has access to a nutritious meal is essential for their wellbeing, focus, and success in school.
“By supporting this initiative, we are championing a more equitable and supportive environment for all pupils, allowing every child the opportunity to thrive academically and socially without the worry of hunger affecting their day.”
MPs, celebrities and health professionals joined educators and trade unionists as the NEU’s bright blue bus made its way across the country visiting schools and communities, before reaching its last stop: the Labour party conference.
The bus began its journey outside the Houses of Parliament on 10 September, where an open letter, signed by health organisations including the British Dental Association and Diabetes UK, was delivered to health secretary Wes Streeting. It warned of the “impact of poor diet and food scarcity on our children and young people” every day and called on Streeting to help protect children’s growth and development.
The bus then made its way up the country, making stops at primary schools in Sunderland, Coventry, Birmingham, York and Liverpool.
At Grange Primary School in Ealing, west London, children’s presenter and
“A nutritious meal is essential for wellbeing and success.”
author Konnie Huq joined the campaign and worked with children during a creative writing session. Children at All Saints Church of England Primary in Coventry toured the grounds of Coventry City FC – the Sky Blues – and discussed the importance of a good lunch for learning, growth and play with current and past players. Pupils at Monksdown Primary School, Liverpool, wrote hundreds of letters to the Prime Minister urging him to provide every primary school child in England with a free school lunch.
One pupil told Keir Starmer: “Don’t be like the last prime minister ignoring our efforts. Do what’s right. We need this.”
Go to freeschoolmealsforall.org.uk/ national-tour
Photos: Rehan
Jamil
Children from Grange Primary School in South Ealing join the campaign
The NEU’s bright blue bus set off from the Houses of Parliament in September on a tour across the country, stopping off at primary schools along the way
‘Even
one child missing school is a crisis’
Secondary head Jodie Hassan talks to Sally Gillen about the attendance challenges facing schools post-pandemic.
Photos: Rehan Jamil
AT an unnamed primary school in south London, the head teacher is receiving an increasing number of requests from parents of children in reception asking if they can attend part time.
It’s a striking example of how much parental attitudes to school attendance have shifted post-pandemic.
According to Jodie Hassan, head teacher at St Edward’s Church of England Academy in Romford, part of the Unity Schools Partnership trust, it has been “like a light switch”.
She says: “Any school leader, teacher or member of support staff would say the pandemic represented a real change in terms of school attendance and the way schools, children and parents work together.”
Term-time holidays, with children out
of school for weeks at a time, have shot up nationally. So, too, have requests for home education, as parents try to respond to growing mental ill health, anxiety especially, among their children.
The picture is, of course, much more complex than a change in parental attitudes. A study by thinktank Public First found that while many parents no longer see attending school every day as a must, there are other significant postCovid problems driving what it calls a national attendance crisis.
The latest annual figures published by the Department for Education show rates of persistent absence doubled over the past five years. In 2018/19, they were 10.9 per cent, but by 2022/23 they had soared to 21.2 per cent. Overall, absence during the
same period increased from 4.7 per cent to 7.4 per cent.
Jodie says: “The number of children who are out of school is undoubtedly a national crisis that has to be tackled. For us, even one child missing school is a crisis, but when we look at the numbers across the country now not accessing education, it’s an awful thing to comprehend.”
The barriers to attending highlighted by Public First include increased mental ill health among pupils, often untreated because of long waiting lists for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), and the impact of the cost-ofliving crisis, which is placing extra pressures on families and is especially worrying given the link between disadvantage and persistent absenteeism.
Public First’s report makes eight recommendations that include boosting school funding and investing in SEND and CAMHS services, arguing: “Betterfunded schools will have better attendance.” It also calls for a review of the way schools communicate with parents, and for fines for unauthorised absence to potentially be abolished. But its conclusion is simple: schools cannot fix attendance on their own.
The NEU is campaigning for better funding for schools, and our anti-poverty campaign, No Child Left Behind, is pressing the government to fund free school meals (FSM) for all primary pupils, to help end child hunger. School leaders took part in the union’s FSM national bus tour in September (see page 8).
Some, like Jodie, are working with other schools to share ideas and strategies to boost attendance. As part of an attendance hub (see box, page 13), she has welcomed the opportunity to find out what works elsewhere, but argues that schools don’t have all the answers and there needs to be an understanding of the wider societal issues impacting school attendance.
In the 18 months before Covid hit, Jodie had been successfully tackling the attendance crisis at her own school. Arriving on her first day in April 2018, attendance at St Edward’s – until then a standalone academy trust – was just 83 per cent and she “didn’t have a clue” where the rest of the children were.
Jodie introduced clear policies and procedures around attendance and set about addressing the behaviour problems that had been deterring pupils – and some
“The pandemic represented a real change in terms of school attendance and the way schools, children and parents work together.”
How ‘belonging’ reduces absenteeism
ONE in four young people feel they do not belong at school, according to research – and that number is rising. That sense of alienation can lead to an increase in exclusions and student absenteeism.
The NEU-commissioned research, Place and belonging in school: why it
matters today, provides case studies of schools taking a whole-school approach to creating places where students and staff feel they belong.
staff – from attending because they did not feel safe.
“Everything we have done is about building relationships, and developing and maintaining a culture,” she says. “The pull for children is not the building or the books, it’s the people in the school.”
The pandemic has presented new challenges for staff, says Jodie, among them the significant number of pupils waiting for CAMHS treatment, with related parental requests for home education, and the impact of poverty, especially for the large layer of pupils from families just below the thresholds for extra financial help.
“When I joined St Edward’s and started to address attendance, which was intertwined with so many other major issues, what we had to do from the very beginning was work with parents. If you have good relationships then you can have difficult conversations. We engage robustly with parents and carers, and we are unapologetic in the way we chase, follow up and challenge attendance. We understand there are situations, particularly post-pandemic, which make coming to school more difficult for some pupils, but we have developed these relationships so we can ensure that families and parents understand why their children need to be in school.”
Head teacher Jodie Hassan with colleagues at St Edward's Church of England Academy in Romford
Sir Bobby Robson School
AS co-heads of school at a setting for children with social, emotional and mental health problems (SEMH) and autism, Ian Bristo and Jonathan Sly face extra challenges when it comes to tackling pupil absence.
“SEMH and poor attendance go hand in hand,” says Jonathan.
But since taking over at the Sir Bobby Robson School in 2023, he and Ian have changed how the day is structured, introduced a wellness curriculum, and adopted a belonging approach (see box).
All are helping to improve attendance. It was ten per cent higher in September this year than in the same month last year.
The day begins for students at Sir Bobby Robson with a 25-minute wellbeing start, allowing children to settle in and register before choosing between checkingin with key adults, joining the breakfast club or taking part in a sensory/physical activity.
Lessons are 45 minutes. Half an hour was felt to be too short, with too much learning time wasted through
transitions, while an hour was too long for pupils to be sat in the same place.
In key stage 3, the school tries to adopt a primary approach, says Jonathan, so students have most lessons in their class base, and only move elsewhere for specialist subjects such as design technology and PE.
The day ends with a reflect & connect lesson, part of the wellness curriculum that runs alongside the academic curriculum. It is based on five areas – connecting with others, taking notice, new learning, physical body, and making a contribution – and is designed to build resilience and improve attendance. Lego therapy, nurture walks and roller skating are among the activities. Ian and Jonathan often take part in Lego and Airfix workshops.
“We have tried to create a family feel in the school,” explains Ian. “That is easier for us to do than it would be in a mainstream school because we have small numbers.
Many pupils who join us have had several school moves and been labelled as serial non-attenders. They arrive blaming themselves for that.
“We’ve tried to create a family feel, which is easier in our school because we have small numbers.”
Jonathan
Staff work with them to unpick those traumatic experiences and create new foundations, using the Trauma Perceptive Practice approach in which they have been trained.”
Parental engagement is a key part of the belonging approach and the school regularly hosts social events to invite in parents and make them feel welcome.
That helps with attendance, says Ian, because after so many different schools, many parents value the place their child has at Sir Bobby Robson.
The “richer and deeper” relationships pupils form with staff also encourages them to take pride in attending, says Jonathan – they want to come to school.
He shares a story of a pupil with an upset stomach who was disappointed
about going home early as it would affect his attendance record. “He was sat waiting to be picked up and he asked me to check his record. He was so proud, as a few weeks into the term it was 100 per cent,” smiles Jonathan.
In the previous three years it had been as low as 34 per cent.
Ian has another example that illustrates the impact of the belonging approach. When a year 11 pupil with autism had arrived the previous year – after six school moves – he challenged staff with: “You’ve never had one like me before.” Now, however, he sees the school as a sanctuary. “He went into crisis at an offsite medical appointment. Immediately afterwards he ran back to school because, for him, our school was his safe space.”
Sly and Ian Bristo are co-heads of school at Sir Bobby Robson, in Ipswich, which has 63 children aged 8-16 on roll
“We don’t want to encourage the notion that children can attend part time.”
Jodie believes the pandemic has created, among parents, a heightened awareness and understanding of mental health and wellbeing, leading to a surge in requests for home education from parents whose children have emotional-based school avoidance (EBSA).
“There must be a link between children being in their homes for all that time during Covid and EBSA,” she says.
“For children who need additional support, we have expert staff in school who are able to help them – this extends to access to mental health and emotional support through the streams of external services we use, like OM Health & Wellbeing, a specialist mental health consultancy. This multi-layered approach really works.”
Like many leaders and teachers, Jodie believes in a supportive rather than punitive approach. It is rare, however, that she will agree to a part-time timetable –
she says that none of her students currently has one – and every option will be explored before that is considered.
“We don’t want to encourage the notion that children can attend part time because that really isn’t best for the child. If we do that, we’re becoming part of the problem by sending a message that being at school isn’t important,” she explains.
When there are requests for home education, a member of the senior leadership team will speak to the parent and child to explain what that looks like in reality.
“Our core belief is that the best place for a child is with other children in school,” says Jodie. “The safest place for them to be is in a school building where all the adults are only there for them.
“We carefully and robustly track attendance. You can’t get it right unless you know which child is in which lesson throughout the day.”
Find out more about approaches to attendance
MOST schools are grappling with attendance problems, including rises in persistent absence. While each school faces unique challenges, many are dealing with the same causes, untreated mental illness among pupils, and sometimes their parents, and the impact of poverty.
• The Unity Schools Partnership attendance hub has been helping schools to increase attendance: unitysp.co.uk/attendancehubs
• S quare Peg is working to better understand absence from school and to find effective solutions to the attendance crisis: teamsquarepeg.co.uk
Calling all NEU leadership members
The
annual NEU Leadership convention
provides an opportunity to learn, network and collaborate.
JOIN us for a full day of sessions tailored to the issues a ecting you as a senior leader.
e annual NEU Leadership convention o ers the chance to hear from keynote speakers, attend workshops and network with other leaders from around the country.
Last year’s event was rated very good or excellent by all attendees. One member said: “It was a really positive experience. I’d
expected it to be good, but actually it was really excellent, and I feel re-energised.”
Another said: “ is was the rst time I have attended an NEU training event or conference, and I have been a member for 22 years and a head teacher for the past 13 years. I have always been worried that those with di erent opinions would be frowned upon. is was clearly not the case, and I listened to members who had been before and were willing to challenge with di ering viewpoints.”
e NEU Leadership convention is a free event that takes place on Friday 7 March 2025 at the Holiday Inn, Bloomsbury, London. Lunch is included and a drinks reception will close the day.
To register and see the full programme, go to forms.o ce.com/e/J0Jw9MGg1p
Member comments
Feedback from the 2024 convention:
• 100% rated the convention as very good or excellent
• 99% felt the breakout sessions were very good or exceptional
• 91% said they benefited from learning about new ideas and leadership strategies through networking with other leaders.
Delegates at this year’s convention had the chance to ask the expert panel plenty of questions
Leaders learned more about resilience at one of the workshops
Photos: Sarah Turton
Flexible working is key to boosting staff satisfaction
A secondary head teacher talks Sally Gillen through his approach to improving work/life balance for staff.
ANDREW O’Neill agrees when I suggest he must have found that magic money tree. The idea, let alone the reality, that a head teacher these days has enough money to run their school as they would like to sounds, let’s face it, the stuff of fantasy.
All Saints Catholic College doesn’t, of course, exist in a fairytale sprinkled with magic money trees. It is a mixed secondary in Ladbroke Grove, a north London suburb with high levels of disadvantage. Half of the 11- to 16-year-olds on roll have pupil premium funding; 25 per cent have special educational needs and ten per cent have an education, health and care plan. The school’s intake means more funding, yes, but as Andrew is quick to point out, also “massive challenges to provide a quality education for those children”.
What has really made the difference, as well as given Andrew the financial freedom to reduce workload and
“So many schools are inflexible around part-time hours, but we need to work around people’s lives.”
introduce more flexible working, is that the school is state maintained. That gives him the autonomy to innovate, and, importantly, more money, he says.
The local authority deducts just £70,000 from his budget, a figure that would rocket to around £470,000 if his school was an academy with the average 5.3 per cent top-sliced by a trust.
That money pays for an extra ten teachers, allowing for more classes, with only 22 pupils in each. Teachers are timetabled for only 20 lessons a week and have 30 per cent noncontact time.
“People might say reducing class sizes doesn’t impact pupil outcomes, but that wasn’t the reason I reduced them. It was for my teachers. Ten fewer children in the class means 90 fewer books to mark every couple of weeks,” he explains.
Ordinarily, the typical teaching timetable provides ten per cent PPA time. Teachers are in class nearly every period, he says, but teaching is like performing and can be exhausting – if they are to do it well, they also need space to refresh.
are leaving it,” he adds. “Also, the cognitive load of teachers has increased – schools are like a fourth emergency service for kids.”
Ten years ago, when he took over as head of All Saints, it was on the brink of closing. It was Andrew’s job to keep it open.
“I was in a position where I needed to keep hold of the very best teachers I had, but it was hardly somewhere a new teacher would think ‘I would love to start my career at this school’. From the get-go, it was about looking at how we created a great team, and a feeling that we were transforming something. The key to that was by looking after the staff.”
Andrew started by lightening the timetable. He reduced the number of lessons for teachers, then he reduced class sizes to 22.
In September, he launched a new whole-school policy giving teachers two free periods one morning a week. It has proved an instant hit. “Staff love it,” he says. “It’s great at breaktime to see staff wander through the front doors talking to each other about how they spent their mornings.”
Teachers can come in at 10.30am rather than 8am once a week
“We mount more and more pressure on teachers and then we wonder why people don’t want to join the profession or why they
It was something he had wanted to do for a while but there hadn’t been enough flexibility in the timetable. A “lightbulb moment” led him to cut the morning tutor time –which had required all teachers to be in. Now pupils go straight to their first lesson, where
Teachers have, on average, 20 lessons a week
teachers take the register.
“I said to the deputies, let’s revisit flexible working. It makes staff feel appreciated and gives them the time and space to do some of the stuff they wouldn’t ordinarily get to do.”
He has been interested in some of the approaches to flexible working introduced at other schools, including nine-day fortnights.
“To be brutally honest it is all smoke and mirrors,” he says. “Teachers are on 13 per cent non-contact time and all they are doing is shunting all their frees across
two weeks onto one day. So they might get one day off but for the other nine days it’s absolutely horrendous.”
Andrew says he looked at the idea a couple of years ago and realised it wouldn’t work. “The only way you can ever really solve it is to lighten staff timetables,” he adds. “One morning off doesn’t sound as good as a whole day off but teachers are saying that it’s increasing the amount of non-contact time that makes a massive difference.
Morning tutor time was cut, to allow teachers one morning off a week and registration is done in first period
“Sometimes there is a mindset in teaching that things have always been done a certain way, when actually leaders should be trying
NEU school rep and head of year 8
I ONLY have 16 lessons a week because I’m head of year 8, and that’s possible because we have a big science department. Having fewer lessons really helps with workload. Andrew also understands that a lot of us have friends and partners who work in industries where they are only expected to be in a
couple of days a week and they have a lot more flexibility.
He understands work/ life balance is a big deal for teachers and being able to come in later one day a week goes some way to solving that. Staff feedback has been super positive and everyone seems very happy and more refreshed when they come in.
to break the mould and do something different. That’s what we have tried to do.”
As well as the wholeschool approach to more flexible working, Andrew says he’s always open to individual requests for part-time hours. One of his three deputies – who has since relocated to Scotland – worked four days a week after returning from maternity leave.
“So many schools are inflexible around part-time hours, but we need to work around people’s lives. Nearly all the requests around flexible working are because staff want to spend more time with their families. We talk about the importance of family and then we tell our teachers ‘but not your family’. It’s ludicrous. People leave because they aren’t valued as humans.”
He seems slightly surprised when asked what the logistics were of having a part-time deputy. “None really. It was totally manageable,” he says.
At a time when many schools are haemorrhaging staff, All Saints typically loses only one teacher a year. Unusually, seven left last year, but four were young teachers who had only ever planned to stay a couple of years before going travelling, having missed out during Covid.
“I remember going to a meeting with other head teachers and thinking ‘we’re losing loads of teachers this year’, but others were saying they had about 18 going and I remember thinking ‘oh, in that case we’re ok’,” he smiles.
Cat Bradley
Although it’s only a couple of hours, it’s crazy to think what a difference it makes not having your alarm going off at 6am.
Generally, the flexibility is really appreciated. I had a day and a half off for a funeral in Dublin and Andrew is very understanding about that kind of thing.
I know some teachers really struggle to get any time off during term time. We’re lucky.
Head teacher Andrew O’Neill has introduced a range of measures to reduce teachers’ workload
‘I felt I was in the right place’
Middle leader Katherine Hougham explains how the union’s Developing senior leaders course has boosted her confidence.
KATHERINE is head of the creative arts faculty and wellbeing lead at a prep school where she has worked for 14 years.
Q Why did you sign up for the course?
A During my last appraisal, the deputy head and I discussed my interest in moving from middle to senior management, but I didn’t know whether I was ready to go down the NPQ route. I had read the description of it and went into a bit of panic that it wasn’t right for me, that I wasn’t good enough or in the right place in my career.
Then I saw the NEU’s Developing senior leaders course on Facebook and said to my deputy that I’d found the right course. It was a brilliant opportunity to network and learn from fantastic leaders. The minute I walked into the room and started chatting, I felt I was in the right place.
Q Why do you want to move into senior leadership?
A Through my wellbeing role, I’ve been getting more involved in whole-school policy writing and initiatives. I thought I’d like to take ownership of something that influences aspects of school life beyond the department I run.
Q What did you find useful on the course?
A I was in a group of nine, all of us from different backgrounds, and over four days we had a fantastic opportunity to get
to know each other and share how we did things at our respective schools. The coaching element of the course was particularly helpful, with a lot of opportunity to roleplay and try out scenarios. Because the course leaders had such a range of experiences in senior leadership, there wasn’t a question that they didn’t have the answer to. I came away with so much reading material, including books about business, which, surprisingly, contain lots of information applicable to an education setting.
Some of the activities really made you analyse your skills. I did my presentation on wellbeing because we had just done a whole-school survey of parents and staff. Before, when I sent out a staff survey, the same people would reply, but through the skills learned on the course I was able to explain why the questions were important, rather than just saying here’s another survey. I got the biggest response of anything I’ve sent out before because staff understood the purpose behind it. I communicated differently as a result of what I learned on the course.
QWhat’s next?
AI came away with a much better awareness of my strengths and the areas I need to focus on. That was partly through talking to other people and getting an outside perspective on my leadership style. You have appraisals and opportunities to talk in school but it’s always very much within your setting and what you are used to. An outside perspective gives you a whole new picture. I came away feeling very positive. I’d now feel 100 per cent confident about applying for the NPQ course.
Upcoming training for leaders. Why not sign up?
THE union runs free leadership masterclass webinars for those in middle leadership but also suitable for senior leaders. Webinars are recorded; register and the recording will be emailed to you. Book on the website: neu.org.uk/courses/nationalcpd#leaders
• Leading change 22 January 2025, 11am-12pm
• Applying and interviewing for leadership roles 18 March 2025, 4-5pm
• Coaching others 29 April 2025, 11am-12pm
• Strategic thinking 18 June 2025, 4-5pm
There are also leadership development programmes, which run over several months.
• Positioned for success
A programme for Black teachers looking to move into leadership/ middle leaders looking for promotion. Two in-person days and four online sessions. Starts January 2025. Fully funded by the NEU.
• Developing middle leaders
An online programme run by the Centre for Educational Leadership, IoE, UCL. Starts February 2025. Cost £100.
• Developing senior leaders
An in-person (NEU head office) four-part programme run by the Centre for Educational Leadership, IoE, UCL. Starts January 2025. Cost £120.
Maternity to menopause: supporting women at work
Sandy Sohota and Laura Evans tell Sally Gillen how their work developing a policy for new mums has expanded to look at women’s health in the workplace more broadly.
NEU Leadership member Sandy
Sohota (left, with Gianna) is head of social sciences at Woodbridge High School in Redbridge
WHEN I became pregnant with my second child in 2020, I needed information about my maternity rights, but there was nothing. The business manager directed me to Redbridge Council – our school is statemaintained – for information. There wasn’t really anyone I could speak to at school. It would have been nice to have had a policy, so I could see everything in black and white. In the end, I found what I needed online.
A week before I came back to work, I had a chat with the head to discuss flexible working and when I came back I wasn’t given any classes straight away. That was so useful, being a new mum, not to have everything
thrown at me as soon as I was back. One minute you’re on maternity leave and clearing up baby sick, the next you’re back in your classroom. It can be very difficult.
Laura, our assistant head, decided to lead some work on developing a maternity policy and I said I wanted to be involved. Myself and a former colleague, who was pregnant at the time, sat down and went through each stage of pregnancy; the questions you have and the information you need. We drew a tree of all the things that could possibly happen at each point and tried to incorporate all those into a policy. When I was off, nobody had told me about the ten keeping in touch (KIT) days I was entitled to, so those went into the policy.
From there the work has grown and we have been looking at women’s health more broadly: menopause, perimenopause, conditions such as endometriosis, and fertility treatment.
Eight female staff, including me, volunteered to speak to colleagues – men and women – about issues related to women’s health. We have posters around the school signposting where people can receive support with issues associated with mental health, and a central document on family-friendly policy that can be accessed online, with a link sent out to everyone. We also now have a ‘staff snug’, which is a comfortable and private space in the school where staff have access to a fridge to store expressed milk, among other facilities. Any woman experiencing symptoms related to women’s health, perhaps stomach cramps and hot flushes, or just feeling generally unwell, can use it.
It’s important for schools to recognise that women don’t just become pregnant, have their maternity leave, and then that’s it. There are all sorts of things that happen afterwards that need to be discussed. Flexible working
“If schools don’t change, we will continue to lose women from the workforce.”
is likely to be one of them. I had a bad experience in my previous job when I asked to go part time after I had my first child. It was a flat no, and I was told none of the heads of department worked part time. I pointed out that there was a male member of staff who was head of sociology on a 0.6 contract. After that, things turned nasty quite quickly and I had to leave.
Here, I requested to work three days a week, filled in a form and was told by my manager that the school would make it work. Many of my friends who are teachers have never been offered or given flexible working.
Four years on, Woodbridge High School now feels like a place where you can have those conversations with colleagues around women’s health and flexible working. There is still work to be done, but we are building momentum.
Laura Evans (left, with Louis) is assistant head at Woodbridge High School in Redbridge WE introduced our family-friendly policy in September 2022, after surveying staff and finding that a woman’s experience of maternity leave was dependent on the lived experience of her line manager. It was a lottery. Many line managers, for example, weren’t aware of KIT days, how they can be requested or used. We wanted to provide consistency for staff.
I set up a women’s health working party to look at the issues. One member pointed out that after the six-week summer holiday, staff don’t have any lessons for two days so they can get their head around the new
The mini-induction policy at Woodbridge High School
Your line manager will complete a miniinduction with you before or upon your return. You will not have any timetabled lessons for two days and you can use this time to refamiliarise yourself with existing practices and be informed of any developments within the department and wider school since your maternity leave. At the start of the academic year, these will normally be the Inset days. If you feel a risk
assessment should be conducted, this would be a good opportunity to discuss any provisions that need to be put in place for you. It is completely understandable if you are feeling overwhelmed or anxious about your return. Please seek support from the members of staff listed on the front page who have experienced returning to work after maternity and can offer support and advice. Your line manager should facilitate you gathering the following
timetable, meet their teams and catch up on CPD, and they suggested doing the same for staff returning from maternity leave. That is how the mini-induction was introduced (see box).
In those two days, women can sort their timetable, have a look at their classes and catch up on changes in the school. It can be quite overwhelming for staff coming back from maternity leave if it isn’t carefully managed, particularly if there have been lots of staffing or curriculum changes. It’s a big shift in their daily patterns.
From the maternity policy, we have developed a whole range of other policies, as well as guidance and CPD directed specifically at developing line managers’ understanding of women’s health.
Feedback has been positive and, anecdotally, staff are now far more willing to talk about women’s health issues. Every year I make a video for staff on a particular women’s health issue. Last year it was menopause, this year it will be on miscarriage and baby loss.
In terms of flexible working, our staff survey also found some misconceptions. There was an idea that you couldn’t be
information during your mini-induction:
• who your classes will be
• what your timetable will look like
• what you will be teaching
• room changes
• departmental changes
• changes to any school systems/policies
• break/lunch duties
• requirements to express/store milk (if applicable)
• completing a risk assessment (should you feel this necessary).
a part-time head of year, for example, even though that is something that had never been said and we weren’t sure where it had come from.
Almost half of our middle leaders are parents of young children and work part time. Of those, 66 per cent are women. In most cases, we have been able to honour requests for flexible working and the days requested.
Flexibility is becoming ever more important. If schools don’t change, we will continue to lose women from the workforce. Many sectors now offer a hybrid pattern, making it easier to do the school drop-off and pick-up. Why would someone stay in a job where they aren’t able to be as present in family life as their peers?
The union has produced a range of guidance on maternity rights. Go to neu.org.uk/maternity
‘We need a more ambitious vision’
Daniel Kebede General secretary, National Education Union
neu.org.uk
facebook.com/ national education union
NEUnion
WITH the election of a Labour government in the summer, the profession and the unions that represent it entered new territory.
Over the previous 14 years, we experienced devastating cuts to funding, with a staggering 70 per cent of schools running on less than in 2010. Year-on-year pay cuts fuelled a spiralling recruitment and retention crisis as graduates chose not to enter the profession or leave for one with better pay and conditions.
Workload soared, as schools scrambled to comply with the unreasonable demands of Ofsted. And our curriculum became narrow, overloaded, inaccessible and too centralised, taking away our freedom to do what we do best: teach.
As leaders, you have been expected to manage all of this, keeping the plates spinning, delivering the best education you can, while trying to protect and nurture your students and sta .
Now a new government has taken the helm, there are some welcome signs that the ship is being steered in a new direction.
Educational reform
Labour has launched a curriculum and assessment review in England to look into what we teach and how we test pupils’ achievement.
e union welcomes it – we have campaigned for years for reform of curriculum and assessment and we are encouraging members to take part so that changes take account of your experience.
ere has also been movement on Ofsted, with the announcement that the punitive oneword grading system has been scrapped.
It’s a step in the right direction, but we think Ofsted needs more than a rebrand. We want inspection that is collaborative and realistic, based on learning and the sharing of good ideas.
“We need this new government to be bold and really deliver for pupils, parents and the profession.”
Inspection that creates trust, transparency, and a shared responsibility for good outcomes. And one of those outcomes needs to be retaining and motivating leaders and teachers.
New money has been put into breakfast clubs but urgent measures need to be taken to end child poverty, which is scarring the lives and prospects of far too many children. e government needs to end the unnecessary and cruel two-child bene t cap and extend universal free school meals across the country as a starter.
Alongside an above-in ation pay o er, concessions on PPA time and exible working, as well as some money being made available for infrastructure projects in the chancellor’s rst budget, there is much that we can cautiously welcome.
Save our schools
But educators and parents voted for real change, and for the investment education urgently needs. We need this new government to be bold and really deliver for pupils, parents and the profession. e mantra from Downing Street is all about achieving growth as a way of generating the funding that education and the nation’s public services are crying out for.
But developing the skills and potential of our young people is the only route to sustainable economic growth – and any investment in education will be repaid many times over.
We cannot wait for an improvement in the economy to save our schools. is government must move faster to repair the damage done to education by the previous administration since 2010.
We need a more ambitious vision for education and, while we welcome some of the proposals mooted so far, we will continue to ght for the changes we still need for real and sustainable improvements to education and the lot of our members.
