Leadership Focus May/June 2011

Issue 49 May/June 2011

£5

THE BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR ALL SCHOOL LEADERS

LET’S FOLLOW THE LEADERS

PLUS SEND GREEN PAPER PREGNANT TEENS WIDER ROLE FOR PTAs

TIM OATES ON THE NEED FOR CURRICULUM REFORM

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Accept Visa payments to make your life easier.

It’s quicker than banking a cheque and better for cash flow as funds are usually received within 2-4 days. So whether it’s payments for school fees, uniforms or trips, Visa always gets full marks.

To find out how your school can accept Visa, email cowleyp@visa.com or visit visa.co.uk/schools

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ROBERT SANDERS EDITORIAL

Working on relationships In his speech to members at our Annual Conference in Brighton, Chris Harrison, our new President, said: “The most important factor in educational success remains the quality of the relationship between the teacher and the child.”

Reading through this issue of LF, I was struck by just how much the quality of relationships affects everything we do and everything we aim to achieve. Compare and contrast two of the letters about Ofsted on page 49. George Ford from Darlington says: “What a pity that the inspector was focused entirely on data and failed to see features that contribute to the life of a school, the life of the teacher and, most importantly, the life of the child.” Then Stuart Myers from Leeds says: “From the first phone call, the lead inspector put me at ease and convinced me he was on my side and not seeking to catch me out.” The difference between these is in the quality of the relationship and the level of trust between inspector and school leader.

In the article about Teach First (page 16), the charity that helps find good quality teachers for schools in challenging circumstances, it is the trust and the relationship between Richard Yates, the head teacher, and the charity that makes the process so quick and easy. And in the SEND Green Paper we see a move towards a better relationship between health, social services and education to meet children’s needs, as well as the sharing of expertise and best practice between the special and mainstream sectors (see page 26).

So if so many things hinge on the quality of relationships, what is our relationship with the Government, and its education policy makers? It’s been a rocky road over the past

year with Michael Gove, the Education Secretary. In his speech to conference, however, he was at pains to position himself as a ‘listener’ (page 8) – citing examples of the things he has ‘scrapped’ as a result of listening to school leaders as well as setting up reviews of Ofsted and Sats.

He also acknowledged that “pensions are part of the overall way in which we recognise and reward your service” and in his speech he offered to be a champion for school leaders on pensions. The big question for us is: do we trust him? Is the quality of our relationship such that we can put our faith in him?

We can only make progress by building relationships and improving the quality of them. We need to seize opportunities where there is the potential for working more closely together – opportunities such as that highlighted by Jack Hatch when speaking of the possibility of a national funding formula.

He pointed out that we are working with “the most sympathetic administration we have had in achieving this aim” (page 6).

We also need to listen to and understand those we are dealing with if we want to ensure that we are listened to.

‘The Education Secretary offered to be a champion for school leaders on pensions. The big question for us is: do we trust him?’

redactive publishing limited EDITORIAL & ASSOCIATION ENQUIRIES NAHT, 1 Heath Square, Boltro Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 1BL www.naht.org.uk Tel: 01444 472 472 Editor: Robert Sanders Editorial board: Russell Hobby, Chris Howard, Mike Welsh, Chris Harrison and Robert Sanders Leadership Focus is published by Redactive Publishing Limited on behalf of the NAHT

17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP www.redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6200 Email: naht@redactive.co.uk

EDITORIAL TEAM Managing editor: Steve Smethurst Assistant editors: Rebecca Grant and Sarah Campbell News and features reporter: Hollie Ewers Designer: Adrian Taylor Senior picture editor: Claire Echavarry Production manager: Jane Easterman Cover illustration: Peter Mac Printed by: Wyndeham Heron

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Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation: 27,577 (July 2009-June 2010)

ISSN: 1472–6181 © Copyright 2011 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 electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers. While every care has been taken in the compilation of this publication, neither the publisher nor the 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 publishers.

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

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CONTENTS

COVER STORY PAGE

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ARE WE A STEP BEHIND?

England’s education system is struggling to keep up the pace compared with other nations – news that signals it’s the right time for a review of the National Curriculum.

BY TIM OATES

34 24

8 NEWS FOCUS 6 THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD This is the theme for Chris Harrison’s NAHT Presidency year. The difficult part is reminding ourselves why, he told delegates at the 2011 Annual Conference in Brighton.

6 TIME IS RIPE FOR FUNDING FORMULA Similar schools receive budgets that differ by more than £1 million a year because of unfair local funding distribution.

Campaigners say a national formula is long overdue.

8 ‘I AM LISTENING,’ SAYS GOVE The Secretary of State was warned that feelings were running high when addressing school leaders in Brighton.

8 ABUSE FROM PARENTS ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ Survey finds one in 10 school leaders has been assaulted and three quarters verbally abused by parents and carers.

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9 DEBATE SPARKS BALLOT THREAT NAHT delegates voted to take ‘all action necessary’, including balloting on strike action, to defend pensions.

10 ‘STAND FIRM ON SATS’ School leaders might have other things on their minds but now is not the time to let up on the fight to change KS2 testing, says the NAHT’s assessment reform campaign.

12 ANNUAL CONFERENCE RESOLUTIONS All the policy resolutions passed in Brighton.

14 BRINGING THE FUTURE INTO FOCUS How do we prepare children for a world that doesn’t yet exist? LF reports from the NAHT Education Conferences.

16 FEATURE: FIRST STEPS TO SUCCESS The charity Teach First places high-achieving graduates in challenging schools. As the scheme is rolled out to primary schools, Rebecca Grant finds out how it works.

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FEATURES 34 A BUMPY RIDE

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Julie Stamper has been helping pregnant teenagers get a decent education for more than 20 years. Her work setting up a PRU in Hull has earned her an MBE. Steve Smethurst meets her and a few of her students – and their babies.

38 USE YOUR PARENT POWER Rebecca Grant talks to the parent teacher association that set up a catering company to sell jacket potatoes at Glastonbury Festival and finds that there’s much more to the modern PTA than cake stalls and tombolas.

42 DOWN TO BUSINESS Savvy heads are employing school business managers to free them from financial duties so they can concentrate on learning. Sarah Campbell finds out what SBMs can bring to leadership teams and quizzes the NAHT on why it is trying to persuade more SBMs to join.

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REGULARS 19 RUSSELL HOBBY’S COLUMN Our pensions must be protected, for individuals and for the future of the profession, says the General Secretary. The NAHT will fight this all the way to strike action if need be.

21 STEVE MUNBY’S COLUMN The National College head reveals why middle-ranking leaders are the ‘engine rooms for school improvement’.

22 TEN THINGS WE’VE LEARNED Jeremy Kyle helps promote good teamwork at playtime, but British pupils are sore losers when it comes to sport.

24 HEADS UP Three school leaders take the magazine’s big question challenge by telling us about their favourite biscuits, guilty secrets and the biggest challenge of all... their best joke.

26 BEHIND THE HEADLINES: SEND GREEN PAPER School leaders and SEN experts have welcomed the new Government paper, but concerns over funding and provisio provision of services persist, Hashi Syedain finds.

46 WHA WHAT’S NEW? All the latest books and educational resources.

49 LE LETTERS Readers Reader share their experiences of Ofsted.

50 AND AN FINALLY: SUSAN YOUNG

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Recruiting parents to act as casualties in a disaster Recrui scenario and using a church as an exam hall are some of the w ways that schools are thinking creatively.

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NEWS FOCUS

Headship: best job in the world NAHT President Chris Harrison used his inaugural address at the Annual Conference in Brighton to remind delegates what a great profession theirs is. He told them: “I only get this one chance to speak to you all as your President and my choice is to use the opportunity to say to you that being a head teacher is actually the best job in the world.”

He said that despite each annual survey into head teacher recruitment showing fewer people keen to take their first steps towards headship, he still loves the job even after five decades. He said: “How many other jobs give us such opportunities and such authority to really change so many lives for the better?”

He added that leading a school is about pride, passion and performance. “It is about believing in what you are doing, communicating the vision and taking others with you. The most important factor in educational success remains the quality of the relationship between the teacher and the child and – as a head

STEVE SMETHURST

School leaders debated the big issues of the day at the NAHT Annual Conference in Brighton

Chris Harrison, head of Oulton Broad Primary in Suffolk and NAHT National President for 2011-12.

teacher – I see it is my responsibility to do all I can to foster, to nurture and to cherish that relationship.”

However, he did acknowledge that tables, tests and targets have taken their toll, along with shifting goalposts, poorly thought-out initiatives, constant scrutiny and punitive measures being applied inconsistently. One solution, he suggested, lay in the profession’s hands. “Perhaps we are to some extent part of the problem.

‘Perhaps we are part of the problem. When did you last hear a colleague shout out that theirs is a wonderful job?’

When did you last hear a colleague shout out that theirs is indeed a wonderful job?

What messages do we need to send out to those who may be considering school leadership – because it has to be a message of encouragement, enthusiasm and a dogged determination to rise to take on the challenges of the job.”

Chris, head teacher of Oulton Broad Primary School in Suffolk, comes to the NAHT Presidency having risen through the ranks from Branch Secretary to National Council and Vice Presidency.

Barnsley head Steve Iredale takes over as Vice President, while Swindon primary head Mike Welsh becomes Past President.

New funding formula’s time is now Similar schools are receiving budgets that differ by more than £1 million a year because of unfair local funding distribution.

Jack Hatch (pictured), head teacher of St Bede CE Primary School in Bolton and NAHT National Treasurer, highlighted such discrepancies as he argued in favour of the implementation of a national funding formula (NFF). Now is the time to take advantage of the fact that “the current Government is the most sympathetic administration

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we have had in achieving this aim”, he added.

Tony Norton, head teacher of St Mary’s Catholic School in North Lincolnshire and executive member of the F40 campaign group, said that local funding is distributed ‘in a mysterious way’. Rosemary Mackenzie, head teacher of Alfreton Park Community Special School in Derbyshire, said that a similar school in the neighbouring authority receives £650,000 more a year than hers.

NAHT funding consultant George Phipson expressed delight that the Government was consulting on the merits of an NFF (the consultation closes on 25 May). But he was worried that the outcome might not be a ‘pure NFF’, with LAs able to ‘top-slice’ funding for local use, or aggregate all funds and distribute them according to local formulae. www.f40.org.uk Contribute to the consultation at tinyurl.com/nff-consultation

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NEWS IN BRIEF

STEVE SMETHURST

SURVEY OF MEMBERS

The NAHT is forging ahead on all fronts, said General Secretary Russell Hobby.

Hard work brings rewards for NAHT NAHT General Secretary Russell Hobby used his speech to delegates at Annual Conference to focus on internal change within the NAHT. He informed the audience that the process to make the Association more responsive to their needs was well under way.

Among recent innovations has been a policy team, which enables the NAHT to respond quickly to Government plans and influence decisions before they are enacted in law.

Russell said: “Unsurprisingly, this team has been rushed off its feet and it has scored notable impacts.”

The Association also raised its press profile, generating much more positive coverage. “We have focused on the impact of Government policy on children, remaining ambitious and recognising the concerns and interests of parents. We welcome what works and criticise what doesn’t, so that our opinion counts.”

He also referred to the management and professional advice that NAHT offers members as ‘a jewel in the crown’ of the Association. “We are expanding our advice line to take even more

calls, more often, more quickly.

And capturing advice and policies in documents that are available to download from our website.”

He added that there would be no resting on laurels. “There is much more to do. We want to improve our communication with members and look at how we recruit the next generation of leaders. We also want to support schools in procuring good services.”

He said that changes were already bringing results. “We are respected and listened to. We get things changed. We have won the Bew Review and the views of our members can be seen running throughout the recent select committee report on the future of Ofsted, following our representations to MPs.” He added that on top of all this comes the work which is invisible on the national stage: “There have been careers saved, reputations protected, allegations refuted, threats averted. There are good leaders in post today who wouldn’t be there without the NAHT, and our pupils are better off for it.” www.naht.org.uk/annualconference2011

This is your opportunity to shape the future of the NAHT and win £1,000 for your school. The NAHT is committed to providing high-quality services and member benefits and to ensure that we continue to do this, we want to hear your views. You will soon receive an electronic survey which will ask for your opinions on the NAHT as a whole, but also on areas such as our lobbying and campaigning, publications, advice and support, CPD programmes, conferences, website and involvement in your local NAHT branch.

We want as many members as possible to respond and to thank you for taking part, all entries returned by Friday 17 June will be entered in a prize draw to win £1,000 for your school or college.

To take part in the survey and help shape the future services of your Association, please ensure that your email details are up to date. Go to www.naht.org.uk and log in using your membership number and password.

RESOURCES GUIDE GOES LIVE The National Literacy Association (NLA) launched its online guide to the best literacy resources at the Education Show in Birmingham in March. The Guide to Literacy Resources brings together books, DVDs, CDs, software and websites, all reviewed by a panel of experts which includes NAHT Past President Rona Tutt.

Charlie Griffiths, Projects Director and Editor of the Guide, emphasised that “the panel has looked at every item on there and said: ‘This is a good resource.’” She added: “We’ve tried to choose a variety of resources to review, because we appreciate that different resources and approaches work well for different children and teachers.” www.nlaguide.co.uk

NAHT MEMBERS WIN AWARDS Two NAHT members won awards at the Education Show in Birmingham. Richard Edwards, head teacher of Lansdowne Primary School in Cardiff, accepted the Education Establishment of the Year, and Jason Smith, head teacher of Manor Park Primary in Birmingham, won the Leadership in Education award.

TELL US YOUR NEWS! Got a story about great practice or something new happening in your school or Local Authority?

Email naht@redactive.co.uk or call 020 7880 6249.

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NEWS FOCUS

The Secretary of State was warned that feelings were running high when he addressed delegates in Brighton Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, sought to win over school leaders with his speech to delegates at the Annual Conference.

He defended the many changes and new initiatives they have seen in recent months. “They are not vanity exercises on my part – they are a direct result of us listening to you,” he said. He quoted changes on SIPs, school profiles, centralised target setting, self-evaluation forms and FMSIS. He added that new measures would soon

be revealed to ensure school leaders could speedily and effectively ‘manage out of the profession’ those people who should not be teaching.

On the pensions hot topic (see page 9), he refused to give any promises – stating tough decisions would have to be made. However, he promised that “within Government, I will be a champion of, and a consistent voice for, the interests of education professionals.”

On Ofsted and Sats, he said: “You’ve told me that Ofsted isn’t working and that Sats need to change, he said. “We are reviewing both of those areas.” Mr Gove also said that he had a vision for how he wanted Ofsted to change.

‘You’ve told me that Ofsted isn’t working and that Sats need to change.

We are reviewing both of those areas’

Michael Gove: promised to champion the interests of education professionals.

He wanted it to move from an organisation whose primary role is to place a black mark next to a school. Instead, he wanted it to be about celebrating great practice.

“It will continue to have a role in ringing the alarm bell if things are going wrong. But I would far rather the alarm bell were drowned out by Ofsted

GENERAL SECRETARY BLASTS ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ LEVELS OF PARENTAL PRESSURE One in 10 school leaders has been physically assaulted by a parent or carer at their school, according to an NAHT survey.

Almost 75 per cent of the 1,362 school leaders who responded said they had suffered verbal abuse or threats from a parent in the past five years. One in five admitted they had been victimised on a social networking site and more

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than 68 per cent said parents’ behaviour towards teachers has worsened over time.

Descriptions of assaults on head teachers by parents or carers included: “Serious kicking – badly bruised and difficulty walking for a couple of days.”

Another said: “Parent tried to run me over in the car park.”

There was also an incident of a table being thrown, as well

STEVE SMETHURST

‘I am listening,’ Michael Gove tells delegates

as heads being spat at, bitten, headbutted and even sexually assaulted. NAHT General Secretary Russell Hobby said that while he accepted that emotions run high when children are involved, “many school leaders come under unacceptable pressure. All are dedicated to the children in their care and some pay a high personal cost for this dedication.”

trumpeting the achievements of good schools,” he said.

Inspectors will be increasingly better qualified and more grounded in schools, with the aim being more ‘intelligent accountability’, he added.

Mr Gove used the same phrase when turning to Sats.

“I believe the Bew Review will take us to an evidencebased resolution of this problem, one that doesn’t lead to teaching to the test, cramming, or a narrowing of the curriculum, and which ensures children can enjoy their youth, great teachers can be trusted and that parents can be fairly informed about the progress we’re making.”

NAHT General Secretary Russell Hobby said that the test of whether Mr Gove trusted the profession would be if he could get accountability right. “There is a lot riding on June at this moment in time,” he said.

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THE BEST OF THE BLOGS

STEVE SMETHURST

MORE WORK, LESS PAY As industrial action looms over pension reforms, NAHT General Secretary Russell Hobby looks at the impact the Government’s proposals – which mean working longer for less money – will have on school leaders.

The proposals are also likely to make recruitment of future school leaders, already a major challenge, even more tricky. “There are many different responses to a recruitment crisis. Cutting pay is not usually one of the most effective,” argues Russell. www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/russell-hobby

Brian McNutt and David Fann put forward the emergency motion on pensions.

NICK GETS A GRILLING

Pensions debate sparks talk of strike NAHT delegates voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking ‘all action necessary’, including balloting on strike action, to defend their pensions at the Annual Conference in Brighton.

Brian McNutt, head teacher consultant from Merseyside and seconder of the emergency pensions motion, described the changes proposed by Lord Hutton in his report in March as ‘disaster politics’ and pointed out that younger school leaders have the most to lose because of the proposed change from final-salary to career-average pensions.

David Fann, head teacher of Sherwood Primary School in Preston and proposer of the motion, summed up the Hutton proposals as: “We’re going to pay more, work until we’re older and get less.”

Other members voiced their concern for younger colleagues.

Eric Spear, Life Member and Past President, pointed out that teachers’ pensions are not gold-plated, and that “we are not asking for largesse from the Government. What we want is our due.”

Jan Wiggins, head teacher of Hall

School for children with autistic spectrum disorders in Norwich, said she was worried about the effects on education professionals’ health of retiring at 65, especially when working with children with extreme behaviour. “Will my colleagues be putting themselves at risk of serious injury or disability because they should have retired?” she said.

Education Secretary Michael Gove, in his speech to the conference, acknowledged the ‘unspoken compact’ between the Government and school leaders.

“You may not have earned the same amount as other people who are as well qualified in other professions, so we acknowledge that your pensions are part of the overall way in which we recognise and reward your service,” he said.

He also pledged to work with the NAHT and other teaching unions to create a satisfactory settlement.

“The Hutton report is a valuable set of principles on which to negotiate,” he added.

General Secretary Russell Hobby said that he welcomed Mr Gove’s positive comments on the issue.

Susan Young’s favourite bit of entertainment over Easter was Nick Gibb’s turn in front of MPs when he presented evidence for the English Baccalaureate to the education select committee. Questions were fired at the Education Minister by MPs who were concerned about how it would work in practice. Susan, who witnessed the debate, says: “Adding to the faintly surreal nature of the exchanges was an increasingly persistent percussive noise, which sounded a bit like someone menacingly wielding a blunt instrument somewhere just off camera, in the manner of an EastEnders villain.” www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/susan-young

A FOND FAREWELL Now that Mike Welsh has concluded his year as NAHT President, he looks back fondly on the highlights of his time in office, from meeting some of the Association’s more interesting and inspiring members, to important changes at HQ. He’s confident that the Association is set to enjoy a bright future. “Any President will tell you that it is their aim is to leave the association in a better place than where they began – our members demand nothing less,” he says. www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/ blogs/a-headteachers-life

WALES WANTS QUALITY In the lead up to the Welsh general election, NAHT Cymru published a manifesto promoting the importance of a high-quality education system. Whatever the new Assembly decides to do, Anna Brychan, Director of NAHT Cymru, hopes they continue to focus on education.

“We know that education faces challenges – not least a shrinking spending pot,” she says. “What matters at school level is the quality of teaching and leadership. It is by concentrating on these that we can ensure every child is given the best opportunity to flourish.” www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/ naht-cymru-blog

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NEWS FOCUS

‘Stand firm on assessment reform’ As Lord Bew prepares to publish his recommendations, NAHT members were reminded what the campaign is striving for

‘We have not come this far and fought so hard to be denied what we know is right for children, school leaders and communities across the country’

School leaders might have pensions and Ofsted on their minds at the moment, but delegates were urged not to give up the fight on KS2 reform at the Annual Conference.

Amanda Hulme, head teacher of Claypool Primary School in Bolton and chair of the NAHT’s assessment reform campaign, said: “This really does need sorting once and for all and I believe we’re now at the beginning of the end.”

She and Steve Iredale, head teacher of Athersley South Primary School in Barnsley and new NAHT Vice President, voiced confidence in Lord Bew’s review of KS2 assessment. But, Steve said, “this remains a very live issue. Bew has reported on the evidence and now has the challenging task of delivering recommendations.”

He added: “We have put our faith in the independent review but remain strong in our beliefs as the publication date looms.”

He said he wanted to send a clear message to Education Secretary Michael Gove: “We will work with you, we will negotiate, but we will not accept a system which does not go a long way towards meeting our campaign aims.

“We have not come this far and fought so hard to be denied what we know is right for children, school leaders and communities across the country.”

He reiterated that the Association’s issue was not with testing per se, but with the way data is used against the teaching profession in arbitrary league tables and the like. He said that the decision not to

boycott this year was a difficult one for many heads, and used the example of his own school, where two parents had told him that they were taking their children on holiday during this year’s Sats because last year they were told that they would not be happening again.

Amanda made an impassioned plea for members to stand firm in their support, saying that at times she had wondered whether it was all worth it, “like the time my deputy called me to say she’d excluded a pupil for assaulting a member of staff and I wasn’t there”. But she added that she has confidence in the review, believed it was a battle worth fighting, and looked forward to a day when she could put her energy into other campaign issues.

SOME OF THE MORE MEMORABLE QUOTES FROM CONFERENCE 2011

“Nick Gibb is my local MP and he does visit local schools, although I’m not sure how many he’s visited recently. When I’ve met him, he’s come across as a nice man. However, education policy is clearly made on the hoof without concern for the consequences for schools.”

Peter Greenwood, Life member, West Sussex

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TEMPEST PHOTOGRAPHY

“My understanding is that Schools Minister Nick Gibb, who is doing the curriculum review, has visited only three schools in the seven months he’s been in post. My dog’s been in more schools than that.”

Tony Roberts, Life member, Lancashire

“George Osborne is Arthur Daley’s soulmate. He would have loved to dip into your pocket and take £142 a month. But I actually like Arthur: he was a rascal. If you bought a car from him you knew what you were getting. I wouldn’t buy a car from George Osborne.”

Brian McNutt, head teacher consultant, Merseyside

“There are 98 head teachers at nursery schools in Northern Ireland, we are all female and we are all suffering as a result of active and ongoing discrimination. We teach five days a week, every week, with no principal-release time. We have no senior teacher and no deputies.

We are flying solo. How can we continue to do this and fulfil the responsibilities of being a head teacher?”

Clare Majury, principal, Holyrood Nursery School, County Down

“We’ve always argued for the post of the deputy head. What better way to pick up vital experience? Whether it’s dealing with a member of staff accused of hitting a child, an aggressive parent arriving unannounced, or a pupil who brings in a WWII shell he found on the moors at the weekend that he wants to sketch in the artroom.”

Vince Burke, senior vice principal, All Saints Academy, Plymouth

“The phonics consultation document suggests that the screening check might have 40 words, of which half might be non-words. As if to reinforce the idea that we might be moving into a parallel universe, it was suggested that these might be illustrated. As the President of the National Literacy Association pointed out, this all seems ‘a bit bonkers’.”

Rona Tutt (pictured), NAHT Past President

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CONFERENCE C ONFERENCE M MOTIONS OTIONS

NAHT Vice President Steve Iredale (left) addresses delegates at the Annual Conference in Brighton; as do Northern Ireland nursery school principal Clare Majury, and Tony Norton, representing the F40 campaign group.

NAHT Annual Conference Policy resolutions for 2011-12 NAHT purpose Conference instructs the National Executive to be proactive in promoting the NAHT as the only organisation exclusively representing school leaders across the 0-19 age range, and ensuring that the Association is fully represented in all discussions with Government that affect the lives of members and the children and young people they serve.

STEVE SMETHURST/TEMPEST PHOTOGRAPHY

National Funding Formula

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Conference reiterates the policy that funding should be delivered to all schools through a National Funding Formula. This must work in conjunction with the Pupil Premium to deliver fair funding to all schools, regardless of their location, phase, specialism etc.

members who are affected and for the Association to work closely with the YPLA and its successor body to ensure that members and their schools receive the best advice available.

Government cuts Conference requests the National Executive and the General Secretary to press the Government on every possible occasion to carry out its election pledge to ‘listen to the professionals in order for them to carry out their jobs,’ and to consult meaningfully with the teaching profession as opposed to making quixotic decisions and cuts worked out on planning by an ‘on the back of a fag packet’ political model.

Community choice Post-16 funding Schools with sixth forms face significant cuts in funding over the next four years. This could threaten the viability of smaller sixth forms and impact on the range of courses offered. Conference calls on the Executive to employ all available channels to support

Conference instructs National Executive to lobby the Government to ensure that local communities are given a genuine choice in the type of new school that are opened in their locality. Academies and Free Schools should not be imposed and this requirement must be removed from the Education Bill.

Deputy Depu De puty ty heads h hea Conference endorses the policy that there should be a deputy head in every school (taking into account the position of small schools) rather than the policy of leadership on the cheap and instructs National Executive to further this at every available opportunity.

One head, one school Conference acknowledges that different forms of headship have evolved and accepts that the Association’s position on this needs be revised in order to reflect the changing landscape of leadership in our schools.

Conference adopts the policy that every school needs a single individual clearly identified as its head teacher but, where appropriate, this person could be head of more than one school. Moreover, it is vital that those taking on devolved headship responsibility should have formal recognition, legal protection and appropriate remuneration.

Schools must have the option to choose the model for educational reasons and not to save money or because of difficulties in recruitment.

Conference mandates officers of the Association to continue to make representations within the STRB framework to ensure that any new models of leadership are formally recognised within the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions document.

Early Years All children must have the right to a high quality education in early years as recommended in recent research.

Conference calls upon the National Executive to ensure that this provision is

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about the future of assessment in primary schools in England, which must meet the requirement of the new Equalities Act. Should the Government fail to negotiate and then deliver a fairer system of assessment and accountability for 2012, in line with the principles that we have fought for as stated in the Charter, Conference accepts that National Executive reserves the right to consult the membership to take further action.

a single year’s data is absurd. The Government failed to consult with school leaders on this initiative and we must now question their trust in us as indicated in the White Paper and the Education Bill.

Conference calls upon National Executive to provide a clear and decisive lead lobbying Government, to ensure schools, their leaders and communities are protected from ritual humiliation and are judged fairly on all aspects of their work, rather than being measured by annual raw data alone.

Pensions Conference calls upon National Executive to take all action necessary to defend pensions up to and including balloting on industrial action, in opposition to the changes proposed by the Hutton Inquiry as they will reduce existing and worsen future retirement benefits for the teaching profession and the public sector as a whole. NAHT believes that the proposed changes will seriously damage motivation and morale, exacerbating the already serious problems of recruitment and retention of school leaders.

SEN Green Paper off uniform if hi high h standard t d d and d available il bl within the local community and funded by local authorities.

Nursery principals NAHT Northern Ireland instructs National Executive to continue to press to bring about professional equality for Nursery Principals with primary colleagues. Lack of release time is not only detrimental to their health and wellbeing but also to the teaching and learning experiences of children and to the mentoring and support of staff.

Capability procedure This Conference calls on the National Executive to work with the Government to develop a more effective, fair, streamlined and rigorous capability procedure. Consultation with other unions would follow.

Assessment Reform Campaign As an outcome of the NAHT’s Assessment Reform Campaign, the Government agreed to commission a full independent review of the current assessment system at Key Stage 2.

As a mark of trust, the Association agreed to suspend industrial action in 2011, pending the outcome of the review.

Once the final report is published, NAHT expects the Government to engage in meaningful and transparent negotiation

Conference welcomes the publication of the Green Paper: Support and Aspiration – a new approach to special educational needs and disability – a consultation and its recognition of ALL schools being part of an educational continuum.

Conference instructs National Executive to discuss with the Government the issues identified in the five major areas of proposals, to ensure there is clarity of purpose, adequate and appropriate funding, and the necessary provision of training and health, social care and education support services. This is to ensure that the needs and aspirations of all pupils, young adults and their families are met.

Ofsted Conference believes that the proposed changes to the Ofsted framework fall short of the reform required if school leaders are to have any faith in the inspection system.

Conference mandates the National Executive to campaign for the model of reform outlined in the NAHT policy document Improving School Inspection.

Curriculum Conference instructs National Executive to promote NAHT Curriculum Position Paper and asks members to take account of the broad principles from the range of curriculum reviews, when making decisions on their curriculum for the 21st Century.

Phonics screening check Conference believes that the proposed Phonics Screening Check is as much a nonsense as the words contained within it and instructs the National Executive to endeavour to work with the Government to explore other pedagogical options.

Teaching Schools Conference mandates National Executive to continue to work with the National College, DfE and TDA to ensure that the current proposals for the Teaching Schools programme deliver high-quality ITT, leadership development and CPD for all schools and does not create a divisive, twotier system of professional development.

Social networking sites Conference welcomes the work that has already been undertaken by NAHT to assist and support members who are subject to campaigns on social network sites by groups outside their school’s control. Conference instructs National Executive to explore every avenue in developing robust guidelines for offering immediate advice, support and action, both personal and legal, to all members. National Executive should then lobby vigorously with the DfE for the adoption of national guidelines.

Admissions Use of data The Government’s latest initiative, ‘The Floor Standards Programme’, which targets underperforming schools, is yet another example of a Government obsessed by data not reality. Selecting schools based on

Schools, not local authorities, are in the best place and position to manage their own rolls of children. Conference proposes that the National Executive work with the DfE to give schools control over their own admissions. LF

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NEWS FOCUS

Bringing the future into focus In the absence of Schools Minister Nick Gibb, NAHT General Secretary Russell Hobby stepped in to give the speech he thought the minister should have made at the Association’s Education Conferences in March.

“I hope that the minister would have stood up and said that we have reached the limit of the target-driven, centralised agenda,” he said in the opening session in Reading on 4 March (the conference also took place on 25 March in Leeds).

“This agenda may have been useful in the 1990s but now it’s starting to have a damaging effect on the education system.

If the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over

CHRIS BULL/UNP

How to prepare children for a world that doesn’t yet exist? This was the theme of the NAHT’s Education Conferences.

Sarah Campbell reports

and over again and expecting different results, then we need to try something different. The risk is that we’re going to get more of the same: one last test; one extra league table.”

For NAHT Past President Mike Welsh, improving life chances for future school leavers begins at the age of three, which is why funding cuts could be disastrous. He

said: “One bright shining star of the last Government was its investment in Early Years.

To see children’s centres now being closed in some Local Authorities is extremely sad because children will lose out on that joined-up thinking.”

He also pointed out that the initial excitement about the pupil premium, announced in the Spending Review last

WORKSHOP LEARNING POINTS Attendance is a schoolimprovement issue, according to Linda Rundle of the Department for Education’s National Strategies, who ran the Improving Attendance seminar.

She advocates doing whatever it takes to get children into school, be it sending taxis to pick up persistent truants, sending flowers to parents who get their children to school consistently or dressing up every Friday so children want to come in to see what you’re wearing. In addition, she recommends always making parents come in to talk to you personally when they want to take a holiday during term time.

14

Consultant Brian McNutt, who ran the Handling Parental Complaints session, told delegates that it’s only by running an emotionally intelligent school that they can handle complaints effectively. “When a parent comes in accusing you of doing something wrong, don’t automatically negate him or her. Listen with the intent to understand, not to reply; acknowledge the parent’s point of view and say thank you; write everything down; and don’t be afraid to take time to give it proper consideration.”

Jill Williams, assistant head of St Bede CE Primary in Bolton,

and Michelle Drake, Drake lead practitioner for the Every Child a Talker (Ecat) National Strategy at the school, explained how nurseries can improve the communication skills of their charges by creating cosy areas and role-play zones and letting children spend time chatting in them. In their school, the implementation of the strategy improved the language skills of even the children for whom English was not their first language.

year, turned to disappointment when it became clear that the money wouldn’t even be enough to keep a reading recovery teacher in those schools that already have them.

Later in the day, Jean Gross, the Government’s Communication Champion, outlined her vision for this year’s ‘Hello’ campaign (see LF, March/April 2011, page 8) to raise awareness of the importance of the teaching of im communication skills. c One small example of how school leaders can h improve communication is im to introduce a ‘seven-second’ policy when asking questions. p “Most teachers leave a couple “ of o seconds between asking a question and expecting an answer,” she said. Leaving more a time gives pupils the chance to formulate an answer and have the confidence to respond.

The day was rounded off with a speech by author Alistair Smith (see book review, page 46) on his latest ideas on ‘learning to learn’, which enthused the audience at the end of a busy day. NAHT members seemed to appreciate the non-stop nature of the conference. “I came here to learn, so it’s been a really useful day,” one head teacher told LF.

LEADERSHIP FOCUS ● MAY/JUNE 2011

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MAY/JUNE 2011 ● LEADERSHIP FOCUS

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NEWS FEATURE

First steps to success Rebecca Grant discovers why heads of challenging primary schools are turning to a charity to recruit the next generation of teachers Allowing an outside organisation to select a student teacher on your behalf requires a leap of faith, says head teacher Richard Yates – especially when your knowledge of that person’s skills and experience is limited to what you’ve read on their CV. But the head of West Drayton Primary School was willing to take that leap.

Three years ago the school, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, agreed to take part in a pilot scheme run by Teach First, a charity that trains graduates as teachers and places them in challenging schools.

West Drayton, which has about 460 pupils on roll, is classed as challenging as it’s located in the most deprived area of Hillingdon. “We have 35 per cent free school meals and, at the last count, 47 languages spoken as a first language, so we have lots of multi-ethnic challenges too,” Richard says. “This means that we can’t have satisfactory-to-good teachers here. We need good-to-outstanding.”

Since the pilot began, two Teach First graduates, Hannah Folan and Jennifer Livesey, have started work at West Drayton.

Richard considers them assets to the school.

He believes their success is down to the calibre of the Teach First programme.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the characteristics of Hannah and Jennifer are similar,” he says. “They both need to be told when to stop rather than when to start. They are determined and motivated – they never let things go. They follow policy to the last letter, regardless.”

The school was also looking to improve its modern languages provision, and Teach First could offer candidates that met that need. Jennifer, for example, has a degree in French and Russian from the University of Durham and has also taught English abroad.

In at the deep end On her first day at West Drayton, Jennifer taught a Year Six French lesson, and she was assigned the role of modern foreign language subject co-ordinator while still in her student year. “It was fantastic because I felt from day one that I really had a purpose. I was brought to a school that was challenging yet outstanding, but there was no language provision, so it meant I found a niche immediately,” she says.

Although Jennifer, now fully qualified and in her third year at West Drayton, appreciated having such responsibility from the start, she admits that she found the workload daunting. “It was challenging,” she recalls. “Learning how to teach as quickly as I had to was hard and I did feel like I was struggling at times, but I learned to play to my strengths.

Less of a risk The standard of Teach First candidates is down to its rigorous selection process, says chief executive Brett Wigdortz. The quality of applicants is so high that the charity turns away more Oxbridge graduates than it accepts, he adds. It also matches the candidates’ personalities and skills to each school, which is why Richard had no qualms about hiring Hannah and Jennifer based merely on the CVs that Teach First gave him. He says: “The risk is reduced because you know the characters you are going to get.”

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HOW IT WORKS TEACH FIRST PRIMARY Graduates must have achieved a 2:1 or higher in their degree, but then the recruitment process is competencybased. The charity will select candidates who show characteristics that primary teachers need, such as empathy, humility and resilience.

The training programme lasts for two years, including a week-long orientation followed by an intensive six-week training programme over the summer. The graduates will then be placed in a school, where they will be expected to teach a full NQT timetable.

At the end of their first year, students will have achieved a PGCE. Teach First also runs another training programme, Teach On, which aims to fast-track candidates into leadership roles.

To find out more contact Louise Davies at ldavies@teachfirst.org.uk

‘Teach First candidates are determined and motivated – they never let things go’ “Because it was a pilot scheme, it was hard for the school to know how to work with it. The school had supported PGCE students, but I came in as a different kind of student, so it was a different challenge,” she says.

Learning from Jennifer’s experience, Richard made sure that his second Teach First graduate, Hannah, was not given any extra responsibility, such as subject co-ordination, during her first year.

Moving into primary education was also a major leap for Teach First itself. It had been placing graduates in secondary schools since the charity was established in 2002, but primary teaching required a different approach. For example, graduates are expected to master all aspects of the curriculum on top of their specialist subject. This is why the pilot scheme ran for three years before a revised system was launched nationwide in March this year.

“I think we have a model that will work well with head teachers,” says chief executive Brett. “We’re looking to expand to between 50 and 80 primary teachers this year. If it goes well, I don’t see why we can’t be as big as our secondary offering, which is 700 to 750 schools.”

Although Teach First’s main mission is to address educational disadvantage

– hence it places graduates only in challenging schools – its primary school programme also aims to combat another challenge facing primary education in general, which is the deficit in head teacher candidates.

Louise Davis, a former head teacher who is now Teach First’s associate director of primary development, explains: “Our participants are trained to be leaders. We have a two-year leadership development programme. We think this is particularly important for primary given that, in 2010, 40 per cent of primary head teacher vacancies were left unfilled after the first round of adverts.”

And although Jennifer, just three years into her teaching career, still feels that a leadership role is a long way off, it is something she is striving towards.

“I was always attracted to the idea of teaching, but thought I’d do it for a few years and then move on to something else. I’m now convinced that this is the career for me, my calling, so to speak.

I look forward to seeing what the future holds.”

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VIEWPOINT

RUSSELL HOBBY R Columnist C

We’re not shy about retiring The future of the profession depends on the defence of our pensions

PA

F

orget pensions. For now. One thing was clear from Annual Conference: this is an increasingly confident and positive Association.

Happy to talk, ready to contribute, but always with a firm stance based on what is right for pupils. This approach has already led to steady progress on Sats, salaries, privacy, Ofsted, funding formulas and capability.

Now remember pensions. This has huge implications for us. The existing change to indexing, combined with the changes proposed by Hutton, will substantially reduce the value of the pension for most of our members. And the younger you are, the greater the impact. At the same time, the cost of contributions will rise; as may the retirement age.

There is no evidence that the teachers’ pension scheme is unaffordable. In fact, we made changes in 2006 to make the scheme sustainable, including higher contributions and a ‘cap and share’ approach to risk. In 2007, the Audit Commission said that these changes were working. An up-to-date actuarial valuation of the scheme is overdue. These facts lead to one conclusion: the real motive for these changes is not the sustainability of public sector pensions but deficit reduction. The Government has identified that public sector pensions reform will contribute £2.8 billion to its deficit reduction. In other words, they make the mess and you pay for it.

The scheme is already no longer linked to the retail price index, and has switched to the consumer price index. This will wipe £50,000 off your total retirement income. Likely increases in contributions will take at least £140 a month out of your salary.

The impact of a move away from the final-salary pension to a ‘career average’ is unclear, as we have no details on the design of the scheme.

Accrued rights are protected. That is, you will continue to be paid a final-salary pension for all your contributions and years of work up to the date any new scheme is implemented. The less favourable indexing will reduce the value of this, of course, but the important point is: don’t alter your planned date of retirement. You are unlikely to gain any financial advantage from retiring earlier than you planned.

The voice of our members is unambiguous.

Ninety per cent oppose changes to the final scheme.

Some 99.6 per cent of delegates to Conference instructed the executive to take ‘any action necessary’ to defend pensions. This could include industrial action. It need not; we will negotiate first and there

19 RH column.indd 19

are many options open to us other than a strike. We may, however, be driven to the last resort.

Admittedly, we are not likely to garner much public sympathy. But there are numerous arguments in our defence. We have accepted lower salaries in return for a secure retirement. Just because private employers have given their staff poor pensions, it does not mean that public sector workers should be harmed too.

Above all, how will we attract talented leaders if we don’t reward them fairly?

School leaders work hard and daily face difficult decisions that change lives.

There is not a single one who couldn’t take their skills to the private sector and earn a great deal more. We want these people in our schools where they belong. Breaking what the Secretary of State described as the ‘unspoken compact’ doesn’t seem the way to achieve that.

Just because private employers have given their staff poor pensions, it does not mean public sector workers should be harmed too

Article on Bradford and Serco We didn’t get the balance right with our article on Bradford and Serco last issue. It gave one perspective on the experience of managed services, but many Bradford members have offered alternative views.

We need to make it clear that, although the NAHT believes schools should be accountable, the methods of accountability must be proportionate, fair and respectful. Members in Bradford do not feel that this has always been the case for them. Unfortunately, this is true in many parts of the country; too often governments ask others to do their dirty work for them.

It is also vital to recognise that school improvement is driven by school leaders and their teams. I hope we will be able to offer a fuller perspective, with contributions from our Bradford branch, in a future issue.

Russell Hobby is NAHT General Secretary

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STEVE MUNBY ST Columnist Co

VIEWPOINT

Fine-tune your engines A new driving force of leaders is set to give school performance a boost

S

ome years ago the National College adopted a phrase to describe the cadre of energetic and committed leaders, operating below head teacher level, who play a critical role in driving improvement and raising standards in our schools. We called them ‘the engine rooms of school improvement’.

It’s a neat phrase – and just as relevant today because it acknowledges that great school leadership doesn’t come just from the head teacher’s chair, despite what the media might say about ‘superheads’ on an almost daily basis.

We know that leadership is at its best and most effective when it is distributed among a number of talented individuals according to their skills and expertise. It’s the deputy heads, the assistant heads, middle leaders and co-ordinators who are essential to making schools better.

More often than not, heads are quick to recognise these key individuals on their leadership teams and highlight how critical they have been to their school’s success. Increasingly, I also hear how these leaders are working beyond their schools, with others, to bring about improvement.

One example of this approach is senior and middle leaders working in national support schools as part of the National Leaders of Education programme. There are now almost 250 primary national leaders and each one of these draws on their wider leadership team to form a potent force for turning around struggling schools. It’s a compelling picture of senior and middle leaders playing a critical part in improving more children’s lives and closing the achievement gap.

ISTOCKPHOTO

Great potential The recent schools White Paper recognised the great potential of this group with the creation of the Specialist Leader of Education (SLE) role. This role will give even more people the opportunity to support other schools. An SLE may, for example, be an assistant head who leads on curriculum development, a school business manager or a Key Stage leader.

The proposals are that an SLE must: • be an outstanding practitioner, with at least two years’ experience in a particular field of expertise; • have a successful record, supported by substantial impact evidence, of working effectively within their own school and/or across a group of schools, or working with a range of staff within a single school;

• be committed to working outside their school; • have a track record of successfully using coaching and/ or facilitation skills to bring about improvement; • have the backing of their head and chair of governors, and be able to be released from their school for an agreed period.

They will play a significant role in school improvement and our aim is for up to 5,000 SLEs to be in operation by 2014, working alongside a network of 500 teaching schools.

The new teaching schools – which also start operating in September - will be key to the delivery of the SLE programme. They will designate SLEs and help schools find the person that is right for them. They will do this by maintaining a ‘directory of expertise’, which schools can consult to find the experts to help them with their particular challenge. It is important to stress that SLEs won’t need to come from an outstanding school and could be drawn from any school working in a teaching school alliance.

Neither will SLEs replace existing classroom-based specialist roles. SLEs will provide leadership expertise and will be able to bring together all the great work that classroom specialists have been doing in schools, acting as a leadership link between the classroom and the leadership team.

School leaders now have an unprecedented opportunity to take the reins of school-to-school improvement. We will succeed only if we continue to recognise the potential of our talented senior and middle leaders and ensure they have a front-line role that will, ultimately, benefit most schools.

It’s time to properly realise the power of our very own engine rooms of improvement.

Leaders now have an unprecedented opportunity to take the reins of school-to-school improvement

Steve is chief executive of the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services.

For further information about teaching schools and SLEs, go to www.nationalcollege.org.uk/sle

MAY/JUNE 2011 ● LEADERSHIP FOCUS 21

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10/5/11 08:23:57

STRANGE BUT TRUE

THINGS WE’VE LEARNED Since the last LF, we’ve learned about the dangers of swimming goggles, the holographic future of teaching and that Devon school children enjoy a pub lunch Education reduces blood pressure Studying for longer has been linked to lower levels of heart disease by researchers in the US. They looked at 30 years of data from 3,890 people and found that those in the highly educated group who had studied for 17 years or more had lower average levels of systolic blood pressure than those in the lower group who had studied for 12 years or less. The link was stronger in women than in men even after other factors such as smoking, medication and drinking were taken into consideration.

Simon Cowell and Jeremy Kyle enrich children’s play Researchers observing play over two years in schools in Sheffield and London have found that video games, pop music and television enrich children’s play, with some acting out programmes such as The Jeremy Kyle Show and Britain’s Got Talent. The project, organised by the Institute of Education, the University of East London and the University of Sheffield, also found that traditional games such as tag are thriving in 21st-century playgrounds.

The mind goggles at new health and safety rules Futuristic teaching is upon us Is this the future of education? Holograms of subject experts and tutors are being beamed into workplaces and homes across the world.

E-learning specialist Brightwave is rolling out the ‘holotutor’ and the company has also created the ‘conductipad’ – a desktop pad that measures skin conductivity to assess learning criteria such as heart rate, adrenaline levels and brainwaves.

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Children have been banned from wearing goggles during swimming lessons because of fears that the eyewear could snap and injure them. Children will now need a medical reason to wear them.

The ruling by Oxfordshire County Council was deemed ‘nutty’ by some parents, but Leicestershire and Hertfordshire County Councils have also advised schools of the danger of the eyewear snapping on to faces or causing children to bump into one another due to reduced peripheral vision.

LEADERSHIP FOCUS ● MAY/JUNE 2011

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Devon primary children have lunch down the pub

Dogs can help children with reading aloud

Pupils at Pyworthy Primary in Devon have swapped their school dinners for pub lunches because of a lack of kitchen and dining space at school.The landlady of the nearby Molesworth Arms used to be a dinner lady and offered to provide the service when she heard that the school didn’t have room to cook and serve hot food. School staples such as roast dinners, fish and chips, pasta, baked potatoes and apple crumble are on the menu, which feeds about 20 children each day at a cost of £2 a head to parents.

‘Listening dogs’ are being used in primary schools as reading companions for children who are usually too shy to read aloud. A US scheme called Reading Education Assistance Dogs (Read) was piloted in two Kent schools in September and has since been used in schools in Devon and Staffordshire. The dogs, usually greyhounds because they rarely bark and their short hair is less likely to cause allergies, are fully trained and registered therapy animals.

They help the children by providing a calm and motivating presence for them to feel confident in reading aloud.

Truancy is at a record high in English schools Since 1996-97 there has been a 42 per cent increase in absenteeism in all schools in England. About 66,000 pupils of all ages skipped school without permission on a typical day in 2009-10 through truancy, family holidays, illness and other reasons, according to analysis of statistics by the Department for Education. Just 6.38 per cent of all pupils had no time off school in 2009-10.

British children are sore losers Sulking, crying and getting angry were the most common traits of sore losers, with parents just as guilty of such behaviour as their children. According to a survey

by Opinion Matters, two thirds of parents said their children reacted badly when they lost. A further two thirds of respondents said other parents behaved badly when watching children’s matches, with some parents mocking the opposition and using foul language. However, 96 per cent said their children were gracious in victory.

ISTOCK

Children are ‘games addicts’ The effects of computer-game addiction are making pupils unfit for school, according to a Plymouth primary school teacher. Symptoms include talking about computer games during lessons, tiredness or falling asleep in class, poor concentration, poor reading and vocabulary, and a reluctance to take part in physical activity. Richard Gribble carried out a study on a sample of 10- and 11-year-old pupils at Widney Court Primary School.

He found that 78 per cent were playing on a games console every evening, 35 per cent were playing in the morning before school and 42 per cent were playing games with a 15 or 18 rating.

The glass ceiling starts at school Work placements for young women are almost always in ‘stereotypically female’ occupations. In all the schools Ofsted visited, girls mainly chose courses such as dance, art, textiles, and health and social care.

Christine Gilbert, chief inspector of schools, said that Ofsted’s survey found that schools are not using work experience to challenge gender stereotypes. Ofsted’s findings add to the conclusions of a report commissioned by the last government, which found that women are “crowded into a narrow range of lower-paying occupations, mainly those available part-time”.

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QUESTION CORNER

KEVIN WILSON K H Head teacher, A All Saints Catholic School, Dagenham

WHAT TYPE OF PERSON ARE YOU? In five words? Calm, tidy, organised, energetic, flippant.

Most prized possession? A trophy for winning the London basketball league.

Favourite biscuit? Shortbread.

Unmissable TV? Match of the Day. Top film? The Great Escape.

Favourite song? You’ve got a Friend by James Taylor.

Best book? The Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott.

Who would play you in the film of your life? Mark McManus (the original Taggart).

Guilty secret? A colleague came up with a very good initiative for computerised assessment, but left before implementing it.

I got the credit for it – but forgot to mention it was not my idea.

HEADS

COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES

UP If you would like to take the LF questionnaire, email us at naht@redactive.co.uk

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ISTOCK/ALAMY/REX

Three school leaders take up the Leadership Focus challenge to describe their leadership style and then tell us a joke

I went into teaching because I wanted to teach PE from a very young age. Office jobs in the Civil Service and Royal Mail only reinforced my desire to teach.

My own schooling was very traditional in a Scottish selective school. I encountered some excellent role models among the staff, although it was hard to accept my French teacher as a role model – I was taught by my sister.

My most embarrassing moment was in my very early days as a teacher. One morning my car would not start, which meant catching a bus with a number of pupils on board.

When I was asked for my fare I realised I had no money.

One of the pupils came to my rescue, but not before the driver had asked me to leave the bus.

My leadership style is open and transparent.

There are occasions when executive decisions have to be made but I am happy to be as democratic as possible.

If I’ve learned one thing, it’s always to try to finish the day with something positive.

If I were the PM, I’d direct ministers with responsibility for public services to spend six months working in that area. I suspect health and education ministers would find the experience quite enlightening.

I shouldn’t be telling you this, but when a meeting I was due to attend was cancelled at the last minute, I did not tell anyone but took the day off.

My guilt was reinforced every time someone asked me if the meeting had been useful.

Tell us your best joke You won’t hear from me for a while. I’m being investigated for stealing swimming pool inflatables. I gotta lilo.

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JJANE GIRLE JAN

TROY JJENKINSON

Hea teacher, Head Pen Penn Wood Primary and Nursery School, Slough

Head tea teacher, Stathern Primary School, Leicestershire

WHAT TYPE OF PERSON ARE YOU?

WHAT TYPE OF PERSON ARE YOU?

In five words? Creative, reflective, determined, floral, bookworm.

Most prized possession? My golden retriever Darcy, who is now our school dog.

Favourite biscuit? Jammy Dodger.

Unmissable TV? Escape to the Country.

Top film? The King’s Speech.

Favourite song? Circle of Life by Elton John.

Best book? Unstoppable by Adrian Gilpin.

Who would play you in the film of your life? Jennifer Saunders.

Guilty secret? I timed the birth of my first child in 1989 to avoid the implementation of the National Curriculum.

In five words? Bubbly, sociable, outgoing, determined, understanding.

Most prized possessions? My photos – they hold lots of fantastic memories for me, of my family, friends and things that I have done.

Favourite biscuit? Definitely a cream crunch.

Unmissable TV? The Tudors or Doctor Who. Top film? Moulin Rouge.

Favourite song? The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra.

Best book? Inconceivable by Ben Elton.

Who would play you in the film of your life? Brad Pitt.

Guilty secret? I do like the odd gin and tonic of a weekend night, but sometimes the odd one turns into a few more!

COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES

I went into teaching because I’d always enjoyed playing schools as a child, lining up my teddy bears and teaching them. But I was influenced by a fantastic teacher when I did some work experience during my A levels. What was planned as three months of going in once a week turned into 18 months of working in the school (thank you, Julie).

My own schooling was great. I loved primary school especially. I had some very creative teachers, we had some amazing residential visits and did loads of exciting topic work.

My most embarrassing moment was shortly after I graduated. I worked as a supply teacher during the week and on the delicatessen counter in the local supermarket at the weekends. One weekend, a Year One pupil I had taught the week before saw me and ran the full length of the store shouting “Mr J!”, to the delight of my store colleagues and customers.

My leadership style is coaching. I think everyone has the potential to become leaders in their own field, be it becoming part of the middle management or leading and supporting trainee teachers or other support staff.

If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that you are never going to please everyone with everything, especially when some tough decisions have to be made.

If I were the PM, I’d consider the impact of making huge changes to the education system so quickly. I’d trust teachers as professionals to report pupil progress, rather than making snapshot judgments with out-of-date testing regimes and pressurising inspections.

I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I’m a bit of a sucker for fancy dress and partying. My particular favourite costume was a Christmas tree outfit that I spent a whole Saturday morning making out of green felt and tinsel, complete with chocolate baubles and working fairy lights.

Tell us your best joke Two snowmen are in a field. One turns to the other, sniffs and says: “Can you smell carrots?”

I went into teaching because I never wanted to be anything other than a teacher from the age of five (and yes, it ran in the family).

My own schooling was dramatic.

I moved from a rural village school in Devon to large urban primary in Berkshire when I was eight.

Disappointingly, the 11-plus separated me from my best friend.

It was also compelling, as I had some inspirational teachers, particularly for English and religious studies.

My most embarrassing moment was as an NQT during a visit by a drama company. The actors told the teachers that some Aboriginal hunters would make a surprise entrance for the children through the hall curtain. When it happened, no one stirred except me, who let out a piercing scream. All eyes on me!

My leadership style is creative. In the words of the author Ian Gilbert, we do what everyone else does but in a different way, or what no one else does. The needs of children drive our actions.

If I’ve learned one thing, it’s the importance of the physical environment of a school. We moved into a new, circular, ‘insideoutside’ building in 2007 and it has had a positive impact on achievement, behaviour, self-esteem, engagement of parents and staff morale.

If I were the PM, I’d tell Ofsted to accept that some schools with low pupil attainment are good or even outstanding in their provision for pupils. This way, more leaders of schools with great challenges could be recognised as National or Local Leaders of Education.

I shouldn’t be telling you this, but we paid £900 to have a camel in school for our Christmas production and I totally believe it was money well spent.

Tell us your best joke Two peanuts walking down a subway.

One was a salted.

We paid £900 to have a camel in our Christmas play

COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES

MAY/JUNE 2011 ● LEADERSHIP FOCUS

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10/5/11 08:25:45

BEHIND THE HEADLINES SEND GREEN PAPER

Special measures How will the recommendations of the SEND Green Paper affect schools and children? Hashi Syedain reports

S

chool leaders in the special educational needs (SEN) sector have given a broad thumbs-up to the Government’s Green Paper, Support and aspiration: a new approach to special educational needs and disability (SEND), published in March.

A summary of its key provisions is in the box (top right), although many questions of detail remain unresolved (see below right).

It is hoped that one of the biggest changes – the scrapping of the current SEN statements in favour of a care plan with shared financial responsibility between education, health and social services – will mean an end to the adversarial system about which parents have long complained.

When combined with other pieces of SEN-related work on better training for new and current teachers, the Green Paper amounts to the biggest overhaul of SEN provision since the 1978 Warnock Report.

There is little doubt that an overhaul was required. Two million young people in England have an identified special need. Just shy of 3 per cent of the English school population have an SEN statement and about half of those attend a special school. Moreover, it is widely accepted that the incidence of special needs is rising. Medical advances

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mean more disabled and premature babies are living and there is now better diagnosis of conditions such as autism.

This increase means that the bar for entry into special schools is likely to rise and mainstream schools will need to accommodate more children with special needs. There is no longer a bias towards closing special schools and the political climate – bearing in mind our prime minister had a disabled child – favours a spectrum of provision in which special schools have a place.

At the same time, following Ofsted’s assertion in its SEN review last year that a culture of over-identification of special needs exists in some schools, there is a thrust towards distinguishing between long-term cognitive impairment and milder special needs that could be dealt with through straightforward interventions and better teaching.

Inevitably, funding remains a big concern. How it will be made available and the amounts in various pots are unclear. “The financial climate makes a big difference,” says David Bateson, president of the Federation of Leaders in Special Education. “I think schools will have all SEN money pre-delegated, with no extras from Local Authorities.

Broadly speaking, up to now, if you were referred a statemented child, that would mean additional money.

Increasingly, schools will be told: ‘It’s already in your budget.’ ”

KEY PROVISIONS OF THE GREEN PAPER • An emphasis on early identification of special needs • The scrapping of SEN statements in favour of a new ‘education, health and care plan’, in which health and social services share financial responsibility with education for meeting youngsters’ needs • An end to the current School Action and School Action Plus categories in favour of a single school-based SEN category • Key workers trained to give parents comprehensive information and advice on the services available • Continuity up to the age of 25, to help those identified under the new process move into work and adulthood • More sharing of expertise and best practice between the special and mainstream sectors • The option of personal budgets for parents to cover extras such as respite care • The possibility of voluntary groups being involved in assessment • Information in performance tables on the progress of the lowest-attaining pupils

FURTHER QUESTIONS • If health, education and social services have equal responsibility for funding, who will have ultimate responsibility for making things happen?

• How will unstatemented SEN be funded in schools, particularly for children not covered by the pupil premium?

• Does the voluntary sector have the ability, expertise and willingness to become involved in assessment?

• How will personal budgets work?

• How do you make sure children with less engaged parents don’t lose out?

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EDUCATIONPHOTOS

The consultant RONA TUTT Independent SEN consultant and NAHT Past President HER VIEWS

Rona has been closely involved with consultations on the Green Paper. She is supportive of its thrust, but says school leaders must now take advantage of the fourmonth consultation process that the Government announced in March.

“A lot of how this will work will be in the detail – and the Government has not made up its mind on that yet. It really is a consultation, so

for heaven’s sake let’s flag up what’s missing,” she urges.

Rona was a special school head for many years before becoming a consultant. In the decades that she has been in the sector, the political climate around special schools has changed considerably. “After years of denigration the Government now wants to keep special schools open,” she says.

She is pleased with the demand for joint responsibility with health and social care and for the intention that the new single education, health and care plans will take young people through to the age of 25. “It’s fantastic that the transition will be easier.

Currently, too many young people fall by the wayside at 16.”

Rona is also keen for there to be a better definition of what constitutes SEN and disability. She says: “One is an education term and the other is a health term. About two thirds

The consultation really is just that, so for heaven’s sake let’s flag up what we think is missing in the Green Paper

of children are SEN and disabled, but who are the children that are disabled, but not SEN? Is the Senco in charge of disabled children? And what about mild dyslexia – is that an SEN? It varies from school to school. We’d overcome a lot of the problems of over-identification if we had more clarity.”

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BEHIND THE HEADLINES SEND GREEN PAPER

The leaders’ representative DAVID BATESON President of the Federation of Leaders in Special Education and head of Ash Field School in Leicester, one of 12 outstanding special schools identified by Ofsted HIS VIEWS

At the moment, there is a desire to distinguish between under-achievement and those with an enduring special need, particularly of a cognitive nature, says David, a special school head who has been involved with SEN since the 1970s.

The Achievement for All project led by the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services – and quoted by both Ofsted and the Green Paper – suggests that a good deal of under-achievement that ends up under the SEN banner could be dealt with by better teaching.

“At its core, it says don’t label children and then make excuses and have low expectations,” David says.

There is also a huge discrepancy between schools that are deemed to be in similar situations – again suggesting that better teaching has a big role to play in improving outcomes for many SEN pupils.

In the new world order, therefore, the question is whether a child is truly cognitively impaired – or just slow to settle and learn, because they’ve never been expected to sit still before or use a pencil. Or perhaps they have a physical or sensory impairment, which may make it harder for them to learn, but should not be a reason for lack of attainment.

Early identification, mentioned in the Green Paper, is an important starting point for distinguishing between under-achievement and cognitive impairment, David adds.

As for dealing with real, enduring special needs, David reckons that partnership working in all its forms will become increasingly important.

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The rise in the number of children with complex and profound special needs means schools are dealing with more children with a wider range of needs. “All schools have got broader spectrums,” he says. “We’re more reliant on working with partners because none of us feels that clever. Twenty years ago you’d have known instantly what sort of school a special school was. Now you wouldn’t be able to tell and it’s increasingly difficult for a school to be an expert in its whole population.”

David is a big fan of partnership working and already does a lot of outreach and training. He’s now looking at creating a consortium of special schools to share wisdom.

“There’s a real issue of how we secure things for the future. Let’s make something that is good and principled and outlives the present incumbents.

Things shouldn’t slip just because someone retires.”

The special school head MARK DALE-EMBERTON Head of Charlton School, a special day and residential school in London HIS VIEWS

“We are seeing more and more children with layers of complexity and overlapping SEN,” says Mark, who has worked in SEN since 1986. Charlton School had predicted an intake of 15 children a year, but now gets 32. The rising need makes it very difficult for Local Authorities to plan, Mark says.

“Research among special school heads in London shows that every school is

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Mainstream school leaders KUDSIA BATOOL AND HELEN DHILLON Deputy head and acting Senco of Coleman Primary School in Leicester THEIR VIEWS

The Government recognises the need for collaboration with health and social care services

full already, so mainstream places are facing huge pressures.”

Nothing in the Green Paper addresses capacity for special schools. In recent years new builds, including some successful co-locations of special and mainstream schools, have been funded through the now abandoned Building Schools for the Future programme.

“This is a major concern for SEN schools. We are meant to have 150

children but we have 168. I could have 195 if I had the space,” he says.

Nonetheless, Mark welcomes aspects of the Green Paper. “The Government has been listening, by recognising the need for collaboration with health and social care,” he says. It’s a good thing that agencies will share financial responsibility, he believes, although it’s unclear how it will work in practice.

Take children who need oxygen feeds.

“Whose responsibility is it to provide medical support for non-educational provision?” he asks.

Mark believes in partnership between the mainstream and special sectors and Charlton runs outreach for 450 schools across London. “We need to be seen as a continuum,” he says.

Now, this work is funded by the Local Authority but in future schools will buy in their own services. “If schools become purchasers,” Mark says, “will they allocate enough funds for SEN?”

Coleman Primary is known locally for being good at catering for children with special needs. It gets a lot of applications from the parents of such children, says deputy head Kudsia. Although the number of children with a statement is just seven, with two more in the pipeline, in some classes one third of children have special needs covered by School Action or School Action Plus.

Kudsia is concerned about the 5 per cent budget cut in the Standards Fund announced this year. “The reason our SEN children do so well is that we’ve invested heavily in people. But in future we won’t be able to afford as much one-to-one support,” she says.

Kudsia is also unclear about how the school will be able to fund its work with specialists such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists in the years ahead. “You take a lot of that for granted, but we’ll have to pay in future,” she says.

The school is considering pooling resources with others in the area to increase their collective purchasing power. It may also explore closer relationships with nearby special schools – at the moment, these are ad hoc for individual children, according to acting Senco Helen. She is sceptical about the notion of special schools partnering with mainstream schools as a matter of course.

“It could just become a paper exercise if it isn’t based on a specific need,” she says.

Helen’s greatest concern is that the proposals contained in the Green Paper do not come with extra funding – and that budgets are being cut. “This school has a culture and ethos of being inclusive, but no matter how much money you pump in every year, it’s never enough,” she says.

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NATIONAL CURRICULUM REVIEW

Why England T

he mission of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social wellbeing of people around the world. As part of this, every three years it compares education systems under its Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa).

The good news for England is that Pisa surveys from 2003 onwards show no catastrophic collapse in the scores it has secured for reading, maths and science. But neither has there been any improvement.

As a result, England has tumbled down the Pisa rankings as other countries lift their scores. One reaction to this might be: ‘So what? Nothing is falling apart and scores aren’t declining, let’s carry on as we are.’

But this seems like a grave error. Of course, Pisa isn’t everything, but it is a valuable indicator. England’s lack of improvement has occurred over a period of considerable investment in school and pre-school education through highly targeted interventions and initiatives.

Yet Pisa scores have reached a plateau.

There are other problems, too.

Universities are finding that they need to provide remedial maths provision for students doing courses that require good numerical skills. In addition, as Professor Michael Shayer from King’s College London has reported, 11-year-olds’ performance in the Jean Piaget test on conservation of volume, which denotes cognitive development, appears to have declined over the past 20 years. And it’s alarming that teachers increasingly feel that they have to focus on narrow drilling to prepare pupils for national tests, rather than focus on deep understanding.

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The National Curriculum revisions of 1999 and 2008 span the period when Pisa scores have levelled out. This suggests that it is not enough simply to engage in domestic introspection when revising the content and structure of the National Curriculum. When the National Curriculum was introduced in the late 1980s, very few nations had a comparable set of arrangements. Since then, an increasing number of leading nations have adopted their own national curriculums, the international surveys have been commissioned, and incisive research that compares them has been completed.

We therefore need to pay more attention to international comparisons. Other

Problems have been accumulating: acute overload; lack of clarity regarding ‘core’ content; and overbearing assessment

jurisdictions look outwards as well as inwards regarding the changes that they need to make. Although previous National Curriculum reviews did take a look at other systems, it is only the current review that is using this new and compelling body of international evidence to understand how we might improve our own curriculum.

This examination of different nations’ systems is not crude cherrypicking. The

review is using a wide body of research and extensive international contacts to understand the factors in operation in other systems, and is reflecting on how similar factors play out in our own.

At one level, the review team is examining what is taught, and when, in subjects such as mathematics. If something is taught much earlier in high-performing systems, what are the conditions that allow this to happen there? And does teaching it at this age stack up against the domestic and international research evidence? We also are looking at the ‘density’ of material in primary and secondary curriculums in high-performing systems.

At another level, we are looking at the ways in which nations ensure that they harness the benefits that a national curriculum can supply. In England, we have derived considerable benefit from having a national curriculum – increasing the performance of girls in maths, increasing attainment in science in the primary phase, easing school transfer, and elevating expectations. But problems have been accumulating: acute overload (encouraging undue pace in some key periods of pupils’ learning); a lack of clarity regarding ‘core’ content; and overbearing assessment, with adverse impact on teaching and learning.

The 2008 revisions of KS3 and KS4 only weakly engaged with these problems, and left us with vague and technically defective statements of curriculum expectation.

So what do we need to do? If vague, generic statements aren’t right, do we need more detail? If we have more detail – more words, more pages – surely the National Curriculum will become overblown again?

The review team is very clear in its remit: it needs to be precise about what is to be covered, but the National Curriculum CONTINUED ON PAGE 32 ➧

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There is compelling evidence from all over the world in favour of a review of the National Curriculum, says Tim Oates

PETER MAC

is flagging

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NATIONAL CURRICULUM REVIEW

needs to occupy a smaller, more manageable amount of total curriculum time. There needs to be tighter definition of what is required, but what is required must not over-dominate the school curriculum.

This distinction between the National Curriculum and the school curriculum is vital – and it’s been lost. The National Curriculum is that which is stated in law.

The school curriculum – what actually happens in a specific school with specific pupils – falls within the autonomy of the school and is critical in delivering public and personal benefits, providing a safe environment where intensive learning can take place, and giving wide experience. However, there is a sense in England that anything that is important in education should be included in the National Curriculum. Indeed, this has led to statements regarding the need to ‘constantly update’ and ensure we have a ‘motivating’ National Curriculum. But ‘constantly updating’ the curriculum is neither necessary nor a good idea. The essential core of subjects just does not change as frequently as we have changed the National Curriculum.

As for ‘motivating’, it’s difficult to see how gravity or photosynthesis can be either motivating or demotivating in themselves – it’s for teachers to design and deliver learning programmes that are motivating for specific children, which excite and engage them. So, determining the aims and focus of the National Curriculum is crucial – and international comparisons can now really help with this.

Room for manoeuvre I would like to stress that this latest review does not assume that communication (making presentations, extended writing), critical thinking (problem solving, coherent analysis), or affective elements such as collaborative working are unimportant.

Far from it. Their educational significance grows when they are developed effectively through meaningful contexts, such as logical argument in history or extended writing in English.

Looking at other nations’ systems, there are choices as to where these more general outcomes of education are emphasised as a national requirement: in subjects; as general requirements (for example, in overall National Curriculum aims); in the wider school curriculum (and evaluated through inspection). Schools that are not encouraging effective collaborative working,

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HONG KONG: ADDING TO THE FUNDAMENTALS A recent TES article got it badly wrong on what’s happening in education in Hong Kong.

It assumed that, because Hong Kong is now emphasising creativity and life skills, it has moved away from a solid foundation in the core knowledge, concepts and principles in specific subjects. This entirely failed to recognise that Hong Kong has an incredibly strong subject focus in maths and science, and consolidates this through very well structured state-endorsed textbooks. Hong Kong has high levels of home learning and additional tutoring, and these also are focused on core areas of key subjects. It’s not that they have abandoned a focus on fundamentals (in which our performance has stagnated) – they are doing things in addition to this. We shouldn’t ignore the foundations on which their concern for creativity is building – you can’t be very creative if you are foundering on basic conceptual content in key subjects, or not reading widely, or failing to master key knowledge necessary for the next stage of education.

independence of mind and so on are not succeeding in meeting overall curriculum aims. But schools need room for manoeuvre in precisely when, where and how to develop these. So there is an argument for emphasising them in the aims of the curriculum but not over-specifying them in the form of ‘levelled’ statements.

This is where the careful consideration of the balance between the specific requirement (in the National Curriculum) and overall duties (of every school) need to be weighed carefully.

Surely we can decide as a society that something is important for schools and schooling, but not appropriate for detailed specification in the National Curriculum.

The review is also able to draw on sophisticated analyses of different nations’ systems. The international commentator Bill Schmidt’s work on ‘curriculum coherence’ is particularly important. His work shows that high-performing systems tend to demonstrate very specific forms of ‘coherence’. First, all the key elements in a system line up and push in the same direction – curriculum, assessment, teacher training, funding and so on. Second, material should be clearly stated in an ageappropriate order. Again, there is evidence that other nations teach key areas – such as algebraic manipulation – at very different ages to our own system. We are examining all instances of where this happens, and whether it makes sense – in terms of the evidence on children’s learning – to change the specific ordering of material in the National Curriculum.

We have a very wide range of attainment in this country at the age of 11 – more than in other comparable nations. Concentrating on essential core elements, in the right

order, may do much to reduce this. ‘Fewer things in greater depth’ in the primary phase may free up the school curriculum to better meet the needs of pupils of seemingly lower ability.

We are looking at the possibility of year-by-year specification as a means of understanding clearly what our own system expects of pupils and what other systems expect of theirs. Many high-performing systems use year-by-year specification for some or all of their National Curriculum specifications. Whether we retain year-onyear specification in the final version of the National Curriculum is yet to be decided.

But there may be sense in so doing. Many schools find levels both too crude and too obscure to be really useful in monitoring pupils’ attainment and for discussing pupils’ attainments with their parents. Such schools already focus on ‘age-appropriate’ attainment and the detail of what children can and cannot do.

A clearly stated essential core, arranged in an age-appropriate hierarchy, and which does not dominate the curriculum but allows and supports broad, motivating school curriculums would seem to be a laudable aim. If we can use the best international evidence to deliver this, we are setting the conditions for a far better education system.

Tim Oates is chairman of the expert panel for the National Curriculum review. His evidence paper Could do better: Using international comparisons to refine the National Curriculum in England is available at tinyurl.com/coulddobetter-timoates Further information www.education.gov.uk/nationalcurriculum

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All I ever wanted to do was to get my students the best possible education – to do anything else is not just selling them out, it’s selling their children out as well

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A ride

Julie Stamper’s journey from biology teacher to head of a PRU for teenage mums has not been easy. But giving these young women the chance of a decent education is worth the effort, she tells Steve Smethurst

O

ver the course of an hour-long interview with the head teacher of the Schoolgirl Mums’ Unit in Hull, two Julie Stampers emerge.

There’s the Julie who goes to extreme lengths to nurture and empower the young mothers in her care. And there’s the Julie who is fiercely protective of the unit and who will fight its corner ferociously against any threats.

Julie has held this role for more than 20 years and, if anything, her desire to improve the lot of schoolgirl mums is burning more brightly than ever. She started her teaching career in 1976 at a mainstream secondary in Sunderland – where she taught biology – before moving to the Sir Henry Cooper School in Hull. Within a couple of terms there, she had moved to a pastoral position. “I realised that I was far better at the pastoral side than I was at teaching biology,” she says.

At that time some local heads became concerned about the number of girls dropping out of the education system during pregnancy. The education authority decided that somebody should look into it and Julie took up this temporary role, working out of her school’s physics prep room. “Eventually, they allowed me to have a seat in the main office, providing I helped to answer the telephones,” she says.

Julie identified 60 girls of school age who were pregnant or had a child, and she felt the need to “do something to support these young women in a cost-effective as well as an academically effective way”. Her solution was to bring them together as a teaching group so that they could morally support each other. It would also be a better use of her time than to attempt to support each one individually.

But making this happen was difficult.

She needed a base, she needed resources

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ED MAYNARD

CONTINUED ON PAGE 36 ➧

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10/5/11 08:29:05

SCHOOLGIRL MUMS’ UNIT

and she needed to get them to attend.

Eventually she secured a room in a youth centre and was able to work with up to 30 students. But this was just one day a week, as the rest of her time was spent visiting the girls and liaising with schools. “I worked out of the back of my Fiat mostly,” she says.

Since those early days, Julie’s centre has evolved into a five-days-a-week pupil referral unit that operates during term time and where all staff are on teaching contracts.

A blueprint of sorts did exist for this kind of provision. A unit in Bristol had been set up in the mid-1970s. There was also one in Liverpool, with other piecemeal provision across the country. Humberside County Council also had previous experience with small-scale units in Grimsby and Scunthorpe.

Julie oversees three full-time, permanent teachers and a part-time IT instructor. The unit offers 10 GCSEs and four BTECs and can accommodate 30-35 mums. When LF visited, there were 18 babies in the nursery, looked after by seven childcare workers, all qualified to NVQ3, which means the students can focus on their studies knowing that their children are well looked after.

Students are given two weeks off for childbirth; three if it’s by caesarean section, assuming that mum and baby are well and healthy. Julie says: “Not all of our students start in September and for them to leave here with a minimum of five GCSEs and a baby in one year, they can’t afford much time off. The girls are usually quite happy to return after two weeks – they want to show their child to the other students.”

Girls will often attend until their contractions start. “We had a student here on Monday who collapsed in a big heap.

She has gone home and will be back on Thursday if she feels better. She was due on Sunday, and collapsing like that isn’t that uncommon. Sometimes they will have their babies halfway through their GCSEs, then be back in for their next exam.”

Learning curve Julie is adamant that her students can’t be treated like other schoolgirls. “At the initial interview with prospective students I make it very clear that there are responsibilities that I will take on board – like health and safety and making sure that we get the best resources we can. But it is also made clear that they have responsibilities to themselves and to the members of this community.”

Julie works hard to protect the unit in terms of making it feel an emotionally safe environment. This is important because her students will soon have to learn to accept responsibility for their child as well.

“Until they accept their responsibilities to themselves, and to other people, they can’t

36

THE UNIT’S CODE OF BEHAVIOUR: AN EXCERPT “Our students are often unprepared for the emotional and practical life changes that pregnancy and motherhood inevitably bring. The adolescent who becomes pregnant, then a mother, undergoes a rapid, confusing and often frightening period of hormonal change, resulting in an extensive range of unfamiliar emotions and physiological manifestations. In an already confused, rebellious and volatile teenager, or possibly a passive, sullen, unresponsive one, this requires respect and consistent handling. These changes need to be balanced alongside a change of priorities – possibly a conflict of roles – and the struggle to come to terms with accepting responsibilities, not only for herself, but for another human being. At the same time, she is still expected to continue with her education, and may, as a result, still feel like and be treated as a child.”

begin the process of maturing into a young adult with responsibility for another human being. So everything we do, and the way we do it, is structured around helping those students to develop those responsibilities.”

One of the first things the girls are told is: ‘Everything you do, and everything you say, is down to you.’ If they get it wrong – and inevitably they will to some degree – the difference between an irresponsible teenager and a responsible adult is the acceptance of the fact that they have to deal with the outcome of what they have said or done.

Julie regards positive relationships as crucial to the unit’s success and mutual respect is the main foundation for those relationships. “It’s very rare that it doesn’t evolve that way,” she says. “Students who have been here for any length of time see the benefits of working within that ethos.

“Very occasionally we have a student who is at an emotional level where they cannot advance. Their attitude is: ‘Why would I do something just to make you feel better?’ In those instances, it is up to the group to come up with a solution. The students here have a very powerful voice.

This is their unit. Doing it this way creates a sense of belonging and a strong sense of identity, which is often missing from their experiences in mainstream schools. They belong here. And here they have a safe, informal but very industrious environment.”

Julie’s softer side shines through when she talks about the things she has done for the students. “We go swimming, because this is what they have asked to do – because they want to get fit, particularly after they have had their babies.We have also purchased a Wii Fit. And for them to really get the benefit, I had to buy a bigger TV. And then they thought they might like music while they were working so I had to buy equipment for that as well. It cost me a fortune!”

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DONNA’S* STORY

You can’t treat them like other 16-year-olds.

Chronologically they might be the same, but here they have to operate at a higher maturity

One of the enshrined rights the students have is that they can ask for anything that they want – which they do. But if Julie explains that it costs too much, it’s dangerous or if she has any other valid reason to refuse, they have to accept the decision. The unit is run on these democratic lines and students take part in day-to-day decision-making, particularly about the management and organisation of the unit. They learn about community living, how to negotiate and how to compromise.

Unfortunately, educational progression isn’t simple for the students. They have responsibilities that other schools or colleges would struggle to acknowledge. “You couldn’t treat them like any other 16-yearolds. Chronologically they might be the same, but for two years here they have had to operate at a much higher level of maturity. Students who go on to study elsewhere struggle to fit back into a traditional classroom setting,” says Julie.

“They are very adult. I can’t tell you what I’ve just been discussing with one student, but she has been to hell and back in the past two years. I would like to believe that a mainstream school would be able to support

her through this time, but she needs a very secure relationship with at least one person for this to happen. And when she was in mainstream she didn’t have that.

Here, we have seen her develop. These girls share their challenges with us, and it can be very difficult.”

It’s difficult for Julie too, who teaches two-and-a-half days a week, to fit everything in. “I teach the level 2 childcare, GCSE human health and physiology, BTEC health and social care, and the PHSE. I’m responsible for child protection, looked-after children, I’m the CPD co-ordinator, and currently leading the Every Child Matters standards award.

There is a hell of a lot of work there.”

Tuition is also varied – in any one group you could have students who have an aptitude for maths, while another student, who has not been in school for a long time, is terrified of the subject.

Leading questions How does Julie cope? Partly it’s down to having a team she can trust. “I’m not that easy to work for,” she says with a laugh.

“Did you ever watch Sharpe, the TV series with Sean Bean? My style of leadership is like his – I’m the first over that hill, and I don’t want to be looking behind me. I want to know you are there. I admit I can be a foul-mouthed cow too. I make no bones about that. But at the end of the day, I have won more battles than you can ever imagine and I am still fighting the war.

“This place is not for the faint-hearted, I suspect there are an awful lot of people who think that this is an easy option to teach, and in some respects it could be. But I don’t think you should ever underestimate the challenges that we have to deal with. One of my best friends is a head teacher in Blackburn, and I know my work is very different from his, but different doesn’t mean inferior. Maybe I am

“Everyone’s the same here, we’re all in the same position. If we were at our mainstream schools, we’d be being judged the whole time.

I didn’t do any work at school – it was having a baby that changed my attitude. Because this school’s smaller you get more help here, so I do more work and have more time to finish it. We’re also treated like adults and get a bit more respect.

The lessons here aren’t like the lessons we were used to. They’re much more relaxed. If we don’t want to be here, we don’t have to be, it’s our choice. If we don’t do the work, it’s our responsibility. I’m hoping to go to college to do my level 3 NVQ in children’s care, learning and development. But before I came here I wasn’t even bothered about learning or what I was going to do – so long as I was with my mates.

If it wasn’t for this place I’d just be spending my dole money on beer.” * Not her real name

not a proper head teacher, but I think my job is of equal worth in many respects.”

She says that the question she finds most difficult to answer is: ‘What is so special about this place that has won it two outstanding judgments from Ofsted and her an MBE?’ She replies: “Students cannot learn if their heads are full of stuff that’s getting in the way. It could be negative emotions about what has happened before they came here – a relationship, for example – or if they are expecting a member of staff to laugh because they have got something wrong. If they have that in their heads they don’t have room to absorb knowledge.

“All I ever wanted to do was to get my students the best possible education, because to do anything else is not just selling them out, it is selling their children out as well.

“This is the next generation of parents, and if they can believe in education as a way forward, if they can believe education is knowledge, which is valuable and which can help them to move out of the benefits trap, they will take that belief and pass it on to their own children.”

The fact that Julie’s MBE nomination came from a former student as well as a member of staff suggests that the young mothers of Hull are in very safe hands.

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PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATIONS

PTAs are evolving from teams of keen fundraisers charged with planning social events into key players in the quest to forge better links with the community. Rebecca Grant reports

Use your parent T

he members of Kilmersdon CE Primary School’s parent teacher association (PTA) know that a failsafe way to raise funds for a school is to hold a bake sale. Every year, a stall run by the parents generates £5,000 for the school.

If this figure seems hard to believe, it’s because this bake sale is not your average cake stand located in the playground during the annual summer fair. This Somerset PTA has been selling jacket potatoes to ravenous music fans at every Glastonbury Festival since 2000.

The enterprise was set up under the name ‘Jack and Jill Catering’, a reference to the fact that Kilmersdon is home to the hill that the nursery-rhyme characters are believed to have fallen down. Its purpose initially was to fund the construction of

38

a new school building. The project has been so successful that, 12 years on, it has helped to fund other initiatives, such as books for the library and an amphitheatre in the school grounds.

According to head teacher Julia Wells, festival-goers are more than happy to support the stall. “It incorporates a display with pictures of what the money is being raised for, so when people buy jacket potatoes at Glastonbury they know that their money is going towards things that are happening at the school,” she says.

The stall’s presence at such a high-profile event means there has never been a shortage of volunteers to man it. But such a huge fundraising effort takes a bit more than enthusiasm and elbow grease. It calls for the PTA to be run as a small business.

“All the books are audited every year externally, and we have joint signatures

on the bank account. We also have an annual meeting where there’s a report on finances, and all the minutes are sent out to all the parents on the back of the newsletter, so people know where the money’s come from and where the money is going,” Julia says.

The school takes advice from the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations (NCPTA) about best practice when it comes to managing the PTA’s business and finances.

Kilmersdon is one of more than 13,000 PTAs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are members of the NCPTA. David Butler, the organisation’s chief executive, says one of the most common queries he gets is about how funds can be spent. He adds: “Because of the new structures arising in schools and the various funding cuts, members have been

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PPHOTOLIBRARY/EDUCATIO N PHOTOS

power seeking reassurance from us as to how they are allowed to spend money. We always answer that there are no restrictions. A PTA is all about improving the educational opportunities within that school community, so money should be spent on just that.”

David is also quick to clarify that the role of a PTA extends beyond raising funds for school supplies – although that is an important part.

“The often-thought mantra of the PTA is ‘fundraising, fundraising, fundraising’, but that is definitely changing,” he says. “PTAs want to work with the community, and want to actively involve parents, not just in terms of the activity of the PTA, but also in the education of their children.”

According to NCPTA research, around one third of its members are now trying to engage more with parents and the local community. One PTA that has been

working to achieve that is the Friends of Strathmore School Association, known as Fossa, in Hertfordshire. Strathmore Infant and Nursery School head teacher Bernadette Holmes says that one of the reasons she took the job was the school’s excellent links in the community.

However, there is always more that can be done and members of the PTA were aware that there were certain groups they needed to reach out to.

“The committee is very aware that it needs to draw the parents into school, not just for social occasions but in order to make them feel comfortable about coming into school,” Bernadette explains.

Last year a committee member came up with an idea to encourage the school’s sizeable Asian community to get more involved. Although some of the Asian mums came along to the PTA’s coffee mornings,

Above: Strathmore PTA’s sari sale got parents from different backgrounds involved.

language barriers and busy home lives meant many were discouraged from taking a more active role.

To address this, an Asian-themed evening was organised. The event turned out to be such a success that another one has already been pencilled in for later this year. “One of the mums did a cookery demonstration, some other mums did henna hand-painting.

They sold second-hand saris, which proved really popular. It was a lovely evening,” she says. “The children of those parents were very excited. They were so pleased that their parents were running the event.”

The event was certainly successful in its intention to engage the Asian community more in school life. Bernadette reports a change in the way many of the families approach her. She says: “Whereas before, I would have just said hello in CONTINUED ON PAGE 40 ➧

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PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATIONS

The committee tries to draw in parents, not just for social occasions but to make them feel comfortable about coming into school

the morning, those parents will now stop and talk to me. We have had a real connection since the event, and they feel like a valued part of the school now.”

Outcomes like this highlight how important it is for a head teacher to have input in the PTA and its work.

However, with an already heavy workload as a head teacher, Bernadette admits that having an active involvement can be a challenge. “It takes a fair bit of time,” she says. “I do have to tap my watch sometimes as the meeting goes on into the evening.”

NCPTA research suggests that around 70 per cent of PTAs have at least one member of school staff on the committee.

“It doesn’t have to be the head who is on the committee,” says chief executive David. “But obviously a head would want to maintain a close involvement in the PTA because it involves their school. They are probably having activities on the schooll d premises, so of course the head would want to know that theyy are being properly run, are well managed and wouldn’t constitute a difficulty for the school.”

Kilmersdon’s head Julia agrees: “The head teacher needs to be a bridge between parents and the school by going to meetings and talking to the staff. You can’t expect parent involvement to happen in isolation.You’ve got to try to bring people into it.”

SINGING THE PRAISES OF DOWNHILLS’ PTA It may have had a few false starts, but the PTA at Downhills Primary School in Haringey, North London, has been gathering pace since it was established three years ago, head teacher Leslie Church is proud to report.

Setting up a successful parent body presented many challenges. As 90 per cent of pupils come from ethnic minorities, language barriers made communication difficult. Leslie also says that some parents felt intimidated coming into school.

“Parents can feel inhibited by formal in meetings and processes, m sso we had to try to get a system that meets with legislation without w aalienating people.”

The PTA – the Friends of Downhills Primary School – has been organised to suit parents and their lifestyles. The committee is an ad hoc setup, with parents sharing the role of chair. Meetings are held either first thing in the morning or at 2.30pm, as many parents find it hard to arrange childcare in the evenings.

“Whatever we plan has to cater for the wider community and we have to be

prepared to change our plans as we go along,” Leslie says. He cites the school’s summer barbecue as an example. “It’s very difficult to get people to commit to running a stall, but when you say to them: ‘We’re going to have an area with international food and we’d like you all to bring a dish of some sort,’ we are inundated with volunteers because people feel that’s their comfort zone.”

Many of the pupils come from low-income families, so encouraging participation is more important than fundraising, Leslie says. One way the Friends have achieved this is by holding a winter festival each year. Last year’s event (pictured on this page) was attended by more than 500 people, and a grant from Haringey Council paid for entertainment which included a stilt walker, a fire eater and street-dance lessons for the children.

Leslie’s advice to head teachers struggling to set up a successful parent body in the school is: ‘Go for the lowhanging fruit.’ He explains: “We could have spent a long time worrying about the people who weren’t coming to meetings. So go for those who seem to be leaning in your direction and make sure that you constantly refer to the fact that the school is a wider community, rather than just the group that is there.

And they will eventually take that on as their own mantra.”

Find more information at www.ncpta.org.uk

40

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BUSINESS MANAGERS

Education has entered a new financial era, where the school business manager can contribute much to the senior leadership team. Sarah Campbell reports

Down to

business

NEIL TURNER

W

hen Hillary Hunwicks first walked into Oakdale Infants School in South Woodford, East London, for a job interview in 1986, the woman in the school office put aside the peas she was shelling, placed them next to her knitting, and got up to greet her.

“When you think what happens now in a school office, there’s no way anyone would have time to do a bit of knitting, never mind shelling peas,” says Hillary, now head teacher at Oakdale.

Today, the school office is where decisions are taken on security systems, CRB checks, premises management, HR matters and financial planning.

The office staff might also be studying in their own time for one of the qualifications for school business managers (SBMs) run by the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services.

Clare Plumb is Oakdale’s SBM. She has a diploma in school business management and says that much of her time is taken

42

up with day-to-day financial management – writing cheques, arranging supply cover and the like. “Plus, you get the children wandering in every break and lunchtime, whether you like it or not,” she adds with a smile. Not much time left for pea-shelling, then.

Hillary and Clare are in a classroom at New Rush Hall School in the London Borough of Redbridge, not far from Oakdale, where they are waiting for more SBMs and a photographer to turn up for the photoshoot you see on these pages.

It is testament to the extent to which Hillary values her SBM that she has taken time out of her busy schedule to come along with her to talk to LF. “Clare is a superb business manager.

She knows the school very well, the area and the parents. She’s put very good systems in place. She is on our senior leadership team (SLT), along with me and the deputy, the Senco, the subject heads and year representatives, and it’s wonderful to have a different perspective,” Hillary says.

“Also, she’ll rein us in a bit if we’re

getting carried away with spending money.”

Clare adds: “Being on the SLT is useful from my point of view because I get to see more of the curriculum and understand more of the processes, which is really helpful when you’re looking at finances.”

By this time, Georgie Harris, the SBM at John Bramston Primary School in nearby Hainault, has joined the conversation. She has been in her newly created role only since September, and her head teacher initially found it difficult to relinquish some of her responsibilities. “But now she’s starting to understand my role and I’m glad I can take some of the financial burden from her,” Georgie says.

Georgie, Clare and Hillary agree that contract negotiation has been the biggest eye-opener from the training that the SBMs have received.

Georgie says: “It’s probably fair to say that in the past there was an assumption that companies would give schools their best price. But the opposite is true.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 44 ➧

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Being on the SLT is useful. I get to see more of the curriculum and understand more of the processes which is really helpful when looking at financesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

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BUSINESS MANAGERS

Hillary says: “Clare’s a good haggler.

We do a good story that we’re a poor little school and we need large discounts.

We’ve recently knocked a few thousand off a contract by renegotiating. I don’t think we would have done that a few years ago – now we have the attitude that we’ve nothing to lose and much to gain.”

The SBMs gathering this afternoon are some of the 25 members of the London Borough of Redbridge SBM Group, set up last year by New Rush Hall’s SBM, Pauline Puddicombe, to share good practice and to meet about once a term to talk about their jobs.

There’s much to talk about. The role of the SBM – or bursar, a term becoming increasingly old-fashioned – has changed massively over the past decade as schools have gained more autonomy from Local Authorities and responsibility for their own budgets. However, many SBMs work in isolation in their schools so it’s useful to exchange ideas with colleagues, says Pauline.

Pauline manages a budget of £5 million, which spans a range of tasks from basic accounting to the more strategic levels of financial management and monitoring.

Everything she does is driven by the need to make the school “open to pupils and staff, and safe and fit for purpose”, she says.

She oversees 13 members of staff, including a chef and caretakers, and says that the debate around the value of SBMs needs to move on. It has already been proven that SBMs save money and free up head teacher time. A 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers report concluded that between 2002 and 2009, National College-qualified SBMs generated an additional £306 million for schools, which includes ‘procurement efficiencies, increased income and monetised head teacher time savings.’

In 2007, McKinsey & Co found that savings of up to one-third of a head teacher’s time were possible.

However, Pauline’s primary concern lies elsewhere. “The SBM role has developed at a rate of knots, with all the professional development going on, but there’s a danger of the team that supports that person being left behind,” she says.

“I have four people in this office – what’s their development path? I don’t need four other business managers but I do need people to keep up with the changing way we work. There’s a danger that the skills won’t be kept up.” As such, she would welcome some ‘operational SBM training’ from sources such as the National College.

The New Rush Hall Group comprises a school for pupils with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, a behaviour support outreach team, three pupil referral

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TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS The National College has trained almost 10,000 SBMs since 2002. Now, the College runs the Certificate of School Business Management (CSBM), the Diploma (DSBM) and the Advanced Diploma (ADSBM). In addition, a new School Business Director course was introduced in March last year; and people looking to switch sectors can take the Aspiring SBM programme.

Until the current financial year these programmes have been free of charge, but now a contribution is required. For the CSBM this is between £300 and £2,000, according to individual circumstances.

“We’re trying to bring our programmes on to a sustainable footing and I don’t think we could count on the Government paying 100 per cent permanently on

these programmes,” explains Trevor Summerson, the College’s head of school business management.

Other training providers include the NAHT and the National Association of School Business Management (NASBM), but they tend to collaborate rather than compete. For example, the NAHT and NASBM are creating a course on procurement. This was at final approval stage as LF went to press.

In addition, Manchester Metropolitan University runs a BA (Hons) in school business management and an MSc in education business management.

More information: www.nationalcollege.org.uk/sbm www.nasbm.co.uk www.mmu.ac.uk

New Rush Hall SBM Pauline Puddicombe and head teacher John d’Abbro.

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Oakdale head Hillary Hunwicks (left) and SBM Clare Plumb.

WHO ARE SBMs? The majority of SBMs are women. Roughly 90 per cent of people taking the National College SBM courses in 2009-10 were female. Bill Simmonds, chief executive of the NASBM, which has 2,000 members mainly in secondary schools, says that this is a legacy from before the evolution of the SBM role.

“The people working in school offices were finance officers, often women who could get the school holidays off and for whom the timing of the school day suited their family life,” he says. Incidentally, NASBM changed its name from the School Bursars Association in 2008 to reflect the changing role of the SBM.

units, an adolescent psychiatric unit and Early Years provision. John d’Abbro, the executive head teacher – if his name sounds familiar it is because he recently appeared on Channel 4’s Jamie’s Dream School – states that the group would not be the success it is without Pauline.

“My role is to use the resources I have to promote learning,” he says. “And while learning may be the prime function of a school, it is not all the work of the school.

If the school isn’t open on time, or the

Currently, 90 per cent of secondary schools have SBMs and up to 40 per cent of primaries have access to one. However, more primary than secondary SBMs took the National College courses in 2009-10, suggesting that primary is catching up.

The NAHT’s John Randall says he knows of cases of small primary schools sharing SBMs, although it’s not possible to tell how widespread this is.

Bill says: “Primary schools have had to move on from where they were 10 years ago when it was simply a case of educating the children and managing the finance in school. These days, they’re challenged as much as the secondary sector.”

lights don’t come on, or the computers aren’t working, we can’t do our learning.”

John says that of all the changes to New Rush Hall over the 20 years he has been there, the one that has had the greatest impact was moving from contract to in-house catering and employing a chef – a change that was planned and implemented by Pauline. “Now, the way we celebrate food in the school is one of the most therapeutic ventures we have undertaken; and it promotes wellbeing.

That’s what Pauline does: help us have the right resources to promote happiness and wellbeing in this school for the staff as well as for the youngsters,” he adds.

It goes without saying that Pauline is on John’s SLT. “In fact, my own view is that business managers should be paid on the leadership scale,” says John. Pauline jokes that LF should put that in bold type.

In any case, the NAHT certainly recognises SBMs as school leaders. The Redbridge group came to the NAHT’s attention when the group invited John Randall, head of marketing and communications, to speak at one of their meetings. As a result, 13 SBMs joined the Association there and then and John says that since the NAHT started its drive to attract more SBMs last year, membership has risen to more than 500, with two or three joining each week.

“We’ve now got in place advice and publications relevant to SBMs,” he says, citing the ‘Starting Point’ guides, Support Staff Recruitment and Linking Finance to Your School Development Plan, available to buy from www.naht.org.uk. Many of the financial training courses are now designed for SBMs as well as heads, he adds.

“NAHT membership is right for SBMs because it gives them the backing of a union and also professional support.

We would encourage all our existing head teacher members to urge their SBMs to join too,” he says.

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ROUND-UP

WHAT’S NEW?

The latest products, books and teaching resources High g Performers: The Secrets of Successful Schools

Lessons Lessons Le so ons ffrom ro om m ccurrent cu urreent aaffairs ffaairss

Alistair Smith Crown House £18.99

FFollowing ollowiing tthe he cat h catastrophic tastrophic i earthquak earthquake h ke and ttsu tsunami unam mi in n JJa Japan apan n in M March,, tthe British h Red dC Cr Cross ross h hass pro produced od du uced lesson plan plans l ns fo focusing ocu using i g on n tth the he disas disaster. ster.

Teachers Teac e ch heerss w who ho h o re reg register giste s er fo for or thee ccharity’s harity h t free e o online n ‘‘Newsthink’ w h k service e c ccan download dow ownlo n oaad assemb assembly s mbly and nd ccla classroom assro s oo om video-based d o a d lesson s n plans a that a examine x m e the h stories t e behind b i recent ce t news w headlines. h ad n Teachers a e also a o gett access c ss to o activities, ct t ss, videos, d os photos h o aand discussion c s n triggers. g e A further u h ffeature t is tthe aability l tto ssign n up p to receive e e news-based e - s activities t t covering v n o other e topical o c iissues e ssuch h as Libya by aand Haiti. ai www.redcross.org.uk/signup

The front cover portrays a school leader on a tightrope and the intro is about a high-wire troupe in the 1920s called the Flying Wallendas. The analogy is that head teachers are high-wire acts, “focused on what matters, relentlessly determined and looking ahead, not down or back”. Since we learn that the intrepid Wallendas have suffered several fatalities, it also reinforces the dangers to your health that school leadership poses. In researching the book, the author visited 20 of the UK’s top-performing state schools. He asked the same 20 questions in each school and the book shares his insightful, practical findings in a readable way.

The New Teacher’s Survival Guide to Behaviour Sue Roffey Sage £20.99 As the title suggests, this is one for NQTs and any teachers who struggle with discipline and bad behaviour. It is an extremely l practical i l approach with solid advice and it explores any number of possible scenarios. It’s a great book for dipping into as well, should a particular situation arise, whether it’s rudeness, defiance, bullying or homophobia. There is no easy fix, however, and it will take several reads and much patience and practice before the results will be seen in the classroom. It’s a worthwhile addition to the staffroom bookshelf all the same.

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Keeping K eeeping aan n eeye ye o on np progress rogreess Tracck yyour Track our ch children hildrren in aany nyy Nat National tional C Curriculum urrricullum sub subject bjecct fr from rom Year O One nee to Six wit with th a new w Ex Excel-based xcell-baased d pro p program. ogra g am. Once tthe he leve levels els ffor or eac each ch te term erm m hav have ve b been een en entered nterred into o th the he SSPP Pupil Pup pil T Tracking rackingg To Tool, ool, it w will ill provide provvidee information infform matiion about abo out thee progress p pro oggreess o off tthe he w whole ho ole clas class ss o or groups gro oups ps such succh as as boys, boys ys, girls, ggirrls, those those with with h special speciaal educational ed duccatio onall needss or high ac achievers. chieeverrs. Itt will willl also o au automatically utom maticallyy conv convert vert thee en end-of-year nd-o of-yyear level in into nto a sc score coree fo for or ea each ach child. Y Year-onear-on nyear yea ar co comparisons omp parison ns ca can an b bee m made ade an and nd p performance erfform man nce m monitored on nito ored d to hel help lp yyou ou mak make ke sstrategy trattegy gy decisions. dec cisio ons. Thee to tool, ool, which cos costs sts ££69.95, 69.995, can n gen generate neraate individual pup pupil pil ggraphs rap phs ffrom rom m th the he information info orm matio on eentered nteered d as well ass pro provide ovid de p percentage erccenttagee fig figures gurees to o furthe further er ccompare omparee pr progress. rogrress www.speducationalservices.co.uk

A ggaudy audy vvirtual irrtuall world w orld do off llearning earrniin ng Thee brightly brrighttly coloured colo oureed o online nlin ne w world orld d off Pora Po ora Oraa aim aims ms tto oh help elp l primar primary ry sc school ch hooll cchildren hild dren n learn lear rn as as they th hey play. play l y. It is a social soccial net networking tworrki king and d gamin gaming ng w website ebs bsite whe where ere chil children h ldren ca can an explore, exp ploree, co connect onnect with witth friends frriends and and engage enggagee in i learning lear rning i exercises exxerccisess alo along ong wit with th th their heir ‘Pora P PPal’ al’l – a gu guide/sidekick uide de/sid dekickk w whose h ho ose m mood oo od aand nd we wellbeing ellbe being depends dep epend nds o on n th the he cchild’s h hild d’ss re regular eggular ar ggaining aain ning n of knowledge. kkno now wleedge ge. The T Th he content co ontten entt was w waas developed develope v o ed by by a former m r head e tteacher c r and nd iss linked k to tthe National N o al Curriculum, u c m sso w when en the h cchild d signs g in n with it ttheirr name a e and d age g the h ggame m content o te iss automatically u m c y adjusted d t to the t e individual d d player’s p ye skilll level v and a learning ar n requirements. e i m t As tthe cchild A ld plays, l s thee game a e generates en a s reports p t tto kkeep p parents a nt aand tteachers c r u up to o date a o on ttheir th hei eir pro progress. rogress. r s. www.poraora.com

LEADERSHIP FOCUS ● MAY/JUNE 2011

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Squeezy Sque q eezy ccube ube m makes akes everyone ev eve veryone yonee a m musician usicciaan an

Theories of Educational Leadership p& Management (4th edition)

A intr An intriguing riguing tac tactile ctile l cube cub be developed deveelop l ped d at the he University Uni U iverrsity ty of Edinburgh Edinbu Ed burgh h is enabling enaablin l ng children child i dren n who wh ho can’t can n’tt p play lay an inst instrument trum ment tto o ma make akke mu music. usic. i T The Sk Skoog, koo og, designed des signed d for for children chil h ldreen with with t alll forms form ms of of physical ph hyssica and nd learning lleaarn rningg disabilities, disa sabi bilitties es, helps h heelps p develop devvelo d e op musical musical ca eexp expression pre resssion i an and nd communication com omm munic n caatio on skills skkillls and an nd is ideal i a for o promoting pro p omo moting i g iinclus inclusive l sive ve music m mu usic i practice. pra pr actic t ce. T Technology ec ech hn nology o y under u un nder d tth the he Skoo Skoog’s oog’ g s surf surface u face ace iis link linked nked d to oa computer, o p e w which c cconverts v t the h way w y it iss touched o h into o the h ssound n of different if r t instruments s m n such c ass flute, u trumpet u pe o or p percussion. cu i .

The pitch, Th p c timbre t b and a d volume o m can ca all a be b altered a r w with h a small a range a e off movement. o m n M Macc and n W Windows d w compatible, o p i e the he Skoog k o allows l w the h uuserr to record, c d play la b backk and n review, e e sso a pupil’s u s progress ro re can a b be ttracked. k d d. And n itt looks o s pretty e y cool o to too. www.skoogmusic.com

Tony Bush Sage £21.99

Bigg ggreen B ree reen b boxes oxes o offer fffer relief rre elliief ar around round d th tthe hee w world orlld Disaster Disaste D er re relief elieff ch charity haritty Shelterbox Sheltterb box sends sen nds large largge boxes bo oxees fullll off essential ful esssenttial equ equipment quipm pment su such uch as a tent, a co cooking ooking stove, sto ovee, to tools ools and d wa warm arm m clo clothing othing tto op people eop ple leftt homeless homeles ss beca because ausee of nat natural tural dis disasters sastters and d co conflict. onfliict.

Itt wa was as na named ameed tthe he NAHT’ss ch charity haritty of of the th he year year at the the Annual A nnu ual C Conference on nfereence in n Bri Brighton, ightton, wh where here thee Sc Schools choo ols Advisory Adv viso ory SService ervvicee pre presented esen nted d it wit with th a che cheque eque fo for or £1 £10,000.

10,0 000. Thee ch charity haritty encourages enco ouraagess schools sch hoo ols to gget et involve involved ed tthrough hro ough h itss Yo Young oungg Sh Shelterbox helteerbo ox w website, eb bsitee, an and nd eeach ach h bo box ox iss mi microchipped icro ochippeed so that tha at ch children hildren can n fin find nd o out ut w where heere in the w world orrld tthey heyy aree th through hrou ugh thee site site. e. www.youngshelterbox.org

Nurture N urtture thee next nex xt ggeneration eneraatio on off ffi o film illm mb buffs ufffs Film Filmclub i mcclu ub iss aan n eed education duca cation i n cch charity haaritty that that a helps hellps teachers h teeacch herss and nd ttheir i pup pupils upils ls sset eet up p film lm d dis discussion sccusssio ion gr groups. ro oup pss.

Supported u p t by b the t film m industry nd s with t funding u d from m the h D Department p m n for o Education, E c o it has h grown g w in i three h e years e s to o 7,000 00 sschools, o s w with 250,000 0 0 children h d n meeting e n eevery r w weekk to o watch, a h discuss i us and n rreview e ffilms. m SSome m 66,000 0 reviews e ew w written t n byy children h re aare uuploaded o d tto tthe Filmclub m u website w s each c w week. k Itt has as recently ec n launched n he a ‘power p e o of film’ i campaign m a to p promote omot learning e n through ro g fi film.. As part r off the h campaign a p g its t film l eexperts e s have av compiled c m e a new e ‘royal ro al history’, s r llinked e tto th the R Royal y w wedding d g and n d designed g e to o boost o st history is r te teaching c g and n offer of off ferr u unusual n sual nus u lp perspe perspectives s ecctiives es on o the the monarchy. m mona narchy. c . www.filmclub.org

Still presenting the major theories of educational management and theirr links to policy, the fourth edition of this book has new case study material for Early Years through to further and higher education. It also has fully updated references and key legislative details. Each chapter now also includes key words, summaries and issues for discussion. This is very much an academic tome, but it is ideal reading for teachers aspiring to leadership and management positions, those studying school management and experienced leaders on Master’s courses. The author, Tony Bush, is Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Warwick.

Young, Gifted and Bored David George, edited by Ian Gilbert Crown House £18.99 Once you get past the typeface, which has a really distracting ‘g’, this is an engrossing book..

With real-life examples of how to spot a gifted child (they might ask: ‘Why do clouds have edges?’ or present you with an essay on conflict in the style of a recipe), it adopts a practical approach. It is aimed at teachers more than school leaders, but it does offer useful strategies for a whole-school approach. And many of the teaching tips have a universal appeal and could be applied to any student, gifted or not, to enhance their learning.

MAY/JUNE 2011 ● LEADERSHIP FOCUS

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Tear out this page and keep it – it could save you lots of time

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LEADERSHIP FOCUS ● MAY/JUNE 2011

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HAVE YOUR SAY

LETTERS The article in our last issue on Ofsted prompted some of you to share your experiences. Here is a selection of your views…

DATA DRIVEN? Dear editor I am an experienced head teacher and have had four successful Ofsted inspections. I believe our school has many of the features attributed by colleagues to their Ofsted success, as shown in your article (Face your fears, March/April 2011). However, our recent inspection experience last term put me as leader, and the school as an establishment, in the ‘satisfactory’ zone.

Attainment was deemed outstanding (it always has been), attendance is outstanding (it always has been) we are outstandingly healthy and the curriculum is good and innovative.

What a pity that the inspector – who I believe had never taught, let alone been a head – was focused entirely on data and failed to see in any detail features that contribute to the life of a school, the life of the teacher and most importantly the life of the child.

PS. We boycotted the 2010 Sats.

George Ford, co-head teacher, Foundation of Abbey Schools, Darlington

DEMONS EXORCISED Dear editor We were inspected on 2 and 3 March.

We are a large primary (440) in Leeds, with more than 30 per cent free school meals. Our Sats results and teacher assessments (in 2010) have been below average in Year Six, though improving in the rest of the school.

I have a big issue with Sats, for all the well-rehearsed reasons. I had great concerns that an Ofsted team

would base their judgments on the results and not look at the excellent practice going on in the school.

We were last inspected in September 2007 and I have expected every phone call since June 2010 to be CfBT uttering the dreaded Ofsted word. I have put many, many hours into the self-evaluation form (SEF), mostly during holidays.

I have had many conversations when alone with imaginary demon inspectors, usually ending with me punching them. But I have to admit

I have had many conversations with imaginary inspectors – usually ending with me punching them

that, despite carrying all this baggage, I was impressed with the inspection team. From the first phone call, the lead inspector put me at ease and convinced me he was on my side and not seeking to catch me out. He commented on the excellent quality of the SEF and said that he was coming to look for evidence, and to have a dialogue with me and my team. That is exactly how it was.

The process was fair and led by someone who knew what it is like to work in a school like mine. It was an

enormous relief that his team came to the same conclusions as me. I have now had a SEF-less holiday, no longer dread the ring of the school phone and the arguments with imaginary inspectors have ended.

Stuart Myers, head teacher, Whingate Primary School, Leeds

EPILEPSY INFO Dear editor I’ve just read Hollie Ewers’ interesting ‘illnesses’ article in the March/April 2011 issue. I was particularly interested to see what was written about The Lyndale School and the high percentage of pupils with epilepsy. I wanted to make readers aware that the National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy operates a school and a further education college. As the name suggests, we specialise in educating individuals with complex epilepsy, but we have considerable experience dealing with the needs of individuals with other neurological conditions and also autism (some of our students don’t actually have epilepsy). Should anyone want any more information, they are welcome to contact us.

John Lavabre, National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy www.ncype.org.uk

GET IN TOUCH WITH LF We love to hear from NAHT members.

Tell us what’s on your mind. Get in touch by email at naht@redactive.co.uk or write to LF, Redactive Publishing, 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP.

MAY/JUNE 2011 ● LEADERSHIP FOCUS 49

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AND FINALLY SUSAN YOUNG

Don’t believe the hype What really goes on in schools is inspirational and resourceful leadership

A world beyond school Before you get too carried away by the thought of forcing your more irritating parents to spend the afternoon limping around the school hall, being swaddled in bandages and force-fed cups of oversweetened tea by your pupils, there’s more to the scenario at Burghill Community Primary School.

These children are official Red Cross ambassadors, and the school has signed up with the charity to work together for five years. They do resilience training to learn how to cope in the event of a disaster, which includes the practical skills such as knowing the essentials to pack if you have

50

to leave home in a hurry, as well as the importance of communications in a disaster.

And they are spreading their new expertise far and wide. Not long after turning the school hall into a refugee camp, the same Year Fives and Year Sixes were giving resilience training to older pupils in the US via a videoconferencing link.

It’s not what you’d expect from a school buried deep in the countryside, but that’s part of the motivation: to help the pupils understand the world beyond their comparatively isolated surroundings.

While you’re still enjoying that mental picture of bandaged parents lined up in the school hall, and articulate primary kids instructing fellow pupils half-way round the world what to grab from the house in case of flood, let me share another stereotypepuncturing scenario.

It’s exam time at a sixth-form college in Brighton, and the 1,800 students are cheerfully crossing the road to get to their experimental new exam hall. All present and correct are the rows of desks, the pacing invigilators… and the altar.Yes, they’ve hired the local church.

St Luke’s Church and Brighton Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College (known as ‘Bhasvic’ to one and all) have been

discussing ways of working together since the Rev Martin Poole arrived last summer.

He was keen to find uses for the building, which normally stands empty during the week apart from a one-off invasion by a mother and toddler group. Bhasvic, meanwhile, wanted to get around the problem of exam seasons putting their own halls out of use for a fortnight or more.

Big Society in the making?

College principal Chris Thomson says: “This is a great example of community collaboration and we’re excited about the possibilities of working further with our local church.” The Rev Poole has put the rent money towards a new heating system to make the church more comfortable for the sixth-formers and for the Sunday congregation.

He thinks it might be an example of how David Cameron’s Big Society could work in practice, adding hopefully: “I also like to think that the church environment might have helped the students as they work hard at their exams.” Perhaps even now an educational researcher is being inspired to do a trial to see if a touch of religion improves exam performance…

And shall we return to Herefordshire for one final glorious mental picture?

Will Davies, the head teacher who brought videoconferencing and bandages to Burghill Primary, has managed to sign up 28 nearby schools that are going to try to lay a million pennies on the Hereford United pitch in July to raise £10,000 for a hospice and an injured soldiers fund.

“How much space will that cover?” asked LF, picturing a sea of glinting copper between the goals.

“Oh, we’ll probably put them in bags,” said Mr Davies, absentmindedly.

Damn. That was one mental picture I liked the way it was.

Would you like to invite me to a school event, or share a story of education with a difference? Contact me at educationhack@googlemail.com

NICK LOWNDES

Most people have stereotyped images about what goes on in schools. Michael Gove sees children wearing blazers, sitting in rows, learning Latin. The Daily Mail sees kids dealing drugs and happy slapping.

But most of us know our assumptions don’t last long in the company of a real school. One case in point is parent helpers.

My mental image is of mothers calmly listening to children read, or frantically counting heads on a school trip; while fathers help out at football training with some small but feisty boys.

So I was pleased when Herefordshire deputy head Will Davies told me about the creative way his 89-pupil primary has recently used its parents – as walking wounded for a disaster-training exercise for the children. Adding an edge to the event was its timing: close to the New Zealand and Japanese earthquakes, when TV news bulletins were filled with images of displaced people taking refuge in school halls.

“We turned the school hall into a refugee camp,” says Will. “We called it Operation Amphibian. The parents played the refugees: they walked in and our pupils had to find out what each one’s problem was and deal with it.

Some of them needed their families tracing or messages sent: others were wounded. There were a lot of bandages around that day. The kids loved it.”

LEADERSHIP FOCUS ● MAY/JUNE 2011

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A new curriculum for 11-14 year-olds

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Written for teachers by teachers, the IMYC has been created and developed by Fieldwork Education; providing 25 years of learning-focused support for schools around the world.

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MAY/JUNE 2011 ● LEADERSHIP FOCUS Post to: The International Middle Years Curriculum, 25 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6LD Phone: 020 7531 9696 Fax: 020 7531 1333 Email: info@imyc.org www.internationalmiddleyearscurriculum.com

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