Better never stops, David King

Look what you’re doing Better never stops David King describes the thinking behind a programme of fundamental change

There is an old saying, ‘If you do what you’ve always done, you will get what you’ve always got’. This was very much the case at Appleford when I became Headmaster in 2011. Certainly, it was a lovely school and place to work and learn, almost ‘Enid Blytonesque’, but, with 58 pupils and a steadily declining roll, hardly a sustainable model for success. So, what to do…?

First question. Is there a market for our school? Too often this question is avoided and schools are inclined to believe that they will succeed simply because they exist. Unfortunately, this is not the case. In a competitive market, one needs a USP that will differentiate your school from the field. In our case this was easy. We were a school that specialised in educating dyslexic pupils. So why were we in such a pickle when there was clearly a demand for our product?

This led on to the second question. Are we as good at what we do as we think we are? Here a bit of honest soul searching

was called for, together with an analysis of similar provision across the country. In our case the answer was an emphatic no. Other ‘standard’ schools had caught us up and even surpassed what we believed to be a truly specialist provision. In short, it was possible to receive as good a level of provision in the primary school over the road – but we didn’t know it.

Our survival therefore depended on providing a setting that reflected the needs of our pupils and parents, combined with a dramatic improvement in provision which reflected the 21st Century and put us at the forefront of specialist innovation. Not, as you will note, simply spending more money on marketing.

In accepting this reality, Appleford was destined to embark on a programme of fundamental change and everyone had to be ready and committed to this. In setting our vision and commensurate development plan, it was not only important

that the staff as a whole bought into the plan, but that I, as the Headmaster, had a leadership team and system of governance that were actually going to make the changes happen. More change required, hard but absolutely necessary.

Our plan was, on paper, simple: expand the school from a sleepy little prep school to a prep, senior and sixth form school and increase the school roll from 58 to 150 within 5 years. In reality it involved convincing a group of Y8 ‘leaving’ parents to buy into our plans for expansion; and, thereafter, ensuring we had a curriculum and provision that could deliver on outcomes for the next year. At this point, it is worth noting that our plans extended no further than that, bearing in mind that the decision to expand was made in February and our first Y9 cohort needed to be ready to go in September.

In a way, however, this was no bad thing. Having the flexibility to engage in constant review and development on an almost month by month basis enabled us to shape our developing provision in the light of experience rather than aspiration.

As year one progressed, we were able to consider the next year and adapt, change and refine provision as we moved along. The one main lesson learned here was that ‘no plan stands up in the face of the enemy’. Being flexible and open to change was the required status quo, together with the engagement of a staff body willing to give everything to the cause. 2016 marked a watershed year with our original Y9 ‘guinea pigs’ sitting their first GCSEs and a senior school filling up nicely from the rear. Over the previous five years we had been engaged in a constant cycle of development, including curriculum, policy, staffing and infrastructure. Three new boarding houses and four new classroom blocks meant cranes and contractors were an ever-present feature.

The mountain had been climbed, the view for 150 pupils was fantastic, but there was no time to stop and admire it. Sitting back in proud reflection would have been a cardinal sin. It was this very complacency which had led to our original problems – now we had to look for a new mountain. And so, this year sees our first cohort of A Level students off to university and a wholesale review and extension of our timetable focusing on developing extra-curricular activities and the introduction of compulsory daily sport and fitness training for all pupils – childhood obesity will not happen at Appleford!

And so it continues …. Key lessons learned • Never believe your school is invulnerable • Hold on to the traditions of independent education but don’t view them as your life raft. • Embrace change positively and understand that it is necessary for ongoing success. • Have an overall aim but don’t be frightened to change direction if required. • Focus on quality not expediency. • Create an SLT that completely buys into the required changes and has the necessary skill sets to make them happen. • Be open with your parent body. When something hasn’t worked, don’t hide behind smoke and mirrors. • Create an ethos of ‘Better Never Stops’ and never accommodate anyone or anything that detracts from this. David King has been Headmaster of Appleford School since 2011