Why every child needs a one-page profile

Leadership Resources
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School Leadership Today
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Why every child
needs a one-page
profile
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Getting to grips with the
needs and personalities of your
new class is often a daunting
task. Tabitha Smith explains
how implementing one-page
profiles in her school has
helped teachers to get to know
their students… and students
to get to know themselves.
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Helen and Laura
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O
ne-page profiles began for the simplest of
reasons - Laura was shy in class.
One day eight years ago, Laura who was
then in Year 2, went home to her mother in
tears, saying the teacher had told her off for wearing
the wrong trousers in PE. Laura’s mum went to see the
teacher and the teacher explained that she had not told
Laura off, but had pointed out that if she only had shorts
and not jogging bottoms, then her legs would get cold.
She also said that she had not really been able to get to
know Laura, as she was quiet in class.
Laura’s mother happened to be Helen Sanderson, the
Department of Health’s expert advisor in person-centred
planning. Helen knew that the personalised approaches
she was developing professionally could help Laura’s
teacher get to really know and understand her daughter,
but that no teacher would have time to read the detailed
personal profiles and plans being used in health and
social care. So, Helen created a one-page version for
Laura – a one-page profile.
The first section on a one-page profile is an
appreciation. It asks what people like or admire about
the child. Helen involved Laura’s extended family in
contributing to this. It was lovely for Laura to hear
what her family liked and admired about her. It really
boosted her confidence. Then over a hot chocolate in
a café, Laura and Helen thought about what to write
in the next section, the one entitled ‘What is important
to me’. Laura and Helen wrote about Laura’s yellow
Teddy, Sunny, who slept on her bed, her three cats, the
stick insects and wondering if their eggs would hatch.
Then Helen and her husband completed the third part
of the profile, which asked what they knew as Laura’s
parents about the best ways to help and support her.
They recognised that Laura found change difficult and
needed lots of reassurance, and that she could perceive a
small negative comment as a big telling off. Laura drew a
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picture of herself for the background of the profile and Helen made an appointment to
share it with her teacher.
“This would have been very useful to have had at the beginning of the year”, said
the teacher. She talked about how helpful this information would be at some of the
important transition times, like children coming from nursery into school, and moving
from class to class. Helen, Laura and Laura’s subsequent teachers updated her onepage profile every year.
Laura was a pupil at Norris Bank primary school, where I am deputy head, and these
days every single child in our school has a one-page profile.
A successful pilot
We first trialled the one-page profile concept with a whole class in 2008. One of our
Year 3 classes hadn’t gelled well and we were keen to try something that would help
the children get to know more about each other and themselves. We felt that onepage profiles offered a simple way of putting the learner in the centre of the education
process. By asking children themselves to reflect on what they are good at, what’s
important to them and how to support them, they are encouraged to develop selfreflection. In turn, the teachers were able to get to know the children as individuals
and personalise how they were taught. Parents’ expertise on their children is also
gathered and included on the one-page profile.
The pilot worked so well that we decided every pupil should have a profile by June
2010. Soon we realised
we were to be the first
mainstream primary school
to incorporate one-page
profiles throughout
the curriculum for all
children and also for staff,
as an aid to their career
development.
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The benefits of
the one-page
profile
Laura’s first one page profile
The profiles are considered
‘live’ documents because
they are frequently
updated and are used
throughout the school
year. They offer insight
to teachers meeting new
pupils for the first time and
they add value to parent/
teacher meetings, because
the child now has a real
voice in the discussion. A
child’s one-page profile
begins its development
at the very first meeting
between the child, parents
and Reception teacher, and
Year 6 children take their
profiles with them to their
secondary school.
The making of onepage profiles slots neatly
into different aspects of
the PHSE (Personal Health
and Social Education)
curriculum – and during
the spring term, when the
children work on the SEAL
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One page profiles throughout the year
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unit “Good to be me”, the one-page profile postcards are revisited and updated. The
social, moral spiritual and cultural (SMSC) aspects of learning are also covered by the
profiles, with children being encouraged to develop their own sense of self worth.
As a teacher, I need to ensure that the children are prepared for life. One-page
profiles give our parents and staff an opportunity to interact with a child individually.
The pupils feel valued and it is very personal to them. They are proud of themselves
when they can see a difference in their development.
Huw, dad to one of our Year 5 pupils, Hannah, told me what happened when he and
his daughter sat down to complete Hannah’s one-page profile. The idea was that the
profile should be given to the new teacher when Hannah joined Year 6. Hannah looked
at the section entitled Things that are important to me. “What am I going to say?” she
asked.
“Tell them you play the drums and guitar and that you have a good singing voice,”
suggested her dad.
“OK – and that I like to have fun and that I love my dog and my parents... and that I
need some help to improve my reading.” Huw said he recognised this as an admission.
It was good that it had come from Hannah herself.
Next, Huw reminded Hannah gently that she ought to tell her new teacher about
her glasses. “We’ll write it down,” said Hannah firmly, “and if the teacher reminds me,
then I’ll wear them.”
Huw said, “For us, the one-page profile process felt like a non-threatening way
for Hannah to think through things. It covered the practical things, like the fact that
Hannah really needs to wear her glasses but also the softer stuff, like the fact that she
likes being organised, which is why she enjoys school so much. If a new teacher can
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More than just grades
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get a warm picture that shows what’s inside a child, surely that’s got to be good. The
teachers already have a child’s grades and the assessments – the profiles complete the
picture.
“We all have anxieties about education. It is such a pleasure for me to be reassured
that the teachers are capturing who my child is, never mind what her SAT results are.
The simplicity of the one-page profile is probably at the root of its success. It’s a good
tool and the fact you are not wading through lots of forms meant it didn’t feel like hard
work at all.”
A family project
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Laura’s current one page profile
Another dad, Richard, told me that his daughter Jessica, 9, had always struggled with
maths, but it wasn’t until they sat down together to complete her one-page profile,
that they realised they needed to tackle this problem as a family.
By asking Jessica to think about her strengths, interests and areas needing focus,
the one-page profile opened up a different type of conversation with her dad. “I wasn’t
asking her about her day or what she got in a test. I was asking how school was going
and how she was feeling about things,” said Richard.
It soon came out that Jessica felt she was just no good at maths. It was nothing
specific, just a worrying lack of confidence.
“The one-page profile introduced the notion of very gentle target setting,” said
Richard, “and so we started to think about how we were going to help Jessica feel more
confident with
maths. We decided
on some practical
steps, like helping
her with her times
tables.
“We also
instigated a
different type of
conversation at
her next parents’
evening. Too
often, these
sessions are just
functional. They
don’t bring out
an opportunity
to talk about
how the children
see themselves
as learners and
what they can
and can’t do well.
Having done the
one-page profile,
we went in with
more of a focus
– to talk about
her confidence in
maths. It helped
reinforce the
triangle of school/
home/child.”
The profile
process also
allowed Jessica to
flag up positive
things about herself
that the teacher
may not have
known, but that
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Conor (8) and deputy head Tabitha Smith
were worthy of celebration – like the fact that she is a talented swimmer.
But for Richard, the real value of the profile process was the honest dialogue it
sparked. “I’m not sure how often parents have these conversations with their children
- about how they are actually feeling about learning,” he said.
Reaping the rewards
In late 2010, Ofsted inspectors visited our school and were impressed by our profile
work. They hadn’t seen anything like it before and were absolutely fascinated.
We achieved an Ofsted ‘outstanding’ grade. More recently we’ve been awarded
Stockport’s Inclusion Quality Mark and a Gold Investors in People award.
Person-centred practices are really exciting, but it’s a drip, drip change, not a
sudden change. It’s worthwhile because we get to connect to the children and to really
know them as people rather than just pupils. The impacts on self-esteem and social
and emotional development are very clear.
Meanwhile, at another school in the Manchester area, the head of a middle school was
looking for a vehicle to help its Year 9 and 10 boys start to reflect on their ambitions
and goals. Staff recognised that self-reflection, motivation and aspiration were often
aspects of school life that were ‘hidden’ but that had everything to do with success.
Andy Smith, head of middle school at Manchester Grammar School, said that
learning about Helen Sanderson and the one-page profile work at Norris Bank was a
serendipitous moment. He said: “We want boys at our school to live active, challenging
and rewarding lives and we’d been looking for a mechanism that addresses selfmotivation and human flourishing. Person-centred practices like one-page profiles
offer us the tools to achieve our objectives.”
A pilot programme has been initiated for the 2012/13 academic year to develop
a set of resources to help pupils reflect on their experiences in school, set themselves
goals for the future and develop action plans to achieve these goals.
Teaching staff have begun the process by working with pupils to develop one-page
profiles. This process is at the forefront of a programme of personalisation. Pupils are
asked to consider what friends like about them, what is important to them and how
they want to be best supported. The school hopes to evolve this exercise over time so
that pupils develop (and record on their profiles) real academic ambition and reflect
honestly on their progress.
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One-page profiles in other schools
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The one-page profiles are then used by pupils and their tutors to consider what
is working and what is not from all perspectives. From this, pupils and tutors agree
personalised goals that help move pupils towards their life aspirations.
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Beneficial now and for the future
An integral part of the personalisation process will be the development of an on-going
record of experiences and achievements. These will eventually help pupils create
their UCAS personal statements – and ultimately their first CVs. Andy said: “Recording
achievements through the years is a good way of recognising their value but we are
not just talking sporting or academic prowess. We want these records to showcase all
sorts of experiences and achievements - perhaps a trip spent trekking or simply visiting
family in a distant part of the world.”
Andy said, “Manchester Grammar School is a very demanding academic
environment which constantly challenges pupils to meet high standards. Personalised
approaches enable form tutors to support pupils and help them build the mental
resilience and positive character traits that lead to a fulfilling and successful time at
school and beyond in the world of university and work.”
A great deal has been said over the years about the importance of personalisation
in education, but what seems to have been lacking is a vehicle for the delivery of
personalised approaches. One-page profiles and other person-centred practices offer a
straightforward, common sense method of personalisation. I’m immensely proud that
it was our school that Helen Sanderson worked with on the very first one-page profile.
For more information, free resources and advice about one-page profiles and other
person-centred practices in schools, please visit www.personalisingeducation.org. A film
about the project, featuring Norris Bank and three other schools, can be viewed on the
home page of the website.
Tabitha Smith is the deputy head teacher at Norris Bank primary school,
Stockport.
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