Leadership Focus July 08 [pdf / 5.09MB]

Transcription

LeadershipFOCUS
Issue 32 July/August 2008
£5
THE BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR ALL SCHOOL LEADERS
NO RESPITE FROM
LEAGUE TABLES,
WORKLOAD
AND OFSTED
PLUS
ANNUAL CONFERENCE
TURNING THE TABLES
14-19 DIPLOMAS
GIRLS AND SPORT
01 covera.indd 1
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Making the most of
technology to engage parents
Schools can raise achievement by more actively engaging
with parents about all aspects of their children’s school lives.
The government is expecting all secondary schools to offer online
reporting to parents by September 2010, and all primary schools by 2012.
Find out more about the national drive to improve parental
engagement and how the relationship between teachers,
learners and their families can be improved using technology.
www.becta.org.uk/schools/parentalengagement
LFO.07.08.002.indd 2
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Robert
Sanders
Editorial
Contacts
Stressing the individual
EDITORIAL & ASSOCIATION
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NAHT, 1 Heath Square,
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Editor: Robert Sanders
Editorial board: Mick Brookes,
Desmond Hamilton, Clarissa Williams,
Robert Sanders, David Tuck
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Circulation 27,872 (July 2006-June 2007)
© Copyright 2008 NAHT
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be
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The views herein are not necessarily those
of the publisher, the editor or the NAHT.
W
e’re all feeling the strain at the moment. Eighty-six per cent
of heads are experiencing work-related stress (see page 24),
“Sats have become a ‘stick with which to beat schools”
(see page 12) and even the long-awaited diplomas are
beginning to creak a little at the seams (see page 36).
I think the main reason we are suffering is the tendency
for those in power to think exclusively in terms of trends, statistics and
policies. The Government can’t seem to get along without them. Of course
it needs to make assumptions about what the average child should know.
Naturally it wants to gather as much information as possible to inform its
decisions and justify its policies.
But where things fall down is when the
Governments forgets the individual – the human
Those in
element. It’s easily done. To a certain extent, it’s even
necessary. But somehow we have come to the point in
power
the education world where in an effort to categorise
tend to think
and analyse and generalise, nothing human is left.
only in terms
School leaders have the task of achieving
‘personalised learning’ but perhaps we should
of statistics,
challenge the powers that be to provide more
trends and
‘personalised’ Government.
Look at some of the other articles in this issue of
policies
Leadership Focus to see just how much the differences
and the individual needs influence the way schools
operate. When Dame Kelly Holmes spoke to us at our
conference, as well as giving delegates a workout, she
was able to relate brilliantly the true passion of the role of the school
leader by talking about real children, real experiences and altogether
human challenges (see page 18).
Carrying on the sport theme, Aireville School in North Yorkshire has
changed the experience of girls’ sport by being creative and willing to
listen (see page 20). Try writing an opera in a school for deaf people,
while being filmed by a television company to really see what schools are
all about (see page 30).
In the classroom and in the school, leaders and teachers try to work at both
levels. They look at the statistics to see how well the school is doing but they
also work with concern and care for the needs of staff and pupils. Somehow
most school leaders seem to manage not to mix the two up; though it can be
quite stressful achieving that balance because you care so much. Maybe that’s
why we rarely hear of Government officials resigning due to stress.
There is a glimmer of hope though, at the close of questions to Beverly
Hughes, Children’s Minister, when she says: “I completely understand that
space, excitement and creativity are what will bring children into school
willingly. As a committed professional, you also want space to be creative.
I think we have come to a point where prescription… is such that we have
got to create that space.” So watch this space!
Robert Sanders
Editor
JULY/AUGUST 2008 ● LEADERSHIP FOCUS
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Contents
30
24
NEWS FOCUS
7 CONFERENCE: A SUPPORTING CHANCE
Clarissa Williams sets out the priorities for her NAHT
presidency – not least a more realistic approach to education.
9 CONFERENCE: TOXICITY TO TRUST
The General Secretary calls for school leaders to be supported
in their roles and not harassed by micro-management.
10 CONFERENCE: YOU ASK THE MINISTER
Beverly Hughes, the Minister of State for Children,Young
People and Families, answers delegates’ questions.
12 SUPPORT OUR CAMPAIGN
The growing weight of evidence that Sats don’t work give
momentum to NAHT’s campaign to replace them.
4
20
LEADERSHIP FOCUS ● JULY/AUGUST 2008
4-5 Contents.indd 4
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LeadershipFOCUS
FEATURES
FEAT
18 SOUNDBITES:
SO
DAME KELLY HOLMES
18
The Olympic champion says she was inspired by her PE
teacher – now she’s inspiring a new generation of children.
teach
20 KISS GOODBYE TO JOLLY HOCKEY STICKS
Carly Chynoweth visits schools that have had success in
getting girls into PE, and reveals their secrets.
gettin
24 BOILING
BO
POINT
Testin
Testing, league tables and bureaucracy are pushing leaders to
boiling point and beyond. Zoë Roberts gauges the pressures.
boilin
30 LIGHTS,
LIG
CAMERA, ARIAS!
Kate Williamson goes behind the scenes as Teachers TV visits
college where deaf students are creating a new opera.
a col
36 EDUCATION
EDU
DOESN’T JUST
GRO ON TREES
GROW
Trials of the 14-19 Diplomas have brought a wealth of
questions to the fore, writes Carly Chynoweth.
quest
40 TEAMWORK:
TEA
TRADITION MEETS VISION
Petch Academy presents a unique opportunity for
Petchey
leadership team, as Andy Walsh discovers.
its le
44 NAHT ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Policy resolutions in full for 2008-09.
REGULARS
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
03 EDITORIAL By Robert Sanders.
46 ALL TOGETHER NOW
15 CURRENT LITERATURE
Reviews of Leadership Management and Development in
Education by Tony Bush; An Island Preoccupied by Arthur
De Caux; and The Constant Leader by Max Coates.
17 THE SUSAN YOUNG COLUMN
School reports and the Government? Both could do better.
48 WHAT’S NEW?
The latest products and resources available to school leaders.
50 AND FINALLY…
NAHT membership is open to all educational leaders, and
we are asking you to recruit colleagues to the association for
the professional and political support we can give each other.
47 WANTED: YOUR VIEWS ON WEBSITE
The new personalised NAHT website was launched in
May and we’d like to hear from you about what you think
and how you would like us to improve it.
47 THE MICK BROOKES COLUMN
Now that we’ve won the educational and professional
debate, we need to see change on testing and assessment.
But there’s another battle looming, over the insulting ‘no
notice inspections’, they need to be killed off quickly.
Arthur De Caux sees confusion in the 14-19 Diploma.
4-5 Contents.indd 5
5
9/6/08 09:16:05
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5/6/08 11:51:50
News
focus
Clarissa Williams, the new NAHT President, sets out her priorities
for the coming year – not least a more realistic approach to education
A supporting chance
C
TEMPEST PHOTOGRAPHY
larissa Williams set out
the key themes for her
presidency in a speech
to Annual Conference in
Liverpool in May.
The impact of poverty
and social deprivation on education was a
major issue for her, and she criticised both
the Government’s punitive approach to
ineffectual parenting and the tendency
to place the burden on schools to pick
up the slack.
“There is a paradox between the
current benefits culture, which entraps
the vulnerable, and insisting that all
young mothers should find a job, leaving
schools and other agencies to bring up the
children,” she said.
“Why do we feel the need to send
children into an educational environment
at the age of two?” she asked. “Are
parents so distrusted that we want to
separate them from their children at the
earliest opportunity?”
The President also called for a more
creative approach to the benefits system,
which would be based on rewarding
parents who spend quality time with
their children reading and talking to them
and turning up to support their schools.
Heads do not want to instigate parenting
orders, she claimed. “What does that do to
improve home-school relationships?”
She cited Finland as one of the many
countries that the UK could learn from.
“Parenting is highly valued and a higher
level of taxation enables those enlightened
countries to pay for the services (housing,
healthcare and education) that the poor
require as they pull themselves up to that
higher plane that facilitates the move from
survival to self-actualisation,” she said.
There was also a call for a more realistic
approach to modern educational needs,
dismissing the idea of a ‘golden age’
in education. “We now have many types
of schools because modern life demands
We have many
types of schools
because modern life
demands variety.
But choice is limited
mostly to those able
to exercise it
variety,” she said. “But we know choice is
limited mostly to those able to exercise it.”
She added that faith schools were yet
another form of ‘self-selection’ through
religious attendance.
The introduction of the 14-19
Diplomas is another serious issue
for NAHT members during this
presidency. She said it was worrying to
hear Jerry Jarvis, the chief executive of
Edexcel, express his concerns about the
implementation of the new diplomas,
and she criticised the reaction from the
Schools Minister.
“Jim Knight’s response acknowledged
that this is the most significant change
in decades. As the clock ticks away the
countdown, but without the essential
levels of resources and training provided,
he was being at best optimistic and at
worst in denial of the realities confronting
schools and colleges,” she warned.
Recruitment and retention was also
indicated as a key theme for this year’s
presidency. “We rely on a loyal and
committed cohort of deputies and assistant
heads,” she said. “We have a collective duty
of care to show how much we value their
skills and growing expertise.” Announcing
a programme of regional symposia for
leadership team members, she emphasised:
“The job of headship must not be
perceived as a poisoned chalice.”
See: the Boiling Point feature, page 24, and
the Diplomas feature, page 36.
7-9 news.indd 7
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9/6/08 11:31:33
Help your students
help themselves
Apply for EMA online or over the phone
It can be challenging to convince students of the
long-term benefits of pursuing education or training.
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is responsible for
ensuring the availability of high-quality education and
training for everyone, and is introducing a national Learner
Support Service (LSS), a new online and phone service for
students applying for a number of Learner Support funds
including the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).
EMA offers students weekly financial assistance where
they can receive up to £30 a week, so they can participate
in a learning programme or course. As well as applying for
EMA via the traditional paper application form, the Learner
Support Service now enables learners to apply online or
over the phone. They can then choose how they want
to be contacted, for instance, by text or email.
What will this mean for schools?
The new service will help make teachers’, pastoral support
and administrative staff lives easier. An important aspect
of administering EMA is attendance monitoring – information
that is currently processed through the EMASYS system.
From the end of June, this will be replaced by the Learner
Provider Portal (LPP). All school-based staff who use this
will find the new system easier, and we will provide full
support through the transition period, including workshops,
operating manuals and an interactive website.
Working with you to help learners
We look forward to working with all school-based staff
to ensure the new Learner Support Service works as
effectively as possible to help students carry on learning.
Not only that, learners can also use the online ‘are you
eligible?’ pre-application tool to check whether they
may be eligible for EMA, or other financial support.
For further information about the Service, please go to: www.lsc.gov.uk/providers/moneytolearn/lss
We are also producing a range of training and support materials,
which will be available shortly through the site.
If you would like to receive a monthly update on the Learner Support Service, please contact:
[email protected]
If you have any queries about EMA please phone 0845 6007979
LFO.07.08.008.indd 8
5/6/08 11:52:28
News
focus
The General Secretary’s speech calls for school leaders to be
supported in their roles and not harassed by micro-management
From toxicity to trust
M
Dress to impress in support of School Aid
School Aid: Year 2 – focusing on community life in India and Kenya – will kick off in spectacular
style on the last Thursday or Friday before this October half-term with a Cultural Mufti Day.
We want all schools to take part. You’ll find resources on www.schoolaid.tv to help you run
this activity, along with new and exciting classroom and assembly activities. Write the date
in your diaries and put your thinking caps on as we ask NAHT members to join students in
arriving at school dressed to symbolise a different county, religion or culture. This Mufti Day
should inspire conversation, education and thought about how other people live in different
environments around the world. Please join in and make a small donation to wear anything that
sums up the country of your choice! Every penny sent to us can be used to help change the
lives of thousands of families around the world and to support our amazing projects.
away from the classroom who have neither
the experience nor the understanding of the
everyday dynamics that make up the daily
reality for our nation’s children,” he said.
“What we have now is a system based
on distrust, that imposes its will and
expects compliance. This leads to aggressive
accountability, punishment and toxicity that
makes people ill.”
One example of this distrust is KS2
and KS3 Sats. “Sat tests should inform
teacher assessment. It is ridiculous that the
summation of four years’ work in KS2
and three years’ work in KS3 should be
assessed by a 45-minute test,” he insisted.
“We need to dare to be creative; to
shake off the oppressive burdens of targets,
tests and tables. We have to free ourselves
from the clutches of the curriculum
accountants and assessment auditors. It is
high time to trust schools.”
On a positive note, he reminded
delegates of the creativity seen at the
School Proms last November.
“We have a wealth of talent in our
schools, a heritage of which we should
be proud. We spend so much time
wringing our hands over the blots on
the landscape that we forget to take
in the view.”
7-9 news.indd Sec1:9
ALAMY
ick Brookes’ speech to
conference was an
impassioned plea for
school leaders to “take
back control of the
education agenda”.
The General Secretary welcomed the
closer collaboration between schools and
further education colleges to empower and
enable school leadership and strengthen
NAHT’s “tough but positive voice”.
He praised the peer-support project
with the NCSL, which will be introduced
this September to provide every newly
appointed head with pastoral support.
“Having someone to turn to who is not
a numbercruncher, curriculum accountant
or target-setter is essential,” he said. “When
the chips are down, the pastoral support of
someone who has unconditional positive
regard for you is what will work. Early
intervention and trusted support may well
prevent later crisis.”
He added that headteachers should
also look after their deputies and assistant
heads in this way as well.
Mick also gave a reminder about
the core purpose of schools. “The
Government must stop displacing blame
and loading all the ills of society onto the
backs of schools,” he said.
But he claimed that the deconstruction
of Local Authority support is impeding
necessary intervention. “In most areas it
is still deeply frustrating trying to get the
support that schools need for children
who may be at risk.
“Social services are overstretched and in
some areas downright hostile to schools. We
still find it hard to get the ‘ists’ to come to
school rather than the child to go to them.
When the service is offered at a centre,
children don’t get there because parents
aren’t able, or willing, to take them.”
And he expressed concern that
responsibility is being taken away from
teachers. “We are being instructed by those
9
9/6/08 11:31:46
News
focus
Beverly Hughes, the Minister of State for Children,Young People and
Families, answered questions from delegates at Annual Conference
You ask the minister...
Now that obesity is on the
agenda, is there a risk that
Ofsted will fail schools with
an above-acceptable percentage of
obese children? And can you confirm
the Government will not introduce
obesity league tables for schools as
part of the wellbeing agenda?
Q
Q
A
A
Almost one-quarter of threeand four-year-olds are either
overweight or obese. Unless we
can tackle it effectively, the implications
for the future are very serious indeed. We
need the benchmark you’re helping us to
establish through the measuring
programme. But this isn’t going to be
about assessing schools in that kind of way,
I can give that categoric assurance.
However, there is real potential for schools
to make a contribution to these aspects of
children’s development. Being healthy is
one of the five outcomes, and we want to
work with you to establish how the
wellbeing duty can be assessed. Don’t be
afraid of it – it’s not going to be another
burden and another set of targets. That’s
not what we want to achieve.
Report card:
Beverly Hughess
Appointed as a Minister of State to the
then DfES in May 2005, her principal policy
cy
areas include children’s wellbeing; family
policy including parenting support; teenage
gee
pregnancy strategy; Sure Start, childcare
and early education, the Every Child
Matters agenda, and extended schools.
She shares joint responsibility with other
Government departments for youth justice
cee
and child poverty.
10
Past NAHT conferences have
unanimously voted to abolish
the publication of league
tables, so why does the Government
continue to ignore us? Are you
encouraging your colleagues in the
DCSF to move on from the current
test-ridden system?
The views and opinions of
teachers and headteachers and
those with professional expertise in
this area is very important but it’s not the
only perspective – the perspective of
parents is also important, as is having a
range of measures by which the
contribution that schools are making to
children’s academic achievement can be
assessed. I think that the opportunity of
the single-level testing – of testing when
ready – and combining that with teacher
assessment, is the way forward, and those
pilots are going on at the moment. But
I’m not going to apologise for having
testing in schools. There are three formal
test points in a child’s life – Key Stages 2,
3 and 4. We know from strong research
evidence that there is a high correlation
between the results a child achieves at
KS2, and performance at KS4 – GCSEs –
and this is something we can’t ignore. We
need a mechanism to ensure that we know
how children perform at that age and to
ensure that as many as possible can reach
a certain level of numeracy and literacy.
We have to be able to show parents what
we are doing. It’s not just you who are
accountable, local councils are accountable;
I feel accountable as do my ministerial
colleagues. Tests are not the only measure,
but they are an important measure. We
will keep testing.
Q
A high percentage of serving
heads were born between
1949 and 1955. We want to
know when the DCSF will seriously
consider the recruitment and
retention problem of school leaders.
A
This is something that school
leaders have discussed with me
at length. I have heard about the
difficulties of having very small numbers
of applications for some jobs and in
some cases having to go out to advertise
more than once because of the number,
or the quality, of the people who applied
first time round. In certain areas of the
country there are clearly people feeling
this and it is a concern. As I said in my
speech, nurturing the next generation of
good school leaders is critically
important. The National College for
School Leadership is doing some specific
work supporting raising the number of
people already in the system. It is
working with local areas to develop
specific succession strategies, and is
making sure that, as far as it can, there are
people coming up who are thinking
about becoming deputies or heads, and
that they’re given the support and
professional development that they need.
10-11 news.indd 10
9/6/08 10:33:03
Question time: Beverly Hughes (left)
answers questions under the watchful eye
of the NAHT President, Clarissa Williams.
Q
We accept your answer up to
a point, but we do feel very
strongly that the DCSF’s
perception of the retention problem
does not match the facts.
A
Q
If there is that mismatch at the
DCSF in terms of perception,
then we will deal with it.
The NAHT has long sought
to establish equivalent status
for national, vocational and
international academic qualifications.
What is the Government’s view?
A
The objective you are talking
about is very much what we want
to achieve through the 14-19
Diplomas. The vision is a radical one but I
think it’s the right one. It’s very important
in terms of the implementation that we
get the detail right, and I know that that’s
challenging but I’m convinced we can do
it. On the university front, we already have
Ucas’s view that the diplomas will stand
students in good stead. Oxford and
Cambridge have expressed their view that
they expect diplomas to satisfy their entry
Tests are not the
only measure,
but they are an
important measure.
We will keep testing.
… I’m not apologising
for having testing
in schools
requirements. I think that the quality of
the experience that students get, the
ability to combine unique packages of
knowledge-based, skill-based, academic,
theoretical and practical-based learning,
will come to be seen as the right way to
equip young people for the future,
whatever direction they want to go in
post-19. We will continue to work with
particular universities if it proves to be a
concern, but the indications suggest
strongly at the moment that they agree
this is the way forward.
Q
As a long-serving
headteacher of a junior
school, I am hugely aware
that much of the prescribed national
curriculum has little or no relevance
to my pupils, particularly to their
future economic wellbeing. How you
are going to change it?
A
While the academic achievement
of children and young people is
key, because that is what will open
doors for them in the future, I completely
understand that space, excitement and
creativity are what will bring children
into school willingly. As a committed
professional, you also want space to be
creative. I think we have come to a point
where prescription, in the primary
curriculum in particular, is such that
we have got to create that space. We
have to look at that curriculum, and
define as clearly, and as minimally as
we can, precisely what the core needs
to be in order to create that space
for you to deliver a curriculum that’s
exciting both for yourselves and your
staff. We anticipate that this will be
ready for 2011.
10-11 news.indd 11
11
9/6/08 10:33:12
News
focus
With evidence growing that Sats and league tables don’t work, the
campaign to replace them – Turning the Tables – is gathering force
Support our campaign
T
urning the Tables, the
NAHT campaign to
completely reassess
league tables and testing,
is gaining ground all the
time. In April, Mick
Brookes, the association’s General
Secretary, wrote to Jim Knight, the schools
minister. “You are aware that there is
condemnation of the current processes
from practically every quarter of the
education community,” he wrote. “The
single-level tests look increasingly less
likely to be able to resolve criticisms of the
current system. My Executive believes the
attached [see below] to be a sensible and
professional way forward…”
Then, in May, NAHT took out a fullpage advert in the TES. Under the heading
of “Let’s make this year’s tests the last”, it
pointed out that governors, parents and even
the QCA backs NAHT’s views. It included
a quote from the authority that “90 per cent
of primary and 79 per cent of secondary
schools report that testing has led to pupils
being offered a narrower curriculum”.
The General Secretary also featured in
an in-depth interview on the BBC’s Today
programme. In a discussion following the
Commons Schools Select Committee
report on the issue, the schools minister
defended Sats. Mick replied: “If we
abandon Sats this week, that does not
mean you have a whole cohort of pupils
who won’t do well at GCSEs. It is not the
Sats that are important, it’s the learning.”
In June, in a blog on the NAHT website,
Ian Foster noted yet more confirmation of
what many have suspected about league
tables from an article in the magazine of
the Royal Statistical Society by researchers
from the University of Bristol. It said that
Campaign essentials…
To reduce the ‘high-stakes’ nature of KS2 and KS3 Sat tests, with effect from September
2008*. Sats should inform teacher assessment. It is patently ridiculous that the summation
of four years’ work in KS2 and three years’ work in KS3 should be assessed by a 45-minute
test. Where there is a difference between the Sat results and teacher assessment, scrutiny
of work should inform the correct grade.
The benefits of moving to this interim position are clear:
● The focus in Years Six and Nine will continue to be on the learning outcomes required to raise
standards rather than trying to pre-guess Sat questions and wasting time on exam technique;
● Expensive security arrangements and policing in the current environment can be abandoned;
● There are no surprises – schools will know what learning outcomes for individual children
are because they will be reporting them;
● Final assessment can be left until later in the Summer term. Under the current regime,
Years Six and Nine are compressed into eight months. This system could allow an additional
two months’ progress to be assessed, and will avoid the curriculum vacuum that primary
schools experience post-Sats;
● The tests can be administered to adapt to the school agenda, rather than an externally
imposed timescale;
● This arrangement will demonstrate trust in the profession.
*an
12
interim position to give us time to develop more sophisticated systems of assessment fit for the 21st century.
league tables are of little use in telling how
‘good’ or ‘bad’ a school will be, as the
tables do not predict future performance.
The report went on to state that CVA
scores are of no interest to parents when
selecting a school.
“This implies that the only thing worth
knowing is the school’s ‘performance’ in
tables,” said Ian.
● Do you agree? Do you support the
Turning the Tables campaign? To find out
more and register your support, please
contact the Campaign Team on 01444
472 475 or email turningthetables@
naht.org.uk
What NAHT members say:
Andrew Barker, headteacher, Bishops Castle
Primary School, Shropshire
“I support any campaign that will lead to
a method of assessment that provides the
right information for the right people,
rather than the wrong information, for the
wrong people, for the wrong purposes.
Action of some kind is long overdue.”
Mike Millman, Dudley NAHT branch
secretary, West Midlands regional secretary
“At a recent regional meeting there was
unanimous support for Turning the Tables
from members. We endorse the NAHT
strategy of building an alliance with others
to introduce a better system of assessment.
If the Government and the DCSF reject
this reasonable and sensible proposal, then
the union must move beyond words and
consider a strategy of action that will
ensure 2008 is the last year tests are
conducted in this manner.
“We are totally in favour of sensible
professional testing to inform the learning
and progress of children and their parents.
We understand the need to monitor
national standards but the current regime
is significantly damaging the quality of
education and the standards that could be
achieved by the children of England.
12-13 news.indd 12
9/6/08 10:32:27
“No headteacher is opposed to
assessment, but we know, as skilled
professionals, the most effective ways to
assess the progress of our pupils. Almost
all children want to do the best they can,
and almost all teachers want to continually
improve their skills to raise the standard
of teaching and learning.
“Please let us act as a respected profession.
This campaign has my full support.”
Deborah Sims, headteacher, Our Lady
& St Benedict Primary School, Congleton
Once again,
we have had to
endure the stress of
Sats week to gain
information that we
already have. This
‘testing’ should be
consigned to history
“In the hostile climate for Sats and
overwhelming support for their abolition,
our union must take a national lead.”
Michael Floyd, headteacher, St Marie’s
Catholic Junior School, Rugby
“I’ve been a head for 19 years and have
been campaigning for an accurate,
professional, child-friendly assessment
system since national curriculum tests
were introduced. At last, there is evidence
to confirm the view that testing children
in this formal way, and the appalling waste
of public money in statistical analysis and
misleading reporting, is detrimental to
pupil progress.
“National Curriculum levels are
arbitrary. I doubt if teachers, or anyone
who has to explain a child’s progress to
parents, were involved in deciding that an
11-year-old child in Year Six at the end of
KS2 is expected to attain Level 4.
“When Sats came in, the Government
said that Level 4 was the standard expected
to be achieved by the average child at the
end of Year Six. With a normal distribution
curve, 25 per cent could be higher, and 25
per cent lower, which is approximately
where we have been for several years. But
the jargon changed to all children being
expected to achieve Level 4, and anything
less [is portrayed in the media] as failure.
TEMPEST PHOTOGRAPHY
General Secretary Mick Brookes:
forming an alliance to change
Government policy.
“Teacher assessment is increasingly more
accurate and a much more realistic
judgment on children’s attainment.
Children of such young ages should not
be subjected to this ridiculous pressure. We
need to learn from the Foundation Stage
assessment principles but keep to a
reasonable scale to manage.”
Lesley Molyneux, headteacher, Balby
Central Primary School, Doncaster
“Once again, we have had to endure the
stress of Sats week, to gain the same
information we already have. Schools are
data rich nowadays and this system of
‘testing’ belongs in the history curriculum.
If we gain no new information from the
tests, why do them? We assess our children
continually and will continue to do so.
“Sats are a stick with which to beat
schools and do nothing to further the trust
that should – but no longer – exists
between sections of the Government and
the professionals doing the job. We do
actually know what we are doing!”
Janet Lucas, headteacher, Green Lane
Primary School, Middlesbrough
“As a headteacher, I am not afraid of
accountability, but watching one of my Level
3 pupils agonising over this year’s reading
Sat, which was almost totally inaccessible for
him, reconfirmed my belief that in their
current form the Sats are morally wrong.”
12-13 news.indd 13
13
9/6/08 10:32:39
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5/6/08 11:45:52
Review
Current
literature
Leadership and
Management
Development
in Education
Great
read
An Island
Preoccupied
By Arthur De Caux
ELSP, £6.95
By Tony Bush, Sage Publications, £22.99
As a professor of educational leadership, author Tony Bush is
an international leading light on leadership and management.
His latest publication starts out by discussing why the role of
school leaders has come under increased scrutiny and looks at
evidence to show that good leadership can have a critical
impact on school improvement.
The book examines various models of leadership and the
significance of leadership and management development in education. Instructional
leadership is put under the spotlight, as is transformational leadership, which is said to have
the potential to harness stakeholder support for the school’s vision and its leader’s vision.
However, the latter is said to cause concern because it may be viewed as a vehicle for the
imposition of leaders’ or governments’ priorities on teachers and pupils.
Inevitably, Bush discusses the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) and its
programmes for leaders at all levels. The NCSL has had a demonstrable effect on leadership
development. The Leadership Development Framework, which helped to move the debate
from the preparation of principals to a wider appreciation of the need to develop leaders at
all levels and career stages, is examined, alongside a critical assessment of the College.
There is also a chapter on the need for effective leadership in developing countries, where
there is a dearth of support for school leaders – which unsurprisingly makes them feel
isolated. Bush says agencies helping schools should pay greater attention to school leadership
preparation and development. The book is written clearly, is wide-ranging and well-structured.
It is a must-read for those interested in the latest thinking on leadership and management.
Joy Persaud
The
Constant
Leader
By Max Coates
Continuum, £24.99
Handled incorrectly, leadership can be destructive. But dealt with in
the right way, it can be exhilarating. This book explores how leaders can
retain purpose under pressure and reveals how to ‘ski down the black
runs of leadership without being taken off-piste by the air ambulance’.
Author Max Coates was a secondary headteacher for 12 years and
is team programme manager for the London Centre for Leadership
in Learning. He puts this experience to excellent use, addressing
issues such as stress, empathy, and mental and physical health, citing
research and case studies to explain the impact of these factors
on leaders’ abilities and wellbeing. Coates describes three
types of leader – erotic, who seek to love and be loved, which
makes them caring, if conflict-averse; obsessive, those who are
conscientious, but possibly risk-averse; and narcissistic, who tend
to be impressive orators and innovators, driven by a desire to be
admired, but who can be low on empathy. A balanced leader, he
says, will have these elements in equal measure.
In the foreword, Professor Dame Pat Collarbone says the moral
purpose of headteachers is to raise achievement in a school
where children and young people – as well as staff – can feel safe
and secure, despite difficult circumstances. This insightful and
practical publication will help leaders to achieve this aim.
Joy Persaud
Most readers should be familiar with Arthur
De Caux. He’s the former head of the
NAHT’s education department and a regular
Leadership Focus contributor (see page
50). What you might not realise is that the
Channel Islander is also a novelist.
In his book, An Island Preoccupied,
he explores the dark days just before the
German occupation of Jersey in 1940, as
seen through the eyes of a schoolteacher,
Jack Birel. Arthur’s tale introduces an array
of Jersey characters, mostly recreated
from snippets passed down to the author
from his parents and previous generations
of Islanders.
The gripping story plays out the drama
during the summer of 1940 as the German
Army moved towards the Normandy
beaches with the Channel Islands just
beyond. Speculation, rumours and panic
began to spread among the Islanders as
families made decisions on whether to stay
or go. Some hoped that the threat of the
British fleet would be enough to deter the
Nazis, or that they could be met by force.
Unfortunately, the British Government
had decided that the Channel Islands were
of no strategic importance and would not
be defended. All thoughts of fighting back
against the invaders eventually disappeared
on 20 June 1940 when the few soldiers that
were on Jersey left in boats.
With sightings of more and more German
aeroplanes, the main characters of Arthur’s
novel realise that each day could be their
last day of freedom and the book highlights
some of the moral questions facing those
who decided to stay.
Throughout the narrative, Jack Birel’s role
as teacher provides strength and support to
those around him, a beacon of knowledge
in uncertain times.
Jon Bradley
15 Books.indd 15
15
9/6/08 09:14:31
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LFO.07.08.016.indd 16
TEMPEST
PHOTO G R A PH Y
5/6/08 11:47:32
Columnist
Susan
Young
The Government could do better with its new school reports
Creating confusion
R
emember when pithy
phrases were all the rage
in school reports? They
used to be so definite
that whole books have
been compiled from
their wit and wisdom. You know the kind
of thing – they’re usually about people
who later made it big, but whose talent
was wearily dismissed at the end of a
school year.
Take, for example, the writer and
novelist Jilly Cooper. This appeared in
one of her reports: “Jilly has set herself
an extremely low standard which she
has failed to maintain.” Or this comment
to comedian Eric Morecambe’s mother:
“I hate to say this, but your Eric will
never get anywhere in life.”
Clear message
Even now, clichés, like ‘could do better’,
are the sort of thing that everyone
instantly understands. It might be sniffily
dismissed as lazy report writing, but it’s
not as vague as it sounds.
But you won’t be letting that kind
of report past your desk during these
weeks, will you? You’re looking for a
clear picture to send back home. But the
trouble is – and I’m speaking as a parent
here, as well as a member of the specialist
press – that unless there’s a teacher in
the child’s home background somewhere,
you might as well send these things
written in Greek.
I remember one report that told me
my infant daughter could programme
a Pixie. Fortunately, I’d helped out in
class and at least knew we weren’t talking
pointy-hatted elves, but rudimentary
robots that moved square by square
around a grid – but how many others
would know?
But knowing the terminology is only
part of the problem. The other really
important bit is that reports rarely explain
or contextualise. So what if Daisy can
programme a Pixie? You also need to
know whether it’s a fantastic achievement
or bog-standard for a girl of her age. The
report didn’t tell me.
Another annual report from the same
school told me what my daughter could
do, and said what levels she had reached.
But nowhere did it tell me whether
‘Two’ was very good, very bad or plain
indifferent. I had to ask the primary
correspondent at the TES.
It seems to me that although the old,
subjective system had its flaws, the new
one is worse. Even interested, involved
parents scratch their heads trying to
work out whether Molly is a genius or a
muppet. Others just read it and forget it.
‘Could do better’, meanwhile, told
parents that their kid was coasting
and needed encouragement, forceful
if necessary. The new reports may be
objective and assessment-driven, but
if the recipients don’t speak the same
professional language it’s a waste of your
time. I seem to remember the argument
for change was that teachers resorted
to cliché. But all that’s happened is old
clichés have been replaced by new ones.
All parents want to know is whether
their little darling is working hard enough,
what their strengths and weaknesses are,
It seems
to me that
although the old,
subjective system
had its flaws, the
new system is
even worse
and whether their performance is broadly
average, better or worse.
While you decide whether or not the
Campaign for Real Reports is something
you choose to take up, why not try this
little exercise to help make up your mind:
what would you write about the current
Government? You could divide it into
subjects, if that helped.
Which would you prefer? “The cabinet
has achieved level 4b in reading and 2a for
oracy.” Or “Literacy: poor. Has tendency
to say one thing (eg, ‘we are clear that…’)
when it means something else.”
Or try another subject. Which do
you prefer? “The Treasury is operating
comfortably at Level 3a but spent
some time earlier in the summer term
struggling with Level 2c.” Or “Numeracy:
the Government makes a great play
of prudence, but spending £2.7bn
on sorting out a problem caused by
abolishing the 10p tax band suggests
otherwise. Could do better.”
Too much testing
That’s almost as much as I want to say on
reports, especially as your school may be
waiting on late Sats results coming back
from marking. But the trouble is, it’s all
linked – no matter how much everyone
tells Government ministers that there is
just too much testing, the more they will
stick their fingers in their ears.
So don’t expect any major useful
changes to your lives until after the
next election. It might not even matter
who wins, but nothing’s going to change
on a policy the Government’s been
promoting for years until we again
have an administration that feels secure.
So in the meantime – how about
improving school reports? They could
be better, you know.
Susan Young is a writer for the TES Magazine.
[email protected]
17 Col Young.indd 17
17
5/6/08 17:18:03
SOUNDBITES
Kelly
Holmes
The double Olympic gold
medallist and National
School Sports Champion on
how sport can change lives
Sport can transform people’s lives because it gives them a sense
of confidence, raises self-esteem and enables them to communicate
properly with their peers, elders, and of course, teachers.
When I go into a school and see the work that teachers
do, I look at each child. There are the ones that excel at
pretty much everything, and the hard-to-reach kids –
like teenage girls who don’t want to get into sport because
of low self-esteem, their body image, they don’t like PE
kits, or they don’t like shower rooms. We are all still
dealing with these issues…
My PE teacher was my biggest inspiration. She encouraged me to
run a cross-country race that I really didn’t want to do, given the
wind, cold, mud and rain. But I nearly caught up with the winner.
When I won my two gold medals at the Athens Olympics
in 2004, I called my PE teacher and said: “Thank you very
much for everything you did. Without you giving me that
one word of encouragement, I may have never taken my
future to the maximum.”
When I retired, I spoke to Tessa Jowell (then Sports Minister),
about what was happening in schools. All I’d heard in the papers
were the same old stories: ‘there is no sport in schools any more,
everything’s been sold off and education has gone downhill.’
I took up the role of National School Sports Champion
and have been in the role for three years. I did it because
I wanted to pass on my experience of what it was like
when I was young – hoping to be the best that I could be
18
PHOTOGRAPH: PA, CATHAL MCNAUGHTON
At primary school, I was the biggest fan of the egg and
spoon race, the sack race and three-legged race. As I grew
older, sport became the main reason I went to school.
If kids excel
in the one thing
they are good at,
it is more than
likely the rest
will follow
– to get a better life than I had at the time. There should
be no excuse for kids to not do sports these days, not just
because of the fun element, but because it can really make
a difference to them. If you haven’t got a PE teacher, or
haven’t got enough time, use older kids, who have probably
made the biggest difference in schools.
The one thing that joins people together is that they’re all there
for the same purpose, to learn, to become the best they can be –
at whatever that is.
There is a very good schools sport partnership system
where a group of sports colleges work with secondary
schools that work with primary schools. Sports trusts
are there to help you, to engage every child, to give you
programmes, ideas, options.
It’s given me a massive boost of inspiration to see the faces of kids
when they achieve something. On a Girls Active day, a girl called
Rachel went to the top of a tower, petrified, crying her eyes out,
18-19 Soundbites.indd 18
5/6/08 17:29:45
refusing to abseil down the wall. I stayed with her for 30 minutes
persuading her to go down this 50ft drop, saying she’d be smiling
at the end of it.You can imagine what she said to me…
Another girl, who Rachel didn’t know, started talking
to her, saying: “You know what, you can do this if you
want to, I’ve seen how your friends are being negative
to you, but I’d like to be your friend and I’d like you to
go down this wall.”
So, there they were, going down side by side, the girl was talking
to Rachel all the time, encouraging her. At the bottom of the wall,
Rachel was elated, she had tears of joy in her eyes.
I met Rachel recently. She was running a Girls Active event
for 700 girls from schools around her school-partnership
area. She and four friends had created a day where they
had eight different activities. Now, she stood on stage,
confident as you can’t believe. She was an overweight girl,
so maybe had reason to feel self-conscious, but she stood
and said, “Just doing one thing in my life that I didn’t
think I could do has changed my life forever.” It wasn’t just
about doing sport; it was about achieving something and
being given that chance, that opportunity, and someone
listening to her. She told me: “I’ll never forget that day,
when you told me that I could do it.”
It made me remember when I was at school and my PE teacher
said, “You can be a great athlete.” So, what I say to school leaders
and teachers is that when you are speaking to youngsters and see
something special in someone, think about different things – they
could be creative in all different areas of their life. If they excel in
the one thing that they are good at, it is more than likely the rest
will follow.
National School Sport Week begins on 30 June. The event is being
developed by the Youth Sport Trust. Dame Kelly Holmes will spearhead
the week’s activities. For more information see www.youthsporttrust.org
For more on Dame Kelly, see www.naht.org.uk/welcome/resources/
podcasts/generalvideo/ and www.teachers.tv/video/21590
18-19 Soundbites.indd 19
19
5/6/08 17:29:54
SPORT IS FOR GIRLS
M
ost teachers know that it’s
a struggle to get adolescent
girls to play sport; even
previously active girls can
slow down or drop out
entirely when they reach
their early teens. Ugly sports kits, unpleasant
changing rooms and a lack of interest in the
sports on offer are just some of the reasons
to blame. Fortunately, a creative approach
and a willingness to listen to what the
girls themselves have to say about physical
education can get them off the sidelines
and onto the field of play.
The first step, says Stuart Mason,
headteacher at Aireville School in North
Yorkshire, is to give girls ongoing involvement
in decisions about sport – a regular
conversation, rather than a one-off list of
requests. As part of Norwich Union’s Girls
Active scheme, his school built a committee
of girls with representatives from all year
groups.They meet staff each month to offer
ideas about what they want, what’s working
and what’s not. “It’s about the girls having
a voice, not just about what activities are
available, but about issues that have previously
worked against girls’ involvement, such as the
design of kit and changing rooms,” he says.
As a result of pupil suggestions, Aireville has
renovated its changing rooms so that they’re
more like the facilities at a fitness club than
a traditional shower block, with individual
showers, hairdryers and shower gel.
In fact, it also has something like fitness
club facilities in a specially refurbished room:
treadmills, resistance machines and so on.
It’s popular with both boys and girls, not
least because it feeds into other subjects.
“The machines all link up to a computer
network so that students can monitor their
performance and use that data in their maths
and science lessons,” he adds.
Other cross-curricular options also go
down well: schools that offer dance (with its
Traditional PE
lessons are often
unpopular with
teenage girls.
Carly Chynoweth
finds out how to
get them involved
links to art, drama, music and opportunities
to hold performances) find that it’s very
popular; lessons about nutrition, breakfast
clubs and other health-related initiatives can
all be used to trigger girls’ interest in fitness.
One reason to support gym-type exercise
is that it’s something that can fit into adult
lives as well. “There’s a huge drop-off when
girls leave school so we’re trying to introduce
activities like dance, aerobics, gym and
kickboxing that they will stick with as young
women as part of being fit and looking after
their bodies,” Stuart says.
Tanya Irvine, the partnership development
manager at Waltham Forest Central School
Sport Partnership, agrees. “If you look
at the statistics, there is only a very small
percentage of adults who play traditional
Kiss goodbye to…
jolly hockey sticks
20
20-23 girl power.indd 44
9/6/08 09:13:37
PAUL BOX, DIGITAL RAILROAD
21
9/6/08 09:13:51
SPORT IS FOR GIRLS
competitive team sport,” she says.
“They’re much more likely to have a
game of badminton or go to the gym,
so by taking this approach [the girls] are
much more likely to stick with fitness
throughout their lives.”
A useful approach here is to build
links with local sports clubs and other
organisations. For example, Tanya is part of
a Fitness Industry Association scheme that
means that girls can go to Fitness First gyms
on a try-out basis. “Often girls don’t have
the courage to try things on their own.
They tend to have preconceived ideas that
aren’t accurate, so taster sessions help them
to find out what they enjoy.”
Tanya’s now working on getting free, or
discounted, membership from the chain for
girls who take to a liking to gym equipment
and exercise classes. She is also setting up a
newsletter, to be run by the girls from her
partnership’s schools, which will carry the
names and email addresses of girls who play
a particular sport or belong to a particular
club, so that their peers can contact them if
they want to try that sport.
Peer support and the ability to feel
comfortable is one of the reasons that
Grenville Earney, the headteacher at Oak
Farm Community School in Hampshire,
offers some girls-only sports sessions at his
mixed school. “Sadly, there are some girls
who feel less comfortable about the way they
look when they are in a mixed environment
– it’s a fact of life – so it’s important that we
recognise that,” he says. “It also provides the
opportunity for them to talk to staff about
more personal issues.”
of pupils by organising events, such as
orienteering, for local primary school
children. “We are trying to build a culture
of leadership from nine or 10 years old in
primary schools continuing up into our
school and then on to the local FE college,”
Stuart says. “You don’t have to be an elite
athlete, either; it’s about leadership and
organisation and personal skills. Girls react
very well to this.”
Amanda also recommends auditing what
pupils – and staff – do outside school. In her
case, this has brought more involvement with
the Duke of Edinburgh Award, through a
student, and an extra boost for cheerleading,
thanks to a staff member. “We found out that
one of our science teachers is a cheerleader
outside school. I would never have thought
we had a cheerleader on staff.” Positive
adult role models who can visit the school
are a real bonus, whether that’s Dame Kelly
Holmes, a teacher or a former student who
is now, for example, a professional dancer.
While Amanda sets a good example by
giving talks about how she fits swimming
into her life, Clarissa Williams, the NAHT
President and headteacher at Tolworth Girls
School in Surrey, makes sure that she attends
sporting events and dance performances,
hands out medals and celebrates her girls’
achievements in the area. “Headteachers have
to be seen to support these things,” she says.
Sporting sabotage
Clarissa’s own experience of sport as a girl
was “horrendous”, she says. “I was brought
up in Aberdeen, near a college that trained
PE teachers, so we had a series of trainees.
My experience of hockey and netball was
that we were always being taught skills but
never got a game.” She also remembers
swimming lessons held in old wooden baths
with slimy floors. “I used any excuse not to
swim. Girls became quite masterful at it.”
The right role models
A good rapport with PE staff is an important
part of keeping girls involved, Grenville says.
Like Stuart, he believes that listening to the
student voice is the most important factor
in increasing girls’ participation.
It’s also about student leadership, says
Amanda Rowley, the headteacher at The
Wavell School in Hampshire. Its girls’
sport rep is active, but doesn’t fit into the
traditional sporty mould. “Getting the right
student leader is very important,” Amanda
says. “She is an army cadet, so she is used
to physical activity, but not the sort where
you wear a little pleated skirt.” She’s also a
relatively large girl and together this helps
to show other pupils that sport is not the
preserve of super-skinny girls who want
to play netball.
At Aireville, student sports leaders are
working to win over a younger generation
22
6/6/08 08:30:43
Girls & sport:
the figures…
In 1993 10,400 women and girls played
football; now it’s 147,000.
Most school year groups are achieving
high levels of participation, except pupils
in Years 10 and 11, where participation rates
are 63% compared with the 86% average.
Girls are five times more likely to
do sport at 12 than at 16.
At 15, 28% of pupils do more than four
hours of sport a week.
At 16, 18% of girls and 10.5% of boys do
no sport at all.
26% of girls aged 11-15 are obese.
Alternative activities such as street dance,
boxercise and indoor climbing are popular
with girls, as are modernisations to PE kits
and changing rooms.
Sources: Goals Soccer Centres; Norwich Union
Girls Active; and the Women’s Sport and Fitness
Foundation
They come up with a lot of excuses
and often turn up with no kit, so a
quarter of the lesson time can be taken up
with teachers dealing with kit issues
Even today, some youngsters are so
determined not to participate that they can
effectively sabotage the lessons for others.
“They come up with a lot of excuses and
they often turn up with no kit, so a quarter
of the lesson time can be taken up with
teachers dealing with kit issues.” Other pupils
miss out as a result. Clarissa gave her PE
department some planning time to come
up with a way around this. “They came up
with a programme that allowed an element
of choice.There were core skills that still
had to be taught, but they were also able
to incorporate aerobics, yoga, trampolining
– things that pupils could go off site to do –
and it seems to have increased participation,”
she says. [Everyone interviewed for this
article agrees that offering girls a choice of
non-traditional, non-team sports is critically
important in increasing participation.] “In the
half-term newsletter there were about three
pages of sporting successes right up to sixthform level, which is mixed boys and girls.”
Other changes initiated by the PE staff
at Tolworth include getting children who
are prepared started on the lesson before
dealing with those who forgot their kit and
ensuring that not joining in the sport doesn’t
mean getting a free period. Instead, the girls
are expected to get involved in coaching
or other organisational activities within the
lesson. “And you have to support your PE
staff in reminding parents that if they are
collaborating with their youngster (by giving
them notes when they aren’t ill), then they
are letting them down.”
Many schools also report good results
from amending kit requirements so that
girls can wear tracksuit trousers and baggy
t-shirts rather than tight tops and short skirts.
Improving changing rooms to offer more
privacy also appeals to girls.
Tolworth has gone one step further
in improving privacy: “We don’t bother
making them shower any more. We work
on the basis that most youngsters today
come to school clean, they wear deodorant
and a bit of healthy sweat doesn’t matter –
so they will go home and shower there.
This means that we have a lot more time
to play sport in lessons.”
Lastly, don’t rely entirely on curriculum
time to get girls interested. Amanda
recommends running a lot of clubs outside
school hours. Extended schools and others
which allow community organisations to use
school facilities are at a real advantage here.
“A lot of girls see the day for socialising –
they like to use lunch for gossip and they
don’t want to give it up, so it’s important to
offer lots of out-of-hours options.” Having
said that, Amanda’s pupils don’t spend their
entire break times sitting down. “I can sit in
my office at lunch and see girls outside in the
quad doing handstands. It’s nothing formal
– they’re just playing. We’d never have seen
that before.” LF
JULY/AUGUST 2008 ● LEADERSHIP FOCUS 23
6/6/08 08:31:00
BOILING POINT
“The mood among
school leaders
is changing –
from grumpiness
to militancy”
Mick Brookes, NAHT General Secretary
Is workload pressure pushing school
leaders to boiling point and beyond?
Zoë Roberts reports
ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS EDE. PHOTOGRAPHY BY TEMPEST.
L
ast July, on the eve of
an Ofsted inspection,
headteacher Jed Holmes
was found dead from
carbon monoxide
poisoning. Ruling in
December, the coroner said: “We can’t
exclude the proximity of the Ofsted
inspection at the date of his death. It was
that impending inspection that triggered off
the action he decided to take... It was just
perhaps one thing too much for him to
deal with at the time.”
Colleagues at Hampton Hargate Primary
School, Peterborough, said the school’s exam
results had dipped slightly following an intake
of extra pupils and, according to press reports,
Jed Holmes had been diagnosed with
moderate to severe depression linked to work
stress and previously had time off work.
24
The stresses of school leadership are plain
for all to see. The NAHT Worklife Balance
survey 2007/08 paints a grim picture of the
pressures under which school leaders across
the UK work. The poll of more than 3,000
found that 86 per cent experienced workrelated stress, which led to illness in 63 per
cent. Ninety per cent were working more
than 48 hours a week and a significant
minority (10 per cent) had made serious
errors, most notably car accidents, after
long working days. Nearly one-quarter
(22 per cent) were seriously considering
changing jobs due to an uncontrolled,
expanding workload.
“We’ve seen some awful examples of what
the workload can do to school leaders and I
think that it [a breakdown] is at the extreme
end of something that we all feel,” says Chris
Williams, headteacher at Old Sodbury Primary
school in Bristol. “I can understand how, for
someone who is under pressure, the threat of
an inspection could take them too far. As
headteachers, we feel our jobs are constantly
on the line. Local authorities are quick to
turn on people if the last Ofsted or set of Sats
results aren’t good enough. I made my
decision to retire early after the last Ofsted
inspection – although it went well, I didn’t
want to go through that process again.”
He says many of his peers are taking the
same approach, and the pressures of the job
are having a direct impact on recruitment.
“South Gloucestershire has traditionally been
an attractive area but difficulties with
recruitment are starting to bite, with low
numbers of applicants for school leadership
positions and posts going unfilled.”
Chris Williams was one of a number of
school leaders who spoke or proposed
24-28 overwork1.indd 24
9/6/08 09:17:54
24-28 overwork1.indd 25
9/6/08 10:40:35
BOILING POINT
motions at the May NAHT conference,
where high on the agenda was frustration
with the Government’s refusal to
acknowledge the impact of workload pressure
on recruitment and retention.
“The Government appears not to be
listening and is caught up in its own agenda
while not giving enough attention to the
challenges of running a 21st-century school,”
says Mick Brookes, General Secretary of the
NAHT. “They are losing – and have lost –
many of the hearts and minds of the people
they rely on.These systems of accountability
are driving colleagues out of the profession
and deterring others from coming in.”
A recent overview of the NAHT database
found that more than 1,000 school leaders
(and not just headteachers) were planning to
leave the profession before their retirement
date, either to take a reduced pension or to
leave with no pension. Meanwhile, Education
Data Surveys shows that applications for
An angry Alan Norgrove
likens Oftsed to the Stasi.
The idea of heads running a number
of schools is just a smokescreen
that shoves the problems downwards.
It’s a desperate measure…
Les Turner: one of many
school leaders taking
early retirement.
26
MIck Brookes: says he has
noticed a change in attitude
among members of NAHT.
school
ool leadership positions are low, with
only three or four applications for primary
and special school headships and about six
for the secondary sector. Numbers of
re-advertisments are also on the rise.
“Across the country, we are seeing
difficulties in the recruitment of school
leaders, particularly headteachers,” says Sally
B
Bates, headteacher at Albany Infants School
iin Nottingham, who proposed a conference
m
motion on recruitment and retention.
“As headteachers, we all know that it is a
rrewarding job. However, school leaders are
vvulnerable and there is a fragility about the
p
position that can lead to a rapid downturn in
tthe success of the role.The stresses of
iinitiative overload and the demands of an
o
overly rigorous testing and inspection system
h
have a detrimental impact on personal
w
wellbeing.There is a feeling that heads aren’t
ttrusted to do a professional job and that starts
tto cause resentment after a while.”
She points out that, in Nottingham,
tthere had been 899 days of stress-related
h
headteacher absences from April 2005 to
D
December 2007, and recently 10 local schools
aadvertising for headteacher positions had to
rre-advertise – four more than twice.
“We are now starting to gather
iinformation showing how the current
ssituation in school leadership is affecting
rrecruitment and retention to the point that it
w
will lead to a real crisis,” she says. “People
aaren’t prepared to take the job any more and
tthat is scary stuff for local authorities.The
G
Government needs to listen to us.”
And while projects are being developed by
24-28 overwork1.indd Sec1:26
9/6/08 09:18:31
the Nat
National College for School
Leader
Leadership (NCSL) in providing peer
suppor
support and new leaders in education, the
NAHT points out that so many senior
colleag
colleagues leaving before retirement age
hardly encourages others to step up to
the pla
plate.
“It’s certainly heading towards a crisis
as peo
people vote with their feet,” says Alan
Norgr
Norgrove, headteacher at St Mary’s
Junior School in Surrey. “Headteachers
shoul
should be the best advocates for the job,
and if they are saying ‘don’t touch it’
then the NCSL can advertise as much
as it llikes but there won’t be a
signi
significant change in the numbers of
peop
people wanting to take the role.”
An
And the Government’s response, says
Alan
Alan, suggests that it doesn’t see the
need for a change in attitude or
dire
direction. “The Government has been
less than responsive.We’ve seen a
numbe
number of initiatives such as heads
running m
more than one school, federations, or
secondary heads overseeing their feeder
primary schools.The idea of heads running
a number of schools is just a smokescreen,
that shoves the problem downwards; it’s a
desperate measure, the Government is not
dealing with the real problem.
“What we have here is a Government
that is doing the equivalent of rearranging the
deckchairs on the Titanic while asking ‘what
iceberg’?” says Les Turner, head teacher at
Freckleton Primary School in Preston. “I’m
one of many experienced heads who are
retiring early. There aren’t people who want
to replace us, which makes me very sad. But
I’ve moved past that now. I’m angry and we
as a profession should be getting angry.”
The biggest bone of contention is the role
of Ofsted inspections. A study carried out by
the University of Central Lancashire, on
behalf of the NAHT, found that the current
regime contributes towards poor retention
and recruitment in senior management.
While there was some positive comment
(based on how the weight of external
inspection evidence can give heads a mandate
to introduce change), the majority of
respondents said the impact on their school
was at best neutral and at worst unhelpful.
The most damning indictment was that
86 per cent of respondents felt that the
impact of Ofsted meant it was less likely that
potential candidates would apply for
headships. And 85 per cent said that
inspection increases vulnerability and
insecurity with an impact on recruitment.
One deputy head who responded to the
survey commented: “I don’t think I will apply
for a headship because that will mean that I
have to go through 10 Ofsteds and I’m just
not prepared to do that.”
“This is an education system that is based
on fear,” says Les Turner. “I’ve seen a number
of heads pushed out based on Ofsted or Sats
results and these statistics don’t show all the
good things going on in schools.”
Mick Brookes says: “What we have said to
the schools minister is that we understand the
need for an inspection system – just not this
one.The vulnerability occasioned by this
inspection system appears to be totally
random.You are only as good as your last set
of results, which is clearly nonsense when
dealing with as complex issues as social
change and peoples’ learning. Any new
system has to focus on the work and the
context of the school rather than external
data that assumes a level playing field that
just isn’t there.”
And if the current system of inspections
is having an impact on recruitment and
retention, new proposals that were put out for
consultation in May aren’t going to help.
We understand the need for an
inspection system – just not this one.
A new system has to focus on the work and
context of the school rather than external
data that assumes a level playing field
27
9/6/08 09:18:40
BOILING POINT
NI heads see 75 new initiatives in eight months
“What we have is initiative overload,” says Marian McGreevy
(pictured below), President of the NAHT, Northern Ireland and
headteacher at St Colmcille’s High School, Downpatrick. “There
are an excessively high number of initiatives being dropped into
schools – unconnected and un-coordinated – and schools are
just expected to deal with them.”
A recent poll of NAHT members in Northern Ireland found that
in just eight months headteachers had more
than
ore tha
an 75 new
new initiatives
iini
niti
tiat
ativ
ives
es
land on their desks. “Some of these
initiatives are perfectly reasonable but thee
problem is there is no overarching body
co-ordinating them,” says Marian. In England
and
alone, she points out, there have been 238
8
initiatives in the past 10 years on how to
teach reading. “The most important skill
that any young person can have, and the
worst thing, is that many of these initiatives
ves
represent totally conflicting views.” And the
lack of co-ordination is having an impact on
sustainability. “Money is being thrown at
initiatives with little impact on standards
because there is no thought going into
development or implementation,” she says.
ys.
“In Northern Ireland, we’ve seen about
£40 million spent on literacy and numeracy
cy
in the past 10 years, which hasn’t had the
effect it should, because while resources were put into the pilot,
the same amount didn’t go into the rollout.”
For headteachers this is having a detrimental impact. “There
is such a quagmire of initiatives that we don’t have time to do
strategic thinking – we’re forced to be reactive not proactive.
This has an impact on the health of leaders and we are seeing a
smaller number of people
p p applying
pp y for these positions.”
It’s
profession
It time for the pr
p
ofession to sstart gaining control, says Marian.
“The Government doesn’t trust school
leaders,
leeade so we are dependent on the
political
agenda to dominate
polit
educational
changes,” she says. “So, we
educ
have
have to start making our voices heard
and
no to initiatives that won’t
and saying
s
move
move our schools forward or benefit
the
and staff. Having been
th
he children
c
dictated
to for so many years, this will
dicta
take
taake a complete culture change and we
will
to build up to saying no.”
will have
h
And
An it’s vital that the public
understand
the effect that policy is
under
having,
havin she adds. “We need to draw
public
public attention to the contradictory
edicts and muddled thinking that we
face
faace and
a see where it’s having a
detrimental
effect on young people.”
detrim
We’ve got used to keeping our heads
below the parapet. Headteachers have
been too quiescent and Government has
got used to thinking we are a pushover
These include more frequent inspections
for failing schools and the piloting of
on-the-spot checks. “Well, this just proves
that the Government isn’t listening,” says
Alan Norgrove at St Mary’s Junior School.
“People can’t work like that, it’s absolutely
obnoxious. Schools must be accountable
but this is like working with the Stasi.
Inspections have become no more and no
less than a public humiliation for
headteachers. We’ve got too used to keeping
our heads below the parapet. Headteachers
have been too quiescent and Government
has got used to thinking that we are a
pushover. But the position they have put us
in terms of recruitment means I believe we
have to take action to make them see sense.”
Les adds: “This Government will listen to
28
what it wants to hear, so it’s time we got
off our knees and took control of the agenda.
“We are very concerned about the future
of the profession, for the children. And our
message to the Government is when you are
in a hole, then for God’s sake, stop digging.”
Mick Brookes echoes their sentiments and
calls on-the-spot inspections an absolute
insult. “We need a system that starts from the
point of view that school leaders want to do
their best, rather than the current attitude
that the schools are full of idle loafers,” he
says. “The system is based on distrust leading
to aggressive accountability, punishment and
it makes people ill.”
He hopes the current Select Committee
review of the inspection process will
highlight some of the issues. NAHT also
wants the Government to tackle other
areas to reduce the strain on school leaders,
particularly halting all new initiatives
(see box above). However, the General
Secretary’s message is to not wait for
the Government.
“It’s time to say enough is enough.
We’ve got to shake off some of these
burdens. There are 28,000 of us and we’ve
got to take back control of the education
agenda,” he says. “The mood among school
leaders is changing from grumpiness to
militancy. I use this term advisedly as it’s not
usually associated with the NAHT, but at
our conference in May I saw willingness
among our members to take things into
their own hands and move from
dependence to independence.”
There is a lot school leaders can do
to make life better for themselves without
permission from the Government, he says.
For example, taking control of work-life
balance through entitlements in the
National Workforce Agreement such
as Dedicated Headship Time (DHT).
But in the end, he points out that the
Government has to learn to trust
school leaders. LF
9/6/08 09:18:50
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9/5/08 12:01:26
5/6/08 11:48:26
TEACHERS TV
Lights, camera,
TTV cameras zoom in on Sue Childs
and the Westgate students.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELLA WEBBER
W
hen it comes to putting
on a school performance,
opera is possibly not the
first medium most
teachers would choose.
But the Royal Opera
House (ROH), Teachers TV and a school in
Kent have set out to challenge this notion.
Last summer, Sue Childs and Sandra
Hampton spent a week with 22 other
teachers on a week-long residential course
run by the ROH in Devon. It’s a course
that’s been running for more than 20 years.
There, they learned the skills and process of
creating an opera from scratch. The course
30
was filmed by Teachers TV and the resulting
programme Write an Opera – the Teachers’Week
was broadcast on Teachers TV in March.
This July, however, Sue and Sandra’s proud
students will perform Beauty Shop, an opera
they have written with their teachers’
guidance. It will be recorded as part of
follow-up to the original programme and
broadcast in the autumn.
“The two teachers, Sue and Sandra, have
fantastic chemistry,” says producer Rachel
Krish, from production company Brook
Lapping. “Our aim in the original
programme was to reflect the team-teaching
philosophy of the course, so it was very
important to have a pair of teachers that
really stood out. Not only are they great at
team-teaching, it’s a very interesting setting
in terms of the inclusiveness of the course
and the creative agenda, and showing how
the course can be adapted.”
The ‘interesting setting’ in which Sue and
Sandra work is Westgate College for Deaf
People, part of the Royal School for Deaf
Children, Margate, which provides
education and living skills for deaf young
people aged 16-20. The school has 55
students, around 20 of whom are currently
taking part in the opera course. While opera
may seem an unusual art form for deaf
30-34 TTV.indd 30
9/6/08 09:19:18
aria!
Kate Williamson goes behind the
scenes as Teachers TV cameras visit
Westgate College for Deaf People,
where a new opera is being created
MARINA CARUSO
The student-led process brings
a sense of achievement and joy.
students, Sandra, a fine art teacher, is adamant
that it has huge benefits for the students.
“We believe that anybody with a disability, a
hearing loss, should have access to everything
– why not? We encourage our students in
our skill areas to access mainstream fine art,
drama, and productions, signed or otherwise.”
It’s this mix of artistic disciplines that
makes it an ideal project for schools. Westgate
College has been building up its performing
arts capacity over the past four years, and the
opera course takes it to the next level.
As well as allowing the students to be
creative in new ways, the process has taught
them team-building and decision-making
Director Anthony Lee
reviews the day’s footage.
skills, as well as increasing their confidence
and self-esteem. “The key benefit has been
that the students have had total ownership of
it, which is completely different to what
we’ve done before. It’s much more studentled and student-focused,” says Sue.
The student-led plot has also given the
young people an opportunity to reflect their
own experiences and concerns. Beauty Shop
deals with a character who turns to drink to
solve his problems. With the support of his
business partner, he finds that talking and
sharing difficulties – eventually at an
Alcoholics Anonymous meeting – can help.
“The opera is about talking through
Anybody with
a disability, a
hearing loss, should
have access to
everything – why not?
We encourage our
students to access
the mainstream arts
30-34 TTV.indd 31
31
9/6/08 09:19:31
TEACHERS TV
Sandra Hampton (left) helps
students to create the score.
your problems,” says Sandra. “Many of our
students need encouragement to deal with
their emotions. We’re looking at facial
expressions and body language in a safe
environment, where it’s not real.”
Sue and Sandra started the project in
September last year, with the first term spent
building the students’ skills in music, design
and drama, a process Sandra describes as
taking “tiny steps” for both students and
teachers. “But we’re team-teaching it so
you’re able to support each other,” Sue adds.
In the second term, the students were
taken to the schools’ matinee at the Royal
Opera House in Covent Garden to see The
Magic Flute. It was the students’ first taste of
opera – Sandra’s too – and Teachers TV was
on hand to record their impressions.
When Leadership Focus visits the school in
May, it’s the third time Teachers TV has
filmed the students. By now, the teachers are
relaxed in front of the cameras. This clearly
puts the students at ease, some of whom
were shy to begin with, but are now emoting
for all they’re worth, oblivious to the cameras
lights and cables surrounding them. Sue and
Sandra talk and sign simultaneously using
expansive gestures, which add to the drama
of the scenes they are discussing.
So are the teachers natural performers?
Director Anthony Lee, who has worked
extensively for Teachers TV as well as for the
BBC, ITV and Channel 4, says they are.
“Good teachers have the ability and the
32
Producer Rachel Krish
liaised closely with the school.
Good teachers have the ability and will to
communicate. It is absolutely paramount
both in the classroom and on television
will to communicate. It is absolutely
paramount, both in the classroom and on
television,” he says. “Sue and Sandra are
expert communicators.”
This admiration is shared by Gill Wills,
chief executive of charitable corporation the
Royal School for Deaf Children Margate,
who has supported the project from the start.
“To watch the first TV programme; to see
Sue and Sandra putting it into practice, and
knowing our students like I do – I was really
bowled over. So much has been achieved,”
says Gill. “It’s given the students a
tremendous boost in self-confidence. They’ve
developed so many skills.”
Paul Reeve, director of education at the
Royal Opera House, says this is what the
course is all about. “We aim to encourage
teachers to see opera as an exciting, multifaceted educational resource, and to see the
Write an Opera project as a vehicle for not
only delivering aspects of the National
Curriculum but, just as importantly,
developing a range of skills in students:
creativity, communication, teamwork, problem
The students quickly
became oblivious to
the cameras and lights.
30-34 TTV.indd 32
9/6/08 09:19:50
solving, self-confidence and self-esteem.”
He says it has been used successfully many
times in various settings: “As so often in the
arts, it can be students who are struggling in
other areas of school and the curriculum
who come through and shine in a project
like this.”
The Royal Opera House felt that
Teachers TV was an ideal way to engage
a wide audience of teachers and school
leaders. And Teachers TV certainly received
a warm welcome at Westgate College
for a similar reason. Not only is it a way
to show students what they are capable
of achieving – raising the aspirations of
the whole school – but it also gives the
college a visibility that many specialist
providers lack.
“We didn’t have any reservations because
we knew exactly what they would be
focusing on and we hoped that it would
enhance people’s understanding of the
innovative teaching and learning that can
take place,” Gill explains.
The chief executive showed delegates at
this year’s National Conference for Specialist
Colleges a DVD produced by Brook
Lapping as part of the pre-dinner event on
the first evening. It included aspects of the
training at the summer school and work
undertaken with the students to write and
produce the opera, which fitted perfectly
with the conference’s theme of ‘innovation
and creativity’.
The Royal Opera House education
programme: ‘Write an Opera’
The first Write an Opera course was in 1985. “It has evolved enormously over the ensuing
23 years, although the central goal – giving teachers the tools to facilitate the creation by their
students of original operas – remains the same,” says Paul Reeve, ROH director of education.
The Level 1 course runs annually during August. There are also Level 2 and 3 courses which enable
teachers who have completed at least one opera project to develop their skills and approaches
further. These are usually run every two years.
“Many people, perhaps understandably, look at us slightly aghast when we describe a project
in which children create their own opera, entirely from scratch, and then put it on, with their
teachers simply there to steer and facilitate the process,” Paul admits. “I love attending Write
an Opera performances in schools in which you see the pride on people’s faces – those directly
involved but also parents and fellow teachers – at what’s been achieved.”
http://info.royaloperahouse.org/education
But surely having a film crew in the
school is disruptive? “We’ve had to plan it,
but good teachers always plan things
anyway,” she says. “And we’ve worked around
things, as far as timetabling is concerned.
We’ve tried to be flexible.”
Producer Rachel agrees that planning is the
key to success when a film crew descends on
your school. “We try to be as clear as possible
about what we want to do, what it’s going to
involve in terms of disruption. Our approach
is always to be completely transparent.We
work around what the school is doing as that’s
got to remain central.They don’t work around
us, we work around them.”
Where children are involved, health and
safety and permissions from parents are vital.
The level of bureaucracy no doubt deters
some people. But once again, says Rachel,
this is where planning pays dividends.
Westgate operates a blanket permission from
parents to feature their children in publicity
for the school. But it was decided that the
TV programme had the potential to go
beyond the scope of that permission.
“It’s very important to ask and very
important to be respectful of people’s
negative feelings and reservations about
taking part,” says Rachel. “We would always
seek permissions. It’s something we’re
Sandra describes the
process as taking a
series of “tiny steps”.
JULY/AUGUST 2008 ● LEADERSHIP FOCUS 33
30-34 TTV.indd 33
9/6/08 09:20:16
TEACHERS TV
hot on. We can advise on all those aspects
of filming.”
Negative feelings and reservations are not
restricted to parents. It’s vital to make sure
that pupils understand what is happening and
are comfortable about being filmed.
“I spoke to [Brook Lapping] and they
were very approachable,” says Sandra.
“I said when the students come I’m going to
get them to come early before we film so
they can have a look at your equipment and
approach you if they want to – because they
will want to – before they settle down. The
crew were great with that.” It clearly worked
as the students greet the crew members with
affection and excitement.
Trust isn’t only an issue for the students,
however. How can you tell whether an
innocuous programme on best practice
could turn into a Big Brother-style wartsand-all exposé?
Anthony Lee is adamant this would never
Teachers TV
Teachers TV was set up in 2005
It is funded by the Government to promote
best practice in teaching
● Teachers TV broadcasts 24 hours a day,
365 days a year on digital satellite (Sky channel
880), digital cable (Virgin TV 240), Tiscali TV
(845), Freesat (650) and between 4pm and 5pm
on Freeview (88).
● Programmes can be viewed online at
www.teachers.tv
●
●
NAHT launches its TV service
Cameras were also out in force at the NAHT annual conference this year, which saw the
launch of ‘NAHT TV’. A dedicated channel was set up at the conference centre in Liverpool
with programmes broadcasting on screens around the building and even in delegates’ hotel
rooms. The programmes included highlights from the conference itself, interviews with
delegates and NAHT officials as well as short films from major education organisations such
as the DCSF and the General Teaching Council for England.
A dedicated website was also launched at www.nahttv.com broadcasting the films
shown at the conference and we hope to develop the channel further in coming years.
Some of the material is also available from the new NAHT website (still at www.naht.org.uk)
as a series of podcasts.
● For more details on the new NAHT website, please turn to page 47.
be the case. “This is not that kind of reality
television,” he says. “I’m here to record and
make sense of what they do. If there’s drama
we show a bit of drama but we don’t create
the drama,” he insists.
Today, the crew is filming small group
workshops on music, lighting and drama,
before filming the students practising a
scene. Sue helps students to practise
showing emotions in their body language
and movement, while Sandra helps the
orchestra to practise beating a rhythm on
a variety of drums.
One scene in particular is worked on. It is
set in an AA meeting, where the characters
sit in a circle and persuade the beauty shop
boss to share his worries with the group. The
repeated line “Was worried, had discussions,
now – confident!” builds into a mantra,
accompanied by drumbeats and xylophones.
The students become increasingly confident
as they practise their lines. Although the
dialogue is limited, signing adds to the
drama of the performance.
There are a couple of stand-out
performances, particularly by the student
playing the boss, but the emphasis is on
success and praise as a group. At the end
of the scene there is clapping and a lot
of hugging.
Anthony scoots nimbly around the set,
making sure that the cameras are picking up
all the emotion on show.
“When there is joy – and there was an
awful lot of it today – if you can capture
it for an audience that is not familiar with
this field, it’s terrific. It goes way beyond
putting on an opera,” he says. LF
The students become
increasingly confident as
they practise their lines.
Gill Wills, CEO of the Royal School
for Deaf Children, Margate.
34
30-34 TTV.indd 34
9/6/08 10:33:41
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5/6/08 11:51:00
Education
grow
doesn’t just
ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARINA CARUSO
on trees
36
36-39 diplomas.indd 36
9/6/08 09:22:07
14-19 DIPLOMAS
Despite widespread enthusiasm for the new
14-19 Diplomas, the pilots show that there
is still work to be done before the plans
can come to fruition. By Carly Chynoweth
T
he new 14-19 Diplomas
being launched this
September are designed
to make sure that young
people have the attitude
and workplace experience
demanded by employers. The qualifications,
which have been developed with input from
more than 5,000 employers, combine theory
with practical learning in the shape of at least
10 days spent in the workplace, although
they do not provide job-specific training or
replace apprenticeships. The diplomas are also
designed to keep young people in education
or training longer, and come alongside last
year’s announcement that the government
would raise the age for leaving education and
training to 18 by 2015.
The first five diplomas, which include
media and engineering, are being launched
at a relatively small number of schools and
colleges this year (about one-quarter of
schools and half of colleges) while another
five will come online in 2009, by which
time 72 per cent of secondary schools
and 88 per cent of colleges will offer
the qualification. The full range of all 17
diplomas will be available by 2011.
Jim Knight, the Minister for Schools
and Learners, says: “Students tell us they
want flexible qualifications that match
their ambitions. The diplomas give them
that starting point and the wide range of
additional specialist learning modules that
allow them to study according to their
individual aspirations – from plumbers to
architects, boardroom to workshop.”
More choices
Although generally enthusiastic about the
concept, headteachers have some concerns
regarding implementation. The first is
workload: one headteacher estimates that
each staff member at his school who is
involved in preparing for the diplomas has
already spent at least 30 hours on it so far
and is still going. Other issues still to be
clarified include funding, transport and the
availability of work experience.
Mike Stewart, headteacher at Westlands
School in Torquay, says that the diplomas
are a good addition to the options currently
available to young people. “I was initially very
pleased that the government had effectively
said that Tomlinson’s findings were good and
should be developed,” he says. “As heads and
teachers we had developed alternative and
very good courses – the diplomas coming
along as a framework and supporting that
was good news.” However, he is worried that
they may in the future become not an extra
alternative but the only option available.
“The sadness is that the principles about
which diplomas were originally structured
have got lost. I’m very disappointed that
they have become much more academic
than originally designed. The rhetoric from
government that all students will take them
because A-levels and BTECs will disappear
is not acceptable because it is narrowing
the choices.”
Westlands is offering the arts and media
diploma in 2008 but “children are simply not
jumping on it”, Mike says. They like A-level
media studies and the BTEC offerings in
the area and don’t really seem to have been
grabbed by the new idea. He believes that
one problem is the balance of theory and
practical work while another is the diplomas’
relative inflexibility; students like to keep
their options open by mixing and matching
subjects as they can with BTECs and A-levels.
Indeed, one of the areas where NAHT wants
to see clarification is the way in which parents
and students will now need to be advised of
their options – and make choices about their
career path – in Year Nine. Mike believes that
to widen participation, students need to be
offered more real choices, not fewer. “Students
will vote with their feet and only take the
interesting choices. It’s not a course for the
majority of students. It didn’t start that way
and it should not [become that way]. Forcing
people to take them will not work.”
The Westland pupils eligible to start a
diploma later this year are telling him that it’s
too theoretical, not practical enough, lacking
in variety and requires them to specialise
too soon, thus narrowing their choices for
university. “One of the most interesting
37
9/6/08 09:22:15
14-19 DIPLOMAS
questions will be to see the actual take-up in
September, as compared with the projected
numbers,” says Vince Burke, the senior viceprincipal at John Kitto Community College
in Plymouth, another 2008 roll-out school.
(The Department for Children, Schools and
Families has recently revised its estimate of
the number of students likely to enroll this
year down from 38,000 to 20,000).
“We need to ensure that the diplomas
don’t fall between the two schools of
thought [academic and vocational]. There
really is a need for the practical element to
engage students but the jury is out as to how
well the diplomas will deliver on that side. As
we unlock the specifications that’s something
that we need to play close attention to.”
He agrees with Mike that the diplomas
should not reduce student choice. “A lot
of us have large numbers of students doing
BTECs; the kids are enjoying them and are
succeeding in them. The last thing we want
is to see good courses going away because
everyone has to have a diploma.”
One of the diplomas’ key selling points
is the extent to which employers have
been involved in their development and
should, theoretically at least, be involved
in their implementation: practical, workbased experience is a critical element of
the new qualification. A network of highprofile employers’ champions has been set
up to raise the profile of diplomas with
organisations across the public and private
sectors. Members include Sir Alan Jones, the
If a student in
Torquay says to
me he is ‘entitled’
to do electrical
engineering and
the only course is in
Runcorn, will I have
to send him there?
chairman of Semta (the Science, Engineering,
Manufacturing,Technologies Alliance) and
chairman emeritus of Toyota; Clive Jones,
the chairman of GMTV; and Margaret
Gildea, who is on the board of Rolls-Royce.
“Employers support the diplomas’ strong
emphasis on giving young people the range
of skills that they need to succeed in the real
world and that will help us compete in the
global skills race,” Sir Alan said in a recent
statement. “I’m delighted at the progress
so far. Employers have partnered with
education in the design of the diploma and
I’m convinced that the strong support from
employers will continue to grow over time.”
Declan Swan, the chief executive of the
national organisation for Education Business
Partnerships, says employers are genuinely
excited about getting involved in diplomas.
But there are concerns that the high level
of work-based learning will place a heavy
burden on employers and, in some cases,
discourage them from getting involved,
particularly when it comes to small and
medium-sized businesses outside major
urban areas. “Employers are not queuing
up [to offer work experience],” Mike
says. “They don’t have CRB checks or
insurance… they have businesses to run.
They are not training institutions.” He
calculates that Westlands would have to pay
the local plumber £650 to cover the costs of
a CRB check and additional insurance; he’d
then be able to take one pupil for a year. This
approach could, of course, get expensive.
Distance learning
Employers in Plymouth are reacting quite
well,Vince says, thanks at least in part to
dialogue with the long-established Tamar
Valley Consortium, which is a city-wide
group of headteachers, senior managers and
local providers. However, the demand on
employers is still a concern, he says.
Even some employer champions admit that
people need to be realistic about how many
work experience opportunities are available.
Jones, the creative and media champion,
told People Management: “It’s a very small
industry, about 750,000 people, so our ability
to provide work experience as it is currently
known will be limited.That doesn’t mean we
can’t provide genuine, exciting learning... but
in many cases it will be distance learning.”
Money matters
Vince Burke has looked at the funding picture in
detail to help to frame funding/charging guidelines
for schools in Plymouth’s 14-19 partnership, the Tamar
Valley Consortium (TVC). To do this, he looked at
each grant and calculated what it meant as an hourly
rate so that headteachers can compare different
provision, from half-day sessions to intensive blocks,
on an equal basis.
Income: At KS4, schools get an age-weighted pupil
unit of £3,206 for each Year 10 student. This works out
at an hourly rate of £3.36 (based on 38 weeks at 25 hours
per week). Additional funding from the Government
– designed to cover direct delivery costs that can’t be
met from mainstream funding – varies according to
the diploma. In health and social care (H&SC), the grant
is £824 at level 1 and £1,101 at level 2, which equates to
£4.33/£5.79 per hour based on five hours per week for
38 weeks. In engineering and construction, the rates are
slightly higher, at £5.03 and £6.72.
38
Expenditure: Here Vince looked at what providers
are charging for courses offered through the TVC.
The rates for engineering courses range between
£4.20-£6.70; for construction between £4 and £6.25;
and for H&SC between £3.60 and £4.60.
If the cheaper courses are selected, schools will
be left with a slight surplus that can be used to fund
additional costs such as transport and/or central
administration. However, it is important to remember
that the additional grant will be reduced in future years.
Schools will be expected to make efficiency savings in
order to make up the difference. “The government is
saying that over a period of time that this grant is likely
to be reduced,” Vince says. “They expect there to be
economies of scale as there is more take-up.”
There are also contractual issues to be negotiated.
At post-16 level, funding is driven by success, so
schools that use outside providers will need some way
to claw back the money they pay if students fail.
9/6/08 09:22:20
Jim Knight (left), Ed Balls and Sir Alan Jones
give aspiring mechanic Charlie Cox some
tips at Hackney Community College.
PA
Students who go on work placements
rather than undertaking distance learning
will obviously need to travel, raising
questions about rural access issues how
travel will be funded (see below).
Mike is also worried by the implications
of the Government using the word
‘entitlement’ in relation to the diplomas,
particularly as not all diplomas will be
available in all areas. “If a student says to
me that he is ‘entitled’ to do electrical
engineering but there is no one in the West
Country running it and the only course
is in Runcorn, will I have to send him
there? Will I have to board him?” (At the
end of March, Jim Knight told Parliament:
“All schools will be expected to play a full
part in local consortia arrangements to
offer all diploma lines, because the 14-19
entitlement means that from 2013 every
young person has the choice to pursue one
of 17 diplomas at an appropriate level for
them, wherever they are.” )
The final and most important point to
make is that NAHT wants the new 14-19
diplomas to work. Their success is vital when
it comes to encouraging young people to
stay in education or training until 18 or
19, as will be expected of pupils entering
Year Seven in September. But this desire for
long-term success means asking some tough
questions now to make sure that good ideas
become practical, achievable realities.
Inevitably, with systemic change of this
magnitude, there are bound to be doubts and
uncertainties,” says Mick Brookes, NAHT’s
General Secretary. “We are asking these
questions now with the intention of making
sure that the diploma is the success that we all
want it to be. Having great ideas is wonderful
but having the logistics in place to make sure
that they work is absolutely essential.” LF
For more on Vince Burke, see www.naht.org.uk/
welcome/resources/podcasts/generalvideo
See also Arthur De Caux, page 50.
Where the NAHT
seeks clarification…
●
Funding: how will the Government ensure that resources provide the
capacity to sustain development?
● IT: will the platform that will be used to aggregate diploma credits be
fully tested and successfully implemented by the end of the first year?
● Advice: further information is needed about the way in which parents
and students are to be advised of the career choices that will now need
to be made in Year 9.
● Logistics: how will transport be managed to guarantee that students in
rural areas get the same opportunities and access to modules as those in
urban areas? How will students will be organised and supervised in transit?
● Also required: good working relationships between schools, further and
higher education institutions and industry; a system of CRB-checking that is
appropriate but does not overburden employers; equal access and support
for students with special educational needs; enough work placement
opportunities to meet the diplomas’ significantly increased demand for
work experience and work-related learning.
For more on diplomas see www.teachers.tv/video/25749
39
9/6/08 09:22:28
P
Tradition
meets
vision
Petchey Academy offers a unique
opportunity for its leadership team,
as Andy Walsh hears first-hand
40
etchey Academy’s motto
is ‘traditional values in a
modern world’. The new
academy in Hackney,
funded by east-London
entrepreneur Jack Petchey,
opened to Year Seven students in September
2006, in temporary accommodation, while
its new site was being built. Now, 340 Year
Seven and Eights populate the state-of-theart building. By 2012, the academy will
provide for 11-18-year-olds.
Right now, the atmosphere is buzzing.
The open-plan central atrium and dining
area echoes with the chatter of students off
to study their chosen subjects.They line up
in one of their six houses before being called
in. Following consultation with parents, their
uniform includes traditional blazers with neat
ties and monogrammed rucksacks.
At lunch, six or eight children sit in house
groups with one teacher.There is no choice
of meal, just one healthy meat or vegetarian
dish cooked by the academy’s two in-house
chefs.The move is just one of the many
practical elements of the school’s specialism –
health, care and medical sciences.
Only fruit and water can be brought on
site, there are no vending machines, and
the students must also stay on site at lunch
40-42 Teamwork.indd 24
9/6/08 09:24:28
TEAMWORK
David Daniels
Principal
Past experience: Started in the
independent sector at the Dulwich
ore
College Foundation 38 years ago, before
joining the maintained sector with
roles including head of science and
re
deputy head in schools in Hertfordshire
and London. David has also been a
local authority inspector for special
needs and an Ofsted team inspector
for secondary, primary and special
schools. This is his third headship.
In a nutshell: Entrepreneurial,
pragmatic, resolute.
Olivia on David: “David inspires me
with confidence and encourages me
to take the lead and take risks. There
is no blame if I make mistakes and he’ss very welcoming
of my opinion and input.”
Rob on David: “He sets the overall leadership for the academy and is very good at
what I call distributed leadership by giving someone responsibility for something
and allowing them to take charge of that area. He’s very good at allowing you to
take responsibility for something but expects you to be on top of your brief.”
David Daniels
very secure in getting on with his
strategic role.
“This must be balanced with being
prepared to deal with issues when they
arise. That trite old phrase ‘leading from
the front’ sums it up. In our first year, I
swept dining room floors, changed loo
rolls, in fact there wasn’t anything that I
wouldn’t do. That’s all part of our ethos
– and it’s important for the children to
see me doing things that they wouldn’t
expect to see a head doing.”
Finally, he stresses that an exceptional
relationship with the chair of governors
is particularly important. “Honesty
prevails even when it hurts – but I dare
say many heads would say that.”
David says that the security he feels in
his role as a school leader comes from the
fact that this is his third headship. “It’s not
that you can’t give your team freedom
when you are on your first one, but there
are some ‘givens’ when you are doing it
for the third time.”
For now, he says he has no immediate
plans for future roles, but he has no
intention of giving up on education.
“They’ll either carry me out
horizontally or I’ll move on to something
else, although it won’t be another
headship, I think I’ve got that t-shirt!”
PHOTOGRAPHY: ED MILLER
time.The capital’s so-called ‘murder mile’ is
situated just minutes away and the academy
wants to keep the students safe, and the
community happy during the day.This
ethos of healthy living and traditional values
is clearly being appreciated - the academy
has received more than 1,100 applications
for 2008’s 180 places.
The current Year Eights have been
predicted to get 70 per cent A*-C for their
GCSE results, a challenge that the leadership
and teaching team say they are more than
ready to meet. In the words of its principal,
David Daniels, Petchey Academy aims to be
the best school in Hackney.
“We’re close to the City of London, and
we want our students vying for the best
jobs there,” he says.
The academy’s monitoring visit from
Ofsted noted its leaders’ achievements.
“Importantly, they have established a
distinctive ethos and have a clear vision of
how the academy will grow and develop as
the intake expands,” it said.
The leadership team consists of the
principal, two vice-principals and four
assistant vice-principals, an extended
team which includes the heads of English
and Maths and one apprentice assistant
vice-principal. ❯❯
“Once you commit to a position
like this, it’s an eight-day-a-week job.
There’s no way that I won’t see it come to
fruition.” Resolute is a word that principal
David Daniels uses to describe himself,
and his dedication to the role is
unquestioned. He greets each student at
the school gate in the morning (an act he
admits might get difficult when the
academy is at full capacity) and stays in
Hackney a few days a week to avoid
wasting the two hours in traffic back to
Hertfordshire when he could be spending
that time working.
David says he is able to pursue his
strategic vision and carry out his role
as the academy’s figurehead because
of the team of ‘go-getters’ that he has
surrounded himself by. He rewards
ambition and drive, and says that he has
told the leadership team that he wants
none of them to be in their current roles
in five year’s time. “If that’s the case, then
I’ll feel as if I’ve failed,” he says.
Good leadership is defined in many
ways, he continues. Give your team
freedom to get on with their jobs, but
make sure they know that you’re available
if things go wrong. “I think the team
respects that and responds well to it.”
As a result, David says he feels
41
9/6/08 09:24:38
TEAMWORK
Olivia Cole
Vice-principal
Past experience: Spent 12 years at the
Sheredes School in Hertfordshire as class
teacher, head of history and then head of
humanities before teaching in London as an
n
assistant and then deputy head. Joined thee
Petchey Academy in May 2006.
In a nutshell: Measured, motivated and passionate
ssionate about the job.
David on Olivia: “Amazing. One of the most h
highly
driven proponents off
hl skilled
k ll d and
dd
teaching I’ve come across. Totally committed doesn’t even begin to express what she
does here. A real professional and a future stunning head.”
Rob on Olivia: “She’s hyper-organised and incredibly hard working, but always
has time to listen. She has to field lots of issues and incidents that come up with
students and colleagues, but she always has time to lend an ear, which is quite a feat
considering how busy she is.”
Olivia Cole
“I’m a Hackney person and from
the moment I heard about the Petchey
Academy I thought that it was the job for
me so I became passionately involved in a
long application process, which seemed to
take months.”
That process involved David Daniels
visiting 30 prospective vice-principals
throughout England – he said that Olivia’s
Rob Grice
Assistant vice-principal
Past experience: Trained as a design
and technology teacher and taught for
five years before leaving to work for an
education software company. Returned to
teaching after a couple of years and spent
three years as head of technology at the
Skinners’ Company’s School for Girls in
Hackney, before applying for this role.
In a nutshell: Fair minded, calm and
dedicated.
David on Rob: “One of the most
unflappable people I’ve met. At interview,
it didn’t matter what we threw at him, he
remained in control, and I could tell that
it wasn’t an act. I needed someone who
could challenge me, while remaining calm
under fire. He’s an ideas man, but very
reasoned. And even at his level, he knows
that he wants to be a headteacher.”
Olivia on Rob: “Rob’s a highly professional
assistant vice-principal. He’s extremely
good with data. Even when I ask a very
daft question about it, he remains polite
and patient when explaining it to me.”
42
lesson simply “blew him away” and there was
no doubt that she was the one for the job.
Nevertheless, Olivia said that it was a
nerve-wracking process. On top of that, she
had her reservations about academies. “But
I knew that there was a real need for new
schools in Hackney.”
Starting from scratch at a brand new
academy has had its pluses and minuses, and
Olivia’s greatest challenge has been the
feeling of reacting all of the time. “In my
past role I was considered to be highly
organised and had very high standards and
expectations of the students. Of course,
you have to start again. I feel that I haven’t
reached that level of organisation yet.”
But Olivia loves the fact that the new
academy is giving her and the other
teachers a chance to make their mark.
“There is a lot of pressure on us to turn
this area around and provide an excellent
education for the children.
“And you can measurably see that we’re
making a difference, from the constant
assessment that monitors the students’
progress each semester through to events
that we put on for the public. The children
are only 12 and 13 years old, and yet
they’re stepping up and representing us in
a way that you would normally expect the
Year 11s and sixth formers to do.”
She says that she has high hopes for the
academy’s role within the community and
is confident that the students are going to
reach the targets set for them.
“I just want them to leave here feeling
proud of where they’ve been, and to have
greater aspirations for the future.”
To say that Rob Grice wears many
hats in his role is an understatement.
As assistant vice-principal with responsibility
for examinations, assessment, data and
timetabling, he is learning centre leader for
what the academy calls ‘the controlled world’
– a combination of design and technology,
art, ICT, maths and music. He also acts as
head of technology, mentors NQTs and is a
house manager and tutor – on top of all this
he teaches what he describes as a “fairly
large” timetable.
All other members of the leadership
team are taking on a similar workload, this
is because, with only Years Seven and Eight
currently on site, staffing and funding levels
are pitched accordingly.
But his dedication to the role is
unquestioned, and reaches back to when
the academy didn’t even have a temporary
site to work from. Instead, in 2006, a small
leadership team worked out of an office
on Saturdays, while some, Rob included,
continued in their previous positions during
the week.
Again, Rob was excited about the
opportunity to start afresh on a site that
had previously housed a failing school.
Rob Grice
“Traditionally, Hackney has been poorly
served educationally but it’s turning
around – here, we get to set our own
ethos, and build up from scratch.”
Like Olivia, Rob is a Hackney resident,
and says that it’s great to feel proud of
working in the same area that you live.
“Unfortunately, over the past 10 years
there’s been a trend for teachers to come
to work in Hackney, then leave.” LF
9/6/08 09:24:52
LFO.07.08.043.indd 43
29/5/08 09:29:03
RESOLUTIONS
Former President
Rona Tutt proposed
Motion 16.
NAHT Annual
Conference
Policy resolutions for 2008-09
1
TEMPEST PHOTOGRAPHY
Support for Leaders
Conference seeks to promote, support
and protect its members. We require that
Council creates a National Protocol, and
then negotiate this with all local authorities.
The Protocol would ensure that, when
concerns have been raised about the
performance of members, they are entitled
to, and are given, appropriate professional
support and positive advice. The Protocol
would set out a minimum timescale within
which this takes place.
2
Conference deplores the falling standards
of services to schools provided by local
authorities where the removal of the “E” in
Local Education Authority seems to equate
to the relegation of education to secondclass status. Conference calls upon National
44
Council to develop a robust response which
will restore the confidence of school leaders
and lead to a resurgence of the influence of
education at local authority level.
3
Conference calls upon the Government
to acknowledge that its 10-year
Children’s Plan can only be delivered by
sustaining the current high-quality leadership
in schools, and addressing the issues of
autonomy and accountability of schools.
4
Conference reaffirms its commitment to
proper and appropriate pay for support
staff and welcomes the new negotiating
body in England. Conference rejects any
notion that school budgets are liable for
compensation payments to avoid/settle
grievance and tribunal claims. Government
Delegates enjoy one of the lighter
moments at Annual Conference.
policy in England, Wales and Northern
Ireland relies heavily on support staff.
Conference therefore urges national and
local governments to find a solution which
does not damage schools’ ability to deliver
the current agenda.
5
Conference remains entirely committed
to the aims of the Foundation Phase in
Wales. Conference recognises that this is key
policy development in Wales. Its success or
otherwise will determine the future success
or otherwise of generations of children.
Conference further recognises that
success is dependent on dedicating
sufficient resources to the Foundation
Phase to secure the required staffing levels,
to train staff and to adapt and develop
materials and buildings.
Conference calls for the Welsh Assembly
Government to protect the funding for
Foundation Phase pilot school settings and
condemns the wholly insufficient levels
of funding that have been allocated for its
introduction from September 2008.
Conference calls for a review of the
present funding arrangement for the
implementation of the Foundation Phase
with a fundamental review of funding to
inform the autumn/spring spending review.
44-45 Resolutions.indd 44
9/6/08 10:34:08
●
Free public transport for London
teachers.
8
Government Policy Issues
Conference believes that Government
policies, on school admissions and social
cohesion, are contradictory rather than
complementary. Conference therefore
urges National Council to work with
Government to correct this anomaly.
9
Conference believes that the
Government has reneged on its promise
to reduce the bureaucratic workload of
school leaders. It has introduced inefficient
online systems such as RAISEonline,
SEF and School Profile and has imposed
initiatives such as FMSiS and data collection.
Conference instructs Council to
redouble its efforts to identify which
initiatives are statutory and to advise
members strongly to exercise professional
choice with non-statutory initiatives.
10
6
Recruitment and Retention
Recruitment and retention of school
leaders are critical issues for the education
profession at the moment and will become
increasingly so over the next five years.
Conference calls on Council urgently to
explore these issues and to share the wide
range of good practice that exists across
the country with the government in order
to develop a cohesive, transparent
approach which reduces vulnerability and
increases capacity.
7
Conference acknowledges that leadership
hip
recruitment across the country is of
major concern. However, as always, where
recruitment of leaders is hard, London is
o
one of the hardest. We urge Government to
consider and act upon proposals that mightt
ease this situation, for example:
● A London pay settlement that
n
acknowledges the need to attract and retain
school leaders in the capital.
● A revised and more effective Chartered
London Teacher Scheme.
● Changes to the NPQH to address the
specific needs of urban leaders.
● A building programme designed to
lift many London primaries from their
Dickensian heritage.
Conference deplores the everincreasing number of directives and
initiatives imposed on schools without
consultation or planning by Governments
and local authorities with inadequate
funding and training.
Conference calls on Council to monitor
the number and relevance of initiatives and
to lobby governments to manage all future
initiatives so that change is coordinated,
manageable, appropriate and evolutionary.
Governments must stop wasting money on
successive initiatives that have little or no
impact on standards.
11
Given the state of both the global and
national economy, Conference urges
Council to negotiate a degree of flexibility
within the three-year fixed funding cycle.
National Council
member David
Pratt at the
microphone.
12
Conference believes that the
relationship of the school
improvement partners (SIPs) with
headteachers should be one of support
and challenge as was the original
intention. Council is instructed to seek
national consistency, using local examples
of good practice.
13
While welcoming the steps taken
by Government to increase the
opportunities for school leaders and their
teams to develop their skills in working with
pupils who have increasingly complex needs,
Conference asks government to clarify how
the three-tiered approach outlined in its
SEN Strategy will be met in full.
14
Curriculum, Assessment
and Inspections
Conference wishes to celebrate on
behalf of its members one of its quality
partnerships: the NAHT/VSO International
Extended Placements for School Leaders.
We strongly recommend that the DCSF
continue its financial support for this
excellent work.
15
That Council be instructed to
continue vigorously to lobby
Government for rationalisation and
appropriate timescales for change in
the Secondary Curriculum.
16
Following NAHT’s Commission of
Inquiry into Assessment and League
Tables, Conference recommends that,
alongside the current piloting of progress
tests, the Government investigates using:
● Teacher assessment at KS2 and KS3
to track individual pupil progress.
● Sampling to monitor national standards.
● Existing measures other than test results
fo
for holding schools to account.
17
Conference instructs Council
vehemently to oppose any proposals
fo
for ‘No Notice Inspections’ and the
co
continued publication of League Tables, both
of which militate against the recruitment of
ne
new headteachers and cause unacceptable
lev
levels of stress for serving heads.
18
It is unacceptable that church
schools have to undergo two intense
in
inspections in a matter of weeks. We urge
N
National Council to work with religious
bo
bodies to reduce the workload and stress
on school leaders created by the statutory
in
inspection of a church school. LF
44-45 Resolutions.indd 45
45
9/6/08 10:34:18
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
NAHT members act as one – as
directed by Dame Kelly Holmes
when she decides to institute
a post-lunch work-out…
All together now
Political effectiveness requires one voice, says Kerry George
and NAHT membership means ‘one for all and all for one’
M
embers who attended this
year’s annual general
meeting (AGM) in
Liverpool will have heard
Margaret Evitts, chair of
the membership services
committee, propose a motion to extend and
underpin eligibility for NAHT membership.
The rule change, which builds on the
decision of the AGM in 2007, supports and
clarifies the existing wide eligibility under
NAHT’s rules. It makes clear that people
involved in education leadership are able to
join NAHT.
The association’s members already include
leaders of teaching and learning in a variety
of educational settings in England, Wales and
Northern Ireland, and, indeed, around the
world. Members work in early years, primary,
special, secondary, independent, sixth-form
and FE colleges, outdoor education and
other settings that emerge as the educational
scene changes. They are heads, deputy and
assistant heads, principals, vice-principals, and
other school and education leaders.
There is a mistaken perception that we are
solely an organisation for heads – and some
assume only for primary heads. This could
not be more wrong. Many members say
they chose to join NAHT precisely because
46
we do not simply serve a narrow set of
interests, but the full spectrum of leadership
in education in all its variety.
Eligibility for membership does not
automatically mean entitlement and
individuals must apply for membership in
accordance with the rules. Our recruitment
team at NAHT headquarters is very proud
of how quickly we are able to process
applications for membership. This has been
further improved by the ability to apply
online via our recently launched revamped
website (see right for more details).
The most successful recruitment comes as
a consequence of members recommending
There is a
mistaken
perception that
we are solely an
organisation for
heads. This could
not be more wrong
the benefits of joining our association to
others. So how can you help in recruiting
to NAHT? The breadth of our membership
and the fact that education leaders and
leadership team members are eligible to join
should be emphasised at every opportunity.
Encourage others to take a look at our
website. Point out that we not only welcome
members but also provide unparalleled
professional and legal support.
We also campaign on issues that are dear
to the hearts of education leaders: our two
current campaigns are on funding for the
foundation phase in Wales and changes to the
testing and assessment regime in England.
NAHT recognises, as no other leadership
organisation does, the inter-dependence
of all elements and sectors of education.
Our political effectiveness is founded on
the strength of our voice – the voice of all
education leaders speaking together.
Enclosed in this mailing is an application
form for you to hand to a colleague. Once
they’ve returned the form, we’ll do the rest. If
you need more application forms, email the
Membership Recruitment Team at joinus@
naht.org.uk or call 0800 026 2410.
Kerry George is senior assistant secretary,
Salaries, Pensions and Conditions of Service
46-47 member info.indd 46
9/6/08 09:26:12
General
Secretary
Mick
Brookes
We’ll win more battles working together
Wanted: your
views on the new
NAHT website
The new NAHT website (pictured above)
was launched in May. If you have not yet
visited, you can go to www.naht.org.uk
and log in using your new username and
password. These details were sent out by
post in early May. If you did not receive
this or have mislaid the information, please
email [email protected] and we will
happily resupply the information.
Once logged in, you will see a page
specific to your role or location (as, for
example, members in Northern Ireland and
Wales will see).You will also see relevant
headlines and your contact details, as stored
on our membership database. Please take a
minute to check this information and amend
it if it is out of date or incorrect.You can do
this online by clicking the ‘EDIT’ button
beside the details you wish to update.
At the top of the My NAHT page, you
will see that you can subscribe to various
email newsletters. If you tick to subscribe to
the Leadership Links alert, you will get our
bi-weekly e-newsletter. There is currently
no daily alert, but if you subscribe to both
the press release and the urgent news alerts,
you will get these as they are released.
In addition, as you move around the site
you will see at the bottom of most pages a
link to RSS feeds, which you can subscribe
to using an RSS reader such as Bloglines,
Feedreader, or Internet Explorer 7.
The letters RSS stand for ‘really simple
syndication’. Hold on to those first two
words and you are well on the way to
understanding how this powerful tool
can help you. There is further information
on using the RSS feeds on the site at
www.naht.org.uk/site-info/site-help/
using-rss-feeds/
We are very keen to receive feedback
on the new site and encourage members
to send this to us either by email to
[email protected] or via the
feedback link at the bottom of all pages
on the website. We want to hear what you
think of the site and how we can improve it.
An unstoppable force
S
o here we are, on the last
leg of yet another busy
year. It is a good time to
take stock of what has
been achieved this year,
and to remind ourselves of
the work yet to be done.
The Commission on Testing and Assessment
was undoubtedly a keystone of the year.
Commissioned by David Tuck and energetically
managed by Rona Tutt, it received widespread
support, adequately chronicled elsewhere.
The big question is – what next? Is this to be
another interesting thesis left to go dusty on
the shelf? I am heartened to report that you
think not.
We have won the
educational and professional
debate, and now we want
to see change. We are
therefore building an
alliance that will include
parents, governors,
colleagues from the private
sector and many others.
Your Council will outline
a campaign of action that
will be sustained over
the summer and into
the autumn.
The Government has to
be aware that we will not be fobbed off on this
issue, and we mean action. As I concluded in
my conference address – together we are an
unstoppable force.
a colleague who can be a friend in need. We
know that support already exists in well-run
branches, but this project will ensure equality
of access across the country.
There has also been progress in the STRB
for proper recognition of system leadership
roles. This is a developing area of work where
colleagues in the third stage of leadership are
properly remunerated for their work.
Future battles
Contentious issues remain, including: the
amalgamation of the upper-pay scale with
performance management; alterations to
the definition of ‘rarely cover’ that will not
mean ‘never cover’; offering NQTs a master’s
degree (a bad idea); Early
Years changes in Wales and
England; the inflation versus
the pay settlement; and lastly,
the introduction of online
reporting (2010 for secondary,
2012 for primary).
So there are plenty
of battles to be fought
and won, but perhaps
the greatest will be the
unhelpful ‘pilot’ of no-notice
inspections, or ‘catch-youout inspections’.
When asked why this
should be seen as a good idea, the reply was
that it would take the pressure of preparation
away from schools. I don’t think so. This
unwelcome proposal is clearly designed to catch
schools out; but what is the basis for this? Will
no-notice inspections ignore data on progress?
Of course not! Will badly behaved children
become little angels if there is two days’ notice?
Of course not!
I do hope that you will greet the
unannounced visitor with a short, sharp reminder
that you have a job to do, and so do your staff,
and not to make a nuisance of themselves when
the children are trying to learn.
Colleagues, this is an insulting development
that must be treated with the contempt it
deserves. So let’s strangle it at birth. Anyone
being bullied or harassed in this manner should
immediately phone for advice. Remember –
working together makes us stronger.
We have
won the
educational and
professional
debate, and
now we want
to see change
Support for leaders
Dedicated Headship Time is being hotly
debated within the Social Partnership, and
while that debate goes on – we say – take your
entitlement. I know we began the year with
this, but how many of you have actually given
yourselves the time to think and strategically
plan the future?
The peer-support project will be launched
in September. This initiative, developed by the
NAHT and the NCSL together with colleagues
from several local authorities, will ensure
that on a progressive roll-out, every newly
appointed head will have peer support that is
based on unconditional positive regard – simply
46-47 member info.indd 47
47
9/6/08 09:26:18
ROUNDUP
What’s New?
The latest products, books and teaching resources
What Makes A Good
School Now?
Schools’ discount on digital data
By Tim Brighouse and David Woods
Continuum Books £19.99
Millions of online images,
newspaper archives,
dictionary entries and art,
music, history and science
resources are now available
at a fraction of the original
cost. The JISC Collections
for Schools offers discounts
of up to 75 per cent and is
available to primary,
secondary schools and
academies via an online
subscription service.
Available resources include the Guardian, Observer and Times digital archives, the
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and the Education Image Gallery.
www.jcs.nen.gov.uk
Ho
How are your
hya
hyacinths? No, it isn’t
ho
horticultural small talk,
bu
but a question that
tea
teachers and heads
sho
should ask themselves.
Yo
Your hyacinths could
be your passion and
although your burning
alt
interests may not
int
relate to your school
re
role, they will energise
ro
and light up your life,
an
authors. “Successf
“Successful heads avoid
say the authors
stress and burnout in themselves and their
staff by being keenly aware of their hyacinths
and ensuring they have enough of them.”
That’s one tip from the authors, another is
that good schools have good toilets. Tim
Brighouse and David Woods see lavatories as a
touchstone of school improvements – if they
can be made more pleasant, so can the rest of
the school. Furthermore, the pair cite case
studies in which heads have transformed
schools by creating attractive and stimulating
outside environments, such as planting
creepers to cover an ugly building, tethering a
goat in a school wildlife area, and making a
300-year-old hedge into a nature habitat.
This makes the school a focus for the
community, which in turn improves
partnerships with parents. And a good school
must be equipped to recognise the bits that
need improvement, through self-evaluation.
What strikes the reader is that ‘what makes
a good school’ are the ingredients of a happy
life generally. Work-life balance, a pleasant
environment, good relationships and selfawareness. This lively, detailed and wellwritten book will inspire school leaders to
apply these principles – just make sure you
water your hyacinths first.
www.continuumbooks.com
48
FFashion in focus
Th works of two classic 19th-century
The
illustrators, Auguste Racinet and Friedrich
illu
Hottenroth, are combined for the first time
Ho
in Costumes Worldwide – A Historical
Sourcebook, which traces the path of
So
fashion through the centuries. Silhouettes
fa
reveal the shape of styles throughout the
re
aages and detailed cross-references draw
aattention to recurring motifs. A must for
budding Anna Wintours or John Gallianos.
b
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
w
The internet arrives
in your pocket
PocketSurfer2 is an upgraded, portable
internet communications gadget. The
handheld device should prove very, erm,
handy, as it delivers the internet rapidly and
wirelessly to the palm of your hand. It will be
available from August, priced £179.99.
www.pocketsurfer.co.uk
48-49 Whats new.indd 48
9/6/08 09:27:20
WWI’s horrible
history remembered
The 90th anniversary of the end of the First World
War is marked at the Imperial War Museum North
in Manchester until 4 January 2009. The exhibition
is based on Terry Deary’s book, Frightful First World
War, which forms part of the ‘Horrible Histories’
series. It details the conditions that soldiers endured,
looks at the role of women, and recreates the smells
and sensations of the conflict. Deary says: “It was the
gallows humour of people that helped them survive
the horrors. It’s a lesson in how humanity copes with
the worst the world can throw at us. That’s what
education should be about – preparing us for life,
the horrible as well as the good.” Entry is free.
www.iwm.org.uk/north
Going green: the next generation
British Gas is promoting Generation
Green, a campaign that aims to
help teachers and schools to adopt
greener practices. Research has
shown that teachers could have the
power to reach 18 million people
over a year, so they are an influential
force to push action on climate
change. Generation Green will see
schools across the country learning
about energy efficiency. Schools will
be awarded ‘Green Leaves’ for measures such as appointing a lights monitor to ensure
that lights and computers are switched off when not in use. Rewards include botanical
kits, weather stations and solar photovoltaic kits.
www.generationgreen.co.uk
Schools That Change
By Lew Smith, Corwin Press, £29
This
Th illuminating read
covers
the progress
co
of eight US schools
o
aas they go through
eextensive change
aand improvement
ffrom poor to great
performance. As in
p
tthe UK, headteachers
in the US face great
challenges when it
comes to achievement
socioeconomic groups and ethnic
gaps between socioecono
backgrounds and this book sets out to find ways
of addressing these and other problems.
It certainly translates well to a readership
‘across the pond’, as teachers and staff describe
how change, even when urgently needed, can
be frightening. The examples of successful
headteachers such as Chris Zarzana, headteacher
of an elementary school in California, are
inspiring – “She reminded the teachers of their
importance, their mission, and their critical role
in the life of each and every student. She told
them they would see better results – and they
did,” Smith writes. The book examines why
these particular heads have been successful
and what characteristics they bring to their
role to implement change, often managing to
bring poor-performing schools up to exemplary
national status.
www.paulchapmanpublishing.co.uk
The Support Staff
Little Pocket Book
£3.83 each for 30-99 copies
p
P
Performing
SEAL for
ssecondary schools
A the book’s full title implies, The Learner’s Toolkit
As
supports the Social Emotional Aspects of Learning
su
(SEAL) Framework for secondary schools. Author
(S
Jackie Beere gives teachers starting points, plans, and
Ja
eexamples to help them use their own ideas to support
tthe progress of young people. Its goals include
ccreating independent learners who are confident in
ttheir ability to learn well and who have developed
emotional intelligence. The book contains 50 lessons
plans for 50 competencies, each of which has
teachers’ notes on leading the activity, and there
is a CD-rom with worksheets for the lessons.
It costs, £29.99.
www.crownhouse.co.uk
Sup
Support
staff play a vital
rol
role in schools, and this
bo
book gives you the
low
lowdown on the law and
its implications for these
employees. Their
em
contracts and conditions
co
of service are different to
those of teachers, but
th
they are entitled to the
th
ssame rights under
eemployment and health
& safety laws.
Differences in guidance ffor Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland are highlighted in various
colours so you can flip to the relevant section.
It also contains a list of websites and contact
details if you need further information.
www.qgpsolutions.com
JULY/AUGUST 2008
48-49 Whats new.indd 49
● LEADERSHIP
FOCUS
49
9/6/08 09:27:33
And finally
Arthur
De Caux
Confusion reigns supreme as more qualifications rear their head
A diplomatic crisis...
A
seasoned civil servant
comes to the aid of a
younger colleague who
is in some distress…
You’re looking a little
harassed this morning,
Damien, what’s the matter?
Oh, I’ve been asked to write the
departmental website for the Diploma.
Oh, well done!
It’s not ‘well done’ at all, it’s a nightmare.
What do you mean, it seems pretty
straightforward to me.
Well, what is the blasted Diploma for a start?
It’s the new qualification for 14-19.
And?
And what?
That doesn’t tell us very much does it?
What about all the other new 14-19
qualifications we’ve had for as long as most
people, even of your age, can remember?
Now, now Damien, do you want my
help or not? We can forget all about
previous new qualifications.
It’s replacing GCSEs and A-level!?
Good grief, of course not! Whatever
gave you that idea? How could we
possibly replace them without losing
continuity and credibility?
What’s happening then?
We are offering alternatives.
But all the other new qualifications ran
into trouble because they were perceived
to be inferior to GCSE and A-level.
Quite! So we must tell people they
will be keeping their options open.
Don’t GCSE and A-levels keep people’s
options open?
They do.
So, what’s new then?
You are being extraordinarily tiresome
today, if I may say so. We will be
offering lots of extra goodies.
Like what?
The End of Study Practical Project.
Students will be able to show they can
apply what they have learned.
On what?
On anything.
Right! So how will the marking work?
I would try not to mention that if I
were you. There are the Life Skills…
Like team work, communication and
self-management?
Precisely!
And how will those be marked?
Don’t mention that either. Just explain
the different levels: Foundation
equivalent to 5 GCSE D-G. Yes, I know
that is a difficult concept to imagine.
Higher equal to 7 GCSE A*-C…
Isn’t there anything in between, like 6
GCSE C to F?
…and Advanced, equivalent to three
and a half A-levels. Oh, and before you
ask, there is also Progression equal to
two and a half A levels if you don’t
finish the course.
Do you get that if you’ve only been on
the course a week?
Damien, you are a pain.
Is there anything else?
Indeed, the Functional Skills, English,
maths and IT.
Don’t you have to do those in GCSE –
will you have to do them twice?
Don’t interrupt, Damien… and the Core
Skills, or ‘subjects’ as they once were.
Maths, Physics, History, that sort of thing?
No, Engineering, Construction, IT,
Creative and Media and Social and
Health Development.
Haven’t we seen that before?
We have, but it wasn’t a Diploma.
How are schools, teachers and colleges
going to organise all this?
No idea, but these notes from the
Ministerial think-tank sound very
confident: “Schools and colleges are
working together to ensure you get the
best facilities and teachers. If you want
a Diploma that’s not offered at your
school or college, you could attend a
nearby one instead. Transport options
will be available and timetables will be
organised by your school or college.”
● See page 15 for a review of Arthur’s novel,
An Island Preoccupied.
PAULA BOYD-BARRETT
50
50 And finally.indd 50
9/6/08 09:27:57
“
Akhter preinstalls genuine Windows® software
All-in-One
LoCO
2PC
Uses less Energy than a 60 Watt Light Bulb
LoCO2PC™ is the first integrated 3 GHz Core™2 Duo computer
to attain the Energy Star® 4.0 qualification running Microsoft®
XP or Vista™. It consumes only 3 Watts in Sleep mode and
55 Watts when tested in normal use under Energy Star® 4.0
Energy Star 4.0 Qualified PC
19” Screen – 1280 x 1024
160° Viewing Angle
“Energy Star 4.0 is an official EU Mandate requiring all Public Sector
Purchasers to buy products that carry the Energy Star 4.0 Logo”
Hard Glass
8H Hardness
• Integrated Computer, Screen, DVD Writer & Speakers
DVD Writer
• 19” LCD Panel – SXGA – 1280x1024 pixels
• Robust Hard Glass panel – rated at 8H Hardness
• Integrated stand and can be VESA mounted
• Small footprint – Thin profile just 85mm depth
• Runs all versions of Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ and XP
Built-in
PC with
250GB
Hard Drive
• Uses less than a third of the energy of an older PC
• Maximises the user’s desk space and comfort
Speakers
• Eco Friendly – Cuts CO2 – Reduces Electricity Bills
USB x2
• Energy saving estimated at around £225 per LoCO2PC
Based on 4 years, 5 day use, 8 hours per day, saving 1.4 tonnes of CO2
• Runs Cooler and Quieter than a traditional PC
• LAN Network – Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000
Integrated stand
and VESA mount
• Touch Panel and Wireless 802.11 a/b/g options
Intel®
ICP Dual Core
Conroe - 65nm
Intel®
PDC Dual Core
Conroe - 65nm
Intel®
Core™2 Duo
Conroe - 65nm
Intel®
Core™2 Duo
Wolfdale - 45nm
2.0 GHz
2.4 GHz
2.6 GHz
3.0 GHz
E1400 – 800 FSB
E2220 – 800 FSB
E4700 – 800 FSB
E8400 – 1333 FSB
512 KB Cache
1 MB Cache
2 MB Cache
6 MB Cache
£539
+
VAT
£579
+
VAT
£619
+
VAT
£649
DC in HDMI VGA 2x LAN
Reserved for
ANT/AV in/Audio (R)/(L)
+
VAT
85mm
Price includes: PC System with Integrated 19” LCD Screen - Fast 250 GB Hard Drive
2 GB RAM - Slimline DVD Writer - Operating System - USB Keyboard - USB Mouse
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home or Vista™ Basic included as standard - Upgrade to XP Pro or Vista™ Business for £30 + VAT
2 x Com
DVI
RS232 Serial
USB
x4
Audio
BROCHURE REQUEST
LoCO2 PC – Ref: LEADF
Akhter recommends
Windows® Vista™ Business
Mr/Mrs/Miss .......................... Initials ......................................
Surname ........................................................................................
Institution .....................................................................................
Please return Coupon to:
Akhter Computers plc, Akhter House,
Perry Road, Harlow, Essex, CM18 7PN
Address ..........................................................................................
e-mail: [email protected]
...........................................................................................................
www.Akhter.co.uk
01279-821200
..................................................... Postcode ...............................
Intel, the Intel logo, Centrino and the Centrino logo, Core2 Duo and the Core2 Duo logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation
or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Microsoft, MS and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
LoCO2PC is a Trademark of Akhter Group plc © 2008 Akhter Group plc All rights reserved
LFO.07.08.051.indd 51
...........................................................................................................
Telephone .....................................................................................
E-Mail ..............................................................................................
JN-1361-e E&OE 2.6.08
5/6/08 11:43:54
Just for Teachers
Car and Home Insurance
Up to £100
*
cashback
on Car and
Home Insurance
Education professionals are less likely to make claims than
those in many other jobs. That’s why you deserve a good
deal on car and home insurance – and why Norwich Union
created insurance just for you.
Our cover has been specifically designed to suit the day-to-day
lifestyle of education professionals.
For example, our car insurance provides cover for any driving trips
in connection with your profession. Does your current insurer
provide this level of cover as standard?
Purchase a policy today and receive....
• £50 cashback* on car insurance
• £50 cashback* on home insurance
Or....
Take out both and you’ll get a massive £100
PLUS an extra 10% discount.
cashback
This offer is only open to education professionals
like you, and it’s only available until 31st July 2008.
Terms and Conditions apply, please see below for details.
Take up our offer today
Call 0800 046 63 87
Quote ref. CASHB. Calls may be recorded and/or monitored.
Lines are open 8am – 8pm Mon – Fri, 9am – 5pm Sat.
*Terms and conditions
Cashback offer commences on 1st May 2008 and closes on 31st July 2008 and only applies to new home or motor policies paid for and taken out
before the end date. To qualify for the cashback the premium of your new policy must be £200 or more excluding Insurance Premium Tax.
A cheque representing the value of the cashback amount will be sent to the policyholder within 30 days after the start date of the policy. Where the
policy is subsequently cancelled in the first year of insurance we reserve the right to deduct the cashback amount from any return of premium due
to you. The 10% discount is applicable to new customers taking both home and motor insurance and existing customers purchasing home or motor
policies they do not already have. For car insurance, age restrictions may apply. Quotes are valid for 30 days. Norwich Union may decline to quote in
some circumstances. Norwich Union reserves the right to alter, cancel or withdraw this offer at any time without prior notice. This offer can not be
used in conjunction with any other offer.
Insurance underwritten by Norwich Union Insurance Limited. Registered in England No. 99122. Registered Office: 8 Surrey Street, Norwich NR1 3NG.
Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
CFPAG4712 NAHT 05.2008
LFO.07.08.052.indd 52
CFPAG4712_74510_ADU_NAHT
1
29/5/08 10:45:54
09:21:04
22/5/08

Leadership Focus July 08 [pdf / 5.09MB]

Transcription

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