Forget the Teaching Superstars – Bring on the Teams

As a gung-ho young head, Rob Carpenter was in love with systems. It was, he discovered, a big mistake. He now believes that the core of leadership should be based around relationships with staff and children.

My first headship, at Bannockburn Primary School in Plumstead in 2003, saw me make more mistakes than I care to mention. It was also the period of my steepest growth and most valuable learning—starting with the headship interview. As part of the process, I was asked to lead an assembly and attempted to deliver the ‘long spoons’ story—Google it if you haven’t used it before, it’s a good one—just don’t do what I did! On this occasion, it resulted in 250 pupils scrambling for sweets across the hall, all health and safety protocols abandoned as governors watched in shock, clip-boards to hand. Remarkably, they still appointed me—something which I will be forever grateful!

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      string(357) "... we have maintained an extremely stable staff team.Kulvarn Atwal is the Head Teacher at Highlands Primary School in Ilford.  In the context of his leadership of the school,  the latest Ofsted report (2014) states: ‘The inspirational work of the headteacher has developed the leadership team to work collaboratively, with ..."
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      string(3532) "teach.A willingness to innovate.Strong school leaders who establish the conditions in their school that enable the former two ingredients to flourish.In Schleicher’s (2015) work, the significance of leadership and collaborative learning is clear. My research complements this major research study on education and reflects both the significance of school leaders in directly influencing the quality of opportunities made available for teacher learning, as well as the significant value of collaborative learning opportunities in developing individual dispositions to learning and to the wider culture of the school learning environment. OutcomesSo, what has been the impact of this dynamic learning community within our school? Over the past five years, all teachers at the school have had opportunities to engage in research- based practice, select their own foci for their professional learning, work collaboratively across key stages with different groups of teachers, engage in peer learning and lesson studies and participate in non-judgemental lesson observations. All members of staff are now experienced coaches, and this enables them to develop their problem solving skills and engagement with stakeholders. I hope that they feel that they have been able to drive their own learning and are trusted to innovate and experiment with their practice. The result is that 24 teachers at the school undertook an MA in Education – by September 2017, ten had graduated and two are now studying for professional doctorates. At a time of such challenge for schools in recruitment and retention, we have maintained an extremely stable staff team.Kulvarn Atwal is the Head Teacher at Highlands Primary School in Ilford.  In the context of his leadership of the school,  the latest Ofsted report (2014) states: ‘The inspirational work of the headteacher has developed the leadership team to work collaboratively, with a deepened focus on high-quality learning for both staff and pupils. The progress made by the school since its last inspection is as a direct result of school leaders at all levels providing excellent role models for all staff. There are positive attitudes towards developing an ethos where thinking and risk taking is seen as part of exciting learning’.References        Darleen, O. and Pedder, D. (2010). Conceptualising teacher professional learning. Review of Educational Research, 81(3), pp. 376-407.        Elliot, J. (2007). Assessing the quality of action. Research Papers in Education, 22(2), pp. 229-246.        Eraut, M. (2004). Informal learning in the workplace. Studies in Continuing Education, 26(2), pp. 247-273.        Hodkinson, H. and Hodkinson, P. (2005). Improving schoolteachers’ workplace learning. Research Papers in Education, 20(2), pp. 109-131.        Hodkinson, P. and Hodkinson, H. (2004). The significance of individuals’ dispositions in workplacelearning: a case study of two teachers. Journal of Education and Work, 17(2), pp. 167-182.        Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.        Marsick, V. J. (2009). Toward a unifying framework to support informal learning theory, research and practice. Journal of Workplace Learning, 21(4), pp. 265-275.        Schleicher, A. (2015). Schools for 21st century leaders: strong leaders, confident teachers, innovative approaches. International Summit on the Teaching Profession. OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264231191.en"
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Leadership Skills

The Thinking School - Developing A Dynamic Learning Community For All Staff Within A Primary School

17 Apr 2018

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Financial Management

Budget Crisis? How one school saved £150,000

1 Dec 2017

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      string(5650) "Community North 1,110 Good MiddleSchool H Special(3-19)Special EastMidlands145 Outstanding HighestOf course at the end of the day the key deciding factor was the head’s agreement to participate andavailability in the requested time period. Before each case study visit, relevant documents were read andduring each case study site visit, interviews were conducted with the headteacher, chair of governors, seniorand middle leaders, and several teaching and support staff. Views and opinions regarding the changingschool leadership landscape and its implications were sought from each interviewee. Short extracts from thecase study visits inform the report at many points.b) Telephone interviews with headteachers: 20 interviews were conducted using a similar set of questionsto those asked of the case study heads. 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They wereheld in the north, south and central areas of England. They consisted of groups of primary heads (north),secondary heads (central) and a mixed group (south). The primary heads’ focus group consisted of fiveprimary headteachers and one primary deputy headteacher, of which five were leaders in community schoolsand one was an executive headteacher of a three-school multi-academy trust. The secondary heads’ focusgroup was made up of three secondary headteachers, one secondary chair of governors and two secondarydeputy headteachers.19 © National College for School LeadershipThe mixed focus group consisted of seven people – three assistant heads (primary and secondary), a localauthority primary adviser, a head of a children’s centre and two education business leaders. 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Leadership

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6 Jul 2017

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      string(1875) "abouttheir children’s attainment in tests,attendance, behaviour and homeworkcompletion. The system allows schoolsto make announcements and postmessages to parents (with the abilityto attach files), and a timetable featuremeans parents can see which lessonstheir children have on any given day.Research is increasinglyemphasising the importance ofinvolving parents in their children’slearning, so the value of a toollike this is immediate and likely toincrease with time. The system usesadvanced security techniques toensure privacy and is compatible withthe popular SIMS.net managementinformation system, meaning thattest data can be transferred directlyinto it without the need to save andresave in different formats.It’s not hard to use – manyparents are fully clued up on thelikes of Facebook these days, and theMyChildAtSchool user interface is highlyreminiscent of the most popular socialnetworking sites. Many schools haveinstalled the system and it’s alreadygone down well with parents. To findout more visit mychildatschool.com.In these straitened economic timesmany schools and local authoritieswill be reviewing their policies onpurchasing and procurement. Thisbeing the case, the moment mightbe right to look again at the optionof leasing instead of buying ICTequipment. Hardsoft is a specialist inthis area – and the company’s Flexi-Lease deals mean schools aren’t lockedinto a long, inflexible contract andsystems can be upgraded before theend of the lease.With deferredpayment options, thechance to buy equipmentat a discount whencontracts end, support byemail and telephone, anddedicated local engineerson call to carry outmaintenance, Hardsoftseem to have a dealthat’s worth a look. Moreinformation can be foundat www.hardsoft.co.uk.To find out more aboutthe BETT Show ingeneral, including datesfor next year’s event,visit www.bettshow.com"
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Leadership

BETT 2011 – a glimpse into the future

7 Feb 2011

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      string(5625) "research and evidence-based practice in several ways; for example, Learning Set research groups, current research documents and through listening to researchers in person.  The impact of this approach placed research and evidence-based practice at the front and centre of all professional and pedagogical development.   As the Learning Sets began to near the end of their first cycle focus shifted to how best to  disseminate and capture the results and impact of each group; what Stenhouse referred to as the “importance of inquiry being made public.”[v]  A Learning Conference was planned for a teacher development day as a culmination to the Learning Set cycle. Each Set would have a forum in which to share their work and outcomes.  The day was also supported by Professor Graham Handscomb who led a key-note address, in order that colleagues received external feedback and indeed validation, further embedding the importance and value of research.  During the Learning Conference Learning Sets were allocated a space within the school to display their research journey. As expected from primary school teachers the displays were amazingly creative and somewhat competitive! Over 70 staff attended the Learning Conference including  Teaching Assistants (TAs).  As a school the ambition was to include Teaching Assistants into the next Learning Set cycle.  It was felt important that the TAs understood what the teachers had been working on and how it related to practice development.  Staff visited all of the displays and had opportunities to discuss outcomes and impact with group members.Learning Set leads produced a case study of their group’s research, outcomes and impact. These were published on the school and Teaching School websites and informed school development and policy.  For example, the 5-point scale[vi] considered during by one Set continues to be a fundamental part of not only the Mead School’s behaviour policy but also now across all the Trust schools.  The school and Trust have adapted the 5-point scale framework in order to support whole school, group and individual pupil behaviour.The first cycle of Learning Sets had led to demonstrable impact on school development and practice.  Teachers appeared to understand how research and evidence-based practice can be used to good effect on personal and whole school development.  A culture of research had certainly been established but it was now vital to sustain and develop this further.Embedding a culture of research engagement   Through feedback and discussion, leaders identified the key aspects of activities undertaken to date that had contributed positively to the successful development of a research culture within school.  These included:Research foci being contextually relevant and practically useful that linked directly to school development leading directly to knowledge creation[vii]Practitioners being able to direct their own thinking and research based on hunches and interests, supported by leadersPractitioners being involved in not only their own research but the research of others.Prioritising time and resources to enable practitioners to dedicate quality time to research activity and dissemination [viii]However, leaders were aware that the concept of research engagement needed to be kept at the forefront of thinking without it losing its appeal to staff.   With that in mind during the past seven years a range of strategies and activities have been undertaken over to maintain and further develop focus and interest.A second cycle of Learning Sets was undertaken for teaching staff.  The foci were once again driven by school improvement priorities.   In parallel to this teaching assistants also took part in their own learning sets. A joint dissemination event was held which enabled both teachers and TAs to share their research journeys and outcomes.  A short time after the second Learning Set cycle The Mead Primary School was joined by two further primary schools, forming The Mead Multi-Academy Trust.  Trust leaders were determined to embed research engagement across the Trust, within each school but also collaboratively across the schools. The Leadership Team recognised that this had to be balanced alongside other key development needs within the schools.  As such, it was decided that only members of the middle and senior leadership teams within the new schools would take part in research activity alongside staff at The Mead.  The aim was for these members of staff to become ‘research champions’ in their own schools. In addition, all staff at the new schools joined training and development activities which continued to have a strong evidence-based research engaged basis.   In this way research engagement and activity became part of professional dialogue in the new schools raising its profile in a less formalised way, ensuring staff became familiar with the ‘language’ of research and its impact on practice first-hand.   Over the following year or so engagement in research activity expanded to include more and more staff across the three schools.  The Trust is now in a position where all teachers are engaging in Teacher Research Groups (TRGs).  .  These TRGs are now fully established and membership consists of staff from all three schools (schools are geographically a maximum of 15 minutes apart by car and as such cross-school meetings are easy"
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Professional Development

How Our Primary Established A Meaningful Culture of Research

9 Apr 2021