developing people, improving young lives   developing people, improving young lives  

Shaping the future together

Hertfordshire Standards And School Effectiveness Leadership Conference

Dr Hilary Emery

Executive Director, TDA

June 2008

Why the need for change

Workforce modernisation

The classroom is no longer enough

Agenda

Some opportunities / challenges

• By 2020 China will be the 2nd and India the 6th largest economy in the world

• The global population is expected to rise from 6.5bn in 2005 to 7.7bn in 2020 and 9.1bn in 2050

• There will be increasing effects of climate change and increased pressure on global resources

• The potential costs of climate change are huge – up to 20% of global GDP per annum

• The UK population is expected to increase to 67m by 2020. The number of those aged over 85 will increase by 50% by 2020

• Ensuring further improvement in public services requires provision tailored to the needs of individuals and areas

• People increasingly feel they are not able to influence political decisions

The Strategy Unit, the Cabinet Office, 2008

The attainment gap starts early …

Source: Feinstein, Economica (2003)

High SES; low early rank

Low SES;low early rank

High SES;high early rank

Low SES; high early rank

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

22 28 34 40 46 52 58 64 70 76 82 88 94 100 106 112 118

Age in months

Av

era

ge

po

sit

ion

in

th

e d

istr

ibu

tio

n

… and continues to worsen …

• Key Stage 2– FSM – 61% achieved L4+ in English, 58% in maths

– Non FSM – 83% in English, 79% in maths

• Key Stage 3– FSM – 50% achieved L5+ in English, 56% in maths

– Non FSM – 77% in English, 81% in maths

• Key Stage 4– FSM – 33% achieved 5+ good GCSEs

– Non FSM – 61%

2006 national data

…but we know good teaching makes a difference

Sanders & Rivers (1996) Cumulative and Residual Effects on Future Student Academic Achievement

And good leadership matters as well

• School leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on pupil learning

• Almost all successful leaders draw on the same repertoire of basic leadership practices

• The ways in which leaders apply these leadership practices – not the practices themselves – demonstrate responsiveness to, rather than dictation by, the contexts in which they work

• School leaders improve teaching and learning indirectly and most powerfully through their influence on staff motivation, commitment and working conditions

• School leadership has a greater influence on schools and pupils when it is widely distributed

• Some patterns of distribution are more effective than others

• A small handful of personal traits explains a high proportion of the variation in leadership effectiveness

Seven strong claims about successful school leadership, 2006, NCSL

Attainment goals for 2020

• every child ready for success in school, with at least 90 per cent developing well across all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile by age 5

• every child ready for secondary school, with at least 90 per cent achieving at or above the expected level in both English and mathematics by age 11(2007 – 80% and 77% respectively)

• every young person with the skills for adult life and further study, with at least 90 per cent achieving the equivalent of five higher level GCSEs by age 19 (2006 – 71%)

• at least 70 per cent achieving the equivalent of two A levels by age 19

Can we close the attainment gap to make these targets a reality?

TDA support for teachers and teaching

• Getting the right people to become teachers

• Develop them into effective teachers Early professional development and continuing professional

development Linking performance management, CPD and national standards Introduce the new Masters of Teaching and Learning (MTL) for

teachers

• National occupational standards for support staff

• National standards and training and development for higher level teaching assistants (HLTAs)

Why the need for change

Workforce modernisation

The classroom is no longer enough

Well-being

Agenda

The impact of the 2003 national workforce agreement

The schools which had understood the principles underlying workforce reform had planned a coherent strategy and managed the changes well

This enabled them to plan for and implement other national initiatives more successfully

The substantial expansion of the wider workforce and the increasing breadth and diversity of roles were leading to changes in working practices at all levels

These changes were most effective when good practice was identified, shared and used to agree the most effective ways of deploying the wider workforce

The reforms have resulted in a revolutionary shift in workforce culture, with clear benefits for many schools

Ofsted, 2007

aims to raise standards while reducing teacher workload

School workforce

Source: Annual Survey of Workforce Numbers, School Census

FTE Maintained and Academy school workforce* in England, 1997 to 2008

* Does not includesite staff, catering staff, cleaners or supervisors

The School Workforce

Pupil Welfare• Pastoral manager• Connexions advisor• Education welfare• Home liaison• Learning mentor• Nurse• Welfare assistant

TA Equivalent• Higher Level TA• LSA (SEN pupils)• Nursery nurse• Therapist• TA – primary• TA – secondary• TA – special

Technicians• ICT manager• ICT technician• Librarian• Science technician• Technology tech.• Media technician

Other pupil support• Bilingual support• Cover supervisor• Escort• Exam invigilator• Language assistant• Midday assistant• Midday supervisor

Facilities/site• Cleaner• Cook• Other catering• Caretaker• Premises manager

Administrative• Administrator• Bursar• Finance officer• Office manager• Secretary• Attendance office• Data manager• Exams officer• PA to Head

Teachers• Teacher• Excellent teacher• AST• Assistant headteacher• Deputy headteacher• Headteacher

Extended schools• Cluster manager• ES Co-ordinator• Parent Support

Advisers.

Source: adapted from Deployment and impact of support staff in schools, IOE for DfES, 2007

TDA skills strategy for the wider school workforce

Creating a framework of standards and qualifications

Supporting schools to develop new ways of training and deploying their support staff

Extending training opportunities to meet the development needs of all support staff

Why the need for change

Workforce modernisation

The classroom is no longer enough

Agenda

The Children’s Plan sets out the Government’s strategy for realising the Every Child Matters agenda

• builds on ECM, 2003

• “the beginning of a new way of working, not a one off event.”

• Schools as the centre of their communities: uncompromising about ambitions for achievement

• Principles: backing parents and families; children’s potential to succeed; enjoying childhood and being prepared for adult life; prevention and:

• “services need to be shaped by and responsive to children, young people and families, not designed around professional boundaries”

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There are a range of complementary initiatives:

Overarching/enabling initiatives applying to all schools

Building Schools

of the Future

Extended Services in and around

Schools

LA / Children’s

Trust

Primary Capital

Sustainable schoolsLearning Outside

the Classroom (LOtC)

Specialist status and academies

Children’s centres

Youth Matters

Improvement partnerships /

federations

Aim Higher

Community cohesion

Healthy schools

Well-being ‘Back on track’ white

paper

What is an extended school?

“An extended school is a school that recognises that it cannot work alone in helping children and young people to achieve their potential, and therefore works in partnership with other agencies that have an interest in outcomes for children and young people, and with the local community. In doing so, it aims to help meet not only the school’s objectives but also to share in helping to meet the wider needs of children, young people, families and their community.”

ES lead, Cumbria

Key enablers

• Good partnership working

• Strong leadership

• Integrated working

• Formal agreed strategies

• Robust performance management

• Joint commissioning arrangements

Key risks• Funding concerns

• Staff recruitment and retention

• Capacity and overload

• Cultural differences / different agendas between partners

• Lack of aspiration among young people and their families

• Lack of engagement by some Parents Schools Local employers Local authorities Health Social services

Rural and small school challenges

Transport and access to services

Sustainability

Head teacher and staff workload

Low rural incomes

Shortage of registered childcare provision

Small numbers – no

economies of scale

Low expectations from services (so low or slow take-

up)

Facilities / space can be

limited

Confidentiality – everyone

knows everyone

Fewer professionals covering large

areas

Rural schools also have some advantages

• Centre of the community

• Strong parent/staff relationships

• Good knowledge of the children’s whole context for learning – So high degree of personalisation

• Strong community support

• Greater flexibility

• Easier to promote services e.g. in key village locations

• Lack of competition from alternative services / entertainment

• Local professionals often more ‘visible’ e.g. district nurse is known to school

Principles behind the success of rural andsmall schools

1. Knowing what services the school wants to provide and what benefit is expected• Effective consultation with children, families and the wider community

• Linking service design into improved opportunities, achievement and outcomes

2. Commitment to working positively as a cluster

3. Growing links with the community

4. Good links with multi-agency partners

5. Strategic support from the local authority

6. Schools having good, up-to-date knowledge of resources and skills available• Within school and across the cluster

• From multi-agency teams

• In the wider community, incl. voluntary organisations and private providers

• In the local authority

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The School Improvement Planning Framework was developed by schools, tested by schools and is supported by key national stakeholders

• Tested by over 150 pilot schools

• Ofsted updated the SEF prompts and published revised guidance for inspectors

• Information sessions requested by Ofsted inspectors

• Supported by National Strategies

• NCSL are incorporating the framework into their NPQH programme

• Included in the DCSF’s Community Cohesion toolkit and Narrowing the Gap materials

• Supported by SSAT Community Lead Practitioners

• City Challenge are offering the framework to schools as part of their Good2Great programme

www.tda.gov.uk/schoolimprovement

DVD

Characteristics

of successful learners

AttitudeBehaviourAttendance

High Aspiration etc

Extended services can be key to unlocking the learning potential of pupils and helping them achieve

They need to be deliberately designed to complement the drive to raise achievement (not be a bolt on / distraction from it)

+ Family support+ Confidence- Bullying- Poor health

Blockersand

enablers

Experience success

Raise self esteemImprove physical

health etc

Extended Servicesdesign

Standards and

achievement

Teaching and Curriculum

Extended schools:

• swift and easy access

• community access

• parenting support

• varied menu of activities

Others:

• Voluntary and community work

• Work experience

Well-being and community cohesion extended activities

LOCAL AUTHORITYLEADERSHIPWORKFORCE REFORM

and REMODELLING

• The quality of support and engagement between LAs and schools varies considerably. It is this variability that explains the variance in implementation of ECM and ES to a considerable degree

• There is a consistent and powerful interrelationship between workforce reform and effective ECM/ES implementation

• Remodelling provides change capability

Effective ECM/ES leaders need:• Negotiation skills• Change management skills• Brokerage ability• Interpersonal skills• Team building capability• Ability to manage risk• Financial acumen• Contextual literacy

Leadership is the key driver for change and the successful implementation of ECM and ES

Schools that are fully implementing ECM/ES are also fully engaged with workforce reform

The support of the LA determines the level of implementation of and enthusiasm for ECM and ES

ECM/ES leadership (Harris, Allen and Goodall – 2007)

We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking

we used when we created them.

Reflection points

With such major changes in the staffing in schools how national bodies,

local authorities and schools work together most effectively to ensure we

are

Recruiting the best people available? Developing these people? Deploying them effectively?