The magazine for NAHT membersMarch/April 2015 • £5

Issue #68

LEADERSHIPF O C U S

NAHT seizes the

agenda P.34

Changes in special

needs P.38

Peer coaching and

mentoring P.42

Election specialThe main parties tell NAHT

about their plans for education, should they be elected…

01 LF Cover.indd 1 26/02/2015 13:40

99%

Last year, 99% of our teachers completing their first year

achieved 'outstanding' or 'good' in their Qualified Teacher Status grade

9%99%99%

We can support your school. Find out how at teachfirst.org.uk/partnership

LFO.03.15.002.indd 2LFO.03.15.002.indd 2 20/02/2015 09:0920/02/2015 09:09

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 l LEADERSHIP FOCUS 3

In this pre-election edition of LF we asked the main political parties to answer a series of questions about education (p28) and you may be interested –

even surprised – when you read their responses. More importantly, we have taken the opportunity to highlight and publicise NAHT’s own manifesto.

It’s a tribute to our knowledgeable, experienced and highly skilled staff , led by Russell Hobby and Kathryn James, that the education spokespeople for each party have had their attention drawn to the highly principled and sound proposals contained in Owning what is ours whenever possible.

The article on page 34 gives the background to the manifesto, which followed Russell’s annual conference speech last year. He emphasised: “Being critical is not enough. We can construct an alternative; we can get out there and do it. We should be the ones talking loudly about what we want to change.”

But we must be strong in our resolve. We need to work together and to support each other. Throughout this edition, there are many examples of how the association is working hard to provide professional support for you through the development of new initiatives such as NAHT Aspire, Instead, NAHT Assure,

GAIL LARKIN

MANIFESTO FOR CHANGE

WE N A T I O N A L P R E S I D E N T

NAHT Edge, the Leadership Compact and alternative league tables. Each will help us to achieve our aim of encouraging members not to just take ownership of standards but to provide mutual care and support for each other.

Elsewhere, we would like your views on Leadership Focus (p13) and I would like to draw your attention to a fascinating interview with head teacher Dame Helen Hyde (p26) on holocaust education. NAHT has been a long time supporter of the Unicef UK Rights Respecting Schools Award, which links well with holocaust education and, of course, British values.

Finally, as I near the end of my presidential year, I would like to thank you so much for your support over the past 12 months. I look forward to meeting you on my travels.

W E L C O M E

EDITORIAL

ASSOCIATION AND EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES

NAHT 1 Heath Square, Boltro Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 1BL www.naht.org.uk Tel: 0300 30 30 333

Editorial board: Clare Cochrane, Tony Draper, Heather Forse, Lesley Gannon, Nicky Gillhespy, Magnus Gorham, Chris Harrison, Russell Hobby, Bernadette Hunter, Gail Larkin, Caroline Morley, Stephen Watkins and Paul Whiteman.

@nahtnews @LFmagNAHT

EDITORIAL TEAM Managing editor: Steve SmethurstAssistant editor: Carly ChynowethDesigner: Adrian Taylor Senior picture editor: Claire EchavarryProduction manager: Jane EastermanCover photograph: GettyPrinted by: Woodford Litho

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES Advertisement sales: Joe Elliott-WalkerSales director: Jason Grant

Leadership Focus is published on behalf of NAHT by Redactive Publishing Limited, 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP

www.redactive.co.ukTel: 020 7880 6200Email: naht@redactive.co.uk

ISSN: 1472–6181

© Copyright 2015 NAHT

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be copied or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers. While every care has been taken in the compilation of this publication, neither the publisher nor NAHT can accept responsibility for any inaccuracies or changes since compilation, or for consequential loss arising from such changes or inaccuracies, or for any other loss, direct or consequential, arising in connection with information in this publication. Acceptance of advertisements does not imply recommendation by the publishers.

The views herein are not necessarily those of the publisher, the editor or NAHT.

Member of the Audit Bureauof Circulation: 27,642 (July 2013-June 2014)

03 editorial.indd 3 26/02/2015 14:06

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Download our new practical guide ”10 steps to implementing your assessment framework” The second in the series of whitepapers, an invaluable guide to successfully implementing your assessment framework with contributions from Russell Hobby, General Secretary, NAHT and Dame Alison Peacock DBE.

Planning, Assessing, Tracking and Reporting – InfoMentor now has assessment frameworks including the NAHT, Michael Tidd and Rising Stars, available for schools to use, free of charge. Life after levels made easy!

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www.infomentor.co.uk/assessment

0845 680 3681 enquiries@infomentor.co.uk

LFO.03.15.004.indd 4 20/02/2015 09:28

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 l LEADERSHIP FOCUS 5

C O N T E N T S

6 Channel 5 series visits Barking NAHT member Bob Garton invited

TV cameras to record life at the UK’s biggest primary school, Barking’s Gascoigne Primary

7 Disqualifi cation by association Guidance for schools on child

protection has become a burning issue for school leaders

8 Careers funding ‘error’ The loss of ring-fenced funding

for careers education, information, advice and guidance has proved to be a “serious error”

9 New Year honours Two damehoods and a knighthood

are highlights as school leaders are recognised for their hard work and achievements

10 ERA fi nalists announced The shortlisted school leaders

and educational establishments are revealed for this year’s Education Resources Awards

11 NAHT backs Freedom Charity NAHT has joined forces with

Freedom Charity, which aims to stop forced marriages and dishonour-based violence

11 Baseline reception testing Six providers for the reception

baseline assessment have been approved by the Standards and Testing Agency

12 Family Action leafl et The latest leafl et from NAHT’s

charity partner focuses on the benefi ts of praise and reward

13 Annual conference 2015 Liverpool is set to host NAHT’s

annual conference from 1 to 3 May, with speakers from the major political parties in attendance

20 NAHT principles for SBM pay NAHT is refreshing the balance

for school business managers, reports Valentine Mulholland

22 Budget-setting tips Timely advice from NAHT’s school

business managers’ committee on what to bear in mind when setting budgets for the year ahead

24 The future of governance NAHT members can use National

Governors Association resources to set their school strategy, advises its chief executive Emma Knights

26 Lest we forget Holocaust education has been the

subject of a government education committee recently, chaired by head teacher Dame Helen Hyde

28 Election special As the country prepares to go to

the polls on 7 May, we ask what the main political parties have in store for schools

34 There is a better way… How NAHT is leading change

in education to help leaders and learners. Susan Young reports

38 Making sense of complexity Susan Young looks at the changes

to special needs through the eyes of speakers at NAHT’s SEND conference

42 School counsels Peer mentoring and coaching are

increasingly being used to improve confi dence and reduce behavioural issues, reports Carly Chynoweth

46 At the European chalkface ESHA president Clive Byrne tells LF

about the challenges facing school leaders across Europe

14 NAHT partners GL Assessment’s ‘Baseline’ tool,

specially developed for reception testing; and customised, reliable travel insurance from Rock

15 Legal update NAHT senior solicitor Simon Thomas

looks at the contentious issue of partisan politics in schools

16 Best of the blogs It’s a turbulent issue for NAHT’s

bloggers, as they turn their attention to sex, cheating and fi ghting their corner

17 Rona Tutt’s column The NAHT past president urges

whoever is secretary of state after the election to involve the profession much more closely than before

19 Russell Hobby’s column The general election is an opportunity

to fi nd out how politicians will support NAHT’s ideals

50 Susan Young’s column Susan meets Marcelo Staricoff

(pictured above), whose school has won an award for being among the most improved for the progress of children entitled to the pupil premium

N E W S F E A T U R E S V I E W SEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

LEADERSHIPF O C U S

05 contents.indd 5 27/02/2015 08:14

6 LEADERSHIP FOCUS l M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5

NEWS• DISQUALIFICATION

BY ASSOCIATION• CAREERS FUNDING• EDUCATION HONOURS• FREEDOM CHARITY• ANNUAL CONFERENCE

In at the deep end?

B R I T A I N ’ S B I G G E S T A Channel 5 series that

aims to show the realities of

caring for pupils at a large

and vibrant London primary

school features an NAHT

head teacher.

Gascoigne Primary School

in Barking is Britain’s biggest

primary with more than

1,100 pupils, 38 classes,

39 teachers and 160 staff.

NAHT member Bob

Garton is the school’s head

teacher. He gave a fi lm crew

access over two terms to

view the devotion that goes

into steering and nurturing

a modern primary school.

The series follows him and his

staff pushing for the best for

their pupils despite a range

of challenges. Many come

from vulnerable backgrounds

and need tireless care and

support – which Mr Garton

and his dedicated team

readily give them.

Britain’s Biggest Primary School, In at the Deep End, was screened over

four weekly episodes from

12 February. It is available to

watch on Demand 5.

www.channel5.com/demand5

WE N E W S F R O M T H E W O R L D O F E D U C A T I O N

N E W S F O C U S

NAHT MEMBER BOB GARTON INVITED CHANNEL 5 CAMERAS INSIDE HIS SCHOOL, THE BIGGEST PRIMARY IN THE COUNTRY, FOR A FOUR-PART DOCUMENTARY

P H O T O G R A P H : C H A N N E L 5

06-07 News.indd 6 26/02/2015 14:06

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 l LEADERSHIP FOCUS 7

Disqualifi cation by association ‘number one issue for members’ Guidance for schools on child protection laws has led to dozens of

primary school staff being wrongly suspended from work.

According to offi cial guidance, staff could face disqualifi cation

from their jobs if they share a home with a person who has

committed a serious violent or sexual crime or been banned from

working with children.

The rules were brought in for childminders

and nurseries in 2009, but in October the DfE

clarifi ed that they also apply to schools. As a

result, schools and local authorities have been

asking staff to declare any previous convictions

or cautions by people living in their household.

A DfE spokesperson said: “These are not new

requirements and the law has not changed.

Schools and governing bodies should use their

judgement when deciding where it is necessary

take action.”

NAHT general secretary Russell Hobby (pictured) said that at least one primary head had

decided to leave their job to prevent family secrets being exposed.

“We’re receiving many calls about this. It’s the number one issue for our members at the

moment. If a school leader is suspended, it is very visible in the school community and trying to

explain it to parents can be very unpleasant.

“For staff with long, unblemished service to a school, it is an insult; this legislation isn’t

designed for schools and is causing chaos. Every local authority seems to be using a different

interpretation of the rules.

“We all want children to be safe in school but these regulations are not yet in a workable state.

We are working with the government to help them make the guidance more effective. At present

they are designed for childcare in the home not school settings.

“They will prevent good and trustworthy staff from doing their jobs and wrap schools up

in unnecessary red tape, distracting them from real safeguarding issues and the hard work of

raising standards.”

/ /

Workload Challenge proposals ‘modest’The government published its response to the Workload Challenge survey in February. More than

40,000 teachers offered their views and, while the proposals will help, NAHT feels they do not

tackle the causes of excess workload in schools.

NAHT general secretary Russell Hobby said: “The proposals for better planning and greater

notice of changes are a step in the right direction. They could improve the quality of education

but only if they really do limit the constant churn of new initiatives and allow teachers to prepare

for and implement fresh changes. We also welcome commitments to further the development of

school leaders.”

However, Mr Hobby said some questions remained unanswered. “At the heart of excess

workload are fear and over-compliance. There are some useful suggestions for limiting Ofsted’s

overreach but the adversarial culture will always remain. We should stop tinkering with Ofsted

and commit to an overhaul. Likewise, the commitment to review the consistency of Ofsted

reports is welcome but what would be even more welcome would be a commitment to look at

the skills and experience of the inspection teams themselves.”

How poverty affects education Parents spend an average of £800 per child per year on school costs, including £159 on uniform and sports kit and £167 on school trips

95 per cent of parents who were “not well off” said they struggled at least “to a small extent” with costs generated by school requirements

A National Children’s Society inquiry fi nds labels like ‘FSM’ or ‘pupil premium’ can stigmatise children from poorer families and sometimes lead to bullying

Schools risk stigmatising children �

21

The Welsh government’s new

school categorisation data

has angered many school

leaders. After promising to

consult closely and seeming

to have agreed an acceptable

way forward, the Welsh

government has changed the

rules for judging standards in

secondary schools.

NAHT Cymru acting

director Dr Chris Howard

said: “Our members see this

as a breach of trust. This

is an own goal by minister

Huw Lewis which will do

nothing to encourage

schools and teachers working

with the most challenging

communities.” Dr Howard

said the new system:

• is little better than the

discredited system of

secondary school banding;

• ensures that half the schools

in Wales must be classifi ed

as sub-standard before a

lesson has been taught;

• encourages schools to

exclude pupils with poor

behaviour and low levels of

academic achievement;

• provides no real

measurement of the value

added by each school to

each child’s outcomes;

• works against the minister’s

intention of doing better by

the most disadvantaged;

• discourages head teachers

from taking jobs in schools in

socially deprived areas; and

• penalises rural schools

where entitlement to free

school meals and other

economic indicators show

there is “heavy lifting” to do.

Welsh minister’s ‘own goal’Stay up to date with

the latest association news on Twitter

@NAHTnews

P H O T O G R A P H : T E M P E S T

06-07 News.indd 7 26/02/2015 14:06

8 LEADERSHIP FOCUS l M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 P H O T O G R A P H : G E T T Y

SUCCESSFUL BETT SHOW FOR NAHT January’s Bett Show

in London saw NAHT’s

head of press and media

Steven George and policy

adviser Siôn Humphreys

hold productive talks

with organisations such

as Computing at Schools,

Naace and the Education

Technology Action Group.

NAHT also announced

an agreement with Frog

Education, which will

disseminate materials the

association has produced

on assessment without

levels in schools. Siôn told

LF: “We were also given the

opportunity to curate two

afternoons on a DfE stand

run by Heppell.net. It gave

us the opportunity to talk

about ICT’s role in easing the

assessment burden and also

the effective use of ICT in a

special school environment.

“We even spoke to Bett’s

radio station, which was

broadcast live at the event

and on the internet.”

GENERAL SECRETARY ON RADIO 4’S TODAY NAHT general secretary

Russell Hobby was

interviewed on Radio 4’s

Today programme on

29 January to raise concerns

over secondary school

league tables. Mr Hobby

said parents had a right to

information about school

performance but that such

data should cover a wider

range of topics to provide

a more rounded picture of

school achievement.

NASBM MEMBERSHIP OFFER FOR SBMs NAHT and the National

Association of School

Business Management

(NASBM) have launched

a membership offer to

give SBMs access to both

organisations at a special

rate. Individuals who become

members of both will receive

a 25 per cent discount on

their membership of each

organisation.

bit.ly/SBM_offer

N E W S I N B R I E F

E TELL US ABOUT YOUR INSPECTION EXPERIENCEIf you have been inspected recently, NAHT would like to know more about how it went. Fill in the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/MTCYMQM

The loss of ring-fenced funding for CEIAG (careers education, information, advice and

guidance) has proved to be a ‘serious error’ and NAHT is seeking its restoration.

The government line was stressed by business minister Nick Boles. He said: “Budget

decisions lie with principals and head teachers. Good schools invest in careers information,

advice and guidance and have a designated careers coordinator to work with young people.”

The government’s current strategy is for Ofsted to mark down schools that fail to provide

independent careers guidance and, once the Careers and Enterprise Company is set up, by

allocating enterprise advisers to schools.

However, Louis Coiffait, CEO of NAHT Edge,

the section of NAHT for middle leaders, told LF:

“It’s essential for careers education funding to be

ring-fenced. Cutting back here would be the

ultimate false economy, with the price paid by

the next generation of workers.

“We would like to see a commitment to

careers funding by all political parties. The

Gatsby Commission’s report proposed that

schools would need around £50,000 each per

year to achieve the benchmarks it identifi ed as

being indicators of effective provision.”

Kathryn James, NAHT’s deputy general secretary, added: “Careers education, information

and guidance all work best as a partnership between schools, employers and trusted

intermediaries such as the National Careers Service. They each hold a different part of the

puzzle. This would guarantee a national standard for careers guidance taking as its

template the work being done under the auspices of the QiCS and CEIAG quality awards.”

• CASCAiD, which produces computer based careers information, is launching its survey of

young people’s opinions about careers, education options and employers.

www.cascaid.co.uk/survey2015

Cutting back on ring-fenced funding for careers is ‘ultimate false economy’

Schools in Northern Ireland

are still uncertain about the

extent of the budget cuts

they will face in 2015-16.

Figures outlined in the

Northern Ireland Assembly’s

initial consultation included

proposals for a 19.7 per cent

reduction in capital budget

and a 29 per cent reduction in

the entitlement framework to

help address a £160 million

‘funding gap’ in education.

By January, the Northern

Ireland Executive had found

£60m extra for schools, but

as LF went to press NAHT

was still waiting to hear how

it would be spent.

“Schools have still not been

provided with written details

about their budgets,” said

Helena Macormac, NAHT

Northern Ireland policy

director. “The situation is not

as bleak as it was before

Christmas but we still can’t be

sure what the fi nal impact of

the cuts will be.”

NI funding ‘less bleak’

N E W S F O C U S

08-09 News.indd 8 26/02/2015 14:07

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 l LEADERSHIP FOCUS 9

The following school leaders are among those awarded honours for services to education.

KnighthoodJohn Townsley, executive principal, The Gorse Academies Trust,

Leeds

DamehoodsKate Dethridge, principal, Churchend Primary School, Reading

and National Leader of Education

Oremi Evans, head teacher, The Brookfi eld School, Herefordshire

CBECatherine Garside head teacher, St Ambrose Barlow RC High

School, Swinton, Salford

Judith Salter, head teacher, Glenwood Special School, Essex

OBEGulfaraz Ahmed, head teacher, Parkinson Lane Primary, Halifax

Lorraine Allen, principal, Whitley Academy, Coventry

Adam Chedburn, head teacher, Whitley Bay High School,

Tyne and Wear

Dr Lesley Curtis, head teacher, Everton Nursery School and

Family Centre, Liverpool

John Dahlstrom head teacher, Hope Special School, Wigan

David Hudson, executive head, Wickersley School and Sports

College; Rawmarsh Community School and Clifton Community

School, Rotherham

Nicholas Simon Hurn, executive head, Cardinal Hume Catholic

School, Gateshead; St Robert of Newminster School, Sunderland

Richard Millington, executive principal, Chepping View Primary

School, Buckinghamshire

John Morris, head teacher, Ardleigh Green Junior School,

Havering

Dr Anne Murray, principal, Oakgrove Integrated Primary and

Nursery School, Londonderry

Maura Regan, principal, Carmel College and chief executive,

Carmel Education Trust

MBEGeoffrey Dunn, principal, Ballysally Primary School, Coleraine

Stephen Hill, deputy head teacher, St Joseph’s RC Primary

School, Shaw, Oldham

Florence Mairs, principal, Straid Primary School, Ballyclare

Brendan McCusker, principal, St Mary’s Primary School,

Maguiresbridge, Northern Ireland

Judith Miln, deputy head, Clapton Girls’ Academy, Hackney

Mohammad Aslam Rashud, head teacher, John Summers High

School, Flintshire

Eunice Walters, head teacher, Brynhyfryd Primary School,

Neath, Wales

Deborah Withers, lately head teacher, Wren Spinney Special

School, Kettering

Medallists of the Order of the British EmpireTracy Cullen, SBM, Queensbridge Primary School, London

Janet Inglis, deputy head teacher, Immanuel College, Bradford

If we have missed anyone, please let us know: naht@redactive.co.uk

N E W Y E A R H O N O U R S

It’s nice to be reminded that

being a school leader isn’t

always a thankless task when

it comes to government

interference. According to the

Cabinet Offi ce, 10 per cent

of honours are for work in

education and its education

committee recommended

30 head teachers for this

year’s New Year’s list.

Two of the most prominent

among the 30 are Dame Kate Dethridge and Dame Oremi Evans (pictured).

Reading’s Churchend

School’s head teacher Dame

Kate, an associate director

of the National Education

Trust and chair of a DfE group

writing new standards for

teaching assistants, said it

was a “huge surprise and an

amazing honour”.

“I still can’t quite believe

it,” she said. “Education is the

only thing I have ever known,

it is my absolute passion. Any

success I have had has always

been about the teams and

the children I have been lucky

enough to work with.”

She has led Churchend

school for the past 17 years,

seeing it become a National

Support School and twice

being rated as ‘outstanding’

by Ofsted.

Her school held a special

assembly to mark the

occasion and presented her

with a Waterford Crystal vase,

engraved with her new title

and the date.

Dame Oremi has been head

teacher of the Brookfi eld

School in Hereford for 13

years, during which it has

been judged ‘outstanding’ by

Ofsted three times.

A Cabinet Offi ce

spokesperson said she had

received her award in part

because she was “head

teacher of the only special

school to receive three

consecutive ‘outstanding’

Ofsted judgements”.

Dame Oremi said:

“I was very surprised but

at the same time incredibly

honoured. But any success

that I’ve had is because of

the team of people I work

with – you don’t work alone

and this isn’t about me as an

individual, it’s about what we

as a team have achieved.”

Another signifi cant award

was bestowed on Sir John Townsley. He oversees the

Morley and Farnley academies

in Leeds, both of which are

rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted,

and also a free school, the

Ruth Gorse Academy, which

opened last September.

Sir John became principal

of the Gorse Academies

Trust in 2010. Under his

leadership, two of the four

academies that make up

the trust have gone from

‘requires improvement’

to ‘outstanding’.

School leaders rewarded in New Year’s Honours list

08-09 News.indd 9 26/02/2015 15:56

10 LEADERSHIP FOCUS l M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5

P R I M A R Y F U T U R E S

A W A R D S N I G H T

The Education Resources Awards (ERA) fi nalists have been

selected for two key educational categories: ‘Leadership in

education’ and ‘Educational establishment of the year’.

Leadership in education fi nalists• Lorraine Allen, Whitley Academy, Coventry

• Ann Clark, King Edward VI High School for Girls,

Birmingham

• Dr Lesley Curtis, Everton Nursery School and Family

Centre, Liverpool

• David Hudson, Wickersley School and Sports College,

Rotherham

Educational establishment of the year fi nalists• Brynhyfryd Primary School, Neath, Wales

• Clapton Girls’ Academy, Hackney

• Matthew Arnold School, Oxford

• Saltley School, Birmingham

• St Ambrose Barlow RC High School, Swindon

Organised by the British Educational Suppliers Association

(BESA) and Brilliant Marketing Solutions, the ERAs

highlight the quality and diversity of educational products

and resources, excellent educational establishments and

the most inspiring members of the teaching profession, all

working together to encourage the very best in education.

The winners will be announced at the National Motorcycle

Museum, Birmingham, on 20 March.

The ERAs are sponsored by procurement specialists YPO

and supported by NAHT and the SSAT. Media partners are

Education Today. See below for more information, or to book

a seat at one the UK’s leading education events.

chris@educationresourcesawards.co.uk

01622 474011

www.educationresourcesawards.co.uk

Fast growth for ‘Futures’More than 1,600 primary

schools and 1,800 teachers

have registered for the free

Primary Futures programme,

giving them access to

volunteers, information and

other resources to help

children make connections

between what they learn and

their futures.

London has the highest

number of schools registered,

with 276 – 15 per cent of all

its primaries – but the North

West and the East of England

are not far behind.

Recent sessions at NAHT

conferences in York and

Barnsley also drew large

numbers of school leaders,

said Steve Iredale, NAHT past

president and Primary Futures

project manager.

“We have had a really

positive response from

delegates as we have been

able to share the potential of

Primary Futures with examples

of how our project can have

an impact on individual

children and on schools and

localities,” he said.

Over the fi rst two years of

Inspiring the Future – Primary

Futures’ parent scheme,

aimed at secondary schools

and colleges – nearly half a

million young people heard

from 18,500 volunteers.

The initiative, developed

by NAHT in partnership with

the Education and Employers

charity, is also garnering

political attention: as LF went

to press, secretary of state

Nicky Morgan was preparing

to join children at Priestmead

Primary School in Harrow,

London, for a morning of

Primary Futures activities.

www.primaryfutures.org

P H O T O G R A P H Y : E R A

WE ERA leadership finalists announced

If you have an interest in global learning and could manage a

network there is an opportunity for your school to join the Global

Learning Programme (GLP) as an expert centre. This would bring

access to up to £5,000 of government funding, subject-specifi c

guidance and learning resources, plus support from a GLP advisor.

Following initial training, you’d establish and manage your

network of local GLP schools, leading a programme of eight

twilight sessions over four terms. Alternatively, you could join as

a partner school and get access to funded CPD, curriculum

guidance, free resources and support from a local GLP network.

www.glp-e.org.uk

‘Expert centre’ opportunity

2014’s Leadership in education award winner: Sofi na Islam, head teacher of Stanton Bridge Primary School, Coventry, with event host Paul Ross and NAHT president Gail Larkin

10_11 News.indd 10 26/02/2015 15:56

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 l LEADERSHIP FOCUS 11

Freedom Charity was set up in 2011 to protect the lives of children and young people by

raising awareness of forced marriage and the associated problem of dishonour-based

violence in the UK. Freedom works with the government’s Forced Marriage Unit and the

Metropolitan Police as well as organisations such as NAHT, ChildLine and the Samaritans.

The charity offers visits to schools to highlight some of the key signs associated with

forced marriage and female genital

mutilation and suggests courses of action

that could help potential victims.

Freedom has visited more than 60

schools and handed out 20,000 copies

of But it’s not fair, a novel by the charity’s

founder Aneeta Prem, which aims to raise

awareness of forced marriage. It also runs

training programmes for key front line

staff including teachers.

Chief executive Vineeta Thornhill said:

“We all need to look for the warning signs

that someone might be about to become

a victim.” The charity’s education work

also aims to change the hearts and minds of potential perpetrators. “It’s not just the parents

who insist on forced marriages, it’s often young brothers and cousins too,” she said.

The practice goes beyond south Asian communities as an increasing number of Turkish

and some traveller families are involved. Ms Prem said: “Education is the key to prevention.

School staff can save lives by knowing what to look out for. Also trying to change the hearts

and minds of young men who are often now the perpetrators of the future is vital,” she said.

www.freedomcharity.org.uk bit.ly/safeguarding_course

NAHT joins forces with Freedom Charity to curb forced marriages

P H O T O G R A P H : S T E P H A N I E S I N C L A I R / V I I

Six providers for the

reception baseline

assessment have been

approved by the Standards

and Testing Agency. They are:

• Centre for Evaluation

and Monitoring, Durham

University (CEM)

• Early Excellence

• GL Assessment

• Hodder Education

• National Foundation for

Educational Research

• Speech Link.

The reception baseline

will be the only measure

used to assess progress for

children who start reception

from September 2016.

Schools that choose not to

use an approved baseline

assessment from 2016 will

be judged on an attainment

fl oor standard alone.

Schools can sign up by

the end of April 2015 to start

using their chosen reception

baseline from 1 September

2015. Schools will still be

able to sign up after this date,

but their preferred provider

may not be available.

NAHT is in the process

of scrutinising each of

the assessments and will

produce a guide in March

to help members with their

deliberations. If a provider

does not recruit suffi cient

schools they won’t be able to

offer the reception baseline.

If schools choose a provider

that is later suspended

because of a lack of interest,

they will be alerted by 3

June 2015 and will be able

to choose an alternative

approved provider.

Reception baseline assessments

E NAHT SUPPORT FOR MENTAL HEALTH INITIATIVE Children’s Mental Health Week took place in February. NAHT general secretary Russell Hobby said: “We believe this initiative will draw attention to the scale of the problem.” For more details, see www.place2be.org.uk

BIG-NAME CONFERENCE SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED

The fi rst speakers have been announced

for the Inspiring Leadership conference –

philosopher and author Alain de Botton,

senior adviser to Fortune 500 companies

Erica Ariel Fox and Singapore’s leading

educationalist Pak Tee Ng, associate dean

for leadership and learning at the country’s

National Institute of Education.

The conference will also offer practical

masterclasses, carefully chosen exhibitors

and the opportunity to re-energise and

refl ect on what it means to be a leader.

Over two full days (Wednesday lunchtime

to Friday lunchtime) on 10 to 12 June,

the conference will provide real depth and

breadth, with themes including innovation,

leadership, partnership, development and

technology and much more. Delegates have

an unrivalled opportunity to meet their peer

group, share experiences, exchange views

and crystallise what they will take back in

to the workplace.

The conference for school leaders is

hosted by NAHT, CfBT Education Trust

and ASCL and takes place at the ICC in

Birmingham. You can follow the conference

on Twitter for updates: @InspLdrshipConf #ILConf2015

www.inspiringleadership.org

I N S P I R I N G L E A D E R S H I P

BIG-NAME CONFERENCESPEAKERS ANNOUNCED

The fi rst speakers have been announced

for the Inspiring Leadership conference –

philosopher and author Alain de Botton,

senior adviser to Fortune 500 companies

Erica Ariel Fox and Singapore’s leading

educationalist Pak Tee Ng, associate dean

for leadership and learning at the country’s

National Institute of Education.

The conference will also offer practical

masterclasses, carefully chosen exhibitors

and the opportunity to re-energise and

refl ect on what it means to be a leader.

Over two full days (Wednesday lunchtime

to Friday lunchtime) on 10 to 12 June,

the conference will provide real depth and

breadth, with themes including innovation,

leadership, partnership, development and

technology and much more. Delegates have

an unrivalled opportunity to meet their peer

group, share experiences, exchange views

and crystallise what they will take back in

to the workplace.

The conference for school leaders is

hosted by NAHT, CfBT Education Trust

and ASCL and takes place at the ICC in

Birmingham. You can follow the conference

on Twitter for updates: @InspLdrshipConf #ILConf2015

www.inspiringleadership.org

.

Education is the key to prevention in forced marriages

10_11 News.indd 11 26/02/2015 14:12

12 LEADERSHIP FOCUS l M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 512 LEADERSHIP FOCUS l M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5

N A H T N E W S A N D I N F O R M A T I O N

Praise and rewardF A M I L Y A C T I O N

The penultimate leafl et in

the ‘Ready to Learn series’

co-produced by NAHT and

Family Action will focus on

praise and reward.

Praise and reward play

an important part in a

healthy upbringing by

boosting self-esteem and

confi dence, encouraging

good behaviour and allowing

young people to feel good

about themselves.

It is important, both at

home and at school, to

praise children when they

have achieved a challenging

task or demonstrated good

behaviour as it typically

leads to positive outcomes.

Rewarding children with

something they request as a

result of a desired behaviour

being achieved can also lead

to continued achievement.

In 1989, Hans van der Mars

of Arizona State University

found that verbal praise

could reduce the number

of off-task behaviours.

The ‘praise and reward’

leafl et, currently in

production, will offer ways in

which parents and teachers

can use methods that are

effective and give children

the natural desire to achieve

and behave.

As always if your school

would like to get involved

in the Ready to Learn

campaign you can access

free resources, including the

series of leafl ets and a week-

long assembly pack, at the

websites listed on the right.

Make Family Action your Charity of the year 2015

Fundraising ideas for schools

include dress down days,

recycling, bring and bakes,

mini sports days and drawing

competitions. The money

will be well spent:

• £10 could fund an hour

of one-to-one support for

a young carer

• £15 could buy ingredients

for a healthy cooking

session at a children’s centre

• £25 could fund a support

session for a mum with

postnatal depression

020 7241 7454

elisa.cappello@family-action.org.uk

www.family-action.org.uk/naht

NAHT has affi liated to

the TUC for the fi rst time.

Affi liation was confi rmed by

the TUC’s General Council in

October last year.

Affi liation will bring many

benefi ts, including access to

training for representatives

and NAHT staff, infl uence

and alliances with other

education and public sector

unions on education policy.

It will also bring access to

expertise and publications on

union issues.

NAHT general secretary

Russell Hobby said: “Over the

long term the best interests of

students, teachers and school

leaders are inextricably linked.

There is a great deal we can

do together to create great

places to learn and great

places to work.”

Further information on

the TUC will be shared in

future issues.

NAHT confi rms affi liation with TUC

Offi cials gather in Bristol for annual branch conferenceMore than 80 NAHT branch

and regional offi cials

gathered in Bristol at the end

of November last year for the

annual offi cials’ conference.

As is customary, a

programme of training and

briefi ng was provided. It

was also an opportunity to

thank offi cials for the hard

work that they undertake on

behalf of NAHT members

throughout the year.

This year, offi cials heard

from Paul Nowak, assistant

general secretary of the TUC,

who formally welcomed

NAHT into the TUC family

of unions and outlined some

of the work the TUC is

prioritising in the lead up to

the general election.

Simon Ferrar, a TUC tutor

also led a lively session

on handling of grievance

procedures.

There was much discussion

about the issues arising from

extremism in Birmingham.

A representative from the

DfE led a session on the

government response to

the reports on Trojan Horse

and the Prevent agenda.

Finally, offi cials were

treated to an impassioned

speech by Sarah Hewitt-

Clarkson, head teacher

of a Birmingham school

caught up in the issues

surrounding Trojan Horse,

as she explained the work

that she and her school

were undertaking to

combat extremism.

12_13 NAHT News.indd 12 26/02/2015 15:59

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 l LEADERSHIP FOCUS 13M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 l LEADERSHIP FOCUS 13

Heavy hitters from the UK’s three main political parties will be among the speakers

at this year’s NAHT conference, which will be held at ACC in Liverpool (pictured)

on May 1 to 3. General secretary Russell Hobby and other inspirational keynote

speakers will also appear on stage.

Association president Gail Larkin

will step down to make way for new

president Tony Draper, head teacher

at Water Hall Primary in Milton

Keynes. He will be assisted in his role

by new vice president Kim Johnson,

the principal of Bradfi eld Academy,

a special school in Chatham, Kent.

The conference theme, ‘Own the

story’, builds on the work NAHT

is undertaking to ensure it is the

profession, not politicians, that leads the way on education, and to recognise that it

is members working in schools who make the real difference in children’s lives.

Members will have the opportunity to debate a variety of motions proposed by

branches and regions at Saturday morning’s AGM while, given conference’s proximity

to the forthcoming general election (see p28), the hustings event scheduled for that

afternoon is likely to generate signifi cant interest.

Conference is also an opportunity for delegates to participate in a number of

panel sessions and debates that will help shape the association’s work over the year

ahead; it is also a chance to share best practice with other school leaders.

Documents including the full conference programme will be sent to attendees in

mid-April. Members attending will also be sent the AGM book.

bit.ly/Conference_2015

Annual conference to tap into election fever in Liverpool

P H O T O G R A P H : A C C

Russell Hobby has been

re-elected as NAHT general

secretary. The association’s

president, Gail Larkin, told

LF: “During the past four

years, Russell has worked

tirelessly to raise the profi le

of our association and to

ensure that our professional

voice is heard in the highest

of circles.

“He is highly respected

for his professionalism and

knowledge and I know

just how much members

appreciate and value the

skills and experience that

he brings to the post.

“It is a credit to his

hard work and excellent

leadership that he has been

elected unopposed.”

Mr Hobby has been

general secretary of NAHT

since September 2010.

General secretary re-elected

Part of NAHT’s support for

its members is to ensure we

give you the information you

need in the format you want

to read it.

As well as ensuring our

advice and guidance is

available 24/7 online and in

the form of downloadable

newsletters that can be read

on smart phones, we know

many of you still like to read a

hard copy magazine.

We’d love to know what you

think of Leadership Focus and

how we can improve it. This is

your magazine and we want

to get it right for you.

F O C U S O N F O C U S W H A T D O Y O U T H I N K ?The magazine for NAHT membersNovember/December 2014 • £5Issue #66

LEADERSHIPF O C U S

Talented Leaders programme p26Behind NAHT Aspire p30 School business managers p38

Is music getting the attentionit deserves in secondary schools?

Finding the perfect pitch

01 LF_Cover_NovDec final.indd 1

Let us know:

Are we getting the content right?

For example, would you like to see:

• more or fewer advice articles?

• more or fewer features?

• more chances to share your views with

colleagues?

Would you like to receive the magazine:

• via email?

• in an accessible format for your tablet or

mobile phone?

Whatever ideas you think would help us

improve Leadership Focus, we’d really

appreciate your views.

publications@naht.org.uk

The magazine for NAHT membeerrsssNovember/December 2014 • £5Issue #66

ERFF

Is music getting the atteeennnnttttiiooooonnit deserves in secondaryy ssssccccchhhhoooo

Fi di thFindi thFinding the pperfect pitchh

The magazine for NAHT members

January/February 2015 • £5

Issue #67

LEADERSHIPF O C U S

Rewarding work at

BESD school p30

Assessment: life

after levels p34

NAHT education

conference p40

With a little help

from their friends

A Midlands co-operative trust

celebrates its fi rst 18 months

19/12/2014 09:48

12_13 NAHT News.indd 13 26/02/2015 16:00

14 LEADERSHIP FOCUS l M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5

PARTNERSM E M B E R B E N E F I T S

As part of government reforms to early years, all schools will be required to carry out baseline testing on children on entry to reception from September 2016. GL Assessment, the UK’s leading provider of formative assessments, has developed Baseline as an innovative, fully digital assessment to meet this demand.

Approved by the DfE for use from September this year and shortlisted in the early years category at the Education Resources Awards, Baseline is an immersive experience delivered on tablets in full colour. Mixing touch-based and oral questions, it is both engaging and simple to deliver.

Baseline allows teachers to measure literacy, language and communication and mathematics both on entry and, optionally, at the end of reception. Taking less than 25 minutes over one or two sessions, our rigorous development standards ensure that, like all of our resources, it is an assessment tool schools can rely on.

DfE funding is guaranteed for orders made before April. GL Assessment will be holding a series of seminars of Baseline, details of which can be found on the website below. So, if you have any questions, or wish to order Baseline, contact our dedicated support team on 020 8996 3384, email baseline@gl-assessment.co.uk or visit www.gl-assessment.co.uk/baseline.

NAHT makes travel insurance as quick and simple as possible to cover you and your family. Whether you’re buying online or require help with your policy from one of our advisers, we can talk you through all the options available to help make your holiday cover choices easier.

We provide a range of policies, options and cover levels for our customers. Whether it’s a one off trip to Europe or an annual worldwide multi-trip policy for frequent fl yers, there’s something for everyone. If you like to go on cruise holidays then you’ll be glad to know these will be included in the policy as standard. We also offer a range of upgrades whether you’re skiing, playing golf or riding a motor bike on your travels to name just a few. You can also add gadget cover to your policy for your family’s valuables including smartphones, laptops, tablets and headphones.

Should you be getting married on your travels you can add wedding cover to your policy. This provides cover for wedding rings, wedding attire, photographs, wedding cakes and wedding cars, giving you additional security on your special day.

For your added peace of mind the travel insurance will also cover pre-existing medical conditions at no extra cost, providing you can meet the set criteria at the commencement of the period of insurance.

Visit www.nahttravelinsurance.co.uk or call 0844 482 3390.

NAHT ASSUREHR, payroll, property, health and safety0845 519 7001 Email: helpdesk@nahtassure.co.ukwww.nahtassure.co.uk

Online DBS checking0845 519 7001 www.nahtassure.co.uk/online-dbs

ETEACHOnline staff recruitment0845 226 1906 Email: info@eteach.comwww.eteach.com

GL ASSESSMENT Pupil assessment0845 602 1937 www.gl-assessment.co.uk

GL PERFORMANCE Kirkland Rowell Surveys0191 270 8270 www.kirkland-rowell.com

THE EDUCATION BROKER Staff absence insurance 0845 600 5762www.theeducationbroker.co.uk

ROCKTravel insurance 0844 482 3390www.nahttravelinsurance.co.uk

AVIVAHome, contents and motor insurance0800 046 6389www.fromyourassociation.co.uk/NAHT

CS HEALTHCAREPrivate medical insurance0800 917 4325 (use code 147)www.cshealthcare.co.uk

GRAYBROOK INSURANCE BROKERSProfessional indemnity and public liability cover 01245 321 185Email: enquiry@graybrook.co.ukwww.graybrook.co.uk/naht-members

MBNA Credit card services 0800 028 2440 www.mbna.co.uk

SKIPTON FINANCIAL SERVICESFinancial planning 0800 012 1248 Email: sfsnaht@skipton.co.ukwww.skiptonfs-naht.co.uk

S E R V I C E S F O R S C H O O L S

S E R V I C E S F O R M E M B E R S

NAHT is committed to negotiating a wide range of high quality, value added benefits and services for its members. If you have any comments on the services provided by our affinity partners, contact marketing@naht.org.uk.

WE M E S S A G E F R O M A S C H O O L P A R T N E R

WE M E S S A G E F R O M A M E M B E R P A R T N E R

Assessment tool specially developed for reception testing

Travel insurance that comes with extra peace of mind

WE NAHTpartner contacts

14 Partners.indd 14 26/02/2015 14:13

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 l LEADERSHIP FOCUS 15

N E W S F O C U S

P H O T O G R A P H : P L A I N P I C T U R E

Politics in schools: how to achieve balance

L E G A L U P D A T E

With an election campaign under way,

it is timely to remind ourselves of the law

concerning politics in schools, writes NAHT senior solicitor Simon Thomas.

The 1996 Education Act deals with political

indoctrination and the duty to secure

balanced treatment of political issues in

England and Wales. Section 406 requires

local authorities, governing bodies and head

teachers to forbid junior pupils (under 12)

from pursuing partisan political activities at

the school and also the promotion of partisan

political views in the teaching of any subject.

The same provisions apply to any off-

premises activities arranged by the school.

Similarly, section 407 requires steps to be

taken to ensure where political issues are

brought to the attention of pupils (not just those under 12)

they offer a balanced presentation of opposing views.

Sections 406 and 407 do not apply to academies but the

DfE’s Mainstream academy and free school: single funding agreement (December 2014) says an academy trust must:

• prevent political indoctrination and secure the balanced

treatment of political issues, in line with the requirements for

maintained schools set out in the Education Act 1996 and

have regard to any guidance;

• ensure the academy actively promotes the fundamental British

values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and

mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths

and beliefs; and

• ensure the academy promotes principles that support equality

of opportunity for all.

An inconvenient film?The interpretation of sections 406 and 407 came before the High

Court in 2007 in the case of Dimmock v Secretary of State for Education and Skills. The case concerned the distribution by the

secretary of state to every secondary school in the UK of US

politician Al Gore’s film on climate change, An inconvenient truth.

It was not disputed that the film was ‘political’ (which is not

restricted to party political) and that it did contain views about

public policy and responses to climate change.

In a DfES news release, then secretary of

state Alan Johnson wrote: “I am delighted

that every secondary school has a copy to

stimulate children into discussing climate

change and global warming in school

classes” and “Influencing the opinions of

children is crucial to developing a long

term view on the environment among

the public.”

Literature sent with film included

reference to guidance for schools on the

DfES website that mentioned the climate

change sceptic view.

Stuart Dimmock, a parent and school

governor, brought a judicial review

application to declare the actions of the

secretary of state unlawful and contrary

to sections 406 and/or 407. The dispute focused on

the meaning of “promotion of partisan political views”

and “offer a balanced presentation of opposing views”.

The judge found that:

• Showing a film that is ‘partisan’ or one-sided is not

necessarily ‘promoting its view’ (any more than showing

a Nazi or Leninist/Stalinist propaganda film would be

promoting a partisan political view);

• The guidance notes were relevant to whether section 407

had been complied with. Merely referring to the guidance

on the website was not sufficient. The question was

whether, when viewed with the guidance, the purpose was

to stimulate children into discussing climate change (ok),

or influencing the opinions of children (not ok);

• ‘Balanced’ means ‘fair and dispassionate’ and does not

require ‘equal presentation’ or giving equal air time to

opposing views; and

• With amended guidance that was less enthusiastically

supportive of the film than the news releases, and that

drew more attention to ‘errors’ in the film and that pointed

out that the film promoted certain views that were not

universally accepted, there was no breach of section 407.

If you need professional advice, call 0300 30 30 333

15 Law.indd 15 26/02/2015 14:13

Government’s sex position gets ‘hammering’Susan Young

Let’s have full disclosure over exam cheatsWarwick Mansell

Fighting the corner for school business managersNicky Gillhespy

16 LEADERSHIP FOCUS l M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5

It’s diffi cult to understand why the Select Committee on Education is having to battle so hard in its latest report to urge that PSHE, including sex and relationships education (SRE), is put on a statutory footing, writes education journalist Susan Young.

Most of the witnesses appearing before the committee argued for this, with the exception of the DfE and groupings such as the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child.

The government’s position comes in for a hammering. The introduction says, crisply: “PSHE requires improvement in 40 per cent of schools. The situation appears to have worsened over time, and young people consistently complain that the SRE they receive is

This looks set to be a busy year, writes school business manager Nicky Gillhespy. “With an election looming, my local authority has already informed head teachers that it is unlikely to be able to carry on offering any non-statutory services, so we have taken control and arranged a presentation on converting to academy status to fi nd out more.

I have also signed up to attend an HR and payroll workshop and a premises management training session being organised by a local school because, although we currently use outside companies for these services, I need to keep my knowledge up to date. I have a three-yearly health and safety audit to prepare for and have also been elected as an NAHT branch secretary, which is pretty exciting.

Back in November, at the NASBM annual conference, a joint membership offer for members of NAHT and NASBM was announced. I am looking forward to working with NASBM in its work on developing a professional framework and set of qualifi cations for SBMs, along with the other NAHT SBM committee members.

I am also very happy that NAHT has now produced its pay principles for SBMs (see page 20) and hope the lobbying of political parties and government will eventually pay off. It’s about time SBMs were remunerated appropriately for their role in school and I will continue to push on this issue whenever and wherever I can.

Finally I would like thank all SBM members for their continued support and let you know that I have been re-elected as your representative on the NAHT National Executive until 2018. I promise to keep fi ghting SBMs’ corner!

www.naht.org.uk/welcome/news-and-media/blogs/nicky-gillhespy-blog

BLOGSB E S T O F T H E

VIEWS IN EDUCATION• SELECT COMMITTEE’S

BATTLE OVER PHSE • SEIZING THE INITIATIVE

FOR SBM MEMBERS• WHY ARE EXAM CHEATS

BEING COVERED UP?

inadequate. This situation would not be tolerated in other subjects, and yet the government’s strategy for improving PSHE is weak.”

Equally depressing evidence came from the Ofsted lead on PSHE, Janet Palmer, who told of a primary school not providing SRE “because their chair of governors was an elderly priest and they could not possibly discuss it with him,” putting the sensibilities of powerful adults ahead of the welfare and wellbeing of children.

She also disagreed with some witnesses concerned about what they considered to be inappropriate teaching materials, saying: “What we did fi nd in many schools were materials that were too little too late… we did not come across anything that we would say was too explicit for children who were too young.”

www.naht.org.uk/welcome/news-and-media/blogs/susan-young

Journalist Warwick Mansell asks: Is the regulation of England’s education system strong enough to cope with the seemingly ever-rising pressures on schools to raise pupils’ results?

One fi eld of school policy where the answer is ‘no’ is the area of institutional exams malpractice: cheating by schools.

The number of cases of schools and colleges being found guilty of institutional exams malpractice has risen sharply in recent years, yet…• the names of schools and colleges

investigated by the boards for exams malpractice are rarely published;

• the names of such institutions found guilty of cheating are rarely published, no matter how serious the case;

• particularly staggeringly, even school or college insiders who go to the authorities to raise concerns, thus

triggering investigations with often potentially worrying implications for their own careers, are not told the outcomes of their whistleblowing;

• Ofqual, which was set up to oversee the exams system as a whole, does not routinely look into individual cases of alleged malpractice, leaving it to the boards to investigate, in a system where boards compete for custom from schools and colleges;

• some of the penalties handed out by the boards seem very lenient given the seriousness of the evidence and the stakes of rising or falling results for schools; and

• teachers found guilty by an exam board investigation – and penalised by the board – can move school without the information being kept on their records unless the school, which may itself have been guilty of malpractice, chooses to pass it on to the authorities. It’s time for full disclosure.

www.naht.org.uk/welcome/news-and-media/blogs/warwick-mansell

16 blogs.indd 16 26/02/2015 14:14

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 l LEADERSHIP FOCUS 17

As we approach the May general election, one thing is clear. Whichever politicians are elected, all will say they want to

improve education and raise standards. They will believe that their party is the only one able to deliver this. But whoever is in government, they will be wrong, because every party starts from the same false premise.

Their desire to improve the educational experience of every learner is not in question and, indeed, school leaders would agree that they share this vision. However eff ective a school, there is always room for improvement. What is wrong is the belief that a political party has the solution. So, for what it is worth, here is my three point plan for the secretary of state for education in post after the election.

1: Replace unfairness with fairnessIt is not fair to judge schools on a combination of dubious data and the wisdom of Wilshaw. A tape measure may be able to give an accurate account of a person’s vital statistics but performance tables cannot accurately refl ect the unique combination of circumstances of schools in terms of their pupils, the families from which they come and the community in which they are situated. Data is there to raise queries, not to answer them, and, in any case, columns of statistics can only give a partial picture of standards in a particular school. Study the league tables and you will discover a pattern. When results appear to be improving, it is attributed to grade infl ation. When standards appear to be going down headlines in the press scream that schools are in decline. There is a very simple answer to this; abandon the idea that dubious data is a fair way to judge schools and give groups of schools the responsibility for improving each other, as is being successfully achieved in some areas now.

2: Replace complexity with common sense Successive governments have come up with ideas about what pupils should be taught, how the curriculum should be assessed and schools held to account. From the multitude of items that had to be recorded on the original early years foundation stage profi le to the 27 judgements that Ofsted used before reducing

WE V I E W F R O M A P A S T P R E S I D E N T

them to four, politicians have created a system where endless paperwork is seen as being of greater value than having time to teach children. If the profession had been involved, the original national curriculum, which fi tted into an assortment of colour-coded ringbinders but did not fi t into the hours of the school day, would never have been invented. Mr Gove said levels had to go because parents found them too hard to understand, yet in their place are performance descriptors and a scaled score that only parents who are statisticians may be able to understand.

3: Replace arrogance with humility I apologise for using the word arrogance but I cannot think of another word that adequately refl ects the way the profession has been treated by successive secretaries of state. The scandal of an overwhelming and unnecessary workload caused by constant ill-considered change and the waste of money this has involved has been the direct result of the failure to involve teachers and to respect their professionalism.

You have a chance to be diff erent, to recognise that school leaders and those they lead know most about how to improve schools. By working with the profession, you could make a real diff erence to standards in schools and to the educational experiences of young learners.

So why not give it a try?

V I E W P O I N T •

Rona Tutt is a retired head teacher and a past president of NAHT

VIEWS IN EDUCATION• RONA TUTT• RUSSELL HOBBY• BEST OF THE BLOGSOPINION

RONA TUTT

LET’S CHANGE THE RECORDTHE ELECTION OFFERS A CHANCE TO TACKLE EDUCATION IN A RADICAL WAY – WITH THE PROFESSION

17 Rona col.indd 17 26/02/2015 14:15

“Accurate, evidence-based judgements are given. Time spent talking to and working with individual children gives a mass of information and strengthens relationships.”

Mathematics - achievements such as counting, number

recognition, addition and shape recognition are assessed

through child-friendly one-to-one activities using physical

resources.

Literacy - one-to-one tasks assess early literacy skills, such as

letter recognition, story sequencing, and writing their own name.

Communication and Language - practitioner records

overall judgements based on observations of individual pupil’s

achievements for example, listening with attention, recounting

events that have happened to them or following instructions.

Foundations of learning (optional) - observational

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LFO.03.15.018.indd 18 20/02/2015 09:49

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 l LEADERSHIP FOCUS 19

Politics and education mix badly. Indeed, the resulting solution is often highly toxic. Unfortunately, the coming general election

has only brought the two closer. For example, we were treated to

‘education week’ in the campaign recently, which involved a variety of threats and punishments, matched by a studious refusal to examine any actual evidence about what works.

Yet it is important to remember that these campaigns produce more heat than light and so, to get behind the headlines, we’ve asked the various political parties to answer some detailed questions on their policies. You can read their responses on page 28. They include a warm endorsement of NAHT’s eff ectiveness from the current secretary of state – although I’m not sure whether that would hurt or harm us if we put it on our recruitment materials.

We also asked the politicians which of NAHT’s ideas and policies they would support. This marks an interesting position for us. We have our own manifesto, Owning what is ours, and we have our own vision of what an eff ective education system should look like.

We are therefore not solely interested in what politicians want to do to us, but how they will help us work towards our own ideals. We are a union of leaders and we have more freedom than we realise. We do not need to wait for permission, but can get on with building the education system we want to see.

It may be that no single party achieves overall power in May and we might not be subject to the same driving ideological approach we have experienced over the past few years. The temptation could be to heave a sigh of relief and get back on with the job. But that would be a mistake. Even if we have a period of calm, politics will intrude again eventually. Our goal should be to build a bulwark of professional leadership that can stand against political interference should it ever return.

There are two parts to our strategy to achieve this. We need to take back ownership of standards and we need to take responsibility for each other. The past years have been a paradoxical combination of interference and neglect – interference in the detail of classroom practice combined

RUSSELL HOBBY

VISION AND AMBITIONTHE ELECTION IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO FIND OUT HOW POLITICIANS WILL SUPPORT NAHT’S IDEALS

with neglect of the resources, support and infrastructure that schools need to thrive. We can prevent interference and counteract neglect by taking ownership of standards and responsibility for each other. When parents see school leaders expressing their vision and ambition for education it will crowd out the room for politics and, by looking out for each other, we can build our own infrastructure of school to school support.

Taking back ownershipIt has been pleasing to see how many of our ideas are already working their way into the debate, from investment in early years to fairer admissions to better inspection. We have also begun work on many projects of our own (see page 34).

Our NAHT Aspire project has reached an important milestone, with more than half the schools inspected since it began receiving a ‘good’ inspection rating. Our alternative to Ofsted, Instead, is being piloted in the Midlands and is demonstrating that peer review can be a viable alternative to the current adversarial inspection regime. We also had hundreds of middle leaders sign up to the new NAHT Edge section of the association when it was launched, helping to fulfi l our duty to the next generation of leaders in education.

We really can use the opportunities ahead of us to take back ownership of what is ours.

V I E W P O I N T •

Russell Hobby is NAHT general secretary

EE “We have our own manifesto and our vision of what an effective education system should look like”

O P I N I O N

19 Russell column.indd 19 27/02/2015 08:14

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How NAHT is redressing the balance for school business managers,by Valentine Mulholland

NAHT HAS A GROWING SCHOOL BUSINESS MANAGER (SBM) membership, whose biggest concern relates to inconsistency in how much they are paid. There is signifi cant variation in how pay levels are set across the country, even for posts of equal responsibility, because SBM pay falls outside the school teachers’ pay and conditions document (STPCD) and is set at a local level by the employer, such as the local authority.

NAHT has therefore seized the initiative (see also feature, page 34) and created its own framework, which can work with the STPCD leadership pay structure and appropriately refl ect the range of SBM leadership roles and responsibilities. This was published on 15 January.

While many schools will still not have the freedom to determine SBM pay, the framework sets out NAHT’s position and the association will use these principles to

B U S I N E S S M A N A G E R S

lobby government to allow this to happen. General secretary Russell Hobby has already written to the secretary of state for education, Nicky Morgan, asking her to give maintained schools the option to pay SBMs on the leadership pay spine. NAHT is also approaching the Labour and Liberal Democrat education spokespeople.

SBM pay principlesNAHT represents those SBMs who operate as school leaders, working alongside the head teacher and the rest of the leadership team to deliver high levels of achievement for their school or academy. Their specifi c responsibility on the leadership team is to ensure that their school or academy’s services are eff ective, effi cient and in line with probity and all requirements of good governance. Their role on the leadership team is critical and

NAHT principles for SBM pay

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72  per cent did not feel that their salary was an accurate refl ection of their responsibilities.

Where SBMs are performing leadership roles, then it should be possible to pay them on an equivalent pay scale to assistant and deputy head roles as they, in eff ect, deputise for the school management parts of the head teacher’s role.

The determination of whether an SBM is operating as a school leader is that they are:• formally included in the school’s senior leadership team; • perform at a level of competence of ‘SBM’ or above in the

National College competency framework for SBMs; and • have a minimum of a level fi ve qualifi cation such as a relevant

diploma in school business management or other level fi ve qualifi cation in a relevant discipline.

Competency levelsThe determination of whether their salary should be at the level of an assistant or deputy head would be down to the governing body and employer to consider based on the level of accountability and responsibility in the role but generally, an SBM performing at the National College competency level for a ‘school business leader’ should be remunerated at the same level as a deputy head in a school.

The core accountabilities of the role are normally in: • Financial management and control• Strategic budget setting and forecasting• Administrative management for the school• Procurement and contract management• Premises and estate management • Health and safety• HR management

The employer would also need to consider any additional accountability and contextual factors that add to the complexity of a particular role. This includes the following areas, although this list is not exhaustive:• The complexity of managing more than one school, for

example, having diff erent premises, diff erent health and safety plans or several catering services;

• Managing geographically split sites; • A role in leading a teaching school alliance;• Running one or more children’s centres in addition to the school,

with their own fi nancial implications and programme of work;• Specialist units within the school, for example, a speech and

language unit or a unit for children with autism; and• A role in system leadership supporting, mentoring and/

or training SBMs in other schools to develop and perform eff ectively, or in developing work across a number of schools.

Valentine Mulholland is a policy adviser at NAHT

bit.ly/Prof_dev_courses

allows others on the leadership team to focus on teaching and learning. This allows schools to raise standards as well as contributing to the retention of excellent head teachers, deputy and assistant heads.

However, there is clearly an anomaly in how this leadership role is rewarded, because SBMs cannot be paid under the STPCD. In maintained schools, attempts to evaluate SBM pay under single status local authority frameworks have failed to recognise the real nature of the role and have instead created parity with local authority administrative roles with lower levels of accountability and responsibility. While some academies have been able to use their freedom to attract and retain the best professionals for the role, others have felt it necessary to adopt the local authority approaches.

The SBM role is evolving quickly, both in response to the pace of change in schools and as head teachers recognise the extent to which an SBM can take on many of the responsibilities that they have carried historically. It is also a dynamic process: as SBMs have grown in their roles, so head teachers have trusted and relied on them to take on more of the leadership of school business management issues.

However, this evolution will be  stifl ed unless there is a change in setting the pay of SBMs to refl ect their full range of responsibilities. In a recent survey of NAHT’s SBM members,

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22 LEADERSHIP FOCUS l M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5

B U S I N E S S M A N A G E R S

Budget setting tips

WE Ensure your budget refl ects the priorities identifi ed in your school development plan.

WE Factor in your high needs and pupil premium funding based on your previous year’s census data.

WE Don’t forget you now need to report on your website how you are spending your PE and sports premium funding.

WE View your staffi ng as a resource and evaluate the needs of the school on an annual basis.

WE Remember to plan for any predicted change in staffi ng. There is a choice of education specialist software packages that can make salary and pension budgeting easier by linking your management information system data, the government’s STPCD, local government pay scales and pension contributions, then automatically refl ecting your staffi ng details. This is useful for support staff whose salary arrangements are usually far more complex and varied.

WE Remember to allow for performance related

pay progression in your staffi ng budgets alongside cost of living increases, and estimate what the support staff increases might be. Many schools were caught out last year by the 2.2 per cent increase agreed by local government.

WE Remember that support staff only go up their pay scale once they have been in post for at least six months.

WE Ensure that you build in a budget for supply staff or absence cover insurance. Each year school forums decide whether to delegate funds for planned absences – including maternity and union facilities time – to schools, or back to the local

authority. Ensure your school will be reimbursed for such absences and staff taking part in trade union activities.

WE Remember to set a budget for staff training.

WE Remember that from September 2015, the employer’s contribution rate to the teacher’s pension scheme is increasing from 14.1 per cent to 16.48 per cent. The employers’ national insurance contribution will increase by 3.4 per cent when the public sector rebate is removed in April 2016.

WE Schools will see a reduction in the educational support grant from £140

to £87 per pupil, with an element of tapered protection, but not for long. Even if the changes do not aff ect the current year you are budgeting for, you need to understand their implications to have enough time to plan for them. Note that the grant is received directly by academies but goes to the local authority for maintained schools. Within the £140 was also an academy top up because they do not enjoy the same economies of scale as local authorities.

WE Review your service level agreements (SLAs) regularly and don’t shy away from renegotiations or asking for free or additional facilities within your existing SLA. Build in an allowance for new contracts that will need to be negotiated in the period and may increase, such as utilities.

WE In voluntary aided schools remember to factor in the cost of any VAT for any capital projects.

WE Ensure you are clear about what licences are delegated to schools and those that local authorities or academy chains will cover, for example for copyright or music licences.

WE Finally, when your budget is prepared, compare this year’s against previous year actuals as a sense check and ensure you can validate any large movements.

Many heads already rely on their SBMs to lead the budget-setting process in their schools. So here,just in time for your planning process, are some tips from NAHT’s own expert school business management committee members to help their senior leadership team colleagues prepare

I L L U S T R AT I O N : A L A M Y

20-22 SBMs.indd 22 27/02/2015 08:15

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LFO.03.15.023.indd 23 20/02/2015 09:55

24 LEADERSHIP FOCUS l M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5

Use NGA resources to set your school strategy, advises Emma Knights

P H O T O G R A P H : I S T O C K

WHICHEVER GOVERNMENT IS IN POWER AFTER THE election, I am sure it will encourage schools to lead their own improvement. This requires schools to work together, sharing expertise and resources.

When we talk about resources in schools, by and large we mean people. It is individuals who make the diff erence to the lives of our pupils, whether by working in the classroom or in another role in the school. It is the role of governing boards to ensure that school staff work within a culture and a structure that not just supports but also enhances their ability to do their job.

Governing boards need to ensure continuing professional development (CPD) is at the heart of staff management, not an add-on when someone is struggling. Is there at least one objective within the appraisal process for each member of staff that relates to their development? Is there an adequate budget for CPD, involving time as well as money? Are there ways besides courses to share experience and good practice? And do we know which CPD makes a diff erence?

Governing boards are the guardians of the public purse as well as the education of children in their community, yet the accountability regime within schools has often come to be feared and resented as adding bureaucracy to an already overstretched profession. We need to make it work in the way it was intended – as a safeguard. We need to try to capture what we value, not just what the current performance tables can measure, as part of our school strategy discussions.

I’m using ‘governing board’ to cover both the governing bodies of maintained schools and academy boards of trustees;

The future of governance

N A T I O N A L G O V E R N O R S ’ A S S O C I A T I O N

legally they have diff erent lines of accountability, but the principles are the same. They have three core functions:• Setting vision, ethos and

strategic direction;• To challenge, strengthening school leaders, holding them to

account for teaching, achievement, behaviour and safety;• Ensuring fi nances are managed well leading to probity, solvency

and eff ective use of resources.It is the fi rst of these that governing boards are generally less

confi dent about, so, with the Wellcome Trust, the NGA has developed Framework for governance, a short, sharp, fl exible guide to strategic planning. Schools will have development or improvement plans but most are managerial plans with actions for staff , rather than a school strategy with a small number of priorities.

Any discussion about school strategy needs to start with the vision – the sentences that describe where you want the school to be in three or fi ve years. The school’s relationship with other schools must be considered. Collaboration between schools is here to stay but formal federation should also be given an airing. Maintained schools have been slow to federate despite the benefi ts for pupils documented by the NGA in our research paper The road to federation, and also by Ofsted and the National College.

Federating means one governing body has responsibility for up to fi ve or six schools. Far more important than the improved governance that follows, the off er for pupils improves, with staff sharing expertise across the schools. If you haven’t yet developed your school’s strategy, I would advise you to draw on the NGA’s resources and set aside time to do that with senior leaders and governors and prepare for whatever is around the corner. Organisations with strong governance don’t fail.

Emma Knights is chief executive of the NGA

WE Eight elements of effective governance

1. The right people around the table2. Understanding the role and

responsibilities3. Good chairing4. Professional clerking5. Good relationship based on trust6. Knowledge of the school – data, staff ,

parents, children, community and the quality of teaching

7. Committed to asking tough questions8. Confi dence to have courageous

conversations in the interests of the children and young people

24 Governance.indd 24 26/02/2015 16:50

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M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 l LEADERSHIP FOCUS 25

When my school announced Show My Homework (SMHW), I was quite excited. When we received training, I was even more so. After using it for a year, I couldn’t live without it.

Then I started at a new school, and I am coming to terms with using a physical homework planner again, but I took the chance to review some beta features for SMHW. Overnight, my Twitter followers doubled and I had global blog views, implying as I had already guessed, that SMHW has its fi nger on the pulse right now. So let’s get started:

1. Announcements: I don’t know of many other products that are as easy to use or affordable as SMHW wherein you can send push notifi cations to pupils’ phones about a test tomorrow or new homework.

My pupils spend an inordinate amount of time on their phones; and as little as possible in their homework planners. If I can send a SMHW notifi cation to their phone alongside Fruit Ninja, are we not engaging pupils more on their own terms?

I think so, and I think it’s a good thing.

2. Numeracy Quiz (beta):This really tells you what a smart company SMHW is; they are not sitting idly, but building on an already very strong product according to customers and current trends in education.

At the time of writing, the government stated that all primary school pupils must leave knowing their times tables. This is exactly where the Numeracy Quiz could help.

As a teacher, I pick the functions (addition, subtraction, multiplication & division), the

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range of numbers to consider, number of questions and how long a pupil gets for each question.

The pupil can practise fi rst to improve, before the results are logged in the SMHW Gradebook already marked for me. As a Maths teacher, this is priceless and I can’t wait to set this up with lower years.

3. Spelling Tests (new) For English or MFL teachers, stand by. SMHW has a similar feature for spellings using text-to-speech technology and automatic grading. Combine these together and you start to see how SMHW is more than just homework software.

And they haven’t stopped there; the ‘Set Quiz’ function is equally easy: You can reuse these year on year, or fi nd quizzes shared by teachers from other schools in the Resources Store section.

4. The best and the basicThese great new functions (I haven’t touched on Gradebook and Reports) are building on their existing platform, which I would like to end this review on. Because despite all the new features, the bit I like the most, is just how good the basics of SMHW are.

You set a homework, add resources of all types, can easily (yes, easily!) differentiate it, reuse it, use homework set by colleagues

in your department, it appears on both pupils’ and parents’ phones (fi nally putting the ball back in the court of parents) and notifi es them if homework is overdue or late, as well as class events.

When my school announced SMHW, I was quite excited. When we received training, I was even more so. After using it for a year, I couldn’t live without it.

Name: Tom Payne @BGSPayneBlog: mrtmpayne.wordpress.comOccupation: Maths Teacher at Borden Grammar School in Kent & Educational Technology ConsultantAbout: Technology Lover, MEng from Oxford & soon to be wed!

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Teacher Centric Adv.indd 25 20/02/2015 09:58

26 LEADERSHIP FOCUS l M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5

Holocaust education has been the subject of a government education committee recently, chaired by head teacher Dame Helen Hyde

Lest we forget

H O L O C A U S T E D U C A T I O N

A visitor at the Yad Vashem museum, Israel’s offi cial memorial to the victims of the Holocaust

GIVEN THE UNCERTAIN TIMES IN WHICH WE LIVE, Holocaust Memorial Day took on a greater signifi cance this year. The national day of commemoration, held on 27 January, is dedicated to the remembrance of those who suff ered in the holocaust under Nazi persecution – and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. It was fi rst held in 2001, the date marking the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp.

This year’s remembrance was particularly signifi cant for NAHT member Dame Helen Hyde, head teacher at Watford Grammar School for Girls, because she has been chairing a government education committee seeking the public’s views on the future of holocaust education and commemoration. Dame Helen tells Leadership Focus why it matters so much.

Why is holocaust education important, to you personally and for young people today?Members of my family died in the gas chambers at Sobibor and I have been involved in holocaust education for many years. Future generations need the historical knowledge – it is an event that happened on their doorstep, within their grandparents’ lifetime and they need to learn how racism, prejudice and stereotypes occur

WE The National Holocaust Centre The centre at Laxton is a fantastic resource for schools, writes Sally Bates, head teacher at Nottingham’s Wadsworth Fields Primary School Holocaust education is essential to ensure we continue to learn the lessons of how easily a society can be manipulated so it cannot happen again. The message from holocaust survivors at Laxton is that genocides continue and we need to develop global understanding and tolerance to combat it.Children in key stage two have the capacity to understand these issues. They can also empathise with the survivors who are alive to re-tell their experiences. A school visit is an opportunity to refl ect on what sort of citizen they want to be, what sort of society they would like to create and how to be critical of governments that persecute individuals and groups. Some parents were anxious about the visit but all were supportive. Some of the staff were moved to tears by the experience and the children appreciated why this should be. So many young people see death and suff ering through TV programmes, computer games and internet images. This was real – and people aff ected were physically present. There is a calendar of speakers at Laxton but the opportunity to listen to survivors will not be available for much longer. My abiding memory is listening to someone who described arriving at Auschwitz to be met by Josef Mengele.

www.holocaustcentre.net 01623 836 627

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M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 l LEADERSHIP FOCUS 27P H O T O G R A P H : G E T T Y

What advice would you give other school leaders?For me the value is embedded in the school ethos and a focus on tolerance, understanding and mutual respect. My hope would be that every head sees the absolute importance of this, no matter what the ethnic makeup of their school is. All the research indicates that students really want to learn about this, but they need time to learn about it. I should also point out that there are some wonderful websites around, such as those created by the Imperial War Museum and the Holocaust Educational Trust (see links, below) – look out for the latter’s 70 Voices app – and the centre in Laxton (see panel, left).

Finally, what’s the latest on the government committee on holocaust education?The consultation has now ended, but we had more than 2,000 submissions. I was privileged enough to run the education group, which included two expert historians in this area, Simon Sebag Montefi ore and David Cesarani. We looked at all sorts of possibilities regarding curriculum and training. We delivered our fi ndings to the Prime Minister on 27 January and I’m pleased to report he has accepted all the recommendations made by the commission.

www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-holocaust www.het.org.uk

and what happens if people don’t counteract that from day one. In other words, it’s to stop students from being bystanders and turning them into thinking, caring citizens.

Is enough time devoted to the holocaust in schools? It really varies. Research shows that teachers are keen to teach it but there is very little time in the curriculum and, while it is compulsory, some schools will give it an hour while others do it in much more depth. The time pressures from the curriculum are huge but it must remain compulsory.

How much time does your school devote to it?We do it in units so, for example, we start with basic prejudice – stereotyping, your own prejudices and the development of prejudice – in year nine. We spend a substantial amount of time looking at that and it moves slowly into the holocaust. They look very carefully at life before the holocaust and then they spend time looking at Holland and Anne Frank. We look at bystanders, collaborators, perpetrators, rescuers and resistance. In the holidays, we take a group to Amsterdam, where the girls hear from a Dutch survivor.

In year 10, the history department teaches the historical context and timeline, while the moral issues are studied further in religious studies. Later, we take groups to Auschwitz and look at the other victims, such as Poles, homosexuals and people with disabilities. We also have a programme called ‘Linking the dots’ where we look at other genocides, such as in Rwanda.

When the girls reach sixth form, I run a holocaust conference with university academics and workshops. We also invite more than 20 survivors who talk to the students in small groups.

W• NAHT support for rights respecting schools

An initiative that links well with holocaust education is the Unicef UK Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA). It seeks to put the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of a school’s ethos and culture. It is based on principles of equality, dignity, respect, non-discrimination and participation. Unicef says: “We work with primary schools, secondary schools, schools for children with SEND and pupil referral units to promote a child-rights based approach and to share good practice in improving outcomes for children and young people.”NAHT gives RRSA its full backing because there is clear evidence it makes a positive diff erence. A 2014 survey from more than 300 rights respecting schools head teachers shows the following:• 99 per cent believe it has a positive impact on relationships

and behaviour• 99 per cent believe it contributes to children and young people

being more engaged in their learning• 98 per cent believe it has an impact on children’s and young

people’s positive attitudes to diversity and overcoming prejudices• 96 per cent believe that working on RRSA improves children’s

and young people’s respect for themselves and others• 75 per cent believe it has a positive impact on reducing exclusions

and bullying

www.unicef.org.uk/rrsa

26-27 Holocaust.indd 27 26/02/2015 14:17

28 LEADERSHIP FOCUS l M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5

Election specialAs the country prepares to go to the polls on 7 May, we ask what the main political parties have in store for the education sector

28-33 manifestos.indd 28 27/02/2015 08:16

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5 l LEADERSHIP FOCUS 29I M A G E : G E T T Y

G E N E R A L E L E C T I O N

IF SCHOOLS COULD VOTE AS SINGLE entities, what would they vote for? Smarter buildings? Better facilities? Bigger salaries and greater recognition for staff ? Evidence based teaching practices? Fairer assessment and inspection systems? The tick would probably go into the box that says: ‘All of the above’.

Yet everyone knows that money is tight and times are tough and no one wants to draw blood from equally worthy causes in the scrap over limited funds. We all have to prioritise and sometimes those priorities are hard to rank. How can children learn and be well-taught in a run down or unsafe environment? But, equally, how can children learn if they are not taught by the best and how can you attract the best if you don’t address pay and conditions for staff ? What resources should we invest in researching what we actually teach our children and in how we measure each school’s ability to teach it? That’s before we even start addressing how we tackle inequities of background and social deprivation.

What we do know for sure is that school leaders are among the most trusted professionals in the UK, ranking way above politicians on the public’s ‘integrityometer’. After all, the public knows the economy can’t thrive without an accomplished workforce; that life would be poorer without the contribution of artists and sports people so often nurtured by great teachers; and that parents couldn’t sleep at night if they thought their children’s futures were not in safe hands.

Given the massive responsibility that is placed on the shoulders of the profession by the public, the political classes ignore the opinions of school leaders at their peril. The welfare of teachers can’t be disentangled from the interests of their pupils – teachers know it and the public knows it – which is why politicians need to think seriously before dismissing the views of a profession widely perceived as the champion of children.

So, let’s take a look at what the main parties are off ering and, importantly, what NAHT is doing to proactively seize the agenda for the profession (see also page 34). Because when we stand up for ourselves, we give a voice to the whole school community as a single entity. That’s what the public trusts us to do and that’s what NAHT – for leaders and for learners – will do, regardless of who runs the next or any future government.

E

Nicky Morgan, secretary of state for education1. What outcomes for children and young people do your

education policies aim to deliver?Our approach is driven by a determination to ensure that every young person leaves school prepared for life in modern Britain, whether they choose to go on to work, training or further study.

This starts in primary school. That’s why we’ve put so much focus on things like the phonics check, which has helped more than 100,000 six year olds become confi dent readers in this parliament. We have now set an ambitious target to be one of the top fi ve performing countries worldwide for English and maths by the end of the next parliament.

We make no apology for focusing on the basics but we also want every young person to gain the skills and values they need to be able to succeed in life. One of my priorities has been to talk about the importance of teaching the character, resilience and grit necessary to help young people face up to the challenges of life. Much as I want a child to be able to solve a quadratic equation, I also want them to be able to apply for a job, perform in an interview and bounce back when things don’t go so well.

2. What priorities for education would you have for the fi rst six months in offi ce?

We have set out fi ve priorities:• a good primary school place for every child with zero tolerance

for failure• turning every failing and coasting secondary school into

WE The big questions

We feature the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats, UKIP and Green Party (in order of seats at parliament) and their answers to the questions below. Their education spokespeople were all keen to respond, a sure sign that school leaders’ votes are keenly sought by all parties.

1. What outcomes for children and young people do your education policies aim to deliver?

2. What priorities for education would you have for the first six months in office?

3. What nature of relationship with head teachers and NAHT would you foresee? How would you engage and win over head teachers?

4. Which proposals in NAHT’s manifesto do you think could have most traction?

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an academy and delivering free schools for parents and communities that want them

• supporting teachers to make Britain the best country in the world for developing maths, science and computing skills

• creating three million new apprenticeships and ensuring there is no cap on university places, so we have aspiration for all

• guaranteeing a place on National Citizen Service for every teenager who wants itWe are also committed to introducing a National Teachers

Service, ensuring that some of the most deprived areas of the country benefi t from excellent teaching.

We know that there has been a lot of change in the last parliament and, while it was necessary, we also know that it has presented real challenges for members of the teaching profession. So it’s important to say that, while we will continue to push forward with our plan for education, we also know that we need to allow some time for the reforms of recent years to bed in. As our recent response to the Workload Challenge made clear, we want to work with the profession in a constructive way to keep raising standards in our schools.

3. What nature of relationship with head teachers and NAHT would you foresee? How would you engage and win over head teachers?

Our announcements in recent weeks have acknowledged the critical importance of strong leadership in our schools. It is key to an eff ective school, so we have promised to support head teachers as much as possible and ensure they access the help they need to maintain high standards or turn around failing or coasting schools. As part of this, we have committed to doubling the number of National Leaders of Education so that every primary school that needs help from an outstanding head teacher can access the support they need. We have promised to introduce a scheme to support middle leaders too.

Our philosophy is to give head teachers more responsibility and autonomy. We will continue to push power down to school leaders as we have seen the success of this approach over the past few years. NAHT will continue to play a vital role in this and I look forward to continuing to work closely with it.

4. Which proposals in NAHT’s manifesto do you think could have most traction?

I welcome the core themes of the manifesto: returning the focus and the pride to teaching; refi ning accountability; rebuilding relationships between the profession, government and the public; and strengthening the bonds between schools. This is a constructive approach that is hugely welcome.

As someone who strongly supports collaboration between schools, I am very interested to think about how collaboration can be rewarded in a constructive way. I have said before that I am also interested in exploring ideas around accountability

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W – particularly how schools can benchmark themselves against their peers. The one thing that really stands out though is the demand for a new College of Teaching. This is an idea whose time has come and I hope it will become a reality as soon as possible.

www.conservatives.com

Tristram Hunt, shadow education secretary1. What outcomes for children and young people do your

education policies aim to deliver?

At a very basic level a great education must equip young people with the skills they need to thrive in the economy of tomorrow. But the challenge is that due to the awesome power of technology it is becoming ever more diffi cult to peer into the future and know what they might be. We need to “prepare students for jobs that have not yet been created, technologies that have not yet been invented and problems that we don’t yet know will arise,” as Andreas Schleicher at the OECD puts it.

Equally, we can see the same forces creating new challenges in terms of child protection, mental health issues and, through social media, a sort of turbo-charged peer pressure. Creativity, character, resilience, confi dence in relationships and respect for diversity: a great education should also have a moral purpose in that it should grow rounded young citizens as well as transfer knowledge, skills and a passion for learning.

We need to stress these elements and rediscover the joys of a genuinely broad and balanced curriculum alongside the academic and vocational basics. There is a ‘back to the future’ irony in that the 21st century seems to require a fl avour of a classical, ancient education. But I do think this is what young people need to fl ourish and fulfi l their potential in this most demanding of eras.

2. What priorities for education would you have for the fi rst

six months in offi ce?A lot of our early energy will be taken up ‘bolting the wheels back on’ as it were and ensuring our education system does not fall apart. Teacher shortages, rising class sizes, uncertainty over qualifi cation reform – we will inherit multiple acute crises that require urgent attention. We will have to move to begin our recoupling of AS and A levels almost immediately as we have made it clear to Ofqual and the DfE that our intention is to reactivate the old 2014/2015 specifi cations, pause, and then take a more sensible timetable for reform. However, I do fear that this message is just not cutting through to teachers and pupils. So there will be a lot of housekeeping issues like that.

On the more positive side of things I think we will be able to move quickly on our plans to reform childcare and Sure Start,

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as well as swiftly reinstating a requirement for all teachers to be qualifi ed. We will also very clearly set out our long-term strategy for reforming the vocational education system.

3. What nature of relationship with head teachers and NAHT would you foresee? How would you engage and win over head teachers?

If I receive a vote of ‘no confi dence’ at your conference like Michael Gove did back in 2013 then something will have gone seriously wrong! Of course, we won’t agree about everything and if we did, it would be entirely unnatural. I believe in a healthy amount of contention. However, I hope teachers and school leaders will respect that a Labour administration will be coming from a very diff erent place to the current government. We believe that you are the agents of change in terms of raising pupil achievement. Not an aggressively interventionist DfE that forces schools to change their governance status, nor a free market in terms of school places. What is more, something quite interesting is beginning to happen. It all comes back to technology because the profession is beginning to look at itself and think: “Well, actually we can change ourselves, we don’t need government.” That is music to my ears because on many issues – curriculum, accountability and teaching quality – we need to have diff erent actors in the system looking to push sensible reforms. So we will work with the profession, both teachers and school leaders, on issues like the College of Teaching, reforming Ofsted, future curriculum and qualifi cations, as well as tidying up some of the mess we look likely to inherit. If we are to strike the right balance between school improvement and challenge on one hand, and the sort of frenzied, high stakes culture we have at the moment on the other, we are all going to have to work together.

4. Which proposals in NAHT’s manifesto do you think could have most traction?

The College of Teaching is something we want to happen. It is going to be a challenge because it is an easy thing to get wrong – we all remember the General Teaching Council. But if I say that this has the most traction then people might worry I want to push it too far, too fast! So, I will go for early years. Labour is the party of Sure Start and we know how crucial that policy was at starting to narrow the attainment gap and we desperately want to see it restored and built back up again. No child should be left behind when they take their fi rst steps inside a classroom and yet we know that 80 per cent of the key stage four attainment gap is present at the age of seven. NAHT is right to argue for prioritising early years and Labour is right to protect funding for it. It is the progressive thing to do and it disappoints me that the other main parties have not committed to protecting all early years funding including, crucially, the early intervention grant.

www.labour.org.uk

David Laws, Liberal Democrat schools minister1. What outcomes for children and young people do your

education policies aim to deliver?The overriding priority for Liberal Democrats will continue to be to narrow the attainment gap between richer and poorer pupils so that every child has the opportunity to succeed, whatever their background. This is of course the same mission that brought so many people into teaching. Our pupil premium, taken from the front page of the last Liberal Democrat manifesto, has put £2.5bn extra cash into schools to support the children who need the most help and – in the hands of so many excellent school leaders – is starting to make a real diff erence.

2. What priorities for education would you have for the fi rst six months in offi ce?

The fi rst decision for the next government will be to decide how education should be funded over the next fi ve years. For us, it is simple: you can’t recruit great teachers, raise standards and give more children a fair start in life without cash. So, while all parties will have to make savings in the next parliament, we will not cut the money the DfE spends on early years, schools and 16-19 education. Conservative plans for a real terms cut to the schools budget is a real threat to schools’ fi nancial security. Liberal Democrats insisted on protecting school budgets in real terms in this parliament and will do so again in the next.

3. What nature of relationship with head teachers and NAHT would you foresee? How would you engage and win over head teachers?

Head teachers are the backbone of the education system; government needs to have a professional, respectful and constructive relationship with school leaders. All politicians say that heads should have more freedom to use their professional judgement but the Liberal Democrats have a plan to make it happen. We will continue to insist that heads should decide how best to spend their pupil premium. We will create a new Educational Standards Authority to monitor school standards over time and remove the curriculum from the hands of politicians. And we will support head teachers who choose to take on struggling schools or share their expertise across the system.

Some decisions will always, rightly, have to be taken by elected politicians, but our plans will reduce the extent to which politicians can meddle in what happens in the classroom.

4. Which proposals in NAHT’s manifesto do you think could have most traction?

The proposal to invest properly in high quality early years

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education is critical. It can’t be right that, in terms of their development, poorer children are falling behind their wealthier peers before they even reach the school gates. In coalition government, Liberal Democrats have secured a massive expansion of early years education to reach the poorest two year olds, as well as introducing the Early Years Pupil Premium to help disadvantaged three and four year olds. The next challenge is to ensure these measures really start turning around children’s lives, by focussing on quality, skills and status in the sector.

www.libdems.org.uk

Paul Nuttall, UKIP education spokesperson1. What outcomes for children and young people

do your education policies aim to deliver?We want to ensure that young people, from whatever background, have the chance to succeed. We believe that the system should provide greater parental choice over schooling, so that children go to the schools which best meet their needs. Geography should never be the sole criterion. We want more children from working class backgrounds (who have the academic ability to do so) to be able to access the top universities.

We want a system which better meets the needs of those who prefer a vocational option, and there should never be a stigma attached to those who don’t go to university. In that respect we can learn from Germany.

In short: a system which is better tailored to the individual child and substantially less bureaucratic.

2. What priorities for education would you have for the fi rst six months in offi ce?

A lot of time needs to be taken up laying the groundwork and talking to the profession – including NAHT. In terms of areas where visible progress could be made within six months, streamlining the school inspection process to ensure that short, frequent inspections are focused more on what is going on in the classroom than on the paperwork. We would seek to provide greater fl exibility on admissions quickly, for example where there is a science academy we should be giving children with an aptitude for science more opportunity to attend that school. That said, we recognise the practical implications for schools to implement this so we’re also realistic about the pace of change.

3. What nature of relationship with head teachers and NAHT would you foresee? How would you engage and win over head teachers?

We believe that the best people to run schools are those who have experience in that area, not career politicians. Our vision is that schools learn best practice (and next practice) from each other and there should be greater freedom for head teachers to innovate. Our policies would give more autonomy to schools so engagement would be more about listening to the views of the profession than imposing more changes. Yes, changes are needed but equally there’s a need for stability. Teachers need time to adjust to a new curriculum and teach it, rather than have it constantly changing. Change where necessary but not change for change’s sake.

4. Which proposals in NAHT’s manifesto do you think could have most traction?

There are many that appeal to us: an independent complaints procedure for Ofsted is overdue, capping the number of hours teachers should work during term time (though in our view, that would be a function of reducing paperwork) and giving parents

WE NAHT manifesto owning what is ours

In May 2014, general secretary Russell Hobby brought NAHT’s annual conference to its feet with his commitment to a bold manifesto designed to put the profession in the driving seat of education reform.The applause signalled the assent of a proud profession ready to rise to the challenge. His message was simple: if we don’t want to be told what to do by successive governments, we need to crowd out the interference by setting our own high standards and accountability measures.Mr Hobby said: “It is time for the profession to lead – working with parents and politicians to put an end to the drama and to create change with reach and endurance. We are ambitious for our schools; we should not allow others to supplant our ambitions with their soundbites. When aspects of our education system are not working, we should be the fi rst to admit it and the fi rst to address them.“If we uphold the highest standards, there is no excuse for others to intervene. Our schools contain some of the most dedicated professionals and talented leaders in the country. Teachers are listened to whenever they speak honestly about the system. We will be stronger, and reform will be more eff ective and enduring, if we make it ourselves. “Consequently, this is not just a set of demands or a wishlist of policies to make our lives easier. This begins as a project for the profession. It is partly a plan for how we will make things better, how we intend to deliver real lasting change that reaches every child in every school.

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the opportunity to demand a place at a special school where appropriate. The most interesting could be the proposal for the establishment of a College of Teaching. While the balance needs to be more in-school training than university, a specialist College of Teaching might help to improve standards of those coming in to the profession and also assist with professional development.

www.ukip.org

Samantha Pancheri, Green Party education spokesperson1. What outcomes for children and young people do your

education policies aim to deliver?We envisage an education system that enables children and young people to reach their full potential, whether that’s in academic terms or with more practical or creative skills. We recognise the spectrum of skills and abilities that make up a healthy society and believe it should be refl ected in the education system. Where the current system focuses

too heavily on rigid exam-based assessment of pupils’ ability to regurgitate information, we aim to implement a learning environment that helps children develop critical-thinking skills to prepare them for later life.

2. What priorities for education would you have for the fi rst six months in offi ce?

Our priorities are to bring academies and free schools under local authority control and to replace Ofsted with a supportive and collaborative system of assessment. We would also implement Green Party MP Caroline Lucas’s bill to make PSHE a required component of education in schools, abolish the year one phonics test and Sats testing.

3. What nature of relationship with head teachers and NAHT would you foresee? How would you engage and win over head teachers?

We are committed to involving teachers and school staff in the development of our education policies. The current system has focused on setting targets, forcing schools into competitive markets and penalising those who fall short. We believe this does the teaching profession a great disservice and are determined to put teachers and children at the heart of how our policies are developed.

Our approach to education is focused on enabling teachers to have greater autonomy over how and what they teach, based on the logic that children deserve an education tailored to their needs and their teachers are the best qualifi ed people to understand this. We do not believe it is matter of needing to ‘win over’ head teachers because our aim is to restore the teaching profession to a position of respect.

4. Which proposals in NAHT’s manifesto do you think could have most traction?

All the proposals in NAHT’s manifesto refl ect the changes we need to see in our education system. However, the key to improving the overall learning experience for children lies in supporting teachers to deliver the best quality education they can, which can only happen through changing the way in which schools and teachers are assessed. Reformation of this assessment process and a move away from Ofsted towards evaluation by parents, teachers and the local community benefi ts everyone.

www.greenparty.org.uk

“We could certainly use help, so we invite members of all parties to support us. And we provide suggestions for how. The prize – a profession properly engaged with reform – is surely worth the eff ort of building a new partnership.”

Key themes of NAHT’s manifesto:1. Restoring the pride in teaching2. Refi ning accountability 3. Rebuilding relationships between the profession government

and the public4. Strengthening the bonds between schools

Key proposals to make the above happen:1. The establishment of a college of teaching2. The introduction of an Offi ce of Education Responsibility to

plan and manage reform3. Priority for early years in funding and status4. A move by school leaders to lead critical reviews of schools5. Fairer admissions policies which fast-track pupils from low-

income families

Read the full NAHT manifestowww.naht.org.uk/manifesto

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There is a better way… NAHT is seizing the education agenda and taking change out of the hands of politicians. Susan Young reports on how and why

S E I Z I N G T H E I N I T I A T I V E

THE JOB OF BEING A SCHOOL LEADER HAS CHANGED dramatically over the past few years. This means that the role of professional association for school leaders has had to move with the times too.

Union representation, legal advice, training and campaigning are all still vitally important. But so now are a host of new services for school improvement and support, encouraging better working conditions, bringing on the next generation of leaders, and alternative accountability measures – all driven from within the profession.

Or, to quote general secretary Russell Hobby in full fl ow at last year’s annual conference: “Being critical is not enough. We can construct an alternative and, within reason, we can get out there and do it… and make our points through action.

“We must take ownership of standards. We should be the

ones talking loudly about what we want to change and how far we can take our schools. We must demonstrate that the most ambitious people in the country for our children are the ones who work with them. This will not be easy. It means some diffi cult choices and addressing uncomfortable truths.

“We must also take responsibility for each other. As the old structures of education fade away in the face of austerity and ideology, schools will need to rely

EE “Taking ownership of standards and taking responsibility for each other; these are the twin principles behind the recent work of NAHT”

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on other schools. We cannot let

each other fall behind. Taking ownership of standards and

taking responsibility for each other; these are the twin principles behind the

recent work of NAHT. In following them, we build an education system we can be proud of

and we can take pride in our professionalism.”Hence the creation of NAHT Aspire (improving schools),

Instead (inspecting schools), NAHT Assure (supporting schools), NAHT Edge (supporting middle leaders), the Leadership Compact (creating a good working environment

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for heads) and the newest creation, alternative league tables. The association is backing all these projects for the long haul, seeing them as fundamental requirements for school leaders in an increasingly atomised system with less support and rigorous, often punitive, accountability. ‘For leaders, for learners’, adopted as the association’s vision in 2013, is more than a slogan: it underpins every new initiative.

As Louis Coiff ait, chief executive of NAHT Edge, points out, no matter who wins the next election, these services will still be needed. “There used to be training programmes for leadership development in local authorities, and national sources of support such as the National College for Teaching and Leadership; they’re all contracting. There’s no more money in the system. It doesn’t matter who wins in May, we know there will be no more money. It’s down to school leaders and middle leaders to help themselves and each other, and it’s down to associations like NAHT to step up to fi ll the gap.”

Clare Cochrane, NAHT director of commercial and member services, adds: “While we will continue to off er traditional forms of union support for individuals – which we’ve done through representation and advice and professional development – we will also be looking at how we help schools. It goes back to ‘For leaders, for learners’ and making sure everybody has all the fundamentals in place to help them get the right outcomes.”

The initiatives are wide-ranging but linked by the common threads of professional ownership, supporting school leaders, and ultimately working for the children and teenagers learning in members’ schools and colleges.

As Paul Whiteman, NAHT director of representation and advice, says of the leadership compacts, now signed with local authorities and academy chains on behalf of around 150 schools: “The compacts should deliver for learners as much as delivering for members. Good standards of employment should result in good professional practice.”

It could be argued that anything that’s good for school leaders must be good for professional standards and learners, but NAHT’s initiatives go far beyond this. While the union’s leadership is convinced this is the correct direction, there is an

W acknowledgement that this may not be so obvious to everybody else. “We must always juggle the demands of being a trade union and being a professional association,” says Russell. “I believe this tension is creative – improving our protection by being proactive, improving our campaigning and infl uencing by retaining a harder edge.

“This is hard work. It stretches NAHT beyond its comfort zone. We know our members are being stretched to their

limits, so we want to be there each step of the way, taking responsibility for each other and taking ownership of standards.”

So how do all the initiatives fi t together? How are they going? And how can NAHT members take advantage of them?

NAHT’s initiativesWhile all provide professional support for heads, and there are many overlaps, the initiatives can be roughly divided into groups. NAHT Assure and the Leadership Compact make life better for head teachers, leaving them free to concentrate on their core purpose of education, while NAHT Aspire, Instead and the alternative league tables are more about school improvement led by the profession. NAHT Edge falls between the two in some ways, developing and encouraging the next generation of school leaders to benefi t the system in general and the leadership teams they support in particular.

Many of these initiatives are hugely ambitious. When the association launched the current three-year pilot for NAHT Aspire, working initially in four regional clusters to bring 30 schools up to ‘good’ or better, it eff ectively became the seventh-largest academy chain in England – without replacing a single head teacher.

So, what is emerging from these ambitious schemes? NAHT Aspire, the pilot of which is part-funded by the DfE, has proved so successful that there are expansion plans. “The feedback has been so positive that we’re looking at how we can extend it without it having an adverse impact on the pilot. There’s a lot of interest in this model of working,” says Clare.

The NAHT Aspire model brings together clusters of schools needing to improve with peers and support from

EE “The feedback on NAHT Aspire has been so positive that we’re looking at how we can extend it without it having an adverse impact on the pilot. There’s a lot of interest in this model of working”

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NAHT and its commercial partner EdisonLearning. Just months after launch, 14 of the pilot schools, all originally rated as ‘requires improvement’, were at ‘good’, nine were in their original category and three were inadequate. When the schools were asked for their self-evaluation last year, there was a 48 per cent increase between March and December in those rating themselves as ‘good’.

The improvement model included encouraging distributed leadership; some teachers told researchers they felt they were being “reprofessionalised”.

Now, 97 per cent of those involved have “a lot of confi dence” their school will change for the better, and 99 per cent have a high level of confi dence that teaching and learning will improve as a result. One participant notes: “We have struggled for a long time with people waiting to be told to do stuff rather than people thinking: ‘I need to do this.’ People are now starting to take it forward themselves.”

Russell says: “This shows that no-one is more ambitious for  the young people of our country than those who work in our schools. The profession holds the answers  and  has the resources. It is trust, collaboration and inspiration that will trigger the innovation we need.”

Instead, announced at annual conference in 2013, is another profession-led innovation currently being piloted, with working heads inspecting schools and independent evaluation of the results. And the newest school improvement project of all is the alternative school performance tables launched last year by NAHT, ASCL, the PiXL Club and United Learning, promising to give parents “stable, accurate and neutral information” and allow schools to “plan ahead with more certainty”. The website asks users, including parents, what type of information they would most like to see and urges schools to sign up.

Rest assuredEqually important are NAHT Assure and the Leadership Compact. Assure provides support services, including HR, payroll, property maintenance and health and safety. “Given the reduction in local authority support, many schools appreciate help with the procurement of services of which they may have had little experience,” says Clare.

“The key components of a successful school – in addition to excellent teaching – include well-maintained buildings, support services such as HR and payroll working eff ectively and a school improvement programme is needed. All are crucial to running a highly eff ective school,” she says.

It means school leaders – who enter the profession because they

want to teach and end up as chief executives of a small- to medium-sized enterprise – can concentrate on teaching and learning.

Similarly, leadership compacts outline expectations for leaders and employers. Employers are asked to treat leaders with respect, clarity and fairness; to back them in diffi cult decisions; look after their wellbeing; and get a rounded picture of their work.

Leaders are expected to hold themselves accountable for pupil progress with high expectations of each one, to try to create good places to work, have the courage to speak out, be transparent and be responsive to feedback.

So far it has been signed by several academy groups and local authorities and, says Paul, NAHT isn’t signing with just anybody. “We have had a couple of authorities where we don’t think their conduct has been suffi ciently supportive, or they’re

not raising standards as we would expect, so we won’t enter into a compact with them at this stage. It’s not

just a badge for people to have and then forget they signed it.”

The compact is not a traditional trade union/employer agreement but a “sense of an agreed atmosphere we

want to create” which “should be delivering for learners as much as delivering for our members,” he says.

“Good standards of employment should result in good professional practice. If members ever come to us and say they’re applying for a job in a certain local authority and what are they like to work for, we can say they’re signed up to the compact so this employer should respect you as a leader and strive to look after you properly.”

The fi nal element is NAHT Edge, aimed at the country’s 200,000 middle leaders, which fulfi ls a mix of ambitions for the parent union. As Louis explains, it’s a good technology test-bed for NAHT and attracts members earlier in their careers.

“A lot of middle leaders are struggling to get development and training, and I think we need to step up there and help them. It’s important we get this right and serve their needs,” he says.

www.nahtaspire.co.uk

www.nahtassure.co.uk

www.nahtedge.org.uk

www.naht.org.uk/assets/TheLeadershipCompact.pdf

www.schoolperformancetables.org.uk

bit.ly/NAHTmanifesto

bit.ly/Edge_course_calendar

EE “The profession holds the answers and has the resources. It is trust, collaboration and inspiration that will trigger the innovation we need”

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Making sense of complexity

Susan Young looks at the changing landscape of SEND provision through the eyes of speakers at NAHT’s SEND conference

S P E C I A L N E E D S

FOR MANY NAHT MEMBERS, THE ANNUAL SEND conference is a highlight of the year, bringing together school leaders who can sometimes feel isolated, to compare notes and hear the latest thinking from expert speakers. And as schools implement the various changes to SEND regulations, assessment and curriculum – adding up to a complete rethink on how pupils are taught and supported, and how progress is measured – the event this month took on particular signifi cance.

The programme is tailored to the two current preoccupations among special needs staff : how to cope with the increasingly complex needs of pupils (see panel) and how schools and

local authorities are tackling the changes to the SEND system.“The implementation is incredibly patchy,” says Rona Tutt,

one of the conference organisers and former chair of NAHT’s SEND committee. Even among pathfi nder authorities, school progress is variable for all sorts of reasons, she says, including the huge number of other changes being grappled with by schools and local authorities. The fact the SEND code of practice didn’t arrive until the summer holidays last year also contributes to the disarray. Even now, the fi nal version was delayed because sections on youth off ending and children in custody were still being completed.

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should at least have something there saying the report is being developed. We’re in the fi rst stage of implementation, but the earlier you get things sorted, the better you’re covered for Ofsted,” says Rona.

Both Rona and Matthew, who led a seminar at the conference on the changes, believe Ofsted is likely to be sympathetic when inspecting schools this academic year but will expect to see  progress being made. For Matthew, the major problem is the removal of levels. While the P levels

WE Teaching childrenwith complex needs

As an increasing number of children survive previously fatal medical conditions, the demands on teachers, particularly in special schools, are increasing. Many children have complex learning needs, and Rona Tutt’s presentation at the SEND conference was designed to help teachers working with them. “The change in the school population is something we have to get to grips with,” she says. “Medical science has moved on, which is wonderful, but it can make teaching increasingly challenging. Teachers specifically trained in profound and severe learning difficulties are coming up to retirement age and we need to provide something to help current staff.“Teaching children at the complex end of need doesn’t necessarily mean they have severe or profound requirements. Complexity goes across the ability range and is caused by co-existing needs such as ADHD and autism, or dyspraxia and dyslexia.”There is plenty of specifically created material on the internet, she says, much of it commissioned through Professor Barry Carpenter’s work with complex learning difficulties and disabilities: the ‘complex needs training materials’ (see link, below).“This is a huge resource and not necessarily well known despite the enormous effort that went into writing it. Barry had 40 module managers writing this information but it’s very user-friendly. You can dip in and out, read it at home and get links to other things of interest.”Rona and the other conference speakers will also talk about the National Forum for Neuroscience and Special Education, which moved to the NAHT last year and which aims to bring together SEND teachers and researchers to discuss children’s underlying conditions.This year’s SEND conference is the first time it has been combined with the annual neuroscience conference, and Rona says the title, Leading the changes, engaging learners, came about partly through Professor Carpenter’s work in creating an engagement profile that gives teachers a starting point with children who have special needs. Internationally renowned autism expert Professor Francesca Happé will also give an overview on the latest research and how it can be relevant in the classroom.

www.complexneeds.org.uk www.sendgateway.org.uk/resourcesbit.ly/NCTL_training_resources

Rona, along with Matthew Dodd from the Special Educational Consortium, a network of the National Children’s Bureau, see several areas of diffi culty.

One is the SEN information report, which must appear on school websites. “This is the government’s starting point, whereas having a SEND policy is where schools tend to start,” says Rona. “I’ve had several conversations with DfE offi cials and they say schools don’t need a specifi c policy, although this came as a surprise to me, as I think would to most schools.

“I’m not saying don’t have a policy but try not to duplicate work. Once you’ve answered the questions in the information report, that can be part of a policy.” However, she adds, there are slightly diff erent versions of what’s required in the regulations that go alongside the Children and Families Act and the code of practice, which are “minor but annoying: they make it diffi cult for schools to know they’ve done the right thing.”

Schools should have had access to the report since September, but leeway is being given because of the code’s delay. “You

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are still in place for the earliest stages of learning, there is a large gap between the top of those and the lowest of the new performance descriptors.

“Our members have been quite unhappy about the performance descriptors. The gap raises questions about how teachers are expected to measure progress, with a load of knock-on questions about Ofsted inspections and how special educational needs are identifi ed. That’s a context to think through with delegates at the conference: it’s a mainstream change which has some very big eff ects on the SEND system.”

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EE “I’ve been badgering DfE officials to explain how the SEND information report, the code of practice and the schools’ contributions to the local authority offer fit together. It seems to be up to schools to make sense of it.”

WE Pupil Premium Awards: Belmont School, Gloucestershire

He adds: “We’ve informed offi cials they are missing out a huge group of children. They’ve responded by saying they’ll take into account what people have said, but have yet to announce what they’ll come up with.”

National Children’s Bureau surveys of local authorities have yet to fi nd a single local off er meeting all the requirements, with the biggest gaps around post-16, housing and apprenticeships.

Rona and Matthew also see tensions between schools and local authorities. Some authorities talk about “the schools’ off er”, but the local off er is a local authority responsibility

“How would I describe our children? Wonderful is my fi rst thought, followed by diverse, challenging, vulnerable, caring and happy,” says Kevin Day (pictured), head of Belmont School in Gloucestershire. What the school does for its pupils is pretty wonderful too: it has closed the achievement gap between children eligible for the pupil premium and their more advantaged peers. As a result, it’s one of the special school fi nalists in the national Pupil Premium Awards.Belmont supports children aged fi ve to 16 with moderate learning diffi culties, often with additional needs including social, emotional and behavioural diffi culties (SEBD). Some pupils have been excluded from secondaries; while others transfer from a specialist primary. There is a mix of academic ability. With around 60 per cent eligible for the pupil premium, it has been a priority for the school to close the achievement gap. “We’re really proud, and now the pressure is on to keep it closed,” says Kevin.He credits his staff , particularly assistant head Katy Sherwood (also pictured), who leads on pupil premium, interventions and inclusions. At the start of each year she identifi es each child’s area or areas of weakness by looking at their statement; their personal, social and emotional scores; their reading and maths test results; and their progress. “We look at what we can do

to support their needs by programming interventions for their areas of weakness and regularly evaluating the impact,” she says. Every six weeks she reviews and tweaks each child’s plan, if necessary.The school spends some of its pupil premium on its own speech and language support worker and therapeutic social play for younger pupils. There is also is a sharp focus on academic achievement with one-to-one reading intervention programmes, numeracy work using Numicon all the way through the school and Mathletics. Daily sessions in maths and literacy are grouped by ability and achievement rather than age.Every child has a mini iPad (free to the pupil premium children) on which the school has put carefully selected apps to build skills and learning. “We fi nd the iPad apps really help their learning. Katy led our steering group to look at the most appropriate apps. The children get instant recognition when they’re successful and the work can be tailored to their level. It’s a great motivation.”In addition, says Katy, using the iPads gives the pupils more independence and encourages fi ne motor skills. Other benefi ts include building of parental engagement: as the iPads go home, the parents can be more aware of what their children are learning.

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“We’re looking to replace the traditional diary as a way of communicating with the parent body and children can link home to school much better. We’re fi nding it a great motivation. They feel empowered,” says Kevin.He adds: “We challenge children relentlessly; it’s the backbone of the school. We have a history of supporting children permanently excluded from mainstream. The fi rst few months are rocky and challenging but after a period of time they improve and we try to get them into a good place by, or before, key stage four to support them into college and further learning. It’s rewarding to see children who failed in other settings get a second chance to turn their lives around.”Belmont is spending some of its Pupil Premium Award prize money on running workshops and sharing its practice with other schools.

www.belmont.gloucs.sch.uk

bit.ly/Pupil_premium_course

P H O T O G R A P H : B E L M O N T S C H O O L

to which schools must contribute, says Rona. “I’ve been badgering DfE offi cials to explain how the SEND information report, the code of practice and the schools’ contributions to the local authority off er fi t together. It seems to be up to schools to make sense of it.”

Some local authorities are also trying to put responsibility for transition reviews – moving children from statements to education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – on to schools, sometimes paying them.

“This is fi ne so long as everyone understands the responsibility remains with the local authority,” says Rona. “They have to come up with the paperwork. It’s not simply changing the heading and calling it an EHCP, it’s a diff erent format, a diff erent way of working and it has caused some confusion.”

Matthew is positive about the process overall: “We are only six months in. Do we have evidence of any beneficial change yet? No. But there are very few schools that haven’t looked at these changes positively. It has to be embedded across the subject teacher and the class teacher and within the context of the wider changes, the challenge is making this change a priority.”

bit.ly/NAHT_SEND

www.naht.org.uk/SEND2015

WE Assessment post-levels

“It’s exciting, isn’t it?” says Jan Martin of the disappearance of levels from the assessment of pupils with special needs.The independent school improvement adviser for mainstream and special schools is not just being optimistic: she’s been working with special schools as they grapple with life after levels, including eight working as a group in Harrow and Brent in London.She enthuses: “It’s thinking-outside-the-box stuff and it can hurt your brain but the schools are excited because it’s making them go back to their curriculum and think: is this really what our children need and does our assessment refl ect the outcomes we want for our children?”Jan shared insights on the process in a seminar called ‘Assessment: developments and best practice for SEND students’ at the NAHT SEND conference, based on the practical work she’s been doing with the schools.Her group of schools realised early on they had to concentrate on formative assessment in school, summative assessment linking to the P scales, and levels one to three on the old national curriculum.Plenty of work needs to be done to move to ‘can do’ statements within the P scales, she says, and she and her client schools have identifi ed “a very big gap” between the top of P8 and the performance descriptors for year one in English and maths.“Schools need a set of performance descriptors in English and maths and other subjects to cover that gap and ‘can do’ statements up to the old level three, but without having national curriculum pieces of work to go to. As a group of special schools we’ve got our English and maths leads working together to try to develop some of those statements.”Special schools should consider how to set targets and assess progress for their children working up to the current level three, including developing ladders of progression and thinking about how to collect data.“The schools realise whatever model you have needs to be directly related to your curriculum model. There is now a lot of fl exibility. We can tailor our curriculum to meet our pupils’ needs – so for instance we don’t have to teach straight English or maths, but think about their needs which might be fi nancial numeracy, or understanding shape and space to meet their independent living needs and then you build your assessment ‘can do’ statements linked to the content of your curriculum.”

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School counsels

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Peer mentoring and peer coaching are increasingly being used to improve confi dence and reduce behavioural issues, reports Carly Chynoweth

AYNSLEY WELLING HAS GOT USED TO TEACHERS stopping him in the corridors to ask him about a year 10 student with a history of disruptive behaviour. The vice principal at Neale-Wade Academy in Cambridgeshire tells LF: “We have conversations where they say: ‘He has been great in my lesson, what’s happened?’ And then I reveal that he has been working with a peer mentor.”

The mentor is a year 12 student, Louis. “There was an opportunity for Louis to get this particular child to step back and think about the situation a bit more, about why a teacher had asked him to respond in a certain way,” says Aynsley. “It seems he’s benefi ted from having a diff erent outlet to let his feelings be known.”

Peer mentoring and peer coaching programmes (the terms are broadly similar, see page 44) link students and pupils with schoolmates, usually younger, who need a bit of extra help with confi dence, behaviour or another aspect of school life.

It’s an eff ective way to help young people help each other, says Stuart Newberry, who trains schools in coaching skills. “Coaching is about asking questions that help people work out solutions for themselves. Children fi nd it engaging and confi dence-building.”

Also, says Liz Aspin, who leads the peer-mentoring programme at Woodlands Park Primary School in Ivybridge, Devon, pupils sometimes simply respond better to other children than to adults. The scheme, which connects

Left: Children learn about coaching at Woodlands Park primary in Ivybridge, Devon, overseen by head teacher Heather Hanrott (above)

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children from years three and four with schoolmates from year six, has also benefi ted the coaches. “We wanted the year six children to have the experience of being a coach, of learning leadership skills and of working with younger children who perhaps need a little bit of extra support,” she says.

The school’s head teacher, Heather Hanrott, adds: “I think we tend to underestimate the abilities of children of this age in terms of their depth and understanding of other’s social and emotional development. The coaching has built up a trust between the children and if you give children a voice, it develops their self-esteem which means they are better able to learn, which is the end point.”

There has been a big change in the year six students’ confi dence and in how they interact with other children, says Liz. “Also in how they communicate with their class teacher and adults and how they have really become leaders. I can see future head teachers in some of them.”

Interestingly, a number of the year 12 student mentors at Neale-Wade Academy got involved precisely because they are considering careers in education. That was a driving factor for Louis and his fellow students Lucy and Natasha.

“I wanted to help students and I am thinking about possibly going into teaching in the future,” says Louis, who has mentored the year 10 boy since November. “We have a good relationship so we can talk about more than his work and behaviour,” he says. “When I fi rst started with him he got a lot of negative marks and bad behaviour but in the past three weeks there has been only one bad behaviour mark out of so many good marks.”

Natasha, who hopes to become a primary school teacher, mentors two pupils, spending between fi ve and 20 minutes with them every two weeks. “I like to take quite a relaxed and friendly approach. When I fi rst met one of my students it was quite an awkward situation because the pupil was quite shy. I was talking to them about their everyday life and listening and suggesting advice… based on my past experience of how to listen in lessons and ignore distractions.”

She advises other mentors to be friendly and not too uptight, but it is also important not to be patronising, says Lucy. “The student I work with is in year 11, so only a year below me, and I know a lot of people would not respond well to someone their own age telling them about their behaviour. If their behaviour that week has been bad, I talk about what caused the issues to arise and what their lessons are for the future.

“The most helpful thing about it is that it gives people a chance to talk to someone who isn’t a teacher.”

It is also useful for the individuals involved to recognise that not that all mentoring relationships are successful; she

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had one mentee where “it just didn’t work at all… I think that they had been misbehaving for so long that it would take more than a year 12 student to change their ways.”

The evidence baseHeather calls Woodlands Park’s fi rst year of peer coaching a great success and says that the current year – the scheme’s second – is also going well. “Little if any research has been done in this fi eld at primary schools so it was something of an experiment and we didn’t know what to expect,” she says.

This brings up an interesting point in these days of evidence-based everything: while teachers and pupils have plenty of positive stories to tell about mentoring and coaching, hard evidence of what it delivers is still somewhat thin on the ground. “There has not been a massive amount of research,” admits Val Barritt, head of training and quality assurance at the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation (see link, right). “We know that it takes place and people say it is helpful, but there has been very little formal evaluation.”

Even the research that does exist acknowledges this gap; for example, an academic report commissioned by the DCSF, Formalised peer-mentoring pilot evaluation, found “much positive evidence given which is anecdotal and qualitative… [however] schools are much less able to provide quantitative evidence of impact on mentors or mentees in terms of attendance, attainment and behaviour.”

Another piece of research, this one conducted by academics from the universities of Sussex and Brighton, found that

WE Coach or mentor?

Sometimes these words are used interchangeably, but there is a diff erence, according to Stuart Newberry of Liz Scott Coaching, which helped to implement Woodlands Park’s peer coaching programme. “Mentoring is much more directive and is usually done by an expert off ering advice based on their experience,” he says. “Coaching is about helping the individual to fi nd solutions for themselves, which means that they are much more likely to act on them.”Neale-Wade Academy’s vice-principal, Aynsley Welling (pictured), has a slightly diff erent take. “For me, peer mentoring is using peers to off er support and guidance in a variety of situations. With coaching you are looking at how to be successful in a certain activities whereas mentoring is perhaps a softer approach looking at all-round achievement that would create the foundation for success,” he says.

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schools which used an anti-bullying mentoring programme developed by BeatBullying, a charity that collapsed late last year, saw a “signifi cant drop” in the proportion of pupils experiencing intentional and persistent bullying.

In Evaluation of the BeatBullying peer-mentoring programme, Dr Robin Banerjee, Dr Carol Robinson and David Smalley write: “Case studies indicated that the availability of peer mentors was perceived as particularly important for younger pupils, suggesting that BeatBullying programmes may be a crucial support for ensuring positive transition from primary to secondary school.

“In addition, the introduction of anonymous online mentoring by peers was seen as an important avenue of confi dential support for pupils who are dealing with bullying or other related social problems.” The research also suggested that the mentors themselves found their experience “highly positive”.

The Sussex study found that successful implementation was connected to the involvement of staff members who had status, infl uence and dedicated time and resources to coordinate and manage the programme.

Val agrees. “Having buy-in from the top and having someone specifi cally designated to manage it – and with the time to do so – makes all the diff erence,” she says. “And make sure there is clarity about who you are recruiting, how you are supporting and supervising them… and how you will check whether the programme is actually working.”

She advises schools to build evaluation into their programmes from the outset. “Be clear about your overall aims and the outcomes that you are expecting, then move towards them,” she says. It’s also helpful for peer coaches to be given a bit of background about the children or young people they will be working with, say the Neale-Wade coaches who spoke to LF, while Aynsley advises making sure parents are on board too.

Choosing the right young people is vital, he adds. “You need to know your students and be able to work out who will be an excellent mentor,” he says.

This year it was Lucy who approached him with the idea as something she could do for the enrichment element of her year 12 studies. “Students are supposed to contribute to the wider community or their own learning,” he explains. “When Natasha saw what Lucy was doing she got involved as well.”

This year’s mentors may step back when they enter year 13 – they will have plenty of other work on their plates by then – but Aynsley hopes that some members of the next class coming through will step up to the challenge.

But making mentoring work is not just about choosing the right mentors, but about selecting the right mentees as well. “I would not put a 16-year-old student with a student who had child protection issues or anything along those lines, for example,” says Aynsley. He also makes sure mentors are given basic training in what to do if such issues come up. “The students I fi nd mentors for are those who exhibit problems with low-level disruption. Students who really should be on the right track but have made the wrong choices.”

Stuart hopes more schools will roll out peer coaching programmes: “It should be available to all children and I would like to see more teachers and school leaders develop their own coaching abilities. It’s about asking questions that will help the other person fi nd the best way forward. Children can use it to help each other fi nd answers and become more confi dent in themselves while doing so… but it is also brilliant when teachers use it with children and with their colleagues.”

www.mandbf.org

WE Top tips

• Be clear about your overall aims and outcomes

• Schemes need senior-level buy-in • Have someone designated to run the scheme• Make sure they have the time to do this• Make sure parents are on board• Ensure there is clarity about who you recruit• Ensure there is clarity about how you

support and supervise them• Ensure you have checks to ensure the

programme is working• Choose mentors and mentees carefully

EE “When I first started working with him he got a lot of negative marks and bad behaviour but in the past three weeks there has been only one bad behaviour mark out of so many good marks”

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ESHA president Clive Byrne tells Leadership Focus about the challenges facing school leaders across Europe

At the chalkface

P A N - E U R O P E A N I S S U E S

THE EUROPEAN SCHOOL HEADS ASSOCIATION IS ANumbrella organisation that represents national organisations, such as NAHT, from more than 30 countries across Europe.

Our offi ces are in Utrecht in The Netherlands and our aim is twofold: fi rstly to develop views on innovative education and school leadership; then to promote these at European level to the commission, teaching unions, parent bodies and organisations such as the OECD, that can infl uence education outcomes. We also support national organisations that are just setting out, especially in the accession states and promote international exchange and cooperation.

It’s clear to ESHA that the range of knowledge required by those leading schools throughout Europe today is absolutely

daunting and it’s well documented that the cumulative demands undermine the capacity of schools with regard

to societies’ expectations of them. ESHA wants principals to be leaders of learning

and to have the autonomy to do their job properly. We want to ensure that

appointment procedures to recruit the best people for the job are in place and

we want everyone to recognise the day of the ‘Lone Ranger’ is over.

Distributed leadership, which shares the load of headship,

needs to take place. Continuous professional development is necessary, but another phrase that fi ts CPD is  continuous professional dialogue. It is those schools where there is a culture of professional dialogue where most teachers

react favourably to the needs of the students.

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WE Teaching seen as ‘cushy number’

“One of the biggest challenges for European nations is attracting teachers and maintaining staff morale, then – as school leaders – dealing with the performance management agenda that seems to know the cost of everything but the value of not very much. “We also need to improve the public perception that teaching is a cushy number and to discuss the merits of a broad liberal education versus a vocational/training model at a national level, then harness the vision that we have for our education system. “Do we want to educate for society or do we want to educate for the economy? The challenge for school leadership is to work within the system to minimise the number of losers. “We need to accept that, because teachers are our best resource, their working conditions are important – it is the environment in which students learn – and effective teaching can be facilitated or can be constrained by some of the issues that arise there. “We also have to recognise that teachers’ perceptions of their schools are the reality they operate in and that the conditions created by the leadership of the principal make a contribution to setting a positive school climate. If we want to create that positive climate, we need to put into practice the goals of our teachers so their work is clear, explicit and shared. “We need to encourage teachers to know their work is appreciated and valued and they need to be clear about what it is they are expected to do. If we want to make sure we are operating to best practice then collaboration among teachers and among subject departments is to be encouraged.”

Clive Byrne

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The OECD tends to receive a bad press for the Pisa league tables, but it does undertake meaningful research. In its activity on improving school leadership, it’s quite clear the challenges and pressures aff ecting school leaders in all OECD countries are enormous and it’s a major dilemma that school leaders are expected to be the managers for the municipalities or the local authorities as well as leaders of learning.

But how to promote instructional leadership and learning? A key aspect is through eff ective planning and consultation with the key fi gures in the school community. But if the head is seen as autocratic – using what I call a cardio-visual approach, where he or she looks into his or her heart and decides policy without consultation – it is not going to be the best way forward. From our point of view, the key elements of school planning are to do with the context of the school and the setting of realistic goals for the development of all students.

An eff ective school plan incorporates a wide range of school policies to do with teaching and learning but also with possible care structures, governance and so on. At its heart is school improvement and there needs to be the recognition across Europe that it will not take place without staff development and the eff ective deployment of resources. Without this, the change needed to raise the bar and also narrow the gap will be very diffi cult to achieve.

With this in mind, I want to pay tribute to the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation and its senior analyst David Istance. He talks about innovative learning environments

and how they can contribute to school and school awareness. He feels that engagement of the students must come fi rst. The phrase that ‘learning should be social and collaborative’ is key. Learning must be fun. It must be fun for the teacher and it must recognise where the students are in terms of their knowledge and the context of where they are in terms of their mood or motivation on a particular day.

But how widely are teachers engaged in leadership

WE ESHA’s priorities and focusClive Byrne is president of ESHA and director of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals in Ireland. As ESHA president, his priorities are to promote school leadership and expand the number of cross-border exchanges made possible as a result of the Erasmus+ scheme. He will focus on continuing ESHA’s involvement with the European Policy Network on School Leadership; Fly Higher, a project with the European aeronautics industry; Q4I, which focuses on quality management approaches for innovative schools; Iguana, which is designing tools to reduce stasis (or stuckness) in schools; and developing entrepreneurial skills in schools.

WE ESClive ByrnDeputy Priand expandHe will focLeadershipquality mastasis (or st

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decision-making about learning – and to what extent are students involved? If we don’t consult with the student bodies how will we be able to make sure that they’re getting the information they need? And is it only school based? Should other partners be involved in the locality or municipality? What about the school community, parents or local industry? Should they be involved in setting the direction for the school as a learning environment?

We need to establish a shared view of what is going to be involved in the school and how this is going to be put in place. And to be continually questioning whether the existing vision is adequate to meet the means.

On that subject, have we made organisational changes in schools so we can put our vision into practice? Is the school organised to suit the staff or is it organised to suit the student?

When we know we’re running schools to suit the students, we have to ask what evidence have we got that learning is taking place and how are we gathering that evidence? Is it just a hunch or do we have data to back it up?

I know in the UK people are complaining bitterly about data overload. I thought it was relevant that Toby Salt, former head of the National College, said recently that people may “hit the target but miss the point”. And even if we have information that’s meaningful, how accessible is that information?

I can’t emphasise enough the importance I attach to the climate and culture of schools. Do I know what’s expected of me when I go to work? Will I as a teacher have all the equipment and materials I need and will I have the opportunity to do what I do best? Will somebody in the senior leadership team care about me as a person and will they encourage my development? Will my opinions count and will my co-workers be as committed as I am to producing quality work?

Someone who infl uenced my thinking was David Hopkins, a senior adviser in the Blair government when education, education and education were seen as priorities. He was very much into system leaders, where school leaders had responsibilities to their community to raise the standards in all schools. I was taken by his view that system leaders measure their success in terms of:• improving outcomes – raising the bar and narrowing the gaps;• developing schools as personal and professional learning

communities;• striving for equity by acting through the context and culture

of the schools; and

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• being committed to improving teaching and learning.In each and every European country, we need to work on the

basis that every student can improve and we have to ensure that personalised learning and personalised teaching – raising the good qualities of all of our staff – are delivered to ensure that this will happen.

The key role played by the school leader can have a massive impact on improving teaching and learning to enable students to progress and develop and reach their potential.

www.esha.orgwww.eshaconferencedubrovnik.com

This is an abridged version of a speech Clive Byrne gave at the School Leaders’ Summit at the Bett Show in January

P H O T O G R A P H : E S H A

WE ESHA Conference 2014 Imagine a walled city on the sea with open education discussions and you have a cameo of the conference held in Dubrovnik, hosted by the Croatian education ministry last November. The conference venue was modern and the facilities were picturesque, welcoming and appropriate. The hosts pulled together an impressive programme of speakers and workshops to meet all aspects of the points raised within the conference.

The Croatian education minister spoke with passion about his government’s wishes for the direction of education. Finnish Professor Pasi Sahlberg spoke about their achievements and global education. It is worth pointing out that Finland has been riding high in the Pisa tables for many years. For all of us listening it was about aspiration on our parts tinged with envy at their well-

established success. Could we learn from them?Croatian professors Pero Lučin and Vedrana Spajić-Vrkaš talked about smart specialisation and inclusive participation respectively. Topics that had relevance yet questioned enough practice to involve discussions in groups.The workshops allowed all 500 delegates to get involved and had subjects as diverse as ‘data-rich schools’ and the ‘holistic future’.Bringing everything together was Toby Salt, whose keynote speech to close the conference gave notes of optimism coupled with reinvigoration about our roles as leaders and what we could take away to our schools for the future. This was an exact and relevant ending to a successful conference in a dream setting.Anything that strengthens resolve yet questions the methodology of school leadership is a privilege to attend. You feel less isolated and more able to return to your school with renewed vigour and ability to re-stimulate the tired aspects of school that need your direction. Well done and thanks to ESHA and Croatia.

Roy Tedscoe, NAHT delegate

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Challenge Yourself to Lead and Mentor Young PeopleNCS With The Challenge

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We are looking for dedicated individuals, with an interest in working with young people to strengthen their communities, working both residentially and in the local community in London, Surrey, Berkshire, the West Midlands or the North West.

A single programme lasts three weeks and includes outdoor activities, skill development and community service. We have paid positions available working with young people, through to experienced Project Managers. We have positions lasting from 2 weeks through to 14 weeks throughout summer.

The Challenge is a fast-growing social enterprise that connects and inspires people across Britain to strengthen their communities. NCS with The Challenge is a programme that brings together young people from different backgrounds, builds their confi dence, and challenges them to make a difference in their local community. In summer 2015, 23,000 young people across our regions will take part in NCS with The Challenge for an intensive three-week summer programme followed by four weekends in September.

Please visit our website for an in-depth breakdown of all roles available.

Applications Now OpenTo apply online simply visit www.ncsthechallenge.org/jobs

LFO.03.15.049.indd 23 20/02/2015 10:02

50 LEADERSHIP FOCUS l M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 1 5

F INALLY… W e ’ d l o v e t o s h a r e y o u r s t o r i e s w i t h L F r e a d e r s . E m a i l S u s a n E educationhack@gmail.com

WE T E L L U S A B O U T Y O U R S C H O O L

B righton head Marcelo Staricoff appears slightly embarrassed that his school has won an award for being among the

most improved in the country for the attainment and progress of children entitled to the pupil premium.

“It represents a fairly small cohort here at Balfour Primary,” he says, glancing at the letter from David Laws, proudly pinned alongside children’s work on his offi ce wall. “So, statistically, I’m less sure about this award than I would have been at my previous school when 30 or 40 per cent of my pupils were eligible. But I am delighted that these children are doing so well, as they still represent a signifi cant group for us.”

Balfour, the school Marcelo took over a year ago, is one of the largest primaries in the country. Since arriving, he has further developed the educational philosophy he has worked on for years, encouraging children to celebrate what he calls the ‘joy of not knowing’ ( jonk). This is one of the things that he believes has helped all the children to become successful, enthusiastic learners.

The only rule is ‘don’t worry’The starting point is that children ‘need not to know’ before they can learn. “This takes away all their worries about not knowing, or fi nding things hard. The only rule we have is that you are not allowed to worry: jonk equips children with all the strategies, tools and attributes that enable them all to feel successful as learners and fulfi l their potential.

“It gives them the values that enable them to learn and interact respectfully and thoughtfully; opportunities to develop the dispositions of a lifelong learner; and the tools that enable them to structure their thinking. It also lets them develop their metacognition and personalise the way they access their learning that best suits them. So a child may wish to start with a mind map, notes, bullet points or concept lines, for example.”

It also contributes to a school culture based on challenge and enrichment, motivating children to learn and do their best without ever feeling there are ‘ceilings’ to their learning.

Communication, debate and philosophical dialogue are encouraged; learning objectives are usually phrased as philosophical questions to encourage discussion and engagement. This, he says, lets children’s interests and ideas

drive the learning and encourages a classroom atmosphere where everyone, including the adults, is finding things out together. “I think it is key to develop an inclusive culture where every child can – and feels that they can – fulfil their potential and where the children are always encouraged to see how far, wide and deep they can take any concept,” he says.

Promoting self-esteemBalfour intervenes as early as possible to ensure children can access all aspects of the curriculum, while Marcelo has created a new support infrastructure, with two inclusion mentors and a learning mentor who work closely with an ‘Every child a reader’ teacher and the school counsellor. Regular tracking meetings enable the school to support and challenge all pupils according to need or interests, whatever these may be.

The school ensures that the children eligible for pupil premium can have subsidised access to clubs and to activities that may promote self-esteem.

Marcelo says: “We work hard to create close links with the parents to ensure their needs are met as a family. Developing a very strong triangular relationship between the child, their family and school helps enormously with changing the perception of school. It also promotes family involvement in their child’s learning, so for example exciting them with open-ended home-learning tasks or sharing with the families how learning happens at school, which is really important.

“If anything, the award reflects our commitment to developing a strong relationship with families, which enables us to make the most of the supportive infrastructure in school. This then enables all our pupils to feel motivated to learn and achieve their best within a very inclusive learning environment.”

THE JOY OF NOT KNOWING

S U S A N Y O U N G

50 And finally.indd 50 26/02/2015 14:19

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