Why should I appoint you to my Leadership Team?

Why should I appoint you to my Leadership Team?

Geoff BartonHeadteacher, King Edward VI School, Suffolk

www.geoffbarton.co.uk (48)

- What are schools like now and what will they be like? - What kind of leaders will they need?- Why you?

My approach …

What does Ofsted tell us about school leadership?

Leadership and management are at least satisfactory in most schools and good or

outstanding in over six in 10.

Outstanding leaders analyse the quality and consistency of teaching across the full range of

provision in order to ensure that the professional development provided for staff

brings about improvement.

HMCI 2006

A recent survey by the Institute for Policy Studies in Education revealed that only 2.5 per cent of secondary teachers were considering headships, while 86 per cent of secondary heads in England are over 45.

Average time from NQT to Headship =

20 years

NCSL

Who are the school leaders who have inspired you? What did they do? What didn’t they

do enough of?

How is the landscape of schools changing?

So what kind of leadership do schools need?

Margaret Thatcher:

“Don’t bring me problems; bring me solutions”

“Never underestimate the power of an announcement, Kenneth”

Tony Blair:

“Saying yes is easy; it’s saying no that’s tough”

Jeremy Irons:

Which living person do you most admire, and why?

Tony Blair, for living so publicly with the knowledge that he's not perfect.

Bill Clinton:

“If we do what we’ve always done, we’ll get what we’ve always got”

Homer Simpson:

‘You’re a “but” man. That’s the difference between success and failure – the use of the word “but”’

David Reynolds,

University of Exeter

“High-Reliability Organisations”

Through fog, snow, computer-system failures, and nearby tornadoes, airlines show a remarkable level of performance reliability …

… By contrast, in the U.S., one of the most highly educated nations on earth, within any group of 100 students beginning first grade in a particular year, approximately 16 will not have obtained either their high school diploma or a General Education Development certificate 12-13 years later.

In Britain, just under half of all 16-year-old pupils will not have the benchmark of 5 or more high grade public examination passes in the national system. Obviously, many nations have even lower levels of educational performance.

So what kind of people do we NOT need on our leadership

teams …

People with the lingo

People for whom leadership or management is via paper or emails

People who think having an office is a key feature of the job

People without credibility

People who can’t see that, ultimately it’s a job

1: Accept the inevitability of change: they ride with it and channel it rather than resisting it

Leadership teams need people who …

2 Are endlessly resilient


3 Understand the symbolism of the job: how we present ourselves isn’t cosmetic


4 Know that the first job I should do today is the job I’d rather not do


5 Make life reassuringly simpler


6 Understand that the job is about people, not systems


7 Recognise the changing nature of schools, teachers and young people


8 Remain intolerant of mediocrity: good enough is rarely good enough


9Evaluate endlessly …


TUTOR GROUP: Do all students have coats off?

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

Are students wearing proper school sweatshirt/polo shirt?

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

Are all students wearing shoes (ie no trainers except with doctors’ notes)?

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

Is jewellery acceptable (ie no facial piercings, no bracelets, only thin metal necklaces)?

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

q Yes q No

Is the tutor …

Talking to students? Signing planners? Taking the register? Doing admin? Other?

Routine monitoring …

Tutor group spot-check

Week beginning 17 / 1 / 5 24 tutor groups were visited

Heads of Year have individual results

YES Do all students have coats off? 79% Are they wearing correct school sweatshirt/polo shirt?

96%

Are they wearing shoes (not trainers)? 100% Is jewellery acceptable? 88% Is the ethos positive and purposeful? 88%

Cover work set on appropriate form Cover work left in staffroom tray Work was clear to follow for you …and for students? Necessary materials were available Lesson objective set Work seemed appropriate Any comments (eg student behaviour / display / clarity of instructions, etc):

Name TG Cover clean*

H-S-A signed

All dates completed

Parent signed last 3 weeks

Tutor signed Last 3 weeks

Letter / hwk boxes used

Homework consistently written in

Comments on homework

No of commendati

ons Liam Askew 9WD No Yes Yes Yes No Occasionally Yes English - none for 4

weeks Bio – none for 5

weeks Tech – none for 4

weeks

67 – but lots without stickers

Leon Brown 9WD No Yes Yes Yes Yes Occasionally Yes Maths – none for 6 weeks

66 - ditto

Simon Crack No Yes No Yes Yes Rarely No Bio – none since November

Hums erratic

18

Planners

Book sampling…

Name Year / Set

Teacher Cover clean Y N

Homework evident

Y N

Homework marked

Y N

Presentation G F P

Types of writing General comments

Kate Elsom HISTORY

9

WD

Y

Y

Y

G

• Thinking • Notes • Extended

Clearly sequenced, challenging, high-level; exemplary feedback –

positive, precise, personal

Thomas Robotham HISTORY

9

WD

Y

Y

Y

G

• Thinking • Notes • Extended

V different ability of student – but same strong

expectations; tangible progress in student’s

work; supportive, positive marking

Chesney Ward? GEOGRAPHY

9

YE

Y

Y

Y

G

• Notes • Exercises

Good positive feedback; evidence of regular

marking; good range of writing

Scott Simpson GEOGRAPHY

9

HS

Y

Y

Not

consistently

G

• Notes • Exercises • Some extended

work

Clear and well-used overall; good to note some

extend worrk; marking appears to end in late Sept

1 Do you feel supported in your work within the Faculty?

very mostly not very not at all

2 Do you feel supported in your work within the school as a whole?


3 Do you feel that there is a clear vision within the Faculty?


4 Do you feel involved in the development of the Faculty?


5 What currently impedes your work? 6 What should be the Faculty’s main priority over the coming year?

Faculty reviews

Always Usually Sometimes Never 1. My teaching approaches and planning have taken account of the presence of TAs

2. The work of TAs has encouraged student independence in my classroom

3. TAs working in my classes have ensured that students remained engaged throughout the lesson

4. TAs have been encouraged to offer feedback to me about classroom arrangements

5. I know and have taken account of the curriculum strengths of TAs

6. TAs have been involved in the planning of specific lessons

7. I have hade the opportunity to meet outside the classroom with TAs who work in my classroom

8. TAs have contributed positively to the management of the class

9. I have been pleased with the work of TAs in my class

10. I am aware of the special needs of the student(s) who have been supported by TAs

Strongly agree

Agree Disagree Strongly disagree

Don’t know

1 My child likes school 43 50% - 7% - 2 My child is making good progress

57% 36% 7% - -

3 Students behave well 23% 57% 14% - 7% 4 My child is not bullied or harassed at school

22% 64% - 6% 6%

5 Teaching is good 29% 64% - - 7% 6 I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on

23% 50% 27% - -

7 I feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem or complaint

23% 57% 20% - -

8 Staff expect my child to work hard and do his or her best

50% 50% - - -

9 The school is led and managed well

50% 43% - - 7%

10 Staff treat my child fairly 23% 69% - - 8% 11 The school seeks the views of parents and takes account of their suggestions and concerns

7% 67% 13% 13%

PARENTS’ E VENING FEEDBACK We would welcome your feedback about this evening. Please hand this slip to

students at the Reception desk in the Foundation Room 1 I have found the evening:

o very informative o mostly informative o slightly informative o not informative 2 The organisation was

o excellent o good o fair o poor 3 Two key messages were given by

o all teachers o most teachers o few teachers o no teachers Any other comments?:

10 Understand values-added as well as value-added




www.geoffbarton.co.uk

WHY YOU?

• Already showing a commitment to … do things differently

• … to be ambitious

• … to be intolerant of mediocrity

• … to know that schools are about people



www.geoffbarton.co.uk (48)

1. School leadership is second only to classroom teaching as an influence on pupil learning. 2. Almost all successful leaders draw on the same repertoire of basic leadership practices. 3. The ways in which leaders apply these basic leadership practices, not the practices themselves, demonstrate responsiveness to, rather than dictation by, the contexts in which they work. 4. School leaders improve teaching and learning indirectly and most powerfully through their influence on staff motivation, commitment and working conditions. 5. School leadership has a greater influence on schools and students when it is widely distributed. 6. Some patterns of distribution are more effective than others. 7. A small handful of personal traits explains a high proportion of the variation in leadership effectiveness.

NCSL, Seven Strong Claims about Successful School Leadership, 2006

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Why should I appoint you to my Leadership Team?