Leadership Challenges

Leading schools forward in times of financial uncertainty

scameron — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:47:57 +0000

One of the common reasons good teaching staff give for not wanting to enter the world of school leadership is that politics gets in the way of leading a school's development. Politics have certainly had a part to play over recent months since the general election. I don't know about you, but I have now abandoned my car CD collection for the drive into school in order to catch the daily news bulletins on the latest coalition education plans, government cuts and economic reorganisation.

Putting risk in perspective

scameron — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:05:50 +0000

Amma is climbing a weeping willow tree in her nursery garden. The trunk of the tree curves gracefully, almost parallel to the ground, a couple of feet above the bare earth - the perfect height for the four-year-old to test her nerves. She doesn't realise it, but some adult eyes are keeping a watch on her. One of the nursery staff has spotted her going under the canopy, and is monitoring her progress from a discreet distance.

What the spending review means for schools

scameron — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:28:45 +0000

A little under a year ago Primary Headship reported on the education cuts planned by Ed Balls and the Department for Children, Schools and Families as it was then known. In case you have forgotten the details, here is a recap: Balls claimed he could cut £2bn off the £42.8bn education budget.

Developing outstanding leaders for challenging schools

scameron — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:09:42 +0000

In January 2006, Lord Adonis, then under-secretary of state at the Department for Children, Schools and Families, invited representatives from the National College, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and the children's charity Absolute Return for Kids to visit New York to examine a new charity - aptly called New Leaders for New Schools - set up to find and accelerate suitable candidates for headship.

Student interviewers: a distinctive and important voice

scameron — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:58:33 +0000

Student interviewers have received a lot of bad press. Earlier this year, a number of national newspapers featured lurid stories about student panels asking a candidate to sing their favourite song, while rejecting another applicant because ‘he looked like Humpty Dumpty'. Amid a chorus of ‘this never happened in my day', many dismissed such interview panels as the latest piece of evidence supporting the long-term decline of educational standards in the UK.

Can education overcome disadvantage?

scameron — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:01:55 +0100

Since the invention of Ofsted in 1992, governments have claimed that poverty has no impact on learning and should not be offered as an ‘excuse' by coasting, failing or otherwise unsatisfactory schools. These governments and their agencies argue that inadequate teaching is responsible for low achievement levels and believe the answer lies in adopting officially recommended effectiveness recipes.

Top 10 tips for survival on the SLT

scameron — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:58:32 +0100

Over the past eight or nine years, the school business management profession has gone through a period of rapid and exciting development with a significant - and growing - number of schools and collaborative arrangements now including a school business manager on their senior leadership team.

Whilst some of these teams may include other support staff colleagues, generally speaking the SBM will be the sole representative from support staff.

Making evaluation more manageable

scameron — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:12:09 +0100

One of the keys to writing a strong self-evaluation form is to have data or evidence to justify your judgements. For many sections of the SEF a school leader will draw upon a range of externally validated data, yet at the heart of any school is the quality of teaching, which falls within the section judging the effectiveness of provision.

The A-Z of school life – Momentum, Not important/important, Opportunities, People and Questions

scameron — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:10:30 +0100

We are entering the season of mixed emotions. Those who will be leaving the profession, perhaps looking forward to retirement or new challenges. Others reading this will be preparing for the next big step. Perhaps a leadership promotion which will mean new hats to wear and skills to learn. For all, there will be a sense of anticipation about the future. Like Christmas, the answer to a smooth transition from one stage to the next lies in preparation. If you are moving on and up the leadership scale, the A–Z of school life helps you in that preparation.

Getting the right pastoral mix

scameron — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:55:21 +0100

Each decision about pastoral organisation will have a profound impact on the ethos and culture of a school, however, many tend to go for the traditional model of horizontal grouping because that has always been in place and staff are comfortable with it. The question remains, is this the best approach, especially as we are increasingly moving to an examination and assessment system based on stage not age?

Involving students in teacher recruitment

scameron — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 10:44:23 +0100

Central government and teaching unions are often on a collision course about one thing or another, and this Easter a new topic was raised as an issue of potential conflict; students involved in interviewing for teaching posts . The main unions vehemently oppose this development, whilst central government see the involvement of students in the life of the school as integral to the improvement agenda.

Key questions that emerge include:

Headteachers or football managers?

scameron — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:43:51 +0000

We are entering the ‘mad season’ in secondary schools. This is a time when all eyes are focused on year 11 and the much-anticipated end-of-year results. By this period in the year schools will have collected a wealth of data on each student and will be able to identify precisely where they are falling short in each subject area. This data is scrutinised almost daily, with headteachers getting twitchy if there is a sudden drop in predicted standards.

Ensuring that children get the most out of primary school

scameron — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:42:16 +0000

In the last couple of e-bulletins we have been considering what it is we do to ensure we get the most out of the adults in our schools. In this edition I want us to think about the most important people of all – the children. How do we ensure that children get the most out of school? Every school leader wants to think that the children in their care get the best possible experiences every day.

Working with unions in schools

scameron — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:04:44 +0000

Schools are large and complex organisations and this is reflected in the way they are managed, however it is possible that we can forget that we are dealing with people such as staff, students and parents. Relationships are crucially important to ensure the smooth running of schools and can also be a key factor in whether or not proposed changes actually take root and develop. One type of relationship that I have found to be particularly important has been with unions and this is something that has to be nurtured in a different way from other relationships.

Tackling challenging staff behaviour

scameron — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:45:17 +0000

Challenging behaviour and the disruption it causes in the workplace is an issue that will arise at some time or another, not just in schools but in industry too. A colleague contacted me recently to vent her frustration at the attitude and behaviour from one of her staff. I could relate to this frustration and our experiences were very similar and sometimes quite comical (can’t be mentioned here in case anyone takes offence).

Primary leaders - are you making the most of your staff?

scameron — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:36:18 +0000

Do you listen with envy to other school leaders speak about the staff in their school? Do they seem to have a team that pulls together through thick and thin with everyone playing their part to achieve the school’s priorities and give the children the best possible education? And do you sit there thinking, ‘How did they achieve that? I want to know their secret.’

Staffing: Keeping the right people on the bus

scameron — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:31:17 +0000

In the first Secondary Headship e-bulletin we focused on the need for schools to ensure that they recruit high-quality staff. Assuming that you do recruit well, the next stage is to continue Jim Collins’s analogy (from his book Good to Great), keeping the right staff members ‘on the bus’. This is crucial if the organisation is to move forward and is the issue we consider here.

Staffing: Getting the right people on the bus

scameron — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:46:27 +0000

Secondary Headship will highlight key issues in the world of secondary education, providing you with practical ideas and guidance to help you secure good outcomes for the young people and families you work with.

We hope you will find it inspiring and thought provoking, as well as offering some useful ideas and practical strategies.

Staffing: Getting the right people on the bus

School leadership: back to basics

scameron — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:44:45 +0100

Welcome back
It has been impossible to miss the signs: leaves starting to turn, lamps switched on earlier in the evening, television adverts for school uniforms, and queues of parents and children in the shoe department, resigned to a long wait for the ever-important new shoes for school. Yes, it’s the start of a new school year. May I welcome you back readers to a new term. Whatever you have been doing this summer I hope you have enjoyed a relaxing break and are looking forward to the start of the forthcoming academic year.

Eight things to do before the end of term: school leaders

jlee — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:05:38 +0100

This week I have been working with schools on medium and long-term plans. This is always enormously interesting work and everyone wants to achieve the best they can for the children. But each time I do it I am reminded that although schools start with the best of intentions, many become distracted from their priorities and end up not having the intended impact.

Partisan political view in the classroom

scameron — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:49:04 +0100

QUESTION: May political views ever be promoted or presented in the teaching of a subject in a school?

ANSWER: In Dimmock v Secretary of State for Education and Skills [2008] ELR 98, the Secretary of State decided to distribute to every state secondary school in the UK a copy of the former US vice president Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, a film about ‘the dangers’ of climate change. With the film came reference to a guidance note on a website.

Headteachers: five things to never say in school

scameron — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:24:41 +0100

Recently I read an enjoyable article which will resonate with anyone who works with teenagers; parents of teenagers; and anyone who has been through those years and lived to tell the tale. The article by Eileen Tracy, Ten things never to say to a teenager (the Guardian, 19 May 2009) not only entertained me, but also prompted me to think about things that should never be said in a school. Over the years I have heard certain phrases repeatedly and I have responded in various ways. Some you will read with disbelief and you may cry: ‘No-one says that anymore.

Primary leadership: end of year hot topics

scameron — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:33:29 +0100

Just like the Guides and Scouts, it’s good to be prepared but successful leaders know that the important thing is to focus on what is being done to ensure that every child currently in their care can make the best possible progress in their learning and development. This ebulletin looks at the differences we have made this school year, and considers what we can do to prepare for what might lie ahead in 2009-10.

Achieving global dimension: a case study

scameron — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:46:47 +0100

Helen Gosnell, Advanced Skills Teacher for Global Dimension and Sustainable Development, Sir John Lawes School, Harpenden, Hertfordshire

A leadership approach to good behaviour

scameron — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:09:42 +0000

I did spot them on my preliminary tour of the school but put it down to it being a bad day. I saw them again on interview day – but this time it was different; they would vanish as various dignitaries roamed the school, only to reappear later, tucked in a remote corner. They were the ‘Corridor Club’ – the excluded students who wander the halls of schools where a structured approach to discipline has crumbled, replaced with ad-hoc bouts of teacher’s revenge – the consequences of administering punishment while angry!

First year of headship - survival guide

scameron — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:44:02 +0000

Its official! The phone call you have been eagerly waiting for arrives and the chair of governors of the school that needs you to make a difference calls to congratulate you on securing the top job – headteacher!

As the celebration and well wishes begin to calm down and the adrenaline rush that you experienced earlier fades away, mixed emotions of excitement and apprehension may begin to emerge and that strange feeling of ‘how prepared do I really feel as I begin this journey’ takes a firm grip of your daily thinking.

Improving good schools through strong leadership

scameron — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:15:46 +0000

Every primary head aspires for an outstanding judgement from an Ofsted inspection. Public acknowledgement of excellence is important to many professionals and local communities. Ofsted should allow every school, regardless of socio-economic background or resources, the opportunity to achieve an outstanding grading. There is an active debate as to whether raw data is the only important indicator that inspectors use to make overall judgements.

2012 Olympics: promoting primary PE

scameron — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:09:16 +0000

September saw the final handover of the Olympic Games to Britain. On 17 September the Paralympics flag was handed to the mayor of London. Overall, the Olympics have been a success story for Britain, with athletes gaining 47 medals (19 of them gold) in the summer games, and even greater success in September’s Paralympics with 102 medals (42 of them gold). With the handover complete, it is already being asked how Britain can consolidate and maintain this standard.

Tackling challenging behaviour from the top

scameron — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:49:14 +0000

Back on Track: A Strategy for Modernising Alternative Provision for Young People is the government’s response to the dilemma of the challenging child. This white paper, issued in May 2008, builds on the Children’s Plan proposals and aims to improve the quality of alternative educational provisions for those excluded from mainstream schools. It will affect all alternative provision commissioned by local authorities and schools, but is particularly linked to provision in pupil referral units.

School 'strategy': what is it?

scameron — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:12:47 +0000

One of the more cringe-worthy moments in the Bichard Inquiry occurred during the cross-examination of one of the hapless chief constables. As I recollect, it went like something like this:

‘I suppose intelligence is a crucial element in police work?’

‘Yes, over the last 10 years we have put more emphasis on it.’

‘Oh,’ said counsel for the inquiry, ‘I would have thought it was more like two thousand years because I see on the title page of your handbook a quotation from Sun Tzu’s Art of War.’

The role of deputy head: going solo

scameron — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 13:26:03 +0000

Some of us may be unfortunate enough to be able to recall scenarios where the bond between the head and deputy head of a school has broken down, in some cases to such an extent that head and deputy are at loggerheads. Teaching staff may respond in many ways to this. The most damaging is probably their demotivation resulting from a lack of leadership or perhaps the Machiavellian opportunity to play the SLT off against each other.

Making the most of your partnership with governors

scameron — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:52:05 +0000

Over the past couple of weeks headteachers could be forgiven if they found it difficult to stay focused on their school’s priorities. Attention-grabbing headlines – such as ‘SATS are too crude an assessment’; ‘Conservatives shun the Rose review’; High anxiety over building programme’; Tests blamed for blighting children’s lives’ – could easily divert us from the work in hand to ensure that all children in our care have the best possible experiences every day.

Monitoring learning and teaching

scameron — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:49:24 +0000

This activity comes from Improve your Leadership Skills, a school resource that tackles the issues that those with leadership positions in schools face.

It contains worksheets, guides and 20-minute activities designed to help middle leaders develop practical and straightforward procedures that will make a contribution to teaching and learning within their school.

Written by Kit Field, Elizabeth Hoult and Simon Hughes

Handing over headship

scameron — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:33:10 +0000

Being a headteacher is much more than just a job. It can too easily become your life. So the decision to leave a school and move on is an extraordinarily difficult one to make.

Keep school leadership simple

scameron — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:23:30 +0000

I would certainly never argue that leading a school was easy or that using leadership skills to manage all the difficult issues that cross our desks was anything other than complex. Neither would I want to suggest that raising standards and dealing with people — all the children, parents and colleagues — who are part of our working day was anything other than time-consuming and often quite stressful. But what I would like to try to do is to suggest that school leadership works best if it is simple – as simple and uncomplicated as possible.

Beginning a new school year: tips for headteachers

scameron — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:05:37 +0000

Yes, I know, the summer holidays just flash by! Your expectancy of long lie-ins and free time to complete all those little tasks around the house and garden, all planned in fine detail for the weeks stretching out ahead, comes and goes. Even as the end of term concert still echoes in the hall rafters and your final assembly has the more sensitive pupils shedding a tear in anticipation of leaving the sanctuary of Key Stage 2, you are all too aware of the ‘back to school’ advertising in the supermarket, the newsagent’s and the shopping mall.

Standing up to Ofsted

scameron — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:17:55 +0000

Listening to the radio in early May, I heard that the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) had published research suggesting that Ofsted inspections deter deputies from becoming heads and drive out existing heads. Later that month, a draft of a major international report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cited Ofsted as a problem and not a solution to improving school leadership. The report said that preparing for regular inspections means a lot of additional work and creates considerable strain for heads and staff.

The role of the excellence leader

scameron — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:36:28 +0000

When implementing new ideas, there are often two major barriers that need to be overcome. The first is the genuine concern offered by some school staff that things are always changing and schools are always doing something new – for example, a new approach to planning or changes to assessment procedures. New ideas can hit brick walls almost immediately and as soon as the word ‘initiative’ is mentioned! So how can leaders get over this barrier? How can they present new ideas to staff without crashing into a wave of apathy and resentment?

Summer holiday: is six weeks still necessary?

scameron — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:56:40 +0000

Along with every other teacher in the country I know exactly how many more days I have to work until the summer holiday! This time of year is very busy; sports day needs organising, I am writing reports, there was the Foundation Stage Profile to finish and send electronically to county, induction, transfer arrangements and so on. It has been quite enjoyable doing all of this as a class teacher again; after all this hard work there is the sudden collapse into the relative calm of the summer holiday to look forward to.

School improvement: professional resolutions for 2009

scameron — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:58:08 +0000

I have decided that this year I will not be making any new year’s resolutions. This is unusual for me and, judging by media reports, I am in the minority. Too often I have set out with the best of intentions only to fall by the wayside in a matter of days. However, a quick scan of the magazines and newspapers in the local newsagent’s shows a recurring theme of encouragement to ‘get in shape’.

Asset management in secondary schools

scameron — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:55:10 +0000

The school revenue funding settlement, which was announced by Jim Knight, school’s minister at the DCSF, in November 2007, ensures that schools are fiscally, and lawfully, aware of their budget spends. For many schools, prioritising resources in a strategic way is not currently high on the agenda, and this needs to be addressed. As with all new initiatives, schools, headteachers and teaching staff are wary of how to implement new procedures, and where the funding will come from to meet each target.

Why schools should tackle energy consumption now

scameron — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:44:43 +0000

As from 1 October 2008, all public buildings over 1,000 sq metres, including schools, will have to display a certificate giving details of annual energy consumption, assessed on a rating from A to G, where A is the most energy efficient and G the least. Both existing and new-build properties are affected by the legislation. For many schools, the requirement will come as an unwelcome surprise at a busy time of the year, as the announcement has not had much publicity.

Reflecting on a school private finance initiative (PFI)

scameron — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:40:58 +0000

Our PFI story has three parts. Previously in Secondary Headship I have described the chase by different consortia, all competing for the possibility of negotiating a contract with my local authority (LA).

School bursars: advice when joining the senior leadership team

scameron — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:36:37 +0000

I have been a business manager in my present school for 18 months, and this represented my first experience of being a member of the senior leadership team. The transition to becoming a fully blown member of the leadership team in any school can be a difficult one, and this article provides some guidance for those who are readying themselves for the challenge.

School improvement: having a consistent vision

scameron — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:48:42 +0000

I was struck by a comment made by the comedian Jenny Eclair in The Observer Magazine, 7th December 2008. She said, ‘I’m very jealous of my daughter’s education. She’s been inspired by her teachers, and nobody inspired me as a teenager.’ It’s this very type of comment that confirms the importance of working at a vision that has aspiration for every child.

Secondary headship: looking back at a career

scameron — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:27:19 +0000

How do I view my career? It has certainly been long and varied. I have worked in seven different schools, and for six different local authorities, over a period of 31 years. My work has also led me to different regions of the country.

Does a new headteacher spell trouble for staff?

scameron — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:36:28 +0000

Literature and folklore are full of stories of what happens when new bosses take over, even if the morals drawn are a little equivocal. Traditional proverbs tell us that ‘A new broom sweeps clean.’ And the Bible describes how Rehoboam ignored the advice of the old men who had advised his wise father, Solomon, and listened to the young ones – with disastrous results, one might add.

Creating a primary school: amalgamation

scameron — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:30:56 +0100

We were two years into Hafise’s headship, having survived TLR restructuring, an Ofsted inspection under the new framework, and an Investors in People assessment. Hafise had completed the new heads programme, and we could have wondered what further demands could possibly arise for us, the headteacher and chair of governors of a primary school in Havering. We might have expected nothing more than having to keep up with new pieces of legislation, work creatively through the SEF and keep the school improvement plan on track. An amalgamation was not a challenge that we had anticipated!

Positive psychology in the classroom

scameron — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:17:54 +0100

Positive psychology brings scientific tools to the study of what makes people flourish, and the impact upon them of experiencing positive emotions. Good teachers have always known that cheerful children learn more effectively; now there are scientific studies that show this to be true.

The PE primary challenge: five hours per week

scameron — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:18:27 +0100

No sooner are headteachers providing two hours of high-quality physical activity for all their children and the government ask for more.

Facilitating the delivery of high-quality PE and a wide range of out-of-school-hours activities to cater for the needs of those youngsters who aren’t particularly bothered by netball and swimming, but might like a bit of street dance, quad biking or kabaddi, is not enough. Now there must be five hours – two on the curriculum and three more out of school hours and in the community – every week.