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
Leadership teams need people who …
3 Understand the symbolism of the job: how we present ourselves isn’t cosmetic
Leadership teams need people who …
4 Know that the first job I should do today is the job I’d rather not do
Leadership teams need people who …
5 Make life reassuringly simpler
Leadership teams need people who …
6 Understand that the job is about people, not systems
Leadership teams need people who …
7 Recognise the changing nature of schools, teachers and young people
Leadership teams need people who …
8 Remain intolerant of mediocrity: good enough is rarely good enough
Leadership teams need people who …
9Evaluate endlessly …
Leadership teams need people who …
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?
very mostly not very not at all
3 Do you feel that there is a clear vision within the Faculty?
very mostly not very not at all
4 Do you feel involved in the development of the Faculty?
very mostly not very not at all
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
Leadership teams need people who …
Why should I appoint you to my Leadership Team?
Geoff BartonHeadteacher, King Edward VI School, Suffolk
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
Why should I appoint you to my Leadership Team?
Geoff BartonHeadteacher, King Edward VI School, Suffolk
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