On the conference website, you can watch highlights from:
Thursday 12 November 2009
40 new heads under 40
2009 has seen more young teachers under 40 becoming heads than ever before – an increase of 47 per cent upon 2008. To mark this significant shift, at the New Heads conference forty first-time heads under the age of 40 posed al fresco in the heart of Westminster.
Kriss Akabusi steps into the arena
Kriss Akabusi bounds on to the stage and, in a fizzing, energetic hour, shares many stories from his own life and from the world of athletics from which he draws lessons for leadership and for new headteachers.Akabusi argues that it's not just sportsmen who perform in an arena. We all do. And his recurrent message is a bold encouragement to all of us to "step in to the arena with passion, pride and a can-do attitude".
Akabusi quotes Roosevelt's poem 'In the Arena':
"It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles,
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood."
Akabusi left a children's home in London at 16 "with 9 no levels" to join the Army in Northumberland. A key figure in his life and in today's talk is Sargeant Ian McKenzie. Mackenzie recognised Akabusi's potential and provided him with the opportunities and the objectives and the support for Akabusi to achieve, to become the British Army champion - the first time he felt himself to be a succcess at anything. For Akabusi, there are many parallels between the role Sargeant McKenzie played in his life and the role teachers and headteachers play when they nurture and take pride and delight in the achievements of thousands of young people.
Akabusi challenges the delegates to ask themselves whether they look for not only their own potential but also that which is around them in their teams.
He knits his stories together by talking about the importance of being FIT. Not just fit for sport but for for life. F is the importance of focus. I is the need for Innovation. T is the vitality of teamwork.
Akabusi talks of how he rose, through being stretched and supported, to achieve Olympic silver in the 400 metres in LA in 1984. Within two years, however, Akabusi was "the baggage man" slipping down the British rankings in the 400 metres and unable to make the team as new talent like Roger Black and Derek Redmond rose above him.
Here, Akabusi really presses home the message of the need to adapt to change, to refocus on different goals, to be prepared for new setbacks when you are faced with new challenges. He tells of how he struggled to find new direction and goals before deciding to become a 400 metre hurdler. He repeats a signature message of the talk: the past is for reference not for residence.
He had to go back to basics to learn the fundamentals of his new 'trade'. And to do so, he travelled to the States to learn at the feet of the great Ed Moses. His point here: when you really mean business, when you're really motivated, it helps to learn from the best available sources. Akabusi went on to break the British 400 metres hurdles record, which he still holds.
Akabusi finishes by focusing on the story of the British 4 x 400 metre relay team, taking on the undefeated Americans at the 1991 World Championships in Japan. This is a story about breaking the rules (by putting your best man out first rather than last), of new ways of working and of teamwork, and of what happens when the team is not held together, as Akabusi argues happened to the over-complacent, all-conquering Americans.
He shows the footage of the full race, in which he, as fourth man in the British team, pipped the Americans at the finishing line. It is hairs-on-the-back-of-your neck, inspiring stuff. You can watch the full race on YouTube.
Akabusi's final message to new heads, quoting from the film Gladiator, is that the things we do in this life leave echoes in eternity. Just as he is one of Sargeant McKenzie's echoes of eternity, so new heads in the hall who "step in to the arena with passion, pride and a can-do attitude" can and will create many such echoes in eternity.
Minsterial address Vernon Coaker MP
Vernon Coaker MP Minister of State for Schools and Learners.
The Minister spoke of the high regard that school leaders were held in by the public, universal respect and admiration with over 80% of parents trusting school leaders. He went on to mention the support that the government had given including a 30% rise on salaries, the establishment and growth of the school business manager role, the introduction of the National agreement aimed at reducing the hours worked by school leaders. He also talked of the challenges following the economic downturn and of the new White Paper that puts school leaders at the centre of policy. Partnerships were key and the move to a more outward focussed leadership presented many opportunties. Good schools raised attainment and self esteem not just in their schools but in the wider community.
He stressed the need to reduce the pressure on Primary Schools and singled out school business managers for contributing to reduced school leader workload. Following his address the Minister took questions from the audience . A recording of the full address is available from the college website at www.nationalcollege.org.uk
The Minister spoke of the high regard that school leaders were held in by the public, universal respect and admiration with over 80% of parents trusting school leaders. He went on to mention the support that the government had given including a 30% rise on salaries, the establishment and growth of the school business manager role, the introduction of the National agreement aimed at reducing the hours worked by school leaders. He also talked of the challenges following the economic downturn and of the new White Paper that puts school leaders at the centre of policy. Partnerships were key and the move to a more outward focussed leadership presented many opportunties. Good schools raised attainment and self esteem not just in their schools but in the wider community.
He stressed the need to reduce the pressure on Primary Schools and singled out school business managers for contributing to reduced school leader workload. Following his address the Minister took questions from the audience . A recording of the full address is available from the college website at www.nationalcollege.org.uk
Autonomy and accountability workshop
Peter Kent, Headteacher of Lawrence Sheriff School, Rugby and Andree Keddle, Regional Leader, North West, National College delivered this well attended workshop. They explored the topic in relation to both individual headteachers as well as organisations.
Peter used a case study of how his school approached personalisation. Both what they thought personalisation really meant and how they would implement the necessary changes to achieve it. This was done, all at once, as a 'Big Bang'. The most frequent question they were asked was , 'What will Ofsted say?'
Peter explained in some detail what they had done. As far as Ofsted was concerned, he said that it was important to have a good reason for every thing you did and have evidence of impact. The Ofsted report by the way clearly saw this and commented on just that, very favourably.
Andree used the example of an Ofsted briefing for section 5 inspectors on safeguarding children. She spoke of the importance of knowing what to expect and checking that you were aware of the most recent documentation - be prepared! The safeguarding topic was chosen because it was probably the most precribed and rigorous areas of inspection but that even here there was room for autonomy.
Autonomy is a relative concept but a school leader always has some and must use it well and make sure their actions are accountable.
Peter used a case study of how his school approached personalisation. Both what they thought personalisation really meant and how they would implement the necessary changes to achieve it. This was done, all at once, as a 'Big Bang'. The most frequent question they were asked was , 'What will Ofsted say?'
Peter explained in some detail what they had done. As far as Ofsted was concerned, he said that it was important to have a good reason for every thing you did and have evidence of impact. The Ofsted report by the way clearly saw this and commented on just that, very favourably.
Andree used the example of an Ofsted briefing for section 5 inspectors on safeguarding children. She spoke of the importance of knowing what to expect and checking that you were aware of the most recent documentation - be prepared! The safeguarding topic was chosen because it was probably the most precribed and rigorous areas of inspection but that even here there was room for autonomy.
Autonomy is a relative concept but a school leader always has some and must use it well and make sure their actions are accountable.
Leading teaching and learning workshop
The Leadership of Learning workshop was run by Roger Pope, Principal of Kingsbridge Community College in Devon and and Dr Martin Young, Headteacher of Cranford Park Primary, West London.
Martin opens by arguing that the core role of the head is to have a laser precise focus on your core business, which is teaching and learning. To do this well, he argues, you need a compelling vision, a coherent strategy and strong leadership.
At Cranford Park, the vision for the school is: everybody learning, every day, everywhere. The corridors, the entrance to the school, the playground, the changing rooms ... everywhere in the school must be a place where learning can take place and everybody in the organisation is considered a learner.
Martin and Roger offer a series of metaphors to discuss the role of the head and the leader in school.
For Martin, the leader is not unlike the football manager: it's about gearing people up, getting the team ready, establishing the tactics and letting go. You're occasionally on the pitch but your really key role is to watch and wait and reflect and then make the big decisions.
Roger compares the leadership of teaching and learning to riding a bike. When you first arrive in headship, make sure the bike gets a thorough check and is roadworthy. But then, the role of the head is to know when to turn the bike, to turn a corner and to change course. Changing course temporarily destabilises a bike and the good head must decide when is the right time to turn the bike, to destabilise the organisation and set it on a new direction and when to keep it going straight ahead.
Roger tells the story of various changes of direction he lead, towards personalised learning and later, at another turn, towards co-operative learning, inspired by the work of Dr Paul Kagan.
Martin builds on this argument about leading change and development by looking at the idea of the Sigmoid curve. This is the idea that at the beginning of a process of change, there is a dip in progress, which is then followed by a rise and improvement, which is later followed by a dip. So the key point is knowing when to jump off the curve and start a new curve. This is a judgement which is a key aspect of leadership: knowing when to leap when you feel that the progress isn't happening.
Martin tells the story of making the call to leap off the curve and start on a new curve towards personalised learning. He talks about making the judgement to leap off that curve towards targetted intervention and he is now considering when it will be right to leap off that curve and to make data management the big story. Having the confidence to make those decisions at the right time, and to make the right decisions for your context, are at the very core of leading improvements in teaching and learning.
Roger and Martin's very active and pacey session draws strongly on the work of David Souza on how the brain learns and on the work of Dr Spencer Kagan on co-operative learning. Roger's school has invested much time and energy in embedding Kagan's ideas of co-operative learning.
Since, as Souza's research indicates, we remember best what comes first, we remember second best what comes last and worst what happens just after the middle, Roger and Martin focus on what this means for how we structure lessons. They argue that new information should be introduced early and swiftly, very active learning should occur just after the middle and the end should again be used for further new information. Their workshop is also an active exemplification of the ideas of Souza and of the Kagan Institute.
Martin opens by arguing that the core role of the head is to have a laser precise focus on your core business, which is teaching and learning. To do this well, he argues, you need a compelling vision, a coherent strategy and strong leadership.
At Cranford Park, the vision for the school is: everybody learning, every day, everywhere. The corridors, the entrance to the school, the playground, the changing rooms ... everywhere in the school must be a place where learning can take place and everybody in the organisation is considered a learner.
Martin and Roger offer a series of metaphors to discuss the role of the head and the leader in school.
For Martin, the leader is not unlike the football manager: it's about gearing people up, getting the team ready, establishing the tactics and letting go. You're occasionally on the pitch but your really key role is to watch and wait and reflect and then make the big decisions.
Roger compares the leadership of teaching and learning to riding a bike. When you first arrive in headship, make sure the bike gets a thorough check and is roadworthy. But then, the role of the head is to know when to turn the bike, to turn a corner and to change course. Changing course temporarily destabilises a bike and the good head must decide when is the right time to turn the bike, to destabilise the organisation and set it on a new direction and when to keep it going straight ahead.
Roger tells the story of various changes of direction he lead, towards personalised learning and later, at another turn, towards co-operative learning, inspired by the work of Dr Paul Kagan.
Martin builds on this argument about leading change and development by looking at the idea of the Sigmoid curve. This is the idea that at the beginning of a process of change, there is a dip in progress, which is then followed by a rise and improvement, which is later followed by a dip. So the key point is knowing when to jump off the curve and start a new curve. This is a judgement which is a key aspect of leadership: knowing when to leap when you feel that the progress isn't happening.
Martin tells the story of making the call to leap off the curve and start on a new curve towards personalised learning. He talks about making the judgement to leap off that curve towards targetted intervention and he is now considering when it will be right to leap off that curve and to make data management the big story. Having the confidence to make those decisions at the right time, and to make the right decisions for your context, are at the very core of leading improvements in teaching and learning.
Roger and Martin's very active and pacey session draws strongly on the work of David Souza on how the brain learns and on the work of Dr Spencer Kagan on co-operative learning. Roger's school has invested much time and energy in embedding Kagan's ideas of co-operative learning.
Since, as Souza's research indicates, we remember best what comes first, we remember second best what comes last and worst what happens just after the middle, Roger and Martin focus on what this means for how we structure lessons. They argue that new information should be introduced early and swiftly, very active learning should occur just after the middle and the end should again be used for further new information. Their workshop is also an active exemplification of the ideas of Souza and of the Kagan Institute.
Word cloud of Toby Salt's speech to the conference
Here is a word cloud of the most prominent terms used by Toby Salt in his keynote speech to the conference.
This word cloud was generated using Wordle.
Leading in the community
Anne McCormick is Headteacher of Queens Park Lower School in Bedford. She began by explaining that her school is rated as outstanding for Community Cohesion, has 93% of pupils from ethnic minorities and all of these pupils have English as an additional language.It is part of a full service extended school comprising of 4 organisations. The three governing bodies all work together but there is no formal federation. Each organisation looks after a different part of the community engagement activity.
Anne's school works with a family focus, the middle school looks after enrichment (e.g. working with a local sports college) and the upper school has a wellbeing centre and concentrates on health issues. This kind of approach is recommended by Anne - there is so much to cover that use of your peers is essential.
Relationships are key to leading in the community
However, Anne points out that relationships can take years to cultivate.
Maureen Bates is head of a different kind of school - St Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form College in Durham.
One of her challenges is that most of her pupils travel to school on buses. This makes community activities outside of school hours more difficult. It also means that the community is spread geographically as well as culturally.
Another issue Maureen finds is that her school is very large and the size tends to put keen Year 7 parents off getting involved after their different experiences at primary school.
However, she has been able to develop international links to promote global citizenship. Few of her pupils are able to take holidays abroad.
Maureen has been able to appoint an Extended Schools Co-ordinator but acknowledges that this is easier from within a large secondary school budget. There is also a parent support advisor and parents and children taking part in Cooking Together courses have been highly successful in tackling local health issues as well as promoting community cohesion.
Her school has worked with organisations such as the YMCA and she recommends prioritising the task of identifying and contacting all the locally-available groups and organisations who might be of help to the school in tackling leading in the community.
Two Wise Heads
Breakfast Workshop: Two Wise Heads - the first 100 days of headship
Dr Sai Patel Headteacher, The Hayfield School, Doncaster and Dr Neil Hopkin, Headteacher, Robin Hood Junior and Infant School, Birmingham Facilitated by Lesley King, Strategc Director of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
Neil talked about how he feels that we are faced with a national moral challenge : ECM vs National Standards. He said that to 'look at what was wrong in our school we used an american business model to help us, which was not ideal but helped us.' He went on to say that it is important to get other perspectives, to get lots of others involved within and outside of your school. Work life balance is also key. There is nothing clever about working from dawn to dusk so find smarter way to work. We used coaching & mentoring - that is a relationship that helps people to take charge of their own development. 'Leadership is a tough job but it's the best job '.
Sai Patel walked into a post where his predecessor was in post 37 years! 'Not stepping into big shoes more like a canoes'. NQT not completing, staff disciplinary ending in dismissal, inappropriate behavior, student suicide, staff death. All in his first 100 days. You need strategies including, empathy, and building relationships. Ethos, don'be bullied, positive language, be old fashioned, holistic view, dark nights of the soul -you will have them, solitude,achievement.
Dr Sai Patel Headteacher, The Hayfield School, Doncaster and Dr Neil Hopkin, Headteacher, Robin Hood Junior and Infant School, Birmingham Facilitated by Lesley King, Strategc Director of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
Neil talked about how he feels that we are faced with a national moral challenge : ECM vs National Standards. He said that to 'look at what was wrong in our school we used an american business model to help us, which was not ideal but helped us.' He went on to say that it is important to get other perspectives, to get lots of others involved within and outside of your school. Work life balance is also key. There is nothing clever about working from dawn to dusk so find smarter way to work. We used coaching & mentoring - that is a relationship that helps people to take charge of their own development. 'Leadership is a tough job but it's the best job '.
Sai Patel walked into a post where his predecessor was in post 37 years! 'Not stepping into big shoes more like a canoes'. NQT not completing, staff disciplinary ending in dismissal, inappropriate behavior, student suicide, staff death. All in his first 100 days. You need strategies including, empathy, and building relationships. Ethos, don'be bullied, positive language, be old fashioned, holistic view, dark nights of the soul -you will have them, solitude,achievement.
Breakfast briefing - Workforce development and deployment Alf Brown (TDA) and Angela Ryan, Headteacher
Alf Brown from the TDA and Angela Ryan, Headteacher of Campsbourne School and Children's Centre, Haringey, led a breakfast seminar on the topic of workforce development and deployment.Alf began with a review of the recent history of workforce remodelling.
The government's view is that increased partnership working and the incorporation of new roles are essential to developing a more effective workforce for our children.
The workforce in schools now includes a vast array of different roles, for example different kinds of support staff. The TDA supports the development and training needs of all these groups.
Alf reminded us that remodelling does not take place in a vacuum - it has to operate in the context of the emotional and organisational constraints of each organisation. Best practice is where a remodelling change team has been formed which has effectively co-ordinated and managed the workforce change, building on consultation and collaboration with all the stakeholders.
Angela Ryan spoke passionately about her own role and the ways in which she as led remodelling. She described a group of families which was isolated within the community because of language. They had a variety of first languages and found integrating into the life of the school community difficult. They were invited to take part in family learning sessions, run by specialist staff employed by the school . The experience of sharing small successes with their children had a transformation effect on the parents.
Parents flourish with a bit of help
The school have also invested in HLTAs who deliver Modern Foreign Languages. A knock-on effect has been seen, for example, with boys and behavioural issues.
The provision of breakfast clubs has meant that pupils who used to have difficulties are now ready to learn when school starts.
This has all been achieved by looking at existing budgets creatively - for example, the school has employed an Educational Psychologist!
When opened to the floor, colleagues discussed the difficulties of using support staff creatively when the pay and job description structures do not encourage flexibility. The TDA are working on national frameworks and advice which should be available next year.
Friday 6 November 2009
Welcome to the New Heads conference blog
Welcome to our blog for the National College's New Heads conference 2009. We will use this blog to share some of the highlights of the event: images, summaries of workshops and keynotes, links to videos of speeches.If you can't make it to the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre, or if you want to remind yourself of some of the key moments of the conference, check in here to get a flavour of the day and to leave your comments and thoughts.
You can also follow the College and the conference on Twitter at http://twitter.com/the_college.
[CC Image courtesy of Sindre-Wimberger on Flickr]
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