Devon Association of Primary Headteachers

Devon Association of Primary Headteachers

AnnualSchool Leadership Conference

Report2011

Contents

Page No.
1. / Introduction(s) / 4
2. / Keynote Speeches
1.1Ben Walden– Contender Charlie
1.2Baroness Floella Benjamin OBE
1.3Paul Collard / 5
9
11
2. / Workshop Notes
2.1 Contender Charlie
Creativity Workshop
2.2 20 Practical Tips on Academy Conversion
Brian Auld (Brethertons LLP)
2.3 Academies, Trusts or Creating Local Learning Companies
John Barnard (NPS Group)
2.4 Academy Finances – Lessons One Year On
Chris Hicks (Francis Clark LLP)
2.7 Academies – The New Role of Governors ……
Helen Tucker (Ashfords Solicitors)
2.8 Running Your School as a Social Business
Lindsey Hall (RIO)
2.9 Coaching From The Top – Transformational Leadership
Kelly Newland (Smart Coaching for Schools)
2.10 The Intrinsically Motivated School – Staff and Pupils
Nick Zienau (Intelligent Action – Imaginative Minds)
2.11 School Health Check : Supporting School Self Evaluation
Debbie Clapshaw & Alison Miller (Devon LDP)
2.12 The Hutton Report
Rob Lester & Dana Mackie (Milsted Langdon) / 7
13
15
17
19
21
23
25
27
29
3. / Points to Ponder - Memorable Quotes / 31

Introduction(s) Paul Walker - Chair of Daph

Paul welcomed the 120+delegates to the conference and was particularly pleased to note the representation from Devon’s Association of Secondary heads (DASH). Newly appointed headteachers were also welcomed, given the critical timing at this stage in the autumn term.

Paul reminded us that the current DAPH Executive (Alan, Linda, Helen, Jan, Anne with Clare as the Business Manager and Lisa as Administrative Support) relied upon feedback from headteacher members in order to structure leadership support that was needed and valued.

With its theme of “Creativity in Learning …..Innovation in Leadership”, this year’s conferenceprogramme would be inspirational and developmental for senior leaders in schools. Following the formal dinnerthere would be the opportunity to enjoy some light hearted entertainment in the form of the annual pig racing in aid of this year’s selectedcharity, NSPCC.

The dinner table collections on the day raised £441 for the NSPCC compared with £366in 2010 – thank you all for your generous contributions.

The Day One ‘Exhibition Suite’ was available to help delegates focus on their learning and provide creative learning approaches for the curriculum.

The Day Two ‘Exhibition Suite’ focussed on innovation in leadership and offered delegates the opportunity to explore the potential of new and exciting options for leadership in such areas as school organisational models, school improvement, personnel matters and professional development.

On Day two Paul took the opportunity, on behalf of all primary headteachers, to thank Anne Ladbrook for all her contributions as a long serving headteacher in Devon, a member of the DAPH Executive Committeeand for her sterling work to lead the organisation of this year’s annual conference.

Phil Norrey, Chief Executive, Devon County Council made a brief introduction commenting on the seismic changes in education and the real role of schools and the public sector in making other people’s lives better. He confirmed that the success of whatever the future looks like will be dependent on colleagues working together – irrespective of the structures and governance models that will be in operation. Schools in Devon do operate as an educational community and it will be this strength that works in our collective favour and for the benefit of our learners.

Section 1 Keynote Presentations

1.1Creativity
(Ben Walden – Contender Charlie)

Approximately half of the audience had experienced a ‘Mythodrama’ approach previously – a model that is still being used nationally on the NPQH programme. The purpose is to look at big themes in leadership, creativity in learning and stress management but the heart of the Contender Charlie model is the work with children and young people. ‘Actually being with children is where we learn best.’

Creativity is hugely personal and children are the masters of creativity – ‘every child is a creative artist – the challenge is for them to stay that way as an adult’ – Pablo Picasso.

Ben cautioned us to avoid thinking that creativity was the sole realm of the Arts as this would switch off many young people. What helps creativity is individualised learning and the enemy of creativity is standardisation. Vision and leadership are about helping others be all they can be.

Theme One - How Adaptive is Your School?

Humans got to the top of the food chain because of their adaptability

Theme Two - How Hierarchical is Your School?

Hierarchy negates valuable inputs from the whole school population

How Well Does Your School Celebrate Gallant Failure?

The right to fail is essential for creativity – best inventions came from the errors.

Ben used the Conference Workbook to step us through the key themes.

There is deemed to be a hierarchy but the real issue is which do we each need to be using a bit more/less of?

Verbal/Linguistic
Mathematical/Logical
Musical/Rhythmic
Bodily/Kinaesthetic / Spatial
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal

Rhythm in learning is essential (ref. rhymes in early learning)

Kinaestheticlearning – seen in budding footballers - kinaesthetic intelligence seen as a key skill in society but not valued as much at school level – create learning that is based on physical movement. Would our reluctant readers do better if the reading and learning was secured through movement?

Spatial intelligence – often initially good at art and design rather than ability to, for example, park a car.

Inter and Intra – Personal intelligences – possible to have one without the other. Oftenthe extrovert is good with others but not good at self-reflection and using the skills in relational terms.

Implications for Schools

Not enough time in the current curriculum for children to practice speaking with confidence and engaging content – i.e. to develop ‘oracy’ skills which will impact on their future success and their communication skills. Leadership skills depend on how one comes across as a person - tone/confidence and we can see the early signs of this in our learners now. Only 10% is about the content of what they are saying yet we spend about 90% of our curriculum time on these 10% outcomes. You can see this most clearly in the difference between private and state educated learners.

The average class group will contain all the above intelligences so to cater for all of them it’s best to start with tuning them all into the physical/kinaesthetic style first – we were urged to ensure that our staff are working with all the multiple intelligences to secure maximum learning for a diverse class group. As teachers we were urged not to underplay the creativity that ‘analysts’ styles can bring to the learning process– it is just as valid as linguistic or musical creativity.

The 4 social styles need to be deployed by staff to plan the intelligence style(s) needed for learning. The role of the leader is to question any staff negativity and check out how it really is and what real powers we do have in schools (more than we think!). Leaders need to ‘greenhouse’ ideas and get rid of the ‘yes buts’ until later in the process – as a reality check rather than a blocker.

Ref. ‘Risk’ (Poem - Anon)

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental

To reach out for another is to risk involvement

To expose feeling is to risk exposing your true self

To place your ideas, your dreams, before the crowd is to risk their loss

To love is to risk not being loved in return

To live is to risk dying

To hope is to risk failure

But the risk must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing

People may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, life - chained by certitudes, they are slaves, they have forfeited freedom

Only a person who risks ….. is free

Additional Key Points from the Workshop with Ben ………

Workshop delegates were split into 4 groups to work through exercises in depth relating to the 4 social styles and which was a dominant style for individuals.

Adventurous Dreamer - Where do I want my school to be in 6 months’ time?

The Achiever – Paper balls in the waste bin

The Analyst – Missing words/phrases – problem solving quiz

Welcoming Nurturer - How has this last half term felt for you?

Generally speaking primary school staff tend to be really good at the welcoming nurturer role but this is not the case for some other corporate roles.Ben shared some ideas for activities that would stretch dominant styles to enable secondary styles to emerge and negate the more negative aspects of dominant styles.

Contradiction between the concepts whereby as a nation we don’t believe in celebrating achievement but we do support the underdog. (Societal conditioning that the British should not get above themselves?) When our guard is down we tend to show our true selves (i.e. at home) whereby at work we ‘play act’ ALL the multiple roles (hopefully). Generally in a week at school the style we have had to use most at work all week is the one that is least likely to appear at home over the weekend; so need to be aware of this and be explicit about the rationale for Friday night behaviours when we get home form work!

Ben helped colleagues focus on what actually prevents us as leaders delivering on some of our good intentions and how we can get round the time traps back at school whereby the urgent drives out the important. If we use creativity and have willpower then there is a generally away to achieve our aspirations – not to do so can be an excuse and could mean that our aspirations are not the ones we really, really want.

4 Social Styles

Thinking

/ Analyst
Rational Deductive
Logical
Reflective
[-ve =Nit Picking Bureaucrat] / / Achiever
Controlled
Competitive
Deliverer
Determined
[-ve = Dictator]
Introvert / Extrovert
Welcoming Nurturer
Empathetic
Nurturing
Supportive
Good Listener
[-ve = Victim] / Adventuring Dreamer
Visionary
Experimental
Emotive
Imaginative
[-ve = Drama Queen]
Feeling

Ina straw poll it emerged that Devon’s school leaders at the conference were fairly evenly spread across all 4 key social styles and all had areas to develop further. There were clearly lots of practical applications where the preferred style of our colleagues and children impact on creativity, getting through the work and the learning process. In reality of course all four styles are needed situationally.

1.2 ‘ Facing Adversity’
(BaronessFloella Benjamin OBE &
Chancellor of ExeterUniversity)

Floella welcomed the conference focus on creativity and opening minds as the theme was so close to her origins in children’s television (PlaySchool). She used the props of ‘Jemima and Humpty’ to remind the audience (those that were of an age anyway!) of the importance of childhood influences on learning and discovery - a sort of culture show for kids? PlaySchool was inclusive – it made children feel special and was the first introduction for many young people to cultural diversity.

Floella extolled the virtues of story telling to help with development of imagination and inclusivity. She reminded us that most of us can still remember the wordsof childhood stories and songs even though we cannot recall what we did yesterday – something had stuck with us from that as a result of the focus on communication in that period.

From her childhood fostering experience Floella reminded us that we never really know what experiences some children are coming to school with and how education can be the only liberating future for some. It was not until she was helped by a teacher (Mrs Thomas) to open her mind, improve her communication and ‘speak the Queen’s English’ that she really made educational progress and gained the confidence to be able to fit into a wide range of contexts.

From show business to the House of Lords has been a large leap, but throughout the journey she has campaigned tirelessly for children’s rights (diversity in children’s books/seatbelts on school buses/UK made programmes for children/anti-pornography on websites that children can access,etc.).

She reminded us that as teachers we need to help children make the best ofall their experiences even if they are negative ones – our role is help children not perceive themselves as victims by adjusting their attitude to life. The bullying against the brick wall is still happening in playgrounds today for some young people in 2011 – some 50 years after she experienced it whenshe first came to the UK. Education is about changing minds, expanding horizons, making all our children feel included and putting a blanket of imagination around children. She reminded us that children love talking about their lives and experiences if they are only given the chance and the right environment to do so.

Floella is an advocate of the values of ‘practical parenting’, planning ahead, practical finances and DIY. She believes that children should be taught about how the political and taxation system works and the reasons behind the systems used in the UK – the ’big society’ underpinnings – if they learn this from an early age she believes that it will make an attitudinal difference in later life. She believes that one of the roles of schools is to help children acquire this practical code of societal living to avoid the current disaffection currently being exhibited by some sectors of our society.

Babies are born with 200 billion brain cells but very few connections but by age 7 most of the connections are made (Ref. Pearson Report re skills young people have to join the work force). Education needs not to be disconnected but a single seamless journey as, whatever the age range and the setting, the core purpose is to bring the best out of learners for all of us.

Floella’s C’s for a happy life and better society :

Consideration

Contentment

Confidence

Creativity

Conscientiousness

Courage

1.3 Unlocking Innovation in Schools
(Paul Collard Chief Executive CCE)

CCE = Creativity Culture in Education.

Rooted in the national Creative Partnerships programme.

It’s all about making education a better experience for pupils

Belief that CCE is the only way to create a sustainable future for many young people,and for society as a whole.

There has been a move from a traditional system where knowledge used to reside in institutions yet what we now need is not Job Seekers but Job Creators e.g.the young people who designed Computer ‘Apps’ just 3 years ago. Jobs for the future are inconceivable now so as educators we need to prepare learners for this brave new world.

Using an example of the impact an Artist can have in school on 6 year olds art work (Self Portraits) – amazing progress over 6 months based on the concept that everyone can draw but not everyone can actually really see!

Using The Arts as a vehicle for school improvement and increasing learning seems to raise standards across the whole curriculum for those who engage – i.e. it increases their capacity to learn and think; Ofsted have validated this outcome.

Perception that the Secretary of State (Gove) is obsessed with a ‘Factology Curriculum‘ that does not really contain the elements that 21st C learners and workers really need. Michael Gove believes that the curriculum of the 1850s is still valid for today.

The OECD/PISA studies are not necessarily valid re. the rankings of the UK (more countries enter each year so rankings change and some countries cheat by selection of children who take the test).

OECD measures 3 things:

1. Test Scores
2. Passion forand Interest in the Subject
3. Self-Concept

It’s the latter 2 levels that determine whether students continue to go on and pursue the subject – there appears to be an inverse relationship between No. 1 and Nos. 2 and 3. There is also a correlation in suicide rates in some countries with No. 1 and No. 3 levels.

The CCE programme appears to have significant impact on engaging parents. The OECD are interested in working with CCE to look at the value of this approach in helping teachers focus on those learners that need the most input (and the right input) that will take them into the learning process.

When learners can start to think conceptually, and they have the linguistic skills to cope, then you can take the children to a whole new level and sophistication that stays with them and changes them for ever. It also has the potential to improve the teacher/pupil relationship as you have let them into the adult world (Ref. Projects on ‘Regrets’ and ‘WhatMakes You Scared’).

In conclusion, the drive to pursue creativity in schools is in the hands of the schools themselves. The Coalition Government will never be sanctioning creative partnerships again but if it works and you make progress no one will be telling you to stop doing it either. It’s about courage and conviction and there is help through CCE to get you going.

Lessons Learned from the CCE Programme :

1. To nurture creativity you have to know what it looks like
2. Define Creativity = Habits of Mind  Inquisitive and Challenging Assumptions; Persistence and Sticking with Difficulty; Imaginative; Discipline; Collaborative; Managing Risk; Daring to be Different.
3. As Teachers - modelling the behaviours you want to see is critical – ‘letting go of the power base’.

Steps To Achieve Success :