​No-one reading my blogs will be surprised that I like this book by Paul Dix! It's a book written with humour, humility and humanity, deriving from experience.

In any school, the climate is set by the adults in charge. How they choose to set up rules and regulations, sometimes generic, often quite prescriptive. Some choose to take this to an extreme and employ “no excuses” policies, while others work through the children taking responsibility for their own self-regulation.

Schools are based on countless interactions each and every day. The quality of these interactions enables a child to have a sense of belonging or to feel alienated and distant from the organisation, with the latter potentially demonstrating as dissociated behaviours leading to further alienation.

Consistency is a central feature of a successful behaviour management system. Everyone knows what is expected, because it is talked about and publicised effectively. The teachers have a clear understanding which allows them to interact easily and speedily. This knowing enables mutual regard and levels of trust, which in turn are enabling. Children like to feel that they are liked for themselves and will acknowledge when they are in the wrong, if the systems allow for this. This approach enables rapid restorative actions.

A sense of belonging is instilled if you are noticed and acknowledged. This might be formally, as a personal greeting on entry to the classroom, handshakes, or simply a friendly smile and noticing, as children enter the classroom. If you have a place that is yours, either a tray and hook for your things in a Primary school or a locker and a set place in a classroom in Secondary, it confers you as a school/class member.

Behaviour management can sometimes feel like “keeping on keeping on”, posters, messages in class or assemblies, or selected gatherings, eg simply having the boys of their toilets are messy. It is about clarity of expectations, well articulate, a collegiate staff approach and appropriate “follow through” that is supported by everyone.

Parents are a key group in this regard. Excellent communication is a hallmark of schools that enjoy better behaviour relations, as the parents support the school approaches.

Spotting children being good can be a very positive way to define what is expected. In a Primary classroom, this can be as simple as a thank you to a child for sitting well on a carpet. It could be a special recognition in an assembly, or a star of the day in class. Marbles in a jar can become a motivation, if there’s a tangible reason for their collection. It’s also a collaborative effort, embedding a team culture into a classroom. However, as Paul Dix points out the “token economy” can be counter-productive, as merits, or similar, are showered on some children, alienating others. Unintended consequences?

Calmness is tested by poor behaviour. But keeping calm through difficulty can be a significant factor in rapid resolution. Children recognising where they are at fault enables fair solutions to be sought. Paul uses the term “botheredness”. This takes time, patience and a drip feed of positive reinforcement; the teacher being bothered models botheredness to the children.

Passing on praise from another teacher, a parent or someone from the wider community is an important aspect. Someone has spotted something good, bothered enough to mention it and this needs to be fed back to the children. A “well done” goes a very long way, equivalent to a “thank you”.

Security and certainty are a necessary part of being an adult in school. The opposite can lead to insecurity and uncertainty in children, which results in getting into trouble, sometimes inadvertently.

This is an excellent book, that will challenge many experienced teachers, but, with newbies, will give insights into good and less useful practices, as they come to terms within their new role. Hopefully, it’ll enable them to “smile before Christmas” and to run classroom that turn into places where high quality learning takes place at all times.

As a headteacher, I’d often tell children that I was the highest paid nag in the school, that their parents expected that of me and that the teachers were paid to do that too, but that we’d prefer not to be doing that all the time. Even as young as four, they seemed to understand that…

Paul’s conclusion is that “a focus on adult behaviour is the only responsible approach”. Staying calm and in control of yourself, is a start point for controlling others.
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Or to quote Vic Goddard, of Passmores School, “We make the weather” …

When I was around 6 years old, we had a holiday in Wales, staying at my grandmother’s house. Gran had a traveller family background and, one day, rummaging around in a chest of drawers, we came across, wrapped in a velvet cloth, a crystal ball, which confirmed in our childish minds that she was, indeed a gypsy. We didn’t want to incur the wrath of Gran, nor bring bad luck on our heads by disturbing the ball, as our older cousin intimated, so we carefully put it back in it’s resting place.

That we don’t know what the future will bring, in many ways is probably a good thing.

We can only seek to plan for perceived or imagined futures.

I have been very lucky, being born at a particular time, still with some post-war rationing, but able to go to college to train as a teacher with a grant, supplemented by holiday jobs.

From a relatively poor starting point, with dysfunctional parents, I have always been a very prudent adult and have scrimped, saved and occasionally salvaged, in order to “make ends meet”.

The fear of being poor is a powerful driver. Paying off the mortgage was a significant day; I owned my house! Modest holidays, camping in the UK and then to join friends who had emigrated to France, meant that subsequent savings allowed the purchase of a very small cottage, which cost the price of a modest caravan, and still would as French house prices have not risen as they have here. Improvements have been saved for.

And now, I look forward to the latter part of this year, when I should be the recipient of that terminal-sounding “old-age pension”.

For all of this I feel lucky, but…

I cannot look to the future without considering others who are my family, especially the younger generations, who, even if they were to scrimp, save and salvage, cannot aspire in the same way as my generation did.

I am annoyed and embarrassed that (political) members of my generation and the one that followed, who also enjoyed the same, have somehow conspired to ensure that a seemingly rich nation cannot now afford many of the things that we were able to take almost for granted, which means that where I could dream, even if the crystal ball didn’t help, my children and grandchildren, will not have the same, even if they take the same job opportunities.

Then what?

Following Mark Thomas’ show, I’ve been looking at the future…I have, after all, some gypsy blood...

Brexit will undoubtedly cause many problems, that some of us can perceive, but which will suddenly become very real, as “negotiations” proceed and cause significant public disquiet; no-one, I am sure, voted to be poorer, but that may become the reality.

Politicians, especially those closely associated with Brexit, will take the easy option and resign to go into relative obscurity, but may then join private enterprise companies as directors.

Pay will continue to stagnate, especially in the public services, which will further diminish what is available.

As the current workforce ages, “controlled immigration”, as an outcome of Brexit, will not fill gaps, so manufacture and house building, hospitality, nursing, teaching and social care, supermarkets among many others, will start to retrench, as they cannot find personnel.

House prices, unless they are artificially kept high by Government intervention (see recent schemes) will start to fall. Lowering house prices will cause disquiet among home owners, but anguish among younger purchasers, as the pay-mortgage differential begins to squeeze tighter- I remember the impact of 15% interest rates on a relatively small mortgage. Lowering house prices will not necessarily help younger people get onto the housing ladder, as pay may still not be sufficient.

​"Ex-pats" will return to the UK in numbers. The value of their houses in Spain or France probably will not purchase a house in the UK. Older and possibly with illness, they will need housing and nursing care, creating a new burden on the budgets.

Speculators, hedge funds and larger landlords, however, may well have a field-day, buying up repossessed properties. What proportion of MPs are private landlords? Profumo?

The “bank of mum and dad” will come more into play, supporting children through this period, but for revenue need rather than house purchase.

This bank will also be called upon to pay for any necessary personal care, especially if you have saved over a certain amount.

And then what? In 30 years’ time, when my contemporaries, like me, will hope to be approaching 100 (that’s frightening when written down) a smaller working population, potentially made poorer by decisions in 2016-17, will not be in any position to sustain spending, even as it is now. When you’ve sold the family silver, and anything else of any worth, there’s not much room for manoeuvre, and poorer people/countries can’t borrow.

The “people have spoken”, will be used by some politicians to mean that they can do anything they wish; it will be “our fault” not theirs; they are only doing what “we” asked.

Preferred future?

Stop being celebrity politicians and get on with the day jobs. At the moment, smoke and mirrors are deflecting from the real issues that affect everyday lives.

Stop this stupid Brexit. If, as CEO of UK Ltd, Theresa May is prepared to make the country financially and morally bankrupt, she, and her Government should be held personally responsible when it goes wrong, especially if she assumes a hardened approach. I’d like them all to place their houses and banking wealth into a sovereign wealth fund, only returnable if I’m wrong and Brexit is a success, in 10-20 years’ time, just like company bonuses. They are, effectively, gambling with our futures. They are all right, Jack.

Start talking, rather than posturing and ranting about “them”.

For the rest of us, I’d like us to be able to get on with our lives, without the constant backdrop of politicking that seems to dominate every discourse.

I’d quite like to enjoy whatever life is left to me.

I’d like to be able to plan a future that includes an active and interesting retirement. I’m not a ski-er, so will continue my careful ways.

I’d like to think that, if I am ever ill, there will be a safety net available.

I’d like to think that my children and grandchildren may enjoy their lives too, to dream, to strive, to enjoy the fruits of (modest) success.

I’d like the world to be clean, healthy and able to sustain them.
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Too much to seek?

This week, I have been able to have a number of conversations that have drawn on my teaching career and life experience in general. One of these was in the context of special educational needs and “inclusion”. The term inclusion rightly became a significant part of political and social life within the past twenty years, but I have always wondered if the label itself, defined as a state of being included, implies an “outsider” who has to be incorporated into a group, which in turn has to adapt to the new person; “Please can I be included?” It reminds me of playground games; who’s chosen first and who’s left until last?

That people are different is easily understood.

The differences can, at times, be exaggerated at the expense of similarities, to the point where accommodation is deemed impossible. This, in education terms, can amount to a form of exclusion; you don’t fit us, we can’t cope with difficulties like those.

However, finding the right educational setting for defined needs is key to success.

 My career has shown me that capacity creates capacity, in that schools which find themselves able to accommodate individual needs find the capacity to adapt to the needs of all children, so making themselves desirable and valued by parents and children. Schools operating in challenging areas, taking every child who comes through the door, often because they simply have space, with a positive adult workforce, can transform children’s lives. For the first time, some have space to grow, even if, from time to time, they rail against the system. Children are little humans and have, at their age, perhaps less self-control than adults are supposed to have. They make errors of judgement.

For eight of the past ten years, until two years ago, I did substantial work with Inclusion Quality Mark. This came up in conversation this week, as a Twitter acquaintance proudly told me that her school had recently received confirmation of the award. As I had been instrumental in developing the audit in use from 2015, I was aware of the qualities that the school would have displayed, as there were significant common themes that ran through each, although there were contextual adaptations to evident need.

It made me have a look at bits that I wrote during that time, after visits to schools. The following is an extract from one summary, anonymised.

To move from Special Measures to Outstanding in three years suggests that something special happens in London Primary School. Whilst working with the same staff, the school has seen a rapid turn-around. The principle can be easily stated, as Personalisation in everything, holding to the Every Child Matters ethos, although the practical aspects are more complex to describe. London encounters virtually every identifiable barrier to learning, seeks to identify root causes and then to find solutions which allows each child to feel valued and to develop self-esteem, from which learning needs can be addressed, as children have the skills to cope when errors are made. 

Passionate, articulate, hard-working, engaged, analytical, purposeful, creative, inspirational and visionary are all adjectives that can be attributed to the London staff. It was a pleasure to spend quality time in their company.

Equally, if I could nominate a school where Inclusion is lived and breathed, it would be London. It permeates every aspect of school life, perhaps, as the Head of School commented, “With so much need, we have no choice but to use inclusive approaches”. But inclusion at London is more than that statement; it is the raison d’etre, like a stick of rock, sliced anywhere, the word Inclusive would be seen, hearts, minds, bodies and souls are dedicated to the same aims. Although the end of term was in sight, there was still and energy and vibrancy to the school which belied its Victorian building, although even that had been imaginatively used to enhance all aspects of teaching and learning, from Nursery to eleven.

I came away from this visit to London Primary with two thoughts that summarise its outlook:-

 The staff give above and beyond what one can reasonably expect of them.
 Nobody is left out, child or adult. All are valued for their unique gifts and talents.
Two quotes from a parent and a teacher add to the summary:-
“Like a big family.”
“We offer a glimmer of hope in their lives. We are here to make a difference.”
While an external view was that:-
“The school makes excellent links with the community and other schools to deliver a high quality of service to families”.

The school aims for every child to have a happy and active primary education in an environment that is caring and supporting. It provides a stimulating and structured environment in which every child will be encouraged to reach their full potential.”

Teachers, at all levels of experience, take their responsibilities very seriously, working hard to improve themselves through personal reading and regular networking, where this is easily available. Some are prepared to spend part of a weekend at conferences. They want to offer the best of themselves, so that every child receives the best that they can offer. The best teaching context is collegiate, with expertise willingly shared.

External judgements on the system, schools or individual teachers often creates a negative image; for seemingly thirty years it has often been found wanting and “in need of improvement”, to use an Ofsted judgement, while children may be judged to “not be at national standard” at SATs. Some of these children may well be told this throughout their schooling. And yet, we are, as a profession, acutely aware that labels hurt children (people), this being one of the arguments for removing levels, but we’re in a cultural period where no-one quite knows exactly what to expect of children’s outcomes, as there isn’t, as yet, a common expectation that can be articulated and demonstrated. Teacher insecurity can lead to insecure advice and guidance. We are also at a point where long serving teachers are retiring, to be replaced by younger, less experienced staff. A recent post looked at different stages of teacher development, where less experiences professionals may be more likely to be concerned with getting structures right than the details of specific needs.

Collegiality, quality mentoring and high quality communication are key to safeguarding educational opportunities for each child.

Inclusion is a personal and school wide ethos. It cannot thrive in isolated pockets, without frustration creeping in. Poor communication and inaccessibility engender parent and teacher annoyance with each other. Frustration, on either side can lead to rapidly diminishing relationships, which then have to be tackled before the needs of the children can be addressed.
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I’ve included again, the general outcomes from multiple visits to schools to look at Inclusion (above) and also a link to a post that looks at the underlying principles of inclusive practice.
 
 
It can be a salutary experience to really take a look at yourself first.
 

According to a report today, paraphrased by Icing on the Cake aka @JackMarwood on Twitter as
To paraphrase a report today, "Since 2012 pupils from high-income families have made more progress year-on-year than poorer classmates".

If this is, indeed an accurate summary, I began to speculate why this may be the case.

We are in a very strange economic period, with many people working in low paid jobs, more than likely renting in a market where costs appear to be rising significantly annually.

Where people are working in reasonably well paid jobs and may well have started to purchase a house, their mortgage rate is significantly lower than at any point that I can remember. Unless this has led them to borrow too highly, the repayments could still be manageable. I may not be alone in remembering when mortgage interest was at 15%. even on a relatively small mortgage, it meant pulling back on unnecessary spending. It was the point where my wife and I became vegetarian; half a kilo of pulses cost significantly less than half a kilo of meat.

In both cases, additional personal debts, through bank loans or credit cards may also be a drain on finances.

To me, a significant factor will always be the amount of disposable income, for discretionary spending, after all bills have been paid, with consequent decisions that are made as to how it will be spent or saved. It’s whether other demands, like children needing shoes, or other clothes, or perhaps replacing a specific piece of household machinery need to be considered first.

How does this impact on social mobility? I’d pose the view that children from better off families have greater access to social activities that cost money and fall within discretionary spending; sports and other activities, in and out of school, visits to places of interest, museums and galleries, with entry and transport costs. They may well share more social gatherings. They may also have greater access to personal ownership of books and other elements that aid learning, such as wifi and computer links.

Each of these opportunities provides valuable opportunity to talk within a family or a social group, generating a greater social vocabulary and to develop social awareness and confidence. It broadens their view of the world, of possibility and aspiration. If you have never had sufficient money to make decisions that can appear to be frittering it on fripperies, you’re likely to hold back in some way, a form of self-limiting.

It is for all these reasons that schools need to be aware of their communities, to make appropriate decisions to offer opportunity to address some embedded deprivation. It is easy for schools to espouse a “high expectation” mantra, but it is also a case for having high expectations of the school and the teachers to broaden horizons, open eyes to the potential around them and to harness the community, including parents, to support the children for whom they have joint responsibility to educate, formally and informally.

Why does London appear to do better that other areas? I’d suggest that free transport for children and relatively easy access to free world class galleries, museums and other culturally rich experiences is likely to have a part to play; something that might be unthinkable in other areas. I recall a trip to a Redruth (Cornwall) school, where teachers were aware of children who had not visited the sea, four miles away, purely because of transport costs.

​I could see a strong argument for a part of Pupil Premium moneys being allocated to providing social learning opportunity outside of the school experience, to address elements of the inequality, providing experiences that enhance formal school situations.

Social inequality? We have inequality in disposable income, but possibly also inequality of awareness. It's not the children at fault for being born into poorer families. It might be argued that it is a state responsibility to address the issues arising.  

That plays a significant part in a child accessing social experience, which, in turn becomes debilitating socially. Poverty creates poverty of opportunity.
 

Having just come back from a summer well-spent in the garden of my tiny maison secondaire, which had few facilities, including a lack of internet connection, time was available to indulge in some of the boxed games that pass time, especially of a warm evening, or during the heat of the day, when a hammock isn’t in use.

An old game but a favourite is Boggle. It’s advertised as a three minute word game, but sometimes the time is less relevant, as it is equal for everyone. It provides a mental challenge, with an element of competition. The requirement is to make as many words as possible, with three letters or more, with one point for 3 or 4 letter words, 2 for 5 letters, 3 for 6 and 5 for 7+. The letters have to be linked on an edge or a corner to make a complete word.

For me, this year, it was interesting to reflect on my approach to the game, in line with on-line discussions about word attack skills, including phonics.
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Letter-sound correspondence is a key starting point as is the ability to blend letters together; examples on the shared board might be ea, st or ng. Each offers the opportunity to extend the sound by adding letters before or after.
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Over the past few months, I have been working with a school to explore and enhance their links with parents. This is through the Leading Parent Partnership Award scheme, for which I have been an adviser and assessor for over ten years.

The initial discussion demonstrated a great willingness to embrace the philosophy that engaging with parents has a significant impact across many areas of child, class and school performance. This has been explored over the past fifteen years, with notable reports by Charles Desforges (2003) and the Department for Education and Skills (2007). Links to both reports are at the foot of this blog.

The LPPA has a long track record of working closely with schools, to enhance interaction, tailored to the contextual needs of the school. This must be the reality, as every context has nuanced differences, which need to be accommodated, if the project is to be successful. Some schools already do a great deal and want to have validation of their practice, while others see a need to improve or change the ways in which they interact with parents.
In the summer of 2015, I visited several schools and wrote a blog to capture some of the benefits derived from a close look at parent-school interactions and the impact on the school of relatively simple tweaks to practice.

Three months ago, the visit was a general discussion, based on the school’s initial auditing of the current situation. During the discussion, I offered a couple of relatively simple tweaks; the first was the idea of a “stay on and …” sharing activity, for 15-25 minutes at the beginning or end of the school day, where parents and children actively engage with a joint task, many of them leading into the first lesson of the day. The second was based on an exploration of parent involvement in assemblies. At that point they did not participate.

Arriving at the school for a 9am start, I was whisked around the school to see 1) an assembly that involved a parent audience and 2) several classes, across both infants and juniors, where a large number of parents were involved in active learning with their child. The school had investigated how the parents, staff and children felt about the changes and everyone expressed delight at the impact.

Parents were getting to understand more about how their child’s class was running, staff were able to interact informally with parents, even with some who previously had been seen as “hard to reach”, who had been “encouraged” into school by their children’s invitation. Children’s attendance had improved over that period.
The school is reflecting on the project to date, is looking to distil the essential elements for the autumn term and will be actively pursuing these elements, over a longer timescale, to more fully understand the benefits.

Stay on and… activities

An image that links with a piece of writing; write a set of adjectives to describe elements in the image.
An image that links with the class topic theme. Describe what you can see; what do you know about the image?
Read together, from the current reader.
P4C question; Thunks; General topic question; Moral dilemma; School/class rules…
Play a game; generic; mathematical…
Draw; still life; plants; use pencil, ink, crayon, pastel, charcoal.
Write a short description of a character.
​Solve some maths problems.
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Please add any thoughts through the comment thread.

Charles Desforges http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/18617/Desforges.pdf
DfES file:///C:/Users/Owner/Documents/Documents/LPPA/6937_DFES_Every_Parent_Matters_FINAL_PDF_as_published_130307.pdf

Looking out for the “newbies”.

As the term and the school year comes towards a close, staff have largely moved and been replaced, often with a newly qualified teacher, a newbie, fresh from their training. I’ve recently finished my final visits to School Direct trainees as a Link Tutor for one group and Quality Assurance for another. It is always a good thing to spend some time after an experience, to evaluate the process and the details that contribute to the whole, so that necessary tweaks can be made to improve the system for the future.
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It was a feature of all the trainees, across both groups, that their standard of professionalism was extremely high. This I have explored in an earlier blog post, identifying Teacher Standards 8,7,1,3 as common features of early success; they have a professional demeanour, recognised by colleagues and children, enabling them to get across their ideas.
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In my quality assurance report to one of the Teaching Schools’ Alliances, I focused on the role of the mentor as a key element in addressing the issues that will be a part of the whole training year, especially where there is a need to undertake a short practice in an alternative Key Stage. I offer these thoughts here, before extending them a little.

An earlier blog on mentoring looked at it as a form of CPD.

The quality of mentoring can be a significant variable, both in terms of the personality and the teaching quality of the individual mentors, but also in the receiving school, as a whole, in their preparedness to support a developing teacher.

In the early stages, where quality induction is required, there is a need to explore the totality of education and to make sense of the whole, as it is evidenced in their host school; eg ethos, safeguarding, behaviour management, expectations, resource base, planning approaches, among many others. This wealth of information can be overwhelming, if not carefully managed, and should not rely on the trainee just to find out for themselves. Introductions to key personnel need to be made, with Maths and English managers and the SENCo, to familiarise the trainee with current issues.

The mentor (or a nominated colleague) may also have to act as the “tutor in residence”, able to support the academic aspects of the course; at least to be party to reflective discussions about the writing tasks.

The above does require a mentor programme to run alongside the trainee programme. If, as suggested, trainees were given time to discuss “papers” during their training days, these could then inform discussions with mentors, to gain a school perspective on the topic.

In discussion, it is clear that many mentors do not generally attend formal gatherings, in doing so, limiting the opportunity to develop a network. This is not a dissimilar picture in university mentor meetings. Some thought needs to be given to incentives to encourage attendance, or at least to discourage non-attendance.
 
Regular meetings with mentors, on a personal level, “mentoring the mentors”, would also support the STSA profile. Where University Link Tutors visit more regularly, it can seem that some schools are able to misinterpret the roles of different visiting representatives.

To summarise. Mentors need to be fully appraised of the training programme, the demands on themselves and the trainees from the Alliance and the University and be able to provide support that ensures a smooth training opportunity.

After a committee discussion yesterday, I took the thoughts one step further, by reflecting on the role of the receiving school, developing the whole school into a global mentoring system, rather than just relying on one colleague, although, for weekly discussions, this would still be the case.

This, to me, sits within a “Teaching School”s Alliance; a collection of teaching schools, rather than a central Teaching School with satellite schools agreeing to take trainees. In this way, everyone becomes a mentor, additional CPD becomes an opportunity to reflect on practice and the central Teaching School could invite broader discussion within the group to explore the sharing of very successful practice.
We need high quality teachers, well supported at vulnerable times of their teaching careers.

The NQTs arriving in schools in September will not be the “finished article”. The newbies, transferring in from other schools may also be vulnerable. They will need support to settle, to organise and orientate themselves, to pick up the wide range of school systems in order to become effective colleagues. They need to get to know the children and the expectations that the school has of their progress during the year. They need to know the quality standards. These need to be effectively shared during induction, but also as a continuous activity. Induction could last the year, with regular meetings to support, enable downloading of problems, seeking solutions.

This is a school level need. Often, if a teacher is failing, it is the lack of colleague intervention that makes this harder to resolve. Teaching can be a solitary activity, but it is a team game. Everyone should be looking out for the newbies.

​Let's make all schools Teaching Schools, committed to teacher development at all stages of their careers. 
  

Assessment is very much in the news, almost daily, as we are in “Assessment Season”, with SATs, GCSEs and GCE as external testing and a considerable amount of time spent assessing every year group in between. Much of the internal time is spent “evidencing” that a child has a specific capability, not just once, but several times over a time period, so that the evidence has greater “validity” especially for external moderators. It appears to be showing up potentially significant flaws in the system as it impacts on Primary education, with bemoaning of interactions with moderators, who accept elements of school evidence and then close down discussion with their judgements.

Assessment, at core, means knowing the children, being able to sum up the child at a moment’s notice and having an idea of their needs in order to make progress.

When it comes down to brass tacks, much of assessment is a value judgement. I may not see things in exactly the same way as you. For most of life, that is fine; we can go our own sweet ways, never really bothering about each other. However, where we, as a collective have to agree on whether a specific element of a subject has been “sufficiently” evidenced and is of quality, it may well produce a fine or even a wide difference of opinion. If your judgement, by virtue of your status, is held to be superior, it may well undermine my own confidence in my judgement, with repercussions for the future.

And yet, teachers, in classrooms all over the country are making instant judgements, split-second decisions that ensure the smooth running of a lesson, especially for identified individuals, who may need greater confidence.
Having worked with a large number of School Direct trainees this year, the area of Progress and Outcomes (Teaching Standard 2) linked to their Planning (TS4), then to in-lesson thinking, evaluation and adaptation (TS 6&5) have been the hardest to evidence. One significant issue was the difference in approach between their two school experiences, where often the two schools use different approaches. This led to insecurity in decision making. In September, many will be working in yet another school, with potentially another different scheme. The lack of commonality makes it hard for trainers and trainees.

Much teacher time in 2013/4 was spent discussing or actively promoting the demise of Levels. Where levels were used purely as data points, with little or no reference to the word descriptors, they began to lose currency, especially as this approach enabled children to “progress” with apparent “gaps” in their knowledge. Where schools tracked individuals against their specific learning needs, this aspect was avoided.

We now have Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in many places as indicators of capabilities being sought in particular year groups. It is significantly likely that, at the year end, a proportion of the children in a year group will have “gaps” in their knowledge, which, unless it is tracked on an individual basis, will embed those gaps throughout. Equally, a proportion of children will have found the learning relatively easy and will be working at greater depth. How to evidence that, easily, will also be important.

The removal of levels was supposed to free up the curriculum, to ensure that there were “no limits” to achievement. With a significant focus on Maths and English in the current curriculum, there are regular apocryphal stories, via social media, of children in Primary school having a diet of Maths and English (and PE if they are lucky). So, in removing what was seen as a burden on teachers, to make judgements across different curricular areas, where the descriptors supported aspects of progression, the unintended consequences might be the removal of a common language for discussion and a severely limited curriculum.

It is easy to see how the different elements that make up Teaching and Learning have become more stylised, in order to ensure that each decision point is easily pointed out to an external moderator, or Ofsted.

So everything becomes a “thing” instead of a component in a cyclic process that is based around the central premise of getting to know the children as well as possible.

Planning becomes more rigid, to ensure that every teacher conforms and it can be explained easily. Differentiation can become a range of activities, rather than tasks with define challenge to need. Quality First teaching becomes whole class teaching. Assessment, instead of meaning prompts for in class teacher thinking and interactions, can mean checking the outcome after the lesson- (even Dylan Wiliam now sees AfL as responsive teaching). This approach leads to stacks of marking afterwards.
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​The trainees emerging from ITE this summer may well be entering a very different context to those in which they trained; after all, to be designated a Teaching School, the host school has to be “outstanding”. The receiving school must ensure that a professional mentor, capable of supporting the trainee is in place and has time to fully ensure that induction:-

Allows the NQT to settle early into the day to day running of the school, as a person of status, with colleagues, parents and children. (TS8)
Has good behaviour control operating within the articulated school system. (TS7)
Is able to plan effectively over timescales that allow for thinking time in between to ensure teaching of quality and to fill in any gaps in personal knowledge. (TS4&3)
Is aware of previous attainment, so that benchmarks are established early, to ensure no slippage. (TS2)
Is aware of assessment system in operation, to embed early in expectations. (TS6&1)
Allows them to think for themselves within each lesson and tailor responses to the evident needs of the children. (TS5)
In this way, some capacity is built into the system, enabling the trainee to become more autonomous over time. Not to do so condemns the trainee to be a dependent member of staff.

And, just reviewing the bullet points, the teaching standards could very easily be phrased as learner standards and expectations. They are, after all, two sides of the coin.

Allows the child to settle early into the day to day running of the class, as a person of value, with teachers, parents and children. (LS8)
With developing self-control, operating within the articulated school system. (LS7)
Able to involve themselves effectively over timescales that allow for thinking time in between to ensure teaching of learning and to fill in gaps in personal knowledge. (LS4&3)
Aware of previous attainment, so that benchmarks are established early, to ensure no slippage. (LS2)
Aware of assessment system in operation, to embed early in expectations. Knowing what to do to get “better” (LS6&1)
Allowing them to think for themselves within each lesson and expect appropriate responses to evident personal needs. (LS5)

Regular discussions, focused around Progress and Outcomes (TS2) can support wider expectations of learners and enable refinement in planning, exposition, in-lesson behaviours and post-lesson judgements about next steps.

After all, it’s all based on assessment; refined/agreed judgements.

Remember 24652=refinement.

In between Bank Holiday garden tidying, preparing a room for decorating, trips to the dump and then a couple of hours of painting, I've been seeing a constant stream of tweets about the year 7 "resits" proposed for those who achieve less than the "expected standard" in the recent testing. It has provided some food for thought. 

In a few weeks’ time, the results of this year’s SAT tests for year 6 children will be returned to schools to share with children. Some will have done well enough, while others won’t have done. That there will be a range is highly likely. That this range will tell teachers who was an able learner and the gradation, as a class list down to the child who has come “bottom”, will also be no surprise. They could have told anyone that anyway. They know their children after a year of hard work, like every one of their colleagues.

Transition is a testing time anyway, especially as it involves moving schools, for many, at year 2 and 6. Transition within a school can be testing, as children and teachers build an attachment for each other. By the end of any year, good teachers will have extended their children in all areas, to a point where they are unrecognisable from the children who entered the class only ten months earlier. They mature, physically and mentally, achieving at levels higher than the previous year. They, their parents and the teacher are proud of their joint achievements.

Ok, I can dream that it is like that for every child in every class, but, realistically, it isn’t perfect.

However, there are some aspects of transition that can cause stresses for receiving teachers, and have done probably always. The receiving teacher has to “get to know the children”. This can take a couple of weeks or so in a primary classroom, where a teacher will have worked with the children for 25 hours a week, across a range of subjects. Even at three contact hours a week, a Secondary teacher will take 7-8 weeks to have that much contact. That’s not changeable, although I have visited a few Secondary schools that have actively pursued more of a Primary approach, with one significant teacher for much of year 7.

Before levels, transition discussions were largely centred around behaviours and friendships, who was good at different subjects and who needed some help, reading levels, and their most recent maths, English and topic books. For Secondary transfer it was the behaviour and friendship issue that dominated, as they tested after entry.

Levels gave a common language for transition, with specific numbers attached to specific children. Understanding that all “3b” children were not identical was an essential element of transition, in order to ensure that “best fit” didn’t mean missing bits as the new teacher sought to move on from “3b”. This was a main driver in developing the “Two page approach to writing”, with associated individualised targets, to remind the teacher and the child about their next steps.
 
The “missing bits” in “best fit” that were seen as one reason for getting rid of levels, to me, are still embedded in the system. Children will transition from one year to the next with some having achieved within the year and others not having done so. If a child achieves at 60, 70 or 80% of the year programme, there will be “gaps” in their understanding, which, if not identified and addressed, will remain as unfilled. “Bridging gaps” only succeeds if the gaps are kept in front of teachers and children as things to work on. Tracking the gaps is a necessary part of teacher activity.

The SATs results will show those working at certain expected standards. Those who don’t reach that expected standard apparently will have to retake the year 6 test at the end of year 7. That suggests that either year 7 will become a reprise of year 6, especially in maths and English or that some will be separated from their peers (streamed) to be coached separately, identifiable as the “slow learner” group. Each will have specific areas of need; some will be minor, having missed “achieving” by a mark or three, while others may have significant areas of need and may still have after the end of year 7.

The year 7 resits will distort transfer and add stress to many vulnerable learners at a time when they will already have concerns. Their attachment and security needs will be many. If a school tests children on another scale on entry for their own data purposes, they might be able to argue not to undertake the year 7 SATs, but that will be a brave head.
Rather than the money for year 6 and 7 SATs, why not move the funding to year 4, allowing two years of the remaining time in Primary for issues to be addressed?

If teacher assessment within year 6 was moderated, with Secondary colleagues present, it would become part of year 6 and 7 CPD; agreeing standards.

If book use between year 6 and 7 could be locally agreed, they could transfer with the child, to be used on entry, maintaining earlier quality, as previous benchmarks would be evident.

If personal targets were all on fold out sheets, the receiving teacher would have immediate access to that information.

Secondaries have never really accepted Primary data anyway, preferring to retest, so that is likely to continue.
Just to send children to Secondary school “below expectation”, will do nothing for the child’s future learning, their parents’ understanding or the receiving teachers’ organisation. That’s one reason why the new system will not work any better than the last.

Why do we keep deceiving ourselves that these tests give a more useful judgement than teacher expertise? Whatever the score, knowing the detail of how to get “better” is the core of progress.

​The words are mightier than the numbers…

Shorter, focused questionnaires?

During Parent Partnership visits, the question of seeking parent views is often raised as a topic of discussion.
It can be a seasonal event, the sending out of the Ofsted questionnaire to seek parent opinions about the school. The return rate is often poor, when schools are asked and the outcomes often less than useful. Equally, not every school is good at reporting outcomes from questionnaires. The longer the questionnaire, the longer the set of answers needed, which doesn’t make for easy reading.

Instead of sending out a long questionnaire, sometimes several pages of questions, why not tailor a few questions each month, related to the school development agenda, recruiting parent views on areas that are of mutual interest. If you are considering changes in some areas, over time, focus on one at a time and ask questions that have obvious utility. Schools send out regular newsletters, so these can be on tear off slips, or filled in electronically through the website, prompted by text messaging.

At parent’s evenings, a single question at the door could have green and pink post its, to quickly capture positives and areas for improvement.

Feeding back to parents can often be a significant missing element within what can seem like high quality communication.

A number of schools are now using a form of “You said, we thought, we did…” as a way to report to parents the outcomes of comments from parents. Where this happens, parents value the obvious two way nature of the dialogue, even if the issue raised has not resulted in immediate action. To understand the school rationale and possible limitations in decision making is purposeful.

The “You said, we thought, we did…” response can be shared back via the newsletter or website, or, as I saw in one school, on a parent notice board. In all cases where this is an obvious feature of school life, parents comment on the very good nature of communication.
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This is such an easy tweak to make to school life, yet can have a significant impact on relationships.
 

What level of disorganisation can you deal with in life?

On a personal level, I think that, over time, I have become more organised, in order that I can then deal with the inevitable changes to plan that life offers. In order to ensure some element of home-life balance, as a teacher, I sought to ensure that marking was done at school before leaving, so that, if anything needed doing in the evening, or at weekends, it would be an aspect of planning. There were inevitable compromises, as meetings or training events impacted. There had to be some element of flexibility built in. As life impacted, too, when I was a headteacher, I needed work to be as organised as it could be, to enable quality time at home.

I have begun to wonder if technology, while making some elements of life easier over time, have actually made some elements of teacher life harder. An example of this would be planning.

Whereas, as a classroom teacher, my planning was handwritten in a hard back notebook, for me, as an aide memoire, today teachers can be asked to fill in an electronic proforma, with boxes designed to inform someone in a management role that certain aspects have been considered and often written in considerable detail. I would concentrate on the bigger picture, of the essential knowledge to be shared and particular needs of children to be considered, whereas now, I often see plans as scripts, developed from an earlier medium term plan. It is possible to think that teachers are being asked to over-plan.

This was an element that exercised me throughout my time as a headteacher, as I was aware that I needed to strike the right balance between my need to know what was going on in the school, in order to be party to and to be able to share the overall narrative, while at the same time, safeguarding the well-being of staff and ensuring that they had sufficient thinking time to develop practice.

The only way to take charge of this is to operate within different levels of interlocking organisation, starting at school level.

The curriculum was clearly developed within a planning structure that I have blogged about, with different timescales developed that enabled quality time for thinking.

In essence, the whole was based on

Every topic being developed as a “specification” that detailed the essential knowledge that underpinned the learning as well as the anticipated range of outcomes across a mixed ability class, based on capabilities developed from “level descriptors”.

Topics lasted as long as needed, not allowed to expand to fill a half term/term. There was flexibility to link topics where a teacher saw creative benefits. This allowed for subtly different interpretations each year.

An annual plan for each year group (see above), covering all subjects in outline, was developed on a July closure, before the new academic year, ensuring a positive start in September.

First two weeks in September given to a teacher topic to get to know the children well.

The second Friday of the September term given to admin for the year and time to develop a detailed overview of the remainder of the half terms’ plans, based on good understanding of children’s needs. A copy came to me.

Teacher short term and daily plans were personal, in any form that supported their teaching.

Teachers met with parents in week 3 or 4 in September to share the year plan and to share ways in which they might help their children during the year.

The school overall plans ensured that high demand times for teachers, such as report writing, February and June/July, were not subject to high demand training or meeting schedules.

Knowing that specific information is required at specific times allowed teachers to organise their own diaries to ensure that this was done, in so doing reducing the need to chase staff and add to pressure.
​
Knowing ahead of time that certain topics would be covered enabled library book exchange to ensure that there was sufficient stock available to support research, that high demand on some equipment could be managed and that necessary stock items could be ordered in time.

Good structural organisation also enabled quality thinking time to be planned and funded, so that development time could be focused and more effective, both in creation and dissemination of projects. Occasional slippage, caused by staff absence, or an unexpected eventuality, as can easily occur in school, could be managed more easily.

Reading. Using a well ordered colour coded reading system allowed staff to enable children to have free access to books for changing, maintaining interest and motivation. With guided reading books at teaching/challenge level, home books were at a colour below, so a greater fluency level meant children could read them for themselves.

Writing. Order and organisation was developed in the approach to writing, with books developed as personal organisers. This allowed teachers to interact with individuals with a known agenda for development. It supported dialogue and written feedback, so marking became more focused to need, so had greater impact.

The whole enabled a clarity of narrative at child, parent, teacher and school level, ensuring that everyone had as clear an idea of direction of travel as we could hope to achieve.

Additional linked blogs

Planning Learning
Director of education or scriptwriter?
Planning Permission?
Myopic planning?
Reading; essentials
Get them reading!
​Reading is a personal thing
Reading; between sessions
Reading dynamics
Fifty(ish) reading ideas
Reading; once upon a time...
Note making, not note taking...
Draft-check-improve/redraft
National writing project; revival time?
All writing in one exercise book?
Writing process; tweak your books
Exercise books as personal organisers?

Knowing the Children

The variability that one encounters when visiting a school is often greatest when working with the children. Their uniqueness can introduce you to relatively rare conditions or needs with which the school is learning to cope. Even when there are several members with a similar need, the differences are personal and there is little that one can do except seek to understand the needs of each and every child.

Knowing the children as well as possible as individuals allows for nuanced intervention where this may be necessary, minimising the disruptive effects that inevitably accompany any adult intervention.

Of course, the more one does this, the more refined become the judgements, from greater awareness. I would suggest that this principle would pertain across many aspects of life. There are two key ideas. Do you know what you are looking for and do you know what it will look like when you see it? Within this mindset, anomalies will be identified to be investigated in some form.

Learner attitudes.

While there will always be a range of attitudes with which children arrive at a school, deriving from their prior experiences, the preparation, modelling and articulation of expectations, from all the receiving adults working together as a coordinated team, provides the best possibility of children settling into their new environment.

Early years classes seek to provide settings that are similar to nursery or other pre-school group, enabling the children to feel comfortable in their new surroundings, within which they will begin the transition to more formalised periods of learning together.

It is important that positive attitudes are developed and maintained, as the children are then enabled to become more independent and active partners in their learning. Being offered opportunities, exploring, making mistakes and learning from these, across a range of challenges, supports a developing maturity.

Learner attitudes grow through understanding their place within the school, having a sense of belonging that derives from a good understanding of school expectation in terms of personal responsibility, for themselves, for their treatment of others and for their environment, as well as for their approach to their learning.

There are many schemes, some local as in Rights, Respects and Responsibility (Hampshire CC), or the UNICEF scheme, which provide background discussion topics that can be developed through assemblies, circle time or used to support one to one conversation.

Some schools extend these schemes to enable self-reference to adult support. This can often be seen in Primary schools as a form of lunchtime club, with a TA responsible for emotional literacy in charge. I have encountered self-reference opportunities in Secondaries, with different formulations of student support, including restorative counselling conversations.

A broad range of experiences that extend children’s understanding of their place in the world, through extending and broadening their minds, opening them to new possibilities is important, especially in areas of deprivation. Deprivation can be in cultural terms, with families not taking children to local areas of interest, libraries, galleries, museums or the local fields or the sea, even if they are close. Parent knowledge may preclude them from interpreting experiences to and with their children. An example may be an inability to move beyond the word “bird” to identify a blackbird, robin, pigeon, blue tit or wren.

After school clubs can offer areas not covered in the curriculum. This need not be a drain on teacher time, as a local sixth form college can be a source of willing workers able to offer a broad range of opportunities. These extra-curricular opportunities often provide opportunities for informal contacts that support in-lesson relationships.
Opportunities to do things together enhance a contributory, collaborative, collegiate approach to school, embedding formal PSHE into activities.

After a visit to a school, I was able to write the following about learner attitudes.

The children whom I met during the visit were, without exception, courteous, confident and articulate. They were allowed to speak freely and did so openly and honestly. They were a credit to the school. The discussions showed that the children were fully aware of their part in school life, could articulate their expectations and ambitions and knew in great detail how they could find the support that they needed should this occur.

They valued their school, their teachers and TAs, and saw how the school was enabling them to achieve at their best and represented a community that sees learning as the central feature of the establishment. There is a broad range of rewards, encouraging continuous involvement.

There are many layers of support for children’s behaviour needs, within the system, which allows intervention and decisions to be taken by both staff and children, being enabled to make “the right choices”. This is articulated through the “Going for Green” system, which was well understood.

The children are given responsibilities within the school, which they carry out with care, ensuring that their peers are able to learn effectively or are being supported emotionally. They value all that is available to them and take advantage of the many experiences available, in and out of normal school hours.

Induction and transfer arrangements are very effectively organised, with a significant body of evidence that shows clearly that the majority of children on the special needs register make good levels of progress within the school, specifically in reading and writing. There is a wide range of interventions, ably coordinated, utilising internal staff as well as external expertise. These interventions were highly valued by parents.

Specifics.

• Induction and transition arrangements very secure
• Communication systems in place throughout the school allowing children to articulate their views
• Children feel safe in the school and are regularly asked for their views
• Documentation illustrates the community feel of the school, with clear articulation of understanding individual needs, personalised approaches, broad understanding of the school community of individual needs and a strong support network surrounding children throughout their school experience.
• Children’s progress is tracked thoroughly.

Exemplar Primary, Exemplartown.
Set within a very built up, deprived area of Exemplartown, Exemplar Primary School is an oasis of calm and purpose which has a significant impact on the lives of the children and families, from two years of age.

I can only hope to capture the essence of the school in this report, based, as it is, on one day in the school.
Exemplar Primary School can rightly see itself as a beacon of excellence in Inclusion working within a broad local group that is working collaboratively to improve opportunities across the area.

The school has a very clear vision, articulated by the head and visible throughout the school, especially within very high quality displays but also through conversation, plans and other visual evidence. The term “Team around the child (TAC)” can be used to summarise the staff approach to the individual needs of the children. The school creates informal, internal TACs to oversee the well-being and educational needs of vulnerable individuals. Parents are fully involved within this process.

The following poem is offered as a summary.
Unity
(author unknown)
I dreamed I stood in a studio and watched two sculptors there,
The clay they used was a young child’s mind and they fashioned it with care.
One was a teacher: the tools she used were books and music and art;
One was a parent with a guiding hand and gentle loving heart.
And when at last their work was done, they were proud of what they had wrought.
For the things they had worked into the child could never be sold or bought!
And each agreed she would have failed if she had worked alone.
For behind the parent stood the school and behind the teacher the home!

Care for children and their backgrounds underpins the Exemplar Primary ethos and exemplifies a fully inclusive approach:-

• Seeks maximum academic success for all children
• Is focussed on the pursuit of outstanding teaching and learning
• Is focussed in the interest of relationships for learning
• Understands and cares for each individual
• Is a loving, fun and humane school
• Works with parents and children to raise standards and achieve excellence

I would want to recognise the substantial volume of work undertaken by the Inclusion coordinator, supported fully by staff at all levels, in collating such a wealth of information available before the visit, that was thorough, interesting, informative and gave a rounded view of the school.  Many thanks too, to the different people, staff, Governors and parents who came to share their views during the assessment visit. I’d particularly like to thank the children for their welcome. They were a credit to the school.

The school building is bright, well lit, well equipped and well maintained with main teaching areas and separate withdrawal rooms. There are well used connecting corridors. The building is significantly enhanced by very high quality displays showcasing children’s activities. The children treat the school with respect, enjoying the facilities on offer. They move around the site sensibly.

The children, parents, Governors and staff were very welcoming, positive and ensured that openness and honesty were significant features of the visit.

The vision of the Head teacher, and the Senior Leadership Team is demonstrated throughout the school, as evidenced through the conversations with the school partners, staff at different levels, parents, Governors and children. The vision is enacted by staff who articulate and model expectations, treating adults and children with equal respect, ensuring that the ethos is enabled to grow. Children respond accordingly, evidenced through the classroom visits at different times of the day. The processes which embed the philosophy are developed, modelled and described to ensure that there is clarity across all staff groups. Aspiration is also tempered by realism; possibilities are generated, then careful choice is made. Action is monitored and evaluated. Exemplar Primary School is a reflective school.

The over-riding impression given by Exemplar Primary School is of a school that has an understanding of what it wants to provide to enhance the learning experience for children. There is an energy and enthusiasm within the school which is clearly visible in the attitudes and behaviour of the children. There is a values-based ethos, based on openness, honesty and humanity, which ensures that the Inclusion agenda is assured. It is enhanced by the Rights, Respects and Responsibilities approach, helping the children to articulate their place in the school. 

There is very clear leadership, with a number of key staff working together as the SLT, through which developments are shared, enhanced, tested in practice and reviewed to assess impact. As a result the school benefits from the drive and enthusiasm of a supportive management group, which is communicated through the children. Around these hubs is a group of fully engaged, interested and energetic staff, whose voices are being enabled to be heard, but also valued by decision-makers, who encourage thinking and engagement to ensure that all decisions are based on the most secure information. Within this organisation too, individuals are mentored, supported and developed through structured in-house and external CPD.

The school policy for teaching and learning can be described as a dynamic continuum, based within clear themes.

There is developing evidence of:-
1) Analysis of evidence leading to quality information being made available to support
2) detailed planning, including the provision of appropriate resources and staffing.
3) Children in the best practise, actively sharing in their learning journey, which is
4) tracked and reviewed at regular intervals with
5) records being collated and disseminated, allowing the process to be cyclic and developmental.

The school is one where continuous development as a result of self-assessment is an essential element of all processes, ably led by senior managers. Systems are being strengthened as a result of testing and adaptation to need. This process is evolutionary.

Children and their learning is at the heart of whole-school development, with significant work being undertaken to ensure that personalised approaches to learning are a reality for vulnerable children, with a differential approach to the aspiration for all learners. Learning is tracked throughout a child’s schooling. Systems are in place that will ensure that quality information derived from attainment data will be available to teachers to support target setting.

The children are a credit to the school. They were invariably polite, happy to engage in discussion of their own learning and their experiences through their time at the school, although a few found discussion more of a challenge. They are partners in the running of the school, some being given responsibility through a variety of means.

There is significant evidence of good practice in Inclusion, across all categories of need. Inclusion is evident in every aspect of school life, ensuring that Every Child Matters and, as an extension, that every person associated with the school is also fully valued.

The Governing body is a strong element of the development agenda, ensuring that the school is more able to articulate strong reasoning for improvements and initiatives before committing funding. There are a number of active members, with broad expertise which is made available to benefit the school.

Parents express their pleasure at having their children at the school and endorse the view that the school is open, honest and welcoming, to their children and them as parents.

Kahlil Gibran:      Teaching:

Then said a teacher, "Speak to us of Teaching." And he said:
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of our knowledge.
The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.
The astronomer may speak to you of his understanding of space, but he cannot give you his understanding.
The musician may sing to you of the rhythm which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.
And he who is versed in the science of numbers can tell of the regions of weight and measure, but he cannot conduct you thither.
For the vision of one man lends not its wings to another man.
And even as each one of you stands alone in God's knowledge, so must each one of you be alone in his knowledge of God and in his understanding of the earth.

Significant strengths:-

• Open, honest and humane approach to the needs of the whole school community.
• Very self-aware, through review, quality assurance and good knowledge of school data.
• Planning being developed at different levels.
• Enthusiastic, supportive staff progressing the learning agenda.
• Motivated pupils.
• Parents, Governors and outside agencies able to provide broader support, but also appropriate challenge.
• A community where everyone’s personal and learning needs matter.

The level of discussion throughout the visit was of a high quality, with staff prepared to engage in discussion and debate. This openness is to be applauded as it allowed trains of questioning and a depth of thinking to emerge, which might support future developments. It is clear that teaching and learning are at the heart of the school thinking.

Area for reflection.

While there was evidence of differential challenge from teachers in lessons especially in English and maths, there was less clear evidence from children that they could articulate what they were seeking to improve in their learning.  It would be worth reviewing the detail of differential challenge across the ability range, where there is potential for less clear articulation of expectation, which in turn might lead to slightly reduced performance by significant class members. See the discussion topic below.
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Consider the impact of peer to peer learning dynamics as a model of what is possible, especially the impact within setting, where a narrower ability range might limit visualisation of what is really possible, especially for less able learners.
 

Much of June and July was taken with work associated with parent partnership, through the Leading Parent Partnership Award, something that’s been part of my work portfolio for the past nine years. It offers opportunities to go into schools wishing to improve aspects of their links with parents, to discuss fully and to audit their current approaches and to offer ideas that might be explored as ways forward in that context. The process can take up to 15 months to put together a portfolio of evidence, with associated evaluations and subsequent decisions. It is always seen as a journey.

The motivation for each school is always subtly different. Some have an action from an Ofsted visit, arising out of the parental questionnaire, others have a new leadership team and want to establish a new way forward that is distinct and complementary. Others have been doing it for years and want some recognition that they are doing it well.

The common feature within all these schools though, is the realisation that communication is the key element of a successful journey. To be successful, this communication needs to be two way, whereas, in reality, it is often information from the school, being passed to the parents.

There is a need to explore all aspects of communication, from the “front of house” element, the smile on entry and early attention, to the internal and external formats to ensure that everyone knows what they need to know in a timeframe that allows the information to be useful and ensures as full a participation as possible.

“Front of house” is very important. If a parent feels able to approach the school, via the office and knows that “agreements” made will be carried through, they can go away happy, knowing that their child is safe and, if followed up with a reassuring call, the rest of the day is calm. A concerned parent can turn into a disgruntled parent quite quickly, with consequences within the home that might lead to negativity from children.

“Parent Voice” is a key aspect, in that, if parents feel that they have a partner voice, where they are enabled to be participants in discussion, they feel valued as part of the journey. Some schools have alternative arrangements, such as parent forum or parent council, but, in my experience, these can become small, almost cliques, which over time excludes the larger group of parents, especially as they can be self-selecting in the first place. Many schools rely on the narrower vies, so then come across difficulties at the margins.

It is very important to have mechanisms by which general views are sought. This can be through questionnaires, but, in practice, especially if they are once a year, these are often large documents, which results in a small, unrepresentative response. Single questions (or small number, with a clear focus) can be a more viable methodology, especially if the school is seeking evidence on a specific topic. Some schools have adopted a post-it approach, whereby after an event a board is put at the exit, with two colours of post-it, one for WWW, another for EBI, of similar wording. The commentary provides a response that allows reflection on the outcomes of the event and food for thought for changes before another.

In asking questions, it is a good idea to feed back to the audience. Most of the schools with which I worked were happy with a “You said, we thought, we did” approach within either their website, newsletter or on a notice board, depending on the best approach for their parents. This loop demonstrates to the parents the value of involvement. They are encouraged to take an active part, in all aspects of school life.

The positivity of the involved parents improves the “word of mouth” aspects of relationships, so that they become the ambassadors for the school in their catchment, offering positive messages and encouragement to parents who might be feeling negativity.

The bottom line is that (the vast majority of) parents want to feel that they have a continuing role to play in their child’s school life. By making it easier for them to interact, in a variety of ways, the school demonstrates that they are welcome as partners. This positive partnership rubs off on the children, as it is clear that home and school work together. It is not a one-way street, with either the school or the parent as the dominant partner.

In many ways, the simplicity of this is to find appropriate ways to engage fully with parents.

• Schools need to know the children and their parents if the relationships are to be maintained.
  
  
• Where the school intake is very widely spread, some schools have taken parents evenings to a venue that better suited the parents, especially if they are reticent to step into a school building, as they had a poor experience.
  
  
• Some schools have “parent outreach” staff members, either teachers or support staff, who do home visits as necessary, or are the faces when a parent needs to come in and talk, with a role to follow through with whichever staff member is needed.
  
  
• Many schools send home an outline of the half term or the term ahead, with topics being encountered and suggesting ways in which the parents can help at home, by highlighting the probable home activities.
  
  
• Some schools ensure translation of written information or have essential language staff available to engage the parents during discussion.
  
  
• One school, knowing that they had a large population from a specific country, went to their meeting venue, spoke with the acknowledged leaders, used the venue for discussions and brought the leader(s) into the Governing body, ensuring visible representation.
  
  
• Teacher and school letters are often close typed, and written in ways that require a good level of education to understand the nuances. To know the parents and to make sure that newsletters are discussed in a heritage language, or with parents known to have reading issues, can be the difference between parental comfort and discomfort, enabling the children to participate fully in school life.
  
  

Making parents into partners in the learning journey is an essential good. While they will acknowledge the work of the school, any negativity that can easily build, as a child encounters barriers to their learning progress, can become exaggerated within the home, as the parent seeks to make sense of what is happening.

Openness, honesty and excellent communication, in a range of formats, can support and maintain the positive partnership.

A challenge from Emma Kell (again), for blogs on being a teacher parent led me to suggest that this could be a very useful summer holiday blog theme. So I thought, as I had formed the suggestion, that I’d better do mine.

I started teaching as a youngster; not quite straight out of school, but a life adjustment (one year in Australia, where my A levels were disrupted) and career hiccup in a science lab (a year counting worms and getting mightily sea sick), led me to consider a career in teaching. When I started I was already married, but no children on the horizon. Although I started in Secondary education, my heart and soul were in Primary, so I soon found my niche.

As a “probationer” teacher, I will always remember my first parent evening, when, as a twenty-something, I was dispensing parenting advice to thirty-plusses, with an assurance that was, on reflection, probably misplaced. Fortunately, no-one told me how off the mark I was. Maybe any advice was reassuring, that someone was prepared to engage in discussion. It was an area that attracted a large number of settled traveller families.

Of course, I knew about child development; I’d read the books and attended the lectures, but the real world, of watching children grow and change, apart from the teaching practices that lasted 14 weeks, extended exposure to children had not really featured, and those who had passed through my tender care as a developing teacher could all be handed back to their parents at 3.30pm.

It was a few years later when our first child came along. There’s a strangeness about the first. As a parent, you have no yardstick. There are the norms, of which you are aware, so I dutifully counted arms, legs, fingers and toes and then discovered we had had a little girl, then cried, as the birth of your child is a hugely emotional point in one’s life. And she couldn’t be handed back, at any time.

It is hard not to reflect on Jean-Jacques Rousseau at this point, as the development of one’s own child is a marking of small changes, adaptations and each new “phase”, the crawling and walking and talking. Were these stages at an appropriate time? How fast is the change? There is a mental ticking off from a hidden list that either allows for comfort, or creates a discomfort that has to be investigated, such as health issues like size, sight, hearing, or developmental issues like speech.

We were a talking and doing household, both being teachers, so tables became dens with a blanket, books abounded, as did drawing, painting, modelling in clay or junk, puppets, poetry, songs and lots of stories. Visiting places of interest, or just out walking gave space for lots of pointing and “look at the…” developing both interest and a background language. Preschool experiences built on these, with the addition of socialisation with others, an essential aspect, especially for the first born and the only child in the family at that time.

Then came school, and we were lucky that the Reception teacher treated us just as parents, supporting us and our daughter into school. It was a first for us, as a family, and it was a partnership. Home-school diaries, common in the 70s as an ongoing reading record, as well as general background, helped the conversation between home and school. We still see that reception teacher, who asks how each child is, by name.

It was often a different picture as school developed. We had a strong child, able, exploratory, interested and sociably. Some teachers sought to bring us into a form of conspiracy, teacher and parent dominant, seeking to suppress some of the stronger tendencies. Conversations would develop along the lines of “Well Mr and Mrs C, (or they’d use first names if they thought we were “friends”), you’ll know how it is with…” As she could read, write and do basic maths, just through experiential talking, before school, she was a challenge to their system. And that was the challenge of teacher parents, who had an inkling of how to bring up children effectively, did their best, offered a width of experience, close parenting, talking and time. These conversations were hardest with teachers who did not have their own children, so had limited empathy. Our growing of our child and later a couple more, was causing a problem to the system. They were “advanced” for their age, both through nature and nurture.

There can be a down side to being bright in such a structure, as under-challenge leads to boredom and occasionally to behaviour that causes a problem for the teacher. That leads to “interesting” discussions between teacher and parent. As a teacher, it is often the case that “I expect…” leads the discussion, whereas for the parent, it is more a case of “How are you challenging…? This can lead to a minor conflict of interest. Both parties want the best, but see different routes to achieving that. The scenario can be worsened, if, as a teacher, you might hold different views and approaches to the class teacher on how to deal with the issue, as this is also a meeting of equals. It occasionally got worse as I got promoted, but it also enabled more nuanced discussion with informed and confident class teachers, to everyone’s advantage.

One occasion did need the “heavy” approach, when one teacher favourite in a junior class made negative comments to the teacher, which effectively resulted in the teacher bullying our child, which caused significant distress in the home. Knowing how things worked, I was able to write a letter to the head, which resulted in a class move and internal changes. The head knew she was on thin ice, especially if she did nothing. It was the only time that I used my “position”, but it was good preparation for issues in headship, where similar things occurred, which were my responsibility.

Secondary education was the classic of distant parenting. Where we had been close supporters of Primary education, the transfer to Secondary started a dissociation, apart from parent evenings and one occasion where we were “called to the school”, with a deputy head who sought the dominant position. Parent evenings were often less than satisfactory, as the reports were often generic and the discussion based on the marks in a book. One or two teachers rarely looked at people directly, but stuck to their books. As these were open to see, and as I learned to read upside down, I was able to point out that the teacher was talking about a child other than ours, which was embarrassing, to say the least.

Being a teacher parent taught me a number of things;

• Prolonged lack of sleep, or illness causes behaviour change, in adults and children, but, as the adult, you can’t back out of the responsibility.
  
  
• Children 1, 2 and 3 are all different, even in the same family. They have multiple differences at the start and throughout their development. They are their own person, not clones. Girls are very different, to each other and to their brothers. Teachers shouldn’t expect on the basis of an earlier sibling. They make progress at different rates and in different ways. Bringing up children in such households is a “team game”, with involved adults coaching their offspring as the need arises.
  
  
• Teacher parents are likely to have strong minded and independent children, with articulacy and a broad range of experiences and interests that have been stimulate and developed.
  
  
• Teacher parents are likely to spend quality time, including weekends and holidays seeking out or creating child appropriate activities that build on inherent interests, or that are likely to develop an interest.
  
  
• Confident children may, as a result, be seen, simplistically, as arrogant, with negative responses. It can be based on the premise, “What can you expect from teacher parents?” Presumed confidence can hide other issues.
  
  
• Teacher parents know what colleagues are talking about, so talking straight is usually the best approach. However, you are not colleagues, but the teacher responsible for the learning of their child. Ensure the correct relationship develops.
  
  
• A working relationship is just that, a relationship, based on mutual understanding of each other’s role. It cannot and should not be presumed, just because the parents are teachers.
  
  
• Parents have aspirations for their children, from a simple enjoyment of all things to do with learning, through to the successes that will enable them to choose their next steps from a range of options.
  
  
• It is the child’s life. They have a view and should have a voice. My default position, which carried me through 16 years of headship was to say to children that they would tell me “their truth”, their view of an issue, but that I would check that with others. Parents sometimes want simple outcomes to what they see as simple problems. Too hasty a decision can result in an escalation of a problem, and, when parents become involved, problems can be prolonged.
  
  
• I learned, as a teacher, to look more closely at each individual child and to work closely with their parents, so that there were no hidden agendas. This honest approach enabled parents to approach the school and to rapidly resolve issues, as we carried out promises. Teachers, parents and children worked as a team.
  
  
• It was the progress of each individual child, who held a special place in the school that became the hallmark of the environment. Every child and every person mattered, long before that mantra was used politically.
• Being a teacher parent does not ensure that you are a perfect parent, nor does it mean that you have perfect children.