Interview With The Headteacher

A forward:

I wrote the first draft of this post just after finishing an extended first placement with a secondary school as part of my SCITT training. I’m glad I wrote it then and not later, before I discovered how difficult my second placement school would be. Had it written it later it may have been tinted by my now rose-tinted nostalgia for that excellent first institution. There’s a  naive air to the original piece, which I’ve left intact below intentionally to contrast with the experience of working in my second school. What I know now is that optimism and meaningful, top-down leadership were practiced with such ease in that first school that I took them to be the norm. 

In that first drapht below, I (fondly, and with great respect) compare their headteacher to a vampire for the sake of a cheap writing hook. If I extend the B-movie metaphor to my second school I would, not so lovingly, compare the headteacher to a ghost. An apparition. A poltergeist, not-so-mischievously moving things around without ever being seen. Appearing once a week by the seance of a video link in briefing. Lecturing a pre-recorded assembly to the students from a podium, talking in idioms and only missing a coloured rosette pinned to their lapel. Teachers extolled what a fantastic headteacher they were, but when pressed, could not conjure any justifications for the sentiments. I think what they meant was “the head doesn’t bother me”, or, “the school has a good reputation”. What I saw in practice was absence. An absent head means an absent SLT. An Absent SLT means an absent head of faculty. An absent HOF means an absent department head. An absent department head leaves a feedback vacuum, no direction and rock bottom classroom teacher wellbeing. Training in this vacuum was difficult and upsetting. In the spirit of an open mindset, however, I will go to my first job in September with all of my values intact and strengthened by a clear example of what I do NOT want to do or be as a teacher. 

I don’t want for this slightly laboured forward to distract from the point of this post, which is to provide a window of insight for teachers at the start of their career into what drives a headteacher. I do, however, think it’s important to acknowledge the positive impact of a hands-on headteacher. When applying for jobs in schools, make sure your values and principles are aligned with those of the headteacher and make sure you feel valued and respected by them and, where possible, ask classroom teachers their opinion of the current headship.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Parents (and Carers) Evening

If you were to survey Trainee / Associate teachers about the aspects of teaching that are most likely to induce sleepless nights, I’m pretty sure that behaviour management and Parents Evenings would be jostling for poll position. Though commonly referred to as a Parents Evening I’m going to refer to these events as Parents and Carers Events (PCEs) in this article as a way of acknowledging the broad church that encompasses the home lives of the students in our care. A small but important distinction.

My time working as an unqualified instructor teacher pre-training and pre-COVID afforded me the benefit of insight into how PCEs operate both in person and in our brave new, blended digital world. The awkward scrum of an in-person PCE will be familiar to all teachers lucky enough to be working in schools pre 2020. Anxiously anticipated by parents and carers, students and teachers alike, these events facilitate a collision of worlds and can run high with emotion and nervous expectation across the board. Confrontation was the great fear amongst teachers, exposure among students and embarrassment amongst parents and carers.

Usually demure, school hallways throng with students leading their parents and carers around, clutching dog-eared pieces of A4 paper with (usually) incorrect appointments scrawled on them. Queues around the academic ‘subject-du-jour’ department tables contrast lonely looking (usually) Art, PE and DT tables, hoping to mop up the stragglers and sell parents and carers the virtues of their subject area.

Student helpers happily serve value brand tea, bad coffee and biscuits from a repurposed maths desk and everywhere a certain kind of magic hangs in the air that can only happen when two groups of people jointly, but separately responsible for the care of another come together to compare their experiences.

That, rather romanticised, view of a traditional PCE has been contrasted this past year by the somewhat cold, functional and arguably more efficient formality of the digital PCE. Arrangements are made via shared documents and meetings held via video call. A digital format has no doubt allowed teachers to reach a larger audience when considering the access and flexibility around video calling, though the omni present digital divide and screen fatigue may balance those advantages to a familiar equilibrium.

Digital or in person PCEs come up against the same pitfalls. PCEs can serve to highlight socio economic differences and disadvantage amongst our cohort. For example, Anill’s mum will sit diligently making notes about expected grade levels on her macbook pro, whilst David’s older sister covers for his step-dad who’s working the nightshift to make ends meet. As teachers we carry preconceptions about students’ home lives, based on their behaviour in school. Parents and carers will come to PCEs with expectations influenced by the communication they have had with school, good or bad. Students will be anxious. Two leviathans of their lives coming together, potentially exposing things they would prefer hidden. PCEs can also be fantastic opportunities for building relationships and giving students the tools they need to build independence and agency.

The confrontation that stirs the fears of teachers occurs when a heady mix of expectation, emotional investment, frustration and poor communication mix together at a PCE.

Using my experience to this point, and advice from influential books and the advice of colleagues I’ve come up with a pragmatic guide to avoiding confrontation and building successful relationships with students, their parents and carers and most importantly, surviving your first PCE experience.

  1. Be prepared
  2. Thanks yous and apologies
  3. Enthusiasm and positivity
  4. Empathy
  5. speak to the student
  6. Demonstrate an understanding of needs.
  7. The Don’ts
  8. Pass it up when you need to
  9. End with practical next Steps for the student

1/ Be prepared

Preparation is key with PCEs. Spend some time ahead of the event checking pupil profiles, looking at students work, grades and performance. Write a short script that includes what your student is working on, how they are performing and what their next steps are. Include any functional information that may be useful (timetables, whole school events, changes to the exam board or curriculum). Plan your time and include a minute or so for questions. Prepare for the unexpected, because something unexpected will happen. A student without an appointment, an unexpected difficult conversation, some unexpected information about a student in your care. Know what you’re delivering and who to turn to if you encounter a problem you can’t deal with.

2/ Thanks yous and apologies:

Parents and Carers have most likely had to make special arrangements to attend your parents evening. You will have in-depth knowledge of how the child in their care is interacting with the curriculum you have a significant investment in. Some parents and carers will want to know everything, blow by blow. Others may appear disinterested. Either way you will likely have 5 minutes of their time only. Start off by thanking them for making the effort to attend your appointment and apologising for the time constraint. show them that you appreciate their time and value their opinion.

3/ Enthusiasm and Positivity

Speak about your subject matter, the school, the department, the Scheme of work and the student with enthusiasm and positivity. Put aside any preconceptions you may have and use your energy to focus on the positives of each and every student in your care. Parents and carers may need to hear some negatives but always back them up with a clear path for how the students can move forward with positivity.

4/ Empathy

An easy element to overlook, especially if you are speaking about a student you are struggling with in class. Listen to parents and carers and be aware that your most difficult students are almost always those with the most complex needs and home lives. Some student’s home lives may surprise you, a PCE is an opportunity to build supporting relationships with parents and carers and your students – approach each appointment wth empathy and understanding.

5/ Speak to the student

By speaking to the students at PCE events we are giving them agency over their relationships with both their parents and carers and you, their teacher. Speak to them directly. Ask them how they are feeling about your classes. Some parents and carers will want to rule the conversation and have lots of questions and some will come alone without your student. In these cases steer the conversation back to your student either directly or by inference.

6/ Demonstrate an understanding of needs

I can’t stress this enough. Check your pupil profiles and be prepared. PP, SEND, SEMH student’s needs dont stop at the school gates.  If you are struggling with behavioural needs, their parents and carers are likely experiencing the same thing. Be direct and empathetic about a student’s specific needs, speak to the student directly and show them that you are aware of their needs and want to help. Ask if there are any things that work at home, or offer successful strategies you have tried in school. Demonstrating you understand the needs of your students to their parents and carers will build trust, help communication and ultimately benefit your relationships with your students.

7/ The Dont’s

DON’T attribute blame, bring up specific confrontations, bring other students into the conversation. This is an opportunity to build positive relationships and bringing up specific confrontations, attributing blame or bringing other students into conversations will come across as petty and acusationary. Insead garner an atmosphere or positivity and enthusiasm (see point 3)

8/ Pass it up when you need to

No matter how well you have prepared or how positive you are, confrontation can still arise. Historic bad relationships with school, breakdowns in communication, differences in opinion and more can lead to a confrontation in a PCE. Use your empathy and stay calm. Try to understand their point of view. Rather than escalating a situation, exemplify a measured, pragmatic response. Know who you can refer aggrieved parents and carers to. Heads of year, pastoral leads, SENCOs, deputy heads or even head teachers are all good examples of members of staff you can ‘pass up’ a problem to. Always follow up – this is vital to building good relationships. Make your communications with aggrieved parents and carers and relevant staff members transparent. Prepare some statements in advance, emotions can run high and words can be hard to find in the moment. For example “I’m sorry to hear that Mr Smith, I’ll pass that on to Ms Warwick our Pastoral lead to follow up with you”  or “ I’m afraid I can;t answer that but I will pass your concern on to Ms Davis our head of year and they will follow up with you”.

9/ End with practical next Steps for the student

Appointment successfully navigated, parents and carers happy, student delighted – finish up with some practical next steps for your student based on your discussions and deliver it to them. “Jane, next steps for you will be asking our TA to spend some extra time with you in class”. “Mohummed, next steps will be to include detailed annotations in all of your technical drawings”

10/ Experience is key

Nothing beats experience. Make sure you have a role to play in a PCE during your training. Draw in the experiences of your colleagues and approach each event prepared, enthusiastic, positive, empathetic and practical.

I hope some of you have found that list useful, share your thoughts and experiences with me on twitter!

A Personal, Personal Statement

Part of my intention on writing this blog was to highlight the experiences of training as a teacher in 2020/2021. I wanted to share a recent job application I made to a school as part of that journey. As a kind of meta-cognitive introduction I felt I wanted to express that I found sharing this made me feel oddly vulnerable. I’ve never been very comfortable with praise, or thought of myself as very self-congratulatory so naturally I wrestle with writing about myself in personal statements. Having said that I also found the process of writing this application to be cathartic. It gave me a space to unpack some of the learning and experiences of the SCITT course I’m currently enrolled on and to start to bring together my emerging sense of pedagogical ‘handwriting’. It also helped me to sharpen the pencil on what I want from a career as an educator. I’ve applied for innumerable jobs during my career outside teaching, but this one felt different. More important maybe. It was nice applying to a job and feeling like my voice and approach mattered. Not having to drag up old tropes such as ‘works well independently or as part of a team’ felt liberating. The knowledge the SCITT has given me felt like something to be proud of. If you, like me, are currently learning to educate I hope you find this useful. Names of institutions/training bodies/cities have been (indiscreetly) changed. If you can guess where I sourced my nomen novum I’ll give you a polo.

Hi I’m Robbie, an associate teacher of Design and Technology enrolled on the Lakeshore  SCITT, currently placed with Bash Street School, with whom I have a standing relationship as visiting lecturer and instructor teacher of Design and Technology. I attended the virtual Staff Information Event and so much of the Greytowers School ethos inspired me. I’m excited by the opportunity to apply to the Greytowers School and I hope you enjoy reading about my experiences and pedagogy to date.

As an introduction I’d like to talk you through my aims and values as a teacher. I am passionate about providing equity in access to education for all learners. During my time at Bash Street School I have sought to instil a presence of mind in all learners that will serve to foster ambition in them. To me the aims of education are to improve the lives of students and those of their wider community. I aspire to demonstrate integrity by example for students through a nurturing, whole child approach to teaching and learning with kindness at its core. Access to opportunity is important to me, I have a particular interest in the role of self esteem in our most vulnerable learners. My teaching practice with Bash Street has had a focus on access to education for SEND and SEMH students through an empathic approach to excellent teaching practice. One of my core aims is to help ‘close the learning gap’ created by the realities of living in a diverse socio economic community such as Beanotown. I believe in quality first teaching practices that support all learners and provide opportunity to access cultural capital.

Through my practice and wider reading I have developed a special interest in behaviour management. I have elected to work with Bash Street School literacy intervention groups in addition to my training timetable. Students within these intervention groups can present significant behavioural needs. In this time I have built meaningful relationships, particularly with students on the Autistic Spectrum, by providing pastoral and teaching support. I believe that a whole school approach to behaviour underpins the facilitation of a successful learning environment for students of all backgrounds. In my experience I have found that positive classroom culture is built by the bricks and mortar of enforcing routines, positive reinforcement and high expectation. A robust behavioural policy provides essential opportunities for praise at a functional level, as well as the grounding of a consequence system. I strongly believe in behaviour as an expression of need and that self esteem in learners is essential to their feeling of inclusion in, and contribution to life in a school. I’m very interested in the Greytowers School approach to a centrally planned curriculum in providing a consistent learning environment, which I believe is key to inclusion for vulnerable learners. I was impressed by the approach to formative assessment and use of intervention with a focus on integration and the value placed on your evidence based approach to teaching and learning.

The Greytowers School electives program excites me as a teacher and a creative professional. I feel that to attempt to ‘close the gap’ we must offer equity in opportunity and access to cultural capital for all – especially our most vulnerable. In my experience the most vulnerable learners in schools often miss out on opportunities to experience cultural capital and expand their personal ambit and grow self esteem. Personally I would love to offer my tacit knowledge and industry experiences as a tailor, fashion designer and small business ownership to foster an elective interest amongst students and share real life experiences as a means to inspire aspiration. My previous professional experiences have helped to lay a foundation of transferable skills that I have built upon to start my long held aspiration to teach at a secondary level. I have dedicated my career to Design and Technology, a subject that, educationally, links vast areas of the wider secondary curriculum and promotes critical thinking processes as well as promoting creative skills. The practical application of concepts that Design and Technology offers can provide an accessible immediacy, excellent for well being and self-esteem in all learners. It’s particularly effective for those students who may struggle to experience success in other areas of the curriculum. During my time at Bash Street School I have had experience working as a lead teacher in KS3, 4 and 5. I hold mandatory, subject specific health and safety certificates enabling me to use and teach a large, cross disciplinary variety of design equipment. I currently specialise as a Textile Design teacher, though I have experience teaching Product Design and Food Technology with Bash Street School as well as speaking as a visiting lecturer of Art and Design with Monsters University Art and Design Foundation.

The Greytowers School vision of a broad and balanced curriculum, with academic knowledge at its heart is of particular interest to me. Working as an Instructor teacher and training as an Associate Teacher both with Bash Street School during the COVID-19 pandemic has helped me to think hard about the aims of the Design and Technology curriculum and how to best deliver it without access to specialist facilities of equipment. I have found success in supporting students through developing my own accessible scheme of work I have been delivering both in person and remotely. This scheme of work is grounded in the underpinning principles of my subject area and designed to offer opportunity for success to all. I also look forward to re-integrating blended learning experiences (digital and in person lessons) to help support SEND, SEMH and PP learners in the future and to continue to develop my personal pedagogy in a nurturing environment.

I practice a reflective, support based approach to teaching and learning grounded in cognitivism and quality first teaching approaches. My mentor, Morpheus and the Design and Technology department at Bash Street School have been instrumental in developing my personal pedagogy, directing my lesson planning, as well as building valuable pastoral relationships with students and their parents and carers. I have a personal interest in pedagogy and have really enjoyed the access to CPD provided by the Lakeshore  SCITT and the wider teaching community. I recently started a reflective blog document my journey as an Associate Teacher:  https://atoxrobbie.edublogs.org/ with an aim to share my experiences with, and learn from, a wider community of learning professionals.

I would love the opportunity to discuss how my experience and skills could make a positive contribution to the Greytowers School. The prospect of working at one of Beanotown’s newest secondary schools really inspires me. I have a keen appreciation for the school ethos and would love to work with the Greytowers School in developing effective practices that can make a difference to young learners’ lives in such unprecedented times.

Quality First Teaching, The Hype Cycle and Cognitivism.

In my last post I shared a link to Tom Sherrington’s pragmatic approach to transferring Quality First Teaching practices into the digital classroom. I wanted to reflect on why I think this is so important through the lens of an excellent digital NASBTT CPD I recently attended, a new book I’m reading and to share the successes I have experienced in my own digital lessons (sharing success is so important right now!).

Gemma Taylor, STEM Ambassador, NASBTT contributor, Digital Design industry veteran, Design and Technology (D&T) teacher, Mum and all around megastar multipotentialite hosted a digital CPD session this week that I was lucky enough to attend. In this seminar Gemma extolled the virtues and value of Digital Design. As a D&T teacher myself, I feel it is an often overlooked subject area. D&T links vast areas of the wider secondary curriculum and promotes critical thinking processes as well as promoting creative skills. The practical application of concepts that D&T offers can provide an accessible immediacy, excellent for well being and self-esteem in all learners. It’s particularly effective for those students who may struggle to experience success in other areas of the curriculum. But what happens when we can’t get learners into the D&T classroom using software, machinery or learning hands on skills in person?

What really stood out to me from Gemma’s engaging session was her passion for subject knowledge and the value of Quality First Teaching. ‘Teach the skills, not the software’ as one of the attendees affirmed in the chat. Remote teaching has created a ‘digital divide’ – a socio-economic learning gap ever widened by access to software and equipment. The haves have and have not’s have not, inequity laid bare. The point Gemma pressed is that if we can’t provide students with the latest tech or software, we should instead teach them the underpinning principles that allow them to apply their knowledge. Learners will have plenty of opportunity to apply this knowledge in their education and in their future lives as independent adults. This applies to all Design and Technology areas, Textile Design, Engineering, Graphic Design, Product Design, Food Technology and more. Teach the skills not the process. This applies to all full stop.

The other benefits to Quality First teaching I have picked up on through my own practice have been gleaned through maintaining ‘classroom hygiene’. Patrick Garton recently published a NASBTT guide to behaviour for early career teachers that, amongst other pragmatic and empirically proven advice, promotes the importance of routines in managing behaviour. The content of this book is gold for teachers at any stage in their career. The underpinning values transfer with surprising ease to the digital classroom. For example, good practice such as taking formal registers and making expectations explicit, following school behaviour policies, questioning and feedback are all transferable to our digital classrooms.

An example from my own practice: I know it’s easy to skip the formal register when you’re having connection issues. It feels acceptable to let a learner get away with replying with ‘Hello’ in the chat box instead of following whole school protocols, turning their mic on and saying ‘Good morning Mr Haddock’. These events can seem like trivialities given the wider adversities of the COVID-19 pandemic. NO. I say the formal register has never been more important. I stick with a student, sometimes for minutes on end until I get a ‘Good morning Mr Haddock’ out of them. I would in school so why not online? These routines and protocols serve to provide comfort, structure and routine to learners. The first 5 minutes of a lesson sets the tone and the expectations. If I get a successful formal register, no matter how pained, I nearly always have upwards of 90% of the class submitting good quality work at the end of the lesson. The students know I expect only the very best from them. We need to get the mechanics of the classroom right to enable learning, this is true online as it is in the classroom. Slow down. Don’t worry if you don’t deliver every concept you planned in your digital lesson. Get the protocols right, the rest will follow. Quality Teaching First!

NB – These sorts of protocols work best as a whole school approach and I am very lucky that the school I am placed with has been blazing a trail in the remote learning world. The school started practising digital delivery with all year groups very early on in the school year and adapts quickly and efficiently to the changing face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her Majesties Government could learn a thing or two from the calm, pragmatic approach and communication skills of our current Leadership team.

Back for a moment, if you will, to Gemma Taylor, who went on in her CPD seminar to introduce us to a wonderful concept called the ‘Hype Cycle’ – a graphical representation dreamt up decades ago that explains the life cycle stages a technology goes through from conception to maturity and widespread adoption. Very appropriate for the now, don’t you think?

Consider online learning using the Hype Cycle. During the first lock-down I was working as an instructor teacher and looked upon the new idea of ‘video call lessons’ (the innovation trigger) with starry eyes, filled with excitement about how it was going to help us deliver learning to all during the unfolding pandemic (My peak of inflated expectations) Very quickly I and the rest of civilised society fell hard and fast into the trough of disillusionment (ouch). Access to technology for the most vulnerable in society, connectivity issues, transferring schemes of work into a digital format. You name it, we all felt it.

For me now the dust kicked up by falling from that great height is beginning to settle. Thinking about my practice using a cognitivist approach as laid out in Daniel T Willingham’s fabulous ‘Why Don’t Students Like School’ has helped me look past the immediate challenges of teaching online. Through the practice of delivering digital lessons we experience challenge. Challenge helps us to ‘think hard’ about our subject matter and delivery. Memory is the residue of that thought. The practice/challenge/think/memory cycle develops schemata – the interconnected network of memories and concepts. A developed schemata, a cache of memories linked to experience can guide us to independent thought, helping develop better classroom practice. Keep repeating the whole process until you begin to drag yourself up the slope of enlightenment towards that shining beacon that is the plateau of productivity. By combining a cognitivist approach with good classroom hygiene and Quality First Teaching principles I’m beginning see glimpses of that glorious plateau with each protracted ‘Good morning Mr Haddock’

Now, cameras on year 8 it’s time for the formal register!

Reflections on Digital Teaching and Learning

Howdy folks, my first blog piece – and what a time for teaching and learning! The UK is two weeks into it’s latest lock-down during the COVID-19 pandemic and educators everywhere are breaking new ground everyday. It’s an exciting and challenging time to be at the frontier of the what feels like the biggest shift in how we deliver learning in contemporary history. I have decided to spend this term reflecting on my experiences of the impact of digital learning on all students as it’s happening.

In this reflection I consider the impact of digital learning on SEND and SEMH students and how digital learning may offer an opportunity to further support them in the future, as well as the importance of independent working in promoting resilience in all students.

For all of it’s shortcomings (of which there are many) the digital classroom environment can be of benefit to SEND learners, particularly ASC students who struggle with the sensory overload that can be part of life within a school. Whilst it is important for these students to experience some challenge in order to build their resilience and better prepare them for the world at large, the digital learning environment will no doubt serve to help those SEND students whose disabilities may severely impair their ability to integrate into a physical school environment.  Offering a ‘blended’ learning experience, supported by the progress made in technology and digital pedagogy over the last year of changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect through wide school closures may serve as a solution going forward, offering a classroom experience with less physical and mental barriers to learning for students with specific SEND/SEMH needs.

Through my own digital classroom practice I have observed SEND students who display significant behavioural needs in the school flourish through remote learning. I have been particularly impressed by formative assessments gathered from students on the Autistic spectrum who have shown improvement in their recall of subject knowledge, class contribution and a significant, sometimes total decrease in disruptive episodes during lessons.

The process of planning and delivering digital lessons has also afforded my time to reflect on how much independence we can hand over to learners. Independent thought is widely considered an aim of education, rather that a mechanism of learning. Having said that I am experiencing the importance of ‘independent work’, a form of individual, self directed learning in building resilience and promoting challenge in a school day now dominated by screens and remote accountability.

The digital classroom creates a vacuum between teachers and students. Without face-to-face interactions and facing communication issues brought about by the very real limits of technology in 2020/21, building relationships with learners has become challenging. All teachers I know have had issues with access, communication and lesson flow. Registers that won’t load, clumsy, outdated management systems that don’t talk to digital learning platforms, access to equipment for the most vulnerable and of course: Internet connection issues.

The added challenges presented can lead teachers (including myself) to want to increase their control on the lessons and learning of their students – with the perfectly conscientious aim of making sure students get the most out of every second of every lesson in what feels like such an imperfect learning environment. The reality of the situation is that we as teachers must accept the limitations of the situation and seek to make them work to our benefit. We can use the time connectivity issues afford us to encourage more independence in our students.

Classroom observations of a year 7 tutor in my school and the wisdom of my in-school mentor both attest to the power of silence in a lesson. Silence can improve concentration, build class culture, help settle SEND and SEMH students and encourage all to ‘think hard’ about activities set by teachers, promoting memory. Digital students, free from the distractions of the classroom can spend more time on individual work tasks. This practice encourages resilience and promotes self esteem by allowing students the processing time they need to think hard about concepts and reducing the amount of time they need to be ‘on’ during the school day.

I have found that planning digital lessons dedicated to teacher supported individual work, off screen has helped my students to concentrate, improved recall, formative assessment, classroom culture, well-being and even attendance. Tom Sherrington recently published a fantastic blog on digital lesson structure and how Quality First Teaching is transferable to the brave new world of remote learning https://teacherhead.com/2021/01/10/remote-learning-live-or-offline-cover-the-basic-elements/

In conclusion, educators are at the coal face of the biggest seismic shift in how we support learners in living memory. Though it feels like light-years away, life and classrooms will return to some semblance of normality and the COVID-19 pandemic will, eventually be confined to the pages of history. The progress we are making through every lesson, no matter how painful it can feel will pay dividends in providing vital extra support for SEND, SEMH and LA students who need it most in the future. Like so many additions to our cultural lexicon brought on by COVID-19 such as wearing face-masks in public and the stark re-appropriation in the use of the word ‘bubble’ digital learning may well outlive the legacy of the pandemic.