essential pieces - johntomsett€¦ · dropping any pieces on the floor. of the 15 pieces in this...

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Essential pieces THE JIGSAW OF A SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL

By Professor Tim Brighouse

Professor Tim Brighouse is Chief Advisor toLondon Schools and Visiting Professor forInstitute of Education. One of the UK's mostrespected educationalists, Tim has probablyobserved every aspect of teaching practiceduring his 45-year career to date. An expertvoice on school improvement, Tim isregularly on radio and television and hasspoken at many national and internationalconferences.

Tim also likes jigsaws.

About the author

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Thanks are due to the thousands of headteachers and teachers I’ve met in the last 45years, but most thanks goes to those in thelast 20, during which time I’ve becomeobsessed with the issues in this booklet.Particular thanks to all my colleagues inadvisory services, especially those inOxfordshire, Birmingham and London.

Acknowledgements

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Understanding the picture ........................................................................................4

The corner pieces

“We share values, a vision of the future andwe enjoy telling stories.” – doing the right things ..................................................9

“Our language makes the school.” ..........................................................................11

“The school is a beautiful place.” ............................................................................12

“We try to do things right in our school.” – taking a stand on detail. ................................................................................15

“In our school we sing from the same song sheet.”– the elusive quest for consistency......................................................................17

“Our teaching, learning and assessment.”................................................................19

The straight-sided pieces

“We develop all our staff.” ......................................................................................23

“We listen and involve our pupils.” ..........................................................................24

Are we data rich and information poor? ..................................................................26

“We understand and welcome change, because change is learning and that’s our business.” ..................................................................28

“We practise learning walks.” ..................................................................................31

“We are fussy about appointments.”– it’s a privilege to work here ............................................................................32

The wiggly pieces

“We value and involve our parents and the community.” ..........................................35

“We make our school personal. Every child and adult matters here.” ..........................................................................................36

A piece that dropped on the floor?

“We communicate, collaborate and are creative.” ....................................................39

Postscript....................................................................................................................42

Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................43

Contents

Tim Brighouse A5 doc 28/2/06 8:55 am

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It wasn’t until 1977 that HMI published “TenGood Schools”, the first serious attempt todefine what makes a school outstandinglysuccessful. It broke new ground. A couple ofyears later, Michael Rutter published hisfamous “Fifteen Thousand Hours”, a pieceof research which proved that how schoolsare managed and led made a hugedifference to pupil outcomes.

Since then, thousands of writers andresearchers have entered the field, fuellingthe ‘school effectiveness’ and ‘schoolimprovement’ debate.

Head teachers, meanwhile, shake theirheads. They’ve heard it all before: “Thetheory is fine. But our reality doesn’t quite fitthe theory. It’s much messier than you makeit sound.”

Yet, for these very head teachers, the questto improve becomes more urgent. That fickleweather vane ‘parental choice’ ischampioned by all politicians, and theposition of schools in the local league tablebecomes more important. Ofsted, too, maycome visiting.

A framework. A processI’ve spent more than 20 years championinga framework of school processes which, ifwe learn ever more about each of them, is likely to help any school get better. Here they are:-

Leading – at every level and recognisingthe need for different styles in differentcircumstances and at different times.

Managing – again at different levels,ensuring that everyone plays their part ingetting the detail right.

Creating a fit environment – visually,aurally, behaviourally and in a way thatencourages learning.

Learning, teaching and assessing – thebread, butter and jam of schooling. Itoccupies everyone’s time.

Developing staff – not just teachers butall staff, by making sound appointments,providing thorough inductions andextensive further professionaldevelopment, which combines individualand collective need.

Self-evaluating and critically reviewing– an activity that prompts gradual or greatchange and which is now back centrestage after some years in the shadows.

Understanding the pictureBefore we embark on this fascinating (and hopefully revealing)

journey, we need to recognise one rather startling thing: ‘School

Improvement’ is still in its infancy.


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Involving and connecting with parentsand the community – often overlooked,but key if the more public place that is theschool is to be accessible to all who mightbenefit and contribute.

I would still defend a focus on learning evermore about these processes. As a guidingcompass and map as we pioneer newterritory, it’s proved invaluable to me andmany others. Through developing andresearching case studies, writers – andabove all, practitioners doing the job – have widened our understanding of each ofthese processes or some close variation ofthe process map. Head teachers, however,still furrow their brow and say, “That’s fine – but it’s not that clear. My circumstanceswon’t fit that neatly drawn map.”

And so to this bookletThis booklet has been put together as aresult of three recent events.

First, some wise and experienced personsaid that she thought that two sorts ofheadship were doomed. Schools wouldnever succeed if:

1. the head teacher was laid back to the point almost of inertia; or if

2. the head teacher believed he had a recipe, which, if precisely followed, would be successful.

As we discussed further, we agreed that we’dseen very lazy and unfocused head teacherssucceed, where they had the good fortune totake over a highly successful school with astable staff full of intellectual curiosity. But the ‘recipe merchant’ head? Well…no,neither of us thought we’d seen that

succeed. Too many head teachers come acropper second time around. But now I’mnot so sure…

Where’s the formula?The second event arises whenever I’ve visiteda school, which has recovered its sense ofdirection and pride after falling on hardtimes. I ask the (usually new) head teacher,“Well, what did you do?” The reply is alwaysthe same. Whatever the head teacher’s style,whether understated and calm, cool anddetermined or outrageously busy, the replyusually contains the phrase: “Well it’s notrocket science. We just concentrated ongetting a few essential things right”.

Energy, enthusiasm – and hopeIrrespective of style, head teachers sharethree essential qualities in large measure – energy, enthusiasm and hope. Thesecommon qualities and this unanimity of view– that it’s doing a few key things right –have always made me wonder if there really is a formula: a sure way to solve thepuzzle of making a school successful,whatever the circumstances – if only theleader of the school follows faithfully all of a few essential steps.


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The third event, which has changed my view,is the way in which schools over the yearshave responded to a simple description ofsuccessful schools. It was written by theAmerican researcher, Judith Little, as longago as the early 1980s. “Schools aresuccessful,” she claimed, “when thefollowing four things happen:

1. Teachers talk about teaching.

2. Teachers observe each other teach.

3. Teachers plan, organise, monitor and evaluate their teaching together.

4. Teachers teach each other.”

I suspect the reason why these statementsare so persuasive, is that you canimmediately see how each of them can bemade more likely to happen.

1. Teachers talkFor example, the first is more likely if allschool and faculty meetings are aboutteaching, assessment and curriculum.Business is never discussed there. More likely, too, if the head teacher, at theend of a school day, visits the staffroom totalk informally about her own teaching. This shows how, by use of open discussion,she hopes to improve it. It’s even morelikely if staff are expected in turn to circulateinteresting things they’ve read – aboutteaching, learning or their subject of course– on a regular programmed basis.

2. Teachers observeThe second – teachers observing each other – will happen if teachers have theopportunity to observe each other in afocused way. So, involvement in initialeducation and training of teachers is an

opportunity to facilitate inter-classroomobservation. This involves three parties:senior teacher, trainee and colleague in theplanning of a lesson together, followed byunthreatening observation of each teachingthe same lesson and then collectivelydiscussing their different approaches.Another example of how to make it happenwould be to use one of the five annualinset/training days for staff to have focusedvisits to comparable schools in session. A team follow-up discussion would explorewhat’s been learned.

3. Teachers planPlanning, monitoring and evaluating their work together will happen if there isthe expectation that every departmentfacilitates it. This affects the nature ofmeetings; moderating each other’smarking; and the device – three teachersplanning a single lesson and then allteaching it (as mentioned above). In oneschool I know, all three are encouraged. It organises its timetable so that staff canbid for time to do one of these threeactivities as a part of non-contact time. They can participate either on a regularbasis or in one of non-metronomic ‘days’ or ‘weeks’ that break up the metronomicrepetition of the conventional timetable.

4. Teachers teachThe fourth, teachers teaching each other,demands a change in approach to staffdevelopment. Professional developmentmeetings in school time where colleaguesshare practice will ensure teachers teacheach other.


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Is it that simple?This short booklet, then, is meant to start adebate about (say) 15 requirements which, if followed, will surely bring school success.“Well,” I hear you say, “it can’t be thatsimple.” And no, it’s not. For you have topossess sufficient emotional intelligence, a form of intelligence which like any otheryou aren’t simply born with but can develop,to ’read‘ and then act on the human contextin which you operate. It could be a remoterural community at one extreme through to a turbulent challenged inner-city set ofdisparate communities at the other. Context of people, place and organisation is everything. So many school leaders,whether heads of school or department,have succeeded in one situation only to fail in another.

Enter the jigsawSo, having set the limits on my claims, let’sget on with the 15 steps – but only afterusing one more set of imagery as a finalcaveat. The 15 steps are not sequential, norare they simultaneous, although ultimatelythey all interrelate and depend one uponanother to keep a school developing. They are more like pieces of an interlockingjigsaw. Completing the jigsaw takes somepeople more time than it does others. The picture begins to emerge as a coherentwhole. It’s how quickly you can recognisethe shape and the whole that helps solvejigsaw puzzles more quickly. So it is with schools.

A final point deserves notice. When solvingjigsaws, most people have a strategy. They put in the four corners first and thenproceed to the straight-sided bits.

They collect the blue bits of sky into a heapand then try to discriminate between thedifferent shades of blue. They try to avoiddropping any pieces on the floor.

Of the 15 pieces in this hexagonal jigsaw,I’ve indicated six corner pieces. The rest arestraight-edged or wiggly. At the end, I’ve triedto suggest some of the subtleties to considerwhen you tackle the blue bits, some of whichare in this booklet and others that can onlybe determined by you reading correctly inyour own particular local context.

So, let’s get started…


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Corner pieces


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It is a truism to say that successful schoolshave a high degree of shared values.So, shared values might include:• Being committed to success for all

members of the community, rather thansuccess for some at the expense of others.That’s why norm-referencing is such adangerous fellow-traveller for schools,where we have a moral duty to treatchildren as they might become, rather than as they infuriatingly are.

• Seeing intelligence not as ‘given’,‘predictable’ or ‘general’, but as ‘multi-faceted’ and infinitely capable ofdevelopment. This is a really tricky one, notleast because it’s counter-intuitive to all thepractices of our own earlier years andthose of previous generations. But mostpeople recognise intuitively so many of thenon-academic intelligences; not just the art& craft and physical or visual and musical,but also the emerging interest in growingand developing what’s now called‘emotional intelligence’. Also, in particular,the capacity to understand oneself andother people and act accordingly.

• Trying to be inclusive rather than exclusiveas a school community.

• Practising formative and ipsativeassessment – that is measuring the pupils’understanding of the next step in their ownlearning and ensuring they act on it, while

trying to improve on their own previous best.

• Ensuring that young people realise thateducation is a ‘lifelong’ not a ‘once and forall’ activity.

These values derive loosely from, andcertainly need to be put alongside, the moralprecepts that we all associate with thereligions and classical philosophers.They will inform the whole community’sactions, particularly those who lead and havethe most influence on the school community,namely the head teacher, staff and olderpupils. They know they have to live with theknowledge that there has to be a consistentthread between ‘what they say,’ ‘what theydo’ and ‘who they are’.

To these constantly-upheld values, the schoolattaches its straightforward ‘mission’statement. That is what they stand for and aretrying to do. A ‘mission’ statement might say,”Our school is a place where:

• all talk of ‘our’ achievement and everyoneis anxious to improve on previous bestcollectively as well as individually..

• all pupils are increasingly aware of theirpotential and that it is without limit if theymake the effort..

Corner piece“We share values, a vision of the future and we enjoytelling stories” – doing the right things


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• everyone respects each other, feels fulfilledin what they do and contributes to thefulfilment of others..

• the full range of success – sporting,academic, artistic, practical support forothers, triumph over adversity – iscelebrated..

• all members of the school community arecommitted to their own continuous learningand support that of others..

• everyone is aware of the school’s collectivepast and present success and is ambitiousto contribute for the benefit of futuregenerations to that legacy..

• we facilitate these aims and promote thefun of learning and the pleasure ofachievement.”

The ‘vision’ statementThe separate parts of these missionstatements are reinforced at assemblies, atawards ceremonies and parents’ meetings,and in tutorials. They may find expression ina list of next priorities in development plans.At staff meetings and in staff developmentdays, the skillful leaders speculate and thenformulate a ‘vision’ statement. If the schoolhas a ‘vision’ statement, it will be framed ina description of what the school will be likein five or so years into the future. It will belinked to what people are doing now andwill have done in the future to reach theimproved state of affairs envisaged. It can,and sometimes does, take the form of avideo with accompanying text. Usually thefruitful areas for change lie in adapting andmaking the best use of the e-learningtechnologies, but will also encompasschanges in the local and global world. For instance, today it would be likely and

desirable that a Newham school revisiting itsvision statement would make full use of the2012 Olympics.

The vision statement will be revisited fromtime to time, updated regularly by a ‘SchoolImprovement Group’, charged with comingup with ideas which are aimed to createcontinuous improvement to all aspects ofschool life. The ‘School Improvement Group’will comprise a cross section of all staff at alllevels: it may seek the views of pupils andparents if they aren’t already part of thegroup. Members of the group will have onething in common: they will be ‘energycreators’ not ‘energy consumers’.

They will be ‘what if’ seekers after silverlinings, who ask “how we could”, ratherthan tired cynics, who see clouds, regardeverything as half empty and say “why we can’t”.

Finally, the school is a place where storiesabound told by leaders at all levels. They are good stories – there’s no betterstory teller than the good teacher – and thestories will focus on both the past and the future, which, after all, is the school’s business.


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Language can make or break a school.Careless talk can sap a school’s energy. The energy and motivation of even the mostoptimistic and willing colleagues can soondrain away. So, using “we” rather than “I”and “you” is important, not simply in thespoken word, but in written form too. You can use “I” when taking the blame and“you” rather than “we” when giving praiseand celebrating genuine success. It’s herethan the current buzz word ‘personalisation’comes in. Letters home, supposedlyindividual and personal, which refer to “your son/daughter” and fail to mentionnames, are impersonal. Of course, generalmessages of information are different; buthere too presentation is important. Morethan one successful head teacher has toldme that the most important job they do is to write the weekly newsletter home, andhow important it is to find the right wordsand tone.

“Non-teaching” staff is as offensive as itwould be to refer to “non-white” staff orpupils. It probably betrays a subliminalmessage about a hierarchy of the value putupon certain tasks and certain people in abygone age. Continuing to use ‘generalability’ descriptors to describe ‘bands’ or‘streams’ or referring to the “bottom set” intheir presence (or for that matter at all?) is

the modern equivalent to stamping‘remedial’ on the inside cover of a book. It will encourage a misplaced notion ofgeneral ability, rather than the moregenerous multi-faceted form to which aschool may be saying it subscribes. Using “learning” instead of “work” is also a plus rather than a minus. (It’s amazingwhat a difference it makes to refer toyoungsters getting on with their learningrather than work).

The written language used in jobdescriptions, the school prospectus, jobadvertisements, marking, school reports andstaff handbooks is as vitally important as thespoken word in assemblies, tutorials,lessons, the corridors and the playground.All meetings are redolent with impliedmessages in what is said and in the bodylanguage of participants.

It’s a topic worth having a knowledgeableoutsider check from time to time. Or perhaps it’s one for the SchoolImprovement Group.

Corner piece“Our language makes the school”


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The importance of the physical appearanceof a school was brought home to merecently, by being one of the judges of a re-run of The Guardian’s famous “The schoolI’d like” competition, which inspired EdwardBlishen’s equally famous book of the samename around 30 years ago.

With my fellow judges, we sifted the finalshortlist of 40 or so of the thousands ofschool pupil entries the competition hadinspired. It was a salutary experience: one ofthe most vivid was from three year 8 pupils,all boys. Their school was a 1960s system –built steel-framed cluster of boxed andconnected buildings in a sea oftarmacadam, with a moat of a drive througha small windswept muddy field. The videofilm left little to your imagination, as wevisited the usual squalid lavatories, thedesolate flaking corridors and doors and thelitter-strewn playgrounds. It was sustainedfor ten minutes by a humorous commentaryfrom the 13 year-olds. We paused to meetonly one adult, the motherly librarian,working in an environment which contrastedwith the rest of the barren school; awelcoming adult in a beautiful oasis of calm.The film ended with a ‘zoom out’,incorporating all the glass and rottingwooden clad and panelled building with the

words, “in our ideal school, all of this wouldbe the library”.

It didn’t win, but one of the entries which didgive a similar message as follows:-

“My ideal school could never exist. There isno reality in idealism. I dream of happinessand learning united. I dream of nointerruptions. If I went to my ideal school, Iwouldn’t wake up every morning anddread the next day, the next week, the nextyear and the rest of my life. In my perfectschool, we would only have the teacherswho knew and understood what they weretalking about, they would all be passionateabout the subjects and help us to unleashour passions. In my perfect school therewould still be rules, but they would guideus, not confine us. Teachers and pupilswould mix harmoniously. There would beno grading, praise only for working hardnot for your mental capability. I wouldn’thave to try to compete with my friends andthey wouldn’t all want to be better thaneach other. We would not be concernedabout whether we did the best in the class,but only about whether everyone washappy with what he or she was doing andhow he and she was progressing. Therewould still be punishment, but thesepunishments would matter to the pupils.

Corner piece“The school is a beautiful place”


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They would have to miss their favouritelessons for a week and have to take doublelessons of their worst lessons instead.

We wouldn’t be confined within walls ofstone: we would go outside and experiencethe weather. We would travel andexperience other pleasures. We would gainan understanding of the way of the world.Exams would be abolished, people wouldwork together and alone, they would useother people’s knowledge to enrichthemselves and others would be the samewith them. In my perfect school, therewould be no bullies, there would be noinsecurities. We would discuss our opinionsin every lesson and everyone would listenand respect each other. Teachers and pupilswould be equals, no privileges ordisadvantages, everyone would be in thesame boat. In my school, the only thingsthey would ban would be unhappiness and pain, no room for lying, revenge and deceit.

But to have my perfect school, you need a perfect world, and if there were a perfect world, there would be no room for dreaming.”

Let’s return from dreams and turn tolavatories.

LavatoriesFor generations, school lavatories have beenlocked or are places where pupils visit only‘in extremis’. (Children’s bladders over theyears have suffered in ways best left to theimagination). It doesn’t have to be like that.Some schools now see the lavatories as atouchstone of whether the improvementsthey’ve made are simply skin deep.Involving what’s called ‘Pupil Voice’, they

suggest to the School’s Council, issues thatare concerning the ‘School ImprovementGroup’, seek their comments on the issuesand ask about omissions. The School’sCouncil are then provided with a budgeteither for the school or a part of theresources required to solve the particularproject. The School’s Council can beguaranteed to raise issues which affect theenvironment. So the lavatories are very likelyto be on their list.

There are many solutions now claimed byschools. The best ingredients, apart frompupil involvement in identifying solutions,include refurbishment, installation of smokedetectors that only go off in the main office(so miscreants can be caught with a‘smoking gun’ as it were), and then regularinspection of the toilets either with paidattendants or regular patrols of schoolcouncil members and staff of the school.

Lunch hourChances are the school will also receivecomment on the lunch hour and the queues.Lunch hours too can be transformed.Solutions range from condensing the lunchhour to abolishing it altogether. The formercan involve:

• ensuring that all support staff have dutiesin their contract to help with supervision.

• providing a rich range of activities, runeither by the permanent staff, seniortrained pupils with staff supervision or’bought-in’ entertainment.

• having a clearly thought-through andimplemented practice of music, used as‘choice’ background with DJ – a rota of


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‘wannabe’ pupils – during the lunch houror as background calming music tomodify behaviour. (Certain music affectsmood – and of course disposition to learn– in different ways).

• changing the nature of the playground.Here, the pioneering work of “Learningthrough Landscapes” has meant that theconventional tarmacadam can betransformed into a varied sequence ofspaces defined by plants, structures andsculpture.

• welcoming pupil access to the carefully-designed and well-supervised range ofICT facilities, including those permeatingthe library, where pupils can pursue their‘independent study’ or ‘homework’assignments.

The abolition of the lunch hour has beenimplemented by a few schools. Anybodyembarking on that option needs to visit aschool that’s done it and reflected on theoutcome. Schools I know that have done itare the Compton in Barnet and Ninestiles inBirmingham. Each refurbished their diningarea and catering facilities, a solutionincidentally frequently pursued by thosewishing to minimise queues. Then the twoschools tackled the timetable, so pupils fromdifferent age groups (linked to faculty orsubject) are off-timetable at different times.For instance, between 11.45am and1.30pm, groups have their lunch together ina setting of no more than 250. During their‘spare’ time, after eating and while othersare in learning, the pupils are encouragedto pursue studies or take part in supervisedplayground activity. Both schools report“transformation”: by choosing different age

groups to eat together, they have minimisedlarge peer group behaviour problems.

Thirdly, there are very few schools inchallenging areas which would go back ontheir decision to have pre-school breakfastclubs. Opportunities include access forpupils and staff to morning papers and anenvironment calmed with appropriatebackground music.

All these measures – the lavatoryrefurbishment, the playgroundtransformation, the use of music, theencouragement of access to pursueindependent learning, the change in thelunch hour, the start to the school day –minimise opportunities for bullying andreduce stress for staff. They are all part ofcreating an environment fit for learning.If music, food and water (alwaysencouraged to be readily available inlessons to enhance concentration) arecrucial, so also is the visual backdrop to learning.

PresentationHere, secondary schools still have much tolearn from primary schools. Scratch anyexperienced primary teacher and they willhave a critical eye on display. Pupils’ work isbeautifully mounted, with an eye to all pupilsgetting in on the act. Wall displays alsoinclude a reinforcement of language,scientific & mathematical thinking andspeculation. Different parts of the circulationspace are transformed into grottos, thinkingareas, and quiet rooms with frequentreinforcement of the school’s key messagesabout what the community stands for andhow members of it behave one to another.


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One of the most debilitating school featurescan be poor organisation and management.The neglected banging door in the corridor,the continually dripping tap saps energy. So too do day-to-day practices in the school,which are honoured in the breach. Everyoneknows what should happen, but it doesn’t.What are the essential ingredients to smoothorganisation? There are perhaps four.

The staff handbookThe staff handbook is the school bible and isat the heart of its smooth organisation. Timeand again, schools which fall into difficulty,realise too late, that they’ve allowed theirstaff handbook to fall into neglect andtherefore be overlooked.

First, even in the smallest schools, thereneeds to be a staff handbook, whichincludes in loose leafed form all the school’spolicies and practices – a simple A4 sheetfor each policy and practice. On this sheetwill be a brief statement of both policy andthe implications for practice, with the nameof the member of staff responsible forleading the next review of policy andpractice and the date on which it is to bereviewed. There are also the names of theteams of people responsible forimplementing different aspects of the

practice. When there is any change – andwith changes in staff, this is inevitable – therevised version is formally included as anitem of information at staff briefings and thereplacement sheet inserted in all copies.Usually there is a copy in the staff room,faculty areas and the school office.

The best schools now have their staff handbook in electronic form andreadily available to all through their e-learning platform.

Job descriptionsThe second element of doing things right isthe nature of the staff job descriptions.Crucially they will relate to the staffhandbook in the sense that the descriptionof ‘lead’ and ‘support’ responsibilities fordifferent aspects of school life will bereflected in the language of the jobdescriptions. So too the tasks necessary tocarry out the policies. The best schools nowavoid a long list of duties ending with thecatch-all “and such other duties as may fromtime to time be determined” preferringinstead to list ‘primary‘ or ’lead‘responsibilities along with ’secondary‘ and’support‘ responsibilities – the latter usuallyin teams. Job descriptions are closely linkedto ’performance management‘ or ’staffappraisal‘ or ’professional development‘.

Corner piece“We try to do things right in our school” – taking a

stand on detail


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(Different schools use different languageaccording to the climate they are seeking toencourage for those closely related activitiesand the emphasis they think appropriate forindividual staff discussion).

In the best schools, job descriptions areprovisional and subject to review andchange after a specified period. In this way,leadership can be reviewed and rotated tothe benefit of the individual and the schoolsas a whole. The third vital element of ‘doingthings right’ is the staff inductionprogramme. Of course, the essential detailsfor the staff induction programme – theunderlying policy and the details of thepractices – will be included in the staffhandbook. But it is worth picking it out: itbecomes a vital support to maintainingconsistency where there is high staffturnover. Staff induction must encompass allstaff – teaching and support alike. It shouldcontain a common element for all withfaculty-based (including administrative teamfunction) elements. The timetable will usuallybe on an annual cycle. It will offeropportunities, for those who arrive either atthe beginning of the school year or during it,to have a brief, repeated, generalintroduction. This should be followed by asequence of modules, carefully focused onwhat the school knows are the vital elementsin ‘singing from the same song sheet’. Thereis, in addition, a guide for part-time andsupply staff, so they, too, know what it is theyare expected to do to support the school.

A fourth major and essential element is thecalendar of events, which all staff see andnegotiate before putting in new entries, thusavoiding clashes and potentialrecriminations.


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This is the most intangible and elusive, yetvital, part of a school’s success. It lies at theheart of what head teachers call‘consistency’. Clearly, the larger the school,the more important and tricky the issuebecomes. After all, if you lay down tooprecisely what everyone must do, thenindividual flair and creativity will wither.Moreover, the most imaginative, freethinkers among the staff will soon seek newpastures. At the other extreme, wherevirtually anything goes, the school begins to fall apart. The smaller the school ordepartment, the easier it is.

It’s pushing the case but the moredysfunctional a school or departmentis, the more tightly the ‘singing fromthe same song sheet’ rule needs to bedrawn agreed and – most vitally of all– followed by everyone. The moresuccessful, the school or department,the more leeway there is – not leastfor experimentation.

Are there things which are absolutelyessential in ‘singing from the same songsheet’? Probably there are. I list below threepractices, which any school will feel aresusceptible to examination and debate. I justwant to ensure that each school hits the right

note in their own particular version of thesong they are trying to sing together.

1. LessonsClearly, some agreement about theplanning and recording of lesson plans isnecessary. Whether it should be a three-,four- or five-part lesson will vary within andbetween departments, or indeed be laiddown within descriptors of other possiblemodels. But, for example, there willprobably be agreement about ‘greeting andseating’. That is to say the teacher isexpected to be at the classroom door toallow pupils to go into the classroom tosettle at their desks. Of course, there’s aworld of difference between carrying outthat process well and doing it not-so-well.Do you stand between the open door andthe opposite door post, increasing thelikelihood of pupils brushing against you,while ignoring them as they enter, except torebuke? Or do you spread the door openwith welcoming arm allowing maximumroom and have a word with every pupil,perhaps beckoning a prospectivetroublemaker to whisper jocular threateningsweet nothings in his/her ear? Once inside,is there a convention that all staff, from themost to the least experienced, from thestrongest to the weakest, sets the seating

Corner piece“In our school we sing from the same song sheet” – the

elusive quest for consistency


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plan that suits them best? Is this ritualsignalled across the whole school at year assemblies in the first week of eachhalf-term?

2. The corridorsIn one school, the pupils confessed to methat groups or gangs of pupils controlled thecorridors. The school, of course, wasdysfunctional except, as they observed, forthe maths department, where a strong headof department had created an oasis oforder. In another school, however, theconversations between staff and pupils incorridors, at break times and at the start andend of the school day were pleasantly casualand frequent. So, conversation in corridors isan essential part of ‘singing from the samesong sheet’. In some schools, as we shallsee later, this includes some focusedconversations with particular named pupilswho, for one reason or another, are deemedmost at risk.

Some minimal ground rules on display areanother feature of corridor policy fordepartments/houses/stages. So, too, isagreement on the rapid retrieval of litter.

3. BehaviourUnless there is consistency on expectationsof behaviour, everyone in the school suffers.There is an American programme called“Consistent Management ConsistentDiscipline” (CMCD), which has been tried bysome schools in challenging circumstances.All schools involved claim it is successful.When one describes the main features, theyseem obvious. Teachers agree that whenanyone wants silence they raise their handsand expect the pupils gradually, but rapidly,

to do the same. The same practice continuesin staff meetings. Every half-term, everymember of staff – even the best – allocatestheir revised seating plan for their lessons.Pupils are prepared for it at year assembliesby the head of year and the head teacher.Pupils apply for classroom jobs and aregiven them: one is to be the ‘questionmonitor’, involving using a beaker with all pupils’ names on sticks and choosing one randomly, whenever a teacher requireda respondent.

Primary schools will recognise the ‘applyingfor classroom jobs’ strategy. They will use‘circle time’ and train pupil mediators, bothto be found in secondary schools too, wherethe full array of peer tutors, peer counsellorsand peer mentors reflect a structure thatallows pupil involvement and pupil voice.

All schools mark out a preferred ratio ofrewards to sanctions. All are carefullyrecorded, as are minor and major incidents,so they can be analysed and practiceadjusted accordingly.


19

At the heart of any really successful school isteaching, which leads to learning. Ultimately,after the successful assessment of work bythe teacher, it enables the pupil to assesstheir own work, as they become increasinglyautonomous learners.

Of course, it can be argued that theintroductory reference to Judith Little’sresearch into successful schools are schools,where: • teachers talk about teaching.

• teachers observe each other teach.

• teachers plan, organise, monitor andevaluate their teaching together.

• teachers teach each other.

This is all very well. As I claimed, it doesmake you think of the things you could do tomake it more rather than less likely tohappen. But what if we changed it a little tothe following:

• staff TALK about learning.

• staff OBSERVE each other’s learning.

• staff PLAN, OBSERVE, MONITOR &EVALUATE their work TOGETHER.

• staff LEARN from each other.

Then we should be forced to think of all thestaff and what they all contribute tolearning. It would have implications for staffmeetings and those who belonged to theSchool Improvement Group. The third pointof reviewing together would ensure that, atthe time of self-evaluation, everyone’scontribution was valued. There would beimplications for staff rooms too.

It leads us into pushing learning squarely as a consequence of teaching. In thequestion of teaching, in addition to themodels of the three-, four- or five-partlessons with learning objectives andplenaries, there are some time-honouredaspects to teaching; that any school’s policyand practice will cover as they seek to movefrom ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’.

Among them will be the use of questions in teaching.

Questions, questionsMuch has been written about sequencing,distribution and the rules of pause. Someschools, however, only allow pupils to puttheir hands up in certain prescribed andthought-through circumstances, preferringthe teacher to direct questions of anappropriate nature to different pupilsaccording to where they’ve reached in their

Corner piece“Our teaching, learning and assessment”


20

learning. Other schools wishing to ring thechanges have a ‘question monitor,’ with theteacher posing the question, again carefullyconsidered as to difficulty, and the ‘questionmonitor’ takes one of the 30 sticks each witha pupil’s name from a beaker.

Teachers are expert in four orders ofquestion, each using the seven questioningwords: “When”, “Where”, “What”, “Why”,“Who”, “Which” and “How”. First orderquestions are questions of fact; second orderquestions are questions of inference; thirdorder questions are ‘surprising’ questions;and fourth order questions are ones of‘conditional hypothesis,’ preceded by thedevilish “if”! I sometimes think ‘surprising’questions are the same as ‘Fermi’ questions.Fermi was an Italian nuclear physicist, wholoved complex questions. So, an example ofa ‘Fermi’ question would be: “How manypiano tuners are there in New York?” They are designed to call for lateral thinking,estimation and justification of yourhypotheses that lead to your conclusion.Equipping pupils with knowledge of theseven questions words and the four ordersof question is to pave the way for goodgroup work, because pupils are skilled inusing questions.

In addition to ‘questions’, teachers may lookat each other’s ‘story telling’ techniques, foras we have remarked, stories are at the veryheart of successful teaching, since the mind-opening habits of the philosopher Plato.

Also, what of the ‘Alter Ego’ of teaching?Just as the nursery teacher sends ‘teddybears’ home to have adventures with pupils,who come back and create pictures and

stories of what’s happened, so the sameteacher uses the teddy bear as anothercharacter to stimulate pupils’ talk. The primary teacher continues this practicefor a time and is alert to the use of puppets.But it continues into secondary school, not inthe form of puppets, but sometimes withlifelike figures in the history room (Henry VIIIsay) or in science (e.g. Darwin), and to thesefigures the teacher from time to time defers.They have imaginary conversations on thephone and, in the digital age, haveorchestrated ‘e-tutors’ to whom the pupilscan turn. One school has an enthusiasticteacher who has his very own ‘Avatar’, aconstructed and moving figure on the screenwith a programmed voice. We are of coursein the foothills of our journey to exploit thelearning technologies.

In one school, teachers debated, agreed toproduce, and then created a booklet for allpupils called “Language to think and learn”.Based on theories of multiple intelligence andthe need for variety of learning approaches,the booklet set out the vocabulary for eachsubject and for examinations that they wantedthe pupils to understand – high orderconceptual language, if you like. All the staffthen set about teaching the meaning of thevocabulary, week by week, to all the pupils inyear 7 (see butterflies at the end of thisbooklet). A similar approach has beenapplied in years 8 and 9 – the whole issue ofcourse reinforced by display of the vocabularyin every room.

As I have already suggested as an obviouspoint – teaching leads to learning. So everymember of staff has a ‘Learning Plan for the Year’!


21

In another school, for each year group atthe beginning of the year there are short‘study skills’ or ‘learning to learn’ courses: ata foundation level for year 7 with such itemsas ‘learning to listen’, progressing throughmind maps to revision of research skills inyear 10, now so much easier as a result ofaccess to the Internet.

Finally, there is assessment, so frequentlyinterpreted as the chore of marking. But ‘marking’ can be by peer group, by thepupils themselves, by computer, as well asby the teacher or indeed support staff.‘Outstanding’ lessons undoubtedly willcontain peer assessment interludes of eachother’s progress and performance, andperhaps of the outstanding teacher’s too.

Perhaps it’s fair to say that it’s impossible tohave a really successful school without anactive and rigorous assessment system thatreflects good ‘assessment for learning’principles on the one hand, yet avoids the‘four out of ten – try again’ syndrome.Reports for parents and parent days reflectthe team work of assessment and are led byform tutor. Above all, teachers, teachingassistants and mentors will try to avoid‘normative’ language implied in the poemfrom Ed Buscemi as follows:-

“I don’t cause teachers troubleMy grades have been OKI listen in my classesI’m in school every dayMy parents think I’m averageMy teachers think so tooI wish I didn’t know that‘Cos there’s lots I’d like to doBut since I’ve found I’m average I’m just smart enough you seeTo know there’s nothing specialI should expect of meI’m part of that majorityThat hump part of the bellWho spends their life unnoticedIn an average kind of hell.”

In the outstanding school, teachers markeach other’s work and know that one oftheir main and precious tasks is to enablethe pupils to see for themselves how toimprove their own work.

Now that we have put the six corner piecesof the hexagonal jigsaw in place, why arethey the corners? Well, they affect everyonein the school – all staff and all pupils. Nowit’s time, albeit more briefly, to turn to thesix straight-sided pieces. They are alsoimportant because each affects a differentand particular group in the school.


Straight-sidedpieces

22


23

Workforce remodelling in 2005/6 enabledschools to draw a line under a divided past.There was an ‘upstairs’ and ‘downstairs’mentality in many schools which implied, asI have earlier remarked in the section onlanguage, that there are two sorts of staff‘teachers’ and ‘non-teachers’. In most, therewas an often uncomfortable awarenessamong teachers, that the ‘secretary’ and the‘caretaker’ had pretty powerful roles.

The introduction of workforce remodellingand the TLRs or TLAs (Teaching and LearningResponsibilities or Teaching and LearningAllowances) has forced schools to rethinkwho does what and set it out in jobdescriptions. In the best schools, there hasbeen thoughtful inclusion of ‘whole-school’responsibilities that straddle the teachingdivide. In some, all staff – not just teachers –belong to a ‘house’ in their ‘house system’,thereby ensuring that every pupil is knownwell and that learning and achievement iseveryone’s business.

Straight-sided piece“We develop all our staff”


24

Unless the interests and skills of all staff areconstantly supported, we produce, asmentioned earlier, more ‘energy consumers’than ‘energy creators’. It’s a battle betweenthe “Why we can’ts” and the “How wecoulds”. They battle for the hearts and mindsof the ‘energy neutrals’, those who can goeither way. The list of what schools can dohere is long and includes:

• a ‘School Improvement Group’ (SIG),which allows all aspects of school life tobe reviewed with an eye to the future.

• use of e-learning professionaldevelopment programmes e.g. teach andlearn.net

• school-based weekly professionaldevelopment sessions for all staff.

• use of residentials for staff.

• changes in job descriptions as a regularthing after a specified period.

• best use of the five inset/developmentdays.

• ‘bursaries’ for newer members of staff toattend subject association conferences.

• adoption of annual learning plans withthe example set by the senior team.

• ‘just in time’ coaching to extend practicaluse of ICT-supported learning andcommunication.

‘Pupil Voice’ has been discussed as adesirable issue for many years. Pupils needa voice, however, that has consequences for the community. So, a School Councilwithout a budget is simply ‘talking shop’.Perhaps this extends to Year Councils inlarge schools.

Pupils are otherwise involved in differentroles:

• within the classroom in managing rolesand in self assessment as part of‘assessment for learning’.

• as peer tutors – an excellent way oflearning and modifying behaviour forolder pupils who are tasked to helpyounger ones.

• as peer mentors – within and beyond theclassroom as a symbol of co-operativelearning.

• as peer counsellors and mediators – toaid behaviour in and around school andact as a guard against bullying.

• as ‘community workers’ – helping locallyas part of citizenship programmes.

• as editors and contributors to a pupil-produced magazine.

Straight-sided piece“We listen and involve our pupils”


25

Pupils in the best schools are involved oncea year in a ‘Student Survey’, which tests thetemperature of the school ethos and pupils’motivation to learn. The Year Council andSchool Council receive written reports on the outcome.

Pupils are observers in the governing bodyand are involved in staff appointments.

Perhaps the best practice I’ve come acrosswas in a junior school, which had what iscalled a ‘Head Teacher for a Day’ schemeas part of ‘Children’s Day’ each year. It involves six pupil candidates from year 6putting themselves up for election two weeksbefore local elections and after SATs areover. Each has to publish manifestos andeach has to attend a kind of hustings forquestions and answers in front of staff andpupils. Voting takes place on local electionday: all staff are eligible to vote along withall pupils other than those who are late. The winner is announced and becomes‘Head Teacher for the Day’. Aided by acabinet of fellow pupils, they set outproposals for the day for consultation withstaff and pupils. The ‘Head Teacher for theDay’ must take the ‘praise assembly’, whenthey give out ‘Achievement of the Week’awards. They have tea with their favouritemembers of staff and prepare a newsletterfor parents about their experience as headteacher. There is a fund raising event. The day usually ends with a talent session.

From such a story, it’s possible to imagineall sorts of new usage of involving pupils. It might be a topic for the SchoolImprovement Group.


26

It is frequently said that we live in a ‘datarich, information poor’ society. There’s nodoubt that the availability of data has neverbeen better. It’s how we use it that’simportant. Schools are awash with data,much of it comparative.

Comparative data is particularly useful toschools and parts of schools seeking to visitother schools – in comparable circumstancesof pupil intake, of course – to learn how theydo things: some better, some worse.Internally, this data is much more useful as aresult of the work of the Fischer Family Trust:indeed it’s fair to say that no teacher ordepartment should be ignorant of the waysome pupils with similar potential aren’tlearning in some areas but are in others. At the individual level, too, such data hasthe potential of enabling pupils ‘at risk’ tobe pinpointed at the end of each year. It canhelp to increase those pupils’ competence,confidence and resilience next term. Unless data is used by the leadership teamof the school and is directly related to theclassroom, the school will remaininformation poor. Some pupils will fail whoneed not. That will happen only when jobdescriptions and habits of review are soframed that the data is used as a matter of course.

In the best schools, the development of themanagement and ICT-supported learningand communication techniques has meantthat management and learning informationis available online, through a portal whichcan be accessed as appropriate by staff,pupils and parents.

Unless schools overcome their insularity, theyrun the risk of not finding ways to improvewhat they do. One of the features ofoutstanding schools is that they are alwaystrying to find new and better ways of doingthings. Often visits are not as useful as theycould be because schools are so differentone from another. The Ofsted PANDA, forexample, leave schools stranded, knowingthat compared with the average of schoolslike them, they are either (in real terms or onvalue added) significantly above orsignificantly below others in comparablecircumstances. But they have no clue as towhich those schools are. Given that mostschools want to improve on their previousbest this data is unhelpful – unless oneknows the names of the schools incomparable circumstances, which are doingbetter and worse both in absolute terms andin the speed of improvement.

Straight-sided pieceAre we data rich and information poor?


27

That’s why the ‘Family of Schools’ initiatives,at first in Birmingham and now in London,are so important. The diagram above showsthe format of how each family of schools isrepresented.

QuadrantsClearly Quadrant C schools have lowperformance and are not improving as fastas other comparable schools, perhaps “notwaving but drowning”? Quadrant A schoolsare improving more quickly but have lowpoints per pupil, perhaps “heads above thewater”? Quadrant B are schools with highpoints per pupil and high rates of

improvement, perhaps “walking on water”?Finally Quadrant D schools have highpoints per pupil but low rates ofimprovement, perhaps “treading water”?The point of the ‘Family’ is that schoolshave similar ’prior entry attainment’ scoresand similar numbers entitled to ‘free schoolmeals’. So, schools do not need to wastetime. They can visit and learn from schoolsthey know to be broadly similar. When suchdata is added to the data from the FischerFamily Trust, there is the potential to learnfrom each other, subject by subject and withdifferent groups of pupils.

QUADRANT A

Rate of improvement over 3 years

X

QUADRANT B

QUADRANT C QUADRANT D

Family of schools of similar socio-economic background

Key Stage 2, 3 or GCSE Key = X: These are 18 schools, numbered 1 – 18

Average of all schools

Points per pupil

1X

2X

3X

5X

4X

10X

11X 13

X12X

6X

9X

8X

7X

14X 15

X

17X

18X

16X


28

Hoffer once said, “In an age of greatchange the learners inherit the earth, whilethe learned are beautifully equipped to dealwith a world that no longer exists.”

Teachers of today understand that.Increasing numbers of young and old alikecan use the Internet to become wellinformed about any particular topic; 20years ago visits to libraries were restricted.What is more, the ‘deferential’ age hasgiven way to the more disputatious andparticipative present day.

The teacher is no longer, if she ever was, thesole supplier of information. Rather theteacher is the coach, the developer of pupilskills and competence, as well as the wiseand trusted guide on values and where togo for further information. She knows that tolearn is to change.

But the present day has brought incessantexternally-imposed change from successivecentral governments. So the successfulschool sees to it that every member of staffunderstands some of the essentials ofchange, so they can welcome it, divert it orresist it as the school community decides.The successful school will have inwardlyregistered some of the rules of change.

The first lesson concerns complex change.The following table shows what happenswhen any one of five essential ingredients isabsent. Of course, it doesn’t explain thedysfunctionality which is created, when twoor three are absent or when all you’ve got isa succession of ‘Action Plans’ with no vision,skills, resources or incentives! But it’s ahelpful guide to implementing change.

Straight-sided top piece“We understand and welcome change because change islearning and that’s our business”


29

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30

Internally generated change is alwayswelcome. It arises from members of theschool community, perhaps in a SchoolImprovement Group, suggesting change andhaving it adopted. Externally availablechange is that sort of change that you canembrace and tailor to your needs. It mightbe a behaviour system or in curricular terms,the ‘Opening Minds’ project of the RSA.This, too, is welcome. Externally mandatedchange is much more difficult. All these sortsdemand attention to the complex changetable set out on page 29.

Most importantly, welcoming changeinvolves knowing that “if a thing’s worthdoing it’s worth doing badly”, the first timeround during the adoption phase. Ofcourse, second time round, after review, “it’s worth doing better”. Finally, in theconsolidation phase, anything “is worthdoing well”.

There are ‘change rules’ concerned withwho is put in charge, support groups and review.

Anyone serious about this piece of the jigsaw will want to read Michael Fullan’sbooks, either the popular easy read:“Leadership in a Culture of Change” or themore theoretical: “The Meaning ofEducational Change”.


31

‘Learning walks’ is a rather grand title formaking the most of visits, once likely placesto visit have been identified. The purpose ofthe school visit is like planning anexpedition, rather than a pleasant day visitto the seaside.

One school has, as its agreed priority, ashared determination to move their teachingand learning practices from ‘good’ to‘outstanding’. So they have attempted todefine what this meant by some of thefeatures, which distinguished the one fromthe other. They explored in terms of subject-specific techniques and generic approachesto teaching, including, of course, lessonplans and questioning techniques: the use ofstory, marking and independent study. They have also linked it to a consideration of behaviour and how that relates to lessons,corridors and break times. Their policydiscussions, all part of self-review, include an examination of how schoolorganisational practices (e.g. assemblies,awards, monitoring of pupils at risk, theplace of special educational needs, rewardsand sanctions) affect teaching and learning.Having identified two other broadly similarschools, they arranged visits in pairs orthrees for a focused observation of variouselements of the other school’s practices.

Now comes the clever bit. They visited theschools when they themselves hadorganised one of the five occasional insetdays, but when the other schools were insession, thereby minimising costs. Theyfinished the day with a social get-togetherand a quick debrief. The material and ideasgathered then formed the agenda for thenext term’s weekly staff developmentsessions. Support staff were involved too.

The schools they visited then reciprocated.The last I heard they were intending to holda joint inset, when all three schools wereplanning to synchronise one of their fiveoccasional days. They had learned theimportant lesson that collaboration betweenand among schools is the best way toaccelerate professional learning.

That’s a pretty ambitious project, but it’spossible to start more modestly andestablish the learning habit.

Straight-sided piece“We practise learning walks”


32

How do schools reach that enviable stage?Those schools with a really strong staff at alllevels, but a great mix too: seasonedexperienced professional leaders and some‘Young Turks’ fresh out of training and keento try out new ideas and learn fromexperienced colleagues?

At first, I used to think it was to do withlocation. Yet that explanation doesn’t stackup. In some of the favourably-placedschools in shire counties, there is a mix ofschools. Some have staff who never move.So they grow old together, with all thedangers of colluding in comfortable ‘triedand tested’ ways, which may no longer meetneeds, for example, by taking earlyadvantage of the new technologies. Other schools in the same favourablecircumstances, perhaps in a nearby markettown, manage to combine continuity with aregular turnover of staff new to theprofession, who contribute for two or threeyears before moving on.

In challenging urban areas, schools like thisexist too, alongside others which have hugeturnover and often with people in keypositions, who stay but aren’t up to the job.

Appointing the right staff is therefore crucial.It starts with the ‘further details’ and the

advertisement. Both need to convey theflavour of the school. So if you want –‘energy creators’, you need to ask yourexisting ‘energy creators’ how the advert andthe debriefs are best framed. Perhapshumour and enthusiasm, energy and hopeneed to be conveyed with such a sense ofcommitment, that the wrong people are putoff applying! Whatever you do, you can’tafford to appoint ‘energy consumers’ intopositions of leadership.

That means reading the applications with adiscerning eye. It is time consuming, butthere is no more important job that a leaderdoes. One head teacher I knew had asimple sifting device. In addition to evidenceof subject knowledge and pedagogy, shelooked for someone who was active in musicand sport. “I want them to have an interestin something outside school. It will inspirethem inside school. And who knows,” sheadded with a smile, “they might want toinvolve the kids in it outside the normaltimetabled hours too.”

The next stage is interview...well, perhapsnot quite. Because knowledge of the stablefrom which the likely candidates are coming,is probably present in other members ofstaff. So knowing where existing staff haveworked before will help get a cross-bearing

Straight-sided top piece“We are fussy about appointments” – It’s a privilege

to work here


on the applicant. At interview, some schools– wisely in my view – insist on applicantscarrying out an exercise pertinent to the job,observed more widely than simply by theinterview panel. For teachers, that would beteaching a lesson: for learning mentors,perhaps a session with a well-preparedgroup of pupils; for receptionist, a sessionanswering the phone.

By this time, some readers will be gettingfurious. They know they have to recruit fromabroad, advertise three times to get a singleapplicant or grow their own staff. Well, on apositive note, growing your own staffthrough the on-the-job graduate entrantsscheme offers huge advantages, if donewell. The same is true of a deep relationshipwith an initial teacher training provider. Both in effect mean an extended chance toobserve and assess whether someone isright for the school community.

“What if”, I hear you say, “we aredesperate and there really is nobody?” This is the most dangerous position forany school: the temptation to appointanyone living and walking is almostirresistible.

Yet resist you must. Make it temporary,alter the curriculum. Bring in someonetemporarily. Do anything but don’tappoint. As one head teacher said to mewistfully, “It isn’t just marrying in haste,that’s wrong.”

That’s why a key factor is being fussy aboutappointments. The time invested then, and,of course, in induction and staffdevelopment, will save so much later.

33


The wigglypieces

34


35

Once, schools were islands cut off from theirlocal community by a moat of a drivethrough a sea of green fields or, more likelyin the urban environment, by high walls withbroken glass on top. (Now sadly, so manyschools, in the sensible interests of safety inan unsafe world, are surrounded by a steelgrey stockade with security gates). In bygonedays, just to reinforce the point, parentswere reminded of their place by signs orlines on the playground, carrying themessage, “No Parents Beyond This Point”.

We’ve moved a long way. It’s often been apainful process. Most leadership teams inurban schools will say that a significantproportion of their day is taken in patrollingand making contact with the localcommunity and parents. Primary schoolhead teachers on estates often insist that,whatever else they do, all staff buysomething from the local shop. Businesses,pubs, shops, clubs, community centres,residents’ associations, places of worship are all part of the school’s agenda. The subtleties of enlisting the support of thelocal community, so that it sees the school asa contributor to its health and well-being aremany. So too with parents.

Parents have felt more involved with thoseschools, which have replaced parents’

evenings. The queues (and even dread)have been replaced by staggeredappointments to ‘achievement’ or ‘progress’ days.

They fit in well where schools are so abreast with each individual’s progress, thatthe class teacher and head of year (fromsubject departments) know exactly where apupil has reached in all their in and out ofschool activities.

Together, form tutor, parent and pupil canreview progress and what needs to be doneto succeed in the future. The most thoughtfulschools take the opportunity of suchoccasions to take the temperature: they pollparental views about school priorities andtheir general concerns throughquestionnaires available to complete on theday. For many head teachers, the weeklynewsletter is the most important task theydo. One enterprising school paid the freenewspaper boy to drop inserts with schoolnews through every door when making theirdeliveries. Another school, whileacknowledging the real difficulties involvedwith awkward parents, goes out of their wayto arrange meetings and adjust theirbehaviour to make each parent (they are alldifferent of course) feel comfortable and notunnecessarily threatened.

Wiggly piece“We value and involve our parents and the community”


36

In 2005 the Government urged on theagenda of ‘personalisation’ and set out thefive points of “Every Child Matters”:-• being healthy

• staying safe

• enjoying and achieving

• making a positive contribution

• achieving economic well-being

The jigsaw you are solving assumes that anyschool will interpret ‘personalisation’(perhaps to some cynics a word associatedmore with number plates, ties and t-shirtsthan with the everyday business of schools)as attempting in all they do to be ‘personal’rather than ‘impersonal’.

The evidence for this will be found in thestaff’s use of pupils’ names in the corridors,in the everyday exchanges in classrooms, inmarking, in letters home, in carefullyarranged personal appointments, in phonecalls made and returned – in short, in all the language and day-to-day practice of the school.

In one primary school, it finds expression in the habit of the head teacher who, as amatter of course, writes five letters eachweek to individual pupils inviting them to tea and a chat during break and lunchtimes.

Above all, it shows itself in any school in theacts of unexpected kindness and generositybetween adult and child; adult and adult;and child and child.

Adults matter tooThe “Every Child Matters” agenda willprosper in such schools, because they areinclusive places. It will only be delivered ifevery adult matters too. Perhaps one of themost impressive practices contributing to thefive aims set out earlier is where schoolskeep a ‘risk’ and ‘resilience’ lists. Pupils onthe ‘risk’ list are selected for inclusion after aprocess which involves each year head, or inthe primary school the leader of each KeyStage, discussing the theory of ‘risk’ factors(e.g. poverty, parents’ levels of education,multiple parents, violence in the home,summer born pupils, boys) and thenchecking it at the end of each year againstthe reality of names suggested by classteachers or form tutors. When the list isagreed, the whole of the following year’sexperiences will incorporate a plan to growthe ‘resilience’ of each pupil on the list.

The measures on the ‘resilience’ list rangefrom each member of staff – that’s all thestaff – having the names of two pupils towhom they should speak casually in thecorridors at least twice a week, through to a

Wiggly piece“We make our school personal. Every child and adultmatters here”


37

consideration of the full set of otheropportunities run by the school. These couldbe extra opportunities in and out of schoolor residentials, as well as taking fulladvantage of the special interests andexpertise of various members of staffemployed to help such pupils.It’s at this point that it’s appropriate tomention one further complication in solvingthis particular jigsaw puzzle. It will only besolved by schools collecting and then using‘butterflies’….Let me explain.

The ‘butterfly’ effectThe researcher, David Hargreaves,distinguishes two kinds of practice ofintervention. ‘Low leverage’ interventions areall too familiar – a lot of time and effortgoes into a school practice and the pay-offis paltry. The contrast is with ‘high leverage’interventions: relatively low effort is neededto formulate or implement, but they yieldextremely beneficial outcomes in terms oflearning and ethos. All school leaders aim toavoid low leverage practices and regardhigh leverage alternatives as the schoolequivalent of gold dust.

That’s where the ‘butterfly’ effect comes in.In the spirit of seeking high leverage, both inthe important things in school life and inreinforcing how the important things aredone, small interventions can have adisproportionate effect. They are called’butterflies’ after the chaos or complexitytheorists’ story, that if sufficient butterflieswere to beat their wings in the Amazonianrain forests, they could trigger a hurricanethousands of miles away.

High leverage indeed, but sometimes if youwere to put yourself in the position of thebutterfly, quite a lot of effort. Perhaps, too,an unintended consequence. That’s whybutterflies in school life are so elusive. Theymay work in some contexts and not inothers. Examples of school butterflies arenot difficult to come by; there are one ortwo scattered in the text, but two exampleswould be:

Red AdmiralLed by the head of year 8 after consultationwith all heads of department, a secondaryschool decided to introduce a weekly‘vocabulary’ competition.

Each department took it in turns toannounce, at the Friday and Mondaybriefings, the three words which all teachersof year 8 classes would incorporate into oneof their year 8 lessons with appropriatedefinitions and examples of usage. Soscience for example, chose ‘analysis’,‘hypothesis’ and ‘investigation’. Eachteacher, in addition to posting the wordsand definitions on the board and usingthem in a teaching context, would add twofurther words of their own choosing.

The subsequent competition involved allyear 8 pupils at the end of Friday puttingtheir selection of the three common words inthe ‘Vocabulary Box’. With the first correctsolution drawn at the next week’s year 8assembly, the winner received a prize.


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SwallowtailOne school decided to re-enforce the pushto accelerate progress in year 9 (when pupilsall too often can mark time) by introducing ateam approach as follows:

The five form entry school has five tutorgroups each of 30 pupils. All are mixedability as tutor groups, although they aretaught mainly as setted groups in subjectareas. So the school decided to break eachtutor group, still with one tutor – into twoteams of similar spread of ability. They thenbrought in sixth-formers as ‘managers’ ofeach team. Hence there are ten teams in theyear group. Each ‘team’ is trained by thetutor and the two sixth form managers intheir team approach. The ten teamscompete in attendance, behaviour,punctuality, service to others and attainment. Suitable points are devised foreach subject with Key Stage results anobvious and important element for theattainment competition.

Each manager negotiates expert coachingfrom other members of staff for their team –with the obvious ones for Key Stageattainment making demands on English,maths and science. At the end of the year,there are prizes for each of the elements:attainment; behaviour; attendance;punctuality; and service to others, with somesort of a prize going to each team.

Every piece of the jigsaw will have thepotential for at least one butterfly as well as use of the ICT-supported learning. That’s why each piece of the jigsaw have abutterfly on them and images of learningtechnologies have been used throughout this booklet.

Almost the final wordIf you have read this far, you will havenoticed there are descriptions of only 14pieces. That’s because the 15th and perhapsthe 16th, 17th and 18th must be identifiedand fitted in by you, for every school isdifferent. Moreover, because schools aresuch complex places, where the cast isconstantly shifting and changing roles, thepieces of the jigsaw need constant reshapingand adjustment. But you know that…andthere’s never enough time. That’s why thisbooklet is so short. Inevitably it makes it allsound so simple when, in reality, it’s hecticand messy.

It is, however, the most important job in theworld. And unfortunately one piece did fallon the floor. So here it is...


A piece thatdropped onthe floor?“We communicate, collaborateand are creative”

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At the heart of a successful school, there is a collegiality among staff and pupils, thatreinforces and thrives on intellectual curiosityand a willingness to be imaginative.

Conversely, schools where teachers areisolated and rely on their own resourceswithin the confines of their own classroomare showing signs of dysfunctionality. Usually such schools are in areas of greatchallenge. If implemented, other pieces ofthe jigsaw, for example: the implications ofJudith Little’s advice (referred to at thebeginning); the sections on teaching andlearning; staff development; consideringdata; and use of language, will all counterany tendencies for that to happen.

Considering communication in its own right,however, is essential, becausecommunication is never ‘good enough.’Communication always has the potential tobe on the slide and as it does it affectseverything else.

So what are the features of ‘good enough’communication? Does it include regular staffbriefings? Does it include an e-platform, thatenables pupils, parents and staff to access,any part of the school’s managementinformation and learning programmes, thatare appropriate to them, including lessonplans, school reports on pupil progress andhomework, from school, home, the locallibrary, community centre (or for that matteranywhere)? Is it remembering birthdays? Is itin the handwritten notes of thanks? Is it theschool’s newsletter? Is it remembering thatwhen you are speaking and presenting tothe media, that the most important membersof your audience are your own staff, parents

and pupils? Is it being at the school gateevery evening?

Well, it’s each and every one of these - andmore besides. To keep communication as itshould be requires not only thought throughstrategy, it requires checking like everythingelse. Not just with questions in the annualsurvey of staff, parents and pupils, but alsothrough 360 degree feedback and as aregular part of self-review of every aspect ofthe school’s practices.

Communication oils collaboration andenables people to work in a culture, whereimagination is valued. Some schools havefound an analysis of ‘appreciative enquiry’,‘problem solving’ and ‘ensuringcompliance’ helpful as set out below:-

Ensuring Compliance1. Decide what is right.

2. Promulgate single solutions.

3. Regulate and inspect.

4. Punish in public deviants and inadequates.

Problem Solving1. Find a felt need.

Identify the problem.

2. Analyse causes.

3. Analyse solutions.

4. Develop an action plan.


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Most schools as organisations realise thatyou need three parts of appreciative enquiryfor every one part of problem solving, if onlybecause people need the boost in energyand self-belief that appreciative enquiryprovides. There are problems enough andthey have to be solved, but they requireenergy and persistence. The third, ensuringcompliance, is only wise in a crisis whendysfunctionality is in danger of taking over.Too much of it will induce constant problemsdrive out appreciative enquiry and lead itselfto dysfunction.

Appreciative Enquiry1. Appreciate the best of ‘What is’.

2. Envision.

3. Dialogue for new knowledge andtheory ‘What should be’.

4. Create the vision ‘What will be’.


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Finally, to try another image – and goodschools are full of images and revel in them:the jigsaw puzzle pieces might not be jigsawpieces at all, but ingredients in a recipe.They need to be put together in the rightorder and in the right quantities and at theright time. Moreover, it will depend on whatsort of cooker you’ve got – some people onreading this might be thinking, “A cooker ofany sort would be a fine thing. All I’ve got isa paraffin stove!”

As you build capacity, and as enthusiasm,energy and, above all, hope infuse allaspects of school life, the momentum willgrow and become almost self-sustaining.Almost. It will still be necessary to glance atthe jigsaw puzzle from time to time in themidst of the pell-mell that is school life, toensure you aren’t inadvertently missing avital detail that could jeopardise the bigger picture!!!

Postscript


Professor Tim Brighouse is Chief Advisor toLondon Schools and Visiting Professor forInstitute of Education. One of the UK's mostrespected educationalists, Tim has probablyobserved every aspect of teaching practiceduring his 45-year career to date. An expertvoice on school improvement, Tim isregularly on radio and television and hasspoken at many national and internationalconferences.

Tim also likes jigsaws.

About the author

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Thanks are due to the thousands of headteachers and teachers I’ve met in the last 45years, but most thanks goes to those in thelast 20, during which time I’ve becomeobsessed with the issues in this booklet.Particular thanks to all my colleagues inadvisory services, especially those inOxfordshire, Birmingham and London.

Acknowledgements

© Copyright Research Machines plc 2006. All rights reserved.No part of this publication can be reproduced withoutpermission. All trademarks and copyrights of third partyproducts are herein acknowledged. PN

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Essential pieces THE JIGSAW OF A SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL

By Professor Tim Brighouse

essential pieces - johntomsett€¦ · dropping any pieces on the floor. of the 15 pieces in this...

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