teachers – Page 6 – the primary head's blog

Nurture 13/14

December 27, 2013January 29, 2014theprimaryhead8 Comments

I just read a tweet wondering about the educational validity of the #nurture1314 blog project. There is a chance that they read like those Christmas cards you get from family friends who feel the need to update on their brood’s achievements over the year: Tom has just achieved grade 1 on the violin, Emily has won a scholarship to Oxford and Tony’s divorce has just come through…that sort of thing. Now I can’t promise that mine will be any more enlightening or interesting but it gives me something to do while Downton is on.

Ofsted: we got well and truly done. Not done over but it was tough. Having been in the job for 20 weeks in a school where I was the fourth head teacher in five years and where this previous instability had caused massive stagnation (not making excuses Inspector Ma’am) I knew it was never going to be easy. By the end of my first week I knew that the school’s previous judgement of ‘good’ was just not representative of the state of the school so had prepared the school for an ‘RI’ judgement whilst doing everything possible to improve things properly (for good not for show). In my naivety I thought Ofsted would be supportive of this and whereas I didn’t expect anything other than RI I wasn’t expecting to fight for it. Spending Day one being told that the school was inadequate and that I had my head in the clouds wasn’t exactly fun (or helpful) but we managed to convince them that RI would do and I promised to make it good by next time.
HMI: This was more like it. Eight weeks on and I got a visit more akin to what I wanted in the first place. Very helpful, very supportive, very challenging: but respectful which quite frankly was a surprise compared to the section 5. Being told that I was on the right track was a huge confidence boost and helped me and the school push on with our incredible pace of change.
Staff: I feel blessed with the staff at my school and nothing proved that more than ofsted and HMI. They were supportive of me and the changes I was planning beforehand but nothing prepared them (or me) for the pace with which we started changing things. At times it felt like we would go off the rails but we all managed to keep our heads and now things feel more settled. What I am most pleased about is their understanding of the job I have to do and the shared vigour with which we are all applying the rigour. School is an exciting place to be.
New Appointments: Nothing tests you more (that’s a lie-wait for number 5) than bringing new staff in. It’s the first chance you have to show people the sort of people you think are good teachers/middle leaders. Get this wrong and your credibility can take a serious knock. Luckily we made some brilliant appointments last year – a few successful internal candidates and a few outsiders. All have had significant impact in classrooms and across the school and have been welcomed by all. Best of all everyone knows where I stand: No misplaced loyalties or easy choices, only the best for the pupils.
Escaping children: You can read my candid blog post about this little adventure here. All I will say is it was truly terrifying and happily the child is fine and enjoying school. Irritatingly, a staffing issue will continue long into 2014 – HR is a wonderful thing.
Governors: I have a funny relationship with governors; as in I normally leave meetings laughing hysterically and thinking what a funny thing governance is – it’s like fox hunting, the queen’s speech and fish knives: accepted traditions but serve no real purpose and are surplus to society’s requirements. I mean if we were starting over we probably wouldn’t bother making any of them part of our lives (in case my Chair is reading this: remember this is the 2013 section). Do they really help me run the school? Not really: all I know is that they make me work more (not harder or better: just more).
Children: I normally call them pupils but thinking about them now my main memories are of children – happy children. As a Head I mainly see children in my office (to show me work and get praised) in assembly or around corridors. I am highly annoying to teachers because I miss having my own class so I compensate by going into classrooms whenever I get the chance to chat/make laugh/possibly annoy as many children as I can. I have probably disrupted more lessons than I care to think of but in my own selfish way I think it’s worth it. I want the children of my school to know that I’m interested in them and their work and smile when they see their Head – most of the time they do…unless they’re being naughty and remember kids, I always know when there is naughtiness going on in my school: so watch it.
SATS: Sorry but if you remember my point 1 when the ofsted inspector said I had my head in the clouds she was mainly referring to my predicted expected outcomes for Year 6 that year. I’m happy to report that we actually exceeded those targets (and without cheating or denying the children a rounded education!) Sadly I’ve lost her email as I really wanted to send her a picture of me holding up my Raise online peppered with green while simultaneously giving her the finger.
Technology: I love technology and coming to a school where they had a knackered old ICT suite and the only bank of laptops got stolen was rather depressing. So we’ve managed to spend a lot of money on lots of laptops and trollies and all children get to use them every day. We are also turning our now defunct ICT suite into a media suite. I proudly named each laptop trolley after past and present secretaries of state for education. It does take a bit of explaining to visitors as to why you’re wheeling a trolley with ‘BALLS’ written on it in massive letters but then you’ve always got the gag that the ‘GOVE’ trolley is the one with the slowest machines that is in most urgent need of replacing.
Blogging: I started my blog almost a year ago and have thoroughly enjoyed updating it throughout 2013. You can find it at (well you’re here now so what’s the point). I try to blog once a week about something pertinent to my experience as a new Head. Often I’ll end up blogging about something else instead as a reaction to something in the news or on Twitter or someone else’s blog. I’m proud to be a primary blogger. I firmly believe that I contribute nothing to the cause of primary education across the UK but it keeps me out of trouble. One day I hope to write a post that receives more hits than my True Ofsted Conversation post but I doubt it: that’s the one post that keeps on giving.
Celebrity: For about four days I felt like I was at the epicentre of the media world. I was invited to be part of a panel on the guardian online, that discussion then got turned into an article and I was at the top (the TOP!) of the piece which in turn led to Newsround ringing me up to ask me about it. In amongst that I was invited to a round table discussion with Tristram Hunt MP. I was bloody going places and it felt good. Then the phone stopped ringing, my job wouldn’t do itself and I sunk back into the dull and dismal world of leading a primary school.
Friends: I’m very pleased that there a small group of primary heads who have started meeting up relatively regularly throughout 2013 for booze. This has been enormous fun: there’s normally one of us going through a crisis that the others can support (laugh at) them through. I’m sure it is very important to have a strong network of likeminded professionals to support each other but it’s even more important to have some good chums who can enjoy a cocktail and a burger.
Mrs Primaryhead: I am very lucky to have someone who understands how much I love work and for that I am always truly grateful.

I’ll try to keep this brief for anyone still reading.

The School: We’re going from strength to strength and I expect it to continue. There are some hard times ahead (for the school, for the city, for the country) but I’m determined to make the school a huge success in spite of all of these.
Governors: We have a new chair of governors who is whipping governance into shape a treat. They are starting to become useful and although I am still at times frustrated, I am on the path to enlightenment!
HMI: Bring it on…next time you really will say that we don’t need you.
Behaviour: It’s pretty good at my school but there is still something blocking it becoming even better – something around collective responsibility and sharing a pride in the school that goes beyond individual wants and demands. I’m not sure yet how we’re going to beat it but I’m sure we will.
Teaching: It’s massively improved since January 2013 and I know that through our system of performance management / lesson observations / data / teaching and learning support we will make it even better.
Twitter Opinions: And on that note I’m determined to get some twitter teachers who hate all of point 5 to see that it can help and support (no matter how good you are/how crap you think SLT are)
National Curriculum: Just putting this out there: I’m very happy to be a consultant for the next one if you folks in Whitehall are running short on ideas people.
Ofsted: Just putting this out there: I’m very happy to be a consultant for the next framework or help deliver training to any inspector who has received feedback that they are truly horrible people when inspecting schools.
Appointments: The school is really settled in terms of staffing with everyone knowing how we work. That doesn’t mean I can relax however! There’s always a possibility that things will change and it’s just trying to keep that in the back of my mind and make sure that any staff changes (if they happen) are managed effectively.
Professional Development: Whether it is through my own leadership coach or by going to the PHAB conference or whatever the national college conference will be this year: I look forward to them all.
Get the band back together: We talked about it last year but his year we should make it happen. A few head teachers, a guitar, bass and tambourine: what could possibly go wrong?
Job Swap: My brother is a house master of a private school: I would love to do a week’s job swap. I think it would be fascinating for both of us: channel 4 if you’re reading, this could be next year’s ‘Educating Yorkshire’, channel 5, this could be next year’s ‘The biggest pair of tits in the world’.
Family Time: I should spend more time visiting my family. I see my brother and sister and their family about once a year: terrible. So please, no good box sets or books or dramas at work please.
True Identity: Maybe 2014 will see theprimaryhead finally come out. Don’t be silly…anonymity to the end!

Top Ten Reasons To Hate Christmas!

December 17, 2013November 28, 2016theprimaryhead4 Comments

Christmas is coming.

The head is getting fat.

Please put a penny in the old Bursar’s hat.

(Unless it’s pupil premium money in which case put it in this one to one tuition sack here or PE funding in which case put it in the ‘Olympic Legacy’ pot which currently has been used to buy some more hoops for playtime and free swimming goggles for the under-fives)

Ah Christmas…the most wonderful time of the year unless you happen work in schools. Please allow me to present theprimaryhead top ten reasons why I hate Christmas.

1. T2 OTT

I imagine that when Jesus was born primary schools up and down the UK gave this event nothing more than an acknowledgement. There may have been an assembly or a bit in the newsletter to wish the school Christians a happy holiday. But somewhere along the line Christmas became a BIG deal. And I know who to blame: Head Teachers. They must have all started going to local heads cluster meetings and started sharing what they were doing in their schools to celebrate the Christmas season.

‘We sing carols to the parents in the evening’ (ooh that’s nice I might get my school to do that.)

‘We have a Christmas Fair on a Saturday’ (Christmas Fair? I like the sound of that.)

‘We make Christmas cards and then sell them’ (Sell Christmas cards: got it!)

Gradually every Head started taking on board everyone else’s ideas but there was one tiny problem: they didn’t stop doing all the other things as well. So now every school tries to do every conceivable Christmas activity you can possibly think of and what’s worse: they try to cram it into the last five days of term. And what does this teach us about Christmas? Head Teachers are idiots!

2. Term 2 Data Progress Meetings

Or as they’re more commonly known the ‘if ofsted arrive the first week in term 3 and ask to see the most update picture of achievement across the school then we’re literally screwed’ progress meetings. Every year I think the same: why am I doing this? Why am I having conversations about pupils that have seemingly made no progress or as teachers like to say ‘well they’ve made progress but not enough for me to feel comfortable saying they’ve made progress on paper’. It’s not the teachers’ fault, I mean I’m, the schmuck who insisted that this year’s Christmas performance was going to be the best ever resulting in rehearsals beginning late October.

3. The Staff Room

Normally a haven for professional conversation and a place where colleagues support each other through the turbulent times of a life in education: during December the school staff room resembles some kind of weird Willy Wonka Factory Outlet. The table groans with tins of sweets, mince pies, candy canes and chocolate logs. All presented with a post-it note saying ‘thought we all needed a pick-me-up.’ And like obedient chubby gazelles we graze on the festive feast of crap until we can barely waddle back to class without developing type 2 diabetes. The only thing worse than the December staff room table: is the January staff room table; where everyone brings in the food they couldn’t bear to even look at over the holidays. It normally takes until March before the last mince pie and festive twiglets have disappeared…and then the Easter pick-me-ups arrive!

4. Christmas Lunch

When Nick Clegg woke up in the middle of night at the foot of Cameron’s bed and casually suggested that all primary pupils should receive free school meals it was quite clearly he had never experienced a school’s Christmas lunch. It is the most cruelly intense lunch hour that exists in modern society. 400 pupils all demanding a sit down meal served by the teachers who despite having taken the lunch register for 14 weeks apparently have no idea who is a vegan and who needs halal meat. After 45 minutes you survey the landscape: gravy literally everywhere, a child crying because they didn’t get fed whilst Toby from Year 3 managed to eat five meals. And then you spot the strict vegetarian with a sausage sticking out of her mouth and all you can think is ‘Well at least it’s only one lunchtime’ Thanks Clegg.

5. Christmas Rehearsals

I’ve tried every tactic: give them loads of time before the performance date so they’ll know all their lines; give them next to no time so they just crack on and the performance is ‘fresh’; no performance just quality singing. No matter what there comes a point during every rehearsal where the Head has to grumpily moan to all the children (in that public way that really means they’re moaning at staff) that the singing is rubbish, they are coming on the stage too slowly, they’re leaving the stage too quickly, they’re lining up too noisily, they don’t know their lines , they don’t know in what order they need to be in: it’s a disgrace! AND FOR GOODNESS SAKE SMILE: IT’S BLOODY CHRISTMAS!

6. Christmas Performance

Given the high emotions on performance night and the heart palpitations you are suffering before curtains: you can’t help but thinking that this must be something more than a nativity. Children don’t turn up for the evening performance, all the Reception parents bugger off after scene one, you find out that the Year 6 pupils are watching ‘Saw III’ on their ipad and the parents aren’t laughing in the right places. Camera flashes are going off despite your clear safeguarding notice at the start and at the end you realise that you’ve totally forgotten to thank the one staff member who held it all together even though that meant their class making negative progress in writing. Next year we’ll do it differently.

7. The Christmas Fair

Having to spend the one Saturday you could have spent Christmas shopping wandering around your school hoping that nothing gets broken whilst children that normally respect you and follow your every command run past you spilling Ribena into the fish tank. The awkward moment when you’ve got to shut down the mulled wine stand because the caretaker and lady who runs the Y5 netball team are becoming embarrassingly familiar on the adventure playground. And finally being told that the last Head always dressed up as Santa and sang Jingle Bells over the PA to end the Fair.

8. The Staff Party

Never does your body try to convince you that you are too tired to go out more than when you are trying to get ready for the staff party. But nevertheless you muster up the strength to iron your pair of jeans and meet your team for the staff Christmas Do. You spend the night determined not to talk about school, determined not to get drunk and definitely determined not to dance. Three hours later you are chugging back Aftershock shots with the NQT, arguing about PRP with the school NUT rep, and twerking the soon to be retired Mrs Armitage to Slade’s Merry Christmas. AS you wait for a cab in the rain you catch your reflection in the Yate’s Wine Lodge window and vow: never again.

9. The Last Day

Oh this is the worst. It’s like waiting for Godot: Pacing up and down the corridors waiting for the bell to ring. Endless bored children getting sent to your office because they’ve broken some cheap toy another kid brought in for toy day. At the end of the day you watch all your teachers struggle to get all their many presents into their cars (no need to actually buy any wine this year, ho ho ho!) and all you got was a card with your name spelt wrong and box of whiskey liqueurs.

10. The holiday itself

The worst thing about Christmas is the actual holiday itself .Due to the fact that the minute you lock up the school and sigh a big sigh of relief knowing that two weeks of bliss are coming your way: your immune system decides it’s time for a holiday. Consequently your festive break is totally forgettable as you are pretty much off your festive tree the entire time on lemsip and nightnurse. It’s only when you start to feel human again and think that a mince pie and sherry might just hit the spot that you realise tomorrow is the start of Term 3.

Happy Christmas!

How many pupils does it take to get inadequate?

December 1, 2013December 1, 2013theprimaryhead2 Comments

I’ve just had an HMI visit. It wasn’t an official 6 weeks after Ofsted visit; it was one out of the three support visits that any requires improvement school is entitled to before the next full inspection.

I dictated the day and had telephone conversations and emails with my inspector who just asked me to make sure that the day was useful to me. ‘Nothing,’ he said, ‘nothing that I see will trigger an inspection’ (except safeguarding issues such as, oh I don’t know, a child leaving your premises and being missing for an hour) ‘and nothing that I recommend needs to be obeyed-it’s just some extra help’.

Now, I could have sent him to areas of the school that I know we’ve improved with the aim of getting some validation. But in all seriousness: why waste an opportunity! No, I welcome the challenge and advice. Plus I genuinely, one hundred percent respect this particular inspector- he is painfully astute at times and his approach is purely supportive to the point that I may be developing a serious man-crush.

It was a tough old day. He did see some ropey lessons and worse he saw them with me meaning I had to say it as I saw it (or at least how I knew he saw it) in order to make sure he didn’t back out of his agreement not to trigger a full section 5. But by the end of the day he was left assured that we were ‘on the right track’.

Lesson observations: they got more abuse on twitter than Michael Gove at an NUT rally. The main grudge seems to be: don’t judge me as a teacher based on one lesson – and if you’re talking purely ofsted that one lesson becomes 20 minutes of a lesson. I understand the frustrations felt by teachers and have written about it before with the main thrust of my argument being a good SLT should not judge the quality of teaching on an observation but through a variety of evidence.

Take my handsome challenging HMI inspector. He saw lessons that could be judged inadequate but after looking at books and planning and talking to my middle leaders he was satisfied that the lesson did not reflect the day to day quality of teaching. So I was pleased because overall he was satisfied that my claims of school improvement were not just hot air and he was pleased because I was able to come out and say a lesson was inadequate.

Inadequate. It is such a horribly loaded word that has no supporting features whatsoever. When uttered all it does is break people. But we are all going to have to grit our teeth and accept the fact that it is part of the fabric of school improvement. It hurts – no, in fact it stings. It smarts more than the public humiliation of defecating into your swimming trunks after belly-flopping off the top diving board (er…I imagine). And the immediate response is denial or trying to nonchalantly shrug it off as unimportant but you can’t accept the fact that everyone can see poo dripping down your leg as you get out of the pool someone believes that you just taught really badly.

20 minutes. That really gets on people’s nerves. Can you really judge a lesson to be inadequate after only 20 minutes? Look at it from a different perspective: in 20 minutes worth of a lesson, learning didn’t occur. Does that still sound harsh? Probably. Well get a load of this: it may be because in 20 minutes worth of lesson, learning didn’t occur for some pupils. What? I know. It’s tough. But I watched three children on the carpet (subtly) do nothing for ten minutes. They didn’t engage, they didn’t really answer any questions and then when they went off to do their work they didn’t really know what to do. I looked in their book and they were doing the same work as everyone else. Plus, the teacher didn’t go near them-they stayed with the SEN group-it’s as if those three children had gone unnoticed under the radar. But it’s only three pupils! How many pupils does it take to get inadequate? (In other words: how low are your expectations?)

In 20 minutes, that will get you an inadequate. Why? Not because three children in 20 minutes didn’t make progress at a significant rate; but because the teacher did nothing about it. Now, this is why a lesson observation should only be part of the process. Planning over time, work in books over time might show great learning over time for those pupils and all the others. If it does: great you are a good+ teacher. However, if planning over time shows you don’t cater for those pupils’ needs, if work in books show no progress or clear differentiation and assessment is either static or inaccurate then what I saw in those 20 minutes starts to take on more serious connotations.

As a school leader I try really, really hard to make sure my staff understand that lesson observations offer a snapshot: give me a way in. If they tally with planning, work in books, assessments and progress then it gives me an overall assessment of the value for money of your teaching over time. If it doesn’t tally (lesson was awful: everything else fine; lesson was great: everything else ain’t) then it gives me somewhere to start supporting you. HMI saw that this was the case and left saying, ok I saw some not great stuff in lessons but I think those lessons were anomalies and all other evidence suggests that teaching and achievement is improving.

However this still leaves us with a conundrum: could a school get ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ if ofsted only saw requires improvement or inadequate lessons? Truly good and better schools will have all the other evidence to suggest that they are indeed good or better. And even the best teachers can mess up a lesson or even lessons (because remember, how many pupils have to not make progress to form a poor judgement). It is also possible (in terms of probability) that in one school at one given point in time, every teacher in the school will deliver inadequate lessons (one or more pupils not making visible progress in a twenty minutes time frame) throughout the day. But if EVERYTHING else indicates the contrary, will ofsted’s overall judgement overrule this fact? Will we ever read an outstanding ofsted report that reads: ‘the inspectors observed 15 lessons over one day and all were judged to be inadequate: the quality of teaching and achievement in this school is outstanding’?

I don’t know..but it sounds like a bloody good challenge!