When it comes to school leadership, what you need is knowledge. Yes, you've got to do something with that knowledge, but acting without knowledge is foolhardy... damaging... even dangerous. If this sounds obvious then please tell me why we spend so much time concerning ourselves about generic leadership skills? Why is leadership training full of … Continue reading Leadership is knowledge
Working 1265 (what a way to make a living)
In 1991, the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Act sought to redefine the contractual terms under which teachers were employed. The context for this change was an increasing level of government control and intervention over schools due to a perceived need to address low standards in many state comprehensive schools. The Act introduced, for the … Continue reading Working 1265 (what a way to make a living)
All the things we don’t do
I've kicked the habit Shed my skin This is the new stuff I go dancing in, we go dancing in Peter Gabriel, "Sledgehammer" (1986) I've almost done it. I'm almost over obsessing about GCSE results day. Shedding this addiction has taken me over twenty years. My habit started with my first Year 11 class as … Continue reading All the things we don’t do
Exclusive!
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." John F. Kennedy I had cause to research school vision statements recently. We were refreshing ours and I wanted to get a sense of what other schools were saying about how they wanted their schools to be. Our … Continue reading Exclusive!
Love thy efficiency neighbour
I find nothing more irritating than to have my intelligence insulted, particularly by people who think they are being helpful but haven't actually got a clue. If you have ever come across the ESFAs 'Efficiency Neighbours' data you'll know what I mean. This blog is for any school leaders who are told they should use … Continue reading Love thy efficiency neighbour
Giving our data a haircut
Our data hasn't had a haircut in a while. To be honest, we've allowed it to grow and we looked in the mirror and realised that it looks a bit... well, unkempt. It is time to cut it all back, but the question is how short can we get away with? So, what is the … Continue reading Giving our data a haircut
The Peaks
We set out on day three, full of expectation. The peaks and valleys ahead were laid out on the map, but the metaphorical ones were to be discovered as we walked. Our group, four adults and nine soon to be, stretched out on the rocky path. The early morning sun lifted our spirits and helped … Continue reading The Peaks
What can we infer from an end of year test?
This is the third blog post in what has turned out to be a trilogy on the theme of 'What can we infer...?'. Episode 1 ripped in to the practice of examining exercise books as a means of establishing how much students have learnt (here). Episode 2 critiqued Oftsed's approach to lesson observation (here). Episode … Continue reading What can we infer from an end of year test?
Necessity is the mother of intervention
'Intervention' has become a common word in schools. It is a term borrowed from the medical profession where it means an action taken to improve a medical disorder. In an educational context it has come to mean an action taken to address a deficiency in learning. Some find the term distasteful due to its medical … Continue reading Necessity is the mother of intervention
In Praise of Precision
Cambridge seminars expect rigour and logic from their speakers: a braced subtlety of exposition and explanation, tested proofs of cause and consequence. But water doesn't do rigour in that sense, and neither did Roger, though his writing was often magnificently precise in its poetry (precision being, to my mind, preferable to rigour - the former … Continue reading In Praise of Precision
Matthew Evans 