Thomas Hardy once said: “There is a size at which dignity begins and one at which ghastliness begins.”
He wasn’t talking about modern secondary comprehensive schools, but you would be forgiven for thinking he was.
As a new head of English in a school of more than 2,000 pupils, it can sometimes feel like you are dragging people along with you, rather than inspiring them to run with you. However, in my experience, it is important to remember that your colleagues are your greatest resource and the heartbeat of change.
Size doesn’t have to be “ghastly”, but something you use to your advantage to drive progress and attainment in a bustling, inner city school. Below, I have outlined some strategies that you might use to create a vision and drive it forward...
Sharing the vision
Somebody told me recently, at a Teaching Leaders conference, that change can only occur when people share and understand your vision.
At the very least, it is important that staff know which direction you are heading in and how you intend to get there. So keep it simple. Change breeds uncertainty, so it is important that staff know your philosophy from the outset. People perform better with clear goals and expectations and students benefit from a team that’s “in the know”.
Keep it simple
If your marking or behaviour policy is longer than a page, then it is too long. Consistency is born of simplicity. The Ten Commandments, the Green Cross Code or even the rules of Fight Club are simple and memorable, although apparently you’re not supposed to talk about that last one.
Take data for example: it doesn’t have to be a maze of different outcomes for different cohorts. It really is just about knowing the students who are underperforming in your class or across your department. Underachievement is still underachievement whether you are disadvantaged, FSM, SEN or EAL or none of the above.
Value the individuals and make sure that “data” isn’t a dirty word in the department. The connotations of that particular four-letter word are palpably nauseating but only because of the mystery and power that surrounds it.
One idea to improve culture around data: I started “Speed Data-ing” in the department as a quick and effective way of getting staff to share practical tips and ideas on their own and other teachers’ class data. Classroom teachers knowing their students’ data and also how to plan appropriately is absolutely critical to moving students up the progression ladder. Plus it is a bit of fun on those dreary Monday meetings.
Consistency
Although a large department is certainly a strength, there has to be a shared vision of what constitutes outstanding teaching and learning.
I would never advocate teaching identikit lessons, but having high-quality, basic lesson resources in place that can be adapted to suit the needs of any student or class is fundamental in raising the standards of teaching and learning and therefore improving students’ achievement.
English in particular has gone through a period of flux in recent years and the constant need to plan and “re-resource” the curriculum has taken its toll on staff.
One idea to improve consistent quality of resources: to counteract this and alleviate the pressures of workload (while also looking to improve the quality of resources), I set out to develop a Heaton Manor “branded” approach to learning within the English department.
In a large school, it is not possible to be in every classroom every day so it is important, as a head of department to be confident that your staff are delivering high-quality, tailored lessons to engage and enthuse students.
A key priority of the team has been to develop a menu of tried and tested resources that can be easily embedded into any lesson.
For example, peer and self-assessment templates, questioning templates, learning objective templates and resources tailored towards the new specifications.
This has had an immediate impact on raising standards of teaching and learning and developing staff confidence with the new specifications.
Value your team
Of course strategies, systems and initiatives are useless unless you can convince your staff to buy into them.
Staff need to know that you care about them. Take the time to talk to them and actively listen to them. The Teaching Leaders Fellows programme not only reawakened my desire to motivate and lead people, but also to understand them.
Leading a department isn’t just about making your colleagues’ lives easier, it is about providing them with the platform to feel valued and deliver results that will instil a deeper sense of pride and make a difference to children’s lives.
So how do you motivate staff to improve the year 11 results by 10 per cent in just over a month? The answer is: I couldn’t without the support of my staff (and a very supportive headteacher who agreed to fund a small initiative).
Every member of staff squeezed out another three completed coursework folders from those hard-to-reach pupils meaning we actually put 11 per cent onto our results. Truth be known, I know they’d have done it for nothing because it is their vocation, but using other methods to incentivise staff provided a much needed energy boost in the final week of a busy half-term. It was something a bit different and it showed – even if it was just in a small way – that I, and the school, care.
What’s the impact?
Impact always seems to be grounded in data and, if that’s the case, we are on course to add at least 10 per cent to our levels of progress at GCSE and narrow the gap considerably for our disadvantaged pupils. That is what it’s all about.
Beyond that however I set out to change the perceptions of the English department at Heaton Manor School and attract and develop the best teachers to come and work here. We have already done that with record-breaking numbers of applicants applying to work under our philosophy in our school. The secret? Keep it simple, be consistent and value your team. I want our department to be the best in the city and that’s the challenge ahead.
- Jon Hall is head of department for English at Heaton Manor School in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He is also a 2015 Fellow on the Teaching Leaders Fellows programme, a leadership development programme for high-potential middle leaders. Teaching Leaders is currently recruiting their 2016 cohort of middle leaders for the programme. To register your interest, visit www.teachingleaders.org.uk/registerinterest