LEADERSHIP
Almost 200
heads of
boarding schools,
both maintained
and independent, gathered
in Oxfordshire recently
for the Boarding Schools’
Association annual
conference for headteachers.
Hilary Moriarty gives an
insider’s view
EADING CAN be exhausting.
L
The Australian education world
acknowledges this with headteachers
entitled to regular sabbatical leave of
12 weeks after seven years in post. Leading
Such is the impact of headship,
that in many cases heads will take four
weeks after just two years in post, a timely opportunity
to recover, recharge the batteries and be refreshed.
Often the time is used for professional contact and
engagement –with other schools, with universities, in
research – which is far from a holiday, but may have the
same effect.
In Britain, headteachers may not be so fortunate, nor
lights
Photography
so nurtured. No wonder that “burn out” is not uncommon
T
empest
in the profession. But one of the mini-defences against
the possibly toxic effects of being a leader, is attending
Photo:
conferences with colleagues who have a real insight into
the anxieties of the job, a capacity to empathise, and a chief constable of Thames Valley Police, which
willingness to share their store of wisdom. pioneered the use of restorative justice, explained to
Sometimes it feels as if the speakers at conferences delegates the value of bringing together victim and
Taking the lead: NCSL
are secondary in importance to the opportunity to reflect miscreant with a trained facilitator.
with other leaders on the nature of the game in which Evidence is building that this system is far more
they are all engaged. Great speakers are a bonus. effective in reducing re-offending, for instance, than the
This is the only conference which stretches across more traditional methods of tackling crime and anti-social London calling
the divides, bringing heads together because of their behaviour. It can be a transformational device in schools.
shared interest in boarding, whether their own headship It is possible such methods will work with bullies:
is in a large single-sex senior school, or a small co- Dr Carrie Herbert, founder of the Red Balloon Learner
Dr George Berwick, the head of a major leadership
educational prep school. Centres, spoke movingly of how her particular form of
At this event, colleagues from New Zealand and education – small, domestic units, aiming to raise self-
strategy for London, says their approach could work for
Australia joined fellow UK heads in a conference esteem in the victims of appalling bullying, and return
which inspired and, above all, gave delegates the them to mainstream education – had worked miracles
opportunity to reflect upon best practice in this vital with children damaged beyond belief by their peers. It
secondaries across the country
sector of the British educational scene. was clear that Dr Herbert drew a great deal of support
Chairman Melvyn Roffe, principal of Wymondham from delegates for her proposals to build more Red TURN THE clock back seven years and London’s and 2007 was double the national average and
College in Norfolk, the largest state boarding school in Balloon centres around the country. schools were in a very different place to where more than three times the London average. Schools
the country, opened with an address which carried two Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, consultant psychologist they are now. In 2002, London secondaries – and providing support also improved at a faster rate than
clear messages for ministers. to the Australian Boarding Staff Association for the primaries – were doing very poorly overall and more the national average.
Of Sarah McCarthy-Fry, minister for schools and past seven years and founding member of the National than 70 were of major concern. There were good and This success “nudged” other heads into
learners, he asked for more action enabling local Coalition against Bullying, presented delegates with even outstanding schools in nearly every context, but participating. Now we have 54 secondary and almost
authorities to send children in difficult circumstances to frightening statistics about adolescent mental health. there weren’t enough of them. 100 primary. A critical factor has been that other good
boarding schools – 70 schools were willing to consider His presentation was a salutary reminder of how The London Leadership Strategy was devised to schools have seen how the strategy has helped the
such children, but only a handful had arrived in two much is now known about adolescents, and how encourage good heads, their schools and teachers, consultant heads raise standards in their own schools.
and a half years. Surely more could be done, and what important it is that boarding staff keep up with the latest to support London schools that were struggling A lot of skill-sharing already took place between
innovative thinking would it take to achieve a better life research to inform their practice with young people in by working alongside the staff and sharing their London schools, but with our strategy it happened at
for some of the most vulnerable children in society? these vital, formative years. knowledge. Unlike a traditional arm’s length head of department or advanced skills teacher level.
Phil Woolas, minister for immigration, was reminded Handing over to Dr Christopher Greenfield, “advisory service”, these consultant heads would be Once heads saw that the process of helping others
that education is one of Britain’s most robust exports: chairman elect of the BSA, Mr Roffe spoke of the fully engaged with the problems the schools faced. was improving their own skills they could see that, if
it is valued right across the world. If the government challenges facing boarding schools in these difficult That genuine engagement was crucial. that was replicated among staff, it would help them
persists in treating every international applicant to a economic times, but also reminded his colleagues of the A second objective was to capture knowledge – and their schools – as well.
Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) school – and tremendous privilege they enjoy in helping to shape so about school improvement – what worked, what There are now just nine secondaries in London in
some are as young as seven – as if they were embryonic many young lives. didn’t, and why. This was done by heads visiting each an Ofsted category, two in “special measures”, and
terrorists or benefit scroungers, numbers would surely Flying back to their schools under the shadow of other’s schools. seven with a “notice to improve”.
fall as these young people find more welcoming the swine flu outbreak, inspired by the speakers, and Our focus was on making schools better as judged Another programme we have introduced has been
countries such as Australia and Canada. energised by the time for reflection and collegiality, by league tables and Ofsted. Although there is a lot designed to assist more schools to be “outstanding”.
In a year when boarding numbers had risen by there was no doubt that his delegates agreed. SecEd of disgruntlement in the profession about measuring Nationally, 18 per cent of secondary schools are
1,000, many of them from overseas, it was important to schools by bald numbers, the reality is that is how “outstanding”, but in London the figure has risen by
recognise the value of these young people not just to the • Hilary Moriarty is national director of the Boarding schools are judged and we were quite open that our three per cent in a year and is now 23 per cent.
schools themselves, but also to the British economy. Schools’ Association. Visit www.boarding.org.uk aim was to make schools better in this regard. Our trick has been to train people to share their
There is nothing like hearing from a businessman Persuading experienced heads of good schools to knowledge with others, rather than writing a case
to shake up educators: Kevin Roberts, chief executive join was difficult. Many were worried that standards study. We moved the people with the knowledge
worldwide of Saatchi and Saatchi presented a hugely in their own school would be undermined, so we had and that also made them much more effective at
entertaining exploration of the importance of making a to start small. transferring knowledge within their own school.
boarding education recognised for the priceless gift it is We pinpointed five boroughs initially, and the This has taken considerable organisation, which
to pupils: “Make them love it beyond reason,” delegates aim over three years was to have 10 per cent of has been underpinned by the National College for
were urged, reminding them that in life, the really big the best schools working with 10 per cent of the School Leadership. We believe the model can be
decisions are as much emotional as rational. schools that were challenged. This produced swift replicated around the country because it is about a
Andrew Motion, in his first week as “not the poet improvements. Schools came out of category faster process, not content, and is therefore not limited to
laureate”, tapped into emotions when he revealed than the prescribed timescale set by Ofsted. In one one context. That’s why we have been able to apply
something of his journey from school boy to poet, and case the transformation took a term and a half. it to the National Leaders of Education strategy and
urged delegates to ensure that the creativity was never After the first year, all of the consultant heads told now in City Challenge across the country.
lost from their schools. me about the improved exam results in the schools It is rigorously intellectual and logical in its
Further food for thought was supplied by the Right they were working with. Our aim was to create an approach. It is about using knowledge of what works
Rev Peter Hullah, sometime Bishop of Ramsbury, emotional tie so that the supporting headteachers felt more effectively and how you break down the barriers
currently principal of Northampton Academy. as committed to these schools as to their own, and this to use that knowledge elsewhere. Quite simply, it is
Considering the possibilities of “using who you are was evidence that it had worked. heads shaping the system from the inside.
to make change happen”, he reminded delegates of the From that point, we started to build a real sense
importance of values, for themselves and their schools, that London schools were working as a team. • Dr George Berwick is director of the London
and the need to create, on a daily basis, the change we Improvements have continued year on year, both Leadership Strategy and head of Ravens Wood
seek. Inspiring: Kevin Roberts of Saatchi and in the supported and the supporting schools. In School in Bromley. His book on the LLS, Engaging
For many schools, moving to the process of Saatchi (top) and The Right Rev Peter secondaries, the average rate of improvement in Excellence, will be published later this year.
restorative justice has been a radical, and sometimes Hullah, principal of Northampton Academy GCSE results (five or more A* to C) between 2003 Visit www.ncsl.org.uk/citychallenge
counter-intuitive, change: Sir Charles Pollard, former (above) addressed BSA headteachers
SecEd • May 21 2009 13
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20