VIEWS & OPINION
The seven golden rules of teacher retention
Comment by IAN ARMITAGE, chairman, SGOSS Governors for Schools
Bringing MindSports to UK education
Comment by DAVE BRANNAN, founder of MindSports International
As the founder of MindSports International, I am proud to announce that we are introducing a fantastic new Education Platform, to bring cognitive game play into the UK curriculum.
Every school will face staff turnover – indeed it is essential in a healthy organisation of any type. The question is how to manage turnover of staff to best effect, while minimising the transition costs involved, such as agency fees and the cost of supply teachers, not to mention saving the valuable time of the senior staff faced with resolving the situation.
The average cost of replacing a teacher ranges from some £1,500 via advertising to over £5,000 if you use an agency and the average cost of recruitment per position has risen by over 150% over the past four years as schools turn to agency help. So it’s self-evident that improving staff retention will undoubtedly save money.
Here are a few suggestions from school leaders we have worked with at SGOSS.
1. Build and maintain a three- year staffing plan. You’ll be better prepared to handle change if you have anticipated events such as forthcoming retirements, maternity and paternity leave. It’s also important to identify those staff likely to be looking for a career move as early as possible. It is a sobering thought that 60% of secondary teachers leave to join other schools. So it’s vital to make sure your best teachers are as happy as possible working at your school.
2. Pay particular attention to colleagues with the highest performance and potential. These key teachers are the ones which make the difference, so keeping them must be your priority. Spend more of your time with them, as opposed to those who you sadly judge cannot meet the standards required, nor have the potential to do so. 3. Don’t forget recruitment. Ideally you hire people you want to keep forever. So make sure your recruitment process is aligned to your school’s objectives, strategy, culture and values. Never undersell what you have to offer; good candidates will have choices and you want the best teachers to choose your school.
4. Improve your induction process. Formally or informally, a great induction process is essential in helping new recruits to settle in quickly and feel welcome. And of course follow up on all promises to win trust. Remember the old axiom: “Once you have knowledge of the other person and their trust, great things are possible”.
5. Understand what teachers value and the reasons why they leave. You can then design and adapt your package of benefits around staff priorities accordingly. For example, we know that young teachers particularly value opportunities for continuous professional development.
6. Accentuate a positive culture, clearly linked to your values. This might be boiled down to a few memorable words. An example from a very successful tech start up is; ‘Thinking smart, making it happen, living the adventure, standing together, curiosity’.
7. Think ahead. Your Newly and Recently Qualified Teachers are future leaders, so time spent on CPD and personalised support, together with some honest discussions about their individual development paths and needs, will pay off handsomely
Here at SGOSS we understand that a head’s role can be lonely. An HR professional recruited to your governing body will be a good sounding board. They know what it takes to win the battle for talent and how to manage recruitment and retention during periods of financial pressure. They might just make your job more fulfilling and easier.
May 2017
The programme is free for schools to join and the platform includes a plethora of training tools, videos and puzzles all available at
www.mindsportseducation.com. There will be lesson plans and comprehensive game guides, allowing teachers to make the most of the resources and to use them for teaching a range of subjects, including maths and English. There’s even a sports room; a safe online environment for children aged 6 – 18, in which students can improve their skills and play together.
That’s not all - later this year MindSports International will be launching a new and exciting MindSports Champions League; a free to enter competition for teams of students that will run over a period of 6 months. All 3 Mindsports will be incorporated – Scrabble, Chess and GO – and the winners will go on to play other champions around the world and earn international recognition for their schools. It’s time that the UK caught up with the rest of the world; our children are engaging more and more with online content and games, so it makes perfect sense to use their enthusiasm and teach them key life skills through cognitive game play. The benefits are proven.
The US Chess Federation coined the phrase “Chess makes kids smart” and we know that to be true. Extensive studies have been carried out globally, from Venezuela to Belgium, which show remarkable results in the development of key skills through regular cognitive game play. It has been proven that these Mindsports (and yes, we do mean sports) not only promote safe competition and build social bridges but also enhance a child’s understanding of core subjects.
Dianne D Horgan, a professor of psychology at Memphis University, and Philip Rifner, a US champion for chess in education, conducted studies during the 1990’s that conclusively proved the value of MindSports. They discovered that they not only teach children to think, but provide an enhanced ability to subconsciously transfer that thinking into other scenarios.
Mindsports and other cognitive games are based on patterns and problem solving – concepts that children have an innate ability to grasp and optimise. Children that have taken part in studies have shown enhanced problem solving abilities, an increased aptitude for reading and mathematics, greater spacial awareness, enhanced verbal aptitude, better spelling and vocabulary and even an improved attitude towards learning (because they’re having fun!) Not all learning comes naturally, formulaic classroom teaching is limited to the child’s attention span but subconscious learning, through an activity that is enjoyable and competitive has no such boundaries. Mindsports are fun, allowing children to enjoy learning without even realising it, which is arguably the best kind of learning. The games incorporate tension, competition, focus, teamwork and social interaction…and that’s before you even start to consider the cognitive skills. Maths, spelling, pattern analysis, vocabulary, problem solving, weighing options, visualising and forward thinking are all proven to be enhanced through cognitive game play. In partnership with UK schools, Mindsports International are very excited to be able to bring these benefits to UK children and to facilitate learning through fun.
www.education-today.co.uk 15
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