Ofsted new framework 2019 – the reflections of a pilot school

Now the consultation has ended I believe it’s a good time to reflect and share the experience of being a Headteacher in the development of the new framework. It’s really important to recognise that this was a pilot inspection in the relatively early stages of the consultation (January 2019), these are my reflections and not that of Ofsted, the experience was true at the time but as with a consultation and further pilots I would anticipate development to the methodology used.

Please treat the content of this blog as my reflections and my interpretation of the process only, I have no affiliation with Ofsted and they have had no input to this blog. When the framework finally goes live in September 2019 the approach may be very different.

Setting the scene:

My School

• Average size Junior school in Bath
• Above the ‘coasting’ school target and floor target
• Last Ofsted inspection was under my leadership in the Summer of 2017
• This pilot did not include notification to parents and surveys (staff and parents) would not be carried out
• As a Headteacher I have been through 3 previous inspection (one section 5 and two section 8’s) you can read about these experiences here – MrBonline.co.uk

The pilot:

•  I was approached by Ofsted in November 2018 and asked if I would be interested in trialling the new Ofsted Framework
• I was requested to trial a Section 5 inspection (full inspection)
• This was optional and I was free to say 'no'
• My school was selected on the basis of many factors
• No report was to be produced and no grading given to the school. HMI would avoid the use of ‘grading language’ during the pilot
• The safeguarding section of the framework would be carried out in full and the inspection would convert to a full inspection if failings/ concerns were found in this part of the pilot
• I would have contact with the lead HMI for several weeks before the pilot and the date would be arranged in advance (there would not be a ‘phone call’ on the day/ day before the pilot)
• I agreed to a shadow HMI as part of the pilot meaning three HMIs visiting my school for the ‘inspection’

The structure of the pilot:

Day 1 (non-inspection day)

The HMI would arrive at my school for ‘on site preparation’ arriving at 01:30pm and leaving before 6pm

Day 2 and Day 3

Full inspection activities

Throughout the rest of this blog post I will try and reflect on the areas of the process that I have experience that are different to the current framework, I will try and refer to aspects of the framework itself referring you to sections of the draft handbook. Hopefully this will help me explain how a statement in the new framework was carried out in reality.

Onsite preparation

This was carried out with one member of the Inspection Team (in my case the Lead HMI) and was mainly office based. The point in this session was to plan the activities for the start of the inspection the following day, similar to the HMI/ OI phone call received under the current framework. The HMI was instructed that this session was not part of the inspection therefore discussions around the schools performance should not be discussed.

I found this session very useful, it was an opportunity for the inspector to get to know me and the logistics of the school. I used this as a chance to show her around, visit some classrooms and get a feel for the layout of the school. I generally felt this was an improvement on the current ‘phone call’ approach but I have my concerns around availability of the Headteacher at short notice. The current proposal is that the school would receive the notification phone call at 10am and the lead HMI/ OI would arrive after 12.30pm. I would anticipate (with good reason) that Heads of schools in the ‘Ofsted window’ would restrict their travel, attend less off site CPD/ networking and therefore reduce collaboration and school to school support. This would obviously have a negative impact on school development. 

A couple of additional points to note:

1.    The meeting was carried out ‘school and data cold’ meaning the HMI had not looked at documentation regarding the school (this included IDSR and school website) and therefore the initial timetabling was based on the my SDP and what I shared about the strengths and weaknesses of the school. This felt like an instant test of my leadership – did I know the school and was I confident that what I shared would be evident during Day 2 and Day 3.
2. It was time to plan roughly the course of the first inspection day so having teacher timetables at hand was very important
3. I gathered the information below before the initial meeting. I would recommend this to ensure a smooth start to the first inspection day.

Day 2 and Day 3 Inspection activities

As I explained earlier I will reflect on the areas of the framework that were different to my previous experience. The reflections below are not a full representation of the two days.

Four, Five or Six subject areas to investigate

Ofsted stated that during a section 5 inspection that 4 to 6 subjects should be explored at what was referred to as a ‘deep dive’ in a primary school. In a school primary schools this is more likey to always be four. These were selected based on the SDP and conversation during the initial meeting. One of these subjects had to be ‘reading’ (as instructed by Ofsted HQ) and the other three subjects were selected through discussion. For my school we looked at reading, maths (SDP focus), history and science.

Culture and behaviour are key!

This was refreshing and allowed time for the school to demonstrate the culture of the school and how the school operates to achieve a strong and purposeful culture. 

1. 

I think Ofsted proposal to look at the school culture and the impact it has on behaviour (both the extreme/ unacceptable behaviour but also ‘behaviour for learning’, and how a school might encourage resilience and aspirations, for example) is a game changer. Schools that drill children for results or support children’s well being and rounded development as an afterthought to data are in trouble.

During the pilot I had lots of discussion with the team about our values and the impact it has on the children and staff, this was followed by a number of inspection activities to understand this more and triangulate my comments.

1. Pupil and staff interview – children were asked about their experience in school and how the school supported their development. Staff were asked similar questions.
2. Observations – I felt that a lot conclusions were made from the observations the team made outside of the classroom – in the corridors, dinner hall and assemblies.
3. SMSC walk – one of the last activities was a walk of the school with a cross section of children. These were selected from previous inspection activities and from vulnerable groups. The objective of this walk was simple – what are the children most proud of in the school and they took the HMI to show them?
4. That typical school day in the life of child X – this was a very interesting activity. The HMI selected a child (in my case a child with an EHCP plan but could be a child from a vulnerable group) and spent a morning ‘tracking’ the child. Looking at documentation (could include EHCP, IEP, provision mapping), Observe the child (in assembly, lessons, playground), Interviewed the child about what was seen, and invited the child into other inspection tasks (e.g. SMSC walk). This was to understand what a typical day was like for this children.
5.  Behaviour and attitudes - Inspectors looking for a culture of positive attitudes, commitment, resilience and children that take pride in their work. This was mainly from books, interviews, observations around school and would have included surveys (if they were being carried out)

Everyone involved!

Throughout the two days all members of staff (particularly staff holding Senior, Middle or Subject Leadership responsibility) were involved in inspection activities to understand the culture of the school and the four subjects being explored.

All work was based mainly around intent, implementation and impact and from my experience during the pilot I would summarise these as follows:

Intent – curriculum and aspirations for the children (coverage, content, structure, sequence)

Implementation – How staff do their jobs and how learners support them – conclusion were drawn mainly from interviews with leaders, teachers, pupil voice, books, and long term planning (we offered this to the team and was not expected/ asked for).

Impact – learners developing detailed knowledge and skills across the curriculum and achieve well. 

To draw conclusion about the ‘Quality of Education’ (new section of the framework – see diagram at the top of the blog) the following inspections activities were completed across the school:

• Interviews with leaders (SLT, Middle/ Subject)
•  Observations in lessons and around school
• Pupil voice through pupil interviews, general discussion in lessons and around school
• Books (along side pupils, with leaders and without)
• Teacher interviews (see question section below)
• Paperwork – mainly used to support he understand of the school’s approach to SEND and Pupil Premium 

Leadership – every level!

One of the most significant changes I experience was the importance of all leadership levels during the inspection. The work done alongside them was key to the conclusions draw. At this stage its important to recognise that this doesn’t mean all leaders are performing at the level of senior leadership. All good schools are building leadership and every leader is on a ‘journey’, there was no expectation that middle leaders knew all the answers or were all driving their areas with the same backing, resource and time as main objectives on the school development plan. I implore you not to panic and heap additional pressures on your middle leaders. Develop leadership carefully with the long term goals in the forefront of your mind.

Interviews and conversation with leadership was key, common threads were evident on these conversations, including questions aimed to understanding the following:

•        Intent, implementation and impact (use of prior learning, rationale behind approach, what is next?, what is the purpose?)

•        Aims trying to be achieved through the subject/ areas

•        If your approach was perfect what would it look like?

•        When you implemented ‘X’ what were the risks you had to consider?

•        Sequence through year groups of knowledge and skills (how are these taught together?)

•        Leaders asked to talk through this children’s learning journey – what was the typical learning experience like for child X in subject Y?

•        How were knowledge and skills built on over time – where do staff begin and how long is spent on each area? (Curriculum mapping was a useful tool for these discussions)

•        How does the learning stick and how is it retained by the children? How do you support children to do this?

•        What will be seen as we ‘walk the school’? What will be in books, on walls etc? What will children say about your subject?

•        How do you consolidate learning over time?

The feedback from my leaders was that the HMIs listened and probed thinking. Questions were based on leadership decisions made, the rationale of these and why the curriculum was designed in this way. How did they know it’s effective and children are progressing?

Interviews were challenging but not at any point an attempt to catch leaders out. The HMIs were trying to understand the leaders thinking and rationale for their subject – have risks and implementation been considered carefully?

Data or lack of data… a marathon not a sprint! 

Data was not used (internal or published) during the Day 1 planning meeting and was hardly touched on during the rest of the pilot.

Internal data was not asked for at any point. The only question regarding internal tracking was made in relation to teacher workload during a teacher group interview. My teachers mentioned the data tracking system and the HMI followed up with a question regarding the use of this data and the balance between impact on teaching and learning and workload.

Published data was referred to twice in reference to what had already been observed and was more of a ‘I can see reading is your strongest area and the IDSR data would support that’.

The removal of a ‘data discussion’ and the not using data throughout the inspection was very different to previous experiences. This approach was positive and felt more like a marathon than a sprint. Without the data setting the direction I felt the inspection team took longer to get to know my school but by the end of the two days knew my school better and at more depth. 

Not new but don’t forget…

•  Safeguarding in depth – the schools approach and culture of safeguarding was an important focus (as it should  be). The culture of safeguarding outweighs fancy polices and paperwork.
• Observation will not be ‘random’ and will be based on a focus or trial
•  No grading of lessons or teachers – grades given to the school will be based on the typical education the children receives

My ‘take always’ from the pilot

I am a true believer that school shouldn’t be ‘preparing’ for an Ofsted inspection and taking action in the best interests of the children is all you need to do to ensure an effective school and therefore a successful Ofsted inspection. Below are some points to reflect on…

•        Culture is key - be clear about what this looks like, what you have developed, the impact the culture has on learning and areas you are still developing and how you are doing this

•        Without the right behaviour learning can’t be effective. Focus on this and underpin your approaches with key values that staff and children will believe in

•        There is nothing wrong with a developing leader – please don’t destroy the work life balance trying to bring all middle leaders rapidly up to senior leader level. Develop and nurture these professional and see them as senior leaders of the future and allow them to develop at a steady rate with the support they require

•        If you are running a ‘sausage factory’ and drilling children for results, you will be in trouble!

•        Now more than ever strong leadership is required to balance the curriculum development and manage the workload this might have on teachers. Get this balance wrong or rush developments in response to the new framework will just end in disaster

•        Leaders need to have a strong understanding of children’s ‘learning journey’ – what does a typical experience feel like for a child in a particular subject or year group? How can this be better?

•        No more internal data - the only reference made to internal tracking was when teachers were asked about the impact of this practise on their workload and the balance it had on impact of their teaching. This is a ‘game changer’!

•        Retention of teaching and learning – this was key line of investigation. Asking the children what they have learnt and testing how it has been retained. Has the learning stuck?

In conclusion

I was pleasantly pleased with the pilot and believe it’s the right direction of travel.

I was able to feedback directly to Ofsted after the pilot and included these key points in my reflections:

•        Possible negative impact on middle leader’s workload if clear messages aren’t made by Ofsted. This could be a significant and a damaging ‘unintended consequence’ of the new framework

•        Encouraged and pleased by the focus on a wider curriculum

•        Encouraged by the removing the data focus – I think through the wider activities the team new my school better by the end of day 2 than they would have with the ‘smoke screen’ of data

•        Positive about the face to face prep but questions regarding the impact of Headteacher availability and how this might restrict ‘school to school’ support and CPD

•        Impressed by the triangulation approaches, in particular, teachers contextualising their teaching to the inspectors and the use of pupil voice 

That’s it… any questions just tweet! 

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Five years, three schools: sometimes you close your office door and only you know it could all end in disaster!

I think it’s really important that we are honest and share. There have been times when every school leader feels like they are on the edge of cliff and this can feel very lonely. It’s imported that we share these stories, the successes, the difficulties that we have faced and that we have lived to tell the tale…

I love a challenge and I love change, the reason I came into teaching was to make a difference, I wanted to change the world and inspire the next generation. I really struggled academically at school, so much that I was the child that needed the 1:1 classroom support and the Saturday morning tutoring just to learn the basics. I know how important it is to be inspired, be resilient, embrace and learn from failure, show grit and to never give up. Sport taught me lots about dedication, commitment, determination and hard work.

You read about the ‘disappearing Headteachers’, the pressure of school leadership, increased stress levels of educators and ended careers. I’m sure we are only a few years from reading research about the decreased life expectancy of someone choosing to be a Headteacher. I have been a Headteacher for five years now in three different schools and I have come close to ‘disappearing’ – really close and more than once!

I had been a Deputy for about 18 months when I found myself in the ‘Big Chair’ about a month after my 30^th birthday. The current headteacher was seconded to another primary school for a short period (this ‘short period’ actually ended up being 2 years). Three weeks after I took up the reins the provisional SATS results were published… the school was below the floor for the second year running and the LA ‘pressure’ phone calls started coming! During the same week, an official complaint was made to Ofsted about the school with the word ‘safeguarding’ splashed all over it and a member of staff raising a safeguarding concern about another member of staff, was the icing on the cake. I had been used to pressure as a Deputy and responded well but my Headteacher was always there for support and to make the final call… now the buck stopped with me and I didn’t think I had the skills or experience to deal with it!

The Ofsted safeguarding complaint was unfounded and disproved, the complaint about the staff member was resolved informally and plans were put in place to address the teaching and outcomes. This was my first term as a Headteacher, it was a roller-coaster and I could have easily ‘disappeared’ before the summer.

The pressure was on in September and support was hard to find but fear was being applied by the bucket fall. Ofsted was due and the data looked bleak, teaching was generally good but not good enough for these children – they needed something special, inspiring and motivating. The majority of the children came from disadvantaged families and just ‘solid’ teaching wasn’t going to cut it! I felt the pressure but I was enjoying it, the team was great and hard working. I faced it with a smile and relentless optimism but when it came to ‘swinging the axe’ and removing a member of staff – that was really hard!

All teachers like to see children learn, succeed and smile. The great thing about being a Headteacher is you can develop teachers, help them succeed and learn. Watching a new teacher build a skill set, add their personality to their classroom and inspire 30 young minds is amazing, this is easily one of the best parts of the job. However, when a teacher is underperforming this needs to be addressed, the children only get one go at their education and too many get a raw deal when poor leadership do not take action. Senior Leadership Teams need to offer support, offer challenge and improve the education… it’s horrible when that doesn’t work and the worst combination is when a teacher desperately wants to improve but can’t!

After a long process of support plans, union meetings and angry parents a teacher left my school – sitting in the LA’s HQ there was celebration of my ‘strong leadership’, the turning point I had made in ‘proving myself’ and a ‘significate strategic move for the school’… hearing all this was depressing and I was not celebrating! Back at base, staff were questioning my leadership and mourning for their lost colleague, some parents were happy, others were fuming – Facebook comments asking for my head on a stick appeared and I was on damage limitation… I could have easily disappeared!  

If you don’t have thick skin, you will never survive as a Headteacher. I don’t give up, I never have, and I was determined to do what I had always planned to do… inspire a generation, change the lives of young people and change the world! There were lots of great times, moments of magic, fun and excitement -  but the difficult times keep you up at night and Headship can be a lonely place! In five years, one thing has never really changed – I love about 90% of my job and the other 10% (normally a member of staff and some parents) make me want to punch a wall or collapse in a dark corner!

The next 10 months were spent trying to demonstrate that we were a school on the up, outcomes were still very average and we were destined to be under the floor again – three years on the bounce! Ofsted turned up during the summer term… I was fighting for RI (requires improvement) the data was pointing to lower than this. My Headteacher career could have ended as quickly as it started!

Two days with a full inspection team and HMI turning up on day 2 was intense but we managed to show all the good work we were doing and the journey we were on… ‘The Headteacher is leading an improving school, pupils' progress was getting better’ (Ofsted 2015). The outcome was in line with my Self Evaluation and a true reflection of the school at the time.

The report was published in the Summer term and had a mixed reaction, some understood the journey the school had been on and other just saw a drop from ‘Good’ to ‘RI’ – it was a PR nightmare! The Governors and LA wanted me to continue the journey and take on the substantive job when the previous Headteacher resigned that summer… I didn’t! I had given all I could give to the school and was ready to move on. I thought long and hard about the decision and when the advert was published I informed the Governors and the LA that I was not going to apply, I couldn’t morally take the job knowing I would still be scanning Eteach every weekend. It felt great to make a bold leap of faith but at the same time I was panicking, I had turned the opportunity down with nothing else to go to! The countdown was on; I would have to walk through the school gates in September as the Deputy (the school I was Head in for two years) if I didn’t find a job a job by the end of the summer term.

Four Headship interviews came and went, a range of feedback, some useful and some not so useful including, ‘you’re too nice’ and some rubbish feedback followed by 'we appointed the internal candidate’ – this happen twice. I also walked out of another interview after day 1 – where the Governors and LAs understanding of the school’s position was so far from reality the job would have been near impossible. I have had some challenges over the past five years but one of the hardest was entering the building in September as Deputy Head.  It was confusing for the staff and children and painful for me - 6 weeks felt like a lifetime, I did very little (in comparison to the previous year) and put all my energy into supporting some new NQTs and less experienced teachers – I enjoyed this as much as I could!

Then one wet weekend the phone rang and I was asked to consider taking over a school across the county border. The person on the other end of the phone was head of education in the LA and previously worked in my current LA. The school was in a total mess and close to closing, it was 5 years since its last Ofsted and they would have closed it down if they walked through the door then, the school was already ‘red flagged’ due to safeguarding issues and the LA were ready to put their hands in their pockets and give me whatever I needed to try and sort it out. I had access to all services available, a hotline to LA HQ and resources to support rapid improvement.

This was a leap of faith to say the least, I already had an RI Ofsted with my name on it and I could very quickly have a ‘inadequate’ or worse to add to the collection – it would have ended my short Headship career! I decided to take the plunge, cross my fingers and hope I would get at least 6 months to do something about the mess (spoiler: I got 4 and half months).

When I arrived at the school I was greeted by a team so bashed into the ground that it was amazing they hadn’t thrown in the towel already, a wonderful community that knew something was wrong at their school but not to what extent and an almost new Governing Body – 6 new Governors (including the Chair) were appointed the day I was brought in. I was also lucky enough to be greeted by a new Business Manager who had only been in post about eight weeks, she brought a fresh perspective and was excellent. She was with me, good days and bad, every step of the way.

So, what needed doing? Short answer, ‘a lot…’ the culture of safeguarding was weak and the whole school was built on trust and good will – which is lovely, but trust is easy to break and good will is easy to lose. There were open gates straight into neighbours back gardens, children arriving at school was so relaxed anything could have happened, visitor and sign in systems were non-existent, and health and safety checks had never really happened, to name just a few. These were relatively quick wins, they cost some money but fixed in a few months (with some interim measures to hold it together in the short term). My biggest concern was the vulnerability of the staff, they had had little to no CPD for years and their style was dated (not that there is much wrong with this but I did have one teacher sticking large sheets of sugar paper to her interactive whiteboard rather than turning on her computer).

The staff needed time, protection and some TLC. I took care of and protected them from the LA and external pressure, I implemented some new organisation, policies and procedures. We also had the press outside the school gates on a number of occasions (trying to run some very derogatory and damaging articles on the school), the office were brought to tears by abusive phone calls and two formal complaints that needed legal support. I arranged some off sight supervision for all staff that needed it and some teaching CPD and just let the teachers teach. They were a good bunch and knowing someone strong was there in the Head’s office was enough for them to just get on with it and do a good job. There were a few cracks that started to show with some members of staff, some HR meetings were called and some union involvement, I made sure I did this by the book with empathy and rigour. A clear message to everyone– you're dedicated, committed and a team player or you’re not – it you’re not, there’s the door (some chose the door and that was best for them and the school).

Four and a half months passed and Ofsted turned up, it was a close one and the LA question my Self Evaluation the day before the inspection and challenged me on the progress the school was making but I was confident in my judgements. Ofsted turned up and the inspection lead to a ‘good’ outcome.

The report recognised my partnership with Governors, the LA, local leaders and even called me ‘dynamic’ 😃 which was nice. It captured the culture of the school and the way the teachers ‘made learning fun’ and enjoyed coming to school – this was a real credit to the teachers especially during a really turbulent and tricky time.

My contract at this school was weird as the substantive Head was off sick my original contract was for six weeks, then with agreement it became eight weeks, then four months and finally ten months. I wasn’t staying and never planned to, this was an interim challenge that I made clear at the beginning to the school, the LA and community. I made sure I was referred to as the Interim Headteacher so we all knew where I stood. I supported the school through the recruitment of a new Headteacher and left in the summer. I learnt so much during this time and really enjoyed the ride. The importance of always smiling, letting everyone know it will be ok, saying thank you and well done, and really being the only one in the school that really knows it might all end in disaster. That is a lot for any one person to hold onto but was essential to ensuring the children came to school had a great education and left happy at the end of each day. Looking back at my time at the school the saving grace was being able to offload, joke and laugh with my Business Manager this kept me sane, focused and on task! Coming home to two awesome kids and a supportive wife was equally important in helping me relax, re-energise and back to the job the next day.

I never went back to my original school. A few people had taken notice of the work I had just done and I stayed in the county. Taking my first substantive Headship three and a half years after first sitting in the Head’s office.

I faced a new challenge at this school, taking over from a well-respected Headteacher that had been there for twenty years. The school was full of excellent people but had treaded water for a few years and some changes we needed. Outcomes were poor and the school was capable of so much more. There was very little in terms of delegated leadership and the Deputy Headteacher left the school at the same times as the Headteacher – leaving me high and dry! I quickly appointed a Deputy from the staff team, a gamble taken on a talented member of staff that had never even sat on the senior leadership team. This worked out very well and has been one of the best (and luckiest) decision I have made as a Headteacher. I also appointed a Business Manager (I poached the one from my previous school), appointed a substantive Inclusion Lead, with loads of experience, and was lucky enough to inherit a strong English Leader. In a matter of months, I had quickly formed a new SLT ready to take on the world (our small part of it). 

I assessed the school as ‘vulnerable’ and submitted the LA form, support was offered and the cycle of improvement began. I had to approach this carefully, easing staff and the community into change when there had previously been very little – there were a lot of changes. Some of these were processes and policy but the bulk of my work was teacher CPD, staff training and opening classroom doors. The budget was tricky and about 50K of savings (most of this was staffing) got us to a position of submitting a £11K deficit (1 % of the total budget). I learnt a lot from this experience, and as I powered through the school making changes and improving things, I left some people behind. These were mainly members of the community that who had two or three children go through the school and were comfortable and happy with the previous approach. When Ofsted visited in the summer of 2017 the complexes of the last year were very evident the school was in a good place (just) but getting the school there had created some waves – I have reflected carefully this since then and am determined to ensure my communication approaches are consistent and quality during times of change. Ofsted’s assessment of the school was spot on and a true reflection of the school. One key statements summed up the journey well ‘A minority of parents feel that some changes, have taken place too quickly. However, the findings from this inspection show that the actions to improve pupils’ achievement have been necessary, prompt and effective.’

I am now building on my first year at this school and am so lucky to have a really strong team around me, excellent developing leaders, an awesome community, some of the best teachers I have had the pleasure to work with and a bunch of amazing kids.

I don’t really class myself as that experienced but what advice would I give to a ‘new broom’ just starting the journey…

1.       Keep talking, keep networking – talk to other Headteachers, share ideas, meet for coffee and never miss a cluster meeting. Create opportunities to share issues and solutions, offload disasters and share good ideas. This time is so important and if you start to cut yourself off from the world your days are numbered.

2.       Meet the children and families at the gate and see them off at the end of the day. The impact this has on the school can’t be underestimated and the support this provides for your team. Walk the school after the registration and say ‘good morning’ check in with your vulnerable children and get each day off to a great start – I love this part of the day!

3.       Plan strategically! It’s very easy to get distracted by the ‘fire fight’ and before you know it that is all you end up doing. Delegate effectively to have a direct impact on the teaching and learning in the classrooms – that is what it’s all about anyway. Use a RAP plan to make sure this happens. Make sure every day you can reflect on at least one thing (however small) that has made a positive impact to a child or teacher.

RAP plan

I’m five years in and feel like I have had a careers worth already. Is it worth it? The answer is an undoubtable YES. The hours are long, you feel like you are faking it half the time and the job might be sending me to an early grave… but we are changing the world – one child at a time!

A child was asked to describe me as a Headteacher and I will always remember what she said… ‘Mr B is really good at helping teachers and children, and he fixes things’ – I’m happy with that 😃

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My door will always be open...

Over 24 hours since the outcome and now reflecting on the result of the referendum, I feel more gutted and depressed this morning that yesterday. 

Being a Headteacher, I have the pleasure to meet, support and work with families from a range of backgrounds from a host of different countries. Seeing parents crying at the school gate yesterday worried and unsure about their future and their children's future is heartbreaking. Hopefully, their status in this country will not be changed but the damage this referendum has done in isolating and ostracizing large groups of people within their own communities is terrible!

All families from Europe and further afield will always be welcome in any school I am lucky enough to lead. I have seen first hand the benefit you bring to the community, your work ethic and determination to add to society and make communities strong. 

My door will always be open!

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Manage your workload and get organised with this simple approach...

A colleague shared this approach with me, I have made some small changes and I now find it effective in prioritizing and ensuring the important things are done right!

Here I explain a simple and effective way to organised tasks and the constant stream of work that you get as a Headteacher or leader. This approach can also work well and be effective for teachers in managing their PPA and non-contact time.

If you adopt this approach please let me know how it goes, especially if you make changes and improvements - tweet me at @MrB_Online

This approach works best as a display in your office, inside of your cupboard door or on a spare wall.

It uses a simply 'Inbox' system and is set up like this:

As a task/ job comes across your desk you write it down on a card and add it to your 'Inbox' under one of three heading -  Red, Amber or Green.

Red: Urgent
Amber: Will need completing soon
Green: Plenty of time 

What you consider as a red, amber or green task is up to you, it depends on how you work and the type of task. For example, planning an assembly would be Green two weeks before, amber the week of the assembly and red if it's tomorrow morning. A Headteacher Report to FGB that would be red two weeks before the meeting as it needs to be sent out with the agenda.

The movement of tasks around your inbox might work abit like this:

When you start a task it needs to move to the 'In Progress' section of your board and then when complete you can bin the task card or file under 'Complete' for future reference.

The task cards themselves need additional information, be generous with their size so you can add notes and edit - I use these cards.

The card includes the estimated completion time and the due date.

Write on the cards, makes notes and edit.

Explain the system to other leaders so this system can also help you delegate effectively

Keep the 'In Progress' section manageable and leave tasks in your Inbox until you start them.

Use this board along with your Outlook Calendar booking in 'board time'.


Got a better system or have adapted this approach and made it better - I would love to hear about it!

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My experience of the new 'one day Ofsted inspection' and how to ensure HMI see your 'good' school

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