PE departments have been upping their game, keen to satisfy increasing numbers of young women who are thirsty to try new sports, to compete at the highest levels and to follow in the footsteps of a new generation of inspiring sporting heroines.

Of course, traditional sports like lacrosse, netball and gymnastics are as strong as ever. At Putney High School GDST over 250 girls play netball with seven teams across year 7 alone and 250 matches per year. But for those looking for something different, or who don’t want to play those traditional sports, there are now plenty of exciting alternatives.

Putney champions a culture of getting girls moving and enjoying being active, at every age and level of ability.

Physical fitness and mental wellbeing go hand-in-hand with academic achievement, and as such, an energetic sports department offers everyone the chance to get involved in team sports, to challenge themselves as individuals and to take part and/or compete in something they enjoy.

The school has a strong tradition of student voice which has, of course, meant listening to demand. When England’s National Women’s team performed so well at the Football World Cup, igniting a passion for the game in a whole new generation of girls, Putney’s sports department knew that football lessons should be added to the timetable. Women’s and men’s football were once on equal pegging until a ban by the Football Association in 1921.

Since that ban was lifted in 1971, women’s football has taken time to rebuild and it is great to see the explosion of interest amongst this generation of girls.

The sport is now hugely popular at the school and teams are progressing well under the watchful eye of specialist coaches. Putney has even appointed girls as football ‘marketers’ and ‘deliverers’ on a football committee who are responsible for raising awareness of the game.

“We’ve had an amazing response with more girls signing up every week and lots of positive feedback from parents who are pleased we’re offering the sport. The plan is to keep having regular fixtures and training and enter national cups,” explains Dominique McKee, Putney’s head of football.

Rounders has become a thing of the past at many schools, giving way to the much more popular cricket, which again hit the spotlight thanks to England women’s performance in the World Cup. Everyone seems to want to play.

“We first introduced cricket three years ago, Kwik Cricket for years 7 to 9, and such has been its success that we have now widened this, launching hard ball cricket for year 9 upwards,” explains Emma Fraser, Putney’s director of sport.

Putney competes in the Lady Taverner’s Indoor Competition at Lords and has four teams at under 12 and under 13.

The under 14s and under 15s train during the winter months with cricket coach Alastair Fraser (ex-County for Middlesex and Essex) in readiness for the hard ball season which begins in the summer.

One of the reasons cricket works well is that everyone can get involved – each player bowls, bats and fields. As well as
being inclusive, it delivers for those who want to compete at elite level, there are so many opportunities now for girls within the sport.

In the same boat

Rowing is another popular sport at Putney and the school has the first ‘girls only’ boathouse on a prestigious stretch of the Thames at Putney Embankment.

Supported by an active Rowing Supporters Association, the boathouse provides professional facilities for girls who practise and compete nationally and to international GB level. There are five squads and almost one fifth of the senior school involved in rowing overall with social and performance tiers in each age group.

I remember the days when rowing was considered a male sport. Great Britain’s success in women’s rowing demonstrates that with clear vision and action, equality can be achieved, with all the benefits it brings in terms of participation, fitness, health and wellbeing as well as sheer enjoyment. I’m delighted that in 2021, Henley Royal Regatta will, for the first time, include a Women’s Junior Eights race, a blue-riband event for schoolgirls to join the one that is already available to boys.

There is no doubt that one of the biggest issues for schools is finding time within the PE schedule. Emma Fraser evaluates the curriculum every year and tailors the provision according to the interests of a specific year group.

“In terms of the challenges of introducing new sports such as cricket, we are fortunate that there is a lot of support available for girls and for coaches within the sports and particularly for us within the Girls’ Day School Trust which has made the transition easier. For example, year 8 pupils receive training with community coaches from England Rugby,” she explains.

From rugby and football to cricket, sports that once were the preserve of boys’ schools are now top of a list that includes a huge amount of choice. There’s also athletics, cross country, squash, volleyball, tennis, martial arts, spinning, dance, yoga and Zumba. For the increasing numbers of talented young students who are competing at county or national level, there is no shortage of specialist support.

Helping young elite athletes to manage their academic studies alongside the demands of training and competition is no easy task and some schools are now offering tailor-made support, like Putney’s Elite Sportswomen Programme, to respond to the specific needs of high-performing pupils. Having a team of professional coaches on hand, from Olympian Jess Eddie (their rowing coach) to England’s Claire Faram, head of lacrosse and world champion acrobat Lewis Walker, offers students access to not only some great role models, but a mentor who genuinely understands the demands on their time.

Equality of opportunity is heralding the dawn of a new generation of sporting talent and there’s no sign of these girls dropping the ball any time soon.

The post The changing face of girls’ sport appeared first on Independent Education Today.

This phrase from the 2002 film, Bend It Like Beckham tugged firmly on the heartstrings of families within communities throughout the UK and sparked household conversations about women’s expectations of becoming conventional housewives and not pursuing aspirations of playing team sports – and not just in South Asian families.

Following a recent survey carried out by Sport England, statistics suggested that participation in sport for females from South Asian backgrounds is as low as 21%, with 40% of this demographic claiming that traditional expectancies was the overarching reason as to why they did not feel that they had the same opportunities as those from different cultures.

Community deep dive

One sport that is helping South Asian women – and women in general – to overcome social barriers to sport is rounders. Rounders England has been spearheading a national rounders revolution, showing how the game is accessible to anyone and everyone, regardless of age, ability, gender, race or sexuality – a sport that starts at school and can be a companion for people throughout their lives.

On a playing field in the West Yorkshire town of Batley, the 20 or so members of the Batley Ninjas rounders team take their training sessions incredibly seriously. Originally set up in 2015, the Batley Ninjas are made up of women from predominantly South Asian backgrounds – namely India and Pakistan – and participate in the Ready Steady Active (RSA) Rounders League.

The RSA Rounders League was founded and set up by Rashida Salloo, who aims to provide equal opportunities for women within the local South Asian community to get involved with sports and physical activities. Salloo says that she was encouraged to establish the league due to some of the barriers that she faced while growing up, including not having any South Asian female role models to look up to at the time.

Rounders England has been spearheading a national rounders revolution, showing how the game is accessible to anyone and everyone, regardless of age, ability, gender, race or sexuality

How rounders helps

Rounders offers a fun and friendly way to socialise and spend quality time with friends and family. In line with Sport England’s #FitGotReal campaign, Rounders England celebrates the amazing ways people can incorporate exercise into their lives – no more so than by picking up a bat, gathering up a team and playing rounders.

Being a sport that emphasises sociability, rounders is a cross-generational, mixed gender game that connects people in an age where screens separate generations and are replacing real and meaningful interactions. Nationally, there are upwards of 80,000 adults that play rounders regularly, with around 700 teams playing across the country – and perhaps more astoundingly, there are one million people that have taken part in rounders sessions over the past year.

Far from being just physical benefits, playing rounders has been proven to help those suffering with mental health issues too. According to the Mental Health Foundation, 50% of mental health conditions are established by the age of 14 and 75% by 25.

Although these are staggering statistics, it is equally as shocking to learn that 70% of adolescents who experience mental health problems have not received appropriate interventions at a sufficiently early age.

Rounders England promotes inclusivity and champions participation, regardless of any actual or perceived barriers to entry. Rounders has been said to particularly support individuals who suffer from overwhelming feelings of isolation and loneliness through offering them a safe, secure and fun environment to meet new people, try a new sport and form relationships that will last a lifetime.

Looking ahead

As a sport that is reliant on each member of the team doing their bit to succeed, rounders embodies teamwork, communication and organisation in the hope of encouraging everyone to become more confident in themselves as individuals. Rounders England has many ways of supporting teachers and schools that are looking to develop rounders through resources, courses and competitions.

Sport in general, and rounders in particular, has the power to unite communities, break down barriers and promote cultural shifts for both adults and children.

The physical, mental and emotional benefits of playing rounders are all elements that encourage people to pursue the game long after their schooldays are over and by placing emphasis on enjoyment and engagement, rounders stands out from other sports and can inspire even the least active of individuals to have as much fun as they can shake a bat at.

The post Breaking barriers and empowering communities appeared first on Independent Education Today.

Big Tech have responded by making accessible tools freely available to teachers and students – platforms such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, Classroom and Microsoft Teams have seen usage grow exponentially in recent weeks.

Whilst the tools exist and are relatively straightforward to use, the real skill in remote learning comes from transferring offline teaching pedagogies and teacher/student relationships into an online format.

The goal is that the technology becomes relatively invisible, so students are able to participate in purposeful learning experiences despite geographical separation from their teachers and peers.

Institutional adjustment

Whilst this sounds achievable in principle, the devil is in the detail and inevitably it requires a lot of training and upskilling to rapidly change the behaviour of institutions whose default position has been offline face-to-face interactions.

Schools can be noisy, chaotic, personality-driven places where creativity occurs as a result of colleagues and students bouncing ideas and experiences off each other. Staff rooms and corridors bustle with conversations, experiences, excitement, frustrations and friendship group interactions.

This dynamic is atomised when schools close their physical doors but there is no reason why much of this cannot transfer to online channels if the correct tech is deployed strategically and effectively.

At the Royal Hospital School, we are fortunate to have invested heavily in technology and staff training over the past five years. We run a one-to-one iPad mobile learning programme in years 7-11 and a BYOD scheme for our sixth form. We are recognised as an Apple Regional Training Centre and one of the EdTech50 schools.

Our focus for the last 18 months has been migrating all systems to the cloud (Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint) which has enabled us to bolt on Microsoft Teams in a short period of time. Staff are used to tech training and are familiar with the Microsoft 365 suite. The iPad has been used as a teaching tool for five years so filming experiments, providing audio feedback, screen-casting a slideshow or talking over a digital whiteboard are not new to staff.

However, seeing the COVID-19 epidemic sweep through Asia and progress towards Europe in February 2020, we began rapidly training all staff on Microsoft Teams so that we were prepared to continue teaching should the school face disruption.

The financial imperative

Working in the independent sector, schools are used to forming their own technology strategy and resourcing it accordingly. Many schools that have transitioned to cloud infrastructure are realising productivity gains as more systems integrate, cutting the time required for admin tasks. Tech should drive productivity and make schools more efficient.

The COVID-19 crisis has thrust these systems to the front of schools’ thinking as they are now relying on them to deliver continuity of education for millions of students.

For independent schools in particular, the income from the summer term fees is vital to the financial sustainability of the business over the months ahead. By providing an effective remote learning service, schools are seen to be proactive, resilient and responsive to a situation which is out of our control.

For independent schools in particular, the income from the summer term fees is vital to the financial sustainability of the business over the months ahead

Schools who already utilised mobile learning via one-to-one or BYOD schemes are undoubtedly at an advantage as they are able to leverage the training and technology landscape already in place. Staff who are confident on devices are more likely to innovate and as there are less barriers, they already know the device and its capabilities.

More importantly than the device is the cloud infrastructure it sits on, be it Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom or a third- party virtual learning environment (VLE). For those invested in Google or Microsoft, the possibility exists for deliver full synchronous learning.

Whilst there are a myriad of technical solutions to deliver remote learning, the asynchronous vs synchronous debate is one all school leaders have been considering in recent weeks. With the Easter break upon us, it is worth pausing to consider what remote learning will look like for the summer term.

Synchronous vs asynchronous

Much has been written on this topic, but every school will need to decide which camp to occupy in the coming weeks.

Blended vs flipped

Blended and flipped learning are well-known strategies for leveraging technology to deliver effective learning experiences.

Both approaches have their relative merits and require staff to be confident and competent at using technology. This confidence can be rapidly boosted by effective training and support.

Training – support core teaching pedagogies

The COVID-19 crisis removes the ability to plan for timely adoption of remote learning practices and has forced training to be delivered quickly. Focusing on the core classroom pedagogies that teachers deliver every lesson enables a more nuanced approach to training.

We developed a Teams training package based around delivering six core teaching methods we believe are essential for meaningful online learning. These are:

• Maintaining human connection
• Teacher to group video conferencing for leading group discussions
• Resource delivery. Slide decks, research resources, worksheets, office documents, video or weblinks
• Resource narration. Talking, annotating or vlogging over the shared resources and whiteboard work
• Checking learning via quizzing and assessment
• Marking and feedback

Our approach has been to upskill teachers via whole staff training (100+), small group training (1:6), one-on-ones, infographic support, video snippets, sharing best practice and providing enhanced access IS support.

By focusing on the pedagogies rather than the buttons to press, teachers gained agency as the experts whilst the tech supports what they are trying to achieve. The resource sheets and training method are available on the DRUK website.

Success?

It is hard to define what success looks like when traditional parameters of public exams and university destinations have been removed for the 2020 cohort of students. Within our context, we are focusing on meaningful continuity of education. This means maintaining the breadth of curriculum opportunities, access to the arts, continuing to focus on student wellbeing, maintaining our sense of community and team spirit.

We all learn from adversity, both as institutions and individuals. The current COVID-19 disruption gives us an opportunity to model the growth mindset that we try to instil in students and also the potential to drive forward digital strategy.

When schools do reopen their doors, it is likely that an enhanced sense of independence and digital confidence will be present in staff and students. Let’s focus on the positive and consider how we can best build on the new digital baseline.

Hamish Mackenzie is founder of Digital Resilience UK, an agency that supports schools with digital strategy and online safety. He also works part-time as director of digital strategy at the Royal Hospital School.

The post Remote learning – a brave new world?  appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The March 2016 actuarial valuation of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) by the Government Actuary’s Department revealed that the scheme was £22bn in deficit, £7bn up from 2012. Economic conditions and increased longevity were the main reasons.

The employer contribution rate of 16.48% rose to 23.68% (September 2019) – a 43% increase.

The 2020 actuarial valuation of the TPS will commence this year. Although the results won’t be known for some time, further employer contribution increases could take effect from 2022 or 2023.

What are the implications for independent schools?

Financial constraints dictate that TPS exit is a serious consideration – the increased TPS cost can be materially unaffordable at a time when schools are currently considering other well-publicised future financial challenges such as the possible addition of VAT to school fees.

We are aware that over 100 independent schools have already left the TPS in the past 12 months, with at least another 100 of the remaining 1,000+ schools currently consulting or planning to consult with staff regarding pension provision for teaching staff.

Can schools just simply withdraw from the TPS?

Yes. Schools can withdraw all of their teaching staff without any penalty.

This is important as in other multi-employer schemes the exit penalty would effectively be the school’s share of the substantial deficit (£22bn) – which could be millions.

What options do schools have?

Many schools that have already left have replaced the TPS with a defined contribution (DC) scheme. There are very few risks associated with DC schemes for employers as no promises are made regarding the pension that will be payable at retirement.

The employer contribution is agreed from the outset and is generally fixed for the duration in order that employers can accurately budget for their staff pension costs.

Many schools that have already left have replaced the TPS with a defined contribution (DC) scheme

A further option that some schools are exploring currently is that of a ‘parallel scheme’ where either the TPS or a DC arrangement is chosen by the teacher at an individual level. Specifically:

● Staff may choose to remain in the TPS but with a reduced salary (a pay cut) designed to shoulder some of the additional TPS cost that is currently being borne by the employer.
● Staff may stay on current salary but move out of TPS to a DC scheme. The school will decide on the level of contributions and other benefits offered.

Crucially, for both of the above options, the total cost of the package offered in respect of option one and two has to be the same. It will be the choice of the employee which of the two packages they prefer.

The parallel scheme option is complex and requires much thought and consideration before being offered – it doesn’t protect a school particularly well against the future risks associated with the TPS and should employer contributions increase again as a result of the 2020 valuation then schools will need to think carefully about how they would deal with this situation.

A further pay cut is unlikely to be well received by staff.

But isn’t DC a very poor relation of DB anyway?

Not necessarily. For many schools, the employer contribution to a replacement DC scheme has been set at a similar level to that paid to the TPS previously – and compared to many private-sector DC arrangements these are hugely generous DC contributions.

The current automatic enrolment minimum contribution is a combined 8% from employer and employee, many teachers would be contributing 25%+ if they maintain the same level for their DC employee contributions as they did in the TPS.

For example, we have estimated that a teacher aged 30 today (earning £30,000 currently and with a combined employee and employer contribution rate of 25%) could potentially accrue a pension pot of over £640,000 at age 68 (figures are inflation adjusted – therefore quoted in today’s money) even with relatively modest investment returns.

This could provide a draw-down pension of £25,000 to £30,000 per annum based upon a life expectancy of around 90, which equates to over 20 years in retirement.

W: https://www.broadstone.co.uk/

The post The Teachers’ Pension Scheme – options appeared first on Independent Education Today.

It is perhaps more important now than it has ever been. It is about preparing our future leaders to take on the many national, international and global challenges which we will face in the future.

Education is letting our young people down by not giving them an effective political education and it must be the role of independent schools to put politics front and centre of modern education.

Independent schools must be at the vanguard of this political and education revolution and lead the way in making the present generation the best politically educated generation ever. At New Hall we pride ourselves on providing a politics curriculum and co-curriculum fit for the 21st century.

Politics for all young people

We have started a campaign to bring this kind of education to young people through the hashtag, #StartYoungStartLifeStartPolitics. We have also initiated a parliamentary e-petition: ‘To make politics a compulsory subject in all schools in the UK from the age of 11’. At New Hall we teach politics as a curriculum subject in years 5 and 6 (the only school in the UK to do so) and our year 6 cohort undertakes politics projects on environment, democracy and equality.

In 2019, 13 achieved A* in their politics projects in the AQA Foundation Project Qualification and this is very much a part of creating a wonderfully unique politics curriculum for all ages at New Hall and something we would like to see rolled out at all schools in the UK.

Make a difference

All year 10 students undertake a politics-based Higher Project Qualification.

Topics have included nuclear disarmament; the Iraq war and its justification; white supremacy in the US; knife crime and youth problems; solar power as the future of air travel; the impact of self-drive cars; gender equality in sport; Trump’s America; racism in southern Europe; and solar technology, clean energy and prison conditions.

Many year 12 and 13 students undertake politics-extended projects based on global, European and UK politics covering a range of issues including international law and the role of UNHCR.

Question Time debates are held every week for all age groups with special debates inviting in guest local and national politicians. Debates have included ‘Voting at the Age of 16’, ‘Brexit – The Future’ and ‘Independent Schools are the Future of Education in the UK’.

Education is letting our young people down by not giving them an effective political education and it must be the role of independent schools to put politics front and centre of modern education

We are very keen to open up international debates through links with American, Chinese and European schools and universities, and New Hall immerses students in American politics through visits to Washington DC. We will also be taking students to the United Nations in Geneva and in New York.

New Hall has made regular contributions to BBC Radio analysing the European elections and Brexit. This included a report from Washington DC. We have also asked the BBC for the opportunity for young people to lead a programme – Politics 4 U – in which young people present politics aimed at their peers.

Working with and for our community

New Hall students from years 10 to 13 have protested in Chelmsford in order to save libraries; it was wonderful to see an independent school at the forefront supporting their community.

We are also organising the Beaulieu Politics Festival in October 2020 which will involve speakers, lobby groups and politicians addressing students, parents and the community. It is open to maintained secondary and primary schools too.

We also run a workshop in which independent and maintained schools share expertise in delivering political education to young people.

It is our responsibility to make sure that political discussion drives the young people in our care. Twenty-first century education is about young people being able to learn about politics as part of the curriculum from a young age.

Our ultimate goal is becoming a national and international hub for the teaching of politics. Join us.

The post ‘Education is letting our young people down by not giving them an effective political education’ appeared first on Independent Education Today.

Some are claiming that the teacher shortages in the UK and other parts of the world, aligned with the growth of international schools requiring something approaching half a million more teachers in the coming decades, presents the education sector with the perfect storm.

The numbers are pretty scary. A young Mark Wahlberg, playing rookie fisherman Bobby Shatford, turned to Clooney and asked, “Skip, what are we gonna do about those numbers? They suck.” Though the jeopardy and drama of the questions is not in the same league as that about the Andrea Gail on that fateful trip in 1991, governors, owners, leaders and managers are asking similar questions in schools.

Where is the next physicist coming from? Where are the quality mathematicians? What are we going to do to ensure we recruit all the staff we want each year, for the next decade?

You need a fish finder

Firstly, every good trawler needs a sonar fish finder. Technology is key to finding great staff too. The TES subscription service offers simple and easy upload workflows of all the jobs you need to advertise to a global audience. There are detractors, of course, but Apple, Microsoft and Amazon have their detractors too – does that stop you?

Reaching a global audience can be truly achieved through advertising only as your starting point. The number of educational agents is truly bewildering and I’m sure that in the coming years, time spent with some of those selected in carefully explaining your school’s needs will be well spent.

At Shrewsbury this has been a careful dance, predicated on our need for control. This is not the usual principal’s need for control, but instead a desire from the senior team to carefully assess each applicant in its fullest sense. Our online application process is thorough, and somewhat clunky, but it offers heads of department and senior leaders all the information needed to make informed decisions that we shouldn’t regret.

Whatever method you chose, you can then amplify matters further. The school website is a key holding pen for all the relevant documentation for each post and having this page ready at the point of advert should be part of the process. Once there, this can be shared on Twitter, LinkedIn and any other social media outlet you choose. Equally share it all with your current staff, they are your best advocates, they are your experienced deckhands – they might know where the fish are?

Bait, strike and landing

Once the fields are formed or the schools found, then the most critical stage of recruitment begins. There are many ways to do this. For international schools this can often be a Skype call, a room in a hotel, a meeting over dinner or a job fair in a noisy hall. To continue with the fishing analogy, we at Shrewsbury like our colleagues attracted through fresh and authentic bait, hooked and caught on the rod rather than in a trawler’s net, and finally landed with care and attention so that the highest price can be sought at market.

What this actually means is that each candidate will speak to at least two layers of colleagues. The teaching and learning credentials of each candidate carefully examined first, safeguarding questions delivered to challenge early on, and questions of character and motivation released when interest heightens. The ‘right fit’ is key but this works just as much for the candidate as it does for the school – we have to be sure each potential employee will enjoy and flourish during their time with us (which I always make clear is expected to be a lot longer than one two-year contract).

Technology is again key here. Skype has been a ‘go to’ for many schools but if you look around there are better solutions. FaceTime often has a better connection and Zoom works well in most countries now. However, there really is no substitute for a face-to-face interview where possible.

In the past this meant the annual trip back to the UK for most international heads, and I think this will remain a key part of the landscape for years to come – especially thanks to Brexit-fuelled departures which far from being a stereotype, are a reality of the sector now.

In addition, schools can look at their own data, and also from bodies such as the TES which show that applicants from the UK to international schools are actually falling. Whereas applicants to Bangkok from Dubai are on the rise and the development of a thriving and competitive marketplace across Thailand capital delivers the very real option of hiring locally.

Much can be made of the interview. In the same way much could be written about casting, rod technique and use of lure but each to his own and also some methods should remain unique to a school or head perhaps? What I will say is do your research, read ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’, ‘Blink’ and any other text you care to employ in searching for an effective way to understand the people in front of you. Your understanding of them is the key to building a great working relationship.

Preserve, develop and sell well at market

From fishing boat to table is sometimes a very short journey, but in a microcosm, it speaks of the care and attention that ought to be afforded all colleagues and especially those we look to work with at Shrewsbury. Good ice, well-packaged and well-maintained until such time that the ‘almost inevitable’ happens – sale.

The care of staff is something we all aspire to, and in big schools can be tricky to deliver. Staff rightly demand a great deal of time. Weekly HR meetings allow me to be close to the decision-making around current staff, recruitment trends and retention conversations.

Retention is essential and something that I have valued enormously since my first dealings with a reasonably settled and very loyal staff room in 2017. It is, in my view, great for morale, stability, strategic planning, long-term thinking and most importantly, student outcomes.

Retention is essential and something that I have valued enormously since my first dealings with a reasonably settled and very loyal staff room in 2017

Retention is something of an art form in itself, and not something that can be summed up easily – but instead try thinking of something you do at school that does not have a staff retention impact? Not easy is it?

Rather obviously we have developed a new WeWork-style staff room designed by the head of design and technology, laptops introduced to improve ease of access to school systems and the Shrewsbury Institute founded to offer more coherent and compelling CPD including QTS qualifications through the TES Straight to Teaching product.

Equally and less obviously we are now partnering with the British Club of Bangkok to offer a home away from home, offering more transparency on terms and conditions on interview to ensure no disappointments or surprises on arrival, and working with heads of departments on collaborative working spaces for all to aid community and cohesion.

These concepts are not new or earth-shattering but they also build the profile of the school and the way that staff can engage with the community at Shrewsbury and across the city. This profile then becomes a powerful part of ‘find’ and ‘recruit’ – if the mantras about staff development are met by reality, then people stay.

If leadership is authentic and inclusive then people stay. If the school is a strong community then people stay.
On average, people stay at Shrewsbury for 6½ years, and annual turnover is now down to just over 10%. These numbers aren’t so scary, but it is our intention to improve them further, and by doing so we hope to keep our ship afloat at the top and troughs of the highest waves.

In doing so, I also wish to continue the fine record of Shrewsbury staff moving on to the best schools worldwide. Shrewsbury staff are marketable back in the UK through a mixture of academic excellence and their own skills and character.

It is always a shame when your prize catch is sold at market, and indeed we do all we can to keep them for our own table.

However, this is a reality of the school sector and increasingly the younger generations are expressing a wish to travel further.

It is, therefore, our intent that if they do leave us, then staff are ready for the next challenge which fairly often is in a more senior role. In those roles they swim hard and flourish as people, it is our pleasure to have them with us even if their visit is fleeting.

Listen to the shipping forecast

George Clooney, as Captain Billy Tyne in The Perfect Storm, did ignore the storm warning and it cost him and the crew of the Andrea Gail their lives. Schools are not being tested by a situation so awful or so deadly, but the storm is considerable and unless the course is well set, there will be some rough seas ahead for all.

I hope the above has helped you decide which course you will set. Good luck!

The post The perfect storm? appeared first on Independent Education Today.

However, in education, this figure is already a reality for women between the ages of 30–40, with 37% of all leavers from the education profession being made up by this group. After retirees, women in this age bracket are the most likely to leave education.

After having three babies in five years during my time in one of the UK’s first all-female co-headships, I could easily have been part of this statistic.

However, the flexibility of co-headship ensured that my colleague (also a working mother) and I were able to remain and flourish in our roles during a period of extreme life changes – which could have precluded us from gaining further leadership experience and growth.

We were fortunate enough to have forward-thinking and innovative governors who, back in 2009, saw the potential benefits in a new model of leadership. By establishing a co-headship, they were able to retain the combined experience of two deputy heads, as well as enable us both to remain in the classroom in our key year groups of year 2 and year 6.

During our co-headship we had two successful Ofsted inspections where the co-headship was consistently praised as a strength and being instrumental in ongoing development and improvement.

However, this more life-friendly model of leadership is yet to be thought of as anything other than ‘novel’ or ‘different’. Most writing and research into models of leadership reflects this, which was why I became increasingly frustrated during my third maternity leave at the overarching narratives of leadership that failed to take into account anything outside of the leadership post – such as caring commitments, a family, a hobby, or even a life!

I became increasingly frustrated during my third maternity leave at the overarching narratives of leadership that failed to take into account anything outside of the leadership post

All I could see was a dominating belief that in order to be a successful leader, we must always be ‘on’, present and definitely full-time.

However, the facts are that we all have lives and these lives are often messy, complicated and pull at our personal (and precious) time and energy resources.

Shared leadership, be that at headship, senior or middle management, is one vital way in which we can support colleagues with ongoing development, retain talent and encourage education to catch up with the wider world of work where flexibility is often offered far more frequently.

One of the barriers to people perceiving joint leadership in schools as something achievable is the small quota of people who have experienced this model.

Our first cohort of pupils from our co-headship will now be 20 at the oldest, so it will be some time before the adult population is able to comment on and reference their schooldays with a co-leadership model in the same way most of us can now with a sole leadership model.

But change is not something we should view with suspicion – long-established systems aren’t necessarily the most effective ones. Whatever the drivers for seeking flexible or part-time work – be it parenting commitments, caring for a spouse/elderly relative, studying or hobbies – the education system should always aim to accommodate talent rather than pull up the metaphorical drawbridge to anyone who wants to make a change to existing structures.

The benefits of flexible working in leadership are huge: in-built support and coaching, twice the brainpower and expertise when solving problems or thinking strategically, in-built flexibility for being in two places at once for the inevitable diary clashes, a balance of expertise and skills, and twice as much experience rolled into one single role.

People often query how the day-to-day management of the role is carved up, but from my own experience this is simply a question about management and not one about leadership.

If a leadership strategy is fixed in place, the day-to-day management issues are easily tackled.

I now work part-time in another leadership role within an MAT where I continue to work flexibly and have remained in the education system despite having a very young family. Thinking creatively about how we structure our leadership teams and how we develop leadership talent should be integral to our discussions about recruitment and retention.

By ensuring that the widest possible pool of talented colleagues have access to leadership positions, we ensure that our leadership lenses continue to widen and enable our wonderful profession to retain talent and encourage a natural maturation of the system.

The post A new look at leadership appeared first on Independent Education Today.

The launch of the Royal Foundation’s ‘Heads Together’ campaign to tackle stigma and change the conversation on mental health has also highlighted the need to take wellbeing seriously as an issue for young people. Too often, students feel afraid to admit that they are struggling with their mental health.

Surveys suggest that more than half (56%) of children and young people say they worry “all the time” about at least one thing to do with their school life, home life or themselves.

Factors such as knife crime and the abuse and impact of dangerous sites and bullying on social media have taken their toll. In March this year the charity Childline reported a significant increase in the number of 11-year-olds calling with suicidal feelings. Most of those reaching out were teenagers, but there has also been a sharp rise in under 11s receiving help – up 87% since 2015/16.

So, what can be done to support our students’ wellbeing and promote a positive environment in which they can thrive?

Schools

Many teachers find themselves on the front line, witnessing an increase in stress, anxiety and panic attacks in their pupils, as well as a rise in depression, self-harm and eating disorders.

There is a very real emphasis on finding out how best to help young people under pressure, as well as to look at why they are under pressure, how to spot the early warning signs of mental health problems such as depression, and how to best deal with self-harm and eating disorders as well as the misuse and the need for affirmation on social media.

Mental health should not be treated in isolation – it must be integrated into the academic process

Sir Anthony Seldon is widely acknowledged for bringing concerns about young people’s mental health into the mainstream and discussing innovative ways of tackling them. He realised that a different kind of language was needed for talking about emotional wellbeing.

Since his initiatives, many independent schools have been prioritising their pupils’ safety and emotional wellbeing above everything else, identifying and tackling some of the causes of mental health problems and looking at ways that pupils can build emotional resilience.

Many now have an in-house counselling service, where pupils can openly discuss their mental health issues and get professional help. Activities like mindfulness, meditation, yoga and Pilates are increasingly part of life at many schools. PSCHE – personal, social, citizenship, health and economic education-programme – promotes good mental health through consideration of different topics.

Mental health should not be treated in isolation – it must be integrated into the academic process, even areas like drama, in role play and sport, where fair play is a valuable skill to learn. It’s been widely recognised that openly talking about mental health is of vital importance. Pupils should know that when they are at school, they can approach any teacher, their tutor, housemaster, head of section or the chaplain.

Many schools run sessions for parents on issues of pastoral concern. Here at Gabbitas, we want to support our clients in every aspect of parenting.

We have unparalleled expertise in finding schools for children with special needs, be it dyslexia, ADHD, Asperger’s or depression. We’ve also compiled a list of recommendations to parents on how to support children if you, as a parent, think they might have mental health issues.

W: www.gabbitas.com

The post Wellbeing – why it is back on the agenda for schools appeared first on Independent Education Today.

In schools, staff and pupils can feel stressed from time to time due to workload and academic pressure.

Supporting health and wellbeing in an educational setting can have a positive impact on how people feel – and how they perform.

The link between the gut and brain is something we have long been aware of, with sayings such as ‘butterflies in your tummy’ and having a ‘gut feeling’ often being used to describe how we feel.

The gut-brain connection is an exciting area of research helping academics and health practitioners better understand how these two organs interact. Emerging scientific research shows that what we eat can boost mood, especially when it comes to preventing and managing symptoms of anxiety and depression.

We know that nutrient-dense foods provide the energy, vitamins and minerals needed to sustain energy levels, mood and brain function throughout the day.

The Food and Mood workshop will help you understand how what you eat can:

● Increase energy levels
● Support emotional health
● Improve concentration
● Reduce stress
● Increase productivity
● Reduce absenteeism

Key nutrients linked to mood include iron, folate, selenium and B vitamins such as B1, B3 and B12. Eating a healthy, balanced diet including wholegrain carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables, lower-fat dairy and protein-rich foods can help meet these nutrient requirements.

Polyphenols found in red berries, dark chocolate and tea, and omega 3s found in oily fish such as salmon and mackerel may also play a role in maintaining good mental health.

An ongoing European study, known as MoodFood, has found that eating patterns appear to have the most positive effect on mood, rather than individual nutrients, foods or supplements.

Having breakfast and eating regular meals that include starchy foods means the brain receives the fuel it needs in the form of glucose, which helps with focus and good concentration.

Supporting health and wellbeing in an educational setting can have a positive impact on how people feel – and how they perform

Conversely, a lack of glucose can leave us feeling tired and weak, which often leads to us reaching out for sugary or energy drinks and food that is often high in fat, sugar or salt. Planning and preparing snacks in advance can help to ensure we avoid these temptations.

Adopting strategies that support eating well can support mental wellbeing and potentially prevent mental ill health.

In a nutshell, diet is one way that individuals can help manage how they feel – working even better alongside a range of other lifestyle modifications.

To find out more about Pelican’s Food and Mood workshops, please contact Anna-Maria Holt by emailing anna-maria.holt@pelicanprocurement.co.uk

More general information about food and mood can be found here: https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/food-facts-food-and-mood.html

The post Health and wellbeing: how school staff and pupils can eat better to feel better appeared first on Independent Education Today.

We read of many a family turning to tutors for particularly difficult or important subjects – one-to-one being the ultimate in small classes.

We believe that a child will learn better/faster/more thoroughly with more individual attention from the teacher, especially when it comes to A-levels, when fine distinctions of grades can make career paths glitter or disappear in the twinkling of a B grade.

Even before the big exam years, parents – and probably pupils – often believe that small classes will ensure appropriate attention is paid to their child and that he or she will be noticed. He or she will matter. Not to be noticed, to appear not to matter, is dangerous.

Schools recognising this are actively involved in much more than teaching, even (perhaps especially) the larger schools with a built-in possibility of a child slipping through the net.

The excellent comprehensive school down the road has an annual intake of 300 pupils into year 7. They are divided into classes/bands/groups which means a classroom will replicate the smaller-scale primaries from which they have come, and even if they don’t know everyone, they will each be known. And that’s one of the big selling points for independent education. It’s important.

The big picture

Such observations have been prompted by a discovery in the post-Christmas recycling – a receipt and directions for the return of an item.

I’ve kept it because I like the message. In big letters, the front page says, “Hey, I’m important.” The second page offers the usual explanation of your rights to return. Not interesting. But the big message – hey, I’m important? Now that’s worth thinking about.

I thought, wow, wouldn’t it be great if we could all remind the world, however large our circle and however slight our claim, that we are, indeed important?

Better still, remember that it is true of others – friends, enemies, great teachers and super ladies serving dinner.

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we could carry a mental image of this slogan – for want of a better word – and quietly imagine it worn proudly on the lapel of every student or colleague who comes our way? It would remind us of the singularity, and indeed the importance, of everyone we encounter.

Tall or short, old or young, with or without fancy titles or pots of money, each of us believes it of ourselves and we can be very upset, damaged even, if this simple truth fails to register with the world. There comes a time when mum and dad thinking you are important just isn’t enough.

In Britain, we cherish the belief that small classes make learning more personal, more productive

In our own heads I think we may all be Spartacus. The tricky bit is getting the global approval without actually looking as if you think you are Lady Muck, as my children used to call it.

And apparent pride can come before the proverbial fall: some years ago, as national director of the Boarding Schools’ Association, I was asked to be the speaker at a member school’s speech day. I was so pleased to be asked. Posh suit. Not a hat occasion, but definite possibility of a bouquet. Affirmation. I was, as we might have said back in the day, dead chuffed.

But between the head’s pre-event coffee in his office and the prize-giving hall there was enough of a melee for me to part company with the platform party and arrive through a different door and be confronted by a teacher holding a clipboard.

Clipboard teacher takes me for a late parent and says, “You’re very late. You might find a seat over there at the back, or you can sit on the floor,” indicating a couple of chairs up against the back wall, behind about a thousand people. Cue for my instant apology, followed by my embarrassed mutter that I was really sorry, but I should actually be with the platform party.

“Really?” Sceptical glance at clipboard.

“Er – yes,” I tried to be helpful.

“You’re not on my list.”

“No? Er, well,” I play my last card, “That may be because I’m the speaker.”

And honestly, it didn’t come out as visible self-importance or, as a colleague used to call it, ‘the big I am’. I thought it was gently humble in the face of her error. Time slipping away and the head on stage looking slightly terrified and scanning the audience for his missing speaker. Stuff of nightmares. Clipboard teacher, however, was completely unphased.

A look up and down the length of me, from the newly cut hair down to the crippling shoes, and she said, “Ye-es, you look as if you think you’re important.”

Isn’t that a gem? You couldn’t make it up. There’s a complete sock in the chops for anyone even just slightly, as my mother would have said, ‘above themselves’ and lording it about.

It made a big impression on me, mostly, I will admit, for its comic value. I have repeated it at several speech days I have been fortunate to attend. It prefaces the kind of address which almost always tries to stress the importance of each and everyone in the school, from the chairperson of governors to the youngest entrant, from the ones with the best exam results and the most prizes, to the ones still finding their feet, or talent, or voice.

All are of infinite value to the school, their community and, all too soon, the wider world. My clipboard encounter was a warning against presumption, arrogance and premature judgment.

I think what most of us are looking for is to be blessed with the talent, time, energy, opportunity, encouragement, appreciation, even simple teaching that will help us to feel justified when we believe, or declare, or whisper, hey, I’m important.

To believe – really believe – that we are not important, that there is no role or purpose for us, that we are not contributing in some way to things and issues that matter to us and to others, from climate change to competing in the house play when you know you can’t act – “I’ll do the makeup! I’ll mend the costumes!” – is crushing.

Schools provide rich territory and safety nets for pupils from pre-school to sixth form to discover, nurture and develop their own interests and likely points of growth and involvement, times and places and events in which they can realise their own importance, and in which staff as well as parents can join the affirming chorus.

I think I’m going to start repeating it every morning – beyond the hearing of anyone with a clipboard – I’m important.
And, for yourself and the many children in your charge, in your reach, within your sight or care or control, so are you.

Hilary Moriarty is an independent advisor for schools, a former head and former national director of the Boarding Schools’ Association

The post Hey, I’m important appeared first on Independent Education Today.