Contrary to what many in the education field believe, fearless and strong leadership is not about cracking the whip and holding people to account with overbearing judgement. Rather, leadership should be assessed by the extent to which someone is brave enough to do things differently, to embrace change and to empower others to take a stake in, and improve, the environment in which they operate.
This is not an easy task of course, particularly in the education context. When I became headteacher at Hamford Primary Academy in Walton-on-the-Naze, part of the Academies Enterprise Trust, like many other coastal schools in the UK it had performed poorly for 30 years.
On my first day, none of the parents would shake my hand. I sat in the room for two hours while they just shouted. Among other problems, they were frustrated with the lack of good teachers at the school. Teacher recruitment is a problem indicative of many coastal towns. Structural issues like this caused a lack of faith in the system among both parents and teachers. Schools in the area no longer strived to be the best school in the county, but just to keep out of special measures.
I knew I had to take a fresh and caring approach, combined with unflinchingly high expectations. Applying five leadership principles, the goal was to empower the staff and pupils to have faith that together we could ensure the school not only improved, but thrived.
Promoting self-belief
Early on, there were many practical decisions to be made, such as bringing in new appointments. But, one of my biggest priorities was building confidence and escaping the negativity that had fostered over the last 30 years. I had to build self-esteem among staff, rather than simply getting rid of people who weren’t excelling. I wanted to grow the school’s staff from within.
Self-belief is at the heart of the changes we have made. There is no one model for school improvement but certain things are universal, one of which is having compassion and care for people. Leaders have the power to effect others’ self-esteem. This is something I always try to remember in every conversation I have with the teachers and pupils.
Trust
Part of being a leader is realising what you can do best yourself and what you can empower others to lead on. When I first joined, I asked the lead practitioner for teaching and learning to look into routes for improvement. After conducting his own research into best practice, he launched a teaching and learning blog for staff and held supportive training sessions.
At the same time, in a bid to ease the pressure and the negativity staff had been working with, I made the decision to dispense with “monitoring” and a culture of micro-management. I told staff they would become their own monitors and that I trusted them to be reflective and make improvements where necessary.
The learning blog and the establishment of “communities of practice” are the perfect examples of how the teachers came together to make improvements and reflect.
Planning and personalisation
Part of being a leader is understanding the long-term needs of those who use the service you are providing. Just as staff development at Hamford has changed, so too has the curriculum the children access, and the priorities of those who deliver it.
We have planned ahead and personalised our education model to suit children’s long term needs, as well as short-term.
For instance, we work incredibly closely with the local secondary to ensure we have built a skills progression map from the early years to A level. This helps us to know which skills pupils will need in order to do certain A levels.
Our approach is to understand what really interests and engages children. This outlook is best illustrated by the school’s “Genius Hour”, which affords children 60 minutes each week to focus on something they are passionate about.
When one group enquired about the inner workings of a car, the school purchased an old Fiat, then hired a mechanic to come in to work with them. We want to arm children with everything they need to go on to succeed in education and life beyond.
Defining your own targets
Our priority goal is not about getting Ofsted’s highest grade. Instead, the focus is on what I term “Hamford great”. I want the school to be synonymous with quality and exceeding expectations, but on our own terms.
A goal for us is to see the passionate approach we have developed for teaching and learning to spread. For instance, we have received funding to develop a new assessment model based on an open, honest dialogue about children’s needs and behaviours.
Avoid complacency
Hamford is a “good” school and we are moving towards “outstanding”, but we are still at risk and face challenges on a day-to-day basis. We are thrilled with the improvement but we know there is always more to be done.
When I first arrived, about 50 per cent of the lessons being taught were “inadequate” and the other 50 per cent were classed as “requires improvement”. With those same teachers, we are now in a position where 100 per cent of children are making good progress across the school, and the large majority are moving to outstanding progress. But, we must not become complacent in our achievements.
I have a privileged responsibility to lead an evolving iterative improvement process. My primary role is to ensure the school, its staff and pupils are constantly striving for better, and, most importantly, believe that this can be achieved.
- Benedick Ashmore-Short is headteacher at Hamford Primary Academy in Essex, part of the Academies Enterprise Trust