We don't need another hero

Not often I quote Tina Turner. Though I thought we did need a hero, when last term I was sitting with one of my former history students in the foyer of our glamourous new building. I taught him history ten years ago and now he’s just begun as a Teach First history teacher. How amazing. I must have inspired him. I introduced him to one of my classes and invited them to ask him questions.

‘What was Ms Williams like as your teacher?’ asked one 13 years-old-frequently-stroppy teenager.

He answered ‘To be honest, I can’t really remember’.

Clearly not quite the Hilary Swank impact I was looking for. I want to be that teacher though still. The hero. The one they all remember. But then I have to ask myself why? Impact? Or ego?

So there we were in the foyer of The Academy with him telling me about all the impressive teaching he had seen in my school. He was skeptical at first when he saw how well behaved children were expected to be: walking in lines, silently moving in the corridors. But then he saw the children and their teaches come alive in lessons. Exactly where the excitement should be.

Our receptionist interrupted. I knew it must be important.

She whispered to me - I immediately felt more important.

‘A man is on the roof - from the nearby psychiatric hospital. The police and the fire brigade are on their way. Children have to be kept in lessons.’

Ah .. the adrenalin. The calm in a crisis. A zen-like calm I learned from over 3 years in a tough school in Special Measures, where giving away your fear was tantamount to classroom suicide. I had to think quickly. Getting messages to staff, keeping calm, liaising with police and deciding on what and how to tell parents. Children (and teachers) had to be moved away from windows so they wouldn’t gawp in case the poor guy decided to jump. I remembered the training and the crisis management role plays. This is what I like. Drama… Casualty… Waterloo Road.

After over an hour of red alert it all ended safely with the man helped down from the roof and all children calm and going home as normal. I went home on a high.

And then I reflected.

What was it I enjoyed about the day? Have I become addicted to excitement and drama? Is this really what I want in my job? Does that help children?

The Academy is now three years old. The routines we thrashed out at the start and refined have now become the established convention. Every Monday? Greet students at gate, check uniform, line up in tutor groups, assembly in the sports hall, merit competition and prizes. Lunch time: same place, set jobs, same 5 seconds of silence. Every lesson, line up in the playground, walk to lesson, greet children, stand behind chairs, check equipment, sit down, promptly begin the learning. Our routines are dull. Same day, same thing with the same consequences for indiscretions. No drama. The drama happens in the classroom not in the corridors. In fact Year 9 have double (2 hour) drama. You read that right and they love it. Every science lesson includes an experiment – this week was testing for starch. They use chisels, hammers, needles, sewing machines, gas hobs and knives in technology. They love boxmatics in maths, writing pop songs in music, speaking Spanish and orienteering in PE. Every child has a reading book and reading targets. All children are set and expected to do homework. Children who need extra support have behaviour mentors, a lunch time club and teaching assistants to support them. Three times a week we have compulsory after school classes. Most of them choose activities such as basketball, art, gardening or chess, unless they are behind in literacy, numeracy or homework – in which case we choose for them. Every member of staff including the premises manager is expected to advise three students. I could, and do, go on. I am incredibly proud of the culture of learning we have established.

Ofsted visited last year and said our school was making Outstanding progress. Our focus, they said, has to be ensuring consistency in teaching making sure that all lessons are as good as the best - outstanding. This is our new challenge. What I have realised is that good leadership, and especially at a senior level is not about me. It’s about creating an organisation with systems and routines that empowers others to teach fantastic lessons, to support the students and enjoy and thrive in their role. We don’t want superstars or heros. We just want people who have the right values, want the best for children, work hard and get on with people. And taking an organisation to the next level is about careful thinking, planning, listening to feedback and systematically improving.

Of course the role of a senior leader can still be busy and stressful but actually if everyone is doing their bit then it shouldn’t be overwhelming. It shouldn’t take over the whole of your life. It should be sustainable.

And to finish with Tina Turner.. Really? Another verse from the same song.

So what do we do with our lives
We leave only a mark
Will our story shine a light
Or end in the dark
Give it all or nothing

We don’t need another hero
We don’t need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond

Toasting Camilla

A toast to the Queen, Prince Phillip and the Duchess of Cornwall (that’s Camilla to you and me). I happened to be in the ladies when the toast happened, so missed it, but it wasn’t planned. I promise.
One of our academy sponsors also runs two independent schools and this was the annual dinner of one of them. But more of the dinner later.
First to go back a week, this was not the only recent invitation I had enjoyed through our sponsors. I attended a lecture by Bill Bryson, ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’ to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society. He was as entertaining as his books. In the reception afterwards I spotted a man with an open neck shirt, sandles and socks who I recognised. It was Steve Jones the famous geneticist and evolution expert.
He was on his own and seemed quite happy to chat. I knew there was some common ground. I can detect a Welsh accent and usually the valley it comes despite layers of home counties distortion. The man is from Aberystwyth, his father apparently a friend of Dylan Thomas. In his time Jones estimates he has spoken to 250,000 school children. He’s said he’s more than willing to come to my school. There was more common ground. Steve is a professor of genetics at UCL - my old university and it turned out, as we sipped our champagne, that today was the day he had retired so he had something to celebrate, though he wasn’t sure it was a cause for celebration. He described how his department had just been asked to make 69% cuts to its teaching budget for next year. ‘Impossible’ he said.
Professor Jones also has some traditionally left-wing Welsh views. In an interview in the late 90s, he described private schools as a "cancer on the education system". He also has claimed that private schools as one of the reasons that Britain remains as socially stratified as it is. He said it was because of their smaller classroom sizes, highly-trained teachers, better facilities, and coaching through university interviews. Fortunately since the 90s, due to a huge investment in education the state education system has in some areas learnt from the independent model.
It was somewhat ironic therefore that here I was, in the same venue, toasting the queen (or would have been, had I not been in the loo) at such a posh dinner. It was black tie and there was port, a slow hand clap for the entry of the top table including reverends, sheriffs and aldermen.
The independent school also run by our sponsors has an impressive exam record with 100% of sixth-form leavers going to university (22% after a gap year – just like William and Harry) with 25% to Oxbridge. There are however 5% who study vocational subjects. I wondered if they are started delivering the new diploma? Perhaps plumbing? Hairdressing? No. Vocational at for this school means law and architecture.
Soon after this visit, the Browne Report, into universtiy funding, was published. The recommendations in the report remove the cap on tuition fees so that universities, if the recommendations are accepted, will be able to charge whatever fees they want. The subsidised interest that graduates currently enjoy will also go but the threshold at which graduates starts paying would rise, from 15,000 to £21,000. The report also says that the cost of going to university for students from the 30% of lowest income background will decrease.
So what does this mean for us in our academy and more importantly our students? Every year at the Academy, we take all our Year 7 students to Cambridge University. The point of the day is to raise aspirations to encourage our students to know where they are aiming for. The schools liaison officer did his best to explain the likely funding model to our eleven year olds. After the trip we asked students to write what they had learned from the visit. One boy wrote ‘Going to university is expensive’.
The girls from the independent school will certainly pay more. Or more likely their parents will continue to pay some up front, they will not pay any interest and their school fees will go on university instead.
And once it becomes more expensive to go to UCL, to do history – then who will explain the world?
As always I return to the same mantra. Children from poorer backgrounds are not disadvantages because of their genetics. The gaps in attainment at a young age prove that. The only way we can make our society fairer is by opening the opportunities by supporting students in getting the grades they need. We need to make our schools safe and structured so that learning can take place in every classroom with every teacher.
Also it is for all of us to sell the university funding system to young people. We need to emphasise the message that the poorest don’t pay and that if you don’t earn enough, you will never pay.
If we don’t, Steve Jones could be the last Welsh man to go to UCL and the gap between the opportunities enjoyed by the young people in the Academy compared with the girls in our sister independent school will only grow. The biggest barrier to a university education is still achieving good exam results. This is where the effort and the money needs to go.

A little Welsh magic

Picture the scene. Bright blue sky, hills dusted with snow, water as still as a mill pond shimmering in the winter sun. Birds swoop down and dart into to the nearest tree. Only a group of excited students, paddling ferociously on a canoe and shouting contrary instructions at each other, breaks the silence.

The Outward Bound Trust was set up during the Second World War for merchant seamen to prepare them in case they ever got ship-wrecked. Now the trust aims 'to create moments when everyone can see and believe in themselves as never before and to translate such moments into lessons for everyday life'. As well as having 'a belief in the power and magic of learning through adventure in the wild - as a means of bringing out the best in people.' I love that the trust is one of the few organisations I have come across that is brave enough to use the word magic in connection with learning. And it's right that they do. Learning is magical. Or it can and should be.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy myself. The culmination of the start of January, freezing Welsh temperatures, outdoor activities and a chilly bottom bunk did not seem like a recipe for happiness. However enjoyment is infectous and it was impossible not to feel good when the children were so engaged, enthusiastic and positive about each new experience. From climbing and orienteering, to hill walking and even simple fun with a a long skipping rope - they loved it.

Walking in the dark, the path lit by moonlight on to the beach at Aberdovey our guide Jen explained about how the sand dunes absorb the sea's energy. We saw the sparks made by little creatures when you rubbed the cold wet sand with your palm. And the stars, ahh.. the stars. More than our inner city eyes had ever seen. We even learned about the stories the Greeks made to explain them. Magic is the only appropriate word.

The trip would not have been possible without the funding from one of our academy's sponsors. A great way for them to spend their money. And a good argument for having a sponsor and business link for our school. No amount of begging letters could have coughed up that cash.

The challenge for us now is how this learning applies when back in school. Certainly students learned much that will be essential to them in later life. They worked in teams, overcame challenges, learned independence, supported others and made new friends. However, it is the magic that comes from a trip like this that I believe will have the greatest long term impact. Children are more likely to feel positive about school, develop positive relationships with teachers and appreciate that what they learn about in school really does apply to the big wide world.

So amongst our routines and strict school culture there is definitely still space and a need for magic. And where better to find that magic than the home of Merlin himself.

Flakey in the Snow

Snow in the holidays is one thing. Snow in school time is another. Last year schools around the country ground to a halt because of snow. At the Academy snow brought an unexpected challenge. The strength of our school culture is based on routine, ritual and rules. One of our strongest routines so far is lining up in the playground after break and lunch.

The impact of everyone doing what everyone else is doing is incredible. The routine has several steps. At lunch time, when skipping ropes and balls are available for children to play with, these are collected 5 minutes early. This has the effect of calming down excited children. If you've never seen Year 7 play King Ball - I'd recommend it. Next, a member of senior staff blows a whistle. I have discovered if you don't have a 'thunderer' whistle you might as well be whistling to yourself. Lines start to form. For the first few weeks teachers held up signs at the front of their lines. Now these are not needed. There is then a count down from 4. They are reminded that if they talk they will have detention and then a second whistle is blown. Eagle-eyed teachers look for any student talking. Any one caught is sent to the front. They will serve a 20 minute detention at the end of the day. Lines are then dismissed class by class.

Line up has many benefits. It means all students are on time to lessons. All lessons have an orderly start. It provides an opportunity to reinforce uniform rules and pick up children if they have, say, missed their late detention. It also ensures teachers are on time to lessons as any lateness is very exposed and therefore easy to challenge. There are of course draw backs. It can be a pain for teachers to come down to collect children when they want to have a break and get their room ready for the next class. It also doesn't work well in severe blizzard conditions.

Obviously if it had been snowing during lunch then we would not have tried to get students lining up. However it was like a biblical event. The whistle went then the blizzard began. Children joined their lines though did not go quiet in driving hail. Instead they put their blazers over their heads and made loud screaming sounds and although some were quickly dismissed into the canteen some made a run for it. Staff insider the building looked on from the second floor with some hilarity at the ridiculous scene below.

Within 5 minutes however students were all sat down quietly in the dinner hall and were lined up inside. Though there had been a moment when they made the rules.

On reflection I considered whether this brief rebellion was something to worry about. Of course I want students to line up and follow the rules. I want them to do this because I believe good order is vital in order for them to have freedom when they are older. However I also want them to make choices so that when following the rules is not the right thing they don't. History fortunately has many examples of people who have stood up for what they believe in the face of authority. From Gandhi leading the first pass burning protest to Pastor Niemoller who was arrested and sent to Dachau concentration camp in 1937 for speaking out against Hitler.

Now obviously our school regime is not that harsh. Our routines are essential and have already proved successful in creating a culture and climate in which learning thrives. However when our students momentarily refused to follow the rules in the face of being told to follow a ridiculous instruction - to line up in a blizzard - I was even more proud. Though I wouldn't tell them of course.

Cambridge Blues

A few weeks ago at The Academy we took all of our students over two days to visit Cambridge University. The day was a great day out. The leaves were golden, their blazers crimson. It was Educating Rita, Chariots of Fire and Skins all rolled into one. There was a talk, a tour, a free lunch and a tour of the city dodging bikes and well spoken students. As a result in many of our students minds now, Cambridge equals university.

Research (of my own anecdotal variety) suggests most middle class graduates cannot remember making a conscious choice about going to university - it was just what was expected of them. Going to university was what their parents did and so they would do the same. It makes sense then that the earlier university is talked about, the more likely young people are to think university into their future.

Last year I visited several schools in the US which placed huge importance on aiming for college. Strategies including pinning up pictures of former students in their graduation garb to naming classrooms after their teacher's college. These schools were all about, as one banner put it: destination college.

There are many ways that this principle of aspiration has and can be applied in British schools. This should begin much earlier than many of the current government sponsored access programmes currently do. It is however key, that when talking about university we do not alienate our communities. One parent raised a concern with me at the gate. 'My daughter wants to be a hair dresser and she was told she could do better'. Tricky. On the one hand, good to raise aspirations. As yet you don't need a degree to do hair dressing. However the mother explained that the daughter wants to set up her own business. Sounded perfect - and something that would still fit in well with a degree qualification in something business related.

There is perhaps another reason why I am passionate that the model of academic success should be broad. I did not get into Oxford university - I remember the whole experience as if were yesterday. I'd chosen the so called 'Interview' because I thought 'I'm good at talking and they'll probably only ask me about my hobbies'. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I attended two interviews, one on British and one on European history. My chosen topic was the Welsh industrial revolution. That would be something I'd know a lot about and the Oxford don might not. What on earth was I thinking?

'So how important was the Welsh agricultural revolution in starting the Welsh industrial revolution Mari?'
'Oh, not so important' My accent was a lot Welsher back in 1994.
'So what was important?'
'Well, it was inventions and things'
'All right then; so who funded these inventions?'
'Well, that was the people with money - mainly the upper classes'
'Right. And where did they get their money?'
'Ah yes..mainly the land'

And in four easy steps he had made me disprove my own argument. I won't even go into my comments in the European history interview when I repeated verbatim some anti German sentiment I'd heard from my History teacher.

The long, flicky-haired undergraduates who took our Year 7s on tours of Cambridge pointed out the sports grounds, the library, the refectory and the digs. Our eleven year olds naturally asked questions about food, accommodation and friends. What is really important that they realise that getting into the best universities is ultimately about getting the best grades. Statistics published this August revealed that 31% of privately educated pupils achieved three A grades last year, compared with 26% of selective grammar school pupils and only 7.7% of those in comprehensives. Grades and learning will be what ultimately what decides whether they make it to Cambridge or any other university.

The visit to Cambridge was fantastic to inspire students. It has helped them to understand what they can aim for and why every lesson counts. I believe young people should be encouraged to aim for university because of the benefits they will enjoy as a result. There is just one small caveat. The picture we paint of university and university life should encompass all kinds of institutions and not focus just on a twentieth century narrow definition. Though the magic of those autumnal quads, punts and Harry Potter gargoyles could not be doubted.

'I'm not being racist but Indian people eat curry'

'I'm not being racist but Indian people eat curry' said Charlotte a student in my English class.

Why would she think that saying Indians often eat curry is being racist? Why - despite years of education in a multi-cultural city - does she not feel comfortable talking about cultural difference? When she made the remark, in my mind she was someone from a seemingly white, English probably working class background. More recently through her autobiographical writing, I have discovered that her background is much more mixed with Spanish and Maltese heritage. How could someone from such a mixed background be so uncomfortable with the language of difference?

Black History Month is a month that raises lots of questions. Why only a month? What about Asian or Chinese history? Why not White History month? Who are you a white Welsh History teacher to comment on Black History? Yet so often Black History Month is not about questions and discussion. So perhaps it is not just young people who don't have the confidence to talk about difference and in so doing, realise what we have in common.

Earlier this evening I went to a Facing History and Ourselves workshop. I was given a book called 'Identity and Belonging in a Changing Great Britain'. Facing History and Ourselves is an organisation that I have been involved for almost ten years. The organisation sets out to equip teachers with the skills and resources to teach lessons that create space for young people to discuss issues of identity, belonging and human behaviour. Teachers need training to be able to confidently facilitate informed discussion where there are clear ground rules.

I have used the Facing History approach to teach many aspects of History including the Holocaust. It was this approach that made me realise this was not about teaching the nasty things those Nazis did (turn to page 42) but instead questioning what was everyone else doing? What did the doctors do? What did the politicians do? What about the young people? Year 9s would also consider their own lives. What they would do if someone was laughing at someone else. Would they join in? Would they do nothing? What would be the right thing to do?

Questions, that are hard for us as adults, are questions that young people - particularly as they go through adolescence - need to have the opportunity to explore. If we, as teachers, can create these opportunities then surely this would be a fitting thing to do in this month or any other.

* * *

The Facing History and Ourselves book 'Identity and Belonging in a Changing Great Britain' includes though provoking readings with questions for teachers to use in class. Available to download for free: http://www.facinghistory.org/resources/publications/identity-belonging-changing

I Love Jamie Oliver

I love Jamie Oliver.

There. I've said it.

It was his cooking that first hooked me in but more, I love that he chooses to use his popularity - his power and influence to educate and argue for reform. His crusade to connect people with the food they eat has included showing a lamb being slaughtered and last week he shot, then skinned an alligator. More famously he had a huge impact on school dinners. So much so that his school dinners campaign led the government to introduce higher, healthier standards for school food. The television images of parents handing parents fast food through railings will remain in the British psyche for years to come - a harsh reminder of what we have become.

The Academy has also felt the ripple of the Jamie revolution. Food cannot be brought in to the academy. Everyone must eat the food provided. At lunch time everyone - students and staff - sit down together to eat. Students must sit in an allocated seat. There are six jobs from laying the table to collecting the main meal and clearning up afterwards. We even have 5 seconds of reflection to remember how lucky we all are to have food in front of us when so many in the world have none. Some meals are really popular with everyone and are devoured whereas some - the leeks for example - are left uneaten.

Three nights a week we have after-school classes and there is a short break in between. The Principal asked the caterers to serve water and apples. Given a choice between an apple or no apple the fruit is proving a huge hit even at 45p a go.

So is this the utopia Jamie would want?

Everyone eating the same meal in school is not a new idea in Britain. Public schools throughout the land have been supervising meal times for centuries. However in the public schools of the '50s there was no accommodation for difference. Our meat is Halal and we serve vegetarian meals. Some students have doctor's certificates that they have to have a snack at a certain time.

There is an inherent contradiction in trying to impose conformity and it is these challenges that have led to some schools offering choice upon choice. I think we have got the balance right. My Dad used to say 'a family that eats together, stays together' - perhaps not always the case but for our school I think the sense of community generated by sharing the same meal at the same tables is powerful. Jamie would be proud.

Have We Never Had It So Good?

I cannot have been the only Assistant Principal who wondered this week. ‘Will there be a job still for me in the 2 billion pound cuts of the future?’Ed Balls has said that money will be saved by cutting bureaucracy and creating school federations - reducing the number of senior leaders. Jobs, he has said, will be lost through ‘natural wastage’. For the first time the recession that has been so real for architect and banker friends threatens to impact on us in the sheltered public sector. Eek.

As a historian I find it fascinating to think about how the present will be viewed in the future. Will the Naughties be the time ‘we never had it so good’. It is easy to forget the changes we have witnessed. Some are huge whilst others are little ideas that have made a big difference.

Going to school in Cardiff, the largest comprehensive in Wales, I remember the building was crumbling - the paint literally peeling off the walls. There were frequent teacher strikes and a boycott of school trips because of pay cuts. Since 1997, 4000 schools have been built, rebuilt or refurbished including four in the local area. It is now standard to have computers and interactive white boards in classrooms, smaller classes supported by teaching assistants and different activities provided in after school clubs. Have we already forgotten the days of buying our own coloured pencils and booking the TV and video for a special showing of History File?

When I started teaching I was inspired by the promise of investment in the profession both in terms of salary and status. I have been lucky enough to benefit from two professional development programmes Fast Track and now Future Leaders. Having the opportunity to visit schools in Boston as part of the programme was incredible and made me realise what was possible.

Then there are the little things. Booked Up is a scheme which gives all Year 7 students a free book which they can choose. There is a well established link between poverty and low literacy levels so this scheme is a simple idea that gets children talking about books as well as the joy of owning their own copy.

So will Future Leaders programme survive the cuts? Will there be jobs for us in the senior leadership teams of the future?What is most important is that when decisions are made about how money should be saved, the most important criteria should be - how does this impact on young people? Effective leadership is essential in good schools and though it may be tempting to save cash by cutting expensive senior positions, care needs to be taken that the gains that have been made in the last decade are not squandered because ‘management’ is not a popular way to spend money. People are the most important resource in our education system. People need to be the spending priority.

But then I would say that.

Grey Socks Won't Wash

‘No, those are grey. You’ll have to go home and change.’

‘Are you telling me that I’ve taken the day off work and you’re not going to let my daughter in on the first day of secondary school because she’s got the wrong colour socks?’

‘I’m sorry but they do have to be grey. Could you go home and get some others or buy some from the high street?’

‘So you’re not going to let her in?’

‘I’m sorry, no’

Being on the front gate of a The Academy on the first day,determined to set expectations high from the beginning was harder than I expected. Ten years in London schools has made me sympathetic, understanding and accommodating. It took some courage to take the stand which clearly put the parent and the child out.

Of course the principle does not just apply to socks. It applies to every aspect of school life. It means that every teacher has to follow up every small infringement of the rules. Consequences for not submitting homework, talking in corridors, getting out of a seat in class to retrieve a wayward pencil without permission, a late arrival or being late to line up in the playground at the end of lunch. It is of course by concentrating on the little things that the big picture remains calm, ordered and safe.

Two weeks ago Mossbourne Community Academy published their GCSE results. 85% of students achieved 5A* to C including English and Maths. An incredible achievement , giving 17 out of 20 students the freedom to choose their next step in education. This wasn’t achieved through negotiation and accommodation but through creating a safe environment for learning through rigorous structure that some have criticised for being too harsh. The results have silenced critics.

In the back of my mind all the time is a fear that without noticing at some point our culture could slowly slip and our The Academy could become like so many other London schools where rules change as children go from one member of staff to another. It is this fear as well as the certainty that children need structure and safety that I hope will keep us vigilant and that The Academy, like Mossbourne, will be a school of which parents are rightly proud.

Open House at The Academy

The first ever open evening at The Academy. Six hundred prospective parents flocked to the site of The Old Boys School (once dubbed the 'worst school in Britain') to see the shiny new building from the inside and find out what The Academy is really like.

Our hand-picked creative, committed staff were ready in their classes with volunteer students engaged in activities ranging from a crime scene to a choir. They were supported by over 50 students recruited and trained to take parents on tours of the building not only to point out the incredible facilities including the sports hall, library and ICT areas but also to talk about the values and ethos of the school.Parents heard the Principal talk about the strict rules such as lining up in the playground and walking the corridors in silence on the left. They also heard about the reasons why these rules and routines were so important in an area with high deprivation and twice the crime rate of the borough as a whole. They were told about the compulsory after school classes- three days a week. Children choose what they study unless they haven't done their homework in which case they have to attend homework detention. Guides also explained how the family service lunch works where everyone has a set seat and each person on the table has a role from collecting the food to clearing up afterwards.There were many questions asked. The hardest to answer however was always the same. Where can I find out if I stand a chance of getting in?

Ten years ago the choices of secondary school in the borough were limited. Too many failing schools and there was no choice. Now however one London academy, Mossbourne has just published exam results with almost 9 out 10 students leaving with 5 good GCSEs and a number of new start up schools in the area there is some choice for parents. However the more popular the school, the closer you have to live. Last year it was 0.6 miles from The Academy next year it may be an even shorter distance. The borough operates a banding system to prevent schools from only taking students from higher abilities. Nonetheless, for parents, just living in the area is not enough. You have to have got lucky and be living in a street minutes from the school you would like to go to.The real choice will come when all schools are well led, with excellent facilities and established routines. Rome was not built in a day but our borough is at least moving in the right direction.