Essential analysis, research and best practice guides to the issues of the day for leadership at all levels in schools. These include the leading of learning, curriculum development and improving pupil outcomes, how to distribute leadership, oversee recruitment and retention, understand the new roles of executive and system leadership and improving leadership competence at middle management level.
New circumstances demand engagement with distance learning, planning the return to school after the pandemic, responding to children with grief and behaviour problems and generally re-creating a school with a dynamic learning culture amongst pupils and staff.
Curriculum and subject leaders play vital roles in enabling their schools to succeed. Glynis Frater examines these roles and the absolute need to ensure their continued professional dialogue with senior leaders.
A new report sheds light on bullying in English schools and its all-too-common roots in prejudice. Jac Bastian discusses the report's findings and how a whole-school approach can stop bullying at its roots.
Using a simple technique to collaborate with their colleagues, any teacher can improve their lesson planning. Andrew Shenton shares his methodology.
Some of the major themes we cover are linked to the leadership of change and change management. How to mobilise and motivate staff, target setting and performance management are all covered in depth. So is effective delegation and when not to delegate! One of the most important areas in school leadership is accountability, to Ofsted, Parents and the staff. Assessment of the school and leadership team is a major theme as is assessment of staff and pupil assessment.
Linked to pupil and staff assessment is the key issue of Leadership of Learning, Many see this as the core role of school leadership which needs to subsume the lesser role of school management…much of which has now been delegated to School Business Leaders. Middle Management or Curriculum Leaders, as they are now more often called is one of the most critical and under-developed role and is explored at length in our current and in past library articles.
School Business Leaders and the role of school governors are also examined in depth. School governance has changed remarkably with the arrival of Multi Academy Trusts but in whatever context they can play a critical role in school development and review. A strong governance team and a strong school business manager can provide the foundation for strong and adventurous teaching and learning.
The most elusive and difficult role of school leadership at all levels is to create a dynamic learning culture which suffuses the whole school.Distribution of leaders …far more than delegation…is critical to this as is engagement in the School Development and in the whole issue of delegation. Schools with a strong ethos of learning and professional development tend to find recruitment and retention much easier, succession more seamless and puipl achievement on an upward curve
