Impacting upon our Community – the role of school leaders

1. Impacting upon our Community – the role of school leaders • What makes a worthwhile learning experience? • How you make a difference • Our implementation strategy • Impacting upon our communities

2. What makes a worthwhile learning experience? • Think of an intense learning experience • What made it worthwhile?

3. Making a difference Richard Elmore, in his book “School Reform from Inside Out: Policy, Practice and Performance” suggests that most reform strategies are based on what he describes as the “true believers” who are already motivated and whose commitment is galvanised by concentrating them into small groups who reinforce each other - the bad news, as Elmore points out, is that these small groups of self-selected reformers apparently seldom influence their peers.

4. How can you make a difference? • Focus on Learning and Teaching • Separate the person from the practice • Focus on the quality of the learning task • Spend two days a week in classes • Throw off the shackles of “presumed competence” • Create a reflective school • Create learning teams • Become the leading learner • Model – “these children are mine”

5. Making a difference • If a child has a weak teacher for one year it can take up to 18 months for them to make up the deficit. • If a child has a weak teacher for two years in a row it can take up to three years to recover • If the child has a weak teacher for three years in a row the child might never fully recover the ground that has been lost.

6. Making a difference • Challenge the variance between classrooms • How do we currently manage – book-end weak teachers; bottom sets; • Have the challenging conversations • Use data – the outcomes of children's learning provides irrefutable evidence • Be courageous, rigorous and above all fair • Put emotional intelligence to one side • You are not alone

7. Making a difference • Promoting Belonging – to our schools and to our communities • We value mastery over belonging • Yet without belonging mastery can’t take place • Allegiance does not equate to belonging • Identify, remove and prevent everything in your school that erodes a sense of belonging. • Advocate for every child • Interrupt children’s lives • Norman Kunc ……………

8. Our Implementation Strategy • Recognise and take account of the different contexts in which we work; • Promote shared responsibility for implementation - try to avoid a ‘central/authority’ person to whom is given the responsibility for implementation. • Make best use of existing expertise at all times unless absolutely necessary – don’t fly in solutions. • Promote organic and long-term development over short-term unsustainable development • Always attempt to build upon existing good practice and reaffirm the connections between new and existing practice • Always focus upon meeting the needs of children - what difference will this make? • Find ways of measuring and judging the impact. • Continually reinforce links between other developments and areas of practice. • Build teams to develop and share practice. • The answers lie within our schools, within our clusters, within our authority

9. Curriculum for Excellence “A Curriculum for Excellence - it’s not about doing different things, it’s about doing things differently” - so said a teacher in one of our East Lothian schools. In essence this teacher captured our approach to the Curriculum for Excellence. For too long new educational initiatives have implied that teachers need to be fixed.

10. In contrast to the introduction of Standard Grade in the ’80’s, 5-14 and Higher Still in the 90’s, A Curriculum for Excellence provides us with a chance for to build from where we are as opposed to implementing something which has been developed by others. Our strategy in East Lothian is based upon the Learning and Teaching process. The strength of this approach is that we can capitalise upon the tremendous practice which is already very apparent in our schools.

11. It is our intention to ground the development of our practice upon the huge variety of networks of practitioners which exist within our schools, within our clusters and within the authority. We’d like to invite you to contribute to this exciting development by asking you to experiment with your current practice, share your expertise and experience with others, and actively engage with learners to co-create their curriculum.

12. Learning and Teaching Policy Our Teaching and Learning Policy is founded upon three inter-connected principles: • All learners should be treated with unconditional positive regard • Learners need to be engaged for learning to take place • The development of teaching and learning should be collaborative enterprise

13. 3- 18 Learning and Teaching Strategic Group The group forms part of the implementation strategy

14. Our Strategic Focus • Learning and Teaching • Self-evaluation • Leadership

15. Self Evaluation • Service Improvement Plan – dynamic process; traffic lighting • HGIOS 3 – all schools • Our validation process

16. Linking the planning processes • Integrated Children's Services Plan • Service Improvement Plan • School Development Planning Using the UN convention’s rights of the child as the organising framework, as opposed to National Priorities

17. Leadership Strategy The leadership culture to which we aspire: Collaborative; transparent; non-hierarchical; entrepreneurial; learning; reflective, appreciative and connected Our leadership focus: • Management • Learning and Teaching • People and culture • Nurture and well-being

18. Impacting upon our communities • No longer – “Outside our school gates” • No longer – “Outwith school hours” • Cluster working – collective responsibility • Table top exercises – integrated working • Recognising achievement outside school • Open to the outside – “no closed doors” • Taking pride in our achievements • Force for positive change

19. You make a difference!!! • High expectations and aspirations for all • Skilled • Knowledgeable • Open and transparent • Reflective • Willing to admit our areas of weakness • Giving permission to learn • 3 Rs – Rigour; Relationships, and Relevance • Part of a community – giving up some autonomy • “We can do this”