With more and more legislation, guidance and general updates being made available, the NSSF work hard to ensure the most relevant information gets to where it’s needed most – you! Getting Ahead provides all the current resources, articles and viewpoints to keep you in touch with the issues affecting small schools. Each of the sections offer topical resources and information to view and use. Take advantage of the member section by logging in now. It’s really easy to access and is just a few clicks away.
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I’m all in favour of collaboration and our own knowledge of ICT and learning platforms is a good case in point. Their potential for pupils’ greater learning and personalisation is huge and I suspect that we have only scratched the surface so far. The cluster/network can be a great way of sharing intelligence about how to use learning platforms best and to maximise their potential. Meanwhile, they can also support inter-school learning for pupils and staff. It may be worth asking questions such as:
What are the barriers to increasing the use of the learning platforms?
Do staff see it as a techie toy or a tool for learning?
Is the platform easy to use and is it promoted by senior staff?
Is there a tradition of preparing and using online resources?
Are successful examples in other schools adopted?
Is the platform a whole school venture and is there sufficient broadband capacity?
Is its use embedded in pupils’ learning and are parents involved?
Is further training for staff available and how can the platform be developed?
Wesof |
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It would be good to get rid of SATs at Key Stage 2. While there are a good number of small schools who have been able to prove their high quality effectiveness through SATs, League Tables are an odious idea and especially so for small primaries, whose position can rest on such a few pupils. Even the extensive work done by OFSTED and others in providing measures of value added and CVA etc., does not overcome the distortions that small data bases create.
The different attitudes that the Unions have towards boycotting SATs is unfortunate. But there are big differences between staffs of schools too. I know some small schools whose Year 6 pupils are very aware of their own Levels (and even sub-levels) and how they intend to improve in the tests. Some staff feel that it’s just too late to withdraw. Others, like me, feel that this is the year that could make a difference to the big picture of inaccurate measurement of pupils’ knowledge and understanding and all the pressures that ensue; for schools, for the curriculum, for pupils, and for teachers. This will mean that some form of assessment will be needed and evidence suggests that this is harder at first but more effective later. Small schools can use their more extensive knowledge of the children’s learning to make sound APP type judgements that could be more accurate, involve pupils more, strongly related to progress and relatively easy to manage. I have also seen how the growth of moderation in a cluster or federation has given teachers greater precision and confidence. So I say “up the revolution”! Wesof
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What is leadership anyway? |
I once mentioned to a Professor of Education that I had been working with the NCSL on small school leadership issues. I was immediately asked what was leadership in any school? This was a problematic question as it implied the concept of leadership was spurious. I was reminded of this by Oliver Burkman’s article in the Guardian Weekend (27 March ‘10). Here he recounts Peter Drucker’s (the business leaders’ guru) conclusion “is that a leader is somebody who has followers”. The article suggests that there may well be many effective leaders but that identifying an essence that is called ‘leadership’ may present more problems than it answers. It’s interesting to note how the aforementioned college is now just called ‘the National College’. I’ve often found small school headteachers think of themselves first as team members.
Wesof
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Why children need small schools |
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Teaching Assistants and the challenges of Formative Assessment and the nature of interactions. |
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