CPD in association with
A middle-
management
promotion to
a new school?
A new
Deputy head Jo Smith
offers some top tips
T IS a tricky one. You have started new jobs
I
before where it has been your place to sit and
listen, smile in the right places and prove to
your line managers that you are capable. It is start
different this time. This time you are the line
manager, who colleagues are in turn intrigued
by and suspicious of.
Are you going to make their lives easier or more
complicated? Are you going to introduce a rash of new
initiatives that mean a whole new take on the workload
agreement? Are you, heaven forbid, the new head of
department who replaces the much respected and well-
loved colleague who had staff and pupils onside?
Head of department / curriculum leader
In these roles, one of your most important responsibilities
will be the effective operation of your team. You will
need to be a critical friend, and that is surely one of the if you think they will allow pupils to make the progress you are new to the school. A lot of pastoral promotions school is to spread optimism and encouragement. Also,
hardest jobs in middle management. expected. Look up department budget information and are internal as they depend so much on a thorough be sure to spend time familiarising yourself with the
While you will need your team to be cohesive and look at how money has been spent in pursuit of meeting understanding of pupils and their family circumstances. school rewards and sanctions policy and the procedures
complementary, it will also be your responsibility improvement plan targets. You are also likely to be This cannot be replicated in the holidays before you that are in place. Staff will look to you for consistency
to challenge under-performance among any of your a performance management reviewer. Look over the start at a school, no matter how many handing over so you need to work to the same policies and tariffs as
staff and be a representative both of your department records on the staff in your team. You need to be aware conversations you have. the rest of the staff.
members to senior management, but also of senior of their targets and CPD needs for the year ahead. Your role is undoubtedly one of academic mentor Introducing yourself to parents is always worthwhile,
management initiatives to your department. Plan carefully your early department meetings. too and this is where you can spend some time especially if you are new to the school. This can be
Do not start your job thinking that you will have Even though you will be keen to get stuck into new preparing. Use the school tracking system to identify done via the school newsletter and a photo and a few
failed if you are not friends with every member of your initiatives and make changes, be careful not to offend pupils in your year, house or key stage who are under- paragraphs on your background and hobbies will make
department by Christmas. What you can be is friendly, members of your team who may well have written achieving, read through their reports and consider what you appear reassuringly human. Introductions to key
supportive and understanding, but regard and respect the schemes of work you wish to change, be feeling intervention strategies are already in place. support staff, both those working in school and for
will only be gained by doing your job well. insecure about recent unsuccessful observations, or Do the same for your gifted and talented cohort. outside agencies, is well worth the initial effort too.
This cannot be done instantly, so you need to have other personal issues they are unwilling to share Set up a meeting early on with the gifted and talented There will no doubt be lots of changes or
appreciate that your standing in the school and in until they trust you. co-ordinator and with the SENCO to learn as much as improvements you want to make, but perhaps the
your department will form gradually even though first Be prepared to be a listener and show that you are possible about pupils with particular learning needs and first few weeks is not the right time. Be careful about
impressions are important. keen to take views on board. A good way of doing this the systems that already exist to support them. making changes too soon and without consultation.
Middle leadership roles have changed in recent is to have an early non-threatening discussion about You are likely to have to run a tutors’ meeting at What worked well in your previous school might not
years. The days of being a good teacher and effective the department improvement plan and general points the start of the term. Think about how you want to be instantly transferable to your new one. SecEd
administrator have passed; now you are accountable arising from the latest department review. Ask the staff introduce yourself. Be careful to prevent your meetings
for the results in your department and the interventions whether they feel these documents are a fair reflection turning into moaning sessions about difficult individual • Josephine Smith is the deputy headteacher at Long
your team is putting into place when pupils are not of the department’s effectiveness and where it needs to pupils though; one of your roles as middle leader in the Field High School, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.
meeting their targets. develop. Invite responses and listen to suggestions.
For this reason, it would be an effective use of your Finally, set an example as a good classroom teacher.
time to establish key information about your department Use the early weeks of term to ensure that your pupils
that is available in objective form. Look up past results are going to get a good deal and that you are modelling
Talking CPD: GTCE
data, look at the most recent department improvement the behaviour you expect to see from the rest of
plan and see if the information tallies. the teachers in your team. Follow school policy on
Look at predictions for each year in your subject area assessment, behaviour, uniform, display, homework
and match them against the most recent assessments and so on. By doing so you are working to achieve high
The role of CPD leader
for those classes. Your new school is likely to have a standards and consistency and you will be creating an
department review process. Ask to see the latest review ethos that is respected by staff, pupils and parents.
of your department and look closely at the senior team’s
Keith Bartley
of options, you will need to examine possible sources
of external support, such as any local authority
comments, but also any self-evaluation.
Head of year/phase or key stage manager
Look over department schemes of work too and see Starting in a pastoral role is the toughest promotion if considers the role
initiatives, or those provided by the GTCE. This
includes our Teacher Learning Academy (TLA),
which recognises and celebrates the learning that
of the CPD leader
takes place in teachers’ everyday working lives. It’s
also important that you lead by example. Many CPD
Resistance to change
and offers some advice for
leaders are discovering that the TLA is an excellent
means of identifying and pursuing their own learning
the new school year
goals, while motivating others to participate.
But perhaps the most crucial aspect of your remit
Dot Struthers
spectator who is reluctant to get involved and take is to champion the remarkable power and value
any risks although quite positive. As spectators we AS THE academic year unfolds, many of us face new of CPD – to transform schools, enhance pupils’
like to sit on the fence and applaud good ideas but and interesting challenges and for some, this includes learning, and guide individual teachers to recognise
on how to
refuse to change ourselves. the opportunity to lead their school’s CPD. and achieve their potential. Helping teachers to access
Spectators need reassurance and encouragement Whether you’re new to the role, or have some personalised CPD can pose some real challenges for
support others
that they are okay and have all the skills, experience experience under your belt and want to build on those who lead, and a balance may need to be struck
and knowledge required. Their energy is low, so the what’s been accomplished so far, effective CPD between your school’s improvement priorities and a
through change
best thing you can do is give them a specific role that leadership is increasingly recognised as pivotal to teacher’s own development and career aspirations.
will get them off the benches and onto the field. every school’s achievements. As a CPD leader, However, research tells us that this approach to
When our energy is high and our attitude poor we alongside making a major contribution to teachers’ learning – which takes the individual as the starting
CHANGE IS inevitable and if you’re not changing may behave like a cynic who is angry and rebellious professional development you also have the ability point – offers the greatest rewards.
you’re probably regressing. There are normally three and will do anything to resist the change. We like to to positively influence the culture of your school as a CPD leaders in the GTCE Connect network (www.
types of responses to change: those that make it argue and always focus on the negatives, pushing for learning community. gtce.org.uk/connect) have advocated that to be fully
happen, those that watch it happen, and those who decisions to be made and then criticising them. In the past, some CPD leaders have protested effective, CPD leaders should always be members of
say what happened! Cynics can be dangerous because they are that teachers’ professional development was not high the school leadership team. This enables them to take a
The honest truth is that no-one really likes change influential and can sway the spectators and victims. on their school’s agenda, but that outdated view is strategic view of the school’s development and sends a
because it involves moving from a position of comfort By giving them more responsibility and making rapidly – and rightly – disappearing. In contrast, strong message to staff, pupils, parents and governors.
and stepping into place which is unknown. Although them aware of the impact of their behaviour you can performance management and professional standards Members of the leadership team can offer vital
you can’t always control what happens to you, you redirect their energy and get them on side. continue to enhance CPD’s purpose and importance; avenues of support, but it’s also important to actively
can control your reactions to it. Finally, if we have high energy and a great and sound, inspiring leadership is critical to helping engage with those outside your school, swapping
There are two things which affect a person’s attitude we could be called achievers. This group these processes deliver, both for individual teachers information and ideas, and seizing any opportunities
reaction to change – our energy and our attitude, and feel challenged and stretched by the change but very and your school as a whole. to work collaboratively.
both can be observed in our behaviour. supportive of it. Obviously you want to keep these So precisely what does the role of school CPD The Training and Development Agency for
So if our energy is low and our attitude pretty people motivated and enthusiastic, so giving them leader encompass? Offering support and guidance are Schools is also expanding its own package of support
bad, we are probably behaving like a victim who roles which stretch them will maintain their interest, among the key responsibilities, as you work towards for CPD leaders. Last year it launched a major project,
feels overwhelmed and bruised and powerless to but also using them to encourage the spectators and providing consistent, clear and equitable access to scheduled to end in 2010. In addition, this autumn it
do anything. We are likely to react by avoiding any challenge the cynics will prove useful. professional learning for all. launches a year-long trial of a CPD database (for
confrontation and trying to ignore the change. We have all experienced behaviour like this At the outset, you need to either establish or more, see www.tda.gov.uk).
The best way to help a person out of this victim ourselves – it’s a natural human reaction. It’s a little review your school’s CPD policy, creating an annual While the culture of your school may have
mode is to show them what they are doing, i.e. hiding, easier to see it in others than ourselves, but never the plan that clearly sets out how your school will tackle the greatest effect on the overall success of CPD,
and to force them to confront the elements of the less, once you can recognise it, you can change it. and evaluate professional development. You may also as a leader you can exert a major influence. It’s a
change they are ignoring. This in itself will raise their want to investigate the wider context. For example, demanding role – but the rewards are infinite.
energy levels and help them to move on. • Dot Struthers has created coaching resources for what are the national strategies and priorities for
If our energy level is low and our attitude quite school leaders and is running a free course this term. CPD? And how might they impact on your school? • Keith Bartley is the chief executive of the General
positive then we are probably behaving like a Visit www.merechats.co.uk or call 020 8408 3782. In order to signpost teachers to a diverse selection Teaching Council for England. Visit: www.gtce.org.uk
SecEd • September 11 2008 13
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