Having listened to some of the most amazing and like minded speakers @Fededucation summit over the past few days, I felt I needed to record my thoughts.

In May 2020 I published my blog ‘Time for Change’ https://chilledheadteacher.school.blog/2020/05/23/time-for-change/ following a second RI judgement in March 2020, the week before the first lockdown. When the lead inspector says he wouldn’t hesitate to send his son to your school yet you’re labelled ‘in a category’ something isn’t right with the system. The only reason we didn’t get graded ‘good’ was our 2019 data. L&M was strong as was behaviour welfare and personal development. They were also impressed with our wider curriculum but with a quality assurer, the outcome was known before they stepped into the school.

Having a double RI judgement, I began to question everything. Was it me? Did I need to leave the profession? Was it wrong that my passion is inclusivity, opportunities, character and well-being? Why would I have a voice if I was that bad at the job? (Note 2018 ks2 data was above National) Did I need to work to Ofsted rather than my heart? As a confident and competent leader should I have to attach my self worth to a cliff edge judgement?

Balancing all these thoughts and battling through running a school during a pandemic made me very reflective. I found my Twitter family and started to have a voice. I realised there were many other amazing heads in a similar position (funnily enough, with similar schools in deprived areas.) Throughout this Ofsted journey my network have stood by me. My trust and colleagues have seen the strengths, encouraged me and my career has developed. How many great heads would we have lost in similar situations?

In February 2021 (the day the PM made the announcement pupils would return) we had the call for a remote monitoring inspection the next day. It was a positive experience completed with rigour and compassion. The most important part for me was that parent voice was extremely positive. Suddenly my mojo returned. I held my head higher and engaged louder with my networks. I felt I now had the collateral to back up my opinions.

But it could have been so different. Without the networks around me and the most amazing staff, I could easily have walked away. What other profession lives in such dread as the Ofsted call? What other profession is there so little trust? What other profession has such high stakes accountability it breeds a recruitment crisis?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against accountability. We have children’s futures in our hands and public funding but there has to be another way. We have to build a system that encourages collaboration not competition. A system that is equal. A system that encourages schools to open their doors to all. A system that focuses on the whole child. A system based on trust.

With a SOS who has just stated we need to focus on behaviour and children sitting in rows, I’m not sure how quickly things will change. However, having listened to a raft of intelligent, articulate educators over the past few days who back up their ideas with evidence (a broad set of evidence not just selective) I have regained my hope. With Kevan Collins leading the recovery from Covid and the growing voices for change, I am feeling positive about the future.

The past year has taught me that showing vulnerability isn’t a bad thing and I truly believe I am an authentic, compassionate and transparent leader who can do the job well.

NOW TRUST US AND WATCH US SHINE!

We became a single academy trust in 2013 as an outstanding school. In September 2017 we had a bad Ofsted experience and found ourselves requiring improvement. We had already been looking at trusts we could join and with the threat of an unpleasant DFE visit, we got out there first to make our own decision.

It was really important to us that any trust we joined had shared vision and values but also recognised all the strengths we had as a school. I got into discussions with a CEO who had two schools in his trust with a third about to join. All the schools were within a 10 minute journey of each other and although serving different catchments, the values led ethos was just what we were looking for.

What impressed us most was the strength of the central team. For a small trust, so much thought had gone into the skills set of the board and central team. The CFO was a very competent accountant with experience of working for a local authority. We couldn’t find any negatives during the due diligence and we just knew it felt right.

Things moved quickly and by April 1st 2018 we had become the fourth school in The Learning For Life Partnership. Before we had signed on the dotted line we began to see the benefits. I was supported through some HR issues and shortly after joining we had confirmation that our CIF bid (application completed by a company commissioned by the trust) for Astro turfing our field had been agreed.

Over the next 6 months the collaboration between the schools grew. I felt like I had joined a new family and staff began to share best practice. Even though Ofsted thought our school wasn’t great, the trust could see all the strengths we had and in January 2019 I became the Director of Primary. I could follow my ambition to support more than just my own school. This offered career development for the staff too and my amazing deputy became Head of School.

Cross site collaboration continued with trust INSET days, coordinator groups and joint sports competitions. Leadership opportunities enabled staff to develop through secondments and delivering CPD. We continued to look at alignment and just as we were beginning to look strategically at school improvement priorities and raising standards, C19 hit.

This virus from nowhere turned our world upside down but this is where being in a strong trust really came into its own. Where the local authority were slow to give guidance and the government were quick to throw page after page of ambiguous guidance at us, the calm, measured decisions made at trust level in consultation with all the heads were welcomed. The CEO wrote letters to parents from himself to shield the heads on the frontline and led with compassion throughout. As I watched colleagues almost go under with the stress of feeling so alone, I felt supported, empowered and this made operational decision making so much easier.

This is not a pro academy blog, simply my experience. I have seen real collaboration from all sectors through this crisis and a truly moral approach. This needs to be something that is built on as we move into a new normal.

Thank you to Dan Thomas, Liam Lewis, Simon Kidwell and all at The Learning For Life Partnership for keeping me sane!

I have been asked to write this blog by James @WELL4educators as part of his perspectives series.

At first, I questioned why he would want me to do a blog? As a white heterosexual female who was privately educated, what did I have to offer in the diversity and equality agenda? But then I reflected and I realise that some of my life experiences have helped me to embed well being as a priority at my school.

I have never really questioned inequality of opportunity as far as the male female divide in my career so far. I have been fortunate that my mentors have seen my potential and encouraged me to reach for the stars but when I unpick this, I realise that without that encouragement my voice may have become lost amongst more confident and (dare I say it) more egotistical males. Imposter syndrome has been something I have suffered from significantly up until a few years ago and still raises its head now. I needed people to believe in me before I took the jump into something new and I sought reassurance when I did make the jump. Since becoming a head teacher I have grown in confidence and this has stemmed from my passion to develop others. There is nothing more satisfying than watching your staff thrive. I still have my ups and downs (see previous Ofsted blog) but I am stronger, more compassionate and positive than I have ever been right now.

I remember announcing my pregnancy (second son now 15) and within hours it had been leaked to our male head teacher who didn’t speak to me for 3 weeks! Of course I understand, as a head teacher, the feelings of panic each time a teacher announces they are pregnant and the inevitable recruitment processes that follow but I use my experience to make sure those teachers feel they are supported and I can share in their celebrations. I would like to think I treat them like all members of staff, with utmost respect and compassion.

I often question my parenting skills and whether I could have done a better job. As I live in my school community, both my boys went through my primary school. I could see them on their first day, watch their nativity and keep a close eye on their progress. I was so lucky to really be there to watch them grow up and as a leader, I make sure my staff have these opportunities too. With a hard working staff, there is no questioning when a teacher asks to watch their child’s sports day or nativity. There is a focus on work load so as little as possible is taken home and there is compassion shown when children are ill.

In conclusion, my journey as a female in leadership hasn’t been tainted by my gender or inequality but it could have done if I had let the demons take over. What I believe it has done is make me more emotionally intelligent, compassionate and confident.

My 3 tips for embedding well being are:

1. Have a solution orientated culture. There is nothing worse than negativity caused by problem after problem. Something magical happens when you build a culture of looking at solutions. It encourages staff to lead at every level and this in itself builds self confidence, positivity and improved well being.

2. Teach staff how to manage their workload. Use staff who do this well to mentor those who are struggling. Keep an eye out for those taking boxes and boxes of books home and intervene. Make sure staff don’t feel like they ‘have’ to stay late or get in early and be sensitive to those who may just need a bit more time.

3. Engage staff in consultation. I have been out of the classroom for over 7 years now (some would say I should still teach but with over 550 children and a school improvement role across 4 other schools this is difficult) so who am I to dictate what staff should be teaching. They are the experts and I treat them as such. Before any changes there is always full consultation. Staff feel they have a say and are listened to and subsequently give their all with a smile 😁

This isn’t an answer to everyone’s prayers or even backed with any evidence base, this is me composing my thoughts about the way forward post Covid-19. My new friend (whom I’m yet to meet in the flesh) Rae Snape suggested I put my thoughts into a blog following a great discussion on Ed Lead Collective chat on Twitter about uniting voices for change. So here I am!

Before March 20th 2020, the day English schools closed to the majority of pupils, I had felt we were losing our parental engagement to the busyness of day to day life. More and more parents were struggling to devote time to their children’s learning. More and more parents were becoming digitally distracted and seemed to have lost the wonder of just being with their children, listening to them and talking to them.

As a larger than average primary school, we struggle to have the space to invite parents into assemblies or presentations en masse. With a curriculum taking up every spare minute we hadn’t engaged parents the way we should have. The same, very small group of parents consistently engaged and I could feel this having a negative impact on relationships. I had already started to jot down ideas to move forward with and then closure happened.

In the space of a few days we had revamped our website, set up home learning pages for each year group and started to develop resources to share, that all pupils could access. With most teachers working from home this evolved quickly. As leaders we set our expectations with compassion in mind. We recognised that many parents would be working from home and many teachers had their own young children to manage. We set lots of activities that would encourage fun times, memory making and enjoying the outdoors. Of course, at this point, we were unsure how long it would continue.

What we witnessed was a greater engagement than we had seen before. Our FaceBook page was buzzing with the excitement of family times and new experiences. Families were cooking together, doing art projects together and enjoying the outdoors together. Teachers were making regular phone calls to each family and the bond was getting stronger and stronger. Teachers felt they knew their families so much better. They recognised their struggles and empathised with their difficulties. They have grown in confidence when dealing with emotive conversations and I have no doubt, they have grown as teachers.

As time went on parents asked for more structure so we listened. We brought in a timetable after Easter to support with routine and every child was given work books. Teachers were still at the end of the phone or email to support and guide. Parents were open with us about what they were finding hard and we were there to help. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and this positivity needs to continue.

We can’t go back to where we were. We need to move forward from this point. During the various conversations over the last few months it has become clear that with the slower pace of life, parents are keen to learn more about how to support their children but many have struggled. Imagine if we could educate parents in the learning process. If we could educate them on what the research says about the impact of reading bedtime stories. If we could give parents the right questions to ask their children and focus on learning rather than doing. If we could pass on our pedagogical understanding in a way that would make it easier for parents to support their child.

So, in conclusion, I will be starting a fresh when we return to normal. My promise is this: We will offer more workshops for parents that are at a time that is flexible for those working. We will continue to use our IT platforms to maintain good communication. We will educate parents on how to support their children, not just by adding a link to the website but by embedding it in our communication strategy. We will aim to get more parents into school to really understand what the children are learning. We will give the parents the tools and questions to really help their child progress and unpick where they may be going wrong. We will set homework that involves the pupils teaching their parents.

I am very excited to see what the future holds and the impact this could have.

“I wouldn’t hesitate in sending my child to this school” said the lead inspector on day two of our section 5 inspection a week before lockdown. Surely that’s enough to mean we are at least good?

We knew we had a fight on our hands. In 2019 we had seen a dip in data (although still in line with national.) Our demographics over the last few years has changed, we’re more inclusive, higher SEN, 20% EAL and 50% of our children come from one of the most deprived wards in the country. I love my school. I love our community. I love my team. Our pupils make great progress from their low starting points but too many don’t quite make the grade at KS1. This doesn’t mean they can’t read, write or have good maths skills. They just didn’t quite get there.

In 2018 67% of KS2 pupils were expected in RWM 88% in reading (30% higher standard) 87% maths (27% higher standard) 72% writing (10% greater depth) We were happy with these results and they were significantly better than 2016. In 2019 our pupils didn’t show their potential in the reading paper. Many ran out of time so although we were inline with national (73%) our progress score was below national. Maths and writing were all in line. And so begins the wait for ‘the call’!

We had been judged RI in September 2017 (similar story – data in line with national but progress not good enough) but that experience is a whole other blog! So our 24-30 months was up in March 2020. Sleepless nights from September to March did not help my own well-being as we knew it would not be easy – the delightful, new IDSR told us that. Finally, on 9th March 2020 we got the call. We were ready, the staff were ready and we were confident the inspectors would like what they saw.

It started well with an hour long phone conversation with the lead inspector. He listened and I felt it was a good start. He explained that our inspection was to be quality assured so a team of 4 would visit and the North West HMI would be there for day one. This, I believe, was the problem.

The inspection itself went well. The staff and pupils were amazing. Parents were supportive. Our curriculum deep dives went well and they were blown away by our geography curriculum. I just kept getting the feeling that the decision had been made before they even stepped foot in the school. Comments such as ‘but your data last year was poor’ had me resigned to the result we had worked so hard not to get again. The most frustrating part of the whole process was the refusal to look at in school data. We had standardised test scores that proved that we would be back to positive progress measures with significant improvement in KS1 and GLD data. What they saw matched this improvement but it was clear the lead inspector’s hands were tied because of the quality assurance – they knew what grade we were before they even entered the school.

Feedback time came and went in a blur. All the things that matter to me were positive. Strong l&m, good behaviour and attitudes, good personal development and lots of positives around the curriculum. But guess what! Due to some weak data in KS1 and EYs over 2 years, quality of education required improvement. My question is, how on earth does this help? All it does is tell parents we’re crap overall. The community stuck by us last time but will they again?

If it wasn’t for the support from my trust and CEO, I think this would have pushed me over the edge. Even with that support, I spent that night looking at what jobs were available out of education. The next day I walked in with a brave face ready to build us all back up again but sheer exhaustion took over and I spent the day in my office bawling. I couldn’t even face my favourite time of the week – achievement assembly. The weekend helped and Monday was a new day and along came Covid-19 and school closure.

Leading through this crisis has helped take my mind off the inspection until they emailed to say the report will be published next week. All those emotions came back and I just had to write them down. I had questioned my ability, lost my confidence and wondered whether it would be better for someone else to do the job. But little things like supporting others on Twitter or virtual check ins with staff have made me realise there’s so much more to leadership. I’m here to stay, I AM doing a good job, I can lead through a crisis and I have amazing people around me. I am strong!

Now lets stand together and push for change.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton