Key Voices

Key Voices #125 - Lessons in leadership with Diana Osagie

This week we talk to Diana Osagie, ex-headteacher, coach and leadership specialist . We talk about Diana’s experiences of headship and the work she is doing to support female leaders thrive.  Finally, Diana shares some super practical advice for new headteachers and the governing bodies supporting them. 

We talk about:

• The fact that no-one teaches school leaders to be leaders
• Some of the lessons Diana learned from her time in headship
• Diana’s thoughts about why and how women lead differently 
• The power of coaching 
• Covid-19 and how to manage and empower your team in a crisis 
• Very practical advice for new heads 
• How governors can support new headteachers 

You can register for the free 3 day Transformational Leadership Challenge we discuss (starting on Monday 13th September) here 

You can learn more about Diana and her work here

Key Voices #124 - Exams, policy-making and trusts with Sir Jon Coles

This week we talk to Sir Jon Coles, CEO of United Learning. Jon shares his thoughts on this year’s exam arrangements and what could happen next year. As well as, why it is so hard to make good policy and how he feels the pandemic has really emphasised the benefits of being part of a large trust. 

 

We talk about : 

• This year’s exam results and what they could mean for future cohorts
• The various options for next year’s exams and the considerations that would need to be made depending on which way forward is chosen
• How to close the gap between those who make policy and those who implement it 
• Jon’s time in the civil service and his thoughts on exactly why it is so hard to make successful policy 
• How additional capacity made Jon’s trust more resilient during the pandemic 
• Establishing remote teaching during the pandemic 
• The most powerful ways technology can make a difference in education 

 

You can learn more about United Learning here

Key Voices #123 - Work ready and world ready with Aspirations Academy Trust and Ian Livingstone CBE

This week we talk to Steve and Paula Kenning, Managing Directors of  Aspirations Academy Trust, and Ian Livingstone CBE, a games industry veteran, who is working with the trust to found a new academy in Bournemouth - the Livingstone Academy. We talk about the principles underpinning the work of the Aspirations Academy Trust and hear about how Steve and Paula have worked with Ian to found a different and exciting new school. 

 

We talk about: 

• Steve and Paula’s experiences building a trust and developing their educational philosophy 
• Ian’s background, the work he has done on improving the quality of digital education and why he wants young people to move from being in the passenger seat as users of technology, into the driving seat where they are creating it
• The central focus the trust has on making education exciting, engaging, practical and interdisciplinary 
• How the plan for the school came about and some of the innovative ways they plan to work in terms of curriculum, leadership and use of digital tools 
• What a successful launch and first year would look like 
• The future world of work 
• What Steve and Paula have learned from working closely with employers about how to make young people world ready and work ready 

 

You can learn more about the work of Aspire Academies Trust here

Key Voices #122 - ‘Equality, diversity and inclusion among school staff’ with Edurio

This week we talk to Iona Jackson, Head of Research at Edurio and Amy Ferguson, Deputy Headteacher of an Independent Special School. We discuss Edurio’s recent research report on Equality, diversity and inclusion among school staff. Iona tells us about the report’s main findings and Amy shares her reflections, and suggestions as to what schools can do practically to become more inclusive.  

 

We talk about: 

• What the terms equality, diversity and inclusion actually mean 
• The main findings of the report: notably how less than half  of respondents felt their school was diverse and that white staff, men and staff without a disability reported feeling more confident that staff are treated equally than their peers
• The impact that bias, either conscious or unconscious, can have in schools 
• How to close the perception gap between a leadership team who feels they are adequately addressing equality, diversity and inclusion, and a staff that feel differently 
• The importance of involving staff and getting honest feedback from staff in relation to equality and diversity 
• The evolving nature of equality, diversity and inclusion at work 
• How to address some of the issues around hidden difference

 

You can download Edurio’s report here 

Amy mentions the work of the following organisations who provide further support Diverse Educators, BAMEed and LGBTed

Key Voices #121 - Review of the year with The Key

This week we talk to Kaley Foran, Lead Content Editor and Nicola West-Jones, Head of Market Research at The Key. We talk about the continuing challenges thrown up by COVID-19 and how schools have been tackling them, as well as thinking about what issues are on the horizon. We also consider how different governance has been during another extraordinary period for schools. 

 

We talk about: 

• Learnings from lockdown 
• School leaders’ impressive ability to make the right decisions for their pupils and their communities 
• The changing role of the DfE against a potentially more confident and empowered generation of school leaders
• Focus topics for September: preparing for Ofsted, addressing sexism and sexual abuse in schools, wellbeing, curriculum and CPD
• The experience for governors in this period of largely remote meetings 
• The future of school funding
• Some of the findings from our recent survey on schools’ plans for catch-up activity

Key Voices #120 - Ditching discriminatory hair policies: A Key Voices Takeover

“It’s the best thing you can do for the relationship between staff and students. Do it with the students, don’t assume for them… try asking the students what they want and finding a compromise that works from both perspectives.” 

 

This week Key Voices has been taken over by students at Townley Grammar School. They share their thoughts about their school changing its hair policy and talk passionately about the difference it has made to them and their peers. They also interview Desmond Deehan, CEO of Odyssey Trust for Education, which Townley Grammar is part of, about the decision-making process the trust took to change their hair policy. They also ask about why he wanted to start a dialogue with other schools, and what further plans there are to examine bias and inequality across their uniform policy. 

 

We talk about: 

• What changing the hair policy at school has meant to the girls and their peers 
• The negative impact having restrictive hair rules has, particularly on students from diverse backgrounds and on relationships between students and teachers 
• The connection between hair, confidence and self-expression 
• The importance of engaging students in changes like this
• What other aspects of school uniform policy might need changing 
• What inspired Desmond to decide to change the policy 
• Communicating policy change and why Townley decided to try and use publicity to try and get other schools to think about hair rules differently 
• How they feel they have shattered the illusion that education and standards in schools are linked to clothing 
• The connection between awareness raising, protest and how real change happens 

 

This is the book Desmond mentions  Don’t touch my hair! By Emma Dabiri

 

“The recognition that just challenging someone [about their hair] is a sanction. If you are picked out in your class and something public is said to you about your hair, that is a sanction. You don’t have a detention for that, and it doesn’t get recorded as such but you walk away from it as the student thinking, I feel bad now and I didn’t feel that before, and the teacher might not even feel they have told you off, but that is how it lands.”

Key Voices #119 - LGBTQ+ Inclusion with Stonewall and The Key

This week we talk to Sidonie Bertrand-Shelton, Head of Education & Youth, (she/her) and Katherine Fowler, Content Editor at The Key (she/her) about being in an LGBTQ+ inclusive school. We talk about the importance of high-quality age-appropriate Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) as well as making sure that you embed gender and LGBTQ+ inclusivity throughout your curriculum. 

 

We talk about: 

• The changes to RSHE and how schools can respond in an age-appropriate way and deal with any opposition from the local community 
• Why it is important for all young people, but particularly those who identify as LGBTQ+ or think they might,  to experience a curriculum that represents them and the relationships they seek 
• The responsibilities of governing boards and how they can support school leaders on this agenda 
• The importance of training for teachers to feel confident when talking to students about gender, sexuality and identity, and tackling biphobic, transphobic, homophobic and sexist language 
• Practical considerations about which of a school’s policies relate to inclusion such as anti-bullying, child protection and behaviour policies
• How to audit your curriculum to be more inclusive 
• Returning to your school’s core values and thinking about how you can use them to become more inclusive and make sure all pupils feel safe to be who they are in your school 
• The Ofsted review of peer-on-peer sexual abuse and some specifics relating to LGBTQ+ inclusion 

 

You can find best practice, toolkits and resources from Stonewall here

 

You can find more information on Stonewall’s  e-learning here or their School and College Champions Programme here

 

Members of the Key for School Leaders can access our curriculum audit here

Key Voices #118 Applying mindfulness techniques during transition with Bovington Academy

This week we talk to Major Pat Burgess, MBE, The Armour Centre Bovington and Sara White, Principal at Bovington Academy (part of The Aspirations Academy Trust). Major Pat has been delivering mindfulness sessions to pupils at Bovington Academy to help them deal with anxiety and prepare for their transition to secondary school. We hear about how the army and the school work in partnership and the benefits of applying mindfulness techniques in a school setting. 

 

We talk about: 

• Bovington Academy’s context and high mobility (circa 70%)
• Their experience of the pandemic, with many children attending the school during partial closures 
• How transferable Major Pat found the mindfulness training he does with his colleagues to a school setting 
• The high levels of anxiety experienced by pupils and the need to help them cope with difficult situations they might encounter
• Why transition to secondary school is challenging for pupils, particularly this year 
• Other ways in which the army supports the school 
• The importance of mindfulness in schools 

 

You can learn more about the Mindfulness in Schools project Major Pat references here. 

Key Voices #117 Launching an academy trust during a pandemic, part 3 with TEAM Education Trust

This week we speak to Sarah Baker, CEO, Alison Bingham, Director of Development and Rachel Watson, Associate Principal and Director of Education and Achievement from TEAM Education Trust, in the final instalment of our series of podcasts covering their first year as a trust. We talk about what they feel they have learned and achieved,  their plans for further development and Sarah shares her top tips for first time CEO’s. 

 

We talk about: 

• The resilience and adaptability of their staff during the pandemic
• How proud they are of what has been achieved this year 
• What their first year as a trust might have looked like without challenges raised by COVID-19 
• The importance of building strong relationships across a trust 
• What Sarah has learned in her first year as a CEO, including delegation and trying to let go of her inner perfectionist 
• The importance of work-life balance for all staff, especially for the central team as role models for the other staff 
• How to work towards becoming an employer of choice 
• TEAM Education trusts CPLD programme

Key Voices #116 - Careers after Covid with David Chapman

This week we speak to David Chapman, Vice Principal at Aston University Engineering Academy (AUEA) about his experiences running careers information advice and guidance at the longest-running University Technical College (UTC) in the country. We talk about how he met some of the challenges of running a careers programme during COVID-19 and the importance of contextualising learning and involving parents in the careers process. 

 

We talk about: 

• The purpose of UTCs and the history and context of AUEA 
• David’s own career journey 
• The impact of the pandemic on delivery of careers information advice and guidance in schools 
• The remote offering that David developed at AUEA
• Whether the english system asks young people to specialise or decide about careers too early 
• How David is planning to compare what students think they might want to do on entry with their destination data to understand more about the impact of AUEA’s careers work
• Some of the challenges other UTCs have faced with regard to recruiting students 
• Schools, government and parents’ relative roles and responsibilities with regard to careers
• The value of collaboration between schools on their careers strategies 
• What government has done and could do to support good careers guidance in schools 
• How crucial it is to involve parents in careers work and to make sure the child’s voice can be clearly heard
•  The importance of developing the whole child, as well as their academic abilities to help them reach their full potential 

 

You can read the Careers after Covid report we mention here

 

You can find out more about Launch My Career here 

 

There are useful resources for governors and leaders from The Careers Enterprise Company here