But aren’t they too young?

That is something I often hear in relation to the discussion and inclusion of LGBTQ+ themes in primary school. There are myths that by exposing young children to LGBTQ+ themes that it could harm them or make it more likely that they will themselves identify as LGBTQ+ as they get older.

‘Even before reaching secondary school, prejudice and discrimination can have a profound impact on young LGBT people’

 Hidden Figures report, LGBT Foundation, 2020

I would not for one moment ever suggest labelling any child as LGBTQ+, certainly not at a primary level (nor at a secondary level unless the child self-defines). Labels can be dangerous and force people into a box. When I was getting to grips with my sexuality as a teenager, the label was my biggest issue. In fact, when I first went to university, despite already being out to the majority of my school friends and family, I made the decision not to come out until after my first semester because I was adamant that I did not want my new friends to make assumptions about me based on the label of being gay.

Giving labels is not the place of an educator, however, what is our place – more than that – our duty, is to present to children all the ways in which people may decide to define themselves, and present that not only as acceptable, but as usual and as a valued part of our society. In a 2020 Hidden Figures report by the LGBT Foundation, statistics show that 70% of young LGB people have thought about taking their own lives. This rises to 92% for trans young people. The report states that: ‘The sustained impact of experiencing discrimination at a young age is indicated by the poor mental health outcomes for many young LGBT people’.

So, if a primary school chooses to ignore the existence of LGBTQ+ people within society by not including explicit reference to them within the curriculum, then – in my opinion – they will be having a direct impact on a child’s current and future mental health and wellbeing. This may also have a direct impact on the child’s academic success, therefore their future career options. Schools should be safe places for children and safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do, so why is it that in 2022, many schools are still choosing to avoid the issue as much as possible – largely due to fear of parental reaction perhaps? Or perhaps staff are scared of saying the wrong thing?

Is it also not reasonable to assume, that if by ignoring and failing to usualise (not normalise – that infers there is a way in which we can be abnormal) LGBTQ+ people in the curriculum, we are not only allowing mental health issues to develop but that there could also be an impact on behaviour? I was recently talking to a friend of mine whose daughter is now in secondary school and identifies as gay. Despite having a very strong family unit and attending a good school, this child displayed many challenging behaviours throughout her time at primary school and these got worse through the early part of secondary school culminating in some severe mental health issues. This has all been related to the fact that she now identifies as being gay. I have a question: if she had seen LGBT+ people in characters and books from an early age, if LGBT+ people had been included and usualised in the curriculum at school, would her behavioural issues have been so bad and would her mental health be in a better state today than it is currently is? One can only speculate, but I would guess that she has always felt different but didn’t know how and was unable to articulate that. Had she have seen herself represented at a much earlier age and seen herself as being ‘normal’ and a valued part of society, perhaps many of the issues which she has experienced and the behaviours which she has displayed could have been different.

If I think back to myself as a child, I always knew I was different – from a very early age. I can remember back to when I was at pre-school and I knew then that I was different from the other boys, but I didn’t know how and there was no way I could articulate that. Unfortunately, Section 28 prohibited schools from even talking about the existence of gay people throughout my time in school. Consequently, in my school reports, the overwhelming thing that comes across is that I was quiet and showed a lack of confidence. Recently, words used to describe me by colleagues included: outgoing, brave and engaging. This is quite a turn around. Undoubtedly much of that will be due to age – I am sure many people grow in confidence with age. However, would I have been more confident when I was at school if I could have been my authentic self? I knew I was different. I didn’t know how for a very long time. The other children knew I was different – they probably didn’t know how either. Some were perfectly fine and were my friends. Other chose to bully me because I was different. Would they have acted differently if we had been taught about the existence of LGBT+ people from an early age? Would I have had more confidence in myself at school as a result? Perhaps this might have even had an improved impact on my academic performance – I would say now that I probably did not reach my potential. There are no sure ways to answer these questions, however, what I am sure of, is that there is a direct link between the usualisation of LGBTQ+ people from an early age and improved mental health of LGBTQ+ young people as they grow older, because they can see themselves being a valued part of society, no matter who they are.

It is now a statutory requirement for primary schools to include LGBT people within relationship education. Statutory government guidance tells us that ‘At the point at which schools consider it appropriate to teach their pupils about LGBT, they should ensure that this content is fully integrated into their programmes of study for this area of the curriculum rather than delivered as a stand-alone unit or lesson’. Read the full text here:

Gov.UK: Introduction to requirements

I would argue that the point at which it is ‘appropriate’ to teach about LGBT+ people is from as soon as they step through the door. And this should happen not just through lessons specifically about relationships, but through the entire curriculum. In January, I spoke at the HfL Primary English conference focussed around diversity. I spoke about the outcomes of the Explore & Engage unit, ‘And Tango makes three’ by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. This is a great example of how LGBTQ+ people can be usualised through the curriculum. This book, if you don’t know it, is a story based around two male penguins – who are in a relationship – adopting an egg and raising a chick named ‘Tango’. This was written as an English unit of work which would work across the entire primary age range and provided a range of writing opportunities.

This allowed for teachers to assess children across a range of writing and to see progression across the school. This was an English-focussed unit of work which many schools across Hertfordshire used brilliantly and achieved fantastic outcomes with. The key for me though is that this unit did not focus on the same-sex element. It was there and discussions may well have taken place in classrooms if they needed to, but it was not the focus of this plan at all. This is what usualisation looks like. The inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters, threaded throughout the curriculum without that being the main focus. If this were carefully planned, across all the curriculum areas to account not just for LGBTQ+ people, but diversity in its entirety, then throughout their time at primary school, all children should get to see positive representations of themselves and their families throughout the curriculum. 

Obviously, this can then be supplemented with additional books which are read, unplanned conversations and discussions which will come up. It would also make additional events such as LGBT history month or Black history month more relevant and less tokenistic. A chance to really draw attention to that area, but not being something on a ticklist to say that that has been covered that year. We are fortunate that there are now an increasing number of fabulous books which show diversity in all its forms. Children’s books for all ages which can act as fantastic starting points for units of work, particularly in English. But how about other areas of the curriculum – surely there are ways to talk about diversity when thinking of artists, musicians, scientists, sports people just to name a few. Seeing these positive role models could be so empowering for all children and I think that we need to spend more time considering the role models which we use in our curriculums to reflect the society in which we live.

The point is to create an atmosphere and curriculum where anyone is accepted and valued, no matter who they are. If we can do this, the impact could literally be saving lives. What is more important than that?

With thanks to Longmeadow Primary School in Stevenage and Mary Exton Primary School in Hitchin for sharing these outcomes with us.

If you would like to speak further with Michael in relation to the content of this blog, you can email him at this address: migray@gamlingayvp.org

It’s that time of year again – reviewing the writing the children are producing, thinking about planning that’s going to let them write independently, considering that writing in relation to end of year expectations. It can all feel a bit stressful; particularly if you are in Year 2 or Year 6.

It’s something we’re often asked about at this time of year, in our visits to schools with those year groups – to have a look for some writing opportunities for the next few weeks.

The key, I think, is in that word: ‘opportunities’. Generally, at the end of such a visit, we’re all pretty excited about the writing coming up in the weeks ahead, and also generally (from previous years’ feedback), the children have ended up really enjoying what they’ve been asked / enabled / allowed to do.

That enjoyment and those three verbs are beyond important. Writing towards the end of the school year should be when the children are revelling in being writers, when they show off what they’ve learnt over the year, and when we let go a bit. And letting go, at this point in the year, is something we can, and should do.

Indeed, writing outcomes for years 2 and 6 need to be independent, as understood in relation to the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) guidelines – but this doesn’t mean a ‘cold task’. To really understand what this means, I always turn to the STA exemplifications for key stage 1 and key stage 2.

These collections of writing of course support with assessing work, but they also open a window to the kinds of writing that allow the children to be independent and to write with enthusiasm. And you know, they do read as if the children have enjoyed the writing tasks – and have been in control of them. Here are some examples of the contexts from which the outcomes evolved:

One each from the three Y2 (KS1) collections

Piece D - Kim (One of four arising from work on this text)

This was part of a topic based on The Story Machine by Tom McLaughlin. The pupils were asked to write a letter to Elliott explaining the purpose of the machine he had found (a typewriter). Kim chose to use instructions in the letter, illustrated them (in the original), and edited and proof-read it.

Piece C - Ali

This letter was part of a topic on Florence Nightingale. Jamie had discussed the ideas as part of whole-class work and with the teacher before writing. The class was given some vocabulary: ‘arrived’, ‘bandages’, ‘soldiers’, ‘mother’, ‘father’, ‘nurses’, as well as the address and date for the letter.

Piece B - Jamie

Following class discussion of a trip to Portchester Castle, pupils were asked to plan and write a recount of the visit. Pupils had previously learnt about the features of a recount, and devised their own format for this piece.

One each from the four Y6 (KS2) collections

Piece A - Leigh

Pupils explored and acted out the five stages of a journey through a rainforest, in which weather was used to suggest a change in atmosphere or fortune. They then wrote their own five-stage story, set in a different location, introducing a clue, which would be used later in the story to help the narrator reach their destination.

Piece B - Morgan

Pupils participated in a Viking workshop as part of a history topic. They experienced a number of Viking activities, listened to Viking stories and wore traditional Viking clothing. Pupils used photographs taken during the workshop to plan and write a recount, informing parents of the day’s events.

Piece C - Frankie

Following a science topic on health, during which pupils had written an explanation of how the heart works, they selected a topic about which they had both knowledge and personal experience in order to write their own explanatory text.

Piece E – Dani

Pupils discussed the use of mobile phones in schools, sharing different views. They debated and wrote about the topic in various ways. Having learnt about the features of argument, they then presented a balanced argument in writing. The focus of the session was being able to structure their writing into paragraphs ‘for’ and ‘against’ and to use words from different word classes to start sentences.

I think these are enormously helpful for teachers and always share them when we’re thinking about ‘what to write’. They illustrate the importance of deep engagement. They give examples of the supports the children can have and use – and remain independent. They show how to enable and allow writing from the wide range of other work the children will be doing.

Along with looking at those, there are a few other ‘top tips’ that come up time and again when working with teachers to map out a few weeks’ worth of work that will let the children show off what they can really do.

• review the ‘types’ of writing you’ve taught across the year. You’ll want to let the children write in styles with which they are familiar. This is not the time to start writing a discussion text if they’ve not done that before
• identify several ‘hooks’ that are going to spark their engagement, their curiosity, their enthusiasm – and which they can access relatively easily. These might be a picture book, a short film, a visit or visitor, anything outside, a link made with the wider curriculum. Or, take a tip from the Y6 STA example above and model around something they’re doing in school – and then let them repeat the style, but following their own interests
• plan for at least two or three pieces of work to come out of each inspiration

But why confine this to just Year 2 and Year 6? Why let them have all the fun? We’d recommend such an approach for all year groups. At HFL Education, we’ve had teacher assessment frameworks (TAFs) for writing for year groups 1, 3, 4 and 5 for some while now as part of our Writing Toolkit. We believe these support teachers with understanding writing expectations for their individual year groups and they are intended to be used with the same expectations around independent writing as with the writing selections in year 2 and year 6.

Having a collection of writing outcomes in books (I’m not talking about creating ‘portfolios’ here), with work that has been largely independently written gives a solid base on which to make end of year assessments that will support the teacher in the next year group with pitch. Why not also go that extra step further and start the new year in those old books – so that the children can take time to look back and see just how well they could write in July? It’s a fantastic boost to their self-confidence after the long holiday when they have, inevitably, temporarily forgotten a few things. Then, start the new books two or three weeks in, once they’ve been reminded about what they did actually know before.

But that’s only one side of the coin. The other is where I started, with aiming towards getting children to write for pleasure. When we give them independence and a bit of freedom, all within the security of writing in forms with which they are confident, when we offer them things they want to write about, on topics with which they are deeply engaged – then we nudge them to becoming real writers. 

There are pivotal conversations currently happening about how we enable and empower all young people to get the very best out of their education, with a focus on genuine equity: How we support all young people to develop positive self-identity, have broad horizons and experience success, through the curriculum we construct and education experiences we provide.

This could be our judicious choices of curriculum content; a manageable amount of well-chosen knowledge and skills that build (not over-cramming the curriculum), the careful mapping and sequencing of learning so that the accumulation of knowledge and skills closes gaps rather than allowing them to open, or using our curriculum to build a sense of identity for our young people (through the curation of what and who we study and why), helping pupils see themselves reflected. For each of these elements there is a growing awareness of the need to have this conversation openly – and for it to lead to action.

Our work on the curriculum is not finished; it is still evolving, and it is of great importance to all our young people that it does

This thinking permeates the work I do alongside schools – with leaders, class teachers and in the school community as a whole. We have a growing sense that there is a moral imperative within the curriculum we offer: To select judiciously and sequence carefully, so that the curriculum becomes a vehicle for promoting the success of all young people in their learning.   

Making this really happen in schools relies on leaders (at all levels) feeling informed and empowered to make choices that they believe will build greater equity; within subjects, as well as across the curriculum and the learning environment as a whole.  

In considering, researching and writing this article, I have been on an inspiring, but sometimes uncomfortable journey; exploring Emily Style’s article ‘Curriculum as Window and Mirror’, closely followed by the well-known ‘Windows, Mirrors and Sliding Glass Doors, by Rudine Sims Bishop, as well as blogs from Dr Dan Nicholls and the opening keynote from David Olusoga at The HFL Education Race Equity Conference: Time to Act (March 2023). More on each of these later. But suffice to say the reading and exploration of this area has motived me to want to take further action, and my aim is to further motivate schools in the same vein.

All four of the brilliant people mentioned above (and many others) have expressed the importance and power of the curriculum and in particular the content choices made, which shape our young people, how they view the world and their part in it:  

Rudine Sims Bishop wrote ‘Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience.’

Similarly, Emily Styles referred to it as ‘the need for curriculum to function both as window and as mirror’.

Both writers use the analogy of a mirror to reflect, revealing the importance of our curriculum and content being chosen explicitly for this purpose of reflecting identity, as well as to act as a window to broaden horizons.

I wonder to what extent each school feels that their curriculum fulfils this vital role of acting in part as a mirror for their young people?

Our ‘windows and mirrors’ should be chosen to reflect and inspire – whether this is the artists and designers we choose as examples, the locations we explore in geography, the musical genres and musicians we encounter... The potential to craft bespoke ‘windows and mirrors’ individual to each school community is almost endless.  

In David Olusoga’s keynote for HFL Education’s Race Equity Conference: Time to Act, he was clear that in his own school experiences he craved seeing his own identity within the history taught at school. He did not feel the teaching or curriculum he experienced held up a mirror in which he could see his own reflection in the content taught. He spoke about how our teaching of history needs to be more inclusive – sharing the real experiences of people, including where these are uncomfortable.

He also spoke about the danger of focusing on the ‘heroes’ of history – telling the stories in an overly positive and simplistic way, that cosmeticises history, rather than tackling some of the more challenging aspects within history. One example given by David was of teaching the industrial revolution, focusing on the textiles industry but without mentioning where the majority of the cotton came from; leaving out the enslaved people tasked with picking the cotton. This was an uncomfortable realisation for me – that I had also studied the industrial revolution at school, but don’t remember acknowledgement of the production of cotton by millions of enslaved people.

Our content choices should move beyond the ‘heroes’ of history, the standard artist selections or the cliché locations for geography. We need to be ambitious in the way we weave together content so that it (sensitively and appropriately) portrays the real challenges of the world we live in. In curating the content well, we offer a richer tapestry and we acknowledge imperfections for what they are, with a view to moving forward, with better intentions for the future.

In moving beyond the simplistic representations – the ‘usual’ selection of history, music, locations, literature or significant people – we also acknowledge that everyone should feel connected to our curriculum and that they play a significant part in what comes next – it could be them as the musician, artist, designer, scientist, architect or inventor we study in years to come.

Dr Dan Nicholls makes a further link to children experiencing disadvantaged and the sense of disconnect that can often go with this. In his recent blogs, exploring the reality for pupils experiencing disadvantage versus advantage and those who feel connected verses disconnected, he puts the point starkly:

‘As educators what we choose to include and how we sequence and curate the curriculum confers or denies power for our disadvantaged learners. Designing the curriculum as the golden ticket to the world for all children is a weighty ethical responsibility.’

Dr Dan Nicholls - Closing the disadvantage gap | Curriculum as the lever (February 2022)

‘The decisions we make about how we organise provision, have consequences for learners, that create or deny connection, systematically over time. We have come to accept the alternate realities, where those presently disadvantaged are disproportionately represented in the less connected, lower performing, under ambitious, alternate reality. They do not often feel the privilege of the high attaining reality.’

Dr Dan Nicholls - The disconnection of disadvantage | reconnecting the disconnected (March 2023)

There are several aspects now at play here: young people’s self-identity, their feelings of belonging and the position of advantage or disadvantage in which they currently find themselves.

This is certainly not to imply identity and advantage or disadvantage as being the same; they are not. But we need to accept that if a child does not feel connected to their curriculum, their school, their peers, then there is a disconnect. The disconnect maybe around self-identity and whether pupils see themselves as ‘belonging’.

It is this feeling of being disconnected that is potentially damaging to a young person’s education. We have a moral duty to ensure that the content of a curriculum and the way it is carefully sequenced and enacted impacts positively on all pupils’ sense of identity and belonging. In working through the carefully sequenced learning, both substantive and disciplinary, all pupils should feel empowered and experience success.

We need to acknowledge, however uncomfortable it may be, that having a curriculum which does not enable success, reflect identity, build belonging and broaden horizons is falling short - it is not yet doing its job, and so needs further work.

As Christine Counsell wrote in her blog ‘In search of senior curriculum leadership : Introduction – a dangerous absence’: 

Curriculum is fundamental to schools. It is also fiendishly complex

Working on a curriculum is no small or easy task. Schools are not alone in navigating this; there is support available. HFL Education advocates the need for this continuing conversation and is keen to support schools. It may also be a case of small tweaks making a big difference, initially.

To navigate some of the complexity, this visual representation has been developed to help explore the various parts of this thinking. The moral imperative to continue to review and adjust the curriculum could be summarised as:

The purpose of the graphic is to break the thinking down into parts, so that each aspect can be explored, allowing us to focus on what matters, when it might otherwise feel like an overwhelming ask.

Alongside the graphic above, some points for schools and leaders to consider:

• how carefully and judiciously are content choices made? Who makes the choices? What has their lived experience been and therefore what biases might they have?
• do the content choices help to build identity and broaden horizons? Is it evolving into a curriculum of mirrors and windows?
• how clear are leaders about the knowledge and skills, both substantive and disciplinary, that pupils should learn? Ensuring that the amount is manageable with focus on the most important aspects.
• how logically sequenced is the learning, so that it builds gradually and cumulatively, allows the learning to be revisited, embedded and secured? Does it enable everyone to succeed, and how do you know?  

If you’ve found this blog useful and would like support in any of these areas, please do contact us: kate.kellner-dilks@hfleducation.org

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In all honesty, I have struggled to write this.  I tried a few times and stopped.  It might seem odd to you that it was hard for me to write about George Floyd’s murder. 

I am not male.  I am not an American.  I have never been stopped or searched by the police.  And yet, when I allow myself to think about George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, I feel my heart beginning to race.  I start to swallow deeply.  Suddenly, there is a shortness of breath.

It is with extreme sadness that I acknowledge this Memorial Day in honour of George Floyd.  There was a huge outpouring in the weeks and months that followed his murder and the sharing of the video that provided unequivocal proof that a Black man could be murdered before our eyes in 2020 by a member of a police department.  I didn’t watch the video.  I could barely watch the news.  But despite this, when I closed my eyes, I could see the vibrant vivid artwork that emerged in the days after his murder, and came to encapsulate a man, his death and then a movement.

My inability to watch the video relates to how George Floyd was dehumanised. It also reflects my unwillingness to engage too deeply with my raw emotions. I could not deal with the stories about him, his family that posited potential reasons for the killing.  I drew a connection between his murder and the countless lifeless Black bodies strewn across human history which depict the world’s inhumanity.  The atrocious racist mass murder in Buffalo, just over a week ago, is yet another painful reminder.

I felt fear.  A distant concern collided with my current reality: that if you are Black, the colour of your skin could literally cause the end of your life.  But my greater fear was that the protests, black squares on social media and speeches confirming this injustice, would fizzle out and nothing would change.  I didn’t want to be caught up in what I initially perceived as a youthful idealistic hope and enthusiasm for change. 

I hid my tears and turned away.  I know that others did too.  We had become our parents.

But something did change.

It started with young people. Their passion, use of social media pressure and agency; their hope and outrage. And then, the adults began listening.

Since then, there has been something of an awakening and a re-awakening.  This generation are using George Floyd as their catalyst, and their tenacity is forcing adults to pay attention and act.

It seems to be tipping over from representation, bold statements, talk-shops and gestures into something more palpable. People aren’t just calling for action, they are demanding it.  Those previously silenced in private shame about being the victims of racism have found ways to speak out and challenge for justice.

Sometimes these actions feel too small.  They may not seem significant or fast enough.  But finally, there is some momentum and some movement.  Many schools are reviewing their curriculums, some countries too. There are library lists supporting schools to increase racial representation. Organisations are actively working on racial equity and policy revisions to ensure a more racially literate workforce.  It feels like this generation have given us all a voice. 

Moreso than at any other time in my life, people are asking questions, recognising their lack of knowledge and they are educating themselves. There is less antipathy and more willingness to engage in previously taboo conversations about the legacy of racial hierarchy, inequality, discrimination and racism.

I don’t think that I need to say, that we still have far to go. For me, that’s obvious.  The Child Q case alone, should cloak us all in shame.

I cannot tell if the actions being taken now will lead to lasting change.  I suppose that will be determined by how we choose to measure it, as well as how tightly we hold those in positions of power to account.  But at least, for now, there is less inertia, less paralysis.  These small acts will need to grow, the words in policies must be lived. 

Certainly, the passionate, hopeful cry of youth has ignited a spark from embers of generations past. Let’s hope that some, if not all of this, will last.

Equality, diversity and inclusion.  These are not new words, and we generally have a good understanding of what they mean.  So why can it be so difficult to have conversations about these topics? 

Talking about equality, diversity and inclusion often means opening up personally and doing so can challenge our own thoughts, beliefs and actions.  It’s a complex area where understanding, language and terminology are important, but what can come with this is a fear of getting it wrong.  No one likes to get things wrong or cause offence and the danger of this is that we say nothing.  The fear can take over.

How do we move on from this to create a safe space for us and for our employees to be able to discuss matters of equality, diversity and inclusion without the fear?  We’re talking about creating psychologically safe working environments. 

What is a psychologically safe environment?  Psychology Today have defined it as “an environment in which people believe that they can speak up candidly with ideas, questions, concerns, and even mistakes – is vital to leveraging the benefits of diversity, because it can help make inclusion a reality.” - www.psychologytoday.com/gb

It makes sense of course, but is it the reality in your setting?  We create environments where pupils are able to learn without fear of mistakes and reprisal but do we hold the same bar for ourselves and our employees?

Psychological safety starts with leadership and at the core of psychological safety is trust.  Employees need to be able to see, not just be told, that it is a safe environment.  Each individual will have their own view of how safe they feel the work environment is for them based upon their previous experiences and the culture across the school.  Psychological safety can be demonstrated and built by positive dialogue, encouraging and listening to ideas, providing feedback, and owning up to mistakes.  Leaders can play an important part in this by role modelling, sharing their own thoughts, ideas and acknowledging when mistakes are made.  If employees can see leaders do this, they are more likely to understand psychological safety as the school’s culture and be willing to share themselves.

It is important to recognise that in discussions on equality, diversity and inclusion we won’t always get it ‘right’.  It’s an area we’re all still learning so much about, however by deciding that these matters are important, raising their profile, dedicating time and talking about it we have committed to moving forward.  We are showing that we are trying, we are acting, and we are learning. 

Leaders need to create opportunities for this discussion, for views to be shared, for questions and for appropriate challenges to be raised.  They need to be clear that there is an open forum for discussion, and it is welcome.  There needs to be a way for anyone to say they disagree, or we’re not sure, or that we don’t think something is appropriate without fear of judgement or reprisal.  We need everyone to feel comfortable to not only raise points but also to be on the receiving end of a challenge.  Sharing or hearing about experiences can be deeply personal and needs to be done in a safe environment.

In a truly psychologically safe environment we are safe to be ourselves and we can be vulnerable in front of each other.  We can be free from the fear and then matters of equality, diversity and inclusion can be talked about openly.  Discussions can be turned into learning experiences and value is gained for everyone. 

A current DfE initiative is encouraging more schools to facilitate more flexible working for teachers to aid recruitment and retention. The DfE are interested in understanding perceptions of flexible practices such as job sharing and part-time working, and hearing more about barriers (actual or perceived).

There are definitely perceived difficulties involved in constructing a secondary school timetable with a number of part time staff, as well as real challenges. The challenge is to encourage more headteachers  to feel that flexible working works well in their schools

As an experienced timetabler. I know that incorporating all the requests of part time teachers can be a challenge. Many timetablers that I help perceive that part-time teachers will give them less flexibility in an already complex situation. I always use the analogy of a jigsaw, that you always start with the edge pieces of the puzzle and part-time teachers are some of those edge pieces.

I often encounter two extremes of thought: the first is that we must do everything possible to accommodate the wishes of the part-time teachers, sometimes to the detriment of other staff and students; the other is that if they want to work in the school then they will accept the timetable they are given. I think the best route, as always, lies somewhere in between these two.

The most important factor is that there must be clear communication and planning when there are part-time teachers involved in a school timetable. For example, if sixth form lessons must happen at particular times due to consortium arrangements, then leaders need to consider the needs of the part-time ‘A-level’ teachers when deciding on the structure of the curriculum. Similarly a part-time teacher may need to be given the choice between teaching A Level and taking their non-working day on a particular day, based on the structure of the A level curriculum. All of this needs to be clearly explained to all parties in good time in order that a solution that suits all parties can be found. In addition, there needs to be a consideration of the impact on full-time staff. If, for example, all the part-time teachers do not work on a Friday, almost all the full time teachers will be teaching a full timetable on that day so there is very little flexibility and potential compromise to the quality of the timetable. It is important that these sort of issues are resolved as early in the timetable planning process as possible to ensure that any arrangements that the part time teacher may need to organise, such as childcare, can be facilitated.

Both school leaders and part-time teachers need to be clear and candid about where there is room for flexibility, and where there are reasons why school leaders would like the part-time teacher to work at a particular time and/or why part-time teachers would like a particular day or time of day as non-working.

The benefits or otherwise of part time teachers to the progress of students is a vital part of the conversation that needs to take place. I have taken data on the percentage of part time teachers in each school from the November 2017 School Workforce Census,  together with the Key Stage 4 performance tables data that provides progress data in different subjects and for different groups of student.  From this I have produced a number of graphs showing percentage of part time staff (as of November 2017) and Year 11 progress data (for Summer 2018). Where possible, the data has been adjusted for extreme scores. The data has to be used with caution in that we do not know who taught the students, but it provides a starting point of ideas for schools to discuss.

‘Split classes’ and deployment of non-specialist teachers

There is also information that should lead schools to consider what to do when they have a situation where classes need to be taught by more than one teacher across the timetable cycle, often (but by no means exclusively) due to accommodating part-time teachers.  Heads of department might allocate the high prior attainment (HPA) students to a single teacher thinking they will benefit most from consistency. The data here appears to be telling us that the lower prior attainment (LPA) students and disadvantaged students are those who would benefit from more consistency.  There is also possible evidence that HPA students may actually benefit from a variety of teachers.

Science staffing at Key Stage 4 should also be considered. Recently there has been an increase in the number of schools where science classes at Key Stage 4 are taught by a single teacher (usually a specialist in only one of the three science subjects) for up to 10 hours a fortnight (across all three science subjects),  with the driving force being the ease of maintaining accountability for results. The data here suggests that schools who have embarked on this policy should analyse their data to see what the effect is and work with other schools who have followed a different path to work out the best model for student progress and attainment.

How a school uses a non-specialist teacher in a core subject area is another area worth consideration. Often these staff teach classes of students with lower prior attainment, or in KS3. Schools should consider whether another way of utilising these teachers could be, for example, to give them one lesson per cycle with a HPA group and teach standalone units of work.

Implications

The data suggests that the effect on LPA and disadvantaged students is different from the effect on HPA and non-disadvantaged students when it comes to the proportion of part time teachers in a school. In essence, the data suggests that being taught by part time teachers appears to have a more negative effect on the progress of LPA students and those who are disadvantaged. This bears out the rationale that some schools use in ensuring that the LPA in Year 7 are taught by a fewer number of teachers than their peers.

For each of the following graphs:

• the x-axis represents the percentage of Part-Time teachers a school had in the year the students were in Year 11
• the y-axis represents the Progress measure from Key Stage 2 to GCSE

Overall progress 8 measure

As we can see the trend line is positive, potentially indicating that having a greater proportion of part time teachers has a positive benefit on student progress, but it is not conclusive.

Disadvantaged/non-disadvantaged students

Comparing these two graphs is interesting. Firstly we notice the difference between the progress of disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students, but also the difference in the gradient of the trend lines.  For non-disadvantaged students the trend line is very similar to that for all students, whereas the line for disadvantaged students has a negative gradient, indicating that, as the proportion of part time teachers increases, student progress decreases.

Prior attainment

Here we can see a marked difference between the graphs for LPA students and HPA students.  The trend line for LPA students is negative, indicating that, as the proportion of part time teachers increases, student progress decreases.  It is interesting to look at the data on all three graphs for schools with 0% part time staff, which gives a different message for LPA than the other 2 graphs, in as much as progress appears to be better for LPA students in schools with no part time teachers. It is also interesting to note that the gradient of the trend line for HPA is greater than that for middle prior attainment MPA, suggesting a stronger correlation between a higher percentage of part time staff and better student progress.

Boys/girls

Of note here is that the trend line on the girls’ data is steeper than that for the boys’ data, as well as the boys’ trend line being consistently lower.

Questions that schools might ask themselves, based on this data:

• which staff are part time, and in which subject areas do they teach?
• how do we plan for part time teachers?
• how flexible can we be as a school? 
• how flexible are our part time staff prepared to be?
• how many split classes (classes that are taught by more than one teacher over a timetable cycle) are there in our timetable?
• how do we plan for split classes?
• have we analysed the progress of students in classes taught by part time teachers, and students that have been taught in split classes?
• how many teachers do year 7 students encounter in a timetable cycle?
• how many teachers do Low Prior Attainment and Disadvantaged students encounter in a timetable cycle?
• how do we deploy non-specialist teachers so as to maximise student progress?

Subject progress

In the following sets of graphs the trends seen in the overall data are replicated, with there being a marked difference in the impact on progress of LPA students and that of both middle and HPA students. Similarly, the difference between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students is also consistently replicated. 

English and maths

EBacc measures

Science

Humanities

Languages

Disruption cause by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant missed education by pupils. The government has provided schools with ring fenced funding – ‘catch up funding’ to source their own tutoring provision for disadvantaged and vulnerable who have missed the most education due to the pandemic. 

With this funding, schools have the flexibility to use tutors who they are more familiar with. This will enable schools to use internal or external capacity to meet the diverse needs of their pupils.

School-Led Tutoring should focus on providing tuition to disadvantaged pupils. This should include pupils eligible for pupil premium but could also include pupils with other types of disadvantage or additional needs, including Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), children who have a social worker, previously looked-after children, young carers and other vulnerable pupils

Eligibility

All state-funded primary, middle and secondary schools in England with pupils in Year 1

to 11 eligible for pupil premium (eligible for free school meals, or have been eligible in the

past 6 years) will receive a School-Led Tutoring grant. This includes:

• primary, secondary and all-through local authority-maintained schools, academies and free schools
• local authority-maintained special schools
• special academies and free schools
• non-maintained special schools, including independent special schools, where the placement is funded by the local authority
• pupil referral units
• alternative provision academies and free schools
• local authority-maintained hospital schools and academies

The Education Endowment Foundation has published a toolkit https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching… which some schools may find useful. The toolkit provides extra information on one-to-one and small group tuition, including links to related resources.

The School-Led Tutoring route offers flexibility for schools to identify their own tutors.

so, they may wish to consider the following sources of tutors:

Internal staff:

• teachers
• teaching assistants or staff with similar roles supporting teaching, including
• learning mentors
• Initial Teacher Trainees

External staff:

• supply teachers
• retired or returning teachers

Private tutors:

• individual tutors
• tutoring organisations

Teachers

Schools may consider using staff teachers to deliver tuition to pupils. However, this should not affect their Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA) time. Schools should continue to meet their obligations to teachers as detailed in the School teachers’ pay and conditions document. Teachers without QTS and who have less than two years’ experience in the subject and phase they wish to tutor in will not be able to deliver tuition until they have successfully completed the training course.

Teaching Assistants

Schools may wish to ask their teaching assistants, or staff with similar roles in supporting teaching, to deliver tuition. When deploying these staff as tutors, schools should continue to have appropriate support in place for the pupils they usually work with, including those with SEND, and consider this when planning staffing requirements. Schools should ensure that support staff have strong experience of supporting teaching in the subject and phase they wish to tutor in. Teaching assistants will not be able to deliver tuition until they have successfully completed the training course.

Initial Teacher Trainees

Schools may want to consider using Initial Teacher Training (ITT) trainees to deliver tutoring. Should this be considered, schools should discuss this with the ITT provider to determine suitability, timing, and capacity to undertake any additional work. Schools should make it clear to trainees that tutoring is a separate activity to teaching and therefore cannot be used as evidence towards teacher standards. Additional paid tutoring work might also have implications on student loans. ITT trainees will not be able to deliver tuition until they have successfully completed the tutoring training course.

Supply Teachers

Schools could consider sourcing supply staff to tutor. Where schools are using recruitment and employment agencies, they must ensure that the agency is transparent about the rates they charge, have relevant accreditation and complete thorough background and safeguarding checks on all their workers

Retired or returning teachers

Retired or returning teachers can also be asked to deliver tutoring. This could be particularly useful where the teacher has recently worked at the school and is familiar with the needs of the pupils. When selecting retired or returning teachers, schools should ensure that they have up-to-date knowledge of the curriculum, and the skills and experience to deliver high-quality intervention.

Individual tutors and tutoring organisations

Schools may wish to look to external capacity and employ a local private tutor or approach a tutoring organisation to deliver tuition. When doing so, leaders should use their professional judgement to ensure that tutors are of a high quality and can meet the needs of their pupils and ensure the tutors have the appropriate qualifications, competencies and experience to deliver effective tuition, as well as appropriate subject and pedagogical knowledge.

Schools should also carry out the appropriate checks on external teachers, including preemployment, DBS and reference checks.

Training

A free online training course focusing on best practice tutoring will be offered to all school staff who are nominated as tutors by their school leaders. Ed Dev Trust has designed the training, which is an evidence based, self-directed and accessible course focusing on best practice tutoring.

There will be three pathways to this training:

• QTS Pathway;
• non-QTS Primary Pathway
• non-QTS Secondary Pathway

Participants will have up to four weeks, from when they begin, to complete the virtual, self-directed training and assessment regardless of which pathway they are enrolled on. However, they may complete training sooner if they wish. Upon successful completion of the online course, tutors will receive certification which will be recognised by the Chartered College of Teaching to certify individuals as a School-Led Tutor.

For teachers with QTS, and teachers without QTS who have at least two years of experience teaching the subject and phase they wish to tutor in, training is optional. However, the Department recommends that these teachers complete the optional 2-hour QTS pathway.

For all other staff, including teaching assistants, trainee teachers and teachers without QTS who have less than two years’ experience in the relevant subject and phase, the training is mandatory. These staff will not be able to begin delivering tuition until they have successfully completed the School-Led Tutor Training Course. This is expected to take approximately 11 hours to complete.

Grant allocations and school contributions

Grant funding for School-Led Tutoring will be based on the proportion of pupils in Year 1 to Year 11, eligible for pupil premium. Funding will be allocated for around 60% of eligible pupils per school. Schools can check their funding allocations, including the number of pupils funded and the number of hours of tuition that we expect to be delivered with this funding:

Gov.UK: School-led tutoring: guidance and tracker tool

The grant for 2021/22 is expected to cover 75% of the cost of tuition up to an £18 per pupil, per hour, unit cost. Schools have the flexibility to manage their own allocation and pay above or below this figure, where necessary, but in all cases will need to contribute 25% of the cost. It is expected that schools deliver one 15-hour package of tutoring support per pupil.

For further detailed information please see:

Gov.UK: School-led tutoring grant guidance

Phrases like the following cause many teachers to feel that timetabling is a task they would not want to take on.

• timetabling wizard
• locked in a dark room until it’s done
• that won’t work
• you can’t have that
• nothing will change; it’s finished

What is the way forwards away from the ‘magic’?

Constructing the timetable needs to be broken down into its constituent parts, open communication should be encouraged and more members of staff involved.

The importance of curriculum design

The first element is that the timetable should be reviewed by the people operating it; the students and the staff - which will help inform decisions that are taken at later dates.

The curriculum needs to be designed based on the students that will be taught. This should involve all heads of department who should have input into the discussion about the curriculum time required for each subject and class organisation. Once finalised the picture of the model should then be available to all staff. One of the main reasons for the mythology surrounding timetabling is the lack of understanding that the general teaching population has about how the school curriculum is organised. This will range from members of the SLT (sometimes including the head) down to main scale teachers. There are also examples where an individual head of a department does not know how the students have been organised in classes, and almost certainly have not been involved in discussions about how to best deliver their subject. For example, where the French classes are determined by the English class that students are in, but the head of MFL is not aware of this. It is therefore important that the organisation of the curriculum is shared with and understood by all middle leaders, who can then communicate this to their departmental colleagues. It should also be understood that curriculum structures and organisation are not always set in stone.

Clear information needs to be produced about working with any external partners including specific information on any timings that are relevant to the timetable. This cannot be truly finalised until the Key Stage 4 and Post-16 options processes have been completed.

The importance of staffing

Once the curriculum is finalised the school should next consider resourcing the timetable. The school needs to identify what the maximum teaching load for each teacher will be and what subjects they can teach. This will identify where the school will need to recruit, or which departments need to be slimmed down. Heads of department will need to be involved to check on the teaching expertise of their staff.

Heads of department then need to work out the best deployment of their staff across the classes that require teaching. For this task they need to be aware of how their subject is structured in each year of the school. They also need to know how many teaching periods they can allocate for their subject to each member of staff, and what other duties each of their staff will be undertaking. This work is essential in that you can discover problems with the structure at this stage if the planning has not been done with due diligence or there are specific decisions that will need to be taken by the school in order to utilise their teachers effectively. Before being finalised the decisions of the head of department should be reviewed by their line manager to ensure that decisions have been made to help the students make the best progress.

Almost inevitably there will be a need for compromises to be made, either with assigning non-specialist teachers in the planning stage or conflicts between staffing requests and factors external to the department. The headteacher needs to be appraised of these known issues, and there should be clear explanations as to why these occurred. There can then be discussions about how to resolve these in the future.

The importance of communication

Timetabling is quite rightly seen as a difficult task, but some people give the impression that you have to have a very strange skillset to be a successful timetabler. The truth is somewhat different, yes you need an eye for detail, but most of all you need to be able to gather and process information and communicate with all the members of teaching staff in the school.

The school timetabler may not want to have the difficult conversations and may wish to produce a final solution that ‘cannot change’ before being told certain plans are not what is wanted. This can come from an insecurity on their part that they are concerned that the timetable will not work, will not be completed on time and does not want any extra restrictions placed on them.

Timetablers have the capacity to be one of the biggest blockers on curriculum change in a school, this can be overall structure or just how one subject is organised. A thought that “the timetable worked this year so I am confident that it will work next year as long as nothing changes” can lead to a thought process that any change will be impossible to schedule so changes to the curriculum structure must be discouraged.

It is essential that the timetabler gives clear and helpful explanations about why a particular structure on the timetable has occurred. Areas of concern on the timetable (for example, split classes or multiple lessons on a day) should be highlighted with reasons why they have occurred rather than a vague explanation.

The timetable is sometimes produced close to the end of term with no time for discussion about changes. This can occur because the timetabler has ‘finished’ the timetable and nothing can be changed. My experience, of over 25 years timetabling is that although the last few pieces of the jigsaw are the most difficult to fit in, once they are in then the timetable as a whole can be analysed and some areas of concern, for example, split classes, can be addressed quite easily.

Timetable construction should be seen a collaborative task, no matter who has the ultimate responsibility for completing it. The finished timetable will affect hundreds (possibly thousands) of people for a whole year, this includes teachers, teaching assistants, students and parents.

At Herts for Learning we recently had our second virtual staff conference. One of the speakers was Dr. Pragya Agarwal who spoke to us about unconscious bias. It was an inspiring and motivational presentation which made me realise just how unconsciously bias we can be as a human race and where some of these prejudices come from. If you get the chance, I highly recommend her book ‘Sway: unravelling unconscious bias’.

Unconscious biases can cause unintentional discrimination, they are the underlying attitudes and stereotypes that we have unconsciously formed based on our personal experiences, background and culture. They can be both positive and negative and affect the way we engage with another person or group of people.  Unconscious bias occurs when we favour someone who shares our values, for example, we may favour a person with a similar educational background to ours. We tend to be drawn to people who look like us, who share the same colour or ethnicity.

Unconscious bias theory suggests:

• iIt is part of human nature
• it is unintentional
• it can impact our decisions
• it increases with stress or tiredness
• it can be overcome

I wanted to look at some examples of unconscious bias that we may experience in our roles as Business Management professionals and how we can avoid them. The most obvious area is HR and Recruitment, but it can occur throughout the key elements of business management.

Recruitment

Names - Herts for Learning has recently introduced ‘nameless’ applications (until the interview stage). It is remarkable and somewhat shocking that as professionals we make judgements on people just by reading their name!

University – do you ever look at where someone’s degree is from and make a judgement?

School – do you know the school they attended? Does the reputation of the school reflect in your judgement of that person? Did you go to the same school and therefore share an affinity.

Gut feeling – how often do you say “it’s just a gut feeling”? This may be your unconscious bias at work, your brain uses shortcuts to make decisions quickly based on information it has received over time, but this is not the best way to recruit staff. Appointments should be well thought out, fair and based on factual evidence. Conscious decisions are controlled and well-reasoned.

PR and communications

It is important when dealing with parents, governors and other stakeholders that we communicate effectively. Unconscious bias can affect how we communicate with others, less friendly behaviours and body language are easily picked up on. Consciously consider using inclusive language that does not stereotype or demean people based on personal characteristics including gender, gender expression, race, ethnicity, economic background, ability/disability status, religion, sexual orientation, etc. It is also important to consider your audience and what unconscious biases they may possess. This is really about human nature and understanding our own bias helps us to understand and empathise with our audience.

Financial resources

Unconscious Bias can lead us to identify with what is familiar, it can prevent us from considering new information or other perspectives and ideas. By creating checklists and criteria for our procedures and processes we can mitigate for unconscious bias.

Purchasing – do you always order the same items from the same supplier because you perceive then to be superior and more reasonable than others? Are these decisions based on fact or historic information? Have you priced checked, looked at reviews, and tested other suppliers for performance, quality, price and reliability? Try discussing your decisions with a colleague, collective decision making is more reliable and less likely to be influenced by your own bias.

Premises, health and safety

Risk Assessments - Left to their own devices, people tend to gravitate to inaccurate risk assessment due to their assumptions and biases. We need to ensure that these are eliminated and create risk assessments which mitigate for human error and biases using checklists and agreed criteria. For example, a piece of play equipment or area of the playground that has never caused an accident. We perceive it to be safe and assume there is no danger. Evidence based risk assessment may identify a hazard not yet experienced.

• identify the hazard
• decide who may be harmed and how
• evaluate the risks and decide on control measures
• record your findings
• review the risk assessment
• governance

Here are some points to remember and try to mitigate for when trying to introduce new policies or procedures:

• people tend to believe what is repeated often
• people (generally) do not like to ‘stand out’ so tend to go along with the majority – rightly or wrongly
• people will ignore relevant information if it conflicts with their own bias or beliefs
• people generally want to be right
• people generally do not like change

While unconscious bias isn’t intentional, we do need to address it - and the best way to do this is to be aware of it; slow down your thinking, don’t rush to judgements and take time to think through decisions carefully. Record and evidence the reasons for your decisions. Try to focus on peoples positive attributes and do not rely on stereotypes, particularly negative ones. Unless we champion change, change will not happen and every Business Management professional can play their role in championing change.

Whilst schools have been focusing on the cleanliness of their buildings along with bubbles, spaces, ventilation and one way systems due to the COVID pandemic, I wanted to expand on this good work and bring your attention to the updated Good Estates Management for schools (GEMS). This toolkit gives comprehensive advice to schools and responsible bodies to help manage school buildings and land, and has just been updated by the DfE. Managing your buildings and land effectively will help you save money and ensure you have a healthy, safe and sustainable school environment.

The Government website has links to various documents and tools including the benefits of good estate management and also provides an organisational self-assessment tool to help you assess your current approach to estate management.

The Benefits of Good Estate Management gives you guidance on taking a strategic approach to managing your organisation including:

Saving money by:

• reducing running costs
• getting better deals & spreading costs
• making better investment decisions
• prioritising your maintenance

Having safer and healthier schools with:

• fewer accidents
• improved morale and outcomes

Run sustainable and efficient schools that:

• use less energy and water
• increase environmental awareness

The tools and checklists available include the following:

• the benefits of strategic estate management
• a self-assessment tool
• a guide to strategic estate documents
• guidance on good estate governance
• a top 10 of estates checks for governing bodies/boards
• the information you need to know about your estate
• an introduction to condition surveys
• guidance on how to begin estate performance management and benchmarking
• tips to reduce energy and water use in schools
• guidance on how to prioritise maintenance
• a maintenance risk based tool
• a compliance tracker
• an estate projects checklist
• details of Sector organisations for further information

A good starting point is to complete the self-assessment tool, which will help identify where you are following good practice and areas which require further development.  It will ask a number of questions across 12 areas of estates management to help provide assurance that the estate is being managed effectively.  The purpose of the tool is to help you develop strategic estate management in your organisation so you can add comments, evidence and proposed actions against questions, as appropriate to help you identify actions to improve.  Whilst answering each one of the questions you can click on the guidance link (similar to that on the SFVS/school resource management self-assessment tools) to review relevant areas of the GEMS guidance.  This will help you develop these areas.  This tool will produce an action plan based on your responses in the self-assessment.

There is also clear guidance on creating an asset management plan which is a short to medium term plan detailing and prioritising what maintenance and actions need to be taken to meet the requirements of your estates management strategy. The aim being that you should plan as much maintenance work as you can rather than carrying out works reactively.  It is good practice to allocate planned preventative maintenance and reactive maintenance budgets in the region of a 70:30 ratio (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA))

There are some schools who utilise licensed software on an annual subscription, but for those schools who do not have access to these, there is also a comprehensive compliance tracker which provides an example maintenance and testing schedule to support schools.  This tool covers the Health & Safety requirements for most schools – though some schools may have further specific requirements for their individual buildings.  Schools will be able to enter all contractor information that are used for maintenance, inspections and/or other Health & Safety activities.  The tracker lists the most common statutory and recommended maintenance and inspection requirements for schools.  It also contains a work plan which shows what work is due within 2 months, 6 months etc. with any work overdue highlighted in red cells.

The Good Estate Management for Schools (GEMS) provides schools with a one stop shop for providing you with clear guidance on managing your premises and land.  There are regular H&S updates in the SBM briefing sessions which will keep schools updated on changes to regulations, the next briefing will be on 24th November at 10.00 a.m.

For advice on this or anything else related to business management, get in touch.

Call us on 01438 843299 or email businessmanagement@hertsforlearning.co.uk.