Hello and welcome once more to Heads Up.
I know colleagues will have received information regarding the summer Head Teacher conference this week. It is entitled “Celebrating Positive Change and Moving Forwards” and I really would recommend that you allow yourself some much-needed development time on the morning of Wednesday 26th June.
Margot Brown, Sophie Thompson and Darren Barrow have been planning an agenda to celebrate the positive achievements of the past year and celebrate the hard work and commitment you have given to the children, families and young people of Warwickshire. They have arranged speakers who will be thought provoking and interesting to listen to. It is easy to focus on the negative issues when you are all working to capacity and in challenging circumstances, but there are also so many positives. This conference will give us all the opportunity to reflect on those and celebrate the difference you and your colleagues have consistently been making.
We will be hearing from Richard Gerver, sharing his latest insights on leadership, human potential, change and innovation. He does this in a wonderfully authentic, positive, collaborative and engaging way.
Speaking of change, the categorisation process that triggers support for schools that need it has been reviewed. Previous processes have sometimes felt too remote or “done to schools”. I have always been an advocate for collaborative working, networking and building alliances to support peers and promote collective improvement. It is important that schools are encouraged to work collaboratively pooling knowledge and experience to improve.
The task and finish group was set up to ensure the categorisation process was co-produced with the views of Headteachers very much to the fore. The focus was also to be much less data driven, in line with the current OFSTED inspection approach. Whenever a new process is introduced, there will understandably be issues along the way. The school improvement team have produced a range of supplementary information for Governors and those leading the local group discussions. This information has been sent out this week and will aide the process moving forward in its implementation. Thank you to everyone involved in developing the new model.
Kind regards
Ian