Improvement winter 2013:2014 by Nick Wright

ASPECT

IMPROVEMENT WINTER 2013/2014

The London effect

Merryn Hutchings analyses why attainment is higher in London

PARENTS BACK COUNCIL ROLE London parents with children in ‘free’ schools back a local authority role in school improvement

EMPLOYERS OFFER ONE PER CENT Philippa Childs reports on the latest round of Soulbury negotiations

PAY SQUEEZED Inflation keeps on rising and household incomes are down

EARLY EDUCATION The British Association for Early Childhood Education is 90 years old

QUALITY EDUCATION A focus solely on outputs is wrong, argues David Edwards of Education International

WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

GENES, IQ AND HERITABILITY Nick Wright asks: Is genetics a sufficient basis for a schools policy?

THE WISEST FOOL IN CHRISTENDOM Mike Hardacre on education and the welfare state

Reports from Aspect’s 2013 conference

visit our website at www.aspect.org.uk

NEWS MPs to investigate academies London Oratory challenges admissions ruling Pay rises needed to tackle child poverty EYPs campaign for QTS Welsh minister aims for postgraduate teaching force Academy chains under the spotlight

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CONTENTS

01924 270890 | aspect@prospect.org.uk | www.aspect.org.uk

Regulars 04

LESLIE MANASSEH

BRIEFINGS

NEWS

JOBS ROUND-UP

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

EMPLOYERS OFFER ONE PER CENT

REFRAMING THE DEBATE ON QUALITY EDUCATION A focus solely

Features

Philippa Childs reports on the latest round of negotiations between the Soulbury unions and the employers

PARENTS BACK COUNCIL ROLE

A new poll shows that a big majority of London parents with children in ‘free’ schools back a local authority role in school improvement

12 15

on outputs is wrong, argues David Edwards of Education International

CARVING OUT A NEW ROLE

Reports from Aspect’s 2013 conference

THE WISEST FOOL IN CHRISTENDOM Mike Hardacre

on education and the welfare state CAPITAL GROWTH Merryn

Hutchings analyses why attainment is higher in London than elsewhere

36 ASPECT GROUP PUBLICATIONS

01 New Terrain – New Models of Education and Children’s Services Delivery

Improvement is the quarterly magazine from the Aspect Group of Prospect. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission of the Aspect Group. The Aspect Group cannot accept any liability for any insert or classified advertisement included in this publication. While every reasonable care is taken to ensure that all advertisers are reliable and reputable, the Aspect Group can give no assurance that they will fulfil their obligation under all circumstances. The views expressed in Improvement are the contributors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Aspect Group policy. Official policy statements issued on behalf of the Group are indicated as such. All information correct at the time of going to press.

www.aspect.org.uk

EARLY EDUCATION The British Association for Early Childhood Education is 90 years old.

02 Improving Children’s Services: Lessons from European Social Pedagogy

03 Learning – The Key to Integrated Services

Improvement magazine is published by the Aspect Group of Prospect in partnership with Archant Dialogue Ltd

IMPROVEMENT EDITOR Nick Wright

Email: Nick.Wright@prospect.org.uk ADVERTISING Alison MacRonald

04 National Standards for Educational Improvement Professionals

05 United Minds, United Purpose: A Charter for Modern Professionalism in Children’s Services

ASPECT GROUP OF PROSPECT

International House, Turner Way, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF4 2JR Tel: 01924 207890 Fax: 01924 369717 Email: aspect@prospect.org.uk Website: www.aspect.org.uk COVER PICTURE: Delight with GCSE results in North London

Archant Dialogue. Tel: 01603 772854 Email: alison.macronald@archantdialogue.co.uk

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LESLIE MANASSEH

Blind faith

“There is a proper debate to be had about faith schools but, despite heavyhanded tabloid hints, the roots of this problem do not lie in Islam”

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IT IS VERY unfortunate that xenophobia has contaminated the debate about the Al-Madinah School. The simple and key fact of the matter is that the education of 400 children will suffer because of the reckless gamble by the Secretary of State for Education. Set up with £1.4m of taxpayers’ money in September 2012, this free school is judged to be totally dysfunctional barely 12 months later – a place of poor teaching, poor learning, poor leadership, poor pupil safety and poor financial management. There is a proper debate to be had about faith schools but, despite heavy-handed tabloid hints, the roots of this problem do not lie in Islam. They lie in the system for opening new schools which are unaccountable to local authorities, local communities or even the parents of the children they educate. They lie in profound hostility to local government and blind faith in the market to deliver a good education freed from oversight, standards and regulation. They lie in the headlong rush to remove schools from local control without a thought to the risks of handing children’s education over to those ill-equipped to provide it. And that is the system created and sustained by this government. Michael Gove, its loudest champion, has been uncharacteristically quiet on this issue. Imagine how voluble he would have been had this been a maintained school. Of course, almost his first response was to blame the local authority – an extraordinary piece of doublethink. But, as any Google search will show, his comments have been few and far between. Is this because cracks are beginning to appear in the hitherto unruffled façade of the coalition education policy? Are dissident voices beginning to make themselves heard and defenders of Gove orthodoxy going on the defensive? Is it because, as with any experiment, it takes some time to measure the results? These questions are giving rise to much disquiet. Nick Clegg is trying to create clear blue water between the policy of the Liberal Democrats and that of the Government. He is warning of the dangers of huge centralisation and calls for free schools and academies to to teach the national curriculum and recruit only qualified, trained teachers. We are even to expect proposals for a middle tier in the Liberal Democrat election manifesto, as he believes that a system whereby the DfE oversees 23,000 schools is unsustainable. This tier would be responsible for local accountability, planning for places, special educational needs, admissions monitoring, school support services and the like. Heresy indeed. Meanwhile, as we report in this edition, the Education Select Committee is becoming more

bullish about the need for academy chains to be inspected and for local authorities to be given a clear role. Even Sir Michael Wilshaw concedes how it is essential that local government has effective oversight of all schools in its area. He was, perhaps predictably, much less clear on how this function can be performed without the requisite powers and, increasingly, the necessary resources, but it seems that the model of schools answerable only to the DfE is losing its appeal in the face of the evidence that some free schools and academies are failing to provide a good education. How many, we must wonder, have so far escaped attention? Sir Michael Wilshaw’s claim that all it will take is for a local authority to “praise success and expose weakness” to galvanise a school to “take urgent action to deal with underperformance” is somewhat less than convincing, but it at least suggests that he understands the limitations of the Government’s current approach. A former Conservative Education minister was more forthright, claiming that Michael Gove is basing coalition policies on his own “irrelevant” experience.

“A few good schools do not make a good education system” Meanwhile, the news that the UK has fallen further down the international league of educational achievement can only increase the number of doubters. In response, I suspect more heat than light from a Government which is much keener to blame its predecessor than examine its own record. It is always possible to point to individual academies or free schools that are performing well, and doubtless we will hear much of this over the next few weeks and months. However, a few good schools do not make a good education system and nor can they alone restore the UK’s international position. So can we expect a change of course? I fear not. The real question is how many Ofsted reports of dysfunctional free schools will it take to change government policy? I fear that too many children are paying too high a price to find out. Leslie Manasseh

www.aspect.org.uk

ROUND-UP TUC

Pay rises needed to tackle child poverty “Britain needs a pay rise to tackle child poverty and improve social mobility,” said the Trades Union Congress, in its response to the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission’s State of the Nation report. TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The living standards crisis isn’t just hurting families today – it risks causing more poverty and poorer career prospects for future generations too. “The Government has made the crisis worse, with social security cuts that have hit low-paid working families hard. “In-work poverty can only be tackled through higher wages and a decent safety net for those who fall on hard times.This means a higher minimum wage and encouraging employers to pay fairer wages through living wage agreements and new wage councils. It also means the Government must stop its assault on social security that is hurting low-paid workers as well as those seeking jobs.” Fiona Weir, from single parent campaign Gingerbread, said: “This report highlights the key issues facing single parent families today: a lack of jobs that pay a decent wage, high childcare costs and the need for tailored support to help them overcome barriers to work. “The Government has a real opportunity to transform the lives of many working single parents who are bringing their children up in poverty. Providing extra childcare support would ensure the Government delivers on its promise to make every extra hour of work pay.” The TUC joined with Gingerbread, Barnardo’s, the Children’s Society, Child Poverty Action Group, Working Families, The Resolution Foundation and The Women’s Budget Group in calling on the Government to increase childcare support to 85 per cent of costs for all parents on universal credit. Current plans will mean that the lowest earners who aren’t earning enough

to pay tax will get less support than those earning more than the tax threshold, it said, while children from single-parent families are twice as likely to live in poverty as children from couple families. In one year, the number of children whose single parent is working part-time but are still living in poverty has risen from one in four to nearly one in three. Alison Garnham of Child Poverty Action Group said: “The Commission’s verdict is clear: the coalition’s current child poverty strategy is failing and child poverty is set to rise. The important thing now is to focus on the positive recommendations the Commission makes to turn this situation around. “We always put our children’s needs first in family life, but the Commission finds the Government isn’t putting children first when it comes to the big decisions. Instead, it is making poorer families with children bear the brunt of austerity. We welcome the Commission’s call for the nation’s children to be better protected in decision-making. “The report is clear that the current child poverty strategy has been blind to labour market failures, despite most poor children these days coming from homes with work. We need firm action to help families suffering problems like low pay, lack of full-time work and job insecurity. The Government should start by taking up the Commission’s recommendation to increase the National Minimum Wage and to give all low earner families a higher level of childcare support under Universal Credit. The simplest approach of giving the full 85 per cent childcare support to all including the lowest paid would help reduce child poverty and get more second earners and lone parents into paid work.”

WALES

SELECT COMMITTEE

New minister aims for postgraduate teaching force

MPs to investigate academies

The new Education Minister in the devolved Wales Government has set the aim of a teaching workforce where a masters education comes as standard. “Our Masters in Education Qualification is highly practical and focused on making people better teachers – it isn’t all about theory,” said Huw Lewis. “As we look to raise both the skill levels and the status of teachers in Wales, we will work to offer this opportunity of a masters education to more and more people in the coming years. I will also look again at the suitability of the Bachelor of Education Qualification as a route into schools.

www.aspect.org.uk

“We will also expect a more thorough selection of the right candidates for initial teacher training. We are light years away from recruiting the majority of our teachers from the top one third of university graduates – as all the successful school systems do.” He announced changes to the Government’s review of curriculum and assessment in Wales and a consultation to determine how best to embed the new Literacy and Numeracy Framework into the curriculum. Mr Lewis said Key Stage 3 was a pressing issue and evidence suggested the first three years of secondary school were not delivering for Welsh learners.

The State of the Nation report is available at tinyurl.com/pnb3s55 The TUC’s campaign plan: www.tuc.org.uk/campaignplan

Michael Gove’s academies and free schools programme is to be investigated by the Commons Education Committee. The inquiry will focus on the effectiveness of the academy programme in narrowing the gap for disadvantaged children “and what further steps should be taken within the academies system to bring about a transformational impact on student outcomes”. The role of the Secretary of State comes under scrutiny, alongside the functions and responsibilities local authorities have – and should have – for academies and free schools. Governance issues and the accountability of academies will figure in the inquiry along with the role of the Secretary of State in intervening in and supporting failing academies. The committee will review the appropriateness of academy status for primary schools and what special factors apply, whether academy status can bring value for money either for individual primary schools or for the system and what alternatives to sponsored academy status should be offered to failing primary schools. tinyurl.com/o6dvvvs

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ROUND-UP PISA RESULTS

STATUS

Testing comparisons EYP QTS campaign The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development set more than 500,000 school students in 65 countries tests in maths, reading and science. The students were aged from 15 years and three months to 16 years and two months, and were drawn from a cohort of 28 million children across the world. According to the OECD: “The students took a paper-based test that lasted two hours. The tests were a mixture of open-ended and multiple-choice questions that were organised in groups based on a passage setting out a real-life situation. A total of approximately 390 minutes of test items were covered. Students took different combinations of different tests. They and their school principals also answered questionnaires to provide information about the students’ backgrounds, schools and learning experiences and about the broader school system and learning environment.” The results show that, among the most developed 34 economies, the United Kingdom is approximately average in maths and reading and above average in science. This shows little change in performance since 2006 and 2009 but, because results are based on a sample, its relative position may be between 23rd and 31st. Disadvantaged British children are less likely to ‘beat the socioeconomic odds’ and exceed expectations than other children. Across the world, children of better-off families score 39 points higher in maths than poor children do but, in Britain, the gap is 41 points. Just over a quarter (26 per cent) of disadvantaged children globally (excluding almost all of Africa plus India) can overcome the odds, while it is just under a quarter (24 per cent) in Britain. Measured against this ‘resilience’ scale, half of children in Hong Kong, South Korea, Macao and Shanghai in China, Singapore and Vietnam beat the odds. In the UK, only six per cent of students surveyed in the PiSa study scored low on the PiSa socio-economic index against the OECD average of 15 per cent. GDP per capita in the UK is $35,299 against the OECD average of $33,732, and the UK spends more on education per head than the OECD average. First- and second-generation immigrant children in Britain do as well in maths as do their indigenous peers. This compares favourably with immigrant children in other countries. See Briefings on page 43 for a discussion of ‘equity’.

HOW THE UK PERFORMS In maths, the United Kingdom is in 26th place with a score of 494. Scotland scores 498, England scores 495, Northern Ireland scores 487 and Wales scores 468. In reading, the United Kingdom is in 23rd place with a score of 499. Scotland scores 506, England scores 500, Northern Ireland scores 498 and Wales scores 480. In science, the United Kingdom is in 21st place with a score of 514. England scores 516, Scotland scores 513, Northern Ireland scores 507 and Wales scores 491. PISA 2012 RESULTS

www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results.htm

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Early Years Professionals have launched a campaign to win Qualified Teacher Status. Opening shots included an online petition to the Department of Education. The chair of the union’s EYP national committee Rosie Bloomfield said: “EYPs were promised that their ‘status’ would be equal though different to that of Qualified Teacher Status. The difference is clearly that they will continue not to be valued as equal in status or in financial terms. The funding has never been made available to settings to ensure that EYPs could be employed. In fact, most staff budgets are under pressure to sustain existing pay awards.” EYPs have set a goal to reach 1,500 signatures for a petition to the Department for Education. Sign the petition at tinyurl.com/qguym7u

SELECTION

London Oratory challenges admissions ruling The London Oratory School has challenged a decision by the Office of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) that its admissions arrangements break the School Admissions Code (see Improvement Autumn 2013). Following a complaint by the British Humanist Association, the OSA ruled that the school breaks the Code in 10 separate places, including a ‘Catholic service criterion’ that gives priority to parents who practically support the Catholic Church (for example, by doing flower arranging). It is this part of the ruling that the school wants to overturn. The BHA is worried that the body responsible for enforcing the ruling is not the OSA but the Department for Education (DfE). BHA Faith Schools Campaigner

Richy Thompson commented: “We are deeply concerned that this decision might be overturned. London Oratory School is in the 10 most socioeconomically selective secondaries in the country and the criterion requiring years of service to the Catholic Church is surely the main reason. It cannot be right that parents are required to engage in activities such as flower arranging to get their children into a state-funded school and we hope that the sound decision that it is wrong is upheld. “In addition, without wishing to prejudice the outcome of the process, it seems wholly inappropriate to us that a decision taken on a school’s admissions arrangements by objective experts now falls to the DfE, a political body, to enforce.”

PRIMARY

LGA: Free schools narrow choice Parental choice is threatened by the Government’s free schools policy, a leading Conservative councillor has claimed. Local Government Association children’s services leader Councillor David Simmonds said delays in selecting private sector providers to run new free schools were narrowing parental choice in some localities. An LGA submission in advance of the pre-Autumn Budget statement said that only 58 per cent of all new free school places over the preceding year were in areas with the greatest need of expansion. The LGA estimates that more than a quarter of million additional school places will be needed in the coming year. It reports that only 8,800 of the 24,500 additional places provided by free schools last year were in the primary sector – where the need is greatest.

www.aspect.org.uk

ROUND-UP

Teachers risk being turned into “functionaries in a service industry” due to successive governments wanting to ‘professionalise’ teaching said Tony Little, headteacher of Eton College

SELECT COMMITTEE

Academy chains under the spotlight Academy chains should face Ofsted inspections, says the Commons Education Select Committee in a new report on School Partnerships and Cooperation. This echoes the evidence given by Ofsted Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw, who told the committee that there needed to be a level playing field in the accountability of organisations running groups of schools : “We will be inspecting local authorities and we should inspect academy chains as well, if we identify underperformance.” He said: “I have made that clear to the Secretary of State. It is only fair and equitable that we do that. We have not got the same powers at the moment, but I look forward to receiving the powers to do that.” The committee recommends that the Department for Education urgently review its arrangements for monitoring the expectation that converter academies support other schools. It calls for the Government to formalise procedures for schools to leave academy chains by mutual consent, and to set out how an outstanding school can leave a chain against the wishes of the chain management. The committee charges the DfE with the responsibility to assess the quality and capacity

www.aspect.org.uk

to provide expertise within a school-led improvement system and to ensure that schools are aware of where they can access such advice. Committee chair Graham Stuart MP said: “We support moves to give schools more freedom to innovate, but we argue that the creation of a selfimproving system needs a degree of co-ordination and strong incentives to encourage schools to look beyond their own school gate. Otherwise, there is a danger that many schools will operate in isolation rather than in co-operation.” The committee wants the Government to set out clearly the role of local authorities in a school-led improvement system. The report says: “Local authorities still have a critical role to play in a school-led improvement system, in particular through creating an ‘enabling environment’ within which collaboration can flourish. We welcome Ofsted inspection of local authorities’ school improvement services, which has acted to highlight the importance of this role. We also support the new system, which is emerging with recognition that the expertise lies within schools but with local authorities as part of the picture. The role of local authorities is still evolving and some clarification of what is expected of them is needed.”

The committee wants the Government to set out how organisations in the middle tier will be held to account for strategic oversight of partnership working in schools, to evaluate initiatives relating to school partnerships and to collect evidence on what works. It recommends that the Government clearly set out the role of local authorities in helping to broker school-to-school partnerships and acting as champions of all parents and children, with particular reference to academies in their region. Other proposals include a call for richer and more accessible data to be provided by the DfE to help schools to identify suitable potential partners and for the Government to widen its funding for collaboration beyond academy sponsorship to assist other types of partnership. There is support for greater incentives for good leaders to work in areas of greatest need and a call for ministers to endorse Sir Michael Wilshaw’s proposal for an ‘excellent leadership award’ to be given to headteachers who support underperforming schools in disadvantaged communities. Report: tinyurl.com/mkryqzz

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IN THIS ISSUE

What is to be done? Aspect in conference The union’s 2013 conference was marked by a strong sense of realism and a clearsighted view of what needs to be done in the coming months to deal with the profound changes that are taking place in our sector. At a practical level, a new set of rules designed to sharpen the union’s organisation and leadership and ensure clear accountability within the wider Prospect framework were approved. A reworked Aspect Pledge with a succinct analysis of the changing school improvement and children’s services environment was launched. Aspect is not only the organisation that is uniquely positioned as the authoritative voice of professionals in our sector; it both champions best practice and is the custodian of quality standards. Group Secretary Leslie Manasseh set out, in compelling terms, the basis on which Aspect aims to intervene in the discussions that will shape our world in the coming year. This was based on a frank realisation that the present Government is deeply hostile to local government, with complete faith in the ability of the market alone to deliver a good education for all. Realism underpinned the discussion on Soulbury pay and conditions. Prospect National Officer Philippa Childs gave a sober account of talks with the employers and set out the positions the Soulbury unions have taken. Two key figures in local government, Mark Rogers from the chief executive group Solace and Andrew Webb of the directors of children’s services organisation ADCS (both working to shape a practical and realistic response to the pressures on local authorities), sparked an interesting discussion which tackled the difficult questions arising as councils confront a sharp reduction in resources.

The London effect London’s renaissance as the region where a rise in measures of school improvement is repeated year on year – for four years now – is a complex phenomenon, and one that provides an uncomfortable fit for theories that currently find favour at the DfE. An unremitting focus on evidence produces one challengeable fact – the London Challenge was a key factor underpinning the capital’s advance. Merryn Hutchings, emeritus Professor of Education at the Institute for Policy Studies in

8 | Improvement | winter 2013 /2014

Education, London Metropolitan University, identified these factors in the 2012 evaluation of the City Challenge programme and, in an authoritative overview, summarises the distinctive features that have produced this success.

Parents rule, OK An intriguing interstice has appeared between the front benches on one hand and backbench MPs and local authority figures on the other. While ministers are unremitting in their attacks on the local authority education role and their finances (and the opposition seems strangely reluctant to mount a full defence), a cross-party consensus at cross-purposes with the front bench teams is well established in both the Commons Education Select Committee and in the Local Government Association. To the aid of the council lobby comes a new ally, and one Michael Gove might perhaps have anticipated that he could count on. More than three-quarters of parents with children in a local authority-maintained school think local authorities should have powers of influence over maintained schools, but 62 per cent with children at a free school support councils having a role in dealing with underperforming free schools.

Quality Street International comparisons are the building blocks of education policy. Thus, it is useful to see an overview of the global picture. David Edwards, who is responsible for education policy, employment and research at the global union federation Education International, makes the powerful point: if you are a child living in poverty, it is not possible to master basic knowledge and skills if you go to an impoverished school with overcrowded classrooms and low quality tools and where teachers are unqualified and untrained. In this issue, he sets out the key features that must shape quality education: quality teachers, quality teaching tools and quality teaching and learning environments.

“The London Challenge was a key factor underpinning the capital’s advance” least of his embarrassments was the publication of a rambling treatise, on the eve of his departure to work in the ‘free’ schools sector, by his special advisor Dominic Cummings. Cummings’ contribution is to assert the primacy of genetic factors and heritability in shaping the performance of children in education. Nick Wright argues that, although he avoids the obvious crudities associated with this reactionary strain of educational thinking, Cummings’ view echoes the discredited pseudoscience that underpinned selection.

Gene machine

Wise fool

The Secretary of State has maintained an uncharacteristic silence lately.The uncharitable will attribute his discretion to the unfortunate series of accidents that have befallen his pet ‘free schools’ policy, with untrained headteachers taking sudden and early departure and insufficiently invigilated ‘faith’ free schools facing shutdown. Not the

Mike Hardacre brings his critical eye and sharp tongue to bear on the present Secretary of State for Education and moves on to survey Education, Justice and Democracy:The struggle over ignorance and opportunity, written as part of the CLASS celebration of the 70th anniversary of the publication of the Beveridge Report of 1943.

www.aspect.org.uk

SOULBURY

Unions recommend ‘reluctant acceptance’, reports Philippa Childs

Employers offer

he Aspect Group leadership has recommended ‘reluctant acceptance’ of an offer by local government employers of one per cent on all pay points and allowances. The joint unions had claimed a significant increase on all Soulbury pay scale points and all pay-related and London allowances from September 1 2013. The unions argued that there had been no increase in Soulbury pay scales since 2009 and that staff faced a Government-imposed three-year public sector pay cap (for 2013, 2014 and 2015) of no more than one per cent on average. The unions pointed out that Soulbury officers are also having to pay higher LGPS pension contributions and that, since 2010, RPI inflation has gone up by 13.3 per cent with inflation expected to remain well above the level of the pay cap during the period of its existence. The result has been both significant cuts in the real value of pay and in actual take home pay for Soulbury officers. In presenting the claim, each of the trade unions and professional associations set out the challenges being faced by their members. For the Aspect Group, Mike Hardacre expressed concerns about the challenges local authorities are likely to face in fulfilling their statutory obligations when the numbers of school improvement staff were declining and the ability to recruit and retain experienced staff will be impacted by the differentials in pay between Soulbury grades and school leaders. The employers said that they had consulted widely with local authorities, who were facing huge challenges with their budgets. However, they were prepared to offer an increase of one per cent on all pay points and allowances. The employers argued that the union claim for a restoration of the Essential Car User Allowance was not a national issue, but reported that advice had been given to local authorities to ensure that, where changes in terms and conditions were being proposed, consultation with all of the appropriate trade unions and professional bodies takes place.

one per cent www.aspect.org.uk

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SOULBURY

THE IMPACT OF CUTS Growing numbers of jobs are ‘outsourced’, with far-reaching implications for workers’ contractual terms. Many council staff have suffered imposed changes to their pay and conditions. Workloads and working hours increase as staff find themselves required to cover the work formerly undertaken by departed colleagues. The pay claim says: “The position will undoubtedly have worsened since the Soulbury Conditions of Service Survey 2009, when 86 per cent of respondents said that their workload had increased over the previous two years; 78 per cent thought that their professional responsibilities had increased over the same period and half of respondents reported working on average more than six hours in the evening and/or at weekends. Various conditions of service have also deteriorated. They include worsened redundancy arrangements, continued restrictions of the timing of taking annual leave and the removal of the essential car user allowance. Sick leave arrangements have also been worsened for many officers, causing problems for both officers and clients alike.” Unions had sought a national workforce survey to seek a clearer picture of job losses, outsourcing and changes to pay and conditions at local level. The employers’ side said that the workforce survey was underway and the findings would be shared with the trade union side at a working group meeting in the New Year. The Aspect Group represents the largest body of professionals on the Soulbury

Committee. Other members are the Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP), the National Association of Youth and Community Education Officers (NAYCEO) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT). EIPS PAY LOSS 2010 – 2012

£4,312 £5,357 £6,151 Educational Improvement Consultants at point 1, the bottom of the EIP pay scale

EIP at point 8, minimum point for EIPs

EIP at point 8, minimum point for Senior EIPs

£7,138 EIP at point 20, minimum point for Lead EIPs

“Since 2010, inflation has not stood still” Inflation and pay loss Soulbury officers have experienced a sharp reduction in the value of their pay in recent years. The last Soulbury pay increase was back in 2009 when pay was uplifted by one per cent, but that only applied to some – not all – Soulbury officers. There were no pay increases for September 2010, 2011 or 2012. Now, the coalition Government proposes to cap public sector pay to an average increase of one per cent for 2013-14, 2014-15 and (following the Chancellor’s March 2013 Budget announcement) 2015-16. Fears that the Local Government Association would follow the civil service and pay review bodies and offer one per cent have been realised. Since 2010, inflation has not stood still. As measured by the Retail Prices Index, inflation was 4.6 per cent in September 2010, 5.6 per cent in September 2011 and 2.6 per cent in September 2012. RPI inflation is estimated to be likely to remain around the three per cent mark until autumn 2013 at least. Although CPI inflation is usually lower than RPI, it too has remained high across this

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period (CPI was 3.1 per cent in September 2010, 5.2 per cent in September 2011 and 2.2 per cent in September 2012). In total, RPI inflation has gone up by 13.3 per cent and CPI inflation has gone up by 10.8 per cent over the period since 2010. If Soulbury pay had risen in September 2010, 2011 and 2012 in line with the RPI inflation each September, Soulbury pay rates would have been significantly higher. The graph below shows shortfalls in pay at particular points of the Soulbury pay scales.

CPI September RPI September Soulbury pay rises September

PAY AND THE PUBLIC SECTOR Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show that pay growth in the public sector has fallen to 0.1 per cent, a 3.8 per cent real terms pay cut since 2012. The ONS figures show that average weekly earnings growth (including bonus pay) in the public sector (excluding financial services) was only 0.1 per cent in August 2013 compared to the same period last year. Earnings growth in the private sector was 1.1 per cent in the same period. TUC research deflated average weekly earnings figures by RPI to calculate that average public sector pay is £2,073 lower in real terms today, compared to May 2010. TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Millions of public sector workers who did nothing to cause the recession are still being made to suffer through job losses and reduced pay packets. “Pay growth in the public sector has slowed to a standstill, with workers now £2,000 a year worse off in real terms since the Government took office. Not only are workers having to contend with job insecurity and real wage cuts, many are also facing cuts in other basic benefits like overtime pay and annual leave.

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“These painful pay losses are not only hurting hard-working staff and their families, they are also sucking billions of pounds out of local economies.

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2007

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2010

2011

2012

“Britain needs a pay rise to end the longest wage squeeze in over a century – and public sector workers should get their fair share too.”

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PAY AND INFLATION

Pay squeezed inﬂation keeps on

rising

ost working people and their families are caught in a trap, with remorseless price rises and average earnings rising well below the rate of inflation. Forced part-time working is rising across the jobs market – in the case of education and children’s services professionals, disguised as private consultancy. Private sector pay remains in frozen limbo and, while the number of jobs is showing some increase, large numbers are part-time and on poor terms. Average pay rises are stuck below one per cent according to official statistics. However, the gap between private sector and public service pay is growing while overall incomes are falling behind the cost of living – with interest rate rises forecast. Private sector earnings were up 1.1 per cent on the year, but public sector earnings were down 0.4 per cent. Average weekly earnings including bonus payments rose by 0.7 per cent when comparing July 2013 to September 2013 with the same period a year earlier. Average weekly earnings for the private sector increased by 1.1 per cent, but average weekly earnings for the public sector fell by 0.4 per cent. In September 2013, average pay including bonus payments in the private sector was £473 a week – £14 a week lower than the public sector figure of £487 a week. However, excluding publicly-owned financial corporations, average weekly pay in the public sector was only £3 a week higher than in the private sector at £476 a week. Meanwhile, directors’ pay increased by 14 per cent – 20 times the rate for most working people. Commenting on the FTSE 100

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directors’ pay trends published by Income Data Services, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Britain’s top bosses are back to their old tricks as their pay is growing 20 times faster than that of the average worker. “It’s one thing replacing bonuses with long-term incentive plans, but FTSE 100

companies are simply exploiting this change to make their fat cats even fatter. “The time has come for legislation to put ordinary workers on the pay committees of companies. This is the only way to bring some sanity to the way in which directors are paid.”

HOUSEHOLD INCOMES DOWN

Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Autumn financial statement.

Household incomes in Britain are down by £900 a year since the bank crisis. Rising inflation and static wages are the primary causes, although the weakened value of the ‘social wage’, benefits, pensions, health services and housing support have imposed extra burdens.

“The figures used by the Chancellor are meaningless to ordinary people, who are concerned about their own money rather than that of the nation. After all, you can’t pay the energy bills with other people’s pay packets.

The average income of a household in the ‘squeezed middle’ has fallen from £37,900 to £32,600 since the economic downturn, according to December figures from the Office of National Statistics. The years following the 2007 bank crisis saw median income for households falling by 3.8 per cent after inflation. Wages, investment and savings income for the middle fifth of non-retired households fell from £37,900 to £32,600 between 2007-08 and 2011-12. “Real household disposable incomes per head have fallen so sharply in recent years that people are no better off today than they were back in 2005,” said TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady, speaking in advance of the

“Rather than attempt to spin his way out of Britain’s living standards crisis, the Chancellor should use his Autumn statement to face up to it. We need policies to help rebalance the economy and create high-quality jobs, not more gimmicks that do nothing to boost people’s pay.” In late July 2013, the Chancellor wrote in The Times that “disposable incomes grew by 1.4 per cent above inflation last year despite the squeeze, the fastest for three years”. He cited figures for rising total real household disposable income, which has largely been driven by population growth in recent years. December 2013 ONS figures show that real household disposable income per head has fallen sharply since 2009 – www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_343680.pdf

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OPINION POLLING

Parents back A new poll shows that a big majority of London parents with children in ‘free’ schools back a local authority role in school improvement

Bus design by Jane Foster – janefoster.co.uk

12 | Improvement | winter 2013 / 2014

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council role Y ouGov’s first survey of London parents’ attitudes to the new educational system shows a majority of parents (62 per cent) with children at a free school support councils having a role in dealing with underperforming free schools. More than threequarters of parents with children in a local authority-maintained school think that local authorities

should have powers of influence over maintained schools. An overwhelming majority of parents as a whole back a council role in creating school places through powers to influence all schools in their area to find more school places or expand. In a startling repudiation of government thinking (which finds an echo in opposition statements), 82 per cent think local authorities should have an important role in ensuring high education standards in schools. This figure rises to 91 per cent of parents with a child at a free school. The YouGov attitudinal survey commissioned by London Councils – which represents London’s 33 local authorities – shows high levels of support among parents for a council role in school improvement and in maintaining standards. The background to the survey is the mounting crisis in school places. A 2013 London Councils analysis predicted a shortage of 118,000 places between 2014 and 2017. In autumn 2012, London Councils published a report which called for the DfE to work with key partners including London Councils, individual boroughs and the Mayor of London to look at how school places and educational standards can be maintained in the new system. Councillor Peter John, London Councils’ executive member for children and young people, said: “Parents have been clear in this survey how essential good council involvement is in their children’s education. It’s especially striking that free school parents are so strong in their support for councils’ work. Parents are plainly worried about the school places crisis and want a clear role for councils to work in partnership with all schools so that every child has a place and to ensure school standards continue to rise.

“The government should work with councils to ensure that schools are accountable locally to the communities they serve.” London has the best school improvement record in England. London Councils asserts that a significant part of this success was driven through the London Challenge, which ran for five years from its setting up in 2003. This perception is shared by parents, 77 per cent of whom see the capital as performing best for GCSE performance, followed by the south east (65 per cent) and the south west (42 per cent). Nearly eight out of 10 parents thought the council-run process of applying for a school place was ‘easy’ and 93 per cent got their child into one of their top three choices of schools – with 72 per cent receiving their first place. After the new school system was explained, 53 per cent of parents said that the education system is under more central government control than they had thought previously, with 29 per cent thinking the system was under more local control and 19 per cent without an opinion. London has seen a decadelong rise in school improvement, giving the capital’s children a powerful advantage over children from elsewhere in England. The London effect is most marked for children from poor families, with the advantage growing through their school careers. At secondary level, in attainment in Maths and English and each child’s three best other GCSEs, children from London’s 100 poorest districts (measured by benefit claimant rates) achieved better than five Cs – outstripping the average child living in the rest of England. The advantage that wealth confers is less marked in London, and it is eroding. In 2003, a London child living in the most

“London has seen a decade-long rise in school improvement, giving the capital’s children a powerful advantage”

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OPINION POLLING

“Unlike with maintained schools, councils do not have the power to direct academies or free schools to expand or close in response” wealthy quarter of districts would harvest a benefit of one grade across five GCSEs. Now that is one grade in three. Success has many parents and London Challenge has won wide support. In a 2010 assessment, Ofsted said that the London Challenge school improvement programme had continued to improve outcomes for pupils in London schools at a faster rate than nationally. Ofsted also said that the success was due to “ambitious and focused leadership of the programme; support for London Challenge schools from experienced and credible advisors; effective partnerships between schools in London and systems in schools which secure the gains by tracking pupils’ progress.” Ofsted Chief Inspector Christine Gilbert attributed its success to effective partnerships between schools and the extensive use of practitioners as agents of support and change. “It has been impressively led by London Challenge advisors who are very experienced education experts. They know schools well and have kept a very tight focus on improving the quality of teaching. Inspectors identified a strong commitment among teachers and school leaders in the capital to drive up achievement and close attainment gaps with the rest of the country,” she said. “London Challenge gives bespoke support for school leaders and managers and brokers professional development for teachers in supported schools. As we move into the next stage of the development of school improvement set out in the White Paper, it is vital that the lessons learned from this programme are applied both locally and nationally.” London Challenge was ended by the coalition government in 2010. Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw told the Financial Times last year that London “wasn’t a good place to be in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s; now it’s one of the top performing parts of the country through London Challenge.”

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ENGLAND’S SCHOOL PLACES CRISIS A September 2013 Local Government Association (LGA) analysis shows that demand for primary places in up to two in three councils in England could exceed supply by the 2016 school year. Some schools are forced to raise class sizes, convert non-classroom space, music rooms and libraries into classrooms or reduce playground space, said the LGA. Local government leaders warned that the ability of local authorities to plan was threatened by uncertainty over future funding for extra places. Changes to the school system, with more than half of all secondary schools now being run as academies and a growing number of primary schools also converting, is leading to an increased pressure for school places, the LGA also said. Unlike with maintained schools, councils do not have the power to direct academies or free schools to expand or close in response to changes in demand in their local area. The Government’s new ‘schools presumption’ also means councils can’t create new schools that are not academies or free schools. Councillor David Simmonds, chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said: “Mums and dads quite rightly expect their child to have access to a place in good school that is nearby and in a good state of repair. But councils are facing unprecedented pressures in tackling the desperate shortage of new school places. “Councils across the country have been increasing places by expanding schools where possible through additional classes or new buildings. However, without enough resources to provide places, we are seeing some schools having to take extreme measures including converting non-classroom space and reducing playground space. This seriously risks prioritising quantity of places at the expense of the quality of education we are providing.

area, but they are being hampered by uncertainty and unnecessary restrictions. This could result in parents scrambling for places that just don’t exist and threatens to seriously impact on our children’s education.” London faces a mounting crisis, with a stark shortage of primary school places and a looming problem with a shortage of secondary school places. Responding to quizzing by chair of the London Assembly education panel Jennette Arnold on the reasons for the lack of places and why local authorities seemed to have been surprised by the dramatic increase in pupils, Lewisham Children’s and Young People’s Director Frankie Sulke said: “This is not a crisis because we were taken by surprise; it’s a crisis because it’s really hard to solve the problem. The inadequacy of funding is what makes it a real crisis.” She said there has been a shortfall in the schools budget across London of a billion pounds by 2016, and said the funding which is available from the Department for Education doesn’t give schools the ability to plan ahead and get building projects moving. OFSTED ON LONDON CHALLENGE

www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/ london-challenge LONDON COUNCILS SURVEY

The survey was carried out online and administered to members of the YouGov’s panel of 350,000 individuals who agreed to take part in surveys. The sample size was 1,019 parents of children aged five-16 living in Greater London, of whom approximately a quarter (250) had a child at a free school. Fieldwork was undertaken between September 4-12 2013. tinyurl.com/o49vlbw

“The process of opening up much-needed schools is being impaired by a ‘one-size-fitsall’ approach and, in some cases, by the presumption in favour of free schools and academies. “Local councils have a legal duty to ensure there is a school place for every child in their

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ATTAINMENT The first Year 7 intake at the West London Free School, Hammersmith, London

Capital

Growth

he GCSE results (i) show that, in 2012, London was the best performing region for the fourth successive year by a wide range of measures. This is despite serving some of the most deprived areas in the country; 35 per cent of secondary pupils in Inner London are eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) compared with just 13 per cent outside London (ii). Analysis suggests that the London Challenge initiative has been key to this success.

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62.3 per cent of London pupils achieved the expected level – five A*-C GCSEs including English and mathematics.This is almost two percentage points above the next best performing region. 53 per cent of Inner London FSM pupils achieved the expected level, compared with 45 per cent in Outer London and just 33 per cent outside London. White British pupils, minority ethnic groups, pupils whose first language is other than English and those with special educational needs all achieved more in London.

More pupils in London than elsewhere made the expected progress between ages 11 and 16 (London, 75 per cent in English and 77 per cent in maths; outside London, 68 per cent and 69 per cent respectively). The percentage of pupils in London achieving the EBacc was second only to the South East region. Just 2.7 per cent of London secondary schools (11 schools) failed to reach this year’s higher floor target, compared with 7.3 per cent of schools outside London.

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Merryn Hutchings analyses why attainment is higher in London than elsewhere

ATTAINMENT The results for national tests at Key Stage 2 published in December (iii) showed a similar picture at primary school level. The progress made in Inner London in particular has been remarkable. It was the worst performing region at both primary and secondary levels in 2006 and it is now one of the bestperforming. A number of possible explanations have been put forward for this: The characteristics of London pupils Higher school funding in London School improvement initiatives in London − specifically, the London Challenge The quality of London teachers, and Structural changes (i.e. the creation of academies).

School improvement initiatives: the London Challenge All the analyses of the improvement in pupil attainment in London (x) identify the London Challenge as a key factor. The London Challenge, led by Tim Brighouse, started in 2003 and initially worked in secondary schools before extending to the primary sector in 2008. Similar programmes also ran in the Black Country and Greater Manchester from 2008 to 2011, and these were collectively identified as City Challenge. Evaluation (xi) concluded that the programme had been very successful in improving schools in all three areas, particularly in London (which had the longest period of input).

The characteristics of London pupils It has been suggested that London benefits from a flow of high-performing immigrant children (iv) and that London pupils may have higher expectations than those elsewhere (v). Undoubtedly, the proportion of London pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds has increased in the last decade (from 53 per cent in 2004 to 65 per cent in 2012 (vi)). However, while some minority ethnic groups attain better than the White population, some attain less well and the recent increase consists of both high and low attaining groups. Also, while it may be reasonable to assume that children of immigrant families could have higher aspirations than longterm residents, this would also have been the case when London attainment was low. There is also evidence that London schools rather than pupil characteristics are responsible for the higher attainment in London. Wyness (vii) has shown that London pupils do not do any better than pupils elsewhere in the early stages of education; the ‘London advantage’ increases through the years of schooling. Chris Cook of the Financial Times (viii) has shown that children who move out of London achieve less on average than would have been expected from their background characteristics and prior attainment, while those who move into London achieve better than would have been predicted.

Higher school funding in London Another explanation which has been suggested for London’s high attainment is that London schools receive a higher level of government funding than those elsewhere, but published figures show that the extra is spent on the higher salaries paid to London staff rather than on additional staff or resources. DfE figures show that class sizes are marginally larger in London than the national average (ix).

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“When the year-onyear improvement in academies is compared with that of non-academies with similar initial attainment, we find that sponsored academies improve no more than non-academies” A number of characteristics of City Challenge were central to its success. It worked in urban areas with clear identities, encouraging sharing of practice across local authority boundaries and aiming to unite schools, parents, community organisations and other stakeholders behind the idea of the Challenge. The aim was to improve all schools across each area, not simply the lowest attaining. School collaborations were central to the programme and it was important to have some schools with outstanding practice that others could learn from. However, the most intensive work was in schools that were underperforming. Experimentation and innovative approaches were encouraged; there was no

set prescription of what would work to improve schools. The notion that schools could learn from each other was central. Both heads and teachers argued that they learned most effectively from seeing good practice.The evaluation report argued that all teachers should spend at least a day a year in another school exploring different and/or better practice. The weakest schools received the most funding, generally spent on additional staff or development activity. Satisfactory, Good and Outstanding schools received much smaller sums (typically £1,000-£3,000 a year). This tended to be used to buy cover to release staff to visit other schools. Part of the funding was also used for central administration, to identify and target schools in need of support, broker partnerships, organise conferences and so on. Perhaps the most effective aspect of City Challenge was that it recognised that individuals and school communities tend to thrive when they feel trusted, supported and encouraged. The ethos of the programme was a key factor in its success and contrasted with common government discourse of ‘naming and shaming’ ‘failing’ schools. Expectations of school leaders, teachers and pupils were high, succeasses were celebrated and it was recognised that, if teachers are to inspire pupils, they themselves need to be motivated and inspired.

The creation of academies While evaluation suggests that the London Challenge has been a key factor in London schools’ improvement, the current government prefers to emphasise the part played by the creation of academies. It is too early to see any change in attainment resulting from the creation of large numbers of converter academies (high performing schools that chose to become academies). While the first schools converted in 2010, it was only in 2011 that large numbers did so. The focus, then, must be on sponsored academies; those created to replace underperforming or inadequate schools. Many of the early academies were in London, but there is no evidence to suggest that they are responsible for the improvement in London attainment. When the year-onyear improvement in academies is compared with that of non-academies with similar initial attainment, we find that sponsored academies improve no more than nonacademies. However, our analysis of school improvement in London showed that those academies which had previously been supported by the London Challenge improved significantly more than those that had not had this support (xii).

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REFERENCES

The Greater London Authority has launched an interactive school map to aid parental choice at: www.london.gov.uk/webmaps/lsa/

The crucial factor in bringing about improvement was the London Challenge rather than academisation. It is worth noting that, of the eleven secondary schools in London below the 2012 floor target, three are sponsored academies and two are converter academies – schools that Ofsted had graded Good or Outstanding.

The quality of London teachers Another explanation that has been proposed for London’s high attainment is that the quality of teachers in London may be higher than outside the capital (xiii). This was certainly not the case around 2000, when London suffered from severe teacher shortages (xiv). Schools found it hard to recruit, vacancy rates were high and supply teachers were used extensively.Turnover was high because young teachers tended to move out of the capital when they wanted to buy a home. Since that time, higher pay scales have been introduced for Inner and Outer London and teachers have been included in Key Worker housing schemes (though buying London property remains out of reach for most teachers). These developments cannot be seen as separate

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from the London Challenge. From the start, there was a determination to focus on all the issues that had a negative effect in London schools. Teacher supply was key among these, and so the London Challenge team worked with other agencies such as the STRB and Teach First to remedy this. The London Challenge also worked to improve the morale of teachers and pupils, and to develop a positive reputation for London schools. In research that we undertook in 1998-9 about London teacher shortages, interviewees talked about London schools’ reputation of discipline problems, a poor environment and poor resources. At that time, many London schools were indeed inward-looking isolated institutions where teachers struggled to cope. The fact that London schools now have higher achievement than the rest of the country, and in most cases morale is high, makes London an attractive place to teach.

Implications The evidence that the London Challenge was a successful approach to school improvement is overwhelming. It was also comparatively cheap. Over three years, the

(i) DfE (2013) GCSE and Equivalent Results in England, 2011/12 (Revised), and GCSE and Equivalent Attainment by Pupil Characteristics in England, 2011/12 (ii) DfE (2012) Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, January 2012 (iii) DfE (2012) National Curriculum Assessments at Key Stage 2 in England 2011/2012 (Revised) (iv) Cook, C. (2013) London school children perform the best, Financial Times, January 13 2013 (v) Wyness, G. (2011) London schooling: lessons from the capital, Centre Forum (vi) DfE (2012) Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, January 2012 (vii) Wyness (2011) (viii) Cook, C. Don’t Leave London, Financial Times blog, January 13 2013 (ix) DfE (2012) Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, op cit (x) e.g. Ofsted, The report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills: Schools, 2012; Cook, Wyness (op cit); The Mayor’s Education Enquiry First Report, February 2012 (xi) Hutchings et al. (2012) Evaluation of the City Challenge programme (xii) Hutchings et al (2012, op cit) (xiii) Wyness (2011) (xiv) Hutchings et al. Teacher Supply and Retention in London: a study of six London boroughs 1998-9, London: Teacher Training Agency funding for City Challenge was £160 million – considerably cheaper than the £8.5 billion reportedly spent on the academies programme over two years. Many of the lessons of the London Challenge have been taken on board, most notably in the increase in schools working with or supporting other schools. What is lacking is any way of ensuring that the schools that need most support and encouragement will receive it. This is the key aspect of City Challenge that is missing from the current marketised approach to school improvement. Merryn Hutchings is emeritus Professor of Education at the Institute for Policy Studies in Education, London Metropolitan University This article first appeared on the NUT website at www.teachers.org.uk/

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EARLY YEARS

Leaders of learning in the early years Three key figures in the world of early years are speakers at the Aspect ECEG day conference in 2014, reports Carolyn Poulter

ffective and Caring Leadership in the Early Years is a key theme with Iram Siaj-Blatchford as a keynote speaker. Professor Siaj-Blatchford worked as an early years teacher for most of the 1980s and has since been an academic and researcher at Warwick and London, researching the impact of home learning, staff training, pedagogy, curriculum and assessment on young children’s learning and development – particularly those children and families from vulnerable backgrounds. She has a special interest in what shapes learners’ life-course trajectories over time. A prolific author, she has lectured in more than 30 countries and co/authored more than 60 books and published research reports, as well as approximately 50 refereed journal articles and chapters in scholarly texts.

Jan White is a leading advocate of the powerful effect on young children of the outdoors. She played a key role in developing Learning through Landscapes’ support for the early years sector and Early Excellence’s Stepped Approach to Quality Outdoors. She is an Early Education founding associate, an associate with Playwise, pedagogical adviser for PlayGarden and mentor to Sandfield Natural Play Centre. She co-founded and facilitates the UK network Landscapes for Early Childhood and is a representative to the World Forum Foundation for the Global Collaborative on Design for Children working group. She is author of Playing and Learning

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Outdoors: Making provision for high quality experiences in the outdoor Environment (Routledge, 2008) and Making a Mud Kitchen (Muddy Faces 2012). She edited Outdoor Provision in the Early Years (Sage, 2011) and collaborated with Siren Films to make the training DVDs Babies Outdoors, Toddlers Outdoors and Two Year-Olds Outdoors (Siren Films, 2011).

Leadership, the outdoors and digital literacy: 2104 conference themes Professor Jackie Marsh is a keynote speaker on the theme of digital literacy. She is interested in the relationship between childhood cultures, play and literacy in the digital age. She has conducted research projects that have explored children’s access to new technologies and their emergent digital literacy skills, knowledge and understanding. She has also examined the way in which parents/carers and other family members support this engagement with media and technologies. Jackie also has conducted a number of research projects that have explored how creative and innovative teachers have responded to the challenges of the new media age. She has evaluated a number of national projects that have aimed to develop teachers’ expertise in the teaching and learning of

digital and media literacy. In her more recent research, Jackie has explored changes in children’s play due to developments in media, technology and commercial cultures. She is co-editor of the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, and her recent publications include: Marsh, J. and Bishop, J.C. (in press) Changing Play: Play, Media and Commercial Culture from the 1950s to the Present Day. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Burke, A. and Marsh, J. (eds) (2013) Children’s Virtual Play Worlds: Culture, Learning and Participation. New York: Peter Lang. Willett R. Richards C. Marsh J. Burn A. and Bishop. J. (2013) Children, media and playground cultures: Ethnographic studies of school playtimes. Basingstoke: Palgrave. Larson, J. and Marsh, J. (2013) Handbook of Early Childhood Literacy (2nd ed). London: Sage. Merchant, G., Gillen, J., Marsh. J. and Davies. J. (Eds) (2012) Virtual Literacies: Interactive Spaces for Children and Young People. New York: Routledge. Willett, R., Robinson, M. and Marsh, J. (eds) (2009) Play, Creativity and Digital Cultures. New York, London: Routledge.

CONFERENCE Leaders of learning in the early years June 27 2014 10am-3pm, including lunch Leicester University Oadby Campus, Stamford Court Conference Centre in The Main Hall (Three miles from Leicester train station and offering free car parking on site) Register from January at www.aspect.org.uk

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Children Young People Now

The Outcomes Conference 2014 Best practice in commissioning and delivery for children, young people and families

A one-day conference 5th February 2014, St Bride Foundation, London

Get detailed advice from experts and pioneering practitioners from across the sector and gain practical insights to help you commission, provide and evaluate the impact of services for children, young people and families

z Hear from the Department for Education on the current priorities in improving outcomes for children, young people and families z Make decisions based on robust evidence, ensuring better outcomes and greater efficiency z Explore the efficacy and value of randomised control trials for interventions with children, young people and families z Develop effective partnerships across different agencies, building shared understanding

z Explore how organisations in the voluntary and community sector can develop their expertise in capturing and demonstrating the impact of work z Use the public health reforms to boost children’s health and wellbeing z Learn how to involve young people in helping to determine what services are delivered to maximise their impact

Gillian Hillier

Anita Tiessen

Head of children’s services strategy, Department for Education

Deputy executive director, communications and programmes, Unicef UK

Andrew Webb

Gain practical insights from leading thinkers and practitioners, including:

z Assess the best methods for devising and managing payment-by-results contracts

President, Association of Directors of Children’s Services

Professor Robert Coe

Kathy Evans

Director of the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham University

Chief Executive, Children England

Michael Little

Nisha Plaha

Co-Director, Social Research Unit at Dartington

Senior youth representation officer, London Borough of Newham

John Freeman

Rebekah Dike

Independent children’s services consultant

Young Mayor of London Borough of Newham

For more information and to register your interest please contact Kate Wayte on kate.wayte@markallengroup.com www.outcomesconference.com

By living, we learn

he 2014 Early Education conference takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city, which has a long tradition of nursery education and services for young children. The free kindergartens were among the first opened in Britain in the 1900s, with the first nursery school opening in 1913. Hosted by the Edinburgh and the Lothians branch of the British Association for Early Childhood Education and drawing on the work of Patrick Geddes (who lived and worked in Edinburgh, and used his knowledge

of biology and social science to enhance the life experiences and living conditions of people in an urban environment), the conference explores approaches to promote the development of wellbeing in all members of society. The event starts on May 9 with afternoon visits to various early years settings to see how Edinburgh’s services are developing to meet the changing needs of young children and their families today. Details of the nurseries, which will be open to visitors, will be sent to each delegate on booking a place at the conference. Branch members will help with

transport to the nurseries if this is required. Between 18.00 and 20.00, a social event takes place at the Patrick Geddes Centre for Learning and Conservation sited at Riddles Court close to Edinburgh Castle. Here, delegates will be welcomed to the City of Edinburgh. Drinks and light refreshments will be available, along with entertainment from local children and an opportunity to learn about Patrick Geddes who, among many things, created gardens for children along the Royal Mile and whose views on the environment, education and conservation are relevant today.

Programme SPEAKERS DR ROSEMARY ROBERTS OBE is an

independent consultant and writer. She holds a postgraduate diploma from the Tavistock Clinic UK in Psychoanalytic Observational Studies and a recent PhD for which she researched wellbeing development from birth to three in the home. She has worked in nursery, primary and higher education and in the voluntary sector, and was a founder director of Parents Early Education Partnership (PEEP) – working with Sure Start programmes in disadvantaged areas. In 1999, she was awarded an OBE for services to early childhood. She has written two books: Self Esteem and Early Learning (2006) 3rd ed.; and Wellbeing from Birth (2010). PATTIE SANTELICES is the principal officer of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Team with City of Edinburgh Council. Pattie has supported the development of training courses in Edinburgh: Raising Children with Confidence (RCWC) – for parents and/or carers; Confident Staff, Confident Children (CSCC) – for multi-agency practitioners (i.e. professionals working with children in early years, educational and community settings); and Growing Confidence Development Programme (GCDP) – for facilitators. These were written by a range of multi-agency

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professionals and draw on contemporary research in neuroscience, psychology and social science. The training programmes are now being rolled out across Scotland. VIRGINIA RADCLIFFE is the artistic director/chief executive of Licketyspit Child-Centred Theatre Company. “Licketyspit believes all children are bursting with possibility. We want them to believe anything is possible for them. Licketyspit definitely fosters this idea. But all good children’s theatre, all good art, by its very nature, feeds this possibility.”

Since October 2011, the main focus of Licketyspit’s work has been the company’s ground-breaking theatre project, LicketyLeap, which recently completed its first year of funding by Inspiring Scotland. Fifteen-hundred children and their families participated in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife and East Lothian. Ninehundred children and families have signed up for the LicketyLeap Children and Families Network for emails, ideas and opportunities and chat with LicketyLeap characters Margaret and Margaret. ERIC BRENNAN is an Edinburgh-based storyteller. He tells folk and fairy tales and legends from around the world, giving each story a particularly Scottish flavour. Often fantastical and always humorous, Eric’s tales enthral young and old alike.

May 10 Registration and coffee, plus exhibition and display viewing at the City Chambers, Royal Mile, Edinburgh 9.45 9.50 10.00 11.00 11.30 12.30

Welcome to the City of Edinburgh – City representative Welcome to the conference – Julian Grenier, Chair of Trustees, Early Education Keynote speech: Growing companionable wellbeing – Rosemary Roberts Coffee Why relationships matter – Pattie Santelices Promoting confidence with children and families in the nursery setting – Chris McCormick, headteacher of Cameron House Nursery School, accompanied by parents

Lunch break plus exhibition and display viewing 1.45 Introduction to the afternoon session – Beatrice Merrick, Chief Executive, Early Education 1.55 Bursting with possibility – Virginia Radcliffe, Licketyspit Theatre Company 2.55 Scottish storytelling – Eric Brennan, an Edinburgh-based storyteller 3.20 Close of conference – President of Early Education 3.25 Invitation to Conference 2015 3.30 Depart DOWNLOAD THE CONFERENCE FLYER FOR MORE INFORMATION AND BOOKING FORM tinyurl.com/qfltbsz

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QUALITY EDUCATION

ducation International asserts that quality education is the result of both inputs and outputs. However, the debate currently focuses solely on outputs – that, by measuring things, you somehow improve them. What some governments and international institutions try to do is to take quality and pull it together with the idea of accountability. Then it is no longer about politicians being accountable to citizens or citizens realising their rights; it is about testing, evaluating, ranking, identifying, eliminating and outsourcing to private companies. EI condemns the fact that decades of under-investment, low expectations and low accountability of donors, governments and corporations, as well as low corporation taxes, have systematically created education systems designed to fail. It is not possible to master basic knowledge and skills if you are a child living in poverty who goes to an impoverished school with overcrowded classrooms and low quality tools and where teachers are unqualified and untrained.

“We have this ‘innovative’, narrow and relatively weak focus on quality that recasts education as merely a process where young people acquire the knowledge and skills their employers need” Avoidable learning crisis This is the learning crisis. Even though EI has repeatedly expressed its deepest concerns about the impact of education policies and under-investment on the quality of education, some education policymakers have said: “Input does not matter, process does not matter; the only things that matter are results. We believe that, if you just focus on quality results, we will able to find innovative ways to get quality learning.” These policy-makers have looked around the world for places that support their assumptions, opinions and beliefs. They looked to find that one teacher able to teach a class of 80 students where students are

doing well in tests and said: “If it can happen there, it should be able to happen anywhere.” In a matter of a few short years, the focus was placed on education systems – often seen as too expensive, too long-term and too complex. The main idea became that it would be better to find a few cheap innovations to improve quality. That is, quality being measured as children being able to write their names or read a few words, not quality being defined as teachers performing formative assessment across a wide range of criteria. So now we have this ‘innovative’, narrow and relatively weak focus on quality that recasts education as merely a process where young people acquire the knowledge and

Reframing the debate on

quality education A focus solely on outputs is wrong, argues David Edwards of Education International

22 | Improvement | winter 2013 / 2014

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skills their employers need. Against this, the challenge for EI (as the combined strength, vision and solidarity of the members of its 400 teacher unions) is to put forward another vision of quality public education. This new perspective should take into account the diversity of learning needs, the local level and the global challenges that we are facing in terms of environment, increasing inequality and violence. How do we put forward a new vision? How do we start talking about organising around a rights-based framework where the citizen’s priorities have at least as much weight as the employer’s priorities? We are going to begin with a very simple definition of what quality is and how it is fundamentally tied to equity.We are going to do that by looking at three main pillars:

Quality educators In terms of our profession – the field of education – what do we need to know in terms of our contents, our pedagogy? Developmentally, what do we need to know about how people develop at different ages? We have to put forward an educator-led vision for ensuring quality in our trade.

Quality teaching tools The second pillar has to do with the quality of the tools that we have available to teach with. In many parts of the world, teachers do not have books, there is no relevant curriculum and there are no adequate classroom materials to allow students to interact (i.e. in chemistry or natural sciences). We need to invest there. Also, there are new technologies available that only a few of our members have access to and that are being promoted in some circles

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as replacement for teachers. But, being the knowledge workers, the wisdom workers whose history and field goes back centuries, we are always used to the next salesman coming along with some gadget that can allegedly replace or supersede the quality teaching and learning interaction at the core of what we do.We remember the radio was supposed to replace us, along with the tape recorder, the television, the video recorder (VCR), the computer, the iPad or the mobile phone (i.e. the ‘drone education’).We have appropriated and used each new technology for our teaching and we will continue to do so.

Quality education requires quality teaching and learning environments The third pillar concerns quality teaching and learning environments. Quality teaching and learning environments can be measured by focussing on completion rates versus dropout rates, inclusion versus exclusion, relevance versus dogma and the collaboration, knowledge creation and critical thinking which permit students to know where to find answers and formulate questions. That is our challenge. We have to communicate and implement our vision and join forces with young people, parents, activists, concerned citizens and anyone else who thinks that the key to a better, fairer and more just future is in quality public education.

ABOUT EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL Education International is the voice of teachers and other education employees across the globe. A federation of approximately 400 associations and unions in more than 170 countries and territories, it represents 30 million educators in education institutions from early childhood to university. www.ei-ie.org

worldsofeducation.org/en/74#. UnJAXJE78cA

David Edwards is Deputy General Secretary of Education International, where he is responsible for EI’s work in the areas of education policy, employment and research. He was interviewed by Claude Carroue of Education International

winter 2013 / 2014 | Improvement | 23

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

SEN and Disability University of Derby in conjunction with the Aspect Group of Prospect

his highly relevant and up-to-date course has been developed with sector employers to develop key skills and knowledge. The course features several different pathways that enable specialisation in areas that are particularly relevant to your work and interests. It will develop you as a confident, knowledgeable and effective practitioner suitable to work with children and young people with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities and their families. It places emphasis on the knowledge and skills you will need to work effectively with this group of children and young people in ways that will bring them positive outcomes. You will study core modules and optional modules, and you will be able to specialise in SEND in Education or Health and Social Care. You will be able to reflect on your practice and enhance this through the theory you learn. Your work setting is used for work-based projects, activities and research, so everything you study will be relevant to your everyday work. Your tutors are knowledgeable, have academic and practical experience in the field and will support you on your journey. The course is flexible to suit you. You can study during the day, in the evening and at weekend study days, although some routes require you to attend specific days for specialised lectures. You’ll study a mixture of theory and practical work. ALL MODULES INCLUDE REFERENCE TO:

The development of your practice in your workplace Applying theory to practice and applying practice to theory Multidisciplinary working Reflective practice, attitudes and values Continuing Professional Development Policy and legislation

24 | Improvement | winter 2013 / 2014

At Stage One, you will study these core modules:

ACTION RESEARCH

STARTING TO STUDY

Small-scale action research within your work setting to support you in tackling a problem or issue.

An introduction to learning at university – study skills, selfmanagement, being critical, reflective practice, learning with others and academic writing.

WORKING WITH PARENTS TO SUPPORT THE LEARNING OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WITH SEND

INTRODUCTION TO SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITY

The historical context for SEND, different ways of understanding special educational needs and disabilities and the relevance of these understandings to practice. HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 1

An introduction to theories of human development (physical, social, emotional, sexual, identity, psychological, intellectual). ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Understanding the relevance of your own attitudes and values on your work with children and young people with SEND and their families. PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR THE SEND WORKER

Reflective practice and action learning in your work context.

Empowering parents and families, the implications of legislation, theories of participation. You will choose from these optional modules: SUPPORTING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WITH SEND

Exploring how specific learning difficulties and disabilities are understood and responded to.

HOW TO APPLY

UK/EU students – Part-time students should apply directly to the University. FEES AND FINANCE

THE CHANGING WORLD OF THE SEND PRACTITIONER

Professional skills (management of case work, communication, interpersonal skills), roles of professionals, working with other agencies. DUAL DIAGNOSIS – MENTAL HEALTH, WELLBEING AND SEND

Evaluating the diagnoses, treatment and responses to mental health problems among children and young people with SEND. INTRODUCTION TO SPEECH, LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

Safeguarding, policy and practice.

An exploration of competing theories of language development, developmental diversity in language development, interventions to support language development.

At Stage Two, you will study these core modules:

ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS AND TRANSITION TO ADULTHOOD

HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 2

Policy and practice as this relates to employment, continuing education, social inclusion and participation.

PROTECTING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITY

should already be working in the sector for two days per week, have a relevant vocational Level 3 qualification and be doing two days’ voluntary work in the sector. You will need five GCSEs including Maths and English, but we also accept Key Skills, Functional Skills and Higher Diploma Qualifications as the equivalent of GCSEs. We will also consider all the information that you have included in your application. We will also want to see that you’re enthusiastic and motivated to take this course, and that you have the potential to benefit from coming to university.

Fees for 2013/14 (this is a classroombased course) – UK/EU students: Currently £965* per module (you usually take 12 of these modules in total). *These fees apply if you are starting this course between September 2013 and August 2014. We recommend that you check fee details with us, as they can change. Costs can increase each year. HOW YOU WILL LEARN

You’ll learn through reflective tasks, presentations, work-based activities, tutorials and using online resources. There are no exams and you’ll be assessed using your work-based activities, creative presentations, essays, discussion papers, case studies and portfolios. CAREERS AND EMPLOYABILITY

Developing a deep understanding of theories and research on human development (such as Bowlby, Erikson and Levinson) and applying these to practice.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Our entry requirements are usually 80 UCAS points from A Level or equivalent qualifications such as a BTEC National Diploma, Scottish Higher etc. You

There’s a growing demand for highly qualified practitioners working in a range of sectors with a deeper knowledge in Special Educational Needs and Disability, so you will be well-placed to get a job when you graduate. You’ll have the knowledge, understanding and professional skills to progress in your practice and bring positive outcomes to children and young people.

www.aspect.org.uk

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT After completing this course, you will have the opportunity to progress to Stage 3 of an honours degree (either a taught course or through a work-based online course). You can then progress on to other professional courses such as the Early Years Teacher

course or take an initial teacher training qualification. In recent years, graduates have: moved ahead in their vocational field in senior roles, leading practice and settings; continued on to achieve BA Honours degrees in Child and

Youth Studies, BA Honours degrees in Early Childhood Studies, BA Honours degrees in Education Studies (SEND pathway), Joint Honours with Science or Health and Social Care; and continued on to teacher training.

General enquiries about admissions and applications, UK and overseas: Phone: +44 (0)1332 591167 Fax: +44 (0)1332 597724 Email: askadmissions@derby.ac.uk Course enquiries: Debs Robinson: 01332 591121 Rosemary Shepherd: 01332 592296

Coaching and mentoring A national qualification in coaching and mentoring is in your grasp

n partnership with training providers xué, the Aspect Group has developed two coaching and mentoring programmes of special value aimed at developing the professional skills of those who use coaching and mentoring in their work setting or who intend to establish an independent coaching practice. The courses are validated through the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), which is the UK’s premier management organisation, and xué is an Approved ILM Centre for the provision of coaching and mentoring programmes and qualifications. The qualifications are nationally recognised and part of the QCF (Qualifications and Credit Framework). Thus, the credits obtained on successful completion of the programmes contribute towards other nationally recognised awards offered by other bodies, including universities, and are a valuable resource for further professional development. The Aspect Group is currently offering two programmes. At postgraduate level, the ILM Level 7 in Certificate in Executive Coaching and Mentoring (which can be extended to the Diploma). At first degree level, the ILM Level 5 in Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring (which can also be extended to the Diploma). Again, additional coaching hours and an assignment are required for this course. Sue Spencer-Harrison of xué leads the Coaching and Mentoring Programme. xué – pronounced “sh-way” – is Mandarin for ‘to learn’. She says: “We aim to provide holistic, wrap-around support and development

www.aspect.org.uk

to aspiring, new and experienced coaches and mentors as well as working directly as coaches with individuals and organisations. We support individuals, teams and organisations facing change to clarify exactly what they want and then to achieve it with integrity. We all have a deep well of untapped potential, which we can unlock to enable us to achieve our goals.” She argues that the challenging environment faced by people working in the sector means they need to deepen their ability to manage change while developing their individual capacity to control their own learning and professional development. “It is also about growing as an individual. We believe you become an effective coach by experiencing excellent coaching and mentoring yourself, which is why we ‘coach’ on all of our programmes rather than ‘train’,” she says. Mike Fleetham, who has just finished the first module of the Level 7 Diploma Programme, comments: “It is the most effective CPD I’ve had in 19 years in education because coaching and mentoring is role modelled throughout the programme – you learn about excellent coaching by experiencing it.” Tracey Sharkey, who has successfully completed the xué ILM Level 5 Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring, says: “I just wanted to feed back on how useful the programme has been. I am an experienced NPQH coach, but this programme developed my expertise hugely. “The course was very challenging and required a lot of deep self reflection, and – as a result – I know my coaching has improved enormously. Sue Spencer-Harrison and the xué team were fantastic throughout.

“I am now at the point where I am developing my coaching business and wanted to say many thanks. “If future programme groups would benefit from any input from an old hand, then do not hesitate to ask.” Sue Sanford is very positive about the small group study format. “Having undertaken the Level 5 Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring with xué over the last 12 months, I’d recommend it to anyone who felt that coaching and mentoring might be for them,” she said. “Studying in a small group with xué was a very positive and enabling experience with great coaching skills modelled throughout the taught elements. Quite apart from wanting to develop coaching and mentoring as a formal part of what I offer, I found that what I learned through the study has been invaluable in improving the way I work anyway in terms of supporting colleagues in children’s services to innovate and improve. “The support from xué throughout the modules and after has been brilliant, and I look forward to continuing to work with xué as I develop my coaching practice.” For further information, please contact cheryl.crossley@prospect.org.uk

Element 1 –Programme introduction and preprogramme preparation Element 2 – completion of and feedback on a diagnostic/ assessment tool chosen to support each participant to gain personal insights and growth Element 3 – face-to-face full day modules supporting skill development and practice spread across the Programme Level 5 Programme – five days (typically spread over nine months) Level 7 Programme – six days (typically spread over 12 months) Element 4 – live coaching and/or mentoring practice, supported by a coaching diary Element 5 – coaching/ mentoring supervision by a trained supervisor Element 6 – personalised learning, supported through access to online materials Element 7 – completion of a Personal Learning Log Element 8 – completion of three written assignments. This element is supported by tutorials Element 9 – Personal Interest Study (for those taking the Level 7 Programme)

winter 2013 / 2014 | Improvement | 25

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Aspect’s BTEC Qualiﬁcations The Aspect Group of Prospect’s BTEC Professional Advanced awards and certificates have won great credibility across the range of children’s services

t the core of the professional development programme is the union’s highlyesteemed BTEC programme of advanced service training and professional career development for children’s services. The study programme provides an opportunity for reflection, review and assessment of your professional role. The portfolio is a great opportunity to focus on your achievements in your job, asking others for informal and formal feedback and gathering the evidence to show that your professional contribution makes a difference. Creating a persuasive and well evidenced portfolio that demonstrates your effectiveness and impact is of great use during performance management reviews, SPA 3 assessments, job

reviews, recruitment interviews and reorganisations. The programme provides a chance for teams to work together on what matters most to them, and confirm the impact they are having. Local authority children’s services teams have found that building portfolios together enables them to create a persuasive and comprehensive account of their work, their skills and the impact of their interventions. For some, this can also mean that a whole team portfolio, which is useful during reviews, audits and inspections, is produced. Employers, partners and client organisations are coming to realise the potential of the BTEC accreditation process as a useful quality assurance mechanism that enables individuals, teams and organisations to demonstrate the range and level of their professional skills, and to identify and work with other professionals with similar profiles and qualifications.

The first group of candidates for the new Advanced Professional Certificate in Improvement in Children’s Services, which is particularly designed for those who work in the multi-agency context, started last May and attracted interest from team leaders and other senior local authority professionals. The Aspect Group of Prospect’s BTEC Programme provides a powerful process that can make a significant contribution to demonstrating your competence, effectiveness, achievements and impact. More than 100 candidates have successfully completed one of the four courses available. THE BTEC QUALIFICATIONS AVAILABLE ARE:

BTEC Advanced Professional Certificate in Improvement in Education and Children’s Service Development – Level 7

BTEC Advanced Award in Governor Services in Education and Children’s Service Development – Level 3 BTEC Professional Certificate in Co-ordinating Governor Services in Education and Children’s Service Development – Level 6 WORKSHOPS

Discounts are also available for groups and for upgrading onto higher levels. We have introductory workshops for those interested in undertaking any of the above courses on: February 10 2014 in London 10.30-2.30pm May 19 2014 in Birmingham 10.30-2.30pm For further details, application forms or if you are interested in forming a local authority group to undertake any of the above BTEC programmes, please contact Cheryl Crossley – email: cheryl.crossley@prospect.org.ukor Tel: 01924 207890

Going independent? Want to be your own boss? Facing redundancy? Fancy becoming a freelance consultant? Still motivated by school improvement? This is the course for you…

he union has provided high quality support and training for more than 1,000 members in the last year. Thinking of becoming an independent consultant? If you are ‘thinking of going independent’ in the current economic climate, you need to consider: The professional context for independent consultancy

26 | Improvement | winter 2013 / 2014

Credibility from new skills and approaches to effective consultancy

SUPPORT IS OFFERED IN THREE WAYS:

MARKETING YOUR UNIQUE CONTRIBUTION

1 The very popular national course – covering the topics above (and more)

The practicalities of setting up a new business (e.g. record keeping and financing an office) Quality assurance, accounts, tax, insurance, professional indemnity, contracting and invoicing

2 A bespoke in-house course for groups of colleagues in a local authority or coming to the end of limited contracts – costs negotiated

THIS TAKES PLACE ON:

January 28 2014 in London £245 + VAT for Aspect Group members £295 + VAT for non-Aspect Group members

www.aspect.org.uk

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Practising spelling

ASPECT GROUP CONFERENCE LESLIE MANASSEH

Carving out

a new role W

“

e have an education secretary who is both deeply hostile to local government and appears to have complete faith in the ability of the market alone to deliver a good education for all,” group secretary Leslie Manasseh told the union’s 2013 conference. “His policy seems to be little more than encouraging free schools and academies who, freed from the yoke of local authority control, will apparently blossom and provide a place and a good education for all children,” he said.

“Our manifesto sets out the core principles on which effective educational improvement is based” Launching the union’s manifesto – ‘The Aspect Pledge’ – Leslie Manasseh said: “Markets are great to buy shoes or a new car, when consumer choice is a simple concept, but it is much less certain that the education of the nation’s children can be commoditised in the same way. “But that is increasingly the world we face. The union’s immediate challenge is to develop a policy response which is sufficiently compelling – which has credibility and which recognises and values the work Aspect Group members do. Our manifesto is an attempt to do so – to state in as clear and simple a way as possible what we stand for,” he said.

28 | Improvement | winter 2013 / 2014

“It sets out the core principles on which effective educational improvement is based and it sets out the elements that are central to an effective middle tier. “We do not argue for a return to the old system – that would not be practicable, nor would it acknowledge that there were flaws in it. But nor do we accept the premise that the market, left to its own devices, will deliver. Rather, we argue for intervention and regulation to maintain and improve standards on the basis of a simple set of principles and objectives. “We know that the clock cannot be rewound, but we fear that we are rushing headlong into a situation where schools try to survive in a fragmented and competitive system, fighting for scarce resources. In such a system, there will be winners and losers. The winners will be those who already enjoy advantages and the losers are all too likely to be among those who are already disadvantaged. The looming crisis in primary school places is a case in point. “We know there will be shortage in 2015, but the government’s answer apparently is to create more free schools – despite the evidence that most free schools open in areas where there is already a surplus of places.

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“So we believe in the value of planning, collaboration and democratic accountability – the central organising principles of any middle tier. We are not prescriptive as to structure; rather, we emphasise the aims and objectives – aims such as securing a fair admissions policy and a commitment to appropriately qualified teachers in every classroom,” he said. “The Aspect Group is uniquely wellplaced – as champions of professional ethics and standards – to stake a claim in the policy

debate and to attract education professionals to our ranks. “Our aim in producing the manifesto is to stake a claim in the policy debate and to provide a means to attract educational professionals to our ranks. And we are uniquely well-placed to do that,” he said. “As our traditional base within local government shrinks, we have to look elsewhere – in academy chains, traded services organisations, independent consultants and the whole panoply of bodies and structures

that is developing in order to support and provide services to schools. There is a market for the Aspect Group, but it is changing and we have to keep pace with it. “Our view is that being a voice for the profession is the central task, supported by bargaining and representational work, offering a CPD package and other membership services. But we need advocates on the ground – we need to encourage positive conversations about the union among the community of educational professionals.”

PRESIDENT

Tommy Doherty: “We bring expertise” “

his year, the union has made great strides in developing key areas of our work,” retiring Aspect Group president Tommy Doherty told conference. “The Aspect Pledge, which we have launched today, sets the agenda for professionals in our sector to deal with the new challenges that we face,” he said. “We bring expertise to the field of educational improvement and our goal is to maintain the highest possible standards in a rapidly changing world. “We know that schools and other educational establishments do not improve in isolation – most benefit from expert challenge and support. Our children’s education cannot be left to chance, experiment or gamble. Nor should it be dependent on the wealth of their parents.” Mapping the fast-changing and highlyfluid ‘middle tier’ had been a key element of the union’s work and strengthening the union’s intervention in debates around the shape of the ‘middle tier’ was critical for the next period, he added. The union’s lead in establishing quality standards in educational improvement had been strengthened, with a new Northern Ireland version published, the Scottish version updated, the Welsh version now well-established and work moving ahead on revising the English version to take account of the new terrain. In addition, extra training provision for local representatives, a revised induction pack and handbook for new members and an ambitious programme to improve internal communications and our website – still a work in progress, due to some practical difficulties harmonising with the Prospect system – was underway. Thanking Esther Pickup-Keller for her support during his presidential year, Tommy

www.aspect.org.uk

Doherty made special mention of Leslie Manasseh, who came fresh to the job as group secretary but has been very active in bringing about the various necessary changes to the Aspect Group on top of an extensive remit with other work for Prospect. Sharing the most positive and negative experiences of his presidential year, he said the positives included his pleasure at welcoming Council to his home city of Glasgow for the first time and hearing Finnish educator Pasi Sahlberg’s impressive input to the School Leaders’ Conference in Birmingham in June. “Finland has a fully-qualified, highly-paid teaching force and no inspection regime. Teachers are trusted to educate children and all external measures of success suggest that this is effective, placing Finland ahead of most other nations of the world,” he said. One of the low points came also at the Birmingham conference, with Michael Gove refusing to give a speech and taking questions but dodging and weaving around answers. “He displayed a patrician disdain for the audience – all senior and experienced educationalists,” he said. Another low point was the fact that, in a time of profound change to school structures, with the rollout of a massive programme to create more free schools and academies in England, the legitimate concerns expressed by educators have been largely ignored by mainstream media. This, he stated, was disgraceful. “We should make serious efforts

to continue to work productively with Solace, ACDS and the teachers’ professional associations to ensure that our voice is heard. Every educational professional is entitled to expect better than what this last year has brought them. The TUC has launched the slogan ‘Education is not for sale.’ Let us support that and help to bring about improvement for our educators and their pupils.”

winter 2013 / 2014 | Improvement | 29

ASPECT GROUP CONFERENCE MARK ROGERS

The centre will not hold

wo key local authority leaders brought to an attentive audience a refreshing mix of innovative thinking – tempered with hardheaded realism – in dealing with the problems that flow from the profound changes in the relationships between central and local government. Mark Rogers, chief executive at Solihull Council and current president of Solace, argued that his colleagues needed to take the initiative in shaping the sector from the officer perspective. His method, working closely with other local government bodies – the Local Government Association and the associations of directors of children’s services and social services – was to shape a ‘manifesto’ based around the idea that top-down programmes rarely have the same benefits as those framed by local priorities and that local government must be the driver of integrated services at local level. He was frank that – largely as a result of the cuts – the current national government was very difficult to work with and that local

government needed to think carefully to frame its proposition to government. Ten billion pounds had been taken out of local government funding and another ten billion is following – with a further five billion in the offing. Local government service delivery needed to be a partnership led by democraticallyelected local members with command of the local treasury, he said, and this is encapsulated in the Local Government Association’s idea of ‘rewiring public services’. For Solace, the emerging key priorities were an emphasis on local solutions to best improve outcomes and service integration. Notions of accountability needed to be reinvented and a new contract forged with communities. How councils interact with schools demonstrated how local government needed to be digital by default to take account of the experience of young people who live a whole life of technology-driven experience. Local government thinking is independent and vocationally-driven and, if the government won’t let evidence drive its

policies, local government would, he said. Every Child Matters is dead, he said, and it is no longer possible to deliver the five outcomes. Rewiring Public Services focusses on local design, the importance of early intervention and help and a consumer champion-led ‘inspection’ regime. Measures were needed to free up the school funding system at local level. Mark Rogers was clear that Michael Gove would get his programme through, even at primary level. This raised the issue of what kind of ‘middle tier’ structures could develop to deal with the inevitable inability of central government to manage local provision. Faced with the ‘cantonisation’ of education, our notions of inspection and intervention needed to be reinvented and he speculated that, in confronting the postECM paradigm, a Local Government Children’s Services Commission would be of value.

innovation, coming from Michael Gove’s department, carried with it a high failure rate. “I am content with not sticking with innovation very much for the moment.” Picking up on the theme of Every Child Matters, he argued that politicians as well as educationalists needed to configure their thoughts around children’s needs rather than schooling requirements. “I am unlikely to junk all that ECM evidence,” he said. “We are in danger of losing something. The rainbows have been taken off the signs and there is no going back. We need less thinking about children in two blocks – school and everything else – while the need was for a focus on children’s needs rather than schooling requirements. “We are constantly regaled with tales of how badly we do,” he said, “but, looking at attainment levels, our three best indicators are up there with the best in the world and, while the total picture was weaker, the Government was failing to take full account of international experience. “We are not doing as well as top scoring Finland, but then we were not doing as Finland does by taking action to raise attainment levels at the bottom and give teachers freedom to innovate.”

It was significant, he said, that Finland had done away with inspection as we know it. He was concerned that Britain’s care system seemed to be judged exclusively by its least successful parts. The fact is, he said, that Britain does well by international standards. Britain is a good place to be a child, but the care system, with 70,000 children in care, was viewed through the outcomes from two groups: children sent back to their home environments and those who enter the care system as teenagers – two categories that are bound to skew the outcomes. Although the Government had taken out a third of local authorities spend – resulting in a squeeze on preventative services, pupil and family support – they still needed to assert their role: “Occupy that territory,” he urged. Academy chains might be able to challenge effectively, he said, but standalone academies cannot and the new DfE regional directors network was not sufficiently resourced to deliver the quality of challenge needed.

ANDREW WEBB

The rainbow dimmed

e are the last custodians of local educational resources, ADCS president Andrew Webb told conference. “Something will still be present in local communities and local authorities will still have a key role in delivery. Something will be there beyond even the next round of innovations,” he said. Local authorities are characterised by excellence and by diversity and were strong custodians of continuity, he said, while

“Government doesn’t take a widescreen view of education and children’s services”

30 | Improvement | winter 2013 / 2014

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CLASS ANALYSIS

King James I of England and VI of Scotland with Truth and Time, Memory and History, by John Droeshout (died 1652)

32 | Improvement | winter 2013 / 2014

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The

wisest fool in Christendom Mike Hardacre reviews a new discussion paper

enri the Fourth, the 17th century king of France, described James the First, the then king of England and Scotland, as ‘the wisest fool in Christendom’. A new contender for this title is our Secretary of State for Private Education, Michael Gove. James cleaved to the concept of the divine right of kings to rule and that there should be no opposition to royal diktat. That in itself is a close comparator, given all those false promises that the minister and his party made before the election. All decisions were, according to these promises, to be made on the clear basis of evidence – this has turned out to be obfuscation at best. Gove’s many initiatives have been challenged as lacking a solid basis in data and his department’s actions as lacking sufficient theoretical or empirical justification. What, gentle reader, has provoked me to put splenetic pen to paper? I was asked to review a discussion paper by Stephen J. Bell which was written for the Centre for Labour and Social Studies. This fact alone would compel the Education Secretary to identify its author as a card-carrying member of The Blob, if not as a messianic Marxist-Leninist. In fact, the author of this 42-page paper is the Karl Mannheim Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of London’s Institute of Education. His paper Education, Justice and Democracy: The struggle over ignorance and opportunity was written as part of the CLASS celebration of the 70th anniversary of the publication of the Beveridge Report of 1943. He analyses how we have travelled to get to the stage of education we are now at.While he celebrates the results of the Beveridge Report, he also contextualises the major developments that brought it about, traces the strands over the last 70 years and demonstrates how successive

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government policies have been based on distrust of educational knowledge and expertise. He then goes on to develop the concept that education is more than turning out mechanical skills for the workplace and is in fact an integral necessity to preserve a democratic, liberal form of government. He wants to “work towards an educative relationship between schools and their communities.” Current policies fracture the connection between schools and their immediate community. The first part of Professor Bell’s paper takes us from the consensus of the 1944 Act, outlines its operational failings and then reminds us of the sorry road that education has traced from the Ruskin speech

a matter of political consensus while argument was about the details. As far as the elimination of ignorance was concerned, Beveridge’s impact was indirect; but it helped establish an uneasy, yet successful, consensus which lasted from 1944 until it was blown apart by James Callaghan’s fateful speech at Ruskin College in 1976. Amid the pressure for a core curriculum and basic skills, it’s worth remembering that Callaghan poured scorn on the idea that working-class education was about “fitting a so-called inferior group of children with just enough learning to earn their living in the factory”. Instead, first-rate schooling should be the birthright of “the whole labour movement”.

“Bell maintains the place that current policies are taking us will minimise educational opportunities for all but the middle classes” to the present administrative mess. The second part of his paper outlines his sense of what needs doing in order to fit education for the 21st century rather than the 19th. Beveridge’s report in 1943 was only indirectly responsible for the 1944 Butler Act. As Bell points out, Beveridge’s Report laid the groundwork for the reforms that produced the welfare state as we used to understand it, the National Health Service as we used to understand it, dealing with structural unemployment by planning and intervention, removing squalor from society and dealing with ignorance. Dealing with these huge issues in the middle of a war that had plunged the country into debt that would be unimaginable even today became

Unfortunately, there was no immediate or fruitful response from the education establishment. It was left to Thatcher and Major to introduce the national curriculum, testing, league tables and the half-trained Ofsted regime we now have – and to do it without sufficient resources. There was little real discussion with the experts, unions, parents or the local democratically-elected systems that possessed the knowledge and expertise that could have anticipated errors. The system became a proscriptive, outcomeled Gradgrind affair in which pedagogical knowledge and expertise came to be regarded with suspicion and with the curriculum narrowed to factual and skill acquisition rather than a full preparation for all of life.

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CLASS ANALYSIS

CLASS POLICY PAPER

Education, justice and democracy: The struggle over ignorance and opportunity 128 Theobalds Road, London WC1X 8TN Email: info@classonline.org.uk Tel: 020 7611 2569 www.classonline.org.uk

Underlying Bell’s historical narrative is the clear view that, despite all the reforms that have taken place between 1870 and the present, the nexus between class and educational achievement has never been changed except, occasionally, at the fringes. He cites numerous facts, figures and data to show that the reforms of 1976 to 2010 sapped teacher trust and morale and that the reforms since 2010 have created a diffusely-managed, undemocraticallycontrolled education system which acts in the interests of the more privileged and positively disadvantages working-class children. Bell maintains the place that current policies are taking us will minimise educational opportunities for all but the middle classes, who know how to manoeuvre around the entry requirements schools that Ofsted’s selective data deem good or outstanding. This is grounded in a view that education is a preparation for work and, therefore, demands a certain kind of skills-based education for most while reserving a broader education for the upper echelons. It is as if access to culture and understanding would be wasted upon those whose parents are incapable of negotiating the opaque muddle of an unmanageable system. Those who believe that the purpose of education is to fit our young people to be

“Education is more than turning out mechanical skills for the workplace” part of a democratic, thinking society which values culture in its broadest sense will find much in this paper to support. Those whose preference is for the anarchic chaos of the system being created will join with the minister in believing that those who demand data-driven policy based on knowledge and information and implemented with sensitivity, fairness and clarity “are a set of politically motivated individuals who have been actively trying to prevent millions of our poorest children getting the education they need.” Bell: tinyurl.com/q654tt Callaghan 1976 speech: tinyurl.com/ozmw55a Gove: tinyurl.com/d4gq534 Mike Hardacre is vice president of the Aspect Group

Prospect pioneers Celebrating women working in male-dominated occupations

rospect has produced a striking new calendar to help challenge attitudes towards women in STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – occupations. Prospect and Leonora Saunders, who photographed the women, mounted a one-day exhibition of the portraits at the Royal Society in December 2013. Sue Ferns, the union’s director of communications and research, said: “As the report by Professor John Perkins showed last year – and 100 years after Emily Davison died at the Derby – the UK’s gendered labour market still holds back too many women from achieving their potential. This is bad news for an economy that needs the skills of the entire workforce to build a high quality, sustainable recovery. We are ready to work with the government, employers and

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educators to make a difference. We are also pleased to be the first union to join Women in Science and Engineering.” WISE director Helen Wollaton said: “We need to do more to inspire girls and women to choose STEM careers. WISE wants to see women make up 30 per cent of those working in STEM occupations in the UK by 2020. Trade unions, with their tradition of campaigning for equality, can make an important contribution to this.We are delighted to support the Prospect Pioneers launch and to welcome Prospect as our first trade union member, and we look forward to working with them to make a bigger difference.” This year, Prospect has also produced a charter for women in STEM, which is supported by the TUC, and launched a campaign at the House of Commons in November which involves MPs signing pledges to act on a number of issues of concern – one

of which is women in STEM occupations. The union will donate money from the sales to a Prospect-sponsored Oxfam project in Kenya, which will help to improve the employment conditions of thousands of domestic workers in the slums of Nairobi. The calendar is for sale at www.prospect.org.uk/pioneers. It costs £5, plus postage and packing.

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GENETICS

Nick Wright asks: Is genetics a sufficient basis for a schools policy?

Genes, IQ

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

and

heritability 36 | Improvement | winter 2013 / 2014

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ver since the intellectual case for school selection based on intelligence quotient testing was found to be grounded in faked statistics, there has been an unceasing quest to find a new theoretical basis for a school system based on differentiating children. The talmudic text deposited at the DfE by Michael Gove’s departing policy advisor suggests that genetics may be the new great white hope for those who need the appearance of intellectual rigour to cloak their preference for selection. Only a political innocent would think that an argument that dismissed the value of much education, trashed teachers and claimed for heritability a privileged place in determining children’s ability would go unchallenged. Michael Gove’s special advisor (or ‘Spad’) Dominic Cummings – the author of a 250page reflection on government, politics and education* – is reportedly returning to his career in the ministerially-favoured ‘free schools’ sector. The practical case for such schools – freed from curriculum requirements, the necessity to employ qualified teachers, pay agreed pay rates or appoint headteachers with teaching experience – is already unravelling more speedily than the faked science that underpinned the introduction of the 11-plus. To recap – for the benefit of any ministerial aide whose Oxford degree in Ancient and Modern History missed out the 20th century – Cyril Burt, knighted in 1946 for services to psychological testing, based his conclusion that the superior performance in his tests of upper class children in private preparatory schools was due to their greater inherited intelligence. He reached this conclusion in 1909 and, by the time he died in 1971, the idea that tests at the end of primary education were an accurate predictor of general intelligence and, by extension, future academic performance, vocational aptitude and positioning in the social structure, was under assault. Burt based much of his research on the performance in intelligence tests of monozygotic twins. Within a few years, both the identity (and even the existence) of his supposed collaborators in fieldwork and the statistical reliability of his key evidence was questioned. By the end of the decade, his intellectual reputation was irredeemably tarnished and his friend and biographer Leslie Hearnshaw had concluded that Burt’s data – critically important in the political case for selection and the post-war tri-partite division of secondary education – was fraudulent or could not be relied upon**. Remarkably, the evidence of this fraud has been challenged and a lively polemic has

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ensued in which the strongest suggestions that Burt’s findings remain valid have come from people who still cleave to the proposition that the genetic heritability of intelligence as measured by IQ scores has decisive utility in education policy. While this puts the question firmly into the contested terrain of ideology and politics, Cummings’ claim that: “There is strong resistance across the political spectrum to accepting scientific evidence on genetics. Most of those that now dominate discussions on issues such as social mobility entirely ignore genetics and therefore their arguments are at best misleading and often worthless,” is a transparent bid to claim the evidential high ground.

“He claims for genetic factors a decisive role in determining intelligence and educational attainment” Relying on the work of US behavioural geneticist Robert Plomin, he claims for genetic factors a decisive role in determining intelligence and educational attainment. Plomin enters the backstory at this point. In a speculative Spectator article this July, he takes a swipe at Leon Kamin, the author of a 1970s book The Science and Politics of IQ, which analysed Burt’s statistics and found the correlation coefficients of monozygotic and dizygotic twins’ IQ scores were the same to three decimal places across articles – even when Burt more than doubled his sample. Plomin seems uncomfortable with the mechanistic application of his research to contemporary political controversies. In an illuminating BBC Radio 4 exchange with the geneticist Steve Jones, he was at pains to make the point that no policy implications necessarily follow from his work and emphatically stated: “I am not advising on policy.” By way of contrast, Dominic Cummings makes larger claims for this evidence: “Work by one of the pioneers of behavioural genetics, Robert Plomin, has shown that most of the variation in performance of children in English schools is accounted for by within school factors (not between school factors), of which the largest factor is genes. Scores in the phonics tests

show ~70 per cent heritability; scores in National Curriculum reading and maths tests at seven, nine and 12 show ~60-70 per cent heritability and scores in English, Maths and Science GCSEs show ~60 per cent heritability in a just-completed twin study (the GCSE data will be published later in 2013).” Cummings is keen to discount environmental factors in shaping pupil performance and emphasise the primacy of genetic factors. “In contrast, the overall effects of shared environment (including all family and school influences shared by the twins growing up in the same family and attending the same school) accounts for only about a third of the variance of GCSE scores. Educational achievement in school is more heritable than IQ in English school children i.e. the heritability of what is directly taught is higher than what is not directly taught. Perhaps differential performance in educational achievement is heritable because it is taught: that is, roughly similar schools teaching the same material reduces a major source of environmental variation, therefore the variation that remains is even more due to genetic variation.” And he is equally keen to discount family wealth, social position and class as factors: Similarly, this paper (Science, April 23 2010) shows how good teachers improve reading standards for all, but this means that the variance that remains is more due to genetic differences.This leads to a conclusion almost completely at odds with prevailing conventional wisdom in political and academic debates over education: differences in educational achievement are not mainly because of ‘richer parents buying greater opportunity’ and the successful pursuit of educational opportunity and ‘social mobility’ will increase heritability of educational achievement.” To collapse the entire corpus of ‘progressive’ educational thought into the simple concept that educational achievement arises from privileged access is a transparently rhetorical flourish that abandons any claim to rational debate. Behind it lies an unsavoury strain of thinking with a compelling claim to historical continuity. It was, after all, Cyril Burt who, in his 1909 study, argued that: “Wherever a process is correlated with intelligence, these children of superior parents resemble their parents in themselves being superior. Proficiency at such tests does not depend on opportunity or training, but on some innate quality.The resemblance in degree of intelligence between the boys and their parents must, therefore, be due to inheritance. We thus have an experimental demonstration that intelligence is hereditary.” 1909, p181.

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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

GENETICS

Palace examinations at Kaifeng, Song Dynasty, China

Burt’s 1909 comparative measure of parental intelligence had the virtue of simplicity. He simply assumed it from their profession and social position, taking intellectual and upper class parents of his sample cohort to be more intelligent than the tradesmen. Sixty years later, when quizzed about his measure of parental intelligence, he reported that: “The intelligence of the parents was assessed primarily on the basis of their actual jobs, checked by personal interviews.” Today, of course, rich parents – even those seized by the insight that the intelligence of their offspring is mostly inherited – are still inclined to trust the education of their children not to the cash-strapped and highly invigilated state sector, but to a more relaxed environment where generously-endowed private schools with smaller class sizes and better paid teachers enjoy more intimate and productive relations with the most prestigious

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universities. Lower down the pecking order, ambitious parents will move might and main (and address) in order to get their children into a school perceived to be better. An inevitable consequence of the current fashion for behavioural genetics is the hunt for the ‘intelligence gene’. Much hope is invested in the work of young Chinese researcher Zhao Bowe at the biotech research centre BGI Shenzen, where a large array of DNA sequencing machines is available. The research programme – which involves an international group of collaborators – is aimed at discovering the genetic code for intelligence by distilling information from the genomes of thousands of prodigies. Large claims are made for the project: that it will identify the genetic basis of IQ and allow for large-scale embryo screening including interventions to raise the IQ potential of unborn children.

Sceptics naturally predict failure for this utopian project. They point to the complexity involved in the relatively simpler scheme to isolate the genetic determinants of height in which nothing much emerged until the DNA sample exceeded 10,000. After herculean efforts, scientists have now tracked down something close to 1,000 genetic variations that can be connected to variations in height with some claim to universal applicability across different population groups. Zhao’s is a bold initiative and one with no easily-determined time scale. If the interest in this project objective arises from a desire for scientific and rational policies which might identify and educate a larger cohort of exceptionally gifted children, perhaps one drawn from a wider social spectrum than conventional school systems and testing regimes deliver, it might have wide appeal.

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If, however, it was to be deployed to exclude some children from access to the best locally available education, its appeal would be greatest to those who dismiss the potential of the great majority of children to develop beyond expectations. Cummings is frank in his advocacy of special educational privileges for children who are identified as especially gifted. From the standpoint of school improvement professionals concerned with the education of that great majority of children who do not enjoy the classroom conditions of the elite, the priority is to devise strategies that realise the educational potential of the many. If it would be perverse to ignore science that showed a powerful role for heritability in IQ test results, it would be equally perverse to discount the significance of the uncontroversial finding that Cummings references: “that good teachers improve reading standards for all”. Education has a wider role than simply identifying and developing exceptionally gifted pupils. Such children have to live in a real world where the fullest development of each child’s potential is the condition for the fullest development of society as a whole. Behavioural genetics has a serious public relations problem in education circles that is not going to be easily dispelled by partisan polemics of the type deployed by Michael Gove’s attack dogs.

“The priority is to devise strategies that realise the educational potential of the many” Neither will it be rehabilitated if it is deployed to perpetuate an education system that allows privileged elites, whether those elites are selected by parental wealth or genetic endowment, to prosper while the needs of society as a whole and of the individual child are neglected. A deeper understanding of the role of heritability factors in the development of the child is an undoubted common good, but a fixed gaze on the genome must not be at the expense of a 20/20 vision of education for all. * http://static.guim.co.uk/ni/1381763590219/ -Some-thoughts-on-education.pdf ** Hearnshaw, L.S. (1979). Cyril Burt: Psychologist. Ithaca, NewYork: Cornell University Press.

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Greed or breeding? Mayor lauds ‘assortative mating’

ayor of London Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, whose office carries no powers over London’s schools, has developed his views on what might account for differences in educational attainment and the ‘equality gap’. Earlier, the Mayor of London told the Margaret Thatcher Foundation that: “Whatever you may think of the value of IQ tests, it is surely relevant to a conversation about equality that as many as 16 per cent of our species have an IQ below 85, while about two per cent have an IQ above 130.” Echoing the views of Michael Gove’s special advisor Dominic Cummings, he argued that more resources should go to educating the brightest children. Advocating a new kind of grammar school, he stressed the need for academic selection, which he rebranded as “academic competition”. He added a proposal for a revival of the assisted places scheme – where the government funded bright children from poorer families to go to public school – abandoned by the Labour government at the end of the last century. He went on to say that: “I don’t believe that economic equality is possible; indeed, some measure of inequality is essential for the spirit of envy and keeping up with the Joneses and so on that it is a valuable spur to economic activity.” Spelling out his views on the free market, he said: “No one can ignore the harshness of that competition, or the inequality

that it inevitably accentuates, and I am afraid that violent economic centrifuge is operating on human beings who are already very far from equal in raw ability, if not spiritual worth.”

“I don’t believe that economic equality is possible” Speaking to the right-wing Centre for Policy Studies, Johnson ventured into a more sociological explanation for inequality: “Some put it down to assortative mating –the process by which the massive expansion of the female population in higher education has meant an intensification of marriages and partnerships between universityeducated couples, and an increase in their economic advantages,” he said.

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BRIEFINGS

NO MATTER WHAT, AN ADOPTIVE FAMILY’S STORY OF HOPE, LOVE AND HEALING

This engagingly warm-hearted book should be required reading for anybody who thinks they might be facing fertility problems, anybody contemplating adoption, recent and not-so-recent adopters and the teaching and social work professionals who engage with them. It is an eminently readable account of a 10-year rollercoaster ride ending in acceptance, love and tranquility. Rollercoaster is the operative word. The book’s clear-sighted account of the downs as well as the ups is part of its value to the general and professional reader. The ride begins with the suspicion – after years of trying – that a natural family is not going to happen. Rejecting IVF, Sally and Rob Donovan investigate adoption, meanwhile enduring the life of a childless couple in a circle of family and friends preoccupied with childbirth, babies and family life. The emotional big dipper rises higher and falls more steeply during the processes of being approved as prospective adoptive parents. When two appallingly abused children aged one and three come to live with them and are adopted, the highs and lows are even more extreme. However, the very moving final episode which relates the primary school’s leavers’ assembly, when Jamie comes to the end of Year 6, brings the book to a close with a strong sense of achievement and genuine peace. The author’s energetic narrative style adopts the historic present, propelling the reader from one chapter to the next. It enables the book to convey some important information with a light touch. The passage in which, through ‘Patrick’, she explains the effect of neglect on children’s brain development, the implications for their behaviour and accordingly for parenting style is a good case in point. There are frequent passing references to attachment disorder which build up into a helpful picture of the child’s experience of it and offer strategies for adults to help manage it. There is also a good discussion of what proves to be perhaps the hardest challenge

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of all. This is how to handle Jamie’s absolute certainty – throughout his childhood – that his birth family had treated him cruelly because “I must have been bad”. He was taken from them at the age of two. If the main characters in the story are Sally and Rob and the two children Jamie and Rose, there is a rich cast of minor characters. The professionals involved are divided into those who are aware of the issues surrounding abused and adopted children and those who are not. The latter are incisively dissected. The empathy and professionalism of the others (for example, members of the social work adoption team and the teachers at the children’s second primary school) are warmly celebrated. Family and friends come in for a mixed report. At different times uncomprehending, supportive and insensitive, they are a source both of strength and exasperation. A strength of the book is its honesty, with the sharpest edges moderated by its candid humour. The emotional and personal cost on the one hand and the rewards of living with adopted children on the other are presented without flinching. At some points, one is left wondering how Sally will survive. As Patrick puts it: “I have to remind myself when I meet a foster carer or an adopter in need of support that I am not seeing the person they once were. Traumatised children can traumatise their carers.” Yet, in her final passages, she writes: “Eight years ago, I wouldn’t have dared to hope Rob and I would have lives bubbling full of family – let alone be spending a hot July afternoon witnessing our children’s hard-won successes. Jamie and Rose have been gifted to us and they have changed everything; they have filled that empty gaping hole in our lives and so much more – their uniqueness, their love, their pasts and their futures.” A challenging but uplifting book.

EVALUATION OF CHILDREN’S CENTRES IN ENGLAND (ECCE)

This is the fourth report from the Evaluation of Children’s Centres in England (ECCE), a six-year study commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE) and undertaken by NatCen Social Research, the University of Oxford and Frontier Economics. The DfE describes the core purpose of children’s centres as improving outcomes for young children and their families, with a particular focus on the most disadvantaged families, in order to reduce inequalities in child development and school readiness. This is supported by improved parenting aspirations, self-esteem, parenting skills, child and family health and life chances. The ECCE evaluation is producing a very detailed picture of the first two phases of children’s centres in England – those which are aimed at the most disadvantaged areas.

No matter what: An adoptive family’s story of hope, love and healing Sally Donovan £9.99 (Paperback) 352pp Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2013 ISBN: 978-1-84905-431-7

KEY FINDINGS

Service Delivery The ‘top five’ services mentioned by more than 90 per cent of centres were a mixture: Stay and play for children and parents Evidence-based parenting programmes Early learning and childcare Developing and supporting volunteers Breastfeeding support

Evaluation of Children’s Centres in England (ECCE) Strand 3: Delivery of Family Services by Children’s Centres DFE, Report RR297 July 2013 149pp Available for free download

Between 2011 and 2012, centres were observed to be shifting towards a more focused and targeted range of services for parents and outreach to homes. MULTI-AGENCY WORKING AND INTEGRATION

Centre managers placed particular importance on four aspects of service delivery and ethos: Being able to talk informally to staff such as health visitors, midwives, or social workers Having workers willing to ring up other professionals or services if parents need information or a referral to another service Workers visiting families at home

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BRIEFINGS Physical accessibility of the centre (for example, to wheelchair users) There were long-standing issues in some areas over data-sharing with health. LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

In a comparison of various aspects of leadership, the quality of a centre’s ‘organisation and management’ was rated as lower than other aspects of leadership such as ‘vision and mission’ and ‘staff recruitment’. This is likely to be a consequence of the reconfiguration of centres and the tightening of centre’s funds, together prompting staff redeployment and staff turnover. In centres where managers held higher leadership qualifications (e.g. the National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership: NPQICL), key centre staff were more likely to report greater levels of safeguarding and more managerial leadership delegation to the Senior Management Team. Several aspects of management were noted as better in main-site centres with single-lead centre managers when compared against clusters or complex multi-site setups. The aspects included the ‘training and qualifications of staff’ and a centre’s overall ‘organisation and management’. EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE

Staff reported a widespread use of well-evidenced programmes, particularly: ‘Incredible Years’ programme The ‘Positive Parenting Programme’ (‘Triple P’) Family Nurse Partnership. Centres also reported running a varied range of other programmes (for example, Baby Massage, Every Child a Talker and the Solihull Approach). Well-evidenced programmes reached a relatively small number of participants (mainly mothers) over the course of a year, compared to other programmes. For example, centre staff estimated that the average number of families reached by the ‘Incredible Years’ programme was 22 per year and was 23 per year for ‘Triple P’. On the other hand,

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centre staff reported reaching higher numbers of participants within other programmes such as Baby Massage (average: 47) and PEEP (average: 104), with one potential explanation being that these are typically openaccess and run by centre staff rather than requiring attendance at a fixed set of sessions. REACH AND STRUCTURE OF CHILDREN’S CENTRES

Preliminary analysis of user postcodes showed that the majority (76 per cent) of the sampled Phase 1 and 2 centres were physically located in the 30 per cent most deprived areas and drew the majority of their users (59 per cent) from such areas. A small number of centres (nine per cent) were located in less deprived areas and drew the majority of their children from similarly less deprived areas. However, they also drew nearly a third of their users from the most deprived areas. Most users lived very close to their centre. Thirty per cent lived less than 500 metres from their centre, 61 per cent less than one kilometre away and 78 per cent less than 1.5km. Observations by researchers and interviews with staff members showed that the ‘one-stop shop’ model for delivering family and children services was being replaced by complex clustering of centres and satellite sites, with particular services being delivered by particular sites. Some services were also becoming clustered across several centres, where the provision was available across different sites. It is likely that this was for reasons of efficiency, especially when it means that highly trained professionals can offer specialised services across a number of centres. Centres appeared to be moving towards the DfE’s new core purpose. Researchers noticed examples of reduced universal services, increased levels of targeted acute social care work and increased participation in multi-agency teamwork across the local authority. CONCLUSION

Children’s centres are changing and will continue to change. In keeping with government policy, nearly all have prioritised their work with the most vulnerable families. At a time when all public services are having to trim

down, children’s centres may need to concentrate on those activities and relationships that have the most beneficial effects for their users.

QUALITY MATTERS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE UNITED KINGDOM (ENGLAND)

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) can bring a wide range of benefits – for children, parents and society at large. However, these benefits are conditional on ‘quality’. Expanding access to services without attention to quality will not deliver good outcomes for children or longterm productivity benefits for society.

Quality Matters in Early Childhood Education and Care United Kingdom (England) Taguma, Litjens and Makowiecki 102pp OECD 2012 Free download at: www.oecd.org/publishing

What does ‘quality’ mean? OECD’s publication Starting Strong 3: A Quality Toolbox for Early Childhood Education and Care has identified five ‘policy levers’ that can encourage quality in ECEC, having positive effects on early child development and learning. These are: Policy Lever 1: Setting out quality goals and regulations Policy Lever 2: Designing and implementing curriculum and standards Policy Lever 3: Improving qualifications, training and working conditions Policy Lever 4: Engaging families and communities Policy Lever 5: Advancing data collection, research and monitoring Reports on specific countries will each tackle a specific theme selected by the country to be reviewed. Each report will suggest strengths and point to areas for further reflection on current policy initiatives. Of the five policy levers, England selected Policy Lever 4 for its current policy focus. There are four chapters. CHAPTER 1: WHERE DOES THE UNITED KINGDOM (ENGLAND) STAND REGARDING POLICY OUTCOMES AND INPUTS?

England performs above the OECD average on most, but not all, ECEC outcome indicators. On participation, England has a relatively large share of children attending

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BRIEFINGS AND REVIEW some form of ECEC. On child outcome indicators, England performs well in reading and science. Possible policy changes from an international comparative perspective include improving maternal labour market participation of mothers with young children and improving students’ performance on PISA mathematics. England has above-average public expenditure levels on young children and family benefits and maternity leave entitlements. England could consider improving possibilities for parental leave for fathers and implementing better staff-child ratios. CHAPTER 2: WHAT DOES RESEARCH SAY?

The factors of family and community engagement that matter most in enhancing the quality of ECEC and children’s development are: the quality of the home-learning environment; parenting skills; participation in ECEC activities; partnerships between parents, communities and ECEC centres and partnerships with the wider community. A combination of these approaches is also possible. Sound research on the effects of family and community engagement approaches and evaluations of engagement initiatives are needed. CHAPTER 3: WHERE DOES THE UNITED KINGDOM (ENGLAND) STAND COMPARED TO OTHER COUNTRIES?

In England, the value of involving parents and communities in providing good care and education for young children is increasingly recognised. England has a clear government plan to enhance parental and community engagement; involves parents in evaluating ECEC services; has plans to strengthen the co-operation between ECEC and health services; targets disadvantaged families to decrease inequity and supports young parents. Capitalising upon its strengths, England could further enhance quality in ECEC through strengthening parental and community engagement and learning from some suggested practices in other countries.

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CHAPTER 4: WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES?

Common challenges countries face in engaging families and communities in ECEC are: 1) lack of awareness and motivation; 2) communication and outreach; 3) time constraints; 4) increasing inequity and 5) co-operation with other services and levels of education. England has made efforts to tackle these challenges by (for example, revising entitlement to free hours of ECEC to meet parental needs). England could also consider strategies implemented by New Zealand, Nordic countries and the United States, such as involving parents in curriculum development; training staff specifically on communication and co-operation with community services; setting flexible times for contact hours between staff and parents; developing specialised parenting home programmes and bridging between ECEC provisions and different community services. COMMENT

This publication is intended to be a quick reference guide for anyone with a role to play in encouraging quality through England’s ECEC curriculum. It is very detailed, with numerous tables, charts, spider webs and references. It will reward attentive reading. ‘Quick reference’ might be harder to achieve.

EXCELLENCE THROUGH EQUITY: GIVING EVERY STUDENT THE CHANCE TO SUCCEED

The clue is in the name. The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development groups the most powerful market economies and is primarily concerned with the integration of these economies. Thus, education (and, specifically, the formation of the workforce) has a high priority. This volume two of the current PiSa tranche is concerned with what it calls equity and has a focus on mathematics. It sets out to define and measure equity in education and analyse how equity in education has evolved across countries between PiSa 2003 and 2012.

The OECD defines equity as “providing all students, regardless of gender, family background or socio-economic status, with opportunities to benefit from education. Defined in this way, equity does not imply that everyone should have the same results. It does mean, however, that students’ socioeconomic status or the fact that they have an immigrant background has little or no impact on their performance, and that all students, regardless of their background, are offered access to quality educational resources and opportunities to learn.” The report consists of a summary of its findings and methodology, a table of comparative results for equity with changes in rankings since 2003, a description of the principal areas of investigation in its 2013 survey and distribution charts for student performance and equity. The data sets are complex and detailed and, in some cases, highly speculative. For example, charts detailing changes between 2003 and 2012 in the relationship between mathematics performance and immigrant background for firstand second-generation students is based on student’s self-reporting and covers both the core OECD countries and the less economically developed ‘partner’ countries. It compares performance between non-immigrant, first-generation and second-generation children against the in-house PISA index of economic, social and cultural status. It details difference in mathematics performance between non-immigrant and secondgeneration students; between non-immigrant and first-generation students; between second- and firstgeneration students; between nonimmigrant and second-generation students AFTER accounting for socioeconomic status; between non-immigrant and first-generation students AFTER accounting for socioeconomic status; and between second- and first-generation students AFTER accounting for socio-economic status. This is a massive data set that clearly provides powerful insights into trends but does not lend itself easily to authoritative judgements about what strategies for improvement might be valuable for any of the widely differing

Excellence through Equity: Giving every student the chance to succeed PISA 2012 Results (Volume II) PISA OECD Publishing OECD (2013) http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/978 9264201132-en

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REVIEW educational settings under scrutiny. Similarly, the tables for proficiency levels in maths on levels of concentration of immigrant children in school and separately for those immigrant children who do not speak the language of assessment at home are reporting on immigrant communities in contexts as diverse as Slovenia and Switzerland, Albania and the United Arab Emirates. The cultural context of student self-reporting is clearly an active issue. The tables reporting the relationship between mathematics performance and the individual elements of socioeconomic background, grouped by region and comparing Portugal, the regions of the Spanish state, the parts of the United Kingdom and three US states, deploy categories as diverse as parental occupational status, parents’ level of education, an index of cultural possessions, an index of home educational resources, the number of books at home and wealth.

Pledge

WHAT CONCLUSIONS DOES THE REPORT REACH?

That class is a key determinant. As the report puts it: “While many socioeconomically disadvantaged students succeed at school and many achieve at high levels on the PISA assessment, socio-economic status is still a strong predictor of performance in many countries and is associated with large differences in performance in most countries and economies that participate in PISA. Socioeconomically advantaged students and schools tend to outscore their disadvantaged peers by larger margins than between any other two groups of students.” Across the OECD countries – six per cent, or nearly one million students – are “resilient”, meaning that they beat the socio-economic odds against them and exceed expectations when compared with students in other countries. In Korea, Hong Kong, Macao, Shanghai, Singapore and Vietnam, 13 per cent of students or more are resilient and perform among the top 25 per cent of students across all participating countries and economies. Across OECD countries, a more socio-economically advantaged student scores 39 points higher in mathematics – the equivalent of nearly one year of schooling – than a less-advantaged student.

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Education is at the centre of political debate. Education professionals and all who work with children and young people are living through profound changes in the ways that schools are set up, managed and regulated. The Aspect Group’s annual conference saw the launch of a new manifesto – The Aspect Pledge – which refashions the union’s longstanding advocacy of high-quality standards for the new environment.

The Aspect Group is an unrivalled pool of expertise – it is the only organisation that represents professionals in educational improvement and is uniquely placed to speak with authority for the specialists who embody this knowledge and understanding. The Aspect Pledge sets out the key elements that must underpin educational improvement and gives substance to the arguments for a well-resourced middle tier based on a collaborative model that shares best practice.

The Aspect Group backs up its active intervention in the debates that are shaping a new professional and political consensus around education with a vigorous role as the trade union for professional staff in local authorities, traded service organisations, academy chains, schools and early years settings across the UK. The Aspect Pledge makes the case for every professional working in our sector to become a member. Download the pledge at tinyurl.com/ nzlfd8z and sign up a colleague.

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UNION RESOURCES

Elections to the Regional Aspect Group and Sector Executive Council Representatives The Biennial General Meeting agreed to change the rules governing the election of the Group Executive Council to provide for the following: Biennial elections of all members of the Group Executive Council A Group Executive Council consisting of a president, two vice-presidents and 15 other members A reserved seat for each of the devolved administrations The use of electronic ballots

MIKE WOOLER

Candidates need to be nominated using a copy of the form enclosed with this issue. The nomination form has also been sent to members electronically. Hard copy nominations must be received by noon on January 24 2014. If you have not received an electronic version, please contact the Aspect Group office via email at aspect@prospect.org.uk or telephone 01924 207890 to confirm that we hold a current email address for you. If there are more candidates than places for any position, an election will be conducted by electronic ballot as soon as practicable after the closing date for nominations. Candidates will be invited to submit an election address which will be circulated to members by email with instructions on how to participate in the electronic ballot. If you do not have a current email address, please apply for a postal vote by telephoning the Aspect Group office on the above number

SUSIE HALL

Region 1 North East michael.wooler@rocketmail.com MIKE JONES

Region 2 Yorkshire and the Humber mike.jones@hullcc.gov.uk TERESA JOHNSON

Region 3 East Midlands Teresa.Johnston@northlincs.gov.uk

Regional and sector representatives Sean Maguire of Northern Ireland has taken office as president of the Aspect Group and Mike Hardacre of the West Midlands has been elected to serve as interim vice president until the elections scheduled under the amended constitution for early next year. CALLING ALL EXISTING (AND PROSPECTIVE) LOCAL REPS

The next Aspect Group local representatives’ training day is on April 4 2014 at Prospect’s head office in Waterloo. Keep the date free and watch out for more details of the agenda. These are useful sessions that are designed to help local union reps deal with problems that affect union members at work and make sense of the rapidly changing world of children’s services and school improvement. They are also a good introduction for new reps and, if your workplace is without a union rep, make a point of attending and take up the challenge.

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Aspect Group regional and specialist officers GLENN JOHNSON

London/Southern England and East Midlands Glenn.Johnson@prospect.org.uk

CLAIRE DENT

London and Southern England Claire.Dent@prospect.org.uk

REGION 4 MID SOUTH ENGLAND

vacancy Region 5 East of England susie-hall@sky.peterborough.gov.uk NIGEL HOLMES

DON MARTIN

Wales Don.Martin@prospect.org.uk

Region 6 South East nigel.holmes@kent.gov.uk REGION 7 SOUTH WEST

vacancy VINOD HALLAN

Region 8 West Midlands vinodhallanis@hotmail.com

JIM CROWLEY

South West and West Midlands Jim.Crowley@prospect.org.uk

REGION 9 WALES vacancy

BOB PEMBERTON

FRAN STODDART

North of England Bob.Pemberton@prospect.org.uk

Region 10 North West fran.stoddart@sefton.gov.uk PETER MCALISTER

Region 11 Northern Ireland ppmcalister@yahoo.com PAUL WATSON

ASPECT GROUP NATIONAL COUNCIL

Specialist help and advice

Region 12 Scotland paul.watson@moray.gov.uk

DAVEY HALL

NE England, Scotland, Northern Ireland Davey.Hall@prospect.org.uk

CLARE GILLIES

Self-employed Educational Consultant Sector cggillies.biz IAN CLELAND

NICK WRIGHT

Communications/Improvement Nick.Wright@prospect.org.uk

Private Education Company Sector I.cleland@academytransformation.co.uk LEN HAMPSON

Voluntary and Voluntary-aided Sector len.hampson@lancasterdiocese.org.uk KATE HALL

NAYCEO k.a.hall@dorsetcc.gov.uk

THE NEW ADDRESS IS:

Aspect Group of Prospect, International House, Turner Way, Wakefield WF2 8EF

Aspect h Movaesd !

Tel: 01924 207890 Fax: 01924 369717 Email: aspect@prospect.org.uk Website: www.aspect.org.uk

winter 2013 / 2014 | Improvement | 45

School improvement: job round-up ADVISOR/INSPECTOR Bromley Primary Advisor Maths/English and EYFS £48,503-£51,837 3 Bromley Primary Maths Advisor £48,503-£51,837 3 Cambridgeshire Maths Advisor £38,060-£44,327 3 Diocese of York School Effectiveness Advisor £38,992 3 Diocese of York School Development Advisor £38,992 3 Education London Subject specialists and whole school advisors 0 3 Hampshire Teaching and Learning Advisor – Primary English £40,192-£43,792 3 Kensington/Chelsea Lead Advisor – School Standards £48,100-£65,100 3

CHIEF PRINCIPAL Brent Head of Health Needs Education Service £59,287-£64,677 1 Brent Head of Education than at School (EOTAS) £54,679-£58,741 1 EARLY YEARS Cedars Nursery, Newcastle Early Years Professional £17,000 7 Early Years Co-operative Childcare Quality Development Leader £26,936 7 Early Years Co-operative Childcare Centre of Excellence Manager £34,985 7 Fairfield Play Centre Camden Early Years Lead Professional £23,660 7 Southwark Assistant Early Years Practitioner £21,312-£25,770 7

Southwark Senior Early Years Practitioner £29,868-£35,406 7 St George, Bristol EYPS/Early Childhood Studies Graduate 0 7 Tribal (London) Early Years Inspector £31,000-£33,000 7 University Commercial Service Early Years Childcare and Educational Devp Manager £24,696-£34,181 7 LITERACY/NUMERACY CONSULTANTS Barnsley Early Years Foundation Stage Consultant £41,491-£44,899 4 Milton Keynes Minority Ethnic Achievement Consultant 10-13 £46,649-£49,620 4 Southwark Early Years Consultant 5 £47,802-£51,406 4 Babcock 4S/Surrey EYFS Consultant 0 6

Brent Head of Inclusion and Alternative Education £76,885-£82,356 6 Brent Team Leader, Inclusion Support Service £48,503-£51,837 6 Brent Service Development Manager £42,027-£44,708 6 Diocese of Chichester Schools Support Officer – School Improvement £34,700 6 Diocese of Ely Deputy Director of Education 0 6 Diocese of Lichfield Head of School Performance 0 6 Diocese of Bristol Schools and Academies Effectiveness Officer 13-16 6 Education Fellowship Head of Compliance and Pupil Progress 0 6 Education Fellowship Head of Teaching and Classroom Management 0 6

GL Performance Yorks and Humb Northern Programme Manager 0 6 Gloucestershire SEN and Disability Service Manager £49,370-£53,585 6 Merton School Inclusion Co-ordinator £30,900 6 Milton Keynes Improvement Partner 20-23 £53,554-£59,749 6 New Room/John Wesley Chapel Education Officer 0 6 SENIOR Diocese of York Deputy Director of Education £45,000 2 Enfield School Improvement Leadership Advisors 25-28 £60,655-£63,741 2 North Lincs Senior School Improvement Officer – Primary 19-22 £52,969-55,658 2

Northamptonshire Assistant Director – Learning Skills and Education £92,776-£105,235 2 Somerset Senior Advisor – Primary 17-20 £50,739-£53,554 2 TEACHER ADVISOR Cheshire West and Chester SEN Advisory Teacher £36,544-£42,434 5 Durham Advisory Inclusion Teacher – General Learning Difficulties 0 5 Essex Specialist Teacher – Pre-School 2-5 5 Essex Lead Specialist Teacher – Hearing Impairment 0 5

Need expert legal advice? Call the Aspect Group’s 24-hour legal helpline on 0161 830 4511 Please have your membership number to hand, as you will need it for identification purposes Russell, Jones & Walker, part of Slater & Gordon Lawyers

46 | Improvement | winter 2013 / 2014

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Have you or one of your family been injured in the last 3 years? The Aspect Personal Injury Line, run on our behalf by Slater & Gordon lawyers (formerly RJW), could help you. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the Aspect Personal Injury Line oĆ&#x160;ers Help for injuries at work, on the road or at home Specialist legal advice on personal injury matters No win, no fee Help on any claim, large or small.

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