Is
WHAT LEADERS AND MANAGERS CAN LEARN FROM AIRLINE PILOTS
answer? ALSO INSIDE THIS MONTH: The first of a two part series on the parallels between SBMs and pilots
Is offering a sign on bonus the answer to recruitment problems?
BEING CLEAR ABOUT PEDAGOGY How to be effective pedagogical gatekeepers
POPULATION PROBLEMS – DEALING WITH SCHOOL DEMOGRAPHICS
As we come down from what were both very exciting events at EdExec Live North and South, it seems we’re hurtling towards the summer break at a rapid pace. In just a few weeks, it will be time to wave goodbye to our leavers, take stock of our schools and start planning for the brand new academic year.
Reflecting on the year that has been, it hasn’t been the easiest of times for any of our schools. Sagging under the weight of budget restrictions and recruitment challenges, schools are one place where COVID is most definitely still a thing, and the impacts on our strategies, capacity and mental health are still reverberating around the halls. Tag onto this recruitment challenges, budget constraints and labour disputes, and I think we can all agree it’s been one heck of a ride.
Nevertheless, the school business manager community has stuck together, propping each other up in tough times. Despite the challenges, we’ve also seen a lot of innovation, learning and strategic development in the SBM world this year – long may it continue!
Our bumper summer edition of EdExec highlights some of the achievements and challenges faced by SBMs this year, kicking off with Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith taking a look at our role as pedagogical gatekeepers, while David Carne draws some interesting parallels between the SBM role and that of an airline pilot.
Laura Williams has some comforting words for when that feeling of overwhelm hits, while Phil Burton gives us some tips on dealing with difficult conversations. In our management section, we break down planed preventative maintenance for the SBM with Andrew Blench, and Sue Birchall takes a look at whether a ‘golden hello’ is the answer to recruitment challenges.
As usual, our ICT segment is packed with interesting features, including a look at the ‘creativity’ of AI, getting to grips with configuration management, and why building IT in at the start of a building project makes sense. Finally, Peter Sircar shines a light on the human costs of centralisation.
We’d love to hear any suggestions you have for the magazine. If you’d like to get involved with EdExec, or if you’d like us to cover a certain topic, please do let us know. Contact joanna@intelligentmedia.co.uk or tweet @ edexec with ideas, opinions or success stories
Is your school doing something wonderful? Do you have an opinion or experience you’d like to share? A story suggestion? Or some advice you’d like to share with your peers?
Get in touch – email joanna@ intelligentmedia.co.uk
The education sector can be difficult to navigate at times, and those in school business management play a pivotal role in steering schools to success. Tasked with everything from finance and procurement, to HR and admin, you keep the education cogs turning.
Education Executive addresses the most pressing matters faced by SBMs, offering meaningful insights and practical advice.
JOANNA BAILEY
Editor
Education Executive
DAVID CARNE
Executive Business Manager Cardinal Griffin Catholic College
LAURA WILLIAMS
Director L J Business of Education
DR FIONA AUBREY-SMITH Director One Life Learning
SIMON HEPBURN Founder MarketingAdviceforSchools
SUE BIRCHALL
Long-standing SBL
ANDREW BLENCH SBM consultant School Business Partner Limited
PHIL BURTON Business leader SuccessAcademyTrust
NEIL LIMBRICK Founder theEducationCollective
JO BAILEY EDITORGARY HENDERSON
Director of IT Millfield School
NIGEL MILLIGAN IT technician manager StHerbert’sRCPrimarySchool
PETER SIRCAR
Director finance & resources HammersmithAcademy
NEWS & VIEWS
06 PUPILS MISSING OUT ON £5K OF FUNDING DUE TO CUTS
Those leaving sixth form this year have lost out by £5,384
08 SPOTLIGHT ON Absence rates this year so far
LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE
10 BEING CLEAR ABOUT PEDAGOGY
How to be effective pedagogical gatekeepers
12 WHAT LEADERS AND MANAGERS CAN LEARN FROM AIRLINE PILOTS
The first of a two part series on the parallels between SBMs and pilots
14 YOU’RE NOT A SUPERHERO SO STOP BEATING YOURSELF UP
An uplifting take for when you’re feeling overwhelmed
16 POPULATION PROBLEMS – DEALING WITH SCHOOL DEMOGRAPHICS
How to avoid demographic change derailing your school’s development
18 IS A ‘GOLDEN HELLO’ THE ANSWER? Is offering a sign on bonus the answer to recruitment problems?
20 PLANNED PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE: THE SBM RESPONSIBILITIES
What the SBM needs to know about PPM
22 DEALING WITH THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
How to handle difficult discussions
ICT MATTERS
24 SWITCHED ON
The latest news and views from the world of ICT and edtech
26 GETTING A GRIP ON: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT
Why IT configuration is something to keep on your radar
28 DALI OR DALL-E? QUESTIONING THE TRUE CREATIVITY OF AI Can artificial intelligence really be considered ‘creative’?
10
school business managers and bursars, bringing you the latest issues affecting your role, from finance to
hottest topics in education management right here,
30 TECHNO GEEK
Don’t forget the IT in your buiding project
24 LIVE IT
32 LIVE IT
Grab a coffee and enjoy a relaxing read
34 COUNTING THE COSTS: THE HUMAN IMPACT OF GAG POOLING AND CENTRALISATION Why pooling resources isn’t always as straightforward as it seems
Editorial Editor Joanna Bailey joanna@intelligentmedia.co.uk
Sales info@intelligentmedia.co.uk
Publisher Vicki Baloch vicki@intelligentmedia.co.uk
The Guardian has reported that students whose families used food banks during the pandemic fared worse in their GCSEs than expected, reportedly losing half a grade per subject on average.
The findings form part of the COVID social mobility and opportunities study which investigates the short, medium and long-term impact of the pandemic in relation to educational inequality, wellbeing and social mobility. The study is the largest of its kind and tracks the lives of 13,000 young people in England who are due to sit A-levels and other qualifications this summer.
According to the study, one-in-10 young people are living in households classed as food insecure, with many describing running out of food and skipping meals, while five per cent of parents have reported going an entire day without eating.
“We understand the pressures that many families are facing,” a government spokesperson said. “We are supporting the most vulnerable pupils through pupil premium funding which is increasing to almost £2.9bn in 2023-24 - the highest cash terms rate since this funding began.”
@MichaelT1979: If Oftsed is going to expect subject leaders in primary to deliver the same level of monitoring, quality assurance, CPD and support as secondary subject leaders, then primary schools need the money for the time and TLRs to allow them to do that.
The government will fund half of the cost of its flagship tutoring programme next year amid concerns from school leaders that they would struggle to deliver the scheme with current budget pressures, The Guardian has reported.
The Department for Education originally planned to fund a quarter of the cost of the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) in the next school year; however, it has now said it will double that commitment following feedback from schools.
In March Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Sutton Trust, called for the subsidy to be maintained, saying, “Although there have been issues with delivery, the NTP … has changed the landscape of tutoring, giving young people the opportunity to receive tuition who would never have been able to afford it.”
Nick Gibb, the schools minister, commented, “Since its inception in 2020 we have continuously evolved the national tutoring programme to ensure it works for pupils and schools.
“We remain committed to supporting schools to embed tutoring long term because we know the positive impact it can have on pupils. Next year, we will be able to match schools’ funding contributions, whilst also supporting them more widely through a £2bn boost in school funding.”
@Headteacherchat: Today, take a moment to share something truly positive with someone.
Pupils who used food banks in pandemic fared worse at GCSEs, study reveals
Thomas Hardye School’s IT systems were recently taken down by a cyber ransom attack, according to the Dorset Echo.
In a message to parents, the school has said it will be working with partners, such as the National Cyber Security Centre and the police, to get the systems back up-and-running again as soon as possible.
It is believed the system was hacked into on Sunday May 21 and detected just before school started the following morning, with payments
in the canteen and pupil payments for other items being compromised.
The attack, which locks screens and systems, involved a ransom demand payable via the dark web, which the school has said it will not be complying with. In a message to parents, headteacher, Nick Rutherford, said, “We are in liaison with our school data protection officer and this data breach has been reported to the Information Commissioners Office in line with requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR. Every action has been taken to minimise disruption and data loss.
“The school will remain open, with teaching and learning being adapted accordingly. Please be reassured that examinations will continue to run as normal with contingencies in place for those students who have access arrangements.”
The Independent has reported that students from Class Indigo 1 at Greasley Beauvale Primary School in Eastwood, Nottingham, have won Beano’s annual Britain’s Funniest Class competition.
To immortalise their win, each student has been drawn by Dennis the Menace artist Nigel Parkinson, with their winning joke featuring on the magazine’s cover. The winning gag goes, “What happened to the maths teacher’s garden? It grew square roots!” Michelle Bates, headteacher at the school, said her pupils had “an absolute blast” creating the gag and feels “overjoyed” to share it with the nation.
There were many participants in the competition to find the nation’s most humorous pupils, and jokes were whittled down to a shortlist of just 10. Voting was then opened to the public who could select their favourite from the shortlist. The gag earned 51% of total votes and was selected as the winner by humour experts at Beano.
“Each year we can’t wait to see what the next generation of comedians have to say,” Mike Sterling, director of mischief at Beano Studios, quipped, “so a huge congratulations to Greasley Beauvale Primary School for taking home the crown – who doesn’t love a joke about teachers?”
As reported by the BBC, the Scottish government is to hold a summit with the aim of tackling student violence in the country’s schools.
The announcement comes just two weeks after three teachers and a pupil were injured after being attacked by a former student at Johnstone High School. Unions have said these physical and verbal attacks are faced regularly by school staff.
Education secretary, Jenny Gilruth said the summit will bring together parents and carers, young people, schools, local authorities, and campaigners to identify the best way to tackle the problem. “Any form of violence in our schools is completely unacceptable,” she said.
“No teacher or pupil should suffer verbal or physical abuse, and parents should be able to send their children to school knowing that they are safe.”
@Thinkingschool2: The problem isn’t just that teachers in their first few years of teaching are leaving. So are more experienced teachers. And leaders. And support staff. Let’s do something before we hit crisis point.
Primary school pupils in
recognised
Unison research suggests funding cuts mean that a pupil who started school in England in 2010 will have lost out on £5,384 of education funding by the time they leave sixth form this year
Acomprehensive independent analysis, commissioned and published by UNISON, sought the expertise of economic specialists from Landman Economics to delve into the far-reaching consequences of government cuts.
This study illuminates the cumulative effects of budget reductions, providing a comprehensive understanding of the situation. Even with the purported increase in funding per pupil promised in the 2022 autumn statement, it becomes evident that the current funding levels remain significantly lower than those in 2010.
Analysing the period spanning 2010-11 to 2022-23, the study reveals a marked decline in spending per student from £7,274 to £6,982—a drop of four percent. This means that, every year, students receive several hundreds of pounds less funding compared to the levels of 2010, diminishing the potential for an enriching educational experience.
The repercussions of strained school budgets reverberate throughout the education system, inevitably compromising the quality of education provided. The impact manifests in various ways, including larger class sizes, reductions in support staff, limited access to critical student support services, cuts to the curriculum, diminished provision
of extra-curricular activities, and reduced support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
Ultimately, these cutbacks could jeopardise the learning outcomes and future prospects of millions of children, casting a long shadow over their educational journey. Moreover, in addition to the noteworthy decrease in funding per pupil, there has been a substantial decline of 37% in capital spending on school buildings in cash terms, and a 50% decrease in real terms. This decline in investment raises concerns about the safety and suitability of school facilities.
Expressing deep concern over these findings Mike Short, the head of education at UNISON, said, “These figures provide a stark representation of the heavy price our young people
are paying under the Conservative government’s policies. It is deeply unjust that the current cohort of young individuals will bid farewell to their schooling this summer having been deprived of thousands of pounds’ worth of educational opportunities.
“They have persevered through dilapidated buildings that have long exceeded their intended lifespan, grappling with insufficient resources for learning and a lack of support from staff.
“The time has come for the government to prioritise investing in the future of Britain by restoring and bolstering school funding. It is incumbent upon the secretary of state for education and the chancellor to identify the necessary financial resources to ensure that our young people receive the best possible start in life—a solid foundation upon which they can build successful and fulfilling futures,” he added.
The time has come for the government to prioritise investing in the future of Britain by restoring and bolstering school funding
● Attendance since September 2022 has averaged at 92.4%
● 70% of absences have been logged as ‘authorised’
● Illness absences are higher than pre-pandemic
● Non-attendance due to illness peaked in the week commencing December 12th
● Illness absence during the spring term was at 3.7%, compared with 2.5% pre-pandemic
Primary
● 93.9% of sessions were recorded as attending
● 85% of absences were due to illness
Secondary
● 90.7% of sessions were recorded as attending
● 76% of absences were due to illness
● Persistently absent pupils, who have missed more than 10% of their possible sessions so far this year, are at 27.2% in secondary and 18.4% in primary schools
● Illness was the most common reason for absence, accounting for 3.9% of the 4.6% of authorised absences in primary schools, and 4.5% of the 5.9% of authorised absences in secondary schools
● The unauthorised absence rate in secondary schools is sitting at 3.4%, while in primary schools it is just 1.5%
● The local authority areas with the highest unauthorised
absence rates in secondary schools were Luton, Brent, Harrow, Westminster and Slough, and in primary schools were Newham, Luton, Redbridge, Camden and Slough
● Of the unauthorised absences in primary schools, 33% were for holidays, while just 8.8% of secondary school unauthorised absence was recorded as holiday
● National teacher strikes on 1 February, 15 March and 16 March and regional teacher strikes on 28 February, 1 March and 2 March were excluded from the data
In today’s fast-paced education landscape, establishments face significant challenges when procuring IT hardware and services efficiently, including volatility of price, stock visibility, endless reseller calls and manual processes.
Westfield Arts College, a leading special school in Dorset, found itself grappling with a time-consuming and frustrating IT market. However, Probrand marketplace provided an innovative solution to help them save time and get discounts they’re entitled to but otherwise wouldn’t have received. This enabled them to stretch the reach of their IT budget and transform operations at the College.
The IT department at Westfield Arts College, led by Richard Gould, was responsible for purchasing IT equipment for the school’s 180 students and staff. The traditional procurement process, involving individual supplier approaches through email and manual negotiations for each purchase, proved to be a cumbersome and time-consuming experience.
Richard Gould discovered a gamechanging solution in the Probrand marketplace, designed to facilitate transparent procurement of IT products,
services, and solutions. Unlike traditional resellers, Probrand connects buyers with distributors and vendors in an open marketplace environment. This enabled Westfield College staff to get automated price comparison and see ‘live’ stock availability deep within the supply chain, and benefit from getting personalised education discounts, ultimately saving them time and money.
From projectors to classroom printers and USBs, Westfield College had access to a vast catalogue of over 300,000 products from 2,500 brands, including real-time pricing and stock information, significantly reducing the need for manual price comparisons.
Additionally, Probrand’s advanced product search and list building features allowed users to collaborate with others, including the finance department, streamlining the decision-making process, with digital advisers and extended specifications available when required.
Since using Probrand for IT procurement, Richard and his team have managed to eliminate the tedium of their previous process.
From an operational perspective, the benefits have included peace of mind through transparent pricing, several days shaved off procurement time each month, the ability to find whatever they need all
in one place, and the flexibility to build up orders over time or purchase single items without being penalised.
Westfield Arts College, as the largest special school in the southwest, is linked to the Teaching Alliance of Dorset Special Schools (TADSS) network. Richard Gould envisions a collaborative future wherein schools within the alliance can leverage the benefits of bulk buying discounts utilising Probrand marketplace.
The marketplace for IT products, IT services and Cloud Solutions
● Buy direct from distributors & vendors
● 300K products and services
● Education exclusive discounts
● Live price and stock visibility
● Price comparison
● Extra discounts at checkout
● Control spend limits
● Accredited by procurement (CIPS) and finance (ICAEW) Register for a free account marketplace.probrand.co.uk/ education
DR FIONA AUBREY-SMITH discusses the importance of understanding and considering pedagogy when making decisions in schools
The term ‘pedagogy’ refers to how we think about supporting learning (Aubrey-Smith and Twining, 2023) therefore, it is healthy for us all to remember that all decisions made in school – which are designed to be places of learning – are, ultimately, pedagogical decisions because every decision will, directly or indirectly, influence the choices that can be made about supporting learning.
Some of these are obvious – a feedback and marking policy, an approach to behaviour, lesson planning or how we organise boards and tables in our classrooms; these all directly influence relationships and interactions between teachers and students (Aubrey-Smith, 2020)
However, many decisions contain implicit pedagogy which will affect learning – for example, the way our admin systems organise data will influence how we analyse and act upon it, how laptops are distributed or timetabled defines how we incorporate technology into classroom practice, the purchasing of exercise books influences when, where and how learning is recorded (Twining et al, 2017)
Whatever role we have, we all implicitly act as pedagogical
gatekeepers and so, at every point of decision-making, we should all be asking ourselves, ‘What aspects of pedagogy (supporting learning) is this decision encouraging, influencing or preventing?’
Furthermore, we ought to be ensuring that every single person in our schools who makes decisions has an awareness of what influences effective pedagogy. Importantly, this includes the wide range of professional support roles in schools and trusts –spanning administration, finance, IT, catering and estates. For example, decisions about grounds maintenance, lunchtime nutrition and wireless locations are just three of the ‘non-teaching’ decisions made that will absolutely impact learning.
Importantly, new research from the Technology, Pedagogy and Education Association (TPEA) has found there to be significant variances within individual schools when defining effective pedagogy (Aubrey-Smith, 2022); this means that you can expect different colleagues within your school to have different views about what learning ‘should’ look like. For example, the TPEA study found that roughly 25% of staff aligned with a traditionalist view, roughly 60% aligned with a constructivist view, and roughly 15% aligned with a socio-cultural view.
● Traditional views on pedagogy focus on the acquisition of information with learning evidenced by the ability to recall it.
● Individual constructivist views on pedagogy focus on learners creating age or stage-specific mental models.
Furthermore, “Classroom teachers were more likely to align with behaviourist views on pedagogy when talking about knowledge (with leaders more likely to align with socio-cultural views on knowledge) and leaders more likely to align with behaviourism when talking about the purpose of schooling (with teachers more likely to align with constructivism)”.
(Aubrey-Smith,
There is plenty of further research which highlights how teacher and leader views on pedagogy change depending on subject specialism, age of students, and a myriad of other influences (for example, Aubrey-Smith, 2021; Webster et al, 2012; Moore Johnson, 2003). The point is that, as we now know that staff will have inconsistent views on pedagogy, we need to recognise that it is highly likely that decisions across different functions and departments may contradict each other.
The solution is a simple, three-step, approach:
1 Encourage staff to be more aware of their own pedagogical beliefs (see activity to the right) so that they understand the implications of their daily decisions and actions.
2 Encourage staff to talk to each other about their views on pedagogy. Make ‘talking about pedagogy’ a normal, everyday, feature of professional dialogue; this brings it to the surface and helps encourage cohesion.
● Social constructivist views on pedagogy focus on the interaction between a learner and a ‘more knowledgeable other’, with learning emerging through dialogue.
● Socio-cultural views on pedagogy focus on learning to understand, and then become a member of, a particular community with shared purposes and values.
Over the coming week consider the last time that staff in your school had a detailed conversation about what we really mean by ‘pedagogy’ – and the four domains within it.
● What it means to be a learner, and what it means ‘to learn’.
● What it means to be a teacher, and what it means ‘to teach’.
● How knowledge comes to exist.
● How we define what education is and how schooling relates to this.
Furthermore, consider where the bulk of attention about ‘pedagogy’ goes – and compare this to where you would like attention to be. Consider:
● Pedagogical approaches or methods (teaching and learning strategies).
● Pedagogical practices (classroom actions).
● Pedagogical beliefs (individual values and philosophical beliefs).
● Pedagogical intentions (what we want learners to internalise and experience).
3
Create a new habit every time a decision is made in school – of asking about the pedagogical implications, for example, ‘How will this decision open up, influence, or close off, learning for these children?’
When we create a culture where pedagogy is part of every professional conversation, then we become the right kind of pedagogical gatekeepers – opening up opportunities for better, more impactful, learning for all.
● Politicised pedagogy (strategies that we are implementing due to politics or accountability systems).
● How, when and where could you increase opportunities for these discussions?
For more individual or team-based activities to support conversation about pedagogy, see From EdTech to PedTech: Changing the way we think about digital technology. www.pedtech.org
Part
As we approach the summer, no doubt many readers will be wishing away the remaining weeks of the term and anticipating boarding a plane and jetting off for a week or two of sun, sea and suspending the diet. As we board the aircraft, many of us will, no doubt, be focused on the destination, not the plane or its crew, and certainly not what we, as leaders, might learn from the people sitting in the cockpit. The reality, however, is that long before you board the aircraft, the airline staff and pilots have been working towards ensuring that your flight proceeds safely and efficiently to its destination. So, what can leaders and managers learn from those who sit behind the controls?
Pilots have a clear plan for their flight. This must consider the timing of the flight, which runway to take off and land on, and what route to take. They also need to note any weather conditions that need to be avoided, any restrictions on altitude which might be in place, and the maintenance of a safe distance from other aircraft.
It also considers how much fuel will be needed for the flight, any time spent holding while waiting for a landing slot, and any possible diversion required to an alternative destination airport. It considers how long it will take to ascend and descend and how fast the plane will fly at each stage of the journey.
waypoints; the flight plan specifies each SID, STAR, airway and waypoint which will be used to navigate.
As leaders and managers, having a clear plan is also essential. Our plan needs to consider our environmental factors, any ‘weather’ we may experience or want to navigate around, any restrictions on how or when we can do certain things and the avoidance of catastrophic events. Overall strategies need to be broken down into practical ‘waypoints’ that help us stay on track, and let us know when we have reached certain milestones. We also need to know how much resource we are going to use - we can think of this like an aircraft’s fuel. Good planning also considers contingency, and resources should be planned accordingly.
CLEAR COMMUNICATION OF THE PLAN WITH EVERYONE WHO NEEDS TO KNOW
The cockpit crew also go through an in-depth briefing at the airport prior to the flight, and they update the plan if weather
With summer holidays rapidly approaching, DAVID CARNE explains why school business leaders are, in many ways, on a parallel track with airline pilots
conditions or other factors have changed since it was filed. At this stage, new details such as which ‘stand’ the aircraft is on at the departure airport become available and are communicated.
Once in the aircraft, the communication continues between the cockpit crew, with a flight briefing to check that the two or more officers fully know where they are going and how they are getting there.
It goes without saying that, as leaders and managers, strong communication is essential but communication is not just about telling people things - it is also about checking, understanding, and listening for their input. So often, as leaders, we are excellent at the first part but forget to do the checking and listening.
As an executive coach, I often remind people that there is not one version of reality; every individual has their own interpretation of that reality. No matter how clear you think you have been, it seems there is always someone who has misunderstood, so it’s better to check. Ensuring information is shared with all parties is crucial to success.
Like pilots, we also need to continually communicate as new information comes to light, or as we make changes to our plan. It also goes without saying that the flight plan is physically printed out and shared with the various parties - written communication can, if done correctly, remove ambiguity.
Before every flight, a member of the flight crew visually inspects the plane. This is to check for damage sustained in flight, anything which looks misaligned, and the conditions of things like the tyres to ensure they will not explode on landing.
This principle holds true in leadership and management. While you need to trust that the things people tell you are true until the evidence proves otherwise, you also need to verify this by seeing them for yourself. Quality assuring work that is undertaken, and ongoing monitoring of the physical aspects of that work, provides concrete reassurance.
It is also true we need to be constantly aware of the condition of our organisation. Those in our immediate teams may appear in great condition, but what about their subordinates? We need to speak to, and observe, people at all levels to get an accurate picture of the health of our organisations. This has become ever more important as the number of millennials and Gen Z workers have joined our workforce - and, of course, we also need to inspect the physical condition of our buildings and physical resources to ensure that they are safe and fit for purpose.
All the above takes place prior to firing up the engines to take off. Often, leaders and managers can be impatient to fire up the engines, but getting our plan right, communicating it effectively and having hands-on knowledge of our organisations is crucial to success.
In part two, I will explore what we can learn from pilots once they have left the ground!
David is a serving school business professional and managing director of Carneval Creative Limited, an executive coaching company. He will be back in our July edition with Part 2 of his insights into the crossover between pilots and school leaders and managers.
Often, leaders and managers can be impatient to fire up the engines
For much of last year, I felt like I was stuck on a treadmill that kept randomly speeding up and throwing me off until I fell on my face before sucking me right back ondoomed to repeat the same old cycle over and over.
As you may already know, on my worst days I’m a perfectionist, people-pleasing procrastinator - which is some of the ugliest soup there is. So when I start missing deadlines, breaking promises and generally falling behind (something completely out of character for me), my first instinct is to cut, run and hide under my duvet.
It’s fair to say that I spent a lot of last year anxious and overwhelmed and, to top it off, embarrassed and ashamed that I felt that way. Working from home by myself all day just made it feel that much worse. There was no one to call me out on my crap and help me to face what I was feeling head on.
How had I got here? What did I miss? How did I let it get this bad? Why wasn’t I better? How come I wasn’t coping?
I was meant to be good at all this, right?!
Then I felt so bad about feeling bad (of course) that I just kept apologising as I really didn’t know what else to say.
Literally, every email was like ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner’ or ‘I’m so sorry I missed this’ or ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t get this to you on time’ or ‘I’m sorry that I’ve not done that yet’… (I’m sorry if you got one of these!)
After I moved house, I told myself that things would be better, I would be better, I could start afresh. But, within days, I was back on the treadmill and smacking myself in the face.
Even though everyone was so understanding and lovely –SBLs, family, friends… everyone – I just couldn’t break the torturous cycle.
And then just when things were coming to a head, two lovely SBLs replied to two separate, desperate emails with some very kind and wise replies…
The first one started… ‘Please don’t apologise…’
And the second one said… ‘We are in this with you. You are human.’
These two emails, along with many others, and some very honest and lovely conversations reminded me of the advice that I had given you.
Of course, I give this advice on my best days… but on my worst days, I clearly don’t have the capacity to give myself the proverbial kick up the behind!
But you know what, I had you to do it for me. And I can’t thank you enough for that.
Here’s what you reminded me of.
Being unorganised, being behind, not being able to deliver what I promised, not being there when I said I would… these things don’t make me a failure. Sure, I might be struggling but then, hey, I’m human right?
I can’t control everything so I should give up trying. Change what I can and accept what I can’t.
I can’t be a superhero all of the time so why set myself up to believe that I can and beat myself up when I can’t meet my own ridiculous expectations?!
Because whose expectations are they? Mine. Not anybody else’s. And I can reset them any time I like!
The job of a SBL is lonely as it is. We shouldn’t isolate ourselves even more when we need each other the most. We shouldn’t run away and hide when we should be running towards each other.
I know why we do this.
We do it subconsciously to avoid judgement and criticism and shame but that’s why we should make a conscious choice to take conscious action.
Reach out.
If you’re feeling that you’re drowning right now and that nobody sees you, then know this – you have people around you who care, who want to help. People who, if you give them even the smallest of glimpses of what’s going on, will not only step towards you, they will stand next to you and give you the shoulder you need to lean on until you feel strong enough to stand alone again.
You’ve got this. I’ve got this too.
Together, we can get through anything.
LAURA WILLIAMS, school leadership coach, trainer and SBL podcast host shares some words of wisdom to help you get back on track
Working from home by myself all day just made it feel that much worse
Our market leading staff absence protection provides budget certainty, along with flexibility of cover.
We operate on a 'by schools, for schools' approach, with all year end surpluses being returned to the education sector. To date, over £800,000 has been reinvested.
Demographics - they’re probably the most powerful force affecting schools’ income and performance – and also something that you have no control over!
Take two of today’s biggest issues - the shortage of teachers (especially in secondary schools) and the looming shortage of pupils in primary schools. A recent drop in the birth rate is causing the fall in the number of primary school pupils, while (in addition to many other factors) the teacher shortage is being heavily impacted by both a bulge in population in the teenage years and a drop in the number of people in their early twenties who could train as teachers.
The overall number of people in the country is the most obvious demographic factor that hits schools, but the word (which means ‘statistics that describe populations and their characteristics’) also covers other attributes such as age, race, sex and faith, and there are big variations in all these in different areas. These can all have a huge impact on schools. In
recent years I’ve worked with a couple of faith schools where the communities that practiced that faith have moved from the area around the school. I’ve also worked with a primary school where the large housing estate they drew their pupils from gradually became full of older families, and recruitment dried up and with a school where the ethnic groups they relied on changed significantly. In all three cases, the schools experienced significant recruitment problems hitting budgets and putting jobs at risk.
On the other hand, demographic changes can be positive for schools that can take advantage of them. Schools local to me in Manchester have seen significant and welcome increases in numbers due to the positive steps they have taken to recruit students from Hong Kong and Ukraine. Meanwhile a school I know in London has formed strong links with a new and growing Eritrean community.
So, how do you avoid demographic change derailing your school’s development? Here are seven ideas…
While you might hope that local and national government would use their insight to avoid problems, this often does not happen in practice – a recent article on free schools in the London Evening Standard was entitled –‘Revealed: more free schools planned for London as pupil numbers dry up’!
A lot of demographic information is known about a long time before it will hit a school, the most obvious being the local birth rate. This means you can make small, minor changes over time, rather than last minute major ones. For example, you might choose not to expand and add a new form of entry if you know that application numbers will fall in two or three years’ time.
There are many sources of demographic information. The Office for National Statistics has a huge range of information – the first place to look for English schools is probably the ‘subnational population projections for England: 2018-based’ (https://www. ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/ populationandmigration/populationprojections /bulletins/subnationalpopulationprojections forengland /2018based). This report lets you model the population changes in different areas, year-by-year. Local authorities also have their own extensive data –such as Manchester City Council’s Intelligence Hub: (https://dashboards.instantatlas.com/viewer/ report?appid=0d1fdf43ebbd4727ac9be5d71e77e878).
and, of course, you can involve teachers and students in the process. For example, in a secondary school, you could talk to your geography department; they may already be looking at changes in the local area as part of their curriculum!
If your community is changing you will need to change with it. This might mean adapting to different languages or cultures, encouraging people from different communities to join your governing body or staff, or offering different extra-curricular activities. Faith-based schools may also need to consider how they can attract, reassure, and work with students from other faith backgrounds – for example, the Catholic Education Service recently reported that there are more than 34,000 Muslim pupils in Catholic state schools. (https://www.thecatholicnetwork.co.uk/englandcatholic-school-pupils-much-more-diverse-thannational-average-new-data/)
There are many ways schools can benefit from changing demographics. Reaching out to new communities, and inviting them to visit your school, can significantly increase applications, but it’s also worth thinking wider than this. For example, many schools have brought in extra income by renting school facilities to communities that need large wedding venues, while others have recruited parent volunteers to help those learning English.
You should regularly monitor changes in your local community, talking to feeder schools and analysing your student intake to see what changes are taking place -
One obvious change is that you might need to use different languages when communicating with parents and carers. Also the photographs and videos on your website or adverts might need to be more representative of the families you’re trying to attract.
Many schools have brought in extra income by renting school facilities to communities that need large wedding venues
We are suffering a crisis in recruitment within the education system, probably the worst for a while, certainly within my experience in the industry. Many roles, teaching as well as support staff, are becoming increasingly difficult to fill, and new ways of attracting and retaining staff are needed.
For support staff, the latest pay increases may go some way to attracting more talent. The levels of pay at the lower end of the scale had fallen to a point where a job in the private sector paid so much more that the usual attraction of term-time only working was no longer an incentive. Now that these roles have had a significant injection of up to a 13% increase, we would hope that they will, once again, become attractive employment opportunities.
For teachers, there are a myriad of reasons why recruitment is at such a low level. Of course, terms and conditions will play a large part in this issue, as will the real-time cut in pay over the last ten or so years, which has made the profession less
financially appealing to many. Government targets for recruitment of early career teachers are continually missed, year-on-year, and teachers are leaving the profession in unprecedented numbers.
Workload is regularly highlighted as an obstacle to retaining staff in schools at all levels. The government has recognised this and has published a ‘school workload reduction toolkit’ that you can find at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/school-workloadreduction-toolkit. At an individual level, all schools and academies are working towards reducing the burden of data, looking at flexible working, and at the procedures for everyday tasks to reduce the administrative burden.
Tackling this crisis, as always, has fallen to the schools and academies, with many of us resorting to agency and other more costly means of obtaining the right staffing. Along with the increased cost of
With the teacher recruitment challenge reaching crisis point, is offering sign-on bonuses a workable solution? SUE BIRCHALL, long-standing SBL, discusses
salaries, this is a bitter pill to swallow and is not good for restful nights when you are worrying about how to ‘make the money fit.’ It’s not ideal and, in the long run, doesn’t resolve the issue.
So back to the initial question - is a ‘golden hello’ the answer? Offering a joining bonus does have its benefits; it is controlled by the school and so is a known cost, it could have a short-term effect on recruitment and research shows that more pay improves recruitment and, possibly, retention. So, what about the downsides?
Money is a motivator so you can assume that it would be an encouragement for prospective staff and as such a good recruitment tool. However, one-off payments are known to have a shorter ‘shelf life’ as an incentive, and may not help with retention. You may need to structure the ‘golden hello’ so that it continues into employment longer term. You risk the loss of parity in pay for similar roles in schools and, one could argue, this is already in place with recruitment and retention payments.
If the welcome bonus were not to be money, could it be a package? Research has shown that workers would appreciate more in the way of flexible working, health benefits and leave. Again, this could be a great recruitment tool, but surely one that should be enjoyed by all staff, regardless of length of service.
This is a fair question and one that needs to be agreed at the outset. It is, of course, governed to a degree by affordability, but there is a risk that it could become a contest, with schools ‘bidding’ for staff in a competitive strategy.
For me, the answer is fair pay, workload management, employee benefits and flexible working. In the long run, this will save money through retention and benefit our school community by providing consistency and stability.
For me, the answer is fair pay, workload management, employee benefits and flexible working
PPM. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list - use your knowledge of your school site to develop your own list.
Equipment - Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations
1998 (PUWER)
These place obligations upon employers in relation to work equipment and are wide ranging. They cover installation, training, maintenance, inspection, risk assessment and more.
Planned Preventative Maintenance, or PPM for short, is part of the school business professional’s remit and, when working well, it ensures that the school estate meets its statutory health and safety obligations. It also ensures that the physical infrastructure and assets of the school are working effectively and efficiently.
PPM also has a link with sustainability. Equipment and assets that use electricity and gas, when not maintained effectively, can start to use more energy, therefore being responsible for more CO2 emissions than necessary.
Here is a common definition of PPM:
Planned preventative maintenance (PPM), also commonly referred to as planned or scheduled maintenance, is essentially a scheduled maintenance routine, set out to ensure machinery, services and equipment are all maintained at regular intervals.
Many of our obligations are detailed in legislation, regulations, and codes of practice. There is some good guidance on this on the DfE website and on the Health and Safety Executive website.
I am going to mention a few key responsibilities in terms of
The definition of equipment from HSE is – “Work equipment is any machinery, appliance, apparatus, tool or installation for use at work (whether exclusively or not). This includes equipment which employees provide for their own use at work.”
The scope of work equipment is therefore extremely wide. The use of work equipment is also very widely interpreted and “...means any activity involving work equipment and includes starting, stopping, programming, setting, transporting, repairing, modifying, maintaining, servicing and cleaning.”
This might sound very industrial and not much to do with schools, but especially in secondary settings, it covers a lot of what we do. It is particularly relevant in CDT and science labs where we will have pieces of equipment and apparatus as well as anything the site team uses.
Fire Safety System - Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (2005) In terms of PPM, it covers aspects such as regular servicing, testing and repairs to the fire alarm system, alongside inspection and servicing of fire extinguishers and fire blankets and emergency lighting testing and repairs.
Asbestos Management - Control of asbestos regulations (2012)
This is a vast subject, but in terms of PPM, what systems do you have in place for the regular inspection of existing asbestos?
ANDREW BLENCH, SBM consultant with School Business Partner Limited, explains the ins and outs of PPM and what SBMs need to know
School buildings get some hammer and what might be fine on one inspection could become friable on the next. What systems do you have in place for refreshing your asbestos register? When was your last survey completed?
Legionella - Control of substances hazardous to health COSHH (2002) Legionella is a bacterium which can build up in water systems. Once ingested can lead to development of legionella disease which, in certain cases, can be fatal. PPM, in this respect, prevents the build-up of bacteria and identifies risks in the water management system. There should be a PPM system in place including regular water temperature checks, flushing of shower heads, regular risk assessments and inspection of the whole water system.
Other areas where I would expect to see a regime of PPM, including testing, inspection and regular servicing are as follows:
Catering equipment, tree surveys, electrical testing (fixed installation and portable appliances PAT), gas inspection servicing and safety certification, air conditioning, air circulation, local exhaust ventilation (LEV) such as used in labs or CDT, playground, and gym equipment.
Again, this list is not exhaustive and needs to be developed with your context in mind.
In my experience it’s very easy for things to fall behind or get overlooked in terms of PPM, especially across a large school estate. Having a premises maintenance policy and log is a great help. This details roles and responsibilities and gives a breakdown of the main areas of PPM and how these are going to be approached. There are some great templates available online to create your own policy.
For peace of mind, I would also create a service/testing log. This would detail what needs servicing/testing, frequency of testing, date last completed, date due for next test, and the organisation or person responsible for completion. This would be a live document which would be updated through the year.
For SBMs working in a PFI building this will be held by the PFI company, but I would insist on receiving updates for your own peace of mind. In other settings, the creation and maintenance of the log may sit with external facilities management. Even if you are not responsible for its creation and maintenance, it’s important to know that it exists, is being maintained and that you regularly see a copy.
You might think that this is being a bit excessive - shouldn’t we trust people to know when things are due and to contact us to book servicing or testing in the diary? In most cases this is fine, but what if something were missed and you didn’t have access to a maintained log? Would anyone pick up that, for example, the legionella risk assessment hadn’t been completed? What would the consequences be from that?
I know that I started out by saying that this area is the SBM responsibility, but just like child safeguarding, it is everyone’s responsibility. In terms of legal accountability, the responsible body will be the local authority or academy trust board, so do involve them and keep them informed of arrangements.
At governance level they don’t need to look at the level of detail you deal with, but they should be seeking assurances that arrangements are in place and being effective. I hope that this has generated some discussion and lines of enquiry in your own settings.
It’s very easy for things to fall behind or get overlooked in terms of PPM
This sector is not one that addresses things directly – think about how many times you hear the phrase “a child is a spirited individual” during a conversation with parents. What they really mean is that the child does not do as he is told and is disruptive. Why don’t we actually say what we mean? We don’t want to be confrontational or upset anyone, but the reality is if the problem is not addressed, it is going to fester and become a bigger issue.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting the very best for our people and children - there are no prizes for second best. Having pride in your work and wanting to be better should always be seen as a positive thing. Saying what you feel should be encouraged but you must prepare yourself for some backlash.
● Are you prepared to put yourself out there and stand out from the crowd knowing you may be there on your own?
● Are you ready for others to try to shout you down for your viewpoint?
So how should we address the elephant?
Bringing up an unsettling topic may in itself cause a bigger elephant. Check with a colleague to see if you both agree that it really is an elephant.
These types of conversations can produce a flood of emotions, but having a plan in advance will help you wade through. Think about what you are going to say and when you are going to say it - good timing will ensure the audience is receptive to your comments.
Being direct, honest, and thorough shows respect for your audience and builds their trust in you as a leader. A difficult issue becomes an elephant in the room when it is ignored, despite everyone being aware of it. By naming what everyone is avoiding, you will change the elephant into an obstacle that can be tackled. Be open and present the details to the best of your knowledge.
Directly spell out the truth about what the elephant really is. It is essential to be straightforward about the information, even if it is unpleasant. Tiptoeing around even small aspects of the issue will only increase the tension surrounding the elephant. Being direct enables you to manage others’ perceptions and prevent the elephant from becoming distorted by rumours.
Once you have had the opportunity to clear the air, it is time to open the floor to others. Your audience may have concerns. Try to determine the most appropriate timing for giving others a chance to respond. Before doing so, be sure that you convey everything that you had planned.
Presenting a thorough description of the elephant will ensure that the session continues to move forward rather than becoming a rehashing of false information. Asking the group to share their input and concerns displays consideration for their perspective, as well as creating unity in solving the problem. Continuing to speak about the issue will prevent it from reverting to ‘elephant’ status.
Memories of an event are shaped by the moment where the emotion peaks and by how things come to a close. Before the meeting concludes, be sure that you have discussed all parts of the elephant and that everyone understands the issue at hand. Decide together how the issue will be tackled going forward.
Even if the discussion of the elephant in the room was a rocky one, ensuring closure is a great way to give everyone confidence that the elephant is being addressed.
PHIL BURTON, business leader at Success Academy Trust, explains why we should not fear the elephant in the room
Buy direct from Authorised IT distributors & vendors
Education discounts & frameworks you’re entitled to Live price and stock visibility
Price comparison across suppliers
Extra Dynamic Discounts at checkout
Control spend limits and end user catalogues
marketplace.probrand.co.uk
The prime minister and government officials have acknowledged the ‘existential’ risk posed by artificial intelligence (AI) for the first time, The Guardian has reported. The prime minister met with the CEOs of Google DeepMind, OpenAI and Anthropic AI to discuss safety and regulation in AI development. The meeting focused on implementing measures to limit potentially catastrophic risks associated with AI and exploring international collaborations in AI safety and regulation. The CEOs agreed to collaborate with the UK government to ensure a responsive approach to the rapidly advancing technology.
The acknowledgment of the ‘existential threats’ posed by AI marks a shift in the government’s generally positive stance on AI development. OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, called for the establishment of an international body, akin to the International Atomic Energy Agency, to regulate the development of super intelligent AI.
Biz Community has reported that Play Sense, an independent pre-school that offers play-based learning through its micro-schools online platform, has secured undisclosed funding from Grindstone Ventures. Play Sense aims to provide high-quality early childhood education globally, and to empower women entrepreneurs in the process. Their unique micro-school model allows teachers to set up playschools at home, or in a provided space, supported by comprehensive training, a play kit, and operational assistance. Grindstone Ventures, a fund that invests in startups with intellectual property and growth potential, sees Play Sense as reimagining early child education by bridging the gap between home and preschool and fostering collaboration, creativity, selfregulation, and adaptability in children.
The Times has reported that school leaders have expressed concerns about the slow response of the government in addressing the dangers posed by artificial intelligence (AI) in education.
In a letter to The Times, a coalition of leaders from prominent schools in the country emphasises the urgent need for collaboration among schools to ensure that AI serves their best interests and those of their students, rather than the profit motives of large education technology companies. Led by Sir Anthony Seldon, head of Epsom College, the group also announced the establishment of a body dedicated to advising and safeguarding schools against the risks associated with AI.
The initiative has garnered support from Geoff Barton, head of the Association of School and College Leaders, as well as numerous heads of both private and state schools, including Helen Pike from Magdalen College School, James Dahl from Wellington College, and Alex Russell from the Bourne Education Trust.
Gillian Keegan, secretary of state for education, told a conference this month that AI would have the power to transform a teacher’s day-to-day work, taking out much of the “heavy lifting” by marking and producing lesson plans. However, school leaders’ have expressed concerns extending beyond AI’s potential to facilitate cheating, encompassing its impact on
children’s mental and physical well-being and even the future of the teaching profession.
In their letter, they highlight the ‘bewildering’ pace of AI advancements and call for trustworthy guidance amid uncertainty. They express scepticism regarding the ability of large digital companies to self-regulate in the best interests of students, staff and schools; moreover, they lack confidence in the government’s ability or willingness to regulate effectively.
Sir Anthony Seldon, who authored a book on AI in 2017, identifies ‘infantilisation’ as the greatest threat facing teachers and students alike. He warns that AI, if not properly addressed, will undermine the challenging nature of learning and teaching, which are integral to personal and intellectual growth. He advocates for AI to primarily facilitate tasks that alleviate teachers’ burdens, allowing for increased interpersonal engagement, such as debates, lectures, group problem-solving activities, arts and drama.
A spokesperson for the Department for Education commented, “The education secretary has been clear about the government’s appetite to pursue the opportunities - and manage the risks - that exist in this space, and we have already published information to help schools do this. We continue to work with experts, including in education, to share and identify best practice.”
In previous articles, I have talked about the ten areas that make up the IT operation in your setting.
Last time I wrote about change management and how it is probably least well-established in schools and, potentially, the IT aspect that impacts users the most significantly.
This time we are looking at configuration management, which probably happens really well in most schools, and usually improves user’s lives without them ever really noticing - that’s because configuration management is predominantly used by those responsible for ICT and ICT technical support as it focuses on providing information to help resolve incidents and problems.
Configuration management is far less tangible for the senior leadership of schools - which makes it difficult for them to understand and assess how wellestablished it is within their settings because it looks purely at the way items are configured. In extreme cases you can imagine two desktop computers, identical except for the fact that one works seamlessly and the other does not allow anyone to log in or
access the internet. The difference is almost certainly down to the configuration – one may not have the correct settings for connecting to the local area network, for example.
Once equipment has been purchased and set up in a classroom environment, from that point onwards, the ability for trained staff to use it with pupils will largely be down to whether the configuration is correct.
THE 10 AREAS OF IT OPS
● Service desk
● Incident management
● Problem management
● Change management
● Configuration management
● Release management
● Availability and capacity management
● Service level management
● Service continuity management
● Financial management
The role of IT support in schools is varied and the focus moves on quickly from project-to-project, or problem-to-problem. When you are setting up a large number of computers, you get into a rhythm of unboxing, connecting wires, disposing of the packaging, installing the necessary software and configuring all the necessary elements to get each one working well.
It may well be that the configuration of this particular model of computer is subtly different from the others in the school, and so you tweak your process accordingly. Much of this process can also be automated so that simply connecting the PC to the network means the configuration just happens.
The danger comes when, six months down the line, you forget those individual tweaks, or maybe something needs to change in the automated configuration, or something happens to stop it working. If you do not have the necessary information written down, you have to start all over again, working out what is needed should one of those PCs need reinstalling.
In this scenario, one PC might be out of action for a few days but if, instead, the device in question was a network switch, there could be bigger problems. There are far fewer of these in schools than end-user devices and they are installed far less frequently, so there are fewer opportunities to ‘learn’ the configuration. This could result in a much wider impact and for a longer time period.
Effective configuration management is about documenting all the necessary steps and tweaks required to get any type of device, or software application, working well.
Somewhere within your organisation there should be a change management database that holds all this information. It will most likely be administered by your IT support team – whether that is in-house or an external provider. It is one of your most valuable assets and vital for your business resilience, so it should be mentioned in your continuity plans and be in a format (or several formats) that can be accessed in the event of any kind of disaster.
For a lot more information about implementing configuration management take a look at the EdFITS framework on EdTech Centralhttps://edtechcentral.uk/framework/
The danger comes when, six months down the line, you forget those individual tweaks
AI can talk back to you, but did you know it can create unique artworks too?
GARY HENDERSON,
directorof IT at Millfield School and ANME ambassador, follows up his ChatGPT insight with a look at AI and creativity
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been in the news a lot in 2023, with ChatGPT regularly hitting the headlines - but ChatGPT isn’t the only AI model out there. While ChatGPT deals with providing natural language responses to user prompts, other AI solutions, such as DALL-E, provide visual responses to a prompt. Solutions like DALL-E allow users to give a textual description of a desired image, from which the AI creates an original artwork based on its image training data.
I have seen several people raise concerns about AI solutions’ creativity, or lack thereof. ChatGPT, for example, was described as tending towards providing ‘average’ responses. The dictionary definition of ‘creativity’ is, ‘The use of imagination or original ideas to create something’ so it seems clear that AI solutions cannot be considered creative. Their responses are based on the ingested training data and probabilistic modelling of content, so they can hardly be regarded as original.
But what is human creativity based on? Or does it just come from the ether?
My understanding is that a lot of what we, as humans, create is based on personal experiences, including past events, upbringing, experiences and more; creating something
‘original’ doesn’t just come from nothing. The challenge is that - unlike AI models which have an accessible record of all the training data provided - we often cannot access the training data we, as humans, have experienced in our creativity. We don’t consciously remember many of our previous experiences, and we may suffer unconscious biases which play into our creativity.
Maybe we aren’t. ChatGPT displays a notice stating the risk of bias in its responses, bias that comes from the training data it was provided with. Again, how is this so very different from the decision-making of a human, where bias - often unconscious - may play a part? So maybe AIs are more creative than we think, or perhaps we just think we humans are more creative than we are, at least based on the above definition of creativity.
I mentioned the ‘average’ nature of ChatGPT responses earlier, hinting at another challenge associated with AI-based outputs. If we are looking at the creation of images, AI solutions will tend, through their probabilistic nature, towards that which is common. Therefore, if AI is heavily relied upon, this runs the risk that all outputs will tend towards this average and away from art which contains the uniqueness associated with human-based creations. We may start seeing art losing some of the randomness and individuality which is critical to creativity.
Another issue when looking at the products generated from AI models is copyright and attribution. DALL-E, for example, will use image data it was trained with to generate its response - image data that has been ‘scraped’ from the internet; this, therefore, includes copyrighted materials. If the AI uses a copyrighted image in generating its output - where this is
clearly without the permission of the copyright holder - is this not a copyright infringement?
And then there is the issue of attribution; to whom do we attribute a piece of AI-generated artwork based on a user prompt and a set of training data? Does it belong to the user, to the AI, or to its creators? Or does it, perhaps, belong collectively to the individuals who created each piece of training data? How do we even know which parts of the training data the AI used, given that AI models are generally black box solutions where, although we can see the input (the prompt) and the output (the response), we are unable to see the process with which the AI creates its response?
AI is here to stay, so we must make the most of it. I believe that AI has flaws and limitations, but so do we humans. The key potential lies in humans and AIs working together, using the benefits of each to reduce our collective limitations. AIs can quickly produce images based on a prompt, presenting different options far more quickly than humans. This can save the human artist time, focusing on adding the human element, randomness and, dare I say it, ‘creativity.’
As to the challenges, we will need to work through them. We must decide whether AI-based content is attributable to the user proving the prompt, or the AI. We will need to consider the ethics around the use of AIs which have ingested copyrighted works and then use them in their outputs. We will need to think about the risk of artistic output, be it written, visual or even audio content, being stripped of the uniqueness, randomness and originality which we believe is a key part of human-based creations.
These are interesting times!
AI is here to stay, so we must make the most of it
Since being involved in my first new build school project in 2008, it’s surprising how often the IT isn’t fully-considered in plans for new builds, refurbishments or extension works in schools.
For example, when a school is granted funding for another phase of any building development, the project is often put out to tender without any conversation with the school about their IT systems and requirements. It’s a common occurrence that you often see when you visit a newly-completed project - many items are added afterwards which don’t look as tidy as they could be.
The more IT solutions that can be designed into a project at the planning stage, the tidier the end result will be. It can also save on additional costs such as having to install extra infrastructure later, involving unsightly surface trunking and suchlike.
One recent project that I was involved with saw a central area of the school being turned into a new larger staffroom, meeting room and a large chapel/studio space with bi-folding doors into the main hall. The main remit of this project was to allow the studio space to easily become a stage area, accessible and viewable from the main hall. This required a full new PA system for the main hall and studio space, with connections in both spaces to allow for a variety of uses for concerts and performances.
We discussed our ideas with the electrical partners who were involved in the planning stages of the project, and a full system of cabling with sockets was installed in the correct locations, as well as having power and audio sockets in the speaker locations too. We also incorporated the network data points, AV locations and power for new LED screens around the various areas so
that the final installations of this equipment would be much simpler and tidier.
The project teams on each occasion have been surprised by this approach, as the usual response from schools and IT providers is to not worry about the IT – ‘We will sort this out when the job is completed’. It’s very frustrating for the project teams, as they prefer to be able to offer a far more seamless process, with a truly polished end result. It’s unfortunate that the majority of schools and IT providers don’t have the foresight to incorporate as much as they can into the design of the build for the best outcome at the end.
Business managers can assist a great deal with this. Bear in mind that there’s a great deal that can be builtin at the design stage. It’s imperative that everyone has an opportunity to put forward their ideas so that these can all be considered and implemented once approved.
Finally, keep in mind the full range of new technologies available; don’t always base a new space on what you’ve done before.
As ever, if in doubt, give me a shout. It would be fantastic to discuss your future ideas with you all.
Bear in mind that there’s a great deal that can be built-in at the design stage
NIGEL MILLIGAN, IT manager to schools and businesses, explains how important it is to spec up IT requirements in any building project
SOFTWARE TO MAKE YOUR WORKING LIFE SIMPLER.
Every allows you to:
Have consistency across multiple sites and a true end to end compliance system
Set compliance standards at trust level
View a variety of compliance areas centrally such as health & safety, risk, policies etc.
Have real-time RAG reporting with drill-down functionality which removes the need for cumbersome, time-consuming spreadsheets
Have a helicopter view of key information with the multi-site dashboard, which gives you the ability to drill down into the granular detail
Centralise all your information with one HR system and set trust-wide standards
Manage trust-wide pay scales with the MAT admin functionality
EVERY HR:
From staff absence management to payroll reporting, you have the ability to manage and support your employees from one central place. EVERY COMPLIANCE:
With our ever-growing modules to choose from, manage all your compliance requirements with ease. Start
Time to take a few moments out for some light and interesting reading – a wellearned break from numbers and statistics!
As reported by BBC news, a florist in Merthyr Tydfil has been leaving what she calls ‘lonely bouquets’ for local people, in a bid to cheer them up.
Fay Trowbridge first started delivering lonely bouquets around the town five years ago, when her business, Daisy Chain, was celebrating its first anniversary. She has since given away more than 150 bunches of flowers to people in the town.
This year, she wanted to support local businesses by leaving the bouquets outside shops, on park benches, in schools, cafes and gyms. The lonely bouquets have been popping up throughout May, to shine a light on Mental Health Awareness Month.
Fay told BBC News, “It’s been really difficult for us businesses with the cost-of-living issue, so I wanted to send traffic to local places to help them with business.
“Even if I only made one person smile, to me that’s better than none.”
Got a drawer full of partly used batteries? To find out which ones have the most juice left, drop them onto a table from a height of around six inches. If they give a small bounce then fall over, they’re good. If they bounce around more than that, they’re dead or very low on power.
1. Which European country will be adopting the euro for the first time in 2023?
2. What are MPs forbidden from wearing in parliament?
3. What popular confectionery product was banned in Singapore in 1992?
4. True or false: It is illegal to place a postage stamp upside down on a letter in the UK.
5. What is Yorkshire caviar?
4.
3. Chewing gum
2. Armour
False 5. Mushy peas
Answers: 1. Croatia
‘Lonely bouquets’ are popping up in Merthyr TydfilLet us know your funny caption ideas by tweeting us @edexec Caption competition
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, “strengths” is the longest word in the English language with one vowel. The word contains nine letters, eight of them being consonants.
Farmer Palmers, a popular Dorset farm park, has recently welcomed two rare-breed lambs in a rather unexpected turn of events. Five months ago, one of the farm’s Shetland ewes escaped and got into the same pen as a handsome Valais ram called Hank, leading to predictable outcomes.
“You only need a couple of hours for the deed to be done, so we only (realised) a couple weeks ago when she gave birth to the cutest little lambs,” farm director Sandra Palmer-Snellin told the BBC.
The twin lambs, one boy and one girl, are a cross between the Shetland mum and the Valais dad. The farm says these are a new breed to the team and have decided to call the breed ‘Shalais’ in recognition of their heritage.
The park, near Poole in Dorset, transitioned from a working dairy farm to a farm park and petting zoo around 25 years ago. It has breeding programmes in place for its animals, but these new crossbreeds were not part of the plan.
Sandra added, “The Valais are quite impressive sheep, with black faces and a lovely thick fleece. The Shetland sheep are kept in a separate pen but one of the females must have been full of the joys of spring and quite determined.”
An Indian government official drained an entire reservoir after he lost his phone. Food inspector Rajesh Vishwas was reported by the Times of India to be taking selfies on his Samsung smartphone by Kherkatta dam when it dropped into the water. Claiming the device contained ‘sensitive government data,’ Rajesh instructed divers to search for the phone. When they couldn’t find it, he then demanded diesel pumps be used to drain the lake. More than two million litres of water was pumped out over three days. Unsurprisingly, when the phone was discovered in the mud at the bottom of the reservoir, it was waterlogged and would not switch on.
Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.
Richard Branson
Well, knock me down with a feather!
Joining a MAT can provide a chance to pool resources, but this is not always straightforward, as PETER SIRCAR, director of finance & resources, Hammersmith Academy, explains
The educational landscape in the United Kingdom is undergoing a significant transformation, with the government’s ambitious target of converting all schools into academies by 2030. As part of this drive, schools are expected to join “strong” multi-academy trusts (MATs) to foster collaboration and improvement.
There are approximately 10,146 academies and 1,460 MATs currently managing at least two schools in England. These MATs include well-known names like AET, Harris Foundation, Oasis, E-ACT, Ormiston, Star, Reach2, and United Learning Trust.
MATs often embrace centralisation as a strategic move to streamline operations, consolidate resources, and achieve economies of scale. By centralising certain functions such as finance, HR, and procurement, MATs aim to create a more efficient and consistent system across their member schools.
Centralisation can lead to standardised processes, enhanced governance, and improved financial management. However, it is often accompanied by a controversial practice called ‘GAG pooling,’ where funding from individual schools is pooled into a central pot. While proponents argue that it enables strategic resource allocation, critics express concerns about potential loss of autonomy for individual schools, lack of transparency, and potential impacts on staffing levels.
Unfortunately, the implementation of large MATs initiatives to centralise functions and adopt ‘GAG pooling’ practices can have a devastating impact on school business
managers and the hardworking support staff. The impact of centralisation of school finances and operations within a MAT can have various impacts including job losses, a significant change of responsibilities, loss of autonomy, and increased workload and stress.
As schools’ finances are pooled into a centralised pot, it can also result in reduced autonomy and flexibility at the individual school level, leading to potential cutbacks in support staff positions. This can lead to valued members of the school community losing their jobs, causing upheaval and disruption in their lives.
The negative impact of such initiatives on support staff cannot be understated, and it is imperative to carefully consider the consequences of centralization and GAG pooling on these vital roles in the education sector. This article goes beyond the statistics and delves into the personal and human aspects of the issue.
GAG pooling and centralization can lead to job losses for school business managers and support staff, as decisionmaking power and control over funding are consolidated at the central level. We will also consider the emotional and financial toll of losing jobs, livelihoods, and career prospects for these individuals, who play a critical role in the smooth functioning of member schools.
The trend of GAG pooling and centralisation is on the increase in multi-academy trusts. Recently, one real-world case study of a multi-academy trust has been in the news that portrays the impact of GAG pooling and centralisation on jobs of dedicated school business managers and lowly paid school support teams.
The REAch2 Academy Trust is one of the largest primary school MATs. It recently announced plans to cut up to 26% of front-line office staff across all schools, which could affect a minimum of 57 out of 216 office roles. These roles include school business managers, finance staff, and office roles. According to sources, there are serious apprehensions that actual redundancies could add up to over 100 staff.
The trust plans to take control of school budgets, removing individual school autonomy over their finances. The unions are concerned that these cuts will result in more work for remaining staff and less support for students and parents, as the roles at risk involve parent contact services, school trips management, finance staff, and staff that provide support for the head and teacher workload.
The respective schools and parents were not properly consulted in the decision-making process. The unions highlighted that imposing cuts on schools and singling out front-line, low-paid staff was not an acceptable solution. As a result, the unions paused the imposition of these cuts. Unions are advocating an extended period of meaningful consultation involving all staff, governors, and parents to protect the schools, staff, and students from the potential impact of these changes.
The decision to delay the centralisation plans reflects the ongoing tensions between MATs and unions in the UK education sector, with concerns about the impact of centralisation on local autonomy and working conditions for staff. Reach2 and the unions are expected to continue discussions to find a way forward that balances the need for efficient management with the concerns of the workforce.
GAG pooling practices can have a devastating impact on school business managers
On the positive side, centralisation could lead to improved efficiency and consistency in financial and operational processes across schools within the MAT. It may also streamline administrative tasks, reduce duplication, and ensure consistent compliance with policies and procedures.
It is clear that GAG pooling and centralisation can lead to both challenges and opportunities. Here I will use the metaphor of a puzzle to illustrate that school business managers and support staff are integral pieces of the school’s administrative and financial operations. If the process is not handled carefully, GAG pooling and centralisation can disrupt this puzzle, causing pieces to be misplaced or removed, resulting in an incomplete and dysfunctional picture.
As schools navigate this complex terrain, it’s crucial to carefully consider the potential consequences and strike a balance between the government’s vision and the well-being of school communities. MATs have a vital role to play in mitigating the risk of support staff job losses.
While implementing GAG pooling and centralisation initiatives, one key strategy could be to prioritise transparent communication and consultation with all stakeholders, including SBMs and support staff, throughout the decisionmaking process. By involving them in discussions and considering their input, MATs can ensure that their concerns and perspectives are taken into account.
Additionally, MATs can focus on identifying alternative roles or opportunities for retraining and upskilling for support
staff whose roles may be affected by centralisation. This may include providing access to professional development programs, offering redeployment options within the trust, or exploring new avenues for career growth.
MATs can also establish effective systems for monitoring and evaluating the impact of centralisation and GAG pooling, with a commitment to making necessary adjustments based on feedback and data analysis.
By prioritising transparency, collaboration, and professional development, MATs can proactively address concerns and minimise the risk of support staff job losses, while fostering a positive and inclusive work environment within the trust.
In the conclusion, I emphasise the need for greater consideration of the human element in educational reforms. There is a need for dialogue, collaboration, and support to mitigate the adverse effects of these changes on school business managers and lower-paid school staff.
Centralisation could lead to improved efficiency and consistency in financial and operational processes
Brother’s print solutions are designed to support your teams in any setting, helping them work securely and e ciently.
This is...
brotherzone.co.uk/workplace-by-brother
