Lead magazine autumn 2023

Time for action Calls to tackle RAAC crisis grow. See page 4.

Leaders have their say Report highlights heads’ challenges. See page 16

The magazine for NEU Leadership members

Smart thinking

Mark Unwin on how AI tools can help ease the burden on teachers

Expect better How to support pregnant staff. See page 20.

Autumn 2023

Welcome

Lead.

Autumn 2023

Mark Unwin explains how AI can help manage teachers’ workload (see page 10) Photos: Kois Miah NEU president: Emma Rose NEU general secretary: Daniel Kebede Editor: Sally Gillen Editorial assistant: Frankie Faccion

THE chaos that has characterised this Government’s time in office went up several notches this term. First there was the RAAC crisis, which erupted even before schools went back in September, and which months later continues to disrupt the education of thousands of pupils. It’s clear the Government just doesn’t have a handle on what’s going on (see page 4).

Then came the news in October that the Department for Education (DfE) had miscalculated pupil numbers for 2024/25, an error that will cost schools £370m. They stand to lose on average £45 per pupil in primaries and £55 per pupil in secondaries.

I am, along with other union leaders, piling pressure on the Government to reverse its decision.

Schools should not have to pay this heavy price for a DfE mistake.

Leaders are already grappling with what Professor Ruth Lupton calls an “extraordinary co-incidence of pressures”. You can read more about her research, which was commissioned by the NEU, on page 16, and on page 22 I share my thoughts on what her findings mean for the Government.

Following the funding fiasco, I’m struck by the emptiness of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s pledge at the Conservative Party conference in October that his “main funding priority in every spending review from now on will be education”.

We must do all we can to make him give meaning to those words.

This tough term will be over in a few weeks. As we head towards Christmas, I wish you all a well-earned, restful break.

Thank you, as always, for all you do for your staff and students.

Daniel Kebede General secretary National Education Union

neu.org.uk

Contents

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Features 9 Opinion

Published on behalf of NEU by James Pembroke Media, 90 Walcot Street, Bath BA1 5BG jamespembrokemedia.co.uk

John Connolly on developing an outward mindset

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The growing RAAC crisis; 2024/25 funding

Assistant head Tim Hayden discusses how schools can support disabled staff

16 Report 22 Final word

Daniel Kebede on the gulf between policymakers and educators

20

NEU Leadership member Mark Unwin explains why he has developed an education AI assistant

15 Interview

4 Update

4

10 How I...

Findings from research by Professor Ruth Lupton

19 Training

CPD opportunities from the NEU

20 Masterclass

Supporting pregnant staff

lead. The magazine for NEU Leadership members

3

Update

Frustration mounts as Government fails to tackle growing RAAC crisis There is no clear indication of how many schools are affected by the RAAC crisis

A PETITION demanding that the Government invests £4.4bn a year to repair crumbling school buildings was launched by the union on 9 September.

It followed the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) crisis just days before the start of the autumn term, when the Department for Education (DfE) informed more than 100 schools – by October, the number was 214 and is still rising – whose buildings incorporate RAAC,

that they must fully or partially close.

The NEU, along with other unions, is concerned about the state of thousands of school buildings, not just those containing RAAC, which results from years of Government underfunding and neglect.

In June, the National Audit Office report Condition of school buildings warned that years of underinvestment meant the estate’s overall condition was declining and around 700,000

pupils were learning in a school that the responsible body or DfE believes needs major rebuilding or refurbishment. Many buildings containing RAAC also contain asbestos, making it more difficult to safely remove RAAC and the consequences of a collapse even more serious.

In September, the NEU and five other unions wrote to Education Secretary Gillian Keegan asking six questions about RAAC (see below). As we head towards the end of the autumn term, and many schools remain closed, she has yet to answer them.

In October, the union was forced to press for an update on the number of RAAC-affected schools, after the DfE failed to publish updated information it had promised every two weeks.

The union was told that the number of schools affected now numbers 214. Essex is the worst hit local authority, with 63 schools closed fully or partially.

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “The number of schools with RAAC continues to rise, and we are nowhere near the conclusion of this saga. Parents and the wider public need reassurance that the DfE has this problem under control.

“Its reluctance to publish on time speaks volumes. It should not have to fall to the NEU to chase the DfE for information it pledged to regularly provide. We are deeply concerned that the urgent questions we asked at the beginning of September have still not been answered.”

Sign the petition at: valueeducation.org. uk/building-safety

Six questions, no answers As Lead went to press, the Education Secretary had still not answered six questions unions asked at the start of September:

1 4

How many schools at risk of RAAC have not had an investigation?

lead. The magazine for NEU Leadership members

2 3 4

How many schools suspect they could have RAAC?

How many schools with suspected RAAC have yet to be surveyed?

How long does the Government expect it to take for all at-risk

schools to be investigated?

5

How long does the Government think it will take for all schools with

6

What deadline has been set to clear RAAC from every school?

suspected RAAC to be surveyed?

Update

DfE error could cost schools £370m of 2024/25 funding

THOUSANDS of members surveyed by the union say underfunding is leaving schools without the numbers of staff they need, learning resources or cash to invest in school buildings.

Findings from the snapshot survey completed by 3,981 members show 92 per cent of them believe funding levels are not high enough to allow their school to employ enough teachers, or other staff to support pupils’ learning.

Two-thirds (68 per cent) of leaders and teachers said there isn’t enough money to invest in school buildings.

And 85 per cent of respondents said a lack of funding means they do not have enough cash for learning resources.

Commenting on the findings, NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said: “This survey reveals widespread dissatisfaction with the effort Government is taking to properly fund and support schools.

Clear majorities say funding levels are inadequate on all measures and very few members agree there is enough investment in the system.

“This is not a matter of perception. In 2020, the Government spent 4.3 per cent of national income on education and the OECD average was five per cent – and we know the UK share has fallen back since to under four per cent.”

He added that the Department for Education miscalculation on funding for 2024/25 (see full story, right) had “added insult to injury” and the RAAC crisis would not have happened if the Government had kept its strategy for repairing the school estate.

“This is a pattern of behaviour which shows that Government is not serious about education,” said Daniel. “We need to see a major shift and significant investment in schools.

Our children deserve better.”

Photo: Kois Miah

NEU poll: 92% say lack of staff and funding are linked

FOUR unions have written to the Education Secretary after it was announced that schools will lose £370m funding next year – the result of a miscalculation by the Department for Education (DfE).

A joint letter sent by the NEU, ASCL, NASUWT and NAHT calls on Gillian Keegan to honour the Government’s original commitment on school funding, warning that overstretched schools “face the very real prospect of cuts to provision”.

On 6 October, the DfE said it had revised the national funding formula (NFF) because pupil numbers in 2024/25 would be higher than it had forecasted.

As a result, schools will now receive £45 less per pupil in primaries and £55 less per pupil in secondaries next year.

The huge shortfall in funding will place pressure on already overstretched school budgets, leaving less money for pay rises. The union will, however, continue to press the Government to give schools the NFF money that was promised back in July.

Members’ strike action this year won the biggest pay rise – 6.5 per cent – in decades. Next year, the union will continue its campaign for an above-inflation pay rise for educators, especially as the cost-of-living crisis continues to hit members hard.

The unions’ letter argues that the

reduction in funding casts doubt on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s statement to his party conference in October that “my main funding priority in every spending review from now on will be education”.

The letter continues by saying: “Sustained investment in the nation’s schools is desperately needed, after years of austerity.”

Secondary head teacher and former NEU national president Robin Bevan (pictured) said: “One of the hardest challenges for school leaders is realistic longer-term budget planning. We are required to submit three-year forecasts every July; but – most years – have only a vague indication of income more than 12 months ahead and rarely have any insight into fundamental cost factors including pay settlements.

“This year was even worse than usual. The welcome 6.5 per cent pay agreement for teachers came very late and is only supported up to three per cent with an extra grant. However, this has now been compounded by October’s announcement that July’s indicative income figures, for 2024/25, were all wrong. Our school is £70,000 worse off than anticipated – a highly significant amount of a very stretched budget.”

He added that the gross clerical error “shines a light on the catastrophic funding levels during a sustained period of high inflation”. lead. The magazine for NEU Leadership members

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Update

Ofsted’s one-word grades can be career-ending for education leaders, the union tells MPs GENERAL secretary of the NEU Daniel Kebede has told the Education Select Committee that single-word judgements must go because they can be “career-ending for leaders and career-shaming for teachers”.

Giving evidence to the committee, which is carrying out an inquiry into Ofsted, Daniel said he had recently met a fantastic head teacher at a school in London who told him he had less job security than a football manager. He added that one-word judgements do not work for the profession, children or their parents.

“The real problem is they perpetuate a narrative that there are good schools and bad schools, and good and bad teachers – and that really isn’t the case,” he said.

“Everyone in the profession wants to provide the best for their children.

“One-word judgements have incredibly high stakes and we must move away from them.” He went on to tell

MPs that a poor Ofsted judgement often has a significant impact including school restructure, which can lead to difficulties recruiting and retaining staff, causing schools to enter a “cycle of decline”.

Daniel added that 75 per cent of NEU members say Ofsted adds immensely to their workload, which is fuelling the recruitment and retention crisis.

“As a profession, we support accountability but the usefulness of Ofsted is very limited. There is widespread evidence its judgements are not reliable, accurate or fair,” he said.

“The fundamental problem is the reputation of Ofsted. More than 80 per cent of our members think it should be abolished.”

He said the Ofsted framework had changed five times in nine years, making it incredibly difficult for the profession to keep up with it.

Have your say ARE you an education leader interested in helping to inform the union’s policies on leadership? The union has 15 vacancies on its national leadership council (NLC) and would like to hear from leaders who would like to join.

The places are: • south west – female seat • south east – two female seats and one male seat • London – two female seats • East Midlands – one male and two female seats • Yorkshire and Humber – one female seat • northern – one male seat and one female seat • north west – one female seat • Wales – one female seat • Northern Ireland – one male or female seat.

To find out more, please contact the NEU’s national official for leadership Steve Cooper steve.cooper@neu.org.uk.

Two NLC members share their views on pages 9 and 15

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lead. The magazine for NEU Leadership members

The current four and five year inspection cycle is not conducive to continuous school improvement, he added.

“What we want to see is the high-stakes nature taken out of inspection and a much more regional and collaborative approach, where schools help each other to improve.”

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede giving evidence to the Education Select Committee

Teachers say Ofsted is unfair MORE than 90 per cent of teachers surveyed say Ofsted is not a reliable or trusted arbiter of school standards.

Research by Beyond Ofsted, a panel of experts carrying out an inquiry into the future of school inspection, also found that 89 per cent of those polled do not believe Ofsted is a valid method of measuring school performance.

Even teachers at Good and Outstanding graded schools do not think the ratings are fair, revealing an across-the-board lack of regard for the inspectorate within the profession.

Beyond Ofsted has been established to develop a set of principles for underpinning a better inspection system and proposals for an alternative approach. Its chair Lord Jim Knight said: “This research has been extremely valuable as we formulate our recommendations. The strength of feeling about the failings of the current system is clearly universal across the teaching profession. Our aim is to identify what is needed to make it fairer and more effective. We look forward to sharing our findings with educators and policymakers.”

Beyond Ofsted will publish its recommendations at the end of November.

Update

Photo: Jess Hurd

Invest in education: NEU’s message to politicians at party conferences CAMPAIGNING for politicians to ‘Invest in education’, the NEU was at this year’s party political conferences, likely to be the last before the next General Election. The union was keen to influence as many MPs and hopeful candidates as possible.

Visitors to the NEU stall heard from union staff and executive members about the impact of underfunding since 2010 – with the UK well below the Organisation for Economic CoOperation and Development (OCED) national average. The union’s message to all political parties was that they needed to lift education spending back to at least the OECD average of five per cent. This would require an additional investment of £20.3bn per annum.

Delegates were told about the impact of the 44 per cent real-terms decline in spending on the school estate, which has left many buildings crumbling.

The NEU also hosted fringe meetings on the recruitment and retention crisis.

Speaking at his first party conference as the NEU’s general secretary, Daniel Kebede said that he wished he could be more optimistic about the state of education, but half a million children were being taught by staff not qualified in the subject they are teaching and class sizes were bigger than they had ever been.

In response, the Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Munira Wilson MP said that education staff are undervalued and underpaid. The Liberal Democrats would create a proper teacher workforce strategy and ensure all secondary students are taught by a subject specialist.

This year’s party political conferences took the NEU first to the Liberal Democrats’ gathering in Bournemouth; then to the Conservatives who met in Manchester; on to the Greens in Brighton and, finally, to the Labour conference in Liverpool.

Disappointingly, no Government ministers were available to speak at the NEU’s Conservative Party fringe meeting, held jointly with ASCL and NAHT.

Former NEU national president Louise Atkinson (right) chats to delegates at the Labour Party conference

Speaking on the panel, Emma Balchin, cochief executive of the National Governance Association, noted how in its recent survey of governors, 77 per cent said they were struggling to recruit because there were too few applicants. Accountability and workload pressures were also having a negative impact, she said.

In his speech to the Conservative conference, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced his plans to replace A-levels and T-levels with the Advanced British Standard, an announcement divorced from the reality of a national shortage of secondary teachers.

At our Labour Party fringe meeting, Daniel was joined on the panel by Shadow Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson MP. She noted how soaring child poverty rates mean educators are being asked to do more and more, above and beyond their day job.

If they win the next election, Labour would reset the relationship between government and the teaching profession, she said. “It would be based on partnership, mutual respect and valuing education.”

Welcoming these comments, Daniel pointed out that pay would remain an issue for the next government – the National

Foundation for Educational Research had highlighted how pay would need to increase by 16 per cent to restore it to 2010-11 levels.

At the Labour conference, the union also hosted with the Daily Mirror a joint meeting on our campaign for free school meals (FSM) for all primary children.

We were joined by the Welsh Education Minister, Jeremy Miles. He said any child who is hungry in the classroom is not ready to learn and he expressed pride in the Welsh Government’s decision to roll out free school meals across primary schools.

Daniel praised the Welsh Government and the Mayor of London for introducing free school meals. Child poverty has rocketed over the past decade and providing FSM is the most important way of alleviating the burden on children, alongside ending the two-child benefit cap.

Sharon Hodgson MP, a long-standing campaigner on school meals, told the meeting about recent Impact on Urban Health research. This had noted the wider societal benefits of FSM alongside the widely known educational and health benefits. Every £1 invested in FSM is estimated to generate £1.71 in economic and societal benefits. lead. The magazine for NEU Leadership members

7

Opinion

Having an outward mindset NEU national leadership council member and trust improvement lead John Connolly on changing his leadership style.

IN my 16 years as a senior leader, I’ve been on many leadership and management courses. Most have given advice on operational stuff and encouraged an authoritarian, top-down approach. That might work for a short time, but it doesn’t create a place where, as professionals, people can develop, grow and come up with solutions themselves.

It was a former colleague who introduced me to the outward mindset philosophy, which was developed by the Arbinger Institute in the US. It wasn’t like anything I’d come across before. Importantly, it doesn’t offer practical solutions to problems. Instead, it encourages you to think about how you perceive others, and the way that you see your role within an organisation.

The idea is that you see yourself, as a leader, as someone who helps and enables others to be successful. Key to that is developing what is called an outward mindset. It requires you to deflate your ego.

It sounds easy; it isn’t.

Here’s an example. I was in a meeting recently with a colleague and I was trying to raise with them quality assurance and monitoring teachers, always a tricky area.

It sounded as if I was saying they had to check up on people because they are accountable. This was not the message I hoped to convey and, understandably, made my colleagues became very defensive.

I thought back to what I’d read about the outward mindset and realised I was approaching the conversation from the wrong angle. It wasn’t for me to tell my

Academy trust improvement lead John Connolly has embraced the outward mindset approach

“It requires you to deflate your ego. It sounds easy; it isn’t.” colleague what to do. I realised I had to change my approach. In the next meeting I had a series of questions that were designed to gently encourage them to think about how they ensure teaching quality.

I asked how they knew what was going on and how could they help if they didn’t know. It shifted the purpose of what quality assurance was.

Because I had stepped back, the person was then saying things that I would have wanted them to have said initially.

I removed myself from being in charge and adopted a more ‘I don’t know anything here and I need to ask some questions’ approach. My colleague was less defensive.

It wasn’t about me solving the problem, but helping them.

This sounds easy but it isn’t because I’ve got an ego – we all have – and often we like to achieve things and be rewarded for that.

It is easy to end up thinking about yourself and what is in your own interests when really what you should be doing is thinking ‘ok, I’ve got to help this person, so telling them what to do is not the right thing’. That’s difficult – especially when there is a power dynamic.

The outward mindset encourages you to consider yourself as part of the team and that your role, as leader, is to support the team to achieve its goals.

It isn’t about being softly-softly. It’s about being honest. If you have to have an honest conversation, you have it. You don’t shy away from that.

I’d sum it up like this: when I was first a leader, I was supportive of people because I knew it was the right thing to do and because it would help me get to where I wanted to go. Whereas now, I’m trying to be supportive of people because it will help them to develop and get us where we want to be. That’s the kind of shift it has made. lead. The magazine for NEU Leadership members

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How I…

Is AI the answer?

With input from thousands of educators, NEU Leadership member Mark Unwin has developed a chatbot to help reduce workload. Sally Gillen finds out more.

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How I…

FOR many of us, artificial intelligence (AI) stirs up less than positive feelings, ranging from mild unease through to deep suspicion – even fear.

It isn’t surprising when you consider how little the average person knows about AI but just how frequently we are warned about its troubling potential.

A world run by robots. Who wouldn’t be frightened by such a dystopic vision of the future?

Research published last month by the British Standards Institution (BSI), the UK’s standards body, revealed a ‘confidence gap’ among the public surrounding the use of AI technology.

The Trust in AI poll of 10,000 people across nine countries found that although Britons see the potential for AI, there is also a low level of trust in it. Three-fifths want international guidelines to enable its safe use in public services.

In education, 65 per cent of Britons believe digital trust is essential in overseeing AI in the classroom.

Interestingly, nearly one in five (18 per cent) of people expect AI to be used regularly in schools within just seven years.

That reality is leading educators to look at how they might be at the forefront of developing AI solutions that will benefit their profession.

Mark Unwin is among those innovators. A senior primary leader for 13 years, and now CEO of Create Partnership Trust, he has worked with data scientist Seth Shenbanjo (see page 13) to develop a generative AI tool (generative AI produces text or images based on user prompts) designed to reduce teacher workload and boost wellbeing.

AskKira is an education coaching assistant that can be used on a phone or laptop. Developed over the course of nine months in collaboration with around 5,000 education professionals, it was launched in October. Sign-up is free at the moment but a fee will be introduced at some stage.

“To reduce workload, we wanted to automate specific tasks that teachers find really time-consuming: letter

The teacher, like everybody else, is “We wanted under a huge amount of pressure: marking, assessing, organising school trips, and to automate helping children with music, sport or art. are stressed and very busy. Then they specific tasks They look in their diary and see the meeting is the day after tomorrow. that teachers “In my experience of school leadership, it’s those things that tip people find really time- over the edge,” says Mark. “They cause social anxiety – particularly among young consuming: teachers. Those aged 22-30 report social letter writing, anxiety issues a lot, especially in relation to presenting to peers. If you are presenting policy creation, on a subject you don’t know a huge amount about, that can be very stressful. lesson planning.” Add to that being new to the profession, writing, policy creation, lesson planning,” explains Mark.

Somewhat ironically, he confesses to not being “very techy”. Initially, he thought about how AI might be used to analyse the mass of data on schools, which would help leaders make good decisions about how to improve their schools.

That early thinking around the subject then evolved and grew. “I shot bolt upright in bed one morning and thought ‘we’re missing a trick’. I started to think about how we could use AI to help teachers improve their practice, reduce their workload and, in turn, help their wellbeing, because if you do those three things, then effectively you are helping senior leaders improve their schools,” he says.

At 4am that morning, he began writing what are called system prompts.

These are directions, which begin with words like “create”, “write”, “complete” and so on. For example, “write me a lesson plan for year 2 on the Great Fire of London”.

Mark offers an example of one of the ways askKira can be used. A geography teacher in a primary school, who doesn’t really have an interest in geography but has been given the subject because primary leaders have a very small number of middle leaders to choose from, is asked to give a presentation to colleagues on changes to the curriculum over the past 12 months.

and that you don’t have much time to prepare to ensure you do a good job and don’t look foolish, well AI can really help with that.”

If asked the right questions, askKira can write a detailed, engaging presentation that lands the key points quickly for members of staff, he says.

“It replaces the time it takes to do a load of Google searches, or go onto Facebook and ask questions.”

That sounds great. But it raises some questions. Shouldn’t leaders be aware a member of staff is struggling, particularly an early career teacher (ECT), and needs extra support? And could they go under the radar if they are relying on technology, rather than seeking help and advice from a human colleague?

After all, teaching is essentially a people business, in which professional collaboration boosts creativity and helps new and inexperienced teachers develop and improve their practice. Is there a danger that this could be lost, that educators could become atomised? Cut off ?

Mark says that many ECTs and teachers generally already report that teaching can be quite a lonely profession because of the amount of time spent cut off from adult interaction.

But he stresses that askKira has been programmed to constantly check that the person it is talking to is ok and, if they aren’t, to signpost them to a human being. lead. The magazine for NEU Leadership members

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How I…

“Teaching was once a doable job with manageable objectives,” he argues.

“It was a job where you had some status in society, and for women it often fitted around caring responsibilities. How far away from that experience of teaching are we now? You can’t even imagine that.

It takes so much time to do the job and, as school leaders, we try endlessly to put things in place to help with workload, but more and more is piled on and nobody

ever takes anything away.”

No educator could or would argue against that, which is why the NEU continues to campaign for workload to be reduced. It has spiralled because of the huge number of unnecessary tasks teachers are expected to complete – many of them generated by the fear of Ofsted.

Shouldn’t the focus be, therefore, on continuing to press for systemic changes that will reduce workload, rather than

“As school leaders, we try endlessly to put things in place to help with workload, but more and more is piled on and nobody ever takes anything away.”

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inventing things to help teachers manage the unmanageable?

It is a fair point, agrees Mark, but he adds that the lived reality for teachers is that they simply have too much work to do right now and tools like askKira and others could help them achieve a better work/life balance.

“Numerous governments have pledged to cut teacher workload. It never happens, and meanwhile we are haemorrhaging staff,” he says. “Over time, things like askKira will help get the job done in a more manageable amount of time.

“It’s just a way of trying to do that while the union fights for a better workload. Whether it’s askKira or something else, I think the way we will help teachers is by giving them access to an AI assistant.”

To find out more, go to askkira.com

How I…

Data scientist Seth Shenbanjo explains how askKira works WHEN a mutual friend introduced Seth to Mark, the data scientist was keen to work on an AI education project for very personal reasons. Here he explains the development of askKira.

I’ve benefited fantastically from the education system. It was my principal, Miss Green, when I was in year 10 who made sure I could do ICT. It wasn’t available as a GCSE at my school, but my parents asked, and Miss Green applied some pressure on the local authority. I was the only student on that ICT GCSE for the whole two years.

It would have been so easy for her to just say “pick DT, it’s similar”, but she really understood there is a difference.

If that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t be in the career I’m in now. From then on, I’ve always had a great respect for the teaching profession.

So I jumped at the chance to be involved in an AI project for education.

The first thing that was extremely important to us was to develop something in collaboration with the profession. I’m used to working with AI in the private sector, where it’s used purely for profit, but when you cross over into the public sector, into education, there is a moral and ethical dimension. That was why working with teachers as we built askKira was so important.

The combination of Mark as an educator and me as a technology person has worked very well. Mark knows what his peers need. I see if it is possible to make it happen.

We have always been clear that the intention is not to replace teachers, but to work with them. We have worked with thousands of teachers, a broad mix from ECTs to senior leaders, to find out what would work best for them. That is how we arrived at a coaching programme.

We wanted educators to be able to ask it questions so it would be like asking a friend for advice.

AskKira works like an advanced calculator for language that has access to a colossal library. It doesn’t

“We have always been clear that the intention is not to replace teachers, but to work with them.” scour the internet. It’s not live, in real time. It has been trained up until September 2021. When it receives a user prompt, it looks across the multiple databases, articles and pieces it has been trained on and then, using its algorithms and mathematical models, it reads back an answer. The incredible thing about generative AI is that no two answers are the same. It thinks differently each time.

Many people have concerns about the accuracy and quality of information produced by AI, and those concerns are valid. That has been one of the efforts we have made through our coding and fine-tuning of the askKira model.

If Kira doesn’t know, it isn’t able to provide an answer. AI has a tendency to try to appear to be allknowing, but it isn’t really intelligent, it is just augmenting an existing intelligence. So we have trained Kira to prevent what are called hallucinations, which is when AI doesn’t know something but will try to act smart by making a guess.

Here’s an example: if Kira was asked what the 2023 SENCO code

of practice is, it wouldn’t provide an answer because it has only been trained up until September 2021. It would say it isn’t equipped to answer the question and then, when asked why, it says “I do not have access to real-time data”.

Although AI has been around a long time, its application in education is quite new and we have been intent on limiting the fallibility that has the potential to exist, and then collaborating with users to find out where those potential pitfalls are and quickly tying them up.

We tested askKira from July to September, before launching it in October, and made changes based on the feedback that we got from the professionals. We are still tweaking it now.

Kira isn’t a silver bullet, but it can harness the potential of technology in a way we believe can help teachers.

lead. The magazine for NEU Leadership members

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Interview

‘I didn’t want to stand out’ Assistant head Tim Hayden tells Sally Gillen how schools can make a big difference to those, like him, who have a disability.

“I’VE grown up with my disability, so I’m not always aware of the limitations it places on me,” says Tim Hayden, pondering its impact on his role as a senior leader.

He was born with nystagmus, which causes extreme short-sightedness. Glasses are the only clue that Tim needs help seeing and most people aren’t aware he has a disability.

“Like all disabled people, I don’t like to draw attention to myself,” he says, then quickly corrects himself: “No, it isn’t all disabled people, it’s me.”

He is right though. Many disabled people say they just want to blend in, especially if they have experienced discrimination or a lack of support.

It is important for schools not to make assumptions about someone’s needs, says Tim, adding that they need to be more proactive in finding out what individuals need, rather than placing the onus on them to make requests.

He struggled for months without the larger monitor and upright mouse he needed, after being appointed in 2012 as an assistant head at the Luton junior school where he has spent most of his career.

Eventually Tim spoke up and stopped using the magnifying glass he had bought.

“I hadn’t asked for the equipment I needed at first, not because I thought I would be told no – there was no problem with me getting it – but because I didn’t want to stand out or seem like I was being awkward,” he explains.

The sheer number of documents he needs to read as a leader, and the time spent at a computer, can be difficult.

Just before the pandemic hit in 2020, he developed retinal migraines, which were linked to his nystagmus and diagnosed after he blacked out at a parents’ evening.

Tim hasn’t let his nystagmus hold him back

Tim says his head teacher has been very supportive, and small gestures from other senior leader colleagues have also had a big impact. “Someone joined the senior team and they were aware of my nystagmus. When we had meetings, they would go out of their way to produce documents on A3 paper for me. It was nice. I hadn’t asked for it and it made me feel understood,” says Tim. That hasn’t always been the case. An early experience when he was at school in

“They would go out of their way to produce documents on A3 paper for me.

I hadn’t asked for it and it made me feel understood.”

the 1970s has stayed with Tim. “We were doing chemistry – I would have been good at chemistry because I’ve got a scientific brain – and the teacher was talking about something on the periodic table on the wall behind him.

I put my hand up and said ‘sir, I can’t see that on the board’ and he said ‘of course you can, you’re sat on the front row’.

“I just shut up because I thought I’ve put my hand up, in front of everyone else, and I’m ridiculing myself because I’m saying I can’t see something just ten feet away. After that I hated chemistry and dropped it because of that teacher and his lack of understanding.

It obviously had a massive impact on me because I’ve never forgotten it.”

Tim’s own experiences make him especially alert to the fact there may be children in his own classroom who are hiding difficulties with their sight. He always checks with all children, wherever they are sitting in the classroom, that they can see the board.

He also begins by letting them know he will write in big letters, and he may make mistakes because he’s very short-sighted, and they should let him know when he does.

“If I come across any children who can’t see as well, I always want to make it like ‘oh, you’re like me, fantastic’. I want to build their confidence up and their feeling that everyone is tolerant and acceptant. Ultimately I just want everybody to enjoy learning and feel valued,” says Tim. Returning to the impact of his sight impairment on his career, he speculates that there is only one way it may have hampered his progression. He isn’t allowed to drive, which has meant always working a short distance from home. Living in a small town, that has reduced the pool of schools he has been able to apply for jobs at. “That’s really all I can think of,” he says. lead. The magazine for NEU Leadership members

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Report

Leaders have their say on the work pressures they face Earlier this year, the NEU commissioned research into what it’s like to be a school leader today. Sally Gillen reports on the findings.

SCHOOL leaders are now faced with an “extraordinary co-incidence of pressures” that are taking a huge toll on them, and leading many to question if they want to continue in the job, research commissioned by the NEU has found.

Professor Ruth Lupton’s report, School leadership in current times – as school leaders see it, says these pressures include rising child poverty, growing educational inequalities, increasing numbers of young people with mental health problems, financial pressures, staffing shortages, the aftermath of the pandemic, as well as multiple policy and system changes. Added to all this is the unrelenting pressure of inspection.

The research is based on a survey of almost 400 school leaders and in-depth interviews with leaders, conducted between February and June.

“What makes the reading of this report uncomfortable is the clear evidence of a lack of mutual understanding.”

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It was commissioned by the union to get an insight into the working lives of school leaders in the UK, how the role is changing, how leaders feel about their jobs and the support they need.

Leadership members were asked about a wide range of issues including workload, job satisfaction, pay, the challenges of the job, their support needs and what kind of continuing professional development they find most useful.

“Overall, these survey findings paint a bleak picture of the state of the education system,” says Professor Lupton in her report. “Some issues are intrinsic to the nature of the role: the juggling of multiple responsibilities and the need to be in ‘responsive mode’ during the school day. But they have become unmanageable, largely due to policy decisions.

“What makes the reading of this report uncomfortable is the clear evidence of a lack of mutual understanding between those in Government, who devise and set policy, and those whose daily responsibility is for the care and educational achievement of young people.”

School leaders say they are now working, on average, a 57-hour week – two hours more than before the pandemic, with 80 per cent saying their workload is unacceptable. One in six reported working more than 65 hours a week.

Eighty-three per cent say they cannot find enough time for the strategic aspects of their job. Staff shortages, time taken up dealing with behaviour problems, and the increasing demand of supporting families

Professor Ruth Lupton says the report paints “a bleak picture of the education system”

were among the tasks taking time away from that work.

The impact of the pandemic has been significant, with 80 per cent of leaders reporting that they are now spending more time supporting staff wellbeing and mental health, dealing with safeguarding and child protection issues and liaising with families and external agencies supporting pupil welfare. Professor Lupton found that just over a third are completely or mostly satisfied with their job, but nearly a quarter are completely or mostly dissatisfied.

Frustrations linked to inadequate budgets and staffing, as well as inadequate capacity in external agencies, were cited among the causes, as were the linked problems of too much work, too little

Report

Percentages agreeing and disagreeing with the statement “I have an acceptable workload” (senior leaders) Disagree

80%

Neither agree nor disagree

THE SURVEY aimed to identify how school leaders could

11%

be supported in the face of 7%

Tend to agree Strongly agree

Supporting leaders

any challenges. The most useful source of support/

2%

guidance by far was support from leaders within their own school.

“This research delivers powerful and important messages about the reality of school leadership.” time, inspection and other accountability pressures.

Furthermore, 68 per cent disagreed that their job was highly valued in society, and 63 per cent that their pay was fair for the job they do.

Professor Lupton says that while her research showed that leaders of special and independent schools tended to reflect more positively on their roles than those

Key findings from the report 57 hours a week – the average number of hours worked by school leaders

83% said they do not have enough time for strategic leadership

35% are completely or mostly satisfied with their job

66% said their job negatively affects their mental health

20% said they would recommend the job to others

in state-funded schools, the results were negative overall.

According to leaders, more funding was the single biggest change that would make school leadership more rewarding and effective. One member said they were “literally counting pennies”. They also called for more time, improvements in staffing, as well as a reduction in the disruptive demands of inspection and accountability.

Two-thirds said that their job negatively affected their mental health and that the nature of the job made them wonder if they wanted to continue doing it. “These findings point to serious challenges for school leader retention and the pipeline of leaders coming through,” says Professor Lupton.

“Having to do more with less, having an unmanageable workload and still not being able to do the full job is taking a toll on school leaders,” concludes Professor Lupton in her report. “On top of this, they feel undervalued and that their pay does not reflect what they do. Many are seriously questioning whether they want to continue.

“This research delivers powerful and important messages about the reality of school leadership that need to be urgently addressed by policy and decision makers,” she adds.

Outside of school, 22 per cent said a coach/mentor was “very helpful”, although they were only used by about one-third of leaders, suggesting that this source of help could be usefully extended. Twenty per cent cited leaders in other schools as a good source of support.

Preparation for school leadership roles was lacking, with 62 per cent saying they felt unprepared when they took on their current roles. One in five felt “very unprepared”. Only six per cent overall felt “very well prepared”. In this scenario, continuing professional development is particularly important.

In terms of issues, those that school leaders said they need most support with now are: knowledge and understanding of student mental health; knowing how best to support children and families that are facing socio-economic difficulties; and knowledge and understanding of staff mental health issues.

See more about the NEU’s training offer on page 19 and NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede’s opinion on Professor Lupton’s report on page 22.

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Training

Take your next step The NEU’s training courses are designed to help you get the most from your career. courses. This one was aimed at a group of people who understand where I’m coming from, and it was nice to be among people where our situation is understood. I just felt that I needed some extra support.”

She adds that the course helped her learn practical skills, such as breathing techniques, to overcome nervousness ahead of doing presentations in job interviews.

“In my last job interview, I had positive feedback but the one thing I know I messed up was the presentation – I got nervous. I was told the presentation wasn’t very good.

I realised that but, despite the fact I didn’t do well on the presentation, this doesn’t mean I can’t do the job. I was just nervous.

“I’m still in contact with the people Positioned for success on the course. It’s a good support network.

A great example of effective training is the It was one of the best courses I’ve done. union’s Positioned for success programme, A great experience.” which was launched last year and is aimed Utha Vallade is an associate assistant at Black teachers and middle leaders looking principal at a London secondary school. to progress in their careers. Those who have taken part so far say the course is living up to Like Betty, her confidence was boosted, she says, by being surrounded by 15 people who its name. shared her lived experiences.

Betty Halcro, head of French at a “When you are denied more progressive grammar school in Shropshire, says after roles and responsibilities, you begin to unsuccessfully applying for a number doubt yourself and your confidence falters,” of more senior roles, she had become she says. “The course broadened my despondent. “On Positioned for success I awareness of the barriers faced by leaders regained a lot of lost confidence,” she says. from under-represented backgrounds and “As an Afro-Caribbean woman, there how to overcome them more effectively. It are not many opportunities to progress. was the perfect platform to gain insights I have done a lot of generic leadership from evidence-based research and learn from experienced trailblazers.”

Since completing Positioned for success, Utha has been offered two senior leadership roles and has become co-head teacher at a supplementary school.

From left: Betty Halcro and Utha Vallade attended Positioned for success A WIDE range of training and continuing professional development courses for leaders, from hour-long masterclass webinars on specific topics through to sixth-month programmes, is offered by the union. Wherever you are on your leadership journey, there will be something for you (see CPD coming up, right).

The NEU’s training consistently receives excellent feedback. Members who undertake CPD report positives such as feeling more confident as leaders, having a better understanding of what leadership involves and being more able to recognise their own potential.

CPD coming up…

Leadership masterclasses • 28 November 3.45-5pm Surviving and thriving in middle leadership: research-based practical approaches to wellbeing.

• 24 January 10.30-11.30am Developing your vision as a leader.

• 19 March 4-5pm Strategic thinking.

• 8 May 4-5pm Courageous conversations.

Leadership programmes Positioned for success A six-month professional development programme for Black teachers and school leaders with aspiration for progression and the readiness to apply for new positions.

Format: It runs from January 2024 – June 2024 with two face-to-face workshops and four online sessions with intersessional tasks. Limited places.

Developing middle leaders Run in partnership with UCL Centre of Educational Leadership, this course is for middle leaders responsible for leading a team. It blends up-to-date research with practical activities designed to develop your confidence and leadership skills to ensure you are a catalyst for change.

Format: Online via zoom. Four sessions March – July 2024. Cost £100.

Early heads A coaching-based programme for those early in their career as heads and deputies aspiring to be heads.

No projects or intersessional tasks.

Format: Online via zoom. Cost £250.

Widening leadership Run with UCL Centre of Educational Leadership. Designed for those aspiring to, or in senior leadership roles, this course explores the psychology of leadership.

Format: In person, four days over four months in London. Starting December 2023. Cost £120.

Find out more about the NEU’s training at: neu.org.uk/learning/national-cpd

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Masterclass

Time to expect better To help leaders create a supportive environment for pregnant staff, the union has produced new advice and resources.

Words: Sally Gillen

“WHAT have you done that for?” That was the response one union member received from her manager when she disclosed her pregnancy.

Another was forced during her pregnancy to spend an entire school day in sick-stained clothes because she wasn’t permitted to leave school to change. Then there are the many who are told they must use their PPA time for antenatal appointments, and those, at what is an acutely stressful and vulnerable time, threatened with sanctions over pregnancyrelated sickness absence, even though such action is unlawful.

All of these examples of appalling, sometimes unlawful, treatment of pregnant NEU members were revealed by the union’s maternity survey of more than 3,000 members. It was carried out with Maternity Action, a UK charity which promotes, 20

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protects and enhances the rights of pregnant women, new mothers and their families to employment, social security and health care.

Working with Maternity Action, the union is demanding a culture change surrounding pregnant women in education and has developed a range of resources aimed specifically at helping leaders create a supportive environment for these staff.

Kate Moran, Maternity Action’s senior policy officer, employment and social security, tells Lead: “There is a widespread lack of knowledge among employers about maternity rights, as well as a lack of access to clear, easy-to-understand information for women and their employers.

“Sadly, some employers do know and understand what they should be doing to protect women but don’t want to for a variety of reasons – the additional effort it takes, potential cost of things like having

to find cover if women are off sick or going to antenatal appointments, and covering pregnancy and maternity leave. We do need much better, clearer information so employers are aware of their obligations.”

The NEU is calling on all heads, principals and employers to uphold and improve on pregnant women’s rights at work to have: their privacy respected, individual risk assessments, flexible adjustments to work arrangements, suitable rest facilities, paid time off for antenatal care, access to pay and career progression, and a working experience free from maternity discrimination.

As well as this call to action, the union has produced a checklist covering a wide range of issues affecting pregnant women (see an extract in box, right) and an NEU model policy on supporting and retaining pregnant women and new mothers.

Masterclass

One important area within the checklist, and one where the survey showed many employers must raise their game, is on individual risk assessments, a legal requirement for employers once a member of staff has disclosed they are pregnant, says Kate.

The NEU has a model risk assessment that can be used by employers.

“A lot of women surveyed said a risk assessment was either never offered to them and they didn’t realise that it should have been done, or they asked the employer and just didn’t get a response. Even among those who did have risk assessments, a lot said that risks were identified but no action was taken to mitigate the risks or remove them,” says Kate. “There was also a real lack of knowledge about the fact that if an employer can’t remove the risks, any woman who is an employee has the right to be suspended on full pay until any risks have been removed or they can be given suitable alternative employment.”

In addition to the moral, ethical, and, of course, legal duties leaders have in relation

Maternity Action’s Kate Moran says protecting pregnant women helps both employer and staff

“There are all kinds of costs to not treating women properly and fairly.”

What leaders can do – a checklist

to pregnant staff, creating the right supportive environment also helps with recruitment and retention, adds Kate.

She says if a woman feels she has been treated very badly during her pregnancy, there’s every reason for her to look around and find another job. Wordof-mouth about what an employer is like gets around. So women who have had a very positive experience and feel they have been well supported are more likely to go back to work and to advocate for that employer as one other women should consider working for.

Supporting pregnant women can also reduce absence caused by unsuitable, unsafe or unhealthy working conditions, as well as increase staff morale and loyalty, encourage a higher rate of women returning to work and reduce recruitment and training costs.

Also, an employer that discriminates against a pregnant woman runs the risk of her seeking advice from her NEU rep and the possibility of a claim at an employment tribunal. Considering the time that takes and the potential costs to the employer, you are far better off sticking to the law and being supportive, says Kate.

“Having an all-encompassing positive attitude towards pregnant staff, ranging from encouraging them to take antenatal leave, rest breaks, through to being prepared to make facilities available if they are suffering from morning sickness, can only help and enhance you as an employer of choice,” she adds.

“Schools should also think about the money it costs to defend a case, if a tribunal is brought, and the time out and so on. There are all kinds of costs to not treating women properly and fairly within the law that employers perhaps don’t realise are going to hit them if it blows up into a major case.”

• Provide a private, clean, safe space to rest.

• Display the NEU’s Being pregnant at work posters in the workplace.

• Read the NEU’s model policy – changes can be made to the policy through negotiation.

• Share the material with your senior leadership team and discuss the benefits of having such a policy: reduced sick days, improved wellbeing and better performance.

• When a woman discloses her pregnancy, share relevant policies and procedures, and schedule in a meeting to discuss and agree a pregnancy and maternity support plan with her.

• Do not disclose her confidential information until she has agreed.

• Let her know which room she may use if she needs to rest or lie down – this should be close to the toilets.

• Carry out an individual risk assessment with the pregnant woman and her rep if they have been informed. You can make use of the NEU’s model risk assessment.

• Make sure that any pregnancyrelated sickness is recorded separately and not used to trigger an absence management sanction.

• Facilitate time off for antenatal appointments and classes and plan for cover – do not ask them to use PPA time for antenatal appointments.

• Ensure that any planned or unplanned absences are not used to deny pay progression, career opportunities or in any redundancy selection determinations.

For the full checklist go to neu.org.uk/maternity, where you will find a series of Maternity Matters resources.

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21

Final word

‘There are truly two worlds of education’

Daniel Kebede General secretary, National Education Union neu.org.uk facebook.com/ national education union NEUnion

22

ONE of the things I have learned in my first months as general secretary is that there exists not just a gap between the Government’s understanding of schools and the experiences of those who work in them, but a deep chasm.

The Government is still talking, for instance, about its ‘ambition’ that by 2030 nine in ten key stage 2 pupils will be meeting the expected standard in their SATs, with a similar improvement in GCSEs. It’s making plans for an overhaul of A-levels. It has instructed schools to make relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) material available to parents, without thought for the workload implications. It’s chasing the headlines.

Meanwhile, in schools, educators are struggling to keep even a basic service going.

There are truly two worlds of education.

I have recently read Professor Ruth Lupton’s report, School leadership in current times – as school leaders see it (see page 16). It is a brilliant piece of research, which depicts the effect of decisions made in one educational world on the lives of people in another.

Ruth’s report was commissioned by the NEU. It is based on a survey of more than 400 head teachers, deputy head teachers and assistant head teachers, followed up by one-to-one interviews.

It concludes that jobs that were already difficult are becoming unmanageable. They are becoming unmanageable because of policy decisions taken way above the level of the school. For all their efforts, leaders feel – in Ruth’s words: “unable to keep up with demand; unable to put experienced teachers in front of classes; unable to adequately meet additional needs; unable to fill the gaps left by reductions in the capacity of other agencies; and unable to support and retain their staff ”.

This is taking its toll on wellbeing. Very few occupations are self-contained, sealed off from the pressures of the world. But the work of school leaders is – as Ruth says – unusually “porous”.

When education policy fails, when poverty rises, when support services close their doors, school leaders feel the effects in almost every corner of their lives.

School leaders work very long hours, 57 hours per week on average. Weekly working hours are on average two hours longer than in 2019. Most (80 per cent) think their workload is unacceptable.

The biggest issues that are taking up more time since the pandemic began in 2020 are “supporting

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staff wellbeing and mental health”, “dealing with safeguarding and child protection issues” and “liaising with families and external organisations supporting pupil welfare”. And 80 per cent of respondents said they were spending more time on these than three years ago.

Leaders still find satisfaction in small things – working with children, supporting staff – but the overall picture is a harsh one.

“Leaders have lost faith in a Government that prefers headlines to the hard graft of funding and supporting schools.”

The report’s statistics translate into personal experience. Ruth interviewed Elisabeth, a deputy head teacher in a Church of England primary school in the north of England. When Elisabeth joined the school eight years ago, you could “count the children with [identified] additional needs on one hand”. Now there are five or six in every class. Meeting these needs puts extra demands on the school budget, but funding has been cut back so much that Elisabeth now describes the financial challenges as “overwhelming: resources, curriculum, teaching… it’s hitting every line of our budget”. Staff are not being replaced and there is a shortage of teaching assistants. Basic resources are in short supply. The school cannot afford whiteboard pens, and “children are cheering when they get paper now… it seems like we are going back to the dark ages”. Beyond the school, there are “no services out there that we can access or afford… everything is coming back to schools”.

Ruth’s report does not draw political conclusions, but to me the implied message is strong. Leaders have lost faith in a Government that prefers headlines to the hard graft of funding and supporting schools.

What they expect from a future Government is a recognition of the deep and inter-connected problems that our schools face – and the determination to face up to them.