Widening Access
'Advantaging the disadvantage' is the mantra that I keep repeating. There is a national agenda to 'narrow the gap' and there is an achievement gap between young people from areas of socio-economic deprivation and their peers, just as those students who qualify for Free School Meals and their peers. This is an important distinction to address. The former being the postcode in which you live and the latter relating to your family circumstances. This is an important distinction to understand. You need to appreciate the individual needs and experiences that each circumstance throws up and what challenges are put in front of each individual.
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Narrowing the gap, in terms of exam performance isn't enough. Those disadvantages don't stop once they get their certificates. To really address the disadvantage, we need to provide advantages that make up for the opportunities and experiences that they may not have access to or the support, inspiration and belief that they can do what they see other people doing.
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Here is where I post the work I am doing at my school and across the county in widening access and advantaging the disadvantaged in education. I am responsible for our school's Pupil Premium Strategy, I lead our Primary Outreach Strategy, I chair the Gloucestershire Grammar Schools Widening Access Group and sit on the Gloucestershire Education Forum.
Leadership
I started reading various articles on Leadership and different aspects of education. Much of this was looking at the latest way of thinking on how to be most effective, lead improvement and get better outcomes. I soon came to realise that I was more interested in that person's own journey and their experiences. I wanted to understand how they saw the world and how they reflected on their own experiences. Some of this content has come from articles, books, talks or even meeting them in person and make a note of the advice they give.
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I love a list! Every so often I come across and article that breaks down key aspects of leadership into a set of characteristics or behaviours that you can recognise. I've included some of those lists. The important thing is that they help to deconstruct what's going on and help look at things in a different way.
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Some of my content relates to leading in education and within the context of a school. Schools operate like many other organisations. The emphasis here is on leading Teaching and Learning. I once had a conversation with a friend in private industry about what we're trying to achieve in our work. We started by talking about outcomes. They said that their goal as a business was to make a profit and that surely ours was to get great results. I disagreed. I'm a huge admirer of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. I like the way they speak about what they're trying to achieve and they've transformed the way in which we look at football. The emphasis is on how they approach every training session, every match and how everyone takes responsibility. It's about performance and personal growth, individually and collectively. Get that right and the results come. I see schools in the same way. What we're trying to do is to help people become better versions of themselves. Get that right and the outcomes will be better but the outcomes aren't limited to exam results. It's about developing knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviours and opportunities. Everyone seems to have a hashtag these days. Mine would be #MakingThingsPossible.
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This needs innovate thinking. I deliberately try and look at things differently, often questioning some of the conventional rhetoric. I don't believe in change for change's sake but i also don't believe in blindly accepting something without questioning. Neither do I look for the next initiative and look to hop on board at the earliest opportunity. I'm not always tempted by the next new shiny thing, However, I do asking the questions Why? and Why Not?