headteacher-secondary

CONTENTS teachwire.net Group Editor: Joe Carter Editor: Callum Fauser, 01206 505115 callum.fauser@theteachco.com Head of Commercial Solutions: Richard Stebbing Education Manager: Hayley Rackham, hayley.rackham@theteachco.com Product Manager: Gabrielle Pitts, 01206 505956 gabrielle.pitts@theteachco.com Junior Account Manager Alfie Bennett, alfie.bennett@theteachco.com Art editor: Rick Allen Designers: Hannah Kemp, Ben Kemp Photography: CLiQQ Photography, cliqq.co.uk Accounts: 01206 505995 Design & reprographics: Ace Pre-Press , 01206 508608 Customer services: aceville@dctmedia.co.uk , 0800 904 7000 Publisher: Helen Tudor Published by: Maze Media (2000) Ltd, 25 Phoenix Court, Hawkins Rd, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8JY. Tel: 01206 505900 Classroomvoices 33 “I WAS WAITING TO BE FOUND OUT…” If your workload is in danger of dragging you under, try asking yourself how much of your ‘to do’ list really needs to get done, advises Kevin Lister 50 “WE CAN FIND POSITIVES IN THE PANDEMIC” COVID-19 has saddled the international teaching community with considerable disruption and uncertainty, but also an opening to improve things for the better, says Julia Knight Welbeing 6 “I NO LONGER WANTED TO BE ALIVE” Depression and anxiety drove Andy Sammons to the brink, but compassion focused therapy helped him back. Could it work for our whole school system? 10 CHANGE THE PERSPECTIVE Amy Sayer looks at how SLTs can develop and contribute towards a culture of supportive mental health conversations in their schools Behaviour 12 MIND YOUR LANGUAGE! Effective behaviour management is anchored less by what teachers say, and more by the meanings produced by their mode of speaking, says Peter Nelmes… 14 THE EXCLUSION ALTERNATIVE Techniques that support students in PRUs can have a positive impact for all young people, says Shaun Brown CPD 16 THE WHAT, WHEN AND WHY OF CPD Adam Riches looks at how pacing, time management and content considerations are likely to inform the timetabling of your staff CPD across the academic year 18 HOW TO CUT COSTS, WITHOUT CUTTING CORNERS Failing to invest in staff development could damage children’s education, says Stephen Tierney – but effective CPD needn’t cost a fortune… Staffing 22 WHY AREN’T THERE MORE WOMEN IN CHARGE? Females are still woefully under-represented in senior leadership, says Victoria Cameron – but a groundswell is building for change... 24 DOES FAMILIARITY BREED CONSTRAINTS? The mutual respect and achievements between a football coach and their players tend to have a limited shelf life, notes Gordon Cairns – might the same apply to teachers? 27 LET’S TALK ABOUT FLEX Amid an ongoing recruitment crisis and the uncertainties of the pandemic, the time has come for schools to properly embrace flexible working, argues Emma Turner.. . 28 WHAT DO YOUR HEADS OF YEAR ACTUALLY DO? Most secondary schools have them, but it’s not always clear what a head of year’s pastoral responsibilities should involve, says Stephen Lane… 30 MIX AND MATCH To what extent should a school’s leadership try to ensure that its teaching staff is sufficiently diverse? Three headteachers share their views with Adam W. Hunter Implementation 36 STAND AND DELIVER Get up, step back and get moving – Nik Peachey explains how schools, teachers and students can get better at distance learning 38 STRETCH YOUR SCHOOL’S TECH BUDGET Winston Poyton shares his top tips on how to get a good deal when investing in new tech 42 WINNING ISN’T EVERYTHING Cath Bishop explains why seeing education through a prism of competition, complete with winners and losers, ultimately helps no one… 44 MY CAREER AS AN IMPOSTER It’s common for school leaders to feel fraudulent in front of experienced colleagues – but becoming a headteacher can often mean having to temporarily be an imposter, says Dr Paul Heery... Classroom Life 46 A GLOBAL COMMUNITY How hard is it to oversee a student population hailing from 70 different countries during a global pandemic? Barny Sandow, head of school at ACS International School Cobham, shares his experience… 48 A WARM WELCOME Victoria Hearn reflects on how a deep commitment to inclusion helped Impington Village College address a unique set of challenges during an extraordinary year DEC ‘21 04