isa journal - issue 5

w w w . i s a s c h o o l s . o r g . u kISSUE 5

Free the childrenISA schools changing lives around the world

Also inside... All change – Jim Stearns on the educational landscape for 2013

Child bereavement – how to support your pupils

Outstanding art – results from the ISA competition

Gaining with Training

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www.isaschools.org.uk • 3

The Independent Schools Association (ISA) exists toprovide professional support to Headteachers ofindependent nursery, prep and secondary schools,and sixth form colleges.

t: 01799 523619 f: 01799 524892Independent Schools Association1 Boys’ British School, East Street, Saffron Walden,Essex CB10 1LS

ISA Journal is published byALCHEMY CONTRACT PUBLISHING LTD,Gainsborough House, 59/60 Thames Street,Windsor, SL4 1TX

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Meet the Teamwelcome

Managing EditorNeil Roskilly

Marketing & Communications

OfficerAngie Shatford

EditorCaroline Scoular

PublisherSean Ferris

NewsLeigh-Anne Ogilvie

CirculationJon Hardy

Welcome to the fifth issue of ISA’snew magazine for Member schools

Heads have to face issues of childmental health and evenbereavement at some time in theircareers and the two articlesaround these topics will providesome useful pointers and contacts.If Heads still entertain doubts thatthese issues are important, it isworth seeking out UCL’s March2012 longitudinal studyhighlighting the benefits of goodlinks between schools andspecialist Child and AdolescentMental Health Services (CAMHS),and the provision of mentalhealth information to pupils.

Finally, Jim Stearns, ISA’s Chair ofAcademic Policy, gives us anexcellent guide to the mainacademic policy issues since the2010 White Paper. If ever we hadhoped for a quiet time ineducation, the next twenty-fourmonths aren’t it.

With very best wishes from all ofus at ISA.

CEO, ISA

You’ll soon notice that this editionof the ISA Journal has aninternational flavour.

With “We Day” coming to the UKin 2014, our partners at Free theChildren outline theopportunities that already existfor cross-border charity projectsand we also feature examples offurther international links thathelp to widen pupils’ educationalexperiences. It is through suchinter-cultural learning andunderstanding that we equip ourpupils to become successfulcitizens on a global stage.

But learning can sometimes behijacked by the unexpected. Most

Visit the new ISA website at

www.isaschools.org.uk

ISA Annual Conference 2013Booking is now open for ISA’s Annual Conference which takes place between16th and 18th May at The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne.The theme of this year’s conference is Resilience and Growth in Modern Leadership, and the event is open to all ISA Head Teachers.Book now at www.isaschools.org.uk.

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

contents5 ISA Committee Contacts

The ISA network of Area Committees.

6 News from the ISA areasISA schools show what they’re madeof – from prize-winning inventions tocharity fundraising.

10 The International DimensionChina, Russia, USA, Hungary…justsome of the countries with whichDixie Grammar School has forgedcultural links. The school has proudlyheld the British Council’s covetedInternational Award for over fiveyears. This is their story.

12 Free the Chidren: How ISA schoolscan make a differenceCraig Keilburger was just 12 when thedistressing story of a young Asian boysold into slavery changed his life.Today, he heads up internationalcharity Free the Children, inspiringyoung people to change the world.Taiyeba Hussain reports.

16 ‘Stakeholdering’ for successfulschoolsThe ability to use stakeholdersstrategically is an essential skill,advises ISA CEO. Neil Roskilly.

18 All Change – Never a dull moment in education!Jim Stearns, Head Teacher ofShoreham College and Chair of ISA’sAcademic Policy Committee, reflectson the changing political landscapeand examines the impact on schoolsof key issues emerging at Westminster.

22 Mental Health First Aid for PupilsNearly 80,000 young people suffer fromsevere depression in this country.English Teacher and former Head DickMoore, whose son tragically took hisown life, urges greater investment inmental health awareness.

24 Bereaved Children and School –Rebuilding lives togetherOver 90% of children will experiencea significant bereavement before theage of 16. For many children thesupport they receive from school willbe vital to their long-term recovery.Child Bereavement UK explains.

28 News BulletinUpdates and insights, news and views.

30 Outstanding Talent at ISA National Art Results and pictures from this year’scompetition.

32 Gaining with trainingLatest news on ISA Courses and theAutumn Conference, who shouldattend and why.

34 If you go down to the woods today...Can learning outside the classroomimpact upon children’s behaviour?Can it influence social skills and fosterattainment? ISA Forest Schools has nodoubt that it can. ISA reports.

38 Making the most of the school websiteAn informative, well designed websiteis essential in the modern digital age.A look at how to ensure it is used toits full potential.

40 Product showcaseSourcing products – from furnishingsto refrigeration.

43 Sporting TimesReports from the wide range of ISAsporting events which marked afitting end to 2012, a glorious year forsport in Britain.

46 VoIP – are you up to speed? Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)can be a big money saver for schoolswith big phone bills. A back to basicsapproach.

4 • www.isaschools.org.uk

ISA Midlands Region Swimming Gala

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EAST ANGLIAArea Coordinator Andrew [email protected] 01702 582340

Assistant Area Coordinator Richard [email protected] 01953 887217

President Paul [email protected] 07739 156010

Chairman Sarah [email protected] 01787 474 040

Secretary Stuart [email protected] 01223 716890

Treasurer Stuart [email protected] 01223 716890

Arts Reps Amanda [email protected] 01787 474 040

Richard [email protected] 01223 716 890

Sports Rep Richard [email protected] 01702 582340

LONDON NORTHArea Coordinator Lynn [email protected] 020 84490225

Assistant Area Coordinators Samantha [email protected] 01442872742

Deborah [email protected] 01908 690590

Chairman Stefan [email protected] 01442 824255

Secretary Samantha [email protected] 01442872742

Treasurer Linda [email protected] 020 8989 2394

Arts Rep Mim [email protected] 01279 657706

Sports Rep TBC

LONDON SOUTHArea Coordinator Meg [email protected] 020 8653 2169

Assistant Area Coordinator Karen [email protected] 020 8460 3546

Chairman Jim [email protected] 01243 814320

Vice Chairman Alex [email protected] 01883 343344

Secretary Carole [email protected] 01903 812185

Treasurer Ann [email protected] 020 8777 5852

Arts Reps Meg [email protected] 020 8653 [email protected] Hilary Blake

01892 783 414

Sports Rep Richard [email protected] 01797 252494

LONDON WESTArea Coordinator Vicky [email protected] 01344 622154

Assistant Area Coordinator Trevor [email protected] 01276 32028

Chairman Joanne [email protected] 0118 9472590

Secretary Nick [email protected] 0845 2300426

Treasurer Trevor [email protected] 01276 32028

Arts Rep Vicky [email protected] 01344 622154

Sports Rep Martin [email protected] 023 9273 4847

MIDLANDSArea Coordinator Phil [email protected] 01283 703258

Assistant Area Coordinators Nigel [email protected] 01562 822622

Jane Le [email protected] 0115 913 8330

Chairman Roger [email protected] 01562 850204

Vice Chairman Richard [email protected] 01952 811035

Secretary Gary [email protected] 01939 260202

Treasurer John [email protected] 01455 292244

Arts Rep Barbara [email protected] 0121 7052773

Sports Coordinator Hilary [email protected] 01905 778 290

Sports Rep Chris [email protected] 01905 841242

NORTHArea Coordinator Margaret [email protected] 01244 322443

Assistant Area Coordinators Marie [email protected] 01625 520632

Steven [email protected] 01625 520632/0870 742 3300

Chairman Rachel [email protected] 0151 426 4333

Secretary Janet [email protected] 0161 485 3724

Treasurer Rick [email protected] 01619804075

Arts Rep Janet [email protected] 0161 485 3724

Sports Rep Angela [email protected] 01482 657016

SOUTH WESTArea Coordinator Paul [email protected] 01285 750206

Assistant Area Coordinators Alex [email protected] 01872 273011

Chairman Tim [email protected] 01626 774 138

INSET Coordinator Gregory [email protected] 01425 472856

Secretary Victoria [email protected] 01803 762 202

Treasurer Shaun [email protected] 01626 774138

Arts Rep Katie [email protected] 01566 772580

Sports Rep Robert [email protected] 01626 774138

CONTACTS FOR ISA AREA COMMITTEES


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Contacts p5 jan:Layout 1 25/1/13 11:13

Austria exchange tripGirls from Adcote School's Year 11 enjoyed a 10 day exchange visit toAdcote’s partner school in Bad Radkersburg, Austria. Funded by theEU Comenius Programme, the visit focused on communicatingsustainable development through art and drama and culminated inthe production of a show.



News from the ISA Areas

The show must go onLyonsdown School managed to install a new state of theart lighting and stage system in time for its Nativity.Parents and the Friends of Lyonsdown School (FLS)were thanked for providing the funds through yearround fund!raising activities.

Hamster proves hit in Dragons’ Den

Pupils from Gosfield School, Halstead, took part in a

‘Dragons’ Den’ event, presenting their business ideas

to staff. The winning product was Hamster Power,

created by Joshua Keedy!Davies and Joe Collins

(pictured), where the power generated by a

hamster’s wheel could be used to charge electronic

items such as mobile phones or MP3 devices.

Lord Sharkey visits Beech House Lord Sharkey, member of the Houseof Lords, visited Beech HouseSchool during Parliament Week aspart of a national initiative to buildgreater awareness of, andengagement with, parliamentarydemocracy in the UK.

Holocaust Educational Trust Beth Tyson (pictured above) andMitchell Seaton, Year 13 students atBridgewater School, Worsley, havebeen selected to take part in TheLessons from Auschwitz Project,exploring the history of theHolocaust. A Next Steps project willsee the students pass on thelessons they have learned.

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Local link encourages ‘STEM’ growthMalvern St James Girls’ School has announced apartnership with Malvern Instruments to promoteopportunities in science and engineering whichwill offer students access to mentoring supportand degree sponsorship

Gadgeteers Net Top Prize Year 10 Computing GCSE pupils at LVS Ascot(pictured) won the school £500 for computingequipment by creating a new mobile deviceusing Microsoft.NET Gadgeteer. The winningcompetition entry by Alex Langedijk (15) andMathias Munk (15) involved both the buildingand programming of a ‘football goalie game’device.

Welcome to the jungle!Senior pupils and staff from HeathfieldSchool, Wolverley, spent a week at theirsister school in Bangkok. They then stayedin the jungle in Chiang Mai where activitiesincluded climbing, white water rafting andbathing elephants .

Year 2 extension opensRosemead Prep School, Dulwich,celebrated the official opening of thelatest phase of their buildingprogramme, coinciding with the school’s70th anniversary. Further activities willbe held throughout the year.

Castle House SchoolBBC TV presenter, Nick Owen (picturedabove centre), was the guest of honourfor Castle House School’s Speech Day.Following an inspiring speech, hepresented cups, prizes or certificatesto all the children. Head pupils, AlfieDeahl and Emily Lamb, both year 6, spokeof their time at the school andHeadmaster, Richard Walden, praised themany achievements of Castle Housechildren. Pictured above with Dr MartinDeahl, chairman of governors.

LVS Students Mind a Sports TournamentSixth Form students from LVS Ascot supported a Sportin Mind event at the Madejski Stadium last term. Thecharity uses sport to promote well!being among peopleexperiencing mental health problems.




Choirs sing in ParisTwo choirs from LVS Ascot Senior School

had the extraordinary opportunity to

perform in France. The LVS Chamber and

Senior Choir travelled to Paris on 3rd

December where they performed at the

prestigious ‘L'eglise de la Madeleine’ in Paris

which dates back to the 15th Century and is

renowned for welcoming prominent choirs.

Rebecca Stevenson of Year 10 said of the trip:

“Singing in La Madeleine was just an amazing

experience, we even made people cry“, whilst

Abbie Johnson also of Year 10 said: “The view

from the Eiffel tower is so good! I had such

a great time, I want to go back”.

New Library at Moyles CourtMoyles Court School, Hampshire, has opened a newstate of the art library (with internet access). Thelibrary is dedicated to former Deputy Head and Headof Mathematics, Jane Warren, who passed away lastsummer.

All for one and one for allGreenfield School Theatre Company recentlystaged a performance of The ThreeMusketeers.Pupils were responsible formaking costumes and props, creating themusic and animation, selling tickets andrunning backstage.

Life!Line School for Sri Lankan children Fifteen pupils from Rookwood School,Andover, worked with AidCamps Internationalto build a pre!school at the Sevenagala ‘Homeaway from Home’ centre in Sri Lanka. It tooktwo years of planning and fundraising (over£12,000).


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focused on Music & Drama, History andArt, Maths & ICT and it is noexaggeration to say that, for many of ourstudents and staff, the experience hasbeen life changing.

Following the initial link for a period ofthree years, from 2006-9, we welcomed ateacher from Chongqing to join our stafffrom October until June to initiate theteaching of Mandarin across both theSenior and Junior schools. The success ofthis initiative led to the appointment ofLucy Gu, our full-time Mandarin teacherand to the development of the languageto GCSE and A level. The originalexchange link is flourishing and we alsoorganise ‘language immersion’ visits toBeijing for students from Year 9 upwards.Mandarin is now embedded in thecurriculum as part of our languageteaching to AS level, and all subject areasinclude some focus on China within theirteaching.

We do not neglect our Europeanlanguages. Pupils begin French in theJunior School and all students in theSenior School learn both French andGerman as well as Mandarin. In additionto regular homestay and language trips toParis and further afield, such as to theFrench speaking area of New Orleans, theGerman exchange is flourishing and anexciting new link with a school in Nimesbegins this year. National competitionsfeature across the year groups including aYear 7 French spelling bee, a Year 9foreign language film production and anannual British Council Mandarinspeaking competition. Next Easter weshall also be defending our title asnational champions of the Vocab Expresson line competition!

Across the curriculum of both Juniorand Senior Schools there is a considerableemphasis on international matters. Crosscurricular projects in each year of theJunior School give pupils the opportunityto link together aspects of the history,geography, costume, art, music andculture of a variety of countries.

In each year of Key Stage 3 students

It is perhaps fitting that a school thatnumbers amongst its former pupilsThomas Hooker, one of the foundingfathers of the United States constitution,should emphasise a Global Dimension tothe education of its current students, inboth the Junior and Senior Schools.

At the Dixie Grammar School we areproud of the International links that havehelped us to hold the coveted BritishCouncil International School Award since2007.

Like many schools we began fairlytraditionally by establishing an exchangelink with the Jade Gymnasium innorthern Germany, French homestayvisits for GCSE students and regular ski-trips to Europe and North America.

The expansion of our internationallinks began over ten years ago when theprevious headmaster, Richard Wilmott,signed a memorandum of agreementwith the Baxian Middle School in China,now the Chongqing Experimental School.Since 2001 Sixth Form students from thetwo very differing schools have regularlyexchanged cultural visits, initially withthe support of the British Council.Nowadays, with the opening up of the‘sleeping dragon’ that is China, schoolvisits there are more common but the factthat our students stay in one another’shomes is still ground-breaking and givesthem a unique opportunity to see thismost fascinating of countries. In additionto spending a week living with their hostfamilies experiencing a Chinese homeand school our students also spend threedays in Beijing, enabling them to visit thehistoric and cultural sites of the capitalcity, to climb the Great Wall and visit realpandas at the zoo!

The contrasts between the two schools

are mind boggling. Our Senior Schoolnumbers less than 400; they initially hadover ten times that number and are nowapproaching 6000 pupils. Our day school,with its small classes, is housed in historicbuildings in a quiet Midlands town; theirsincludes boarders and a modern campus,including a science ‘tower’ (incorporatingtheir own observatory with full-scaletelescope) and houses classes of over 60students in the world’s biggest city –vibrant, bustling Chongqing with itspopulation of over 30 million.

The focus of each trip is agreed inadvance and includes joint cultural andeducational activities. Our first group ofstudents carried out experiments on thewater quality of the Yangtze River. Thepractical emphasis and ‘hands on’ Scienceeducation which their studentsexperienced then and on subsequentvisits to Dixie has helped to develop theway that Science and other subjects aretaught in our sister-school -althoughproviding experimental practice forclasses of 60+ gives them a hugechallenge. Our subsequent visits have

The Dixie Grammar School in Market Bosworth has held the British Council’s covetedInternational Award for over five years. The award is given to schools who excel in forging linkswith other countries, and give their students the opportunity to examine their roles as citizens ofthe global community. Sarah Ennis, International Director at Dixie, explains.

THE INTERNATIONAL DIMENSION

“Music is truly aninternational language. Two new Russian studentswho arrived speakingalmost no English arealready active members ofour school choirs, enjoyingimproving their languageskills through singing!”

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study the music of a different countryand have the opportunity both toperform it and to find out how it islearned/notated. To enhance this we havehosted a variety of workshopperformances including a Beijing Opera,African drumming, Samba band andtraditional Indian sitar and tabla music.

Thanks to links formed via a memberof staff who is Hungarian we haveestablished a musical exchangeprogramme with the Moricz School,Dunaujvaros, which enables studentsfrom Years 7-9 to host/visit a Hungarianstudent. Each trip includes several jointconcert performances which have enabledour students to learn about traditionalHungarian dancing and singing and toteach theirs about English Morris andbarn dancing. Music staff from the twoschools have also benefitted fromstudying the pedagogy of the two musicalcultures. In 2013 we shall again be hostingboth Chinese and Hungarian visitors inthe same week; allowing a three waycultural interchange of music from Eastand West, culminating in the jointperformance of a specially written choralwork by one of our music staff.

Music is truly an international languageand this has been proved again only thisterm. Two new Russian students whoarrived speaking almost no English arealready active members of our schoolchoirs, enjoying improving their languageskills through singing!

The Art department has a special linkwith the Tongabezi School, Zambia andhas organised several trips to Africa.These have included not only carryingout joint art projects, such as decoratingclassrooms and making a colourfulhanging quilt, but a variety of otheractivities. Preparing lion cubs to beintroduced to life in the wild; countingpassing elephants to plan measuresenabling them to live in harmony withlocal villagers; planting trees to enrich theDambwe forest, removing illegal snares ina national park and teaching in a villageschool are some of the memorablemoments our students can treasure forlife.

The Humanities also focus on globalaffairs. Our proximity to the vibrantmulti-cultural city of Leicester enables theRS department to organise regular visitsto places of worship. Year 7 students areable to experience visits to a localmosque, Hindu temple and SikhGurdwara, Buddhist Centre and Jewish

synagogue as well as our local AnglicanParish church to compare the worshipand traditions of major world religions atfirst hand. Colourful assemblypresentations complete with traditionalcostumes have celebrated special religiousevents such as Diwali alongside majorChristian festivals.

Regular History visits to the First WorldWar battlefields in Belgium have includedthe opportunity for students to find theresting place of relatives and have shown

them the poignant significance of themany cemeteries. The stark reality of warwas also brought home to those whoparticipated in a moving visit to theBergen-Belsen concentration camp.

The PE department arranges ski-tripsand European hockey and football tourson a regular basis and older students alsohave the opportunity to participate inregular World Challenge expeditions. Thenext is to Peru and will involveparticipants in numerous fund-raisingactivities since they are supposed to beself-funding! These trips to thedeveloping world teach life and leadershipskills via a number of activities andchallenge participants to learn new skillsand work as a team.

Year 9-13 students have theopportunity to investigate the science

behind space exploration, theme parksand marine biology as part of visits whichafford them ‘backstage access’ to many ofthe tourist attractions of Florida. In acomplete contrast of climate, jointBiology/Geography field trips to Icelandhave allowed students to experience life inthe ‘frozen north’ whilst studying thegeology, flora and fauna of a totallydifferent landscape. Closer to homeregular visits to Twycross, our local zoo,let biologists and junior pupils get ‘closeup and personal’ with animals from manycountries, most recently the snowleopards in the new Himalaya enclosure.

‘Spot’ the snow leopard, our cuddlyschool mascot, has his own passport andis widely travelled since he accompaniesmost of our international trips. He hasbeen photographed in a number ofinteresting countries and locations, oftenwhilst tasting the local fare.

In Home Economics students have theopportunity to learn to cook food from

many cultures and to use ingredientsfrom around the globe. Our schoolcaterers also support our Internationalwork with regular themed lunch menus.This year their choices range fromMexican to Caribbean via African, Greekand Spanish. Students love the varietyand relish the opportunity to taste anumber of differing cuisines withouteven leaving school!

From simple beginnings and with thehard-working support of staff at the DixieGrammar School we have developed ahuge range of international activitiesacross all aspects of school life. Newcountries and ideas are always beingadded and we hope that the variety andquality of experiences that we providewill enable us to retain our prizedInternational School Award.

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“In 2013 we shall again be hosting both Chinese andHungarian visitors in the same week, allowing a threeway cultural interchange of music from East and West,culminating in the joint performance of a speciallywritten choral work by one of our music staff.”

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The founder of international charity Free the Children was just 12 years old when he was inspiredto make a difference. Canadian Craig Kielburger was so disturbed by the story of a young Asianboy sold into slavery, that he inspired a group of school friends to help him fight the cause. Todayhe runs an international charity which inspires young people to change the world, and worksalongside schools such as ISA’s King Alfred School in north London.

Taiyeba Hussain, Free the Children’s Youth Programming Co-Ordinator, explains how the charitystarted, and how The King Alfred School are working with them to make a difference.

FREE THE CHILDRENHOW ISA SCHOOLS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Free The Children believes in a world where all young people arefree to achieve their fullest potential as agents of change. We arean international charity and educational partner whichempowers youth to remove barriers that prevent them frombeing active local and global citizens. Our domestic programmeseducate, engage and empower hundreds of thousands of youthin North America and the UK.

Free The Children has been working with schools in the UKsince 2010, reaching over 40,000 young people in over twenty-five different counties, with 3,500 young people currentlyactively engaged in our projects. Our international projects, ledby our holistic and sustainable Adopt a Village model, havebrought more than 650 schools and school rooms to youth, andprovided clean water, health care and sanitation to one million

Free the Childrenscholarship winnersmake friends in Kenya

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people around the world, freeing childrenand their families from the cycle ofpoverty.

Founded in 1995 by internationalchildren’s rights activist Craig Kielburger,Free The Children has since grown towork with more than 1.7 million youngpeople who are involved in our innovativeeducation and development programmesin over forty countries.

Free The Children’s unique andinspirational story engages young peopleall over the country. One Year 10 studenttold us: “There is so much potential ineach human being – something that canbe released by equality and opportunity.Craig Kielburger has made such adifference from an early age; just thinkwhat we can do.” Her response came afterhearing our speakers recall Craig’s story.

In April 1995, at the age of just twelve,Craig gathered together a group of hisschool friends in a bid to beat childlabour. He wanted to raise awareness ofchildren’s rights and gain a betterunderstanding of the issues after readingan article in his local Toronto newspaper.The headline read: “Battled Child Labour,Boy, 12, Murdered.”

Craig was struck by the raw butcourageous story of a boy his age namedIqbal. Iqbal Masih was born in SouthAsia and sold into slavery at the age offour for around ten pounds. Six years ofhis short life were spent chained to acarpet-weaving loom. Following hisrelease from the factory by child rightsactivists, Iqbal captured the world’sattention by speaking out against childlabour. Eventually, Iqbal’s wide mediacoverage caught the attention of thosewho wished to silence him. At the age oftwelve, Iqbal lost his life defending therights of children.

The article filled Craig with feelings ofanger and confusion. Later that day, afterreading it aloud to his class at school, hesaid, “I don’t know much about childlabour, but I know we have to dosomething. Who wants to help me stopthis?” Craig concluded from Iqbal’s storythat the bravest voice can live in thesmallest body. Today, Free The Childrenaims not only to free children frompoverty, neglect and exploitation, but alsoto free youth domestically from thenotion that they are powerless to make apositive difference in the world.

One school that has been inspired byFree The Children, and in turn hasinspired us, is King Alfred School in

London. During our first visit to KingAlfred, two of our young and dynamicspeakers told the stories of Craig andother young people around the world,recounted personal experiences, andexplained why it is so important foryoung people to engage with issues ofcitizenship. It was an opportunity to sharewith those students who we are, why wedo what we do, and why nobody is evertoo young to make a difference in theworld.

Our initial visit laid the foundations ofwhat is now an educational partnershipthat is going from strength to strength.King Alfred School is one of the mostproactive, passionate and highly drivenschools in our network. Their unique andcreative efforts to promote activecitizenship are outstanding. Followingour first meeting at the school, thestudents have since worked hard to raisemoney for a school in a Kenyancommunity.

Since King Alfred opened their doors tous in 2010, students threw themselvesinto taking action, and we have beenthere every step of the way to help andsupport them as well as celebrate theirfantastic achievements.

In November 2011 we returned to KingAlfred to deliver our ‘Be The Change’tour. ‘Be The Change’ is a free activecitizenship programme we offer toschools in partnership with Virgin

Atlantic. It involves a free motivationalassembly and leadership workshop aimedat educating, engaging and empoweringstudents to believe they can make adifference in the world. As part of thetour, we provide schools with year-longstudent mentorship and teacher support,as well as a multitude of free teachingresources. This includes a calendar oflocal and global campaigns in whichstudents can get involved, a wide selectionof curriculum-matched lesson plans, andone-to-one support and visits from adedicated Youth ProgrammingCoordinator at the Free The Children UKoffice. Virgin Atlantic also offers a ‘£ for £’matching scheme, where every poundraised by students will be matched byVirgin Atlantic.

Students from across all year groups atKing Alfred have since continued to learnmore about global issues, demonstratingthe power of young people to make apositive difference both at home andabroad. Students have taken it uponthemselves to provide presentations totheir peers, sharing information aboutFree The Children and the impact ourprogrammes have had on them asindividuals, as a way of motivating othersto get involved. One student told us that“the charity is able to make young adults

feel they have a voice that’s worthsomething, and that they have the powerto make a difference in the world... Forme, involvement in Free The Children isan outlet for my ideas concerninginternational problems.”

We have been inspired by the creativityand imagination shown by King Alfredstudents, who have hosted a variety ofcampaigns – from sponsored silences toholding school concerts and shows,selling homemade houmous, running aChristmas candy cane delivery service,organising sponsored runs, andproducing and recording music CDs.

Furthermore, we have been delighted tohost students from King Alfred at ourannual UK Youth Summit, wherestudents from across the UK cometogether to meet other like-minded youngpeople, and learn more about issues thatmatter to them.

For the last three years, we have received

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“The charity is able to make young adults feel they havea voice that’s worth something, and that they have thepower to make a difference in the world...”




incredibly passionate applications fromKing Alfred students for our fully-paidvolunteer trip scholarships to visit FreeThe Children communities abroad – aninitiative that we are now running for thethird year. A successful applicant fromKing Alfred, Ella Hohen-Ford, wrote thatthe trip was, “the most incredible trip Ithink I will ever go on. I now see the worldfrom a broader, globally enrichedperspective. It has helped me realise myown passions and has helped me tobecome more motivated and enthusiastictowards everything I do.” The trips notonly allow participants to embrace a newculture and help support the ongoingdevelopment in the community, but alsodevelop personal leadership skills.

The start of this academic year has onceagain seen a surge of excitement amongst

students at King Alfred, who have expressedinterest in getting involved and continuingtheir engagement with Free The Children.Back in September, I met with three highlyengaged students, who committed toadopting an entire Free The Childrencommunity. I was blown away by theirmaturity, and their eagerness to supportwhichever community was in greatest need.

During a meeting with Dawn Moore,Head of King Alfred School, we discussedthe importance of empowering youth tobelieve in themselves, and supportingthem in their efforts. Dawn was keen todevelop our partnership as she felt thatour values mirrored those of the school.We are now working with Dawn to createa long-term plan for King Alfred, wherethe school and students will help raisemoney to support the development of a

community in Ghana. This plan not onlysets regular fundraising goals, but alsoestablishes ways to raise awareness aboutsustainable development, barriers toeducation and active citizenship throughthe school curriculum. As part of thisplan, we are offering students theopportunity to visit the community theyare supporting.

Trips enable students to see forthemselves the difference they aremaking. Having run volunteer tripsoverseas for the past decade, we are ableto offer an experience with a deepemphasis on volunteering andcommunity-based learning, leadershipdevelopment and cultural immersion.Our trips aim to create systemic change,by educating participants as wellbenefiting the communities we visit.

Through schools taking local and globalactions, they become eligible to apply fortickets to Free The Children’s signatureyouth empowerment event, We Day(www.weday.com). This is a cutting-edgemovement promoting active citizenship,which comes to the UK for the first time in2014. We Day is Free The Children’s mostpowerful tool to engage youth in activecitizenship, volunteerism and social justice.The event brings young people together tolead global change, defy apathy andcelebrate change that they are making intheir local and global communities.Examples of local actions that schools arecurrently taking include addressing theissue of food insecurity in the UK throughholding food collections to increasingawareness in their communities about theimpacts of bullying.

Tickets to We Day can’t be bought –students must earn their way in throughservice. The event kicks off a year-longseries of actions, called We Act, wherebystudents and schools choose a local andinternational issue on which they want tobecome involved and create positivechange. Ongoing support and educationalmaterials pertaining to various causes areprovided to educators at no cost.

If you would like to learn moreabout Free The Childrenprogramming contact JessicaBentley-Jacobs Director, UK 020 7921 [email protected]

The “We Day” event comes to theUK in 2014 and ISA schools willhave preferential early registration.




Even if you are unsure that the word “stakeholdering” really exists, working successfully with yourpartners is vital if you are to move your school forward. Neil Roskilly, CEO of the IndependentSchools Association, outlines one of the key discussions from ISA’s recent Heads’ Induction Course.

‘STAKEHOLDERING’FOR SUCCESSFUL SCHOOLS

“Stakeholder” is one of those words thathave almost become meaningless throughoveruse. “Stakeholdering”, or the ability touse stakeholders strategically, is a muchless common term, but one that neatlyencapsulates a fundamental set of skillsessential to every school leaders’ armoury.

For example, many Heads have becomeseriously mired by overlooking that theirstakeholders are human and won’tnecessarily see things as intended, nomatter how well the Headteacher hasexplained the issue at hand. Key to this isnot just knowing who your stakeholdersare, but developing an understanding ofthe influence and dispositions of theprincipal players. Most Heads will beaware of who their main stakeholders are,but few will have given much thought tohow they operate and influence – eithernegatively or for the better – the futuredevelopment of a school.

Stakeholder theory is quite clear on allthis. In business law, share orstockholders are the stakeholders whotake precedence over all others.Employees and suppliers play secondfiddle, and trade associations, unions andcustomers appear somewhere down thepecking order. Stakeholder analysis inbusiness often includes a mappingexercise that balances power, support andinfluence, giving an organisation (if itwishes to extend this to a very logicalconclusion) a mathematical descriptor ofhow proposed changes (price point,production, workforce, etc.) can influenceshare price.

For schools, rightly or wrongly, thingsare not so clear cut. Heads in independentschools “sort of” know who theirstakeholders are (governors, parents,pupils, teaching and non-teaching staff,alumni, the inspectorate, perhaps theLocal Authority (LA), etc.) and may only

give thought to the whole business ofinfluence when major changes aremooted, such as going co-ed, changingthe school uniform or closing a boardinghouse. However, even minor changes cangenerate a great deal of heat that mayaffect a school’s bottom line, namely thequality of teaching and learning. Internalwrangling detracts from the business ofeducation and so Heads are well advisedto invest time in a form of stakeholderanalysis if they want to avoid pitfalls oreffect deep and systemic change.

This was the theme of a recent sessionat the ISA Heads’ Induction Course at theGrovefield Park Hotel in

Buckinghamshire. “New” ISA Heads areobliged to spend a few days with usdiscussing significant issues that couldderail any headship, such as crisismanagement, finances and developmentplanning.

One agreed conclusion was recognitionof the importance of investing in yourstakeholders, gaining an understanding oftheir nature and building relationshipsbefore you have to rely upon them. Quitesimply, an understanding of stakeholderdispositions means that in good times,Heads can work with and through keystakeholders to realise the aims of theschool. When times are more challenging,stakeholders will help to ensure whatKatzenbach and Smith call “processsupport”. When the going gets sticky,stakeholders who have benefitted fromyour attention will be more forgiving andbe with you rather than against. Headsare deeply aware that the work of a

lifetime can be dismantled in an instantunless stakeholders can sense a fair degreeof “ownership” in the school’s enterprise.

This is not to suggest that Heads shouldembark on a process of prioritising theirrelationships with key stakeholders. Theywant the best for their pupils and wanteach to maximise his or her life chancesthrough the academic and pastoralprovision of the school.

Naturally, Heads feel the weight ofresponsibility towards all stakeholdersbut, in turn, it is important to recognisethat stakeholders want slightly (andoccasionally significantly) different thingsfrom the Head.

Parents in the UK, for example, aspirefor their offspring to do better than otherchildren in the school. That’s not to bedamning, but just something that hasbeen drilled into them by an educationsystem that emphasises class or yearpositions. A parent may send their childto a school in the top 3% of high-achieving schools nationally, but will feelthe disappointment of their child coming68th out of a year group of 80 inmathematics. A governing body with anover-representation of parents will oftenreveal such tensions rather thanprioritising the strategic development ofthe school. Similarly, staff will naturallygravitate towards personal pay scalearguments without balancing theseagainst the fees families pay.

So in developing a deep understandingof these stakeholder dispositions, Headsare able to better control reactions tochange, whether the change is planned or

“When the going gets sticky, stakeholders who havebenefitted from your attention will be more forgiving andbe with you rather than against.”

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the invariable crisis that affects all schoolsfrom time to time. This understandingbalances the degree of involvementagainst level of support.

Classic “change champions” are heavilyinvolved and very supportive of change.In fact, in some schools the only changechampion is the Head and that is whysome schools struggle to turn thingsaround. At the other end of the scale arethose traditionally and unimaginativelycalled “the enemy”. All schools have oneor two in their cultural woodwork andidentifying their exact level ofinvolvement is crucial. In between are thelow-involvement cynics (annoying but forthe most part harmless), fence-sitters(with even lower involvement) andwilling helpers, who exercise moderateinvolvement but are great supporters.

Heads need to know where each oftheir stakeholders crudely sits, includingthe chair of governors, key parents,proprietors, other senior leaders, teachingstaff, non-teaching staff (from cleaners toBursar) and perhaps surprisingly forindependent schools, even LocalAuthorities.

Of course, it is not wise to jump toassumptions. Governors, for example,have different allegiances and not all willbe fully committed to the aims defined inthe school’s development plan. This willbe particularly so where the school has ill-defined values, as these are vital toengendering a sense of “belonging”among all stakeholders. Similarly, seniorteachers may hold some kind of deep-seated grudge from missed promotion

opportunities and may see change drivenby the Head as a further threat.

Chairs of governors vary tremendouslyin their commitment and leadership ofthe governing body. Even LocalAuthorities who are not often associatedwith independent schools may have adifferent view when it comes to exercisingtheir responsibilities for Early Yearsfunding or Safeguarding.

Heads also need to be aware of thedegree of influence that each stakeholdermay exert, which of course differs widelyfrom school to school. Again, some chairsof governors can be very much “handsoff”, but can be unnecessarily drawn intothe day-to-day management of a schoolby other stakeholders whenresponsibilities between the Head andChair have not been clearly defined.

If Heads are to successfully change aschool, an understanding of the strengthof the relationships between stakeholdersis also vital. History and personal tiescome in to play, particularly if influentialparents have direct links to governors, oran established Deputy Head is close to (oreven married to) members of theadministrative or teaching staff. A Bursarwho also acts as clerk to the governorssometimes struggles to identify where hisor her accountability truly lies, despitewhat the job description may say. Thevocation in common often means thatteaching staff in schools naturallysocialise together and some will only havework colleagues as their communalsupport. So a few will find objectivedecision-making in school quite a

challenge and perhaps even lose sight ofwhat is best for the pupils.

By developing greater understandingof stakeholder dispositions andinfluence, Heads can identify where toinvest their time when they want toeffect change, and not waste too muchof their energy on those with lowinfluence and low involvement.

Any Head who wants to successfullymanage change will smooth the roadwell in advance, engineeringstakeholder relationships intobecoming more positive and (wherehelpful) more involved. This is easilyachieved through small but significantgestures of goodwill that cost very littlebut pay back enormous dividends. Alittle money for the pupils’ council orinvolving a small number of parents inan “opinions forum” would be commonexamples. “Awaydays” for the SLTand/or governors work wonders andthe published topics for such events aremerely the pretext for greatercollaborative working.

Encouraging contributions to anonline shared blog or bulletin boardcan also be effective (and less costly), asare regular visits by classroom staff tofeeder schools. Inviting agencies andindividuals such as the police, LA orLADO into the school often buildstrust, as does working constructivelywith the local media – a fabulousinvestment in keeping the messagepositive about the school. Then whenpush comes to shove, Heads will feelmore confident in dealing withstakeholders and also have a betterfeeling of who to inform, consult andactively involve when they wish toimplement that new idea to change theschool for the better.

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Neil Roskilly is Chief ExecutiveOfficer at The IndependentSchools Association. See page 3 for contact details.

“Developing a deepunderstanding of thesestakeholder dispositions,Heads are able to bettercontrol reactions tochange.”

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Jim Stearns, Head Teacher of Shoreham College in East Sussexand Chair of ISA’s Academic Policy Committee, reflects on thechanging political landscape in 2013.

ALL CHANGE –NEVER A DULL MOMENT IN EDUCATION

Fifteen years ago Tony Blair set out his priorities for government with the immortalphrase “education, education, education”, a reminder of the important placeeducation holds in the political landscape. Labour’s six Education Secretaries, fromEstelle Morris to Ed Balls, drove through considerable change, and many of theirpolicies, from National Diplomas to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), had asignificant impact upon independent schools.

So what of the current situation? The Education Secretary, Michael Gove MP, cameto power with the coalition in May 2010 and has driven massive change through inthe two and a half years that he has held the position. His first step was to revert hisdepartment’s name back to the Department for Education, which most agreed was

Jim Stearns

Shoreham College, Sussex

Jim Stearns article p18-21:Layout 1 23/1/13 11:47


an improvement on previous labels.Beyond that it is fair to say that hisproposals have not met with universalagreement.

So what are the key issues emerging atWestminster, and how will these impactupon our schools and the children weteach?

New types of schoolOne of Mr Gove’s early initiatives was thescrapping of the ‘Building Schools for theFuture’ (BSF) programme, which put astop to school building plans across thecountry. Gove also moved quickly tointroduce so-called “Free schools”, and toaccelerate the Academy programme.Previously, schools wishing to become anacademy had to apply and meet certaincriteria. Now any failing school could intheory be forced into academisation. Freeschools meanwhile can be set up in anyarea where there is willingness from agroup to sponsor and a perceived need.The latter programme has taken a little longer to get off the ground than Mr Gove envisaged, with just over 100free schools opening last September, anda similar number due to open inSeptember 2013. However, the number ofacademies has increased dramatically; tothe extent that the DfE had to find extrafunding for the programme, havingoverspent by a billion pounds in theirfirst two years in power.The next big pushwill be to convert failing primary schoolsinto academies.

GCSE ChangesIt is hard to argue with aspects of MrGove’s desire to raise standards. We allwant the best for our young people. ButThe Government’s plans in relation to theexam system have been beset bycontroversy. One of their early targets wasthe examination system at 14 and at 16.This was initially manifested by thescrapping of modules, meaning that thosepupils currently in Year 10 will sit all oftheir exams at the end of their courses.Modules have not been without issues ofcourse, as frequent re-takes placed a hugelogistical burden on schools. It could alsobe argued that some candidates did notapproach modules with sufficient effort,knowing that a re-sit was always available.For a large number of learners, however,(often weaker ability or those withlearning support issues) the ‘chunking’ ofwork and on-going assessment hadbenefits. In other changes, limits have also

been placed on the number of resists thatcan be taken and there are newrestrictions as to which mark counts (insome cases it is not the best of the twomarks taken, but the most recent).

English Baccalaureate In 2010 DFE introduced a newperformance measure: the ‘EnglishBaccalaureate’ (EBacc). This suite ofsubjects – English, Mathematics, Sciences,Modern Language and History orGeography – caused much consternation.A strong lobby argued that ReligiousStudies should be included as a humanity,and I was amongst those raising theobjection. Although my school’sbackground is Church of England, we arenot overly religious. However, thePhilosophy and Ethics GCSE course isengaging and rigorous and, in the handsof a fantastic teacher such as I am lucky tohave at my school, it more than competeson an even keel with History andGeography. Mr Gove’s argument is thatReligious Studies is a compulsory elementof state education. His concern is thatschools would opt for RS to the detrimentof History and Geography. I find thisrather disappointing when faced with thedilemma of discouraging pupils from

doing a subject which is well taught,enjoyed and successful, or seeing myschool suffer in the league tables.

Another EBacc issue was that themeasure was applied retrospectively.Therefore, rather than giving schools theopportunity to plan for its introduction ,it was actually applied to the previousyear’s GCSE results. Like mostindependent schools we fared pretty well,having stuck with the traditional suite ofsubjects (although as I mentioned, anumber had taken RS instead of Historyor Geography). But it did seem ratherunfair on state school colleagues, who hadno opportunity to prepare themselves,and the reaction it provoked was extremeat times. There were anecdotes flyingaround of technology colleges closingdown their design and technologydepartments to focus instead on theEbacc subjects.

This last point highlights another keyissue with the EBacc, which is that it isnot a baccalaureate at all, due to thenarrow way in which it ignores othersubjects, particularly the creative subjects.All good schools know that breadth aswell as depth are crucial, and I amreminded on an almost daily basis thatcreative activities and subjects can boost

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Bright Sparks: the EBacc subjects have a strong academic focus




the confidence of children and betterprepare them for the rigours of examsand beyond. With so much resting onperformance tables, it requires boldnesson the part of school leaders to retain thisin their schools.

New qualification at 16In June 2012 the Daily Mail ran a story

about the re-introduction of O-level styleexams. This was followed by a hastyannouncement from the DfE launchingthe idea of English Baccalaureatecertificates (EBC). These were to beintroduced for teaching in 2015, but onlyin the Ebacc subjects. The plan is for theexams to be harder than GCSEs andentirely assessed terminally, with one

exam to sat by all abilities, i.e. no tiering. As with a number of other DfE

initiatives, consultation was launched, butin common with these the scope was not asbroad as it could be. Instead of questioningwhether there was actually a need for EBC,the consultation focused on what it shouldbe called, and which subjects should beincluded. This felt rather like beingconsulted on the re-introduction ofhanging, but only being asked which colourrope one should use. ISA responded to theconsultation nonetheless to highlight keyissues, including a real concern about whatsort of assessment criteria can fulfil theproposal and the timescale proposed. Fewof us can see how a terminal examinationwill successfully perform what is beingdemanded of it and furthermore, how thiswould prepare young people for lifebeyond 16.

Our concerns around the narrow scopeof the EBC continue to grow. There is areal risk that non-EBacc subjects will besqueezed from the curriculum and take-up will plummet. There is a further ironyto this, as while our education systemmay not always fare too well withinternational comparisons such as OECD(though other studies published recentlyhave shown that independent schoolsperform very well internationally), it isunderstood that Britain excels in creativeareas and is a huge exporter in this field.

I attended a Teacher Associationmeeting recently at Ofqual with membersfrom all the teaching unions, as well asHMC, GSA and representatives from theDfE. All of us spoke to the DfE with onevoice; quite an interesting moment whenyou consider the diversity of theorganisations. On the day, Ofqualthemselves were fairly quiet on thematter, but a few days later it becameapparent that they shared our concerns.The Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey wroteto the Secretary of State echoing thepoints discussed here. The letter led tointeresting scenes at the Education SelectCommittee in early December when MrGove refused to disclose its contents,despite the Chair asking a number oftimes (Ofqual subsequently published theletter).

Perhaps it is worth exploring Mr Gove’sarguments for changing things sodramatically. He has stated that tieringlimits ambition and labelling students as‘foundation’ inhibits their opportunity.He also feels that a more challengingexamination regime will raise standards,

“Our concerns around the narrow scope of the EBCcontinue to grow. There is a real risk that non E-Baccsubjects will be squeezed from the curriculum and take-up will plummet.”



and that having competing examinationboards has caused a ‘race to the bottom’.

Another popular theme is to attackcoursework or controlled assessments andother forms of on-going assessment. Thisis ironic considering that theInternational Baccalaureate (IB) is oftenheld up as an example of good practice,though it has a coursework element. TheExtended Project Qualification (EPQ) issimilarly lauded, but is in its entirety apiece of coursework.

Events of the summer, with GCSEEnglish and a continuing high number ofre-marks and appeals, do highlight theproblems with the current system. HMCpublished a damning report intoexamination marking and it is beingtaken very seriously by Ofqual. There ismuch agreement that there needs to be amore rigorous marking regime for ourexamination systems, but rushingthrough an entirely new set ofqualifications to such a short deadline is acause for great concern to all; particularlyat a time when the Department forEducation is planning to significantlyreduce its workforce.

EquivalenceOne change that many welcomed relatesto GCSE equivalence. Over the years anumber of outraged stories printeddetails of vocational courses and howmany GCSEs they were ‘worth’. The issuewas certainly worth reviewing, as beyondthe hyperbole of headlines there wereindeed cases when schools used some ofthese courses to bolster their league tablepositions, possibly to the detriment ofsome pupils. As a non-selective schoolthat has only ever offered GCSEs, and tobe compared with state schools locallywho have sat the alternatives, I see thereview as a positive move. From 2014 amuch shorter list of vocational courseswill be eligible, and they can be worth nomore than one GCSE pass.

There has not been much discussion ofvocational courses beyond this changehowever, and there is no alternative to theEBCs proposed by the DfE to serve thosein need of a more vocational education.Labour has proposed a ‘Tech Bacc’, butthis is rather thin on detail at present.

The National CurriculumThe National Curriculum, meanwhile, isin the process of being reviewed. Thereare a couple of ironies to this, as there arean increasing number of schools that will

not be required to follow it. Academiesand Free Schools, like independentschools, are exempt. And thequalifications that are being designed totest it are in danger of being producedbefore the new version is published.

A-levelsPost-16 (Further Education) did notescape attention last year. A-levels weresaid to be no longer fit for purpose, andmajor changes were proposed andconsulted on. The removal of all modules,including the AS exam, was suggested andthe higher education sector wereencouraged to come in and re-write newA-levels. Interestingly the response to thatrequest from universities has been mixedat best and overall rather muted, withconcerns raised about the capacity ofuniversities to undertake such an exerciseand the fact that universities themselvesactually quite like AS levels. Currently ASlevels are staying, though the Januarymodules have gone and at least the Alevels will remain just that. There is noproposal, as for the EBCs, to have a singleexamination board for each one. TheEPQ is being promoted as a goodaccompaniment and many of us wouldsupport this.

What’s next?None of us can say for sure what is on thehorizon. The outcome of the DfEconsultation is due to be published as TheISA Journal goes to press, and this is likelyto be followed by an Ofqual consultation.

If EBCs go ahead, the next stage will befor awarding bodies to submit theirproposals to Ofqual. Once Ofqual is in aposition to approve the bids, they willthen be sent to the Secretary of State forhis final decision. As independentschools, there is no compulsion on ISAmembers to offer new qualifications:independent schools already lead the waywith the use of international GCSEs(iGCSEs) and IB as alternatives. Thisswitch did lead to a number of leadingindependent schools plummeting to thebottom of the league tables, but thereasons for this were widely known andhelped provoke debate. It will beinteresting to see whether this transpiresto an even greater extent or whetheralternative qualifications spring up at thesame time.

It has also been suggested thatcontrolled assessments, the courseworkelement of GCSEs, may well be axed inadvance of the introduction of EBCs.Schools are also wrestling with somewhatunclear instructions on the use of laptopsin examinations. And just so our juniorcolleagues don’t feel left out, it isproposed to make the study of a modernforeign language compulsory in key stage2 (most ISA schools already do this ofcourse).

Moving forward...It is important that we do not stand in theway of progress and change is of courseinevitable. My hope is that Mr Govelistens carefully to the professionals, andthat the consultations his departmentundertakes are properly considered. Thiswill ensure that change is effective, withclear and realistic outcomes whichgenuinely improve the provision for thechildren we teach. We have the luxury, asindependent schools, to observe from adistance these developments as theyunfold. Our willingness to get involved inthe consultation process, commissionstudies, meet with governmentdepartments and speak out on the issues,should tell the DFE an awful lot about theproposals in their current form. It will beinteresting to see how things develop, butyou can be sure that ISA will continue tofollow and respond as matters unfold.

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Jim Stearns is Headmaster of Shoreham College,a 3-16 co-educational school on the SouthCoast. He is also Chair of ISA’s Academic PolicyCommittee.




As a teacher or Head your knowledge of child protection procedures willbe considerable. But would you know how to recognise the signs ofmental illness in a pupil? English Teacher and former Head DickMoore, whose own son tragically took his life, urges greater investmentin mental health awareness.

MENTAL HEALTH FIRSTAID FOR PUPILS

In the early 1980s, a boy at the school inwhich I worked, climbed to the top of aclassroom block, attached one end of a rope tothe window frame, placed the other endaround his neck and jumped. The member ofstaff who was first on the scene (and who isnow an eminent headmaster) cut him downand the emergency services were called. Sadly,the boy died in hospital some days later. I

remember the shock and horror of it all: sucha traumatic event inevitably strikes at theheart of any school community. What I don’tremember was any concerted or wide rangingreview of policy aimed at reducing the risks ofmental ill-health amongst the pupils. At thatstage, of course, mental ill-health, especiallywhen it culminated in suicide, was a taboosubject.

Dick Moore

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Thirty years later, what has changed?When the third of my four sons took hisown life some 14 months ago I was notaware of a hunkering down of attitudes,of a reluctance to communicate with usfor fear and embarrassment, or a lack ofsupport and understanding. Far from it.It seemed that the extreme consequencesof one young man’s depression had beenunderstood.

To what extent is this newunderstanding reflected in schools today?We are all well versed in child protectionprocedures. We all have our copies of‘Every Child Matters’, and we all take careto tick boxes, dot i’s and cross t’s so thatinspectors are satisfied. We all say that weplace pastoral care at the top of our list ofpriorities. We have counsellors andmedical officers and school nurses. Thephysical health of our pupils is in goodhands. But can the same be said of theirmental health? I don’t think so...

• 10% of 16 year olds have self-harmed• 11.5% or 510,000 young people aged 11

to 16 suffer from a diagnosable mentalhealth disorder

• Nearly 80,000 young people suffer fromsevere depression

• Over 8000 children under 10 years ofage suffer from severe depression

• Suicide consistently ranks as one of theleading causes of death for adolescents– and is the leading cause amongstyoung men aged under 35

It is those seemingly least atrisk who sometimes suffermost – often in silence.

Lucy was widely regardedby her peers, her teachers andher parents as being one of themost popular, able, goodlooking, vivacious and talentedpupils in her year group.Unable to cope withthe perceivedpressure ofmaintaining thispicture ofperfection,Lucy turned tocutting herselfin order torelease someof the tensionand prove toherself thatshe was farfrom perfect.

James was also something of a starpupil – a wonderfully talented actor andrespected academic. He was appointedhead of house and his sense of humourand sparkle were legendary. Then, in thecourse of three months, he lost interest inpreviously enjoyed activities; he began tobe unable to sleep; he lost interest in

friendships and became morose andirritable. Eventually, he told afriend that he had experiencedsome very dark thoughts – theprospect of killing himself hadbecome a possible solution to hisdepression.We are still woefully short of

where we should be and we areliving on a knife edge. There are

children in our schoolsTODAY who are

desperately in need ofhelp but who areeithermisunderstood orwho are sufferingin silence.

Schools arerightly keen onattaining highstandards(however they maybe measured) and

safeguarding thewelfare of their pupils.

But two essential groups of staff remainat risk of being exposed to difficultieswhich they will be ill-equipped tomanage without further training.

Front line pastoral staff, house parents,tutors, matrons and others, need to beable to recognize the difference betweenadolescent malaise on the one hand anddeteriorating mental health on the other.How many such staff would haveappropriate skills to provide initial helpand reassurance whilst offering guidanceon appropriate self and professionalhelp?

Doctors are revered and many headsinevitably and rightly defer to theirexpertise in matters of pupil health. ButHeads should nonetheless check thattheir school medical officers haveundergone recent training in mentalhealth issues. Some GPs are not fullyconversant with NICE (National Instituteof Health and Clinical Excellence)guidelines or the IAPT (Increased Accessto Psychological Therapies) initiative.

Several organizations provide trainingin mental health awareness. Of these,Youth Mental Health First Aid offers atwo-day course to those who work withyoung people. YMHFA teachesparticipants not to become therapists butto recognize warning signs and takeappropriate action. The Charlie WallerInstitute (based at Reading University)offers courses designed for GPs and otherhealth professionals.

School budgets recognize the need forongoing professional development forstaff. It is to be hoped that an increasingproportion of the CPD budget is spenton mental health awareness training. Forthere is no health without mental health.

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Nearly 80,000 young people suffer from severedepression

“Every act of life, from the morning toothbrush to thefriend at dinner, became an effort. I hated the night whenI couldn’t sleep and I hated the day because it wenttoward night.” (F. Scott Fitzgerald)


For more information or to arrangetraining in your school contactMental Health First Aid via theirwebsite www.mhfaengland.org

Dick visits schools to talk topupils, parents and staff aboutmental health issues. He alsooffers the two-day Youth MentalHealth First Aid course.

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It is widely acknowledged that the qualityof care children receive at the time of adeath can have a huge impact on futureoutcomes. Whilst this may appear a bigresponsibility, it is easy to deliver. Whatmost grieving children need is verysimple: care and concern from adults theytrust. Child Bereavement UK knows fromexperience that a little help, given at theright time, can make a big differencetowards positive outcomes for grievingchildren. Schools are well placed toprovide this.

At Child Bereavement UK, the bereavedchildren that we support tell us that howschool responds when someone theyknow has died is something they neverforget. By simply carrying on with theusual routines and rituals of the day,school can offer a huge amount to agrieving child or young person. Whentheir world has fallen apart, the familiarroutine of school life feels safe and secure.

It can be a helpful reminder to a childthat life does carry on and that noteverything has changed. School can alsoprovide a sense of normality for a childwhose life suddenly feels very abnormal,and an opportunity to escape from whatmight be a roller coaster of emotions athome.

Every death is unique and each childwill grieve in their own way, but a schoolthat has thought about a framework towork to, will be much better placed torespond in an appropriate and effectiveway. As part of this response, all staff willknow that it is part of their remit toprovide a listening ear and a watchful eye.Normality with compassion is theapproach to take. You can never be totallyprepared, but being as prepared as youcan be will make a huge difference to yourown and the school’s ability to do whatfeels right. The Schools Section of ChildBereavement UK’s website has guidance

on how to go about putting together aplan.

Supporting grieving children in schoolSome basic principles apply:

• Acknowledge the death. To ignore whathas happened implies that this is anunimportant event and denies theexistence of the person who has died.Grieving children and young people donot want to be the centre of attention, sotry to do this as discreetly as possible. Afew quiet words to say how sorry you are,is all that is needed, or slip a note into ahomework diary.

• Offer a little time and someone to listenand let the child know who can give this.Schools are noisy, busy environments andsometimes a grieving child just needs abit of quiet time to reflect and just ‘be’.

BEREAVED CHILDRENAND SCHOOL –REBUILDING LIVES TOGETHER

92% of children willexperience a significantbereavement before the age of16. For many children thesupport they receive fromschool will be vital to theirlong-term recovery. ChildBereavement UK is the UK’sleading charity that supportsfamilies and educatesprofessionals both when a childdies and when a child isbereaved. Jill Adams explainsthe role that schools have toplay, and how staff can bebetter prepared to help supportgrieving children.

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• Remember that children and youngpeople will grieve for life. They will needsupport from school, not just in the firstfew weeks or even months after the death,but throughout their school years. A childwill revisit their grief as the meaning andsignificance of the death changes anddeepens as part of their journey intoadulthood.

• Grief is a whole school issue. Mostgrieving children do not needprofessional support if they aresurrounded by adults willing to give a bitof their time and concern. Staff who workin schools naturally have the skills to dothis, they do not need to be abereavement expert or professional.

• Take proactive steps. As well as thepastoral care aspect, schools can take amore proactive approach by treatingdeath and dying as a normal and naturalpart of school life. This has the addedbenefit of creating opportunities toimprove emotional literacy andencourage empathy with bereaved peers.Children who have some preparation andknow what to expect when someone dies,are more resilient and better able to adoptcoping strategies should they experiencethe death of someone they know. Thislesson on life will remain with them intoadulthood. Another proactive approach isto familiarise young children with whatwe do when people die. School pets offeran opportunity to create a gentleintroduction to the end of the life cycle.

• Involve the bereaved child. ChildBereavement UK often receives calls fromschools concerned about managingMother’s or Father’s Day when there is abereaved pupil in the class. If the lesson iscarefully planned, and teachers involvethe affected pupil in advance, most willchoose to remain in the class and join in.

Our website includes lesson planswhich include a sensitive reminder thatfor some families, Mother’s Day andFather’s Day can be particularly difficult.The Mother’s Day lesson plan has beensuccessfully used as a whole class activityin several primary and prep schools. OneHead Teacher from a BuckinghamshireSchool commented: “The lesson plan gaveus a platform to naturally talk aboutthings we do not make space for anymore.”

• Raise Awareness. Today’s ‘tell all’ media

style and current world events result inchildren being more aware of death anddying than most adults realise. However,the media does tend to present a skewedversion of events, concentrating on thetraumatic and dramatic. ChildBereavement UK is encouraging allschools to sign up to their Elephant’s TeaParty, a new awareness campaign whichtakes place in June this year. Designed forKS1 and KS2, the campaign builds on themetaphor : there’s an elephant in the

room, and aims to enable teachers toequip children with the skills to copewhen someone dies. Providing creativeexercises, lesson plans and fun activities, itwill give school staff the resources to helppupils explore the subject of bereavementin an age-appropriate, straightforwardand accessible way, ending with anoptional tea party fundraising event forall to enjoy. Schools can sign up byvisiting the website:www.elephantsteaparty.co.uk

• Keep it simple. A school that has anopen culture will encourage ‘HealthyGrief ’. This is grief that is spoken aboutwith honesty using words that areappropriate for a child’s age andunderstanding. Staff will be child-ledwith their support by answeringquestions as they arise in wordsappropriate for a child`s development.Staff will not be afraid to use the words“dead” or “death.” Euphemisms such as“lost” or “been taken from us” justconfuse children.

• Be Prepared. Put together a“Bereavement Tool Box” of books andresources to be used with bereavedchildren. You will find suggestions andlinks to information packs on the ChildBereavement UK website (see below).

• Consider Training. Training will raiseawareness with all staff and build theirconfidence to address this emotivesubject. Best delivered before it is neededto be put into practice, awareness trainingwill give confidence to anyone not sure

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“The teachers helped herso much, not by making herspecial but by watching outfor her and giving hertime.” Hermine, Ruby’s mother




what to say or what to do. Staff withpastoral care responsibilities will benefitfrom support and more in-depthknowledge.

Support for staff in schoolsBeing alongside bereaved children isemotionally draining. More so if thedeath is that of a member of staff and youare dealing with grief of your own. It canbe hard to admit that you need help.Teachers are used to having all theanswers and being in charge. Recognisingthis is not an inability to cope or a sign ofprofessional incompetence – it merelymeans that you are human. We all needhelp sometimes and it is often school thatparents turn to when they are not surewhat to do.

The Child Bereavement UK Supportand Information Line – 01494 568900 –offers a confidential listening service andcan be a vital support for schools.

Breaking the TabooAs part of my work I have listened to, andlearnt from, many grieving children andyoung people. They have taught me thatwhen we adults are treading on eggshells,

and don’t know where to start, they do.We continually underestimate the abilityof children to deal with the tough thingsin life, but they cannot do this inisolation. If schools can be encouraged totalk about death and dying in an openand honest way, hopefully this nextgeneration will grow up without the fearand burden of death being treated as ataboo subject. It does not cost money; itjust requires everyone in a schoolcommunity to have the confidence toaddress the subject.

About Child Bereavement UK Child Bereavement UK supports familiesand educates professionals when a babyor child of any age dies or is dying, orwhen a child is facing bereavement.Every year we train around 5000professionals – including teachers, socialworkers, midwives and emergencyservices – at the front line ofbereavement support.

We provide ongoing professionalsupport to bereaved children and familiesand also support the individuals andorganisations that become involved withthese families. We do this through our

training, over the phone, via our websiteand face to face.

In 2009, HRH The Duke of Cambridgebecame the charity’s Royal Patron.

The Child Bereavement UK website hasa special section for schools with a wealthof information and guidance, lessonplans, and details of our training courses.Teachers can also order a special SchoolsInformation Pack.

• Visit www.childbereavementuk.org

ISA Annual Conference – May 2013Online booking is now open for ISA’sAnnual Conference 2013.

Hosted at the famous 5 Star Grand Hotelin Eastbourne between 16th and 18thMay, this will be an event to remember.

With a theme of ‘Resilience and Growthin Modern Leadership’, the conferenceboasts a packed programme of highquality speakers.

The event includes the Association's AGM and Annual Black Tie Dinner and is always the highlight of the ISA year.

Book now to secure your place.Visit www.isaschools.org.uk

ISA's Annual Conference is open to all ISA Head Teachers, School Associates, Affiliate Members and Heads of schools on our Interim List.


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ISA NEWS REVIEWExtra Time in ExaminationsOfqual has concluded its review of the principlesover the provision of extra time in assessments asa Reasonable Adjustment. The Ofqual paper onextra time, together with open letters to the fiveGCSE/GCE awarding organisations and teachersassociations, is now available on the Ofqualwebsite.

The Ofqual paper sets out its position, in thatschools and colleges should be providing thisextra time when that need has been established,and not otherwise. Ofqual feels that there is roomfor improvement in this regard and has asked theawarding organisations to take extra steps toensure such an outcome, including takingappropriate action in relation both to thosecentres failing to apply for extra time for studentsentitled to such a Reasonable Adjustment, and tothose who are providing extra time to studentswho do not fulfil the relevant criteria.

2013 Grammar, Punctuation and SpellingThe KS2 grammar, punctuation and spellingsample materials and the test frameworkdocuments have now been published on the DfE’swebsite.

Materials are available for the level 3-5 andlevel 6 tests. These replace the illustrativeexamples that were published in June 2012. Hardcopies will be sent to schools from the endJanuary/early February. An updated leaflet forparents is also available on the Department’swebsite. Independent schools are not subject tothese tests but may well find the materials andguidance useful. • For more information visit:

www.education.gov.uk/schools

Discrimination against Independent SchoolsISA has raised with DfE a case of possiblediscrimination against independent school pupilsin the funding awarded to regional orchestras bythe Arts Council. DfE subsequently uncoveredsome misleading Arts Council advice which hasnow been rectified.

The remit for music hubs is to cover all childrenin an area, not just those attending maintainedschools. Their government funding is based onthe number of pupils attending maintainedschools in the area, reflecting their core role ofproviding instrumental tuition and other musicalopportunities in maintained schools.

However, they are expected to raise moneyfrom other sources so that they can offer and fundactivities that benefit all children, particularly inchoirs and orchestras where there are clearbenefits for children from many schools to worktogether. It should not be the case thatindependently educated pupils are asked to paywhen others are not and schools hearing of suchcases are asked to contact ISA HQ.

ISA CHAIR: 2013 A YEARFOR RESILIENCEISA is delighted to welcome AngelaCulley, Head of the Mead School inTunbridge Wells, as our new Chair for2013. Angela has been an active memberof the Association for many years, andhas been closely involved with ourInspections and MembershipCommittees.

Speaking at the start of 2013, Angelasaid that it was a huge privilege to takeon the role, in what will no doubt proveto be a challenging year for education.

“ISA will be at the forefront ofdiscussions at all levels this year, and wewill ensure that our members are keptfully informed. As always, our aim is tosupport all of you as we continue todrive our schools forward to be ‘leadinglights’ and provide our pupils with thehighest educational provision andexperience we can.”

Angela thanked ISA’s outgoing Chair,John Wood, for his inspirationalleadership, and said that he had “workedtirelessly for the good of theAssociation.”

Writing in a New Year’s message tomembers, Angela highlighted theimportance of fellowship and supportin Headship, and urged colleagues totake advantage of the many benefits ISAmembership affords.

“Fellowship, Comradeship andCommunity are at the heart of what ISAoffers its members. Headship can belonely and through ISA not only do wehave ready and constant professionaladvice of the highest quality at the pingof an email or the ring of a phone, but

we have the wonderful opportunity tomeet others who really do appreciateand understand our careers and work.

“ISA provides a wealth ofopportunities for its members andthereby their schools. I urge you to taketime to re-aquaint yourselves with themany facets of our association and trulyhope you will rediscover the power andvalue of membership and becomeincreasingly involved at both local andnational level.”

Angela also looked forward to ISA’sAnnual Conference, which takes place atthe Grand Hotel in Eastbourne betweenthe 16 - 18 May.

“My theme for this year is ‘Resilienceand Growth in Modern Leadership’ andI hope that you will be able to join usfor what promises to be an excellent,exciting and memorable event.”

SCHOOL DIRECT AND QTSThe GTP route to QTS will come to an end in Summer 2013, and from September2013, schools based training (as opposed to the assessment only route) will be via anew programme called School Direct. School Direct will offer two routes into QTS:fully funded, non-salaried places allocated by the Teaching Agency; and salariedemployees at a school (but still awarded places via the TA). However the latter routealso allows for self-funded places and the independent sector will need to pay if itwishes its teachers to undertake an employment-based route to QTS. As yet, theTeaching Agency is unsure how applications for this self-funded, salaried route willwork, but it is likely NOT to be via a central application process.

ISA’s new Chair, Angela Culley, is picturedwith outgoing Chair John Wood.

NEWS p28-29:Layout 1 29/1/13 20:54


THE DISCLOSURE AND BARRING SERVICEDecember 2012 saw the launch of the Disclosure and Barring Service(DBS), a merger between the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and theIndependent Safeguarding Authority (the other ISA). The merger isdesigned to combine the knowledge and experience of both organisationsin helping schools to make safer recruitment decisions and in preventingunsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, includingchildren. Schools will still use the same contact details as they have alwaysdone – whether it is applying for criminal record checks or referring peoplefor safeguarding decisions. Importantly, the staff who process theapplications and make the safeguarding and barring decisions also remainthe same, so there should be no disruption to the service.

From the 1st of December 2012, the terms used to refer to the CRBservices have changed to the following:

Old terms New terms

CRB, ISA DBS

Standard CRB check Standard DBS check

Enhanced CRB check Enhanced DBS check

Enhanced CRB check with Barred List check Enhanced check for Regulated Activity

ISA Adult First DBS Adult First

Vulnerable adults Vulnerable groups, including children

You will see the change in the paper disclosure certificates received fromthe DBS. Schools should not be penalised for using the old terminology inany of their policy documents, but may like to update these with the newterminology in due course.

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notes from the frontlineDEAR PARENT OR GUARDIAN...

A Happy New Year to you all, unless you are Chinese,Assyrian, Balinese, Iranian or Aztec, in which case I hopethat the 1st of January went well for you. We did receivea few comments about our multicultural interpretationof the festivities in the run-up to Christmas, or the 25thDecember, and I feel that I ought to explain that we didtry to make events accessible to all members of theschool community. Despite St. Christina theAstonishing’s foundation, I am sure that you willappreciate the need to widen our client base and updatethe appeal of Christmas when times are economicallychallenging. A few parents have commented that thecarol service should not have included popular SpiceGirls numbers, though Ms Cowell (or Scherzo Spice asshe is known by the choir), our Director of Music, feltthat the message of “tell you what I want what I reallyreally want” is very much in keeping with the modernapproach to the season. More popular was the additionof Petty Dwarf Roots and Elvish Bread (provided by MsBeeton and the Year 7 Home Economics class followingtheir trip to see The Hobbit) to the mince pies andmulled wine served on the last day of term, somethingthat will no doubt repeat next year (so I am finding).Finally, while the Pope doubts that any animals werepresent at the nativity, he did not make specific mentionof dinosaurs and so we felt that Boris’ threeveloceraptors were acceptable.

The ginger biscuit on string that forms part of our newweather station is frozen and so you don’t need to beJohn Ketley to know that we are in for a hard winter.The fact that we refuse to grit the school driveway is inkeeping with our environmental policy and nothing,the Bursar wishes me to emphasise, to do with the risingcost of rocksalt. I am sure that we can avoid a repeat ofthe twenty car pile-up seen last year if parents take morecare when dropping off their children in the morning.Please keep in mind that only four-wheel drive vehiclesfitted with chains should attempt the final uphill 300m,as it is difficult to extricate cars from the moat, as wefound during the last blizzard. The moat, by the way, isprotected under the Ramsar Convention and the Bursartells me that he is still awaiting permission from theUnited Nations to remove the old shopping trolleys.

Finally, I would like to confirm that the published datefor the next parents’ evening has not changed. Almost50% of staff have confirmed that they will be availableand the rumoured Saturday Night Palsy endemic hasyet to materialise. May I remind you to leave your dogs tied up at the entrance, ensuringthat their leads are short enough to avoidthe carnage experienced last term? Wecannot be to blame if the new chapel catdecides to take a wrong turn,particularly as any rat that Tiddleshappens to flush out may well try tohide behind canine protection.Concerned parents will like toknow that Year 9 managedeventually to find most of Fluffy,our previous mouser, who hasnow been interred withappropriate ceremony in thecrypt, a place he used to creepinto regularly.

Deborah Leek Bailey, ISA’s former Chair and aleading member of Executive Council, washonoured with an OBE for services toeducation in this year’s New Years’ HonoursAnnouncements.

An active member of ISA for many years,Deborah stepped down from headship at theend of December, and is moving on to aprestigious new role at the National College. Staff and pupils at BabingtonHouse School in Chislehurst, where she was Head for 15 years, bid her a fondfarewell at a special event which took place before Christmas.

Neil Roskilly, ISA’s CEO said: “Colleagues throughout the ISA Communityare delighted that Deborah’s achievements have been recognised through theaward of an OBE. Even though Deborah is stepping down from headship andExecutive Council, she remains an important figure on the UK independenteducational stage. During her year of Chairmanship of the Association,Deborah strengthened links with the National College and with DfE,particularly in the important area of partnerships with the maintained sector.She was one of three independent sector advocates for the College and willnow be the only representative for the sector with that body. She has raised theprofile of ISA and continues to provide guidance at many levels throughoutthe Association. In recognition, ISA’s Executive Council has awarded DeborahHonorary Membership and we look forward to her continuing her excellentwork on behalf of all of our Members.”

DEBORAH LEEK BAILEY OBE

NEWS p28-29:Layout 1 29/1/13 20:54



OUTSTANDING TALENT ATISA NATIONAL ART

The exhibition of competition entrieswas a highlight of this year’s AutumnStudy event, and ISA Art Chair VickySmit said that the standard of work hadnever been higher.

“I was so excited to discover that thisyear we had almost 2000 entries into theArt competition across all our regions,”said Vicky.

“Every art co-ordinator felt that theirregion’s entry level had gone up as hadthe standard and range of the worksubmitted. I am always astonished by theprofessionalism of the artwork that wesee and this year was no exception. Therange and quality was outstanding andthere were several pieces that I wouldhave loved to have had displayed on myown walls at home!”

Prizes were awarded in a range ofcategories including 2D and 3D Art,photography, textiles and computer aideddesign.

In the 2D art category the winningentries covered a range of subjects fromself portraits to landscapes. One of thestand out entries was a stunning paintingof Istanbul in the snow, produced byOnusa Charuwana from CambridgeCentre for Sixth Form Studies.

The 3D category produced some

memorable work, including an Olympictrack scene, produced by KS2 pupils fromAbingdon House. A colourful 3D treeentered by Howe Green House pupilsscooped first prize in the KS1 category,and was one of the most popular entrieson display.

“I would like to thank our judge SimonPoppy for agreeing to be our adjudicatorthis year”, continued Vicky Smit.” Mythanks also go to the area Art

Coordinators who organised the regionalfinals and who all those who helped stagethe National Competition at the AutumnStudy Conference.”

The competition is a fantasticopportunity for schools to showcase theirtalent, and for pupils to gain independentrecognition for their work. Do considergetting your school involved if youhaven’t already done so. Full details canbe found on the ISA website.

Pupils from over 50 schools entered work into the National ISA Art competition, which was heldat ISA’s Autumn Study Conference in Kettering last November.

2D Art, Individual - Key Stage 2Imogen Reichel, St Hilda’s, Harpenden

2D Art, Individual - Key Stage 3Isabel Grove, Red House

2D Art, Individual - Key Stage 4Thomas Kiernan, Moyles Court

NEWS-Art p30-31:Layout 1 23/1/13 15:32


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3D Art, Individual - Key Stage 1Aimee Reynolds, Greenbank Prep

3D Art, Individual - Key Stage 3Henry Robins, Rookwood

3D Art, Individual - Key Stage 4Ashleigh Bevis, The Gregg

3D Art, Individual - Key Stage 5William Holland, Dixie Grammer

Textiles/Needlework, Individual - Key Stage 3 & 4 -Annie Barker,Babington House

3D Art, Group - Key Stage 1Howe Green House

3D Art, Group - Key Stage 2Abingdon House

2D Art, Individual - Key Stage 5Onusa Charuwana, CCSS

NEWS-Art p30-31:Layout 1 23/1/13 15:32



GAINING WITH TRAINING ISA COURSES

Further information and online booking can be found on our website.Visit: www.isaschools.org.uk

JANUARY 2013

29THE NEW STATUTORYFRAMEWORK FOR EYFS.Venue: Priory School, Birmingham

FEBRUARY 2013

6PREPARING YOUR SCHOOL FORINSPECTION

Venue: Mercure Parkside Hotel, Milton Keynes

7THE ISI REGULATORYREQUIREMENTS Venue: Mercure Parkside Hotel, Milton Keynes

27 ICT TO DEVELOP SECONDARYTEACHING AND LEARNING

Venue: Bridgewater School, Manchester

28HOW MIDDLE MANAGERS CANRAISE STANDARDS THROUGHINSPECTION SKILLSVenue: Greenbank Preparatory School,Cheshire

MARCH 2013

5APPRAISAL ANDPERFORMANCEMANAGEMENTVenue: ManderPortman Woodward,London

14JUNIOR SCHOOLS’ CONFERENCEVenue: Mercure Parkside Hotel, MiltonKeynes

20CAL SYMPOSIUMVenue: City of London Girls’ School,Barbican, London

21PRACTICAL AND TACTICALMARKETING

Venue: St Martha’s Senior School,Hertfordshire

APRIL 2013

17JUNIOR ICT CONFERENCEVenue: BMA House, London

18APPRAISAL AND PERFORMANCEMANAGEMENT

Venue:Alderley EdgeSchool forGirls,Cheshire

23DEPUTY/ ASSISTANT HEADS’CONFERENCEVenue: St. JamesSchools, London

MAY 2013

2SEN(D) CONFERENCEVenue: Bishop Challoner School, Bromley

16-18ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Venue: The GrandHotel, Eastbourne

22LEARNING OUTSIDE THECLASSROOMVenue: Hurst Lodge School, Ascot

JUNE 2013

6HOW MIDDLE MANAGERS CANRAISE STANDARDS THROUGHINSPECTION SKILLSVenue: Rushmoor School, Bedford

13EMPOWERING SENIOR TEACHERSTO MAKE A DIFFERENCE INSCHOOL

Venue: GEMS Sherfield School, nearBasingstoke

18ASSESSMENT AND TRACKING TORAISE STANDARDSVenue: LVS Ascot School, Berkshire

Training:Layout 1 23/1/13 15:52 Page 30

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It’s Monday morning and Year 2 at HurstLodge School are collecting hens’ eggs. “It’sa great way for us all to start the week”, saysPrincipal Vicky Smit, as a group of pupilshurry around her with baskets. “Thechildren love the responsibility of workingon our small holding, and go back intoclass ready to learn after a healthy dose offresh air.”

Vicky is passionate about outdoorlearning, and it shows. Principal of HurstLodge School, a rural co-ed school inBerkshire, Vicky is one of a growing band ofsenior teachers to embrace the Forest Schoolinitiative, which encourages children tolearn outside the traditional classroom.

Initiated in Sweden over 40 years ago,Forest School learning is based upon theprinciple that all children can benefit fromoutdoor learning. Forest Schools firstappeared in the UK in the 1990s, and withthe publication of Labour’s 2006 LearningOutside of the Classroom manifesto, theinitiative soon gathered momentum. Asschools seek to improve the quality of theirEarly Years and Foundation stage

provision, many have looked to ForestSchool learning as a model.

But for many ISA schools outdoorlearning isn’t just about weekly activities onthe playing field. Some have fully embracedoutdoor education, making it a part ofeveryday life. And as a national Centre ofExcellence for Outdoor Education, HurstLodge is leading the way.

“We passionately believe that educationdoes not stop once a student leaves theclassroom and that opportunities forlearning and development exist

everywhere”, explains Headteacher KateLeiper. “At Hurst Lodge we are fortunate toenjoy a rural setting, enabling children ofall ages to be exposed to a wide range oflearning environments and challenges.”

These learning environments include asmallholding with chickens, pigs and bees,extensive gardens and woodland. Studentsare also taught the importance of bio-diversity and sustainability through clubs,societies and activities including the school’sown natural science programme.

And whilst Forest Schools are oftenfound in Early Years settings, PrincipalVicky Smit firmly believes that outdoorlearning can benefit all ages.

“Forest School has become a popularfeature of the Early Years Foundation andKindergarten time tables in manyindependent schools, but we use it up toand including Key stage 3.”

“Our youngest pupils are engaged inmaking woodland art, hunting minibeastsand splashing in muddy puddles. But forour older students, Forest School providesthem with an opportunity to explore

IF YOU GO DOWN TOTHE WOODS TODAY...

The link between outdoor activity and children’s health has longbeen established. But can learning outside the classroom reallyhave an impact upon children’s behaviour, social skills andattainment? Angie Shatford meets the ISA Forest Schools whoare offering outdoor learning – at EYFS and beyond.

Vicky Smit, Principalof Hurst Lodge School,Ascot

Jonathan Teesdale –Head of CopthillSchool

Forest Schools p34/35/36 :Layout 1 4/2/13 16:47


enterprise and entrepreneurship throughour ‘Grumpy Duck Pickle Company’. Wetruly believe that it can benefit the full agerange.”

One of the key principles of the ForestSchool approach is that it is child or pupilcentred. A qualified Forest School leaderdevises a program of learning that is basedon the pupils’ interests, allowing them tobuild upon skills at their own pace.Practitioners agree that children gain anew confidence in adapting to situations.This impacts upon their ability to chooseactivities independently and theirconfidence in self initiating tasks developsdramatically.

“The Forest Schools initiative has becomean invaluable learning tool, enablingchildren to take risks, solve problems anddevelop their thinking and reasoning skills,”explains Vicky Smit. “They take charge oftheir own learning and it is fascinating towatch the interaction between them as theypool their knowledge, collaborate,experiment, investigate - fail, try again andthen come and check their facts.”

These benefits can be far reaching,influencing children’s attainment andachievement both inside the classroomand out. Forest School leaders report thatchildren engaged in regular outdooractivities become more focused anddisplay improved communication andsocial skills. These benefits may beparticularly marked in boys andkinaesthetic learners, as well as pupils withAttention Deficit Disorder and otherspecial needs.

As Vicky Smit observes: “Our morerestless children find it of particularbenefit and will concentrate for hourswhen deciding how to use the bill hooks tocoppice or use sharp pen knives to formtoasting forks.”

Vicky believes that fears over health andsafety have prevented many Heads fromfully embracing outdoor learning.“Climbing trees and taking risks is fantasticlearning for life. Our staff have theconfidence to give guidance but then tostand back and let them explore anddiscover for themselves. Children learn toget dirty and explore the living worldaround them.”

“There is great excitement when woodliceand creepy crawlies are found and thesighting of deer and the flight of a hawkbecome real talking points. Our childrenlove to climb trees, build dens, make firesand saw logs. All this helps them to developa sense of self-esteem, respect for themselves,

each other and the environment. Theydevelop a genuine sense of responsibility asthey assess and take risks. These are lifelongskills – and we shouldn’t shy away fromequipping our children to develop them.”

For Jonathan Teesdale, Head of CopthillSchool in Lincolnshire, the conversion toForest School thinking seven years ago wassomething of an epiphany.

“I remember walking around the schoolon a beautiful day, with all our childrensitting at desks listening to their teachers orhunched over a computer. “What are wedoing?” I thought – “these children shouldbe outside! Most of these lessons couldhave taken place outdoors!” Since then wehave undergone what can only be

described as a gradual outdoor ‘revolution’which has changed the whole ethos andreputation of the school.”

Copthill is a 300 pupil mixedindependent school for ages 2 -11, situatedon a working arable farm, in SouthLincolnshire. The school has always had anexcellent reputation locally, but sinceadopting the Forest School philosophy, itssuccess has soared.

“The Forest School programme hasengaged, enthused and educated children,delighted parents and refreshed theteaching approach of our staff. It has givenpupils greater opportunities for creativity,developed independent learning skills andmost importantly it has also attracted new

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Off to the woods -Forest School sessionat Copthill

‘The children usually return muddy and smoky butalways with a smile on their faces!’

Minibeast Hunt at Hurst Lodge




children to the school who have benefittedfrom this approach to their learning”,Jonathan explains.

“In a relatively short space of time we havechanged the whole approach to education atCopthill from a very formal classroom basedlearning environment to one that makesfantastic use of our grounds. This has had animmense benefit on pupils, staff andparents. And has certainly not been at theexpense of our academic reputation, withour results continuing to rise year on year.”

Copthill School has trained a significantnumber of staff to be ‘outdoor facilitators’,who lead sessions joined by subjectteaching staff. All pupils have a prescribedprogramme of access to Copthill’s ForestSchool. The programme is designed toteach a progressive range of skills, buildknowledge and develop confidence, andhas proved particularly effective inengaging kinaesthetic learners.

As at Hurst Lodge, the scheme is open topupils of all ages, and for junior classes the

sessions are linked to specific subjects. InHistory, for example, pupils might learn tobuild a Roman catapult or establish aViking Camp. One recent English projectsaw Year 6 pupils acting out scenes fromMacbeth in the woods. “The setting addedto the magic of the production, and thelevel of pupil engagement and learning farsurpassed any such similar study in theclassroom,” remarked Jonathan. “Mostimportantly the pupils all had great funand it made them hungry for moreShakespeare. What a result!”

The school has gradually developed itsgrounds to create different areas whichhave their own character and environment,and can be used for different types oflearning. The cost, explains Jonathan, hasbeen negligible, though he agrees that notall schools are lucky enough to have somuch land at their disposal.

“I appreciate that all schools have verydifferent situations; some have wonderfulbuildings, some excellent sporting and

drama facilities. We had a small forest andsome fields and from that we haveeffectively developed a whole new set ofinspirational classrooms. If you are luckyenough to have school grounds ...howeverbig or small... just make sure you are usingthem to their full potential. Everyonebenefits.”

Hurst Lodge School offers Forest SchoolLeader Training in association with theForest School Learning Initiative. Theprogramme is provided by experiencedtrainers who have an outstanding reputationand continue to be practicing Forest SchoolLeaders themselves on a weekly basis.

Forest School Leaders should aim to holdthe NOCN (National Open CollegeNetwork) Level 3 Award, which takesbetween four and nine months to complete.

For more details visit:www.forestschoollearning.co.ukor telephone: 01242 602476


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ASK THE EXPERTS

WONDERS OF THE WEB –MAKING THE MOST OF THE SCHOOL WEBSITE

Larrytech is a web design agencywhich specialises in providingcreative, engaging websites forschools. To find out more abouthow you can enhance your webpresence, please contact them on01892 888 011.

Much investment goes into building aschool website. But once it’s up andrunning, this is really just the start of thejourney. How can you use it to maximisethe success of your school both in termsof attracting prospective parents and inbeing a useful resource for currentparents? Here are some tips that will helpyou to do just that:

Update the site regularlyThere is nothing worse than going onto awebsite that has a news feed on it andseeing the latest post as some time in2011. Believe it or not, this does happenand it is so easy to avoid. It is essentialthat you update your site regularly toprevent visitors feeling that nothing muchhappens at your school. Your website willbe much more interactive and compelling– and prospective parents willimmediately get a feel for the school andits core values.

At the same time as updating yourwebsite, you need to encourageprospective parents to get in touch. Youcan make it easy for them to either call oremail you, fill in a request for a printedprospectus or even view a prospectusonline. Think about a call to action forprospective parents and make it easy forthem to get more information with theminimum of fuss.

From a search perspective, updatingyour website will improve itsperformance within search engines.Google, Bing and the other search engineslove fresh, unique content to process. Thiswill generate increased levels of traffic toyour website, particularly fromprospective parents which will in turngenerate more enquiries.

Plenty of photosIn our experience, many schools we haveworked with enjoy being able to add andupdate photo galleries on the websitethemselves. Images have a major impacton site visitors and we would always

ideally recommend that a professionalphotographer is used to help make surethe ethos of the school is capturedstraight away. This will ensure theschool’s values and ethos are apparent,and photos taken by a skilledphotographer will always enhance theimage of your school which in turn willlead to more enquiries from prospectiveparents.

Adding photo galleries is key – yourschool will look much more attractive toprospective parents if there are plenty ofimages of children undertakinginteresting and stimulating activities andhaving fun doing so! This will make yourschool more appealing, and prospectiveparents will again get that sense that yourschool is a place they have to visit.

Save costs, increase efficiency andprotect information!Many schools waste a lot of time andmoney every year on letters they sendhome to parents that don’t even make itout of a child’s bag, or are left in theclassroom. By creating a passwordprotected parents’ area on your website,or sending communications direct toparents’ emails, you will be able to includeletters home in a safe environment whereyou know parents will receive them, andread them. Further you’ll save time andmoney by not producing print versions.

A password protected parents’ areaoffers that bit of exclusivity to yourwebsite and your school as a whole.Prospective parents will see it as a benefitand it would certainly suggest your schoolis advanced, forward thinking and up to

date with all things digital. Currentparents will see the benefit, too, asinformation about their children will beprotected and secure.

A parents’ area allows you to sharephotos, sports team sheets and otherinformation that should not be in thepublic domain. Not only does this protectyour children, but at the same time it willprotect your school as a whole.

Analyse the resultsOnce you start to implement changes onyour website, it is important to putmeasures in place that will allow you tomonitor results. For example, if one ofyour primary goals is to increase thenumber of visitors to your website, makesure you have Google Analytics in place.You will then be able to track how manyvisitors you are getting to your site on adaily/weekly/monthly basis. You can alsotrack the journey of visitors throughAnalytics to establish the relativepopularity of each page and also tounderstand where the majority of yourvisitors come from. You can then test andalter accordingly. Testing and analysisallows you to set goals and make sure youreally are getting the most out of yourwebsite. If the results are not what youexpected, don’t be afraid to experiment sothat you can learn why.

ConclusionBy testing, measuring and altering yourwebsite, you will be able to reallymaximise its potential – attractingprospective parents and effectivelyengaging with current ones.

Having an informative, well designed and interesting website for your school is essential in themodern digital age. But how do you ensure that you maximise its full potential? Larrytech offersthe following advice.


Wonders of Web p38:Layout 1 4/2/13 18:31

EXPERIENCE COUNTSBroker of insurance services to schools, colleges and academies since 1926

Marsh Ltd. is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority for insurance mediation activities only.Copyright © 2012 Marsh Ltd. All rights reserved. Exp June 2013 Ref 802579CD004FEA3F

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Marsh is the broker of choice to over 1,000 independent schools. To find out how we may improve your current insurance cover, please contact us (quoting ISA Apr 2012):

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ISA Classified DPS:Layout 1 4/2/13 18:42


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PORTALS TO THE PAST Earth Science and

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When it comes to marketing; what is it that separates the Schools that thrive, from those that struggle?

In a word; BRAND.

Brand is important because a consistent brand means you can spend less time and less money attracting new pupils and parents to your School.

Brand is your Schools personality. It helps you get more word-of-mouth referrals. It sends a consistent message about your School in all communications. It clarifies the focus and vision of the School from both an internal and external perspective.

A br&.check is a vital exercise to undertake prior to any evolution or revolution in Schools Marketing.

Br&.check is a dedicated Schools Marketing product that provides an unbiased profile of your school and it’s brand.

Br&.check makes planning a marketing strategy more effective. Investing early-on in the planning stage leads to visible and measurable results.

Many unexpected positives can come out of a br&.check. You might need to make just a few tweaks to get back on track, or you might have to go through a thorough overhaul.

Wherever you are on the scale, a br&.check helps give you an invaluable perspective on your School and provides you with a solid platform from which to launch all activities.

It’s really easy to get in touch; we are happy to receive emails, we love talking on the phone and, more than anything, we like meeting people face to face. We offer a very informal initial meeting to chat through where you are now and what you are looking to achieve. Our initial br&.check meeting is totally FREE and carries no obligation whatsoever.

We are happy to offer this because we are confident that with our unrivalled knowledge and experience with Schools, we will be able to show you how to focus your efforts and maximise your budgets.

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ISA Classified DPS:Layout 1 4/2/13 18:42

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September saw the finals of the ISA NationalGirls Hockey Tournament, held at StEdward’s School in Cheltenham. Teamsfrom seven ISA schools took part in theevent. The schools – Stafford Grammar,Hipperholme Grammar, Hull CollegiateSchool, Hill House School, St Edward’s

School, Cheltenham, Claires Court andMalvern St James – played many closelyfought matches throughout the tournament.

In the Under 14 Category, the trophywas scooped by the team from Malvern StJames, with second place awarded to StEdward’s School Cheltenham.

The Under 16 final was won by ClairesCourt Schools, Maidenhead, and runnersup were Hill House School, Doncaster.

Congratulations to all the players who took part, and special thanks toorganiser Alex Kenyon from host schoolSt Edward’s.

It has been another fantastic term for ISA Sport, with pupils up and down the country taking partin a range of events which marked a fitting end to 2012, Britain’s memorable year of sport.

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MIXED JUNIORHOCKEYVernon Lodge School were crownedwinners at the first ever Midlands ISAMini Hockey Tournament, which tookplace in November, at the CannockHockey Club. The event saw teams from six ISA schools take part. Organiser DaveFerris said,

“Congratulations to Vernon Lodge onwinning the first ISA Mini Hockey event.It was a competitive tournament withmore than 60 boys and girls participating.Many thanks to Chase Academy forhelping to organise and to CannockHockey Club for hosting the day.”

It has been a busy term for ISA Sport in the Midlands, with November also seeing the11 a side Girls Hockey Tournament. Hosted by Cannock Hockey Club, the tournamentincluded seven ISA schools from across the region. In the Under 13 category the teamfrom Stafford Grammar were crowned champions, with 16 points at close of play. TheUnder 15 prize was won by Malvern St James, who closed with 30 points to runners upSt Edward’s 23. Congratulations to all the Midlands schools who took part, and thanksto organiser Laura Hampton from Chase Academy.

MIDLANDS UNDER 13AND 15 GIRLS HOCKEY

Sporting Times:Layout 1 23/1/13 17:32



JUNIOR WATER POLOSeven ISA schools participated in the ISA North Junior Water Polo event, which took place at the Middleton Arena in Manchesteron 28 September. The schools – Hipperholme Grammar, Forest Prep, Beech House School, Hillcrest Grammar, Greenbank Prep,Prenton Prep and Forest Park School – played 16 matches in what was an exciting and highly competitive tournament.

The closely fought final was won by a team from Hipperholme Grammar, who drew 2-2 with Greenbank but went on to win onpenalties. Third place was taken by the team from Forest Prep School. The standard of play from competitors – all of whom wereunder 11 – was outstanding. Special thanks to organiser Kevin Sartain from Beech House School and to all the teams who took part.

MIDLANDSFOOTBALLPupils from Stafford Grammar andThe Priory School, Birmingham,scooped the top prizes at the ISAMidlands Football Tournament lastterm. Both schools featured in thefinals, with The Priory winning theUnder 14 category, and Staffordscooping the Under 16 shield.

Organiser Brendan Tyrell, fromDagfa School thanked the otherschools who took part - The DixieGrammar School, Heathfield,Highclare, Dagfa, Chase Academyand Bowbrook House.

Pictured are the winning teamsfrom The Priory (left) and StaffordGrammar (below).



The Midlands Area Swimming Gala saw arecord number of entries this year, with26 schools entering the Junior Gala and18 taking part in the Senior event.

Holy Trinity International School,Kidderminster, retained their OverallWinners title in the Junior Girls event,and took the top prize in all three agegroups. The Junior Boys gala was won bySt Wystan’s School, who also retained thetitle for the second year running.

In the Senior event, Bedstone Collegewere overall girls champions, and DixieGrammar School scooped the championstitle for the boys.

Organiser Gwil Price said:“The packed balcony at Walsall Baths

helped to create a wonderful atmospherefor all swimmers, irrespective of whetherthey were experienced or noviceperformers. Only a handful from each agegroup will go forward to represent theMidlands at the National Championships– so for many of the children taking partthis was their ‘big’ event. We should allapplaud these youngsters on gaining sucha meaningful representative honour fortheir schools. Thanks to all involved inmaking this such a memorable event.”

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MIDLANDS AREA SWIMMING GALA


ASK THE EXPERTS


Your spend on phone bills could be radically reduced – or cancelled altogether – thanks tothe advent of VoIP, explains JillMaclean from Telecoms Professional magazine.

VoIP CAN SAVE YOU MONEYON TELEPHONE BILLSVoIP – that’s ‘Voice over Internet Protocol’ –allows voice telephone calls to be madeacross the Internet via a broadbandconnection, rather than via a traditionalanalogue telephone line. And the exciting bitis that unlimited local, and internationalcalls are available at a fraction of the cost oftraditional telephone services. Someproviders offer the service free, while otherscharge a flat fee for unlimited use, or allowfree local calls but charge a small fee for callsoutside the local area. Whichever provideryou approach, however, it’s clear that thistechnology could represent vast savings onyour club’s telephone bill. You can even holdconference calls with multiple users thanksto this technology. Imagine holdingcommittee meetings where you didn’t haveto get everyone in one room?

How does it work?The caller’s voice is converted from analoguesound waves into a digital signal. This travelsthrough the internet and is then convertedback into analogue sound, so the recipient atthe other end will hear it as a normal voiceagain. VoIP calls can be made from anycomputer equipped with downloadablesoftware, and a specially-designed VoIPhandset. Alternatively, a conventionaltelephone handset can be equipped with anadaptor. As the breadth of services offered byVoIP become increasingly recognised – notleast of all for the opportunity to savemoney on calls – so too will the uptake. Thismeans that local and long distance calls to atelephone of any kind are already a very realpossibility. And as competition continues toincrease in this field, then a wider choice ofnew, and improved, services will follow. Thiswill include mobile options and ultimatelylower prices.

What do you need?Many VoIP providers distribute free,downloadable software, which allows VoIPcalls to be made directly from a computer,using an existing microphone. A dedicatedVoIP handset, or callcentre style headset,

which plugs into the USB port of acomputer will improve sound quality. Ofcourse there is the obvious problem thatshould a power failure occur, calls won’t bepossible. Or you might automatically switchoff the computer forgetting that this will alsoprevent any incoming calls. You could getround this though, by plugging a telephonehandset to be plugged into a broadbandconnection. However, do bear in mind that a

VoIP telephone number – which may beneeded to access a full range of VoIP services– is unlikely to be included in mosttelephone directories, and that a VoIP phoneitself will not work during a power failure.Consider, too, the quality, and reliability, ofthe telephone service that you require; voiceand data communication on the samenetwork, as is the case with VoIP, can createbandwith issues.

046-Ask the Experts VoIP:Layout 1 4/2/13 18:35

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ISA ad copy:Layout 1 25/1/13 11:34 Page 4

isa journal - issue 5

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isa competitiongaining

new isa website

isa head teachers

secondary schools

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schools andspecialist

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