Download Chris Woodcock Keynote

Chris Woodcock
Deputy Head teacher, Durrington High School
My background
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Size:
1740 student coastal strip comprehensive Yr. 7-11 (no
sixth form) c.200 staff (110 teachers), 13 form entry
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Academic profile:National average profile on intake
 Outcomes:
SIG+ in nearly all measures for a number of years and
continuing to improve
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Gender balance:
 Deprivation:
male dominated profile 60/40 split
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Needs profile:
20 CLA students, 21% of students on SEN register at
school support or above, 35 EHCP/Statemented
students (8% of entire county’s EHCP students who are
in mainstream)
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My experience:
Charity for special needs, Governor at special
needs school, WSCC APC governor, 7th Year leading
well-being/behaviour/inclusion, written
statement/EHCP applications, SEN line leader
c.10% of students living in wards in the lowest 10%
for deprivation. 360+ PP students
Our education system today:
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Higher than ever awareness of and possibly needs relating to
teenage mental health
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Rapidly changing accountability measures at the same time as
increased demands on education institutions to implement
national initiatives (prevent duty)
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Significant pressure on schools from
a) direct budget cut backs as well as
cut backs within local support service provision
(mental health)
b) new SEN Code of Practice e.g. language changing
from “reasonable” to “everything possible”
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S/E focused: faced paced evolution of digital/social medial use
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Potentially more of a desire for “labels” for children
Institution level
There must be a desire for
change from the very top..
“the formula 1 of providers”
The strategic approach…
Creating a successful environment in which all young
people can learn requires change
Maximise the impact of what you have most control over…
High ability to influence
Some influence
Least ability to
influence
CONSISTENCY
Quality of teaching
Behaviour policies/ expectations
school systems
Seating plans
Setting/grouping of students
Starts to lessons/sessions
Physical environment
Resourcing
Support staff (TAs & specialists)
Communication/ information sharing
Presence of senior staff
Staff CPD
Social times
SEN need/provision
Timetable
Student motivation
Attendance
Parental engagement and
support
Diet/exercise
Student’s home life - Parents
Mental health needs
Community based issues
(Drugs, alcohol, deprivation
etc)
Local service provision
(CAMHs, Family support etc)
Decreasing % gains
Creating change; keeping your
eyes open
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Baselining: staff attitudes/ knowledge/
mindsets, need profile and numbers of
students
Being honest about time constraints/capacity
Developing a clear message with a rationale
people will buy into
Communicating effectively
Budgeting and setting up start/outcome
measures
Being aware of as many external factors as
possible
Approaches that can work
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Key staff lead (chosen on ability not hierarchy/status)
Personal provision (which has to work)
Goal focused time out/ adapted curriculum
Choice based outcomes/ co-construction of plans
(within school framework)
Key student briefings/live information streams
Bringing in the experts (Maslow)
Permission to get it wrong/not conform
My own tree/under the stairs
Race for life etc
Anything you like….
What makes whole school
approaches successful?
Strategy/system created:
• Was based on a very well
understood issue
• Had planned lead in times
and warnings
• Was well thought through
• Encompassed training &
support of staff
• Was revisited and tuned
to be more efficient, also
impact measured
• Involved stakeholders
(parent/carers) who gave
the same messages
“The best drivers can overtake in the most
challenging situations whilst knowing what is
behind them and seeing where they
want to be further down
the track”
Across large organisations successful
change requires teamwork
• A champion
• Leadership – candour,
presence and support
• Communication in set up
(bulletin, emails, structure sheets,
stakeholders, students)
• Consistency – speed of follow up,
keeping the systems live
• Evaluation/tracking/tweaking
In the
classroom/lesson
Via the individual
member of staff
Why do individual staff need to change their
practice?
“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am
the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my
personal approach that creates the climate. It’s
my daily mood that makes the weather. As a
teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make
a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool
of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can
humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my
response that decides whether a crisis will be
escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized
or dehumanized.”
Professor Sir Tim Brighouse from Haim Ginott
x 10
Creating rapid and sustained
progress with SEMH students
Rapid and
sustained progress
for all
Characteristics of the expert practitioner include
the ability to combine great teaching (subject
knowledge & skills) with high levels of emotional
awareness and a detailed understanding of
specific needs of individual students.
Great teachers are solution focused when things
become hard/a student meets a barrier to their
learning. They are extremely resilient even in the
face of repeated failure and convey a sense of
calm belief in each and every students over and
over again.
(Warning: it doesn’t work all the time though!!) individuals
Outstanding
teaching
Emotional
intelligence/ detailed
understanding of
the needs of the
students combined
with excellent
staff:student
relationship
Teaching teachers – the importance of
staff CPD and having a common/
consistent approach …
•
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Most success when working with complex student
comes from personalising to the individual need without
compromising on basic expectations
Praising staff when they have done something very well
with a student works to!
Bringing in the reinforcements..
• As early as reasonably possible –
proactive is better than reactive is possible
• Build a wide support base for free:
Medical, emotional, drugs/alcohol, social
care, charity based, police,
parents/carers, SEN. Use this
support team to train your staff on
contextualised current issues/
needs
• Imperative to have a holistic picture or the
“school plaster” may just fall off
• Always be solution focused
Summary
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An institution is only as effective/consistent as the weakest
team member of its team. Consistency is key
Leadership (knowing where you are now, planning the
change and knowing where you want to be are essential)
Start with something you will win (gain credibility and backing
for change from this from your key stakeholder –
students/staff)
Write it down and share it (A4). Be systematic and back up
what you say in policy as well as sharing it in advance to all
relevant stakeholders
Be prepared to have difficult conversations and hold-the-line
every day
You don’t need to re-invent the wheel, ask for help/support
Have a champion for change
There is always a next step…
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Live tracking (of key data streams)
Earlier intervention – working out what the key
indicators are of need as early as possible (ideally
before they reach join and intensively during the first
term)
Develop of appropriate provision for the most
complex/needy and have this ready for them
Train key staff to become specialists, constant need
evaluation and re-setting of direction according to the
cohort’s needs
Refining impact analysis and stripping back
Can you answer these questions?
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What are the most common needs within SEMH in your
school? (existing and emerging)
Do you know the names of the 25 most complex need
students? Where they are on their journey with you? What
are the next steps with each of them?
What three things are the biggest priority to change in terms
of changing staff practice/systems? In what order? How,
when, by who?
What does your current student support model look like?
What gaps are there? How can these be plugged in an
efficient way?
Questions…