Download Thriving in Adversity Sir William Atkinson

The Guardian Lecture 2012
Embracing Change: Thriving in Adversity
Sir William Atkinson
Thursday November 8th 2012
“Unequal societies have
unequal educational systems
and unequal education outcomes.”
The Spirit Level, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett
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Poor in UK Dying 10 Years Earlier Than Rich
The life expectancy gap between rich and poor people in England is
widening, despite years of government and NHS action, a hard-hitting
National Audit Office report reveals today.
Extensive efforts have failed to reduce the wide differential, which can
still be 10 years or more depending on socio economic background,
says the public spending watchdog.
The gap in life expectancy between government-designated areas of
high deprivation and the national average has continued to widen.
The Guardian, Friday 2nd July 2010
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• If the United States had in recent years closed the gap between
educational achievement levels and those of better performing
nations such as Finland and Korea, GDP in 2008 could have been
$1.3 trillion to $2.3 trillion higher. This represents 9 to 16
percent of GDP.
• If the gap between low income students and the rest had
similarly narrowed, GDP in 2008 would have been $400 billion to
$670 billion higher.
• If the gap between America’s low performing states and the rest
had been similarly narrowed, GDP in 2008 would have been
$425 billion to $475 billion higher.
• Reason for the underachievement of poor kids and minority
students - on average, the United States systematically assigns
less experienced, less qualified and probably less effective
teachers to poor and minority students.
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White City
•
The White City Estate is ranked within the top 5% of the most
deprived neighbourhoods nationally with regard to income
level and within the 10% most deprived with regards to
barriers to housing and services
•
53% of tenants are rent in arrears
•
Wormholt and White City Ward has one of the highest
standardised mortality rates
•
Birth rate and domestic over-crowding highlight significant
health problems on White City Estate
•
Highest concentration of residents on Council’s Disability and
Mental Registers, as well as those receiving Community Care
packages to support independent living at home
November 2009
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March 1994
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October 1994
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October 1997
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Ofsted 1994
Key Judgements
• There is little sense of coherent management and direction
within the school
• …. the implementation of policies and procedures is
inconsistent between and within the main areas of the school
• The school has no systematic and underpinning culture of
monitoring and evaluation to inform its subsequent actions
using clear, shared and agreed criteria
• There is no evident and distinctive positive ethos in the school
• Some staff display a lack of self confidence in their ability to
ensure a suitable working environment
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The Purpose of Education
• Education needs to prepare students to…
 Deal with more rapid change than ever before…
… for jobs that have not yet been created…
… using technologies that have not yet been invented…
… to solve problems that we don’t yet know will arise
• It’s not about more of the same, but about new…
 Ways of thinking
– involving, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving and decision making
 Ways of working
– including, communication and collaboration
 Tools for working
– including, the capacity to recognise and exploit the potential of new technologies
 The capacity to live in a multi-faceted world as active and responsible citizens
Andreas Schleicher, January 2010
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Strategic Goals 1995
• To provide effective distributed leadership
• To build a strong and positive learning culture
• To establish a system of target setting in relation to student outcomes
• To develop an effective whole school system for monitoring teacher
and student performance
• To exceed National Floor Targets and achieve National Rates of Progress
• To be fully subscribed
• To achieve outstanding designation by Ofsted
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The Challenge for Leadership
• Recruitment and retention of quality people
• Continuous professional development
• Clear specification of what success should look like in the classroom
• Transparent monitoring process with clear agreed success criteria
• Ownership of goals and targets – critical
• Targets, benchmarks against the best (not just similar schools)
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Mindset
In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or
talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their
intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent
alone creates success – without effort. They’re wrong.
In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be
developed through dedication and hard work – brains and talent are just the
starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is
essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these
qualities.
Carol S Dweck
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Extract from ‘Bounce’, Matthew Syed
“‘I am convinced that world-class performance emerges from mindset,’ says
Keen. ‘Many of our greatest cyclists did not start out with obvious natural
advantages, but they have transformed themselves through application.
Perhaps the key task of any institution is to encourage the adoption of a
growth mindset. When that kind of philosophy becomes embedded in the
culture, the consequences can be dramatic.’”
Peter Keen is a leading sport scientist and the architect of Great Britain’s success
at the 2008 Olympic Games
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Looking For…
•
Intelligence
•
Resilience
•
Fortitude
•
Passion
•
Commitment
•
Ability to feast on crumbs
•
Unwarranted optimism
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Outcomes
• GCSE Results
2006 - School judged most improved in England based on maths and English
GCSE results
• OFSTED
2008 – School judged Outstanding
• CVA Results – 5 year trend
January 2011 – 2nd
January 2010 – 1st
January 2009 – 4th
January 2008 – 9th
January 2007 – 2nd
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Ofsted 2008
Overall Effectiveness
• “The Phoenix is a remarkable school; it continues to transform the life
chances of both students and their families. It can do this because the
School operates from a deeply rooted understanding, and heart-felt
appreciation of the challenging circumstances that many of the students
come from.”
• “Achievement at the school is outstanding. Students attain examination
results in Year 11 that are broadly similar to those found nationally;
because of their exceptionally low starting points, this is outstanding
progress.”
• “The School is exceptionally well led.”
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End Note
Believe in your ability to get better!
Ability is not fixed!
Work on it!
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Description/Comparison of ICU/HDU/General Ward
Intensive Care Unit
(ICU)
High Dependency Unit
(HDU)
General Ward
Description of care
Specialist unit providing
multiple organ support/
mechanical ventilator
Specialist unit providing
intensive monitoring/single
organ support
General ward where
observations are taken as
required
Equipment
Highly specialist monitoring
equipment
Highly specialist monitoring
equipment
Day to day medical
equipment
Levels of staffing
Constant access to highly
trained nurses – ratio of
1 patient to 1 nurse. Higher
proportion of senior staff
available
Ratio of patients to nurses
slightly lower than in ICU
but higher than general
wards, 2:1
Daytime ratio of patients to
nurses 5/6:1, could be 10+
patients to 1 nurse at night
Cost
Approx’ £1,500-£2,000 per
day per bed
Approx’ £750 per day
per bed
Approx’ £250 per day
per bed
Percentage of total beds
1%
ICU/HDU combined 2%
98%
Ward rounds
Doctor available
immediately 24 hours a day
Doctor available
immediately 24 hours a day
Junior doctor in ‘office
hours’, consultant ward
round once/twice a week
Monitoring of patients
Constantly monitored
Constantly monitored
Monitored every couple of
hours
Dr Jeffrey Phillips - Consultant , Department of Critical Care, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Harlow
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