talk2learn highlights: issues 6a and 6b

In case you missed it… recent highlights from NCSL in Dialogue, talk2learn’s online community for national education debate:

Issue 6a: Next Practice: All-through schooling

Is all-through schooling the future of education? Or is it a solution that maximises the use of resources at the expense of the children concerned?

Read the highlights

View the full discussion

Issue 6b: Changing times, changing roles

Is distributed leadership the answer to reaping the benefits of the expansion of ICT in schools?

Read the highlights

View the full discussion

Issue 6a: Next Practice: All-through schooling

Is all-through schooling the future of education? Or is it a solution that maximises the use of resources at the expense of the children concerned?

A debate about whether all children could be well educated in a single school throughout their school years was the dominant theme of a ‘blue sky’ discussion on the future for leadership and schools in talk2learn.

Several contributors from primary schools argued against educating children of all ages under one roof. Dawn Lane felt a primary school’s role as a trusted community hub was too important to sacrifice for the sake of economies of scale.

"Primary schools are at the heart of village communities and we teach children a sense of belonging as they grow – family, school, village, parish," she said. "This is an important aspect of citizenship – of knowing who they are and where they fit into this world."

Niamh Howlett was concerned about pastoral care and feared some students would be ‘lost’ in large communities, she said "We must not lose sight of the fact that learning is most effective in an environment where students feel secure, valued, cared for and known individually."

One contributor pointed out that many all-through schools or federations exist nationwide, and had found solutions to many of the issues raised.

"They have developed some interesting approaches to prevent ‘incomers’ at year 7 from being disadvantaged, for example, forming soft federations and partnership working at year 6 in particular have eased the integration/transition of these children into the all-through system."

Derek Laidlaw also argued that the possible drawbacks should not blind school leaders to the possibilities all-through schools offered. He said: "What we are merging is not simply an environment…but a joining of ideas and sharing of practice. Some of the most valuable Insets I have attended have been with colleagues from primary and nursery, while several of our staff teach across the key stages including KS2 and KS3."

But does it have to be either/or? Another Next Practice consultant Denis Mongon thought that any decision about changing the system should be determined by local need, he said "Perhaps what we need to do is to explore the pros and cons that our colleagues who are trying this out are bringing to our attention and then, on the assumption that not one approach will fit everywhere, decide what’s best locality by locality."

Issue 6b: Changing times, changing roles

Leading ICT in primary schools

Is distributed leadership the answer to reaping the benefits of the expansion of ICT in schools?

This question was examined in talk2learn’s recent hotseat on distributed leadership of ICT with Elizabeth Giltinan, a NCSL research associate who has studied how ICT is now being led and managed in primary schools.

Deputy head Helen Clark offered her school as an example of how distributed leadership could look in practice:

"All classroom teachers and subject managers manage their areas and are responsible for putting materials, planning and pupil data onto the network. We do use the expertise of members of staff who are more competent and who have worked in ICT outside education. Recently a student we had led a very well-received Inset, both with teachers and support staff on the Interactive whiteboard. Sometimes it is about accepting that the children also are well able to support each other and staff!"

One primary e-learning coordinator said that delegating some technical management aspects of the job to support staff had helped ease the demands of a job that has become increasingly time-consuming:

"During the last three months I have managed to convince the county’s schools ICT support to contact our school technician regarding all technical information and installations, rather than keep leaving messages for me to pass on," she said.

She added: "What I would really like to happen would be to encourage all subject leaders to take on more responsibility to promote and train staff in the use of software appropriate for their subject. Currently most staff rarely approach me with a request to purchase software or more disappointingly are unaware of the software in school for their subject despite being given an inventory."

Class teacher and ICT coordinator Paul Gingell agreed that getting subject leaders on board was a key tactic in easing the burden for ICT coordinators. "My aim is to get other subject leaders more involved as everything that even needs plugging in seems to come to the ICT staff." he said.

Dispelling any notion that success with ICT depends on the state of your hardware, a Business Manager of a fresh start primary school in Peckham with 300 pupils, said that, despite a wealth of brand new ICT facilities, the school scored poorly in Becta‘s self-review ICT framework.

"I’m not convinced that staff know about half the resources available to them, how to use them effectively, and even whether they know how to log on to their school email! We are currently concentrating on the leadership/management section of the self review framework, and to start off we are auditing our staff’s ICT skills. That and agreeing the school’s vision for ICT are our first steps."

Elizabeth Giltinan’s research report is available on the NCSL website at www.bestukbettingsitesnotongamstop.co.com/publications.