School leader	

Developing a phonics and reading strategy at a primary in Brixton

A primary school shows how it has responded to the Rose Report and developed its own Phonics and Reading Strategy to suit its pupils. Hill Mead Primary School, Brixton, has developed its own programme of phonics based on letters and sounds. Staff have devised daily activities for each year group, leaving creative space for role play, games and reading for pleasure. Year 1 teacher Ashley Malekmian demonstrates the approach with her class. Deputy headteacher Becky Lawrence, and headteacher Richard West explain their strategy of making phonics teaching less isolated from reading and comprehension, focusing on the needs of their children.

A Home-Grown Phonics Programme

How academy status can affect admission procedures

Discover more about the options for admission procedures for academies, as four principles of existing primary and secondary academies share their experiences in this school management resource. The principals talk about their admission policies and how academy funding agreements require them to adhere to local authority admission arrangements. Sir Michael Wilshaw of Mossbourne Academy, explains to headteachers perhaps wishing to switch to academy status in order to become a selective school, that they should "forget about it. This is about providing a first class educational service to children across the ability range". 10 per cent of an academy's intake can be selected on the basis of aptitude in a specialist subject, but not many academies put this into practice. The other principals featured are Venessa Willms from King Solomon Academy Primary, Steve Kenning from Harris City Academy and Sally Coates from Burlington Danes Academy.

Admissions

A phonics programme for EAL children at primary school

Elmhurst Primary School, Newington, transforms the reading levels of its high EAL intake, through the adoption of a commerical phonics scheme. The video shows a phonics session at the start of Year 2 delivered to a less able group, which includes letter sound work, segmenting and blending. This is followed by reading together and independently. The school's systematic approach to reading, based on the Read Write Inc scheme, includes assessment and setting of the children into five teacher-led classes. Their results have improved dramatically and the strategy has enabled them to completely avoid the need for reading recovery so that all children make good progress with their literacy. Teacher Marigold Russell, deputy headteacher Katherine Roberts, and headteacher Shahed Ahmed talk about the school's about the strategy.

Applying a Systematic Phonics Scheme

Professional development and interview advice for teachers

Gain insights into professional and personal development as two teachers going for senior leadership positions get expert coaching and interview strategies to improve their interview performance, in this careers video for teachers. Assistant headteacher Rebecca Clark wants to become a deputy headteacher but lacks confidence in interviews, while Mike Lambert is frustrated in his role as a head of department and wants to become an assistant headteacher. Both Rebecca and Mike go through two mock interviews, and between their first and second interviews, professional development coach Simon Cooper-Hind reveals strategies to help each candidate overcome interview problems . Can they improve their performance in their second interview?

Becoming a Senior Leader

Racial barriers for Chicago's school leaders are addressed

Discover the barriers that many black and Hispanic candidates face when applying for headteacher and school-leader roles in Chicago, and see the strategies that are being implemented to help them. Although nearly 90 per cent of Chicago's public school students are of the same ethnicity, aspiring black and Hispanic school leaders still face many obstacles to career progression. Schools are now using four key strategies to overcome these barriers. They include offering subsidised leadership-training programmes targeted at under-represented groups; developing a new model of leadership; recruiting beyond traditional routes; and raising the number of college-educated black and Hispanic leaders of the future. Hear the views of Tim Knowles, of the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute, who believes students will reap the benefits of having these strong leaders in the schools of Chicago for years to come.

Black School Leadership - How Do They Do It In Chicago?

A primary school reduces costs by using in-house cleaners

A primary school shows how bringing cleaning in-house has helped save money, in this school finance resource. Zena Smart, bursar of Ranelagh Primary School in Newham, realised that the local authority cleaning contract was costing a lot of money. After a visit by Department for Education Procurement Expert, Claire Dicks, Zena decided to take the cleaning in-house. Zena explains how this process involved a great deal of administration (following the Transfer of Undertakings - TUPE - regulations), organisation and initial outlay on cleaning equipment and materials. But as a result of the change, Zena has managed to gain more cleaning hours while saving the school a significant sum of money.

Bringing the Cleaning Contract In-House

A discussion of school finance in relation to becoming an academy

Taking a look at the issue of school finance, four principals of existing primary and secondary academies discuss how academy status has affected their funding, in this school management resource. Academies are funded directly by the government, rather than being "top-sliced" by local authorities, which means larger budgets, and more freedom over how the money is spent. The principals outline what they see as benefits of being independent from their local authority. Being an academy also brings the freedom to choose which services to buy from the local authority and which ones to buy in independently. Extra funding is also used to employ more staff and provide bonuses. The four principals featured are Sir Michael Wilshaw from Mossbourne Academy, Venessa Willms from King Solomon Academy Primary, Steve Kenning from Harris City Academy and Sally Coates from Burlington Danes Academy.

Budget

How ICT and shared leadership has transformed a primary school

A headteacher describes how the use of ICT and the development of leadership skills among staff has transformed Lent Rise School. Lent Rise is an outstanding primary school. Over the last 15 years, headteacher Brenda Bigland has worked hard on developing the use of ICT throughout the school, alongside building up leadership skills amongst her staff, by encouraging them to take on senior roles within the school. Brenda talks about the school's transformation, from using ICT in the classroom, to parental involvement and weekly ICT training sessions. And the three assistant headteachers, other staff and pupils talk about how this approach has helped them.

Building a Learning Community with ICT

An analysis of the Queen's speech and new education policies

Mike Baker reports on the new developments in education since the formation of the coalition government, and how these will affect teachers. Mike investigates the initial reactions to the Queen's speech and provides in-depth analysis of the immediate post-election education policy and budget announcements. He asks which bits of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat manifestos have made it into the coalition's education policy? And which parts of the last government's policy have been lost for good? Mike hears from school leaders, including John Dunford and Chris Keates, and visits a primary school that is considering taking up the new fast-track route to academy status.

Coalition Plans for Education

Advice on juggling leading and teaching for new headteachers

A new primary headteacher talks to life coach Gladeana McMahon about staying motivated and juggling the different roles of teaching and managing, and gets practical advice and tips, in this video for school leaders. Leah Grimsley, a new primary deputy headteacher, is highly motivated but finds she is doing too much and spreading herself too thinly while trying to maintain her high standards, which can leave her feeling unmotivated in both her roles. In order for Leah to be a good role model to colleagues, Gladeana suggests she needs to lead by example and stay fresh. Together they devise techniques that Leah can use to keep a good work/life balance, including keeping two nights a week work-free and learning to be satisfied when things are good enough.

Professional Development for Quality Teaching

Roles

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