: Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things Thirty Four Years in Education/​School Leadership!

Picture the scene. It’s the penultimate week of summer term 2024. We are in the midst of getting ready for the first (of three) performances of our annual summer production. All eighty of our KS2 pupils have a part. At 8am on that day, parents (and grandparents) who are hairdressers, makeup artists, and those who can iron, arrive at school to help with the mammoth task of getting the children show ready! The excitement, as always, is electric! At 9.55am, my business manager arrives at my door and utters 5 words which I didn’t expect to hear that morning: ​‘OFSTED are on the phone’!

Roll on to six weeks later and write this blog and the relevance of the OFSTED call. On the 90- minute phone call with the HMI, I concluded the conversation with the following sentence: ​‘I’m excited for you to see what the school offers. You will see ordinary people doing extraordinary things.’

This academic year is my thirty fourth year in education and whilst other head teachers may be looking forward to retirement, I am still as excited to return to school as I was in my very first year of teaching in 1990! From around the age of ten, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. Growing up on a council estate in North Manchester and attending a secondary modern high school, it’s fair to say girls like me were not actively encouraged to pursue university. In fact, I still have the piece of paper from a careers teacher when I was 16 who told me taking A levels would be a ​‘waste of time’ and to ​‘apply for an office junior job.’ This will resonate with me for my whole career.

All the above information sits within the wider context of what many pupils, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, are still facing forty years later and why I am SO passionate about closing the gap for our disadvantaged children.

So how do we as school leaders, who live in a world in which we distribute talent equally, ensure we distribute opportunity equally?

Sharing the Passion

For me, passion is intangible. I have always felt a moral imperative to work in (and with) schools in areas of deprivation. In his book ​‘Start with Why’, Simon Sinek describes a golden circle and at the centre of your circle is your ​‘why’/ purpose. Every head will have a ​‘why.’

Before any member of staff is appointed at St Mary’s, my ​‘why’ is made abundantly clear and articulated when prospective candidates come to look around school. My ​‘why‘ has always been to do my absolute upmost to make a difference to young peoples’ lives and to empower others to lead and do the same! By giving others the opportunity to grow, the team gets stronger. This feeds the greater good and closes the disadvantage gap even more. This drives everything the school does and provides a very authentic purpose for the hardships many of our families face. All who work in the school are then clear that to work here, they have to share the common purpose and this cultivates a real passion of passion, momentum and drive.

Right Seats on the Bus

Jim Collins in ​‘Good to Great’ says, ​‘Start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus and the right people in the right seats’. I use this analogy a lot as it ensures everyone knows what they are responsible and accountable for ‘. Hand in hand with this, it’s imperative to also have a great mentor/​coach for the person who may be new to the bus! There is a rigorous planned programme of professional development at St Mary’s and members of SLT spend time modelling evidence based practice to help new staff become experts in their roles.

Many of the best practitioners I have worked alongside talk about the influence other excellent practitioners have had on them. They have used the skills of these people as a model to pursue excellence.

Think of a teacher/​colleague who you really admire.

Think about their values and impact they have in your school.

How do you share this expertise with other staff?

Investing in time to share this expertise can pay off dividends! Once you get the right people on the right seats, you can drive the bus anywhere! This leads to ​‘ordinary people doing extraordinary things!’

Pastoral Care and an ambitious , rich curriculum are harmonious

The school goes beyond the expected so that each pupil has access to a rich set of experiences (each child has 25​‘bucket-list’ style Butterfly moments) during their 7- year journey at school. The most disadvantaged children in our care benefit from this carefully thought out provision; all experiences are planned in a coherent way so they considerably strengthen the school’s offer. The EEF Guide to Pupils Premium advocates a tiered approach to pupil premium so that spending is carefully considered each year and remains a top priority. Having a universal offer and an exceptional wealth of opportunities (for example, taking the Y6 to Downing Street), ensures there is a rich offer of personal development available which every pupil benefits from.

Know thyself!

In my 34^th year, I’m still learning! As leaders, we need to constantly seek the expertise and well researched evidence from collaboration with others to encourage challenge, diversity and different ways of thinking. In the words of Maya Angelou ​‘I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn!’’

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING:

Sinek. S (2011) Start with why. Penguin Books.

Collins, J. (2001). Good to great. Random House Business Books.

Leading a culture where… | Manchester Communication Research School