Reflections on my induction to the NPQH: are you on the bus?

The last two days have seen me snowed in to a hotel near East Midlands airport with around 40 colleagues from all corners of the UK undertaking the first stages of a huge learning journey – the National Professional Qualification for Headship.

Day one mainly focussed on getting to know the other delegates, their hopes and expectations, their career path and their motivation for becoming a head. It was inspiring to hear from both aspiring headteachers and serving headteachers the reasons behind their drive and determination to reach the position. For every one of us, the reason was the same: making a difference to the lives of children.

Furthermore, it made me think also of who and what inspires me:

1. My current headteacher. She does an amazing job and continues on a daily basis to take our school from strength to strength. Her determined leadership leaves nobody unsure of their role in moving the school forward. She juggles so many balls and spins so many plates… at the same time… yet still manages to have a good work/life balance. She is the epitome of professionalism and a role model to be looked up to!

2. Being rated “inadequate – serious weaknesses” by Ofsted. This was in the April of my second year of teaching in primary school and was the biggest motivator anyone could imagine! Having gone through the amalgamation of the infants and junior schools, our setting now faced the new challenges brought around by the Ofsted report. This journey, quite quickly, started with “forced” acadamisation, however, we were given the freedom to choose our sponsor. Since joining a MAT, we have gone from strength to strength: better provision, better staff, better outcomes. For me, the motivation was knowing that my year 4 class would never again experience year 4, so it needed to be the best it could possibly be.

It is important to keep these thoughts at the forefront of you mind as a daily reminder of why we do what we do – a phrase that popped up regularly throughout the two days.

We then turned to the operational side to the programme: the reading, assessments, placements, and diary dates. If that wasn’t enough to scare me off (particularly the thought of writing a 4000-word essay having been out of university for 8 years!) the facilitators threw us into a learning task: undertake a PESTLE analysis of education. What factors have bearing on the education sector today. A small group of colleagues and I focused on the environmental main factors effecting education:

• Physical environment and school settings

• Curriculum design to accommodate an ever-changing global awareness of the environment.

• The international agenda around the environment.

Listening to the other groups present their findings was particularly interesting and caused us to question how factors beyond our direct control can have a huge effect on education on a local, national and international level. As a headteacher, it is important to recognise these factors, but not worry about not being able to control all of them.

A full PESTLE analysis of the factors effecting education can be found here.

Day one concluded with a pre-dinner speaker, a current headteacher of a larger than average primary school in Derbyshire. She addressed us in a very honest and open way, guiding us through her decision-making process both in the lead up to her first headship, when she was in post and when she left post.

Her openness and frankness was illuminating: many headteachers would have you believe that the job is one with very few “bends in the road”, however, Ceri Hathaway told of her initial obstacles and longer term problems whilst at the same time highlighting the importance of aligning your ethos and values with a strong and dedicated team, parents and children. Buy-in was hugely important. Her career had been varied and wide-reaching: some posts were short, some more substantive but all of them excellent for building her skills set, resilience and experience.

The over-riding message was:

Having worked across a broad spectrum of contexts, Ceri highlighted the importance of taking time to reflect on the questions asked of her as a headteacher before jumping to an answer, the importance of utilising the strengths of her team and engaging with parents and the wider community.

With #thebeastfromtheeast well and truly making a mark on the East Midlands, colleagues went as far as booking an extra night at the hotel for fear of not being able to get home. Whilst headteachers and deputies frantically made contact with school to make the decision to either keep their school open or close, there was no fear of the snow stopping us continue with NPQH Day 2.

Day 2 focussed on leading with impact.

Steve Munby wrote in Principled Leadership in Challenging Times (2017) “I believe that the pressure on school and multi-academy trust leaders to cross an ethical line is more challenging in England now than it has ever been.” This opened up a strong debate around the principles and values each individual headteacher must hold in order to be a successful leader.

He goes on to say that in the UK, the seven principles of public life – known as the Nolan Principles – were set up in 1995 to apply to anyone holding public office. These are:

• Selflessness

• Integrity

• Objectivity (impartial and fair)

• Accountability

• Openness (transparency)

• Honesty

• Leadership (demonstrate these behaviours in their leadership)

As general virtues, it is hard to argue with this list.

He aligns the aforementioned Nolan Principles to a recent study by the Centre for High Performance. The researchers tracked the leadership styles and educational outcomes in 160 secondary academies in England and groups the headteachers into three categories:

Philosophers will see the value in the work of teachers and will tell staff how much of a positive impact they make on society. They then gather the view of other professionals by organising trips to other settings and inviting teachers to their school to share ideas and approaches. Fundamentally, though, nothing changes. Pupils behaviour remains unaddressed, parents remain disengaged and outcomes are static. Philosophers say: “These things take time. Teaching is an art and it can’t be transformed overnight.’

This is principled but ineffective leadership.

Researchers were unimpressed by the work of specialist ‘super-heads’ – they branded them as surgeons: individuals who take swift, tough action but don’t stick around.

They are ruthless in dealing with staff and are keen to exclude challenging pupils in order to boost outcomes.

In the short term, these actions are sometimes needed, but as a long term solution, they are ineffective.

Architects proved to be the most effective headteachers. They tend to take a more holistic view of what it takes to move the school forward. They focus on teaching and leadership – introducing coaching, mentoring and professional development programmes.

At the same time, they build systems to improve pupil behaviour etc. Through collaboration, they open up opportunities to build partnerships and sustainable solutions.

Using a method known as The World Café, we were asked to summarise the key points of Munby’s speech by holding a table conference and “doodling” on our (flipchart) table cloth. Guests at the café would then circle the room and listen to colleagues discussing their table’s points, before taking any new findings back to their own “placemat”.

For me, it was important to first of all revisit the definition of principle to be unequivocally sure of its meaning:

With that in mind, my summary looked something like this:

My take-away points:

1. Live your vision every day.

2. Build a culture.

3. Don’t lose sight of why we do what we do.

A colleague posed the question “should your principles every change?” After much discussion and differences of opinion from many in the room, the question remained unanswered.

In my eyes, a principle is fundamental to what you believe and, as the definition above states, serves as the foundation for what you believe. Providing you have the children at the heart of everything you do, you cannot go far wrong (although Munby does talk about both Hitler and Mandella being principled people). It is my view, then, that to shift away from your principles is to begin to erode the very things you stand for and to shake the foundations of your beliefs. Once this erosion has begun, where do you stop? Is it possible to stop? Does this have an effect on both your credibility and integrity as a leader?

The session posed many more questions than it gave answers but was highly effective in getting me to analyse my own principles as a leader and the values I would like at the heart of my school during my first headship.

All of this is fine and dandy but there was something missing. Why are all of these important?

The final activity of the day was around engagement with stakeholders – parents, governors, local community, right down to shareholders for some of our settings. The way in which we engaged with all of the above is crucial, but it should not be at the centre of our reasoning.

In his TED talk, how great leaders inspire action, Simon Sinek poses the question as to why Dr Martin Luther King, Apple and the Wright brother achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions? The simple answer: they put the “why” at the centre of everything we do.

His Golden Circle model is nothing ground-breaking, but it does have the power to change how people see you as a company (or in our case, a school) and to change what they believe about you.

Most organisations start with the “what” and work inwards: what are we doing about x, y and z? Then they move to the “how”: how will we achieve the “what”? But very few organisations are firm in their reasons why.

What Apple do so well is they start with the “why”. They start with their belief, their core values, their message; then they work out the “how” and finally the “what”.

For me, Sinek sums up the model and its underlying messages in 3 powerful quotes:

• “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

• “The goal is to sell to people who believe what you believe.”

• “What you do proves what you believe.”

Armed with this seemingly revolutionary new model, we, as professionals thought of our “why”. Why do we do what we do? And again, the answer was simple – for the children. To give them the most opportunities to succeed.

It wasn’t the model that was revolutionary at all, nor the message behind it. It was the reminder it gave all of us: as a busy senior leader, you will undoubtedly get caught up with the how and the what, and sometimes, we focus on them because they are easy. Notice when this happens. Pause. Reflect. Bring every decision you make back to the why.

This is my overriding golden nugget from both day 1 and day 2.

With the British weather being as unpredictable as usual, our session was cut short due to the blizzards that raged outside.

So what did I learn from these two days?

Well, I learned that I have a lot to learn! But actually, the skills and qualities I have developed through my senior leadership posts have equipped me as I begin my journey to headship.

I have learned that your core principles must align with your values and the ethos of your school and that you must ensure complete buy in from the team. Put the “why” at the centre of everything you as “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” As Simon Sinek said: “the goal is to sell to people who believe what you believe.” That is my aim: get people to believe what I believe… not for me… but for them… and the children.