Antony Faccinello

17 Pages·2016·7.06 MB·English

Insight
The magazine of HMC
Issue number 6, June 2016
Shakespeare
for today
Loughborough Grammar School
Rendcomb College
Bolton School
Former Forest School pupil
Paapa Essiedu as Hamlet at the
Royal Shakespeare Theatre,
Stratford-upon-Avon.
Photo by Manuel
Harlan © RSC
Leading
Independent
Schools
Cover story Expertise Comment People
Insight catches up with a Martin Reader, Richard Biggs Keith Budge on Chris Ramsey interviews Mark Peel,
range of UK-Africa partnership and Antony Clark on the leadership: scary, Provost of the University of Leicester
programmes co-managed by challenges and opportunities sobering and anti- -just a few days after Leicester City’s
HMC schools. of overseas schools. hubristic thoughts. Premiership triumph…
Welcome to Contents
Insight Cover story
4-6 Antony Faccinello, Paapa Essiedu and Jacqui O’Hanlon
on theatre, education and the world of acting
7-9 Insight catches up with a range of UK-Africa partnership
programmes co-managed by HMC schools
The magazine of HMC

Expertise
Issue number 6, June 2016
10-12 Martin Reader, Richard Biggs and Anthony Clark on the
Credits: In this issue: challenges and opportunities of overseas schools

Cover Story
Editors:
Antony Faccinello reflects on teaching
Tim Hands (Magdalen College School)
Shakespeare and asks Paapa Essiedu People
William Richardson (HMC)
about his education in theatre and the

world of acting.
Managing editor: 13 New faces: HMC welcomes new Members
Heidi Salmons (HMC) 14-15 Chris Ramsey interviews Mark Peel, Provost of the University
of Leicester just a few days after Leicester City’s Premiership
Steering group: triumph…
Jenny Brown (St Albans High School for Girls)
Photo by Manuel Harlan © RSC
Ed Elliott (The Perse School)
Mark Lauder (Ashville College) What does the future hold?
Samantha Price (Benenden School) Nigel Lashbrook and Joe Spence Learning
Elaine Purves (Rossall School) reconsider careers education - what it has
Sue Bishop (HMC) been and what it should become.
16-19 Appointing, coaching and appraising Heads: Clarissa Farr

and Keith Dawson reflect on the whys and wherefores
HMC (The Headmasters’ and
20-21 Nigel Lashbrook and Joe Spence on what the future holds
Headmistresses’ Conference)
for careers education
12 The Point, Rockingham Road,

Market Harborough, Leicestershire,
LE16 7QU Image courtesy of Oakham School

Appointing, coaching
T: 01858 469 059 Reflection
and appraising Heads
E: [email protected]
W: www.hmc.org.uk Insight asked Clarissa Farr and Keith Dawson 22-23 Past, present and future: Lindsay Haslett and Sue Marks talk
to reflect on the whys and wherefores.
to Insight as they prepare to step down from Headship
Design and artwork by Engine Creative 24-25 Insight catches up with three new HMC Teacher Training recruits
www.enginecreative.co.uk 26-27 Helping to run the school: three Head’s PAs tell it how it is

Insight is published twice each year,
in November and June, and available

online at www.hmc.org.uk
Comment
Past, present and future
As they prepare to step down from
28-29 Gerard Kelly on schools and their relationship with the media
Headship, Lindsay Haslett reflects on the
30 Keith Budge on leadership: scary, sobering and anti-
cyclical nature of education while Sue Marks
hubristic thoughts
sees challenging times ahead.

About HMC
Image courtesy of St Columba’s College
31 In this year…
32 Facts about HMC schools
Image courtesy of Merchant Taylors’ School, Crosby
2 3
Cover story Cover story
Shakespeare Theatre, education and the world
of acting: Antony Faccinello and
for today
Paapa Essiedu in conversation.

Eight years after leaving Forest School, Paapa Essiedu
is the RSC’s 2016 Hamlet at Stratford-upon-Avon. PE: Definitely, I remember studying AF: Did theatre trips feature as part of your
Shakespeare in English and I wasn’t a fan, but education?
With this year’s HMC Conference coming to by doing it and playing it and bringing it to life,
it helped me understand it so much more. My PE: Doing Drama at A level included seeing a
Stratford, Antony Faccinello, Warden of Forest, drama teachers were great; I was taught by Mr set number of productions and that brought
(Paul) Oliver, who was Head of Drama. He was my first exposure to professional theatre. The
reflects on teaching Shakespeare and asks Paapa
really passionate about drama and a fantastic memorable ones were Othello at the Donmar,
teacher. He had a real appetite and love for The Country Wife at the Old Vic, and seeing
about his education in theatre – before RSC
Paapa Essiedu the theatre and plays, which you could see in Complicite for the first time at the Barbican.
Director of Education, Jacqui O’Hanlon, invites his teaching. When you’ve got someone with Visiting the theatre is not usual in a lot of
(Forest School, that level of passion, it’s impossible for it not cultures; it was true in my case being a first-
schools to embrace rehearsal room pedagogies. to become infectious, so I’ve got a lot to be generation immigrant living in Walthamstow.
2001-2008)
thankful to him for. Added to that, tickets are expensive so it is
important that schools take advantage of
AF: Congratulations on your role in Hamlet; AF: What else do you value from your discounted tickets and introduce young people
were you nervous ahead of the reviews? schooldays? to theatre.
Photo by PE: Yes, we had nine weeks before opening PE: I really enjoyed being at Forest: it’s a very AF: Is playing to audiences with a large
Manuel Harlan night, so we rehearsed non-stop for most of interesting place to be a pupil. I loved how proportion of school groups a challenge?
© RSC
that time, but you never know how people multicultural it is, with pupils and teachers from
will take what you do. It doesn’t matter how lots of different backgrounds. In some ways PE: Making Shakespeare more accessible to
good or bad you think you are, once you’re on Forest helped set me up for life. I also think it’s a wide range of audiences is integral to the
the stage you’re out there for people to see. vital that independent schools offer bursaries production. Young people in the audience
I find reviews a strange thing as they’re an and scholarships; I may not have been able to are the next generation of theatre goers, so
assessment of one night early on in a run, but go to Forest otherwise, so it’s crucial for people inspiring and stimulating them matters; they are
it’s always good when they’re positive and they from less fortunate backgrounds to have these the most important members of the audience.
Antony Faccinello (Forest School)
encourage people to come and see the play. opportunities. With a Year 11 audience, you don’t play down
Shakespeare in the classroom to them or patronise them; you have to respect
AF: During your time at Forest School AF: Do you think the arts get adequate their intelligence.
you took part in the school productions of coverage in the school curriculum?
Macbeth and Othello; did this experience AF: Any tips for pupils faced with learning
help set you on your acting career path? PE: I think for any school it’s really important Shakespeare quotations for exams?
Teaching any subject causes us repeatedly to relations in a scene and select and perform
to promote the arts along with subjects like
ask the essential question: is what I’m doing key lines that show who is in control. Today’s
maths and science, because education is PE: Hamlet is three hours long so it’s been
effective? For English teachers, teaching editions of the plays are full (sometimes too “I remember
about having a well-rounded appreciation of life an exciting challenge learning all the lines.
Shakespeare is the acid test. We all want much so) of dramatic activities that help pupils studying
and the world. You learn a lot more about the Not having done A level English literature,
our pupils to love Shakespeare, and with think about such subtexts and alternative
Shakespeare in English emotional life through the arts, so it’s good that my relation to the text is a little different. I
powerfully dramatic language as the medium, interpretations.
schools offer these opportunities. appreciate students’ difficulty because the
lessons and I wasn’t a
anything less than pupils being excited lines are so specific. You can’t paraphrase
to get stuck into the next act can feel like However, the old truths are universal and fan, but by doing it and AF: How can schools ensure diversity in Shakespeare.
failure. Making the language come alive and constant: once pupils tune into the direct link playing it and bringing pupils taking part in school productions?
be accessible is the English teacher’s art. between Shakespeare’s dramatic language AF: What advice would you give to a pupil
it to life, it helped me
In my first years in the English classroom, I and the force of feeling conveyed by it, they PE: I think that can be achieved by having a thinking about going into the world of
sometimes felt defeated by the class’s last- start to sense the thrill of vicarious emotions. understand it so more open-minded approach to teaching the acting?
lesson-of-the-afternoon, fragmented half-hour If the claims for literature are true, if it does much more.” arts. Obviously Shakespeare is something that
can be performed by any gender and ethnicity, PE: Make sure you want to do it! Have a think
progress through the text. expand our capacity for empathy, then it must
but I think it would be great to see schools tell about whether it’s something you really want.
be all the more so in drama where we can
stories from Africa, India, the Middle East or Don’t become an actor because you want to
I soon realised that pushing desks aside and utter the words and experience the thoughts of
South America. It’s a beautiful thing living in become famous; it’s a long and hard road.
getting pupils on their feet, even if just to someone else: the character whose emotions
London with all the cultures and communities Watch loads of television, films and plays. Join
show who is on stage, made all the difference. are distilled and concentrated through their As Paapa Essiedu attests from his own
from across the world, so I think our work the school or local theatre company. Do as
With non-examined classes, the freedom to language. Learning some lines by heart for experience of Shakespeare at school, it’s “by
should mirror that. much as you can to immerse yourself in the
experiment and to edit the text comes into its homework and internalising the iambic rhythms doing it and playing it and bringing it to life”
world of it, and I think from that you will be able
own; pupils themselves can identify the power- with their forward pulse is heady stuff indeed. that we fully understand it. Photo by Manuel Harlan © RSC to know if it’s something you really want to do.
4 5
Cover story Wycombe Abbey takes over Shakespeare’s Globe for its own 120th Focus on Africa Cover story
anniversary as well as 400 years since the death of Shakespeare
A pedagogy for Shakespeare: Focus on partnership: Africa
creating a rehearsal ethos in
With HMC Heads raising funds at their 2015 Annual Conference to provide
1,300,000 child immunisations around the world, Insight catches up with a
the classroom
range of UK-Africa partnership programmes co-managed by HMC schools.
Peterhouse (Zimbabwe):
local partnership and
fundraising
Needless to say, Peterhouse is very heavily involved with local African
schools and charities.
• We donate $10,000 each year for our local primary school St Francis
• We donate over $30,000 each year to Kidzcan (Zimbabwe’s version
of supporting children with cancer)
• We do all the sort of things UK schools do in support of local state
schools (e.g. we host provincial and national government schools
athletics events, etc.)
• Our pupils (via Interact – one of our clubs) visit the local old people’s
Jacqui O’Hanlon
home, the local orphanage, the local disabled home, etc.)
(Director of Education at
It would be most helpful if more HMC schools in the UK could consider
the Royal Shakespeare “in the body” as they try out a whole range of mounting sports tours (rugby and cricket) in our region of Africa. Peterhouse pupils at Kukura Neshungu - a local disabled home
interpretive possibilities and choices that are offered
Company)
by the texts.

Many of us encounter Shakespeare They explore the social and historical context in Berkhamsted School
Gresham’s: link primary school in Kenya
for the first time at school. which the play is set, making discoveries about and Francis Holland School,
connections between Shakespeare’s world, the Regent’s Park
Shakespeare is probably the most prescribed author worlds of the plays and our own world.
Gresham’s School has established a strong link with message, and to undertake small-scale projects
in education systems across the world. Responses
to a survey conducted by the RSC and the British All of these ways of exploring text can and do take Olpalagilagi Primary School, sited close to the Maasai that will benefit the Maasai children and the local
Council suggest that 50% of schoolchildren across place in classrooms. We would argue that they are Mara in Kenya. Ten pupils and two staff travel to population as a whole. During the last three years
the world are encountering Shakespeare at school;1 it essential pre-requisites for uncovering the fullest Kenya in the summer for a two-week project working the groups have helped build a food store, planted
is hard to imagine another artist coming close to this. possible range of interpretive choices available in any with the Cottar’s Wildlife Trust, who partially fund trees establishing a shade area on the school site,
And school is also probably where we decide whether of Shakespeare’s plays – and for releasing Olpalagilagi. Gresham’s students undertake to learn raised funds to buy much-needed desks and installed
Shakespeare, theatre-going and theatre-making are their potential. about Kenya, its history and its people, plan lessons a water filter donated from a company through a
and activities and run a Dog Show to raise charitable Gresham’s parent. Last year every pupil at Gresham’s
things we feel confident to engage in and want to find
out more about, or feel excluded from. The plays can then do what all great works of art funds during the year prior to going on the trip. undertook to supply a basic pencil case for
do: help us learn more about ourselves, each other King’s College Taunton distribution to every child at Olpalagilagi School.
The RSC places a special emphasis on sharing the and the world we live in. If they aren’t doing that, Gresham’s pupils undertake projects that will Whilst in Kenya the key focus is to work in the school
inheritance of Shakespeare’s work with children why are we still performing them? If our educational benefit Maasai children and the local population teaching lessons, including a health or environmental Visit: www.kenyawildlifeconservation.org
and young people. We want to do that in ways experiences of Shakespeare’s work aren’t doing that,
that help them form a life-long relationship with why are we bothering with them?
our house playwright, theatre-going and theatre-
making. We feel the way to do this is through using When we see the plays as texts that require
Uppingham: orphan support in Tanzania and Kenya
the kinds of approaches that actors and directors interpretation through performance, we are offered
use in rehearsals. We therefore talk a lot about the an astonishing range of learning opportunities. These
classroom as rehearsal room2 and what happens to are all encapsulated within a form of words but are
the quality and rigour of teaching and learning when an invitation to solve a wonderful and rather complex Every year since 2003, all pupils at Uppingham have has been a steady stream of gap-year students, too.
classrooms embrace rehearsal room pedagogies. puzzle. We can all enjoy and meet the challenge RGS Newcastle raised funds through their Boarding Houses for The An undergraduate Old Uppinghamian completed
of Shakespeare’s texts if we have the right tools. Mango Tree Orphan Support Programme. Founded a work placement at the end of her first year at
RSC rehearsal rooms are essentially places of Finding clues in his language, nurturing our curiosity by a former pupil and Trustee of Uppingham, after he university (it fitted perfectly with the course she was
exploration and shared discovery in which a company about words and developing confidence in our own witnessed the plight of AIDS orphans in Tanzania and studying), and one of the Sixth Form team from 2006
of actors and their director work together to bring powers of communication can all be achieved by Kenya, the target figure is currently set at £15 for each has worked for many months for both the Tanzanian
Shakespeare’s plays to life. To do this successfully working with his plays as living texts into which we pupil. Total pupil fundraising over the past thirteen and Kenyan branches and took a second Masters
they need to have a deep understanding of the text. breathe life – on stage or in the classroom. years has exceeded £175,000. degree through SOAS while supporting the overseas
teams with monitoring and evaluation.
Actors explore apposition, metaphor, metre and
1. RSC and British Council Research, 2012: Sixth Formers have made regular visits to Tanzania
pulse, line endings and word play. They experience Shakespeare: A Worldwide Classroom. Uppingham pupils regularly visit Tanzania to
how the shape and structure of the text offer clues to and Kenya to work alongside the charity, and there Visit: www.themangotree.org work alongside the Orphan Support Programme
2. A phrase first coined by Shakespeare
its deeper meaning. Crucially, they get the language educator Rex Gibson.
6 7
Focus on Africa Cover story Focus on Africa Cover story
Ellesmere College: 1. Environmental improvement. We fund nurseries • We plan to improve educational HMC Heads’ “Chariots of Fire” run
to grow seedlings which are planted by local village experiences and standards in the schools
groups or by schools. The land suffers from severe we work with by supporting extra-curricular
environmental
erosion, so the aim is to sustain agricultural use of the activities such as sport, music and drama.
land into the future despite climate change.
funds 1.3m. immunisations worldwide
and educational 4. Friendship across cultures. Our students from
2. Water. We fund water-harvesting systems (mainly Ellesmere College and the students of two secondary
guttering and water storage tanks) and also laying schools in Monduli live and work together for ten days
support in
water pipes where feasible. We work with villages every summer. In this way many friendships are made.
and schools. Visit: www.monduligreen.com
Tanzania
3. Education
• We arrange sponsorships for twelve
Monduli Green is a small charity working in an area in students to go to secondary school each
Northern Tanzania near the town of Monduli. We know year (all-in cost for each: £125 per year) –
the local community well and all decisions are made a total of 23 are being sponsored up to now.
jointly. It has four main aims. • We fund improvements in educational
facilities – usually classrooms and toilets. Local villages plant seedings in nurseries funded by Ellesmere College
HMC Members raised over £51,000 for Unicef after taking part The challenge of Haiti
Dean Close School: secondary Oldham Hulme Grammar
in a “Chariots of Fire” charity re-run on West Sands Beach, St
Andrews, during their Annual Conference last October.
school partner in Uganda School: junior high school
Nearly 50% of cases of tetanus
The funds raised will provide 1.3 million immunisations for Unicef’s in the Caribbean occur in Haiti.
connection in Ghana “inspired gifts” programme of “Maternal and child tetanus vaccines.” Although the funds raised by
Dean Close School, Cheltenham, has enjoyed a link with Nyakatukura Memorial
This programme immunises pregnant women so that the newborn HMC Members will be spent
Secondary School in Ibanda, Western Uganda, for over ten years. School parties –
is protected during birth and in the weeks following birth. Later the around the world, the sum
post-A level gap-year students and school staff – have visited NMSS on a regular basis For six years Oldham Hulme Grammar School has been in a partnership with the Kwahu-
and seen the school develop from benches under a mango tree to a well-equipped and Tafo Seventh Day Adventist Junior High School in Ghana. Kwahu-Tafo is a rural farming infant and growing child will receive boosters to maintain immunity. generated by the West Sands
self-sufficient school of over 500 pupils. The Headmaster and Chairman of the Board community visited by our deputy head boy, Nilen Vyas, in 2012, and followed by a party beach run would, on its own,
of Governors have twice visited Dean Close. of 24 students in 2013. In spring 2014 we hosted the Headteacher of Kwahu-Tafo JHS, Among the Chariots of Fire runners, three stood out as having enable Unicef to reach all
Mr Daniel Effah, who left Ghana for the first time to come and stay with us in Oldham. raised the most for the Unicef anti-tetanus campaign. women of childbearing age in
Every Wednesday afternoon, a group of pupils at Dean Close meet to arrange He had never before experienced temperatures lower than 20+ ˚C, and remains the only Haiti (age 15-49) who need
fundraising events for Uganda. One of the latest big fundraisers was a concert entitled Headteacher to have sung to our staff briefing on a Friday morning! anti-tetanus inoculation. Image courtesy of Unicef
“Songs from the Shows”, which raised over £1,000 to finance a bore hole, allowing the Nigel Lashbrook (Oakham School): £5,377.05
pupils to have constant access to clean water whilst they are being educated. Other We took a further 23 students to Kwahu-Tafo last
smaller fundraising events have included a summer. As a result of our partnership, all of the school Jonathan Gillespie (St Albans School): £2,271.25 HMC Chairman Chris King (Leicester Grammar School) conceived
bake sale, mufti days, school discos and buildings have been painted and refurbished using the event. “I was moved by the plight of the children who die
Christmas candy cane sales. All help to raise labour from our own students working alongside local Chris King (Leicester Grammar School): £2,093.27 unnecessarily from this preventable disease and have been wanting
awareness and funds to support the children tradesmen and students. Currently, a library/staff to do something to help. I am most grateful to my HMC fellow-Heads
and staff at Nyakatukura. room is being built with funds provided by Oldham
As a result, these schools will now take part in an for collectively raising enough funds to help eradicate neonatal
Hulme and we have set up a scholarship fund.
immunisation simulation provided by Unicef. tetanus in 1.3m children around the world.”
Meanwhile, the Dean Close community
also supports an orphan sponsorship The links between our two schools have a profound
scheme helping children in Ibanda with their effect on everyone involved. Students who aren’t able Oldham Hulme pupils work
education. Currently over 100 students are Dean Close supports 100 students as to travel to Ghana know about the project and support alongside local students to
being sponsored in this way. part of an orphan sponsorship scheme it through a range of charity events and assemblies. paint the school buildings
West Buckland School: secondary school bond in Kenya
Caterham School: primary Kingston Grammar School:
West Buckland School in Devon and Agoro Oyombe in the former were economic growth in • Agoro Oyombe has planted 4,000 trees
Secondary School in western Kenya have just celebrated Africa and West African music while in the with benefits including a focus for lessons
school connection in Tanzania link through-school in Ghana the tenth year of their partnership. The school was latter the Soviet Union and the polders of the in agriculture, fuel for the kitchen,
founded in the late 1980s with one teacher and two Netherlands were investigated. construction materials as the school
pupils. There are now 14 teachers and about 500 pupils. expands, electricity poles that can be sold
Caterham School has been in partnership with Lerang’wa Primary School in West In the summer of 2012, Kingston Grammar School initiated a partnership with a school In order to be a successful and long-lasting partnership, on the local market, a reduction in surface
Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, for nine years. Lerang’wa is a tiny rural community with little in Ghana, West Africa. The idea originally sprung from a former KGS student, who it has been important that both schools have had an run-off, an increase in nutrient supply to
infrastructure. Twenty Caterham students and four teachers have visited the school spent part of his gap-year at Sacred Heart School in central Ghana teaching English equal say in the development planning. It is this equitable the soil, a windbreak for the playing fields
each year to conduct teaching in sport, music, English, maths and art. Fundraising at and Music. Over the past four years, we have developed a successful annual gap-year model, along with positive professional and personal and shade for football spectators.
Caterham School has built teacher accommodation, a toilet facility, kitchen and food programme for alumni to teach in Sacred Heart. The school is in a beautiful setting, relationships, that has been the driver of the link.
store. In conjunction the villagers have improved the water supply and built a hand sitting on a gentle sloping hillside in the middle of the rainforest, overlooking a typical • The most recent stage of the partnership
and plate washing station and seated dining area. Ghanaian town. It has 200 students aged 2-16 and is expanding rapidly. The focus has been on joint curriculum projects, centred involved a trip for twenty West Buckland
on geography but occasionally branching out into other students to Kenya in the summer of 2015
Since the WFP ceased funding food, A group of sixteen Sixth Formers visited the school in 2014 having first raised subject areas. A wide range of activities has ensued. where they joined their Kenyan peers in
we have stepped in and now subsidise over £12,000 through musical concerts, fun runs and the three Peaks Challenge. their lessons and enjoyed many discussions
the in-school meals. We also fund basic This provided for new IT equipment, • Surveys and letters on carbon footprints, on aspects of their respective countries.
medicines for the lowest income pupils. a sanitation block and library which migration, quality of life and a comparison During the visit, the latest in a series of
Last year we supported and hosted a were decorated as part of their trip. of both schools’ climate data. Stereotypes sports matches took place.
visit by the Headmistress of Lerang’wa The students also were able to interact Kenyan and British teenagers hold about
School to Caterham School. After so with and teach the local pupils, as well each other have been dispelled. • Since 2013 almost £5,000 has been raised
many years and so much activity, as competing in a number of hard- to build two new classrooms at Agoro
Lerang’wa has become ingrained in fought football games! Most recently, • Recently, Africa Week was held at West Oyombe which provide new learning
the students’ consciousness here at three of our teaching staff visited Buckland while Europe Week took place at environments for over one hundred students.
Caterham, and the reverse is true Caterham students conduct teaching Sacred Heart to observe lessons and KGS Sixth Formers help to Agoro Oyombe. Examples of topics studied Image courtesy of West Buckland School
at Lerang’wa. in sport, music, English, maths and art give teacher workshops. decorate the new sanitation block
8 9
Expertise Image courtesy of Cranleigh, Abu Dhabi Expertise
King’s College – an Indian Vision
The challenges and
weekly (from Delhi, Gurgaon and Chandigarh)
opportunities of and full-term. Day pupils will come from Rohtak
and Delhi.
Being in on the ground from the start has been
international schools
fascinating and daunting in equal measure.
I have visited the site several times and am
amazed at the transformation even over the past
few months. A great deal remains to be done,
Cranleigh Abu Dhabi though, and I suspect we will go right down to
the wire to get it all ready for the first pupils.
– a new chapter For me the fascination lies in the details: how do
we adapt our curriculum for an Indian context?
(We’ll teach Sanskrit instead of Latin in the
prep school). How do we adapt our uniform?
Importantly, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi was to echo
The King’s College India team: Anshul Kumar, David Boddy, Brad Sailes, Richard Biggs, Ashima Narwal (Heavy West Country tweed might not be that
Martin the ethos of Cranleigh UK with provision for
appropriate in the blazing heat of an Indian
sport, creative and performing arts; it has two
Reader summer). How do we translate our Christian
full-sized grass playing fields, unheard of in visits, it soon became clear that 100 new staff
A few months of hard negotiation followed. This foundation into the context of a school with
(Cranleigh the Middle East, sports hall, swimming pools full of innovation and different perspectives was
is not a franchise model: King’s is a partner in Hindu, Muslim and Christian pupils? (Embrace
and a 650-seater auditorium. Pastoral care and a rich sharing resource. For example, part of
School) excellent relationships between staff and pupils our Year 6 humanities course now focuses on the enterprise, bringing expertise and successful them all; develop the spiritual in each pupil).
are central aims: 54 teachers are housed on site Islam, with a huge input from Abu Dhabi. The branding. There is a financial side to it – a share What games should be offered? (Cricket, of
in a teacher apartment block. first video-linked classroom lessons have taken of turnover in due course – but I consider there course! Swimming, tennis, football, hockey,
On the morning of Sunday 14 September 2014 place and, in April 2016, 30 musicians from to be significant benefits for my school which go basketball and golf…there is a three-hole course
on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, Cranleigh However, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi is not just a Cranleigh and Cranleigh Prep visited Cranleigh well beyond the financial. on site. No rugby). These and other matters
opened its doors to 638 new Cranleigh pupils, copy of Cranleigh. International syllabi have to Abu Dhabi to take part in workshops; together are discussed in my weekly Skype meetings
64 teachers, 23 classroom assistants and 24 be adjusted to include local history, culture and they performed songs from Oliver! as part of the Richards Biggs King’s College, India, will start out with prep- involving the team in Rohtak.
support staff. language and fulfil local authority requirements. Abu Dhabi Arts Festival. school-age pupils and grow to become a full
For Mike Wilson, “we wanted Abu Dhabi to be a (King’s College, Taunton)
5-18 school, offering Common Entrance at 13, This is an exciting adventure. It will work
This was the culmination of three and a half partner school, not a satellite. We’re interested This broadening of perspective is part of a
IGCSEs at 16 and, most likely, A levels in the because of the enthusiasm and commitment
years of work which started from an idea from in translating Cranleigh, not transplanting it.” wider mission to educate a new generation of
A few years ago, King’s College, Taunton, signed Sixth Form. The first pupils are due to arrive of the people behind the project and because
an Old Cranleighan and Mike Wilson, the Head international citizens and the Middle East is at
up to be represented in India by David Boddy’s in August. Our first appointment was the new we offer a brand of education that will resonate
of Cranleigh Prep School. The Cranleigh team, The main impetus for the venture was to bring the interface between different cultures. Whilst
ASIS group and, as a result, we have welcomed Headmaster, who happens to be an old boy of in India, while progress has not always been
led by Mike, travelled to Abu Dhabi over 15 extra funds to Cranleigh for bursaries and 35% of the pupils at Cranleigh Abu Dhabi are
four outstanding Indian scholars to King’s King’s College, Taunton, Brad Sailes, who has smooth, the determination and belief of the
times to put in place finance, convince the facilities so that the school does not have to rely from the UK, 30% are from North America and
Governing Body in the UK, sort out schemes on increasing fee income to sustain its future. 10% are local Emiratis. The remaining pupils College over the past three years, pupils who gathered around him an expert team of senior people on the ground has seen us past the
of work, recruit staff and plan the buildings that Money is beginning to come back to Cranleigh are from 48 other countries. A truly international have added tremendous value to the school. staff who are working hard to get the school tricky moments. I am confident that King’s
would turn a desert into a school. The school and will steadily rise as the pupil numbers grow. network of alumni who will be influential on the ready for its opening in a few months’ time. College, India will soon be leading the way for
began with children from age 3 to Year 9, with world stage did not escape the Old Cranleighan David was then approached by a group of British education on the subcontinent.
the first cohort of IGCSE students starting in However, Cranleigh UK believes that there is Society, which has readily welcomed leavers developers based in Rohtak, north of Delhi, who The plan is for the school, when it is full, to
2015, and A levels commencing in 2016. There opportunity which reaches beyond financial into the fold. For those in the leafy Surrey wanted to set up a new international school in be predominantly boarding, with a significant
are currently 950 students with the potential to gain. There has been a regular interchange of bubble at a predominantly local boarding that city, having already enjoyed success with a day minority (closely mirroring the set-up in
grow to 1,500 at full capacity. staff. Whilst this began as quality assurance school, the educational benefit is clear. thriving local school. They are Rohtak born and Taunton). The boarding will be a mixture of
educated (the city is traditionally known as an
educational centre) and were keen to invest in
the community.
“We wanted
Abu Dhabi to be a
partner school, not
a satellite. We’re
interested in translating
Cranleigh, not
transplanting it.”
Image courtesy of Cranleigh, Abu Dhabi A teaching block with boarding accommodation above takes shape at King’s College, India
10 11
Expertise HMC welcomes new Members New faces
Malvern College –
challenges and opportunities
Daniel Berry Duncan Byrne Sally Davis Tim Greene Christopher Greenhalgh
Kirkham Grammar School Loughborough Grammar School Howell’s School Clifton College British School of Milan
Charles Fillingham Simon Hinchliffe Alastair Land Simon Lockyer Julie Lodrick
Francis Holland Regent’s Park Bradford Grammar School Repton School Royal Hospital School Kent College, Pembury
Image courtesy of Malvern College, Qingdao
The reality, of course, is much more complex. On a more practical level, the recruitment of very
Perhaps one of the most fundamental issues able UK-qualified teaching staff is one of the
facing all schools operating overseas is that of biggest challenges facing international schools.
Suzie Longstaff Jane Lunnon Ian Munro Barnaby Sandow Kai Vacher
authenticity. To create a successful international With substantial recent and ongoing growth
Putney High School Wimbledon High School Kelvinside Academy Jerudong International School British School Muscat
Antony Clark school bearing your name is, at a superficial in the international schools sector, it is likely
level, relatively straightforward. To create a to become increasingly challenging. In order
(Malvern College)
successful international school that genuinely to recruit and retain the best teaching staff it
shares the values and ethos of your school in will be necessary for schools to offer excellent
As I write this article I am somewhere over Outer the UK is much harder, and the role of the Head CPD opportunities as well as creating a real
Mongolia, cruising at 35,000 feet, on my way is central if anything more than an arms-length sense of community in their overseas offshoots.
back from the foundation stone laying ceremony franchise arrangement is envisaged. Disruption to education for the children of
for our new school in Hong Kong, due to open teachers, concerns about accommodation and
in 2018. This will be Malvern’s fourth overseas This, naturally, brings its own challenges, and cultural isolation, too, are often cited by job
school, with two schools already open on the governing bodies will rightly be concerned at applicants as being considerations in accepting
Chinese mainland and a third due to open in the increased pressures brought to bear on the jobs as important as the salary package itself.
Cairo later this year. Heads of such internationally minded schools In short, only those teachers with a pioneering
as they strive to protect reputation and transfer spirit survive for longer than a couple of years
The allure of China and the Middle East in ethos in what is often a wholly different culture. and this can impact significantly on the nature
particular has prompted something of a gold- of such schools.
rush mentality amongst some UK independent At Malvern we have mitigated these concerns,
schools, as institutions look to stake their to some extent, through the development of a Despite the very real pressures and challenges
claims and open up rich seams of opportunity dedicated international schools team based at involved in establishing and developing a
abroad. The typical business model adopted the College, as well as through our strategy of successful overseas school, the benefits can
for such ventures certainly appears attractive actively seeking to widen the exposure of our be considerable and should not be measured
to many at face value, with a potentially major teaching staff to our international programme, in purely financial terms. Pupils and teachers
stream of revenue emanating from a relatively through their involvement in overseas begin to link with each other across many miles,
modest investment of time and resource. This inspections and inter-departmental liaison across reflecting today’s more global society, and it is,
is particularly the case for schools like Malvern our schools and, at the same time, to ensure that perhaps, in these terms that we have truly
where the capital investment in setting up at least the leaders of the international schools struck gold.
schools abroad has been entirely in the hands of have a fortnight’s immersion at Malvern in
business partners. the UK.
12 13
People People
Transforming CR: Indeed, there’s a problem around student also take their “campus citizenship” seriously and use student-to-student communication,
surveys, isn’t there? The type of teaching and are amenable to messages about service, which is incredibly effective. We’ve just
students like might not be the best teaching! mentoring, working out in the city and the introduced universal peer mentoring for all of our
community. They see the link between this and new first years.
societies
MP: It depends when you ask the question a good CV. I think the current crop of students
and what you are asking students to evaluate. are great! CR: I had a group of Liverpool scientists
Education does not always satisfy or please at my school last year who were surprised
in the short term. It can be disruptive and CR: Transition to university is a key issue how Sixth Formers competed to get the
challenging – but that’s good for you! Part of for us in schools. What more do you right answer…
your job as a teacher is to challenge and spark think schools can do, and what more can
transformation, and every teacher will know universities do to help students? MP: …and to get it first! At university, students
that students often take time to realise and be are going to be working in teams a good deal of
satisfied by what they have gained. MP: Much of the global work on transition in the the time, learning from each other. The sort of
1990s missed Britain. That was in part because teacher exchange you describe is very powerful,
CR: Might one option be to ask every retention was a bigger financial issue elsewhere: though, and we need to do more of it. I also think
university to submit a Teaching Development student failure is such a waste. The first thing – that universities need to offer more refreshment
Plan, like an Access Plan? and it’s deceptively simple – is to put the student space to staff from schools, as a kind of
interest at the heart of what we do. Our job is break and to reconnect with their disciplines:
MP: That’s an interesting idea. It would help us to ensure the best possible bridge between teaching’s hard! We did some exchanges at
focus on quality enhancement, on future plans, school or college and university. That means Monash. Mind you, some of the teachers went
as well as on what snapshots tell you. Another recognising that the student’s decision should native. And my personal experience… well, I was
problem, of course, is how you describe under- be what is best for the student even when this put in front of a Year 9 history class, and they
achievement. I’m told that soon after recent might not be what parents and schools want. As could smell my fear!
comments about “lamentable teaching” in British university and school teachers, we should see
universities were made, Australian universities ourselves as joint collaborators in the education CR: A final question. When, at last year’s
were using those comments in their marketing of our young people. HMC Conference, we asked a panel “What
campaigns in Asia. We’re in an international is university for?” we got some very vague
marketplace, but British university education It’s most useful for universities to know what answers. What is yours, in one sentence?
is seen as having very high quality around students are bringing with them. What has been
Image courtesy of the the world. the learning experience in terms of teaching MP: How long can the sentence be? I think the
University of Leicester styles, technologies and ways of assessing role of universities in societies is to transform:
CR: Are today’s students different? strengths and weaknesses? How are students to transform public debate, to transform
learning and developing to become successful? knowledge, to transform students. If I had to
MP: My sense is that they are more serious. There’s more emphasis in universities now on frame a simple sentence, universities exist
Anywhere round the world where the cost of global citizenship, cultural awareness, justice to develop and utilise scholarship in order to
tuition has increased, students have become and resilience, so it’s important for us be on the transform.
more focused and more demanding, and rightly same page as schools in relation to all of these
so. Those who were predicting that the libraries themes. Professor Mark Peel has taught History and
Chris Ramsey (The King’s School Chester), Chair of the HMC Universities would be empty and the bars packed have led departments at Liverpool and Monash
been proved wrong. At the same time, university Students often receive well-intentioned but (Melbourne). He has won national awards for
Sub-Committee, interviews Mark Peel (Provost of the University of populations are significantly more diverse even unhelpful messages about universities. Things teaching and for his contributions to student
Leicester) – just a few days after Leicester City’s Premiership triumph… than they were in 2009 because universities such as “you’ll be on your own next year.” welfare and success. He is the Provost at the
have spent fee money on widening access. We What the student hears is “I won’t get help and University of Leicester and will be speaking at
also have a more internationalised population. nobody will care”, and that’s not a good place to the HMC Annual Conference in October.
CR: Mark, we must surely start by talking CR: You have a relatively new Vice-Chancellor CR: Since the publication of the higher
So I think, yes, they are more serious. But they start. So we need to be careful about messaging
about the city of Leicester: does the in post: what is on the horizon for Leicester? education Green Paper, the media has
university share the sporting excitement? gone quiet about the proposed Teaching
MP: There’s a real focus on building on Excellence Framework. What is your view of
MP: We couldn’t not! I don’t follow football strengths, on what we should highlight as how it will develop?
myself, but this is a great story about teamwork, excellent. So, an even stronger focus on space
and I love the fact that you can win the observation, on precision medicine and world- MP: I think the Teaching Excellence Framework
Premiership without spending as much as some leading biology, and on culture and media. One is in an interesting place. It has potential but it’s
others. And this perhaps reflects Leicester of the interesting challenges in higher education still not entirely clear what it’s for and who it’s
University as well: we are also a bit of a hidden is being both medium-sized but also broadly for. Is it to enhance quality? Is it an information
gem. One of the awards for which we’ve been based. Also, you’ll see universities across the resource for students? Some of the metrics are
shortlisted is for scale of international reputation sector focussing their research more closely. difficult to pin down: take graduate earnings, for
and impact greater than a university of our size There’s always been a strong correlation in example. Is what graduates earn a measure of
might normally be expected to achieve. There’s British universities between research and teaching excellence, when so many other factors
a lot happening here, and the football club will teaching, and how to maintain this is something are involved? Might a measure of “value added”
carry that out to the world. that all universities are thinking about. It’s or “impact” be better? There’s also a question of
certainly a crucial part of our future at Leicester. what “student satisfaction” tells us. Image courtesy of the University of Leicester Image courtesy of the University of Leicester
14 48 15
Learning Learning
Appointing,
coaching and
appraising Heads
Insight asked Clarissa Farr (St Paul’s Girls’
Using
School) and Keith Dawson (Haberdashers’
psychometrics Image courtesy of
St Paul’s Girls’ School
Aske’s Boys’ School, 1987-1996) to reflect on
Governors or senior teams considering
the whys and wherefores.
psychometric testing might try and arrange to
talk to the psychologist/consultant in advance
– he or she needs to understand what the
our conversations. Afterwards, she writes me
governing body is looking for, the nature of the
With this in mind, governors are now recognising what she calls a “letter” – really a synthesis of our
school, what the senior team the appointee will
that in making such a critical appointment to a conversation – in which my ideas often come back
be inheriting is like and where the challenges
demanding role, just interviewing and in effect to me much more coherently than I remember
are. Tests can indicate how a person is likely
seeing people do what they probably do best them because translated through the lens of her
to lead, manage change, behave in a crisis,
may not be enough to get to the truth of their reflected thinking and developed with suggestions
tolerate and deal with difficult staff and parents,
capabilities: Headship candidates are already for further reading.
stand up to constant pressures and make
expert at saying what a panel wants to hear!
decisions. They can also give insight into what
Clarissa Farr Using other strategies - psychometric testing for motivates the candidates. The variations in Clearly, the relationship we might have with such
(St Paul’s Girls’ School) example - is not the whole answer, but it provides profile can be illuminating. But how is that seemingly endless fountain effectively with the governors, how to produce a a guide or coach is very personal. One style or
another valuable set of data which can be used replenished? development plan that’s actually useful, etc. approach may work for one person and something
to inform understanding. It is also less subjective different may work for another. But I think it would
You’ve been Head of two schools and than much of the traditional recruitment process. broadly: there are personality profiling tests which However much a Head may be supported Gillian, who prefers to think of herself as a be an excellent thing for HMC to compile a list of
involved as a governor in several Headship assess likely behaviours and attitudes, by family and friends, their leadership role is sounding board rather than anything else, is fond trusted and reputable coaches and build it into the
selections. What changes have you seen Information isn’t hard to find. Myers Briggs (MBTI and aptitude tests which assess the ability intrinsically a lonely one, freighted with huge of reminding me that often we cannot “know expectation that governing bodies will ensure that
in the way Heads are appointed? - which identifies 16 personality types) is still to do things. responsibility. Parker J Palmer says in his article what we think until we hear what we say” and this their Head is able to have that kind of support
popular for recruitment and development purposes Leadership from Within: “A leader is a person who exploratory, questing quality often characterises and enrichment.
CF: I think most readers of Insight would agree after 50 years and is based on the work of Jung, While in reaching a decision to appoint, the deeper has an unusual degree of power to project onto
that the role of Headship is increasingly complex. published in the 1920’s. The Hogan Personality instincts of the governing body about what is other people his or her shadow or his or her light
There is the need for a hard edged business Inventory (7 measures of how we interact when we right for a school cannot be entirely reduced to … a person who must take special responsibility Coaching: conversations,
focus as well as the requirement to comply with are at our best), and its derivatives, along with a what is measurable, the objectivity of this kind of for what is going on inside him or herself lest the
imagery and metaphor
a culture of increasingly nervous regulation. With similar “shadow side” test, are commonly used by data is a good way to avoid the dangers of group act of leadership create more harm than good.”
an expectation of transparency which gives so executive search firms and have provided useful think, especially where a school with a very strong
many voices the right to be heard, Headship is insight to us at St Paul’s for senior appointments. tradition and sense of itself may, unknowingly, Therefore, it’s important for the health of ourselves It’s no exaggeration to say that I cannot begin to imagine how I would have tackled certain themes in my
also an ever more subtle matter of balance. Again be culturally resistant to the very change and and our organisations to give time to considering Headship without the illumination that my conversations with Gillian Stamp have brought me.
and again, the Head must decide when to employ There are vast numbers of different tests with refreshment it most needs. and reflecting on our own life as a leader and,
decisive action and when restraint, when to press varying levels of reported validity, costs and given the requirement to give outwardly to others For example, an understanding of the importance of different kinds of attention, be that the narrow,
a point and when to concede, how to find the right usefulness. Reviews of 150 registered tests can Once appointed, there is evidence that so much of the time, to ensuring that attention is focussed attention that drives for a result or the “wide attention” that allows for complexity and
voice, language and tone to persuade and bring be found at www.ptc.bps.org.uk. Most search sometimes the new Head is not sufficiently given to personal renewal and enrichment. This uncertainty, and an understanding of the importance of timing and of the need for leaders to take
decisions (as we must often do) when there remains much that is unknown, have helped me grasp
together the parents, the children, the governors, firms will have somebody available to conduct mentored (supported by someone with process could take many forms but one way the
particular challenges with greater clarity.
the staff and the world at large, all of whom have psychometric tests and have a range of tests experience in a similar role) or coached governors can help is to provide the Head with a
different and sometimes conflicting interests. available. The term psychometric test is used (trained in particular skills). What might you coach or mentor, someone outside the school who
Imagery has always been something I’ve enjoyed and found helpful. For example, seeing the school and
like to see happen inside HMC? can act as a critical friend.
the people in it as a vine, growing on a light frame or trellis, and thinking then about balancing the need
for guidance and reassurance with the urge toward freedom and creativity, has helped me judge when to
The leadership challenge CF: It’s a cliché oft repeated that the most I’ve been immensely fortunate to work for
intervene and when to leave a certain thing to find its own resolution.
important task of the governing body is to several years with an excellent one: professional,
I’m fond of quoting Hay McBer’s Lessons of Leadership, in which the roles of 200 Head teachers appoint the Head. That’s true, but if attention is experienced and wise in offering counsel to Most of all, the metaphor of the journey – the four journeys that all leaders have in their lives – the
were compared with those of 200 leaders in other fields. They concluded: “Head teachers exert then not paid to their welfare and professional leaders in diverse fields across the world. Our underlying journey of the self, the public journey of the professional role, the private journey with family,
strong and versatile leadership, adapted to the needs of their people. Their strengths lie in raising development, the investment of that time and conversations are seldom planned in detail. friends and interests, and finally the personal journey through which we recognise the true grain of
capability and promoting individual clarity… The role of Head teacher is stretching by comparison resource will never be fully realised. Headship We meet perhaps three times a term and I take ourselves and how the other journeys are woven together, has provided a navigable landscape upon
to business. Even highly successful executives would struggle to exert outstanding leadership in is complex. Typically, a Head’s strength lies in whatever it is that’s on my mind at the time: which to make sense of my experience of my role and how it is connected to my life as a whole.
schools.” And that was back in 2000. developing the strengths and skills of others. how to develop my senior team, how to work
16 17
Learning Learning
“Appraisal is
a rare opportunity
for a Head’s qualities
How the appraisal of Origins and developments
and problems to be
Heads in independent in school-based appraisal
appreciated, and to
schools might develop
receive due praise,
KD: Formal evaluation, planning and appraisal in schools began in the
advice and further
mid-1980s in the state-maintained sector. “Quality in Schools: Evaluation
support.” and Appraisal”, based on HMI surveys in 1983 of practice in a small number
of pioneering schools and LEAs, was published in 1985. This landmark paper
KD: Much already works well and it would be right to
set out the case for appraisal as an essential part of the wider need
preserve a degree of bespoke tailoring. HMC and AGBIS
to evaluate the quality of education.
(The Association of Governing Bodies of Independent
Schools) would be wise to avoid the temptation to be
However, by the late 1980s there were plausible reasons for suspicion and
more prescriptive.
opposition. Appraisal in schools was part of the crusade for accountability
in all areas of public life and the professions, driven by Margaret Thatcher as
Rather, they should confirm essential principles and
Prime Minister. Thatcherite appraisal was essentially a matter of measuring
promote good practice.
performance and calling to account. Both have their place in a well-ordered
• Tailor each appraisal of the Head to meet more closely public service but they are only half of the story. For their part, independent
the present needs of both the Head and the school. schools, believing they were largely immune to the perceived attacks on
maintained schools, felt they had no need to change established cosy habits.
• Consider how appraisal should adapt to different
stages of a Head’s time in the school, for example:
Models for appraisal in those days came largely from business, industry or
- the first appraisal 2-3 years after appointment
the armed forces. They were almost wholly concerned with the bottom line,
- evaluation after being in post for a school generation
measuring how far specific, check-listed targets had been achieved, and
- consideration of the Head’s future at key moments
setting targets for the coming year.
in his or her career
- a concluding appraisal in preparation for retirement
Changes in approach since 1998
and succession
Keith Dawson appraising Insight My impression is that there has been much less change in the past thirty
magazine editor Tim Hands when • Establish clear principles and a recommended
years than you might expect. Already in the mid-80s, the pioneers were
Head at Portsmouth Grammar School framework for the role and responsibilities of
identifying the essential elements of good appraisal and laying out schemes
Chairmen of Governors.
that others have taken up and tweaked.
Effective appraisal for Heads: • Ensure proper follow-up to the conclusions and
recommendations of the appraisal report. For example: The early schemes reported in “Quality in Schools” included many essential
some key considerations
- Head and Chairman agree how the conclusions features current when I began appraising in 1998 and that continue today.
will be reported to the governors and senior staff. In particular, appraisal was to include everyone, and be open, positive,
KD: Done properly, appraisal leaves the Head and the school positive, refreshed - Make the appraisal an integral part of development supportive. It was seen as an integral part of whole-school evaluation and
and better-equipped for the future. In my experience most Heads benefit from their planning for the whole school. Ensure that development and directly linked to training and career development.
appraisal, some dramatically so. whole-school appraisal is for everyone, including
support staff. Independent schools have always enjoyed freedom over appraisal.
In countless ways Heads are judged every day, by governors, staff, pupils, parents - Let the Head’s next appraisal begin with There is no single system and HMC has operated a light, supportive touch.
and the media. The unique value of appraisal for the appraisee is that this is time and consideration of what action followed the previous It has pooled and encouraged good practice and it has provided a forum
attention given explicitly to them, to their aspirations, achievements, concerns and appraisal, and with what success. for appraisers. For good and ill, much is left to individual initiative.
needs. It is a rare opportunity for their qualities and problems to be appreciated, and
for them to receive due praise, advice and support.
Keith Dawson
Clarissa, how do you see appraisal? the Head engages, including pupils and the moment when the constant dialogue and
(Haberdashers’ Aske’s Success depends on the quality of the appraiser, the attitude of the Head and
How systematic should it be? parents. Data may be sought through posing interplay between the Head and their
chairman and the chemistry between all three. Openness, trust and humanity are
Boys’ School, 1987-1996) specific questions, though personally I think community breaks the surface.
essential. Using an outside appraiser is beneficial. He has no axe to grind, he brings
CF: HMC has an established methodology and there is also a place for allowing free comment: If it produces surprises, then
an outside perspective and he leaves the scene when the exercise is complete.
Following retirement, Keith led inspections I do think appraisal is worth doing: it puts some if someone has an axe to grind or grudge to the governors have not
for more than 10 years, first for HMC formality and data around the governors’ sense express, it may be better to let them do so. been listening…
Sometimes, though rarely, things go wrong and the appraisal exacerbates existing
and then for the Independent Schools of the Head’s performance; it gives the Head a A confident and well-supported Head need
problems. This is likely to happen when there is a lack of clear objectives and when
Inspectorate (ISI). Appraising Heads and forum to discuss whether they are getting the not fear this.
one side, or both, are working from a hidden agenda. The priorities and desired
deputies seemed a natural extension of support and development they need from the
outcomes have to be clear from the start, and the appraiser needs to be confident that
that work and Keith carried out his first governors and it demonstrates to the staff and There will always be something artificial about
the Head is ready to engage.
appraisal in 1998. Keith has found it an the community at large that the Head is subject the formal data-gathering aspects, though
absorbing and often deeply satisfying to the same scrutiny as everyone else. the appraisal meeting itself may provide real
In independent school appraisal, the Chairman of Governors and the Head have a
experience. illumination for the Head and help them in
responsibility to ensure that the conclusions and recommendations of the report are
If the process is to provide a genuine planning the next phase of their leadership.
acted upon. The failure to follow up properly and to use the process to take the Head
Here, Keith offers three distillations of the opportunity for learning, opinion should be Overall though, the journey is a continuous
and the school forward remains a significant weakness.
experience of two decades. sought from all the constituencies with whom one, and the formal appraisal should simply be
18 19