What are the pieces of the Jigsaw of a Successful School?

Tim Brighouse, Chief Adviser for London Schools and visiting professor at the Institute of Education at London University

Hotseat start: 9 Jan 2006Hotseat end: 30 Jan 2006

 

 

Short Summary

Responses to Tim Brighouse’s article The Jigsaw of a Successful School - Twelve Essential Pieces, about a dozen requirements which if followed will surely bring school success. Included the following suggestions for extra “pieces”:

Respect: Respect for each other, for and from pupils, for the school and everything we try to do

Communication: Communication which is open and honest with everyone feeling that they are a valued team member, between staff, staff to children, between the school and the community and definitely between the school and parents

Teamwork: A successful school is achieved through collaboration of all the stakeholders who value the community they belong to. We replaces I in the vocabulary of the school.

Giving children (and others) a voice: Giving children a voice and positions of responsibility in the school is another essential part of the jigsaw of a successful school

A mutually supportive environment: The creation of a 'safe' environment where staff (and pupils) can openly discuss the difficulties they have, without feeling that they have 'failed', and where they can share what works.

Celebrating and recognising achievement: Celebrating and recognising achievement of individuals and groups within a school, pupils and staff alike.

Recruit the right personnel: Recruitment of the right personnel is also paramount to perpetuate the positive ethos within a school.

High Standards: Lift the lid on expectations and aspirations and knowing your school community. Don’t restrict student, staff and school progress with the misguided belief that by not raising our expectations we somehow prevent sense of failure.

Keywords: Inclusion; Recruitment and retention; School improvement; School leadership; Pupil voice; Federations; Personalisation; Achievement

Full summary

Attempts to define what makes a school outstandingly successful have dominated the “school effectiveness” and “school improvement” debate but until now there has never been the publication of any “reliable formula” which, if followed, is guaranteed to produce the results.

So Tim Brighouse’s article The Jigsaw of a Successful School - Twelve Essential Pieces, is meant to started a debate about say a dozen requirements which if followed will surely bring school success. As Tim Brighouse says: “Well it can’t be that simple”. And no it’s not but your views and ideas on the Twelve Pieces are welcome.But Tim Brighouse only included 10 of the pieces and asked the talk2learn hotseat participants to comment on these but also suggest two further pieces which should be included.

Tim Brighouse included the following as part of his essential list:

Piece One - Values, Vision and Story Telling – “Doing the Right Things”Piece Two - “Language maketh the school”Piece Three - “Creating an Environment for Learning” Piece Four - “Doing things right”Piece Five – “Singing from the same song sheet”- A question of judgementPiece Six - Developing all staffPiece Seven - Teaching, Learning & Assessment . Policies & PracticesPiece Eight – “Using Data”- “Bringing Utopia closer”Piece Nine – “Understanding Complex Change”Piece Ten – The example of the leader – “What I say, What I do and Who I am match”

The hotseat had over 150 contributions and was read by over 1150 talk2learn participants. These were some of their suggestions:

Respect• “…for a school to be successful the Head has to be respected by staff, parents, children and stakeholders.” • “my suggestion would be respect, for each other, for and from pupils, for the school and everything we try to do. If we have that then we are part way there.”• I personally think that, acceptance teemed with respect, are crucial elements of an effective school and must be included in your formula, Tim.”

and Tim Brighouse said:"....agree with point about respect and believe like others that all staff have a stake in school....isn’t the phrase "non-teaching" staff awful!"

Communication• “Communication has to be open and honest and everyone needs to feel that they are a valued team member.”• “Lack of communication I have found is often used as an easy excuse for when things go wrong.”• “Communication is the key whether it is between staff, staff to children, between the school and the community and definitely between the school and parents.”

… and Tim Brighouse said:"Am attracted to this....what would be in the detail of the piece on communication???....greetings in morning? talking to kids in corridor by name? staff briefings and if so how often?...and as one person reminded me the other day if the lead from the head is no good its an uphill struggle...so for example we agreed that if someone is in a leading position and they don't know the right note to strike in communication they undo all others' good work...so what do we do about that person??"".....after all failure of communication saps energy."

Teamwork• “A successful school is achieved through collaboration of all the stakeholders who value the community they belong to.”• Love the comment about the use of the word 'we' in piece 2. I've never spoken to anyone about use of positive language but have been having my own private battles over the years - trying to instil language that encourages teamwork. I find the use of the word you (as in the school) by other mangers incredulous - as if they are not part of the team or planet. But what does one do if they don't take the hint?

… and Tim Brighouse said:"It would be good to have your thoughts about some of the other subtleties of the everyday use of language??? … and agree I ought to do more on parents and the community in any revision. Any suggestions about what’s crucial?"

Giving children (and others) a voice • “I agree …. that giving children a voice and positions of responsibility in the school is another essential part of the jigsaw of a successful school.”• I think we need to add good listening skills and encouraging a voice from pupils, parents and the local community, the customers of the school.

… and Tim Brighouse said:"I agree your examples are in the territory of what people call "Student Voice" or "Student leadership" and put the theory of personalisation into practice.....have you more examples???"

A mutually supportive environment • … So my additional pieces of the jigsaw would centre around creating a 'safe' environment where staff can openly discuss the difficulties they have, without feeling that they have 'failed', and where they can share what works. …Creating a mutually supportive environment, where staff at all levels of experience can share ideas and expertise is vital, not only because it is essential for staff development (and emotional health), but also because it recognises that students are individuals, with unique needs• …A welcoming and holding environment, both for members of the school and people coming in from ‘outside’.

… and Tim Brighouse said:" Yes. So long as it’s not just the entrance foyer for visitors but extends to all the corridors and the lavatories???"

Celebrating and recognising achievement• Celebrating and recognising achievement of individuals and groups within a school, pupils and staff alike.

• “I think one of the crucial elements in a successful school is celebration. The children celebrate each other, we the staff celebrate each other as well as children. Parents are celebrated and celebrate as do governors. Sometimes children make small steps of improvement in a school like ours. These can be cause for huge celebration.” • I would suggest that a key one is creating a positive climate in the school, based on celebrating success and recognising achievement.

… and Tim Brighouse said:"Agree....but as I said in an earlier note it’s important that the watchword is improving on previous best.....in order to make a real achievement culture take root......are you making the pupils do more???? eg peer mentors...jobs around the classroom.....if so what are the vital things you are doing to make a difference???"

Recruit the right personnel• Recruitment – it is one of the most important tasks that a school undertakes• “Recruitment of the right personnel is also paramount to perpetuate the positive ethos within a school. Once recruited celebrating all success for staff and pupils makes all stake holders feel appreciated and valued, this week do at our weekly achievement assembly on a Friday.”

… and Tim Brighouse said:"and knew I had deliberately left out recruitment....nothing more important and lots of things you can do to avoid wrong appointments....eg make every person being interviewed teach a lesson,(I support Oxford United and they must be the only football team that don’t watch other players before they sign them...and it shows!!!)....another strategy one school deployed was to write the further particulars in such a way that cynics wouldn’t apply!!!!...and finally the most successful schools don’t make permanent appointments if they are in ANY doubt!!.....on your first I wonder if you have come across "appreciative enquiry" theories.....???"

High Standards• “My two essential ingredients would be lifting the lid on expectations and aspirations and knowing your school community. It never ceases to amaze me how we tend to restrict student, staff and school progress with the misguided belief that by not raising our expectations we somehow prevent sense of failure. This translates from whole school strategic leadership through the use of upper quartile targets as standard through to questions to Y7 students about university courses and the conversation with outstanding NQTs about career opportunities. Knowing the community (staff, students and their families, local residents / businesses) is straight forward really but time consuming if the level of listening and learning is sufficient to overcome assumptions and stereotypes. • … I found your ten jigsaw pieces inspiring, if a little daunting .! In Piece 1 you touched on the idea of high standards. For me, this is a vital jigsaw piece. It always seems that the 'turned-around' school begins with very simple things, such as school uniform, behaviour in the corridors, behaviour in the loos. This then sets the scene for high standards in learning.Would 'setting high standards' be a jigsaw piece for anyone else?

… and Tim Brighouse said:"We haven't covered this properly and I agree....if teachers don’t believe and convince the kids that they the kids can really succeed they will never suspend their inner doubts......absolutely crucial in schools (where the head also needs to feel the same) in challenging circumstances....ps....a good book on this is "learning without limits" by Susan Hart and others...(O.U.P.)"