Sunday EduPulse Round Up 21/09

Welcome to the Sunday EduPulse Round Up - a brief snapshot of some of the things that have caught our eye this week out there in Education Land.

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BLOG: Policies and Context

Kate Jones always has excellent things to say and her latest blog post for EBE is no different.

"...schools have some flexibility and autonomy to set teaching and learning policies. Should school leaders consider implementing such policies? Or might they be better served by broader teaching and learning principles?"

As ever, EBE are doing great work through their teaching toolkit and all of it is worth checking out.

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DfE WHITE PAPER: PARENT ENGAGEMENT

Schools Week featured some more emerging news about this white paper we're all so excited (!) about.

Teaching unions and other bodies are keen to protect schools and Headteachers from a complaint culture that can rob school leaders of their mental health and time.

SoS, Bridget Phillipson said, “The new white paper will improve how school complaints are made and resolved to make our system more robust and more respectful, more supportive and reassuring...” and we're hoping that some protections will be afforded to school leaders that respects their professionalism as well as the interests of parents with real concerns.

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THE NINE DAY FORTNIGHT

Reporting in the TES, Ellen Peirson-Hagger looks at the Dixons Academies Trust policy one year on.

With reductions in staff illness and turnover, do you think this is something your school could do? Would do?

The pandemic certainly proved that there are more ways to demonstrate flexible working and we could see this trend emerging as more schools try to help teachers with their work/life balance.

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PODCAST RECOMMENDATION

We launched our new series From the Think Space this week with special guest and exceptional human being Professor Dr. Haili Hughes.

Talking about the future for recruitment and retention, this really was a fascinating discussion where Haili shared some of her experience being on the Teaching Commission as well as her own insights into this very hot topic.

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BLOG RECOMMENDATION

"it’s the compelling mission that drives improvement on multiple fronts, and it’s the improvement on multiple fonts that sustains the compelling mission" ... what a way to end a blog! So we thoroughly recommend you visit Thomas's substack and read Fixing the Plane while it’s in the Air (1) and (2). This is a concise and brilliant look into how complex school improvement is!

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That's it for your Sunday EduPulse Round Up; have an amazing week and remember to look after yourselves!