Teach Secondary Issue 14.8

incorrect homework, not being listened to when trying to raise concerns. That was partly why I wanted to focus on positive recognition, and ensure that students who do the right thing feel that their efforts are recognised and valued. After establishing and codifying those habits and behaviours of what successful students do, we could then build our behaviour policy around the notion of ‘ Here’s what successful students do ’, using that as a motivator. Clear expectations It was important to me, given the staff’s prior experiences of poor leadership at the school, that they had at all times a clear sense of what the school’s expectations would now be and why. Leadership shouldn’t be about meeting arbitrary standards. Everything we do at school should be clearly linked back to our core purpose. Every member of staff should know and understand why they’re being asked to do something – though the reasons will usually involve the need to provide consistency for our students. When students can be relied upon to do what they need to do, it’s easier for staff to concentrate on being great teachers. Everyone wins. I believe that for the first time in a while, staff here know that SLT are conscious of their day-to-day experiences, and aware of the improvements they want to see. We’ve also clearly set out to staff how good education is the result of highly effective teams – not isolated individuals going above and beyond. For education to be sustainable, it has to be a team sport. Even after that, though, you can’t stop having those conversations. Once you stop talking to colleagues about your school’s purpose, mission and vision, that’s when things can start to fray at the edges. Isobel Harvey, head of art and character education Joined the school in March 2025, was appointed head of department the following September There are continuous efforts at building a strong community here. The behaviour system is really tight – everyone’s on board with it, and we’re all rowing together, following the same structure, whichmakes things easier to manage. There’s a lot of support with the systems we have in place, and the kids always knowwhat to expect. That means they knowwhere the line is, which is really helpful when teaching. One thing I’ve wanted to prioritise in the art department is enabling students to take up more space with their artworks. I think there’s a real issue in our education systemwith students often being encouraged to use only small sketchbooks to create relatively small pieces of work. We’ve also combined art and D&T in Y7 and Y8, with students doing projects that start out as 2D creations before being turned into 3D sculptures. They then choose between doing art or D&T at Y9 – our GCSE art option is actually ‘art craft and design’, because I wanted to include multiple design elements, and ensure the course wasn’t just based around students’ demonstration of fine art skills. KatherineMendes, head ofmusic Joined in 2024, having previously been a high school teacher in Florida One of the things I like most about working here is that compared to where I was teaching before, there’s so much STUDENT LEADERS “The school’s student leaders – one per tutor group, amounting to around 20 – are elected for a year, and will meet with me every half term to review our latest student survey. I also take suggestions from them as to how the school can be made better. My guiding principle is that student voice can’t be used to lower standards, make us look less professional or cause students to get lower grades. For instance, our student leaders came up with some great ideas for reducing queueing times at lunch, prompting us to implement staggered start times for different year groups.We want our students to feel that their voices are being heard, but also understand how some suggestions might be beneficial to their short-term interests and be less positive in the long-term.” – Dan MacPherson, principal 24 teachwire.net/secondary