On breakable plates and agency

7 take-aways from The Schools North East Summit 2024

If last year’s summit saw a “battle-worn profession” surveying the structural damage left by storm COVD, they did so with a sense of impatience at the policy-void in an election year. This year, with a new team in the DfE, and a devolution deal for the North East in place, the impatience was replaced with a renewed sense of hope. A renewed sense of agency.

Under the strapline of “Educating Westminster: influencing the direction of change”, the great and good of North East education (and I) gathered once again at St. James’ Park to hear from the impressive line-up of speakers.

Here are my take-aways:

1. There is a different story to tell about our place.

Chris Zarraga, Director of Schools North East, reminded delegates that if 92% of North-East schools are Good or Outstanding (the second best of any region), then there can’t be a dearth of leadership in our schools. He expanded on the power of storytelling, and the need to shift the narrative: “the North East has a better story to tell, and it is informed by the data”. His message to Westminster, was for policy-makers to take into account the wider complexity of the wicked problems of our region when making comparisons with other parts of the country. The story of Ascension Island flourishing under Darwin’s policy of tree-planting was used as a powerful analogy: eco-systems can shift over time if there is a collective, incremental strategy to make it happen.

2. Just Stop!

Sarah Monk (Edwin Group) urged us to ‘look back to move forward’, and this theme was taken up by (‘The Real’) David Cameron - on sparkling form, and with an impressive musical soundtrack urging us “to get right back to where we started from”. A need to get back to basics, often thwarted by ‘the tyranny of the immediate’: those hundreds of plates that school leaders need to keep spinning every day.

“…you’re not a divine being… you’re not even Paul Daniels… just stop!”

As school leaders, we were told to stop trying to do everything… the trick is finding your ‘breakable plates’.

And the message to the government?: “just stop!…”

“…a deluge of Ds: dogma, definitiveness, disinterest, derision,… has washed out the legacy of your region, which is one of solidarity, pride, ambition, …a region of autodidacts,”

We must move from ‘what works’ to ‘what works here’.

3. Indigenous Insights Matter

Colin Lofthouse, Chair of Schools North East made a clear plea to the Minister sitting in the front row: “trust in our knowledge and expertise: transformation in education comes from those who know the ground best…” but, “we must go beyond trust: we need to be properly resourced to be able to do what we do best and in a spirit of partnership”.

This theme of local expertise was echoed in a fantastic history session from Dr Dan Jackson, author of the ‘The Northumbrians’. Taking a longue duree approach to the region’s cultural history, we were literally put in ‘our place’ - a North East with a long history of self sufficiency and agency but where “indigenous insights are overlooked”, quoting Professor John Tomenay.

There was a nod to the opportunity of having a new mayor and devolution of power to a region used to operating under it’s own steam - “an instiutional capacity is returning the region”, which is a welcome return to the kind of localised agency of the heyday of the ‘geordie enlightment’ era of Armstrong, Stephenson, Gertrude Bell et al.

4. The government is listening

All of which brought us neatly on to the Minister for School Standards, Catherine McKinnell, who, in her first keynote speech in the role, spoke of a need to ‘put the child at the centre of everything’. As we nudged past the first 100 days of the Starmer government, she listed the governments early moves in education: the abolishment of single-word OFSTED judgements; an independent curriculum and assessment review (promising ‘evolution not revolution’); confirmation of the 5.5% pay award (including the removal of PRP as part of calculations in schools); 6,500 new teachers, with a long term aim of ‘elevating the status of the profession’; a ‘support first’ approach to attendance; the creation of a child poverty taskforce, due to report its findings in the spring; and, most recently, a fund to apply for primary classrooms to be converted to nursery settings. There was some challenge in the Q&A, but the responses gave the impression of a genuine willingness to listen.

5. SEND is not a bolt-on

SEND and Inclusion Policy Specialist, Margaret Mulholland, spoke of the need to ‘bake SEND in’ rather than treating it as a ‘bolt-on’. We should put our vulnerable learners at the heart of our thinking in schools. There was a focus on the power of language, and on truly equitable policies. With around 40% of children categorised as ‘ever-SEND’ (those children who have ever been on the SEND register), and 20% of children on the SEND register at any one time, the need for fresh thinking is clear: e.g. could we make SEND considerations a regular part of every training session, rather than a separate session led by the SENCO? Could we systematically ask the question, “what does this mean for our most vulnerable learners”?

6. Our children’s resilience is world class

Chi Sum TSE from the PISA Team at OECD offered some fascinating insights into the most recent international data. As a Maths specialist, it was pleasing to note the focus on reasoning in their assessments - meaning a correct answer with poor reasoning is likely to score 0. This perhaps accounts for the fact that Chat GPT 4 scored 46% when fed the Maths questions, but 90% on the Reading tasks. So, while there is still some way to go for AI to catch up, more worrying was the PISA finding that disadvantaged students were more likely to have a ‘dream future job’ that falls under the category ‘of high risk of automation’.

The position of the UK was encouragingly high across most measures, but the disparity between the nations was stark: England scoring well ahead of the other home nations across most metrics from gender attainment gaps to catering for the lower end. In fact, the UK comes out top on the most resilient students scale - i.e. those students who come from high levels of deprivation but still score in the highest attainment bracket. A positive story to tell!

7. A lot can change in a generation

Ziauddin Yousafzai, father of Malala, and educational activist finished the day with an inspiring talk. Growing up in a culture where “girls had their future decided from birth”, he viscerally described a world where agency was absent for half the population. This was, of course, before his daughter came along and started to change the story for girls, putting our own struggles with education into perspective.

This happy irony was made with a twinkle of satisfaction: given the cultural tradition of women being known by their male relations, rather than their own name ( ‘mother of.., wife of…’ even on gravestones), the fact that he is known as the ‘father of Malala’ brings him great joy. He called for girls to be ‘respectfully disobedient’ and left us with a sense of the power of education that will live long in the memory.

Now to break some plates.

John Smith, Director of Partnerships, RGS Newcastle, @educatinghuman1