New Leaders Programme: Subject Leaders Day 2 Andrew Crosby

Traits of a good leader

Traits of a good leader

The role of subject leader So, what is your responsibility?

Aspects of Leadership

How do others see you? GAP TASK 1 Please find TWO colleagues at work who you know will be honest in their feedback and ask them to complete the 555 questionnaire for you.

How do you want to change? GAP TASK 2 Please complete the ‘Building a new habit’ using your colleagues’ feedback to help you reflect.

What do you want to change? GAP TASK 3 Please bring along evidence of pupils’ work that illustrates one of the key development points on your action plan. This may include pupils’ books (or copies), photographs of work on display, video of pupils working etc. Be ready to use the evidence to explain the issue and consider how it relates to one or more of these areas: Curriculum Assessment/skill progression Pedagogy Resources

The cornerstones of subject leadership Curriculum Progression/assessment Pedagogy Resources

The aims of the programme clarify the role of subject leader provide practical training and support trouble-shoot and solve problems as they arise

Curriculum

What might OFSTED ask about your curriculum? Which aspects of the subject are the strongest? Which aspects most need improving? What are you doing to address this? How do you ensure that key skills are applied across the curriculum? How does your curriculum reflect your school values? How effective is your curriculum in meeting the needs of your pupils?

What do you think? Curriculum The curriculum is a product, created by leaders and delivered by teachers. AGREE DISAGREE

21 Questions to ask about your curriculum Written Curriculum What are the key concepts we will address at each year? What are the key skills we will address at each year? How will they be prioritised? What are the agreed standards/expectations for each year? Have teachers unpacked the standards? Are they exemplified? Are the modes of delivery/application/outcomes specified? Should they be? If I had a son or daughter enrolled in this school, would I be satisfied with the written curriculum? Is the curriculum regularly reviewed? Are there opportunities for teachers and pupils to provide ongoing feedback regarding the curriculum?

21 Questions to ask about your curriculum Taught Curriculum How will we implement the agreed values/learning dispositions (e.g. teamwork, creativity, perseverance, etc)? What resources/tools/technology will we use to support teaching and learning? How? How will we develop engagement and purpose for the pupils? What is the level of compliance? Are teachers allowed to use discretion and depart from the written curriculum? Are there opportunities for student-led lessons or is every lesson dictated by the curriculum and teacher-led? Are there options for personalized learning? How will we deepen learning through questions, talk or critical thinking? Are there regular opportunities for teachers to ensure they are covering the curriculum to the expected standard?

21 Questions to ask about your curriculum Assessed Curriculum How will we measure student achievement and understanding? Are we designing authentic, purposeful tasks for students? Are teachers aware of the key questions to ask to assess understanding? Do we have a plan for when students don’t learn? Are there regular opportunities for teachers to ensure they are covering the curriculum to the expected standard?

Self-audit your written curriculum

My written curriculum action plan: 1 2 3 Curriculum – what do I need to do next? My written curriculum action plan: 1 2 3

Progression and assessment

What might OFSTED ask about your curriculum progression? Standards, Progress, Achievement & Assessment What proportion of pupils attain at and above age related expectations? How has this changed as the cohort has moved through the school? What have you done which has had a positive impact on outcomes? How do you know? Which aspect of the subject do the pupils achieve best in? How effective are your assessment arrangements? How accurate are assessments? How do you know?

What are the expected standards for your year? Skill/Knowledge Last Year This Year PE: Throwing and Catching Science: Animals including Humans Reading: Inference Maths: Properties of Shapes Art: Drawing

Is there evidence of progression? Standards and Progression Choose a strand/focus area within your subject. Track it across all year groups: 1. Is it being taught at the expected standard for each year? 2. Is there progression across the school as you would expect? 3. Do the teachers’ feedback comments indicate that they understand the expected standards?

Skill progression – how much detail?

Teacher subject knowledge and curriculum progression You can give information but you can’t give understanding AGREE DISAGREE

My standards and progress action plan: 1 2 3 Standards and progress – what do I need to do next? My standards and progress action plan: 1 2 3

Pedagogy – teaching and learning

What might OFSTED ask about teaching and learning? Teaching & Learning How effective is teaching & learning in the subject? Which are the strongest/weakest elements?

Are the agreed guidelines and protocols being followed? You might want to ask: Is the written curriculum being taught? At the specified pitch/expectations? Is the teaching of your subject consistent across the school? Is there an agreed approach to the teaching of your subject that all teachers are following, e.g. maths mastery approaches, pupil-led learning, etc.? Are all pupils being effectively supported and challenged? Is there an agreed set of guidelines or protocols, e.g. for feedback/marking, presentation, display, differentiation, etc. Is it being followed? Are the available resources (including teaching spaces) being effectively and efficiently used? Is the learning engaging, purposeful and sufficiently independent?

Are the agreed guidelines and protocols being followed? Step 1 is to think these through yourself. How do I want teachers to teach this subject at our school? What should be consistent across the school? Where can I allow/encourage teachers to use their own judgement/discretion? Are teachers aware how to support pupils with SEND? Do they have sufficient subject knowledge and range of strategies for challenging pupils to deeper thinking and greater refinement of skills? What would I expect as subject leader: Feedback and marking Classroom displays Essential resources Differentiation Presentation/publication/performance of pupils’ work Subject specific events/activities, e.g. maths investigations, published/performed literacy, competitions in PE, debates in RE, galleries in art etc. How can I ensure a love of learning in this subject?

Self-audit your taught curriculum

The taught curriculum – your values What do I/We believe is important: How can I achieve a love of learning in my subject? How can I ensure attainment and progression in my subject? How can I ensure all pupils flourish in my subject? How can I ensure opportunities for challenge in my subject? How can I ensure my subject is meaningful and relevant to our pupils? How can I ensure that the experiences and learning children achieve in my subject will help them to succeed in later life?

My teaching and learning action plan: 1 2 3 Teaching and learning – what do I need to do next? My teaching and learning action plan: 1 2 3

Resources

What subject specific resources would you expect to see in each class? Resources in your subject What subject specific resources would you expect to see in each class? What subject specific resources are shared across the school? Where are these located?

Resources in your subject Ensuring availability and deployment of resources. • Are there efficient and effective ways for communicating resource needs and allocating funding? • Is there a suitable quality and quantity of resources? • Are resources available and accessible? • Is storage well organised? • Are resources being used and properly maintained? • Are resources having a positive impact on learning? • Are there areas of learning being held back by a lack of resources?

My resources action plan: 1 2 3 Resources – what do I need to do next? My resources action plan: 1 2 3

GAP TASK Please conduct an audit of your subject to establish: 1. Are the resources in your subject sufficient to ensure effective teaching and learning? Which resources need increasing? Which need replacing/updating? Which are obsolete and should be scrapped? Are there some new resources that can be investigated? Are the resources stored and managed effectively to ensure ease of availability? Do all staff know what resources are available and how they might be used? Does there need to be agreement on which resources should be available in classrooms? Are there clear expectations on how these resources should be used? 2. What are the CPD needs for your subject? Which areas do your staff feel confident about? What areas do they feel less confident about? What needs do they identify? Are there some junior/new staff who have missed out on CPD received by the rest of the staff? Are there some concerns identified by work scrutiny, monitoring, performance management etc.? Which questions are you most often asked by staff? What sort of support takes up most your time?