1. From Vision Into Practice
The Third in ‘Learning to Lead’ Series
From
Bite Sized Training
WELCOME
FROM VISION INTO PRACTICE – is the third in a series of Bite Sized training resources designed to develop the skills and knowledge of those new to middle leadership in schools, colleges and academies.
Other training in the LEARNING TO LEAD series include:
Starting to lead
Leading your team
Performance management and appraisal
Dealing with difficult and challenging people
In order to facilitate today’s training, you will need:
Copies of the PowerPoint slides printed three to a page with space for notes for each participant
Copies of the accompanying ‘Starting to lead’ handout for each participant
Flip chart paper and marker pens
All resources for this training are available from
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2. Outcomes from today
By the end of this Bite Sized Training you will be able to:
Understand why middle leaders need to have vision
Describe your vision for the area you lead
Knowhow to communicate your vision
Use your vision to identify strengths and areas for development
To plan and lead effective change and improvement
INTRODUCTION
From Vision Into Practice will focus on five key pieces of learning that those new to middle leadership need to know:
Understand why middle leaders need to have vision
Describe your vision for the area you lead
Knowhow to communicate your vision
Use your vision to identify strengths and areas for development
To plan and lead effective change and improvement
So, before we address the first objective, let’s consider this term ‘vision’.
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3. Activity: What is vision?
Write your ideas on post its
collate your post its with others in the group
Look at the similarities and differences.
Come up with a group definition of the term ‘Vision’.
Individually, use post its to record words that come into your head when you consider the term vision in the context of school leadership.
Now collate your post its on a piece of flip chart paper with those of others in the group
Look at the similarities and differences.
Use the post its to come up with a group definition of the term ‘Vision’.
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4. The leadership / management issue
According to Best and Thomas (2003): “Leadership is about mission, direction and motivation. It is the expression of vision and the motivation of others to achieve that vision. Management is the expression of leadership, the mechanisms by which vision is achieved. It is the designing and carrying out of plans … and … getting things done.”
ACTIVITY
Work together to identify those elements of your middle leadership role that are:
Leadership
Management
Administration
Do you think the balance is right?
What would you change and why?
According to Best and Thomas (2003):
“Leadership is about mission, direction and motivation. It is the expression of vision and the motivation of others to achieve that vision.
Management is the expression of leadership, the mechanisms by which vision is achieved. It is the designing and carrying out of plans … and … getting things done.”
Administration is about keeping things ticking over.
Consider this scenario:
LEADERSHIP - A farmer takes on a new piece of land. The farmer thinks about what he wants from the land (the goal), to achieve this (strategy) and what the land will look like once work is complete (vision).
MANAGEMENT - The farmer takes the plans for the new piece land and works day and night to turn these plans into reality. The ground is neatly ploughed, seed is sown and weeds kept under control. Gradually the crops germinate and flourish under the care of the farmer.
ADMINISTRATION – As the crops grow and flourish, the farmer makes sure that weeds are removed, the crops are tended and watered and, eventually, harvested.
ACTIVITY
Work together to identify those elements of your middle leadership role that are:
Leadership
Management
Administration
Do you think the balance is right?
What would you change and why?

5. ACTIVITY: Communicating the vision
Try to summarise the vision you have for your area of the school in either one short paragraph or an illustration.
If someone were to visit your school, what evidence would they find of your vision for your area?
How do you communicate this vision to your colleagues, students and parents?
This activity will encourage us all to firm up our vision. To start with, let’s consider this:
Try to summarise the vision you have for your area of the school in either one short paragraph or an illustration.
It is all very well knowing we have a vision but is the EVIDENCE of it. Consider this:
If someone were to visit your school, what evidence would they find of your vision for your area?
Finally, we might have vision and it might be present in the areas we lead, but how do we share this with the people that matter. Consider this:
How do you communicate this vision to your colleagues, students and parents?
Our vision is the driver of our leadership and should inform everything that we do. It should be the first thing that we consider when we are planning change and improvement.

6. TASK: HOW DO YOU KNOW IF THE AREA YOU LEAD IS EFFECTIVE?
Effective subject or pastoral areas in any school:
Provide a caring environment for pupils
Involve pupils fully in the life of the school
Raise the expectations of pupils and staff
Use rewards rather than punishments
ACTIVITY
Consider these key indicators of an effective school:
Which would you rate GREEN – we do this consistently well
Which would you rate AMBER – we sometimes do this well
Which would you rate RED – we seldom or never do this well.
What would be your first steps to move RED areas towards AMBER and AMBER areas towards GREEN?
How do you celebrate those GREEN areas?
Effective subject or pastoral areas in any school:
tend to be located in schools which are centrally concerned with providing a caring environment for pupils
place an emphasis upon involving pupils fully in the life of the school
have an overt concern with raising expectations of both pupils and staff
stress the importance of raising pupils’ expectations in the search for increased effectiveness
use rewards rather than punishments to change behaviour and motivate pupils
ACTIVITY
This activity uses a useful leadership monitoring tool called RAG MONITORING – where RAG stands for RED, AMBER, GREEN
Consider these key indicators of an effective school:
Which would you rate GREEN – we do this consistently well
Which would you rate AMBER – we sometimes do this well
Which would you rate RED – we seldom or never do this well.
What would be your first steps to move RED areas towards AMBER and AMBER areas towards GREEN?
How do you celebrate those GREEN areas?
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7. Establishing baselines
ACTIVITY: Knowing your area well
You have been asked to write an entry about your area for the school website. What would you write?
You may not have included those areas you would want to improve. What would you leave out?
Here is a simple way of identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the area of school you lead:
ACTIVITY: Knowing your area well
You have been asked to write an entry about your area for the school website. What would you write?
You may not have included those areas you would want to improve. What would you leave out?
We need baselines to identify what we are good at and what we need to improve so that all children learn and make good progress.
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8. Knowing your area of the school: Self evaluation
How well are you doing?
How do you know?
What actions are you taking to improve?
Think more closely about your area of school and consider these three questions:
How well are you doing?
How do you know?
What actions are you taking to improve?
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9. Evaluation should not just be about data.
The reality ….
the quality of teaching and learning
the curriculum
care and guidance provided by the school
the aspiration challenge and support from school leaders and governors
support from families
the pupils’ resilience and attitude to learning
ACTIVITY
How would you RAG rate each of these criteria for the area of school you lead?
There are a number of factors that colour our judgment on the quality of the areas of school we lead:
the quality of teaching and learning
the curriculum
care and guidance provided by the school
the aspiration challenge and support from school leaders and governors
support from families
the pupils’ resilience and attitude to learning
ACTIVITY
How would you RAG rate each of these criteria for the area of school you lead?
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10. Strategic planning How well are you doing? How do you know?
Where do you want to be?
What must we change to get there?
How will we know when we’ve arrived?
ACTIVITY
Work through this five step model for one thing you and your team would like to improve.
Strategic planning lets us take our vision, add in our baseline assessment of where things are now and use our evidence to decide where we want to be and how to get there.
Here’s how it works:
How well are you doing? – Consider a range of factors: attainment, pupil well being, staff well being, parent satisfaction etc. what you include here is up to you and your team.
How do you know? – This is the evidence you use. This can be hard evidence e.g. data, or softer data like ‘thank you’ cards from parents.
Where do you want to be? – This is where your vision comes in. What do you want for the area you lead? Do your team agree?
What must we change to get there? – If we keep doing the same old thing, we will always get the same old results. So, what do you and your team want to change to improve things.
How will we know when we’ve arrived? The leadership expert Steven Covey said “start with the end in mind” as one of this “Seven habits of highly effective people”. What will the area you lead look like when you and your team have achieve your goals.
Note – Each step refers to ‘you and your team’. Think back to the work you have done on leading your team. Why should we involve our teams in the changes we want to implement?
ACTIVITY
Work through this five step model for one thing you and your team would like to improve.

11. There’s no ‘I’ in TEAM Activity: Decision making
Generally, all middle leaders will consider the following factors when making decisions:
The impact on students
The impact on your area of the school
The implications on other areas of the school
The likely impact on the school as a whole
The public implications – what will be seen externally?
The hidden implications – what will go unnoticed or surface later?
Produce a mind-map to show how your middle leadership takes into account these factors when you make decisions.
Activity: Decision making
Generally, all middle leaders will consider the following factors when making decisions:
The impact on students
The impact on your area of the school
The implications on other areas of the school
The likely impact on the school as a whole
The public implications – what will be seen externally?
The hidden implications – what will go unnoticed or surface later?
Produce a mind-map to show how your middle leadership takes into account these factors when you implement the change you planned in the last activity.

12. Make it Work at Work
What are you going to DO as a result of this Bite Sized Training session?
MAKING IT WORK AT WORK
ACTIVITY: What will you do as a result of this Bite Sized Training?
Working in groups, look at the action sheet you have produced during today’s training.
What are the three key learning points for you?
What will you change tomorrow to improve your middle leadership?
How will you know when your change has been successful?
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13. Where next?
FROM VISION INTO PRACTICE – is the third in a series of Bite Sized training resources designed to develop the skills and knowledge of those new to middle leadership in schools, colleges and academies.
Other training in the LEARNING TO LEAD series include:
Starting to lead
Leading your team
Performance management and appraisal
Dealing with difficult and challenging people
Bite Sized Training offers a wide range of school based CPD sessions designed to be used as sharply focused yet active training sessions of no more than 45 minutes in length. Bite Sized Training materials are produced by Steve Burnage through Steve is an experienced author, trainer and education consultant with over 25 years experience of working in UK schools.
For details of other CPD offered through Bite Sized Training, or call
FROM VISION INTO PRACTICE – is the third in a series of Bite Sized training resources designed to develop the skills and knowledge of those new to middle leadership in schools, colleges and academies.
Other training in the LEARNING TO LEAD series include:
Starting to lead
Leading your team
Performance management and appraisal
Dealing with difficult and challenging people
Bite Sized Training offers a wide range of school based CPD sessions designed to be used as sharply focused yet active training sessions of no more than 45 minutes in length. Bite Sized Training materials are produced by Steve Burnage through Steve is an experienced author, trainer and education consultant with over 25 years experience of working in UK schools.
For details of other CPD offered through Bite Sized Training, or call
Bite Sized Training - Brought to you by Call or