Summit empowers school leaders across the region

Summit empowers school leaders across the region

Schools North East’s Annual Summit took place this week, with hundreds of school representatives in attendance.  It really was a privilege and pleasure to once again bid a very warm welcome to nearly 400 NE Head Teachers –  joined by a variety of national and regional media from TES to the BBC –  to what has always been the heart of our annual programme.  Yesterday was very different from our last Summit and, indeed, all of Schools North East’s major events and network meetings over the last 20 or so months.  This was our first physical Summit since October 2019; 24 months and one global pandemic ago.  That really did seem like a very long time and a very different time as well.

As part of the return to physical events, we were equally delighted to welcome 220 delegates to our School Business Management Conference, which took place on Wednesday this week.

Despite all of the wonders and benefits of Zoom/ Teams/ WhatsApp etc delegates at both events agreed that one of the hardest things about the entire pandemic has been how much more difficult it has been for everyone to support each other in the way that we used to.  Its been far easier to connect in terms of diaries and mileage, but harder to connect as colleagues on an emotional level, rather than through the more restricted, often very tightly focussed and scheduled channel of the virtual meeting. One Head Teacher summed up the general feeling by saying: “It was not only fabulous to be amongst colleagues and feel the hubbub of our educational community but also the speakers were truly excellent! So thank you! I feel the most like my old self than I have in a long time.”  The buzz in the venue as colleagues caught up with each other for the first time in what has seemed an age, was truly a delight to experience.

Schools North East Chair, Head Teacher John Hardy began the Summit with a round of applause to recognise the immense hard work that NE school staff had done to support their students and communities over the last 20 months, celebrating their achievements and acknowledging that schools in the North East have and are doing a tremendous job under intense and ever-changing circumstances. 

Jen Elliot, CEO of Summit Main Sponsor EPM, also noted how wonderful it was to be there in person, meeting and networking with Head Teachers and listening to what they had to say. 

The theme of the Summit was ‘Education Reimagined’; both a continuation of the Summit 2018 theme of ‘Changing the Game’ and an acknowledgement, even if the government doesn’t seem to share it, that the pandemic has ‘changed the game’ completely in education, especially in our region.  The education system itself failed the stress test of the pandemic, letting down staff, students, and communities, and now urgently needs a complete ‘reimagining’ rather than the piecemeal tinkering that currently passes for a strategic response to a national disaster.

Chris Zarraga, Director of Schools North East, said “it must be acknowledged that throughout the pandemic you and your schools ‘reimagined’ education on an almost daily basis:  How staff worked, virtual teaching, transformed school routines, support for students and parents, and stepping in to fill the many voids left by services that couldn’t maintain their support for families in the way that schools did.”  This acknowledgement was a constant theme throughout the day that our “schools and their leaders have proven themselves to be ethical and agile, adapting to constant change and delivering under pressure” and that our young people and school staff now need policymakers, Ministers, a DfE, an inspectorate, a strategic plan, and an education system that can say the same.  

Our Summit theme of 2019 was ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’ as school leaders paid homage to the immense men and women from our region’s past that shaped the modern world.  Summit 21 was the first opportunity that the Schools North East network has had to come together physically and to recognise that If the last 20 months or so has shown us anything, its that in our region’s schools there are still plenty of giants: from senior leaders to cleaning staff, classroom teachers to lunchtime supervisors, SBMs, administrators, and a whole host more of unsung heroes.  

The school system may have failed the stress test, but the enormous human potential within our schools stepped into the breach time and time again. The system was maintained by the spontaneous actions of NE school staff, responding to the needs of their students and communities.

Chris said: “Future staff generations in NE schools will most certainly have ‘the shoulders of giants’ to stand on.  As an organisation Schools North East is incredibly proud to be associated with the people who have played such a critical role in our country’s response to this challenge.”   

The Summit’s key messages were based on the fact that the need to ‘reimagine’ education is not just a whimsical one or born out of the trauma of a once-in-a-generation crisis; that the need to ‘reimagine’ is a recognition that the changes of the last 19 months utterly eclipse the previous 19 years’ in scope, scale, and impact.  It must be recognised that our schools, our students, our communities have all changed, our working life and the rules and routines that govern it have changed beyond recognition.   

As a community of schools in a region amongst the hardest hit by the covid crisis, we must resist the pressure to go back to February 2020.  We must ensure that policymakers face the hard truths about the base to which they seem to want to return; that the perennial issues in the education system, which are all too often not fully understood by policy makers or the media, are examined and addressed.

The Summit stressed how vital it is that NE schools have a strong voice as we move into this changed landscape, to ensure that the many policy mistakes of the pandemic and before are not doubled-down on as we rush back to ‘normal’.  As part of this, Chris announced that Schools North East will be launching a refreshed ‘Manifesto for NE Education’; the key principles that all political parties should be willing to adopt if they are serious about addressing the long-term issues that our schools and communities faced and will face moving forward. 

This was originally launched December 2019 and the pandemic period time and again highlighted the relevance and importance of the principles within it.  Recognise our regional context – some areas have been hit far harder than others and lack the existing infrastructure to make up for this; Promote a positive narrative around North East education – otherwise the Secretary of State will need to offer an awful lot more than £3K bursaries; Evidence-based policymaking – what does the evidence say we should do, not decide to do something then look for evidence that might agree with you; A long term view – more vital than ever before; Greater support for Early Years; A joined up approach from cabinet to the chalkface; Support the North East’s teaching profession at every level; Ensure all pupils can access an appropriate and broad curriculum; and Targeted support for those with the greatest needs – it has never been more important to recognise that one-size-fits-all won’t get us anywhere, even back to Feb 20. 

All of the Summit’s illustrious speakers from across the world of education built upon those themes, especially the importance of a strong, professional voice to reflect the lived experience of our schools and young people.  Caroline Derbyshire, the National Chair of the Headteachers’ Roundtable, invited attendees to re-imagine the educational landscape for the North East, taking on board what they had learned during the pandemic. While Caroline shared highlights of the alternative white paper proposals, Head Teachers were asked to consider their own role in shaping the rebuilding process.

‘Make a bit of noise’ she urged attendees. “Why do Head Teachers enact things they do not agree with?”  This chimed with the underlying tone of the Summit, a focus on empowering those who work in schools to stand firm and change the game themselves, rather than let policy and decision makers do it ‘to them. 

Mel Ainscow, Professor of Education at both the University of Manchester and the University of Glasgow, echoed this key point from Schools North East’s manifesto with his session ‘Moving knowledge around: a strategy for educational recovery’, arguing that it should be teachers – not government officials – who have the best expertise to move education forward and away from the challenges they faced during Covid.  

Mel said: “The current system is dysfunctional and the next step must be peer review, with schools reviewing each other”. He then went on to say that, “‘in ten years’ time, I’d love to see all schools in a network like Schools North East and for the government to let them get on with the job”, echoing the theme of the School Business Management Conference which took place earlier this week – Thrive in a Climate of Change. 

Our delegates left the Summit, tired but filled with a renewed enthusiasm, reassured that Schools North East would continue to ensure that their voice and the stories of their schools would reach Ministers, policymakers, and the media.  With the help of North East schools, Schools North East will help Ministers, the DfE, and policymakers to ‘Reimagine Education’ and ensure that education tomorrow will be better and brighter for everyone in our region’s schools. 

Speakers at this year’s Schools North East Annual Summit included:

• Chris Russell (National Director of Education, Ofsted)
• Richard Gerver (Best-selling author and speaker)
• Mel Ainscow (Professor of Education at University of Manchester and University of Glasgow)
• Frank Norris (Advisor to the Northern Powerhouse Partnership)
• Caroline Derbyshire (Chair of Head Teachers Roundtable)
• John Tomsett (Author and Educational Consultant)
• Kim Mitchell (Deputy Director, Department for Education)
• Paul Green (Head of Opportunity North East, Department for Education)
• Judith Kidd (Head of Dixons Teaching Institute, Dixons Academies Trust and home to Bradford Research School)