Tag Archives: leadership

ICT Innovator AUPs for teachers

  March 31, 2013 - 14:58 | , ,
2 Comments

Acceptable Use Policies are a necessary and important document – contract – for teachers in any school because it is imperative that we are protected from the potential danger working online can bring. Following an intense scrutiny of safeguarding and child protection at our school, we published a strict and comprehensive Staff ICT AUP. For example, staff should not connect with any pupil on facebook until one year after they are of school leaving age, and only then with caution as through siblings and friends it can connect you to current pupils. However, two years on we have included in the new ICT strategy a review of this policy to incorporate a section for innovative teachers who want to employ … Continue reading →

Giphy spices up staff communique

  February 8, 2013 - 11:48 |
Leave a comment

Following James Michie’s persistence on the distracting quality of giphy, I opened up the site and found myself bouncing around animated images for a while. Some of them are awesome. And because I thought so, others might agree and included one in my weekly ICT Tip newsletter. The newsletter email was sent at 07:00. By 09:00, three people had said how much they liked the animated pooch! And one person said how much they liked the ICT tip. Go figure. NB: interestingly, the person who liked the tip is an experienced user. Whereas the newsletter is aimed at beginner users, it seems it is helpful to untrained (self-taught – isn’t that pretty much all of us??) users too. Also, he … Continue reading →

Frog: the first INSET day for all teachers

  April 5, 2012 - 07:50 |
4 Comments

Frog learning platform comes to Bennies I have to prepare for our first Frog INSET day for 80+ teachers – 17/4/12. I had an afternoon with our excellent Frog Champions to discuss the detail of the day. We got to here: Time Duration Activity 0900 10 Intro and overview 0910 80 Breakout rooms for compulsory activities book a room upload file and multiple files create workspace if finished consult lesson plan 1030 15 Coffee 1045 50 Breakout rooms for differentiated activities. Feedback forms 1135 25 Cloisters Where have we got to and where do we go from here? Frog Champions. 1200 30 Mass   You can see all the planning and prep work that needs to be done on this … Continue reading →

MA – Critical Commentary: Distributed Leadership

  December 30, 2009 - 11:55 |
2 Comments

The conference at St Mary’s University College in October was a big event for me. It brought home the significance I felt about embarking on a Masters course and going back to university after fourteen years away. No-one had asked me to do it. I am not certain it will bring financial reward or move me on in my career. I wanted to know more. I was excited to hear Professor Dame Pat Collarbone was presenting the keynote. As one of the fore-runners at the National College of School Leadership, which I had visited in the summer, I anticipated an insight to school leadership national on a national scale. Having worked in many schools, I have evaluated many leaders, in … Continue reading →

MA – Critical Reflection: Distributed Leadership

  December 30, 2009 - 11:54 |
Leave a comment

Schools are complicated places pulling together swathes of people, old and young, in an ever-changing stasis. Distributed leadership provides a theoretical framework which aspires to channel this change toward school improvement. It is like a riverbed steering water to its destination, seemingly in charge, and yet shaped by every passing drop. In this critical reflection I will examine the theoretical concept of distributed leadership and analyse evidence both for and against it as a model for schools seeking to improve learning outcomes. I will assess the possibilities and pitfalls, and draw on my own experience to show that good intentions alone are not sufficient to facilitate the implementation of distributed leadership. In conclusion I will argue that, whereas distributed leadership … Continue reading →