ChangeEagle

@Samstricko181 Who specifically is designing this policy? Do we know? It’s unbelievable..

If the SEND leaks are true I really worry where this will leave families, children & schools. I question/worry about… - A return to action/action + under a new name - Who will determine a child’s SEND needs - The workload of SENDCos

@mrJ_JonesPE @ProudlyPastoral It impacts heads of department and other staff too. There are urgent decisions about results, retakes, supporting students, enrolling sixth form…far more than a handful of people

@ProudlyPastoral True, that’s not the majority of staff though is it and certainly isn’t my experience. If I had more followers I would run a poll 😂

I really worry that we're going to get to a point where the summer ends up being 4 weeks (2 weeks really due to results) It will have a much worse impact on students and staff. We already have the shortest summer break in Europe. Everyone needs that time off to recharge

@StarlightMcKenz @Samstricko181 @2tubies As an independent reviewer of Governor Board decisions,I see that too.I agree. I also see malicious and vexatious things that come from pure malice and some frightening motivations incl. trying to use systems and processes to intimidate people to act/not act in particular ways.

@changeeagle @Samstricko181 @2tubies That maybe, but malicious things rarely come from nowhere and most can be managed before escalation. As an Independent reviewer of Governing Board Decisions I often see many earlier opportunities that were missed to prevent time eating.

A big issue with school complaints has been the ever growing trend of treating parents as customers, which they aren’t. Of course valid complaints should be heard but there’s little definition of what this really is.

@roisenav @tombennett71 @thetimes Nurseries shouldn’t be toilet training children. They can assist, but that’s a parental responsibility. We all work, but parents need to spend time in the evenings or weekends/whenever free doing this.

@tombennett71 @thetimes Why is no asking what is happening in the nurseries that these children are coming from. Most parents work. Most children aged 2-4 are in nursery places for most of the day. Why aren’t they meeting age expectations in nursery?

Utterly damning report in @thetimes today about the growing unpreparedness of children entering reception. These aren’t rounding errors: almost a quarter of children begin lacking basic capabilities and habits, like toilet training, language or social skills, and coping independently. First of all, the smoking gun here is almost certainly a smoking phone. Apps, screens, and doomscrolling provides an easy, lazy simulation of childcare, but is really a pacifier for the growing mind, learning nothing, thinking about nothing. Secondly, I’ve always resisted calls for national parenting advice/ support programs, on the grounds of state over reach. But with this level of structural incapacity, I’m not so sure anymore. At a time when England’s schools are rightly drawing admiration from countries around the world, it’s vital we don’t lose that edge to the need to provide generational remedial support for the basics that parents should provide. We need a reset on the relationship of expectation.

@StarlightMcKenz @Samstricko181 @2tubies They still take time and resource and a wider culture which permits high volumes of it creates risk in the system. The wider system needs to create the right checks and balances to stop it. Malicious things cause harm.

@changeeagle @Samstricko181 @2tubies Malicious complaints are not difficult to deal with if you have a good sound policy and stick to it.

@StarlightMcKenz @Samstricko181 @2tubies Not if it’s malicious. It can waste time and cause harm and present risk. Not all people are good. Not all humans are good. We need checks and balance to stop things being abused as it takes away resource to deal with the things that need to be dealt with.

@Samstricko181 @changeeagle @2tubies The complainers are the public and as public servants, they are the public you serve even though they occupy a huge spectrum from the sensible to those suffering with mental illnesses or language difficulties. Their complaints of nothing else enables you to improve communication.

@StarlightMcKenz @Samstricko181 @2tubies Vexatious complaints do exist - the same way that well-founded complaints do exist. Not all humans are good. Not all teachers are good - that’s fair. But neither are all parents. Some people are weaponising the systems for their own ends. Sometimes to stop safeguarding.

@Samstricko181 @2tubies What happens if you change the word vexatious to frustrated? Parents are the public. Not all are articulate or have the knowledge about schools they often assume. Vexatious complaints never just appear from nowhere. They are usually after years of parents feeling unheard.

@cerysturner7 @bphillipsonMP @bhatti_saqib @grahamstuart @LauraTrottMP @grok @grok ?

@cerysturner7 @bphillipsonMP @bhatti_saqib @grahamstuart @LauraTrottMP @grok what is concerning about the TRA’s approach? What is this bit about?

The education secretary @bphillipsonMP will shortly face MPs in parliament for the latest round of education questions. Topics will include SEND, teacher retention and mobile phones in schools. 🧵

@cerysturner7 @bphillipsonMP @bhatti_saqib @grahamstuart @LauraTrottMP @grok @grok @SuperGrok

@grok What is this about?

@dan_ofsted @hb_history But I’m not trained in your framework and in contrast, your Inspectors are. In order to make judgements on leadership on your framework, it would be fair to give school leaders the same training as your Inspectors. Can we access that? Thanks

@hb_history All outlined in the operating guide.

I have now seen three headteachers/executive leaders across X and LinkedIn reveal that, on the initial call, they were asked to self-evaluate explicitly against the Ofsted toolkit - despite key Ofsted personnel saying the use of the toolkit wouldn’t be required.

“When is it my turn to be ill?” A short leadership read on why headteacher absence is treated as a systems failure, not a systems design issue. Worth five minutes. headteacher-chat.link/leaders-ill

Headship at the Edge: What 2025 Really Feels Like for School Leaders headteacher-chat.link/head2025edge

@Strickomaster The word safeguarding has morphed to become so all encompassing it means nothing and actually overall, impacts on capacity to do real safeguarding work. The word itself needs redefining. ‘You confiscated my child’s phone - complaint on safeguarding.’

@smithsmm Yes, it’s like we’ve stepped back into a Time Machine. I’m not willing to put my staff back through this. We’ve improved teaching without that nonsense. No idea how to manage the framework though at this stage.

Classroom observation tells us very little about teaching , apart from as a snapshot of that moment on that day. We’ve moved away from observation as they are a pretty invalid way of judging what’s going on beyond the surface. Yet Ofsted seem to have stepped back in time

@Strickomaster @gerrydiamond71 I have seen it loads.

I have never seen a pupil return to school after multiple suspensions & change their behaviour. It has never shocked them onto a different path,it accelerated the one they were already on.We need to address the root cause of the behaviour that is driving it & find another way🧠🌱

@lehain And some kids play in multiple teams so how on earth would that work! Is this an error?

@lehain These seems ridiculous. Why can’t we give them free sports team kit to play in? Surely that is better for families so they don’t have to worry about buying stuff for such events.

Government finally publicly admitting that state schools will no longer be allowed to have sports team kits or cadet/scout uniforms (unless kids aren't made to wear them...) So posh school teams can look smart, but not state school ones. 🤔 schoolsweek.co.uk/school-uniform…

@PrincipalTASE @kennygfrederick I’d love a copy please

Our new Y11 independent study journal and prom tasks, The Climb has taken off and our amazing cohort are really working hard. Please let me know if you’d like a copy emailing out to you.