HEADTEACHER George Lloyd did not rest on his laurels when a report by inspectors described the leadership and management of his school as “excellent”.
Instead he hired a team of management consultants to bring a business approach to improving the skills and capabilities of the school leadership team.
He and and the five assistant headteachers at Bishop Rawstorne secondary in Preston, Lancashire, spent three days doing exercises designed to improve teamwork.
The result, he said, is an even more effective leadership team. “Our systems are now much more efficient. The way we communicate is better and our roles and responsibilities have become clearer in terms of delivery.”
Two immediate changes were to get different team members other than the head to set the agendas for meetings other than the head, and to split large meetings into smaller groups.
“I am now part of the team rather than dominating it,” he said. “We also try to give our colleagues more quality time.”
He called in Mercuri Urval, whose prices start at pound;4,000 for team-building, after his C of E school received a glowing report from the Office for Standards in Education last year.
“We could have just sat and gloated,” he said. “The course was expensive, but beneficial.”
Claire Ronan, a former primary deputy head who switched to management consultancy, devised exercises to “raise awareness”.
In one the teachers had to draw a picture demonstrating where they felt the school was and where it was heading, and other team members had to interpret it.
