It sometimes seems that senior school managers might as well work at home. Nearly all the briefing documents, strategy plans, check lists, budget guidance and safety regulations that the modern manager must write or live by are now available on the web. Why strive for novelty when a laptop can provide all you might want to copy, adopt, adapt or read?
The Department for Education and Skills has had a gargantuan collection of online documents for some years, but local education authority sites are also being enhanced. Nottingham, for example, has more than 50 policy documents online, and its 99-page behaviour-support plan, “Raising Motivation and Self Esteem”, is available at: www.nottinghamschools.co.ukeduwebKeyDocumentsBS%20plan%20MAIN% 20doc.pdf. Devon offers 41 pages on behaviour support at: www.devon.gov.ukealj4pbehaviour
Back in Nottingham, this month’s slide presentation on the proposed five-term year could enliven a staff or governors’ meeting, available at: www.nottinghamschools.co.ukeduwebstory.aspx?id=6
A benevolent government might one day set aside money to catalogue material, but this may be unnecessary as all you need do is type some cunningly chosen words into Google and the knowledge is yours. Or visit the list of all local education authorities at: http:www.dfes.gov.ukinfodfeelea.htm
Then if the technology fails you, at least some names and numbers are available.
Readers can email suggestions on future Internet Insights to Sam Saunders at J.P.Saunders@leeds.ac.uk
