TRAINING PAGE

Leadership team Training and bespoke Briefing Session (Vt working groups wil progress quickly with these insights)

1. Training and intensive briefings need to be bespoke. Attending courses is not a good way to tackle the implementation of VT

2. The LT and Head need to be briefed first so that a clear understanding of the challenges is realised and the values of VT understood

3. Finally ALL school staff need to be trained.

If any of the above are ignored it is likely that the school will simply reinvent the past.

For whole school bespoke training and LT briefing sessions, please contact me direct at peter.a.barnard@btinternet.com or through this website. 

 The LT (you may invite governors) training and bespoke in-depth briefing covers

a) an examination of your school as a supported learning system (Systems Thinking)
b) the theoretical and practical background for VT
c) the sharing of the absolute best practices from 300 secondary schools
d) exactly what VT is and what it is not, including how VT changes learning relationships and improves teaching and learning
e) the key combination components of Systems understanding, parent partnership and student groups
e) the key management and transformation strategies
f) staffing and liaison issues
g) what happens in tutor time and how TT works
h) all questions will be answered and will include free ongoing support and guidance as needed
i) whole staff training can then be discussed





There are basically three  kinds of school with regard to VT:-

A) There are those that went or go vertical with little or no training. Some of these are OK but rarely realise and develop their full potential as organisations while some schools may even want to revert back because staff are not properly trained and are confronted with something THAT HAS NOT BEEN THOUGHT THROUGH. These schools think that by simply visiting other VT schools, the change VT is simple. In such cases, there are either critical mistakes that have been made or there has been an organisational failure of leadership  to understand and reap the full rewards that VT can bring. In effect, these school have not been trained and tested against best practice and need updating and VT needs to be relaunched. Headteachers and LTs here need new systems management understanding and especially an appreciation of learning relationships and learning support structures. They find it difficult to walk the values talk but often think they do! The LT have to be the key learners and leaders and it is good that so many contact this site to put right what is patently wrong.

B) There are those schools planning to go vertical by ensuring that their staff are fully trained and the LT properly briefed with up to date best practice. These will be more successful and innovative in managing a positive change to their organisational culture. It is VITAL, however, that the leadership team fully understands VT, the changes it can bring and the philosophical and psychological underpinning. To miss this critical training stage may well leave less experienced staff feeling undermined, overly challenged, resistant and insecure. Leadership, support, guidance and understanding is vital. Sadly, I come across too many schools 'doing VT their way' and planning daft things they have picked up from other schools.  Personally, I have to refuse to work with any school without first training the Leadership Team and ensuring that the LT fully understand VT and transformation.

C) There are those schools planning VT based on a limited view of what they are getting into. These tend to copy what the local school is doing even though there is a high chance that  such 'partner' schools have a compromised version of VT. They tend towards trying to develop old failed structures based on power relationships rather than new ones based upon trust and collegiality. These schools believe that they can somehow 'mandate' change rather than unleash it. They assume that Tutors can and should deliver systems and programmes (which they are not good at) rather than build necessary learning relationships with students and parents. These schools are heading for expensive, challenging and difficult times and considerable and unnecessary stress. Improvement will be slow over time. There is a large element of leadership failure and arrogance/ignorance in such schools and great misunderstanding here. In the end it is the LT that will either get it right or mess it all up!!

Managing and understanding the change to VT is not straightforward but should be fun. Please contact me using the form below or by e-mail direct if you need help or information. You might also contact a school on the Transition page to find out what training and advice did for them. (PLEASE SCROLL DOWN for DETAILS) Remember, the LT (Head and Deps) either breathe life into a school or are the kiss of death!

Types of Training

Commentary: training really is essential to make this change. The NPQH tends to be about compliance to a system that doesn't work!

Leadership Team                  Training plus key governors    

This is the critical First Stage. The whole LT is responsible for ensuring that they and the shool and community really understand VT. Most LTs do not have valid VT experience. Further, the LT has the greatest potential for messing up any change so it is imperative that LTs are fully briefed, know best practice and learn. Key to this is understanding are the three concepts of Ingroup Loyalty, customer care and systems management (all essential for transformation)

HOH and SENCO Training

Heads of House (Directors of Learning or whatever) effectively become Heads of School and must often make the move from being the Year Secretary who picks up all the pastoral pieces, to being the House Leader.  It is simply no good making the change to VT without the HOH understanding their role and the challenges that they face and having some idea of how to deal with them. The SENCO too, will need to understand the new opportunities that VT can offer and prepare to be far more visionary in effecting better support strategies. We want schools to be limited only by their own creativity not tired systems that don't work well. HOH (Heads of House or College) will not be able to do this job or understand it without the support, encouragement and guidance of the LT 

Full Staff Training

It is staggering how many schools are willing to implement VT without training staff properly by a) applying some sort of in-house effort or b) inviting the local school to help. This is appalling management. All staff need to understand VT even if this means challenging an organisational orthodoxy that has prevailed for too long. It is imperative that all staff understand that VT is not a simple pastoral change although this will be their immediate concern. Staff have a right to also see the 'big picture' and to develop a sense of ownership of the new ideas and especially in realising the critical role of the tutor. They need to understand the developing school culture and be assured that taking on the role of vertical tutor is fun and vital and less stressful than it is now. They will also need to see the sense of the full academic tutorial and real parent partnership. This is ECM and citizenship and is SEAL in action.

 Student Training

The school can then use the information above to best prepare students. The same principles of ownership and excitement about the journey will need to be conveyed. This is a critical part of the change process and needs considerable advice, thought and planning by schools. This is a vital component of school training. Again, schools ignore this at their peril. Students have been known to strike over VT and this is directly related to LT ignorance and arrogance or (false confidence).