By Liz Shapland, Director of Education Services (Secondary, Special and AP)
We know how challenging it can be to keep up to date with educational policy and change.
Whilst some organisations offer weekly and sometimes even daily emails, this can sometimes only add to the “noise”; and social media, whilst helpful, can often lack nuance and detail. For busy senior leaders it can be easy to miss key updates and often difficult to identify the details of what is most important.
This is why we introduced a new package of briefings, aimed specifically at secondary senior leaders.
Our half-termly, twilight Secondary Senior Leaders’ Briefings are designed to keep secondary senior leaders up to date with national and local change across the academic year.
With the briefings offered as a package at school level to allow flexible attendance, according to areas of responsibility, we were keen to support senior leaders in “navigating the noise” as well as offering a few helpful tips along the way.
Two schools offer their perspectives on how they have used the briefings in their own schools.
Beth Honnor, headteacher at Marriotts School reflects:
“At Marriotts we are finding the Senior Leaders Briefings incredibly useful. As head, I access the session live and then share relevant slides, information and recordings with members of the senior leadership team.
This is often followed up in team meetings or line management sessions and is a useful starting point for discussion. I also find it helpful to follow up any key questions afterwards with our SEA.
It is particularly useful to receive summary guidance on current policy, meaning I am reassured that we are ‘au fait’ with recent developments, and the News round-up section is a useful ‘one stop shop’.”
Tamara Kirk, deputy headteacher at Ashlyns School, identifies how the briefings have supported her and colleagues, including implementing meaningful change:
“The briefings are incredibly helpful for us as leaders. Having everything clearly distilled into a focused, half-termly update is not only convenient but also incredibly effective in helping us identify key takeaways that we can directly apply to our work.
The insights gained from the briefings have enabled us to ensure that the school stays aligned with the latest developments.
We used the ‘four kinds of wrong’ mock feedback principle in our training session for staff when looking at all assessments. They loved it! We titled the session ‘Precision assessment and feedback’. Once staff had figured out the ‘type of wrong’ they wanted to work on, they focused on the tasks they would set in class to address this. It’s going to be a strand of our Teaching & Learning that we will keep coming back to. So, the ripple effect and influence of that particular briefing has been far-reaching for us.
In short, I think the briefings are just brilliant. In our roles, we are so time-poor, so having something that is direct, informative and specifically relevant to our work is incredibly valuable. I’m also a big fan of the curated News round-up as well. They cut through the noise and reduce the workload involved in researching updated initiatives, by distilling and focusing on what really matters in our local context. They have been a game changer!”
Meet Paul Jenkins, Head of Secondary Curriculum Services
Paul Jenkins joined HFL Education in September 2023 and has previously dedicated 26 years to comprehensive schools, serving in roles such as head of department, advanced skills teacher, head of sixth form, headteacher, and executive headteacher.
Before joining HFL, Paul was the headteacher of a Hampshire school, taking on a supporting role at a second RI school just before the pandemic. He contributed to various county panels for standards, supported other schools and co-ran the new headteacher training programme. Paul also sat on IRPs for exclusions and built a strong network in Hampshire before moving to Hertfordshire.
Paul holds a drama degree from Hull and a master’s degree in playwriting. Initially aspiring to work in theatre, he transitioned to teaching drama, developing his subject specialism with professional work in theatre and TV. He enjoyed his role as head of department at a specialist performing arts school, managing a £100k annual budget for the arts.
As an advanced skills teacher, Paul provided demonstration lessons from Year R to postgraduate levels. He expanded his expertise to include active teaching and learning strategies across various subjects. As head of sixth form, he grew the student body by 66% to 350 students and improved progress from the bottom to the top national quartile.
After a brief stint as deputy headteacher and chair of governors for an alternative provision provider, Paul returned to his first school as headteacher. After nearly nine years in headship roles, he sought a change and joined HFL.
Paul remains involved in the creative arts and is excited about the opportunities his role at HFL offers. Please do get in touch with Paul and the secondary team by emailing secondary@hfleducation.org if you would like any support or advice, or if you are interested in finding out more about secondary effectiveness.
