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Small schools face real challenges, not least when it comes to providing teachers with opportunities for their professional development.
Barbara Oaff discovers why size matters.
Small and perfectly formed? On paper, smaller schools appear to offer an idyllic learning environment. Yet it’s not picture-book perfect. Some must contend with geographical isolation. Meanwhile fewer teachers can make it harder to achieve the same exchange of ideas and information that happens effortlessly with larger numbers.
Enter Connect. Initiated by the GTC, the Connect network links teachers in schools who are leading and supporting the learning and development of their colleagues. Now, having listened to what members say they need, a project group is being developed to meet the particular needs of those who work in small schools.
Innovative answers
But what exactly are those needs? According to Mervyn Benfold, national co-ordinator of the National Association of Small Schools (NASS), they may include:
• isolation
• domination by larger schools
• higher training costs – with less value for money
• a disproportionate strain on heads, teachers and support staff.
And, while Mervyn stresses that many small schools have come up with innovative answers, he adds: “But of course, there is always more that could be done.”
One school that is actively developing its own strategies is Flitcham primary school in Norfolk, which has 93 pupils and four teachers. “If you aren’t careful you can feel isolated,” says head Roger Harman. To address the potential difficulties, his school has played a key role in creating a local small schools’ network.
Countering exclusion
Getting together with other schools in the region may help to counter feelings of remoteness and exclusion. But, warns Mervyn Benfold: “You can end up being the only small school in a cluster that becomes dominated by large schools. ”He continues: “They may raise issues that may not be the same as yours. They may share best practice that may not be appropriate for you. And you can find your own interests largely ignored. It doesn’t have to be like this, but it can be.”
When small schools are able to invest in continuing professional development, the cost can seem higher. “Sending people away for the day is, relatively speaking, expensive for a small school, in comparison to a large school,” says David Futerman, deputy head of Chesham Park community college, a small secondary school in Buckinghamshire.
Although David is keen to emphasise that the school manages CPD well, on cost he admits that: “Not only is it more, you may not get very good value. For instance, in a large school a teacher may be able to talk about what they learnt with several colleagues who are doing the same key stage. In a small school, there will be just one teacher doing that key stage, so the ripple effect is limited.”
Real benefit
Moreover, when teachers in small schools do take time out for CPD, the strain this puts on the rest of the team can seem more intense. “Your influence gets larger as your school gets smaller,” explains Don Parker, head of Askwith community primary school in North Yorkshire, which has 78 students, four teachers and two part-time assistants. “When someone leaves the classroom for CPD, their absence can be felt far more widely and deeply because the individual can be responsible for so much more.” But he believes that this doesn’t have to be a negative, arguing: “In fact, you can turn it into a positive, as we have done, but only if you are creative and lateral about it.”
Louise Armitage, head of Sutton CEVC primary school in North Yorkshire, has discovered one solution is to link up with other small schools in the area to run joint training days. “Our money goes so much further,” she explains. Meanwhile Nicola Harrison, head of Chiddingly school in East Sussex, ensures that when teachers return from a training day they explain how the lessons learned can be applied in various ways to different classes. “This way it’s of real benefit to the rest of us,” she says. At Glenis Price’s Colton primary school in Leeds, they have created a system where everyone’s performance is annually appraised, with the whole school working towards set improvement targets. “If you are prepared to be flexible and to support each other you can get great CPD results. It is not always easy, but it’s possible,” she says.
• Interested in joining or want to find out more? Visit: www.gtce.org.uk/Connect
• Barbara Oaff is a freelance journalist.
On target
Launched in autumn 2003, the Connect network stimulates good practice in CPD, supporting its leadership and coordination and helping to raise its status.
The network is run electronically, without traditional postal mailing. Under the Connect banner there are conferences, online discussion boards, access to case studies and a quarterly email newsletter.
Of the new project group, GTC professional networks manager Elizabeth Gowing says: “Emphasis will be placed on how national developments can be tailored to small schools. We’re also looking at how best practice within small schools can be shared, with the opportunity to discuss topics and produce solutions that are unique to this group.”
Connect’s first specific event for small schools is a conference focusing on the particular issues and opportunities they face – date and venue yet to be confirmed at the time of going to press. Funding to cover the cost of attending is available. Other work is expected to follow. As Elizabeth says: “This is just the beginning.”
Already the development has received a warm welcome from its target audience. Says Glenis Price: “Linking us together is the way forward. It will enable us to develop our own expertise and pass it on to others. The potential is huge.” And David Futerman agrees, adding: “Some of us are already managing CPD well, but we could all do with additional ways of improving. Connect’s small schools group promises to help us do just that.” While Roger Harman says: “This group looks like it could build on what many of us are achieving or are trying to achieve.”
• Useful link: www.gtce.org.uk/Connect
