Association of Education Advisers

Peterborough AoEA Afternoon Briefing
2024-04-23 16:00 - 17:00 (Europe/London)
Join us for a live session from NetSupport House from Les Walton CBE, Founder and Executive Chair of the Association of Education Advisers. Find out more about our Accredited Quality Standard, Continuous Professional Development, Community to Share Good Practice, and Register of Accredited Associates.

Register by clicking here.

International Accredited Quality Standard
Applications are invited for the next round of the International Quality Standard for those who support and enable school and college improvement.
There are two levels of accreditation; Associate and Senior Associate. The process is based on clearly defined criteria on the skills and knowledge of the adviser, school improvement, governance, the management of change, organisational development and quality systems. It provides an opportunity to reflect on, and showcase individual skills and experience, receive external affirmation and opportunities for further development.

Share Great Practice
Join a community of over 500 senior leaders in education, listen to international speakers sharing their expertise, or accredited associates sharing best practice at our Annual Summit or monthly Educational Keeping-in-Touch meetings. Colleagues can enrol on the AoEA Hub, a powerful portal which enables connection, networking, and knowledge share across the UK and internationally.

Register of Accredited Associates
The register is an opportunity for accredited Associates and organisations to promote their experience, knowledge and expertise with fellow professionals and the wider education community.

Peterborough AoEA Breakfast Briefing
2024-04-23 09:00 - 10:00

EduKIT: Rethinking Report Writing
2024-04-18 17:30 - 18:30 | Microsoft Teams
For this EduKIT we will welcome Dr Susan Mandala, Associate Professor (Research) in Pragmatic Stylistics at the University of Sunderland. She will talk about report writing… with a difference.
Rethinking Report Writing: An EduKIT presentation by Dr Susan Mandala
Writing is hard. Few would disagree with that. But for educationalists, writing matters. Whether it is reports for school improvement; evaluations of school governance; strategic plans for curriculum development; or expressions of our own professional ability, writing affects lives. When writing works, the right things get done, the right projects get off the ground, the best ideas come to the fore. Increasingly, however, we see writing that disappoints. Data is described rather than analysed; ideas are generated but not organised; conclusions are made but do not flow from the account presented. In this EduKIT, I explore, from my perspective as a linguist, writer, and writing consultant, why such issues occur, why conventional writing advice often fails us, and how two techniques from qualitative research, thematic coding and card-sorting, are a way forward for writing in education.
Dr Susan Mandala is Associate Professor (Research) at the University of Sunderland and a professional Writing Consultant. As a specialist in stylistics, the study of choice in language, she has published two books (Language in Science Fiction and Fantasy: The Question of Style and Twentieth Century Drama as Ordinary Talk: Speaking Between the Lines) and numerous scholarly essays and journal articles. She is currently interested in the way linguistic approaches apply more widely in other disciplines and professions, and her latest article ‘Stylistics, popular culture, and educational research: A systematised review and case study’, is published in English Text Construction, 16 (2): 144-168. As a Writing Consultant, she delivers a range of workshops on diverse aspects of decision-making in writing. In addition to numerous writing workshops with staff and students at the University of Sunderland, she has delivered workshops for the North of Tyne Combined Authority (Writing with Impact); the Holmeside Writers in Sunderland (Linguistic Knowledge for Creative Writers); Washington Academy (Answering a Write About Question); and Biddick Academy (Analysing Language in Literature: Finding Patterns and Planning Your Answer).
For a more information on Susan and a complete list of her publications, you can find her on Linkedin. www.linkedin.com/in/susan-mandala-phd-6a94b7290
You may also enjoy her blog on dissertation literature reviews, A Guide for the Exasperated. https://litreviewsfortheexasperated.blogspot.com/
The AoEA Education Keeping in Touch meetings (EduKITs) are for our members to listen to guest speakers, share knowledge and best practice whilst also providing a forum for peer discussion & support. They occur fortnightly at 5.30pm Thursdays during term time. Reserve your place now. Look forward to seeing you there.

Adviser Efficacy
2024-03-21 09:00 - 13:00 | Online
As advisers we strive to support improvement in a range of contexts with each individual institution offering us a unique challenge. How can we then, as advisers, judge our own contribution? During this session you will have opportunity to reflect on this critical question and spend time working with the AoEA efficacy model and how it can be used to help us determine just how effective we are.

Tom has been a member of the AoEA development team since its inception. He has extensive experience of school and system improvement and inspection. He worked as a senior HMI (Her Majesty’s Inspector) with Ofsted within the North-East Yorkshire and Humberside senior leadership team. Amongst a range of responsibilities Tom had direct accountability for managing and deploying the regional team of HMI and additional inspectors to deliver inspections in the region. He has consistently led some of the most high-profile section 5 and section 8 inspections in several parts of England and gained extensive expertise in working with maintained schools and academies in Ofsted categories of concern. Prior to joining HMI, Tom was a headteacher in two schools covering a twelve-year period and held senior positions in local authority school improvement teams including as head of service. He is deputy chair of a large Multi-academy trust in Northern England, a trustee of a local special school academy and a member of a trust on Teesside. He is founder/director of his own consultancy company.

Book your place on Eventbrite here.

Coaching 4: 'Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast' (Peter Drucker)
2024-03-19 09:00 - 13:00 | Online
Based on best international business practice, but rooted in education, this half-day course is for those wishing to develop a coaching approach to their work. It is suitable for those with a leadership role in schools, advisory services, local authorities, Multi-Academy Trusts or with an HR function in a related industry. Building on the introductory course offered earlier in the year, this session will consider the impact of coaching on individuals, the teams they lead and the outcomes that might be expected.
Rooted in experience and based on current research in education and business, the session will provide insight, practical demonstration and collaborative opportunity to experience and learn about coaching.
Who is delivering the training?
Tony Markowski and Éamonn Whelan will be leading the programme. Both enjoyed successful careers in education and now advise national and regional boards, MATs, LAs, Headteachers and their teams. They are accredited Executive Coaches, therapeutic counsellors and Senior Associates of the Association of Educational Advisers, on whose Development Board they sit.
What goes on in the sessions?
The model is a blend of formal presentation, question and answer sessions, case study review and supported practical activity. As well as a general introduction to the principles and characteristics of coaching, participants will be offered tools and strategies to support leaders and staff, at all levels.
What happens if I miss a session?
There will be opportunities to catch up between sessions. Information is available from the AoEA administration team.
In this session we will review learning from sessions1,2 and 3, and turn the spotlight on coaching systems that have worked in various business and education settings, that might serve as models of next practice. Some colleagues will be invited to feedback on their journeys in coaching in their schools. Others will be asked for their feedback in session 5.
We will consider the implications of Peter Drucker’s quote, above, and explore whether a coaching approach is practical and possible in an organisational setting.
Two participants will feedback on background reading designed to extend and enhance learning.
All sessions will be pragmatic, pacey and outcome focused, so that participants go away confident in a new set of practical skills they can apply between sessions. We will ask participants to keep diaries of ongoing practice that will feed into their case studies for Levels 4&5.

Click here to book your place via Eventbrite.

EduKIT: ‘Teach Cancer a Lesson’ a campaign to improve educational support for children diagnosed with cancer.
2024-03-14 17:30 - 18:30 | Microsoft Teams
Join our upcoming Education Keeping in Touch (EduKIT) meeting, an exclusive opportunity for members to engage with guest speakers, share insights, and explore best practices in the education sector.
Our next EduKIT session features a distinguished presenter, Dame Kathy August, who will introduce the ground-breaking campaign titled “Teach Cancer a Lesson.” This initiative aims to enhance educational support for children facing the challenges of cancer diagnosis.
Kathy has spent 45 years working in and for public education. She began her teaching career in Inner city Manchester and went on to have three secondary headships. The last headship was as the Principal in one of the first of a new type of schools introduced in the early 2000s. This was a city academy in Moss Side Manchester. Lord Andrew Adonis in his book ‘Education, Education, Education’ described its predecessor school as one of the most gang infested comprehensive schools in the country. Just over five years later it was judged to be outstanding. After this she worked as Deputy CEO in one of the largest MATs in the country. She has also been a Director of Education in two LEAs, worked as a senior adviser in the DFE, been a visiting professor at Salford Business School and is currently working as an interim CEO of a small MAT in the North of England.
She became a Dame in the 2014 New Years honours list. Her book ‘ Building an academy school in the Uk : With Principal” (Cambridge Scholastic’ pubs) was published in June.
Our members will automatically receive calendar invites to each EduKIT event. If you are not a member of the AoEA, get in touch with us at info@aoea.co.uk to find out more about EduKITs and becoming a member of the AoEA.
Click here to book your place via Eventbrite.

How to Review, Evaluate and Support Effective Governance
2024-03-13 09:00 - 13:00 | Online
This module will examine the need for an effective and accountable governance structure, how to review and evaluate the impact of governance within different school settings.
The participant will gain an understanding of:

how the governance structures in different settings hold school leaders to account.
how governors can be supported to fulfil their role effectively.
the importance of the Nolan principles in guiding the work of governance.
how to evaluate the effectiveness of the governance structure

Course leader – Steve Hodsman
Following a successful career in the police, Steve retired in 2016. Involved in school governance since 2010, he was appointed to the Board of a large MAT in 2014. Becoming Chair of his school trust in 2015, Steve led major changes in trust development, successfully re-structuring both Trustees and Members at the trust. Having undertaken a complete re-focussing of trust governance and leadership in 2016, he continues to deliver long term educational and financial sustainability.
As Chair of one of the highest performing multi academy trusts in England, Steve delivers impactive school and MAT leadership across 52 academies. Steve is actively involved in working with Regional Schools Commissioners and Academy Ambassadors to promote trust governance at national and regional levels.
Participants will be asked to come to the session with an exemplar of an intervention or improvement strategy in which they have been involved. More information will be provided on signing up to the course.

Book your place on Eventbrite here.

Working in Concert with the School's Leadership Team
2024-03-12 09:00 - 13:00 | Online
This module will focus on how role of the advisor interacts with that of the Senior Leadership Team and is influenced by the context and drivers for that work. It will explore how advisers can analyse how SLT functions and consider implications for improvement journey. It will further explore the significance of agreed and co constructed milestones and building in sustainable self-improvement.
The participant will:

Understand how to use facilitating leadership skills without compromising the roles and responsibilities of Senior Leaders and Governors/Trustees, and why this matters.
How the adviser applies situational leadership theory and skills to match the urgency and complexity of the improvement context, drawing upon relevant examples.
How advisers support and challenge so that school improvement is evident and sustained.

The course will be led by Eric Halton and Martyn Beales.
Eric has a teaching and leadership background improving schools to outstanding provision. He joined Hampshire LA where he led improvement teams in coastal communities. He managed a substantial Professional Learning programme and brokered support to other Local Authorities and Multi Academy Trusts, before leading a large Primary Education team for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Martyn is a School Improvement Manager at Hampshire County Council, and has been an accredited Associate of the AoEA since 2018. As a headteacher, his primary school received an Outstanding Ofsted report, and he has now been working in school improvement for two years.
Book your place on Eventbrite here.

Coaching 3: Advanced Coaching for Advisers and Leaders
2024-03-05 09:00 - 13:00 | Online
Based on best international business practice, but rooted in education, the AoEA Coaching offer consists of five, half-day, sessions over the academic year, which are designed to take participants from an introductory stage to systemic organisational approaches either at school, LA, MAT, regional or national level. All sessions will be a mix of theory and practice and build on highly successful and well received courses run over the last two years.
This session will build on levels 1 and 2 and look to forward and deepen coaching practice by introducing advanced coaching techniques. It will also mark a subtle change, which demands that thinking moves towards how best to introduce coaching into the team setting, with a view to becoming part of a small-scale system.

We will consider your coaching approach and thoughts, and challenge you in the practical sessions. We will explore: chemistry; the coaching state; co-active approaches; return to OSKAR and ZOUD; discuss beginnings, middles, and endings; intuition; body language; and BAGs.

Who is delivering the course?
Tony Markowski and Éamonn Whelan will be leading the programme. Both enjoyed successful careers in education and now advise national and regional boards, MATs, LAs, Headteachers and their teams. They are accredited Executive Coaches, therapeutic counsellors and Senior Associates of the Association of Educational Advisers, on whose Development Board they sit.
What goes on in the sessions?
The model is a blend of formal presentation, question and answer sessions, case study review and supported practical activity. As well as a general introduction to the principles and characteristics of coaching, participants will be offered tools and strategies to support leaders and staff, at all levels.
What happens if I miss a session?
There will be opportunities to catch up between sessions. Information is available from the AoEA administration team – please email info@aoea.co.uk or call the office on 0191 820 3114.
This session will build on Levels 1&2 and look to forward and deepen coaching practice by introducing advanced coaching techniques. It will also mark a subtle change, which demands that thinking moves towards how best to introduce coaching in the team setting, with a view to becoming part of a small scale system.
We will consider your coaching approach and thoughts, challenge you in the practical sessions, consider chemistry, the coaching state, co-active approaches, return to OSKAR and ZOUD, discuss beginnings, middles and ends, intuition, body language and BAGs.
Two participants will feedback on background reading designed to extend and enhance learning.
All sessions will be pragmatic, pacy and outcome focused, so that participants go away confident in a new set of practical skills they can apply between sessions. We will ask participants to keep journals of ongoing practice that will feed into their case studies for Levels 4&5.

Click here to book your place via Eventbrite.

EduKIT: No Fear of Flying: Attempts at Exceptional Practice in Autism Education
2024-02-29 17:30 - 18:30 | Microsoft Teams
Marie Neave was brought up and educated in Northern Ireland in a segregated system that continues to influence her passion for equality. Having trained as a teacher in London, Marie taught history in deprived areas of southeast London before accepting a position as Head of three PRUs. She subsequently became an advisor to all 18 Kent PRUs, then for secondary education in London.
Marie is currently Executive Head at Drumbeat a large, three site SEND school specialising in autism education. She is an active and enthusiastic Challenge Partner and Senior Associate at the AoEA.
The Edukit will be an interview of Marie to explore recent developments at Marie’s school, Drumbeat, which is aiming to provide exceptional provision for its students. The AoEA Keeping in Touch meeting is a way for members to listen to guest speakers, share knowledge, best practice and have a forum where you can discuss with your peers any areas of concern or support you require.
Our members will automatically receive calendar invites to each EduKIT event. If you are not a member of the AoEA, get in touch with us at info@aoea.co.uk to find out more about EduKITs and becoming a member of the AoEA.
Click here to book your place via Eventbrite.

Using an Organisational Development Approach to School Improvement
2024-02-27 09:00 - 15:00 | Online
The organisational development approach is for advisers and school leaders who wish to support high and low performing organisations to be self-managing and self-sustaining.
This training programme assumes the participant has expertise in supporting and advising schools, is a school improvement expert, and has a deep understanding of governance and leadership. We expect applicants to wish to develop high level skills and knowledge of how organisations are developed.
What is the problem we are trying to solve?
There are still too many schools and multi-academy trusts that become vulnerable, either in terms of standards, financial strength or governance. Increasingly, schools and trusts need support to be self-sustaining in their ability to develop and grow. They also need to be able to predict what is coming, rather than simply react to external forces.
The pace of change in education is probably faster than it has ever been. Keeping pace with it or, better still, anticipating change is a vital ingredient for a proactive leader. There is a need for advisers who have the specialist skills and resilience to help build capacity and, in the end, ‘be not necessary’.
What is an organisational development approach?
Organisational development is a planned, systematic approach to improving organisational effectiveness by:
• achieving the desired goals of high performance in an organisation through the involvement of its people
• aligning strategy, people and processes.
Who is delivering?
Les Walton CBE
Les has a national reputation for establishing and developing numerous organisations. He has founded, led or supported the development of Schools North East, Tyne Metropolitan College, the Young People’s Learning Agency, the Northern Education Trust and the Association of Education Advisers, building many of the organisations into highly regarded multi-million pound organisations.
Kevin McDermid
Kevin has over 25 years of senior leadership experience in secondary schools, including two headships of inner-city comprehensive schools and the headship of a sixth form college. He was Teaching Awards Head Teacher of the Year for the North-East & Cumbria in 2004-5. Kevin is also an accredited School Improvement Partner and National Challenge Adviser; over the last ten years he has gained extensive experience as an independent consultant working with five academy chains and several LA’s and multi-academy trusts across the North of England
What will I get from the programme?
Our model of organisational effectiveness provides an adviser or school leader with a framework to support developing organisations.
You will:
• learn how to apply PESTLE analysis and understand the impact of external factors on an organisation;
• critically evaluate the design of the curriculum and curriculum-led financial planning;
• address system weakness by applying organisational development tools;
• ensure roles and responsibilities are effectively focused;
• evaluate how values and leadership styles impact on performance;
• use the Context for Organisational Improvement (COI) evaluation framework;
• apply a variety of measurements of success and performance indicators.
Book your place on our Organisational Development course here!

Effective Leadership of Curriculum and Assessment
2024-02-22 09:00 - 13:00, 2024-01-30 08:00 - 17:00 | Online
The first of the two half-day courses is for primary and secondary headteachers, senior and middle leaders in schools who design and implement curriculum and assessment. It is also intended for those who advise on curriculum, education advisers, LA advisers, MAT CEOs.
Designing a curriculum means establishing the Intent (Values and Vision), Implementation (Pedagogy and Assessment) and Impact (Pupils’ Progress and Learning Standards). To do this, we identify what works best in the context of each school and its pupil profile.
What will I learn from this course?
This course focuses on Intent and Implementation. We outline curriculum mapping, sequencing, and assessment within the context of challenges faced by schools; students’ learning gaps and mental well- being. Through a focus on case studies using a variety of adaptive teaching strategies and techniques, including digital tools, we look at how schools strengthen pupils’ ‘knowledge and skills recall’, so they can achieve their full academic potential. Strengthening primary and secondary schools’ formative assessment systems through ‘powerful teacher feedback’ for pupils is key. This enables pupils to take responsibility for their own learning and to move away from right/wrong answers towards cognitive process and self-reflection.
Most importantly, we examine how schools fully integrate skills into the knowledge- led curriculum, thereby ensuring that all pupils develop oracy, critical and conceptual thinking, problem solving and reasoning skills in line with the NI CCEA, Welsh Curriculum, and the National Curriculum.
How will we arrive at this?
A practical handbook with template, including a curriculum template, accompanies the course. This is a unique cross nation collaboration as English and Welsh Primary and secondary school leaders contribute to the workshop through practical case studies. They showcase how they make the theoretical concepts underlying curriculum mapping, such as ‘sequencing’ and ‘interleaving’ work for them. We illustrate how we can construct a knowledge and skills- based approach to learning that benefits all primary and secondary pupils. We will also hear from school pupils about how they evidence their progress over time, resulting from the impact of teacher feedback.
Best practice in teaching/ learning /assessment and Interactive resources, as well as digital learner profiles are discussed through “break out group chats”. Our aim: to ensure the curriculum is diverse, inclusive, and equitable, all pupil groups’ needs are met, with ample opportunity for students’ cultural capital.
Who is leading this course?
The course leader is Meena Kumari Wood, author of the popular ‘Secondary Curriculum Transformed; Enabling All to Achieve’ (Wood and Haddon, Routledge 2021). The book has led to a series of training webinars in UK, Northern Ireland, Dubai and India and features on the core reading list for the MEd in Educational Leadership (University of Birmingham). She has hosted educational webinars and published articles and blogs for SchoolsWeek, Teach Secondary, Chartered College, Edge Foundation and RSA and is currently writing a third book on inspection and school improvement. In addition, she is a keynote speaker at Edu-Conferences, including, Education and Training Inspectorate(NI) British Schools in the Middle East, (BSME), RSA, Foundation of Educational Development (FED) and for Mary Myatt&Co.
Meena Wood was a former HMI Ofsted, Local Authority Adviser, Principal of an Adult College, and Principal of a Secondary Academy and is now Honorary Fellow of Education Leadership Academy (University of Birmingham) and KHDA inspector (Emirates).
Meena is a widely experienced International Educational Consultant, Author, and Trainer. In the UK working with academies and MATs, including Alternative Provision providers, conducting reviews of curriculum and assessment, the quality of education, peer reviews, instructional coaching, inspection, and governance. In addition, she supports British and International Schools in the Middle East (Dubai).
Pre-course reading
A copy of the book ‘Secondary Curriculum Transformed’ will be provided as part of the course materials. It is highly recommended that course participants are familiar with it, as we refer to appendices and models within the book. The relevant parts will be signposted for participants before the course.

Click here to book your place via Eventbrite.

Using a Quality Systems Approach to School Improvement
2024-02-20 09:00 - 15:00 | Online
The quality systems approach is for advisers and school leaders who wish to work at the highest level in education systems improvement. This training programme assumes the participant has expertise in supporting and advising schools, is a school improvement expert, and has a deep understanding of governance and leadership. We expect applicants to wish to develop high level skills and knowledge of how organisations are transformed.
What is the problem we are trying to solve?
One of the major problems in our education system is not understanding why results vary in a particular school or within groups of schools. We want to know how we can move towards the ‘ideal state’, in which schools are in control of their processes and, therefore, achieve consistently higher outputs.
Schools and MATs are also increasingly interested in a quality-systems approach to long-term success through continuous improvement and intelligent feedback, rather than quick fixes for external inspection.
What is a quality systems approach?
Quality systems is a way of supporting systems leaders in ensuring that their systems are fit for purpose and continuously improved through carefully managed modifications responding to continuous feedback.
Who is delivering?
Les Walton CBE
Les has a national reputation for leading interventions in very challenging circumstances. He has applied the quality systems approach within schools, FE, local authorities, national education agencies and the private sector. His own school was once described by the British Deming Association as the ‘best example of total quality management in education’.
Tom Grieveson
Tom has extensive experience of school and system improvement and inspection. He worked as a senior HMI (Her Majesty’s Inspector) with Ofsted within the North-East Yorkshire and Humberside senior leadership team. Amongst a range of responsibilities, Tom has direct accountability for managing and deploying the regional team of HMI and additional inspectors to deliver inspections in the region. He has consistently led some of the most high-profile section 5 and section 8 inspections in several parts of England and gained extensive expertise in working with maintained schools and academies in Ofsted categories of concern. His school inspection work began in 1996 and this extended to the inspection of local authorities in 2004. Prior to joining HMI, Tom was a headteacher in two schools covering a twelve-year period and held senior positions in local authority school improvement teams including as head of service.
What will I get from the programme?
You will:
1. be introduced to powerful demonstrations, including the ‘Red Bead Experiment’, which will de-construct how management influences individual performance;
2. learn how to use ‘Deep Dive’ quality techniques such as ‘Ishikawa’ and ‘Value Analysis;’
3. be introduced to the Kaizen approach to continuous incremental improvement and how small, often imperceptible changes add up to substantial changes over time;
4. examine WIN-WIN and consider how to build quality into our stems and optimise their effectiveness;
5. examine a case study, addressing how advisers can support organisations that require significant intervention.
Finally, we will ask the question – is doing nothing sometimes the best answer?
Book your place on our Quality Systems course here!

EduKIT: Andy Hargreaves talks about The Age of Identity
2024-02-01 17:30 - 18:30 | Microsoft Teams
Professor Andy Hargreaves will be leading this EduKIT. He toured the UK talking about his new book, The Age of Identity. If you did not have the chance to see him in person, this would be a great session to attend and be able to ask your questions.
We are living in a time when identity is all the rage – literally as well as figuratively. How do we recognize and include all young people’s identities and honestly address the injustices and exclusions that many young people and their families face without getting drawn into culture wars? How can we do the right thing without fear of saying or doing the wrong thing?
Andy will introduce his controversial new book with Dennis Shirley on The Age of Identity. It affirms that identity is an issue for everyone, not just for “the others”. We should help young people develop positive senses of self and identity from the earliest years of school, guide them through their different stages and life passages, reach out across the generations, and build bridges rather than put up walls between different identity groups.
But if we’re not careful, we’ll fall into a massive identity trap. What we need is leadership that is courageous, and yet collective and close to the action rather than heroic and remote. We need Leadership from the Middle, as Andy’s other new book says, not mandates from the top.
Andy Hargreaves is Visiting Professor at the University of Ottawa, Research Professor at Boston College in the US, and Honorary Professor at Swansea University. He is an elected member of the US National Academy of Education, former President of the International Congress of School Effectiveness and Improvement (2018-2020), adviser to the First Minister of Scotland & former Adviser to the Premier of Ontario.
Andy is Canada’s 2023 Professor of the Year. He has published 35 books and has 8 Outstanding Writing Awards. An exceptional keynote speaker and workshop leader, he has delivered invited addresses in more than 50 countries. He has been honoured in the UK, Canada, and the US for services to public education and educational research and is ranked by Education Week as the #16 scholar with the most influence on the US education policy debate.
The AoEA Education Keeping in Touch meetings (EduKITs) are for our members to listen to guest speakers, share knowledge and best practice whilst also providing a forum for peer discussion & support. They occur fortnightly at 5.30pm Thursdays during term time. Reserve your place now. Look forward to seeing you there.
Click here to book your place via Eventbrite.

Assessing the Context for Organisational Improvement
2024-01-30 09:00 - 13:00 | Online
About this event

Who is this for?
This module aims to focus on key factors which influence the professional motivation of staff.
The programme will be particularly useful for those considering accreditation for the Senior Associate level of the AoEA as well as those working at Associate level who wish to develop their knowledge and skills in assessing and creating an organisational environment in which staff are enthusiastically motivated to seek high standards and sustained improvement.
What is the problem we are trying to solve?
Most of us will have come across highly successful organisations or departments where there is a keen sense of commitment to working with colleagues to achieve high outcomes. Many of us will also have come across organisations where there is a vagueness about the roles and objectives and low levels of structure and commitment. How can we assess or analyse the ‘Context for Organisational Improvement’ (COI) that leads to high performance or provides an indicator of potential decline? The AoEA has used its experience of school improvement coupled with a review of relevant leadership research to establish a way of assessing the Context for Organisational Improvement. It provides another way of analysing working relationships in leadership teams and promote discussion of factors which facilitate or impede improvement.
What is the Context for Organisational Improvement?
The context for organisation improvement relates to key factors which influence the professional motivation of staff. The factors can be analysed into a number of dimensions which provide an indicator of how staff feel about working in the organisation. The way in which leaders carry out their role has a vital influence on the context.
Who is delivering?
The programme will be delivered by Peter Parish, Les Walton and Ian Lane
Peter Parish was formerly Director of Operations for Northern Education and was involved with educational project management activities including support for the establishment of a Multi-Academy Trust and academy conversions. He previously led a local authority School Improvement Service. During this time the Council was awarded Beacon Council status for ‘Tackling School Failure’. He became Head of Planning, Commissioning and Quality Assurance in the local authority’s Children’s Services. He has much experience of contextual factors which lead to school improvement.
Les Walton (CBE) has vast experience as a headteacher, Director of Education, Chief Executive and Principal of an FE College. He has led major change programmes including the reorganisation of a school system within a metropolitan borough, the outsourcing of an education service within a large District Council and the merger of Further Education Colleges. As Director of Education, he achieved Beacon Status for ‘tackling school failure’. Les has played a key role in providing advice to government agencies such as the YPLA and the Education Funding Agency. He has been involved in strategic interventions in schools and MATs to address governance concerns. He has a long-standing interest in leadership and quality systems.
Whilst Ian Lane was headteacher of an inner-city secondary school, the school was twice recognized as one of the most improved specialist schools nationally and awarded a School Achievement Award for successive years of sustained improvement. He also has past experience as part of the advisory service as a Senior Adviser, as a School Improvement Partner, National Challenge Adviser and accredited Ofsted Inspector. He also qualified as a professional coach. He was appointed Director of School Improvement in the same LA with oversight for Primary, Secondary and Special Education. More recently Ian has worked as an interim CEO of a Primary MAT and then as CEO of a Secondary MAT, whilst also undertaking some independent work as an adviser with a number of schools, MATs and Las.
What will I get from the programme?
You will:
• Understand what is meant by Context for Organisational Improvement.
• Consider the dimensions of COI.
• Understand the relationship between leadership and COI.
• Be able to identify the key features in the cultural landscape of your workplace.
• Appreciate how organisational culture influences work-place COI.
• Have assessed your own work-place COI.
• Be capable of establishing systems for on-going measures of COI.
• Be able to design strategies to drive up individual COI dimensions
Prior to the session, participants will have the opportunity to complete a survey to rate their perception of their context for organisational improvement.
Click here to book your place via Eventbrite.
