now dISCuss...

The ISC Manifesto was launched at a press conference on 16th March

The ISC Manifesto was launched at a press conference on 16th March, just before the start of our Annual Conference.

Press coverage has unfortunately been high-jacked by the question of whether parents should be made to feel guilty about sending their children to independent schools. There is a good news story here about the huge range of schools, the affordability of fees (many below £6000 per year), the importance of parental choice, the ability of our schools to offer children an education tailored to their individual needs including SEN, and the widespread availability of fee assistance, and the excellence and breadth of education on offer free from national curriculum or over-focus on exams.

Nevertheless there are big issues out there that are being overlooked. It is worth reading the Manifesto to hear about ISC concerns over regulation, inspection, vetting and barring, safeguarding (all of these concerns reflected also in the maintained sector) plus visas for overseas pupils, charity law, and social mobility. See Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas’s speech to the Conference about the Manifesto – available under conference papers on the ISC website shortly.

Our message is that the UK independent schools sector provides some of the best education in the world (according to the OECD) and is a source of new ideas and good practice for all schools. The government and other political parties want to replicate our independence in the maintained sector at the same time as this is being undermined by over-regulation, over-prescription and interference in our sector. Whoever forms the next government must reverse this trend and let the independent schools sector do what it says on the tin – provide high quality, truly independent education.

University standards, Swedish schools and race discrimination hit the headlines

Concerns over the worth of university degrees are hardly new, but the issue was thrust back into the limelight this week when a major body of employers suggested that standards had slipped. The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), which represents some 750 of the country’s largest employers of graduates, suggested that some degrees “lacked rigour”, called for an end to the target set by Tony Blair’s Government for half of under-30s to have a higher education, and said the tuition fee cap should be lifted. More fuel was added to the fire later in the week when Simon Culhane, chief executive of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, suggested the majority of degrees left graduates equipped for little better than serving Starbucks coffee, and Tesco director Lucy Neville-Rolfe questioned the ability – academic and otherwise – of school-leavers and graduates. Their comments sparked a flurry of letters to the nationals, many sympathising with the business leaders’ concerns.

As the election approaches, the fascination in the media with the Swedish “free schools” model shows no sign of abating. The model, giving parents and other groups freedom to establish their own state-funded schools, was considered in a series of articles in the Daily Telegraph, and this week’s TES was crammed from front to back with Sweden-related articles. The leader comment offered a considered view on the matter, paying close attention to the reality of education in Sweden today.

The Maurice Smith review into racism in schools reported its findings, the upshot being that teachers who support the BNP should not be excluded from the profession, and that measures already in place are sufficient for the protection of children. The review prompted some vocal responses, not least from ISC, which objected to the conclusion that there should be a second review into the effectiveness of measures in place to prevent the promotion of racism in independent schools. ISC chief executive David Lyscom made a number of points in relation to this, and cited the professional standards teachers going into the sector are already expected to meet. The Guardian gave ample space in its article to the implications for independent schools. As the Guardian report also points out, the teaching union Nasuwt had concerns of its own. General secretary Chris Keates described as “risible” the notion that a BNP supporter would leave his or her views at the school gates, and branded the review as a “golden opportunity squandered”. 

Also causing some consternation were the results from Ofsted’s latest round of inspections, the first to be conducted since the shift in focus towards teaching quality and pupil progress. The overall proportion of schools branded “inadequate” more than doubled, from 4% to 10%, provoking the ire of unions, who accused the watchdog of “moving the goalposts”. Chief inspector Christine Gilbert said the new framework was about “raising expectations”.

Finally, a Cutting Edge documentary on Channel 4 (the unfortunately-titled Too Poor for Posh School?) offered a fascinating insight into the selection process of a group of boys competing for scholarships at Harrow. As the boys were put through their paces, whether it was on the sports fields or in their interview with the head, a picture emerged of the talent each of the hopefuls possessed, and the opportunities awaiting them if they were to win a place.

ICT Advice: Cloud Computing Explained

The traditional method of using operating systems and software applications on more expensive desktop PCs or servers physically located in a school is being challenged by the rise of computing in ‘the cloud’. Large business organisations have used cloud services for many years.

What you need to know

With a lower specification computer, good bandwidth and a browser the user can go onto the internet, access and manage:

• Cloud Infrastructure – servers, networks and related hardware held in data centres worldwide. Part or all of the School’s technical infrastructure can be hosted in a data centre.
• Cloud Platform – the infrastructure applications/operating platforms eg. Microsoft Azure. The data centre infrastructure can run the operating platform for the School.
• Cloud Applications – The School can manage its own software using the data centre and it can also use available free or paid for applications eg. Google mail and docs, Office online.

The Old Way (in-school hosted data and systems)

• Purchase desktop computers and servers with the knowledge you will need to dedicate a good deal of future investment to upgrade storage space or specification to provide for new technological development.
• Finance and manage an in-house large technical team which deals with all aspects of ICT – Academic and School Information Management systems.

This is what many schools are used to doing. As a school decides to upgrade and spend a good deal of money on ICT infrastructure it should consider whether a large investment for similar provision is needed or whether a combination of in school and Cloud services would save money and allow more flexibility in the future.

The New Way (Cloud – hosting data and systems in external data centres)

• Purchase a ‘pay as you go’ option for server space (or even data centre rack space and install your own servers), server operating platform, software applications, volume of data storage needed and technical assistance to set up, back up and maintain it all.
• These ‘off the shelf’ ICT products are scalable (you only buy the amount you need) and flexible (you can increase or change the provision quickly and easily).

What You Need To Consider

• Some schools already use some Cloud services eg. Google docs, Google mail or similar. Few schools have yet to move many of their systems onto ‘The Cloud’.
• Some businesses and schools are worried that hosting data and services off-site may compromise data security and reduce the control of access to data. Even Google and Twitter have suffered when internet traffic problems or hacking have resulted in data centre systems being affected.
• The next 12 to 24 months will see improvements in bandwidth provision and data centre services. There are already providers offering Education a similar service to that established for Business. As user confidence grows and acceptance of The Cloud as a basis for ICT service provision it is predicated by many to become the preferred choice for the provision of systems that manage ICT data for schools.
• It is likely we will have an interim period of adoption (possibly the next 1 to 2 years) of some new Cloud services while other traditional services are still hosted in schools.
• The strategy for development of virtualised servers in schools and use of Wi-Fi, Mobile Devices and Thin Client technology integrates with the procurement of Cloud services . The ISC has a wide variety of ICT Strategy Discussion Papers that can give helpful information on these subjects.

What You Might Like To Discuss

• Your infrastructure solution should match the particular needs of your School. There are excellent cost effective solutions available. The knowledge, wisdom and experience of your ICT Academic Senior managers and your ICT Technical leaders are the essentials in your strategic development. The ICT purchases only provide the tools for the new work.
• Many schools have ICT infrastructure which will need a major upgrade in the immediate future. The potential low cost of services on The Cloud will make this a very attractive option and the security concerns of concern to many (data held offsite, possibly in another country, without as much control in protecting the data) will be minimised to an acceptable level as time goes on. An intermediate approach is to choose The Cloud for one or two solutions and then increasing as the School develops experience and capability in use.
• When planning your ICT strategy consider how your technical team may need to develop skills in management of these offsite services as well as how you would like the team to be deployed more in the support of the hands-on pupil and staff user.
• Consider whether you need to invest in your internet bandwidth provision for School as multiple connection to wide scale Cloud services needs very good bandwidth.
• Consider reading these two books by Nicholas Carr to stimulate debate in the context of your School’s needs:
  • Does IT Matter ISBN 1591394449
  • The Big Switch – From Edison To Google ISBN 039306228

Download a PDF of this here.

The Red Tape Peril

Interesting to read that the state sector is also blaming red tape and overzealous child protection policies for the decline of foreign exchange trips (see Telegraph article ‘Foreign exchanges ‘axed over security fears’). The independent sector has been equally worried; more so, in fact, due to apparent discrepancies between Government guidance to state and independent schools on whether CRB checks are required, when a family in the UK volunteers to host an overseas pupils. Remarkably, until ISC won an important acknowledgement from DCSF last year that Government guidance was wrong, parents of children at independent schools were required to be CRB-checked, whereas parents of children at state schools were not.

That has now changed. But the Vetting and Barring Scheme, due to come in later this year, threatened to be the final nail in the coffin of exchange trips: parents would have needed to be subject to lifetime monitoring before being cleared to put up overseas children. Again, ISC (and others) intervened and Sir Roger Singleton’s excellent report, “Drawing the Line”, has restored some sanity.

A larger concern persists with the Vetting and Barring Scheme. This Government’s policy remains that, over the next five years, all adults – estimated at around 11m individuals in total – must register with the scheme if they wish to work with children (or vulnerable adults); and schools which employ adults who should be, but are not, registered will be committing a criminal offence. From November 2010, it is likely to be compulsory for all new teachers to be registered – we await the implementing regulations.  But Sir Roger’s changes need to be properly dealt with, not rushed through before the guillotine of an election.  And a change in administration might well see a further fundamental shift in policy about where the line is drawn. Even without a change in Government, the prospect of untried IT systems coping with an estimated 1.1 million registrations between July 2010 and March 2011, and the impossible position that schools will be in if their new teachers cannot get registered in time, drives only one sensible conclusion: the Government must announce a temporary stay of implementation for at least a year.

ICT Advice: How to get adverse material removed from websites

Pupils, former pupils and parents are able to publish, true or not, material about your school or staff that is defamatory. It is very difficult for the school to have this material removed from a website. What can you to to avoid or manage such a problem?

What you need to know:
- Schools face a new problem: it is has never been easier to publish information and schools have no control over what is published.
- Videos, pictures, articles and comments can be published on the internet instantaneously.  There is little effective regulation or restriction on what can be published.
- Schools cannot prevent the publication of material. Anyone with a grudge or an axe to grind can reach a world-wide audience immediately.
- Some schools have experienced problems of pupils and former pupils posting defamatory information about the school, its staff and pupils; video clips of lessons; or of pupils behaving badly.
- Those who create these sites or forums have administrative control of the sites and, in most cases, there is little that the school can do to ‘edit’ what is posted on the site.

Some of the key sites used by pupils
- www.youtube.com. This is a very popular site for posting video material. On the one hand it is a great teaching resource; but it is possible to post videos of lessons, pranks, and pupils behaving badly.
- Social networking sites including Facebook, Myspace and Bebo. Pupils can post pictures and videos on their own areas. Pupils and former pupils have set up ‘groups’ for most of the schools in the country.
- Rate your Teacher (www.rateyourteacher.com) – this is a site where pupils can write comments about their teachers and give them a rating.
- Unofficial websites purporting to be the school’s official website.
- There have been instances when parents or pupils have purchased domain names (website names) which are very similar to the official school site name (eg. …..school.co.uk rather than ……school.org.uk).

What you might do next
Monitor key sites regularly by logging onto each site and using the site search facility (tag) putting in the name of your school.
Purchase all of the domain names relating to your school ( ….school.org.uk, ….school.org; ….school.com; …school.co.uk; ….school.sch.county.uk etc.)
In most cases, for instance when there is another organisation of the same or similar name, the school will often have a right to own the domain names.
Some schools have trademarked™ their school names and logos.

Practical advice on getting material removed from websbsites
1. Contact the website administrators, (eg. of YouTube or Facebook)
- Schools have enjoyed varying degrees of success in getting material removed by administrators.
- Administrators are usually supportive if there is a child protection issue.
- They often take the stance that if the material does not break their publication rules (ie. that the person posting the material has the right to do so and that it is not pornographic etc), there is a freedom of publication and that schools do not have any right to regulate the material just because they don’t like the content
- Schools do not have the right to regulate material just because they don’t like it
- Rateyourteacher.com is generally very unsympathetic
- Administrators are responsive if there is an issue of libel. So the material has to be defamatory and untrue. Opinion (as opposed to what is purported to be objective material) is more difficult to deal with as any opinion “honestly held” is not regarded as libel unless it contains untrue facts.

2. Contact the person who posted the material or who administers the forum.
- This is the easiest and the most effective way of getting material removed from a site.
- Some schools have encouraged “on board” pupils in the school to persuade other pupils that they should remove material (“pride in the school”, “reflects badly on us all” etc). Pupils usually know who posted the material on the website.

3. Contact the parents of the person who posted the material, or who administers the forum.
- Where the publisher is a pupil, some schools have found that the most effective technique is to write to their parents.
- In one case where a video of a very drunk pupil in boarding house had been posted on YouTube, the headteacher wrote to the parents explaining the long-term danger to the reputation of the pupil.

Useful Phrases:
- I am very concerned that this particular footage is extremely unflattering for <your child> and could have serious repercussions in the future.
- Some employers are beginning to use social networking sites to vet potential employees: http://www.collegejournal.com/columnists/thejungle/20041018-jungle.html; http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/us/11recruit.html?

The legal route
- Is the content defamatory of you, your school, or another member of staff?
- Are the damaging facts untrue?
- If the content is damaging and untrue, you may contact all of the websites who are publishing the content and ask them to remove it pending libel action. You may also contact internet service providers such as BT Internet, Tiscali, AOL etc. ISPs are not generally considered liable as long as they act to take down potentially libellous material when notified.

ICT Advice: Management Information Systems

Management information systems are helping schools reduce administrative burdens and helping managers make informed decisions.

What you need to know
School Management Information Systems (MIS) should:
- reduce bureaucratic burdens by reducing time spent on administration;
- raise standards through enabling collaborative working to provide the knowledge needed for assessment and self evaluation;
- provide more time and information to support teachers and parents so that they can take an active role in the child’s education;
- create better informed management.

MIS can now be used as an essential business tool for day-to-day school management and accountability.
- Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) linked with a school’s MIS can provide opportunities to develop the school’s analytical and reporting functions.
- The Government’s e-Strategy will make heavy demands on the use of information to inform the public, support learners, transform teaching, learning and assessment, and assure the effectiveness of the education system itself.

What you might like to discuss
- Does your MIS system help you with the above
- Are you able to use your electronic data to improve how you teach, learn and assess?
- Is the information you get from data transfer with other schools what you need?

Checklist – is your MIS:
- Future proof?
- Low profile – integrated (functionally and at a database level) with seamless upgrades?
- Easy to maintain?
- Intuitive and easy to use. Does it use skills staff have learnt elsewhere?
- Expandable in the future?
- Resilient – up and running without failure on a regular basis?

What you might consisider doing next
- Ask key staff to use a self evaluation tool and compare the responses.
www.new-media-learning.com/data_confident_print.htm
- Consider the use of analytical tools that work with your MIS to enable you to explore achievement issues.
http://4matrix.org/4Matrix_example_reports.pdf

Further reading:
- Government website – www.teachernet.gov.uk/ims
- Becta Expert Seminar on MIS http://www.becta.org.uk/etseminars/presentations/index.cfm?seminar_id=14&section=7_1

At last some common sense on safeguarding from Ed Balls

I appeared on the BBC News Channel on Sunday 13th December to welcome the announcement by Ed Balls on the Vetting and Barring of adults coming into contact with children. I said that Ed Balls’ interview on the Andrew Marr programme was belated recognition that the original scheme was badly flawed. ISC had been warning about this for some time, and had made a substantial submission to Sir Roger Singleton’s review. We are pleased that he has listened.

Our main concerns were

- Language exchanges and sporting tours, where children were put up with families. We were concerned that arrangements brokered by or sanctioned by schools would be caught by the new legislation so that parents would need to be vetted.
- Community service, where children over 16 would need to be vetted if they came into contact with other children or vulnerable adults.
- Boarding school children spending weekends or half terms with their friends’ families. Here too arrangements must be blessed by schools so might not have been seen as private arrangements.
- Occasional visitors who go to lots of different schools like authors, MPs or, dare one say, the Chief Executive of ISC.

We hope that the recommendations by Sir Roger will now be implemented in such a way that our concerns are met. We will await the detail of the DCSF response before passing judgement and will be discussing it with them. But initial impressions are that this is a victory for ISC and the teachers’ and heads’ associations who have lobbied hard.

How much of the population actually went to independent schools: 7% or 14%?

Reading the media on schools, you tend to hear a lot about how the independent sector in the UK only accounts for 7% of pupils, (see for example this article from The Telegraph last month).  The figure is used as a stick to beat the independent sector with: a narrative of independent schools being only for a small minority gets generated, and when this gets added to the debate surrounding social mobility the apparent small scale of the independent sector is used to exemplify insufficient social mobility in our society.  This happened recently in Alan Milburn’s report ‘Unleashing Aspiration’.

The figure of 7% is based on the proportion of the current school population who are at independent schools, but we know that this proportion is not the same for all ages.  For example, only around 4% of the 5-year-olds currently at school are in the independent sector, while around 8% of 15-year-olds are.  The general rule of thumb is that, once children hit compulsory school age, the older they are the more likely they are to be in an independent school.  After children hit 16 and compulsory school ceases, the proportion at independent schools increases further, although the figures are harder to calculate as sixth-form colleges and further education colleges account for a number of children in education, although technically no longer part of the school system.  Further research on this came out in last month’s ISC Bulletin.

What this age profile shows is that pupils don’t necessarily remain part of the maintained sector or the independent sector for their whole school career: they move between the sectors.  Indeed, the boundary between the two sectors seems to be something of a porous one.  Moreover, over the course of their time at school, they’re more likely to join the independent sector than leave it.  So the figure of 7% only shows the proportion of pupils currently at independent schools, it doesn’t show the proportion who will attend one at some point in their school life.  ISC therefore commissioned a survey to show how much of the adult population had attended an independent school.  We found that 14% of adults in Britain had been educated in the independent sector: twice as many adults had been to independent schools than previously thought.  If applied to the adult population of Britain, it suggests that well over seven million adults experienced an independent education.  This is a sizeable number and by no means an insignificant minority!

There are two important implications from this result.  First, If pupils often move between the two sectors, then this is further reason to reject the use of school background as a proxy for socio-economic background.  For more on the perils of using school as a proxy for background see this demographic analysis of ISC pupils.  Pupils frequently don’t fit into straightforward boxes of ‘independent school’ or ‘maintained school’ through-and-through.  Second, there are implications for the social mobility debate.  When politicians and the media use the figure of 7% to highlight a lack of social mobility – as they habitually do – by suggesting an ‘over representation’ of independent school alumni in the professions, they are in fact underestimating the numbers of these alumni.  If in fact twice as many people experience independent education than previously thought then their apparent over representation in the professions is much reduced.

The survey also found that 22% of adults had had some form of paid tuition when they were a child, in addition to anything they received as part of their normal schooling.  Most of these people had not been to independent schools meaning that 29% of adults received some sort of paid-for teaching, be it school education, private maths coaching, lessons for a musical instrument or paid-for sports coaching.  This establishes the fact that for over a quarter of adults someone paid for them to receive at least some of the sorts of teaching on offer at independent schools.  It’s very clear that we should stop thinking of only a small minority opting for teaching that’s not supplied by the state, rather we should recognise that a very significant number of people choose, and pay for, bespoke independent education.

Choir Schools

It is fair to say that a choir school can offer a truly unique opportunity, twinning first-class independent and musical education. As Christmas approaches, and the eyes and ears of the country turn to Cambridge, King’s College and the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, this month we will take a look at choir schools, and why they are an excellent choice for musical children.

There are 34 choir schools, attached to cathedrals, churches or college chapels within the Independent Schools Council group of schools. These cater for children aged between 7 and 18, although most of them focus on the 7-13 age range. They educate some 15,000 pupils, including 1000 choristers, 90% of whom qualify for financial help with fees. This fee assistance comes either from the schools themselves, or via the government which operates the Choir Schools’ Scholarship Scheme.

In the Cambridge area, there are 3 ISC choir schools: King’s College School which has been admitting choristers since 1447, and holds voice trials in October and January; St John’s College School, with choristers in situ since the early 16th Century, and holding annual trials in September; and King’s Junior School, Ely, which has 22 boy choristers and a cathedral girls’ choir (with auditions for this held in the February of each year prior to admittance to the school in September) as well. 

Most choristers are admitted to choirs between the ages of 7 and 9, and are expected to be full boarders owing to the level of time and commitment required. They would usually be expected to play a musical instrument, and take singing lessons and music theory lessons. Choir schools look for vocal potential, a good musical ear and enthusiasm for singing in a prospective chorister, all of which must be demonstrated in their audition.

As you will undoubtedly imagine, combining being a chorister with the same academic curriculum as non-choristers in the school can be demanding – rehearsals commonly take place before and after the normal school day, and there will be additional rehearsals on Saturdays and Sundays for regular services. A passion for music is therefore crucial; being a chorister cannot be done without full commitment, and the willingness to give up out-of-school time for something you love. At the same time, choristers are the recipients of all of the benefits of an independent education, while gaining musical knowledge and singing ability unavailable to the vast majority of children their age.

If your child is dreaming of becoming a chorister, you need to start preparing for auditions. They are usually around 10 minutes long, during which applicants will need to sing a short piece they have prepared and be tested on other aspects of singing. This is in addition to the normal process of application used by the school for those not auditioning to be choristers.
The following are some useful links for those wishing to find out more. The Choir Schools Association represents schools up and down the country; the scholarship scheme can provide more information on what help with fees is available, and; the websites of the three ISC choir schools in Cambridgeshire.

Choir Schools Association
Choir Schools’ Scholarship Scheme
King’s College, Cambridge
St John’s College School, Cambridge
King’s Junior School, Ely

Judith Fenn and Ian Summersgill work for ISCias (Independent Schools Council information & advice service) giving information to parents about Independent schools.

Further information
More information on school fee assistance
Scholarships
Music scholarships
Choral scholarships / choir schools

How can schools think strategically to cope better with the rapidly changing digital landscape?

What can Heads learn about ICT from Music?  Not so much I thought, or at least that was my opinion before last Wednesday’s ISC ICT Strategy Conference at Radley College.  One of the presentations at the conference was a high-energy presentation from Radley’s own Head of Digital Strategy, Ian Yorston, who suggested that Heads of Music already knew the answers to many ICT questions.  Just as two pupils of the same age can arrive at school, one able to play a concerto, the other unable to play a note, so it is with ICT: pupils arrive with wildly different ICT skills and needs.  If Music departments can prepare pupils for Grade exams that are not tied to specific ages, and teach in a range of settings from one-to-one tuition to a whole orchestra coming together, then perhaps the effectiveness of this flexibility shows the way for ICT.  It also highlights how, just as the challenges a Music department faces are not all about the technicalities of music, many ICT challenges have more to do with the curriculum and pedagogy than ICT itself. 

The comparison with music tackles ICT as a subject being taught in schools, but of course, ICT strategy goes much further than that.  Heads need to think about issues such as how to handle cyber bullying, how they should respond to pupils bringing smart ‘phones into the classroom, whether and when they should move the storage of their data and the operation of their computing to ‘the cloud’ and how best to avoid wasting money by making poor ICT investments.  But if parallels with teaching music showed that issues in teaching ICT often weren’t technical matters, so it was that at the conference speakers emphasised that these strategic concerns were also not really ICT issues: cyber bullying should be recognised as simply a form of bullying and handled accordingly, and smart ‘phones with internet access aren’t a technological challenge to the sanctity of the classroom but, less threateningly, they’re another teaching tool to be embraced, just as the calculator was in the ‘70s and ‘80s.  This emphasises the underlying theme of the conference: ICT strategy is not something that should be left to network managers and IT specialists; rather, it is something that should be at the heart of every school’s strategic thinking.  Heads, Bursars and Governors need to be aware of the changing ICT world in order to make the correct strategic decisions, and I hope that this conference will have helped some of them gain more of that sort of awareness.

The conference brought together high quality and respected speakers such as the dynamic Steve Molyneux, and the former Secretary of State for Education and Employment David Blunkett.  A demonstration from two former Radley pupils showed the audience how adept school pupils are as ‘digital natives’ able to use social networking to myriad ends.

It being an ICT conference, naturally there’s plenty of material relating to the day on the web: the presentations are available here, and there’s a twitter feed that picked up on any tweets using the hashtag #ISC09, meaning that delegates could make real-time comments on presentations as the day unfolded.