From Jenny Mosley’s Quality Circle Time to Workforce Reform in just a few easy steps!
Tue, May 17th 2005
We had our first OFSTED in 1997 and were amazed to be offered Beacon status as a result. We were one of the first Beacon Schools, and very green as to how to share what we thought we did well. We decided that as part of the programme we should attempt to incorporate something new for us as well as for partners from other schools. Thus it was that we invited Jenny Mosley to lead a shared development day in order to establish Quality Circle Time in the curriculum.
The day was a defining moment. None of the subsequent ‘bit hitters’ came close. We were invited to examine the impact that negativity had on the team, asked to reflect upon how we might avoid it and given a step by step guide to making a difference. We were shown how everything we felt as adults had an impact on the children in our care. We were made to feel important, our self-esteem a huge weapon in our teaching strategy armoury. We were inspired to re-examine the cross over between playtime and class time, re-establish shared rules and sanctions, unravel the complicated knitting that can make sanctions and rewards one and the same. We saw how children might be given the attention they deserve through a systematic model of active listening and support, and realised that adults needed the support as well.
Over the subsequent year we put in place the sections of the Whole School Quality Circle Time Model, slowly and steadily as Jenny suggested, making each target achievable and ticking off an impressive list of action points by the end of the Summer Term.
It was no surprise to us that David Bell recognised behaviour management to be the area teachers found hardest, but it was a surprise that more schools weren’t taking the QCT route. We recruited new staff as old colleagues moved on and up, and reviewed our practice, each time going back to the first principles of systematic listening and support for adults and children. OFSTED No. 2 came and went. We notched up Investors in People, the Healthy Schools Standard, the Active Mark and the Basic Skills Kite Mark, always using the same interwoven model of listening and support.
With the advent of the Workforce Reform training, we formed our change team and set about examining how to implement PPA, keep standards high and the primary strategy to the fore. A tall order? Of course not. QCT to the rescue! Using the techniques that we have perfected when working together such as recognising and praising every effort; ensuring that we are using everyone’s strengths; refusing to allow negativity to fester, and enjoying the huge benefits that are gained from working with children who feel empowered and secure, Workforce Reform looks exciting and energising.
Vicki Johnson, Headteacher, Northwood Primary School, Isle of Wight (March 2005
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