Creating the Effective Primary School (Primary Essentials Series)

✍ Scribed by Roger Smith

• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 209
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

A key role for primary school leaders is to develop strategies for promoting and ensuring high quality learning. This practical and accessible handbook has been written by an experienced primary leader, and will offer anyone seeking guidance on creating or maintaining a more effective primary school with a valuable and friendly resource. Extensive coverage in this book includes: * using organisation and leadership to create a positive ethos developing good relationships and creating teams managing the curriculum and raising pupil achievement the role of targets and planning in raising achievement fostering successful teaching and good classroom management and relationships working with the inspection process performance management* dealing effectively with stress and time management. Launching the new Kogan Page Primary Essentials series, this book will be welcomed by any primary leader who is seeking to develop their pupil's and their school's strengths and expectations.

✦ Table of Contents

BOOK COVER......Page 1
HALF-TITLE......Page 2
TITLE......Page 3
COPYRIGHT......Page 4
CONTENTS......Page 5
INTRODUCTION......Page 9
INTRODUCTION......Page 13
1. Objectives and aims......Page 14
3. Leadership......Page 15
6. Environmental relationships......Page 16
Organisational dimensions......Page 17
Designation......Page 18
Cohesion......Page 19
Results versus relationships......Page 20
Tell or talk......Page 21
School atmosphere......Page 22
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURES......Page 23
LEADERSHIP AND POSITIVE ETHOS......Page 24
Levels of leadership......Page 25
LEADERSHIP STYLES......Page 26
2. Leaders provide their organisation with a mission......Page 28
4. Leaders need to be considerate......Page 29
6. Leaders, by the very role they are taking on, need to affect how decisions are taken......Page 30
COMMUNICATION......Page 31
Face-to-face communication......Page 34
Methods of communication between the school, parents and governors......Page 36
Governors’ annual report to parents......Page 37
School prospectus......Page 38
School Development Plan or School Improvement Plan......Page 39
The pupil’s annual report......Page 41
IMPORTANT POINTS......Page 42
Collegial schools......Page 43
Working relationships......Page 44
HOW TEAMS ARE BUILT AND HOW THEY WORK TOGETHER......Page 45
2. Effective teamwork is essential for collaboration to be successful......Page 46
3. If there are differences they need to be faced......Page 49
LEADING THE TEAM......Page 50
THE EFFECTIVE TEAM......Page 51
Taking decisions......Page 53
Step 1 Defining the situation......Page 54
Step 4 Evaluating and testing alternative courses of action......Page 55
Decisions taken by experts......Page 56
Decisions taken by consensus......Page 57
HOW GROUPS AND TEAMS ARE SUCCESSFUL......Page 58
RESOLVING CONFLICT......Page 59
The rights of assertiveness......Page 65
THE POSITIVE COLLEAGUE......Page 66
Positive relationships......Page 67
Negative teacher behaviour......Page 68
Blocking tactics......Page 69
IMPORTANT POINTS......Page 70
IDENTIFYING THE CURRICULUM......Page 72
THE CURRICULUM: CONTENT AND PROCESS......Page 73
WHOLE SCHOOL CURRICULUM POLICY......Page 75
KEY WHOLE SCHOOL CURRICULUM PRINCIPLES......Page 76
A positive curriculum for all children and for the whole school......Page 77
CURRICULUM PLANNING......Page 78
Curriculum expectations in the planning process......Page 79
The effect on curriculum planning of what pupils know......Page 80
Stages in long-term planning......Page 81
Medium-term planning......Page 85
Who needs to know what in medium-term planning......Page 91
Short-term planning......Page 92
IMPORTANT POINTS......Page 94
INTRODUCTION......Page 96
Assessment......Page 97
THE FIRST STEPS TOWARDS TARGET SETTING......Page 98
Box 1 and Box 2......Page 99
Calculating the percentage......Page 100
THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF TARGET SETTING......Page 101
FORECASTING AND SETTING TARGETS......Page 102
THE CYCLE OF RAISING ATTAINMENT......Page 103
How well should we be doing?......Page 104
What must we do to make this happen?......Page 105
PLANNING TO RAISE ACHIEVEMENT......Page 106
1. A planned curriculum......Page 107
2. Schemes of work......Page 108
4. Differentiation......Page 109
Differentiation by outcome......Page 111
Differentiated lesson plans......Page 112
Differentiation by personal contribution......Page 113
REMOVING SOME OF THE BARRIERS TO RAISING PUPIL ACHIEVEMENT......Page 114
Known reasons for low achievement......Page 115
Attitudes to learning......Page 117
IMPORTANT POINTS......Page 118
INTRODUCTION......Page 119
The effective teacher......Page 120
The ineffective teacher......Page 121
POSITIVE CLASSROOMS......Page 122
THE ALL-SEEING TEACHER......Page 123
Where children are in the classroom......Page 124
Crisis points......Page 125
LESSON STRUCTURE......Page 126
Questions and answers within the lesson structure......Page 127
Explanations within the lesson structure......Page 128
CLASSROOM RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TEACHER AND TAUGHT......Page 129
ASSERTIVE TEACHING......Page 131
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS......Page 134
Enjoying the job......Page 136
Being a skilful and competent professional......Page 138
The conduct of individuals in society......Page 139
The development of a sense of morality......Page 140
IMPORTANT POINTS......Page 141
INTRODUCTION......Page 142
PERFORMANCE INDICATORS......Page 144
SCHOOL INSPECTION......Page 146
General ways to make the inspection positive......Page 147
PREPARING FOR THE INSPECTION......Page 148
Documents you should have available......Page 149
What are the first steps?......Page 152
The role played by coordinators......Page 155
INSPECTING YOUR TEACHING......Page 156
Measuring success......Page 157
Teaching quality......Page 158
Parents and the inspection process......Page 160
How well is the school led and managed?......Page 161
AFTER THE INSPECTION......Page 162
IMPORTANT POINTS......Page 163
INTRODUCTION......Page 165
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT......Page 166
Auditing present practice......Page 167
THE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT CYCLE......Page 171
Assessing the headteacher’s performance......Page 172
MONITORING PERFORMANCE......Page 173
WHAT IS GOOD TEACHING?......Page 174
WHAT WILL HAPPEN DURING CLASSROOM OBSERVATION......Page 175
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT TARGETS AND OBJECTIVES......Page 176
What do we need to do to make it happen?......Page 180
THE WRITTEN RECORDS......Page 181
PREPARING FOR THE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT REVIEW MEETING......Page 182
Everyone has development needs and should have development opportunities......Page 184
IMPORTANT POINTS......Page 186
INTRODUCTION......Page 188
Symptoms and causes of stress......Page 189
Stage 1: What causes stress......Page 190
Stage 2: Recognising when to intervene......Page 191
Stage 3: Ways to combat stress......Page 194
THE ORGANISATION OF THE SCHOOL AND ITS EFFECT ON STRESS......Page 195
Establishing priorities......Page 197
Avoiding time wasting......Page 200
Delegation......Page 201
Looking after yourself will also improve the school......Page 202
Keep effective files, not ineffective piles......Page 203
IMPORTANT POINTS......Page 204
REFERENCES......Page 205
INDEX......Page 207