Effective School Management

part of their teaching commitment with pupils with SEN. There are many
examples of excellent practice in special schools and mainstream school
leaders should ensure that their staff are provided with opportunities to learn
from their colleagues in those schools.
An alternative approach which is being pioneered in some areas is to try to
create a continuum of provision, with collaboration and flexibility being
encouraged.
Case Study – West Hill (Special School) and
Therfield (Comprehensive)
A shared commitment by the headteachers of the schools to meeting the
needs of pupils with SEN led them to identify a way to collaborate which
meets the needs of pupils at risk of disaffection (or already disaffected) in
Year 10. This collaboration means shared costs, shared resources (staff,
minibus) and inclusion of pupils from both schools into each other other’s
establishment. Some staff work in both schools, and there is a high level of
liaison.
The project involves a group from West Hill who are taught separately.
On one day per week, they link with pupils from Therfield for sport, social
skills and the Duke of Edinburgh Award. This programme is taught off-
site. A Project Trident employability programme, teaching practical
building skills, is also included, as is work experience.
The benefits of the project include:
• motivation to attend school and to learn;
• a reduction of the negative effects on the education of other students;
• a more appropriate curriculum.

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MANAGING AND ADAPTING THE CURRICULUM
191
SPECIALIST SCHOOLS
Specialist schools are secondary schools which focus on their chosen subject
area but must meet the full National Curriculum requirements and deliver a
broad and balanced education. The scheme has been rapidly expanded in the
last few years and the government has announced that eventually it expects
each secondary school in England to be a specialist school. Schools may choose
a specialism from arts, science, technology, business and enterprise, sport,
music, humanities, languages, maths and computing, and engineering. They
may also choose to specialize in a combination of two subjects. The school
must work with a named ‘family of schools’ and with the wider community.
A sum of £50,000 in sponsorship has to be raised from private-sector sponsors
(which may include parents) and the DfES adds £100,000 to this for expenditure
on a capital project related to the specialism.
The school has to draw up a four-year development plan for improve-
ments in teaching and learning and for involving other schools and the wider
community. In return, the school receives a grant per pupil (currently £123)
for each of the four years.
The process of applying to become a specialist school is arduous and needs
to be undertaken with careful planning. Governors, parents and staff need to
be convinced of the benefits, and staff in areas other than the chosen
specialism will understandably be initially suspicious that their subjects will
be downgraded in importance or that they will see no benefit from the extra
funding. It is common for a deputy head or other senior teacher to take the
lead in drawing up the application, and the time commitment involved
should not be underestimated. Obtaining the necessary sponsorship can be
difficult, especially in rural or deprived areas, although sources of funding
are available through the Specialist Schools Trust. However, many schools
report that the process of auditing current strengths and weaknesses, and
devising action plans to improve teaching and learning is valuable in itself,
regardless of whether they are granted specialist status.
DISCUSSION TOPIC
To what extent has the introduction of the National Curriculum reduced
or increased the school’s scope for curriculum development?
FURTHER READING
Bayliss, V. (1999) Opening Minds: Education for the 21st Century, Royal Society of Arts,
London.
Black, P. and William, D. (1998) Inside the Black Box, King’s College, London.
Black, P. et al. (2002) Working Inside the Black Box, King’s College, London.
Everard, K.B. (1993) A Guide to Handling Some Values Issues, NAVET, Aberdeen.

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192
EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
Garwood, M. and Dowden, M. (2001) Curriculum Management and Assessment Manual:
A Practical Guide to Managing, Monitoring and Target-Setting, Pearson Education,
Harlow.
Lyus, V. (1998) Management in Early Years, Hodder and Stoughton, London.
Powell, R. (1997) Raising Achievement, Robert Powell Publications, Stafford.
Whalley, M. (2004) Management in Early Childhood Settings, Sage, London.

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MANAGING QUALITY, RISK, HEALTH AND SAFETY
193