Doug Lemov's field notes

One of the highlights of my time in the UK has been working with the driven and dynamic educators at ARK schools, who run high performing schools in London, Birmingham, Portsmouth and Hastings, including schools in some of those cities’ most economically deprived neighborhoods.

I recently visited ARK Elvin Academy, near Wembley Stadium.  Elvin is a turnaround of the former Copland Community School in which Principal Annabel Bates has taken a school with a history of difficulties (and unfortunately some of the lowest scores in the area) and set out to turn it around.  The most interesting part, perhaps, is that Annabel is endeavoring to accomplish the turnaround most with existing staff. Implicitly, the argument is, if the organization can serve the teachers in the school better–if it can grow and develop and train them; if it can give them what they need to succeed, if it can build a culture of constant improvement and positive accountability, the same team of people can have dramatically different results. Great schools are about the teaching decisions people make and the systems that allow for and support those decisions.  I love that message.

I was really inspired by Annabel’s work and how optimistic she was about the progress so far–her teachers, with the right to be skeptical, had been hugely responsive. I asked her for some insights.  I thought they’d be useful especially because turning around a school is such a critical challenge, both in the US and the UK.  Over the weekend, she sent along her thoughts. Here’s Annabel’s letter:

For the past fortnight our staff has been taking part in training as part of a transition from the previous school, which has found itself in challenging circumstances, to the new ARK Elvin Academy. There were many reasons that individuals could have used to justify scepticism: an almost entirely new senior leadership team; the experience of previous false dawns; the scars from recent traumas – not to mention the usual challenges that abound in a school with our complex intake.

However, the experience of the last two weeks has been overwhelmingly positive. Colleagues have embraced the values and vision of the new leadership, and thrown themselves into the training. Unprompted, displays have been put up displaying the new school motto and values. Sessions practicing techniques from Teach Like a Champion have been purposeful yet filled with laughter. There has been a remarkable lack of resistance, despite some (understandable) anxiety last year about the transition to becoming a new school, which manifested in strikes and protests.

So why has it gone so well? We have undoubtedly been helped by a warm and open staff community that genuinely cares about its pupils. Here is some of the feedback we’ve been given from teachers and non-teachers about what they have appreciated about our approach to the training:

1. Values first and foremost: The new school motto, magna aude (dare for greatness), has resonated with what teachers want to see in their pupils and themselves. The four values of integrity, courage, community, and mastery, were the starting point for the training and have underpinned every session since. This has given coherence to the various areas of training and also provided a clear rationale for why and how we expect things to be done.
2. Most important first: Two days have been devoted to classroom practice, and two days to behaviour and ethos. There have been sessions for all staff on raising aspirations, attendance, and SEN. Data and assessment training has focussed on the importance in using data to inform planning. As a result, colleagues have said that the focus on ‘the important things’ has helped them to buy in to the new start.
3. A focus on development: There was a real positive buzz coming out of the performance management and professional development session – not traditionally the most inspiring of topics. What created this buzz was an appreciation of an approach which will clearly link performance management to development; as it should be!
4. Everyone included: The majority of sessions, including for example those on behaviour, attendance, and raising aspirations, have included all staff, for example our admin and facilities teams. The valuable contribution that these non-teaching colleagues make to school life has been repeatedly highlighted. In return, they have fed back that this is the first time they have felt listened to and involved.
5. A strong and united SLT: Our shared values and moral purpose have enabled us to use a common language for divergent topics. This has added credibility and a clear sense of shared direction in the eyes of the wider staff.

In the words of the teachers themselves, the maths department commented that the training was “not stereotypical but very informative, encouraging and to the point. Staff can adopt it in simple ways to develop good practice in the classroom. The training has reinforced positive values, building bridges and community spirit to turn things around”. This was echoed by the head of science, who said that “I am really impressed by the positivity which has underpinned all of the training sessions so far. Everybody is keen to embrace ARK Elvin’s values and we are all looking forward to putting the strategies which we have learnt into practice when the students return”.

Undoubtedly there will be challenges ahead. At the time of writing, the pupils have not yet returned. There will be resistance from some pupils to the high behaviour expectations, and staff will need to work tirelessly to make sure that the new ethos is embedded and that their teaching leads to the outcomes our pupils deserve. But the past two weeks have built as good a foundation as we could wish for, to meet these challenges head on.

Ark Elvin Academy; Annbel Bates