Interviews
- News Archive
“Great Staff and a Wonderful Working Atmosphere”
Geraldine Davies, Head of the School of Education, shares some of the new directions being taken within the School
Geraldine, the last time you were interviewed for The Gazette was shortly after you took over from Dr Pat Wade as Head of the School of Education, so you were still finding your feet. Now that you have had time to settle into the job, you have another opportunity to report on the various initiatives that you have in mind for the School.
Well, it has been an interesting year. I have found out a great deal about what works well within the School – particularly that the reputation for initial teacher training is outstanding, with a wonderful staff, highly professional, motivated and dedicated.
One of the ‘shifts’ that we are trying to develop, is to recognise the huge experience and expertise that exists within the school and to share that more widely – not only within the School of Education, but also more widely within the University College. We are, after all, a significant part of St Mary’s, as forty percent of the student numbers are within Education, so part of our aim is to raise the profile of Education. To do that we have to enable our staff to become more research focused. This is not to detract from their primary responsibility, teacher training, but to help develop their own areas of interest – that is partly the strategy that we are developing.
For the very first time, Education is contributing to the Research Assessment Exercise. I have Dr Lorna Goodwin to thank for drawing together huge amounts of paperwork and driving the process within the school. Lorna and Dr Maureen Glackin are our two most recent PhD successes and they are both very much in the forefront of the process of drawing on research to inform our teaching. So the RAE was a major development and marks, if you like, a ‘pendulum swing’ in a particular direction.
We have already demonstrated expertise in training teachers, so this new shift allows us to offer more to teachers who are already in post. We have bid to the TDA for an additional Masters level qualification. That submission was really to expand the range of Masters courses that we offer for teachers in schools, looking at the development of pedagogy and professional values and practice, and building an MA portfolio, which takes pedagogy as a strong theme, both in the Primary sector and in specific subject areas in the Secondary sector. For example we are developing a PE Masters programme, building on the strong tradition that St Mary’s has with physical education.
Now you have two new visiting professors appointed – how are they going to interact with the members of your school, fitting in with what you have just said?
Within the School of Education, Sir John Rowlings has been doing some development work with programme directors and academic directors, as John’s expertise is in School Leadership and in leading change.
He is the man who is tasked with raising the standard of GCSE results in a broad spectrum of London schools in this current year?
Exactly. His role within the London Challenge Group of schools is really, as you say, focused on GCSE performance, but the techniques he uses to effect change are really applicable to any sector. So John has led three days of InService training for our programme and academic directors, and has used some theoretical frameworks for change, but is also working closely with them on a one to one basis, mentoring and supporting them through effecting that change. This provides theoretical expertise running concurrently with their practice, thus making theory of management leadership actually impact on practice.
And Professor Paul Clarke?
Professor Clarke’s expertise is mainly in the area of sustainable school improvement, modelling how an institution, and the members of staff within that institution, can implement and develop an improvement agenda, and find the resources and expertise within themselves to make that change. The solutions exist within the institution.
Paul will be working with our own staff, to support them in effecting the changes. We will be modelling, internally, some of the practices that he has been developing out in schools.
We look at organisational development in a similar sort of way. Once both Paul and John have worked with our own staff we will then be looking at what we can offer in terms of Outreach work and activities.
Now can you say a little about the relatively new ‘3Rs’ initiative? Not the 3Rs we traditionally talk about, but this is something different: Retreat, Refresh and Renew
It is a programme we have developed for serving Head teachers. I have come from a secondary Headship fairly recently and I know that there has been a great deal of work carried out from the National College for School Leadership, and from the dioceses and local authorities, about preparation for people to take on a Headship – and some good support too, offered for people who are new in post.
But I couldn’t find anything that could be appropriate for those who were experienced and successful Heads, and we came up with a programme which we called the ‘3Rs’, which, at the moment, is aimed specifically at Head teachers in Catholic schools. This allows them to spend five days at St Mary’s – and we are making those five days very flexible days – they can be taken in groups, or singly, and they can be booked at very short notice. In any given year, a Head can be faced with all sorts of pressures; tensions and deadlines arise – often completely out of the blue in many cases – so this gives an opportunity to respond to the changing pattern of the year.
We have had six Head teachers so far come onto our programme since its inception last September. They have a consultation day first. They start by spending a day with either myself, or one of the academic directors, and we explore what they really want to get out of those days. For example, some have asked for a personalised approach to time management.
The days are tailored completely to what they feel they need. We have a pool of staff to draw on to cover most areas of expertise. In some instances they may just want an opportunity for time to read and reflect, so we can cater for that, too.
Do they plot all their five days in advance, during the introductory session?
They plot as much as they wish to, but with complete flexibility to change at a later date. Many of them want time to spend on a spiritual retreat, and Fr Gerry, the Chaplain has been great in providing support for this. One secondary Head in particular is very interested in looking at Liberation Theology, hopefully this demonstrates how the programme is tailor made to suit the needs of the participants.
We could probably cater for ten Heads in our first year and, if it does prove to be successful and more wish to participate, we could certainly make accommodation for it, because there isn’t another programme on offer which is designed so closely to meet individual needs.
On a completely different subject, I do believe that there is now a renewed interest in attracting students from Gibraltar.
Gibraltarian students have, over the years, formed a very important part of St Mary’s. Paula Askew and I visited Gibraltar before Christmas, and were wonderfully hosted. We visited two secondary schools, met the Director of Education and one of the advisors, as well as some of the members of the Gibraltarian Simmarian Association.
Paula has gone back to their Careers Fair, where a St Mary’s stand will be exhibited. We are hoping that she will be able to visit two of the Middle schools. We really hope to strengthen still further the link that has existed for a very long time between Gibraltar and St Mary’s.
It certainly seems that you all have more than enough to keep you very busy for the foreseeable future. Are there any other things currently on your wish list for the future?
All these plans are to be viewed over a period of time. However, there is absolutely nothing here that needs fixing – everything is really good. I have a great staff and a wonderful working atmosphere, and that’s a wonderful position to be in.
How do you go about making something which is already very, very good into something that is even better?
There is nothing remedial required at all – and I have Pat Wade to thank for that. She did an outstanding job and the great professional and personal regard in which she is held within the School is really a great credit to her – and I do thank her for all that she has done.
I hope I’m able to create the conditions here for an even more exciting future.
