February 2014

The know zone

  • Help in testing times
    In the event of illness or worse, what pension benefits can you or your family draw on? David Binnie explains. More
  • A question of balance
    Sam Ellis has been worrying about even-handedness in school since he was a lad. Instead of concerns about being kept behind in class, he’s now anxious about education funding being reasonable and just or, at least, fairer than it was. More
  • Are you ready?
    The new National Curriculum (NC) becomes statutory in September with further reforms in the pipeline to GCSE, post-16 qualifications and performance measures. Sue Kirkham looks at the detail. More
  • Strength in numbers
    The focus in this Leader is on ASCL Council’s Funding Committee, which has a wide-ranging remit that includes all aspects of school and college funding. More
  • ASCL PD events
    Legal Issues, Managing Challenging Pupils: Duties and Powers, Online Safety: Equipping Your School to Avoid Risk, and An Introduction to School Financial Management More
  • Managing change
    ASCL Professional Development (PD) offers high-quality, relevant, up-to-date and competitively priced courses (see left). Our training is delivered by a team of skilled trainers and consultants, almost all of whom have been headteachers or senior school leaders. More
  • What a relief!
    Sport Relief is back on Friday 21 March and schools and colleges up and down the country will be getting active and raising money to help change lives, both here in the UK and across the world. More
  • Adding value
    The Energy vs. Minibus Debate! More
  • New dimension?
    What is the number one issue affecting education that all political parties should agree on? Is it curriculum, funding, accountability or something else? And why? Here, ASCL members share their views. More
  • Leaders' surgery
    The antidote to common leadership conundrums.. More
  • The holy grail...
    Finding the right riposte to a cheeky – or worse – student is never easy, so it helps if you can call on divine inspiration, even if it’s lost on the audience. More
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ASCL PD events

Legal Issues, Managing Challenging Pupils: Duties and Powers
This course is led by ASCL’s legal specialist. By the end of the course, participants will be familiar with the statutory framework for managing pupil behaviour and the powers of teachers and schools and, in the light of the Children’s Commissioner’s reports on exclusions, what is lawful and what is not. Delegates will have had the opportunity to consider ‘fair process’ and how to manage the difficult technical issues surrounding exclusions from school.
INFO www.ascl.org.uk/managing_challenging_pupils

Online Safety: Equipping Your School to Avoid Risk
This course aims to introduce school leaders to current online safety issues facing schools, their staff and the young people in their care. It will explore policies, tools and curricular programmes that will assist schools in creating safer online environments and in meeting the requirements of Ofsted inspectors.
INFO www.ascl.org.uk/online_safety

An Introduction to School Financial Management
Led by two of ASCL’s specialists in funding and business management, this course provides an overview of the key issues associated with budgeting and financial planning to improve financial awareness and develop a basic understanding of the roles and responsibilities placed on education establishments to ensure the proper use of public funds. The course looks at the funding system, examines the differences between various structures, provides information about key roles and responsibilities, accountability, reporting and monitoring, and examines what constitutes good practice in sound financial management.
INFO www.ascl.org.uk/introduction_school_financial_management

LEADING READING