May 2012

The know zone

  • Anti-Social Media
    With the use of social network sites becoming a daily ritual for the vast majority of us, Richard Bird explains why personal photographs, inappropriate comments and hackers are still causing problems for staff in schools and colleges. More
  • Tough love
    Jo Shuter CBE is headteacher of Quintin Kynaston School, a community academy in London. She co-founded QK House, a charity for homeless sixth formers at the school. More
  • Great rewards
    The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) offers grants to help schools support the most disadvantaged children. More
  • A partnership to support school improvement
    Capita SIMS has renewed its partnership with ASCL for the next three years, meaning that members will continue to have access to great deals on SIMS support. More
  • Same difference?
    Now that the DfE has published the final list of vocational equivalencies, is it a step backwards, a step too far or just right? More importantly, what effect will it have on curriculum pathways or options in schools and colleges? ASCL members share their views. More
  • Leaders' surgery
    Advice on careers advisers and School behaviour policies More
  • Decisive deliberations
    As the March Council meeting took place a few weeks before ASCL Annual Conference 2012, government messages about the education system, as well as recently announced proposals to change school inspection, were high on the agenda. More
  • A brighter forecast?
    In his speech to delegates at ASCL’s Annual Conference in March, Brian Lightman challenged members not to be sucked into the splenetic tornado of negativity coming from some corners of government and the media. In this excerpt from his speech, he lays down the challenge. More
  • You can’t win...
    Leading a school is nothing compared to coaching an under 8s football team, although the similarities are striking. More
Bookmark and Share

Jo Shuter CBE is headteacher of Quintin Kynaston School, a community academy in London. She co-founded QK House, a charity for homeless sixth formers at the school.

Tough love

What sort of pupils are you dealing with?
QK is a larger-than-average inner London school with a diverse and needy cohort of young people who are incredibly aspirational; 100 per cent of year 13 pupils over the last three years have gone to university. However, nine out of ten of our students have some sort of barrier to learning – physical, emotional, psychological, linguistic, economic and so on – for which we attempt to provide a number of different interventions.

What is QK House?
QK has about ten homeless sixth-formers every year. They are students who are currently living in sheltered or hostel accommodation which is not appropriate but are too old to be placed with a foster family. We founded QK House to provide a safe and stable environment in which they can live and study.

What other ‘interventions’ do you use?
Every adult who works at QK is a role model for young people. When I interview someone – potential deputy head, a kitchen worker or a site manager – the most important thing is that they can establish boundaries and model appropriate behaviour for kids who are desperate for the kind of tough love that good parenting provides.

We also have counsellors, our own speech and language therapist, child and adult psychotherapists, behaviour support workers, a team of English as an Additional Language (EAL) support staff, a full-time nurse, our own social workers and a school police officer.

How do you afford all those people?
We generate income through the consultative work we do in other schools and when I speak at conferences. We also sell places on our vocational courses. All the money is ploughed back to pay for our support colleagues.

Can you really reach every child in a get-rich-quick, celebrity-obsessed culture?
On the estates, an easy way to make money is to carry out drops for a drug dealer but we demonstrate the positives through the experiences of our successful young people. I don’t believe any child is born bad; I think terrible things happen to vulnerable young people who just need strong nurturing and a sense of belonging and identity.

How did your background prepare you for leading a challenging school?
My philosophy comes from a very solid, very loving North London Jewish family background which provided a safety net when I was deviant in the ways I was. I wasn’t massively difficult but I got in with the wrong crowd and into trouble with the police.

There were a few misdemeanours and my parents had to support me through things that, perhaps, they didn’t expect a nice Jewish girl to get involved with. But I was bright and learning came easily to me so there weren’t too many significant barriers, academically-speaking. I didn’t get to be head girl because of my troubles, though.

Profile

Do you know an ASCL member with an unusual story, interesting background or exceptional achievement to share? If you’d like to recommend someone else or yourself to appear in a future profile, email leader@ascl.org.uk

tough-love.jpg

LEADING READING