ASCL Annual Conference 2020
Friday 13 March 2020
09:00 - 19:00
ICC Birmingham
8 Centenary Square, Birmingham, B1 2EA
NFER Session - Achieving diverse leadership through flexible working |
Date: Friday 13 March
Time: 14:30 - 15:30
This year’s theme for the ASCL Annual Conference 2020 is diverse leadership. The two day event will showcase leading educationalists, serving school and college leaders and policy makers plus inspiring and informative leaders from other sectors, ASCL Annual Conference 2020 is not to be missed.
Caroline Sharp, NFER’s Research Director, will be joined by Theodora Nickson, Headteacher at Bishop's Hatfield Girls' School, on the first day of the conference, to discuss achieving diverse leadership through flexible working.
Our session takes place on 13 March at 14:30 with findings from our research which included surveys and interviews with school leaders of secondary schools with high and average levels of part-time teachers. Secondary headteacher Theo Nickson will discuss how she has successfully implemented flexible working in her school.
Recent research by NFER identified an unmet demand for more flexible working among teachers and found that senior leaders may be unwilling to allow staff with leadership responsibility to work flexibly. This inevitably restricts the diversity of the leadership pipeline.
A lack of flexible working opportunities is a key reason why some teachers move school or leave the profession. People with caring responsibilities, health issues and those approaching retirement are most likely to be affected.
Speakers:
Caroline Sharp (NFER)
Caroline Sharp is an experienced educational researcher, with a particular interest in social mobility and the teaching workforce. She directed a national research study for DfE on how successful schools support the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. Caroline has recently completed a study of the benefits of and barriers to flexible and part-time working in secondary schools, funded by the NFER.
Theodora Nickson (Bishop's Hatfield Girls' School)
A Headteacher in a state-funded girls’ secondary school in Hertfordshire for 16 years. Theodora is presently Honorary Secretary on ASCL Council. She has a particular interest in Curriculum and exploring curriculum models that enable all young people to develop the skills they will need for secure future employment; this complements her interest in timetabling and flexible working patterns for teachers – having worked part-time as a Co-Headteacher for the last year, she is modelling this practice from the top!