If we thought 2019 was a bad year as a tsunami of extreme weather unfolded across the globe, nothing could have prepared us back in January for the cataclysm that 2020 was preparing to unleash.

Now we find ourselves in lockdown fighting the unseen enemy that is Covid-19.

Since schools were forced to close their doors, teachers and parents have been working with varying degrees of success to keep the UK’s 10 million-plus students education on track.

We have all been forced to step into unknown territory and strike out in different directions as we seek to find the best way of working until the schools reopen.

When they do, it will be a vastly different landscape, however. Until a vaccine becomes available the way in which our children are taught will, by necessity, be very different to how it was.

Tough times are defining moments in any leader’s career. Some will rise heroically to the occasion, others will fall by the wayside. These extraordinary circumstances require exceptional leaders and remarkable leadership.

Leaders that will succeed will have a clear vision, see the big picture and know they can’t shoulder the burden alone. 

Those that succeed in stepping up and taking responsibility will have a clear vision, communicate honestly, listen to people’s pains and frustrations, and be able to look at the bigger picture. They will also be those who know they can’t shoulder the burden alone.

One of the key skills of leadership is understanding that you are not the best at everything, and knowing when to place your trust in those who are more competent in certain areas.

I can envisage a future that looks very different from our past in all spheres of work and working practice.

A Pod isn’t simply a podcast

A Pod isn’t simply a podcast, it’s in fact a short three-five-minute audio-visual animation written by subject specialists and voiced by professional artistes. They are clear, concise and engaging. I know because I have watched over 200 of them in the last few weeks!

I discovered that GCSEPod can be used as a teaching tool. Assignments can be set and assessed using multiple choice questions which can stand as tutorials. It can be utilised for flipped learning by directing pupils to a limited number of Pods for upcoming work. It’s also a homework tool where assignments can be set with questions that relate to recently covered work, or even from an earlier topic.

They have everything…

There are English and maths workbooks that can be used on and offline that help to build less able students’ confidence.

Postcards and certificates reward success and there are templates for these. There is an easy guide to appointing a GCSEPod staff lead as well as Key Stage 4 student ambassadors, and helpful information on how the platform can be integrated into revision.  I would encourage schools to be considering this now for any exams they might stage in-house in the Christmas term, for example.

GCSEPod will help schools to see how personalised learning and true learner-centred instruction can be accomplished….

Sadly, some schools are better than others at recognising the need to move with the times and motivating their staff to do so. I have lost count of the times I have been to schools and heard senior leaders when asked about the progress of a new learning initiative respond with ‘all of the middle leaders are aware of it. I have emailed it to them.’

I know in that instant that nothing will be different. You cannot lead people by or via email and expect positive change to happen. It won’t.

GCSEPod is an incredible learning tool. But it can only be as good as the people charged with overseeing its effective use. Without ‘buy-in’ there can be no change. Without clear leadership, anything, no matter how good, can become just another thing.

People need to know what’s in it for them. Why will it be of benefit to my school, my teaching, my impact?

Imagine someone in your school trying to introduce a new initiative and beginning with, ‘right, we are going to change X and start Y.’ You can almost hear the chorus of groans. No matter how good the ‘new thing’ is, it will struggle to make its mark.

But once the ‘why’ is understood and a clear vision communicated, staff will be sold on it. The ‘how’ and the ‘what’ will then follow relatively easily. Surprisingly, some leaders neglect to even mention the ‘why’ at all.

Given the choice between a teacher with good subject knowledge and poor relationships and one with weaker speciality understanding and strong affiliations, I will take the second every time. You can always work on the subject knowledge. Get it right with a class and they will walk through fire for you. The same goes for your staff.

This is because if they buy into you and your vision for the future, the students will too.

Invest your time now, explore the product and draw up a plan. Investing now will save a huge amount of time in the future…

So, what will your leadership of the introduction of GCSEPod, or any initiative, look like?

You need to talk to people about important decisions. That could be the launch or even relaunch of GCSEPod. Start with the why, the vision, and maximising the life chances of students.  Perhaps arrange a call with your leadership team to talk this through. Certainly call your middle leaders, or meet with them if you can do so safely in school.

Ask them to spend a day exploring GCSEPod, particularly for their subject, to draw up a plan that covers how this could be used by teachers and students, how it could be advertised and monitored, who could lead on it in their area, how assignments could be used to inform planning and how this resource can augment what you are already doing.  Meet with them to follow this up and iron out the detail, schedule in meetings to review use and impact, and make sure they are planning to measure it.

At this time that ‘why’ might be to equip current Year 10’s so that if a second wave of coronavirus strikes then you have secure systems in place to effectively teach remotely. Or it could be to set assignments, see performance and, of course, guide planning for when schools do return.

If there is hopefully no second C-19 phase, GCSEPod’s material can be used for flipped learning and for homework to consolidate understanding. It can be used for the students who are hard to reach or in alternative provision. Perhaps now is a time to look at properly innovating and doing things differently that might have taken much longer in normal circumstances.