The Unvisited Room
 
As a headteacher there was a room in the school that was essential to smooth operation, but which I hardly ever visited. The boiler room.
 
It was never a good thing, if I had to visit the boiler room because it usually meant there was some sort of heating problem. A primary school in February when the heating breaks, is not ideal. Fan heaters start appearing from cupboards and start whirring away in classrooms. Have they been PAT tested? So, it usually fell to me to take a look in the boiler room. There was no ‘boiler maintenance training’ on my PGCE or on any school leadership training either. The first challenge was always to find the right key. That could take a while and I always had a sense of dread when I did find the right one and could enter the room. The one at St Paul’s looked a bit like the TARDIS, panels on the walls, metal cabinets with keys to turn like some kind of missile silo and a huge red furnace contraption that would either be silent (hence the problem) or roaring away loudly.
 
As you can probably tell, my expertise with school or indeed any heating system, was fairly limited. My only hope was that there was some issue with the clock/timer and I could initiate the manual override and just switch the thing on to ‘constant’. It always frightened me to death when you flicked a switch and the boiler awoke with a jolt and began heating the school again. It was a great feeling to have ‘restored’ the heating to the school but it was always followed by an urgent call to the heating engineers to come and sort it out properly. Thankfully, these events were rare, I could go months and months without having to set foot in my least favourite room in the school.
 
Of course, if the boiler fails completely, the school can be in a very serious predicament. An icy school with very young children or even older children creates serious concerns. These can be hugely expensive to repair and even more costly to replace. We have had a worrying large number of boiler failures in our schools in recent times. Some of them are 30 years old or more. The department for education expects all schools to take a strategic approach to buildings to try and plan ahead (as far as possible) and consider that boiler replacements might be necessary in 5 years’ time or 10 years’ time, rather than waiting for the silence of a boiler (which is older than most of the teachers) that has finally given up the ghost on a late December morning when it is -4 and grandparents are on their way in to school for the infant nativity. Angel costumes are not made for warmth!

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• the Revised Evaluation Schedule has been updated to include a honeycomb graphic on the features of Excellence (new page 20). This is not new information and does not include any new or additional requirements but is, simply, an alternative representation which some may find useful.
• the SIAMS Information for Schools document has been updated to include section 4.5 on Quality Assurance and Inspector training, and section 7 on the SIAMS Duty Desk for inspectors.

Held on the 14th October, this event was a rich source of ideas and advice.  You can watch a recording of the webinar HERE (scroll down to 'Environmental Webinars for Schools') and we have also attached the slides from the session.  The following information is also available to download:

RE

• Teaching RE in EYFS: 26th November 2021 9.30am - 12 noon
• Effective Assessment - RE Moderation: 15th November 2021 3.30 - 5.00pm
• Creative RE - Teaching about Judaism: 25th November 2021 3.30 - 5.00pm
• Being an Effective RE Leader: 25th January 2022 9.30am - 12 noon

Governance

• School Leaders' Guide to Inducting New Governors: 23rd November 2021 5.00 - 6.30pm. An opportunity to find out how to improve your governor onboarding process.  Please CLICK HERE for more information.
• Being a Governor in a Church School: 1st, 2nd, 7th & 9th December 2021.  4 x 1 hour FREE evening training sessions for all governors or LAB members of church schools in the Hereford Diocese. Please CLICK HERE. for more information.

Over the 4 weeks of Advent this resource explores different communities from the Christmas story, to see what they can teach us about community and how they can inspire us to make a difference this Christmas. The resource celebrates how community can bring us joy, acceptance, generosity and love, and includes videos of pupils talking about their communities, Bible links, reflections and practical challenges and can be used in the classroom or in collective worship. Find out more here.

I almost never visited the boiler room when it was working properly. There was always something much more important or at least more urgent that needed to be done.
 
This week, the world’s leaders have gathered to try and find new ways of addressing the problems with global warming and climate change. It has been really interesting and heartening to see what is possible when the world faces a common problem together. Inevitably this got me thinking about the contribution that we can make within the education sector.
 
Last year, the Church of England pledged to achieved a (net) carbon zero target by 2030. This was more ambitious than many expected. Our Church of England schools are included in this calculation, and they are often the most significant energy consumers of all C of E buildings. A key part of meeting this challenge is to identify the quick and easy wins within the energy efficiency of school buildings and we can help schools who are exploring these. It is also about, eventually installing more environmentally friendly systems such as air source heat pumps or LED lighting. These are not yet the cheapest option and when funds are so tight and needs are very immediate (like when the boiler has already failed). We are then faced with impossible choices between lower cost, oil fired boilers that don’t help with carbon targets or more expensive heat pumps that do.
 
The Church of England’s own website highlights the importance of environmental considerations in our schools:
 
“Often our children are the most aware of the need to reduce our environmental impact. And across our schools there are many examples of leadership in caring for the Earth. The Eco-Schools programme is an excellent, pupil-led and free way to get the whole school and wider community involved in environmental projects. The Eco-schools run an international twinning programme across 67 countries so you can exchange experiences with other schools around the world. Our schools also have access to Christian Aid’s Global Neighbours accreditation scheme. This programme encourages a deeper understanding of global injustice and the Christian response to it.”
 
We need to give the children some help with this of course and I think it is an area where governors can make a real difference. By taking an interest in and some responsibility for school buildings, heating systems, energy efficiency etc this can really help over stretched school leadership teams to ensure these essential ingredients of school life are given the attention they need. Perhaps it is time to visit that room again and plan ahead? Do talk to us, if you need help.
 
Collect for the 4th Sunday before Advent
God of glory,
touch our lips with the fire of your Spirit,
that we with all creation
may rejoice to sing your praise;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
 
I hope that your half term was restful. It won’t have escaped your notice that the collect is now for the 4th Sunday before Advent. The new church year is coming and we know what comes next. As a primary school headteacher, this was always, always the busiest half term of the year. I always found it the most exhausting, but it was also my favourite. More on that in the weeks to come but perhaps not just yet.
The pandemic continues to test us and the struggles continue in our schools. Our support networks for school leaders are as important as ever. Do let us know if you are struggling or if there is anyone else you are worried about. We will do all we can.
 
Prayers and best wishes for the week ahead.
 
Andrew
 
Canon Andrew Teale
Diocesan Director of Education

Together for our Children   ...continuing the conversations
 A special online conference designed for local church members and their church school to open up fresh conversations about ways they can partner together to support children’s spiritual development. Click on link for more information and to book your place.