Case Study: Flexible Working at Harborne Academy
We met with Sarah Ross, Headteacher of Harborne Academy – a single academy trust in Birmingham, to talk about recruitment, retention and the power of flexible working in schools.
“We need a good work-life balance but we also need to acknowledge what that really means. Philosophy is the key. Being able to take your kids to their first day at primary school matters to parents and it should matter to a school.” – Sarah Ross, Harborne Academy
From the outset of our conversation, it was clear that Sarah has a strong philosophy about what it means to run a school and how the attitudes and decisions of a headteacher influence culture and staff satisfaction.
Sarah is passionate about one key concept, that ‘trust is the thing’ that makes the whole culture work. In many ways Sarah’s ideas are innovative but not revolutionary. Put simply, at Harborne Academy, Sarah wants ‘the students in school for as long as possible and staff for as short as possible if that helps them to achieve a good work life balance’. For many schools and leaders this might feel a little alarming, but Sarah is committed to the approach and says she has felt the benefits by keeping great teachers in her team, indeed she claims that ‘many staff who leave this school get in touch saying that they wish they could come back.’
Running through all the flexible working and retention measures Sarah explained to us is a simple principle – school life doesn’t need to be inflexible for teachers, if headteachers and schools are willing to meet staff halfway: ‘Some of our staff are prepared to work early in the morning, whereas others are prepared to stay late – I don’t understand why the time teachers spend in the building has to be so fixed, particularly the start time.’ The rigidity of school timetables and expectations on staff are often cited as a barrier to part time work or to the recruitment and retention of teachers who are also parents or carers.
Sarah explained some of the measures that are in place in detail:
At Harborne Academy, ‘All staff can go to all their kids’ events – teachers are parents too and you can’t underestimate the benefit staff feel when they are able to attend their child’s nativity play.’ Often, Sarah uses dependants’ leave to facilitate but as the culture has evolved staff increasingly use friendly cover, ‘which we advertise, support and encourage people to take advantage.’
The school is trialing a new system, whereby every teacher gets the chance to spend ‘one PPA period a week at home, either in the morning or in the afternoon’. This is a fairly novel initiative, and Sarah plans to review its benefits and impact in the Summer Term.
Colleagues are also entitled to one ‘Staff Day’ each academic year, which is ‘one day off per year,’ and the school asks for ‘half a term’s notice and in return Staff can choose the day they take’. Sarah tells us that this has far-reaching benefits. These strategies in and of themselves feel like a bonus and promote a positive, supportive environment across the school.
Sarah says this philosophy has had a positive impact on staff absence, attendance and the overall culture of the school: ‘Staff with poor attendance are going to have poor attendance no matter what you do, why should the rules be inflexible for everyone in school to address issues with a small proportion off your staff?’ There is always a concern for heads and cover managers that these arrangements leave them vulnerable in emergency circumstances: ‘I don’t really see it that way, this approach is mostly focused on wellbeing for main-scale staff. They can always leave when they have flexibility because they are never used for cover.’
‘In fact, it enables me to focus more of my attention of the staff who do have attendance issues than I was able to under the old model.’
Schools and leaders should be principle driven, and at Harborne Academy, ‘philosophy is the key’. That’s why it doesn’t just end with colleagues leaving early or arriving at the end of period 1: ‘Heads can design their school around what is suitable for their staff.
‘I’ve been a head of department. Trust me, that responsibility and the work that goes with it doesn’t go away when you leave the building.
‘This goes all the way through to our support staff who get a combination of formal and informal flexible working – leaving a bit early is informal, working from home is more formal and has to be planned out a bit’.
We put it to Sarah that these arrangements atypical in Birmingham and might feel daunting for other schools to emulate, that it might set uncomfortable precedents, and that ‘the timetable’ is often the first and last barrier to schools achieving this kind of modern flexibility: ‘this is not a perfect system. We are just trying our best to make the school a good place to work. I wouldn’t want anyone to think that we don’t still have issues at our school.’
For Harborne Academy, the hope is that these approaches will pay dividends for their staff. ‘We need a good work-life balance but we also need to acknowledge what that really means. Philosophy is the key. Being able to take your kids to their first day at primary school matters to parents and it should matter to a school.
‘Let’s not worry if someone needs to go to an appointment in their free period, just trust them to go and come back to teach. You’ll soon see doctor’s appointments taking your teachers an hour instead of half or even a full day.’
