As a new Governor, I recently attended some training on Pupil Premium. For those of you who don’t know, it is a premium paid to schools by the Government for any child who qualifies for free school meals and it is there to help the school support children who are in most need. This is done because research shows that this group of children start off with a disadvantage educationally and that they then fall further behind during their school years. The money is to be spent on helping that child progress.

At the training course, we discussed which areas schools should spend their money. Many schools throw the money on more teachers or teaching assistants in the belief that, by giving more support to the children, they will progress quicker. In reality, this is an expensive and very ineffective solution.

According to research undertaken by the well-respected Sutton Trust, the two best areas to invest in, those areas with biggest bang for their buck, are:

  • Feedback – Providing good feedback
  • Cognitive Learning – that means helping children understand the process of learning.

 

Research shows that these two techniques enable Pupil Premium children to improve their ability to learn more effectively than others and produces children who are much more resilient and independent. School isn’t just about teaching kids stuff, you know.

What I found interesting was that, from a Leadership and Management point of view, this also has great resonance when managing your staff.

The ability to feedback constructively to your staff is a major contributor to their progression and to their commitment. By explaining what they have achieved or what they need to improve, we are giving our team members the chance to evaluate what they are doing and make corrections and we are demonstrating that we are interested in their progression and attainment.

If you then link that to Cognitive Learning, you are then allowing someone to hear what you are saying, think about it, discuss it in their own words, an then look at ways in which they can fit this new information into their processing.

The way I interpret this, is that feedback works best as a continual dialogue:

  • You point out something
  • They go away and think about it
  • You meet up later to discuss it again when they put things into their own words and then
  • They explain how they will change in the future.
  • You can then return to this subject at a later date to review how well that change is going.

 

Part of any great leader’s role is to coach their team and your ability to give feedback is a huge weapon in your coaching arsenal.

 

I provide training programmes and coaching to managers who want to inspire their teams, if are interested in how I can help you or your management team, call me on 07595 702878 or Contact Me.