Evelyn Forde, Headteacher, Copthall School - BAME leadership: how do we make it more representative in schools?

Hello We Are In Beta-ers!

Fist off, welcome to all the new members of the community. It’s great to have you on board.

I'm thrilled to release of episode #3 of the We Are In Beta Podcast - an interview with the Evelyn Forde, Headteacher of Copthall School in Barnet, where she issue a powerful call to arms.

So, take a break or schedule some time on your commute:

👂 Listen on Spotify | iTunes | Stitcher | Libsyn | TuneIn 🔉

👀 Read the full transcription 📖

Why are people loving this episode?

Madeleine X F-B @M_X_F

On a #wearebeta binge! (Working backwards) now hearing @Evelynforde1 from @Copthall_School - a powerful call to arms for more BAME governors, and for BAME leaders and women to proudly call themselves role models. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/we-… @BAMEedNetwork @NiallAlcock #MTPTProject

podcasts.apple.com‎We Are In Beta Podcast: Evelyn Forde, Headteacher, Copthall School - BAME leadership: how do we make it more representative in schools? on…‎Show We Are In Beta Podcast, Ep Evelyn Forde, Headteacher, Copthall School - BAME leadership: how do we make it more representative in schools? - 22 Mar 2019

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What do we talk about in the podcast?

• How Evelyn’s daughters inspired her to make a change

• How she overcame the odds to secure her dream role at Copthall

• How she led the school to achieve exceptional results

• How she improved teaching and learning through incremental coaching

• What she is doing to improve staff wellbeing

• How she involved the local community in developing the school’s culture

• Which headlines do headteachers a disservice and why

• How performance tables can actually deter schools from off-rolling rather than encourage them to

• The one question she would like to ask every headteacher if she could

• What excites her about the future of education and why

• How running for presidency always make her smile, even when she’s feeling a bit down

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Since recording, Evelyn has been featured in excellent Guardian article:

Guardian Education @GuardianEdu

Equality in schools: ‘What makes people think a black woman can’t be headteacher?’

theguardian.comEquality in schools: ‘What makes people think a black woman can’t be headteacher?’The proportion of ethnic minority staff in senior roles is low, even in areas such as London. Why?

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💬 Join the conversation. Tweet us @NiallAlcock and @EvelynForde1. We’d love to know what you think.

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The best In Beta bits

We Are In Beta is a positive space that aims to capture the knowledge of inspiring school leaders.

As a thank you for being a valued member of the community, I curate the practical strategies and solutions to the challenges they’ve face so you don’t miss out on them - the partnerships, the programmes, the books and the blogs.

So what came up in Evelyn’s interview?

• The teaching and learning policy that led to rapid improvements at Copthall

• The charity Evelyn works with to improve the life chances of the minority community focusing on the black Africans

• The external consultant Copthall worked with to develop Deeper Learning

• The national programme and the national charity Copthall work with to support initial teacher development

• The company Evelyn works with on areas like timetabling, coaching, teaching and learning, budget and attendance.

• The leadership programme that gave her the confidence and skills to pursue headship and where she met the company above.

• The code of practice that Copthall abides by to ensure all students’ needs are met. Jump to page 276 for some recommended sources of support for improving practice and staff training.

• The new guidance about the disproportionate effect that a small number of extremely negative progress scores can have on a school’s average. Pages 9 and 49 in particular.

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Get involved in the community

🙋 If you’d like tell your story or nominate a school with an incredible story to tell check out the topics we’ll be exploring or tweet me @niallalcock

👍If you found this newsletter useful hit that forward button to share it with your colleagues so we can benefit from more wonderful, collective knowledge

⭐Leave us a review and we’ll give you a shout out in the next episode

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Thanks for playing your part in making education the place we all know it can be.

Best,

@NiallAlcock

What else have people been saying?

Evelyn Forde @Evelynforde1

@NiallAlcock Thank you for giving me and other HTs the platform to share our stories #WomenEd #BAME

Miss_CB @CB_Sociology

@Evelynforde1 Hi, I have just listened to your podcast on @NiallAlcock ‘s (We are in Beta) such an inspiring and fantastic story. Thank you for sharing.

Miss_CB @CB_Sociology

@Penny_Ten @NiallAlcock I loved listening to this podcast. It was some much needed inspiration after a very challenging few days.

Career Accelerator @careeracceler

Very thought provoking and inspiring listen on improving #BAME leadership in schools by @Evelynforde1 and @NiallAlcock! Would recommend!

Niall Alcock @NiallAlcock

How do we make BAME leadership in schools more representative? @Evelynforde1 - HT at Copthall School & @Ambition_Inst women only NPQ facilitator - shares her thoughts #weareinbeta https://t.co/AVHs9m5EWS Shouts outs, mentions and inks in thread 👇