A thought piece by Helen McDicken, Headteacher at North Star 180°.

As the very proud headteacher of North Star 180°, I believe wholeheartedly in lifelong learning and in the power of education to transform outcomes. As such, I am currently embarking on the NPQEL which is causing me to press pause, and remind myself of some of the principles which drove me to find the very privileged position I now find myself in, working for 104 students at North Star Academy Trust.

It has been quite the journey so, whilst somewhat self-indulgent, I thought I would share my reflections from my most recent learning, as a headteacher, continuing to try to self develop.

Identify who has inspired you over the years, think about the qualities they demonstrated that you found inspiring.

The first Senior Leader who inspired me was the headteacher at a PRU for teenage mothers. She led a successful provision where the young mothers were her absolute priority and she did so with professional love and a sense of ‘family’ which both supported and role modelled. The qualities I admired included a non-judgmental and sensitive approach, alongside tenacity and determination. My belief is that our leader had an unwavering sense of justice and promoted social equity by trying to find ways to ensure that our pupils were able to access the social and educational experiences and outcomes that all young people deserve. Her name is Carol.

Carol realised that social mobility was key to changing outcomes for both the young mothers themselves and also their children. She worked hard to source appropriate qualifications whilst also providing a holistic curricular experience; for example, eating breakfast with the young women and offering a balance between learning and enrichment activities. Each pupil had the opportunity to bake a Christmas cake, organise a tea party for their child’s first birthday and take part in play based activities led by the highly skilled Early Years staff in the nursery.

Our leader was kind and supportive to staff however was relentless and uncompromising in terms of expectations around progress and educational outcomes. She knew that qualifications were the key to success, but to get our young women to ‘buy in’, we had to meet their wider needs to enable them to meet their potential.

I have been blessed to have been led by many great leaders since then, and could write endlessly on their strengths and the impact they have had on me. I have been blessed to find that the ethos and principles I learned so early in my career are echoed and magnified by North Star.

How would you define your greatest achievement, what led to those achievements?

My greatest achievement was securing a first class honours degree and fulfilling my desire to become a teacher. I had always aspired to teach however my own educational outcomes were poor and I became a young mother myself. Bearing the responsibility of motherhood as a socio economically and educationally disadvantaged 19 year old gave me a renewed determination to achieve and provide for my family.

In the 1990’s, there were limited vocational choices for young women who weren’t considered “academic”: childcare or hairdressing were the options available to me. Burying my desire to become a teacher, I initially ‘chose’ the latter, and to be completely honest, I wasn’t very good at it! I realised that I needed to return to study and soon became a ‘terminal learner’ signing up to any opportunity or course I could participate in during the evenings. In time, and with three children in tow, I initially achieved an NVQ 3 in Early Years (to make up for the lack of A levels, an NVQ level 3 was worth 2.5 A levels at that time!), followed by various qualifications including a Foundation Degree, a counselling qualification and finally a Degree and QTS. It was beneficial to me that during this time I was fortunate to find teaching experience at the PRU for young mothers and was supported by the then headteacher to become the very best version of myself. I worked hard and meticulously planned lessons and studied in the evenings once my children were in bed.

Much later, receiving notification that I had achieved a 1st Class Honours Degree with my fourth child aged just 6 weeks old, was extraordinary and I still cannot quite believe that ‘Helen’ from the ‘remedial class’ who experienced weekly humiliation for never knowing her spellings or times tables, had actually managed to achieve this.

When have you been disappointed with yourself and felt you could have done better?

I recall opening the envelope and reading my GCSE results and being hit with the realisation that I had not achieved the ‘Magic C’s’ in any of the subjects I had chosen.

As a teenager, I was a sociable creature who viewed school as an opportunity to mingle with peers and abscond. I was on a report card for absconding within 2 months of joining secondary school!

On reflection, it should have been obvious that this was not a recipe for success. However, the shock I experienced at seeing those results in black and white still sits with me. I had been a poor achiever for my whole school experience and had been in the then-called ‘remedial class’ for both English and Maths. I lacked the familial support or adults around me to raise my aspirations or develop a strong sense of myself as a learner and I developed a strong sense of injustice as I felt ‘written off’ and knew I could do better.

I knew that I had potential but did not have the skills or understanding until much later to work out how to utilise this drive to improve my outcomes or life chances.

What makes you feel good about yourself?

As a headteacher, driving into school gives me a feeling of indescribable joy and I still cannot believe how fortunate and privileged I am to be in such a position. I am passionate about working with pupils who, like me, may not yet realise their potential or hold high aspirations for themselves.

These incredible children and young people are working hard to overcome the barriers they face, be it those related to socio economic status, negative prior experience of school or challenges around their SEND/SEMH. To find myself in a position to be able to hopefully influence outcomes for children and young people is both a responsibility to bear and an opportunity which fills me with excitement and determination. Our pupils visit me regularly in my office to touch base. They show off their ‘best work’ and receive their ‘Mrs McDicken says well done sticker’ and have their height updated on my height chart. I do not see my role as ‘work’; to be in a position to work alongside talented staff and build positive relationships to benefit our pupils brings me absolute joy, even on those trickier days.

Are there any rules that you find easy or hard to follow?

Any rules or deadlines which support the progress, wellbeing and happiness of pupils, staff and families are naturally easy to follow, particularly when I understand the ‘why’.

I have a mantra based on someone I know well who was an average student, academically able, however struggled due to his circumstances at home. He was eventually taken into care.

He was a quiet child who followed the rules and did his best however as an adult he would often say that he ‘went unnoticed’, going home to face what we now recognise as abuse and neglect. My Mantra when implementing any initiative or change is ‘What would that mean for Gary?’

I struggle with processes and systems, both within education and wider children’s services, which act as a barrier to progression and, importantly, compromise the safeguarding of children and young people. As a headteacher, it is my expectation that I and my leadership team will have the time and capacity to build relationships with children and families and to provide professional challenge and curiosity where necessary, with the best interest of all at heart.

What are the values of your existing organisation: 

Do you align yourself with these?

I align myself with the values of North Star Academy Trust entirely.

Do they have meaning for you?

Each value holds specific meaning to me and I strive to ensure that they permeate and are evident in all that we do. The mission statement in some ways holds more value as it states:

North Star was born out of a drive to do something different for those who need more.

Formed by the desire to shape futures, North Star emerged. We remain where others may part, equipping young minds to join with their communities.

Forging together the path ahead, travelling alongside.

Our team can bring dreams to fruition.

For me, the idea of ‘remaining where others may part’ holds a very personal meaning and fits with my mantra of ‘what would this mean for Gary’. Had staff working with him in various schools been professionally curious and taken the time to build those all-important relationships, his outcomes may have been different. Had they raised his aspirations and become his ‘Mr Piggott’ his live could’ve been transformed.

What do you struggle with in terms of the Trust Values?

If I am to be truly reflective, Relevance can be difficult to model as our children, young people and families do not always agree. This can also be true of professionals from other sectors who perhaps make well-meaning and inexperienced ‘values based judgements’ based on little experience of working with individual children or their families.

In line with the Trust, I see each child and their personal circumstances as individual and endeavour to cater to the immediate and longer term needs of both them, and the wider school community. As a headteacher, this requires creativity and flexibility of thought and some difficult decisions must sometimes be made. When challenged, I have been known to say ‘what will this look like for Gary when he is 18, 15, or 40 years old? Can we afford to allow his choices to shape his future decision making and consequences’. This is an important question true to many situations and leads to difficult conversations however ultimately, I always have the best interests of the child at heart.

What is your message to other organisations?

My message to other schools and agencies is to do your absolute utmost to maintain faith in every child and to stick with them, if you can.

My absolute favourite TED talk was that by Rita Pearson, ‘Every Child Deserves a Champion’. This sits with my principles and ethos 100%, if only Gary had a champion, I was lucky – I found mine!