Bedrock Talks from Bedrock Learning
Welcome to Bedrock Talks, a podcast from the team at Bedrock Learning that delves deep into the heart of literacy in education. Hosted by the insightful and experienced educator Andy Sammons, this podcast stands as a beacon for anyone passionate about enhancing literacy skills and understanding its pivotal role in education.
Each episode is a journey into the world of literacy education. Andy brings together a diverse array of voices from across the education sector, from seasoned teachers to renowned academics, policy makers to literacy advocates. All of our guests share a common goal: to explore and expand the horizons of literacy education.
We go beyond surface-level conversations. Our discussions are in-depth, nuanced, and filled with insights that only years of experience and expertise can bring. We tackle a wide range of topics, from innovative teaching methods to the latest research in literacy, the impact of technology on reading and writing, to strategies for engaging diverse learners. Our aim is to provide a platform where the complexities of literacy are unpacked and understood in a way that is both accessible and enlightening.
Join Andy and his guests as they illuminate the multifaceted world of literacy. Subscribe to Bedrock Talks and be part of a community that believes in the transformative power of literacy. Together, let's shape a more literate, informed, and connected world.
Bedrock Talks from Bedrock Learning
16. Exploring transformative alternative provision with Richard Duffy
In this episode we are joined by Richard Duffy, Assistant Principal for the ARC at Trinity Academy in Halifax. We explore Richard's diverse experiences, including working with NEETs and managing behaviour in school settings, and how these shaped his unique approach to supporting vulnerable learners. We discuss how the transition from traditional teaching methods to more interactive, discussion-based sessions enriches students' learning experiences and helps them apply these values in real-life situations.
About Richard Duffy:
Richard has had an inspiring career path, taking him from being a military physical training instructor to a pivotal role in education. He is currently Asst. Principal the ARC, where Richard and his team work tirelessly to instil core values like empathy, honesty, and respect in their students.
Hi everyone and welcome to the Literacy Works podcast with Bedrock Learning. I'm Andy Sammons, the Deputy Head of Teaching and Learning here at Bedrock. Thank you again for the feedback and stuff like that around the podcast. It's been phenomenal. We've had so many positive comments and things that you know and we're really kind of growing an audience now which is beyond anything I could have dreamt of when we started this.
Speaker 1:In today's guest we've got someone really interesting, someone I came across actually on LinkedIn and I thought, from the things he was sharing and interacting with, he seemed like a really, really interesting person to be able to speak to. So again, I took my chance and messaged him and kindly has agreed to come on. It's Richard Duffy, who is Assistant Principal for the ARC at Trinity Academy, halifax. Um, it's an alternative provision and there's just so much that they do. Just, I loved listening to what he said about how they do their work day in, day out for some of the most vulnerable learners at their school. So, um, thank you for coming on, richard. It's so brilliant to have you on.
Speaker 2:Thank you no, paul randy.
Speaker 1:Thank you, uh, for the opportunity uh, well, it's, the pleasure is all. Pleasure is all ours. There's no doubt, um, could you, could we just start just by getting a sense of your career to date, what you've you know, what you've done and and how you've got to the point where you're at now?
Speaker 2:yeah, well, I started work really my main job when I was 17, started in the military, so I trained to be a light infantry in the 2nd Battalion Light Infantry. So I spent five years in that. During that time I trained up as a physical training instructor, because that's what my interests are really. I did a tour of Sierra Leone initially when I was 18, came back to Britain, went out to Cyprus for two years and during that time was the Iraq conflict the second one and so we spent time out there doing certain jobs for the regiment. I then went to a training regiment when I was 21 year old, so training young people, really for the military. So you had training regiments all the way around the country. A specific one I was at was Winchester, so we were training Green Jacket and the Light Infantry, which are infantry units, plus a few different jobs. My job role there was to train them on physical fitness, to get them fit and prepared to be a soldier. So I'd say that's where I started off, enjoying working with younger people. To be fair, yeah, that's interesting time. I were only 21, so I was one of the youngest corporals in the british army doing that job. Um, and I'd say, my leadership skills um, really enhanced doing that job because obviously you've got 30 recruits in each cohort of students you set through looking up to you.
Speaker 2:Um, I then realized the military I'd come to like my end. I didn't really want to go back into the infantry because I'd spent a lot of time working over units doing different jobs, so I made this decision to leave. I didn't really have a plan, apart from I want to do personal training, so I started working in gyms. Um, then you realize, god, it's hard to make money. Um, so I then ended up doing a bit of, uh, debt collection, working in some of the most deprived areas in leeds, but also on that with finance. So then, seeing how deprived some areas are and like the basics we take for granted, I would say food on the table and stuff. You realize, god, this is just on outskirts of Leeds, literally two miles from Tamsin, and there's nothing in people's cupboards. I didn't really enjoy the job. It wasn't nice seeing how harsh it was on people, but again, it would just pay my bills.
Speaker 2:I then got offered a job of working with a recruitment sorry provider for 14. Upwards provision alternate provision, basically, but working predominantly. Upwards provision alternative provision, basically, but working predominantly with NEETs, 16 upwards, who aren't going into college. So the provision would run around military preparation, getting people trained up to join the military who didn't have the skills of fitness, the integrity, resilience, leadership skills. So we would be financed through whichever college we were working with, we would get part of their funding to run these courses for people. So, again, a lot of people I work with now is the students that entered that provision because they didn't get the qualifications to actually go to mainstream college or university. So I went my way up there. I started as a dusting instructor, then I became a deputy centre lead and then I run the lead site in the huddersfield site, um, and any one time we're probably doing 45 to 50 students per cohort in each site.
Speaker 2:So the main aim was to like liaise with the recruitment office to actually get people through the doors, to get interviews, to get through selection and get in the military. So did that for like four years and we got 120 successful applicants into the military which, regarding some of the backgrounds of some of the students, were fantastic and some of the opportunities they probably told they couldn't get, and then a job came up. Oh sorry, then myself and my friend set up a business working with disengaged students. So we would take them out for two weeks at a time doing basic life skills. They wouldn't live in like out in the wild for two weeks, but we would go for a few days and basically have a leadership course and enhance their resilience by. You know, I'm cold, I'm wet, I'm tired. Well, we're going to work through that because there's no other option. You can't get back unless you know we take you back. Um, so we did that.
Speaker 2:Uh, then I got an opportunity to work in a high school as a SO2. I think it was in my first school. Uh, looking after behavior never worked in school before. I went on the interview with about 15, 16 applicants and I thought, well, I'll give it a go. You know, I don't know how the systems of schools are the work. Luckily, I got the job and then I was overseeing behaviour for an academy in Leeds Well, sorry, it's an independent school in Leeds. So I did that for about six months and the headteacher moved on very quickly just because of some external issues, and then the school was taken over by another school, carried on working for them and then they didn't get the contract to take over the school. Another academy chair did so. They offered me a job at their school because I'd been working with them for six months, quite happy with what I did, so I moved to another trust Was a head of year for about three years, I bet you were a great head of year.
Speaker 1:You, three years probably. We. I bet you were a great head of year.
Speaker 2:You also bet you were a great head of year hopefully I don't think a lot of kids would have said it, but yeah, that's the point, heart's always in right place with them. Um, so I then took on like the leadership role of that team um, and looking after a year group, plus supporting with the college managers sorry, with the 180 years and like more on the safeguarding side of things as well, worked there. We then took over a school from Delta Academy of Learning, leeds. I was working for the same trust, so we took over it. The school was classes of four. We were quite immediate improvement basically. So we took over.
Speaker 2:My job then was behaviour map lead. So I went in with an assistant principal to literally just change the focus on behaviour for a year and a half of just settling down behaviour, making sure the structures were in place, making sure we had the team of staff that wanted to be there teaching, and past all the rise that we had a common goal and we were working towards that. So we then got re-inspected about a year and a half in just by the council, not from Ofsted and they'd come and said right, you've got to be able to a good level, which is remarkable of how it was, which we were great to hear. I then got offered an opportunity, um to move over here at academy. Uh, trinity academy, halifax, sunny. Um, from my boss, currently stewart cook, asked us to come in and see if there was a job over here for me. So I interviewed here. I got the role of overseeing inclusion, so obviously a lot of these students we've currently got the role of overseeing inclusion. So obviously a lot of the students we've currently got the students I've worked with the last two years in mainstream high-level inclusions constantly going around the system of disruption inclusion and that circle constantly.
Speaker 2:So we implemented quite a few changes in inclusion to hopefully improve it, which again, when an officer came in they said it was outstanding, the work we're doing, doing and continue to do, because instead of it just being yeah, it worked. Uh, luckily, here at trinity we are allowed to look at different options to promote and enhance anything that we've got. Everyone's ideas are always taken into account, which is great. Um, and then sarah case, who's the principal, he, um, she asked herself to be an associate assistant principal, predominantly looking over the arc.
Speaker 2:Uh, so the arc was set up originally like six years ago, but it had one pathway which catered for six students. Who more samh, really not massive behavioral needs. There would be behavior in there, but it's more the low level, the nurturing environment where we need to support pupils. So spent around seven to eight months, myself and key members of staff in the building implementing how we could improve the arc. So a lot of time doing prospectuses, looking how each pathway works. So we came to the idea of catering, like looking for early intervention in years seven, eight and nine by by front-loading the support into the MBA groups.
Speaker 1:That's interesting. And what did that look like when you front-loaded that? What was that then?
Speaker 2:So we started. His first program is called Engage, so that is looking at any year sixes with high-level need maybe PX or suspended, looked after SEN or who may need a longer transition into secondary school. That's interesting, so they will come on well. We've just had our first one, obviously from september, so we had four pupils, uh, that came with us. They spent 16 weeks with us and we'd go through basics of how the school actually runs, like where do you line up for your lunch and break? What do assemblies look like? Who's my form tutor going to be? Who are the key members of staff in the building, our expectations of students to come through.
Speaker 2:All our policies, ie mainstream behaviour, systems of how it works, how it looks, what happens if you don't get it right Simple things of visiting and inclusion. This is looks, what happens if you don't get it right. Simple things of visiting, inclusion. This is where we don't want you so really laying down the basics, where we expect students to just get on board, where a lot of these pupils couldn't because they've missed two years of primary education plus COVID, so they're massively behind anyway. And then we looked at the curriculum, how that could support these pupils so they can engage in mainstream and we do a hell of a lot of work in that pathway to hopefully get them back up to where they should be, because a lot of them, like I said, had missed a couple of years of primary and and pedagogically in terms of teaching.
Speaker 1:I'm really curious to know. You know, because I'm sure you won't want me saying it's extremely successful what you're doing you. You've had high praise from external agencies. It's clearly working. Yeah, there's a couple of things to unpack. I'd be really interested to unpack the social and emotional piece and what that looks like in your setting, but also curriculum wise but also curriculum wise.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so yeah over the uh arc in general, the whole model of the arc, as it were. Originally set up were a solution focus model and a reflective practice model. So each pathway apart from our year 10 pathway has four reflective sessions, but at least four hours on reflection looking at empathy, honesty, respect, discipline, resilience, courtesy. So we currently powerpoints plus a few. We're starting to bring in more command task style uh lessons.
Speaker 2:So working on communication skills, from getting a to b as a team together, that's interesting, which is a model I've used quite a lot previously in my past roles obviously being in the military and working at military preparation courses, where I viewed it as in how can you instill resilience into an individual without putting them in a situation where they've got to be resilient? So putting a PowerPoint up and talking about resilience is great, but that doesn't give an 11-year-old an understanding of what resilience is. So we do a lot of work. For me, I always say resilience because that's key to a lot of the issues that the students have. You know they could be disciplined, but as soon as a little barrier is put in place, I'll need a timeout or I'm going to misbehave because I can't even get over this little wall. So it's about how we instill that into these pupils that go back into mainstream, hopefully better than they arrive.
Speaker 1:That that's the aim of the whole process and it's about as well it's. It's, you know, getting them used to doing the hard yards. Getting getting them used to because actually this stuff isn't just because you're in ARC or because you're on a slightly different pathway to mainstream, it doesn't mean to say we're going to kind of baby you, we're going to lower the expectations to the point where actually it's going to be toxic for you. We're going to structure and scaffold what it looks like to get you up to the point where you are able to function and get the best out of yourself.
Speaker 2:And that's really important, isn't it? I mean, and what do those sessions look like as well? A lot of them, uh, we've seen. Again, like I said, bj runs it on a daily basis. Um, he's the arc manager. Uh, and ryan have done that for six years. So that you know, it started off being powerpoint workbooks. Then, as it's progressed same as anything it's gone well. No, we get a lot more from a discussion based. You know, we'll have a few powerpoint slides saying, right, we're going to touch on empathy today, give a few scenarios, but then it goes into a group discussion of what does it look like for you? What is empathy? You know when you've been in that situation. How did that affect? How do you look for someone else in that lesson? So we're trying to move into that. So it's actually getting the information out to the students instead of spoon-feeding them the information. And again, that goes back to that resilience of like you put them in that situation, they can actually identify it to one of their situations and realise, ah, that's that emotion, that's hitting me.
Speaker 1:So it's that kind of emotional literacy thing, isn't it really? Yeah, emotional literacy. And I think one thing when we talked before we recorded was one thing I was really impressed with was curriculum-wise and academically, you know what are you doing for the pupils in that?
Speaker 2:So obviously the staff identified that work in the ARC, members of staff that have worked in the building for a long period of time. There's no NQTs up there, it is more experienced staff that have worked normally in the ARC but if not, they're experienced in their subject area Students, apart from the attain pathway, which is the older ones, the year 10s, they do about 85% of the curriculum, with 15% of it based on what we feel these students need. When Ofsted came in, obviously they asked we weren't inspected as a department but they came up to view it and they asked us you know, why are they missing out on 15%? So our rationale is well, these skills we feel are more key now in 7, 8 and 9 for them to progress into 10 and 11, to hopefully get the GCSEs. And fundamentally a lot of these students would be missing out anyway through inclusion, suspension, suspension or poor attendance. So the curriculum model has been adapted for these pupils but, like I said, there's been so much thought put into the curriculum model through Hannah and Sophie who oversee that for us.
Speaker 2:We have, I think, called Curriculum Cobra. So every term Sophie will look at the books with myself and the deputy curriculum leads making sure that everything is mapped. The same as mainstream. Interesting, yeah. All the processes are the same as mainstream. All lessons have the spotlight. Same as mainstream. Lead teachers come up to view the art to make sure lessons are delivered correctly. So anything we do in mainstream is replicated in the art and so is it.
Speaker 1:Let's say, for example, you've got a group of pupils who are in year eight. Yeah, and how is how? How is that curriculum delivered up up there? Do they have members of the science, maths, english team?
Speaker 2:yeah, sorry. So every subject area, so maths. You're a maths teacher, english english teacher. Everyone is timetabled in from the mainstream so that it's just one of their lessons for their week uh, we don't just have a dedicated generic member of staff up there teaching everything, and so every single lesson is a changeover of staff. And what about from the hlt?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was going to say what about support?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so every pathway has got a HLTA in there to support with a student's behavior, which is really good and useful because they get to know the students really well. So when a student's dysregulating, they know right. You need a timeout. Go to the breakout room, speak to another member of staff, have your timeout time. We do monitor that quite rigorously, making sure students aren't missing out on too much learning time, because 7, 8, and 9, so the attain pathway, the reflect pathway and the aspire pathway they are all going back to mainstream. So our job is to make sure they're not missing out on too much learning, but also give them a toolkit to hopefully engage purposefully back in mainstream and I mean, how do pupils generally engage?
Speaker 1:Because it's not Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, isn't it? It's not, you know it's. We're talking about something here where you know the cohort of pupils you're working with they're not going to be they're not always going to be easily kind of worked with and turned around and that type of thing. What does it? You know there's no way that you know it's difficult to work with a lot of these cohorts of kids, isn't it? So what's the upshot in terms of you know how well do they engage with it and how consistently do they engage with it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say, and again, like we said previously, andy, like we do have suspension still, yeah, we still have. We have a different behavior system from the mainstream Right when we use a C1, c2, and a red card, where mainstream is a C1, c2, c3 red card. If they get red carded they're removed just from that lesson. They have a restorative meeting with a member of staff. They're then put back in on the next lesson as a fresh start. So we don't obviously have inclusion or anything, because that's one of the barriers for the students and we don't want to miss that learning time.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, they might go wrong in one lesson, but it's a fresh start. The next lesson, yeah, so they get four chances in that day. Um students do struggle, um, but ultimately on the whole and I would say again from external visitors, external um organizations that have come in also is they enjoy it. It is structured and it is tough in a lot of ways because I've got high expectations of the staff and pupils and be drying again. They've got high expectations of what they want and what they want to see and I'd say it's that culture of being positive and having them high expectations.
Speaker 1:You know, I think I think kids really respond to high expectations generally. The vast majority, you know, the vast majority of people you meet in the street are decent people, aren't they that? They're there? Yeah, yeah, and they and they and they will respond with respect when it's given, like the vast vast majority and I I feel the same at work to you in schools for 10 years all, all kids generally want the same thing. They want, they want routine, they, they want boundaries and they want high expectations and that's what they respond to, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think obviously it doesn't replicate in the mainstream because as a member of staff you're seeing 200, 300 kids a week. So it's hard to get to know these key individuals when you're trying to get content across to them. So obviously we're in a different situation where we've got more members of staff available to chat to them on a one-to-one level to get past that conversation, which might be 10 minutes instead of five minutes, might be 15 minutes, but the ultimate goal is hopefully you have that purposeful conversation for the rest of the day. They have a good day because they've been able to get off the chest.
Speaker 1:And yeah, I think this is the next thing I really wanted to think about was what about in terms of psychology? Do you think there's something where those more fundamental needs are being met? Because they're having the time and space for those conversations and they're having that. You're treating them holistically. You're not just saying you're going to be in this room, you're going to get this watered down version of the curriculum with a few worksheets chucked at you. Actually, what you're doing is you're looking holistically at what the pupil needs. You're. You're working on things like resilience. You're. You actually instill higher expectations because you've got less. You know less before the red card, if you like. You know there is all, but you're also giving them lots of chance to succeed, with always having a fresh start. Do you think that almost maximising the chance of success? Is that what makes it so successful?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll just touch on like our processes for like rewarding students. Yeah, so as a school we have achievement points. So I would say on average every pupil in the AR arc on a daily basis might get five, six achievement points where mainstream a lot of these students wouldn't get any at all. So we kill them with that as in positive, positively. You know, right, you've answered the question, you got it wrong. But you put your hand up, there's your achievement point in mainstream. Oh, well done, you put your hand up. You got the question wrong. Yeah, you know and know, and rightfully you know that's where that teacher might work. But what we're trying to do is reverse their view of school in a lot of areas. So we would then look at we have achievement points, we have courtesy points, so we brought that in, probably about the first term.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So as I was walking around just speaking to some of the pupils and the way they interacted and probably through no fault alone, just in basic manners we expect of people we have a big push on that.
Speaker 2:So if they're courteous and they get the achievement points, they get rewarded at the end of the week and it is the carrot and the stick. You know there's no getting away from that and don't apologize for that, because it works. And a lot of these pupils have never achieved achieved anything, never got anything in assemblies, never hit any markers for any badges. So every Friday they can achieve 100% attendance, they can achieve courtesy points, they can achieve achievement points and that might be a little bag of Haribo and some certificates. But when you're getting parents phoning up saying they haven't taken the certificates down off the wall or the fridge, it means the world to them. Yeah, and it's getting them into that way of thinking that school can be that really good, positive environment if you're in the correct setting for yourself and they can use all their mother skills. You're trying to give them that when they get back into mainstream they can carry that on. But then that comes into our quality assurance when they leave us, how it replicates into mainstream.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's interesting like listening to what you said about you. Know your history in terms of your career and where you've been. It's almost like that's the perfect finishing school for this type of job really understanding the whole human being and really understand the importance of drawing the dots. Because in my experience, even when I've sent postcards home to pupils, often you don't even get so much as a thank you, they don't mention it. But then you hear something a little bit down the line and the parent, myself, they've not taken, as you say, they're not taking it off the wall. You know what changed everything was when that postcard came home.
Speaker 1:And I think, as teachers and it's really easy, really hard, sorry to to you know, to um continually remind yourself of the impact you're having, because it's not necessarily always in your face the impact that you're having as a, as a teacher, and you're even talking there about replicating that after they leave. You know the longevity, the sustainability of what you're trying to achieve. I mean, just, you know, on kind of a last port of call. Really, the question I wanted to ask you is I'm putting you on the spot here a little bit what about the future? What would you say you want you know. Where would you like to develop the arc next? What is it that you'd still like to get right, and even better?
Speaker 2:I'd say I'm very critical of the work we do, even, you know, constantly. I was just having a chat with Sarah, who's the principal, just this afternoon before I came on here saying, well, I'm not happy with this, I'm not happy with that, even though the standards are still really high and we're getting some great results. It's constantly evaluating, constantly looking and listening to the team as well, speaking to all the people in the department that we work with, speaking to the HLTAs what's working, what isn't working. You know, yes, I'm the first overall for the ARC, but the team are the ones that deliver it daily and it's having every conversation I go into. It's the team that do it. They've got the results. Yes, we're planning and putting things together, but rightfully so. The praise should be on them because they're the ones delivering it on a daily basis. They're the ones getting the outcomes. Yes, I'll be up there 85% of my time chatting to people and speaking to the students and supporting, but they're the ones doing the job.
Speaker 1:So, for me, overall, sorry, that's just good leadership, isn't it? You know that's you. You know empowering others to deliver because they're the ones that need, ultimately, where it lives and dies by, aren't they?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know credit where credit's due for people. You know if people are implementing things, they by, aren't they? Yeah, and you know credit where credit's due for people. You know people's implemented things. They'll get the praise because they've done it. You know I aren't staking claim to anything like I think you're.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think that's. I don't underestimate the importance of that. I think I think it's a really important thing. It's just speaking to you, but one thing I've really resonated with you is your sense of respect and fairness for everyone around you, and that's really and and on that, you've spoken a couple of times about culture. So for colleagues who because I speak to colleagues in similar situations such as yours I'm gonna, I'm starting to build a network of schools, but I think it's really important that we start bringing this expertise together. Yeah, what would your you know, if someone's setting out in this, in this part of their career where they're working with people's you know who have, who have had trouble, a troubled time in their, in their school careers, or who are establishing a provision, such as yours, what would your go-to things be? What are your key bits of advice?
Speaker 2:so, for me, uh, is setting up originally. Like. What is our aim? You know what, who we're focusing on, which students, why, you know, why are we going to introduce x, y and z is, first of all, having a rationale of what we're creating and what purpose and, down the line, what impact are we going to see? Ultimately, staffing is a big key issue. Who staffs? That? That's all the vision. Who's going to lead it? Are they inspirational or do they think they've been dropped into a dumping ground? Yeah, yeah, because that does happen. Um, the thing is, I'm talking from experience of working in probably about four or five different alternative settings. Well, I've been in posting mainstream schools or working alongside them, so we have taken the best bits out of everything we have seen myself and stewart, who've worked in separate places, plus other members of the slg team, and what bead and ryan have seen going along the way, and we've brought it all together. Yes, a lot of the ideas might have been off one person, but collectively, as a team, through curriculum, everything is.
Speaker 1:You can't do this individually it's got to be a team effort, I think people might get tasked right.
Speaker 2:You're overseeing our internal alternative provision. Go away and sort it out. That is a hell of a lot of work which will never work where. Luckily here and it is we're not the be-all and end-all of anything, but luckily we've got a really good working relationship between the senior team to actually this is where we want to get to, and then every step of the way is calculated and looked at through many different eyes to make sure it is going to work and it's not rushed where. Obviously we do get that time pressure of being able to rush leadership wise.
Speaker 2:I personally feel again, I just have gone with my own experience of I've been in a lot of roles. I've seen a lot of really good leaders in just in the short first time in the military, but also every other job I've been in, and I have tried to take bits off them and think ultimately, how would I want to be spoken to, how do I want to be involved in this process where something wrong? Sometimes stuff comes down to me and I'll press it onto the team that this has just got to be done because of that. But I open the floor up every term to the team right, what went well last term. This is what I'm viewing. What are you viewing? Please come with your ideas.
Speaker 1:I don't know your ideas. I don't know whether it's your background in the military or what it is, but there's a real sense of fairness and equality about what you're saying and the way you speak. It's a real sense of you know, we are in this together, we're doing this together and it's not all about. Forgive me if I've got this wrong, but I don't get the sense that you're very much like. This is my vision, we're doing it this way and this is how we're going to deliver it. I get the sense that you're very much. No, we're doing this together. This is your role in it. This is my role in it. Is that right?
Speaker 2:yeah, like I. Obviously I'll have a goal in my head where I want to get to, yeah, and I'll be planning for that, but that'll be in consultation with other senior leaders, plus beach and ryan over on a daily basis. Adams, our college manager in there, so we'll be speaking to him about, you know, for a pastoral point of view, what's been coming up. How can we improve that? You know the end goal might be there and that's what you're working towards, but you're getting everyone's input as we go there. Yeah, and it might end up in that ultimate goal that I won. But it isn't just. This is happening now.
Speaker 1:I think that's a really nice place to finish, because I think it's about having a clear vision but taking people with you, and that sounds like it's what's happened at the ARC, so I just think that's been a really insightful. I've certainly learned so much listening to you about how you go about this, because it's opened up my eyes in terms of the whole child, and that's a really important thing I think that you're doing so. Thank you so much, vachette, for coming on and sparing your time, because I can't believe how busy you must be.
Speaker 2:No, it's fine, Andy. We are just on a. If anyone's interested to have a look, we have got an open day on the 21st of the 5th. So if anyone's interested, if you want to share my details or anything like that or pass them on, yeah, details will be in the episode's description if anyone would like to reach out.
Speaker 1:I know Rich is active on LinkedIn. It's fantastic and he shares lots of really interesting stuff, so I would urge you to connect with him on LinkedIn as well. It's been a pleasure and hopefully we'll have you on again at some time and collaborate in the future. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you, andy.
