Dr Tony Eaude offers courses and consultancy to primary schools and other organisations based on his wide experience including:
- headship;
- research; and
- working with groups of teachers;
on topics as varied as the use of non-teaching staff, bilingual pupils, the role of Church schools in multi-faith settings, working in partnership, curriculum breadth, how young children learn, dealing with difficult situations, school buildings and much else besides. Often, to find new perspectives on what may seem to intractable difficulties. But Tony Eaude is good at saying what he doesn’t know very much about – such as the detail of all the different curriculum documentation or preparing for Ofsted – and suggesting other forms of support. Where appropriate, with inter-agency work or more complex consultancy to organisations, ‘New Perspectives…’ can provide expertise from the worlds of health, social work and systemic thinking as well as education.
Tony Eaude offers flexible consultancy, especially for headteachers, and others, who are feeling stuck and need ‘New Perspectives…’ He seeks to provide the sort of service which he, as a head, valued most from advisers, offering advice from a position of ‘here’s a shared problem, to be thought about together’ – advice of a type which is often hard to find. ‘New Perspectives…’ does not replace existing support structures but seeks to complement them. The advice is both supportive and rigorous, friendly without being cosy. Such support is especially valuable for those new to headship. For many heads, whether you have just become a head or are more experienced, such consultations may provide one of the few occasions when you can set aside some time for yourself to think about what matters most to you and your school.
‘New Perspectives…’ can offer:
- one-off consultations;
- a tailored programme of regular visits for mentoring and coaching;
- on-going surgeries, by phone, e mail or face to face;
- advice on team-building and conflict resolution; or
- external evaluation of in-school programmes or initiatives and support for self-evaluation.
This can be for individuals, for one school or for a group of schools.
Two longer-term programmes offered are:
New Perspectives on…
These programmes are different from the courses in that they offer light-touch, external support over a longer period, generally around one year. Both for reasons of economy and to build up a local learning community for mutual support, this is best done as a group of schools and so may be especially attractive to a group of schools.
The main focus of the work is, based on a planned initiative, in line with school and/or partnership priorities. Support is offered in the planning stage, on refining a research question and/or a manageable project, defining clear objectives and adopting appropriate methodology, at the half-way stage and in drawing up conclusions.
All programmes can be tailored to the specific requirements of the school or group of schools and there is an emphasis on individuals reflecting on elements of the process so that they can use these skills in supporting other colleagues, especially in planning and implementing a developmental initiative.The cost of such consultancy will depend on what you need. But you will find it cheaper than most other consultancies, not least because ‘New Perspectives …’ has very few overheads. And, hopefully, it will be more personal and more useful…
To discuss any of these, and how they can be most useful in your own context, please feel free to contact ‘New Perspectives…’, Dr Tony Eaude, 6 Long Wall, Littlemore, Oxford, OX4 4PG on 01865 711135 (phone/fax) or tony@edperspectives.org.uk
