Abstract
This article seeks to present the perspectives of three school leaders in one rural primary school in the English East Midlands, who, when faced with closure due to a falling student numbers, decided to offer and operate a flexi-schooling model of educational provision. We aim to find out, through a theoretical model of systems school leadership, how the school leadership team addressed this issue. Findings suggest that the principles of systems leadership, operating through an open systems model, have facilitated the journey towards flexi-schooling and ensured the survival and growth of the school. The learning community created with parents and the personalisation of the curriculum for learners reflects an innovative curriculum design and in part solves the problems which led to the initial decision taken by parents to home-educate. Focusing on ways to secure healthy student numbers, school leaders developed a partnership with a multi-academy trust, yet they still face challenges in formally recording student numbers when their attendance is only part of the weekCitation
Poultney, V. A., & Anderson, D. B. (2019). 'Leading change for survival: The rural flexi-school approach'. Management in Education, pp. 1-9. DOI: 10.1177/0892020619878809Publisher
SageJournal
Management in EducationDOI
10.1177%2F0892020619878809Additional Links
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0892020619878809Type
ArticleLanguage
enISSN
08920206EISSN
17419883ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1177%2F0892020619878809