In brief...

SIPs payment

The TES led its school leadership pages on 10 February with an issue that ASCL first raised in a recent guidance paper, which is payment for SIPs. The article featured ASCL Salaries and Conditions of Service Officer Marcia Twelftree who has criticised the lack of DfES guidance on payment. ASCL believes that both the school and head should benefit.

In the article, John Dunford was quoted as saying, "Becoming a partner involves a tremendous amount of extra work. If heads aren't going to be rewarded for that work then few will want to step forward to do the job."

Hours of fun

The ASCL name change continues to be the source of much enjoyment and interest for the education press. The TES 'revealed' that a SHA swear box has been installed at headquarters to help encourage those who still let a 'SHA' slip from time to time. But as the TES noted, the money is going to Project Sri Lanka.

The Independent Education diary went one step further, revealing that even the "top members" are still getting caught out on terms like SHA Council. It revealed that the swear box which appeared at the last Executive meeting carried a fine of 50p. This is bound to cause outrange for, as noted in the TES, it's only 10p at headquarters.

Still, it was pointed out in the Education Guardian Notebook, ASCL membership has risen by 7.5 per cent in the last 12 months. While we're too modest to claim that it is all down to the name change, we're happy to wear the Guardian's label of 'blue sky thinkers'.

Behaviour again

ASCL's poll on behaviour was covered in the TES and several major regional papers around the country including the Birmingham Post, The Journal in Newcastle and the Hull Daily Mail. It came as a response to Jacqui Smith's announcement at the ASCL behaviour conference that heads would have extended powers to discipline.