Brightwater Academy TrustSystems map

Drafted from the evidence · for you to correct

A request to work four days a week: why the same problems keep coming back

From the service map, to a systems map of what pushes what, to where a change would shift it

The mapwhy the problems repeat

Checkedeach arrow, with evidence

Across the trustthe same pattern elsewhere

Where to acttest a change, and who does what

From the service mapa request to work four days a week

Admin

Her new hours, typed into 4 systemsAdminLetter and contract→ admin chainCentral notes and stories · most dots

Deadline watched by handAdminLogged and checked→ admin chainCentral notes · 6

Judgement

Didn’t know what other headteachers had agreedJudgementWeighing it up→ step 1Headteachers · 5 of 7 stories · most dots

Similar requests, different answersJudgementMeeting and decision→ step 2Standards beside what really happens

Reasons not written downJudgementMeeting and decision→ step 4Central notes · 12

How to read ita systems map

BoxesThings there can be more or less of. Never people, and never steps.

ArrowsOne box pushes another. + they move together. − they move in opposite ways.

LoopsProblem loops make it worse each time round. A quick fix that is pulled back.

From outsideMore requests each year push these boxes harder.

Loops on this mapfollow the arrows round

1The admin loop

2The judgement loop

3The third loop: nothing written down

!The automation trap

For the people who do the workasked of everyone who sees the map

Is this how it works where you sit?

Looks right 9Something’s missing 3An arrow is wrong 1

When a headteacher decides on her own, nobody writes down why. So the next one has nothing to go on.An HR adviser · something’s missing · added to the map

Each link, checked againstwhat was captured

Central notes The central teams’ notes41 notes from HR and payroll, written as the work happened

Schools The schools’ cards and stories52 answers and 14 stories, from 7 headteachers and 7 teachers

Service map The service mapThe steps, decisions, time and systems, end to end

One linkWhen reasons are not written down, appeals follow.31 flexible working requests last yearReasons written down for 5An appeal or complaint followed 6All 6 appeals came from requests with no written reasons. The evidence supports the link.

Shares show only with 10 or more people behind them.

The same chain, in other decisions headteachers make

A pattern across four kinds of decision

Decision	Each year	Reasons written down	Headteachers who found it easy	Steps in the chain: 1 2 3 4
Flexible working requestsHR, standard support	31	5 of 31	11%	1234
Phased returns after sicknessHR, standard support	24	6 of 24	18%	1234
Paid special leaveHR, standard support	40	9 of 40	30%	1234
Starting pay for new teachersHR, extra support	35	12 of 35	25%	1234

Each year and reasons written down: the HR team’s notes and records, across the trust. Found it easy: the schools’ cards, headteachers it happened to.

Four kinds of decision, one pattern: each headteacher decides aloneAbout 130 decisions a year. Reasons are written down for about a quarter of them.

What pushes most

Where a change shifts the most

How to read it

Each dot is a box on the map. The higher it sits, the more it pushes the rest. The further right, the more the rest pushes it. The counts are the routes up to three arrows long, from this draft’s arrows. Top left: levers. They push a lot, and are pushed little. A change there spreads without being pulled back. Top right: hubs. Everything passes through them, so a change there comes back round.

Testing a change on the map

Follow one change all the way round the loop

HelpsHurts↑ more · ↓ less · ↺ comes back round, stronger

The changes to try

What the agents do, and what people decide

For the adminThe agent does it

AgentLogs the request and watches the deadline

AgentGathers the timetable and the cost from the school

AgentDrafts the letter, and enters her hours in one place

The time saved goes into the meeting with the teacher, so it does not fill up again.

For the judgementThe agent gathers what she needs, and the headteacher decides

AgentGathers the policy, similar past cases and what people said

AgentSuggests options worth testing, such as a job share or a different day

HeadteacherDecides, and writes down why in two sentences

HeadteachersEach term, look at the decisions together, and make the grey parts of the policy clearer

Leaders decide where to start

Start small, and read it again

Leaders decideStart with flexible working requests this term, then phased returns?

Not yetStart there

✓ Agreed: flexible working first, then phased returns

Read it again next yearthe same cards and notes

Reasons written downnow 5 of 31

Similar requests, different answersnow three schools, three answers

Appeals and complaintsnow 6 of 31

Time spent chasingnow a fifth

Readings are for learning, not targets. They show whether the problems are reducing.