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TRAINING TIMES
hertsforlearning.co.uk
Issue 6
Hot research topic
Educational underachievement
of White Working Class
Children conference
- Lambeth Education, Research &
Statistics unit
Pui Him Ip
Herts for Learning Researcher
RANGe: Improving Outcomes
Jessica Broadbent
Herts for Learning Journalist
The results are in for the schools’ led
project: Raising Achievement and
Narrowing Gaps effectively (RANGe).
RANGe is a part of Herts for Learning’s (HfL) wider research project:
Exchanging
Excellence®
Closing
Gaps. Its success criteria is focussed
on raising levels of achievement in
participating primary schools; its
outcomes, taken from provisional Key Stage 2 results, have been
immensely positive.
38 primary schools were involved
in the RANGe project, which received
£275,000 in funding from the National
College for Teaching and Leadership
and Hertfordshire County Council. The
objectives were: to raise levels of achievement in all schools involved so that
they sat securely above Floor Standards
by summer 2014; to narrow the Pupil
Premium Grant (PPG)/non Pupil Premium
Grant achievement gap.
A fundamental premise of the
project was to ensure that each school
had autonomy over their own processes. Schools worked in partnership with
various external organisations. However,
unlike many previous initiatives to raise
achievement and narrow gaps, this was
a schools’ led project and encouraged
participating schools to take ownership
of their own improvement strategies.
Tina Jarman, Headteacher at Broom
Barns Community Primary School in
Stevenage, presented on the Stevenage cluster of schools’ approach to
the project at the primary headteachers’ conference in October. Commenting on the independence schools were
given, she said, “In order to work it had
to be a part of our school’s improvement plan; it wasn’t an add-on”.
Over the course of the year
progress was monitored by comparison of KS2 SATS results, in-year
progress, teaching standards, and the
quality of senior and middle leadership
as judged through the project’s own
monitoring process.
Compared with 2013 figures, 29 of
the 38 schools improved their overall
attainment measures for those achieving Level 4 and above (L4+) in reading,
writing and maths in 2014. By summer
2014, only three RANGe schools
remained below Floor Standards.
Where PPG pupils were concerned,
the schools all made impressive
advances. The number of PPG pupils
achieving level 4+ rose from 46% to 56%.
The largest gap reduction was recorded
in a school that reduced the attainment
gap from 42% in 2013, to just 7% in 2014.
In the four participating schools in
Dacorum, results improved for mathematics in particular. This cluster placed
a strong focus on school to school
support, and sharing best practice that
could then be tailored to their own
setting’s needs. They used devolved
funding to commission local provision to support both staff and pupils
in maths. HfL provided consultancy
support to meet the CPD needs of staff,
and monthly network meetings were
held for subject leaders to develop
their skills in leading maths.
All Dacorum schools improved
their number of PPG pupils attaining
L4+ in maths by at least nine percentage points; some raised this by an
amazing 41 percentage points. The
average improvement for Hertfordshire as a whole was 2.4 percentage
points, meaning that every school in the
RANGe project in Dacorum improved
their maths scores by at least 3 times the
county average - and some by far more.
The group said: “One thing for sure
is that we shall use this process as a
blueprint for further developments and
maintain the strong relationship for
school to school support”.
The RANGe project fed into the
overall objective in Hertfordshire to
close the gap between PPG/non PPG
pupils. Alongside the RANGe project,
broader research was being undertaken by HfL looking at effective practice
across all phases of schools in this area.
The report, produced in July – ‘Pupil
Premium in Hertfordshire Use and
Impact’ may be found here:
www.hertsforlearning.co.uk/
content/exchanging-excellence
HfL has additional funding available
to support schools in narrowing their
attainment gaps. See page 6 for details.
Earlier this year, a national conference
was held to address the issue of white
working class (WWC) FSM children, one
of the most significantly underachieving pupil groups. The conference asked
why this is the case, and how we should
help this group of pupils?
Six presentations are available to
download from the Lambeth Education,
Research and Statistics unit, providing
different perspectives and penetrating
analysis on the question.
There are several highlights from the
conference that are worth mentioning.
First, Professor Steven Strand (University of Oxford) offered an overview of
the issues surrounding WWC underachievement. He considered the
national data trend that illustrates the
group’s underachievement.
Second, former headteacher Kenny
Frederick presented a detailed account
of his school’s strategy to tackle the
issue under his headship. The forensic
nature of his analysis on the context of
his school, the roots of the issue, the
design of the strategies and the rationale behind them is a useful case study.
Third, Dr Kirstin Lewis, lecturer at
Goldsmiths, University of London and
Dr Feyisa Demie, Head of Research
and Statistics, Lambeth LA’s research
contained some deep insights into the
challenges WWC pupils and families
face, with a focus on Lambeth. While
the ‘WWC communities’ may not have
identical barriers in Hertfordshire, Lewis
and Demie’s research challenges us
to dig deeper into the socio-cultural
complexity behind the lack of educational aspiration in WWC pupils.
The presentations can be found at:
http://bit.ly/1w1WvHI
Herts for Learning is currently collating
best practice with regard to improving the achievement of WWC. Details
of this will be published on the HfL
website shortly within the Exchanging
Excellence® section.
As part of the National Conference
Programme, HfL will be running a
conference during the summer term
focussed on Raising the Achievement of White Working Class Children.
Further details will be available in the
new year.
Inside this issue
Governance
The Pick
Latest
HfL headlines
This month’s spotlight team is
Governance, with their four main
services: chairs’ service, leadership
appointments, clerking service and
governor development training.
HfL has several high profile conferences
coming up, including a national
conference, Embedding British Values,
and a PE conference. Also this month:
National Anti-Bullying Week.
With nominations open for a new
primary non-executive director, we
speak to Kim Frazer to hear about
her time on the HfL Board. See also:
Exchanging Excellence® bid reminder.
A selection of Herts schools news, this
month
celebrating
Hertfordshire’s
creativity, talking organic chocolate and
showcasing a new double decker bus!
p.2
p.3
p.6
p.7
Herts schools
2
Herts for Learning Training Times
November 2014
Governance: Meet the team
Jessica Broadbent
Herts for Learning Journalist
The Governance team supports the
improvement and effectiveness of
governing bodies in schools and
academies across Hertfordshire. The
team provides four main services:
chairs’ service; Succession Planning
and Leadership Appointment Service
Hertfordshire
(SPLASH);
clerking
service;
governor
development
training. Working with over 6,000
governors across the county, they
provide support to individual governing bodies as well as keeping up to date
with the national changes that affect
all governors.
Kathy Dunnett, Sam Harpham and
Audrey Ryan support chairs of governing
bodies through the chairs’ service. The
service provides information and support
on all aspects of the roles of chairs, vice
chairs and chairs of committees. Monthly
network meetings allow chairs from
across the county to meet and discuss
ideas. Training is available (which is free
to governing bodies subscribing to the
chairs’ service) around chairing, team
management and leadership. The team
produce several publications, including
the Welcome New Chairs booklet and
The Hertfordshire Chair of Governors
Handbook. They send out monthly
chair’s briefings detailing current important educational issues and updates.
The chairs team also supports
governing bodies in their appointment
of leadership posts through Succession Planning and Leadership Appointment Service Hertfordshire (SPLASH).
The service supports with succession
planning, advertisement, shortlisting,
interviewing and appointment, and
offers a range of training courses to
help governing bodies with succession
planning and appointments.
Cathy Irons, Hollie Common and
Margaret Parker work with governing
body clerks. Efficient clerking is essential
for a governing body to be effective and
have an impact on the performance of its
school or academy.
The team provide initial support and
advice through a dedicated helpdesk
and many training opportunities for
over 200 HfL, school-based and private
clerks. The service advises clerks on
preparing agendas through to new legislation. Following the National College’s
upcoming launch of a new clerking
course with a focus on academies, HfL
will also be delivering this training.
A key part of the Governance team’s
work is ensuring governing bodies of
maintained schools and academies are
kept up to date on latest national development and policies. Currently Cathy, Hollie
and Margaret are supporting governing
bodies to formally reconstitute under
the new DfE Governing Body Constitution Regulations. Governing bodies of
all maintained schools must agree their
reconstitution this school year, send their
resolution to HfL’s Governance team,
who check that it complies with the new
regulations, and arrange for a new legal
Instrument of Government to be drafted,
sealed and issued.
Peter Hobbs, Hannah Stewart and
Kayleigh Kingsland oversee the governor
development training. The Governance
team offer courses on over 30 topics and
has a team of over 20 trainers from HfL
and HCC. These include specialists in
Cathy Irons
Peter Hobbs
Kathy Dunnett
Cathy is HfL’s Governance Officer for
Clerking and joined the Governance
team in 2008.
She oversees the clerking service
with Hollie and Margaret. Cathy delivers
governor training courses on safer
recruitment and handling complaints,
and attends meetings where support is
needed. Cathy and Hollie also deliver a
number of training courses specifically
for clerks.
Cathy, Hollie and Margaret clerk
over 20 Hertfordshire schools and
academies. This helps them to ensure
the service they are offering fits the
current needs of governing bodies.
Previously Cathy worked in a number
of departments within HCC such as
the Directorate, Adult & Community
Learning, (now Hertfordshire Adult &
Family Learning Service), Property, and
a secondment in Youth Service (now
Youth Connexions). She then became
a School Planning Officer responsible
for DDA work in Hertfordshire schools,
and a Property Officer overseeing and
monitoring repairs and maintenance of
school buildings. During this time she
also took on an eight month secondment at HCC Youth Services which
resulted in a four year voluntary youth
worker role.
Cathy is a nationally accredited Safer
Recruitment trainer and has gained a
BTEC qualification in education and
children’s service development.
Peter is HfL’s Head of Governance and
has worked in Hertfordshire since 2009.
He provides a strategic overview
of the Governance team, focussing
on governor training – administered
by Hannah and Kayleigh and schools
causing concern. He also works with
colleagues from HASG to run the Hertfordshire Governors’ Annual Conference.
Kathy is HfL’s Governance Officer for
Chairs and SPLASH, and has been with
the Governance team since 2011.
She works with Audrey to oversee
HfL’s chairs’ service. Audrey also
supports Kathy with external reviews
of governance. Kathy and Sam manage
SPLASH, supporting the recruitment of
school leaders.
Previously Kathy was a nurse, first
stepping into schools as a school
nurse and then as a nurse for Hertfordshire Children Looked After. She
then became a schools adviser for
Integrated Childrens’ Services, part of
the Health & Wellbeing Team, before
joining the Governance team.
Kathy has been involved with many
national organisations including the
Department of Health. She is also a
chair of governors in Hertfordshire
and has recently been accredited as a
National Leader of Governance by the
National College.
Currently Kathy is working on the
further development and consolidation of external reviews, and various
governance documents and materials.
She is looking to develop guidance for
a chairs mentoring programme for the
strategic leaders of governance.
If you are interested in
becoming a clerk email:
hollie.common@hertsforlearning.co.uk
Anti-Bullying Cluster
C11/11/14
Tuesday 11th November 2014
7.00pm to 9.00pm
Central Primary, Watford
(£16pp to subscribing schools / £48pp
to non-subscribing schools)
“a chartered
company secretary,
previously working
in the City and at HM
Cabinet Office”
Peter is a chartered company secretary, previously working in the City and
at HM Cabinet Office. Whilst working
in the City he was a part time lecturer
at City University on the financial
services industry, during which time
he wrote three study textbooks. Peter
became involved with governance after
becoming a governor at a local school.
Currently Peter is focussing on
assisting governing bodies with their
reconstitution, and developing a
number of governors’ briefings which
will be launched at this year’s Hertfordshire Governors’ Annual Conference.
Peter is also HfL’s Company Secretary, a nationally accredited Safer
Recruitment trainer, and in his spare
time “plays cricket badly”.
Holding the School to Account
C25/11/14
Tuesday 25th November 2014
7.00pm to 9.00pm
Brandles, Baldock
(£16pp to subscribing schools / £48pp
to non-subscribing schools)
assessment, exclusions, finance, health
and safety, Pupil Premium, vulnerable
groups, safeguarding and governance.
There is an induction programme to
provide an understanding of the role to
new governors, with a section specific
to academies.
There are several new courses with
content designed specifically for academies. This includes Financial Management for Academies, Capital Projects
and Property Management.
Last year (2013-14) 585 governance
events were held, attended by around
8,000 delegates. A highlight is the Annual
Herts Governors Conference which
takes place in November and is attended
by over 300 governors. The conference
is run jointly with the Hertfordshire Association of School Governors (HASG).
The team is a member of a number
of national bodies such as the National
Governors Association (NGA) and
National Coordinators of Governor
Services (NCOGS), who provide national
guidance and resources.
For more information on the team and
all their services please see:
www.hertsforlearning.co.uk/team/
governance
Peter Hobbs
Cathy Irons
Sam Harpham
Kathy Dunnett
Audrey Ryan
3
November 2014
The pick
Up and coming
What’s on and what you might have missed
Autumn term at HfL
HfL is launching a new a national conference programme designed to deliver
education themed conferences that provide leading edge, informative learning
and guidance to school based staff.
The “Embedding British Values” conference
is responding to Ofsted’s new demands
for the curriculum to be “appropriately
broad and balanced to help prepare young
people for life in modern Britain”.
The conference’s keynote speaker will
be Sir Trevor McDonald OBE, who, with
his passion for education and current
affairs, will discuss the opportunities that
this new area of focus brings to schools.
Also speaking will be Saira Khan,
star of the Apprentice, BBC TV presenter
Conferences
and business woman. Saira will offer
insight into life as a British Asian Muslim
woman, and use her life experience to
demonstrate how, because of British
values, she has been able to recognise
and realise her potential.
The day will also include a range of
seminars including preparing school
leaders for EBV in Ofsted, curriculum
management/delivery and practical
case studies. See back page for full
details.
Friday 21st November 2014
All Aboard - Full Steam Ahead!
Secondary half day autumn
conference
14CON/007S
Left to right:
Sir Trevor
McDonald
OBE and
Saira Khan
National Anti-Bullying Week
National Anti-Bullying Week is taking
place w/c 17th November. To recognise
this, HfL is organising a range of
workshops and training throughout November to support the antibullying message.
Sessions for primary schools include:
Using restorative justice approaches
flexibly across the school, introducing a school self-assessment tool for
anti-homophobia,
transphobia
and
biphobia, MSA training and playground
supervision to reduce hurtful incidents.
Workshops on tackling disability-
related bullying are also available, run in
partnership with Equaliteach. These are
aimed at primary age pupils.
For more information please see:
http://bit.ly/1tFHAo1
Sessions for secondary schools
include: Dealing with bullying allegations - improving processes and
outcomes; Intensive support workshop
for targeted vulnerable pupils; change
ambassador training.
Full details can be found on the
grid: http://bit.ly/103W6KA
HfL is holding its second Primary PE
Conference on Tuesday 20th January
2015 in partnership with Hertfordshire
Sports Partnership and Youth Sport Trust.
The focus for this year’s conference
is ‘PE and school sport–supporting whole
school improvement’ and is aimed at both
headteachers and PE leads. The conference
will encompass keynote addresses and a
range of workshops covering raising attainment, using apprentices and achievement
and sport premium funding. There will be a
Q&A session with representatives from AfPE,
Ofsted, CSPN, YST and Primary Head.
This year’s national theme calls on the
school community to take action to
stop the bullying of ALL children and
young people - including those with
special educational needs and disabilities. Research shows young people with
these differences are significantly more
likely to experience bullying in schools
and the wider community.
To book a session please contact
Linda Lovett:
linda.lovett@hertsforlearning.co.uk
National Conference - Embedding
British Values: preparing young
people for life in modern Britain
14CON/010A
Thursday 4th December 2014
Secondary Science Conference
14SCI/010S
Tuesday 20th January 2015
Primary PE Conference
14CON/008P
Tuesday 3rd February 2015
For more information contact:
julie.garstang@hertsforlearning.co.uk
Course code: 14CON/008P
http://bit.ly/1ziZjVJ
Special offer for Hertfordshire schools buy one place get a second free!
Recently at HfL
Friday 28th November 2014
Beyond Behaviour - Looking Below
the Surface Hertfordshire annual
SEND conference
14SEN/014A
Wednesday 3rd December 2014
Primary PE Conference 2015
National Conference - The Power in
Poetry: Language as Play
14CON/011A
For further information about our
upcoming conferences please
contact Danielle Wallington on
danielle.wallington@hertsforlearning.co.uk
In case you missed anything…
Dr Angela Smith at the Hertfordshire primary headteachers’ conference
Developing your everyday resilience
Hollie Common
Margaret Parker
For further information on
SPLASH email: las.governors@
hertsforlearning.co.uk
For further information on
HfL’s chairs’ service email:
gov.chairs@hertsforlearning.co.uk
Hannah Stewart
Induction for Governors
IND170
Saturday 29th November 2014
9.30am to 4.30pm
Holiday Inn, Hemel Hempstead
(FREE to subscribing schools / £175pp
to non-subscribing schools)
Herts for Learning Training Times
Kayleigh Kingsland
Induction for Governors
IND171
Saturday 29th November 2014
9.30am to 4.30pm
Hilton, Watford
(FREE to subscribing schools / £175pp
to non-subscribing schools)
For more information on courses please email Hannah or Kayleigh: gov.courses@hertsforlearning.co.uk
“Everyone has a talent, and mine
happens to you growing up (ruptures)
She spoke about these phases as
was working with psychopaths”. As
affects your resilience, but how you
moving from working against reality
the second female in forensics, Dr
react (repair) affects this even more.”
and with reality, as we start to accept
Angela Smith faced challenges as
She related this to the classroom:
what has happened and what needs
soon as she chose her career path.
“If you shout and tell the quiet child to
to be done; “as headteachers it’s a
When an average day involves
speak up often enough, they learn to
difficult thing for you to manage if you
running anger management groups
become shy. Shyness decreases resil- have moved to working with reality
for bank robbers, one feels their resil- ience, quietness does not”.
and you are working with teachers
ience is pretty high. After high levels of
She outlined the phases we go
who have not moved to reality”, she
strain however, Angela found she had
through when a situation arises that
said, “as managers move up, empathy
reached burn out. She said, “I thought
requires resilience: a cycle of nega- can and often does decrease…but by
I was really resilient – how could I be
tivity, followed by survival mode
not avoiding change, your empathy
resilient and have burn out? I knew I – overeating, for example. This is
starts to increase.”
had to change the way I worked”.
followed by resignation and then
She
reminded
headteachers:
As a keynote speaker at the primary
adaptation – “Most of what happens “Everything you do, every day will be
headteachers’ conference last month, to us is out of our control, but what
increasing or decreasing your resilAngela talked about the science of resil- is in our control is the way we react”. ience, which constantly changes
ience and her own experiences. She
When adaptation begins, recovery
throughout the day. When you become
explained the nature of resilience and
is not far behind and this is where
comfortable being uncomfortable,
its roots in ruptures and repair: “What
change starts being made.
you’ve cracked resilience.”
Dr Angela Smith
4
Herts for Learning Training Times
November 2014
Herts for Learning Training Times
A taste of our
forthcoming courses
Exciting primary
art; cultures and
religions
Secondary SEND
reforms good
practice day
10th November 2014
11th November 2014
Effective
and efficient
planning in the
EYFS
14ART/004P
14SEN/038S
Following on from the recent SEND
implementation workshops, we
would like to invite you to a day
dedicated to SENCOs and inclusion
managers in secondary schools.
The aim of this one day course is
to provide ideas and practical skills
in delivering ambitious art projects
within the themes of cultures
and religions. It will also provide
inspiration for high quality display
and confidence in delivering art to
young people.
By attending, delegates will:
• gain ideas in delivering projects
within the themes of cultures
and religions
• develop the skills to deliver
ambitious projects
• have the confidence to inspire
young people
Maths snippets:
sharpening
mental calculation in the new
curriculum
12 November 2014
th
14MAT/079P
These new lite bite sessions are a
really effective way for practitioners
to obtain a range of teaching ideas to
immediately use back in the classroom.
This half-term’s focus is upon sharpening mental calculation and the
progression from Year 1 to 6 to build
pupil’s mathematical fluency. In the
workshop session, attendees will
develop the use of engaging activities
to deepen understanding and pupil
confidence. The practical session will
make effective use of manipulatives,
models and images that strengthen
teaching and learning.
Approaches to improve mathematical language, reasoning and problem
solving will also be explored. Practitioners will return to school armed
with a range of ideas to share with
colleagues in this key area of learning.
By attending, delegates will:
enhance their understanding of
progression in the focus strand
• explore practical activities which
support children’s understanding and develop fluency
• investigate models, images and
manipulatives and how to use
them to scaffold learning
• identify common misconceptions and consider ways to
address them
• acquire strategies to develop
pupil’s language, reasoning and
problem solving
•
This will provide a platform for sharing
information and generating discussion aimed at helping leaders of SEND
in secondary schools share good
practice and explore practical ways to
introduce new ways of working.
By attending, delegates will:
know about transitioning from
school action, school action
plus to SEN support
• gain knowledge in subject
teacher leadership of SEN
• manage and map provision
as well as develop affective
planning
• learn about person centered
approaches for students and
families and person centered
reviews
• learn about the SEN information
report and co-production
•
Breakfast
meeting making the
transition from
ICT to computing
in Key Stages 3-5
Analysing
behaviour
management
data in SIMS
11th November 2014
25th November 2014
14EAY/025P
12th November 2014
Do you want to: make your Learning
Journals work for you; set up time
efficient planning systems; meet the
needs of all your children?
14MFL/013S
By attending, delegates will:
consider effective and manageable systems for planning
• understand how to plan
for adult led activities and
enhanced continuous provision
• discuss how to respond to
children’s interests
•
Growing
learning
behaviour
3 - DIY staff
development
By attending, delegates will:
be given resources to help
teach and motivate GCSE
classes
• be given ideas and strategies to
maximise performance in the
four skill areas
• have opportunities to discuss,
share and create grade-boosting resources
•
Five day subject
leadership
in primary
mathematics
14MAT/063P
All sessions will run from
9:30am to 3:30pm
at Hertfordshire Development
Centre, Stevenage
25th November 2014
9th January 2015
3rd February 2015
4th March 2015
30th March 2015
14BFL/018P
By attending, delegates will:
• explore opportunities for pupils’
understanding of learning
behaviour
• structure and deliver a staff
development session designed
to develop pupils’ understanding of learning behaviour skills,
habits and attitudes
• support colleagues to introduce
a range of activities designed to
help pupils reflect on learning
behaviour
• support colleagues to establish a
baseline of pupils’ perceptions .
• enable colleagues to confidently
respond to Ofsted’s focus on
pupil engagement and attitudes
to learning
Teaching children
problem solving
skills at Key
Stage 2
26th November 2014
‘Listen up and
read all about it’
- improving MFL
GCSE listening
and reading skills
14HIS/003P
14SIT/075S
26th November 2014
14MAT/058P
This course will review the statutory changes within the new history
National Curriculum and discuss
the implications of these changes
for whole school planning and the
sequencing of units. Changes of
emphasis, exciting new opportunities
and the main indicators of progression in history will be reviewed.
Despite the loss of some popular
topics, schools have considerable
flexibility at KS1 and KS2, and this
flexibility in how different units could
be interpreted will be explored.
Delegates will learn how SIMS can
be used effectively to analyse behaviour management data. This course
is linked to the ‘Behaviour analysis
secondary
follow-on’
session
(14SIT/078S) for those who would
like to analyse their own school’s
behaviour and achievement data
whilst receiving guidance from a
SITSS MIS consultant.
14MFL/017S
This course will explore how to teach
problem solving strategies. Additionally, it will look at how we present
‘problems’ and overcome barriers to
learning in word problems, getting
pupils starting and making decisions.
This course will address problem
solving in the context of the new
curriculum looking at both routine
and non-routine problems and where
the crossover is. It will help teachers
develop the appropriate skills to
address the raised expectation in the
KS2 curriculum.
By attending, delegates will:
review the main changes in the
new history curriculum
• discuss the main indicators of
progression within the subject
• identify how your school’s
sequence of topics facilitiates
progression
• gain knowledge of links to
history websites and resources
• gain supporting documentation
for the leadership and management of change in primary
history
By attending, delegates will:
• run existing analysis reports and
manipulate the output
• amend reports using sub reports
and filters
• create behaviour groups of
students and attach them to
reports
• create new behaviour reports
•
20th November 2014
By attending, delegates will:
• be clear on how the new
computing curriculum differs
from current provision, including
identifying what should be
retained
• identify what is required of
schools and academies, going
forward
• be given advice on how to
develop a transition strategy for
provision at each Key Stage (3-5)
• consider the implications of the
new curriculum for staff training,
development and recruitment
• identify how HfL, UH and schools
can work with each other to
facilitate a smooth transition
from ICT to computing
14ICT/045S
This course will give you ideas and
strategies for helping MFL pupils to
maximise their performance at GCSE.
If so, this is the course for you.
This has been set up to provide headteachers, senior leaders and heads of
computing in secondary schools with
the opportunity to discuss the changes
in the computing curriculum and
consider how schools will meet this
new challenge.
18 November 2014
For further information about our training programme
please contact Mark Green: 01438 844788 or mark.green@hertsforlearning.co.uk
Making the most
of your new
primary history
curriculum
This is the afternoon session of our
one day course “Effective and efficient observation, assessment and
planning in the EYFS”. If you wish to
book onto the whole day, please use
the course code 14EAY/024P.
5
For more information, to book your place or to see our
full range of training courses visit:
www.thegrid.org.uk/schoolworkforce/training/courses/booking.shtml
Reach for the
stars - GCSE
grade boosting
for secondary
MFL
Focussing on the third building block
of independent learning - pupils’
understanding of learning behaviour
skills, habits and attitudes we will look
at the current inspection framework.
Ofsted has significantly increased their
focus on pupil engagement, interest,
concentration, determination, resilience and independence. This course
will give schools what they need for a
DIY staff meeting; to develop a strong
whole-school culture of independent
and resilient learners.
th
November 2014
The content of the five days ranges
from assessment, curricular targets,
analysis of data to TA training
and development, new National
Curriculum, policy documents, and
everything in between.
By attending, delegates will be able to:
recognise and promote
outstanding mathematics
teaching and have systems in
place that will make the day to
day management of the subject
rigorous and workable
• feel secure in their own mathematical judgements and develop
the pedagogy and subject
knowledge of all educators
within their establishments
• develop pedagogy in problem
solving in the new curriculum
• develop effective systems to
make best use of assessment
plus monitor, evaluate and
support classroom practice
• use data (both internal and
external) to identify areas for
development, contribute to the
school’s action plan and SEF and
develop presentation skills
•
Herts computing
scheme for the
primary phase –
version 3
28th November 2014
14ICT/028P
The Herts computing scheme has
been fully updated to support the
2014 computing curriculum. This
half-day training course is available
to those subscribing to versions 2 and
2.1 and is designed to support schools
moving from these to version 3.
Your school’s personalised copy of
the Herts computing scheme for
the primary phase - version 3 will be
provided on the course.
By attending, delegates will:
• be updated on the major
changes to the scheme including the developed aspects
in; computer science aspects
including programming, robotics,
data handling and analysis,
computer networks and systems,
and digital research and eSafe
learning
• be provided with an overview of
the improved ideas and inputs in
many of the learning themes
• have a brief update on the plans
for assessment using the scheme
We have allocated six discounted places
for schools sending a second delegate,
on a first come first served basis.
Maximising
use of Exams
Organiser
3rd December 2014
14SIT/081S
The
Examinations
Organiser
module can assist exams officers/
assistants to manage all aspects of
external examinations. This is a new
half day course on maximising use
of the Exams Organiser and covers
functionality.
By attending, delegates will:
be confident and familiar with
all aspects of marksheets
including locking and unlocking
forecast grades, coursework,
result and equivalency marksheets and result equivalencies
and thresholds
• understand and edit PI cohort
and add non-EDI results via
improved routine
• use Examinations Organiser’s
seating organiser function and
deal with clashes
• obtain ULNs and tidy candidate
numbers
• learn to transfer candidates
between internal and external
and exporting results to DMS
This course will help you to plan and
design successful revision lessons for
GCSE listening and reading tasks.
By attending, delegates will:
be given resources to help
revise and practise listening and
reading skills with GCSE pupils
• be given strategies and ideas to
maximise pupil performance in
these skill areas
• have the opportunity to discuss,
share and devise some of their
own revision activities
•
27th November 2014
This session gives SBMs a greater
understanding of pupil data and
how this forms the basis of school
self-evaluation.
By attending, delegates will gain:
a knowledge of the skills
that children need to learn to
become confident problem
solvers
• the opportunity to discuss and
appreciate the variance of ability
in every class and how this
requires pre-planned, differentiated teaching and learning
approaches
• the opportunity to experience
sessions with a main focus
on specific groups, e.g. pupils
making slow, expected and
accelerated progress
• knowledge of key questions
to scaffold pupils learning
and higher order questions to
extend pupils learning
By attending, delegates will:
gain knowledge of your own
school’s RAISEonline data
• understand progress and achievement in your school compared
with national expectations
• know how your school is
closing the gap between
different groups of pupils
Using Fischer
Family Trust in
Key Stages 3, 4
and 5
•
Helping SBMs
understand pupil
performance
data
4th December 2014
14MAN/103P
•
5th December 2014
•
Secondary
Science
Conference
4th December 2014
14SCI/010S
This is the major science event of the
year. You can listen to key speakers,
participate in workshops, review the
resources exhibition and network
with colleagues.
By attending, delegates will:
have an up to date knowledge
of the science curriculum
• explore the current issues facing
secondary science
• consider new innovations
and developments in science
teaching
•
14ASS/028S
This course will look at how the
FFT reports can be used for school
self-evaluation, improvement and
target setting. The course aims
to show how these reports can
complement other data analysis
tools such as RAISEonline and Post
16 analyses, and provide an extra
dimension to the analysis of school
attainment data.
By attending, delegates will:
gain an understanding of how
to interpret the FFT self-evaluation report
• use the FFT report to consider
key aspects of attainment and
progress with a view to updating
the SEF and evaluating subjects
• understand how to use the FFT
pupil estimate data to inform
target setting
•
6
Herts for Learning Training Times
November 2014
Primary NED elections A note from Kim Frazer
venture and seeing the impact that
HfL has already been able to measure
re: improving learning and delivering
consistently high quality services for
schools and settings. The HfL Board
is comprised of a group of committed
and talented people, each of whom
bring their individual qualities and skills.
I am convinced that HfL will go
from strength to strength and the
learners, no matter what age, will
reap the benefits. If you feel you have
the capacity to join the Board and be
an integral part of the next chapter, I
would urge you to have a conversation with your chair of governors with
regards to a nomination.
Kim Frazer
New secondary school
for Bishop’s Stortford
A proposed new six form entry
secondary school in Bishop’s Stortford was supported by Hertfordshire
County Council’s (HCC) Cabinet on
22nd September 2014.
A selection process will now be
undertaken to approve a sponsor for
the new school. HfL is providing the
educational expertise and consultancy
to aid HCC with the selection process.
The school is planned to meet the
growing demand for secondary school
places in Bishop’s Stortford following
the proposed new housing development in Bishop’s Stortford North and
from the existing communities in the
Bishop’s Stortford and Sawbridgeworth area.
The wheels on the bus
Election details
Any serving headteacher or governor
can be nominated by their governing
body to be a NED. Each nominee must
have at least one proposer. Electronic nomination forms are available on
www.hertsforlearning.co.uk and must
be emailed to info@hertsforlearning.co.uk
by Friday 21st November. Details of the
nominees will follow on the HfL website
on Monday 24th November.
Nominations close
Friday 21st November
5.00pm
Electronic voting
form issued
Close of voting
period
Monday 24th November
Friday 5th December
12.00pm
Results announced
Monday 8th December
Closing gaps funding
As part of the Exchanging Excellence®
Closing Gaps project, HfL is encouraging schools to apply for additional
funding and support to further close
gaps in Hertfordshire.
All schools interested in developing
the work on this important theme and
contributing to the bank of research
evidence are encouraged to apply. HfL
is particularly interested in cross phase
work and welcomes applications from
schools wishing to collaborate.
From April 2015 there will be an Early
Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) to help the
most disadvantaged children. Schools,
early years settings and child minders
will be given up to £300 for every three
and four year old from a low income
family that attends their setting.
The EYPP is designed to narrow the
attainment gap between young children
from low income families and other
groups of children, to improve their
chances of a successful future. Although
Hertfordshire’s children do well overall
at the age of five, this gap provides a
persistent challenge.
All settings will have the freedom
to decide how to use the funding but
must be able to justify their decisions
to Ofsted inspectors. The money must
be used to help three and four year olds
learn and develop .
The HfL Early Years team will be
working closely with children’s centres,
settings and schools in the coming
months to support local networks and
cluster meetings to pool ideas and share
resources. Watch out for conferences
and cluster meetings in February.
Similar work to identify good
For more information please contact
Julie Garstang: exchanging.
excellence@hertsforlearning.co.uk or
call: 01438 844853
practice is going on nationally. The
DfE has asked the charity 4Children to
launch a call for evidence on the Early
Years Pupil Premium in November 2014
- asking providers to identify and share
their good practice around meeting
the needs of disadvantaged children.
You can send in your submissions to
eypp@foundationyears.org.uk and please
also copy them to the early years team:
earlyyearsteam@hertsforlearning.co.uk
links, communications, staff structures
The review comprises a full day
and management (non-teaching staff).
process audit in your school, plus a
The service is perfect for new head- report for the headteacher/governors
teachers wanting to establish how effi- OR face to face feedback with action
cient or effective their office/school
points for your school.
management is; for existing headteachers wanting to check they are Ofsted “The school management review has had
ready for business processes or for
a significant impact on the way in which
anyone looking to review school systems
our school serves its communities. The
to see if there are areas you can improve
report confirmed which procedures
on or save money.
were effective and identified areas where
Updated
safeguarding
guidance
Herts for Learning’s guidance on
‘Implications for safeguarding in the
light of changes to inspection’ can
now be found with the Ofsted updates
on the Herts for Learning website:
http://bit.ly/1G2aDXX
improvements could be made. As a result,
our children and staff are benefitting
from an enhanced learning environment
though the way in which we manage
maintenance issues and H&S, and our
parent body are enjoying more effective
communication channels”.
Primary headteacher, Dacorum
For more information please contact
natalie.dalvarez@hertsforlearning.co.uk
Teach Primary magazine to
feature HfL’s Kerry Godsman
Ofsted alert:
HfL’S CHARITY OF THE YEAR
Herts for Learning is delighted to be
supporting Teenage Cancer Trust
this academic year. The charity has
been selected by HfL staff who will be
running a series of fundraising activites and events throughout the year to
raise money for them.
HfL’s Lead Teaching and Learning
Advisor for primary English, Kerry
Godsman, will be featured in the
November edition of Teach Primary
magazine. Her article, entitled ‘Where
the magic happens – editing and
redrafting’ forms part of the magazine’s
‘literacy special’ and will be available via
subscription and in newsagents from
17th November.
It’s not every day that learning outside
the classroom happens in a double
decker bus. For pupils at George Street
Primary School in Hemel Hempstead,
this is to become the norm.
The school’s big blue bus was
wheeled into the playground last term
and, after extensive interior work,
was officially opened on Monday 6th
October 2014.
Local MP Mike Penning attended
the grand opening to cut the ribbon in
front of an audience of excited pupils
and parents. Pupils from each year group
gave performances in the school hall
including classics such as ‘The wheels on
the bus’ - with a George Street twist.
The idea for the bus came from
a need for extra classroom space in
the school and pupils’ enthusiasm for
learning outside the classroom. It has
benches from the ICT suite and seating
downstairs which will be utilised for
various lessons. Upstairs there is a library
and comfy seating.
Over lunch time the bus will be
available to book by the school’s young
leaders. Leaders include house captains,
sports champions, friendship buddies
and reading champions.
“There are lots of books upstairs
and space for us to read” said Reading
Ambassador Mia Atkins, age 10, who is
excited to be using the top level of the
bus to read with younger children.
The bus has been decorated with
giant butterflies and displays the school’s
apt motto: ‘Where learning comes alive’.
chocolate
Left to right: Teagan,
Local MP Mike Penning and Jack
Congratulations to Meadow Wood
School, Bushey, on winning the
‘Outstanding contribution to the arts
by a school’ award at the Creative Hertfordshire Flame Awards on Saturday
4th October. This new celebration
event was established by Creative
Hertfordshire and the Heart of Flame
Festival in 2014 to recognise outstanding creative work across the county.
The event was hosted in partnership
with the University of Hertfordshire and
Hertfordshire Music Service. The award
Left to right: Headteacher Liz Stratton
and HfL’s David Kilgallon
for ‘Outstanding contribution to the arts
by a school’ was sponsored by HfL. It was
presented to Liz Stratton, Headteacher at
Meadow Wood School, by HfL’s Secondary Strategic Lead, David Kilgallon.
Schools were nominated for the
opportunities they provide for their
pupils and wider communities, and for
internal investment in or development of
the arts. Judges assessed their achievements over the past year, looking for
evident impact and the ‘X factor’.
Meadow Wood wowed the judges
with their extensive work over the past
year. The school has provided new
opportunities such as: visiting artists, a
drama residency and a research project
into developing technology to support
disabled students to choreograph
dance. Meadow Wood stood out due to
their provision for physically impaired
non-verbal pupils. Pupils and staff
found that the arts provided an inspiring
demonstration of the interrelationship
between impairment and access – the
greater the access, the less their pupils
were impaired.
In the wake of their efforts the school
has gained a Gold Artsmark this year as
well as the whole Year 5 and 6 cohorts
achieving their ‘Explore’ level Arts Awards.
Both staff and pupils have enhanced
their skills, with evident progress in pupil
engagement and enjoyment of the arts.
Other finalists for the award were:
Astley Cooper School, Barnwell School,
Beaumont School, Goldfield Infants and
Nursery School, IMPULSE (The Purcell
School of Music), Sandringham School
Arts Faculty, Susi Earnshaw Theatre
School, Turnford School, Welwyn St
Mary’s Church of England Primary
School and Woolenwick Infants and
Nursery School.
To find out what’s on in your local
area visit Creative Hertfordshire: www.
creativehertfordshire.com
Kathy Little, Headteacher at Aldbury
C of E Primary School, took home a
bundle of organic Green & Black’s
chocolate handed straight from
co-founder Jo Fairley at the Hertfordshire primary headteachers’ conference 2014: Hat Tricks!
Kathy posed the winning question
following Jo’s talk – a journey though
Green & Black’s history, from an idea
in a notepad to international Fairtrade
champion.
Having been told at the tender age of
16 that she’d be lucky to make it as a girl
Friday, Kathy asked what Jo would say if
she could go back and talk to her careers
advisers and teachers now to help them
recognise potential in children. Jo’s
answer took little considering: “The
carrot and not the stick is the way that
I’ve brought people on. Even when
you’re exasperated because someone’s
difficult… my attitude is always to take a
deep breath, turn it around and feed the
love back.”
After her own experience, Jo
requested one thing from the attending headteachers: “Give a prize in every
class for kindness, because kindness
is a hell of a lot more important in life
than knowing the capital or Peru; it’s
the most wonderful quality and it’s not
recognised enough”.
Left to right: Kathy Little and Jo Fairley
Stronger together – The East Dacorum Co-operative Learning Trust
New service for schools – School Management Review
HfL has introduced the School
Management Review as part of its
School Business Manager Services.
Through this service, School Business
Management consultants will provide a
statutory information check and review
the following areas of your school: single
central record, website and prospectus, purchasing and procurement, asset
management, health and safety compliance, community liaison and parental
7
A question of
Creative Hertfordshire Flame Awards 2014
Early Years Pupil Premium announced
Elizabeth Simpkin
HfL’s Strategic Lead - Early Years
November 2014
Latest Herts schools news
Other news from HfL
My name is Kim Frazer and I was elected
as a non-executive director (NED) to
the HfL board by primary school shareholders in March 2013.
I have been a headteacher in Hertfordshire for 15 years and my strategic perspective has been further
enhanced by my active role on the
Primary Heads Forum and also as a
member of the HfL Board.
In December of this year, I will be
stepping down from headship and
moving into consultancy work, supporting leaders in Herts. It is with regret
therefore, that I shall also be stepping
down from the HfL Board.
It has been a privilege to be part
of such an innovative and exciting
Herts for Learning Training Times
Kerry Godsman
Adeyfield School, The Astley Cooper
School and Longdean School in Hemel
Hempstead have united forces to
form the East Dacorum Co-operative
Learning Trust. The Trust was set up
in July 2014 and had its first official
meeting in September.
The partnership formalised a working
relationship between the three schools
and headteachers that was already strong,
ensuring the relationship will be sustainable beyond the current headships.
The Trust has several partners,
including HfL, Roundwood Park School,
representatives from BP and the Rotary
Club of Hemel Hempstead. Helen Jones,
HfL District School Effectiveness Adviser,
is also Chair of the Trust Board for the
first year.
Graham Cunningham, Headteacher at
Longdean, said “The co-operative allows
you to make projects more lengthy, deep
and sustained pieces of work. Having that
buy-in of the co-operative by HfL and
other trustees raises the bar of the work
you’re trying to do and gives you a greater
degree of commitment - in the interest of
each of the schools”.
In practice, the Trust allows these
schools to share resources, ideas and
best practice. Amongst many initiatives,
they are planning to set up a network
between their heads of science and an
ICT project for the wider communities in
the first year.
The Trust will also be beneficial in
terms of recruitment; three schools have
the resources where one school may not
to recruit more specialised staff, whose
time can then be shared. “This is about
untapped potential”, said Scott Martin,
Headteacher at Adeyfield School.
The Trust are planning to hold a
student council event where students
can discuss what they want the co-operative to deliver for them in the long
term. This is likely to be hosted at the
University of Hertfordshire, who are also
a partner.
Graham commented, “It’s about
being able to offer things to the
students in three communities that
we couldn’t do by ourselves. It’s about
raising aspirations”.
The Trust is part of the wider School’s
Co-operative Society, the national
coordinating body for the co-operative
model. During the planning stages the
schools and their wider communities
received advice from Jon O’Connor,
London and South East Regional
Manager at Cooperative Schools
Consultancy.
The East Dacorum model is unusual
in that it consists of three secondary
schools and a mix of academy and maintained schools; the Trust is open for
local primary schools to join. The Trust
feels that this dynamic allows them to
make more of an impact. With a shared
geographical area and similar communities, the diversities between the schools
involved only serve to strengthen the
partnership. Scott commented, “This is
not an unequal partnership, it’s about
what’s best for the children”.
The trustees are positive about
the impact that can be made through
their sustained cooperation. Edward
Gaynor, Headteacher at Astley Cooper,
said “The co-operative is based on
principles and values, including selfhelp, democracy and social responsibility. It’s ultimately about broadening the life chances of young people,
working together to benefit the whole
community”.
Left to right: Helen Jones, Scott Martin, Graham Cunningham and Edward Gaynor
If you have any events coming up that you would like us to cover, get in touch with Jessica Broadbent: 01438 844331 or jessica.broadbent@hertsforlearning.co.uk
A one day national conference
Wednesday 3rd December 2014
9.45am to 3.45pm
Wyboston Lakes, Wyboston, Bedfordshire, MK44 3AL
This national conference, for school leaders across all phases, is in response to the recent
changes to the Ofsted framework which state that ‘Inspectors will pay even greater attention
to a school’s curriculum to ensure that it is appropriately broad and balanced to help prepare
young people for life in modern Britain’.
For the first time schools are to be judged on their ability to teach pupils about British values
and will be asked to demonstrate how their school embeds these values throughout the
curriculum. These changes are as a direct result of recent world and national events such as the
Birmingham ‘Trojan Horse’ governance affair and the radicalisation of young British people.
The Department for Education has welcomed this event which supports the focus from the Secretary
of State to enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to actively promote the fundamental
British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of
those with different faiths and beliefs. This national conference has been designed to support
school leaders in ensuring that these issues are appropriately dealt with in schools, in a way that
unites rather than divides parents and pupils.
Our closing keynote speaker Saira Khan, star of the Apprentice,
BBC TV presenter and business woman will offer insight into her
life as a British Asian Muslim woman, and use her life experience to
demonstrate how, because of British values, she has been able to
recognise and realise her potential.
Our keynote speaker is
Sir Trevor McDonald OBE who,
with his passion for education
and current affairs, will bring
a fresh perspective on the
opportunities that this new area
of focus brings to schools.
The day also includes a range of
seminars including preparing school
leaders for EBV in Ofsted, curriculum
management / delivery and practical
case studies.
By attending this national conference you will have the opportunity to:
• Reflect upon the importance of this agenda and the opportunities/challenges it presents to schools
• Develop an understanding of what ‘British Values’ are
• Understand the key role schools have in preparing young people for life in modern Britain
• Establish how these issues can be tackled in a way which unites rather than divides school communities
• Develop an understanding of how these can be delivered in a school curriculum
• Review how these issues should be represented to governors, Ofsted and the wider school community
How to book
To book your place on this
national conference please visit
www.thegrid.org.uk/schoolworkforce
Conference code: 14CON/010A
Price: £250.00 plus VAT per person
Contact us
For further information please contact
Danielle Wallington, Events Coordinator
email: danielle.wallington@hertsforlearning.co.uk or
telephone: 01438 844535
The venue
Wyboston Lakes is an award winning conference venue, located
less than 1 hour from London, midway between Cambridge
and Milton Keynes. With excellent road links to both the A1
and M1, and only a 48 minute train journey from London King’s
Cross into St. Neots train station, Wyboston Lakes is the perfect
location for our national conference:
Wyboston Lakes
Great North Road
Wyboston
Bedfordshire
MK44 3AL
Tel: 0333 7007 666
www.wybostonlakes.co.uk
If you have any feedback or suggestions about
Training Times, would like to include a news story in the next
issue or would like any additional copies please contact
Jessica Broadbent: jessica.broadbent@hertsforlearning.co.uk
All information correct at time of going to press.