Blog

“Data-driven school improvement” was all the rage in the 2010s. School leaders, advisers and inspectors all used RAISEonline, Fischer Family Trust and the Ofsted data dashboard as the touchstone for their work. Fortunately, we gradually became savvier and more looked more at “data-informed school improvement”. And then came the pandemic.

And so another new year starts. The GCSE and A level results are in. Heads of department are busy analysing their data to present to their line managers; senior leaders are preparing presentations for their governors. Just another year. Or is it?

Huge congratulations to all students receiving their results today. All students in this year’s cohort, regardless of their final results have so much to be proud of. They have shown extraordinary resilience, persevering when the world as we knew it
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No child should go through a school day without interaction with teachers about their learning and well-being, but it happens. There are learners that can go days without direct contact from a teacher in school. I was one of these hidden children.

For us at Shireland Collegiate Academy, it all began with a fabulous joint Trust School INSET day. Dylan Wiliam had travelled over from LA to share his wisdom about all things relating to formative assessment. This was in March 2020 and, towards the end of the day, he spoke about how difficult it was to change teachers’ habits in the classroom. A way to foster the idea of change and practice was though TLCs (Teacher Learning Communities).

For middle leaders, leading change can be as challenging as it gets – but there are some golden rules that will help you. This article offers top tips from the middle leaders at Eltham Hill School in Greenwich, London, many
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Conversations about tackling disadvantage and discrimination often focus on intervention – on the additional support which might make a difference. And of course this kind of support can and does make a difference.

SSAT’s ‘Four Pillars of Principled Curriculum Design’ now has versions for mainstream primary, secondary and special schools. Over the coming weeks, SSAT’s senior education leads, Alex Galvin and Colin Logan, will be looking at each of the four pillars in turn. Today, Alex and Colin consider the fourth pillar: Experience 

Working in a multi-ethnic primary school that holds 37% of Pupil Premium and 46% EAL intake, and situated within a low socioeconomic area of Southeast London, has been eye-opening to the link between social injustice and language limitations.  

As thoughts now turn to planning for the next school year, you may find SSAT’S Framework for Exceeptional Education helpful in identifying development priorities. The framework is a self-review and planning tool, which can be used in its entirety or a strand at a time, depending on whether you want to take a broader view or focus on a particular aspect of your practice.