Blog

After highlighting Empathy Week in the last SEND Update, I was reminded about some of the most impactful training I undertook during my 30 years within the classroom. Early on in my career I attended a course at Nottingham University which focussed on teaching science to SEN learners.

Let’s dive straight in and ask: What is it that makes someone a leader? And how do you identify leadership potential?

The DfE does not think that teachers are good curriculum designers, so have provided Oak Academy with £43 million over three years to provide curriculum materials to schools. Oak’s purpose is to “improve pupil outcomes and close the disadvantage gap by supporting teachers to teach, and pupils to access a high-quality curriculum.” This is another example for me of the DfE not having due regard for the professionalism of teachers.

by Louisa Rose, CEO of Beyond As the CEO of youth mental health charity, Beyond, and an ex social media consultant, I’m particularly interested in the intersection of tech and mental health. It might seem like a pivot but let’s
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A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of spending a day at Haringey Learning Partnership, accompanying a group of academics from the United States that we were hosting for the week.

The DfE has just released the first cut of unvalidated KS4 data. SSAT’s Educational Outcomes is now available to member schools based on it. It’s just like autumn 2019 all over again. Everything is back to how it was. Or is it?

Picture the scene – the new Assistant Headteacher arrives at her dream job, taking responsibility for teaching and learning across the school. Her first decision to make arrives promptly in her email inbox; does the Academy decide to go ahead with the SSAT Embedding Formative Assessment (EFA) programme?

As a prime, core group of St Mark’s academy, we aim to establish significant changes within our school as well as pose as inspirational examples to not only our local community but hopefully regionally. We are a small group, aim for change, B.I.G change. BIG stands for Black is Great.

Two years ago, Westminster Academy’s staff and students felt there was a need to review our curriculum with regards to the lens we see events through, and how it supports the wellbeing of our students who come from a diverse community with lots of different racial groups and different ethnic backgrounds.

Each October our school takes the opportunity to celebrate Black History Month (BHM) through assemblies and links to topics across the curriculum. It is a wonderful opportunity to discuss the importance of Black contributions to science, politics, academia, social change, sport and much more. Staff from across subject areas, not just the history department, speak with passion to our students and have run activities, competitions and poster campaigns celebrating Black excellence.