Proving Impact

Making Learning Stick!

Research Informed
Teaching

Effective School
Improvement

Managing Curriculum
Change

Successful Subject
Leadership

Proving Impact

“We should measure the impact of our curriculum by the extent to which we prepare all our pupils for their next steps.” Matt Bromley

This course focuses on how leaders evidence the impact of their work in each of these key judgement areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.

During the day we will:

• Discuss what ’good’ teaching and learning looks like, and how we avoid the ‘tick box’ approach to monitoring.

• Demonstrate the importance of analysing monitoring outcomes to prove the impact of the curriculum and support strategic school improvement.

• Explore strategies for the effective use of assessment, both formative and summative, to help you evaluate the impact of the curriculum.

• Discuss and share strategies for analysing attendance and behaviour data to ascertain the effectiveness of your procedures and practices in these areas.

• Explain how and why it is important to track and analyse pupils’ engagement in extra-curricular provision, especially those who are disadvantaged.

Testimonials

“This course is full of really practical guidance and advice. Today has shown me that I need to be more precise with the impact! Thank you for some brilliant training and the opportunity to network and discuss with fellow colleagues.
Amy Pugh, Headteacher at Berry Hill Primary School, Gloucestershire

“I am now reassured that what we are doing is effective, but I’ve gained ideas of ways to improve, particularly around attendance processes and data. The course was appropriate and well pitched for senior leaders.
Judy Parker, Birchfield Primary School, Somerset

“Ofsted visited my school six weeks after I attended the Proving Impact course. As an experienced headteacher I have never been so well prepared for inspection because I used the insights and templates shared on the course and could easily prove the impact of our work in school.” 
Rebecca Scutt, Stow-on-the-Wold Primary School, Gloucestershire

“The trainers clearly understand just how busy senior school leaders are. I left with many clear take-aways such as practical strategies that can begin tomorrow and don’t require a ton of planning and preparing!“
Laura Vallance, Deputy Headteacher at St. Day and Carharrack Community School, Cornwall

Audience

Duration:  1 day

Audience:

• Headteachers
• Senior Leaders

Date

Dates for this course are pending

Making Learning Stick!

If what we have taught the children cannot be recalled and used, then it is as if it has not been taught.

This course explores how cognitive science relating to memory and learning can translate into classroom practice.

During the day we will provide an overview of how thinking works and its relationship between working memory and long-term memory. Through practical activities we will explore the relationship between prior knowledge and problem solving. Using research from Daniel Willingham, Robert Bjork and Barak Rosenshine we will apply the principles of memory storage and recall to the primary classroom.

We will share practical strategies for scaffolding learning, to ensure the learning  makes it into the memory in the first place, then we shall focus on retrieval techniques to assist pupils in being able to recall and use their newly gained knowledge.

By the end of this course, you will:

• Understand how memory and long-term learning works
• Applying cognitive load theory in the classroom
• Knowing how and when to scaffold
• Using retrieval practice strategies successfully
• Understand why metacognition matters and when to teach it

Testimonials

“This course gave my teachers the confidence and enthusiasm to develop and embed retrieval practice with practical and workable strategies!”
Suki Pascoe, Bibury C of E Primary School

“Thank you so much for today. It was such a great course with so much thinking, discussing and learning happening. Everyone was buzzing! This was a great start to our CPD for the year.”
Anna Mason, Executive Headteacher of the North Cotswold Schools Federation

Audience

Duration:  1 day

Audience:

• Headteachers
• Senior Leaders
• Middle Leaders
• Teachers 
• Teaching Assistants

Dates

Dates for this course are pending.

Research Informed Teaching

The aim of this course is to introduce senior leaders and teachers to impactful teaching-based research and explain how it can be applied in the classroom. 

The world of education is flooded with research, but with the many pressures upon senior leaders, we appreciate that it can be difficult to find the time to read and act upon the research available. Our Research Informed Teaching course has been designed to share the most pertinent research with leaders and explain how it can begin to be embedded as soon as you return to school.

Research from the Education Endowment Foundation, Barak Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction and Daniel T. Willingham’s cognitive science will form the bedrock of the day. We will summarise their research and share how its application can result in impactful teaching in the primary school classroom.

Practical strategies for activating prior learning, modelling, explanations, questioning techniques, giving feedback and more will be shared or demonstrated. We shall also explain how to mitigate cognitive overload and develop pupils’ metacognitive skills.

Opportunities will be provided for reflection and discussion with colleagues, and you’ll be encouraged to create a short action plan to put into practice when you return to school.

By the end of this course, you will:

• Be familiar with key research focused on impactful teaching strategies.
• Know how this research can be applied practically in the classroom.
• Have the knowledge to share research informed teaching strategies with staff in your school.

Testimonials

“This was a very useful course which covered so much throughout the day. It was valuable to hear about the research behind effective teaching. It would be great for our phase leaders and subject leaders to attend this course.”
Nathan Cox, Deputy Head at St. David’s C of E Primary School, Moreton-in-Marsh.

“Such a wealth of information was shared which prompted reflection and discussion with my deputy head. We had time to consider what was relevant to our school context.”
Kathryn Oshun, Headteacher at Mitcheldean Endowed Primary School, Mitcheldean.

“Everything was evidence based with clear explanations of how to use and implement the teaching strategies in school. The course secured my understanding of new approaches, such as the effective use of questioning techniques.”
Louise Bennett, Headteacher at Cam Woodfield Junior School, Dursley.

Audience

Duration:  1 day

Audience:

• Headteachers
• Senior Leaders
• Middle Leaders
• Teachers 

Dates

Dates for this course are pending.

Effective School Improvement

School improvement is complex and multifaceted. During this course we shall break the process down into key areas and provide practical strategies for each.

The day is split into three sessions.

Session 1: The school improvement process

We shall begin this course by focusing upon the cycle of school improvement at a whole school level. We will consider how the school culture can impact upon organisational change, and how to overcome barriers. Freely available tools to support school improvement will be shared.

Session 2: Gathering the evidence

When gathering evidence, we need to view school improvement at a granular level. Using an objective from your current school improvement plan, you will be guided through a process of evidence gathering, where practical strategies will be shared, including a work scrutiny using curriculum plans and pupils’ books from your school (history or geography).

Session 3: Pulling it all together

Once we have gathered our evidence, we need to record this information concisely. This session will focus upon the key components of the school self-evaluation form (SEF). Towards end the day, time will be set aside for you to reflect upon the training and note your next steps.

As well as bringing a laptop-device to work on during the course, we recommend you bring various documents to the session, to enable you to gain the most from it. This includes your current SEF – if you have one; the school improvement plan; a few history/geography books to use during the guided work scrutiny and relevant plans.

Testimonials

We delivered this course on behalf of the Somerset Association of Primary Headteachers and the Cornwall Association of Primary Headteachers. Below are some of the comments we received:

“The information regarding lesson drop-ins and monitoring was excellent.”

“It was really helpful to be reminded about the core purpose of headship and receiving excellent tips for monitoring more efficiently.”

“I loved the cycle of improvement over three weeks. I also liked how all the evidence can be drawn together in a simple form.”

“It was useful to hear it from experienced headteachers. I can now see how to break down the process of writing the SEF and how it should be written.”

“Engaging and very clear. The honesty and understanding of the role that underpinned the course was invaluable.”

Audience

Duration: 1 day

Audience: 

• Headteachers
• Deputy headteachers
• Assistant headteachers

Dates

Dates for this course are pending.

Successful Subject Leadership

Subject leaders are expected to draw upon a wide range of skills and knowledge every day. In addition to being an expert in the subject(s) you lead, you need to be an inspirational, effective leader who drives forward your subject’s agenda in school. 

Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework places high importance on the quality of education and subject leaders play a vital role in developing and sequencing the curriculum to ensure pupils are gaining long-term knowledge and skills. For many, subject leadership is the first step on the road to career development and leadership, so investing in your own leadership skill set is a vital step in building a successful long-term career.

Successful subject leadership is a crucial element in securing high quality teaching and learning in school. This course will introduce subject leaders to a range of effective strategies, approaches and core knowledge that will help you to excel in this essential role. We will explain how subject leaders can check subject content is planned and delivered progressively and explore an essential range of monitoring strategies.

Aims

The course aims include the following:

• understand the key roles and responsibilities of subject leadership which align with the Education Inspection Framework;
• know how to communicate your subject curriculum to a range of stakeholders;
• explore a range of monitoring activities and understand when each should be best used;
• understand how to check your subject curriculum to ensure content is progressive and sequential;
• know how to create an effective action plan, which will drive improvements in your subject;
• appreciate how best to provide constructive feedback to your colleagues.

To gain the most from this course you are encouraged to bring examples of medium-term plans, action plans and pupils’ books so that you can undertake guided monitoring activities. (You will not be expected to share your school’s planning and pupils’ books with other subject leaders unless you choose to do so.)

Testimonials

‘The course provided clear guidance and useful ideas, including tasks we can put into practice. The activities and time for discussion were very useful.’
Emily Hayet-Patino, Oakwood Primary School, Gloucestershire.

‘The practical activities, such as carrying out a work scrutiny and filling in the curriculum analysis grid helped to support my understanding of important elements of leading a subject. There were useful tips for monitoring and assessment in the foundation subjects.’
Sophie Cantore, St. Raphael’s Catholic Primary School, Ealing.

‘This is a training day that senior leaders would benefit from too – it’s very adaptable and good to be able to reflect on school practice.’ 
Libby Matthews, Peatmoor Community Primary School, Swindon

Audience

Duration: 1 day

Audience: 

• Middle leaders
• Subject leaders
• Teachers aspiring towards subject leadership

Dates

Dates for this course are pending.

Managing Curriculum Change

One constant in education is change. In our Managing Curriculum Change course, we explore what drives change, the different types of change, where the barriers are to be found and what leaders can do to understand and manage these changes in the context of primary school curriculum development. 

People’s reactions to change can be very different. Change that is not asked for, welcomed, or well planned for, can be stressful and unsettling or actively resisted. Other people are so enthusiastic they race ahead with their own agenda. These situations are common in schools and so this course looks at change from the perspective of others and suggests ways to deal with these challenging situations.

We will explore the importance of a clear curriculum vision as well as devoting time to understanding the varying leadership styles and how each can be utilised to bring about effective change.

Managing Curriculum Change is an informative, practical course which is intended to help you think critically about how to plan for and implement changes to your curriculum. As part of this process we will provide time for you to create a ‘curriculum change plan’ during the day which you will be able to use on your return to school. 

Aims
The course aims include the following:

• understand the nature and implications of different types of change;
• identify potential barriers to changing your curriculum, using the ‘dimensions of change’ approach;
• recognise your preferred leadership style and therefore plan to optimise strengths and mitigate any potential weaknesses as you implement change;
• understand how people respond to change and identify strategies to deal with potentially challenging situations;
• create a ‘curriculum change plan’.

Testimonials
‘Both Clare and I found the training spot on. We had made some progress towards addressing change but now have reassessed our priorities to subject leaders and long-term planning. You both stimulated our conversation and framed our next steps so that we go forward with a clearer direction.’
Sally Berry, Headteacher at St. Wenn School in Bodmin, Cornwall.

The day was really useful for me and I particularly liked completing the plan throughout the day. It means when I sit down to this again, I can quickly re-engage with the subject matter rather than being faced with a blank document and a load of notes. Also talking through school specific questions with clearly experienced trainers was invaluable.
Chris Parham, Head of School at St. Issey C of E Primary School in Wadebridge, Cornwall.

Audience

Duration: 1 day

Audience:

• Headteachers
• Senior Leaders
• Middle Leaders
• Subject Leaders

Dates

Dates for this course are pending.