Schools Northeast Newsletter

The latest education news

Premier Teachers – workshops with an Olympic Volleyball player

LATEST NEWS | TALKING HEADS | EVENTS | OPPORTUNITIES | JOBS IN SCHOOLS

The long-awaited independent review into education in the Northern Powerhouse was published yesterday, outlining a series of recommendations to improve capacity and raise standards in northern schools.

The report looks at building teaching and leadership capacity, school improvement, raising standards and closing the gap, curriculum, and system conditions. Click on the link below the read our summary of the key recommendations in each section.

Almost half of “deteriorating” primaries improved their Ofsted judgment despite poor progress

New research by the Education Policy Institute suggests there is “significant inconsistency” between the identified deterioration in academic standards of schools rated ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ across the country and the resulting Ofsted judgement. A total of 1,221 primary and 228 secondary schools were identified by researchers as having deteriorated substantially between their previous and latest inspections.

Long-term FSM pupils in new Opportunity Areas 20+ months behind peers

New research has been published which shows the extent of the progress gap between disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers in the least socially mobile areas of the country. For children in the Government’s new Opportunity Areas, identified by the DfE to receive £60m of interventions, children in receipt of FSM are as many as 20.1 months of progress behind in their education.

SCHOOLS NorthEast review of Northern Powerhouse Schools Strategy

The Northern Powerhouse Schools Strategy report outlines a series of proposals to “tackle educational underperformance in the North of England". SCHOOLS NorthEast welcomes that there is a strategy in place and some funding available to improve school performance in the North, but has reservations about some of the recommendations contained within.

Free online ‘match-making’ service for schools and governors launched

The Inspiring Governance scheme will connect skilled volunteers interested in serving as governors and trustees with schools and colleges.

Good and outstanding schools on rise, Ofsted data shows

At the end of August, nearly nine in 10 (89%) schools were at least good at their latest inspection - up five percentage points on last year. However, the gap between primary and secondary schools is widening.

Drop in trainee teachers, and four other key findings from ITT data

The Department for Education has released provisional figures for the number of trainee teachers recruited for this academic year. Here are the key findings from Schools Week.

New regional academy growth fund announced

The Department for Education announced a new regional academy growth fund (RAGF) to support successful trusts in growing and improving standards for underperforming schools.

Heads 'disappointed' by Autumn Statement funding omission

Head Teachers say it is "disappointing" that Chancellor Philip Hammond's Autumn Statement failed to address funding pressures faced by many schools and colleges across England.

Making primary schools into academies does not boost results, says report

Converting primary schools into academies has failed to improve their results, according to a study by the London School of Economics – calling into question government policy that all state schools should be pushed towards academy status.

Schools should be doing more to prepare young people for the world of work, says Ofsted

The nation's economic prosperity is "at risk" because the majority of England’s schools "fail to prioritise enterprise education and work-related learning", a new Ofsted survey found.

School for teenage codebreakers to open in Bletchley Park

Sixth-form College of National Security will teach cyber skills to some of Britain’s most gifted youngsters to fight growing threat

What is 'The Ace Day'?

The Ace Day is a healthy schools programme designed to help tick off PSHE, P.E. and Science national curriculum objectives for KS1 and KS2.

The day’s activities involve an Ace Volleyball master-class, healthy workshops covering the dangers of smoking, nutrition, personal hygiene, the importance of water and dental health, and closing the day with an inspirational whole school assembly.

The whole day is delivered by former Olympic athlete, Nathan French, who represented the Great Britain Volleyball Team at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Classroom worksheets are also provided to engage your pupils in the classrooms before/after their time
with Nathan.

Durham TA strike: Unions urge council to settle dispute as staff join picket lines

Teaching assistants have walked out for a second time in a month in a long running dispute over contract changes, reports ChronicleLive.

28
NOV

Autumn Term Ofsted Briefings

SCHOOLS NorthEast has set up a series of termly events with Ofsted to support schools in the region to stay current on all information regarding inspections. Our autumn term briefings will include a themed discussion around raising standards in KS3 English, focussing on transition. There will also be contributions from North East Head Teachers who have recently been inspected.

South | North

17
JAN

Making waves: tackling the challenges faced by coastal schools

This full day conference will bring school leaders from across the country together to explore the challenges faced by coastal schools in further detail. The aim of the event is to identify practical solutions to these issues that school leaders can then put into practice on returning to school. The agenda will include a mixture of keynote speakers and solution-orientated, interactive workshops.

Read more >

02
DEC

CWMT Free Youth Mental Health Conference Durham

A day of sharing ideas, making connections, learning about resources and breaking down mental health stigma for anyone working with children and young people. Kindly hosted by Framwellgate School and funded by the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust and Health Education England. The conference will be chaired by Dr Pooky Knightsmith and the keynote speaker will be Natasha Devon MBE.

Read more >

1 & 2
DEC

360° ESafety Tool Workshop

360° ESafety training is an essential element of staff induction and part on their ongoing CPD programme. This workshop will look at the most effective ways in which school leaders can engage staff and the wider school community in the review of ESafety. You will also be able to benchmark the 28 aspects of ESafety to your school and create an action plan.

Durham >
Sunderland >

05
DEC

Delivering quality outcomes in multi-academy trusts

This is a free interactive panel event with special guests John Cridland, Sir Peter Vardy and Ian Kershaw to discuss the challenges and opportunities that multi academy trusts are facing right now. The event will look at the advantages MATs can exploit, the benefits and drawbacks of growth and consolidation, the focus on career guidance and more.

Read more >

07
DEC

Shaping Behaviour

The aim of the event is to help delegates develop proactive behaviour management strategies and leave with practical resources and skills to tackle challenging behaviour. Delegates will also learn how to deal with children in crisis and minimise disruption in your class and around school, creating a purposeful climate for learning.

Read more >

If you attended our Summit in October, you most probably went on a quick trip to the highest peaks with Masha Gordon, our first motivational speaker and record-holding mountaineer. Masha mentioned an initiative her charity GRIT&ROCK launched to support girls in developing a greater sense of determination and self-confidence. Macmillan Academy is the first school in our region to take part and Executive Principal Phil Latham tells us all about it in this week's Talking Heads article.

The Autumn Statement - what's in it for education? Newcastle-based law firm Ward Hadaway have put together a breakdown of the implications the announcements made by Chancellor Philip Hammond in this year's Autumn Statement for the education system. It also includes a section on the Northern Powerhouse schools strategy review published yesterday, Wednesday 23 November.