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#8 - Wednesday 23rd May 2018
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It's been a while - here is the latest on what is happening (even more on our website):
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LAST GOODBYE
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START
BBC Radio York spoiled us with coverage each morning last week, covering a range of activities taking place in support of social mobility. This led up to interviews and a phone-in on Friday's show asking listeners "What would you spend money on to improve Scarborough?"
Links to the coverage is below, listen now before time runs out:
- "It's our job to make sure we address that. We do the very best we can" - Speech, language and communication project report and interview with Vicki Logan, Head Teacher at Overdale School.
- "I've realised that I'm more capable than I thought" - The role of CU Scarborough
- "You get to work as a team and you don't fight as much" - Stephen Joseph Theatre showing the power of creativity with children with Braeburn School
- "I like being creative and making stuff" - Employability skills matter to these pupils at Scalby School
- "My involvement in the Opportunity Area is voluntary. I wouldn't have got involved in something that I thought was a waste of time" - David Read, CEO, Scalby Learning Trust and OA Partnership Board member
- "It's local people understanding what the issues of the area are and deciding how to use the money most effectively" - Richard Flinton, Chief Executive of North Yorkshire County Council
- "This is, crucially, locally developed...we've backed them with funding and resources" - Nadhim Zahawi, Minister for Children and Families, Department for Education
- Recruitment challenges across the Coast, as told to the Sunday Politics by Graham School and Overdale Primary School
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SEE HOW
The next set of our Opportunity Area Awards have been awarded. Congratulations, and funding, to the following:
- Scalby School and Graham School will work with Flying Futures on a youth leadership programme that supports a group of year 8 and 9 students to lead youth consultations and community activities;
- East Ayton School will embed outdoor learning and their Forest School project in the school curriculum;
- Airy Hill Primary School will improve comprehension and reading skills through additional texts and reading spaces; and
- Northstead Primary School will support more children to use Chromebooks in curriculum time with a focus on improving confidence in literacy and writing skills.
Schools and Colleges can apply here - projects should be linked in some way to our programme delivery plan. Additional funding is available for collaborative projects between schools. We recommend bidders get in touch about their project before filling out the form.
Our first award to a youth-led group goes to the Young Carers Council. Their funding will be used to increase awareness of what young carers do, as well as secure support to develop their message and deliver it confidently to others. Applications remain open here.
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FEASTING
We are set to receive additional support through DfE's National School Breakfast programme. This will provide additional funding to set up breakfast clubs, which will be run by Family Action in partnership with Magic Breakfast. We will be getting in touch with schools directly about their involvement.
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PICKING YOU
The Programme's Board have approved funding for new projects since our last update:
- Speech, Language and Communication support will be extended to more than 20 primary schools. This will include support to assess pupil need and then provide on-site therapist support where required. This builds on the successful pilot lead by Overdale School through the Scarborough Pledge.
- We are partnering with Thinking Reading to help secondary schools to identify and support all students with reading problems to catch up rapidly, completely and permanently. The OECD estimates that 17% of 15 year olds in the UK do not reach the minimum threshold for literacy. Their approach has been applied in Scalby School already and resulted in remarkable gains for some of the most vulnerable learners. Find out more from James. Graham School is hosting a Teach Meet on 26th June with keynotes from James Murphy and Dianne Murphy from Thinking Reading - 'Reading affects everything we do'. Sign up here.
- We will be holding a series of events, inviting leading speakers and thinkers on education, leadership and social mobility to talk about their experiences and insight. You just about have enough time to hear from Dame Alison Peacock this afternoon, in an event made possible by Scarborough Teaching Alliance. Tell us who you would like to hear from next.
- We told you last time round about our Academic Resilience project. Come along to an introductory session on 25th June. Find out more.
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WOW
The inaugural 'Promising Opportunities: The Scarborough Pledge Literacy Event' take places on 10th July. The keynote speakers are Tony Whatmuff (author of Inference Training) and James Clements (authour of Building an Outstanding reading School; Teaching English and much more). Every school in the Opportunity Area has one free place while stocks last. Sign up.
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IN MY VIEW
The second, and final round, of Essential Life Skills Funding is open. We would like to hear from organisations that will provide new, or significantly extended access to, provision across Scarborough, Whitby and Filey. Funding awards between £10k and £70k are available. Apply here.
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GET STARTED
We have launched a School Recruitment Consultancy project to recruit the widest talent pool of teachers to the Coast, attracting them through use of a range of modern and traditional methods. This support is available to all schools - its success will depend on the sharing of vacancy information and then working together to influence and develop recruitment activity - more from James.
Research has taken place on recruitment over the last three years. It found that the need to recruit Primary School Teachers is generally lower, with the number of vacancies unchanged over the last two years. There were 14 Primary teaching vacanices in the whole of 2016 & 2017 in Whitby. A higher volume of teaching vacancies are submitted each year by Secondary Schools, with 43 vacancies in 2017, compared to 30 in 2016.
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NOT JUST MONEY
Thanks everyone who came along to the inaugural Coast Collaboration event. The much anticipated write-up of the event is now available on our new website, along with the calendars of CPD shared at the event.
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PYRAMIDS
Sessions are being put on based on the recent EEF guidance report on improving mathematics in Key Stages Two and Three. These are taking place in June and July for school leaders and colleagues with responsibility for leading and/or teaching mathematics. More information here.
The Yorkshire Ridings Maths hub are recruiting secondary maths teachers to apply to be Maths Specialists and join their 3 year professional development programme. More here (Closing date 7th June). They're also looking to extend and strengthen their work by recruiting two Assistant Maths Hub Leads to join their leadership and management team - more here (Deadline 5th June).
Primary and Secondary Schools in Whitby have designed, and are running, a maths transition project to improve collaboration and strengthen transition. The project starts on 22nd June and is open to all Whitby school. Sign up by 1st June - more info here.
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NOT THE END
The North Yorkshire Research School is teaming up with the Scarborough Teaching School Alliance for a Teach Meet session on 5th June at Wheatcroft School. Their Associate Research Schools will talk about how they are using evidence to inform projects in school. Fancy it?
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END
To add to your reading list:
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Thanks for reading. If you have made it this far, please forward to colleagues, networks and friends.
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