24/11/2022 0 Comments Events Newsletter | Issue 17This issue includes a featured article and some highlighted programmes, courses and events. from our partners to support your professional development and enhance the work of your school. Simply click on the booking link, to the course or event you are interested in, to get more details or book straight on! Featured in this issue we have: Invitation to Lead a Workshop for SWIFT Curriculum Forum | March 2023 The SWIFT Curriculum Forum brings together curriculum leaders that have responsibility for building curriculums in schools and trusts. We would like to invite teachers and leaders involved in the design and delivery of curriculum to submit a proposal to lead a 30 – 40-minute workshop at the next Forum in March 2023. SWIFT Secondary Masterclasses SWIFT are excited to be offering subject specific masterclasses to secondary teachers, with keynotes delivered by experts in the field. It is not too late to book on to the Geography and History Masterclass series. You will receive recordings and presentation slides from previous sessions and be able to join the future sessions live.
0 Comments
Our sponsor Lyfta recently presented at our SWIFT Character Education Professional Development Community on the topic of "Flourishing for All – Implementing and Embedding." Character Education is one of the core Lyfta focus areas, and is at the heart of education - and it could be said to be our true legacy as teachers. Lyfta considers here how character and values-based learning can be made part of the curriculum. When you were at school, who was your favourite teacher and why? When I ask teachers this question, they often focus on those who were kind or caring or passionate. Qualities and values that went well beyond knowing their subject well. As teachers, we want to help young people realise the best version of themselves, particularly in our ever-changing world. Character and values-based learning equips students for the future and sits at the heart of what we do as educators, but it's not always easy to embed it into classroom practice. When I was working as a secondary teacher, my Headteacher used to encourage us to ‘teach the children in front of us’. Sounds obvious doesn’t it? But ultimately, we often teach to our own style, our own tastes and preferences. What we have to do is consider every individual we have in front of us and what they need, based on their experiences. “Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author.” RUDINE SIMS BISHOP Academic, Rudine Sims Bishop, explored children’s literature and the extent to which children's literature is written by African American authors and represents African American characters. In her work, she advocated for books to become more than simply windows, allowing us to look in at other people. Instead, she suggested that stories should act as mirrors, allowing children to see themselves reflected back at them and even better is when they act as sliding glass doors, allowing us to step into another's life – to experience what they do, and learn to empathise with them. As teachers, we can develop values and character in our children by giving the opportunities to both see themselves reflected and experience the lives of others. Beyond our own moral obligation to support students to become the best version of themselves, there are also statutory requirements that every school must adhere to. For example, the Ofsted framework expects students to behave respectfully and courteously, as well as the school providing lots of opportunity for personal development. The newest RSE statutory guidance, released in 2019 and updated in 2021, outlines the ways in which schools must teach and support students to develop healthy and respectful relationships. There is also an expectation for all schools to provide spiritual, moral, social and cultural education, which includes moral and social skills and values. Lyfta gives teachers the opportunity to nurture the whole child, build character and embed values, including resilience and service. Its immersive platform can help you to embed positive values in your classroom and equip your students for the future through its world of positive human stories. Each story has its own 360 degree environments, unique soundscapes and powerful short films to immerse students fully in a world beyond their own. Students meet with individuals from communities across the globe, connect with their inspiring stories, and reflect on their values. Our Kids’ Cup storyworld, which features the journeys of five young people competing in an international children’s football tournament, is one of many that helps teachers introduce values including perseverance, resilience and leadership to students. Independent research conducted by the University of Tampere has also shown that Lyfta’s immersive human stories help students to develop empathy and understanding for those who are different from themselves. By Anna Szpakowska, Lyfta Professional Development Lead Explore Lyfta for FREE when you register for the Lyfta starter, no-obligation trial. You may wish to explore the Department of Education’s Character Education Framework Guidance. Whilst it is not mandatory, it provides a possible starting point for schools considering how they embed character education into their curriculum and wider school life. The countdown has begun for the Men’s Football World Cup 2022. As excitement grows about the competition, teachers can leverage this exciting opportunity to harness the power of sport to nurture positive values in the classroom. Join Lyfta for a FREE live lesson, delivered by their team beamed directly into your classroom via Zoom.
Your students will enjoy an immersive story from the Lyfta Kids' Cup series as a collective experience with other schools across the UK. Sessions are running on: Wednesday 30 November 2022 at 1130 and 1415 Friday 2 December 2022 at 1130 and 1415 (with separate sessions available for older and younger learners). No preparation or account is required. Simply sign-up and join via the Zoom link on the day. To find out more and secure your place click on the link below. Lyfta looks forward to sharing a powerful storyworld experience with your class. 15/11/2022 0 Comments Events Newsletter | Issue 16This issue includes a featured article and some highlighted programmes, courses and events. from our partners to support your professional development and enhance the work of your school. Simply click on the booking link, to the course or event you are interested in, to get more details or book straight on! Featured in this issue we have: Wellbeing Conference | Friday 3 February 2022 SWIFT is committed to supporting wellbeing in schools and understands how a mentally healthy and happy school can lead to improved student emotional health, and ultimately facilitate a readiness to learn; as well as help to retain and motivate staff. Keynote Speakers: Nicola Harvey | Author, Wellbeing & Education Consultant | Harvey Heals Practical Strategies to Support Students Experiencing Anxiety. Faye McGuiness | Director of Programmes | Education Support Partnership Wellbeing: a hopeful future for education staff AQA Feedback on the 2022 GCSE Examinations A popular event in the SWIFT CPD calendar, the AQA ‘Feedback on Examinations’ are key training events, giving teachers essential feedback on recent exams. For many schools in the South West, attending face-to-face events can be difficult because they are held in major cities. SWIFT has therefore commissioned AQA to deliver these feedback training events in Devon; which means you can access the course at a significantly reduced rate. 3/11/2022 0 Comments Autumn Leadership Forum | TODAY!Meeting links to join today's online Leadership Forum, Parts A and B, can be found in the meeting agenda - click the button below to open the agenda document.
We look forward to welcoming you this afternoon. In this November issue, ESW Associate & Strategic Leader of Teaching & Research Schools | Education South West Roger Pope CBE reflects on good leadership "because it is often easier to reflect on the attributes of good leadership when we see strikingly bad leadership in action" and holds up Ukraine's President Zelensky as a model leader as "he is passionate and committed. He has clear strategy and tactics. Perhaps above all, he is present."
You can also read about the Autumn Curriculum Forum, discover FREE Top Tips and Resources following the Sport England programme findings and enjoy an interview with SWIFT Early Career Framework Lead/Deputy Director of SWIFT (Colyton Teaching School Hub), Chris Harris PLUS features from our sponsors Atomi and Computeam. At the start of October, we were glad to be joined by Senior Leaders, Curriculum Leaders and other colleagues for our Autumn Curriculum Forum led by national and regional expert curriculum speakers. The termly Curriculum Forums are designed to explore models and approaches to curriculum design, including the implications of Cognitive Science, and how to prioritise curriculum knowledge and content. The Forums also consider equality, diversity and inclusion and explore how leaders can ensure these values are enshrined across curriculum development, and consider the implementation for inspection and beyond. Part A | Keynotes “The most fundamental reason to choose curiosity isn’t so that we can do better at school or at work. The true beauty of learning stuff, including apparently useless stuff, is that it takes us out of ourselves, reminds us that we are part of a far greater project, one that has been underway for at least as long as human beings have been talking to each other. Other animals don’t share or store their knowledge like we do.” (“Curious: The Desire to Know and Why your Future Depends on it,” Ian Leslie). "Principles of Meaningful Curriculum Development" | Kat Howard With evident enthusiasm for all things curriculum, Kat Howard opened this launch event with her keynote on “Principles of Meaningful Curriculum Development,” looking at how to align subject and school curriculum and shared her experience and expertise with some invaluable takeaways. Director of a large MAT Teaching School Hub, with experience as a school senior leader, Kat is author of the bestselling “Stop Talking About Wellbeing: a Pragmatic Approach to Teacher Workload” and is also co-author of “Symbiosis: the Curriculum and the Classroom.” An in-house Expert Adviser for the Teacher Development Trust, Kat writes curriculum content for the Reformed NPQ Leadership Suite. Curriculum development is a fundamental aspect of school life and is linked to teacher workload and retention and is one of the reasons teachers often state for leaving their post due to the disconnect and discontentment from wasted time on what they perceive to be fleeting initiatives. Hence the value of ensuring best intentions in crafting a curriculum do not go to waste. Often cited by teachers as the top two bests of teaching are: 1. Talking to students and 2. Teaching their subject. Kat encouraged leaders to empower Subject Leaders to design the curriculum as she believes they are best placed to make decisions about the curriculum and, of course, all subjects are different. Curriculum conversations are a must as curriculum implementation can be a fragile process. Interrogate the problems of the curriculum, explore and prepare the monitoring and evaluation as an ongoing process. Think objectively. Learn to critique. Is your curriculum fit for purpose for your school and students? Even if this means stepping away from an agreed national standpoint. A vital starting point is to create a shared language for the curriculum. Consider whether students can access the information and move to the next stage within the subject curriculum as a granular process. Be more informed by the substance of the teaching and be aware that oracy has an important part to play. Ensure a sense of balance and share as much as possible. Mitigate where misconceptions are more prevalent. Ask the right questions and interrogate the problem in the first place. In understanding the common barriers to curriculum development, leaders need to consider a shared purpose and make peace with the fact that working with children changes every year. Considering professional fulfilment in the process rather than the outcome can make a difference. Curriculum development can be the tension of balancing autonomy whilst contributing to a collective purpose. Prepare teachers in the design and development of the curriculum and work collaboratively together in an atmosphere of support, trust and feedback to improve student outcomes. Ensure everyone feels like a subject expert to teach the curriculum. So, what does your successful curriculum look like? Agree a theory of action process before any changes to the curriculum are made as a dialogical (= the use of conversation or shared dialogue to explore the meaning of something). Be tangible in the way the curriculum is discussed in identifying the problems. Look for evidence through conversations with staff and students. Ask deliberately provocative questions. How does it challenge students’ thinking so they can go out into the world and question for themselves? In sustaining curriculum development, it is essential to keep teachers at the heart and consider: What do we teach? Why do we teach it? Does it look as we imagined? What can we do to build on what’s working? Above all, do not compromise on the curriculum. Kat encouraged leaders to devote three days at the end of the Summer Term as protected time for curriculum discussions. We thank Kat for her energising talk and her guidance and encouragement in developing a meaningful curriculum. Follow Kat on Twitter at @saymiss and read her blogs at www.saymiss.wordpress.com "Approaches to Decolonising Curriculum Knowledge" | Marlon Moncrieffe School leaders and educators understand the significance of equality and diversity in the curriculum, but this awareness was undoubtedly brought into public prominence and perception by the 2020 Black Lives Matter international protests. Next keynote speaker, Dr Marlon Moncrieffe led on this agenda with his talk on “Approaches to Decolonising Curriculum Knowledge” in how policy relates to theory and practice. Principal Lecturer at the School of Education at the University of Brighton, Marlon is the Knowledge Exchange Leader and Chair of the Research Ethics and Integrity Committee. His academic research work and expertise focuses on decolonising primary school curriculum knowledge with the aim of enabling and advancing critical consciousness in teaching and learning. Formerly a primary school Assistant Headteacher, Head of Maths, English and also Physical Education, Marlon is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching and Council Member of the British Educational Research Association. As part of his research, Marlon engaged with the UK Parliament and House of Commons Education Committee to share his work; and through the Chartered College of Teaching, he has created resources that champion inclusive and equitable approaches to education, teaching and learning and to guide teachers in how to have confident conversations in the classroom. A child of the Windrush generation, Marlon reported how his research into centring the “Black” British voice in teaching and learning has found that nothing much has changed in the History curriculum from a UK perspective. The colonial time-warp persists with the past recurring in the present: from the slave rebellions across the Caribbean up to the Black Lives Matter antiracism protests in the 21st Century. It is a false justification of the hierarchical power of one racial group to be given more privileges in society. Macpherson’s recommendations in response to the murder of black British teenager Stephen Lawrence called for the decolonisation of curriculum knowledge and antiracist education to combat institutional racism. However, the National Curriculum has not changed in response to Macpherson’s recommendations. Teaching and Learning of British History has come under sharper scrutiny with calls for changes to the Conservative National Curriculum History getting louder and over a quarter of a million people signed a public petition calling for cultural diversity with Marlon working alongside other academics to share their findings. However, in response, the Government maintained that the Gove Education Curriculum Policy was “broad, balanced and flexible.” Yet Marlon showed how this denies the dominance of the one-dimensional Anglocentric and Eurocentric (= whites only) historical starting points throughout the statutory National Curriculum content, e.g. “Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots” and “the Vikings and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England.” Multicultural Britain = diversity in white and black. A curriculum should be broad or else it risks being narcissistic and, in this case, the British Government become the History-makers of identity. A hegemonic (= ruling or dominant in a political or social context) curriculum creates narratives for teachers to deliver. But it is important to be critically conscious. Time can bring about change in political consciousness and this can be challenged for relevance for the now and the future. Too often, Marlon found that when teachers are asked what British History in the curriculum means to them, they simply restate the National Curriculum content and their own existing knowledge, e.g. the Tudors, World War I and II. In other words, Anglocentric History as a cultural preproduction. Hence the value of a critical historical consciousness in the curriculum and as teachers, to take note when drawing up Schemes of Work to challenge policy and reform. We thank Marlon for his thought-provoking presentation and the reminder that it is good to challenge our sense of history across the British Isles. Follow Marlon on Twitter at @DrMoncrieffe Part B | Workshops Part B of the Curriculum Forum was opportunity for delegates to choose from a range of phase-specific workshops. Amy Le Bredonchel | Primary | Curriculum Design: Knowing, Thinking and Communicating. Based on the principles of a Trivium approach, this workshop presented the principles behind a linked curriculum that ensures progression, retrieval and opportunities and showed how the questions ‘Why this? Why now?’ have been addressed, underpinned by the aim that remembering more, is knowing more. Ruhaina Alford | Primary | Whose Culture has Capital? Approaches to diversifying your curriculum to prepare children to be global citizens. Exploring the rationale behind why we should be doing this work; this workshop explored practical examples in various curriculum areas as to how we can reframe how we teach. Re-examining how certain subjects are taught through a western or colonial lens, and re-framing. Tom Graham | Secondary | Prioritising the curriculum at a whole-school level. This workshop explored how a focus on curriculum at whole-school level has helped to drive a deeper understanding of curriculum by all teachers and explored the structures to train teachers and quality assure the curriculum within a secondary school setting. Holly Pennington | Early Years | Language Led Learning – closing the word gap in the Early Years. This workshop looked at how this language-led spiral curriculum is implemented over an academic year, and the impact on children’s transition into Reception and beyond. Toni Smyth | Primary | Supporting primary schools to transform P.E. experiences for EVERY child, teacher and family. Given ambitious P.E. curriculums have the potential to transform experiences for every child, this workshop explored the intent and how schools can use the P.E. Premium for solutions that support teachers to implement effectively P.E., and have the greatest impact on the children in their care. Matt Pennington | Primary | How can Cognitive Science Drive Greater Outcomes for Early Readers? This workshop explained the intent of designing an early reading curriculum centred on Cognitive Science and looked at the implementation and how the cognitive science is embedded in long, medium and short-term planning and the significant impact it is making on the lowest 20% of pupils through quality first teaching. Annabel Skelton | Secondary | 'Book Club': The Jewel in the English Curriculum Crown. Book Club is an hour a week for all Key Stage 3 students, and is dedicated to the reading and academic discussion of a challenging text that complements learning within the curriculum. Using reciprocal reading strategies: summarising, clarifying, predicting and questioning, it explains how students are encouraged to see themselves as literary critics: building background knowledge, developing vocabulary and improving reading fluency. Harriet Marshall | Crossphase | A curriculum that prepares for life, learning and work through the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs or Global Goals) are an ambitious framework for not only a better world, but also for a relevant and empowering school curriculum. This workshop looked at why a growing number of schools are developing their curriculum by linking to the 17 SDGs. Anthony Lees | Approaches to Formative Assessment in Primary Computing. This workshop considered and exemplified a range of formative, low stakes assessment mechanisms for instant feedback for teachers and learners through the lens of Primary Computing and considered how Computer Science concepts, such as sequence, repetition and condition can be reviewed with a range of digital tools and become embedded in the learning cycle for teachers and pupils. We thank and are grateful to all our contributors for sharing their curriculum experience and expertise, and providing considered sessions for our Curriculum Forum. Watch out on our social media channels for details of the Spring Term Curriculum Forum. Report by Jude Owens, PA to the SWIFT Executive Team 31/10/2022 0 Comments Sport England Programme Findings | Insights for Schools and Sector Partners + FREE Top Tips and ResourcesSport England, in association with Sheffield Hallam University, Youth Sport Trust, Activity Alliance and Association for Physical Education, has shared key insights from its Secondary Teacher Training (STT) programme. Research explored how Secondary Schools can adopt inclusive practices and incorporate student voice to provide a better P.E., school sport and physical activity (PESSPA) environment for students. Inclusivity, increased participation and student voice were the dominating topics brought to life through pupil-focused research. Giving young people, especially those who are less active, the chance to shape their P.E. lessons created a happier environment. Getting to know and understand students’ motivations and barriers can help to encourage enjoyment and engagement, and that the least active students do not recognise opportunities to be active at school, as easily as their active peers. To showcase the findings, Sport England has created five infographics detailing key outputs from the STT programme to be shared far and wide across the teaching community. Teachers can access tips that answer questions about why P.E. matters and why P.E. makes a happy school; as well as insight on how to make P.E. great and accessible for all students. In addition, Sport England has also developed 10 short films that feature case studies of teachers and students positively impacted by the programme. The films highlight the easy-to-adopt ways secondary school teachers have implemented new approaches having completed the STT programme. The films focus on themes such as; why an inclusive approach is key to increasing participation, why a changing approach to P.E. makes students think differently, and easy ways to incorporate student voice. The research also talks about the importance of activity in schools, with a view to the following benefits it has on the mental health of young people:
The STT programme was created in 2018 to support secondary schools with access to professional development opportunities that support teachers in placing pupils' enjoyment at the heart of PESSPA participation. The research was conducted throughout the £13.5 million Lottery Funded programme that impacted more than 2,500 secondary schools across England.
17/10/2022 0 Comments Interview with SWIFT Early Career Framework Lead | Deputy Director of SWIFT, Colyton Teaching School Hub, Chris Harris“Most rewarding for me in leading the ECF is the individual stories from our ECTs and Mentors about how the ECF programme has a direct impact on their teaching and mentorship and relates to their classroom practice, ultimately benefiting their pupils and students.” An essential part of the Department for Education’s Teacher Recruitment and Retention Policy, the Early Career Framework (ECF) sets out a two-year professional development programme for Early Career Teachers with structured pedagogical support at the start of their teaching career. A statutory entitlement, the ECF is designed to help ECTs develop their practice, knowledge and working habits. The ECF was officially launched in September 2021. Designed by national leading organisations, the Colyton and Kingsbridge Teaching School Hubs (TSH) - operating as SWIFT - are proud to be the delivery partner working with national provider, Teach First. SWIFT are also proud to build on the strong pre-existing partnerships with local Multi Academy Trusts and Training School Alliances to provide an area-wide partnership across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay. With this year’s induction successfully complete, the programme is now well underway overseen by SWIFT’s Early Career Framework Lead and Deputy Director (Colyton TSH), Chris Harris and his team, and asked Chris to reflect on the programme. 1. What did you learn from your first year of co-ordinating the ECF for SWIFT? Technically, this is SWIFT’s second year in delivering the Early Career Framework following our participation in the pilot year 2020 – 2021, which provided us with invaluable experience and insight. I was grateful during the pilot to gain knowledge and understanding of the ECF content and issues affecting schools in my role as one of the Delivery Leads, which has been essential in my current role of co-ordinating the ECF for SWIFT. I suppose one of the notable points I have learned is that whenever there is a new and, in this case, a significant change in education, it can present a challenge. But I am pleased to say that I have learned and respected the constant resilience and adaptability of the exceptional schools that we work with. Indeed, as an example, I am delighted to report that 96% of our ECTs rated the quality of their mentoring as either good or excellent. This is testimony to the brilliant work in schools and reassuring to know the ECF will have a tangible impact on teacher quality and student outcomes. 2. Can you give an insight into your role as a delivery partner for the ECF working with Teach First. Very importantly, as in any partnership, working with Teach First feels like a genuine sense of partnership. In SWIFT’s role as the delivery partner, we benefit from working with Teach First in delivering a world class curriculum for ECTs and Mentors; but, in the spirit of trust and knowing our schools, we also benefit from the freedom and flexibility given to us in tailoring the content for the schools that we serve. We have been able to place our ECTs and Mentors into local MAT and Trust based delivery groups and strengthen existing relationships. Another benefit is adding topics to the programme, for example, additional SEND provision and SEND enhancements to the ECF seminars to create an even more well-rounded programme. 3. In considering Year 2 of the ECF, can you tell us about some of the new initiatives and your rationale for introducing. It was exciting to launch Year 2 of the programme this September and to introduce some new initiatives. One of the reasons we were drawn to working with national provider, Teach First was their unique subject and phase specific design of the Year 2 programme. We also have our own ECF “Extra” programme that provides an additional programme for all ECTs, Mentors and SLT leads and looks to enhance and supplement aspects of the ECF. The first of these sessions was delivered this half term by a Sheffield Teaching Alliance on antiracist education and was well received by ECTs, Mentors and ECF Leads. Another initiative is the launch next half term of an ECF Senior Leaders and Induction Tutors Network; which we are confident will help to reinforce programme support and understanding. We will also be inviting Year 2 ECTs to join our SWIFT Professional Communities and other broader networks to help them transition into their post-ECF career. Last year we were still in the ongoing aftermath of the Covid-19 situation and delivered all the induction online. But for this academic year, we were without restriction and were able to deliver our Year 1 induction in a series of face-to-face sessions that were well attended by ECTs and Mentors in a positive working environment and was reflected in the excellent feedback. 4. How do you manage the challenge of maintaining quality at scale with a highly effective programme? Yes, we are pleased to report that the current Year 1 cohort has more ECTs than this time last year and although it is true to say this presents a logistical challenge, we have structures in place across the Trusts and Schools. First off, we are very blessed to work with a brilliant team of Delivery Leads and Senior Delivery Leads, Martin Lewis, John Stanier and Sara Thornhill, who are already highly experienced teachers and Senior Leaders and who effectively blend the Teach First material with their own local insights, knowledge and additional input. Above all, however, the Delivery Leads care about the programme. This means the seminars are delivered to a high standard and is corroborated by feedback from ECTs and Mentors. 5. For you personally, what is most rewarding about leading the ECF for SWIFT? Without hesitation, most rewarding for me in leading the ECF is the individual stories from our ECTs and Mentors about how the ECF programme has a direct impact on their teaching and mentorship and relates to their classroom practice, ultimately benefiting their pupils and students as you can see in the quotations below. And after all, this is why we’re all in education, isn’t it? “My thinking had already been challenged during the online Brightspace modules, but the seminar reinforced a lot of the ideas I'd read about. Before the conference I hadn't thought role play during Mentor interactions was vital, but now I see the benefit of this activity.” (a SWIFT ECT) “As an experienced Mentor and member of a Senior Leadership Team, I found the day a brilliant refresher - I particularly liked the explicit links to research and that many of the skills were transferable to other mentoring settings in the College. The day flew by. The presenters were clear and engaging and resources were excellent - it was also a bit of a masterclass in how quality CPD should be run with every attention to detail.” (a SWIFT Mentor) Finally, I would like to thank all our Delivery Leads, the SWIFT Central Team and most importantly, the schools we work with: the individual SLT leads, Mentors and ECTs who make it happen. We thank Chris for his insights into the ECF and for his ongoing commitment to the programme. Interview by Jude Owens, PA to the SWIFT Executive Team This issue includes a featured article and some highlighted programmes, courses and events, from our partners to support your professional development and enhance the work of your school. Simply click on the booking link, to the course or event you are interested in, to get more details or book straight on! Featured in this issue we have: Professional Communities | Free to SWIFT Members Professional Communities are termly events and are planned to capture the priorities of community members. Because your time is precious, we commit to ensuring that the agendas are focused on your core business, such as teaching, assessment and curriculum. Our team of Professional Community leads provide a high level of expertise, enabling the design of high-quality agendas, recruitment of expert speakers and the identification of local expertise. See our list of 12 upcoming Professional Community meetings, free to SWIFT Members. Leadership Forum | FREE to SWIFT Members SWIFT is committed to bringing together leaders from all school settings in the area to connect with each other and make links to the best of local, regional and national. Each Leadership Forum is structured around a Part A where we bring all school leaders together for keynote speakers and presentations and a Part B where school leaders break into phase specific groups. Keynote Speakers: Hannah Woodhouse (Regional Director) Hannah will provide an update from the Regional Directorate on priorities for the region and key DfE policies. Lee Elliott Major OBE (Professor of Social Mobility, University of Exeter) Lee will examine the issue of disadvantage in the South West and the need to level up education in the region. Highlighted Programmes: · SWIFT Wellbeing Conference · Making the Difference for Disadvantages Pupils · Future Teachers – Sixth Former Event · Unlocking the TA Toolkit · Primary Subject Leadership Programme · AQA Feedback on the 2022 GCSE Examinations · Power of Professional Development · Events for your diary Click the button below to view the Newsletter. Read more about this recent case and the implications for employers with term-time employees in this detailed overview from our sponsor Wolferstans Solicitors.
The Scenario At the end of the summer the Supreme Court ruled in the above case that employees who only work for part of the year (e.g. term-time workers or zero hours workers) are entitled to 5.6 weeks of holiday pay like employees that work all year round. This will potentially impact any employer with term-time employees, zero hours employees or other atypical working arrangements that involve employees being employed for a full year, but working only for part of that year. Employers should confirm without delay whether they have any holiday pay liability as a result of this case, develop a plan to mitigate historic risk and change arrangements to ensure future compliance. Facts The case involved a music teacher that only worked during school terms and had a zero hours contract. The employee was deemed to take annual leave during the school holidays and from 2011 onwards, in line with ACAS guidance at that time, the employer would calculate her earnings at the end of each term, take 12.07% of that figure and pay the applicable hourly rate for that number of hours as holiday pay. The employee argued that she should instead have had her holiday pay calculated by taking an average of her earnings (from 6 April 2020 the reference period used should be 52 weeks), which would have resulted in a higher amount of holiday pay. The Supreme Court agreed with the Court of Appeal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal that the employee was correct. It held that the amount of leave the employee was entitled to did not need to be pro-rated so that it was proportional to that of a full-time employee. The court acknowledged that this may create odd results, where a part-year employee's holiday pay represents a higher proportion of their annual pay than that of a full-time employee. However, the court found that whilst those with an atypical working pattern may benefit from this approach, it was not so absurd as to justify the wholesale revision of the holiday pay calculation set out in the legislation. Impact The impact of this case is that employers should no longer be using the 12.07% holiday pay calculation for employees, which has been common practice for those on zero-hours contracts. In addition, it means that the holiday pay for employees that work for only part of the year will be proportionally higher than that of an employee that works full-time. As an example, if an employee without fixed hours is employed for a whole year, but only works for 20 weeks in that year and is paid £100 for each week they work, they will accrue the full 5.6 weeks of holiday entitlement and be entitled to £560 as holiday pay (the equivalent of 28% of annual pay). Whereas an employee that works all year round would work for 46.4 weeks a year and take the remaining 5.6 weeks as holiday. If they also earned £100 per week, their holiday pay would also be £560, but this would be the equivalent of 12.07% of annual pay. Employers often pro-rate the holiday entitlement for employees that only work for part of the year so that their holiday entitlement reflects how much work they have performed. The Supreme Court has now found that this is the wrong approach and employees’ holiday pay entitlement is based on how long an employee is employed for within a year, rather than how much work they perform in that time. If an employee starts or leaves part-way through a holiday year, then you can still pro-rata this calculation. Employers will need to check whether this decision impacts any of their employees, whether they need to take steps to change holiday pay practices and to consider if it is necessary to make repayments (back pay) to employees that have been underpaid for their annual leave as a result of the 12.07% holiday pay calculation. In simple terms...all employees are entitled to 5.6 weeks holiday pay. So, if you are currently using the 12.07% calculation for TTO staff with variable hours, or any casual/zero hours staff, they are being paid incorrectly. Furthermore, if you are paying TTO staff, employed for 39 weeks, less than 44.6 weeks’ pay, they are being paid incorrectly. The expectation from the Unions is that you will consult with them, start paying staff correctly and agree a sum for back pay. We are aware that other Trusts (outside of the region) have negotiated two or four weeks back pay per employee. Alternatively, if you start paying the employees correctly, there is an argument that this starts the clock running for the time limit for pursuing a claim – in these circumstances, if you pay your staff correctly for three months, they will then be out of time to purse a claim. Calculations The calculation you would need to do is as follows: Conduct an audit as to how many casual/TTO/zero hours staff you employ. You will then need to go back and calculate 52 weeks’ pay (excluding weeks with £0 pay) for each member of staff that is casual/TTO/zero hours. You must go back until you have 52 weeks, with pay, so you will likely have to go back 60+ weeks. You can go back up to 104 weeks to get to 52 weeks with pay if you need to. If you have someone who has not had 52 weeks of pay yet then you will need to take the highest figure that you can, using the past two years. You then add all of these weeks together and divide them by 52 (or the highest number of weeks that you could get) and this is then your average weekly pay for that employee. You multiply this figure by 5.6, and this is what that member of staff needs to be paid in a year for their holiday pay. It is up to you/whatever is agreed between you and them as to the frequency at which you pay this figure. You could make partial payments each term/quarter/every six months. For zero hours or casual staff, you will need to recalculate it each time as it could change. We would expect your payroll provider to come up with something to help calculate this at some point. Contact If you need any advice, you can contact Wolferstans Solicitors who will guide you. ESW Associate & Strategic Leader of Teaching & Research Schools | Education South West Roger Pope CBE opens this October issue reflecting on the concept of a servant leader in the context of the recent passing of Her Majesty the Queen:
"The very fact that you are reading our SWIFT newsletter suggests to me that you have a predilection for this kind of leadership. To be passionate about staff development means at least two of those servant leader traits are core to your vision and purpose as a leader: commitment to the growth of people and building community." In this first issue of the new school year, you can read about the launch of the SWIFT WalkThrus programme, the first SWIFT History Masterclass on Literacy and Vocabulary: The Power of Words led by Josh Vallance of Oasis Academies and gain an insight into the role of one of our Directors + more besides PLUS features from our sponsors. Please click the button below to open the agenda for today's Curriculum Forum and click on the meeting links in the document to join Part A (keynote speakers) and Part B (Workshops).
We look forward to welcoming you.
Leadership Forum | FREE to SWIFT Members
|
introducing_swift_-_primary_v1.pptx | |
File Size: | 7662 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
introducing_swift_-_secondary_v1.pptx | |
File Size: | 7663 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
introducing_swift_-_special-_ap_v1.pptx | |
File Size: | 7303 kb |
File Type: | pptx |
In a significant survey* of 500 decision makers in the UK, undertaken for our sister company Towergate Health & Protection, 42% stated their support for the health and wellbeing of staff is a key reason people stay with their employers. In addition, 31% said health and wellbeing support is a key reason people choose to work for them.
The research supports our anecdotal evidence of the wider reaches of health and wellbeing support, and why it is so important that employers have a clear and well-communicated strategy. The wider the health and wellbeing support offered, the better the array of talent it will attract and retain.
On the flipside, nearly one in five (18%) employers stated that not offering enough health and wellbeing support impacts their ability to recruit and retain people: a stark warning for all.
Health and Wellbeing
Support for health in general was viewed by 42% of employers to have increased the most in importance for enhancing the recruitment and retention of talent. 26% percent of employers said support for mental health had increased most in importance, and 19% said it was the overall health and wellbeing package that had grown most in terms of priorities.
Social interaction through work (11%), communication of support offered (9%), support for financial health (9%), and an environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy (8%), were also identified as increasing in importance. So, the support offered needs to be wide and holistic.
Implementing a Strong Health and Wellbeing Programme
According to the survey results, and evidence seen by Towergate Health & Protection across its client base, implementing a strong health and wellbeing programme is vital in the recruitment and retention of talent. Moreover, the programme must be widely communicated to employees and easily accessed and managed by employees and employers alike if it is really going to make a difference.
The Four Pillars of Health and Wellbeing
A strong programme must support all four pillars of health and wellbeing: emotional, physical, financial, and social health - to add the most value to recruitment and retention.
Research shows that all four are not only important in keep existing employees healthy, and to retain their loyalty, but also to attract new employees.
Employees’ needs and demands have shifted dramatically since before the pandemic struck.
We have all had a realignment of priorities, and employers need to match these if they are to attract and retain the best staff, which is only going to become more important.
*Research conducted by Opinium on behalf of Towergate Health & Protection. Sample: 500 UK HR decision makers. Field dates: 28 January to 7 February 2022.
Contact
To find out how Towergate could assist your school in finding the right employee benefits for your staff, contact Adrian Henley.
Towergate Insurance, is a trading name of Advisory Insurance Brokers Limited. Registered in England Company No. 4043759, Registered Office: 2 Minster Court, Mincing Lane, London, EC3R 7PD. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This can be checked on the FCA’s register by checking the FCA website at www.fca.org.uk/register or by contacting them on 0800 111 6768.
Towergate Health & Protection, a trading name of Health and Protection Solutions Limited, is an independent intermediary, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This can be checked on the FCA’s website or by calling them on 0800 111 6768 (freephone). Not all products and services offered are regulated by the FCA. Registered in England and Wales No: 4907859. Registered office: West Park House, 23 Cumberland Place, Southampton, SO15 2BB.
Thursday 29 September 2022 | 1600 - 1700 | Online
Gill Jones HMI, Deputy Director, Schools & Early Education will talk about learning to read and write, drawing on research from Ofsted English Research Review and the implications for teachers of primary age children.
The session will cover communication and language, phonics, handwriting, transcription and comprehension and Gill will be joined by Kirsty Godfrey HMI, Specialist Adviser.
N.B. This session will not be recorded.
Teachers as Readers Group | Open University/UKLA Ilsham English Hub
Session 1 | Wednesday 12 October 2022
Session 2 | Wednesday 23 November 2022
Session 3 | Wednesday 18 January 2023
Session 4 | Wednesday 15 March 2023
Session 5 | Wednesday 24 May 2023
Session 6 | Wednesday 21 June 2023
From 1600 - 1730
Open to all!
These six informal, friendly and supportive sessions will help to develop evidence informed practice, widening knowledge of children's literature and other texts, enriching Reading for Pleasure pedagogy and documenting the impact of children as readers.
There is an expectation that attendees will try to attend all the sessions.
Transforming your School Reading Culture
Core Session 1 | Wednesday 12 October 2022 | Reading for Pleasure: a Whole School Culture
Core Session 2 | Wednesday 23 November 2022 | Creating Whole School Change
Core Session 3 | Wednesday 18 January 2023 | Creating a Reading School: Structural Changes
Core Session 4 | Wednesday 15 March 2023 | Creating a Reading School: Behavioural Changes
Core Session 5 | Wednesday 21 June 2023 | Celebrating Impact and Sustaining Change
From 1230 - 1500
Transforming your School Reading Culture is a sustained, research based CPD programme aimed at Primary English Leaders. The group looks to develop a whole school reading community and culture and will be facilitated by Danni Cooke and Carly Watson.
Participants can benefit from five core sessions plus ten optional workshops.
It is however, necessary to sign-up to attend all five core sessions to be part of the group.
In between the five sessions, participants complete gap tasks related to developing participants’ own knowledge of children’s literature, understanding of reading for pleasure pedagogy and developing the reading for pleasure culture in their school.
Those who commit to the programme will be expected to attend all sessions.
N.B. This is currently not open to Wave 4 Partner Schools - if this is you, then please, send email Danni Cooke.
The optional online workshops will run from 1600 to 1630 on the following topics:
- Setting up a staff book club
- Making the most of libraries
- Making World Book Day purposeful
- Creating social and inviting book corners
- Don’t ‘pay’ children to read: developing children’s intrinsic motivation to read
- Developing informal ‘book talk’
- Intervention for Reading for Pleasure
- Reading identities
- Successful author visits
- Engaging parents in your school’s reading culture
Further details to follow on dates and times.
Contingent Talk
Session 1 | Thursday 10 November 2022
Toolkit Focus: Why do books matter so much? What is child-led book talk?
Gap Task: Book talk and complete the pre-project survey.
Session 2 | Thursday 19 January 2023
Toolkit Focus: Quick reflection on first session.
Gap Task: Set up a timetable for sessions and start note-taking.
Session 3 | Thursday 23 February 2023
Toolkit Focus: Quick reflection on the last session and troubleshooting.
Gap Task: Film yourself with one of your target children and choose a snippet to share.
Session 4 | Thursday 4 May 2023
Toolkit Focus: Reflection.
Gap Task: Complete survey
From 1400 - 1500
The structure of this work will be four sessions led by Danni Cooke, Ilsham and Rowena Lucas, Ilsham and Ramsbury English Hub Leads and the focus will be on Early Years Foundation Stage (nursery/pre-school included, but can be bridged into Year 1).
In-between each session, participants will be invited to try out the strategies that they explore to ensure that they reflect on the previous workshop.
This work is open to a maximum of 20 schools.
N.B. This is currently not open to Wave 4 Partner Schools - if this is you, then please, send email Danni Cooke.
Schools will need to sign up for all four sessions and as a commitment to the sessions will be sent two books for use in the work.
Ilsham English Hub Showcase
Thursday 6 October 2022 | 0900 - 1200
- Main aims of the English Hub.
- Looking at the evidence including the Reading Framework.
- Validated SSP programmes and the importance of one route to reading.
- Opportunity to look at and discuss best practice.
- A chance for you to consider your schools next steps.
- Looking at how we can help support you and your school including access to funding.
We recommend Heads of School, SLT, Reading/Phonics Leaders attend this session.
This showcase has been updated in accordance with current up-to-date documentation and priorities.
Some schools might be eligible for a total of £160 funding each to support supply cover to attend.
Schools will be assessed for eligibility when spaces are booked.
If supply cover has been given in previous years, then it cannot be claimed again.
Oral Blending and Segmenting and Soft Sounds
Thursday 6 October 2022 | 1600 - 1700 | Ilsham English Hub
This workshop will look at the importance of the foundations of understanding the skills of oral blending and segmenting and soft sounds and will be useful for any colleague who wishes to develop their understanding of the foundations to build effective phonics learning.
Nurseries and Pre schools are welcome to attend.
The Role of the Reading Leader (Autumn 1)
14 October 2022 | 1130 - 1300 | Online
This webinar will look at the key priorities for this point in the term as the reading leader and will be run every half term with a different focus to enable leaders to develop in the reading leader role.
Contact
Ilsham English Hub will also be booking audits for the Autumn Term where they can look at personalised support and access to funding.
Please contact Danni Cooke if you would like to find out more.
It is still early days for the proposed legislation and there is a lot to go through from this response. In addition, the timeline for the new legislation and exactly what it will look like based on this response is unclear at this stage.
But our sponsor, SchoolPro TLC, has looked at the consultation outcome and you can read their initial reaction and thoughts about how it might impact on working with schools in the future.
This is one that we have been expecting and we have built the online audit/accountability tool in the new portal with this possibility in mind.
Essentially, the proposal is to reduce down the accountability requirement to the following six key areas (from the current ten):
- leadership and oversight
- risk assessment
- policies and processes
- transparency
- training and awareness of staff
- monitoring, evaluation and improvement
This potentially simplifies the process and our audit tool has been developed to be fully configurable.
So, if this change goes ahead as suggested, the existing tool can be adapted to the new Privacy Management Programme and relevant information, actions etc already in the tool, can be ported across as required. The Government have been keen to highlight that this is not to reduce the rigour of accountability and lower standards, but to create a more flexible tool that can scale depending on the risk level of the organisations. This may well ease some of the burden on smaller schools, for example.
This proposal removes the need for an independent DPO with no conflicts of interest and allows the role to be taken on by a senior individual within the organisation. That person will still fulfil many of the existing roles of a DPO, so it is likely that many organisations will simply continue with their existing arrangement. The ‘senior responsible individual’ will be responsible for:
- representing or delegating a representative to the ICO and data subjects
- ensuring appropriate oversight and support is in place for the programme and appointing appropriate personnel
- providing tailored training to ensure staff understand the organisation’s policies
- regularly auditing the efficacy of the programme.
At present, it is not fully clear if this will apply to all organisations; or whether it will be only small organisations and those that do not process high levels of sensitive data that are able to drop the requirement for a “DPO”. We are obviously going to keep a keen eye on this one!
The thought here is to provide a more flexible and tailored approach to organisations.
Again, the Government are keen to emphasise that this is not to reduce rigour and lower standards and they state that organisations will still have to identify, assess and manage risk. This may allow for a more risk-based approach where lower risk processing has a simpler risk management approach and higher risk processing still follows a similar DPIA process to what is currently in place.
However this is implemented; thankfully, this should not involve new risk management for legacy systems as the Government has stated that “existing DPIAs would remain valid as a way of achieving the new requirement.
As with DPIAs, this is to provide a more flexible approach that can be tailored to different organisation depending on size and the nature of their processing activities. This will link to the Privacy Management Programmes and will require organisations to have “personal data inventories” that “describe what and where personal data is held, why it has been collected and how sensitive it is.”
From what we have read so far, we believe that our existing data mapping tool will allow for these inventories to be created still with very little need to be adapted from their current format.
Of course there are more detailed analyses of all the proposals available online, such as this useful one from the IAPP:
Reading through the response, the prevailing theme appears to be “we asked about this, most of you weren’t happy with proposed changes… so we’re going to make some anyway;” which is an interesting approach to a consultation.
All we can say is, watch this space…
Report by Ben Craig CIPP/E, Director of SchoolPro TLC Ltd
The webinar included:
- An overview of the Golden Thread, and the high-quality, ongoing training opportunities.
- The benefits of helping to train the next generation of teachers by hosting ITT trainees in your schools, and the support available to you.
- The advantages of the DfE-funded provider-led Early Career Framework (ECF) based programmes, what we are doing to improve their implementation and delivery, and how we are supporting schools, Early Career Teachers and Mentors to understand them.
- The National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) available to staff across the country, the unprecedented available support , and how to access the qualifications.
SWIFT News
Archives
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
Categories
All Advice Annual Conference Appropriate Body Service Attendance Character Education Conferences CPD Provider Cultural Diversity Curriculum Forum Curriculum Hubs Data Protection Department For Education Diversity Equity And Inclusion Early Career Framework Enrichment Activity GDPR Golden Thread History Teaching Interview IT Support Leadership Forums Literacy Masterclasses National Institute Of Teaching New News Newsletters Partnership Physical Education Professional Communities Professional Development Reading Recruitment School Leaders Schools SEND Sponsor Summer Conference Supply Teaching Sustainability SWIFT Central Team Teachers Teaching School Hubs