SWIFT UPDATE | Issue 36 | July 2025

The penultimate week of term and we are pleased to bring you the final UPDATE for 2025 - 2026.

It is also the final introduction for Roger Pope who steps down at the end of this term from his SWIFT Strategic Lead role. We hope you have enjoyed Roger's reflective intros as much as we have and we thank him for being such a stalwart and dedicated deep thinker that has steered us on our SWIFT journey over the past five years.  

Aptly, Roger's final feature begins at his beginning when he was on teaching practice in 1979 and brings us right up to date with the brave bold world of AI, ending on a buoyant note about the role of teachers: 

"I cannot think of a time when the job of teachers is becoming more crucial.  Teaching people how to think. Guiding young people in making career and life choices in a rapidly changing and complex world."

We report on the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Strategy Group for Devon, Plymouth, and Torbay case studies exploring best practices in supporting primary ITT placements in rural schools and secondary schools offering placements to multiple ITT providers.

If you were with us a few weeks ago at our 2025 Summer Conference, we hope the positive energy is lingering for you. If you need a re-boost, you can read the report and relive some of the highlights in this issue. 

On the theme of professional development that counts, it is the final week of the early bird offer to sign-up for SWIFT CPD and Membership for 2025 - 2026. Benefit from discounted and free CPD to enhance the work in your school bringing the best of local and national - featuring energising names such as Dan Fitzpatrick, Mr P ICT, Craig Barton and The Engagement Platform. To name but a few. Find more information and register here 

Whether you know him from his books full of wisdom and good karma, or from the teaching world, you will know that Christopher Tribble has spent his professional career largely engaged in school improvement. Read and relish his wisdom in our July interview.

The Colyton Foundation are on a mission here in the South West to help disadvantaged pupils overcome some of the steepest barriers to educational success due to the unique combination of geographical and socio-economic challenges. Find out how the Foundation can support your students in Director Nick Wakeling's article on The South West Landscape: Isolation, Overlooked Talent, and a Region in Need.

Our sponsor SchoolPro TLC have been busy compiling some useful FAQs for schools about the new Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 that gained Royal Assent last month. It is worth a read as there will be some implications from a DPO perspective for schools over the next 12 months.

Meanwhile our other sponsors are all here to support you. Be ready for your September staffing with Exeter Supply Partnership working with local schools across the county providing a friendly and efficient service. 
Educatering celebrate their fourth birthday and are going from strength-to-strength providing children in schools with delicious, nutritious, restaurant-quality meals and helping school Catering Teams to feel confident and in control of their kitchens again. Whilst ONVU Learning continue the third conversation with Discovery Schools Academies Trust CEO, Paul Stone and consider how bold educational change is not only envisioned but implemented. 

It is all here for you and may it count.
For this final issue of 2024 - 2025, on behalf of the SWIFT Team, we wish you all a happy and rewarding end of term and a lovely sunny summer holiday. 

swift update | july 2025 | read here