Spring 2016 Dear Colleagues Firstly, let me take this opportunity to wish you all a a positive and successful 2016. I hope that the new term is going smoothly for all of you. Secondly, I’d like to welcome you to Edition 3 of our termly Hsis School Improvement Update. We have had very positive feedback from headteachers, teachers and governors about our previous editions and I hope that you will find this Spring 2016 edition just as helpful and informative. The 2015 autumn term was certainly a busy and interesting one, coming as it did on the back of Havering’s best ever key stage results in the summer. We have had to get used to a new and different Ofsted inspection framework and although we have not had many inspections under the new regime, we have learnt a great deal from colleagues who have been through the process. We certainly hope to reflect these lessons through our Hsis training sessions, subject networks, forums and publications. We have also been adjusting to a new curriculum as well as assessment systems without levels. This has been a significant challenge for all of us, but it is clear that many schools have now developed sophisticated, innovative and effective ways of assessing children’s attainment and the progress that they are making. In addition, the need to develop whole school tracking systems that demonstrate not only how individual children are performing but also classes, groups and key stages, has been a huge challenge - but I am confident that schools in Havering are leading the way in this area. We are very mindful in the Hsis team that many of you are this term considering your SLAs for 2016-17. We very much hope that the range of flexible packages that we offer for school improvement will help you to meet your needs in the coming year. Once again, we will offer a wide range of courses, networks and forums for school staff at all levels, as well as bespoke in-school support to meet your specific areas of development. We are always looking to improve the scope of our offer, as well as ensuring that Havering schools and academies receive the high quality service they deserve. We have a long and proud tradition in Havering of supporting schools and academies to excel. I hope that this partnership will continue to thrive. With very best wishes to you all
Grahame Smith School Improvement Manager
School Improvement Update Issue 3 Addressing teacher recruitment – a local approach
Schools across the Local Authority are facing serious challenges with teacher recruitment. The reduction in Initial Teacher Training (ITT) students trained from the local higher education institutions has further compounded the issue, and there is a general move towards school led teacher training. As such, Havering LA is in the process of establishing an ‘offer’ to teachers in all stages of their career, including ITT. A briefing was held for schools in November 2015, as well as information being shared at Hsis Headteacher Forums, to discuss the issues and to develop a programme of support. The 2015 Talent Management Strategy has been distributed to schools, and covers six key aspects that we feel are important in ensuring the right quality and quantity of teachers in Havering. The strands are; Workforce Planning, Talent Acquisition, Performance Management, Learning & Development, Retention & Engagement and Succession Management. To date, our work has focused-on establishing an ITT offer to grow teaching talent locally. Schools HR and Hsis are working together in developing this offer, and work has begun to establish a Schools Direct programme in Havering in partnership with the TES Institute, as well as further work with the Teach First programme. As an LA, we are also planning to work in partnership with a company to recruit overseas trained teachers to start in September 2016 to help ease the shortage that we fear schools will face in the coming year. It is the aim of the LA to put Havering ‘firmly back on the map’ in terms of being an employer of choice for teachers, and we are hosting marketing and advertising workshops as well as a planned recruitment campaign over the next year. For further information, to comment or to register an interest in any of the programmes mentioned within the Talent Management Strategy, please email adele.dsilva@havering.gov.uk Adele D’Silva Team Manager – Schools HR Business Development and Recruitment
English A world without levels – some ideas from English subject leaders One of the greatest challenges facing English subject leaders and school senior leaders in this new world without levels is how schools can establish expected standards for each year for reading and writing. Although we now have Interim Assessment Frameworks for Y2 and Y6, we have not seen any exemplification yet and we have no frameworks for any other year, so teachers still feel understandably nervous about assessment. Needless to say, teachers have been raising this issue at network meetings and training sessions and, after much discussion, the following ideas have emerged which you might want to consider for your school:
Reading Ask each teacher to select one novel (or story) and one piece of non-fiction that they believe every child (other than SEN) in the class ought to be able to read and understand independently by the end of the year. Place all these texts on a table in a line, starting with the earliest. Do they show
progression? How do they relate to the Y2 and Y6 reading assessment frameworks? Are they challenging enough in terms of vocabulary and reading demand?
Writing Ask each teacher to select one piece of fiction and one piece of non-fiction from last year’s pupils’ books (if you have kept them) to represent the standard that they expect by the end of the year. As with the reading, place them on a table in line. Do they show progress? How do they relate to the Y2 and Y6 assessment frameworks? If you don’t have last year’s books, then ask teachers to select a piece of writing from the work of a pupil from the year above to represent the standard (e.g. The Y3 teacher picks a piece from a Y4 book). I hope you find these useful. Please let me know if you have any other similar ideas which you’d be happy to share and if you try these out, let me know how they go. Summer Term English Leader’s Network Meeting Wednesday 9 March 4.15 – 5.45pm www.haveringeducationservices.co.uk Peter Ellison Inspector Standards and Effectiveness - English
Maths The importance of problem solving in mathematics Using and applying no longer appears as a separate strand in the National Curriculum and the mental maths test has been removed from the KS2 SATs. However, this does not mean the need for children to develop their problem solving and mental maths skills has gone. It is now even more important for teachers to plan to include rich mathematical tasks in their lessons. As George Polya said, “Solving problems is a practical art, like swimming or skiing or playing the piano: you can learn it only by imitation and practice… if you wish to learn swimming you have to go into the water, and if you wish to become a problem solver you have to solve problems.” The National Curriculum aims to ensure that all pupils become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, reason mathematically and can solve problems. It states that, ‘The expectation is that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at broadly the same pace. However, decisions about when to progress should always be based on the security of pupils’ understanding and their readiness
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to progress to the next stage. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on.’ (National Curriculum programmes of study for mathematics p3). Useful materials to support this process can be found on the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) website. ‘Teaching for Mastery: questions, tasks and activities to support assessment’ are a particularly useful set of booklets which demonstrate what is meant by mastery and provides a selection of questions to assess mastery and mastery with greater depth, for each of Years 1 to 6. Summer Term Maths Leader’s Network Meeting Tuesday 1 March, 4.15 – 5.45pm www.haveringeducationservices.co.uk Kairen Raper Inspector Standards and Effectiveness - Maths
Early Years Havering’s Early Years Conference – supporting language and development inspirational day, I have so many ideas to take back to school.” “I found the day outstanding and very thought-provoking, looking forward to feeding back to my foundation stage team. It has made me excited to get my children telling their own stories and sharing them with their peers.” “I am taking back to my setting many ideas that I will share with staff to promote our children’s language development.” Delegates in the Pod at CEME
Havering’s Early Years Conference – supporting Language and Development
definitely give the helicopter stories a try. Good day, thanks.”
The Early Years Quality Assurance Team hosted our conference during November 2015 inside The Pod at CEME. We are delighted to say that the event was extremely well-received by members of all sectors within the Early Years. In response to the ever-changing needs of young children in Havering, and feedback from a range of Early Years practitioners, the theme of the day was ‘Language Development and Communication’. The day consisted of contributions from inspirational and highly engaging keynote speakers, Neil Griffiths (inventor of Story Sacks) and Trisha Lee (founder and Artistic Director of MakeBelieve Arts). Other expert speakers included Felicity Robinson (outdoor environment specialist), Sara Sankey (Head Teacher of Engayne Primary) and Carlene Bremner (The Communication Trust).
“Very useful and inspiring day.”
We are pleased to say that 100% of attendees said that they would attend next year, and 100% rated the conference as Excellent or Good, with the vast majority (80%) rating the day as Excellent. Below is just a small selection of some of the extremely positive feedback we received from our delegates. “Neil and Trisha were excellent and made their contents real, they were very passionate about what they teach.” “I loved the Tricia Lee speech and will
“Fantastic day that has really emphasised how important language is, some lovely and simple ideas that I cannot wait to try out in practice. I am confident that these will have a positive impact on the children’s language.”
“Really good conference today, lots of ideas to take back to school for development.” “One of the best conferences ever, I really enjoyed the speakers and appreciate them sharing their knowledge and expertise.” “I gained a lot of fantastic ideas which I hope to begin implementing in my classroom.” “Thank you so much for such an
Susie Williams sharing key points
Harold Court Primary School Headteacher Matt Dineen and other delegates enjoying the Conference
Susie Williams Early Years Inspector (left) Celia Freeth Senior Education Adviser
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Computing and Online Safety Free Computing Progression Framework Rising Stars has produced a rigorous Progression Framework, with assistance from Hsis, which helps teachers cover the requirements of the Computing curriculum and ensure children are on track to meet end-of-key-stage expectations. It has been distributed to subject leaders through network meetings and can also be found at www.risingstars-uk.com/free-stuff/progressionframeworks-computing
Free online access to Switched on Computing resources The Hsis Computing and Online Safety Team has arranged free online access for Hsis Package 1, 2 and 3 subscriber schools to Switched on Computing resources via the ‘My Rising Stars’ website (worth £150 per annum). This includes access to all of the teacher notes, classroom posters, assessment grids and sixty second videos, sample images, audio files and more. PDF versions of ‘Learn To Code’ and ‘Switched on iPad’ books are also available within the ‘My Rising Stars’ website too. www.risingstars-uk.com/user For a 10% discount on the very useful Learn To Code books please quote HAV10
Switched on Minecraft – coming soon… Amanda Jackson Inspector Standards and Effectiveness - Computing and Online Safety
Dave Smith Computing and Online Safety Adviser and Business Development
Apprentice ICT technician programme As part of an exciting new initiative across the borough, Havering College have developed an ICT Technician Apprenticeship programme that will give your school the additional support staff you need at a low cost. The programme is designed to further support existing ICT technical support, not replace it. Engayne Primary School in Upminster recruited Fraser Gibbons an ICT apprentice in September 2015 to assist their IT Technician. David Rickett – the School Business Manager has this to say, “We were short staffed in terms of ICT and our technician needed to do his usual duties as well as update the website and administration without any assistance. Bringing in Fraser has really helped him with his workload and in turn, Fraser is learning and improving his technical skills. We are able to complete requests a lot faster with Fraser here and he provides a great support with day to day duties. Fraser is enjoying his new role and has commented, “Working at the school has helped me develop my existing ICT skills and is giving me hands on experience that I will be able to use throughout my career…it’s a fantastic opportunity’ Contact Lucy Hunte at Havering College E Lhunte@havering-college.ac.uk T 01708 462787
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Switched on Minecraft educational activities for the extremely popular ‘Minecraft’ computer game are currently in development with our partners at Rising Stars. Sample activities have been trialled in Havering schools. Free copies of teachers’ resources will be made available to Hsis Package 1, 2 and 3 subscriber schools in the first half of 2016.
Online safety briefing organised by Harold Court Primary School These briefings last 2 hours and have the latest online safety information – for emerging trends and technologies, to new resources and source of support, as well a legal and law enforcement changes that safeguarding professionals should be aware of. What’s more, you will be provided with access to a resources area after the event where you can access all of the information. Delivered by the UK Safer Internet Centre these FREE events aim to help professionals safeguard young people on the internet. This event is for teachers, social workers, youth workers, police, adoption and foster care professionals, and any others working with young people. Details of the briefing Thursday 17 March 9.30 – 11.30am Harold Court Primary, Church Road Harold Wood RM3 0SH Book via www.esafetylive.com
Science
History
Pan-London Science Assessment Project
Havering Primary History Network
Ardleigh Green Junior School is participating in a pan-London Assessment project, collating pupil work as evidence for working scientifically and knowledge and understanding. The project started in September 2015 with the aim to share work from across the boroughs so there will be an overall benchmark given to assessing pupils in science for each science topic in each year group. Ardleigh Green Junior will be presenting their findings at the summer term Science leaders’ network meeting. Schools in Havering will have access to the pupils work from across all boroughs once the project ends in September 2016.
The Havering Primary History Network was introduced as a termly forum, designed to proactively support history leaders in considering how to effectively lead on and manage the implementation of history in their schools. A key purpose of the network is to support history leaders in developing their awareness, knowledge and understanding of all aspects of their role, including planning, assessment and monitoring of teaching and learning. External organisations, such as the Havering Museum, have regularly provided input into meetings.
Mina Patel Associate Science Advisor
Pat Fitzpatrick Associate History Advisor
Summer Term Science Leader’s Network Meeting Tuesday 12 January, 4.15 – 5.45pm
Summer Term History Leader’s Network Meeting Tuesday 14 June 2016 4.15 – 5.45pm
Top tips for Science leaders
Top tips for History leaders
• Have you checked the working scientifically statutory requirements across your school science curriculum?
• Join a membership association as a way of accessing planning materials and other free resources – The Historical Association provides access to resources and podcasts.
• Have you considered the Primary Science Quality Mark for your school? • There are lots of great free Science support resources on LGfL – have you seen Switched on Science KS1 and KS2? Visit www.lgfl.net/pages/context
• Use Twitter to find out about strategic developments in your subject area and to identify examples of effective teaching and learning.
Primary Foreign Languages What’s happening in your school? Since the introduction of statutory languages we see the majority of schools having introduced French or Spanish (with some Italian, German or other combinations), taught on a weekly basis across Key Stage 2. Approaches vary enormously, with some schools dedicating an hour a week (sometimes split) and others with a 30 minute slot. Generally the language is taught by the class teachers, although some schools make use of visiting specialists. Our work has focused on good classroom practice, engaging schemes, supporting colleagues, assessment and the programme of study.
Success and next steps Success is seen where learners and class teachers alike engage with the curriculum and place a value on communication and understanding. There is a shared understanding of what constitutes progression and there are processes in place to gather examples of this. Learners develop transferable skills to support future language
learning, and an ability to manipulate high-frequency language in new contexts. Spring Term Primary Foreign Languages Leader’s Network Meeting Tuesday 22 March 2016, 1 – 4pm Dan Alliot Associate Foreign Language Advisor
Top tips for Foreign Language leaders • Ensure schemes have in-built opportunities for progression (not merely more vocabulary). • Develop your approaches to assessment which provide you with evidence of learner success, and avoid unnecessary processes which are onerous or damaging to enjoyment of the subject.
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Safeguarding Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) – an issue for education settings Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is illegal in the UK. It is a severe form of child abuse and violence against women and is therefore a safeguarding issue. FGM comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The FGM mandatory reporting duty is a legal duty provided for in the FGM Act 2003 and requires professionals (which include teachers in England and Wales) to make a report to the police where, in the course of their professional duties, they either: »» are informed by a girl under 18 that an act of FGM has been carried out on her; or »» observe physical signs which appear to show that an act of FGM has been carried out on a girl under 18. School staff can play a key role in protecting girls from FGM by: »» Informing your Safeguarding/Child Protection lead and Local Authority Advisor following normal safeguarding procedures. »» Ensuring a referral is completed and sent to children’s social care.
»» Contacting children’s social care and the Police direct on 101, where you explain that you are making a report under the FGM mandatory reporting duty. It is essential that the young person’s parents are not spoken to before a referral is sent to children’s social care. A full risk assessment will be conducted and any decision to contact the young person’s parents will be made jointly by children’s social care and police. Nora Hammond Safeguarding Officer
National help & advice Metropolitan Police Child Abuse Investigation Command/ Project Azure for FGM T 020 7161 2888 NSPCC FGM helpine 0800 028 3550 Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development (FORWARD) NHS specialist clinics for FGM Daughters of Eve www.dofeve.org
Ethnic Minority Achievement Supporting the needs of new overseas’ arrivals to Havering The number of children arriving in Havering from overseas is steadily rising, with many of these pupils applying for places as in-year admissions to our schools. We are working closely with the Havering Admissions Team, who are now routinely asking about the number of years that the child has been learning English, if at all. We have found this to be a useful measure of the child’s current level of English, and hope that schools are also able to use the information to prepare for the child’s arrival. We have also worked with the Vulnerable Children’s Coordinator when students arrive from overseas with little or no English, applying for a place in Year 11. We have begun to meet with such students in the PASC in order to assess their ability in English and their prior education history, in order to recommend a suitable place of education for them. It is now more important than ever to ensure that a baseline assessment is obtained for children arriving with little or no English in our schools. Obtaining this level enables staff to be confident about the starting point of the students and therefore how to move them on in their acquisition of English.
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Jackie Keylock Carol Rockey Ethnic Minority Achievement Advisers
Jackie Keylock
You may find the following useful to include within this assessment: »» Does the pupil have age-appropriate first-language literacy? »» Can they understand individual words/simple instructions/longer instructions in English? »» Can they articulate individual words/short phrases/full sentences in English? »» Can they read words/sentences in English with understanding? »» Can they write words/short phrases full sentences in English? If you need any help or advice with this process or have any other questions, do contact the Ethnic Minority Achievement Team at Hsis. Carol.Rockey@havering.gov.uk
School-based practice St. Ursula’s Catholic Junior School – Supporting pupils with English as an additional language At St Ursula’s Catholic Junior School nearly half of the 244 children have English as an additional language. We know that for some of our EAL learners’ their conceptual thinking may be in advance of their ability to speak English and we ensure that our whole curriculum is there to support EAL learners to make progress quickly in learning English so that they can access the whole curriculum. Most importantly - EAL must not be mistaken for SEND. Our EAL learners participate in whole class lessons; we believe that our broad and balanced curriculum is paramount in engaging learners from other countries. Regardless of the subject, teachers plan to ensure that all groups of learners have access to the lesson. This could be through pre-teaching opportunities, use of writing frames, vocabulary charts or drama.
Valuing where our pupils come from We have a range of quality texts used in all year groups that focus on different cultures of our school community e.g. Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah. Our CLC (Creative Learning Curriculum) links to cultural experiences from across the world in every year group. With our pupils engaged and interested we can balance the support and challenge that EAL learners need in order to make rapid and sustained progress. At St. Ursula’s Catholic Junior School we pride ourselves on integrating all learners, reducing any language barrier. St Ursula’s Catholic Junior School’s Top Tips for teaching EAL learners:
Recently I was able to attend a joint meeting with staff from both St Ursula’s Catholic Infant and Junior Schools, where staff looked at strategies to support learners of English as an additional language in their writing. The training was set up when the Junior School became aware of the risk to this particular group of pupils of not attaining the highest scores in their writing. They then invited St. Ursula’s Catholic Infant School to join with them in some exploratory research to identify the point at which this group of pupils stopped taking risks in their writing. It was an interesting and helpful session for all staff as they shared ideas and successes in their everyday practice, supporting such pupils right across the key stages and enabling them to see the whole journey that the pupils have made. Samples of writing were shared, demonstrating how strategies such as selective marking have enabled pupils to make good progress in this area.
Jackie Keylock Havering EMA Team
Victoria Balcombe Inclusion Manager St. Ursula’s Catholic Junior School
»» Ensure that you start each lesson explaining key vocabulary used. Sometimes supporting your words with actions or pictures can be a highly effective way of conveying a message to them. Give pupils a glossary to refer to at the back of their books. »» Know your EAL learner’s strengths. Don’t ‘talk down’ to them – keep them challenged. »» Allow them to use a mixture of their own language and English to get their ideas down (then translate later). Access to dual language books or those in their mother tongue can be useful as a baseline assessment. Both strategies are stepping stones in gaining confidence. »» Do not over-correct the mistakes of an EAL pupil as this will cause them to become demotivated. Have a specific focus when assessing work or setting targets. Above all else encourage risk-taking within a safe, secure and uncluttered environment. High expectations of your EAL pupil is essential - expect them to succeed.
Dates for your diaries – other network meetings Tuesday 15 March 2016 4.15 – 5.45pm Hsis Assessment Leaders Network Meeting (Summer Term 2016) Wednesday 27 April 2016 4.15 – 5.45pm Primary RE Subject Leaders Network Meeting (Summer Term 2016)
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TES courses Exclusive free TES Global online course offer As part of a continued partnership between the TES and Hsis we are once again complementing our offer to schools by signposting further online courses that we think schools might find of use.
Course 2 – Maths CPD Course Mastering the Primary Curriculum: Maths
The TES online courses let you improve your teaching skills when you want - with guidance from world-leading institutions, and from other teachers. The courses are fundamentally social, built around teachers sharing ideas and experiences with other teachers and online training that isn’t about idly clicking the ‘next’ button.
Registering for a place:
Course 3 – Outstanding Teaching CPD Course – Outstanding Teaching with Mike Gershon Please email the following information to hsis@havering.gov.uk by Thursday 24 March 2016 Teacher: Course:
Each school purchasing Hsis Package 1, 2 or 3 is entitled to one free place for a teacher in your school on each of the following courses. Please see the course detail below and how to register in order to participate.
School:
For more information visit www.tes.com/courses
NB. Unfortunately we are unable to offer for example 2 places on Maths and 1 on the English course.
Course 1 – English CPD Course Mastering the Primary Curriculum: English
Please note that you can apply for one place on each of the Outstanding Teaching, English and Maths courses.
HLTA headteachers CPD for Higher-Level Teaching Assistants – new opportunities to become a HLTA HLTA Networks - In response to conversations with some of our Head Teachers we have introduced network meetings for existing Primary HLTAs. These networks will be open to all schools buying support packages 1 and 3. These meetings will allow our HLTAs the opportunity to share good practice and will provide CPD sessions to address areas of need identified by the HLTAs and their schools. Future meetings are planned for 23 February 2016, 22 June 2016 and 27 September 2016 at CEME between 1pm and 3pm.
This training will be available to Primary and Secondary schools and sits outside the Hsis Support Packages. There is an overall fee of £649 (Havering are making no additional charge for the venue or extra support). The fee covers three full days of assessment preparation, the in-school assessment and a Havering led, half day, session for prospective HLTAs and their mentors. The course can be booked through the portal and you will be invoiced by us. The Assessment Preparation Course will take place on: 17 May 2016 – Day 1
HLTA Assessment - In negotiation with Babcock, the Regional Provider of Assessment (RPA) for London Boroughs, we have arranged assessment and preparation training in Havering. This involves a three day Assessment Preparation Course, at CEME, and assessment at your school.
18 May 2016 – Day 2
We also intend to add an initial introductory session to support people as they begin their journey to meeting the HLTA Standards.
Contact Kairen Raper kairenraper@havering.gov.uk
15 June 2016 – Day 3 This can only take place with a minimum of 8 delegates. Applicants must hold Level 2 (equivalent to A*-C grade) English and Maths qualifications.
Contact details: HSIS.HSIS@havering.gov.uk - 01708 433 813
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