GCSE results rise AGAIN! S outhwark schools were bracing themselves on GCSE results day as they feared changes to how exams were marked would bring pupils’ marks down.In the midst of an overhaul to the whole system, the borough’s results actually went up, with 68 percent of students achieving A* to C grades – up five percent on last year.
Although some individual students were disappointed not to get the marks they were predicted because of the shake-up, overall the borough performed on a par with the national average of 68.8 percent scoring A* to C grades. Cllr Victoria Mills, Southwark’s cabinet member for children and schools said: “Congratulations to all this year’s GCSE students on their results. “ S o u t h wark’s results have been improving year on year and
Despite changes to GCSE marking results went up again these fantastic results are a testament to the hard work of our schools, teachers and pupils. We will continue to work
Kingsdale School in Dulwich
with them to improve results for more young people in 2016 and move another step closer to reaching our target of 70 percent of pupils at all schools achieving five good GCSEs.” “For the first time our young people will continue on in compulsory education over the next two years, whether they choose to take A levels, vocational courses or an on the job apprenticeship. This year’s results confirm that Southwark is a great place for all young people to plan for their futures and reach their full potential.”
While A-Level success climbs as well Confirmed results so far show an improvement in the number of entries achieving the highest grades (A* - C), with 78.2 per cent achieving these, compared to 76.2 per cent last year. For the fourth year running, our overall pass rate of pupils achieving A* to E grades was above the national average - with results this year rising to 99.5 per cent. Many students in Southwark who applied will now be looking forward to starting university in September. For those that have chosen not to apply to university, for the first time the council’s new youth guarantee programme will help them finalise their plans, whether it be a full time job, work experience or further study. John O’Dowd
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Participate in an interactive strategy to improve headteacher standards In January 2015 the Government published the Headteacher Standards review, which outlines the new professional standards for headteachers in England together with the skills, knowledge and behaviour headteachers should aspire to. However, teachers have raised concerns about heavy workloads which impact on their teaching. The Government has therefore stated it is committed to reducing bureaucracy for headteachers to improve teaching standards. With this in mind, Inside Government is inviting representatives from schools to the interactive strategy forum ‘Raising the Standard of the Teaching Workforce Through Effective Professional Development’, taking place on Thursday 15 October 2015 in Central London. This event will provide an insight into Government strategy to raise standards and inspection outcomes. A keynore speaker is the Department for Education’s Marcus Bell - Teachers and Teaching, the DfE will talk about supporting a world class teaching profession: Professor Angela McFarlane, Chief Executive and Registrar, College of Teachers will talk about championing the teaching profession to promote excellence throughout the sector: Further highlights of the day include: • The government’s vision of supporting a world class teaching profession
Peter Chaste reports
Recycling on the move
• Understanding what Ofsted is looking for in the categories of quality of teaching and leadership and management when inspecting schools • Best practice case studies on raising teaching standards • Explore the role of teaching schools in providing high-quality training and development • How to turn a failing school into an ‘outstanding’ school Further details can be obtained from Inside Government at enquiries@insidegovernment.co.uk or by telephone: 0203 770 6580
Southwark schools are invited to book a visit from Veolia’s special promotional vehicle. It accepts common ‘bulky’ recyclable materials such as textiles and clothes, small appliances, wood and timber plus scrap metal. Call 020 3567 2600 for more information and to arrange a school assembly with one of Veolia’s education team to get the whole school involved.
Go off peak... take five Inset days A Welsh school will take all five inset days in the same week so parents can save money by taking their children away on holiday during term time. Headteacher Catherine Barnett came up with the back-to-back training days for staff to help parents save up to £500 on their family holidays. Parents at 485 pupil Eveswell Primary School in Newport, South Wales, were told five days would all be taken during one week in June next year - to allow them to book cheaper holidays. Catherine Barnett said “It has been decided to take these as one whole week with the hope that cheaper holidays can be booked and therefore holidays will not affect attendance at other times in the year. The days add an extra week to the Whitsun half-term holiday - and given families the chance for up to weeks holidays at cheaper rates than summer peak. If every school did this but chose a different week to other council areas it would be completely fantastic for families said parent Gemma Thomas. The move comes as education chiefs have been clamping down on parents taking their children out of school during term time - with some being fined £60 per child for “unauthorised absence”. Package holidays are around 40 per cent more expensive during school holidays. More than 60,000 families across Britain have been fined by councils for taking
children out of school without approval. Dozens of parents have been convicted by magistrates’ courts after refusing to pay penalty charges of £60 per child, rising to £120 if not paid within 21 days. From this September, however, headteachers will have the power to set holiday schedules and a new study by The Boston Consulting Group suggests that almost 70 per cent of head teachers intend to make immediate changes to holiday schedules.
For all your information needs visit www.southwarkheads.org.uk
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Your school could develop the next big thing
T
he Next Big Thing is a mentoring scheme whereby young people get to work in teams to develop a business idea, before pitching it to a panel of experts. The programme is designed for 16-17 year olds (students in years 12 and 13) Participants work with business mentors to develop a business idea over seven weekly sessions. This culminates in a Dragons’ Den style final involving two or three schools at an inspiring venue. The winning team is given the opportunity to start their business with an investment of up to £1,000 and a programme of support. Participants who perform particularly well have been offered work placements; previous placements have included IBM and Barclays. Programme Outline: The programme is run in schools over a seven week period. The sessions are structured to cover the following areas:
• • • • • • • •
Developing a business idea Market research Business planning Business modelling Finance and budgets Investment Marketing and promotion Communication skills
All participants gain in confidence and acquire valuable life skills as well as developing their abilities in team-working, organisation, communication, presenting, problem-solving and working to deadlines.
FOOD SAFETY TRAINING REACHES A NEW LEVEL
FareShare offers kids a great start
FareShare works to ensure no good food goes to waste and its focus is on providing surplus food to the vulnerable and disadvantaged. Therefore there are criteria a recipient organisation must meet. Among these are schools that provide breakfast/afterschool/holiday clubs and that are not run for profit, include a food provision that is not provided by an external, commercial catering organisation Schools with a high number of pupils eligible for free school meals will be given priority Registered charity or community groups can also qualify. Currently on offer are Kellogg’s Cornflakes – 500g boxes - 16 Boxes per case; and Kellogg’s Rice Crispies – 510g boxes - 14 Boxes per case. Date Life is January 2016 and beyond Collection Dates are: Wednesday, 9 September; Thursday, 10 September; and Friday, 11 September Collection Times are 1pm – 5pm each day with one organisation per 30 minute slot.
FareShare will be running the next Level 2 Food Safety course on Monday 28 September, between 9.30am and 5.00pm at its depot in Deptford. If you would like to book a place, please contact Michelle Ford at michelle.ford@fareshare.org.uk or call 020 7394 2473. The course costs £40 per person for members, with £50 per person for non-members. This covers the cost of learning materials, the examination and certificates.
Information Required prior to collection day is the name of school/organisation collecting; address of school/organisation collecting; Contact Name; Contact Email; Contact Phone; quantity of each cereal required.
Places are allocated on a first come first served basis. Invoices will be raised once booking forms have been received. Certificates are retained until payment has been received.
FareShare needs the above information to ensure it complies with traceability requirements as well as making sure it is able to distribute the cereal as effectively as possible on the collection dates.
Please note if cancellations are not made at least one week before the date of the course we will expect full payment.
For all your information needs visit www.southwarkheads.org.uk
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SECONDARY FILES TRANSFER WAS A BIG SUCCESS
T
he secondary pupil file transfer system devised to help ease the secure transport of pupil records from primary schools to the borough’s secondaries was heralded a huge success.
Fifty six schools participated with over 580 transactions, each having multiple files, were completed in just two days! The small costs of the operation were met from Headteachers Council funds, but saved schools tens of thousands of pounds in total. Essentially, all that primary schools had to do was to place pupil files into large bags provided for each appropriate secondary school selected by their pupils and then deliver them to a single local collection point. The bags were then collected and taken to the University Academy of Engineering that acted as the central distribution hub. From here, the bags were distributed to each secondary school. Secondary schools had previously bemoaned that pupil transfer files arrived sporadically and often late. The distribution system was designed to improve that situation.
This week’s top candidate. Osagie Ehigie Osagie is an experienced teacher based in South East London currently looking for a part time Intervention/PPA role for September. Osagie spent the last academic year covering PPA & Intervention at a school in Lewisham. Prior to this Osagie was a Key Stage 2 teacher.
If you are interested in finding out a bit more about Osagie or if you have another vacancy you are looking to fill, then please get in touch with Tom Smith on 020 8776 1903 or contact@futureeducation.co.uk.
Thanks go to St Thomas the Apostle College; The University Academy of Engineering; City of London Academy; Walworth Academy and Highshore for acting as receiving hubs for the transfer system. A particular thank you goes to Highshore School, whose pupils undertook the task of receiving and allocating files as part of a work experience exercise. Any schools that did not participate in the schools transfer, should ensure that their primary pupil files are passed to the relevant secondary schools as a matter of urgency.
SEND US YOUR NEWS!
HEADS UP is published monthly during term time by Southwark Headteachers Executive. We would love to hear from you, so tell us your news:
Yolanda Houston T: 01797 364366 M: 07770 347616 E: yolanda@headexec.com
For all your information needs visit www.southwarkheads.org.uk