Education Magazine Autumn Edition (69)

Edition 4, 2016

Ark Brunel, turned on its side!, see p12

The education sector strengthens despite economic uncertainty, see p8 ‘It’s everyone’s job to get children reading’, see p10 Reducing food waste, see p16 Seated for success: Getting the most out of your classroom seating plan, see p18

The future of Ambitions Academies Trust, see p20 How schools can join together to maximise energy buying power, see p22 Can schools keep pace with the ever changing IT landscape? see p24

Rugby . . on the front foot, see p26 Pioneering partnership nets sports equipment for two Birmingham schools, see p28 Plan A for Asbestos, see p30 Success or failure: reviewing the computing curriculum, see p32

www.education-magazine.co.uk - for ar ticles news and pr oducts

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Education Magazine Edition 69

Publisher Steve Mitchell

Annual Subscription £10 Free to Heads and School Financial Directors

Production Editor Richard Shrubb

Advertising Sales Team:

Circulation research Mary Reale

Tracy Johnson, Martin Petty, Paul Barrett

Design/Production Amanda Wesley

Published by Review Magazines Ltd, 53 Asgard Drive,Bedford MK41 0UR Tel: 01234 348878 Fax: 01223 790191 E-mail: info@education-magazine.co.uk Website: www.education-magazine.co.uk Copyright Education Magazine 2016

Contents 2 8

News The education sector strengthens despite economic uncertainty

10

‘It’s everyone’s job to get children reading’

11

Bringing down the cost of supply teachers

12

Ark Brunel, turned on its side!

16 Reducing

food waste

If you are building, developing new ideas or have some excellent examples of ‘good practice’, spread the word about them and contact PIR Education Magazine on

01234 348878 or

18

Seated for success: Getting the most out of your classroom seating plan

20 The future of

Ambitions Academies Trust

22 How schools

can join together to maximise energy buying power

24

Can schools keep pace with the ever changing IT landscape?

26 Rugby . . on the

front foot

28 Pioneering

partnership nets sports equipment for two Birmingham schools

30

Plan A for Asbestos

32 Success or failure: reviewing the computing curriculum

32

Product Showcase

The magazine for Heads and Financial Directors of Academies, Independent and Free Schools

email info@education-magazine.co.uk We are always looking for good news on Education issues.

We approve all articles prior to press.

Look forward to hearing from you!

The Publisher holds all copyright and any items within may not be reproduced in any way, for any purpose, without the written permission of the Publisher. While every care has been taken to ensure accuracy, the information contained within this publication is based on submissions to the Publishers who cannot be held responsible for errors and omissions. The publisher does not necessarily agree with the views expressed by contributors and cannot except responsibility for claims made by manufacturers and authors, nor do they accept any responsibility for any errors in the subject matter of this publication.

NEWS News News News NEWS News NEWS News

New primary school tests show schools rising to the challenge National results published on 5th July 2016 for the new primary school testing system in maths and English show that the majority of children have achieved the new higher standard expected of them.

This year’s results are the first to be released following the introduction of a far more rigorous curriculum in 2014 that raises the bar in terms of expectations of young people’s mastery of literacy and numeracy, bringing our primary school curriculum in line with the best in the world.

The then Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said the results showed there was no limit to our children’s potential and that schools had once again risen to the challenge of ensuring children meet new higher standards and in doing so have equipped pupils with the knowledge and skills they need for success at secondary school and beyond.

The results are not comparable to test results from previous years which were under an entirely different system of assessment.

Today’s results show:

• • • • •

53% of pupils met the new expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics 66% of pupils met the new expected standard in reading 70% of pupils met the new expected standard in mathematics 72% of pupils met the new expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling 74% of pupils met the new expected standard in writing The previous Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said:

“Nothing is more important than ensuring that young people master the basics of reading, writing and mathematics early on. The simple truth is that if they don’t, they’ll be left playing catch-up for the rest of their lives. That’s why as part of this government’s commitment to delivering real social justice, we have raised the bar on what counts as a good enough standard in the 3Rs for our children by the end of primary school.

We know we are asking more, but we’re doing that because we are committed to giving young people the best start in life and today’s results show there is no limit to pupils’ potential. This is the first year we have assessed pupils under the new more rigorous system and it is no surprise that this year’s results look different to previous years, but despite that the majority of pupils

have achieved above and beyond the new expected standard.

I want to thank all those involved in the tests this year - including teachers and parents for supporting pupils through the transition to a more rigorous system. It is important that all involved see these results for what they are - a reflection of how well children this year have performed against a new curriculum. I believe this is a good start that vindicates our decision to raise standards and will help ensure those who need extra help get the support they need to lay the foundations for a bright future.

These results form only one part of how primary school performance is measured later in the year results for pupil progress will be published. This, taken in conjunction with today’s attainment figures, will be used to determine which schools require extra support and possibly intervention. Earlier this year the Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan, made clear that no more than 1 percentage point more primary schools will fall below our minimum standards for school performance in 2016 in order to give schools time to adjust to the new system.

Ministers have also advised regional schools commissioners and Ofsted to take into account that this is the first year under a new assessment system when considering school performance.”

Key stage 2 results no longer use the previous system of levels - instead, test results are converted into ‘scaled scores’ - with a score of 100 being the expected standard. Any score below this means the pupil is working ‘towards the expected standard’, and any score above means the pupil is working ‘above the expected standard’. Previously the expected standard was a level 4.

This year the average pupil is performing above the ‘expected standard’:

• • •

The average scaled score in reading is 103 The average scaled score in mathematics is 103 The average scaled score in grammar, punctuation and spelling is 104

Technical education overhaul unveiled by Skills Minister Transformation of post-16 education with thousands of courses to be replaced with 15 straightforward routes into skilled employment.

Thousands of ineffective courses that shortchange employers and young people will be replaced with 15 straightforward routes into technical employment creating a more skilled workforce fit for modern Britain.

Currently young people considering a technical education must choose between 4

more than 20,000 courses provided by 160 different organisations with no clear indicator of which course will give them the best chance of landing a job.

A report into technical education by an independent panel, chaired by Lord Sainsbury, has recommended simplifying the current system so technical education is provided through 15 high-quality routes, with standards being set by employers.

In response, Skills Minister Nick Boles has published the ‘Post-16 skills plan’, accepting every one of Lord Sainsbury’s recommendations, while setting out the government’s innovative vision for the future of technical education.

Mr Boles called on employers and training providers to embrace the exciting plans and help turn the country’s highly able young people into the most skilled workforce in the world.

Skills Minister Nick Boles said: “Britain has all the ingredients needed to compete with other skilled nations, but we must create a technical education system that can harness that talent.

This cannot be the government’s job alone; we must work with employers and post-16 providers to unlock the potential in this country.

The skills plan is the next step towards that goal, building on the progress we have already made by investing in apprenticeships, and creating a skilled workforce that is the envy of every other nation. This won’t just help our young people get the best jobs but it will also boost our economy, benefiting us all.

The skills plan sets out to create a highly skilled nation where no child, regardless of their background or circumstances, will be let down by the education or training they receive.

Following its inquiry, Lord Sainsbury’s panel found the current technical education system to be confusing and unclear, leaving students with a dizzying choice of qualifications. For example a budding engineer must choose from a possible 501 courses.”

Record levels of children in good and outstanding schools Record numbers of children now attend schools rated as good or outstanding, official Ofsted figures revealed on 29 June 2016, with over 1.4 million more children now attending the best schools than in 2010. continues on page 6 u Education Magazine

Are Your Staff and Students Ready for Lockdown?

UK schools are experiencing a growing trend for violent attacks on staff and students. In 2015, there were reports of incidents all over the country, including Southfields1 and Dulwich2 in London, Dorset3 and Somerset4 in the South, and Leeds5 and Bradford6 in the North. However, it’s not just direct attacks on school property which are causing concern, but other incidents which potentially put staff and students at risk. Examples of dangerous occurrences include armed raiders running into a school after a robbery7, a secure unit abscondee on the loose in Conwy8, a man wielding a gun outside a Cambridge school9 and a shooting outside a Liverpool school10. All these resulted in schools going into lockdown.

Whether the situation warrants evacuation or lockdown, it is essential that accurate information is communicated clearly and quickly throughout the school. Schools must have a working fire alarm

fitted by law, but many use the same fire bell to announce class changes.

This can lead to confusion, and whilst a bell can provide a clear alert that an emergency situation has arisen, it cannot differentiate between lockdown or evacuation. In the event of a possible violent intruder on the premises, the last thing any school wants is pupils streaming out onto a playground and gathering at assembly points.

To solve this issue, some schools have installed integrated class change and PA systems such as Bodet’s Harmonys, which store a range of different tones, melodies and prerecorded voice messages. As well as routine announcements such as class change, lunch or the end of school, in the advent of an emergency they enable specific alarms to be broadcast across the entire site. That way, both staff and pupils know what’s happening and what action to take.

Due to the random nature of these attacks and threats, there is little schools can do to prevent them. However, by having clear and effective communication systems installed alongside robust lockdown and evacuation procedures, schools can be certain they are doing all they can to ensure the safety of staff and students.

Richard Manby is managing director of Bodet Class Change Systems Website: lockdown.bodet.co.uk

Tel: 01442 418800

References 1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-34784854 2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-34868503 3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-30534259 4. http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/education/ school_in_security_lockdown_1_4238794 5. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27194984 6. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bradford-westyorkshire-33857626 7. https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/ scotland/748968/scottish-schools-lockdown-followingattempted-armed-robbery/ 8. http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-walesnews/neuadd-manhunt-schools-lockdownllanfairfechan-10107863 9. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2911904/ Primary-school-forced-lockdown-mystery-gunmanspotted-outside-lunch-break-turns-police-anti-terrorexercise.html 10. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/anfield-roadshooting-school-lockdown-6889474

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Education Magazine

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NEWS News News News NEWS News NEWS News 86% of schools are now rated good or outstanding - up from 84% at the end of August 2015 - which is the highest level since records began and a clear signal that the government’s education reforms are continuing to bear fruit.

The figures reveal that:

•

Since 2010, over 1.4 million more children now attend these schools - a significant indicator that schools have responded well to the government’s extensive reforms to curriculum, assessment, accountability and school structures

•

In this academic year alone, 100,000 more pupils are now benefiting from attending good or outstanding schools

•

Around 350,000 children now study in sponsored academies rated good or outstanding - previously, many of these schools suffered from chronic underperformance, blighting the life chances of young people and preventing them from achieving their full potential

•

80% of free schools are now rated good or outstanding - up from 78% last year Former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said:

“We are determined to spread educational excellence everywhere and these figures reveal that we have come a long way in doing just this. Since 2010, over 1.4 million more children attend the best schools in our country - a triumph for hardworking teachers and pupils everywhere.

We have introduced tough reforms to raise standards, improve the level of teaching in our classrooms and introduce real choice and accountability through academies and free schools. Today’s figures suggest our schools have responded well to the challenge and are providing our children with the best possible start in life.

But we are determined to go further and in our recent white paper we set out plans to tackle areas of underperformance to ensure no child is disadvantaged just because of where they live. Furthermore, we are ensuring that all schools have the resources they need through the introduction of a new national funding formula that, for the first time, will make sure funding is genuinely matched to need.

Since 2010, the government has embarked on an extensive programme of education reforms - including strengthening the national curriculum, reintroducing rigour into qualifications, introducing choice and accountability into the system through academies and free schools, and backing headteachers to get tough on behaviour and discipline.”

New ‘gold standard’ in paediatric first aid launched ‘Millie’s Mark’ is a new initiative to improve first aid training in early years settings in memory of a 9-month-old girl who died in 2012.

A new initiative to help improve paediatric first aid training in early years settings was launched on 4th July by Education and Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah, in memory of a 9-month-old girl who tragically died in 2012.

Millie Thompson passed away after choking on her lunch while at nursery in Stockport. Since her death, Millie’s parents Joanne and Dan have campaigned for a new ‘gold standard’ certificate to be created in recognition of early years childcare providers that train all their staff in paediatric first aid, going above and beyond the minimum legal requirements.

The quality mark – which has been developed by the Department for Education (DfE), National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) and the Thompsons – will be known as ‘Millie’s Mark’ and will help to give parents assurance that every staff member that cares for their child is trained in these important, life-saving skills.

From summer 2016, early years settings in England will be eligible to apply to be accredited with this unique quality mark that will provide parents with the assurance that their child is being cared for by safe and knowledgeable staff. The quality mark will be in addition to the existing statutory requirements for paediatric first aid that all early years providers must meet as a legal requirement.

A total of 10 nurseries, chosen from more than 200 applicants, have been taking part in a pilot to thoroughly test the new standards that settings will be required to demonstrate. These nurseries will be the first to receive Millie’s Mark.

Alongside the launch of Millie’s Mark, the government has today published a response to the consultation on changing the paediatric first aid requirements in the statutory framework for the early years foundation stage (EYFS). The majority of those who responded were in favour of increasing the number of paediatric first aiders in early years settings.

So, from this September [2016], all newly qualified level 2 and level 3 staff must also have either a full paediatric first aid certificate or an emergency paediatric first aid certificate to count in the required staff to child ratios.

This will mean an extra 15,000 staff a year coming into the sector with paediatric first aid training, providing vital reassurance to parents that their children will be well cared for, particularly in an emergency. Paediatric first aid training has also been shown to increase safety awareness, so reducing the

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likelihood of accidents occurring and staff confidence especially when helping children with complex medical needs.

Professor Chris Husbands named as inaugural TEF Chair Chris Husbands, Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University has been named as the first Chair of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) panel following a recruitment process led by government.

Professor Husbands will head up the assessment panel that will make decisions on university ratings in the second and third year of the programme.

The Teaching Excellence Framework has been introduced to ensure excellent teaching and student job prospects are at the heart of higher education. The framework, which for the first time places the significance of teaching on a par with research, will put clear information into the hands of students so they know where teaching is best and what benefits they can expect to gain from their courses.

The expert assessment panel will award each higher education provider a clearly understandable rating of ‘Outstanding’, ‘Excellent’ or ‘Meets Expectations’, based on evidence and a number of metrics.

Professor Chris Husbands, Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, said: “I am delighted to have been appointed as chair of the government’s Teaching Excellence Framework panel.

The TEF aims to recognise and reward excellent learning and teaching in higher education. It will build on the existing high standards of learning and teaching in universities, and I hope that it provides positive outcomes for all students, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds. I’ve always been passionate about the importance of high quality teaching, and look forward to working with government and the sector to secure the benefits which TEF can bring.

UK higher education has a global reputation for excellence, and I’m looking forward to working as part of the panel to help shape and guide the assessment process at this important time in the evolution of higher education.”

Nicola Dandridge, the Chief Executive of UUK, said: “The TEF represents a complex exercise, and Professor Husbands’ outstanding leadership and academic experience will help ensure that both the sector and students have confidence in the TEF process and judgements.”

Professor Husbands has already begun his role and will be in the position for a period of 2 years.

Education Magazine

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The education sector strengthens despite economic uncertainty

By Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library

According to recent data, despite the current economic instability in the UK, this summer saw the job market strengthen across the education industry. While we know that more needs to be done to tackle the ongoing issues in the sector, such as increased skill shortages, our data tells us that candidates are remaining active and organisations across the industry are boosting their recruitment efforts.

usual summer slowdown. This is welcome news for the industry, especially as the dust is still settling post Brexit, and most education organisations have been closed for the holidays.

In particular, our figures indicate that the education sector’s job market has continued to grow throughout the summer, with June seeing a massive 32% increase in job creation compared to the previous year.

This is particularly impressive as the UK saw figures across other key industries, including hospitality and retail, fall as a result of the

studies revealed that education workers would rather receive higher salaries over other workplace perks, such as free food or more holidays. It’s clear that businesses are recognising the need to listen to what candidates want, and are beginning to offer competitive salaries as a means to attract and retain workers.

Salaries also saw an impressive increase this summer, with our data reporting that the education sector witnessed a 5.9% increase in advertised salaries in July. This rise suggests that employers are working harder to offer job hunters better pay, as they endeavour to attract talented candidates. This is particularly good news, as one of our recent

In focus: Education Forum

While the education sector has been plagued by skill shortages and this continues to be an issue, it’s encouraging that candidate application figures also increased this summer, with growth rates as high as 6.6% (in June). This increase indicates that candidates across the education industry are not being put off at a time of economic uncertainty, and are remaining as active as ever in their job hunt. That said, application rates are not quite keeping up with job creation, and this can be directly linked back to the issue of ongoing skill shortages.

This means that organisations in the sector must pull out all the stops if they want to encourage talented new recruits to join the industry and their company in particular.

Though this summer has seen the education sector strengthening, it’s clear from our data that more needs to be done to ensure that candidate application rates are meeting demand. It is great, however, to see that the sector has not been hit with the usual summer slowdown that often impacts other industries across the UK, especially when you consider that many organisations were closed during this period. The fact that salaries and application rates are up is good news for both job hunters and employers, and sends a strong message about the industry. Over time, this will hopefully begin to draw in new and talented recruits to an exciting industry.

The Education Forum has been designed to draw on the combined skills, knowledge and expertise of the industry to help institutions discover the latest trends, innovations and technologies on the market. The event offers invaluable insight into a wide variety of topics within the industry; bringing together a hand-picked selection of its senior figures; all while providing unparalleled industry access to the latest products and services to improve the learning experience, performance and help cut costs. Indeed, Valence School confirm that there was an “impressive range of money-saving options for [their] school” at last year’s event.

Taking centre stage at the Whittlebury Hall Hotel in Northampton on the 21st and 22nd November this 2016, the Education Forum returns for its 14th year bigger and better than ever with the launch of the inaugural Education IT Forum. The event showcases the latest technologies available on the market, alongside an expansive seminar programme introducing cost-cutting measures, areas of improvement and the latest trends and techniques in the industry.

An overwhelming influx of studies have found that the design, equipment and technology of an educational institution have a positive impact on student learning experience and performance, it is therefore undeniable that investment is a high priority to not keep the UK ahead of the education rat race, but also to keep our international students coming to the UK. With researchers finding that international university students in London alone contribute £2.3 billion a year towards the economy; the industry is lucrative and it is essential we keep ahead of the curve and maintain our notorious position.

Unlike other events in the industry, the Education Forum is a smaller, more intimate event; focusing entirely on the quality of attendees rather than quantity. The event strives to maximise productivity with pre-arranged face-to-face meetings to bring like-minded delegates and product and service providers together.

This year’s event sees the attendance of key decision makers from institutions such as Alderman Knight School, Ark, DLD College, University of Leeds, amongst many others.

As well as the networking opportunities, the event also offers up some fantastic insight into wider trends across the market. The event’s speaker line-up promises to do just that with industry influencers from Guiseley School, Health and Safety Executive, Hosking Associates, and many more sharing their knowledge and best practice strategies.

With budget cuts, restraints and a shortage of funding, alongside the impact of Brexit on independent institutions – now more than ever, institutions must seek to reduce costs while improving student performance and learning experience. Short-term investment, though daunting, will help to maintain the UK’s historic reputation, boost performance, reduce long-term costs and encourage the international students that heavily influence the country’s GDP to continue studying in the UK.

In an effort to reflect the recent surge in the use of technology within the education sector; this year will see the launch of a brand new event running alongside the renowned Education Forum, the

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Education Magazine

LEARN. EDUCATE. ARTICULATE 21st and 22nd November | Whittlebury Hall Hotel, Northamptonshire

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This November, the Education Forum and Education IT Forum are dedicating 2 days to bringing the industry together to discuss current trends, laws and legislations as well as key developments each learning establishment needs to know.

Transform your education vision this November

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‘It’s everyone’s job to get children reading’

By Diana Gerald, CEO of BookTrust

Diana Gerald joined BookTrust as Chief Executive in March 2015 from the Ark Schools Group, who run schools in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the country. Diana joined at an important time in the development of BookTrust as it continues to build on its work to transform lives by getting children and families reading, and reinforces its position as one of the leading voices on reading. Diana has a deep understanding of the role that education plays in creating opportunity, which is at the heart of BookTrust’s work.

When was the last time you got really lost in a book – the kind of lost where you walk up the stairs and bang into the bannister because your eyes are glued to the paperback you’re clutching in your hands – the kind of lost where you feel a huge sense of loss when you finish the last page? If your answer is ‘yesterday’ then congratulations – if you’re anything like me and everyone else who’s constantly scurrying from one thing to another, the answer is likely to be rather more depressing – maybe on that holiday you took way back in the summer?

The truth is reading is under pressure for all of us. And whereas for adults, it’s a real shame we don’t get to read so much anymore, for children it’s a serious worry.

We are finding it harder and harder to make time for reading for pleasure these days - it’s competing against so many other activities that call on children and young people’s time, from school and homework to social media and Minecraft, but if we don’t find that time, children will simply lose the desire to read, will read much less, and will miss out on so much as a result.

Reading is harder than watching a film and takes more out of you than a video game, but the benefits are enormous. We know that reading for pleasure has a dramatic impact on children’s life outcomes – and this is as much about confidence and well-being

as it is about educational achievements.

Quite simply, children who read for pleasure are happier, healthier and do better in life than those who don’t.

In the meantime, if you want to get the children at your school excited about reading, why don’t you try one of these ideas?

Books can take children to places and worlds they have never been before; they might learn how an old person lives with dementia or how a child lives in a war-torn country.

In a world which has become increasingly complex, and at times frightening, reading can provide solace and context; books help us learn more about ourselves as well as the world around us, and fiction allows us to explore some very difficult subjects in a way that no other medium can.

Dynamic displays

So we need to get children reading. But as our President Michael Morpurgo once said: “It’s almost like a crusade in getting books in front of children in a way that excites them.”

And the challenge continues once children can read for themselves, because just as they are becoming more confident in reading, along come the thrill of texting, gaming, and watching endless YouTube videos.

It’s why we’re launching our Time to Read campaign, which is aimed at getting parents, teachers, grandparents and everyone who spends time with children to make time to read. Shared reading – even when children can read for themselves – is so important, as is allowing them to choose their own books, encouraging them to see books as fun. As part of the campaign, we are:

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giving schools a fantastic book pack for every Reception-aged child to take home to read with their parents to support their reading habit;

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sending every primary school in the country our Great Books Guide (60 carefully chosen and brilliant books we know children will love)

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holding events with fantastic authors around the country as part of Children’s Book Week to promote the pleasure of reading and the importance of finding those ten or so minutes every day to share a book

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running a series of free events for teachers this autumn exploring why reading for pleasure makes a difference, how making time to read starts with great books – and how to get children at all ages and stages reading using practical ideas and recommendations for great new books. Visit the BookTrust website to book your place: http://www. booktrust.org.uk/programmes/primary/schools-events/ 10

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Turn a reading corner into a treasure trove of best books. If you don’t have the space or stock for all of the titles, perhaps select an age category or theme (such as magic, animals or school) and tailor it around that.

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Make a fun display of great books – these could be arranged by decade or age group, whatever works for your readers!

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Put together a suggested reading list on a noticeboard.

Brilliant book events

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Why not invite an author or illustrator into school? They host great workshops which will inspire pupils to read a new genre and author.

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Arrange a book swap so children who can’t afford to buy new books will have the chance to read something new.

Awesome activities

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Get children to draw their favourite book jacket, or re-create their own best book in a new format – for example turn it into a comic, or film a book trailer on their smart phone.

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Hold a competition or a vote – what are the event attendees’ top ten books?

And out of those, whose book will win?

Vote on characters, action, adventure, illustrations and any other elements that stand out – a TopTrumps for books!

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Perform plays based on favourite stories.

BookTrust is the largest reading charity in the UK. Our programmes provide books for children at crucial stages of their school life. It’s why we’ve developed programmes, used by schools across the country, to help teachers and librarians win over reluctant readers and encourage avid readers to try new genres. It’s why we campaign to raise awareness of the importance of reading. It’s also why we make sure that no child grows up in a home without books, by giving out five million books and resources every year, reaching every baby, toddler and Receptionage child in the country through our fantastic network of local authorities, health visitors, libraries, children’s centres and schools.

To find out more about our programmes visit: www.booktrust.org.uk/programmes

Education Magazine

Bringing down the cost of supply teachers The increasing cost of supply teachers has become a real issue; here Bajinder Kuller of The Supply Register explains why the costs have risen, and what schools can do about it.

Education Magazine Supply teachers have become much more expensive in recent years, what are the reasons behind this?

Bajinder Kuller Back in the early nineties, schools could go to the local education authority and request cover from their own run pool. In those days it was almost ideal as schools could choose between their local authority or the local recruitment agency. That meant that there was healthy competition. The benefits of the local authority pool to teachers was that they were paid to scale and had contributions made to their teacher pension pot so had a good number of available staff. Though they were not as quick to react as the agency which could be contacted at any time (at 6am for example) and have a candidate that was ready packaged and fully compliant into the classroom at 9am. This situation worked while the local authorities had £500 million of the available spend, however agencies now have three quarters of the market. Of the £1.3bn spent this academic year, only £300 million will be spent with schools’ own networks of teachers while most of the rest of it goes to the agencies. Only a small portion, 6% will go to local authority run pools.

It’s well known that a shortage of any particular skill will increase its cost and the same rule applies to supply teachers. And when local authorities reduced their supply teacher service it meant that the independent agencies could charge more.

Recruitment agencies are able to spend much more on marketing. For every teacher a school advertises for they will get one application, but an agency will be able to present five to them and it is that volume that schools generally can’t compete with. Recruitment agencies reflect this in their fees claiming that they have to do more, in reality they do not have to do any more work than they did 10 years ago.

EM Is this true for temporary and permanent staff?

BK I refer specifically to temporary staff however we are also aware that the agency involvement in the permanent marketplace continues to grow mainly because executive search companies have now come into the marketplace. As a result we are seeing more fees being charged for what is ultimately a headhunting role. We are also seeing temp to perm fees of up £15k can be charged to

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schools even when a candidate has worked at the school for the best part of an academic term.

EM What about academies and multi academy trusts?

Does this affect them more than the LEA run schools?

BK The Agency Worker Regulations say that anyone working for a school for 12 weeks or more are entitled to the same pay and conditions as their permanent equivalent. The clock only stops ticking when that person doesn’t go to the same school for a gap of six weeks and this resets the clock.

Academies that are part of a multi academy trust cannot be considered separate entities any more.

So supply teachers are getting to the threshold a lot quicker. This can make life even more difficult for the schools as it usually means a charge rate increase to reflect the extra pay entitlement to the teacher. Unfortunately the margin charged by the agency doesn’t go down after 12 weeks!

EM Is there a better way without having to go through the agencies and so paying their premiums?

BK Schools are crying out for a better system but their reliance on agencies hangs around compliance and reliable sourcing; an empty classroom would be a disaster! They must have teachers who are safe, compliant and have had all their checks done.

This can be quite a time consuming process in some instances, but once it has been done the first time it needn’t be repeated. What we have at The Supply Register is a mature solution as it operates in the heavily regulated industries such as the NHS where the supply of locum doctors is fundamental to the running of the service.

EM How does the Supply Register do that?

BK Using technology we provide a graduated response to a vacancy by using an electronic register of supply staff. Each school has its own ‘local bank’ of who they can call on when they have an absence and we populate their register with these regular supply teachers and teaching assistants. When there is a need this ‘bank’ is their first port of call, if that doesn’t fill their requirement we provide an extra opportunity from a ‘wider bank’ to find a suitable supply teacher before they arrive with an agency.

These start when the school places a vacancy onto the system. It instantly sent to all of the schools existing local bank of staff who could fill it. For a pre-set time this vacancy will only be visible to those staff. If the vacancy cannot be filled it will it move onto the next stage where the vacancy will then be sent to their neighbouring schools’ ‘bank’ members.

Finally if the vacancy still cannot be filled then it’s opened up to the agencies in a tiered structure. Tier One will be the school’s local agency and they get an exclusivity period, so will agree fulfilment service levels and preferred margin rates, we aim to get this down to an ethical level.

If the Tier One agency cannot fulfil a vacancy then at Tier Two we normally have a mix of 2-3 other agencies. They may not wish to reduce their margins, but they will still want to see any vacancies that eventually come through. As it will generally be an emergency when you go to those agencies they will charge a capped rate.

EM What about the point of view of the supply teachers and how does it encourage them to get on the Supply Register?

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BK Agencies do not pay their teachers the same as full time equivalents. So one of the first steps to encouraging teachers to work with us is to offer them full time pay. We ensure that anyone working for a school for five days or longer are paid the equivalent of their full time colleagues. The only time we would pay less is that if the teacher is not expected to plan, mark any lessons and not have to complete any work outside hours. As they only have to take the lesson 85% represents good value for them. So it’s financially advantageous for them to be on The Supply Register.

The second advantage is that most teachers rely on an agency to update their personnel file and complete all their reference checks. The only details that have to be updated regularly is a teachers reference and disclosure checks which doesn’t take long and a DBS update check only takes a matter of minutes. We give them access to their file online to provide updates for us to verify and review, and so their file remains constantly up to date. Only candidates that are fully checked with all their documents uploaded can go to work, this provides further reassurance to the schools as they can call on this documentation whenever they need to.

A huge advantage is the diary system. Rather than relying on a call they can update their availability calendars on a real time basis.

They can decide ‘at lunchtime tomorrow I am not available for work.’ They can update their availability with 3-4 clicks on their phone application and they will not be notified of any vacancies on the days they are not available EM If a school wanted a teacher how do they go about it? How do teachers wanting to fill that vacancy know about it and respond?

BK The school would go online and with three clicks get a vacancy onto the system.

Available and qualified teachers then receive a notification their phone or by email. They simply press to accept or reject button.

EM What do you charge and when are you paid?

BK We charge £6 to £12 per day for the service.

That’s where the schools savings are made. The £6 is for any candidate that the school add to their bank themselves. The £12 is for the teachers that we populate and source ourselves. We will charge schools on a weekly basis for every candidate they have had the prior week. As the technology is doing all the work, we concentrate on compliance, resourcing ad account management consultants to keep candidates files up to date, meet school demands and to liaise between hiring managers, bank members and agencies. This ensures we don’t have the layers of cost usually used to justify the whopping fees and margins!

EM In a nutshell, what is this system going to do?

BK It will even up the supply and demand in the schools favour. We want schools and teachers to realise that they don’t have to work with an agency in order to get consistent work. Supply teachers and schools are able to regain control over their costs again and with supply being so important to experienced and teachers new to the profession we are hoping to retain teachers that would otherwise be lost to other jobs with better pay!

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Ark Brunel, turned on its side!

Dominic Smith has been teaching for over 20 years. He started teaching at a school in Hammersmith & Fulham, became Assistant Head at Carterhatch Juniors school in Enfield seven years later where he was promoted to Deputy Dead before joining Middle Row seven years ago as Head.

Ark Brunel was known as Middle Row primary school and had been underachieving for a long time. At one time it had been an infant school and junior school that was split across two sites, a situation that made it very difficult to manage. The infant school was quite attractive, built around a central hall however the space wasn’t used very well and the junior school was in an imposing group teaching spaces. In addition we have a library and ICT suite.

We have a specialist art room. We also have a speech and language centre with specially designed acoustics. We do not have a dedicated gym; we have freestanding gym equipment for use in the hall. I wanted a performance space for the children and in my experience, built in gym equipment is not used very much.

Edwardian building. Ark Brunel is now an innovative three storey primary school with an high level of interconnectedness which has been achieved by flipping the building onto its side and linking the floors vertically as well as horizontally. By designing a three storey building, Penoyre & Prasad was also able to free up space for play areas and three residential schemes which helped fund the redevelopment of the school.

involved. With the changes of government and the credit crunch there was a lot of concern about where the money would come from, especially when the Building Schools for the Future programme was axed.

At that time we didn’t know if the money to pay for the build would still exist and things went on hold for a year. There was also talk at one time that we were going to be a joint project with the redevelopment of nearby St Mary’s School.

Education Magazine (EM) When was the decision made to go from two buildings to one building? What was the decision process like, where did the rebuild capital come from and how much land was sold off?

In the end some of the funding came from the Primary Capital Fund, the rest from the council and the balance from the sale of land. The last of these is a contentious topic, however one of the rules in place was that there would be no overall loss of play space for the children to run about in.

Dominic Smith (DS) That was a Kensington and Chelsea council decision and it was also financed by them. They are a wealthy local authority and have invested a lot in education. They’re rebuilding a lot of schools in this area. Due to the cost of land in this area they try sell off some of the land if they are able to as this helps fund much of the new build, something a lot of other local authorities would not be able to do.

In 2008 the council had gone through a lot of the visioning work as part of the tendering process. Penyore & Prasad had just been appointed architects when I became

EM What are the school’s new facilities and environment like?

DS We have a split hall, a main hall and a studio with a partition that can be opened up for larger events. There’s a kitchen on site that has full Halal and non Halal separation.

Traditionally, just over 50% of our kids have been Muslim. We have 15 full sized classrooms, enough for two classes in each year group and we also have one nursery classroom. We have a number of group teaching spaces, two of which are large 12

There is extensive use of wood as I believe a natural environment is really important.

I don’t see why primary schools should be in primary colours. Equally I don’t think they should look like Tate Modern with lots of white and everything exposed. The wood helps it become a calm and nurturing environment; the carpet also helps with that. However it has been nicely balanced, the natural feel is important for many kids who have come from homes that are very cramped. It is quite a grown up building; but it is a very warm building, something I’m very pleased with.

EM Did you have much input into the finish?

DS Yes, I did, though more so in the early days of the design. One of the reasons I took on this job in 2009 was to be part of this rebuild project. Kensington and Chelsea informed me that I was the ‘end user’ and also that in the past they have had their fingers burned when the end users had control, notably at the Holland Park School where costs rocketed because the staff had a lot of say in it. I did get frustrated at times when some important decisions were made without my input. However we were in the very early stages of the project when the school went into underachieving category and so my focus was very much on teaching and learning, so the buildings finish had to take a back seat.

EM What about the parents’ opinions and Education Magazine

has there been a noticeable change in the children’s behaviour?

DS We involved the parents from the time the building was opened and gave them an early opportunity to see it. They feel it is a lovely place for their children to be because the new building feels special and we noticed a change in the behaviour of the children very early on. They were calmer and supervision is much easier as there are good lines of sight. I’ve definitely noticed a direct impact of the building on good behaviour.

A building in and of itself is not going to teach children to read, write and add up. But in terms of the way they walk around the school and their self-esteem, you notice the building definitely has an impact on them EM The PR description for this building says the ‘building is on its side’. What does this mean? continues overleaf u Established back in 1966, Herok educational furniture makers have developed a first class reputation within the educational and library furniture industry for combining quality with unbeatable value.

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Over the years, we have embraced new technologies as they have been developed and made our manufacturing processes more refined to enable us to drive down production costs and deliver savings to our customers.

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Call us on 01992 462943 www.herok.com or info@herok.com Education Magazine

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Ark Brunel continued

DS This is to do with the way it has been designed in order to make best use of the light throughout the day. In the old buildings we had bright sun in our eyes in the morning and nothing in the afternoon.

Here the classrooms get more consistent light through the day. In practice I don’t know what effect this has, however the environment is superb.

EM What about disabled facilities compared with the old building?

DS In many of Victorian and Edwardian schools, the classrooms themselves were very small. Even though we had lots of space, with four large halls in just one of the buildings it was a real struggle getting 30 eleven year olds into one classroom!

The lift that was more like a dumb waiter and the top floor was completely inaccessible for wheelchair users. The corridor spaces were very tight in all disabled access was inadequate.

However everything in the new build has been designed with disabled access in mind.

The doors and corridors are wide and the lift gives access to every area.

EM What’s the demographic of this area and what was the process and reason for becoming an academy?

DS Most of the kids come from Golborne Ward which is one of the 5% most deprived wards in the country. The push for becoming an academy was the poor Ofsted report.

My specialism has always been helping kids get good results who are in difficult circumstances. We have been quite successful in doing this at Key Stage 2 but our Key Stage 1 pupils had been underperforming for a long time. After the changes made by to their inspection framework Ofsted stated that we came out as Inadequate. The inspectors felt they didn’t see enough good and outstanding teaching to turn around results over a reasonable period of time.

We were very lucky that the sponsor that was found for us was Ark. Their values are very strong, and are the values I share.

One of which is better life chances for kids in deprived areas. That’s a major reason why I chose to stay on as Head while going through the conversion from local authority to an academy school.

EM Are the kids better off for the Ark Academy group taking over?

DS They are. However academies are not a silver bullet, they don’t exist in education!

Supporting the staff to do better has made more of a difference. Whether a school is an academy or not bears little on how a school performs in my opinion. The reason that only 15% of primary schools are academies however most secondaries are is due to economies of scale. We are lucky to be a member of one of the more successful academy chains. For Ark it is less about getting rid of underperforming teachers or managers, it is more about the amount of

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money that Ark have to invest in training and development, they are a charity too so not some money making venture! Ark are very positive people and it is great working with positive people rather than people who are looking for faults. Ark’s monitoring visits are constructive, and are not there to highlight faults but how to get better.

EM What about the Ofsted inspections now Ark are involved? What difference has the new building made to the results?

DS The poor Ofsted report part of our history is now over. When we moved into category we knew that the results would improve and our subsequent results were very strong. We had a good Ofsted in June last year, and are due another now. I am confident that we will be at least ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’.

What improves results for youngsters is good teaching. That’s the same in a building that’s falling down or you’re in one that’s two hundred years old. All the other things; such as how the staff feel and keeping good teachers; all of those intangible issues that are difficult to put down to one thing are helped by a great working environment. I think working in a great environment such as this certainly makes a difference. It affects everything, for instance our staff turnover isn’t very high. Our teachers find it a good working environment and if you want have good teachers you need to invest in and so keep good teachers. This building supports us in doing that which in turn supports achievement. But it hasn’t particularly helped us with recruitment; however that’s an issue across the board. Our results were improving in the old building and we would have continued to work to improve the results where ever we were. This building has supported us in improving results so it has made improving outcomes for the children easier. It also supports us with getting pupils into school as they like coming here.

EM Thank you for talking to Education Magazine.

Education Magazine

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Reducing food waste Food waste ranks high on the agenda in the Education Sector, alongside competing priorities such as energy efficiency and food provenance, as an urgent sustainability issue. There are number of strong incentives to address this pressing concern including environmental considerations, regulatory requirements and financial implications and even because of the demand for change from students.

Julie Barker, Chair of The University Caterers Organisation (TUCO), highlights the steps that can be taken to reduce unnecessary waste for Education Magazine readers.

“As a population, we are facing real environmental challenges. We cannot ignore the threat of climate change and the implications which affect us– we all have responsibilities to address these urgently.

“Food waste is one of the biggest problems the Foodservice Sector has to tackle.

Every year, the Education Sector alone -

encompassing nurseries, schools, colleges and universities - produces 123,000 tonnes of food waste at a staggering cost of £250m per year, and as 75% of all foodservice waste is avoidable, the question arises of how to challenge and stop this needless sustainability crisis altogether ?

“Few catering managers know exactly how much waste they actually create. Just half of education caterers measure the amount of food waste which is generated. Analysing where food waste is coming from provides an objective overview, enabling managers to see how severe the situation is and where there is room for improvements to be implemented. It’s not rocket science and yes, where appropriate, technologies can be invested in to monitor food waste data, however, it can be just as effective to use a bucket and a set of scales in order to target the key waste ‘hot spots’. What may be perceived as a time consuming activity can potentially end up contributing to a huge amount of savings. Map out costs, target the low-hanging fruit and don’t let upfront costs obscure longer-term savings.

their plates and also raise awareness of how much food students actually need to be full.

Different sized plates and bowls can help achieve this compromise on portion size.

“One site has harnessed this simply by letting students know that they don’t need to overload their plates and instead, can return for more. This has seen food waste reduced from 25-30kg per night to 10-15kg – highlighting that communication is the key.

“It is important to realise that the majority of students want to do the right thing, as bad habits are often the result of a lack of awareness, rather than absence of responsibility.

“However, it does not stop with the students. Although 95% of staff reportedly engage with food waste concerns , staff need to be fully educated on the associated issues and solutions. To address this there are training courses available to help develop and improve staff knowledge and

“Change begins with staff and student engagement. And with 88% of catering managers reporting student engagement as a major challenge, this is overwhelmingly the greatest challenge when it comes to influencing a change in behaviour . It is crucial to communicate with students about food waste. Talking, incentivising, and even shocking them with the consequences of inattentive actions can be effective and increase the success rate of waste reduction.

“Considering research shows that 48% of students don’t clear their plate and yet 100% of student respondents agreed it is important to reduce food waste, portion sizes need to be reassessed. However, students may be less than pleased to receive a smaller portion on their plates than before - and for the same price. Perhaps negotiating on prices regarding the portion size is one way to influence students to fill up less of 16

Education Magazine

subsequently the catering operation, school, college or university as a whole.

“Introducing a competitive ‘game’ element, perhaps with prizes for whichever venue’s staff reaches food waste targets fastest or reduces the percentage of food waste per meal the most, can inspire the workforce to really push for and drive waste reduction over the site, whilst also creating ‘teamspirit’ and morale. Engaging staff and increasing motivation creates a ‘double effect’ when it comes to helping reduce food waste, as this amplified enthusiasm will filter down to the students as well.

And considering that 74% of foodservice operators want regulation , therefore there needs to be a drive from every Foodservice Sector in Education and Casual Dining Industries – every operation counts in taking the message to legislators.

“Legislation may be a long time coming, but in the meantime, there are various voluntary agreements, such as WRAP’s Courtauld 2025

“Better menu planning is far from easy, but it does however, remain a massive opportunity to cut down on food waste.

Monitoring the dishes which generate the most food waste can lead to alterations of portion size or a reassessment of the dish’s ingredients. ‘Specials’ can also be introduced daily, in order to use up any ingredients left over from the previous day’s meals. Don’t forget the importance of student feedback.

A simple survey can pinpoint where menu planning has missed the mark. Finding out what students really want has been proven to not only increase sales, but also decrease the amount of food waste considerably. One University even found a decrease of waste between 2014 and 2015 as well as a 14% and a 13% increase of food sales by doing just this .

commitment, which schools, colleges and universities can sign up to. This can increase overall motivation and enhance productivity of the reduction of food waste scheme.

“Fears and doubts about the success of initiatives such as these should not hold campuses back from being the best that they can be sustainably, for the future of their students, staff and the world. If it can be thought – it can be done.”

“As it stands, there is no government legislation surrounding food waste.

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Seated for success: Getting the most out of your classroom seating plan Pupils learn best when they work together; they learn how to communicate, express their ideas, play to their strengths and work collaboratively. But trusting pupils to work together without getting distracted means that, all too often, teachers revert back to lecture-style lessons and silent working.

Allie Palmer, a former teacher and now the training and support manager at MINTclass, explains how teachers can use their pupils’ diverse personality traits and attainment levels to facilitate smooth and productive teamwork in their classrooms.

Teachers may dream of their pupils working together harmoniously, listening to each other’s ideas respectfully and taking on an equal share of the work. However, in reality, the brunt of the work is often left to a couple of diligent pupils while the others compete for attention within the group or try to assume the lead role – inevitably resulting in more chaos than good. This is because each and every classroom forms a microcosm of society at large, where numerous different personality types co-exist, sometimes productively and sometimes disruptively.

In almost every workplace, family and friendship group you’ll find a mix of leaders, followers, team players, introverts, extraverts, creators, communicators and so on. Put five natural leaders in one office and the atmosphere will swell with fiery competitiveness; put five introverts at a single dinner table and you’ll find the conversation to be as dry as the house wine.

So each situation needs a healthy mix – and classroom groups are no different. By

using the age-old classroom seating plan in a whole new way, teachers can create productive and harmonious groups by seating complementary personality types near each other.

Picking personalities After the first few weeks of the school year, each pupil’s natural personality traits will begin to surface. Teachers will start to recognise the familiar signs of the quiet yet studious worker, the passionate leader, and the much beloved ‘class clown’. Once they do, they should start using these innate characteristics to their own and, more importantly, to their pupils’ advantage.

Rather than looking solely at attainment levels, or behaviour types, teachers should consider placing students together based on their personalities. Instead of seating three shy and modest pupils in a row, why not seat a more vocal and confident student between them? This may just encourage them to partake in class discussions and help bring out their inner confidence through chatting to them and putting them at ease during class discussions. And, in the same vein, why not seat one of your more studious pupils next to someone whose level of attainment is often inhibited by their tendency to get distracted by those around them?

Opposites attract By encouraging pupils to interact with classmates they may not initially relate to, teachers can open up more opportunities for them. It is human nature to look for the safe familiarity of what we know; children have a habit of forming friendships with others who share their likes, dislikes and personality traits. However, this can discourage them from exploring other ways of being and growing into rounded adults. If, for instance, an introverted pupil only ever works and plays with similarly shy and reserved children, they’ll never gain the confidence to speak out or step beyond their comfort

zone, as this would put them outside of the nature of their group – the thing that binds them together. So, by encouraging them to work closely with more extroverted pupils in the classroom, teachers can help them learn how to communicate with people who think and act differently from themselves – something that will be invaluable to them in later life.

Learning in harmony It is not the place of a teacher to orchestrate friendships within their classroom, this should be organic. However, it is their responsibility to ensure each pupil learns to interact, communicate and work with others confidently and effectively.

In order for pupils to perfect the art of teamwork by learning to express their ideas while listening respectfully to other people’s, teachers should group different yet complementary personality types together so that they can learn from each other, as well as from their lessons.

So, when drafting next term’s seating plan, consider the types of personalities you’re seating together and whether they’ll prove to be a harmonious match within the classroom, or a potential cause of chaos.

Allie Palmer Training and Support Manager for Education, MINTclass Allie joined the MINTclass Education team in December 2014.

Applying her nearly 20 years’ experience as a trainer and former teacher, she makes sure that clients receive the best advice, guidance and support possible. She keeps up to date with education changes, and our schools love her mix of humour and knowledge – she is an invaluable member of the Education team.

About MINTclass In the education sector, the schools’ inspectorate, Ofsted requires all schools to show reports of seating plans, which demonstrate the management of pupils to optimise their learning. When one school, George Abbot in Guildford came to Minted Box to develop a site to quickly and easily manage this requirement, a new business opportunity was realised and the product MINTclass was launched.

For further information ian@mintclass.com.

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Find out what really happened in World War 2 with these original German maps

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Involve your students with the history, geography, map reading and military intrigue that you will find

Discover the mystery in these amazingly detailed maps

Email: rdsayer@outlook.com or Call: 07842 033 346 Education Magazine

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The future of Ambitions Academies Trust Phil Minns started as a teacher in Birmingham and then progressed to Deputy Head in the Black Country. His first full Head Teacher post was a small school in Dorset that was in special measures at the time. By the time he left it had almost doubled its numbers to around 100 and had been taken out of special measures. He was then the Head of two other much larger schools, one of which had SEN provision, and while at the helm this was rated outstanding by Ofsted.

Phil Minns became a National Leader and then completed a year’s secondment to Ofsted.

From there he took the job as a HMI, working across the South West and he refers to this as the second best piece of professional development he ever had. He describes his best CPD as being the head of a school in special measures. His penultimate role change was to become Assistant Director of Children’s Services at Dorset County Council. He has just taken over the role of CEO of the Ambitions Academies Trust.

ensuring the highest quality of education and care possible, to enable staff to develop new and innovative practice and playing a role in the wider system.

Education Magazine How did the Ambitions Academies Trust begin, and what has it developed into?

There are some very big and basic things that children need in school and my background is all about ensuring the basics are in place.

That’s how you sustain improvement in the long term. This isn’t about Christmas tree schools, where from a distance you see lots of attractive baubles yet when you get up close you see nothing in the middle of it. We provide high quality education on a day to day basis and strive to get all our children to do well, rather than looking for quick fixes.

Phil Minns The Trust was founded around a large special school for children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties and has now grown to have six schools. The original school provides alternative support for children as well as those with medical needs and we have a school in a neighbouring authority for younger children with the same range of issues, they both cater for children on the autistic spectrum. We also have nursery, primary and secondary mainstream provision which are all in a similar locale. The Ambitions Academies Trust has a record of turning schools around very rapidly as we have a fundamental moral commitment to the belief that all children deserve the best.

EM As CEO what is your role and why did you want the job?

PM I wanted the job at Ambitions because it genuinely puts the children first and is committed to improving the outcomes for all children. Its policy is to achieve that aim by improving the quality of education, it is not simply about trying to get different children or moving on some of the children it has. The specialist knowledge they have by working with children who have social, emotional and mental health difficulties supports our mainstream schools in delivering education to children who do find learning more difficult.

There aren’t many trusts that have both mainstream and specialist provision and use them to complement each other. We have mainstream schools that have traditionally not been successful and the Trust has been able to turn them around by using the skills of the whole Trust.

I see my role, as CEO, to make it as easy as possible for every child to do well. This means

EM Why did you get the job?

PM I think mostly because my views align very closely with those of the Trust. I have worked with a lot of schools, both as a Head Teacher and as an inspector, and have a track record of delivering improvement and taking people along with me.

EM What are your first tasks and where are you intending to take the Trust?

PM This is only my fourth week in post so I am spending as much time as I can learning about how the Trust operates; getting into the schools, meeting staff, parents and as many children as I can; and also seeing where we sit within the local context. Then I want to build on our success, by building on the specialisms that we have, and ensuring those specialisms go out and provide support to other schools.

From my work in the local authority I know that some schools are not always able to access the support they need; particularly the support for children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. This is a challenge for the whole system at the moment.

EM Your move to Assistant Director of Children’s Services was a bit of a sideways step from a career path in education, why did you make that move?

PM I had been with Ofsted for a couple of years when the Assistant Director post came up. It was a fantastic opportunity to learn about the wider context of children’s services and to understand the challenges faced by our most vulnerable children and their parents.

I believe local authorities play a vital role in the lives of children and young people, and this is not always appreciated or understood.

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Phil Minns (left) replaced Brian Hoper (right) as the new CEO of Ambitions Academies Trust (AAT) and AAT’s chair of trustees, Pat Marchiori (middle)

I missed working in schools and feeling more directly linked to children, which is why I am so pleased to be at Ambitions.

EM Do you intend to bring more schools into the Trust?

PM We have no set idea as to how many schools should be within the Trust and there is not a target. What we want to do is make sure that what we are doing is done as well as possible. There is no doubt that one of the greatest challenges in education is young people with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. We already have a Teaching School within the Trust and provide some of the information we learn in this sphere through it. That’s an area I think we should develop that would support schools that are not part of our Trust.

Unfortunately, there is a pathway for some people, particularly young men, to end up in prison through a life that hasn’t met some of the challenges they have faced. I believe we can improve outcomes for these young people.

EM How do you inspire aspiration into your pupils?

PM The Trust’s name is a big clue. At Ambitions it is all about aspirations, and some of the schools in the trust are in areas where ambitions might be expected to be low. One of the fundamental things that we do to change this is provide children with the skills that they need to access choices, because when people have access to choices they can start to have control. However in order to do that people have to have the basics in place. They need to be able to read, write and turn up on time, as well as be able to talk to people. At the Trust we focus on those basics so that we open up the choices for young people.

EM Brexit. Do you see this affecting the secondary and primary sectors at all?

PM This decision is still very new and I think it is very difficult to say at the moment. Anything that I said would be pure speculation. There would be concerns about anything that would cause cuts and any financial difficulties nationally that impacted on schools. We value the diversity in our community and I would be very sad to see anything upset this.

EM Thank you for talking to Education Magazine.

Education Magazine

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How schools can join together to maximise energy buying power Like many businesses, academies and independent schools need to continually find ways to manage their overheads. Energy can be a large part of a school’s expenditure, especially those that have older buildings, swimming pools and boarding facilities requiring 24-hour heating.

Energy collectives could be the solution – helping time pressed managers to centralise energy procurement and free themselves from the administrative headaches of managing the complexities of energy billing, while reducing costs.

Some independent schools and growing numbers of academies have the advantage of being part of collaborative or sponsorship groups. As a group of organisations, they may already benefit from managing certain costs centrally and could also gain from managing utility contracts centrally.

Academies who need to procure their energy contracts themselves may also find they can get a better deal if they do so as a collective.

The advantages of centralised/collective energy procurement can be realised in four key areas: 1. Buying power The more energy you buy, the better price that can be negotiated - whether participating in fixed or flexible collective energy contracts. This is because:

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Suppliers find it easier to purchase bigger chunks of power in the wholesale market and any cost savings they make may trickle down to the customer.

Combining multiple buyers’ consumption requirements tends to create a less ‘spiky’ purchasing profile, which can reduce risk.

2. Access to flexible contracts Collective purchasing allows smaller organisations to move from fixed price contracts to flexible contracts, which are only usually available to larger buyers. This opens up the opportunity to purchase gas and electricity in ‘chunks’ when wholesale gas and electricity prices are most favourable.

• • •

Schools can adopt a tailored flexible purchasing strategy, irrespective of their individual budget.

By purchasing ‘little and often’ schools can benefit from market dips and avoid costly spikes.

Risk is spread via multiple purchases rather than a single (1-in-365 day) transaction.

• •

Customers benefit from lower risk premiums, passed on from the supplier.

While there is less budget certainty with flexible purchasing, a risk management strategy will set pre-defined risk limits to minimise financial exposure and support decision making.

3. Efficiency • It’s more efficient to centrally renew and manage one gas and electricity contract, which covers all meters across the portfolio.

• Having only one contract negotiation at renewal time will save significant management time and administrative hassle.

• Using centralised expertise to check and analyse metering and billing is preferable to a piecemeal approach, where each organisation is trying to check its own bills and ensure accuracy.

• Although purchasing is centralised, individual schools receive an individual contract and individualised billing and validation.

• Group procurement will allow all participants to benefit from best practice in terms of contract negotiation, efficient energy use and bill checking.

4. Control over costs • Central control will facilitate greater understanding of a school’s consumption patterns and energy costs.

• Comparing your school’s energy use with similar group members can give valuable insights and highlight inefficiencies and areas for savings.

• The administrative burden is removed, freeing up time and stretched resources.

Steps to centralised procurement It may sound obvious, but first step is to be clear whether your school has autonomy to manage its own energy procurement. Some educational organisations will have energy ‘bundled’ together with other services delivered under a PFI (Private Finance Initiative), thereby precluding them from managing their own energy purchasing.

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Those with autonomy should consider the following:

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Other associated establishments and schools that could benefit from centralised/collective purchasing, e.g other schools, nurseries or businesses that could form a consortium.

• A plan to bring the renewal dates of all supply contracts in line, so they can be procured together.

• Who is responsible for the group procurement and ongoing contract management?

• The best procurement strategy, e.g. would a fixed or flexible contract work best?

• How crucial is budget certainty and what is the school’s appetite for risk?

• If opting for fixed style contracts, what period of time do you want to lock in for?

• Research the market and identify suitable suppliers’ products that provide the right balance of cost, flexibility, transparency and support for your needs.

Many businesses already manage and control their energy contracts through collectives and there is no reason why educational establishments should not follow suit.

An energy procurement consultancy or broker can help simplify the task of centralised/collective energy procurement, taking away the need for schools to have their own energy expertise.

Hayley Fothergill is Head of Contracts & Pricing for Inprova Energy, which manages a number of collective energy portfolios on behalf of customers across the UK. Last year, Inprova managed almost 3,000 gas and electricity supply contracts worth nearly £1 billion and worked with 21 different energy suppliers to achieve customer savings totalling £5 million.

Further information visit www.inprovaenergy.com

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Can schools keep pace with the ever changing IT landscape?

By Bill Champness Technology now plays a huge part in all of our lives. It shapes the way we live, learn, work, even interact with others.

While the older generation may sometimes struggle with this concept, for the younger it’s always been a way of life – and always will be. In fact, the likelihood is that it will only intensify.

Schools are also under increasing pressure to provide young people with plentiful opportunities to experience a range of technologies, but under the strain of tight budgets, this can be challenging.

However, with the right research and advice, and a considered plan of how the technology will integrate within a school’s unique environment and way of working, it is possible to achieve an IT learning environment that not only supports learning, but increases student and employee engagement, and may even lead to cost reductions.

technologies. Providing them with the right tools will help to prepare them for jobs that may not even exist yet.

An ever-changing world Technology is changing faster than ever before – and it’s only going to get faster. Speak to any student and they will likely be able to tell you when the latest iPhone or PlayStation is going on sale – and the waiting time between each release seems to get smaller and smaller. In fact, according to Moore’s Law – a principle first identified by Intel cofounder in 1965, the power of computer chips doubles about every 18 months.

On top of that, it is expected that storage doubles every 12 months, and bandwidth every 21 months.

Workforce of the future Most young people are already immersed in technology within the home, and it is up to schools to not only support that learning, but to also lead it. Our schools are growing the next generation of the work force – which will inevitably require IT skills far beyond Word and Excel.

Twenty years ago Steve Jobs said “Everyone should learn how to program a computer, because it teaches you how to think.” Of course, computer coding is already part of curriculum, but this is only the beginning.

The most recent Nobel Prize for physics was awarded for quantum information, the technology that will drive the 21st century.

New quantum computers have the potential to be millions of times faster than even our most powerful supercomputers today. It’s surely only a matter of time before students are not only learning to use, but build, these machines of the future.

They will be the ones developing, maybe even inventing, the next stage of the world’s

All of this means that we will advance roughly the same amount in the next 18 months as we did in the previous thirty years. Pretty staggering, not to mention daunting, when it comes to keeping up with those changes.

Getting the best possible foot on the IT ladder In 2015 annual global spending on educational technology in schools was been valued at £17.5bn (Gartner). In the UK, the spending on technology in schools was £900m. According to British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA), schools had £619m in budgets for ICT, with £95m spent on software and digital content (2015) and the UK has among the highest levels of computer per pupil (1.4 pupils per computer).

While these are not insignificant amounts, IT equipment is usually costly, which means that getting a school’s technology solution right first time is of paramount importance.

According to BESA, in 2015 UK schools had 1.3m desktop computers, 840,000 laptops, and 730,000 tablets. However, 22% of these were “ineffective”. The last thing any school wants is for a substantial part of its budget 24

to sit gathering dust – or be obsolete within months. Not only does this have significant time and cost implications – but also a potential disruptive impact on learning.

For most schools, once an investment has been made in IT equipment it will be some time before this is replaced. However in order to ensure that pupils are not learning how to use obsolete systems, schools need to keep their IT equipment up to date.

So how can schools with limited budgets, and numerous demands on those budgets, ensure their pupils are getting the best possible foot on the IT ladder?

Expert advice The key to doing this without draining the budget is seeking out expert advice.

When deciding a school’s technology infrastructure, it is essential to make sure what you are buying will work in your environment, and support learning in the way you want it to. The right advisor will also help you to find ways to maximise your budget, such as using refurbished hardware rather than buying new, cloud storage, and utilising relevant free apps. They will also provide you with ongoing to support to advise on any training, and resolve any problems should they occur.

People often assume that you need to buy new to obtain the latest technology – but that simply isn’t true. Refurbished machines, done properly, can provide an excellent cost effective alternative, that allows schools to keep pace much better than if they were always buying new stock.

Bill Champness is the Managing Director at Hardware Associates

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Rugby . . on the front foot

Photographs supplied by Pinnacle Photo Agency for Premiership Rugby

disadvantaged children – and I am delighted to see the programme going from strength to strength.”

The programme will have a massive impact on young people, according to Saracens hooker Jamie George.

“I have been really impressed with everything I have heard so far about the ‘On the Front Foot’ programme; I think it can have a massive impact on and off the field,” said George.

“In rugby, you have got to have values as a team in order for you to succeed and that’s then transferable off the field as well. It can have a huge impact on not just your rugby life but your life off the field as well.

Building character, resilience and confidence are crucial for all schoolchildren, qualities being instilled through an innovative new programme from Premiership Rugby and the Department of Education Premiership Rugby’s On The Front Foot programme drew special praise from Minister for Children and Families Edward Timpson MP after a panel met to discuss the positive impact of the project in Parliament.

The rugby-based character education programme was created and delivered by all 12 Premiership Rugby clubs – alongside London Welsh and Bristol Rugby – in primary and secondary schools, funded by the Department of Education.

More than 17,500 children and young people benefitted from the character-building, confidence and social skills learned on the course.

An independent evaluation from the think tank Demos found the programme had delivered ‘statistically significant and positive impacts’ on the character development of young people.

Mr Timpson attended a round-table session in Westminster with members of Premiership Rugby, Demos and the Jubilee Centre of Character and Values, to discuss the results.

The Minister said: “We are determined to spread educational excellence everywhere and promoting positive character traits is at its heart.

One way of doing so is through rugby, which instils resilience and the ability to bounce back from defeat. It’s finding that right vehicle for each child, for those young people where rugby is that vehicle it can be life changing.

Teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship are all taught through classroom-based and practical learning on the programme. Demos, one of the UK’s leading cross party Think Tanks, found increases in performance, character, confidence and improvements in character capabilities related to social skills. It’s finding that trigger which is going to inspire that person to see a different road ahead of them,” the Minister added.

“These types of programme, we need to build on them, demonstrate they work and embed them in as many schools as we can.

I hope this report can grow into something bigger. Clearly we don’t want to see this work wither on the vine, we want it to be a building block to show that rugby is not for the few but for the many and for children it can transform their life chances.

That’s why last year we announced funding to send the best rugby clubs into schools to transform the lives of disaffected and 26

I think it’s hugely important for us as players to try and act as role models in programmes like this. You can instantly see the kids have got a lift from us being there and I think we have a huge role to play in trying to participate in as many programmes as we can just like this.”

And former Wasps player Chris Bell, who is now Head of Off-field Player Development at the club, hopes that rugby can continue to be used through ‘On The Front Foot’ to develop positive values in schools.

He said: “Hopefully this pilot will be taken and rolled out across more clubs, spread the word of rugby and show it can really help people. It’s a great vehicle for stealth learning, you can take the traits from rugby into the classroom or any other job in life and they can be really valuable.

To see the numbers in terms of seven or eight per cent increases on every single character trait that was measured across the secondary school group was fantastic.

It’s great to see the minister being so encouraged and to be so positive about the effects it can have.”

With an existing national team of 150 coaches, bringing a ‘credible voice’, 14 inspirational brands and 600 player role models, Premiership Rugby is well placed to deliver. Together with DfE and the character education community we are ready to help children reach their potential, through On the Front Foot.

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Pioneering partnership nets sports equipment for two Birmingham schools Pupils are set to ace their game after a tennis equipment lending library was launched in a pioneering scheme which has helped transform two Birmingham schools.

A thousand pounds worth of equipment is now available on loan to pupils at Rockwood Academy and Nansen Primary School, both run by CORE Education Trust.

The kit, which they can borrow to use to play tennis in their own time at home or in their local park with their families, was unveiled on June 16th at the two schools during a visit by the Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) President Cathie Sabin.

It comes after the two schools, which sit opposite each other in Naseby Road, Alum Rock, were among just 21 schools across the UK to have been named a School of Tennis in March 2016. The scheme is to be rolled out to 150 schools across the UK by 2018 and has been backed by the LTA. The initiative, by leading charity the Tennis Foundation, aims to radically change the way tennis is delivered in schools – making it more relevant and engaging for children from all backgrounds while also attempting to rid it of its elitist image.

LTA President Cathie Sabin said: “This tennis programme is a true example of the transformative power of sport offering students the opportunity not just to play tennis at school but develop a whole range of life affirming skills.

“The School of Tennis initiative aims to transform how tennis is delivered in schools.

At Rockwood Academy and Nansen Primary they are using the programme to broaden the horizons of their students and to provide access to a range of experiences beyond their local community.

“The tennis programme will also enable the students to gain access to and expertise in tennis and offer a range of leadership and enrichment opportunities for students. I was thrilled to be able to visit both schools to see the programme in action.”

Under the scheme, teachers have been trained to be tennis coaches while a REBO tennis wall has been installed at Rockwood Academy and pupils have become tennis ambassadors.

Adrian Packer, CEO at CORE Education Trust, said: “We were absolutely delighted to have received a visit from Cathie Sabin to show her how committed and passionate we are about giving our pupils access to tennis.

“I don’t want our students to have the misconception that tennis is an elitist sport that is only available to a privileged few.

In April, education watchdog Ofsted credited this partnership with the Tennis Foundation and the LTA as being among the “pioneering” work which has helped to remove Rockwood Academy and Nansen Primary from special measures.

“The Tennis Foundation is bold and uncompromising in its aspiration to make tennis accessible to young people from all backgrounds and we are proud to support its important work to broaden and strengthen tennis participation in schools.

Both schools have now been deemed by Ofsted as ‘good’ - the best rating Nansen has achieved in its entire 90-year history.

“We are equally proud that this partnership has helped us on our journey of improvement, which has seen both schools

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being removed from special measures and rated ‘good’ by Ofsted – an incredible turnaround in such as short space of time.”

Fuzel Choudhury, Principal of Rockwood Academy, said: “We are always striving to give our pupils the very best education across the curriculum.

“Being a School of Tennis opens so many doors to pupils who may otherwise not have experienced or have had access to the sport.

“The new equipment will make a real difference and will undoubtedly help them to grow both in terms of their abilities and their sense of pride.”

Nansen Primary School’s Head Teacher Cath Rindl said: “We were thrilled to have been rated ‘good’ by Ofsted and we are thankful for all partners who are working with us to help improve the prospects of the communities we serve.

“At Nansen, while we always aim for academic excellence, we also work hard to develop our pupils holistically.

“Music, arts, sports and cultural opportunities are so important in helping them to become rounded and confident young people.”

The equipment is being loaned to the Trust in association with Surrey-based Qualco, a leading provider of panel and asset management software and analytics.

Christian Jacob, Managing Director at Qualco, said: “We are delighted to have been involved in this worthy cause.

“It has been great fun to go into the schools and meet the students who will benefit from the new lending library.

“We hope that the local community is inspired to play more tennis more often.”

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Let the adventure begin with Setter Play Equipment Reply No.

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Contact us to see how we can help you choose your new playground equipment.

Call:

01462 817538

Email:

info@setterplay.co.uk

www.setterplay.co.uk • www.settershelters.co.uk I N N O VAT I V E P L AY G R O U N D S • D I S T I N C T I V E C A N O P I E S • P R A C T I C A L O U T D O O R C L A S S R O O M S

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Plan A for Asbestos

demolition (R&D) asbestos survey. Unlike the management survey, this will involve fully intrusive techniques to access, inspect and sample suspected ACMs in all areas that are likely to be disturbed by the works.

Samples will be taken of any suspected ACMs and tested in a laboratory. Indeed, when preparing for intrusive maintenance or refurbishment works, an R&D survey is a legal requirement.

By Paul Phillips Planning is essential for the safe and smooth running of your school’s asbestos management systems.

With as many as three quarters of schools and further/higher education establishments having some Asbestos Containing Materials (ACMs) in their building portfolio, it is not surprising that organisations are taking their responsibilities to manage it seriously.

Many school buildings date from periods when asbestos was widely used in construction, prior to the total banning of the material as a building product in 1999, meaning that most schools in the UK will have a requirement for an asbestos management plan and the day-to-day responsibilities that such a plan entails.

Current Government advice states that asbestos only becomes hazardous to health when the fibres become airborne and that if ACMs are left in good condition and undisturbed they can be relatively safe. It is therefore the responsibility of the “employer” or duty holder to ensure that any ACMs remain in a safe condition and that work that involves disturbance to the fabric of the building must not be initiated without consultation. In the case of Academies and Free Schools the employer is understood to be the school governors, for Independent Schools it may be the proprietor, governors or trustees.

quantities and conditions of all ACMs in the school’s fabric, an emergency plan of action in case of uncontrolled release of asbestos fibres and documented responsibilities for key persons.

The asbestos register is based on information gathered during an asbestos management survey. This should be conducted by a UKASaccredited consultancy which will inspect all accessible internal and external areas which may be accessed by staff, pupils, parents, visitors and maintenance personnel. The survey will include a visual inspection of all floors, cladding, partitions, panels, walls and doors, ceilings, fanlights, soffits and pipe runs, as well as windows, sills and sashes, back panels to radiators, stair nosing, toilet cisterns and sinks. An appropriate number of samples will be taken in areas of interest, in particular where there is a likelihood of repeat materials on other floors.

Photographs in the report will identify the sample reference and location.

Key responsibilities for the duty holder can be summed up as follows:

• Conduct a management survey of ACMs in your school

• Assess the risks associated with these ACMs

• Devise a plan for managing asbestos in your school

• Make sure staff and visitors know the risks and the precautions they should take

• Keep the management of asbestos in your school under review

An asbestos management plan (AMP) monitors all ACMs on a continuous basis. In 2013/2014 HSE inspections of 153 non-local authority schools resulted in 44 schools being sent written advice on improving their asbestos management. Twenty of the 44 were issued with improvement notices: eight had no management plan; eight had inadequate assessments; two had failed to manage the risks and two had inadequate training and information for employees.

An adequate plan should contain a comprehensive inventory of the locations,

Based on this information, the consultant will prepare the asbestos register, a table of all suspected ACMs that includes their location, estimated quantity, condition and a recommendation for action i.e. how the materials should be managed. The condition of all ACMs should be re-inspected by a consultant on an annual basis at least. It is, however, a common misconception that the data in the asbestos register can be used to inform and instruct maintenance staff or your refurbishment contractor. While the management survey will involve some sampling, it is not fully intrusive and is likely to include some “exclusions”, i.e. locations that the surveyor was unable to access, such as high areas, external materials, void spaces etc.

To prevent asbestos from becoming a safety issue during a refurbishment project you should commission a refurbishment and 30

The recent case of an Academy school in Essex being fined for the poorly planned refurbishment project of an old boiler room has resulted in coverage by the national press. The failure to commission an R&D survey resulted in a £26,000 fine plus £20,000 costs. It was revealed that basic measures to share information on the potential whereabouts of asbestos containing materials (ACMs) with relevant staff, in this case the school caretakers, were not in place, leading to the innocent disturbance of the fabric of the building and inadequate control measures.

HSE Inspector Glyn Davies said after the hearing, “this prosecution should act as a reminder, not just to schools but to all persons in control of the repair and maintenance of non-domestic premises, of the need to ensure that a suitable and sufficient assessment of risk from asbestos is carried out, and that correct control measures are put in place to ensure that exposure to asbestos is prevented, so far as is reasonably practicable.”

Geoff Cox, the Head of HSE’s Public Services Sector, has said: “Schools should not be under any illusion – managing asbestos requires ongoing attention. Schools now have access to a wealth of guidance setting out clear and straightforward steps to achieve and maintain compliance.

Where duty holders fall below acceptable standards, HSE has taken, and will continue to take, enforcement action”.

To minimise the cost and disturbance caused by the R&D survey it is important that you brief your asbestos consultant thoroughly.

Provide them with detailed plans and a full scope of the project so that they can focus their investigation on the areas that are likely to be disturbed by the works. The survey should ideally take place out-of-hours, i.e. evenings, weekends or holidays, and a member of the FM team should be available to accompany the surveyor to provide access to locked rooms/cupboards, plant rooms and void areas as required. Carrying out the survey out-of-hours will also prevent any unnecessary alarm that can occur should pupils/parents see operatives wearing personal and respiratory protective equipment While the Government issues general advice on school asbestos management it also recommends that specialist, technical advice is taken in order to ensure that your asbestos is being properly managed.

Paul Phillips, Global Environmental, www.globalenvironmental.co.uk Education Magazine

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Success or failure: reviewing the computing curriculum Shaun Eason, assistant headteacher and head of ICT at All Saints Catholic School in Dagenham discusses the success of the subject so far and what it will mean for the future generation.

Since the introduction of the new computing curriculum in September 2014, which replaced ICT for all children aged five to 16, teachers have been facing increased pressure and demands, along with feelings of uncertainty and unease. As such, the curriculum change brought with it a need for further training and support to ensure that teachers felt confident in their ability to teach this new subject area.

Tackling the challenges One of the main challenges for most schools like ours was upskilling their workforce. To introduce a completely new and complex subject to the curriculum requires a great deal of investment in terms of time and money. Although to some degree, internal technical staff such as ICT technicians may be able to train up other staff members, it’s more than likely most institutions will have had to bring in expertise from external parties, which comes at a cost. An additional challenge is that training and development needs to be ongoing; as the sector changes so rapidly, teachers are required to keep pace with the sector.

Another widely debated topic brought about by the new curriculum is gender differences, more specifically, how to engage girls in coding. The subject tends to be preferred by boys because it is more in line with their career aspirations. In order to encourage all pupils to have equal passion for coding and programming, it’s important to help them realise the potential for these skills to coincide with a variety of careers. For example, a child that wants to work as a doctor could in later life, go on to specialise in medical research, developing software solutions for the profession and would therefore require computing skills. Pupils may not think coding and programming is relevant to them, but I think they’d be surprised just how widely the knowledge can be applied.

There are certainly things you can do to encourage girls to take an interest in computer science. At open evenings for GCSE options, this is a good time to show the pupils what they could achieve by studying the subject. Perhaps invite women who work in engineering or computing careers to come in and talk to your pupils. Organisations such as The Stemettes also offer training courses for girls who are interested in working in careers that rely on science, technology, engineering or maths qualifications.

In terms of training and professional development, rather than leaving it all to the few INSET days you have a year, continuing professional development (CPD) should be exactly that; continuous. There are some great training courses and free events that you could send your staff along to, including the likes of Bett in London or smaller regional events like ICT for Education. After all, the more you invest in the development

of your staff, the more they’ll bring to teaching and therefore, learning.

Are we succeeding, or failing?

Students and teachers alike have really embraced the subject and have begun to understand its importance in the curriculum.

To some extent, pupils have even surprised themselves by discovering talent and skills they never knew they had. Many are now bringing new ideas and concepts to their teachers, as opposed to the other way around. We’re seeing a powerful shift towards flipped learning in our classrooms, which is really great to see.

In addition, the problem-solving element to the subject is helping students in other curriculum areas too, particularly in maths due to the nature of coding and programming, which is all about solving algorithms. More generally, it teaches children how to take a problem to pieces and put it back together in an effective way, and this computational thinking is widely applicable across education. Whenever a teacher asks a pupil a question in any lesson, they should now be able to respond with an idea of how to go about answering it, rather than saying “I don’t know, what’s the answer?” or “Which book can I read to find out?” This is a huge benefit that has come from teaching computing.

Providing teachers continue to develop their knowledge and understanding of computing and pupils endeavour to engage with it, I fully expect the subject to remain a key part of modern education. It’s a very exciting time to be a teacher in this field and I for one, look forward to seeing what’s in store for the future…

Product showcase Contour acquires Autron Heating brand

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Contour the leading safe surface temperature products manufacturer, has announced that it has acquired the Autron brand.

Established in the 1970s, Autron grew into one of the most respected names in the UK Low Surface Temperature radiators (LST) market. The company gained a strong reputation and has been widely specified throughout the education sector.

Autron developed a range of aluminium plate and copper tube heat emitters for use in its radiators. These emitters produced high outputs very economically and were offered as standard across the Autron LST range.

The Autron brand is widely recognised and carries significant credibility with those specifying for schools and nurseries. Following the acquisition Contour plans to recommence the manufacture and marketing of existing Autron product ranges from its facility in the West Midlands. Enquiries are now welcome for delivery from October onwards.

For further information call +44 (0)1952 290498, mail sales@autron.co.uk or visit www.autron.co.uk.

The Elms school continue to re-equip their laundries with machines from Armstrong The Elms School in Malvern, one of the country’s oldest schools founded in 1614, has been buying its laundry equipment from Armstrong Commercial Laundry Systems for many years. Armstrong have recently installed two Amazon HSF 11kg capacity washers and two Huebsch 16kg tumble dryers, replacing machines that were installed in 2001 and have been in continuous use since then – so they have given good service! Sandra Beard, head of laundry at the school, told us last year,“The laundries seem to be in more or less constant use, I often start them off at 5.30am and they are rarely finished before 6.00pm. And when there are matches the changing rooms laundries are often operating during the evening as well.”

Suzy Brandwood, bursar at The Elms, said, “Our relationship with Armstrong goes back a long way, and they continue to give us excellent service and extremely reliable equipment.”

For further information contact Armstrong Commercial Laundry Systems, Tel: 01635 263410 E: enquiries@armstronglaundry.com Website: www.armstronglaundry.com

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NEWS News News News NEWS News NEWS News

Further education and skills providers falling short in protecting learners from risk of extremism Too many further education colleges and skills providers are leaving their learners at risk of radicalisation and extremism.

The report, ‘How well are further education and skills providers implementing the ‘Prevent’ duty?’, praises general further education colleges and sixth forms for making good progress in implementing the Prevent duty. However, it finds that a worrying number of providers, particularly independent learning providers, small providers and those working in isolation, are struggling to implement the duty.

The government’s Prevent strategy places a legal duty on further education providers to have ‘due regard’ to the risk of learners being drawn into terrorism. This includes preventing extremists from seeking to radicalise learners and supporting those learners perceived to be at risk of extremist influences. Ofsted has responsibility for monitoring how well the duty is being implemented.

Last year, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw commissioned inspectors to undertake a survey to establish how well providers are implementing the Prevent duty. The findings of the 12th July report are informed by visits to 37 further education and skills providers, as well as 46 full inspections or monitoring visits carried out between November 2015 and May 2016. Inspectors also spoke to hundreds of learners, managers, teachers and support staff, as well as provider-designated ‘Prevent’ officers, partners and governors.

Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) reported that too many providers see the Prevent duty as little more than a ‘tick-box exercise’ and do not regard it as an important part of their responsibilities towards learners. In some instances, inspectors saw no effort by providers to implement the requirements of the duty, leaving learners at risk.

Nearly half of providers lacked sufficient safeguards to keep learners safe online, with learners in some cases bypassing security settings to access websites selling firearms or promoting terrorist ideology. These included one isolated instance of a learner viewing a terrorist propaganda video in the provider’s learning resource centre.

Inspectors also found evidence that some providers were failing to undertake adequate background checks on external speakers coming onto campuses to speak to learners. There is also too little effort put into partnership working, with several local authorities failing to support providers, who were unaware of the range of advice and guidance available to them.

Commenting on the findings, Ofsted’s Deputy Director for Further Education and Skills, Paul Joyce, said:

prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

“It is reassuring that over half of the providers visited for this survey were found to be making good progress in implementing the Prevent duty, and are ultimately keeping their learners and local communities safe.

Leaders in the general further education and sixth form colleges we visited should be commended for the quick progress they have made in implementing this new responsibility.

HM Chief Inspector raises concerns about secondary schools

However, it is concerning that in some colleges and providers the progress made in implementing the duty has been slow. It is worrying that inspectors saw examples of poor practice that I’ve no doubt would shock parents and learners alike.

Official statistics published on 29 June 2016 show that of 416 secondary schools inspected between 1 September 2015 and 31 March 2016, just 57% were judged to be good or outstanding.

I am calling on providers, local authorities and the government to take on board Ofsted’s recommendations. We need to work together to ensure that we keep learners safe and protect them from all forms of extremism. Ofsted has made a series of recommendations to those responsible for implementing the Prevent strategy: The government should make sure Prevent duty advice is offered consistently to providers and should better promote the guidance available to them Providers need to make sure appropriate policies and procedures are in place, and develop partnerships with other providers and local authorities to increase the sharing of intelligence Providers should also ensure staff receive appropriate training so they can identify and flag concerns Learners should have a good understanding of British values and the threats that radicalisation and extremism can pose In the next academic year Ofsted will raise further its expectations on providers to implement all aspects of the Prevent duty and will continue to evaluate its impact on keeping learners safe.”

The report, How well are further education and skills providers implementing the ‘Prevent’ duty?, is published online.

Inspectors interviewed approximately 230 managers, 220 teachers and support staff, 79 provider-designated ‘Prevent’ officers, 425 learners, 63 partners and 52 governors.

The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in 34

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has issued another warning about the regional divide in England’s education system after the age of 11.

The figures also show that of the 24 local authority areas where less than 60% of secondary schools were judged good or outstanding at their most recent inspection, 17 are in the north and midlands.

Sir Michael Wilshaw said: “In my annual report at the end of last year, I highlighted serious concerns about the performance of secondary schools in the north and midlands, especially those serving the poorest and most isolated communities.

Unfortunately, the situation hasn’t got any better in the months since. More than 40% of secondary schools inspected by Ofsted over the last 2 terms were not good enough.

As things stand, far too many children are being let down by the system when they reach the age of 11, simply because of where they live. We’re also not doing enough to support the most able children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This puts in jeopardy the government’s ambition for the majority of pupils to study the EBacc subjects at GCSE. The nation should be worried. Our future prosperity depends on this generation of young people receiving a good education.

So it is vital that we raise standards for all children and find lasting solutions to close the regional divide in secondary schools. We must urgently tackle issues around teacher shortages and the quality of leadership, and ensure that the best multi-academy trusts, the best leaders and the best teachers are incentivised to work in the areas where they are needed most.

If these challenges remain unaddressed, I fear we risk wasting the talent and potential of tens of thousands of young people.

Primary schools continue to perform more strongly than secondary schools on a range of measures, with 77% of those inspected during this academic year judged good or outstanding.”

Education Magazine

Top honours go to Badgemaster at The Professional Clothing Show

Badgemaster Manufacturing Manager Scott Warren with Managing Director John Bancroft MBE and Customer Services Advisor Amy Dench receive the Made in the UK award from Olympic Star and TV presenter Sharron Davies

Name badge manufacturer, Badgemaster, scooped three highly commended awards at the Professional Clothing Awards last week; Best IT Innovation and Website, Made in the UK, and Best Manufacturer/Distributer.

Celebrating their achievements, Badgemaster was centre stage receiving the awards from Olympic star and TV presenter Sharron Davies at the glamorous event in London last week.

Co-founder and Managing Director, John Bancroft MBE describes his pride and delight at the achievements of their 100+ team: “To receive these awards is a great honour – for our team, our clients, and for the local community in Nottinghamshire. To be globally recognised for our achievements is one of the great landmarks in our journey to deliver unparalleled products and service for our customers.”

Award 1. Best IT Innovation and Website Badgemaster.co.uk launched their new site with many innovative features earlier this year, providing enhanced services to customers to help them access highest quality, personalised badges with the famous Badgemaster price guarantee easily and efficiently.

Bespoke user friendly on-line badge design, helpful product information, expert advice and instant price quotations are part of the

Badgemaster.co.uk experience. Badgemaster customers can now place orders online giving them the fastest, the most accurate and the most economical way that there is to order a name badge. With an average of 50 new enquiries and over 1000 orders a day, the website is a key part of Badgemaster’s customer service, helping 27,000 customers and an estimated 5,000,000 people wearing Badgemaster’s name badges every day.

Award 2. Made in the UK Badgemaster, Europe’s largest name badge manufacturer, had its first factory in a small portacabin in Hucknall, Nottingham.

Twenty-four years later, the state of art purpose built 12,000 square foot facility still resides in nearby Newstead Nottinghamshire today. The company plays an important role in the local community, receiving Governmental recognition for staff training and environmental responsibility; subjects close the hearts of many of Badgemaster’s 100 + employees, who come from the local ex-mining community.

Badgemaster’s focus on British suppliers of the highest calibre has also earned the company the British Standards Institute Accreditations for Quality and Environmental Management.

professionally designed badges within their own premises. It’s unique and innovative design enables customers to have almost all the quality and appearance of a professionally made ready to wear badge with all the economy and convenience of a reusable one.

Its benefits have been widely recognised, with already over 2,000 customers now enjoying the Instabadge benefits. As well as being available from Badgemaster directly, it is also now distributed through corporate clothing companies, catalogue and office stationery suppliers.

Yvette Ashby, the publisher of Professional Clothing Director-e magazine and Director of The Professional Clothing Show and awards, was delighted to see these three important awards go to Badgemaster. “It fills me with pride to see Badgemaster’s great success at our 2016 awards. We had over 400 attendees from all over the World from large global companies, independent organisations and some of the industries rising stars from fashion designers to corporate tailors, who all play a part in ensuring the professional clothing industry remains cutting edge, competitive and customer focused.”

In 2006, Her Majesty the Queen granted Badgemaster the Royal Warrant.

For more information about Badgemaster, call their customer services team on

Award 3. Best Manufacturer/Distributer Badgemaster’s best in class reusable name badge, Instabadge®, was recognised for its quality and customer service benefits.

It enables customers to create bespoke,

email customerservices@ badgemaster.co.uk or visit www.badgemaster.co.uk.

01623 723 112,

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