Education Magazine April 2017 (72)

Edition 2, 2017

East Anglian school children learn tasty way to start a day see p20

University of Huddersfield to pioneer ‘name-blind’ application process for UCAS to eliminate ethnic bias, see p10 New perspectives on similar challenges: music education in Australia, see p12 How robots could replace teachers but probably won’t… quite, see p16

Put your own mask on first... see p18 Education - the world’s global language, see p24 How can energy efficient lighting free up capital for cash-strapped schools? see p26

Developing resilience and mental toughness to boost student performance and well-being, see p28 Girl power: why aren’t more females taking on apprenticeships? see p30 Could your school play a vital part in 2017 automated gate safety campaign? see p32

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

Education Magazine Edition 72

Publisher Steve Mitchell

Annual Subscription £10

Production Editor Richard Shrubb

Free to Heads and School Financial Directors

Circulation research Mary Reale

Advertising Sales Team: Tracy Johnson, Martin Petty,

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

News

10

University of Huddersfield to pioneer ‘nameblind’ application process for UCAS to eliminate ethnic bias

12

New perspectives on similar challenges: music education in Australia

16 How robots could replace teachers but probably won’t… quite

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 Put your own mask on first...

20 East Anglian school children learn tasty way to start a day

24 Education - the

world’s global language

26 How can

28

Developing resilience and mental toughness to boost student performance and well-being

30 Girl power: why

aren’t more females taking on apprenticeships?

32

Could your school play a vital part in 2017 automated gate safety campaign?

energy efficient lighting free up capital for cash-strapped schools?

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

Institute for Apprenticeships to ensure quality skills training The institute supports the government’s commitment to invest in home grown-skills.

The new Institute for Apprenticeships started its first official working day on 3 April 2017.

Independent from government, the institute, which is to be chaired by Antony Jenkins, has been launched to ensure that all apprenticeships are top quality and deliver the skills that employers need. It will further support the government’s commitment to deliver 3 million quality apprenticeships by 2020.

High-quality apprenticeships are an important part of the government’s Plan for Britain and the institute marks an important milestone in working with businesses to invest in the home grown-skills our country needs.

To ensure employers are at the heart of every decision, the institute has appointed leading figures in the business world to sit on its board. This will ensure that employers’ needs are being met and they have the opportunity to review and challenge apprenticeship standards and how apprenticeships are assessed.

Skills and Apprenticeships Minister Robert Halfon said: “I am delighted that today marks the first working day of the Institute for Apprenticeships. This is a key part of the jigsaw that will ensure employers get the skills their workforce needs.

With the apprenticeship levy coming into force later this week, we are truly working together with business to invest in homegrown skills and ensuring people of all ages and all backgrounds get their foot on the ladder of opportunity.”

Chair of the Institute for Apprenticeships Antony Jenkins said: “The institute is now formally up and running.

As an employer-led organisation we will be well informed and responsive to the evolving skills that they need to succeed and that our apprentices need to fulfil their potential.

The institute launches ahead of the apprenticeship levy coming into force on 6 April 2017. The levy will double the annual investment in apprenticeships to £2.5 billion by 2019 to 2020. This will ensure that every person, regardless of their background, gets the chance they deserve to succeed.”

Latest figures show that there is currently the highest numbers of apprenticeships on record with 900,000 apprentices last year

alone. 90% of apprentices get employment or progress to additional education.

Government to consult on reforms to primary assessment system Proposals to create a long-term, stable and proportionate system for assessing children at primary school have been announced on by Education Secretary Justine Greening.

The plans are aimed at helping give children the skills and knowledge they need to succeed while reducing the burden on teachers and schools.

A consultation will seek views on a number of proposals, including the best way to measure schools on the progress children make during their primary education.

This move follows an announcement made by the Education Secretary in October last year, which set out an ambition for a primary assessment system that supports each child in reaching their potential and reducing burdens for teachers while continuing to hold schools to account in a fair way. The government has engaged teaching unions on the proposals, which are out for consultation for 12 weeks.

Education Secretary Justine Greening said: “The government has reformed the primary school system to make sure children can master the basics of literacy and numeracy so they get the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in later life.

Now we want to build on that by developing a stable assessment system that helps children learn, while freeing up teachers to do what they do best - supporting children to fulfil their potential.”

Russell Hobby, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “This consultation is the result of months of detailed talks with the Department for Education. We appreciate the engagement of the Secretary of State with the concerns of school leaders.

The government has listened to many of the principles and recommendations contained in NAHT’s independent Assessment Review Group Report. There’s more to be accomplished but we’ve made good progress from where we were a year ago.”

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The consultation proposes: Improvements to the early years foundation stage profile - consulting on how to make improvements and reduce burdens to the existing assessments on children’s readiness to start school at the end of their early education Bringing forward the starting point for school progress measures during primary education - through the introduction of a new teachermediated assessment in reception, developed with the profession, to ensure schools are measured on how they support every child throughout primary school Reviewing the statutory status of key stage 1 (KS1) assessment - to reduce the burden of statutory assessment for teachers and pupils, the government will consult on making assessments at the end of KS1 - both teacher assessment frameworks and national curriculum tests - in English reading, English writing, mathematics and science non-statutory once the new assessment in reception is fully established.

Under these proposals, schools will still be provided with test materials at KS1 to help them benchmark their pupils and inform parents. The government would continue to ensure academic standards remain high by sampling from schools that administered the tests.

Reducing the burdens of teacher assessment - reducing the burdens on teachers by removing the requirement to submit teacher assessments where the assessment is not used in the accountability of schools. The government is also considering whether there should be greater flexibility for teachers to use their judgement to assess pupils’ ability in writing.

The government has also launched a parallel consultation on the recommendations of the independent Rochford Review, to look at how the school assessment system successfully tracks the progress of children of all abilities.

These proposals will ensure there is a suitable level of assessment for children working below the standard of the national curriculum tests. This is a diverse group of children - a high proportion have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), some are from disadvantaged backgrounds and some have English as an additional language.

The consultation seeks to find a solution which supports these children to progress on to the mainstream forms of assessment during primary school, if and when they are ready. This will ensure no child is left behind. Schools will then be recognised for the progress they make with all their pupils, regardless of whether they are high, middle or low attainers, and ensuring a child’s background does not hold them back from fulfilling their potential.

Education Magazine

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Government launches company to create more free schools A new public property company has been set up to purchase and develop sites to help create 500 new free schools.

LocatED has been established to acquire land and buildings across the country to help the government build 500 new free schools by 2020 and create 600,000 new school places by 2021.

Free schools are providing more good school places in more parts of the country. Recent analysis of Ofsted inspections shows 29% of free school inspected have been rated ‘outstanding’ – which means as a proportion free schools are the highest-performing group of non-selective state schools.

More than 9 in 10 free schools have been approved in areas where a need for more school places has already been identified, and the remainder have been created by local communities deciding they wanted more choice. Free schools are ensuring more parents have access to a good local school place for their children.

LocatED will act on behalf of the government to secure the right sites, at the right price, to ensure hundreds more free schools can open.

Schools Systems Minister Lord Nash said: “Part of the government’s plan for Britain is building a fairer society, with a good school place for every child. Free schools are playing a vital role in creating those school places. They are popular with parents, ensuring thousands more families have the choice of a good local school.

We need to secure hundreds of new free schools in order to keep pace in creating 600,000 new school places by 2021. LocatED has the skills and expertise to find and secure land and buildings to ensure our free schools ambition becomes a reality.

With 29% of free schools inspected rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted - LocatED will play a vital role in helping us create thousands more good and outstanding school places for future generations of children.”

LocatED’s Chief Executive Lara Newman MBE said: “We understand the scale of the challenge and the property landscape. LocatED has the expertise and will operate at pace to negotiate with multiple partners across the private and public sector. We work directly with landowners, agents and developers to secure sites for new free schools, whilst ensuring the best value for the taxpayer.”

Chief Executive of the Education Funding Agency Peter Lauener said: “LocatED will improve the experience for free school trusts, for many of whom finding a site is the main challenge to opening a school. The establishment of LocatED places this challenge in the hands of a specialist team of commercial property professionals.

LocatED is a government-owned property company and will operate with a £2 billion budget, making it one of largest purchasers of land in the UK. Working directly with landowners, agents and developers across Britain, LocatED has been established to help overcome some of the challenges of securing sites and land for new free schools.”

£2.4 billion funding boost for England’s schools Investment will help create 600,000 extra school places, as well as improve or expand thousands of school buildings.

Thousands of schools across England are to benefit from a £2.4 billion cash injection, Education Secretary Justine Greening announced on 3rd April 2017.

It comes as new government figures show that almost 735,000 additional school places have been created since 2010 - with 92% of new primary places and 89% of new secondary places created in schools rated as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted in 2015 to 2016.

Local councils say they need to create over 230,000 primary and secondary school places nationally between 2017 and 2020.

The funding announced today will provide a further boost to the government’s drive to help create over 600,000 extra places by 2021, which will generate additional capacity to meet local demand.

Schools, local authorities and academy trusts will also receive a share of £1.4 billion to invest in upgrading or improving their school buildings. As part of this, academies and sixth-form colleges throughout the country, will receive a total of £466 million to pay for almost 1,500 vital school building work projects.

As part of its Plan for Britain, the government wants every child to have access to a ‘good’ school place, giving them the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the future.

Alongside this multi-billion pound investment, the government is considering wider proposals to ensure school standards continue to rise by creating more ‘good’ places in every part of the country.

These proposals include lifting the ban on new grammar schools - on the strict condition they improve the education 6

of other pupils in the system - as well as harnessing the expertise and resources of our universities, and our independent and faith schools.

Education Secretary Justine Greening said: “Our Plan for Britain is to build a fairer society, with a good school place available for every child.

This £2.4 billion investment, together with our proposals to create more good school places, will help ensure every young person has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

The £2.4 billion allocated is part of more than £24 billion the government has committed to investing in the school estate between 2015 to 2021.”

New report with practical advice for teachers on pupil behaviour Tom Bennett’s independent review providing practical guidance to teachers on how to tackle bad behaviour in classrooms was published on 24 March 2017.

Teacher and behaviour expert Tom Bennett spent several months meeting classroom teachers and leaders from a variety of schools to identify successful strategies used to tackle disruptive behaviour.

His report ‘Creating a culture: how school leaders can optimise behaviour’ concludes that while there is no ‘silver bullet’, there are a variety of strategies that can be used to tackle poor behaviour.

It also highlights that although standards of behaviour can be a challenge for schools, leadership is key to creating the right culture to tackle this issue.

Tom Bennett said: “How well students behave in school is crucial to how far they succeed, socially and academically. There are many tremendous schools doing a superb job, and some schools that could improve a great deal.

I spoke to leaders of coastal schools, innercity schools, rural, primary, secondary, alternative provision and asked them what they did. Every school has different circumstances and challenges, but we found that some themes were almost universal: clear routines, robustly administered, high expectations and a focus on building a strong sense of identity and good relationships where children feel they belong, are safe, and are expected to do their best. That’s why I called it ‘creating a continues overleaf 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. Recently, there have been reports of incidents all over the country, including Dulwich1 in London, Dorset2 and Somerset3 in the South, and Leeds4 and Bradford5 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 robbery6, a secure unit abscondee on the loose in Conwy7, a man wielding a gun outside a Cambridge school8 and a shooting outside a Liverpool school9.

All these resulted in schools going into lockdown.

It is essential that accurate information is communicated clearly and quickly throughout the school, no matter whether the situation warrants evacuation or lockdown. Schools must have a working fire alarm fitted by law, but many use the

Education Magazine

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 event 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

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References

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h t t p : / / w w w. b b c . c o. u k / n e w s / u k - e n g l a n d london-34868503 h t t p : / / w w w. b b c . c o. u k / n e w s / u k - e n g l a n d dorset-30534259 http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/education/ school_in_security_lockdown_1_4238794 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27194984 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bradfordwest-yorkshire-33857626 h t t p s : / / w w w. p re s s a n d j o u r n a l . c o. u k / f p / n ew s / scotland/748968/scottish-schools-lockdownfollowing-attempted-armed-robbery/ http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-walesnews/neuadd-manhunt-schools-lockdownllanfairfechan-10107863 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2911904/ Primary-school-forced-lockdown-mystery-gunmanspotted-outside-lunch-break-turns-police-anti-terrorexercise.html http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/anfield-roadshooting-school-lockdown-6889474

NEWS News News News NEWS News NEWS News culture’. Because these things don’t happen by accident.

being taken forward to address the points raised. These include:

“We also need to acknowledge that in some schools, challenges faced are greater than in others, and in these circumstances we need to look at better ways of guaranteeing that provision, skill sets and support are available.

The skills required to improve school behaviour cultures already exist within the ecosystem of schools. The challenge now is for us to collaborate as a community to do so.

•

The Department for Education has welcomed the report and will now use its findings to inform ongoing work to help and support schools to deal with this issue.”

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Edward Timpson MP, Minister for Vulnerable Children and Families, said: “Part of our plan for Britain is building a fairer society – with a good school place for every child. That means children being able to learn in classrooms that are free from disruption.

Tom Bennett’s report is relevant, insightful and draws on tried and tested methods that will provide real help to teachers across the country.

I would encourage all school leaders to use its practical examples to help create a positive environment that addresses the needs of their pupils.”

National Association of Head Teachers General Secretary Russell Hobby said: “The design of a culture to support good behaviour is a central duty of every school leader. It requires clarity, consistency and courage. It is a conscious choice, constantly maintained. Tom’s report distils practical advice from excellent schools, alongside the evidence from research, to help leaders reflect on and develop their own impact.”

John d’Abbro, executive headteacher of New Rush Hall School, said: “This is a refreshingly powerful, down to earth, and practical report, which distils and recognises effective good practice.

Tom makes the key point that continuous professional development in behaviour management is vital for both teachers and senior leaders and more needs to be made available. The case studies exemplify these points and further demonstrate that behaviour is a whole-school issue.”

Alison Colwell, principal of Ebbsfleet Academy, which was visited as part of the review, said: “This fascinating report should be read by every school leader. It rightly emphasises the critical importance of culture, attention to detail and consistent practice, all of which are at the heart of strong and successful school leadership.”

In its response to the report, the government has set out a number of measures that are

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Reforming National Professional Qualifications to equip school leaders with the knowledge and skills they need to deal with bad behaviour. The new qualifications will be delivered from September 2017 encouraging providers to bid for funding from a pot of £75 million from the Teaching and Leadership Innovation Fund to develop and run professional development programmes tackling bad behaviour for leaders in challenging areas Revising our existing advice for schools including the mental health and behaviour guidance to ensure they support teachers and school leaders as best as they possibly can Conducting further research into what works to help young people with behavioural issues, and as such, continue to develop our long-term ambition to give control of alternative provision budgets to mainstream schools, allowing these to commission their own such provision and take responsibility for educational outcomes of their pupils

Several schools are identified in the report as exemplars of good practice. These include: Robert Clack, Dagenham In one of the poorest boroughs of London, children from traditionally underachieving demographics exceed national expectations, and have done so for many years. The school uses practical measures such as wall displays to emphasise achievements, school awards and other opportunities. In this way, a culture of high expectation is in place for all students, regardless of their circumstances.

New Rush Hall, Redbridge The school’s philosophy is that the most vulnerable, the most challenging pupils, need greater support, not less. The school ensures staff receive training throughout their careers to meet the needs of the student body.

Seymour Road Primary, Manchester A school that went from requires improvement to good in just 2 years by developing good relationships with both parents and pupils. They have done this by having an open door policy for parents, a support worker who visits homes, and they have held behaviour training sessions for the parents.

Since 2010 the government has introduced a range of measures to give teachers more powers to tackle poor behaviour. These include:

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Stronger powers to search pupils Removal of the requirement to give parents 24 hours’ written notice of ‘afterschool’ detentions 8

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Clarified teachers’ power to use of reasonable force Updated advice on tough but proportionate sanctions for misbehaviour as well as ensuring schools’ decisions on exclusions can no longer be overruled Ensuring that all teachers are equipped with the skills to tackle both the serious behaviour issues that compromise the safety and wellbeing of pupils, as well as how to deal with low-level disruption that stops children from learning properly

New agency to provide joined-up education and skills funding The new body will carry out the roles of the Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency.

The Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency are to merge to become one body, the Secretary State for Education announced on Tuesday 28 March.

The new, single funding agency - to be called the Education and Skills Funding Agency - will sit within the Department for Education and begin to operate from April 2017.

The new body will continue to carry out the roles of the Education Funding Agency and Skills Funding Agency and will therefore be responsible for effectively and efficiently overseeing:

• • • • •

The funding of education for pupils aged 5 to 16 Education and training for those aged 16 to 19 Apprenticeships and adult education Managing school building programmes Its responsibilities cover these functions in England.

Secretary of State for Education Justine Greening said: Creating the Education and Skills Funding Agency will mean we are able to provide a more joined-up approach to funding and regulation of schools, colleges and other providers, with improved accountability and better service.

We will be working closely with our staff, unions, stakeholders and the education sector to finalise and deliver our plans for the new agency.

Current chief executive of both agencies, Peter Lauener, has announced that he intends to retire following the merger and plans to recruit a successor are under way.

Mr Lauener will carry on as chief executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency until a permanent replacement has been recruited and is in place.

Education Magazine

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University of Huddersfield to pioneer ‘name-blind’ application process for UCAS to eliminate ethnic bias by Professor Tim Thornton, Deputy Vice-Chancellor At Huddersfield, we are confident that our admissions processes are fair and transparent.

They support our status as probably the leading engine of social mobility in the country, as the broad-based mainstream university which is most successful at supporting students from all backgrounds to progress into highly skilled professional careers. That accolade, clearly marked in a survey of admissions and employment data by the Centre Forum think tank (now the Education Policy Institute), is one of which we are very proud, but it is also one which means we are very keen to remain at the leading edge of practice in fair admissions.

Already before 2016 the vast majority of our admissions decisions were made through systems which ensured that we focused ruthlessly and specifically on the ability of a candidate to succeed on our courses, and which discounted bias, whether conscious or unconscious, arising from other factors in an applicant’s profile. In the past year, however, we have taken the opportunity to join with other institutions in the UCAS supported initiative in nameblind admissions. We had the advantage that it was already a characteristic of our systems that decisions were made strictly on the basis of criteria related to academically relevant characteristics present in the applicant’s profile. We were able to develop our systems further to ensure that the applicant’s name and school were not apparent to colleagues making decisions on the significant majority of our

Tim studied at New College, Oxford. In 1997 he was awarded the Royal Historical Society’s David Berry Prize for his work on the Isle of Man; in 1999 he was proxime accessit for the Society’s Alexander Prize for an essay on the palatinate of Durham. He was the first scholar based in a new University to win one of the Society’s prizes.

Appointed Head of the Department of History, English, Languages and Media in 2003, Tim was on secondment as Head of University Centre Barnsley during 2005-6 and became Dean of the School of Music, Humanities Professor Tim Thornton and Media in October 2006. He was appointed Pro Vicechancellor (Teaching and Learning) in October 2008 and then became Deputy Vice-Chancellor in September 2015 Tim works on the late medieval and early modern political and social history of the British Isles, spanning the period c. 1400-1650. He specialises in the nonEnglish territories of the crown. Membership of Professional Organisations Tim is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a principal fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He is also General Editor of the Chetham Society, one of the oldest history publishing societies in Britain, founded in 1843 to publish ‘Remains Historical and Literary connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancashire and Chester’.

He divides his leisure-time between Yorkshire and North West Wales, where his wife, Dr Sue Johns, works at Bangor University, and where he can indulge his love of walking, mountains and coast.

However, the public policy environment was one in which pressure on some institutions in particular, mainly those traditionally recruiting from socially privileged backgrounds, was growing. One of the themes developed in speeches and in print by David Cameron in the latter stages of his premiership was the need to do away with “quiet and subtle discrimination” against BME people and in a 2015 Guardian article he listed “ disappointment of not getting your first choice of university place” as one of the manifestations of this. His concern about disparity in offer rates to white and black applicants led him to ask UCAS to investigate the feasibility of the name-blind approach.

applicants. We could therefore be even more confident that conscious or unconscious bias was being eradicated, and were able to communicate the basis of that confidence to our applicants in a way which was consistently validated by reference to the highly trusted national applications clearing house.

The national context for the initiative is more challenging: studies by UCAS suggested that admissions processes in the sector more generally were not systematically biased. Indeed, Its 2016 report Unconscious Bias found that almost all providers of Higher Education were “very aware of the risks of bias in admissions decision-making, and employ a wide variety of good practice, including having and applying clear admissions criteria, ensuring that more than one person is involved in decision-making, and requiring equality and diversity training”.

In parallel with this, Universities Minister Jo Johnson expressed his concerns over the low proportion of young people from disadvantaged 10

backgrounds – including the BME community - who were entering higher education.

His 2016 guidance to the Director of Fair Access stated that “elite universities” had a particular challenge, with only 6% of young entrants to Russell Group universities being from disadvantaged backgrounds, and only 3% at Oxford. One of the goals of a new Social Mobility Advisory Group would be to achieve David Cameron’s goal of increasing the number of BME students by 20% by 2020.

The sector’s response, and particularly that of the Russell Group, has been largely defensive, pointing to issues earlier in the educational journey of their applicants (and nonapplicants) as the reason for their failure to broaden the demographic base of their institutions. This stand-off might be resolved through a current trend in government policy to Education Magazine

increase the involvement of higher education institutions in schools and colleges, manifest in the structural change of the reintegration of HE within the DfE and reorientation being required of and through OFFA in the widening access agenda.

It seems unlikely that this will be provide comprehensive solutions, however, and there is a strong probability that routes to scrutinise admissions practices, perhaps through the development of the Teaching Excellence Framework, will become more assertive in their character. It is unfortunate that such a large proportion of the sector remains largely reactive on this agenda instead of seeing it as being a core element of institutional mission.

Given the caution expressed in some quarters, it should be emphasised that the name-blind approach did not prevent us continuing and developing our highly personalised communications strategy with each individual applicant. There are important aspects to the development of

Education Magazine

inclusive admissions practice which require institutions to respond to applicants as individuals, including in relation to protected characteristics, but this is not a barrier to excluding non-academically relevant information from the

more difficult to isolate from colleagues’ awareness of contextual information about the applicant which is not academically relevant.

As a professionally focused institution, we have courses which require us to assess

Higher Education were “very aware of the risks of bias in admissions decisionmaking, and employ a wide variety of good practice, including having and applying clear admissions criteria, ensuring that more than one person is involved in decision-making, and requiring equality and diversity training” admissions decision itself. It was possible through our systems’ approach to ensure that personalised communications were seamlessly delivered to applicants affected by the scheme while at the same time ensuring that the decision process was protected from these personalised interactions.

suitability for careers in ways which make the identity of the candidate apparent to the colleagues making the decision: whether this is in Drama or in Education, decisions cannot be made entirely on the basis of depersonalised characteristics analysed from an application form. In these areas it remains paramount that colleagues are aware of

There remain some decisions in applications which are

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the issues with conscious and unconscious bias and constantly scrutinise their practice to ensure it is not exhibiting discriminatory behaviour – but that is something which is common to cultures across the institution in other contexts one students have joined us and their interactions have become inherently more personal and the need for inclusive practice more pressing and unavoidable.

We are proud that Huddersfield students come to us from near and far, from the region and from across the globe, because they are ambitious and talented, and the ones who are successful in obtaining a place do so regardless of their background.

It is something which a visitor can immediately feel when they step on to campus. Name-blind admissions have helped us to strengthen further that sense of confidence in all involved.

1 https://www.gov.uk/government/ news/universities-told-to-reachout-to-students-from-poorestneighbourhoods-under-new-guidance

New perspectives on similar challenges: music education in Australia It’s 9am in Baradine, a tiny town in a remote corner of New South Wales, Australia. Members of the Moorambilla children’s choir, aged between eight and 12 remove sheet music from bags and begin a vocal warm-up tongue twister repeated on each ascending semitone.

Later, at 11am in a modern school building in an outer suburb of Melbourne, 25 Year 8s mooch into their music classroom. They split into small groups and gather around jam hubs. They take up their instruments: electric guitar and bass, keyboard, and electric drumkit, and rehearse a cover of Coldplay’s ‘Paradise’.

At 1pm in a primary school at the foot of the Dandenong Hills in Victoria, a group of pupils are attending music club. They set up a range of tuned percussion instruments. Sue, their teacher, gives them a selection of notes, and the children lead themselves through a focused, improvised music session.

By 4pm, at a school in north Melbourne, 15 boisterous eight year-olds descend on the school hall to play rhythm and pitch games, compose a blues song and play ‘Open String Hoedown’ on their violins, violas and ‘cellos. They’re part of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Pizzicato Effect strings programme.

The landscape of Australian music education appears deceptively similar to that of the UK: upon walking into a typical state high school, you’ll see a music room or two, a selection of instruments, and, perhaps, a poster for an upcoming concert. Browse the website of one of Australia’s world-class orchestras, and, as with a UK-based orchestra, you’ll find a comprehensive section on education, detailing workshops, courses, and links with schools and communities. Dig a little deeper, however, and it’s clear that the scaffolding and history that has led to this point in differs significantly to that of the UK’s relationship with music education.

In August and September 2016, thanks to the award of a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust travelling fellowship, I travelled to the Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria to compare and contrast with the UK Australian approaches to music education.

Having taught music for six years in both secondary and primary schools, I was looking for some new but transferable ideas and approaches to music curriculum, as well as differing perspectives on the challenges in music education provision.

Australian Curriculum: some context

What can we learn from Australian music provision?

Similar to the differing curriculums of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, Australian school curriculum and funding organisation and provision vary from state to state. However, generally curriculum content has developed much more organically and with less prescription than in the UK (although many teachers I met complained that the curriculum was changing in this direction).

It might now appear that I’m painting a bleak picture of the Australian music education scene. However, for the programmes I spent time with, the absence of these assumptions and preconceptions about the shape of music education gave autonomy to music educators that UK teachers often struggle to find. While popular and academic debates rage about the nature of music provision, Australian music educators are able to get on with simply teaching music in a manner that fits their contexts. This means that the picture is more varied than the UK, but, where opportunities are happening, they are having considerable impact.

Where in England, although the 2014 curriculum removed much of the prescription from music, what remains statutory is a requirement that up to the end of Key Stage Three, pupils receive a broad and balanced music education introducing them to a breadth of classical, popular and non-Western music, notations and music technology taught through organic opportunities to listen and appraise, compose and perform. In Australia, curriculum varies from state to state; however, only Queensland makes music a compulsory subject. In states such as Victoria and New South Wales, music is counted as one of several subjects within a performing arts curriculum. While this has guidelines for the validity of music, there’s little prescription in terms of the depth or breadth to which the subject should be taught.

It’s important to note some context for this: Australia is vast, and much of the country is remote and rural. Many schools can struggle to recruit and retain teachers at all; making statutory the teaching of subjects such as music is simply too great a practical challenge. Added to this, as I met teachers and music educationists, I realised there was a prominent absence from our conversations: the existence of music hubs.

We take for granted in the UK the provision of local-level instrumental music-making opportunities. While the slashing of music hub budgets and the end of subsidised or free instrumental lessons is rightly lamented, the fact that their existence is defended is an indicator of how historically important the provision of music education has been.

At Moorambilla Voices in rural New South Wales, some of its members live on farms so remote that their education is provided through Skype. For the choir to function, members are brought together for residential courses. Before seeing Moorambilla at work, my thoughts on letting my school choir learn their music through anything other than painstaking, line-by-line call-and-response were as follows: ‘It would take too much time, it would distract from the primary task of Getting the Performance Ready’. Yet here, where many members’ music education is limited, all are given sheet music, and while they might not be able to read every note, supported to follow through. Michelle would interject singing rehearsals with music theory lessons, contextualising everything within the music the singers were learning.

Meanwhile, in suburban Melbourne, a group of teachers have hit on a strategy for engaging often-disaffected students in music making. Musical Futures Australia, an offshoot of a popular music-making approach to music education developed in the UK, has taken off in both secondary and primary schools. This approach focuses on students working together to develop their skills as rock bands. Schools that have invested in this programme have instruments such as guitars, drumkits and keyboards. continues overleaf u

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Education Magazine

Muso Mirror - Reflective Practice in Action - Helping to Improve Posture, Performance and Well-Being Correct form and posture establishes the foundation for learning and playing an instrument beautifully. Poor form and posture makes an instrument more difficult to play and can also lead to health issues that include severe back and neck pain.

A violinist’s stiff shoulders and arms will detract from a pleasing sound; a singer’s tight neck or jaw will cause their voice to become less resonant.

By enabling musicians to observe their physical movements whilst playing an instrument or singing, a Muso Mirror Quick Start Muso Mirror Professional Muso Mirror Professional Plus mirror will improve the quality of the music. By helping musicians observe undue tension in their bodies the Muso Mirror makes possible a performance which is less tense and rigid and therefore more fluid, lively and enjoyable.

The actor after whom the Alexander technique is named resolved his voice problems by observing himself in a mirror whilst in the act of vocalizing. People use mirrors to practice their speeches in, this is when keen observers will see something that Alexander observed in himself, this being a tendency to tighten the neck as the head gets pulled back and down or poked forwards as they project their voice. This is a movement that puts pressure on the larynx and so restricts the free working of the vocal folds and in extreme cased can cause nodules on their vocal chords. Muso Mirror in not only for helping to build confidence for musical performances but is also used in music therapy sessions for children with autism. As it is portable and also able to attach to a music stand provides multiple, and highly flexible, usage options.

The Muso Mirror provides a portable and cost effective tool that is easily setup for all your students practice sessions whatever the instrument. It helps a pupil establish and maintain good posture whilst building confidence on their instrument.

For more information visit https://www.musomirror.com Email: alphonso@musomirror.co.uk and or call on 07769 222 737

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New perspectives on similar challenges: music education in Australia continued

stepping-stone to the skills displayed at the Pizzicato Effect programme.

What can school leaders do to support music making in their schools?

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Invest: Work with your music teacher to find out what equipment, resources and opportunities are required to give all students positive experiences of music making. Even a small music budget can be effective as long as it’s spent with care.

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Encourage breadth: does your music department have a choir? A band? Opportunities for developing

Where the culture and funds for instrumental lessons are absent, this strategy is working brilliantly for helping students to feel excited about music.

In the primary school, the percussion-based and student-led Orff approach is embedding in students instinctive understanding of musical shape and expression: skills forming the foundation of notation reading. This is a

New HMCI vows to make sure Ofsted is regarded as a force for good.

Amanda Spielman delivered her first speech as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector on 10th March, and announced a new investigation into the curriculum.

Addressing the Association of School & College Leaders (ASCL) annual conference, Amanda Spielman today vowed to use the ‘immense power’ of Ofsted inspections responsibly and intelligently.

She said: “Inspection should not be making your job unnecessarily difficult or laborious.

Or, worse still, actually diverting you from the real task at hand – our children’s education.

I have no interest in using this role to impose my personal prejudices about how you should run your schools, nor will Ofsted on my watch become a vehicle for promoting the latest educational fashion or fad. And I won’t be pushing you to jump through increasingly convoluted hoops, only to change direction a couple of years down the line. My interest is solely in ensuring that every child receives what is their fundamental right: a good education. And not only a good education but the right education for that child.”

Amanda made clear that she won’t shy away from speaking ‘truth to power’ or exposing institutions that are failing to deliver a proper standard of education or care for children.

She continued: “Whether it is pupils struggling to learn, in schools where behaviour just isn’t good enough, young people being exposed to extremist views in illegal schools, or children left vulnerable in our care system, I will be frank about these failings. And, what’s more, I will demand action to tackle them.”

The new Chief Inspector also used her speech to implore school leaders to resist heaping unnecessary workloads onto their teaching

notation skills? A music department doesn’t have to look like one thing, but it should be something that everyone who wants to can get involved in.

staff in the name of Ofsted, or hiring costly consultants to run mock inspections as a dress rehearsal for the real thing.

She continued: “Ofsted inspections should not be a performance that schools spend hours rehearsing. Our inspectors are getting better at evaluating whether what we see on inspection is a true reflection of the everyday life of a school.

And no matter what so-called ‘consultants’ are selling, when school finances are under pressure and workloads are high, running mocksteds is an unacceptable waste of staff time and scarce pupil funding.”

Following last week’s warning from Ofsted’s National Director of Education, Sean Harford, that some schools are entering pupils for nonacademic qualifications that aren’t in their best interests, Amanda repeated concerns that the pressures of accountability are leading some schools to try to ‘game’ the system.

She acknowledged that conflict often exists between a headteacher’s desire to give pupils the right education for their future success, and the desire to improve their school’s position in the league tables.

“We know that there are some schools that are narrowing the curriculum, using qualifications inappropriately, and moving out pupils who would drag down results.

That is nothing short of a scandal. Childhood isn’t deferrable; young people get one opportunity to learn in school; and we owe it to them make sure they all get an education that is broad, rich and deep.”

“There is more to a good education than league tables. Vitally important though a school’s examination results are, we must not allow curricula to be driven just by SATs, GCSEs and A levels. It is the substance of education that ultimately creates and changes life chances, not grade stickers from exams.

So I am determined to make sure that the curriculum receives the proper focus it deserves.”

In light of these concerns, Amanda announced a major Ofsted investigation into how effectively schools - from early years through primary, secondary and further education - are using the curriculum to 14

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Enthusiastically support: for a music culture to develop, those in positions of influence need to validate its existence. Even if you lack the time to get involved personally, take note of music activities happening, encourage those who are involved and champion activities in assemblies and newsletters.

provide children with the best education.

Amanda conceded that the curriculum has not received enough attention during inspections in recent years. To correct this, Ofsted’s study will explore how maintained schools translate the National Curriculum into effective classroom teaching, and how academies design their own curriculum, and what this means for young people’s school experience.

The study will look for examples of the most successful curricula, and also consider what can be done to tackle the problems, such as such as curriculum narrowing. And it will provide insights into important debates about how schools can promote social mobility and make sure that every young person is offered the best possible start to adult life.

Ofsted is currently in the first stages of scoping the investigation. Inspectors will carry out fieldwork over the next few months, before the final report is published later in the year.

The study will not review the national curriculum itself, but rather how schools are implementing it in the classroom.

The full speech is available online.

If you receive a suspicious looking email claiming to be from Ofsted.

Ofsted have announced that : ‘Some people have received spam emails, purportedly sent from an ofsted.gov.uk email account, prompting them to confirm their payment details via PayPal. Please be aware that we will never ask for any fees to be paid to us through PayPal. If you receive a suspicious email like this one, please delete it immediately and take no further action.’

The email says: From: PayPal Payment IRxx.nteD@ ofsted.gov.uk Sent: 14 March 2017 12:55 To: xxx.xxx@hotmail.com Subject: Your subscription payment confirmation “8xxxx4-ZmJ29kF2” Education Magazine

Software tools available as part of the MusicFirst Online Classroom:

Noteflight

Delivering Music At Every Level Schools and colleges across the UK are facing big changes with significant budget cuts, GCSE and A level specifications made “more challenging” and the English Baccalaureate squeezing Arts provision. For both levels two (GCSE) and three (A levels), students now face memory tests that could cover anything the students have studied over the two-year course. Revision and memory skills have to be a part of subject delivery. Music staff notation has been given a higher status, giving an advantage to students learning orchestral instruments.

Some of these skills might not have been covered during Key Stage 3.

As musicians and teachers, we all know the side-effects music study can have on students – better focus, self-discipline, improved brain function/fluency etc. But with less money to spend in schools, the Arts are facing a greater proportion of cuts.

In Music, students need to get familiar with staff notation quickly, in performing, listening and composing contexts. Students need to be armed with relevant vocabulary and use it in the right places in longer

to music, hundreds of lesson resources, and cloud-based music software, the MusicFirst Online Classroom provides a paperless classroom giving teachers more time to deliver music in their school. Students and teachers can use it wherever they can connect to the Internet on PC or Mac – and in most cases on tablets and smartphones.

Tasks can be set as homework using the same software and interface used in the school if required. Differentiation is built

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‘Noteflight’ is a high quality music staff notation writer/reader, featuring a ‘Connect’ section, allowing students and teachers to comment on work.

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Using ‘Auralia’ or ‘Musition’, students can practise both aural and written skills used for the listening exams. This could be set as a daily exercise for home or school.

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‘O-Generator’ teaches students composition and performance skills.

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‘Soundation’ is a multi-track recording studio with built in synthesisers and audio processing tools.

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‘Sight Reading Factory’ generates sight-reading exercises for the performer to play/sing.

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‘PracticeFirst’ displays written music then listens to the performer’s pitch and timing, giving a real-time assessment of their accuracy.

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‘Focus on Sound’ is an interactive dictionary of instruments and terminology, featuring built in teaching, learning and assessment tools – from basic instrument recognition to A level listening and analysis exercises.

With instant feedback, automatic record keeping and personalised learning planning, you will enable more musical learning and better attainment grades for Music in your school.

MusicFirst gives the teacher and the student a set of extremely powerful tools at a very reasonable price point, costing significantly less than you might expect for something of such high quality. You can release your students’ learning from

Focus on Sound

Soundation

written exam answers. With an hour – or less – a week to study music, pressures to prove progress in twenty minutes, literacy and numeracy targets, assessment for learning and other whole-school initiatives, adequate preparation for GCSE Music is difficult, especially as 80%-85% students do not enter the GCSE exam.

MusicFirst is a 21 Century solution to these issues. Combining a powerful classroom management system dedicated st

Education Magazine

into the software. There’s a huge range of topics, each with tests that can be as long or short as you wish. Resources are built in, written by expert Music teachers. Tests automatically mark themselves so effective and exportable data is instantly collated.

You can organise classes or year groups and publish exercises direct to the relevant students. Collaborative ‘Calendar’ and ‘Gradebook’ sections help your music staff stay organised.

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the confines of the classroom and give opportunities for learning that are only possible through high quality, accurately targeted software programs. Turbo-charge your Music department with MusicFirst and watch your students fly…

Contact MusicFirst at info@musicfirst.co.uk or visit www.musicfirst.co.uk for more information.

How robots could replace teachers but probably won’t… quite

By Harold Elletson The Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, gave a speech at Liverpool’s John Moores University last December, which alarmed his audience and caused a storm in the media.

leading conference on technology assisted learning, which is held every year in Berlin, hundreds of international education professionals, analysts and entrepreneurs took part in a debate I chaired on the proposition that “robots could, should and will replace teachers.”

The Governor said that the world was “in the midst of a technological revolution” and it was time we gave the implications of it some proper thought. He claimed that technology was about to destroy jobs “mercilessly” and that as many as 15 million jobs in the United Kingdom could be replaced by automated systems.

Although the motion was defeated on a show of hands after a lively but good natured debate, there was a sense of sudden doubt gnawing at the self-confidence and amour propre of the teaching profession.

This was, in part, no doubt, because of a growing realisation of how far technology has come and how far it has already encroached onto the territory of other professions. Several speakers in the debate pointed out forcefully that it is a mistake to think that education can remain exempt from automation.

“The fundamental challenge,” he said, “is that, alongside its great benefits, every technological revolution mercilessly destroys jobs and livelihoods – and therefore identities – well before the new ones emerge.

“This was true of the eclipse of agriculture and cottage industry by the industrial revolution, the displacement of manufacturing by the service economy and now the hollowing-out of many of those middle-class services jobs through machine learning and global sourcing.”

Carney’s apocalyptic view of the labour market is far from unique. A report in 2016

by Citi and Oxford University estimated that 35% of UK jobs are at risk of being replaced by automation, 47% of jobs in the USA and, across OECD countries as a whole, as many as 57%. And the report’s authors calculated that, in China, 77% of all jobs are at risk from automation.

A recent report by the World Economic Forum also concluded that the rise of robots will already lead to a net loss by 2020 of over 5 million jobs in 15 of the world’s major developed and emerging economies.

However, in spite of these gloomy prognoses and a growing body of evidence that the ‘professions’ are no less at risk than blue collar workers, there has been a widespread refusal to address the issue of automation in the teaching profession. The standard reaction to the notion that robots could replace teachers is one of incredulity.

Yet, last December at OEB Global, Europe’s

“Are we really saying that accountants, lawyers and managers can all be replaced by artificial intelligence but not teachers?” asked Donald Clark, an education technology entrepreneur, who is also a visiting professor at Derby University.

His question is far from being otiose. Robots have already begun their march into the classroom and they are now taking over several important teaching roles.

‘Poppy,’ the world’s first 3D-printed humanoid robot, which was created by a French research team led by Dr Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, has made its way into schools, universities and even dance classes.

Initially a research tool used for studying the role of the body in cognition, the Poppy platform is now being used across a range of educational settings to combine the study of artistic expression with mathematics and programming. In primary schools, Poppy is helping to teach the arts, particularly in dance classes, where it encourages students to think about bodily expression. In high schools, Poppy robots are used to teach mathematics, engineering (3D modelling and digital fabrication), digital culture, computer science and experimentation in artistic contexts. In universities, the robots help with the teaching of computer science, mechanical engineering, electronics and human-robot interaction.

Originally designed as an open-source project, which facilitated reproducibility and cumulative science, Poppy evolved quickly into its new role.

“The platform,” Oudeyer explains, “consists of ‘lego’ bricks of hardware and software for inventing new robots; examples of several different robots, such as Poppy Humanoid 16

and Poppy ErgoJr; a web infrastructure allowing for sharing and exchanges of ideas and uses; an interdisciplinary community and a set of ‘ready-to-use’ pedagogical activities for teachers and science or art animators.”

Poppy is already having an effect. Oudeyer claims teachers have begun to notice that it “changes the social relationships between teachers and children. The role of the teacher naturally becomes different, helping to motivate the student to construct their own knowledge and skills by themselves.

It also changes the relationships amongst teachers, creating interdisciplinary bridges amongst traditionally separated fields, like mathematics, physics, languages and arts.”

The shape of things to come appeared in the summer of last year when Georgia Tech, a university in Atlanta, USA, deployed Jill Watson as a teaching assistant for one of its courses.

Watson was no ordinary teacher. In fact, she was a robot, whose mission was to help students and answer their questions. She took part in an online discussion forum, without revealing her true identity. When the students were questioned later about their experiences of ‘Jill Watson,’ they revealed that the only curious thing they had noticed about her was that she answered their questions and gave them her ‘feedback’ much more quickly than other teaching assistants.

The ability to respond quickly and accurately to questions is one of the many advantages supporters claim robot teachers have over their human counterparts. Robots, they say, are never bored, drunk, tired, depressed, emotional, confused or distracted. They never have inappropriate relationships, get crushes on their pupils or become so exasperated that they lose their temper in the classroom.

Yet, in spite of both their impressive achievements and their considerable potential, could robots really replace teachers? The audience at OEB Global clearly felt that there is something fundamental in the nature of a teacher that will always be human.

Nell Watson is an education technology entrepreneur and self-professed AI evangelist, who nonetheless opposed the motion at OEB, believing it is the ‘mentoring’ role of the teacher that is uniquely valuable and incapable of being reproduced by machines.

“Mentors don’t really go by benchmarks and yardsticks. They have a much more holistic kind of role, where you are looking at the blossoming of someone as a whole character, as someone who will evolve over Education Magazine

time in many different roles and in many different facets of their character. Machines may make wonderful coaches. They may help us and help our students pinpoint careers where they are a little bit weaker, where they can do with some help to get stronger.

But they are not, and will not any time soon, be equipped to look at the whole person in a holistic sense and to draw out the very best of them. That is truly the role of the teacher, a human teacher.”

Perhaps, fundamentally, it is all about the pastoral aspect of the teaching profession; the fact that simply offering facts and explanations is not enough. A good teacher does much more.

Education Magazine

The real difference may come down to one word: empathy. As one teacher put it to me recently: “Empathy is, in many ways, the most important thing a teacher has to offer. It is the key to striking a relationship with a pupil and it’s the seed-bed of inspiration. Without empathy, a robot is little more than an encyclopedia. And they’ll never be able to programme empathy.”

Harold Elletson is a communications consultant and writer with a particular interest in technology assisted learning and

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training. He is a member of the Steering Committee of OEB Global and a member of the Advisory Board of eLearning Africa, an annual conference which he helped to found.

In the past he has edited the ‘eLearning Africa Report’ and ‘New Security Learning’. A former Member of Parliament, he represented Blackpool North in the House of Commons from 1992 - 1997, during which time he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Northern Ireland Office and as a member of the Select Committee on Environment. He has also served as a member of the Education Committee of Lancashire County Council.

He holds a PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Bradford.

Put your own mask on first...

David Leckie is a great believer that a problem shared is a problem halved and it’s a philosophy that has led to him building a national corporate counselling service.

As well as being a highly qualified counsellor, David is also an international workplace and family mediator – “helping individuals to communicate better is something I never tire of – it can certainly be challenging at times, but it is also the most rewarding aspect of my work” said David.

David, who has a degree in Economics and a Masters in Social Work, worked at Great Ormond Street Hospital before moving to West Yorkshire to manage child protection services for Wakefield Council.

David has a passion for radio broadcasting and he co-presented Problemline with Julia Booth at BBC Radio York for several years.

He is also a part time teacher providing English lessons to students in Utrecht.

of respondents had suffered from work related anxiety with 86 per cent suffering from sleeplessness and five per cent needing treatment in hospital.

I fly, a lot. ...I expect you do too.

If, on the other hand, you are finding it hard to keep your head above the waterline, what can you do to improve matters?

Have you ever come into contact with one of those mysteriously hidden masks which, we are reliably informed, will drop down in case of problems with the oxygen supply?

I haven’t as yet, but I can’t wait! Finally, the chance to put into practice the act of putting MY mask on first before I even think about helping you with yours!

OK, forgive the surreal introduction, but how might it be if you applied that airline safety mantra into other areas of your life, particularly with regard to your own mental health?

I have been the director of a national counselling agency for nearly 25 years and have worked with many hundreds of teachers in that time, many of whom have either never considered, or maybe have just forgotten about, the importance of this critical act of self care.

Do you look after your own mental health first before you feel able to help others, or are you left metaphorically gasping for air as you look after those around you first?

You have chosen to work in a profession which has more than its fair share of stress – and it doesn’t get any easier. A survey conducted by the Guardian in 2016 found 82 percent of the teacher-respondents saying that their workload was ‘unmanageable’ and more than 75 per cent reporting working between 49 and 65 hours on average every week.

A survey of 5,000 members of the NASUWT teachers’ union revealed that 79 per cent

You find yourselves increasingly having to deal with the effects of external social issues which affect students -for example, family breakdown or sexting - and this in the broader context of failing mental health support services to that client group.

As well as being professional educators you find yourselves acting as unpaid - and often out of your depth- counsellors too – wow, how do you cope? Seriously, what mechanisms or support structures do you have in place to ensure that you keep your head above the water?

I hope that you have been able to answer that last question easily, and that you feel pretty mentally healthy, at least most of the time.

If that’s the case, it could be worth just taking a minute to reflect on what you are doing right so that you know exactly what it is that you need to just keep on doing. If it works, do more of it! If you feel able to, perhaps you can talk with colleagues and ask them what it is that they do right – sharing helpful ideas is never a bad idea.

Chances are, no-one else is going to bring about the changes that are needed, it’s going to be down to you – what could you do different to begin to make things that little bit better?

Start to think about small steps, one at a time - don’t set unrealistic targets but take your time to ensure that whatever you decide upon are small and achievable targets which will help you to get back on the road of improved mental health self care.

If you are looking for a starting point, you might like to think about these 5 steps which are evidence based ways to improve our wellbeing: Connect – how much quality time do you spend with the people around you: family, friends, colleagues and neighbours? How might you develop these relationships? Doing so will bring significant benefits, for example the Mental Health Foundation states that “people who are more socially connected to family, friends and their communities are happier, physically healthier and live longer, with fewer mental health problems”. Sounds like a result all round!

Be active – this doesn’t mean having to go to the gym. What is that you enjoy doing?

It could be taking a walk, cycling or playing a game of football. Is there an activity which you used to enjoy but you have ‘let 18

By David Leckie slip’ – maybe now’s the time to re-engage with it and make it a regular part of your life once more.

Keep learning – as a teaching professional, you already know that learning new skills provides a sense of achievement and a new confidence, but are you putting that knowledge into practice? What new hobby or activity could you pick up?

Give to others – teaching is a very ‘giving’ profession so you may think you’ve got this one covered. But when was the last time you reflected on your ‘giving’ of yourself - in or out of the work environment. Remember the importance of even the smallest act, whether that be a smile, a thank you or an encouraging word. Keep doing what I am sure you are already doing a lot of, it’s proven to be good for you.

Be mindful – be more aware of the present moment, including your thoughts and feelings, your body and the world around you. Some people call this awareness “mindfulness”. Research shows that developing these skills can positively change the way you feel about life and how you approach challenges.

Working on this 5 point plan will undoubtedly be helpful, but if you are looking for further help, have you considered accessing professional counselling support? You may well have access to an education authority counselling support service, but have you ever thought about picking up the phone and using it?

This is the point where I clamber onto my well exercised hobby horse – over the last 25 years of providing counselling support to many hundreds of teachers I am fully aware that, like me, you are constantly subjected to emotionally challenging situations.

You act as a sponge, listening and absorbing and supporting students on a daily basis. You are a teacher, I am a counsellor – but we have this in common, we spend a lot of our professional lives dealing with other people’s pain.

The big difference between us is this: counsellors are professionally obliged to have regular, supportive supervision with a therapist - a minimum of an hour and a half a month - teachers aren’t.

I can’t begin to imagine working without such support, how you manage is beyond me. If you are struggling please don’t bottle it up. Get help because the consequences of leaving stress and anxiety to fester can lead to much more serious mental health issues.

As a professional counsellor I know it’s not always easy to confide in colleagues or family - that’s where we come in. We always have a spare mask....

David Leckie is a founding Director of Mind Matters Corporate Counselling.

Education Magazine

Top Secret: Espionage comes to Oundle! ‘The Word is not Enough’ this than others). Perhaps even more stressful was a four minute presentation of their findings in front of a panel of judges.

As one of the GCHQ representatives remarked, the thing he likes best about this challenge is that it truly represents much of the work that a GCHQ linguist would undertake, albeit with a swifter resolution than is usual. It is also yet more proof for those who needed it, that the world of languages is a dynamic and exciting one, opening up careers in many fields beyond the traditionally cited ones of teaching and translation.

All sixty participants worked extremely hard, facing the tough challenges that were thrown at them with initiative, persistence and good humour. Every competition must have a victor however and the winners of a trip to Bletchley Park, kindly donated by GCHQ, were Birkdale School in Sheffield, with the runners-up coming from Oundle. Oundle pupil, Serena De Choisy (14) won an individual prize for her leadership and team organisation.

On 17 January, espionage came to Oundle School as the Business Language Champions (BLC) were proud to co-host ‘The Word is not Enough’ with friends from GCHQ.

Oundle pupil, Alice Broadbent (15) commented, “After an icebreaker of idioms in French, Spanish and German, we were taught about the Government intelligence agency, GCHQ and then embarked on language taster sessions, taught by the experts themselves, in either Mandarin, Korean or Arabic.

Befitting the secretive nature of the task at hand, the ten teams of Year 10 pupils comprising two teams from each of Oundle and John Warner (Hoddesden) Schools, as well as teams from Caroline Chisholm School (Northampton), Montsaye Academy (Kettering), Birkdale School (Sheffield), St. Saviour’s and St. Olave’s School (London), Hampton College (Peterborough) and Gartree High School (Leicester), were known only by their first names and represented sections from 001 - 010 – no fancy team names required!

As temporary agents, we were then given our briefing: Khalif, a drug dealer from Colombia, was working in Operation Krypton to bring drugs to England. It was our duty, as the newest recruits, to stop this.

The whole day was a manic marvel of languages and spy skills; an amazing and different experience.”

Tasked with cracking a drug smuggling ring in only three hours, the participating pupils faced encryption and decryption, coded audio messages, an introduction to a new foreign language and the kidnapping of their teachers (some were more bothered by

Education Magazine

A final thought for you…is it pure coincidence that both times BLC have run this event, the winning team has been Section 007 - or does someone out there know something we don’t…?

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East Anglian school children learn tasty way to start a day Breakfast was top of the lessons menu at schools in Grantham, Peterborough and Huntingdon, as pupils learned how the most important meal of the day makes its way from farm to fork.

Breakfast Week is a joint initiative between Kids Country and the Central England Co-operative.

Kids Country is the education arm of the East of England Agricultural Society.

Pancakes were prepared in the classroom and served alongside porridge and bacon sandwiches.

Bythams Primary School, Grantham, Headteacher Richard

Clarke said: “it was a fantastic morning – fun, practical and educational. Our children learned so much about where food comes from. They loved eating what they had prepared.

“The staff and volunteers from Kids Country were excellent and made the day an exciting experience; one of the highlights of the term. We have a tremendous relationship with Kids Country and another highlight of the school year is visiting the Kids Country Food & Farming Day at Peterborough Showground in the summer term.”

At Alconbury Primary, Huntingdon, Deputy Headteacher Hannah Mulcrone said: “It was a thoroughly enjoyable morning. Our children do very well academically, but it was clear they didn’t know an awful lot about where food comes from or the processes involved. They do now!”

Sandra Lauridsen, Education Manager of Kids Country, said the venture was immensely popular – and ticked so many boxes.

“It was great fun and the children loved it.

They learnt how to cook tasty pancakes – and how the wheat they are made from is planted, grown and harvested before being turned into flour,” she said.

“They found out how a pig farming enterprise runs, and the amazing amount of hard work a farmer puts into producing that continues overleaf u

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Education Magazine

Education Magazine

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East Anglian school children learn tasty way to start a day continued lovely food for the breakfast table. We even had a tractor in the playground.

Agricultural Society on 01733 363514 or visit Central England Co-operative.

“We were in the heart of a rural community, but only one child out of a hundred could identify a sugar beet. It was so educational.”

About Central England Co-operative

Kids Country has recently signed a year-long sponsorship deal with the Central England Co-operative. Member and Community Relations Officer Karen Ball said: “This was a wonderful way to kick-start relationship between ourselves and Kids Country. We welcome the opportunity to make a real difference to the lives and education of local children.”

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK. It is a modern, forwardlooking organisation employing over 8,000 staff, with projected gross sales of £958million for 2016/17. The Society recently celebrated being named Leading Co-

For more information visit www.centralengland.coop, follow Central England Co-operative on Twitter: @mycoopfood, and on Facebook: facebook.com/ centralenglandcooperative

Marriage’s Master Millers, The Jordans & Ryvita Company and Chandlers Farm Equipment are also part of the Breakfast Week initiative, which also visited schools in Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire.

Central England Cooperative’s support of National Breakfast Week also forms part of its 2017 A Healthy Start campaign.

Customers can find out more about the Society’s new range of healthy products, as well as hints, tips and video recipes, by visiting https://www. centralengland.coop/ mycoopdeals

About Kids Country The Kids Country programme provides interactive, handson, educational events promoting food, farming and the countryside for children in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and Northamptonshire. In 2016, the programme reached over 6,000 children from across the Eastern region and beyond.

Activities include potato planting and harvesting, learning about chickens, bee observatory visits and the annual Food & Farming Day at the East of England Showground. The Central England Cooperative will support 18 Kids Country events during 2017.

Any schools interested in participating in a Kids Country event should contact the Education Team at the East of England

Central England Co-operative is proud of its reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility. It is a member of Business in the Community, the membership organisation that stands for responsible business, and has also won many business awards for excellence. The Society supports a number of charities including Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children and invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities.

For further information, please contact: AF Promote: operative of the Year 2016 by Co-operatives UK. The Society’s principal areas of activity are food, funeral services, and property.

Central England Co-operative has more than 430 trading outlets across 16 counties including; West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The Society has an ambitious food store development programme for 2017.

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Amy Watts – 01603 881975 / amy.watts@angliafarmers.co.uk The Central England Co-operative: Rob Smyth – 01543 414140 / publicrelations@ centralengland.coop

Selection of pictures attached, showing East Anglian Primary School children enjoying Breakfast Week.. Shot 46 at Bythams Primary.

Shots 73&92 at Alconbury.

Education Magazine

Education Magazine

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Education - the world’s global language How are today’s youth assimilating and understanding current affairs?

They hear daily analyses of the actions of governments across the world, the plight of international refugees, terror threats, and environmental challenges. If they are being exposed to these events and current affairs for the first time, perhaps they are able to question why and how something is being represented in the media as it is, and to critically analyse news for themselves. Or do they find themselves uncertain and unable to uncover truth from spin? After all, that is a skill we can all find difficult when immersed in the daily clamour of our media. How do we help one another to approach these issues with both clarity and compassion?

To strive to understand the complex systems within which our actions unfold and live compassionately in the choices that we make? As educators, it is our job to nurture these capacities.

The Global Education Monitoring Report 2016 by UNESCO – commissioned to monitor progress towards the education goals in the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – highlights the need for a major transformation in education to enable future generations to meet the challenges facing people, and the planet.

The UNESCO report shows the potential for education to be the propelling force in achieving all of the 2030 UN’s global goals, by promoting specific national and international strategies in relation to education.

The discussion around what makes for an effective education has been debated for decades but few would dispute that across the globe we need to raise young people who are well prepared for life in an interconnected 21st century, able to contribute to a better, more peaceful world.

This is the driving principle behind everything that IB World Schools do: ‘education for a better world’. The IB aims to develop young people who not only have the capacity, but also the motivation, to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and, even more importantly, respect.

Compassionate and capable individuals A unifying thread throughout all four

BY Jane Drake Jane Drake, Head of Curriculum Innovation and Alignment at the International Baccalaureate (IB)

Jane is based in the IB academic division at the IB Global Office in The Hague.

As head of curriculum innovation and alignment she works alongside the programme heads in the development of the four highly respected IB programmes of international education that nurture the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills needed to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalizing world.

IB programmes is the IB Learner Profile – which is the organisation’s mission statement translated into a focused set of learning outcomes for students to develop during their courses. For instance, learners will become risk-takers, effective communicators, and inquirers. The learner profile inspires, motivates and focuses the work of schools, teachers and students alike.

Young people benefit from an education that has a strong international dimension, drawing from cultures around the world.

IB students study a broad range of subjects with special emphasis to learning languages, and a learning style that encourages students to become responsible, active members of their community; and focuses on developing skills for learning. Students learn to empathise with others, value diverse perspectives and cultures, understand how events around the world are interconnected, and solve problems that transcend borders; they learn to explore both sides of a story.

Today’s students will be the global leaders of the future. They will require insight into people and cultures across the world, and an unprecedented concern for the well-being of the world community. Thankfully, many educational systems around the world are gearing themselves up for catering to a greater global consciousness – but there’s still a long way to go.

The key will be to develop internationalmindedness. International-mindedness is a world view in which people see themselves connected to the global community and assume a sense of responsibility to its members (humans, other living things and the planet). It is an awareness of the interrelatedness of all nations and people, and recognition of the complexity of these relationships. Internationally-minded people appreciate and value the diversity of cultures in the world and make an effort to learn more about them. They exhibit personal concern for all people, and this manifests 24

itself in a sense of moral responsibility to other people, and a commitment to the values of a community. They are also aware of both the immediate and long-term consequences of human behaviour on the environment and on global societies.

So what should educators be teaching to ensure that all students are prepared and equipped to successfully engage with, and positively impact, the globalised world in which we live?

Evidence suggests that a generation able to apply knowledge to challenges and think laterally to find solutions will achieve this vision. Curricula designed to offer a holistic education is an optimistic alternative to most educational offerings. Education really is the world’s global language; a unifying thread that brings individuals and countries across the world together. Syllabi should be relevant to the student’s local context, but curricula should all share a common goal, too. The world is crying out for an approach to education that is in tune with each child’s unique needs and skills, and one that prepares the child to become a well-rounded adult and global citizen.

Schools that have a rich tapestry of cultures are uniquely positioned to be role models of good practice to other schools, by taking the lead in setting an example as to how to educate students towards internationalmindedness; through an education that reduces ethnocentrism, increases knowledge of other cultures, and promotes a concern for global environment issues.

If we are to give our young people a fighting chance to make sense of world events, and to feel inspired and equipped to pursue the goals set out in the Agenda 2030 of peace, partnership and prosperity – for people and the planet – then we need to offer a globallyminded education from which students will emerge confident and capable to build a future we all want to live in.

Education Magazine

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How can energy efficient lighting free up capital for cash-strapped schools? by Kevin Cox In the face of ongoing, drastic budget cuts, many schools are having to make difficult decisions between spending on Kevin Cox – Managing Director Energys Group much needed building improvements and paying staff. Kevin Cox, Managing Director of Energys Group makes the case for energy efficiency.

And, the Trust says improving energy efficiency in schools does not mean compromising the comfort of staff and students. An efficient LED lighting upgrade for example saves up to 70% on energy use, but in addition offers improved illumination, reduced glare and better quality of light.

The Guardian has exposed the myriad challenges today’s schools face in balancing costs. Tony Draper, Headteacher at Water Hall Primary in Milton Keynes, told the paper:

Energy efficiency; a story of payback, long term energy and maintenance savings.

“Schools may have to cut down on energy costs to fund staff salaries as well. Essentially what will have to happen is schools will have to rob Peter to pay Paul. It will come to a point where they will have to make staff redundant and they will have to increase class sizes.”

Another teacher, Julie Nash, Headteacher of Cape Cornwall School, said: “All our staff costs are increasing in real terms. Everything we buy, costs have increased. And yet the funding per pupil is remaining the same.

FDs know better than most that the key to effective financial management is understanding which technologies minimise outgoing costs, on maintenance for example, and deliver incoming cash wins, like lower energy bills.

From this perspective, lighting upgrades offer major, faster wins on payback and maintenance compared with just about any other energy efficient technology.

Often, real world case studies can provide the details FDs need, not just to clarify their own thinking, but to convince governing boards too.

Post Spring Budget, an interesting place to consider how efficiency can help is Theresa May’s old school. There, an operational lease allowed the Oxfordshire state secondary to install the latest LED lighting technology with no upfront costs, delivering £8,500 annual savings.

“So on an already very stretched budget, you’re going to see more and more schools looking at a deficit budget. We’re looking at alternative funding streams.”

Why should FDs invest in lighting, in the face of many different maintenance priorities?

The BBC approaches the question with more telling statistics; more than twice as many schools are in deficit since 2015; up from 8% to 18%, and 71% of headteachers balance budgets by making cuts or using reserves.

Contrast those numbers with these: The Carbon Trust says UK schools could reduce energy costs by around £44 million per year, which would also prevent 625,000 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

There might even be health benefits, to help tempt FDs into energy efficiency. Arnold Wilkins, Emeritus Professor at the University of Essex, says distracting flicker in the UK’s schools needs to be addressed.

“Unfortunately 80% of our schools are still lit with lighting that flickers at 100 hertz,” he told a Lux conference on lighting fixture design in London. “It causes headaches and it causes anxiety. It’s there all the time.

Whether it impairs their learning, seems to me to be plain enough.”

Funding options A notable challenge surrounding LED upgrades is funding; upfront capital expenditure can be difficult to justify for schools on an already tight budget.

To tackle this barrier, quality schemes exist that reduce the need for upfront investment from schools. For example, Salix provides 100% interest-free government funding to help educational establishments fund energy saving upgrades. The loan is calculated to be repaid with the energy savings made.

For schools looking to bypass the sometimes complicated application process associated with Salix, a faster route to consider is a commercial lease package on LED lighting.

There is no requirement for any upfront capital investment and repayments are covered using the energy costs saved; so schools are cash positive from day one.

Although FDs are often wary of finance schemes, both of these routes are essentially risk free.

Making the move to LED

Further Guardian investigations reveal more than 80% of teachers surveyed by the Guardian Teacher Network said their school has made cutbacks, or is planning to.

Against this backdrop, examining energy efficiency can help. Learning how modern LED lighting can modernise schools’ infrastructure, and save cash is essential for every Finance Director (FD) struggling to make ends meet. Clearly, faced with the near impossible task of balancing cash, FDs need to leverage every trick and tactic they can.

Healthy payback

The fit-out was completed in just over one week, but its benefits are set to be longer lasting. As well as annual energy savings, maintenance costs have been reduced by £4,000. The project’s Return on Investment (ROI) is predicted at around three years.

There are more examples. Hackney Community College (HCC) recently embarked on an extensive LED lighting upgrade programme across its award-winning 9 acre campus in east London. The lighting was upgraded both inside the college and across the outdoor areas.

With expected annual savings of £95,000, its impact has been significant. “We are really pleased with the results and are looking forward to reaping the long-term cost benefits,” says college facilities manager John Hunt.

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There’s no single panacea to the challenging issues on budgets piling up every FD’s desk today. More money from government would help; fewer deliverable benefits set against diminishing cash resources is the disconnect.

Each school is different, so each must examine internal infrastructure thoroughly to seek out where modernisation, and potential benefits may work.

But what remains clear is that innovative and disruptive thinking is needed. If there’s less upfront cash and front line teaching is at risk, it’s up to every FD to deliver a programme that saves at the outset and offers add on benefits where possible.

In many cases energy efficiency looks to be a compelling option. There can be no better move than asking the experts though, and before doing so, ensuring at the very least that your school’s unique setup and estates suit the energy efficient options available.

For more information visit www.energysgroup.com Education Magazine

3 of 5 educators believe technology will level the playing field for students, but worry about implementing new systems Epson survey of 1,300 educators in the UK reveals vital importance teachers attach to technology in the classroom.

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74% believe education will become more accessible to students through collaborative technologies

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72% say detailed understanding of technology prepares students for the real world

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However, 64% of educators feel they are not equipped to train students with the skills needed over next 10 years

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51% believe financing is the biggest threat to education of the next 10 years

real world, and 60% believe technology will level the playing field for students, allowing them to learn in their own way.

However, they also have concerns about how this change is implemented. 64% believe they are not equipped to train students with the skills they’ll need to use newer technology over the next decade.

There is a sense classrooms should not be too reliant on technology, with 72% agreeing an over-reliance on accessing information via technology could lead to general knowledge diminishing.

The research, which pooled the insights of 17 global industry experts, and questioned more than 1,300 education professionals in the UK, found that almost three quarters said that education will become more accessible to students through collaborative tech. A similar percentage say detailed understanding of technology prepares students for the Education Magazine

The research also saw four dominating trends that will shape and define education in the coming ten years:

When it comes to what educators believe are the greatest threats to education quality in the next 10 years, financing was the top concern, followed by increased costs and teacher training – highlighting the role governments and policy makers can play to ensure institutions can capitalise on technology opportunities and upskill staff.

Teachers are clearly recognising the revolutionary potential of technology, 63% believe that the role of tutors is likely to change, becoming more about guiding students through the learning process than imparting knowledge.

Educators across the UK believe new technologies will have positive educational outcomes, but are worried about how to fully capitalise on these opportunities in the classroom, research released today by Epson has revealed.

technological shift by developing solutions that will make environments more efficient and productive. Our core technologies – wearables, robotics, visual imaging and printing technologies – are poised to deliver with this vision of the future in mind.”

Epson Global President, Mr. Minoru Usui said: “Our research suggests both enthusiasm and concern about how technology could help shape the future of education, and there is real fear that we could get things wrong. If our education systems are to reap the benefits of new technologies and lead the next generation of students into a future where the world is their classroom, then governments and educational institutions must invest where it matters.”

“Our learning centres will become increasingly interconnected, and technology will further transform how students are taught and how they learn to meet demands of the future workplace. As a company, Epson is dedicated to facilitating a positive 27

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Learning will become tailored even within a shared classroom.

Technology is expected to transform education, with collaborative technology enabling blended and meta learning, as well as wearable devices, augmented reality and 3D printing ranking as the top influential technologies.

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Meta learning, where students are more responsible for their own learning, will become the new norm.

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More dynamic educational content will be the result of technologies such as augmented reality and collaborative technologies like interactive projectors.

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Creative collaboration will grow and be expected, as classrooms become more of a workshop for collaboration and group work.

For more information on Epson please go to www.epson.co.uk or Tel: 08444 098010.

Developing resilience and mental toughness to boost student performance and well-being

by Kelly Jacques, Director of Inclusion at Ormiston Sudbury Academy in Suffolk Kingswood outdoor education and adventure centres across the UK and France offer a wide range of physical and mental challenges which allow students an opportunity to develop resilience and improve their performance.

On a day-to-day basis here at Ormiston Sudbury Academy we aim to offer our students a positive and challenging experience to ensure they become the best that they can be. Developing the resilience and grit students need to succeed, both academically and throughout their lives, is an important part of that work.

to apply them to life back in the classroom and beyond.

In particular I wanted our Year 9s to come back to school with increased self-esteem ready to choose their options for Year 10.

Then I hoped that the Year 11s would rise to the occasion of being with a group of students for whom they could become role models, as well as increasing their confidence ahead of starting their new challenge of sixth form college the following September.

The course is innovative in that its outcomes are measurable and it begins with a 48-question psychometric assessment (MTQ48) which measures the four components of resilient behaviour. These are:

How people perform under pressure and rise to a challenge is often called resilience, or mental toughness. Studies in the UK and Holland show that mental toughness can account for up to 25 per cent variation in attainment in exams and tests. There are also strong links with positive behaviour and wellbeing.

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We are a mainstream state school for pupils aged from 11 to 19, rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted and now well on our way to being Outstanding. So when faced with groups of Year 9 and Year 11 students who were capable of achieving, yet spent a lot of time doubting themselves and not taking their learning seriously, I knew I had to take action.

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I wanted these students to realise that ultimately they did, indeed, have potential!

This isn’t always easy to show in a classroom environment, especially if they have experienced failure there in the past.

So we sent our students on an intensive residential course specifically designed to improve their performance, attainment and well-being by creating self-awareness and giving them the understanding, tools and practical experience necessary to manage pressure, stress and challenge. It focused on developing life skills such as positive thinking, goal setting, anxiety control and maintaining focus – all aimed at enabling students to perform at their best, even in high pressure situations. The intensive but fun five-day programme of physical and mental challenges gives students the chance to practice techniques and understand how

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Control - I really believe I can do it.

I can keep my emotions in check when doing it.

Commitment - I promise to do it. I’ll set a goal. I’ll do what it takes.

Challenge - I am driven to do it. I will take a chance. and Confidence - I believe I have the ability to do it.

The assessment outcomes help indicate the traits that will be focused on throughout the programme, with activities and challenges designed to encourage self-awareness. A second assessment at the end of the programme makes it possible to measure progress during the residential and the impact of the course.

Evidence-based teaching strategies are increasingly important in schools and this unique programme provides an even stronger measurable evidence base, clearly demonstrating to teachers the positive impact this residential programme can have upon learning.

The course used a mix of engaging adventurous activities, reflection time and review/coaching sessions to develop character traits, attributes and behaviours.

The idea was to equip young people with new life skills, introduce them to a range of challenges and teach them how to be the best they can be. Each activity focuses on different interventions known to improve areas of performance and resilient behaviour, facilitated by specially trained staff.

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It capitalised on the novelty and thrill of learning outside the classroom, including adventurous activities which challenge and excite pupils, to open their minds to new opportunities and experiences. Exposure to challenge and change is integral to developing team work, communication, problem-solving, resilience and self-confidence.

For example, a favourite activity among students is Jacob’s ladder - a highrope activity involving small teams of climbers pulling together to help each other. It is a very focused task where people have to work together collaboratively – it’s impossible to complete this unless the students work as a team to overcome challenges and solve problems along the way.

Using adventure and challenge in this way replicates a difficult and stressful situation in a safe and secure environment. Afterwards the students have an opportunity to analyse how they felt and coped. They really benefit from having been in a high-stress environment in a secure, safe and supportive setting, and getting through it by controlling anxiety, avoiding distractions and breaking a task down into small parts. Then in doing so they were developing a positive mindset and resilience along the way.

The self-discipline necessary to be successful in completing the course tasks and activities is a skill which transfers easily to academic focus. It helps students be the best that they can be and to fulfil their true potential once back in the classroom.

We were delighted with the impact the course made on our students. We saw many important changes within the group - some I expected, others took me by surprise. In particular I saw students, who had never stayed away from home before, manage their feelings and emotions much better than I predicted they would. I saw students start taking risks, become leaders and have fun!

Having fun is something that some of our students desperately needed to experience.

The benefits also continued once they were back in school. By throwing teachers and students together in unfamiliar surroundings you provide very powerful opportunities for peer and teacher/student bonding. After attending the course with continues overleaf u Education Magazine

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Developing resilience and mental toughness continued them I found I was able to form different and better relationships with these young people. This has allowed me to have difficult conversations with some of them, in an easier, safer way. Students have felt they can open up to me; after all I have seen them take risks (and vice versa!). One of our students is now receiving literacy support after six months of refusing “I don’t need it!” now she feels empowered to say ‘I can achieve, but I need this support to help me’.

The single most beneficial aspect of the course was that it allowed our students to spend time away from school, in a safe, managed way. Some of the students I took have never spent time away from home before, so this trip, for some, was very much needed. This allowed students to take risks!

Being away from home also taught the students that if they cause a ‘difficult situation’ socially they have to deal with it.

On the course, they couldn’t just ‘go home’ after school - they had to live, sleep and eat with the group. This was a great lesson in

understanding how you can affect other people’s emotions.

This must be the way forward – moving towards a real development of life skills and characteristics which will have a profound impact on a student’s future.

The author Kelly Jacques is Director of Inclusion at Ormiston Sudbury Academy in Suffolk which is part of the Ormiston Academies Trust network of 31 academies. OSA chose the ‘Realise Your Potential’ (RYP) personal development course offered at the Kingswood Grosvenor Hall

activity centre in Kent, operated by Inspiring Learning the largest independent provider of high quality, out-of-classroom-learning experiences in the UK. About Kingswood, part of Inspiring Learning Kingswood owns residential education and adventure centres across the UK and France, providing educationally-rich activity breaks for schools and groups. Founded over 30 years ago, it welcomes over 165,000 young people and runs 1.2million activities every year. Each centre provides a safe environment for a wide range of over 60 adventurous activities and learning opportunities, both indoors and outdoors, ranging from kayaking and abseiling to problem solving and curriculum linked sessions. Tailor-made programmes focus on a selection of learning outcomes, designed to achieve objectives from team building to personal development through the use of adventure activities. Out of term time these specially-designed centres operate as school holiday camps. Also in the school holidays the company runs multi-activity day camps, (Camp Beaumont) hosted at schools across London and the Home Counties. Kingswood is also one of the leading providers of the residential phase of the National Citizen Service (NCS) programme

Girl power: why aren’t more females taking on apprenticeships?

The little black dresses of the employment world, apprenticeships and on-the-job training, have always been a staple option for young school or college leavers. Potentially netting a final salary of £24,000 upwards, an income whilst learning key practical knowledge, and the opportunity to avoid student debt, the appeal of apprenticeships is clear – yet surprisingly, the numbers of young women choosing to take up apprenticeship placements remains low.

Attempts to rectify the gender gap have been many, with grants and other incentives being offered to encourage businesses to take on more female apprentices in the past, yet we are still in a place where the number of male apprentices greatly overtake their female counterparts.

Tracey Marson-Holland, Director at Staffordshire based Apprenticeship provider Martec Training & Education and advocate for more female apprentices, believes that an overhaul of the perception of apprenticeships needs to happen in order to increase the participation of young women.

Tracey comments: “In my experience, when you say ‘apprenticeship’ many people immediately

think of more masculine job roles that requires rolling-up the sleeves and getting involved in more physical, hands-on work. Although not necessarily a turn-off for many girls, it is an association that doesn’t appeal to some.

Furthermore, you also have the stigma of the apprenticeship route, whereby people assume that only those that can’t achieve academic success take this less conventional pathway to employment. Of course, both scenarios are incorrect. In my opinion it is this image of what an apprenticeship is and what you can achieve with an apprenticeship, that needs to be changed in order for more young women to reap the enormous benefits and opportunities that on-the-job training provides.”

Compared to going to university, deciding to take an apprenticeship can provide a debt free and direct pathway into the job market.

Working with schools and colleges, many apprenticeship providers will work with the young person and their tutors to create a smoother transition from education and into work than one might experience when leaving university and entering employment.

Offering young men and women an array of training opportunities, the range of businesses opening their doors to apprentices is growing rapidly. Industry giants like Virgin Media, Nike and Rolls-Royce actively seek young apprentices to work 30

across all areas of the organisation, providing great scope to learn and advance quickly within the company.

Gemma Rush, 34 years old and former apprentice with Martec Training & Education, wants to encourage more prospective female apprentices to open their eyes to the opportunities open to them via an apprenticeship: “Gaining all of the skills and practical experience that I needed to enter the work place, my business administration apprenticeship was without a doubt the best thing that I have done. If I was to advise other women considering an apprenticeship, I would say do it!

Don’t be afraid to think what is best for yourself. Initially it may feel unnerving but you need to put this aside to focus on achieving your goals. An apprenticeship is a wonderful chance to study and to meet new people whist getting paid – it really is an opportunity that you shouldn’t miss just because you are a woman.”

Providing big advantages for companies, taking on an apprentice is a way to train a young person from the ground up with the unique skills and attitude needed for a job within that organisation, generating employees that are immediately productive.

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Could your school play a vital part in 2017 automated gate safety campaign?

By Bob Perry, CEO, DHF (Door and Hardware Federation) Calling all head teachers: Could your school become the “face” of a major safety campaign being run this year to highlight the dangers posed by dangerous automated gates?

We are the trade association representing manufacturers and installers of automated gates.

Properly installed and correctly maintained automated gates are perfectly safe to use. Tragically, the vast majority of automated gates in this country are unsafe.

Several fatalities have occurred, caused by gates that have not been designed or installed property, or have not been well maintained.

Three children have died in automated gate accidents.

Automated gates are becoming a common sight on residential driveways and at housing and apartment developments as well as at industrial and commercial locations. Evermore so, automated gates are being installed in schools and educational buildings - you may have them installed at your school.

For our continuing campaign to make gates safer this year, we are hoping that school pupils will play a critically important role.

After all, what could be more important than the safety of our children?

To that end, we have launched a competition seeking one school willing to work with us, become the “face” of this year’s gate safety crusade; and lead the way in promoting the importance of gate safety within the school environment.

If your school has automated gates, or is intending to have automated gates fitted on the premises, then your school could lead our 2017 campaign!

Automated gates like these are increasingly being used as part of schools’ security measures. It is vital they are checked for safety and are maintained regularly. Qualified installers can be found here http:// www.dhfonline.org.uk/member-search.aspx

Safety Council and Secured by Design. The competition is your chance to show your school’s commitment to raising awareness of gate safety amongst school children.

So, what does the competition involve?

Many important organisations committed to raising levels of safety have endorsed our gate safety campaign. They include Health & Safety Executive, RoSPA, British

We would like pupils to design a gate safety poster, the theme of which will be ‘Safe Gates Save Lives’ – our 2017 campaign slogan. In addition, pupils will be required to create the Safe Gate Code for use in their ideas. continues overleaf u

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There are more than half a million automated gates in service in the UK - it is estimated 70 per cent of those are unsafe to use

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In the past 11 years alone, six adults and three children have been killed in accidents caused by badly installed or poorly maintained automated gates and barriers in the UK and Ireland

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Increasingly, automated gates are becoming a common sight on residential driveways, housing and apartment developments and industrial and commercial locations. More and more schools and educational buildings are installing automated gates

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Since 2012, DHF has campaigned tirelessly to raise standards of safety in the industry.

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More than 1,000 candidates have successfully completed the DHF gate safety diploma training course

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October, 2017 will see the fourth annual Gate Safety Week organised by the DHF, a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers posed by incorrectly installed and poorly maintained automated gates

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Last year DHF published a comprehensive code of practice covering the installation, maintenance and repair of automated gates. This has since become the “bible” for best practice within the industry

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To learn more about automated gate safety, visit www.gatesafetyweek.org.uk 32

Education Magazine

Delta Security installs new sliding gates at East-London School Controlling the speed, convenience and security for visitors, pupils and staff accessing a secondary school in Hackney has been significantly improved with the installation of a new sliding gate, specified and installed by the local CCTV and access control specialist, Delta Security.

The school, which has more than 950 students, also attracts a large number of visitors from local sports clubs keen to use the facilities within its multi user games area (MUGA). At peak times, the number of visitors can reach more than 100 per hour, hence the need for a new, fast-acting access gate.

Delta Security was appointed to review the needs of the school and propose a suitable gate solution, paying particular attention to the reliability of the motor. The new gates use the latest CAME BXV gate motor to deliver the performance required, while also offering excellent value for money.

Simon Walden, School Business Leader at Haggerston School, says Delta Security’s advice was professional and extremely valuable: “The gates that were previously installed repeatedly failed, obliging school staff to open them manually, adding pressure to their busy schedules. The new gates are a night and day contrast – they are reliable, robust and easy to operate,” he says.

“The engineers showed excellent attention to detail, and commitment to completing the installation on time and on budget. They performed a significant amount of preliminary work to ensure we were given the right solution, and fully explained how to operate the gates.”

For more information visit www.deltasecurity.co.uk

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Could your school play a vital part in 2017 automated gate safety campaign? continued The competition will commence at the start of summer term, with final entries accepted

by Friday June 9, and the winner of the best entry will receive a prize and a quantity of art supplies for their school. Winners will be selected by senior DHF officials and will be notified and presented with their prizes before the summer holidays begin.

Seventy per cent of automated gates in service are potentially dangerous due to poor installation and lack of maintenance. We have been actively campaigning to reduce that number, but there is still a lot of work to do to lower that figure even more. Aiming our gate safety campaign to the education sector is just the beginning. We want to educate the educators, who will then educate the populace. We are making great progress but our campaign will carry on until every automated gate in the UK is safe for use.

With automated gates now an increasingly popular choice for school and educational buildings we will be focusing the efforts of our campaign on gate safety within the school environment. It is absolutely crucial that the strictest safety measures are upheld to protect our children whilst in the care of others.

Gate Safety Week runs in October ... but gate safety is a year-round concern.

We are anticipating a high level of media attention for our gate safety in schools campaign (potentially national television and radio). This will draw attention to the importance of automated gate safety as a whole, and highlight the selected school as spearheading this vital initiative and its key objectives in a positive way. We are confident that other schools will be drawn to

Bolesworth invite schools to 2017 International Horse Show for FREE!

the campaign in future years on the back of your invaluable input and support.

Interested? Please visit www. gatesafetyweek.org.uk for more information on the schools competition.

Then please contact Patricia SowsberyStevens, DHF marketing manager on 01827 52337 or email patricia@dhfonline.org.uk .

Product showcase

The Equerry Bolesworth International Horse Show, which takes place from 14th to 18th June this year, located 10 miles south of Chester, is fast becoming the UK’s most high profile Showjumping event. Offering wide-ranging entertainment, the team is excited to once again invite primary schools across the region to their FREE Educational & Fun School’s Day on Thursday 15th June from 10am to 3 pm.

Following on from last year’s success, where almost 1000 children turned out to join in the fun, the totally free of charge Schools Day is open to every primary school in the region. Aimed at introducing this ever-expanding event to a wider audience, the day gives children the opportunity to experience the atmosphere of a topclass sporting event, including; Young Horse Viewing Trials and International Showjumping.

In addition to the featured equine events, there will be numerous educational and fun activities taking place throughout the School’s Day, including; workshops hosted by The Brooke (Action for Working Horses and Donkeys), The Pony Club and Corner Exotics. There will also be author book readings, model making and the chance to meet animals big and small.

Nina Barbour, Founder and President of The Equerry Bolesworth International Horse Show comments: “Bolesworth is now much more than just a Showjumping event, with an incredible and diverse range of activities at visitor’s fingertips. However, the equestrian element will always remain at the heart of everything that we do.

Dealing with these animals on a daily basis means that we sometimes take it for granted and being able to introduce people and children, in particular, to the vast array of joy, excitement and opportunity that they can bring is priceless.”

If you would like to find out more simply visit www.bolesworthinternational.com or contact the Bolesworth Events Office on: 01829 307 676.

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Bituchem creates landscape for Pimperne Primary School Hard-landscaping specialists, Bituchem, have been involved in the construction of a new primary school in North Dorset.

Pimperne Primary School is situated at the edge of a rural Dorset village, where developments are required to respect and enhance the natural beauty of its setting. A study identified the previous school building could not be extended to accommodate two additional year groups, so the school has been rebuilt on a new site.

The school has been built to fit the modern curriculum, and accommodates 175 pupils.

The project was managed by Dorset County Council’s Dorset Property, who specified Bituchem’s Natratex Cotswold hard-landscaping material to provide a smooth durable surface for both pedestrians and vehicles in Spring 2015.

Call Bituchem on 01594 826768 or 07584 311266 Email mark@bituchem.com or visit www.bituchem.com

Energy saving radiators installed in new North London primary school Over 150 high efficiency natural convection Autron LST (Low Surface Temperature) radiators have been installed at the new Garfield Primary School, Enfield. The large primary with over 500 children moved into a brand new building last summer.The new site incorporates some of the latest energy conservation innovations, including active energy use monitoring.

Given the need for safe and highly efficient heating, Enfield Council specified the installation of Autron radiators throughout the new school. These included specialist vertical LST radiators standing over 2m tall, which were installed in the children’s toilets.

The Garfield School project is one of a number of education sector installations covered in a short video guide on why Autron radiators are the ideal heating solution for schools.

This can be watched at http://www.autron.co.uk/autron-school-case-studies-video/ Visit www.autron.co.uk Email sales@autron.co.uk Tel: +44(0)1952 290498

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