NewsletterDecember 2014

December 2014 P2

Introduction

At the beginning of the academic year in September, Jenn Plews took up post as Headteacher of Skipton Girls’ High School and joined Clare Skelding in leading the work of the Teaching School Alliance.

At the first Strategic Board meeting of 2014/15 in October the action plan for NLTSA activity this academic year was agreed. The first term has been extremely busy as we address that agenda across a wide variety of initiatives.

We continue to welcome new Strategic Partners to the Alliance - most recently Markington CE Primary School. We look forward to working with a growing number of schools as we move into 2015.

The Northern Lights TSA team in Skipton has also seen some changes from the start of this academic year. Julia Greenwood, Programme Director, retired in July having been instrumental in the development of the Alliance since its formation in 2011. Her most recent achievement, working with Mary Hill, was preparation of the Alliance’s successful bid for accreditation as a School Centred Initial Teacher Training (SCITT) provider. Mary has continued to work this term on programme development and recruitment to the SCITT for September 2015 but will hand over to our new SCITT Director in January. We wish both Mary and Julia well for the future and thank them for their tireless support of Northern Lights TSA over the past few years.

In September, the team welcomed Ginette Hawkins as the Alliance Administrator, and first point of contact for NLTSA, as Jill Jackson moved to the new post of Operational Director. Jill has oversight of Alliance activities working alongside Kate Walter, Senior Assistant Head at Skipton Girls’ High School, who has been seconded for two days a week to NLTSA as Developmental Director.

Rosina Noor, Assistant Head at Feversham College, has taken a lead role in the expansion and delivery of the teach3 CPD programme adding a Recently Qualified Teachers (RQT) package to the NQT programme which was so successful last year. Feedback from in excess of 70 participants in the first sessions for both cohorts has been very positive and expectations are high for future events.

Emma Brown will take up post in January 2015 as SCITT Director, developing the programme and recruiting trainees for September 2015. Emma comes to us with a wealth of experience in schools, Higher Education and ITT. We look forward to working with her to deliver this new and exciting Initial Teacher Training programme across our local schools.

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Specialist Leaders of EducationSpecialist Leaders of Education (SLEs) are outstanding middle and senior leaders in positions below the Headteacher. Having at least two years’ leadership experience in a particular field of expertise, they must be outstanding at what they do although they do not have to come from outstanding schools. They have the skills and commitment to grow leadership capacity and support leaders of teams in other schools to ensure improved outcomes for children and young people.

We are delighted to have added to our team of over 30 outstanding practitioners in the latest recruitment round. Congratulations to the following:

Name School Specialism

Eleanor Belfield Skipton Girls’ High School Science, Curriculum and CPD

Sadie Lazzari-Williams Grange Technology College Safeguarding, SEN and CPD

Fiona Rhodes Harrogate High School Geography, CPD and ITT

More details of how we work with our SLEs, and who they are, can be found on our website: http://northernlightstsa.org/big6/specialist-leaders-of-education/

If you are interested in the role, please contact us and we will be happy to discuss our current priorities for recruitment and how you can prepare for an application in the next recruitment round, scheduled for May 2015.

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Continuing Professional Development

Our Continuing Professional Development offer continues to be significantly augmented by Science specific programmes offered through Northern Lights Science Learning Partnership, a collaboration with the Science Learning Network. Please see more details in the Science Learning Partnership article.

Facilitators of our “Developing Outstanding Middle Leaders”, Gemma Russell from Titus Salt School and Gill Fisher, Skipton Girls’ High School, report that the 12 participants have, so far, enjoyed sessions on “What Makes an Effective Leader” and “Leading Teaching and Learning”. Feedback has been extremely positive both from teaching and associate staff on the course.

Our Good to Outstanding Level 2 and Facilitator programmes are recruiting now for sessions beginning in mid-January 2015.

The Level 2 programme is designed to give individual teachers time and space to reflect on their classroom practice. In particular delegates will be focusing on moving their practice forward from good to outstanding. The programme does not provide a checklist for achieving an Ofsted outstanding grade but focuses the delegates on key areas of classroom practice and how to move that forward to the highest possible level. For more information go to http://northernlightstsa.org/good-to-outstanding-level-2/

The Facilitator programme will give delegates an understanding and experience of the Good to Outstanding programme whilst developing the facilitation skills required to ensure that they are able to move teachers forward in their practice by challenging, engaging and developing thinking to move them towards outstanding. For more details visit http://northernlightstsa.org/facilitator-development-programme/

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Northern Lights Science

Learning Partnership

Another exciting term for Science Continuing Professional Development!

As Northern Lights Science Learning Partnership continues to grow, Primary and Secondary teachers from across Bradford, North Yorkshire and Calderdale have been attending our CPD programmes. Teachers new to delivering A Level have been ‘Getting to Grips’ with A Level Biology, Chemistry and Physics; Primary teachers have accessed CPD focussed on delivering the new curriculum.

The Partnership also offers bespoke CPD tailored to individual school needs and this mode of delivery has been well received - the feedback from one head teacher was “one of the best training days ever”.

More is planned for the Spring term focussing on preparation for curriculum change, on Health and Safety for Heads of Science and technicians, and on

the recommendations from the OFSTED ‘Maintaining Curiosity’ report.

The Triple Science Network got off to an inspirational start with Dr Lewis Dartnell giving the key note address, “Science: Anything is Possible”. Science teachers engaged in workshop activities to identify barriers to Triple Science take up. Further sessions in the Spring Term will focus on:

• networking with other teachers with a view to building school to school collaborative learning practice

• developing strategies and resources for engaging and inspiring learning opportunities for Triple Science

• establishing a culture of sharing best practice for Triple Science

I … felt that I learnt a lot in a short space of time. … The presenter …. made some great suggestions on delivering the new science curriculum to my class of Year 5s and I am excited about trialling out some of these lessons which I know will really engage my class.

Anyone wishing to discuss bespoke training in their school or cluster of schools should contact, in the first instance, Ginette Hawkins on 01756 707622 or shine@northernlightstsa.org.

If you would like to get involved in the Network or find out more about our wider offer of Secondary Science programmes visit http://northernlightstsa.org/science-learning-partnership-secondary/

Our Primary colleagues can see our CPD schedule for Primaries at http://northernlightstsa.org/science-learning-partnership-primary/

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Teacher Training Update

Primary School Direct Programme

The primary trainees began their training with an induction day hosted by Parish C of E Primary School in Skipton and Carleton Endowed C of E Primary School. They have now been on placement for several weeks and will be involved in Christmas preparations in their schools.

They began the term with a series of training sessions delivered by the University of Leeds alongside an induction period in their host school during which they were able to observe experienced teachers and begin to work with small groups. After half term they began the first main placement and have begun to plan and deliver whole lessons.

Additional focused training has been delivered by our cluster of schools. Parish C of E and Carleton Endowed jointly hosted the trainees for “Behaviour for Learning”, Greatwood School structured a day around EAL and Special Needs and then all the trainees spent a day at Brooklands Special School. The feedback from the trainees has been extremely positive and we are very grateful to the schools involved. We are lucky to have such a wealth of expertise within our Alliance.

We are already holding interviews for our next cohort of primary trainees and are looking forward to working with Leeds Trinity University to develop an increasingly school-led programme.

Secondary School Direct Programme

Our secondary trainees began their training with a launch event held at Feversham College on 10th September. They were welcomed by Clare Skelding and Jenn Plews, Headteachers of the Alliance lead schools, before Andy Bayston, Executive Principal of Harrogate High School, gave the keynote presentation entitled “Students Only Get One Chance”. The rest of the day was spent participating in workshops and speaking to students to hear their views on what makes an outstanding teacher before two staff members from Feversham College presented and led a discussion on “Who Gave You the Best Chance?”

The trainees are now nearing the end of their first placement. During this term they will have been building their skills working alongside outstanding teachers from within our schools and will by now have begun to teach sequences of lessons to both Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 classes.

After a well- earned Christmas break they will resume focused training sessions for a 6 week block. Within the Whole School Issues Programme they will focus on Acceleration to Employment. The initial session will be led by Jenn Plews, Headteacher of Skipton Girls’ High School, and this will be followed by a “mock interview” day where the trainees will be put through a real life interview experience. Last year’s trainees reported that this was extremely valuable in preparing them for applying for posts.

Word on the grapevine is that Alliance schools are already showing an interest in our trainees as they prepare for their staffing needs next September.

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Northern Lights SCITT

Following our successful accreditation as a SCITT (School Centred Initial Teacher Training) we are preparing for the start of our new Secondary PGCE course. The main feature of the Northern Lights SCITT course is that all the training will be based within a school setting. Our courses will be validated by Leeds Trinity University who will deliver the Masters Level studies.

The trainees will work in subject specific groups for their specialism and come together with those from other subjects for the Professional Studies Programme. We have places in the following subjects: Biology, Chemistry, English, Geography, History, Maths and Physics and are busy interviewing for these places at the moment.

The SCITT Management Group was delighted to appoint Emma Brown to the post of SCITT Director. She will take up her post on 5th January and will be responsible for leading the development of the course ready for September. Emma has a wealth of experience across schools, HEIs and of ITT in particular and we are looking forward to working with her.

If you, or anyone you know, is interested in training to become a teacher why not train with us!

Find out more by visiting our website or contacting us at Northern Lights.

Our 2015-16 SCITT courses will be offered in partnership with

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teach3 is a three year programme, designed in collaboration with Bradford Partnership, which supports teachers during the first three years of their teaching career.

teach3 gives a three-fold guarantee to develop:

Knowledge of Pedagogy – “Think”

Craft of the Classroom – “Teach”

Leadership Skills – “Lead”

Initial Teacher Training

The first year of the programme comprises our Initial Teacher Training offer through School Direct. Successful graduates from the PGCE, who gain employment within the local area, can then progress to the Newly Qualified and Recently Qualified Teacher stages over the subsequent two years.

Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT)

At the start of their careers, NQTs will be supported to become outstanding practitioners and effective leaders within local schools and beyond. It will provide high quality opportunities for effective, pedagogical research and enquiry, effective training in the craft of the classroom, strategies to develop better work life balance, as well as leadership development for future career progression.

Recently Qualified Teacher (RQT)

Aimed at RQTs who want to develop, improve and advance their teaching and learning practice. In addition, the programme aims to provide targeted support to enable participants to confidently and consistently deliver good lessons. It will also explore ways to develop professional learning as well as new strategies to effectively participate in and lead a successful team. The opportunity to engage in school based action research and experience different school contexts to broaden experience will also be a key aspect of the programme.

The first two sessions for this academic year have been well received by the 59 NQTs and 24 RQTs registered.

Rosina Noor, Assistant Head at Feversham College, who has a lead role in both programmes says, “During both the RQT and NQT sessions great pedagogical ideas have been discussed, shared and exemplified. Delegates have had opportunities to reflect on their own practice in a supportive environment facilitated by passionate and successful leaders and teachers from across local Schools.”

A new teach3 website will be going live at the end of January 2015. If you would like more information, please contact Ginette Hawkins, NLTSA Administrator on shine@northernlightstsa.org or 01756 707622.