Havering Newsletter

The Newsletter for Havering's Educators

Autumn 2 2022

to the team. I am sure many of you will recall both for their tremendous work as a headteachers in Havering. Other new joiners are Nadine Jackson-Sargent, a school improvement specialist and Adam Lowing, a school improvement professional and recent primary Headteacher with a particular interest in developing middle leadership. Inmy last introduction I had anticipated many changes to the landscape as a result of political change, however at this point little seems to have been fully developed, due tomore pressing issues. We continue to await detail. Probably the most notable changes currently relate to the oversight of attendance. There is also little to note on the Ofsted front. Changes to the scheduleinthesummerarelargelycosmetic. Thefocusremains on Quality of Education through curriculum progression and rigour, with constant reference to provision for SEND pupils in all aspects of school life. I had thought, given availability of current attainment data after nearly three years, that although not “judged” it would inevitably form part of discussions. This however is very much not the case. Inspectors have been told absolutely that they still do not look at test data when talking about Quality of Education. Attendance and Behaviour, including Personal Development remain at the forefront of Graded Inspections. Attendance is also a government and local priority. So for us, it remains very much about continuing to do what we do well and striving for continuous improvement despite the financial and other challenges for our schools, pupils and families.

Welcome back

Dear Colleagues, Our new Quality Assurance programme is now under way and early feedback suggests the new approach is being well received. All schools have been notified of their position in the new cycle and who their LA Link Officer, QA Lead and (where appropriate) their SIP are. The extended team will be working hard to meet both the new offer and to ensure that over the next two years, we will be also working with schools in proportion to need in years four and five of the cycle so that no school falls between the two and fails to get necessary support if needed with an up-coming inspection. The impact of Covid on attendance and attainment, particularly the well-documented disproportionate negative impact in schools with high proportions of disadvantaged pupils means that the number of schools receiving additional support has risen this year. Supporting these schools to ensure they remain good is a key priority for HSIS andmorewidely the education service. We have begun to develop our facilitated Peer-Review offer, which we are excited to be launching in January. Once more, I would like to thank headteachers who have willingly offered their time to be part of the task and finish group. This work is being led by one of our recent additional associates, Stuart McLaughlin. We also welcome Bernadette Matthews English – Taking stock of writing skills TAs and HLTAs – CPD for TAs and HLTAs for 2022-23 Safeguarding – Conducting online searches – some thoughts Assessment – Lessons learned frommoderation in 2022 EYFS – HAF in Havering! Science – Enriching your STEM provision EAL – Celebrating language and culture at Hylands Primary School History – History CurriculumCentre Languages – Success in language teaching for the non-specialist 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 What's inside?

Susan Sutton Education Quality and Effectiveness Manager, London Borough of Havering susan.sutton@havering.gov.uk 01708 434142

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 18

SEND – EP team – Zero Tolerance or Restorative Approaches – What does the evidence tell us? RE – New RE Syllabus for Havering Schools (2022 2027) Leadership – The engaging leader, leading for delivery LGfL – LGfL launch their PedTech Portal Computing – Enriching the computing curriculum Havering Academy of Leadership – Welcome to the Havering Academy of Leadership… BESA LendED – EdTech resource lending platform for schools HSIS courses Autumn 2022 and beyond HSIS on-site and virtual consultancy, telephone and email support

English – Taking stock of writing skills

A snapshot assessment Now is a good time to take a snapshot assessment of where children are achieving and where they will need further support with the transcription and composition aspects of writing. National Curriculum writing objectives First and foremost, we gauge this for the majority of children by measuring what they know and can do against the relevant National Curriculum writing objectives. These objectives set out the expectations for the aspects of writing that must be taught. Learning intentions must be anchored in these objectives. They are the benchmark for ongoing, summative assessments in writing that will inform planning and further teaching that can promptly address gaps in knowledge or skills. Children’s confidence More than ever, teachers and English subject leaders are finding that many of the significant gaps are in the transcription aspects of writing - spelling, handwriting, punctuation and grammar – and they are concluding that this is undermining children’s confidence as writers. ‘Little and often’ With this in mind, a robust approach to teaching these skills is needed. The best combination of methods seems to be a combination of a ‘little and often’ approach to teaching the skills, alongside opportunities to apply the skill soon after. Having effective, pacey and memorable

teaching of the skill, aligned with prompt written practice, allows the teacher to reinforce the learning. A range of examples On the composition side of writing, there is tremendous value in offering and exploring a range of examples of effective writing, some of which may become sources of writing inspiration. Talking about the texts - the audience and purpose, the language and form – has great value for children as it helps them to know how to ‘think as a writer’. Combined with regular writing practice, this will boost confidence and fluency. Revisiting skills Of course, the sharpest aspect of the current challenge is that, although there will be some lapses in knowledge and skill that are common to most, the impact of COVID related absences and disruption is uneven. To counter this, there needs to be revisiting of skills so children have more opportunities to embed knowledge and skills. Learning will need to be reinforced for any children needing this additional support.

Paul Stevenson HSIS Inspector Standards and Effectiveness - English paul.stevenson@havering.gov.uk 01708 434613

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

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2

TAs and HLTAs – CPD for TAs and HLTAs for 2022-23

How to be an effective TA in… A new CPD programme for TAs and HLTAs has been introduced for the new academic year. The programme consists of six half-day sessions at CEME; one each half term. Schools can choose to sign up for all six or select the ones most relevant to staffs’ professional development needs. Each session will focus on a specific area. Bookings can be made via the Portal. The course titles are as follows: Autumn 1: How to be an effective TA in managing pupils with challenging behaviour - This ran on 4th October Autumn 2:

Spring 2: How to be an effective TA in understanding the approach to teaching reading - 7th March 2023, 1pm - 3pm https://www.hes.org.uk/Event/169093 Summer 1: How to be an effective TA in working with EAL pupils – 26th April 2023, 1pm - 3pm https://www.hes.org.uk/Event/169097 Summer 2: How to be an effective TA in mathematics lessons – 20th June 2023 1pm – 3pm https://www.hes.org.uk/Event/169102

How to be an effective TA in EYFS – 29th November 2022, 1pm – 3pm https://www.hes.org.uk/Event/169948 Spring 1: How to be an effective TA in safeguarding – 26th January 2023, 1pm – 3pm https://www.hes.org.uk/Event/169942

Hannah Waters Business and Office Manager hannah.waters@havering.gov.uk 01708 434606

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

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3

Safeguarding – Conducting online searches – some thoughts

A considerable stir Just two sentences in Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2022 have caused a considerable stir in the world of education recruitment, with a flurry of providers coming forward to offer a new service to schools: In addition, as part of the shortlisting process schools and colleges should consider carrying out an online search as part of their due diligence on the shortlisted candidates. This may help identify any incidents or issues that have happened, and are publicly available online, which the school or college might want to explore with the applicant at interview . ‘Should consider’ First of all, this raises the question as to what is meant by ‘should consider’ which implies that this is not a process to be rushed into but something that will require thought, planning and, most likely, an element of trial and error. No timescales are given within KSCIE but a cautious step-by step approach is likely to yield better long-term outcomes than rushing into something that could create problems later. ‘Incidents or issues’ Secondly, there is some ambiguity around what is meant by ‘incidents or issues’. If the purpose of the checks is to identify any behaviours that may make an applicant unsuitable to work with children within your school, they should be carried out in light of your school’s ethos, much as you assess a candidate’s suitability during the interview

itself and whether they may have opinions that are at odds with your values. ‘Try before you buy’ Havering schools are very diverse in terms of size, staff turnover and budgets, hence we cannot recommend a ‘one size fits all schools’ approach. For some, an in house search may prove the best option whilst others may ultimately find an external provider a more time effective solution. Above all, you should do your research first; if the provider can carry out a search with sufficient breadth, whilst being mindful of your school’s ethos and maintaining the candidates’ privacy, then pursue opportunities to ‘try before you buy’. In the meantime, you should start by considering what recruitment paperwork may need to be updated and by ensuring the online check field is added to your SCR.

Michelle Wain HSIS Adviser - EAL & Safeguarding michelle.wain@havering.gov.uk 01708 431650 Carol Rockey HSIS Adviser - Safeguarding & EAL carol.rockey@havering.gov.uk 01708 431651

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

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4

Assessment – Lessons learned frommoderation in 2022

Pointers for next year Supporting pupils to ‘Know more and remember more’ takes planning and pedagogy. When planning strategies to support pupils to remember, there are three main stages to consider. 1. Acquiring Memories Ensure pupils are engaged in lessons so pupils use their working memory. To do this, we need pupils to think about the right things; the objectives rather than dinner. Strategies might include a ‘hook’ for the lesson to seize pupils’ interest; the use of concrete examples, manipulatives or displays support pupils to focus on lesson objectives rather than being distracted by other facts or processes or ensuring that lessons are focused on the key 1-3 aspects of learning (age dependant) so pupils can easily follow the lesson path. 2. Transferring Information from Working Memory to Long Term Memory There are limits to the quantity of information we can assimilate but not to the size of the information. For example, a random set of eight digit such as 76816428 is fairly difficult to remember whereas 01708314 may be easier because it links to knowledge we have already (area code for Havering and pi).

Making links to prior learning is a key strategy to support pupils to transfer knowledge to long term memory whilst chunking learning can ensure pupils’ working memories are not overloaded. The plenary is also an important aspect: research by Ebbinghaus has shown that we forget most of what we learn. One way to reduce this learning loss is to revisit the learning. 3. Retrieval When pupils revisit key learning – at the end of the lesson, at the end of the day, the week, the half term - they maximise how much they remember. In this way, a spiral curriculum supports retrieval. Some schools use spaced retrieval whilst others revisit learning through low stakes quizzes. The harder pupils try to remember, the more likely they are to remember in the future so quizzes which focus on defining vocabulary or completing short tasks may be more effective than closed questions. When pupils apply a concept in a different context or location it can help them remember more.

Jane Downes HSIS Associate Adviser – Assessment hsis@havering.gov.uk 01708 433813

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

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5

EYFS – HAF in Havering!

A Department for Education funded initiative The Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) is a Department for Education (DfE) funded initiative that provides activity and food provision for children aged 4-16 who are eligible for benefit-related free school meals during the Easter, Summer and Christmas Holidays. Delivering HAF in Havering We are excited to say that we deliver the HAF programme in Havering. The Summer programme was successfully delivered by 17 HAF providers delivering in 27 locations across the borough, Venues included; local schools, community centres, youth centres, sport centres, early years provisions, libraries, and many more during the school Summer holidays. Eligible children were able to access up to 64 funded hours each of fun healthy activities and nutritious food during the Summer, as part of the Havering HAF programme. Designed to support The programme is designed to support families on lower income, or children who are considered to be vulnerable. Children who attend a HAF club will have access to a full range of activities and they will receive a healthy nutritious meal. As a result of this programme, we want children who attend Holiday provision to: • Eat more healthily over the school holidays. • Be more active during the school holidays. • Take part in engaging and enriching activities which

support the development of resilience, character, and wellbeing along with their wider educational attainment. • Be safe and not to be socially isolated. • Have a greater knowledge of health and nutrition. • Be more engaged with school and other local services. In addition to children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals, consideration will also be given to those children who are considered to be vulnerable, or would benefit particularly, by individual schools. For example: • Looked after children. • Has an EHC plan (Education Health and Care plan) • Refugee • Significant SEND needs We work closely with our local schools and services to ensure all eligible children can benefit from this fantastic opportunity. Our next programme will be delivered during the Christmas Holiday where eligible children with be able to access up to 16 hours of funded fun activities and receive a nutritious healthy meal. If you would like to find out more, or are interested in being part of the Havering HAF programme please visit www.havering.gov.uk/HAF

Elvan Dixon Early Years Holiday Activity & Food Programme Manager Elvan.Dixon@havering.gov.uk 01708 431 233

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

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Science – Enriching your STEM provision

request. If you require further support, you can email the London STEM Ambassador Hub .

Gravitrax KS2 STEM Club Discovery Pack This is a new free resource that makes running a STEM club easy and fun. It harnesses the fun of designing Gravitrax marble runs with exploring gravity, working in teams and problem solving. It includes:

Engineering Educates: Farmvention Challenge This programme aims to inspire 7 to 14-year-olds to think as engineers and find solutions to real-world problems related to farming and sustainability. It offers three curriculum-linked STEM resource packs , tailored to different age phases. Each pack leads learners through the engineering design process, so they experience the way engineers solve problems and make a difference. The resources are free for any school and there are free webinars for schools to find out more. To join one, register here . I am one of two London Regional Champions and I will be working with 12 schools, providing additional CPD to support their participation and organising a challenge event to celebrate their work. The 12 schools involved will be linked with a farmer and an agricultural engineer, so their pupils can learn about the issues faced by farmers and how engineers design solutions to them. If your school is interested in this enhanced programme, please register via the Engineering Educates website , indicating that you heard about the programme from me, and email me to let me know. STEM Ambassadors STEM subjects are brought to life when children engage with role models. STEM Learning’s STEM Ambassador programme is designed to support schools with this by giving them access to over 37,000 DBS-checked volunteer STEM Ambassadors across the UK at no cost. Through an online platform, schools can advertise for a STEM Ambassador to visit their school, either virtually or in-person, to do a variety of activities from delivering a session to supporting a workshop or speaking about their career. To request a STEM Ambassador, create a STEM Learning account on the STEM Learning website and then post a

• 10 GraviTrax: The Game sets • a step-by-step guide for the club leader • student information sheets • extension activities. To apply for a free pack, email GraviTrax .

Naomi Hiscock HSIS Adviser - Science hsis@havering.gov.uk 01708 433813

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

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7

EAL – Celebrating language and culture at Hylands Primary School

Keeping children safe Many schools run exciting events focusing on the languages and cultures of children, parents and staff within and beyond the local community. These can lead to amazing outcomes in a range of areas: raised self-esteem; application of British values; understanding of other cultures; the development of broader perspectives; and links with a range of curriculum areas including geography, art, history, MFL, music, PE … and so the list goes on. Hylands Primary School have a long-running tradition of arranging such events. In July, they celebrated cultures across the world focusing on countries within Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australia. Highlights included every child in the school dining at a French bistro, complete with table cloths, flowers, music and even the Eiffel Tower in the background; being transported to a rainforest, complete with animals and instruments, for story time in the outside classroom; and a whole array of arts activities, food tasting, dance and music from all around the world. It is no mean feat co-ordinating interactive displays, costumes, food, workshops and parental involvement. Here are some top tips and reflections from the planning team at Hylands Primary: • Parents can be one of your very best resources so get them involved as soon as you can. • Budgets are important but lack of budget shouldn’t put you off. Whilst external providers can be costly, savings can be made elsewhere if you shop wisely. Bed sheets can be used as batik cloths with tea bags and coffee used as dyes; food items can be bought in bulk; and children can learn songs and dances from parents or videos.

• It can be useful to carry out an audit of places staff have been to or have a connection to – it’s amazing how many costumes, artefacts and instruments people have in storage including, in this case, didgeridoos for Australia day! • It is also useful to carry out a book audit – you will find that a number of your texts link to different countries and can be used at no additional cost. • With regard to food tasting and allergies, the planning team provided a complete list of ingredients for each item offered to the children. • Beneath all the fun, the core educational messages need to be clear – in each case, pupil engagement was enhanced by the fact that the children understood the stories behind each of the activities they engaged in with PowerPoint slides and links to resources/YouTube videos compiled by the planning team. If you have any questions about running a similar event at your school, Hylands Primary are happy to answer these – and if you have any events that you would like to share, including your celebrations for Black History Month, please get in touch with the Hsis EAL Team.

Michelle Wain HSIS Adviser - EAL & Safeguarding michelle.wain@havering.gov.uk 01708 431650 Carol Rockey HSIS Adviser - Safeguarding & EAL carol.rockey@havering.gov.uk 01708 431651

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

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8

History – History Curriculum Centre

Are you looking for resources to help you teach History to a high standard in your school? Then look no further as there are a wealth of resources available to you through the partnership between the Hampshire History Curriculum Centre and HSIS, some free of charge and some available to purchase such as the publications and enquiry packs. There is also the HSIS school improvement package of subject leader days and network meetings which are available to History subject leaders throughout the year and which cover a range of topics and best practice. Key areas to note for you are: The Hampshire History Curriculum Centre The History Centre is part of Hampshire’s school improvement service. Whilst offering resources for primary and secondary history, the History Curriculum Centre focusses mainly on resources for Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. These aim to ensure you can implement a history curriculum which will have a positive impact on your children whilst enthusing them and making them eager to learn. Primary history subject leader publications We have a range of materials

primary history topic or unit. It also includes a glossary of historical terms, KS2 unit specific vocabulary, links to other sources of information, maps, timelines and much more. Enquiry packs Our enquiry packs link strongly to the National Curriculum

requirements for primary history and feature medium term plans that identify the subjective and disciplinary knowledge children are expected to gain through the enquiry. All the resources needed to follow the enquiry are included in editable form so teachers can adapt activities to suit their school requirements and their children. For details of our full range of publications, go to the History Curriculum Centre area of our Moodle website: HIAS History Moodle (hants.gov.uk) where our latest catalogues are available to download or view. We recommend visiting it regularly to find out about our latest resources. To order history publications please use our online form https:// tinyurl.com/history-order form . For more details of any of our products or services, please contact us via: E-mail: history.centre@hants.gov.uk or by phone: 01962 874802 . For details of History CPD support in partnership with HSIS please contact us via email: hsis@havering.gov.uk or by phone 01708 433813 .

for primary history subject leaders including guidance booklets, timelines, guidance for history in the Early Years and age-related expectations for history (also available electronically as a pdf file). The History Book: comprehensive guide to all aspects of the history

a

subject leader’s role and key for detailing how to map substantive knowledge and disciplinary knowledge (historical skills) across the key stages. Subject

knowledge for primary history teachers This publication features important

substantive

Justine Ball HSIS Associate Adviser – History hsis@havering.gov.uk 01708 433813

knowledge

and ideas all primary teachers should consider before they teach any National Curriculum

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9

Languages – Success in language teaching for the non-specialist

Ideal conditions Language Trends 2022 writes, “We know from recent research (Graham et al., 2017) that the ideal conditions for teaching languages in primary schools are a minimum of one hour of contact time per week, delivered by a teacher with degree-level proficiency in the language.” Since when have we taught anything in ‘ideal conditions’? As teachers, we are skilled at working with what we have - we navigate time constraints, a lack of confidence, doubts around subject knowledge. Drawing upon existing skills We draw upon existing skills to facilitate learning – an abundance already at our disposal; we know our children, how to organise engaging activities, how to progress an understanding of phonemes in the first language, the components of language and grammar, how to recognise progress. We might lack fluency or knowledge (of the phonemes, rules, grammar or meaning of a foreign language), but have the skills to figure out the essentials and help our young learners by setting an example of adopting a positive learning attitude. National fault-lines aside (limited time, a lack of specialist knowledge, bumpy transition into KS3, inconsistent assessment), our children are given high-quality learning opportunities, teachers are working extremely hard to demonstrate the value and enjoyment of language learning, and children are making gains (skills, knowledge

and attitude towards the subject). Leaders furnish colleagues with coherent schemes and resources, adapt elements of schemes to improve the curriculum. Assessment tools are continually tweaked, and teachers are recognising that success isn’t merely a focus on producing written evidence. Over time, we see our learners understanding, recalling and reproducing words (writing and speech) with increasing accuracy. They begin to understand how to use or comprehend familiar, high-frequency and transferable words in the context of sentences, short paragraphs, longer texts or stories. We see them engaged in their learning, managing short conversations, singing songs, explaining rules. Let’s remember that we are not seeking to produce bilingual Y6s, but to lay a foundation for future language learning (through vocabulary, phonemes, grammar), and sparking interest (through enjoyment and making achievement accessible). If learners are motivated and enabled to develop these skills, this is ‘substantial progress’.

Dan Alliot HSIS Adviser, Primary Languages hsis@havering.gov.uk 01708 433813

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

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SEND – EP team – Zero Tolerance or Restorative Approaches – What does the evidence tell us?

Zero tolerance Although definitions differ, Zero Tolerance behaviour policies typically focus on strict predetermined punishments in response to challenging behaviour, under the premise that these punishments will deter other students from showing similar behaviours in the future. These policies are often linked back to drug enforcement policies in the US justice system. Disproportional use However concerns have been raised as to whether these policies are effective when it comes to behaviour management in schools. The American Psychological Association conducted a comprehensive review looking at the efficacy of ‘Zero Tolerance’ policies and concluded that there was ‘surprisingly’ little data to suggest that these policies were effective at improving incidents of challenging behaviour in schools and went against ‘current best knowledge concerning adolescent development’. Other research highlighted that schools which had higher exclusion rates did not have better academic outcomes among non-excluded students. In addition to this, it has been suggested that the underlying principles of Zero Tolerance policies may not apply to all students, for example fixed term exclusions can be seen as a reward as opposed to a punishment ( Tobin, Sugai, & Colvin, 1996 ). Zero Tolerance Policies have also been described as ‘inhumane’ by the National Education Union and have continually been disproportionately used against black students . But what alternative policies do schools have when trying to reduce challenging behaviour?

Restorative justice Restorative approaches have been gaining interest within the field of education and the justice system in recent years. Restorative Justice typically focuses on supporting individuals to recognise the impact of their behaviour, repair the harm that has been caused and address the underlying needs of their behaviour. Research has found that restorative approaches can lead to: • Increased attendance and reduced exclusion rates ( Skinns et al., 2009 ) • Increased academic performance ( Todi ć et al., 2020 ) • Increased feelings of school connectedness Acosta et al., 2019 ) • Better relationships between staff and students ( Gregory et al., 2016 ) • Better school climate ( Sandwick et al., 2019 ) For more information about implementing restorative approaches in your setting, please contact behaviour@havering.gov.uk

Dr Matthew Fuller Senior Educational Psychologist – Havering Educational Psychology Team matthew.fuller@havering.gov.uk 01708 433839

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11

RE – New RE Syllabus for Havering Schools (2022-2027)

Launch Friday 7th October saw the launch of Havering’s new Agreed Syllabus for RE. Over 70 colleagues from the London Boroughs of Redbridge and Havering met at CEME for the event which included an introduction to the syllabus, a look at classroom activities that could be useful to help implement it and a short address by the Chair of each borough’s SACRE (Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education). Key Features Features of the syllabus highlighted at the launch included: The core purpose of RE in Havering , which is ‘…to engage pupils in exploring and responding to challenging questions raised by religion and worldviews, so that they can develop the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to appreciate and appraise varied responses to these questions, including their own.’ (Syllabus p. 7). Minimum religions and worldviews to be studied in depth. For 3-5 year olds, this is Christianity and religions and worldviews represented in the local area. 5-7 year olds must study Christianity and Islam, whilst 7-11 year olds will focus on Christianity, Hinduism and Judaism in Lower Key Stage 2 and Christianity, Islam and Sikhism in Upper Key Stage 2. Pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2 also learn about other religions and worldviews in thematic units. End of Key Stage Statements. There are statements for

both religious literacy (‘aims’) and knowledge of each religion studied in depth. Overview of Key Questions and Themes within the syllabus. Please see pages 29-31 of the syllabus for further clarification. New Resources Whilst much of the syllabus stays the same as last time, there are plenty of new resources, all designed to help teachers! We now have a full set of unit plans – one for each KS1 and KS2 unit. There are also now documents on progress, assessment and resources to accompany the syllabus. Whilst the syllabus does not need to be fully in place in Local Authority schools until September 2023, this academic year is a good opportunity to use some of these resources and test any changes that you are considering putting in place, so that you can confidently move forward with the new syllabus in the next academic year. Where to Find You can find the new syllabus and resources on the

Havering portal: www.hes.org.uk

Julia Diamond-Conway HSIS Associate Adviser – RE julia@retoday.org.uk 01992 715036

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Leadership – The engaging leader, leading for delivery

At this point in the academic year, the implementation of school development and area plans are well underway. How successfully plans are being implemented will depend on how effectively leaders have been in engaging with colleagues to secure their commitment to delivery. The level of engagement depends on the quality of relationships. Steve Radcliffe in his book Leadership Plain and Simple says “You have to have relationships big enough to get the job done.”

Successful leaders have big enough relationships. They listen, seek others’ opinions and their active involvement in projects and planning, acknowledge contributions and a job well done. In short they value and engage people. Gallup identified three levels of employee engagement: actively engaged, not engaged, and actively disengaged. Within in each level employees will exhibit some of the following attitudes and behaviours.

Gallup Level of Engagement

Attitude

Behaviour

Actively contribute Give of their best & go the extra mile Make suggestions to support improvement Take the initiative/volunteer Promote the organization’s vision and values Speak positively about the organization Enjoy excellent professional team relationships

Enthusiastic Motivated Committed Optimistic Positive

Actively engaged

Do just enough of what is expected Ignore problems Complain Work independently of others

Indifferent Negative

Not engaged

Voice negative opinions, undermining team morale and plans Speak negatively about the organisation Resist change and professional growth Look to create division within the team

Negative Cynica l

Actively disengaged

In his video Employee Engagement - Who’s Sinking Your Boat? 2021 - YouTube Bob Kelleher talks about employees being one of three groups on your crew team: paddlers (actively engaged), passengers (not engaged) and those sinking your boat (actively disengaged). He provides some thoughts about how you can increase the number of paddlers, whilst decreasing the passengers and those sinking your boat, including investing in the development of people who manage others. If as a leader you feel the implementation of your development plan isn’t going as you had hoped, it may be related to colleague engagement. How involved were they in developing the plan? Was it presented to them? You will have review periods built into your plan. This will be a good opportunity to seek feedback and increase the levels of engagement as necessary. The following questions may help to support you in this: “Have the right actions been

chosen to achieve the goal? “Do we need to do things differently to reach our goal?” “Do we need additional resources…?” Michael Fullen rightly said that “change is technically simple but socially complex”. As a manager you will have been successful in delivery, this has enabled you to move forward into leadership. As a leader the challenge is to engage hearts and minds to help you deliver on the vision. You want people to be engaged and preferably actively engaged!

Jacqueline Treacy Senior Inspector - Quality Assurance jacqueline.treacy@havering.gov.uk 01708 431 287

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

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13

LGfL – LGfL launch their PedTech Portal

LGfL are proud to launch our NEW PedTech Portal . We have been working with Dr Fiona Aubrey-Smith on this pioneering new project which brings a fresh new focus on pedagogy, supported by technology. We’ve packed it full of bite-sized videos which combine research evidence, thought-leadership and practical examples so that you can make instant changes in your classroom – giving your children an education fit for the globally digital world that we all live in today. We’ve brought together amazing school leaders and phenomenal teachers to show you what great learning looks like when classroom pedagogy is supported meaningfully by technology. We believe the PedTech Portal will contribute to transform how we think about technology in education: moving from EdTech to PedTech. And best of all, it’s totally free for everybody to access. These key questions can be considered the starting point:

• What is my role in relation to the student in front of me?

• What role does the student in front of me believe I have in relation to their learning? • What is possible for the student in front of me if I support them: • What do they need to do to achieve those possibilities? • What can I do to support them in achieving those possibilities? We are extremely grateful to the contributors for their generosity of time and support for the development of this resource and we envision it continuing to grow and evolve. So, join us by putting Pedagogy first, technology second!

Laura Smith Learning Resource Consultant, LGfL laura.smith@lgfl.net 07483 062252

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

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Computing – Enriching the computing curriculum

In a recent subject leader meeting we talked about ways we can enrich the computing curriculum with visits and visitors and I had to admit that since the pandemic I hadn’t had a look at what was currently available. Below is a summary of what I found. We can enrich Computing through the addition of engaging activities to enhance the curriculum. These activities help make the subject more meaningful and enable pupils to experience aspects of computing beyond the National Curriculum programme of study. Opportunities can be provided for children to examine computing in a real world context, along with enabling them to interact with individuals / organisations involved with technology. Enrichment activities can be undertaken during lessons, outside of lessons (but within the school setting) and outside of school, as outlined below. When planning enrichment activities, it is important to consider the purpose of the activity, including how it will benefit pupils and link with the school’s computing provision. Opportunities to share the activity’s outcomes and link to other areas of the curriculum could also be considered. Enrichment outside of lessons Dedicated time given to computing outside of lessons can not only help further develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding, but it can also promote the importance of the subject within the school. Some ideas include: Trips Providers with either face to face or online opportunities for primary schools include: • Science Museum, London - sciencemuseum.org.uk • Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes - bletchleypark.org.uk • National Museum of Computing (at Bletchley Park, includes some online options), Milton Keynes - tnmoc.org • Centre for Computing History, Cambridge. You can visit but

they will also come to your school - computinghistory.org.uk

• Guardian, London - https://theguardianfoundation.org/ programmes/newswise/teachers/newswise-webinars • National Science and Media Museum, Bradford (it’s a long journey but there is some great content on their website) - www.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/ • Amazon - bit.ly/amazonful Digital Leaders A number of children lead technology and computing usage in the school, including providing technical support and trialling new products. Lunch time / after school clubs Digital Leaders could run / attend an extra-curricular club, or it could be accessible to a wider range of children. Code Club provides free resources for use during clubs codeclub.org Computing day / week A dedicated event linked to computing, which could involve extended lessons / workshops to produce creative digital artefacts. Pupils could produce animations, videos and programs, which are shared with the wider school community, such as those produced during Hour of Code activities hourofcode.com/uk

I hope that you find some ideas and are able to give something a go.

Amanda Jackson Senior Inspector – Quality Assurance amanda.jackson@havering.gov.uk 01708 431662

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

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Havering Academy of Leadership – Welcome to the Havering Academy of Leadership…

It is my pleasure and privilege, as the Founder and Director of the Havering Academy of Leadership, to welcome you to our website – www. haveringacademyofleadership.co.uk – and to remind you of the services we have to offer for all education staff right across Havering. Our Academy is an innovative and exciting development, bringing together all sectors and phases within Havering’s educational landscape, with the simple aim of improving outcomes for all our children and young people. We know that Leadership is the key to effective education, so the purpose of our Leadership Academy is simple but ambitious: it is to promote, support and develop leaders at all levels and to create clear career pathways for experienced, new and aspiring leaders throughout the system. The Academy is a genuine collaboration of partners: conceived, born and bred in Havering, to support and develop leadership in Havering’s diverse education community. It is a partnership between Havering Local Authority, the London District East Teaching School Hub and headteachers, principals and governors right across the borough. All schools, academies, free schools settings and colleges, in all sectors, are eligible to be members of the Academy by virtue of being sited in Havering and serving Havering children and young people. I hope that you will find our website interesting and useful and that the work of the Havering Academy of Leadership will help, support and inspire you in your leadership role. Homepage: www.haveringacademyofleadership.co.uk Training and Support: www.haveringacademyofleadership.co.uk/training directory On-Site Support from System Leaders: www.haveringacademyofleadership.co.uk/on-site support Free Mentors: www.haveringacademyofleadership.co.uk/mentors Effective Practice Register: www.haveringacademyofleadership.co.uk/effective practice Networking Opportunities: www.haveringacademyofleadership.co.uk/networking opportunities

Publications and Resources: www.haveringacademyofleadership.co.uk/publication resources Blogs: https://www.haveringacademyofleadership.co.uk/blog Podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/show/09hyCf5cQUc6zKvGwtdoTe For information about NPQ Opportunities, email grahame.smith@havering.gov.uk or Paul Claydon on pclaydon@lifeeducationtrust.com E-Mail leadershipacademy@havering.gov.uk Phone 01708 433813 Twitter https://twitter.com/HaveringAofL

Grahame Smith Director, Havering Academy of Leadership grahame.smith@havering.gov.uk 01708 433942

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

@HES_orguk

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BESA LendED – EdTech resource lending platform for schools

What is LendED? LendED is a free to use online portal produced by the British Educational Suppliers

8. Write a review on LendED, so other schools can benefit from your experience

What is BESA? BESA, the British Educational Suppliers Association, is the trade association covering the entirety of the UK

Association (BESA) in association with the Department for Education. www.LendED.org.uk provides extended free access to EdTech resources from suppliers that have been subject to BESA’s stringent safeguarding, data privacy and quality assurance controls. How does it work? LendED is designed to help you locate the EdTech products and services that meet your needs. It is free to use and provides details on hundreds of products backed by BESA and the DfE. 1. Use the search and filter functions to identify possible solutions for your school 2. Read the product entry including the case studies and testimonials 3. Identify the solution that most suits your school 4. Request a free trial using the button on the product page 5. Wait for the supplier to contact you to set up the free trial (usually within 2 working days) 6. Try the product out in your school, without any obligation to purchase 7. Decide whether to keep or return the product

educational suppliers’ sector. It operates on a not-for profit basis, and is accountable to an Executive Council. It has an 89-year heritage serving the UK education sector, and represents over 300 educational suppliers in the UK, including manufacturers and distributors of equipment, materials, books, consumables, furniture, technology, ICT hardware and EdTech to the education market. Combined, BESA’s members constitute around 80% of the market in terms of the amount spent by UK schools on products and services.

Dave Smith Head of Content – British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) dave@besa.org.uk www.besa.org.uk LendED: www.LendED.org.uk Twitter: @besatweet @davesmithict 020 7537 4997

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

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HSIS courses Autumn 2022 and beyond

Please find links below to two posters showing the wide range of courses, networks and programmes on offer to all staff during the Autumn Term 2022. Some courses remain virtual where this was the better option for delegates.

HSIS Courses Autumn 2022 by Subject and Aspect

HSIS Courses Autumn 2022 in Date Order

These ‘Flipping Book’ versions have links to each of the courses and events embedded in them Please click on the posters to open electronic versions, which include links to the HSIS autumn term 2022 CPD. Please note that booking is essential to receive Zoom invites and course materials.

HSIS virtual courses are designed and delivered to fit with online facilitation, and we respectfully ask that all delegates enter the meeting in advance of the starting time to ensure a smooth and prompt start to the course. We would be grateful if, wherever possible, during virtual courses colleagues could keep cameras switched on and have microphones available to contribute to discussions. Thank you.

HSIS on-site and virtual consultancy, telephone and email support

HSIS consultancy work is available for your school, with the option of on site and virtual meetings and training, email and telephone support. The ‘HSIS Training and Consultancy Handbook 2022-23’ provides an overview of what HSIS has

consultancy support requests. Contact details are in the Handbook. https://online.flippingbook.com/view/272454414/ Would your school like to be featured in the HES School Improvement Update? We are always open to hearing from schools willing to share their practice via the HSIS School Improvement Update. Please email hsis@havering.gov.uk if you would like to propose an article to be included in the next edition. For any questions regarding any aspects of HSIS services please do not hesitate to contact Hannah via hsis@havering.gov.uk or 01708 433813 Thank you for your ongoing support for HSIS CPD and services.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT SERVICES ( HSIS )

Training & Consultancy Handbook 2022-23 What's inside?

on offer including:- • Making the most of the Training and CPD

Subject/Aspect Reviews and Support Health Checks School Improvement Professional (SIP) Meet the Team

6 7 7 8

Introduction Making the most of the Training and CPD Programme Making the most of your HSIS consultancy support time Whole School Reviews

2 3

4

5

@HES_orguk

www.hes.org.uk

Programme • Making the most of your HSIS consultancy support time • Whole School Reviews • Subject/Aspect Reviews and Support • Health Checks • School Improvement Professional (SIP) Please contact HSIS colleagues for any on-site and virtual

Hannah Waters Business and Office Manager hannah.waters@havering.gov.uk 01708 434606

For more information go to: www.hes.org.uk or follow us on Twitter

@HES_orguk

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