Bradford Teaching School Hub's Teacher Development Network supports teacher and leaders to stay informed about the emerging reforms of national continuous professional development (CPD) programmes and support, including how the Hub is evolving to support schools and trusts in the region. The Hub has prepared and developed helpful briefing and resources for teacher and leaders.
Pupils in Bradford are to benefit from a major science funding boost as part of the district’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bradford Opportunity Area has awarded a £50,000 grant to the North & West Yorkshire Science Learning Partnership, with the funding being used to create a Bradford Primary Science Network alongside a practical science activity scheme focusing on those children most in need of extra science subject support.
The programme will see over 2,000 specially created ‘science in a box’ home learning kits sent out to Key Stage 2 pupils.
There will also be a number of networking, mentoring and continuing professional development (CPD) events for teachers designed and delivered by expert science consultants.
DfE and Ofqual have launched a consultation seeking your views on how to award grades in a way that reflects students’ performance accurately, recognising the severe disruption they have faced this year.
The consultation will close at 11.45pm on 29 January 2021. You can respond here. Ofqual has also launched a consultation on awarding arrangements for a range of vocational and technical qualifications.
Simon Lebus, Interim Chief Regulator, has also published this blog on how 2021 could look for students.
A new Institute of Teaching is set to be established in England to provide teachers and school leaders with prestigious training and development throughout their career.
Training will be delivered through at least four regional campuses, launching in September 2022, with the Institute being the first of its kind in the world. The national initiative will deliver evidence-based approaches to teacher training, and also include mentoring and early career support, alongside leadership courses and continued professional development, building on the existing high-quality provision.
It will be funded as part of £22 million for teacher quality, agreed at the Spending Review, which also includes funding for mentor time for early career teachers as part of the Early Career Framework reforms.
The Institute will become England’s flagship teacher training and development provider, showcasing exemplary delivery of the Government’s ambitious reforms through the new ITT Core Content Framework and Early Career Framework, and its changes to National Professional Qualifications (NPQs).
The training is likely to be delivered through a blend of online, face-to-face and school-based means. When the Institute is at full capacity, it is expected to deliver training for:
Around 1,000 ITT trainees annually
Around 2,000 Early Career Teachers and 2,000 mentors annually
1,000 NPQ participants annually
It will continue to build evidence around the most effective approaches to training and developing teachers and will use this to support other teacher development organisations, including new Teaching School Hubs, to understand and implement best practice.
January 2021 update following the DfE's market engagement event
Collaboration at times of challenge and adversity continues to be important for schools and teachers. The Maths Hubs which support all state-funded primary and secondary schools in Lancashire and West Yorkshire are continuing to offer flexible support and online professional development which are all tilted towards the current challenges we are facing. Get in touch with your local hub to find out more.
Materials to support teachers and schools planning and delivering maths teaching in school and remotely at both primary and secondary level are available from the NCETM. All are accessible from the dedicated Covid support page on the NCETM website.
For primary schools and teachers, the 180 primary video lessons produced during the first lockdown are still available. Each lesson has an accompanying teacher guide, and PowerPoint slides of the lesson for teachers to adapt themselves.
There are also resources linked to the DfE guidance published in July 2020. These include ready-to-use training materials, a short introductory video, and a suite of 79 PowerPoints focusing on the ready-to-progress criteria found in the DfE guidance. Additional training materials addressing the transition between Year 6 and Year 7 are also particularly relevant when pupils in Year 6 have had their maths learning disrupted.
For secondary schools, an evidence-based guidance document to support discussions about recovery curriculum content and pedagogy is available, along with a series of ‘Planning to teach...’ videos and PowerPoint slides offering advice on teaching crucial KS3 topics. CPD materials include a one-hour training session to help understand the implications for Year 7 of the DfE primary guidance and six Departmental Workshops for any teachers able to engage in collaborative professional development.
The DfE have released the ‘Review your Remote Education Provision’ framework. This framework aims to help MAT leaders, system leaders, school leaders and governors to:
Here are links to specific aspects of the guidance:
With School Leaders operating in unprecedented and challenging times, The Cellar Group, in partnership with Exceed Institute, are hosting a much-needed Masterclass providing practical and emotional support. The event is free to Bradford school leaders as it is funded by Bradford Opportunity Area.
From West Yorkshire Maths Hub:
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This scheme temporarily increases data allowances for mobile phone users on certain networks. This is so that children and young people can access remote education if their face-to-face education is disrupted.
Schools, trusts and local authorities can request mobile data increases for children and young people who:
Children with access to a mobile phone on one of the following networks might be able to benefit:
Other providers may join the scheme at a later stage.
Schools, trusts and local authorities can request mobile data increases when schools report a closure or have pupils self-isolating.
They can also make requests for children who cannot attend school face-to-face because:
For each request, we need to know:
There’s an online guide to help gather mobile information.
Schools, trusts and local authorities need to submit mobile information through our online service. Each provider will vary in how quickly they process requests.
Once a network provider has processed a data increase, they’ll send a text message to the account holder. It’s also possible to check the status of requests through the online service.
If increasing mobile data isn’t a suitable option for some children, schools can also request 4G wireless routers. Find out more about choosing help with internet access.
If you have any questions, email COVID.TECHNOLOGY@education.gov.ukusing the subject line ‘Increasing data allowances’.
Work Groups in this project will focus on participant teachers working together to ‘unpick’ (i.e. analyse, deconstruct and trace through the curriculum) a challenging topic from GCSE Mathematics.
Participants will develop insight into the associated difficulties and misconceptions to support teaching in the short term, but also consider the implications for longer-term curriculum design.
Participants should be secondary school teachers of GCSE Maths.
Ideally, two teachers will attend from each participating school.
Teachers who have previously participated in Work Groups in this project are welcome to take part again in 2020/21.
Each Work Group will follow a ‘workshop – school-based task’ cycle, consisting of several workshops followed in each case by a specific school-based task. Workshops will provide opportunities for teachers to identify and analyse a key challenging topic area, to work collaboratively to develop pedagogical approaches to it and to evaluate and discuss after teaching. There will be school-based tasks for participants to engage with between each meeting.
Time allocation for workshops will be the equivalent of three full days, but hubs will be able to arrange provision to suit local needs.
Participants and their schools will:
The Challenging Topics at GCSE project is fully funded by the Maths Hubs Programme so is free to participating schools.
From James Hoyle, Skipton Girls' High School and EdTech Demo Lead:
