Isa issue 11

Checkmate ISA Schools ahead of the game

Also inside...

Call for entries – ISA Awards Spotlight on mental health Safeguarding crisis – a Head’s experience The invisible curriculum

London Christian School

www.isaschools.org.uk ISSUE 11

Welcome to the eleventh issue of ISA’s magazine for Member schools

As a keen and very amateurish photographer, I have always believed in the old maxim that a picture is worth a thousand words. If anything, that's truer today as social media gives us very little peace and our every deed (and misdeed) can be published for eternity – just ask Brooks Newmark. So I'm always interested to see what pops up on Facebook after our Annual Conference, given our emphasis on fellowship throughout the event. Luckily there's nothing (yet) that threatens a breach of the Articles and summary expulsion from the Association. So you will just have to make do with our official Annual Conference in Pictures spread, recording a wonderful and uplifting event which certainly had the “wow” factor. If you missed it, shame on you (I even hear that a Member used the trivial excuse of an ISI inspection to cancel his place), so get the dates in your diary for next year.

Talking of heartening pictures, we also feature the ISA 2015 National Drama Competition where the standard of entries seems to grow stronger each year – as indeed do the ISA Awards. Thanks to those of you who have already been in

touch, and for those of you who haven't we look forward to hearing from you.

(We’ve made entry even easier this year, so do be sure to enter.)

Also in this issue, check out Andrew Hampton's account of managing a safeguarding crisis, based on recent and first-hand experience – ‘there but for the grace of God’. Stuart Nicholson and the Young Minds charity highlight growing concerns over pupil mental health, while Stephen Lockyer and Andrew Hammond (yes, related) separately and most interestingly explore aspects of the curriculum. To round off, we take our usual trawl of ISA’s Areas for inspirational events across our schools, and provide a snap-shot of ISA sporting competitions over the last few months.

Talking of the Conference, our annual event tends to be an unstuffy and fun affair, reflecting the uncompetitive and supportive values of ISA. That’s not to everyone's expectations of course, particularly for guests from other associations where events can be more about being the biggest cat in the room.

So when the chairs and tables get pulled back and the wine flows, and our Heads drop any mask of professional pretence as we all enjoy “ISA’s Got Talent”, the looks on the faces of some of our guests are pictures that I would very much like to see on social media.

With very best wishes from all of us at ISA – and please do get in contact if ever we can help.

Neil Roskilly CEO, ISA

Stop Press: Enter the 2015 ISA Awards. Turn straight to pages 12-14 for details.

Managing Editor Neil Roskilly

Marketing & Communications Officer Angie Shatford

Editor Caroline Scoular

Publisher Sean Ferris

News Leigh-Anne Ogilvie

Circulation Jon Hardy

The Independent Schools Association (ISA) exists to provide professional support to Headteachers of independent nursery, prep and secondary schools, and sixth form colleges. t: 01799 523619 f: 01799 524892 Independent Schools Association 1 Boys’ British School, East Street, Saffron Walden, Essex CB10 1LS

ISA Journal is published by ALCHEMY CONTRACT PUBLISHING LTD, Gainsborough House, 59/60 Thames Street, Windsor, SL4 1TX For editorial, publishing and sales enquiries: e: info@alchemycontractpublishing.co.uk t: 01753 272022 f: 01753 272021 www.alchemycontractpublishing.co.uk www.isajournal.co.uk

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

welcome

Meet the Team

THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

contents 6

News from the ISA areas From Comic Relief ‘funny for money’ antics to a re-enactment of the Wars of the Roses, there’s never a dull moment at ISA schools!

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Spotlight on mental health Schools have a vital role to play in helping to tackle the alarming growth in the number of young people suffering mental health problems.

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Contacts How to reach ISA’s Area Committees.

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Gaining with training Latest news on ISA courses, conferences and training programmes.

Safeguarding crisis – A Head’s experience Thorpe Hall School’s Headteacher Andrew Hampton shares critical learning gained from devastating events last Autumn.

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ISA Awards 2015 – Call for entries Over 100 ISA schools entered the inaugural ISA Awards last year. Could you be a winner?

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ISA Annual Conference ISA’s recent Annual Conference proved a great success. Here we re-live the event in glorious technicolour.

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News bulletin Latest news and ISA updates.

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ISA charities – Beanstalk National children’s literacy charity Beanstalk helps thousands of children who have fallen behind with their reading each year.

Outstanding teaching for primary teachers Why Stephen Lockyer, Deputy Head of ISA’s The Mead School in Tunbridge Wells, always has lots of ideas up his sleeve.

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Life after levels February’s ISA Junior Schools Conference examined serious implications for Primary Practice.

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ISA Drama Competition March saw the return of ISA’s Annual Drama Festival. ISA’s Membership Officer, Carey Dickinson, reports.

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ISA Essay Competition The standard in this year’s competition was as high as ever. But there could be only one winner in each category!

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Spotlight on websites Google recently made an announcement relating to its search engine algorithm.

But what are the implications for school websites?

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Food for thought With the world of school catering undergoing so many changes, is now the time to bring in an outside caterer?

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Sporting Times From netball and swimming to cross country and rugby, it’s been an action packed spring for sports-focused ISA schools.

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

s a e r A A S I e th m o fr s New World Book Da y Pupils from ISA schools across the coun try celebrated World Book Day by dressing up as their favourite literar y characters, an d taking part in a whole host of fun activities.

Here are just a few of the fantastic pictures that were posted on Twitter on 4 March.

e School, Cambridg Sancton Wood

Oaklands School, Loughton

Malvern St James, Worcestershire

St John’s Priory School, Banbury

School Leehurst Swan

hool, Petersfield Ditcham Park Sc St Edward’s School, Cheltenham

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

ical Any dream will do tacular production of the mus Market Bosworth staged a spec ed audience of pack a to The Dixie Grammar School in out ed play – nicolour Dreamcoat this term Joseph and his Amazing Tech . hers parents and teac

re Right on target James School we om Malvern St ery ch ar e Th n.

Year 11 girls fr an Danielle Brow pi lym gave ra Pa on by pi visited world cham and three times gold medallist . talk to students a motivational

Wars of the Roses held a ‘Wars Adcote School in Shrewsbury ils joined Pup ’ Day. ce erien Exp of the Roses er and the Houses of York or Lancast period. re−enacted the battles of the

Funny face Lady Barn House Sch ool in Cheadle made their faces ‘funny for money’ and raised hundreds of pounds for Comic Relief.

e School Day Red (Nose) Hous arked Red Nose in Stockton m ol ho Sc , es iti tiv Red House ac ng st of fundraisi iz. with a whole ho ll match and qu tba ne le, sa ke ca including a

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS Dwight School concert Students from London’s Dwight School performed at New York’s world famous Carnegie Hall recently, in a special concert which brought together musicians l from Dwight Schoo oss acr campuses the globe.

Art for Mum! d College in Coventry showcase Young pupils from Pattison for mbly Asse Day ers Moth ial their artistic skills at a spec parents.

Right royal fun Year 5 students fro m Coopersale Hall School in Epping enjoyed a trip to the Queen Elizabe th Hunting Lodge in neaby Ching ford. Pupils dressed in authentic Tudor costumes and learned about King Henry VIII.

Who ate all the Pi? Fyling Hall Sc hool in Whitby pu t a unique spin on National Pie Week with some pa stry based calcula tions.

Year 10 Maths students calculated th e number Pi by creating a ci rcle of apple pies !

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

CONTACTS FOR ISA AREA COMMITTEES EAST ANGLIA Area Coordinator thehead@saintnicholasschool.net President lindsay@greenblade.plus.com Chairman cogden@ahs.me.uk Secretary ph@woodlandsschools.co.uk Treasurer stuartn@ccss.co.uk Sports Coordinator rturner@thorpehall.southend.sch.uk Sports Rep Head admin@stmargaretsprep.com Arts Coordinator richards@ccss.co.uk LONDON NORTH Area Coordinator headmistress@lyonsdownschool.co.uk Chairman cosborn@normanhurstschool.co.uk Secretary klovejoy@coopersalehallschool.co.uk Treasurer head@francishouseschool.co.uk Sports Coordinator tendaihuntley@hotmail.com Sports Rep Head d.berkin@groveindependentschool.co.uk Arts Coordinator mimc@hotmail.co.uk LONDON SOUTH Area Coordinator office@vfps.org Assistant Area Coordinator head@steephill.co.uk Chairman head@oakhyrstgrangeschool.co.uk Vice Chairman head@westlodge.org.uk Secretary jane.beales@hernehillschool.co.uk Treasurer stdavids@dial.pipex.com Sports Coordinator manola@bishopchallonerschool.com Sports Rep Head peter.kelly@cumnorhouse.com Arts Coordinator head@sacredheartwadhurst.org.uk

LONDON WEST Area Coordinator principal@hurstlodgesch.co.uk Assistant Area Coordinator headmaster@lyndhurstschool.co.uk Chairman headmaster@lyndhurstschool.co.uk Secretary carolinegoodsman@gmail.com Treasurer jtw@clairescourt.net

Keith Knight Paul Spendlove Clare Ogden Paula Hobbs Stuart Nicholson Richard Turner Elaine Powling Richard Swift

Lynn Maggs-Wellings Claire Osborn Kaye Lovejoy Helen Stanton-Tonner Tendai Huntley Deborah Birkin Mim Clark

Meg Baines Caroline Birtwell Alex Gear Susan Webb Jane Beales Ann Wagstaff Manola Toschi-Restivo Peter Kelly Hilary Blake

Vicky Smit Andrew Rudkin Andrew Rudkin Caroline Goodsman James Wilding

Sports Coordinator daniel.winch@ballardschool.co.uk Sports Rep Head headmaster@lyndhurstschool.co.uk Arts Rep principal@hurstlodgesch.co.uk

Daniel Winch Andrew Rudkin Vicky Smit

MIDLANDS Area Coordinator hm@oldvicarageschool.co.uk Assistant Area Coordinator head@knollschool.co.uk Chairman head@heathfieldschool.co.uk Vice Chairman rmw@castlehouseschool.co.uk Secretary headmaster@stedwardsjunior.co.uk Treasurer headmaster@dagfaschool.notts.sch.uk Sports Coordinator lhovland@stdominicsschool.co.uk Sports Rep Head headmaster@bowbrookhouseschool.co.uk Arts Coordinator head@ruckleigh.co.uk NORTH Area Coordinator sj@qe.org Assistant Area Coordinators margaret.denton@btinternet.com Chairman headmistress@greenbankschool.co.uk Vice Chairman martinlloyd@avalon-school.co.uk Secretary nairnj@bwslive.co.uk Treasurer headteacher@forestschool.sch.uk Sports Coordinator angela.davis@hullcollegiateschool.co.uk Sports Rep Head info@beechhouseschool.co.uk Arts Coordinator info@beechhouseschool.co.uk SOUTH WEST Area Coordinator hm@hatheropcastle.co.uk Assistant Area Coordinator headmaster@polwhelehouseschool.co.uk Chairman headmaster@trinityschool.co.uk Secretary thehead@parkschool.com Treasurer bursar@trinityschool.co.uk Sports Coordinator sam.matthews@stjosephscornwall.co.uk Sports Rep Head headteacher@stjosephscornwall.co.uk Arts Coordinator cairnsp@trinityschool.co.uk INSET Coordinator headmaster@moylescourt.co.uk

Matthew Adshead Nigel Humphreys Roger Brierly Richard Walden Stephen McKernan Peter Woodroffe Louise Hovland Chris Allen Barbara Forster

Steven Jandrell Margaret Denton Janet Lowe Martin Lloyd Judy Nairn Rick Hyde Angela Davis Kevin Sartain Kevin Sartain

Paul Easterbrook Alex McCullough Tim Waters Jane Huntington Shaun Dyer Sam Matthews Sue Rowe Pat Cairns Gregory Meakin

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

GAINING WITH TRAINING ISA COURSES ISA’s Professional Development Programme is growing, and this year includes over 40 courses for ISA schools. The programme aims to keep Heads and staff up to date with the latest educational thinking and practice, equipping schools to deal with everything from inspections and tracking to SEN and safeguarding.

New courses for this academic year include The Can Do SENCO, which offers practical advice on the most effective strategies for the management of whole school SEND provision,

JUNE

and CEM Assessment and Tracking, which looks at how monitoring and assessment systems can benefit schools.

ISA schools preparing for inspection can now choose from four different courses including the invaluable Preparing Your Inspection Documentation and Inspections The Regulatory Requirements – which highlights the most recent changes in compliance.

For more information on how ISA courses can benefit your school contact ISA’s Professional Development and Training Officer Alice Jeffries: alice.jeffries@isaschools.org.uk.

when performance is not adequate.

Venue: Waltham Abbey Marriott Hotel

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OCTOBER 15

EYFS This popular course will focus on what works best for literacy and creativity along with a practical session on crafting with natural objects and an all-important update on the Regulatory Requirements.

Venue: Pitsford School, Northampton

9 SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING – WRITING WORKSHOP This course will simplify and guide you through the development planning process, from formulating a powerful values-driven vision for your school, to delivering measurable and sustainable outcomes for your pupils.

Venue: Waltham Abbey Marriott Hotel

16 DEVELOPING INSPECTOR SKILLS TO RAISE STANDARDS This course aims to give you the skills required to move your school from good to excellent, and to drive continuous improvement and raise standards at all levels. It is designed to enable you to get the best out of inspection and will give you useful tips on how to work with the inspection team as well as a valuable update from ISI’s Head of Communications.

Venue: Waltham Abbey Marriott Hotel

17 INSPECTIONS – THE REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS Referencing the most recent ISI documentation and highlighting any recent changes in compliance, this day course will focus on meeting the seven Parts of the Regulatory Requirements and will raise awareness of the areas which most frequently cause non-compliance.

Venue: Waltham Abbey Marriott Hotel

NOVEMBER 13-14 AUTUMN STUDY CONFERENCE 2015 The mix of keynote speakers and breakout seminars will enable lively educational debate and keep Heads and Senior Leaders up to date with the key issues affecting our sector.

Venue: Daventry Court Hotel, Northamptonshire

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ISA AWARDS CEREMONY AND DINNER ISA Schools are invited to enter the 2015 ISA Awards which will culminate in an Awards Ceremony and dinner on Friday 13 November at the Association’s Autumn Study Conference. (Turn to page 12.)

Venue: Daventry Court Hotel, Northamptonshire

DEPUTY/ASSISTANT HEADS’ CONFERENCE The role of Deputy/Assistant Head is one of the most complex and difficult of positions. This conference brings together practitioners from schools throughout ISA in the south to share experiences and reflect on the issues, problems and opportunities the post affords.

Venue: St James Junior Schools, London

We are in the process of putting together ISA’s programme of professional development for the academic year 201516. We will send this to all our members by email and publish it on our website, as soon as it is finalised. We look forward to meeting you at forthcoming professional development events.

11 APPRAISAL AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT During the day we will explore the dangers of a ‘comfortable’ appraisal in which nice but inaccurate observations are recorded. We will experiment with coaching techniques which add ‘stretch’ and the transition from coaching to a more assertive management style. Finally we will look at the challenging conversations you may have to conduct

PROPRIETORS’ CONFERENCE Venue: Woodland Grange, Leamington Spa

Further information and online booking can be found on our website.

Visit: www.isaschools.org.uk

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• www.isaschools.org.uk

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

THE ISA AWARDS 2015

CALL FOR ENTRIES

Over 100 ISA schools entered – and attended – the inaugural ISA Awards last year. So if you haven’t yet entered, then now is the time.

The ISA Awards are a formal recognition of excellence and applaud the commitment and dedication of our ISA Heads and teachers across the UK. “The calibre of entrants last year was exceptionally high and narrowing them down to our 14 ultimate winners was extremely challenging,” says Neil Roskilly, ISA CEO. “To the credit of all ISA schools, we fully expect our judging panel to be similarly tested this year.”

The Awards, organised again by Journal publisher Alchemy Contract Publishing, will see prizes for category winners and display certificates for all winners and runners-up in each category. Post the event, ISA will be able to assist schools with publicity resulting from these national awards.

HOW TO ENTER • Schools may enter a maximum of four awards categories.

• A separate entry form must be used for each award entered. (Forms are downloadable from www.theisajournal.com) • Forms must be completed by The Head Teacher and should be returned to ISA HQ: angie.shatford@isaschools.org.uk by no later than Friday 25 September 2015.

Entries should be in electronic form only.

• When completing the form Heads should provide written evidence explaining why

their school should be considered for the nomination. Entries may include images, but must not exceed 2 pages. The judges will not consider evidence over and above this.

• Only schools in Full ISA Membership are eligible to enter.

JUDGING PROCESS • A shortlist of three finalists for each category will be drawn up.

• Judging will take place after 25 September 2015. The judging panel will comprise of: Neil Roskilly (ISA CEO), Angie Shatford (ISA Marketing Officer) and one Honorary Officer of the Association.

• ISA reserves the right to request supplementary evidence from schools if necessary.

• Finalists will be notified as soon as possible, to enable them to make 12

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arrangements to book and attend the ceremony if they are not already attending Autumn Study Conference.

ANY QUESTIONS? Please contact Angie Shatford at ISA HQ (angie.shatford@isaschools.org.uk) if you have any queries.

1. ISA Award for Outstanding Provision in Sport Applications are sought from schools that can evidence their outstanding sporting provision in relation to opportunities offered to pupils. This might include partnership work with state schools or the community, an extensive extra-curricular programme, and opportunities to access national/ international events.

Applications from schools demonstrating very high levels of participation across the school are particularly encouraged.

innovation in pupil outcomes, or curricular or noncurricular programmes, evidenced as above.

7. ISA Community Award Schools that can demonstrate strong community or state sector partnerships are encouraged to enter this category. Judges will be looking for evidence of partnership working, sharing best practice, provision of opportunities for maintained sector pupils or working with community groups and events.

2. ISA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sport

8. ISA Green School of the Year

The judges will be looking for evidence of outstanding sporting achievement – either by an individual, a team or the school collectively.

The ISA Green School of the Year will be awarded to the school that shows excellent green credentials, either in terms of curriculum programmes, general education and/or school operation.

3. ISA Award for Excellence in the Arts The ISA Arts Award will be presented to the school that can provide evidence of going the extra mile in terms of arts provision and achievement. This category covers all types of art, design and photography as well as drama and music. Schools wishing to apply may evidence just one or all of these areas.

9. Outstanding Contribution for International Understanding

4. ISA Early Years Award for excellence and innovation in provision

10. School Website of the Year

Applications are sought from schools that can evidence the outstanding quality of their Early Years setting (open to any ISA school with Early Years, Pre-Prep or Nursery provision, including Reception). Evidence can be wideranging and may include EYFS inspection outcomes or value-added data, or evidence for innovation in provision with particular emphasis on the curriculum.

5. ISA Junior/Prep School Award for excellence and innovation in provision This award is open to ISA schools with provision covering the Junior/Prep years in the 5-13 age range.

Excellence could be evidenced through pupil outcomes (including value-added data) and provision via inspection evidence or other recent recognition. Judges will also look for evidence of curriculum innovation in one or more subject and/or extra-curricular areas where the positive impact on pupils is clear.

Applications are sought from schools that can evidence an international contribution – perhaps through charitable work, engagement in overseas projects, or innovative teaching.

The School Website of the Year will be awarded to the school judged to have the most effective website in terms of accessibility, ease of navigation and overall design.

11. ISA Award for Financial Management The judges will be looking for evidence of innovation and best practice in the financial management of the school – e.g. through innovative fee schemes for parents, partnership or sponsorship schemes or the generation of new revenue streams.

12. ISA Award for IT Innovation The ISA Award for IT Innovation will be presented to the school that can demonstrate new thinking and practices either in terms of the IT systems within school or the IT teaching provision e.g. computer programming, use of mobile devices, etc.

13. ISA Award for Healthy Eating 6. ISA Senior School Award for excellence and innovation in provision Open to schools with pupils in secondary and/or post16 provision, judges are looking for excellence and/or

Applications are sought from schools that can evidence an outstanding commitment to healthy eating, both in terms of the provision for pupils and prominence in curricular activity.

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

The Categories

THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

THE WINNING SCHOOLS ISA Award for Outstanding Provision in Sport: The Dixie Grammar School, Market Bosworth

ISA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sport: Cundall Manor School, York

ISA Award for Excellence in the Arts : Oakhyrst Grange School, Caterham

ISA Early Years Award: Priory School, Edgbaston

ISA Junior / Prep Award: Lady Barn House School, Cheadle

ISA Senior Award: Scarisbrick Hall School, Ormskirk

ISA Community Award: Claires Court School, Maidenhead

ISA Green School: Greenbank Prep School, Cheadle

ISA International Award: Derby Grammar School

School Website of the Year: Cransley School, Great Budworth

ISA Financial Innovation Award: Rushmoor School, Bedford

ISA Award for IT Innovation: Cambridge Centre for Sixth Form Studies

ISA Award for Healthy Eating: St Hilda’s School, Westcliffe

ISA Award for Excellence: Beech House School

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Organiser and Sponsor of the

AWARDS 2015

THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

Sir Christopher Ball

ISA President Lord Lexden and Chair Andrew Hampton

Prof AC Grayling

ISA ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2015

NO BOUNDARIES Over 200 delegates attended ISA’s Annual Conference at the Midland Hotel in Manchester earlier this month, making the event our biggest ever.

With a theme of ‘No Boundaries, Exploring All Possibilities”, the programme featured some outstanding speakers including Professors Guy Claxton and AC Grayling, and the memorable Sir Christopher Ball, whose epic re-counting of his “ten marathons in ten days” taught us all a few things about breaking boundaries.

Chair Andrew Hampton opened the event with an inspiring speech which celebrated ISA’s growth, the uniqueness of our schools, and explored how independent schools might succeed in an increasingly regulated environment.

“We may not be so independent any more and that is a good thing in some important ways. But we have not lost our zeal to remain at the cutting edge of education. Every day we need to justify why our school is better than a statefunded school and can therefore charge fees. Our success stems from our thirst for innovation, always looking for something 16

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that will enhance pupil participation and improve engagement.”

This quest for innovation, and exploring new ways of thinking, was a recurring theme throughout the two day programme, culminating in the Association’s Annual Gala Dinner – a highlight of the ISA year. In addition to the many opportunities for networking and learning, delegates also found time to take in some of the sights of Manchester, including a visit to the ITV

Studios and the Coronation Street set.

Many of the delegates at this year’s event were new ISA members, attending Annual Conference for the first time. We were also pleased to be joined by exhibitors from 50 companies and charities.

Do look out for details of our Autumn Study Conference, which will be held at The Daventry Court Hotel in Northamptonshire on 13 November 2015.

We look forward to seeing you there.

THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

ISA ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2015 IN PICTURES

Arts Educational Schools receive the 2015 ISA Award for Excellence.

ISA Heads at The Rovers Return

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FOR PRIMARY TEACHERS

Haunted by the fear of teaching the same lesson twice, Stephen Lockyer – Deputy Head of ISA’s The Mead School in Tunbridge Wells – always makes sure he has lots of ideas up his sleeve. His newly published book, 100 Ideas for Primary Teachers, shares the best of his creativity and experience and provides quick, practical and easy to implement classroom ideas, as Stephen explains.

Idea 1: Why/because “Positive challenge leading to positive clarity.”

The introduction of cards with ‘why’ and ‘because’ written on them can transform dialogue between a teacher and a pupil.

This activity is great for developing thinking skills and enhancing inference.

I am lucky enough to work in an environment where thoughtful risk is positively encouraged. Our school ethos has been carefully cultivated so that curriculum plans are ambitious, exploratory, rigorous and dynamic. As a result, as much as 20% of the curriculum changes from year to year.

With this comes the need for experimentation and ideas in abundance.

Some of the ideas in this book came from a need to extend, challenge and fulfil the children in school, and the four below are four of my favourites. As I say in the introduction, although it is always valuable to visit other schools (which in the ISA we are able to do quite regularly), there is hidden gold behind the classroom doors of our own schools. One part of our INSET is a ‘bring and share,’ where seven (volunteer) teachers talk for five minutes on something they’ve been working on at school. This has produced lots of memorable moments, sharing of pedagogy and some good fun too!

A good idea is always worth sharing – I hope you want to try out some of these!

Make a set of cards, with WHY written on one side and BECAUSE written on the other. In a one-toone conversation with a child where you are leading the question, hand them a card every time you say ‘why’ – the cards are as much a prompt for you as for them!

Ask pupils to hand the cards back every time they use the word ‘because’ – retention of the card is not an option! Encouraging the use of the word ‘because’, forces the children to think about their answer and justify it.

These cards are also incredibly effective in whole class teaching situations, where you can hold out the ‘why’ cards and give one to a child who can give you a ‘because’ answer. For example, you can use these cards to encourage the children to think more critically as to why the Ancient Egyptians used stone and not wood to build the pyramids, rather than simply telling them that stone was readily available and stronger.

Bonus idea These cards work just as well when discussing reading, to tease out what happened in the passage previously read. Simply asking ‘what has happened?’ will give you a summary, whereas encouraging the use of ‘because’ forces the children to consider why something has happened. _______________________________

Idea 2: Microticks “Microticks allow every child to feel success.”

Microticks are great fun to operate within the classroom, and children find them incredibly rewarding to collect and draw.

Put simply, you extend the criteria for success in any task, and make the task more than simply getting the right answer.

A microtick is a full tick broken down into smaller parts, rewarding each stage of an answer. In teaching column addition, for example, explain to the children about to mark each other’s work that each question is worth three microticks; one for numbers in boxes, another for having two parallel answer lines and a third for the right answer. Using microticks makes a ten question page of problems worth 30 marks, and highlights to the children your particular focus with the task in hand.

Children enjoy marking each other’s work; operate a ‘random

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

OUTSTANDING IDEAS

THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

swap’ for books – sometimes swapping two or three times. Use coloured pencils to mark, to avoid any temptation to adjust any answer. The microticks are small and strong; you should also ask the children to give a total mark, and an encouraging comment.

You’ll be overwhelmed by the thought that children put into this, and might find yourself borrowing their inventive phrases!

It is important to remember that if the focus of the lesson is to answer the questions correctly, your assessment should feed into this.

Microticks allow everyone to achieve, as well as emphasising things that might have been in decline over the course of the lesson. _______________________________

Idea 3: Observation palettes “Perfect for far more than simply nature walks.”

A simple laminated piece of cardboard, cut into the shape of an artists palette with colours and words, can provide so much use. These palettes take a while to make, but last for years and are worth the effort.

This idea came about on a class visit to an electricity substation, of all places. At the start of a nature trail, the leader gave out artist palettes with colours on one side and nature adjectives on the other.

The children were told to see how many natural things they could match to their palettes. It gave an immediate focus to the walk, and the leader was able to stop and point things out when appropriate.

This is how you can use the idea!

Using A5 coloured card, cut out as many artist palettes as you need, with a few more for safekeeping.

On one side, stick around six numbers, letters and colours, and on the other, around 15 different

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adjectives. This is done most easily by creating a grid of 100 different words (using different fonts), copying these six times, cutting them up and distributing them randomly.

Finally, laminate them and cut around the edges, leaving a 4mm laminated margin around the edge. These are perfect for nature walks, but they can also be used to add spice to creative writing, to increase challenge for more able writers (‘create a sentence/plot/story using three words from the palette’). They even work as conversation starters.

Bonus idea Encourage another class to make their own, then swap halfway through the year for some fresh ideas! _______________________________

Idea 4: Hidden poetry “Poetry should be treasured, and this way, it really is!”

Try this little idea for locating poetry in unusual places and watch the audience of that poem increase dramatically!

There is a myriad of poetry out there to be discovered, but you often have to either read poetry books to find it or see it serendipitously. This idea works brilliantly for allowing your school community to discover poems hidden around the school grounds.

Start by discussing the sort of places the children might normally see poems. Where would they not see

poems? Why is that? Take them to an area of the school that might not normally see poetry – this could be the space left when the dining room tables are out, or at the bottom of the register tray, or on the skirting board by the Head’s office.

Write a poem there and then for that space (mini whiteboards may help here!) and stick it in place.

Encourage the children to do the same – some of them will really love the ‘sneakiness’ of writing a poem that could be discovered at some point in the future.

There are other children who may want to miniaturise their poem – this is to be encouraged, if only to imagine the Head on their hands and knees, staring intently at the tiny writing on the skirting board!

Allowing the children a freedom to present their work is liberating for some, and can encourage greater creativity.

Bonus idea To earn huge brownie points with your colleagues, give the name of each adult in your school to your class, and challenge them to write a poem for them. Warning: there will be tears!

100 Ideas for Primary Teachers – Outstanding Teaching by Stephen Lockyer, is published by Bloomsbury.

MENTAL HEALTH Schools have a vital role to play in helping to tackle the alarming growth in the number of young people suffering mental health problems says Stuart Nicholson, Principal of CCSS (Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies).

There seems little doubt that mental health problems are increasingly a feature of children’s lives. During the spring half term holiday in Cambridge we read the sad story of the death of Edward Mallen, a gifted sixth form student at nearby Hills Road College. The same week saw the launch of the first Children’s Mental Health Week, with the Government’s Chief Medical Officer stating that mental health is “a topic we simply cannot ignore”.

The mental health of pupils in our schools is a topic taken very seriously by ISA, and anyone who was at our conferences last year, and heard the excellent presentations by Professor Tanya Byron will realise the scale of the problem, and also be aware that schools can help.

Prof Byron is increasingly seeing teenagers

seeking professional help for clinical anxiety disorders who, on the face of it, ought to have a very low risk of such conditions. They enjoy many of the protective factors that traditionally have inoculated against these problems: stable families, parents living together, a commitment to education, a middle-class, financially comfortable background, and yet the pressures to succeed and a riskaverse culture combine to make them far more vulnerable than previous generations.

Young Minds, the mental health charity for children and young people, backs up the view that our current young people have many more pressures than previous generations. They have identified a range of factors that contribute to damaging levels

of stress and anxiety in young people in modern Britain. This includes an increase in family breakdown, often leaving young people with a lack of role models and support. They also have many social pressures not seen before – to have the perfect body, revel in a “smart” lifestyle, have access to money and be controlled by consumerism, reinforced by 24-hour social networking and access to so much at a young age. On top of this is a fear of violent crime that is a constant source of distress for thousands of young people. There is also a sense that schools are becoming more and more like exam factories, fuelled by the competition to get into university.

The current risk-aversion experienced from earliest childhood means that many teenagers have had a lifetime of being over-

Cambridge Centre for Sixth Form Studies

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protected: from pressure to succeed, they have shrunk from the opportunity to learn from mistakes. Whether falling off a branch and learning to balance, or tackling harder homework and learning skills they’d not had before, there is a reluctance to try, because of a sense that “if I fail, then I am a failure.”

This means that they have fewer opportunities to learn how to respond to setbacks; indeed they become frightened of opportunities that might result in mistakes or failure, and so don’t become resilient and able to persevere through difficulties.

Professor Byron’s observations, as a practising clinical psychologist, are that we have a “highly targeted, focused, pressured, academic system where I’m seeing 14, 15, 16-year-olds presenting with what looks like executive stress burn out”, and that “we’re seeing young people who don’t know how to fail. Risk taking isn’t allowed”.

Some might question whether it is a serious issue when young people get stressed and anxious. Don’t they all get stressed by examinations and by growing up? Of course, to an extent that is true, but increasingly high levels of anxiety are causing mental illness in our teenagers, rather than temporary worries, and this should concern us all. Half of adult sufferers of mental illness, from self-harm to schizophrenia, show their first signs as teenagers, and this is why the current situation should so alarm us. Only six per cent of mental health-related funding is allocated to teenagers, yet The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience reports that those who have early intervention have fewer relapses, are less likely to be admitted to hospital, and have less severe symptoms. By not having these intervention resources available to young people, we walk them blindly into an adulthood of worsening health and a far greater cost to them individually and to society.

Take the example of Matthew Elvidge, a 23 year old who already had good A-level results, had enjoyed a GAP year in Africa and had a 2:1 in Politics and Economics from Newcastle University behind him when he inexplicably took his own life just as he was about to enter a career in insurance. Leading up to that he had begun to show signs of anxiety and depression but was assessed by his GP as anxious; low-risk but in need of counselling and safe to be discharged. Matthew’s father set up The Matthew Elvidge Trust a year after his 22

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death, encouraging schools and universities to teach children and students that their mental health and wellbeing is every bit as important as their physical health. “If we save just one other person’s life, then setting up the trust is worthwhile,” says Hamish Elvidge.

One of Mr Elvidge’s concerns was that “emotional wellbeing” had been removed from the Ofsted school inspection criteria.

Mental Health remains the Cinderella service of our public health provision and all schools know of children who simply do not get the support they need, and see the impact on families who struggle to cope without the ongoing professional input that mental health conditions require. The statistics on the mental health of our children and young people make for salutary reading: • 1 in 10 children and young people aged 5-16 suffers from a diagnosable mental health disorder.

• About 8% of children and young people deliberately self-harm and there has been a substantial increase in the number of young people being admitted to hospital because of self-harm. Over the last ten years this figure has increased by 68%.

• Nearly 80,000 children and young people

suffer from severe depression.

• Over 8,000 children aged under 10 years old suffer from severe depression.

• The number of young people aged 15-16 with depression nearly doubled between the 1980s and the 2000s.

• The proportion of young people aged 15-16 with a conduct disorder more than doubled between 1974 and 1999.* For the most vulnerable youngsters in our society, the figures are particularly challenging.

• 72% of children in care have behavioural or emotional problems.

• 95% of imprisoned young offenders have a mental health disorder. Many of them are struggling with more than one disorder.

What can those of us at the front line of the education of young people do to help prevent these problems in the first place and how can we respond to their increasing occurrence?

Our first responsibility is to encourage our students to embrace failure as a positive process of learning how do better.

Another feature of the conferences organised by ISA is the advocacy of *Statistics from Young Minds.

“What can those of us at the front line of the education of young people do to help prevent these problems in the first place and how can we respond to their increasing occurrence?” experiential learning and a range of activities in which there is no “right” answer. Underpinning this outlook is the work of Professor Carol Dweck of Stanford University about the “growth mindset” – an outlook that regards ability and talent as things that develop through dedication, hard work, and learning by making mistakes; where it is effort that is to be praised and valued because that leads to greater achievement, and not achievement itself that is worthy of praise. This creates resilience, an appetite for trying hard, making mistakes, and finding ever-better ways to approach problems... and of course this creates an appetite for finding and tackling yet more unanswered problems. A

similar outlook about “the myth of talent and the power of practice” is entertainingly described in Mathew Syed’s book, “Bounce”: the evidence really does show that the world’s best skaters are those who’ve fallen over the most!

A recent news item reported on the efforts of table tennis coach Ben Larcombe, who gave his 24-year-old friend Sam Priestley (a self-confessed “unco-ordinated computer geek”) more than 500 hours of personal tuition and took him to elite training centres in Hungary and Denmark as well as in the UK. He predicted he could make Sam one of the 250 highest-ranked players in Britain within 12 months.

Whilst that goal eluded him, he does now hold his own with very experienced club players and Matthew Syed is excited by Sam’s progress, which illustrates some important lessons about resilience: “It debunks the idea that when you watch somebody who is good at something, they must have been blessed with a natural gift,” he said. “Most people have to train for a minimum of 10, sometimes 15 years, to reach mastery, but even by being committed for one year there has been a very big change in Sam’s ability level and this is because the human brain is very adaptable.” At school, “In subjects like mathematics, if young people are not very good at the beginning they tend to give up because they don’t think they have got a brain for numbers,” he says. In fact, “the very belief about how success happens shapes the behaviours that we adopt.”

Our second responsibility is that we need to be alert for the warning signs of ill health and know how to respond. At CCSS, just as we take traditional first aid seriously, with almost all of our teachers and many of our support staff qualified as first-aiders, we also have senior residential staff who are qualified in Youth Mental Health First Aid. There are many other ISA schools taking this first aid training very seriously too.

Whilst it does not teach people to be therapists, it does teach how to recognise the symptoms of mental health problems, how to provide initial support, and then how to enable a young person to access appropriate professional help. We want to be able to spot the early warning signs,

know what to do, and where to go for further support.

Young Minds is also seeking to be active in supporting resilience. They are not just raising awareness of the problems facing young people, but are engaging young people in taking control of the circumstances in which the problems arise.

They have a very ambitious campaign to kick-start a mass movement for change that will improve the mental health of children and young people. Led by young people, the “YoungMinds Vs” programmes are to campaign for improvements in the areas of life that young people report are of most concern to them.

Following a consultation with 1,600 young people, “YoungMinds Vs” is made up of five mini campaigns on their top five issues: • YoungMinds Vs Sexed Up – Fight the pressure (a campaign tackling sexual pressures) • YoungMinds Vs Bullying – Stop the rot (a campaign tackling bullying) • YoungMinds Vs No Work – Change the record (a campaign tackling unemployment) • YoungMinds Vs School Stress – Rewrite the rules (a campaign tackling school stress) • YoungMinds Vs No Help – Make your feelings loud (a campaign tackling access to counselling) In all of these areas, schools have an enormous influence and impact and the great courses in Mental Health First Aid are there to support teachers in their efforts.

Parents have their role too, in encouraging their children to try something new and to “fall over” a few times in the process.

Learning that making a mistake is itself one of the best ways to learn might be the best lesson of all.

I’ll give the last words to Hamish Elvidge: “The biggest challenge that we have as a society is to give our children the opportunity, the knowledge and the skills to keep mentally well.

If we don’t do that, we are being irresponsible and neglectful of our children.”

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“Young Minds are engaging young people in taking control of the circumstances in which the problems arise.”

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SAFEGUARDING CRISIS:

A HEAD’S EXPERIENCE In September ISA’s Thorpe Hall School in Southend found itself in the media spotlight, after Deputy Head Martin Goldberg took his own life. It emerged that Goldberg was under investigation for possession of images of children – some of which had been taken at the school.

Headteacher Andrew Hampton recalls how the school responded to the crisis, and shares some of the critical learning he gained from these terrible events.

On the evening of September 9th I missed a call from my deputy Martin Goldberg.

He left a voicemail asking me to call him urgently, but when I responded he had turned off his phone. The next morning Martin failed to arrive at school. I was very concerned and sent colleagues to his home to check on him. Within minutes they called me to say that he had attempted suicide.

Arriving at his house I found police, medical and fire crews at the scene. A policeman told me that, although Martin had a faint pulse, it was unlikely that he would survive. He also told me that a police online investigation team had visited him the night before, to question him about a naturist video he had purchased some years previously. I was utterly stunned, and returning to school began the grim task of alerting staff. Within an hour the police had arrived at my office to tell me that Martin had died. I passed the news on to a shocked and stunned staff room at lunchtime. Our families were told in an email that evening.

I began working with police and child services the next day but it wasn’t for a further week that the full extent of Martin Andrew Hampton faces the media

Goldberg’s activities became known to me and to Governors. That week was an incredibly emotional time for me, the management team and indeed the whole school. But our grief turned to utter shock and betrayal when I was told that he had taken images of boys in changing rooms at the school, using a camera hidden in a bag.

It was another two weeks – while the police completed their enquiries – before I was able to share what I knew with the whole community.

Media attention A series of statements carefully prepared by the police and the school were planned for release, first to staff and the families of Thorpe Hall, and then to the general public. But the story was leaked to senior BBC journalists who arrived at the school even before the first announcement had been made. A frenzy of media attention ensued as the Local Police Commissioner commented on the time it had taken for CEOP, and then Essex Police, to act on the information provided from Canada as part of Project Spade. This added another dimension to the angst that pupils and parents experienced, as the school

remained in the national spotlight for several days. We certainly all felt under siege for a while.

A team in crisis During the time between being made aware of Martin Goldberg’s activities and being able to release the details from Essex Police, I worked closely with a crisis team at school. We were advised that it was critical, while the investigation was ongoing and the facts were being established, that the circle of trust was kept small, and so beyond the management team I was supported by just two governors and two communication specialists. The team worked tirelessly, sometimes up to twelve hours a day and long into the weekends, facilitating the police enquiry, giving statements and supervising access to the school for thorough searches to be performed. The wider governing body were kept informed throughout in a series of emergency meetings. The school cooperated fully with both the police and child care services and we were always mindful of ensuring the best possible outcome for the children and families of the school.

Could we have known?

Over the coming days staff and I wrestled with the question of whether we should have had any suspicions. But we were all deceived. There was no indication that Martin Goldberg was leading a double life.

No complaints about his conduct had ever been received, and he appeared in every way to be the professional he wanted us to believe he was. Both the NSPCC and Enough Abuse later told me that this is not uncommon. Indeed Marilyn Hawes, Enough Abuse’s founder, is clear that our school is not alone in experiencing these

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problems. I am now committed to working closely with organisations like Marilyn’s, to share our experience in trying to unearth perpetrators, inform the public and professionals, and be part of trying to find solutions to the problem of keeping children safe.

Beyond safeguarding As far as our polices were concerned, we knew that our safeguarding of children was and still is robust. Our ISI inspection the previous March had identified no areas for improvement – but we are now determined to go beyond their rigorous framework, and are working with our Local Authority , other local schools and specialist agencies to progress this. We have also taken up an offer from the NSPCC to share their experiences of working with schools in similar circumstances, and sadly it seems there are many of them. They will be providing a package of support that includes a range of helplines, information sharing for children and parents, and a programme of enhanced training for staff.

Overwhelming support The support I received, both personally and on behalf of the school, was overwhelming. I received literally hundreds of emails and had dozens of conversations with parents, authorities and specialist child protection agencies, all of whom expressed their sympathy for the events we experienced and their best wishes for the school’s future. As a small example, local shop owners got together to send flowers and a message of support once they heard the news. These gestures of kindness made a big difference to us all at such an awful time.

Above all though, the support pupils showed to one another and the support from parents was incredible. Without

exception every single family has stayed loyal to the school – acknowledging that the actions of one man should not be allowed to overshadow the incredible work and achievements of the staff as a whole.

Parent Ola Aroyehun summed up the response perfectly: “As a parent I have found the whole issue difficult and appreciate the difficulty of staff discovering such shocking news about their colleague and at the same time having to continue with total dedication to the children... Interestingly, just before the news, I was talking to some people about the ‘X-Factor’ Thorpe Hall provides for its children and ended my conversation by saying how safe I felt my children were in school. One week later, my view has not changed.”

absolutely key to the successful management of our crisis.

Stakeholder management There are three stakeholders in any major safeguarding situation: Police, Child Services and the school. There inevitably comes a moment when their aims and imperatives start to diverge. Look out for that moment! Hang on to what you believe is right for the children in your school and don’t be bullied into any other course of action, no matter how hard the police try to convince you to take their advice. The Police and Children’s Services are not always right and after a long battle they were forced to admit that my judgment on some of the issues was right, and they were wrong. The imperatives driving the three stakeholders are not always the same.

What have we learned?

Sadly, I think it is highly likely that this sort of event will happen more and more in schools of all types. Headteachers would do well to prepare themselves for the sort of shock I experienced and think, through their reaction to this article, how they might create a similar team and support network.

It is really important to ensure that your school has PR cover under the terms of your insurance. The cover we have, with Marsh, had £10,000 as standard and was ‘thrown in’ as part of the overall package.

As much as anything I was lucky that I happened to have been looking through the insurance schedule with the insurer just a week before, and was therefore aware that the cover existed. The support of the PR consultants we worked with was invaluable – specifically in relation to the tone and content of our communications with parents and the wider community. This objective, professional advice was

Looking forward Whilst work regarding safeguarding is ongoing, we are now keen to put these terrible events behind us. Nine months on the school has thankfully emerged from this crisis stronger and wiser. We are more determined than ever to promote a vision of child-centred education, based on a caring and compassionate ethos and providing every individual child with opportunities to thrive and flourish. The events of last September won’t easily be forgotten, but I hope that we can use the knowledge and experience we gained to ensure that other schools are better equipped to protect children and to prevent and respond to this type of crisis.

Andrew Hampton is Head of Thorpe Hall School in Southend, and ISA Chair 2014-15.

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Andrew Hampton

“Sadly, I think it is highly likely that this sort of event will happen more and more in schools of all types.

Headteachers would do well to prepare themselves... and think how they might create a support network.”

THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

LIFE AFTER LEVELS – THE ISA JUNIOR SCHOOLS CONFERENCE Carey Dickinson examines the important issues raised at February’s ISA Junior Schools Conference and explores its implications for Primary Practice.

Are you a Sage on the Stage or a Guide at the Side? Are your children hardy dandelions who can persist in their learning or hothouse orchids who rely on overcareful tending? What is the nature and meaning of assessment in the brave new world after the abandonment of levels?

These are just three of the stimulating questions raised at the ISA Junior Schools Conference. These questions cut to the heart of the wider question: what are we doing in primary teaching and why?

Over the last 40 years, the aims and values of primary education appear to have been driven primarily by two ideas: child-centred education and social and economic progress.1 When I first trained back at Homerton College Cambridge in 1982, the primary world was still strongly influenced by the Plowden report and Piagetian psychology; as young idealistic teachers we all passionately believed Plowden’s central tenet: ‘At the heart of the educational process lies the child.’ Child-centred educational philosophy and its ethos of equality and individualism encouraged us as teachers to be experimental and creative.

The Plowden Report gave us a clear philosophy: ‘One of the main educational tasks of the primary school is to build on and strengthen children’s intrinsic interest in learning and lead them to learn for themselves rather than from fear of disapproval or desire for praise.’ The report’s recurring themes are individual learning, flexibility in the curriculum, the centrality of play in children’s learning, the use of the environment, learning by discovery and the importance of the evaluation of children’s progress – teachers should ‘not assume that only what is measurable is valuable.’ 2 I find it wryly amusing that so many of these ideals have come back into fashion, particularly in the Early Years and through the Forest Schools initiative.

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It is undoubtedly the case, as HMI Colin Richards pointed out, 3 that this era produced some outstanding workalthough this has never been systematically researched. Personally, I was inspired to take up teaching by a charismatic Local Authority Head whose fabulous, creative and child-centred school won a national award for the standard of work achieved.

For several years I worked in an open plan team-teaching school where the children worked with incredible self-motivation and persistence on their own creative projects to produce work of an exceptionally high standard; our school was a “show school” of Local Authority excellence and several of my protégés from that era went on to achieve great things. For a few years primary education was regarded by government as a particularly important stage in the educational system and primary teachers were made to feel valued and good about themselves and their profession.4 Certainly as a young teacher, product of the 1960s and a gloriously liberal Quaker 1 (See “Aims and values in Primary Education: England and other Countries” by Maya Shuayb and Sharon O’Donnell NFER written for the Cambridge Primary Review 2008).

2 (Gillard, D. 'The Plowden Report', the encyclopaedia of informal education) 3 (Colin Richards, HMI in the TES 1997) 4 & 5 (Richards).

education, I was utterly inspired by what I did; I loved it and there was a real sense of teachers and pupils working together to build a better world.

Heady days. But there was of course a downside. The value Plowden placed on the individual led, in many cases, “to an undue emphasis on individual learning, impossible to implement effectively in all but very small classes, and denying too many children sustained interaction with the teacher and other pupils. A minority of teachers did effectively abdicate their responsibilities for teaching. Too often more attention was paid to the niceties of classroom layout, display and learning environment and not enough attention to the content of the curriculum or the means by which it might be taught.” 5 Triple mounting every piece of Art and hand sewing and appliqueing individual books, whilst producing outstanding display, was hugely time-consuming and sometimes achieved at the cost of core literacy and mathematical skills.

During the eighties and nineties, with the background of economic and political change of that era, there was a significant emphasis on education as a tool for economic improvement. Standardisation and pupil performance in literacy, numeracy and science became an increasing priority in the primary stage. (Shuayb and O’Donnell). Having taken some years out to spend time with my small children, I came back to a primary world dominated by the National Curriculum, SATs and levels. The focus on levels reached a peak when in recent years I was asked to level all my children in all subjects. I used to find levelling 7 year olds in RE particularly challenging; was my articulate Year Three pupil with an empathetic and endearingly spontaneous approach to interpreting Bible stories (but limited ability to record his ideas) truly a level 2 or a 3? What on earth did that mean? Did it mean anything to

parents? And more importantly, did being a level 3 help my student in his learning and lifelong understanding of religion and spirituality? The old adage that you can’t increase the weight of a chicken by weighing it sprang to mind on a daily basis (not to mention the vision of stressed out chickens in the classroom – with me being the neurotic mother hen or even headless chicken in the middle).

I have to admit to raising a small cheer when I heard that levels had gone.

At our Junior School Conference, the possibilities of a primary world without levels were ably explored by Andy Meller, educational consultant and LA appointed “Local leader in education” and James Wilding, Principal of Claires Court along with Leanne Barlow and Leanne King, practising teachers from Claires Court Junior Girls School. Andy pointed out that research has highlighted the fact that levels were inhibiting in primary education in many ways. “Levels were intended to provide a universal framework to ensure that schools were measuring attainment and progress consistently. But, over time, it became clear that the level descriptors, which were not closely related to curriculum content, were ambiguous and open to different interpretations.”6 Parents did not understand them (although a pernicious by-product of them was parental one up-manship over levels in the school car park) and children labelled themselves as “a level” rather than a learner. Schools interpreted them in different ways and levels were used to explain and excuse low attainment; the culture of “hoops to jump through” does not encourage the “blue sky thinking” which makes education exciting and liberating: “For most of us the problem isn’t that we aim too high and fail – it’s just the opposite – we aim too low and succeed.” 7 Children’s “potential” has always struck me as a dubious concept. With sufficient encouragement and determination, all children could and should open their own door of possibility, and all things are possible in the best of all possible worlds.

Surely that’s why we’re in the business of teaching.

Most significantly, as Andy Meller pointed out, the pressure to race through levels led to a lack of secure and deep understanding. Yet even though levels have officially gone, many schools cling to levels in an attempt to keep a sense of control; the potential ridiculousness of this was beautifully illustrated by a story which Andy

told of a school which abandoned National Curriculum Levels but felt compelled to replace these with fruits so that children boldly labelled themselves as strawberries or bananas!

Levels: a bananas concept?

Certainly there is a strong argument that the linear and utilitarian model of progress towards economic usefulness is becoming outmoded in purely economic terms. As Sir Ken Robinson has pointed out, how do we educate our children to take their place in the economies of the 21st century given that we can’t anticipate what the economy will look like at the end of next week?

(Robinson “Changing Educational Paradigms” RSA Animate film). This calls for a more creative and flexible system. “The fact is that given the challenges we face, education doesn’t need to be reformed – it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardise education, but to personalise it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions.” 8 “Plus ça change, plus c’est la meme chose’ is a truism in education, but it is interesting that we seem to be coming back to a model in which, if the child is not the centre of everything, at least their views count in the educational process. In the 1990s when I studied for my Masters in Education, I

focused on the social constructivist school of thinking. The psychological work of Vygotsky and Bruner demonstrated that children learn effectively initially through “scaffolding” by adults, although the goal of course is independence from that. A “spiral curriculum” is effective here as children do not learn in a straight linear way but rather in a social context which should interact with the child to enable creative, independent learning, constructed ultimately by learners themselves; learning is then embedded through a creative interactive process to enable children rather than imposed as a linear structure that they must scale, even if this is without comprehension.9

Learning for mastery and social constructivism At the Junior School Conference, in keeping with this school of thought, Andy Meller went on to define progress, which we do as practitioners need to evidence, as a widening and deepening of knowledge, skills, understanding and learning behaviours. Andy introduced the concept of “mastery level learning” which reflects the language used in the Government’s new draft Performance Descriptors; children move from apprentice level, through the qualified level to mastery level 6 (DfE 2014) 7 Ken Robinson, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything.

8 Ken Robinson, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything.

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in their learning and this has implications for practice. At the apprentice level, children need activities to show that they can acquire and recall information. At the “qualified level”, children should practise, consolidate and apply and will need much more “guiding and reminding” than the “modelling and explaining” needed at apprentice level. But what we need to aim for is mastery; children need encouraging to deepen, synthesise and evaluate their knowledge through assessing, creating and investigating. At this point, children should generate their own success criteria and need a “coaching and mentoring” style of teaching which provides challenge.

A constructivist approach has recently become fashionable again through the work on Assessment for Learning spearheaded by Black and William and Carol Dweck. James Wilding reminded us at the Junior Schools Conference of the evidence produced by Black and William.

They pointed out that there has been an over-emphasis on grading and giving marks. To pupils, assessment that compares them with others seems to be more about competition than personal improvement and feedback from these comparative assessment approaches reduces morale.

Carol Dweck has produced evidence to indicate that rewards and rankings encourage pupils to focus on marks rather than their learning needs. Students then avoid risk and difficult tasks. AFL has had the effect of promoting formative feedback, effective questioning and peer- and selfassessment and self-evaluation. Black and William have produced convincing evidence of significant progress in AFL groups compared to other groups: more weight in the swing back towards childcentred approaches away from the constriction of levels.

How do we evidence progress?

But the temptation to follow this slavishly was warned against by James Wilding who gave us the perspective of a respected RI. Inspectors will want to look at the learning happening in schools and assess teaching over time in a measurable way; hard evidence is needed both for inspections purposes and for annual reports to parents 9 (Bruner, J. (1997) Celebrating divergence: Piaget and Vygotsky, Human Development ;Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; Vygotsky, L.S. (1991) ˜Genesis of the higher mental functions, in P. Light, S. Sheldon and M. Woodhead, M. (eds), Learning to Think, London: Routledge/Open University Vygotsky, L.S. (1997) Educational Psychology, Boca Raton, Flor.: St Lucie Press (originally written 1921-3) 10 (Michael Wilshaw)

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which must include evidence of achievements and progress.

Clearly, the assessment baby is not about to be washed out with the bathwater of national curriculum levelling. So how do we make it meaningful and relevant?

Leanne Barlow and Lindsay King gave us a practical example of assessment used in Claires Court Junior School in the new post levels world where “what matters is that schools can show what their pupils know, understand and can do.”10 In a DfE YouTube film, published on Oct 31, 2014 Tim Oates, Chair of the Expert Panel on Assessment, talked about the removal of levels and how this is an opportunity for schools to come up with new and innovative ways of assessing pupils. Claires Court Junior Girls is leading the way here.

Starting with a wish for a reliable, valid and beneficial assessment process which linked back to the curriculum, they reviewed their curriculum and the progression of skills.

They also undertook an extensive review of assessment tools, the tracking system and the reporting format including the language used with parents.

They now have a strong understanding that to assess effectively there needs to be a full cycle approach. They created a progression of skills with a tracking system linked to the curriculum. Judgments are formed and reported against “National Expectation/Standard” as suggested by the Government proposal for assessment which suggests the following performance descriptors: mastery standard, national standard, working towards national standard, below national standard. Crucial in their success was the education of parents through forums, formal and informal talks, parents’ evenings and new style reports.

To form their judgements, Claires Court now use a broad spectrum of information.

Critical to assessment is information from teachers, past and present, so that assessment is based on experience and knowledge of the child; surely, the most suitable place to start.

But to lend hard evidence to their thinking, this is backed with data from their tracking document which is informed by Nationally Standardised Assessment (e.g.

PIM, PIE, INCAS, and PIPS). Pupil progress meetings then provide opportunities for indepth discussion. Moderation should always be part of the process. Leanne and Lindsay have a number of tips for successful assessment:

• Ensure staff “Buy-In” • Follow the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid) • Educate your parents -bring in an outside organisation to back you up • Rethink your report system and the vocabulary used – leave no confusion • Clarity is key so limit your information • Make your time structure appropriate for your staff • Develop clear ways of justifying judgments • Hold Pupil Progress Meetings • Make use of standardised tracking • Feed back in parents meetings • Make sure you have clear expectations that all understand • Aim for statements of what the child can do and their individual progress So it is clearly possible to link assessment with personalised learning which is meaningful and relevant to the individual.

It was interesting too that “Claires Court Essentials” are embedded into the report process; intellectual character is increasingly seen as important in educational practice and Claires Court focus on learning characteristics as part of their assessment process so that they consider whether their children are knowledgeable, critical thinkers, risk-takers, reflective, communicators, problem solvers, inquirers, collaborative, creative, confident and resilient. This gives a much broader picture of the child than my level three judgment of my year 3 RE student.

Following on from Tim Oates’s challenge, it would be interesting to find out how other ISA Key Stage 1 and 2 schools are approaching assessment; do let me know.

Back to my first two questions. I tend to feel that the sage on the stage and the guide on the side are both extreme models for teachers in the primary sector. Organic gardeners? I would certainly rather be one of these than a headless tender of stressed out chicks. And the hardy dandelions? They are much more likely to survive and thrive in an unknown future than the hothouse orchids that have been the “fashionable model” in some quarters. Any form of assessment should surely be about nurturing our dandelions and providing just sufficient scaffolding when they’re seedlings to point them towards the heavens.

Carey Dickinson is ISA's Membership Officer. carey.dickinson@isaschools.org.uk

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

ISA NEWS REVIEW ISC ITT website The Independent Schools Council, working for member Associations, has created a website to encourage trainee teachers into our schools.

There are several routes into teaching these days but the most well-advertised are maintained school-specific, e.g. TeachFirst. ISC is keen to direct more trainee teachers towards our schools and the website outlines options including traditional PGCEs. The University of Buckingham runs a course specifically for independent school trainees and the IoE also trains many independent school teachers.

The new website can be accessed here: www.iscteachertraining.co.uk ISC is encouraging schools to add a link to their own website - to encourage the ongoing recruitment of good graduates into our schools.

WHITBREAD MEMORIAL PRIZE

Important updates from ISA

ISA’s 2015 Whitbread Memorial Prize Winner, Aditi Rangan, was invited to the House of Lords with her family last term

by ISA President Lord Lexden. Aditi, who attends Red House School in Stockton, attained 11 A*s at GCSE and has a vast range of other broader accomplishments, including music, speech & drama, public ISA now communicates most information electronically to Members. It is important that you are receiving these regular updates. These include: • Newsletters from CEO Neil Roskilly with updates for Members • Inspections updates • ISA Awards information • ISA Sport updates • ISA Prizes and Competitions information: Whitbread Prize, Award for Excellence, Art, Drama, and Essay.

• Advertised headship vacancies • ISA conference booking information • ISA CPD course booking information • ISA Annual Survey • Other items of interest to Members If you are not receiving these updates from us, please first check your junk or spam folders. Also add this email address to your address book as a “trusted sender”: Stoke.College.Educational.Trust.Ltd@cmp.dotmail er.co.uk Alternatively, please telephone or email us for help: isa@isaschools.org.uk

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speaking, sport, and chemistry. The judges were particularly impressed by her exceptional service to the school and wider community: supporting younger pupils and fundraising. Lord Lexden presented Aditi with her award at a special ceremony, attended by Headteacher Alex Taylor (pictured.)

HIGHEST NUMBER OF PUPILS AT INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS Pupil numbers at ISC schools are at their highest levels since records began in 1974.

The latest ISC census shows that there are now 517,113 pupils at ISC schools. The figures are due in no small part to ISA’s own expansion: in the last four years we have increased our membership by over a third and brought many independent schools into ISC membership for the first time.

The figures are revealed by the ISC Annual Census 2015, which was published at the end of April. One significant area of growth is in sixth form education, with over 14% of all ALevel students attending an ISC school.

ISC say that the overall increase in pupil numbers has also been fuelled by international pupils, with over 27000 students from overseas now educated in the UK. Barnaby Lenon, Chairman of the Independent Schools Council, commented:

“It is remarkable that, although we are only at the start of an economic recovery, the number of pupils at UK independent schools is at the highest level since records began in 1974. It shows that parents continue to value an independent education.

“ISC schools offer consistent high standards, reflected in a tremendous record of academic achievement, stimulating opportunities for pupils outside the classroom and a professional approach to pastoral care. It is no surprise that British independent schools are seen as amongst the best in the world.”

ISA’s annual elections to our Executive Council took place at the Association’s AGM on 1st May 2015. We are delighted to update members on the results below. All appointments commence 1 September 2015.

Honorary Officer (and Chair, 2016-17): Stuart Nicholson (Cambridge Centre for Sixth-form Studies, ISA East) Vice-Presidents: Paul Moss John Wood

Elective Councillors: Amjad Ahmed (Al-Furqan Community Colleges, ISA Midlands) Adrian Blake (Arts Educational Schools, ISA London West) Pam Hutley (Hollygirt School, ISA Midlands) Nilesh Manani (Swaminarayan School, ISA London North) Jonathan Ullmer (CATS College Canterbury, ISA London South) James Wilding (Claires Court Schools, ISA London West) Peter Woodroffe (Dagfa School, ISA Midlands)

HOLLYGIRT SCHOOL – OUR COMIC RELIEF WINNERS Hollygirt School in Nottingham were treated to a visit from BBC TV presenter Helen Skelton last month, after winning ISA’s Comic Relief competition. Hollygirt beat over 20 ISA schools to the top spot after entering three fantastic photos of their Red Nose Day activities.

ISA ESSAY COMPETITION RESULTS We are delighted to announce the overall winners of the ISA Essay Competition 2015: Horsey Junior (ages 9-11): Dylan Ferguson, Daiglen School and Isobel Eason, Red House School* Max Gate (ages 11-13): Matthew Sharp, Shoreham College and Madeline Walker-Moffitt, Ditcham Park School Favonius Senior (ages 13-16): Kit O'Loughlin, Ditcham Park School and Narisa Limpapaswat, Bellerby's College, Brighton

Each school can enter just one boy and one girl in each class of the competition; so it is a considerable achievement to have won a prize in this national competition. We had 119 entries in total this year, across 94 ISA Schools. Well done to all who participated and especially to the winners.

Full details of all the results, along with reports from the adjudicators, are available on our website.

Certificates and prizes will be sent to the winning schools in due course.

* Turn to page 38 to read Dylan's winning essay

AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE 2015 The winner of this year’s prestigious ISA Award for Excellence is Arts Educational Schools, London.

The award was given in recognition of excellent academic standards, alongside specialist performing arts provision and record numbers of pupils achieving places at universities and conservatoires, including RADA and LAMDA. The School, which has achieved impressive increases in pupil numbers over the past two years, has introduced a range of new curriculum innovations and recently opened the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Theatre - a state-of-the-art 21st century performance space. Arts Educational also engages in a range of

important projects with the local community.

Pictured are Head Adrian Blake, President Lord Lexden and Chair Andrew Hampton at the Association's Annual Dinner in Manchester on 1 May.

“Hollygirt’s Headteacher painted her face in the school shield which shows real dedication to Making your Face Funny for Money”, explained Helen Skelton. “Additionally the whole school got involved with fundraising and held wackiest hair and faces competitions as well as singing and videoing the Making Funny Faces song. Well done!”

The former Blue Peter presenter was welcomed to Hollygirt School by Year 7 students Aman and Jenny. Helen met the Headmistresses, Mrs Pam Hutley, before being treated to a performance from the Junior School Choir outside in their gardens.

The school then held a special assembly where Helen spoke about her fantastic achievements for charity, which include rowing down the Amazon River, cycling across ice to Antarctica, running in the desert, and walking a tightrope between Battersea Power Station chimneys! The children asked thought-provoking questions and many were left feeling inspired by Helen’s determination and willpower. The TV Presenter said: “Don’t let anyone ever tell you in life that you can’t do something. If they do, prove them wrong and go and do it. That is what I have always done which has led me to completing these hard but rewarding challenges!”

After assembly Helen had lunch with staff and children before taking part in a Geography class, where she helped children with a special biome survival task.

Hollygirt School were delighted to have won the competition and gave Helen a very warm welcome.

ISA Sport would like to thank Comic Relief for helping us to organise this competition and Helen Skelton for visiting Hollygirt School. Watch this space for details of our competition for Sport Relief 2016. www.isaschools.org.uk

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

ISA ELECTIONS 2015

THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

THE INVISIBLE CURRICULUM: THOUGHTS FROM BEYOND THE GRADE Education consultant, author and former Headteacher Andrew Hammond explains why he believes that there are many elements of teaching and learning that remain hidden from view.

Progress is everything in school isn’t it. And yet the word, by definition, suggests advancement towards a pre-ordained place.

Where is that exactly for my children? Or for anyone’s? Progress, ironically, suggests a fixed rather than a growth mindset to me.

I’ve always preferred the word development.

All too often, progress is encapsulated in a grade – a B for Maths, a C for English or a score of 125 for Verbal Reasoning. Often these grades are seen as a child’s performance. This is flawed thinking. It’s like saying the performance of an F1 racing car is expressed by its position on the leader board. It’s not; this is the result of its performance. Its actual performance has more to do with how it is running – its tyres, its engine, its aerodynamics, the driver’s skill, the driver’s concentration levels, the driver’s motivation and mood, not to mention the environment in which the car finds itself: the movements of the other cars, the intentions of their drivers, the weather, the surface, the unexpected actions of the crowd, and so on. There are so many variables, so many observables, some visible, some invisible.

To say the result that a car achieves in a race is its performance is to miss all the opportunities the race team engineers have to improve the car next time.

And so it is with education. When we conflate performance with visible results we miss all the opportunities we have to address the learning performance of a child, and the environment in which that learning takes place.

So much of the learning environment and pupils’ learning performance is immeasurable and invisible, and yet we attach great import to that which can be seen and measured, discarding what cannot be measured, or at best granting it a token ‘effort grade’ (as the McNamara fallacy shows us). What really lies behind a C grade in French, or a B in History? Yes, there are the 3Rs, of course – the child’s ability to read, remember and regurgitate the knowledge taught at him – but there are a myriad other factors at play, none of 32

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Andrew Hammond

which are revealed to us in the numerical scores and percentages that are banded about at parents’ evenings or written indelibly on school reports.

What of the child’s character traits and attitudes, his curiosity, his intrinsic motivation, his creativity, his thinking, his communication and the extent to which he is willing to participate and collaborate with others? None of these are easily graded, thank goodness, but all of them form part of his performance and will impact greatly on his visible grade at the end of term. And, crucially, all of these invisible factors will have huge impact on his life after school, when success no longer depends on knowledge retention and applied logic – far from it.

A Verbal Reasoning score of 125 is all well and good but how will it help him with his marriage, or his friendships, or his ability to commit to long term aims and hold down a job? It won’t. The only thing a verbal reasoning score tells us is the pupil’s ability to concentrate on a specific problem long enough to apply some reasoned logic to it and crack some code or pattern (cynically, one might say it tells us how educable he is and how much of our attention he’s going to require in the formal classroom. No wonder schools rate this

kind of data so highly). An ability to reason and think logically may be important in some jobs, but it is by no means a panacea for the kind of human challenges life will throw at him in due course.

But then reasoned logic is something of a Western obsession. And yet I don’t believe it is especially innate within us. Homo sapiens have not survived this long due to our ability to think rationally or apply logic! Rather it is our natural propensity to wonder, react, adapt, use our senses, create opportunities, show resourcefulness, improvise and work with one another that has enabled us to come this far.

Are we sleepwalking into a time when progress in school is measured in computational capacity and processing speed? Have we already reached it? I have a computer to apply logic for me; why should I shut down the things which make me human in order for me to concentrate on applying logic or solving mathematical equations?

But this may be over-egging it somewhat; every good teacher is already aware of the invisible curriculum, in which not everything that counts can be counted.

Much is being written these days about character education, social skills, well-being and mindfulness. But in the race to deliver on these invisible, human capacities, and show ‘progress’, we must resist the temptation to create curricula and assessment criteria to prove they are being taught. Surely we just need to prove they are not being taught out of pupils. God forbid a pupil goes home with a B- in grit, a C+ in curiosity, or 67% for empathy.

But we do need to recognise these invisible elements of learning performance in better ways than we have in the past. We need to recognise the impact which such aptitudes and attitudes have on the visible grades and we need to monitor them more closely. I call such human capacities ‘invisible ink’, since they are the life blood of learning, the source of a learner’s energy.

Schools need a flow of energy like a pen needs ink.

These assumptions have created a climate that is non-conducive to the development of character, creativity, curiosity or self-motivation because they promulgate the notion that it is ‘good to be right, bad to be wrong’. There is a canon of knowledge to be taught and learned and the extent to which a pupil has succeeded in retaining this knowledge (his academic qualification) is used to define him.

But we are architects of the learning environment in our own classrooms and we can construct a climate in which pupils’ invisible ink can flourish rather than whither in the rush to provide visible evidence of ‘progress’ - by which I assume we mean a reduction in failing and an increase in succeeding.

“As teachers, we may be battling against historical assumptions we have inherited as to the purpose of school.”

An equitable and propagative learning environment is complex and dynamic, of course, but I offer six key features which, if addressed, will help us to get that invisible ink flowing again. These six key features are: • teacher as model learner • group dynamics • choices & challenges • the language of learning • the element of doubt • observation In my Invisible Ink series of books, invisible human capacities such as character, creativity, curiosity, motivation, thinking skills, communication and collaboration are considered in turn. These are each mapped against the six key features of the learning environment. So, in book one for example, Teaching for Character, a learning environment most conducive to character development is described, via these six features.

Character education is the subject of much debate right now, and rightly so. But let’s draw a distinction between moral character and what could be termed performance character. It is with the latter that Teaching for Character is concerned – the character traits and attitudes (CTAs) that increase learning performance both at school and beyond. Such CTAs are numerous, of course, but I have chosen to

Andrew Hammond is Managing Director of INK Education Ltd, and author of the new Invisible Ink series published by John Catt Educational. For further details visit www.ink-ed.com.

www.isaschools.org.uk

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

So how do we shed light on an invisible curriculum? How do we monitor and report on children’s character development through school, for example, without using fixed grades and percentages? How do we make predictions about their ability without serving up self-fulfilling prophecies, fixed mindsets and glass ceilings? How do we facilitate an untrammelled flow of invisible ink?

I believe we look at the conditions of the learning environment.

As teachers, we may be battling against historical assumptions we have inherited as to the purpose of school. Such assumptions might be: • school is for developing academic intelligence in children; • the best way to demonstrate this is through academic qualification; • the most effective way to encourage children towards academic qualification is through rewards and sanctions.

focus on seven specifically, and these are: grit, adaptability, optimism, self-control, empathy, discernment and trust.

Can such CTAs be nurtured at school?

Yes, but not via a formal curriculum and discrete ‘character lessons’, with assessment points and success criteria at every turn, but rather through a cross-curricular, whole-school approach and by creating the right learning environment.

Central to this strategy is ‘teacher as model learner’. We know that a teacher’s influence over a child stretches far, far beyond what they say or instruct them to do; their influence stems from the behaviour they model, their attitudes to learning, their enthusiasm, their energy and their self-motivation. It’s an osmotic experience, isn’t it?

So addressing the teacher’s own invisible ink is key.

The emotional well-being of pupils is high on every school’s agenda today and rightly so. Mindfulness, self-esteem, the great benefits of laughter, self-motivation and positive thinking – these are all very much in the zeitgeist, thankfully. Children learn best when they are in a positive disposition; a ‘can-do’ attitude is a catalyst for effective learning.

But isn’t the same true for teachers? Who is monitoring their invisible ink?

Every teacher, no matter how experienced, may feel from time to time that their cartridge is running on empty.

They need topping up – with tried and tested ideas and suggestions, cathartic anecdotes, learned wisdom and a reassuring reminder of why they went into the profession in the first place.

Every teacher may need re-energising sometimes, it’s a very difficult job – but there’s little doubt that a dynamic, selfmotivated teacher can inspire like no one else and send a can-do attitude and a growth mindset right around the classroom.

As we know from best practice in the classroom, so it is true of teacher training: CPD does not have to be a choice between intellectual stimulation or creative fun, the most effective learning occurs when you have both.

THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

ISA CHARITIES: BEANSTALK National children’s literacy charity Beanstalk helps thousands of children who have fallen behind with their reading each year. The charity recruits and places reading helpers in UK primary schools and this year they are asking ISA Schools to help. Alexis Nielson explains.

Last year, 1 in 8 children left primary school unable to read to the required standard. Illiteracy in the UK is a persistent problem that has devastating consequences for the futures of our children.

Recent research by the Read On. Get On. coalition (of which Beanstalk is a founding member) shows that one and a half million children will reach the age of 11 unable to ‘read well’ by 2025 unless urgent action is taken. Their research shows that England is one of the most unequal countries when it comes to children’s reading levels, second only to Romania in the EU. The gap between the strongest and weakest readers is equivalent to seven years of schooling. The report calls for a

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concerted effort from all corners of society to address this critical issue.

In July 2014 one in eight children left primary school having failed to meet the expected reading standards for their age – that’s over 66,000 children who now face a lifetime of social exclusion, poverty and disadvantage. The consequences associated with educational underachievement are widespread and catastrophic for the life chances of young people. Illiteracy is closely linked with long term poverty, unemployment, ill-health and/or involvement with the criminal justice system.

70% of pupils permanently excluded from school have difficulties in basic literacy skills and 25% of young offenders

are said to have reading skills below those of the average seven-year-old.

But, it is not just on a personal level that illiteracy is so devastating. It affects all of us – research commissioned for the Read On. Get On. report also finds that GDP in 2025 would be £32 billion higher if action had been taken to ensure all children were reading well by the age of 11. All of our future prospects depend on a literate society that can compete successfully in the global economy. Yet the OECD’s recently published first skills survey shows that young adults in England rank 22nd in literacy out of 24 developed countries.

What can we do to address this issue?

Beanstalk has been working to rewrite this story for over 40 years. The charity supports over 10,500 children each week, through 3,500 reading helpers in 1,400 primary schools across the UK, but there is much more that can be done.

Beanstalk urgently need more support so that they can help almost 18,000 children a year by 2018, and expand their services.

What Beanstalk do is simple but effective; they save children’s futures by recruiting, vetting, training and supporting volunteers to work in primary schools with children who have fallen behind with their reading. Each Beanstalk reading helper works with three children, with each child benefitting from two 30 minute sessions a week, during term-time, for a whole year. Beanstalk reading helpers work with these children on a one-to-one basis, giving them their full attention and support to improve reading levels, increase

overall confidence and help them gain the vital literacy skills they need to succeed in education, training and employment.

Beanstalk measure the effectiveness of their service using a web-based evaluation programme which allows schools to gather data on children’s attainment levels. On average, after three terms of working with a Beanstalk reading helper, the children supported improve by 2 reading sub-levels.

By 2018 Beanstalk intend to be supporting 18,000 children across the UK. To do so, they need to not only raise awareness of their work, but also raise significant voluntary funds each year to allow them to reach more children.

• The cost to deliver Beanstalk’s service is low and they can transform a child’s future for just 92p a day. A small cost indeed, but one that seems even smaller when compared to the £95 per day it costs to keep a person in prison in the UK (60% of the UK prison population has difficulties in basic literacy).

• Whilst the charity relies heavily on voluntary income to support their work, schools also normally pay a contribution to their service. It currently costs Beanstalk £342 to provide one-to-one literacy support to one child for three terms, 31% of which comes from schools income. They rely on voluntary income to fund the rest of their service – so for every £235 donated to Beanstalk they are able to transform the life of one child in need.

Read, Grow, Succeed - Sarah’s story Sarah is a Year 2 pupil who meets with a Beanstalk reading helper every week.

She is one of a large family of Travellers and, like her brother, she struggles with reading, but is a great teller of stories and loves having them read to her.

Recently Sarah spotted one of the Annie Kubler books – “See You Later Alligator”. The book has a finger puppet attached – and a simple repetitive text. Sarah was hooked!

She loved puppeteering the alligator jaws and reciting the rhyming text.

She was also concentrating hard on “reading” the images and sounding the words in a way her Beanstalk reading helper had not seen her do before.

At the following week’s session she went straight for See You Later Alligator and again applied herself with great focus, sounding out words and trying to make sense of them.

Sarah has a long way to go before she reads as proficiently as many in her year group but the change in her attitude since that day has been marked. She is growing in confidence each week and, at last, she believes that she too can be a reader.

The networks provided by these independent schools (e.g. staff and parents) have also been instrumental in helping them to recruit new volunteers and raise awareness of their work, leading to long-term relationships and further strengthening local community ties.

Beanstalk would love to engage with more schools so that they can transform the lives of more children across the country by helping them to read, grow, and succeed.

Why Beanstalk’s work is important Beanstalk is calling on independent schools to help them reach more children Beanstalk already works with a number of independent schools who support their work by ‘sponsoring’ a local school, raising funds, or promoting their work to their pupils’ parents and networks.

Creating links between your school and Beanstalk provides many mutual advantages. For your school, this can mean not only helping meet your charitable public benefit requirement through engaging with the wider community, but also enhancing the experience of your students.

Beanstalk runs a number of initiatives with independent schools, ranging from one-off events such as read-a-thons through to long-term programmes such as the ‘Schools’ Enterprise Challenge’, which raise much needed funds while also developing the skills and experience of pupils.

Beanstalk works with children who are already displaying the early signs of the short-term consequences of illiteracy and aims to help children overcome these problems. This is to ensure that more children leave primary school achieving the expected level in reading attainment and displaying a confidence and enjoyment of reading. They aim to prevent children from continuing on a path to long-term disadvantage and the negative long-term consequences of illiteracy.

CONTACT DETAILS If you would like more information about Beanstalk or how you school can help support their work, please contact Alexis Nielson on 020 7749 7973 or via email alexis.nielson@beanstalkcharity.org.uk

www.isaschools.org.uk

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

“Literacy is a great liberator, unlocking a wealth of opportunities and equipping our youngsters with a vital skill they need to succeed in life, yet thousands of children across the country are still leaving primary school unable to read to the required standard.”

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London

THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

ISA DRAMA COMPETITION

TAKES CENTRE STAGE March saw the return of ISA’s Annual Drama Festival, with schools taking part in two separate heats. ISA’s Membership Officer, Carey Dickinson, reports from the ISA South Drama Competition, held at Hurst Lodge School in Ascot.

Hurst Lodge

After passionately advocating the power, scope and relevance of drama in our schools in the last edition of the magazine, I was delighted to have the opportunity to attend the ISA South Drama Competition at Hurst Lodge in Ascot. From the moment I walked into Vicky Smit’s vibrant “learning community”, I could tell that I had entered an environment where children’s creativity and individuality are valued and nurtured.

There was a magical atmosphere of excited anticipation as I collided with assorted princesses, water creatures and Greek gods putting final touches to costumes and hairstyles with the able assistance of a troupe of committed teachers. I couldn’t wait for the day ahead; what a privilege and a pleasure to be able to attend a diverse selection of performances by a worthy selection of our schools.

The range of plays performed was impressive – from the traditional tale of “The Princess and the Pea” to a contemporary devised piece on mental health; ISA schools are exploring the full spectrum of dramatic opportunities. Both days were marked by excitement, enthusiasm and exuberance in shared endeavour; perhaps the most striking aspect of the competition was the quality of teamwork.

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Friday morning began with a fresh take on The Wind in The Willows, “Hooray for Mr Toad”. Hurst Lodge’s talented Mr Lee and Mr Holdsworth had created a marvellous musical entirely suited to the Junior pupils involved. Here we had the full flavour and style of that familiar story “The Wind in the Willows” coming alive on stage; the characters we know and love were recreated with the added zest of a new take on the story and some chilling mystical effects. Make-up, costumes, music, clear

The Hammond School

direction and stagecraft came together to create a genuinely entertaining first show.

Hurst Lodge Infants took us straight into the enchanted world of fairy tale with their charming production of The Princess and the Pea. The children understood exactly how to convey their story with the help of mime, music, props and costumes and their enjoyment of the experience shone out.

There was good balance between lively whole company, whole stage work and vivid individual performances in both Hurst Lodge shows: it is the art of good drama teaching to allow individuals to flourish within a supportive ensemble.

And so to Ancient Greece, home of the Theatre. Herne Hill Infants treated us to “Go for Gold”, a challenging piece set in Ancient Athens. The children had impressively mastered a complex script, clear diction and the art of characterisation; their confidence was evident as they entertained us with a flow of jokes. This show was enhanced by some splendid music.

Claires Court Senior Boys commendably brought an impressive range of plays to share with us: a shortened version of Gogol’s “The Government Inspector”; Dennis Potter’s “Blue Remembered Hills”;

Frantic Theatre’s “Hymns”; Tom Stoppard’s “The Fifteen Minute Hamlet”. The range and depth of work are testimony to the courage of the school in tackling challenging texts. Good team work characterised all these pieces and all the boys bravely showcased their theatrical skills. For me, “Hymns” stood out as an outstanding piece of work. It was a masterful blend of physical theatre and depth of thought as the AS students tackled a piece devised by Frantic Theatre which deals with the complex subjects of grief and male emotional angst. The boys gave a committed performance with each character representing their feelings effectively in movement and word. Music, props and staging all contributed to the force of the piece. I could feel the intensity of the emotion involved in the pit of my stomach and the pause before the audience applauded testified to the impact of this superb piece of theatre; bravo Claires Court.

The Senior Musical contribution came from Hurst Lodge Seniors. “Journey into the Beyond” was a devised piece by Performing Arts Students – a zany alien musical with a message about the value of emotions in a futuristic world. This was a well-paced and confident production with an effective set and lighting giving a strong visual impact to the show. Lively individual characterisation blended well with great team work and dance to create a hugely entertaining and uplifting musical.

The afternoon finished with Aegritudo, another devised piece by Alton Convent School. This was brave and intelligent drama, an experimental piece dealing with the important topic of mental health. The fluency of the girls’ movement helped create the dark atmosphere of the piece. The highlight for me was the use of puppetry to create visually the terrible experience of

being manipulated by your inner demons.

Chilling stuff, culminating in the spotlight turned on the audience; what did we have to hide?

Day two: more eager anticipation and excitement awaited... The Swaminarayan School arrived with their original and tightly-written script courtesy of their able Drama teacher, Michael Benenson. “An American Quartet” captured the post-war American era of change and excitement in a distinctive fashion. The Year 9 performers

created atmosphere and clear characters in four diverse pieces with a confident grasp of stagecraft. “Dream on” explored the mother/daughter relationship and the tensions caused by love with great poignancy and the final piece, “Moppin’ in the Rain”, captured the yearning for Hollywood with a strong and humourous visual impact.

The last school to perform was Claires Court Girls, who staged “Four Characters in search of a Corpse”, a traditional murder mystery interpreted through black comedy, and four one act plays from Alan Ayckbourn’s “Confusions”. These were brave choices and ending with tragi- comedy designed to make us look at ourselves was an inspired idea to encourage us to leave with a sense of “work to be done”– always a sign of good drama. The final play, “Gosforth’s Fete” created an atmosphere of controlled chaos which could not fail to make us leave with a healthy giggle at the ridiculousness of humanity.

Congratulations to everyone involved. I am only sorry that I could not get to the competition in the north. Organising 435 children and an audience of over 500 is no mean feat; well done to Vicky Smit and also to Vivienne Cunningham whose sensitive, thought-provoking and encouraging adjudication was inspiring to watch. The ISA Drama competition was a splendid opportunity for our pupils to develop their skills and confidence and to learn from their peers; education in its truest form. It would be lovely to see more of our younger children involved – a challenge for the next academic year?

A full list of results from The Drama Festival is available on our website.

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Brabyns Prep

THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

ISA NATIONAL ESSAY COMPETITION 2015 Entries flooded into this year’s National Essay Competition, sponsored by ISA Gold Suppliers Innermedia. Over 150 pupils took part in the competition, which invites entrants to submit a piece of original writing working to a number of titles.

Dylan Ferguson, 11, from The Daiglen School in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, was the proud winner of this year’s boys’ Horsey Junior Essay Prize, with his essay “I Was Only Trying to Help”. Judges remarked: “The sophisticated and sustained use of parody made Dylan a worthy winner. The individual interpretation of the form showed Dylan to be an intelligent and imaginative writer with clear awareness of his readers.”

The ISA Journal is delighted to publish Dylan’s essay here for the first time.

ISA ESSAY COMPETITION WINNERS 2015 Horsey Junior (ages 9-11): Dylan Ferguson, Daiglen School and Isobel Eason, Red House School Max Gate (ages 11-13): Matthew Sharp, Shoreham College and Madeline Walker-Moffitt, Ditcham Park School Favonius Senior (ages 13-16): Kit O’Loughlin, Ditcham Park School and Narisa Limpapaswat, Bellerbys College, Brighton

ISA Horsey Junior Essay Prize 2015 I Was Only Trying to Help By Dylan Ferguson, The Daiglen School, Buckhurst Hill Can you believe it? I was shoved into a cooking pot by three little pigs, and I’m the one being trialled in court! Don’t worry though, the not so “Big, Bad Wolf” will have justice prevail. I remember the incident like it was only yesterday (which it was).

A big lion was sitting at the front of the court room with a herd of sheep at the side acting as the jury. “I’m a simple builder/demolisher, humble and unpretentious,” I mumbled. “Sure I blow houses down but that’s my job. I mean, how else are you supposed to test whether a building is structurally sound.” I started to relay the saga, keeping it as close to the truth as possible (even I can’t remember everything.)

Flashback (this is what I said to the judge.)

“Walking down the street, I noticed a trio of newly built houses. I asked Fox (the pigs’ landlord) whether the three cottages had been officially tested by the ‘Huff and Puff Association’. After confessing that they hadn’t, Fox ordered me to immediately perform the ritual test.

Calling the pig to come out of the first (straw) house, I thought that day would be the same as any other. However, I was stunned when little pig yelled something completely unexpected: “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin!”

Fox refused to postpone the test and ordered me to knock the house down anyway. I knew it was morally wrong and that I would be to blame but – sigh – the customer is always right. So I huffed and puffed – cliché I know, but it was the only method I could think of at the time.

Straw crashing down upon him ‘Little Piggie Number One’ ran to a small wooden house presumably owned by his friend.

Flashback over.

During my tale, the collective members of the jury nodded politely and started scribbling on some clipboards. The judge opened his mouth lackadaisically and shouted “Witness number one! “ Lion roared, “Report to the stand now!”

Shuffling up from the pew, a tiny, cartoonish pig eyed me solemnly 38

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and remarked, “I am Little Piggie number two; I believe that the socalled ‘Big, Bad Wolf’ should be arrested upon the grounds of breaking and entering my property.”

This comment was followed by another round of muttering and a sudden outcry of, “The wolf is guilty!” It was as if the trial was already over and that I had lost...There seemed no point in continuing but I decided to hammer my point home anyway. As the famed Prime Minister of Britain said, “Never give up, never give up, never give up.”

After all, following a long day of explaining and terror, would you just quit so easily?

Fox was eventually called to the stand. Fluffy, blood-red tail swishing from side to side, he began to reveal why he was there. His voice was a comical mixture of Prince Charles and Hansel from ‘Hansel and Gretel.’ “Greetings dear chaps, I’ve been called here to clear up a little matter concerning my tenants and a certain wolf. Please may I hear the accused’s charges, your honour?” Fox asked.

The judge recalled my story and repeated the comment of Little Piggie Number Two. After Fox was content, he let the trial proceed (as if he had any authority, he only played a minor part in this case.)

“We have made our decision!” called the head juror, “the guilty party is...”, I’m adding a pause here to let you speculate who it was yourself, “...the landlord Fox!” Much hubbub followed until the fox bellowed: “Hold on a minute, how am I at fault?” It was then that I remembered that it was a fox who had ordered me to blow the houses down and (therefore) that he was to blame for this little caper.

As the security guards took Fox away, I apologised to the pigs for blowing their houses down and told them that it was all Fox’s fault.

Finally, I can go back to my normal life, if I can find my way home, that is. Hold on! There’s a girl with a nice red cloak and a basket over there. Maybe I can ask her for directions...

GOOGLE GAME-PLAN THROWS SPOTLIGHT ON WEBSITES

Google recently made an announcement relating to its search engine algorithm. But what will this mean for school websites? Web experts Larrytech explain.

While Google is seldom out of the headlines, we all know that it isn’t some omnipotent, all powerful, all knowing entity – there is in fact an algorithm that powers its search engine. Simply put for those not in the know, an algorithm is a step-by-step list of directions that need to be followed to solve a problem. In Google’s case, the problem is how to turn your search queries into page results relevant to you. The ‘relevant results’ part is what has made it the most popular search engine in the world.

No one knows what the EXACT algorithm looks like, though general guidelines released by Google combined with real world testing and analysis from SEO practitioners means that it is possible to gain a strong understanding of what’s needed to rank in the search results.

Earlier in February, straight from the horse’s mouth, Google announced a key alteration to the algorithm that was due to come into effect in late April as we go to press. Essentially, if your website is responsive and mobile friendly then it will be rewarded in search rankings; if not then it will be penalised.

• The text/font is too small to read • I keep on clicking on the wrong button!

• It takes forever to load/doesn’t load properly Having a responsively designed website will end these types of user frustration, and will make sure that these feelings aren’t attributed directly to your school.

Is a ‘responsive’ website essential?

So what does this piece of news mean, and why should you care?

For any schools who have recently had a responsive design or development for their website then this piece doesn’t really apply to you, but gives some weight to your decision to invest in a responsive website that is a pleasure to use.

Tip: To see if your school’s website is mobile friendly, go directly to www.google.co.uk/webmasters/to ols/mobile-friendly/ and enter in the website address (URL) For others, this piece of news provides a great opportunity to get your school’s website ‘house in order’. For example, you may have heard general dissatisfaction about your website, perhaps with some more specific complaints such as:

The decision of whether to make your website adhere to this new Google guideline depends on individual circumstances, as it may not seem entirely essential to the school’s running or operation.

If your website is primarily used as a simple reference point and marketing tool, then you could get away with not investing in a redevelopment in the short term, at the expense of getting pushed down in the search rankings.

If it has functionality that is key to your school, such as a bespoke online booking or purchasing system, then making sure it is accessible on different devices, could well be a higher priority for you.

To get some insight into your individual situation, and to also backup any decision for redesign or redevelopment with some solid facts and evidence, it would be wise to delve into the analytics.

Tip: Ask the person in charge of your school’s website to install Google Analytics. If it’s already installed, ask what proportion of the website’s visitors come from mobile and tablet devices.

The proportion of a website’s visitors from mobile/tablet devices changes from industry to industry; for instance it is generally a lower figure in an enterprise/ corporate setting. For school websites, you can expect the proportion to be higher, but again, until you see the figures for yourself, it is hard to be certain whether a responsive website should be considered a high priority.

What we can be certain of is that Google considers it to be a crucial element of a website. And that serves as a reminder for all websites to get up to speed!

CONTACT DETAILS If you’re looking to redesign your website get in touch with the Larrytech team on 0800 093 7471 or visit their website www.larrytech.com/schools.

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ASK THE EXPERTS – WEBSITES

PROMOTION – PROGRAMMING MADE EASY

LET’S START INVENTING “In the UK we are short of computing talent. Really short,” says Jon Simcox. “So how can schools make the most of the opportunities this deficit presents?” Introducing Codemakr – the revolutionary programming course for schools.

“

In the press and in the world of hype, we now talk about the Internet of Things (IOT). This simply means connected devices. It has never been easier to connect electronic devices to the Internet and each other. (A good example in the UK is how busy Dyson are, investing in connected devices and launching their own robotic appliances.) Coupled with a standardisation in software, programming any device is becoming easier and is where most of the research and investment is going.

But how do we ensure our children are part of this new technology?

Like medicine, where specialist areas are brought together to complete a complex jigsaw, IOT demands a combination of technology-based disciplines. This means that our children need a grounding in how to design, build and connect, program, debug and test.

been specially designed to provide an easy gateway to programming at machine level and connecting to other devices, whilst preserving enough real world attributes to make it attractive to real Engineers.

The course – how it works We are introducing ‘Coding’ in to our schools, so surely this is going to help?

Our view on this is that we are a generation behind, and we are in danger of teaching our children to program at a very high level, we call it ‘VCR programming.’ Those of you old enough will remember complaining how only our children could program the VCR. VCR Programming can be considered as programs that are a series of steps or instructions requiring little or no real knowledge of how it all hangs together or of computing fundamentals.

All good Software Engineers have a clear understanding of what is actually happening at the machine level, even if they are still abstracted away from it by many levels. With this understanding it is a relatively straightforward process to move from one programming language to another.

Where we come in – welcome to Arduino and Codemakr.

The Arduino is a microcontroller board – essentially a bare bones computer. It has 40

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Codemakr introduces the children to the Arduino, Digital Electronics and ‘C’ Programming. The aim of the first term is to take the children from discovering what an Arduino is, all the way through to building their own Robot from sticks, glue, wire and an assortment of components.

The first part of the course works through weekly experiments on a ‘breadboard’ introducing new concepts and components each week. Once all the components required for the Robot have been explored, they then start the practical part, which is building Eric.

Codemakr is currently rolling out through Independent Schools in the UK and is also offering Teacher Training Courses; if you’re interested in finding out more, please contact Codemakr by email at info@codemakr.co.uk or call us on 01902 375651. www.codemakr.co.uk/schools

The children simply loved it. They arrived each week with their toolbox, arduinos plugged in, breadboards out, and excitedly talking about the inventions they were going to build. The lessons were always a buzz, quite literally when we had 20 programmed buzzers going off in the classroom in lesson 4!

The engagement has been proven by the out of hours logins to the web site, the new and novel breadboard constructions that come back, and the parents enquiries on how to install the Arduino software on their home computers.

The teaching resources are well thought out: The Codemakr web site contains everything required to complete the tasks.

Peter Ashley, Head of Technology, The Old Hall School, Telford

”

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

With the world of school catering undergoing so many changes, maybe now is the time to bring in an outside caterer, says Sue Parfett, 2014 Food Service Catey winner and Managing Partner of education caterers, The Brookwood Partnership.

Your beloved daughter is to be married.

The date is set, the church booked – but what to do about the catering? Of course you call on the caterers. You set about choosing the one that suits what everyone involved will be happy with, as well as what you want to say about your daughter.

Would you take on the catering yourself?

Probably not, as this is a specialist area, and, in any case, you have a lot of other things to think about when managing a wedding.

As a specialist in education catering, I would also say that outsourcing your catering provision should be the best decision you ever made (especially if it was to Brookwood!) But why is that? Surely keeping things in-house means you retain control over menu decisions, the budgets and who you employ. Think about the wedding. You have menu control, you probably meet the people you will be trusting your lifelong memory to and you may well go and see them in action. That should be the same for your school catering.

Running things internally also means you have to be on top of all the latest compliance and legislation that comes with it too. Outsourcing should, in effect, take away all the pain – no more recruitment, management, health and safety, food safety, training needs - and aim to reduce your costs rather than increase them.

However, no two schools are the same, so caterer and school both need to ensure the school is getting what it wants at an agreed cost. Just as when a cherished child gets married, you are not giving away the control of your catering, you are gaining everyday management for employment issues, food scares or, more recently, implementing a structure to adhere to the changes in allergen legislation.

A really good caterer will give you ideas, and provide training and development for these to be introduced. Catering, by its nature, is labour intensive and requires significant investment of time to manage a course through many potential pitfalls. A caterer can foresee these through a lifetime of catering management. Outsourcing will

“A really good caterer will give you ideas, and provide training and development for these to be introduced.” offer you the high level of experience afforded by having access to a team of catering professionals whose priority is catering and who can keep the school developing in the right direction. When done well, with caterer and school having good lines of communication, this will result in getting more from the cost of catering, as well as a motivated catering team and the ability to engage both parents and pupils in a food service that they enjoy!

There are many schools who have firmly decided they want to manage their own

catering and others which may consider the pros and cons from time to time. As with the wedding, the choice will be down to whether an organisation suits their style and their pocket.

So, in short, outsourcing enables you to focus on what is important. So, is it time that you got the caterers in?

To learn more about The Brookwood Partnership visit www.brookwoodpartnership.com

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THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

SPORTING TIMES SPORTS ROUNDUP Last term saw another packed programme of events for ISA Sport. Fran Hide reviews the main competitions since our last issue.

Gatehouse School and St Teresa’s who competed in their first National Gymnastics competition.

A huge thank you to June Walden and Castle House for organising the Championships for the last 12 years. ISA Sport would like to wish June and Richard Walden all the very best as they retire this summer. Next year, The Grove School will be organising this event at MK Springers Gym club.

National Swimming Saturday 24 January The Spring Term started with a bang with the National Swimming Gala at the London Aquatics Centre.

The Gala, held at the home of the London 2012 Olympic Games, was a huge success with lots of incredible achievements from the children who competed. Twelve year old Neah Boniface from St Dominic’s School in the Midlands said to her teacher after the Gala,“My idol Michael Phelps was standing on the blocks in Lane 5 when he won a Gold Medal in the 2012 Olympics. It made me determined to win my race at ISA’s Gala as I too stood on the same starting block in lane 5 waiting for the start of my race”.

Neah went on to win the year 7 50m Backstroke and Butterfly Individual Races! ISA Sport hopes to use this venue again next year for our Gala.

Congratulations to pupils from The Midlands, who won both the Overall Female and Overall Male team awards.

National Gymnastics Saturday 7 February The National Gymnastics event moved to MK Springers Gym Club in Milton Keynes this year. Organised by June Walden for the very last time and hosted by The Grove Independent, the event welcomed 14 schools to the Championships, including 42

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National U14/U16 Hockey Wednesday 25 February This year’s event at Rugby School had only five teams enter the U16 age group and four in the U14’s. It was great to welcome The Webber Independent School to their first ISA Hockey tournament. Congratulations to Ballard School who won both age group titles for a second year in a row!

National U16 Rugby Sevens Wednesday 11 March Claires Court hosted the U16 Rugby tournament at Maidenhead RFC which was sponsored by Titan Mouthguards.

Fantastic competitive rugby was displayed by all of the teams taking part. Claires Court won the Cup competition and received personalised mouthguards from Titan Mouthguards. Lingfield Notre Dame won the Plate competition, Heathfield the Vase and Saint Nicolas School the Bowl. Thanks to Mark Turner and Claires Court school for organising this event.

National Cross Country Saturday 28 February

National U11 Soccer Friday 13 March

Princethorpe College hosted ISA’s Cross Country event again this year in what was another competitive National Final.

Electronic chip timing was used to time each individual, which allowed the competitors and spectators to access the results as soon as the children crossed the finish line. Congratulations to London West who won all three Team awards (Overall Team, Overall Junior and Overall Senior) with the Midlands and the North battling it out for second and third in each award!

Dixie Grammar School hosted the Soccer Finals, sponsored by Sweet Chariot, which saw 27 teams arrive to compete for the title of National Soccer champions.

Matches were played throughout the day on seven grass pitches with Crackley Hall ultimately being crowned Cup champions beating Littlegarth in the final 4-1.

Thanks to Christian Fielding and The Dixie Grammar for hosting another fantastic soccer tournament.

National Senior Netball Saturday 7 March The Senior Netball event moved venues this year from Rugby School to Kingsmead in High Wycombe, an England Netball Centre. The venue is home to 8 hard courts all located in close proximity allowing easy access and provision for spectators. Angela Davis from Hull Collegiate School organised the

tournament which saw twelve teams compete in the U14 competition, thirteen teams in the U16 and seven in the U18.

Princethorpe College won the U14 competition, Hull Collegiate the U16’s and Queen Ethelburga’s the U18. Thanks

National U14 Rugby Sevens Saturday 14 March The U14 Rugby tournament was hosted

by Princethorpe College and sponsored

by Titan Mouthguards. Ten teams arrived to compete in the tournament, in what turned out to be a very cold and windy day! The standard of rugby improves year www.isaschools.org.uk

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to Angela Davis and Hull Collegiate for organising this competition.

THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS personalised mouthguards from Titan Mouthguards for winning the tournament.

St James played St Edwards in the Plate final with St Edwards winning 38-19.

Thanks to Olly Winterbottom and St Edward’s for organising.

Junior Netball Finals Thursday 19 March

on year with every team displaying some fantastic skills. Salesian College won the Cup competition in a close final against Claires Court. Salesian College received free personalised mouthguards from sponsors Titan Mouthguards.

Princethorpe College won the Plate competition, beating Ballard school in the final. Thanks to Neil McCollin and Princethorpe College for organising this event.

National U18 Rugby Sevens Wednesday 18 March This year’s U18 tournament was hosted by St Edward’s, Cheltenham and sponsored

by Titan Mouthguards. Eight teams competed which resulted in Queen Ethelburga’s College winning the Cup competition, beating Claires Court in the final. Queen Ethelburga’s all received free

The Junior Netball Finals were also held at Kingsmead Netball Centre and sponsored

by Sweet Chariots. This tournament required schools to qualify in their Area in order to come through to the National Finals. Twenty-one teams competed in the U11 tournament and eighteen in the U13 throughout the day. Like the rugby, the standard of netball at each age group is increasing year on year. The girls all enjoyed competitive matches in their pools before going through to knockout matches in the cup, plate and bowl. West Lodge school were crowned U11 Cup champions, Ursuline Prep U11 Plate champions and the Towers College U11 Bowl champions.

Lingfield Notre Dame became U13 Cup champions and The Grange U13 Plate Champions, both for a second year in a row and Malvern St James U13 Bowl champions. Thanks to all of the teams for travelling to Kingsmead for this event. It was a very busy tournament but fantastic to see 39 teams competing throughout the day.

Judo Championships Saturday 21 March This new national event was hosted by Oakhyrst Grange School, Caterham.

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Twenty-six individuals competed in a morning of Judo across nine different weight categories. Congratulations to all schools who entered, as every single school medalled, including The Mead who took home 6 medals, and Oakhyrst Grange who won 9 medals throughout the morning’s competition. Thanks to Sarah and Malcolm Burkett for judging the competition, and to Alex Gear and Oakhyrst Grange for hosting the event.

Basketball Tournament Saturday 21 March This year’s Basketball tournament at Queen Ethelburga’s College saw 9 teams travel to York to compete for the title of National U19 Basketball Champions. Last year 6 teams competed on just one court, however, this year QE had 3 courts up and running for the 9 teams to compete on throughout the day. There was an enthusiastic atmosphere in the sports hall, with some fantastic basketball skills showcased by all teams. It was great to welcome St Gerard’s and Alexanders College to their first ISA tournament. Queen Ethelburga’s U19 team won the tournament with St Gerard’s school in second place. Thanks to Tania Sargent and Queen Ethelburga’s for hosting the event.

KEW HOUSE SCHOOL

It is not very often a PE teacher is presented with the opportunity and challenge to develop a sports department from scratch. Marc Sweeney, Head of PE at Kew House School, found himself in this position in September 2013, and explains how his department is developing into a thriving sporting hub that inspires success and enjoyment throughout the whole school.

Kew House School, located in West London, opened its doors to children for the very first time in September 2013, with an initial cohort of 54 mixed students spread across Years 7, 8 and 9. Since then, the school has grown significantly and has more than trebled in size with 180 students in its second year.

Being part of a teaching team creating a brand new school is certainly an experience I will never forget. We were all consistently challenged in those first weeks; during our first ever games afternoon, my department staff consisted of the Managing Director of London Preparatory Schools, the Headmaster and the Deputy Head... no pressure then! With only three members of staff in the PE department, many other teachers and senior managers across the whole school have played a key role in the delivery of the sports programme, allowing it to develop into the excellent standard that it is today.

Local independent schools were very welcoming, allowing us to develop healthy and competitive fixture lists for our major team sports. We have also formed excellent relationships with local community clubs and organisations that have enabled us to run our extensive PE and extra-curricular sporting programme, through high quality facility hire and specialist coaching. These include Brentford FC, the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, Osterley Park Athletics track, Brentford Leisure Centre and The University of Westminster sports fields.

Likewise, the ISA has proven an invaluable organisation for our school sporting events and tournaments, in which we have thoroughly enjoyed competing.

I strongly believe that our sporting achievements to date are a direct reflection of our whole school ethos. This ethos is firmly embedded in the delivery of PE and Games: individualised attention to enable students to fulfil their potential; emphasis on confidence, self-esteem and creativity; and the pursuit of excellence in all areas, whether examinable or not. This starts with our flexible approach to

our PE curriculum and extra-curricular programme, which are tailored to the experiences, wants and needs of our students. Success is not only measured in sporting achievement through competition, it is also measured by the personal journeys of students attaining their goals. This could be something as simple as performing a successful flick serve in badminton or, on a bigger scale, representing the national Independent Schools Football Association (ISFA) team in football. We provide the platform to ensure each and every student experiences sporting success in their own right. This gives them the confidence to try new things and the resilience to persist in other areas of school life which they may find challenging.

Evidence of this approach can be seen in our notable team and individual sporting

achievements in the last 18 months including success in a wide range of team and individual sports. Three of our U13 football players, Tasker Wheeler, Tristan Burningham and Freddie Fraser-Grante, two of whom were scouted for Brentford FC Youth Academy, were selected to represent the London Region U13 ISFA team in the national festival at Shrewsbury School.

Within the team, Kew House School (KHS) had the biggest representation of any independent school in London, which is an outstanding achievement considering the quality of sporting schools in the city. The same three boys formed part of the KHS U13 football team that made it to the last 16 of the ISFA National Cup on the first year of entry.

Louis Grantham in Year 8, won a gold and bronze medal for 50m backstroke and

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SPOTLIGHT ON SPORT IN ISA SCHOOLS

THE ISA JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

freestyle at ISA’s London West Swimming Gala. This performance earned him selection into ISA’s London West representative 50m medley team, which not only won gold at ISA’s National Gala at the Olympic park , but smashed the ISA record by four seconds.

Helena Findlater, Year 8, also won gold in ISA’s London West U13 cross-country race, which gained her entry into the ISA Nationals. She ran an excellent race to claim bronze, making her the third fastest girl in the country for her ISA category.

All of the above students, along with other potentially high achieving students, are a product of the school’s first gifted and talented programme called the Top Performing Athletes Programme (TPAP). I felt it was necessary to extend the opportunity for these students to enhance their sporting performance through further specialist training, giving them the individual

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attention necessary for them to achieve even higher levels. KHS teamed up with Bounce Performance Gym in Wimbledon, who focus on delivering athletic training to international and professional sportsmen in a state-of-the-art training facility. The TPAP squad are regularly put through specialist training sessions to which only elite athletes are typically exposed to; these sessions aim at improving core strength, acceleration, speed, multi-directional speed and functional strength.

For the majority of students who do not favour team sports, we offer a quality rowing programme through local club Team Keane, which operates out of the University of London Boathouse, Chiswick. Over the last six months, students of all abilities have been learning to row on the Thames and recently competed in the London Borough of Hounslow Schools Regatta. This enabled

every single student who opted for rowing as their games option to represent their school and compete in a race regardless of their ability. It was a huge success and KHS were crowned overall champions beating four other local schools.

Other whole school sporting activities have seen students compete in inter-school house tournaments for football, rounders, athletics, netball and dodgeball. Students have participated in charity indoor rowing events to raise money for the Coxless Crew: four women embarking on a row across the Pacific Ocean in aid of Breast Cancer Care and Walking with the Wounded. It was fantastic to introduce the students to such inspiring role models; they made a big impact, teaching them that anything is possible. Students have formed part of the audience on Sky Sports Games Changers TV show with four students presenting sports news on Sky. I feel experiences such as these enrich the children’s learning and motivate them in enjoyable and inspiring ways, whether they are sport-inclined or not.

Regular fixtures against local state and Independent schools see A, B and C teams compete across all the major team sports in additional to ISA tournaments and county cups. The sports department is also planning its first skiing trip for next February half term and a football tour to Madrid next summer.

As the school grows next year to a projected 300 plus students, we plan on hosting our first ISA events: a rowing regatta for small London West Independent schools and a girls’ 5-a-side football tournament. We very much look forward to working with ISA Sport in the future.

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