HES School Improvement Update 10

Hsis School Improvement Update Issue 10

Summer Term 2018 The good work continues...

I hope that you have had a good start to the summer term and that you are all building up a positive momentum as we head towards the annual tests and assessments.

Grahame Smith

If we ever thought that the summer term would be a warm and sunny downhill slide in to the six week holidays, such notions have long since been scotched. Statutory assessments, moderation, sports days, parents' meetings, reports, teachers leaving, a spate of interviews for new staff and preparations for the next academic year with a new class all compete with the day-to-day duty of classroom teaching! It will be interesting to see what comes out of the government's announcement in March about cutting teachers' workload and needless bureaucracy. Is it just me, or have we heard this all before (and more than once!)? Let's hope that this time the regulators provide us with some detail and some concrete reductions so that teachers can direct their creative energies in to teaching children and not on administrative and accountability tasks. I think we all have a responsibility in this respect: government, Ofsted, the STA, Local Authorities and school leaders and governors too. It's not about working less hard; it's about redirecting those energies to where it matters most - in the classroom.

On another note, it's been an exciting time within school improvement these last few months. The Havering Academy of Leadership has now launched its brand new website and it's accessible to everyone - no password required. Whatever level you are currently working at in school, if you're looking for leadership programmes and training, on-site support, a free mentor, best practice, networking opportunities or resources, research and publications, then visit the site on www.haveringacademyofleadership.co.uk and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. The Leadership Academy is a partnership between Havering Education Service (HES), the primary and secondary teaching schools, and all schools and academies in Havering - and it's there for YOU. This is our last School Improvement Update of the academic year 2017-18.

How time flies. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all staff, children and governors a great summer and a safe, relaxing and well-deserved summer break - when it finally arrives! In the meantime, keep up all the fantastic work that you do.

With best wishes,

Grahame Smith School Improvement Manager e: grahame.smith@havering.gov.uk t: 01708 433942

Follow us on Twitter:

@HES_orguk

‘Rising Stars Star Awards – Character Education’ – new resources for Hsis schools coming soon Following an open invitation to all Havering Primary schools, the EAL Team are pleased to confirm that Drapers Pyrgo Primary, Gidea Park College, Scargill Infant School, Scotts Primary and St Edward's C of E Primary have begun the process of working closely with us, and publishers Rising Stars, to trial character education lessons and assembly materials to supplement their SMSC and British Values provision.

We are also thrilled that Tracy Wraight - Havering’s Healthy Schools’ Officer, has agreed to bring her PSHE and Citizenship expertise to this project, to ensure that the final publication is as supportive of Primary colleagues across a range of aspects as possible.

The participating schools – whose contribution will be acknowledged in the final publication and who will also receive £100 voucher to spend with Rising Stars - have so far received the ‘Citizenship & Community Spirit’, ‘Resilience & Confidence’ and ‘Selfworth and Happiness’ strands of the proposed ‘Star Awards’ programme and will soon be providing feedback on the remaining three strands prior to an estimated publication in autumn 2018.

The intention is that every Hsis Package 1 and Package 3 2018-19 subscriber school will receive a free copy of the materials. We would like to take this opportunity to thank staff in all five schools who are delivering trial lessons/ assemblies and providing invaluable feedback.

Maths – The importance of multiplication tables Primary Mathematics - Assessment and curriculum changes • 2018 -19: Key Stage 2 Teacher Assessment will no longer be statutory from the end of this academic year.

Kairen Raper

• 2019-2020: statutory multiplication tables check to take place in June.

• September 2020: new assessment at start of reception as a starting point for measuring progress.

• 2022 – 2023: End of Key Stage 1 assessments will no longer be statutory in Primary schools from the end of the academic year.

Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) It was announced on 14th February 2018 that Multiplication Tables Checks for pupils in Year 4 will be trialled from March 2018. Pupils will be expected to know their multiplication tables, up to 12, by heart.

The trial will consist of three parts:• Trial 1 (February/March 2018 ) is designed to test the functionality, reliability and performance of the multiplication tables check software, rather than pupil performance.

• Trial 2 (March 2018 ) will collect data to inform how long pupils need to answer questions and set the standard

timing before the national rollout.

• Trial 3 (June/July 2018) will inform the creation of questions for the MTC. In June 2019 schools will be able to take part in a voluntary rollout of the Multiplication Tables Check. This will allow schools to become familiar with the check before it becomes statutory.

In June 2020 the checks will become mandatory for all Year 4 pupils. Once the MTC is introduced schools will have a window for administration, similar to the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1. Teachers will be free to administer the MTC to individual pupils, small groups or the whole class at the same time. Once the check is introduced, pupils’ check results will be available to schools via the MTC system and the Analyse School Performance (ASP) service. Assessment data will be published at national and local authority level only, not at school level.

Schools selected for the 2018 trial have already been contacted. However, if interested for 2018, MTC trials schools can contact SQA on 0345 278 8080 or e-mail mtc@sqa.org.uk Kairen Raper Inspector Standards and Effectiveness - Maths e. kairen.raper@havering.gov.uk t. 01708 433815

English – Comprehension: why closed questions matter When teachers start planning a reading session (either shared or guided), they naturally see that questioning is likely to form an important part of the lesson.

This often leads to a discussion around what makes for effective questioning and terms such as ‘higher order reading Peter Ellison skills’ or Bloom’s taxonomy start to pop up. In this article I’d like to make a case for the importance of closed questions, often regarded as ‘lower order’ and sometimes dismissed as less challenging than open questions.

Whenever I read a complex text for myself, I find that the questions that I naturally ask myself are of two kinds: • Closed questions for which there is a correct answer: these are so that I can check that I’ve understood the text correctly.

And • Predictions: these are my way of understanding the direction of the text (e.g. ‘What’s going to happen next?’

Or ‘Where is this argument going?’)

These seem to me to be the pillars of comprehension and of the two, the first is more important. It is linked to

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vocabulary (did I interpret that word correctly?) and syntax (did I read that sentence correctly?) and, without it, I have no way of checking my understanding so I could easily continue reading the text incorrectly.

For children in the classroom (especially those with EAL), closed questions which support comprehension are even more important. They are more likely to misunderstand words or misread sentences than an experienced reader.

Not only that, but those kinds of questions are crucial for a teacher to determine whether children have understood the text. If they get a question wrong, the sooner we sort out the misapprehension the better. The key to selecting a useful closed question is whether the answer to it is central to understanding the text. This kind of question is sometimes overlooked by teachers in the desire to move on to open ‘higher order’ questioning or evaluation.

So, I think it’s time to bring the closed question in from the cold. When we plan a reading lesson, we should ask ourselves which are the closed questions which will tell us if the class understands. We may get a few shocks!

Peter Ellison Inspector Standards and Effectiveness - English e. peter.ellison@havering.gov.uk t. 01708 433822

Secondary Update – The Havering Transition Guarantee There is no doubt that the focus of most secondary schools is on their GCSE outcomes, which means Year 11 are often the main beneficiaries of the school’s interventions, extra-curricular support and strongest teachers.

With the attention paid to school Ian Gurman performance tables, by the media, local community and Ofsted alike, this focus is not surprising – and, with the regular cycle of Ofsted inspections, it is difficult for schools to look beyond the next set of results.

Nevertheless, you will know that Ofsted is currently asking far more questions about a school’s curriculum, with a particular emphasis on the breadth of and rationale for the KS4 offer and the quality (and length) of the KS3 curriculum.

Indeed, this should come as no surprise, given Ofsted’s 2015 report entitled ‘Key Stage 3: The Wasted Years’.

So, with all that in mind, Havering’s secondary schools have recognised the importance of strengthening their KS3 curriculum and, in particular, trying to avoid the dip in performance that so often occurs in Year 7. As a result, strengthening primary-secondary transition is one of the key priorities of the Havering Secondary Improvement Plan; in fact it was the subject of a significant bid to the DfE’s Strategic School Improvement Fund and, although that bid was unsuccessful, the work has already begun.

Led by David Denchfield, Headteacher of Benhurst Primary School, the Havering Transition Group has met three times since November 2017, with representatives from each of the primary cluster groups and from five secondary schools.

The aim of the group is to find ways of improving the Year 6 to Year 7 transition for the benefit of both phases, and discussions have centred on those aspects of transition that might be achieved next year, those that might be achieved in the slightly longer term and those that we would like to

see in an ideal world.

Those of you who attended the Havering Conference in March 2018 heard David summarise the four aims for 2019, at the latest, to be: 1. Produce a standard transition form to be used by all primary and secondary schools, to provide secondary schools with all the information that they need and to allow primaries to provide that information in one standardised form.

2. Agree a common transition week for all secondary school visits to take place in the final week in June, so that primary schools can plan accordingly. If this has not already been arranged for 2018, it should be agreed for 2019.

3. Secondary schools to receive the Year 6 pupils’ English, maths and science books, as exemplars of their work and the curriculum covered. It is felt that this will be far more informative than any ‘transition project’, especially if the books are passed to the Year 7 subject teachers directly, as opposed to staying with the pastoral, SEND or transition teams.

4. Existing Year 7 questionnaires to be developed and standardised to not only focus on how the students have settled into their new secondary schools but also to collect feedback on the whole transition experience, so that the process can be further improved.

There will be more recommendations to follow, but we hope that all schools will ‘buy in’ to this Havering Transition Guarantee in order to give all our pupils the best of possible starts to their secondary education.

Ian Gurman Senior Inspector, Secondary e. ian.gurman@havering.gov.uk t. 01708 433813

Science: ‘Wellcome Trust – Explorify’ free resources for schools The Wellcome Trust offers primary schools which have a free resource full of engaging, creative science activities which have been designed to spark curiosity, discussion and debate. These include images, videos and hands-on activities. The aim is to use bitesize prompts for discussion and investigation. Explorify’s high-quality image, video and hands-on activities are sure to spark curiosity and get your class thinking like scientists. There is a choice from a wide range of curriculum-linked, low-prep activities that will set young minds whizzing and whirring. What’s more, Explorify is completely free. Subject leaders are encouraged to sign up to access the activities. The resources are accessible via https://explorify.wellcome.ac.uk/ Has your school considered participating in the Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM)? The PSQM is valid for 3 years.

Please register your interest before July 2018 for a September

2018 start. http://www. psqm.org.uk/ Are you using focused Science subject leaders from Havering assessment schools working on Explorify with Louise for working Stubberfield, Programme Manager – scientifically?

Education, Wellcome Trust.

Please refer to the TEACHER ASSESSMENT IN PRIMARY SCIENCE (TAPS) resources. https://pstt.org.uk/resources/curriculummaterials/assessment Have you seen the new free CREST activities available to schools? A good resource for science club activities or for science project ideas. http://www.crestawards.org/

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Early Years – Enabling Children to Develop Thinking Skills A question that is frequently asked is “How do I teach critical thinking?”

The answer is to enable children to develop thinking Celia Freeth Caroline Mitchell skills. By providing children with the motivation, appropriate challenge and a range of open ended practical resources, they will naturally develop an inquisitive mind and a love for learning.

• Modelling being a thinker, showing that you don’t always know, are curious and sometimes puzzled, and can think and find out.

• Modelling the plan-do-review process yourself.

(Early Education, 2012) Practice guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage highlights the need to provide a climate for thinking.

Enabling children to take part in sustained shared thinking activities is one way that this can be achieved (DCSF, 2007).

Sustained shared thinking is “an episode in which two or more individuals ‘work together’ in an intellectual way to solve a problem, clarify a concept, evaluate activities, extend a narrative etc. Both parties must contribute to the thinking and it must develop and extend.” (Siraj-Blatchford, et al. 2002).

In the summer months, especially in the outdoors, there are opportunities for rich experiences which enable children to work together, think critically, extend their learning and demonstrate their thinking process. Marian Dowling (2005) records the different types of children’s thinking that we may see: • Planning, predicting, thinking ahead, speculating • Investigating, exploring, gathering and using information • Solving problems, working things out, finding solutions • Reasoning, using their logic, explaining, making connections

As the adult, your role is enormously important to enable children to develop the skills and attributes needed to think deeply. Effective adult interactions include:

• Creating, innovating, imagining new situations, fantasising

• Encouraging children to talk out loud, as this helps them to think and control what they do.

“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” – Albert Einstein

• Modelling self-talk, describing your actions in play.

• Giving children time to talk and think.

• Encouraging open-ended thinking by not settling on the first ideas: what else is possible?

• Modelling the creative process, showing your thinking about some of the many possible ways forward.

• Encouraging children to describe the problems they encounter and to suggest ways to solve the problem.

• Giving feedback and helping children to review their own progress and learning.

• Talking with children about what they are doing, how they plan to do it, what worked well and what they would change next time.

• Valuing questions, talk, and the many possible responses without rushing towards answers too quickly.

• Encouraging children to ask questions that require an explanation.

• Always respecting children’s efforts and ideas, so they feel safe to take a risk with a new idea.

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• Reflecting, recalling, sorting out feelings On a final note, it is important to remember that:

Early Education (2012). Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). London: Early Education.

Department for Children, Schools, and Families (2007).

The Early Years Foundation Stage: Principles into Practice Cards. Nottingham, DCSF Publications Dowling, M. (2005). Supporting Young Children’s Sustained Shared Thinking: an Exploration. Training materials. London: British Association for Early Childhood Education.

Siraj-Blatchford, I., Sylva, K., Muttock, S., Gilden, R. and Bell, D. (2002). Researching Effective Pedagogy in the Early Years (REPEY). London: Department for Education and Skills / Institute of Education, University of London.

Celia Freeth Early Years Inspector e. celia.freeth@havering.gov.uk t. 01708 433802

Caroline Mitchell Senior Education Adviser e. caroline.mitchell@havering.gov.uk t. 01708 434532

Drapers’ Maylands Primary School – Enchanted Wood Library Albert Einstein reportedly said ‘The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.’

Our school library is at the centre of our school. It is called the Enchanted Wood library after my childhood love of Enid Blyton’s magical books. I am lucky that I was able to change its location as we developed our new building, from the furthest room in the school to a room at the heart. The importance of reading is acknowledged by all - even the great National Curriculum, however it is even more important if a child does not have access to books. In our catchment area, we serve a community where literacy skills are poor and the love of reading will not come from home. To offer a place where the shelves are lined with as many types of books as we could realistically afford was a priority for our school. The children will be able to borrow a book and take turns to be a librarian using MicroLibrarian technology. I almost wanted to buy a Rolodex to put on the reclaimed library desk- who didn’t want to play with one of those? But we must be forward-thinking. To ensure that our library will offer the best resource, it will require annual funding to top up the books

and a regular visit from advisers to keep it up to date. We are fortunate that some of our parents have already offered to make it their project. A library is an investment and I know that all school leaders are passionate about this because even in a world of technology, a book can still be so essential to change a mind, ignite an interest or just simply enjoy.

Our library began as an idea and a Google search. It seems that in America, the woodland library is quite prevalent… In a building where our approach follows the Reggio Emilia style of ordered and tranquil, almost to the extreme of ‘plain’, the wonder of a room which suggest the midst of a dark forest with the surprise of an actual tree-house would capture the imagination of even the least willing child.

The tree-house was constructed from the old fire escapes of the demountable classrooms. It has a high platform and a cosy den. The tables and chairs were carved out in Epping forest and the floor is covered with artificial grass cut with a meandering path. Nick Butterworth called it ‘splendid’ and when he came to open it for us on 6th March, the parents and carers were equally impressed. It is a room which commands quiet contemplation to enjoy a book –or three. The children love it and think it holds some magical secret…from the smell of the natural wood, to the suggestion of a forest canopy it is really a place to ignite a love of reading.

Our library is open to anyone who would like to visit.

by Trudy Spillane - Principal

Drapers’ Maylands Primary School

Free Reusable Resources and Assets online forum – a way to save money and share unwanted equipment A new school resource swapping/ sharing area has recently gone live on the HES portal. Entitled the ‘Free Reusable Resources and Assets’ online forum, this communal area has been introduced to enable portal users to share and pool resources together. For example, to swap or offer unwanted Nick Plumb furniture, classroom resources or to borrow lights for school productions… the options are endless. Interested schools and settings can make offers, post unwanted resources or respond to requests in the forum.

The idea originally came about via a conversation with Nick Plumb, Deputy Headteacher of Harold Wood Primary School, who explained that, "At Harold Wood we have been very fortunate to receive numerous donations from parents/carers and others of equipment including computers, laptops, classroom furniture, office furniture etc. As a result, we currently have many perfectly good items that we cannot use but are too good to throw away.

For example, we recently had 25 office chairs in good condition that we had no further use for.”

Whether it is classroom resources, books, furniture and much more – the forum has the potential to save schools money. It is a terrific way for schools to donate unwanted/ surplus resources and share use of existing resources.

How to join the forum The forum can be found under the Communication section on the portal, then by clicking on the ‘Groups’ heading at the far right of the page. Under the ‘My groups’ section please click on the ‘Free Reusable Resources & Asses’, you will be presented with a pop-up message entitled Member Request. Once submitted, your request will be authorised by the HES Central Support Team. Please familiarise yourself with the discussion rules when joining and prior to participation. Should you have any questions or are having trouble in registering for the forum, please contact support@hes.org.uk or 01708 431561

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Education Technology – Is your school embracing cloud-based working?

Is your school making effective use of cloud-based tools to support teaching and learning and collaborative working?

A growing number of local schools are taking advantage of the power of cloud-based tools such as Google G Suite and Microsoft Office 365 to support teaching and learning and collaborative working – often at little or no additional cost.

Dave Smith

Amanda Jackson

Examples of use

Depending on the tool used, numerous users can collaborate concurrently (up to 100 with G Suite) on a document with autosaving, eliminating USB memory sticks and the need to email various versions of files, whilst also providing a cost saving in terms of a reduction in the need to print. Collaborate on planning documents, presentations and much more. Use a Form to set-up a parent/carer questionnaire or organise parent/carer consultation evenings, embed charts and graphs into presentations – e.g. if you change the data in a spreadsheet, then this is automatically updated within the presentation.

Get pupils to work on a single presentation or webspace together – adding images, maps, weblinks, charts and videos to the same or different slides in a geography lesson. Provide the first stanza of a poem for pupils to work collaboratively to add and improve the language in future stanzas.

Communicate across classes to hotseat a character in a book or connect with schools for a video conference in another part of the UK or beyond.

Getting started

G Suite for Education - If you are an LGfL subscriber school then it is straightforward to get set-up with integration of existing users into the platform by visiting https://www.lgfl.net/services/google-apps

• Allows collaborative working for staff and pupils

Office365 is available to all LGfL schools as part of their LGfL subscription. USO account synchronisation is also possible. Please raise a support case via http://support.lgfl.net/ for more details.

• Helps to streamline teaching staff workload

LGfL Cloud Champion schools

• Enhances teaching and learning through the use of webbased tools

LGfL has a Cloud Champions programme in operation, designed to support the use of the use of Google G Suite and Microsoft Office 365 in schools.

What are the benefits?

• Promotes sharing of resources

• Accessible anytime, anywhere – via an internet enabled desktop, laptop or mobile device.

What are some of the main platforms currently in use in schools?

Google G Suite for Education is a collection of free apps including ‘Docs’ (word processor), ‘Sheets’ (spreadsheets), ‘Slides’ (presentations), ‘Forms’ (data collection/ questionnaires), ‘Sites’ (webspace development), ‘Drive’ (unlimited online storage), ‘Calendar’, ‘Hangouts’ (for audio and video calls). G Suite works on any device, but is best experienced on a Chromebook. Chromebook are incredibly affordable devices that are totally secure and exceptionally easy to manage. They boot in under 7 seconds, have long-lasting battery life, are really lightweight and durable.

Microsoft Office365 provides online versions of tools including Word (word processor), PowerPoint (presentations), Excel (spreadsheet), OneNote (digital notebook) and Skype in the Classroom (audio and video calls).

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https://www.lgfl.net/services/Google-Cloud-Champions. aspx https://www.lgfl.net/services/Microsoft-CloudChampions.aspx

NB. These tools are also available to non-LGfL subscriber schools through Google and Microsoft. Please speak to your technical support for specific advice.

Further support • For strategic support, training and advice regarding cloud-based tools – please contact Amanda Jackson and Dave Smith in the Hsis Computing and Online Safety team via hsis@havering.gov.uk or 01708 433813

LOOKING FOR: • L eadership training and programmes?

• O n-site consultancy from system leaders?

• M entors for all levels?

• E ffective practice?

• N etworking opportunities?

• P ublications and resources?

CONTACT US: Website: www.haveringacademyofleadership.co.uk Email: leadershipacademy@havering.gov.uk Phone: 01708 433813

twitter.com/HaveringAofL facebook.com/HaveringAofL

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What’s been happening on Twitter?

Dates for your diary Reserve your place on the following courses: Headteacher Forums 24 April 2018 (Summer Term 2018), 1.30pm – 4pm 10 October 2018 (Autumn Term 2018), 1.30pm – 4pm 13 March 2019 (Spring Term 2019), 1.30pm – 4pm Deputy/Assistant Headteacher Forums 01 May 2018 (Summer Term 2018), 1.30pm – 4pm 17 October 2018 (Autumn Term 2018), 1.30 – 4pm 20 March 2019 (Spring Term 2019), 1.30pm – 4pm

RE 26 April 2018 (Summer Term 2018), 4.15 -5.45pm 02 October 2018 (Autumn Term 2018), 4.15 – 5.45pm 29 January 2019 (Spring Term 2019), 4.15 – 5.45pm

Subject/Aspect Leader Network Meetings

Assessment 13 June 2018 (Summer Term 2018), 4.15 – 5.45pm

English 16 May 2018 (Summer Term 2018), 4.15 – 5.45pm 25 September 2018 (Autumn Term 2018), 4.15 – 5.45pm 05 February 2019 (Spring Term 2019), 4.15 – 5.45pm

HLTA 19 June 2018 (Summer Term 2018), 1pm – 3pm 17 October 2018 (Autumn Term 2018), 1pm – 3pm 26 February 2019 (Spring Term 2019), 1pm – 3pm

Maths 03 July 2018 (Summer Term 2018), 4.15 – 5.45pm 26 September 2018 (Autumn Term 2018), 4.15 – 5.45pm 05 February 2019 (Spring Term 2019), 4.15 – 5.45pm

Music 24 May 2018 (Summer Term 2018), 4pm – 6pm 18 October 2018 (Autumn Term 2018), 4pm – 6pm 14 February 2019 (Spring Term 2019), 4pm – 6pm

Science 13 June 2018 (Summer Term 2018), 4.15 – 5.45pm 26 September 2018 (Autumn Term 2018), 4.15 – 5.45pm 04 March 2019 (Spring Term 2019), 4.15 – 5.45pm

EMA/EAL 23 May 2018 (Summer Term 2018), 4.15pm – 5.45pm 07 November 2018 (Autumn Term 2018), 4.15pm – 5.45pm 27 February 2019 (Spring Term 2019), 4.15pm – 5.45pm

Computing and Online Safety 22 May 2018 (Summer Term 2018), 4.15 – 5.45pm 14 November 2018 (Autumn Term 2018), 4.15 – 5.45pm 6 March 2019 (Spring Term 2019), 4.15 – 5.45pm

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Modern Foreign Languages 15 May 2018 (Summer Term 2018), 4.15 – 5.45pm 09 October 2018 (Autumn Term 2018), 4.15 – 5.45pm 15 January 2019 (Spring Term 2019), 4.15 – 5.45pm

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