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EDUCATION LEADERS
Joan McVittie and Sally Coates made dames in New Year’s Honours list for services to national education Two headteachers who have contributed to education at a national level have been made dames in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours. Dame Joan McVittie transformed two schools in deprived areas of London, while Dame Sally Coates has overseen huge improvements at Burlington Danes Academy in west London. Dame Joan, now 60, said she was “absolutely thrilled” to be singled out for her work in education and only wished her parents had been around to see her receive the honour. She says the secret of her success in schools has been to get a good team and to ensure that the people around her grow and develop. “It’s about playing to people’s strengths,” she added. Dame Joan was recognised for her work in improving Leytonstone School, and then going on to transform Woodside High in Tottenham, taking the school dubbed “the worst school in London” from the verge of closure to an outstanding Ofsted rating in just five years. Last year it was rated one of the top 25 most improved schools in the country for its GCSE results. She is also rewarded for her time serving on a national body encouraging good school leadership, National College for School Leadership, and for her contribution to the Association of School and College Leaders, of which she is a past president.
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Dame Sally, who has worked in teaching since she was 22, is also credited with transforming a school on the deprived White City Estate in west London. Now 59, she took over Burlington Danes, which replaced a school in special measures in 2008. Pupils’ poor behaviour and poor results was disheartening, she said, but she managed to begin the process of change by having high expectations of her pupils, and plenty of optimism and resilience. “The thing to remember is that everyone wants things to work. The teachers want to work in a good school, the parents want the school to be good and the children want to be in a good school.” Dame Sally also recently oversaw a review of the standards expected of teachers for the government and served as a member
TEACHER TRAINING
of the committee which recently reviewed the national tests children take at the end of primary school. Dame is the female equivalent of the honour of knighthood in the British honours system Formerly, a knight’s wife was given the title of Dame before her name, but this usage was replaced by “Lady” during the 17th century. The youngest person to be appointed a dame was Ellen MacArthur at the age of 28; the oldest was Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies aged 100, who died the following year. A number of high-profile figures, such as actress Vanessa Redgrave, have declined the honour. About 10 per cent of the total new year honours go to people for their work in education. Some 31 head teachers were recognised in all.
EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
Tarleton Academy gets BESA members prominent ready for pioneering teacher on BETT Awards shortlist The finalists for the 15th training programme annual Bett Awards have been A Lancashire school is pioneering a project to re-shape the way the next generation of secondary school teachers are trained. A programme designed to give full time on-the-job training to post graduate trainees from across Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside has been drawn up by Tarleton Academy, near Preston. The Academy is the first secondary school in the North West to be accredited by the Teaching Agency to award qualified teacher status to trainee teachers - something that at secondary level in the north west is usually reserved for universities. Leading the programme head of science and assistant headteacher Leanne Wren is said Tarleton is part of a partnership of schools that will be delivering this alternative. She said: “ We are in partnership with Edge Hill University, already an outstanding
provider and will still be working with them but this is very different to the university-based programme. “Basically, instead of paying their fee to the university then going out on placement etc post graduates, or those wanting a career change, will pay us and come directly to school where they will spend the whole time. The programme, which has taken a year to put together, is being hailed as a flagship model and would be rolled out in the region in conjunction with Edge Hill University and The Sutton Academy. Tarleton Academy headteacher Lesley Gwinnett said: “Gone are the days when trainee teachers were left to their own devices in the classroom. Nowadays, outstanding teacher training involves all teachers in powerful conversations about how to deliver outstanding
announced by the organisers i2i Events Group. BESA is proud to report that its members have a strong representation in the shortlist, with over 25 per cent of the shortlisted companies being BESA members. The Bett Awards are considered to be the most prestigious in the education sector, and are committed to celebrating a distinctive and diverse digital education resources market that meets the needs of the education system. Of the 84 companies shortlisted for a Bett Award, 22 are BESA members, spread across a wide variety of categories, from “Innovations in ICT” to “ICT Company of the Year”. Such an impressive performance highlights the dedication and commitment of BESA members to delivering high quality products and innovation to the field of education technology.
Caroline Wright, director, at BESA comments: “The high percentage of BESA member organisations in the awards shortlist is a testament to the quality of products offered. We are suitably impressed by the outstanding success of our members.” The winners will be announced at the Bett Awards dinner on Wednesday 30 January 2013 at the brand new Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, Tower Bridge, London. SEE THE FULL LIST OF BETT AWARDS FINALISTS ON PAGE 21
Volume 18.1 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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