ALT Institute [Draft]

Institute of Teaching & Leadership & Learning Commission

Our Professional Development Offer The Active Learning Trust is a DfE approved sponsor delivering excellent education for children and young people in primary, secondary and special schools across the East of England.

21 Schools.

15 Sponsored Academies

9570 Pupils

Research and Development

15 Primary 4 Secondary 2 Special

Leadership & Professional Development Programmes

Hub

Pedagogy, Best Practice and Innovation Programmes

46m Turnover

1486 Staff

ALT Institute &

Talent & Capacity Register

National, Regional and Cluster Conferences

Learning Commission

62% Good or Better

Strong Mission Vision & Values

29% RI or Below 10% not yet Inspected

Trust Wide Project & Initiatives

Virtual Learning Zone

Committed to Learning & Professional Development

Governor Support & Training

At The Active Learning Trust we are passionate about improving the life chances of our children and young people. To help and inspire them to become #activelearners, #activeLeaders and #activecitizens in order to be successful, fulfilled and lead #activelives.

This mission starts with the work of our outstanding teachers and support staff. Previous routes and qualifications simply don’t cut it anymore in equipping our teachers, support staff and school leaders to face the challenges of delivering a world-class education in the 21st Century. That is why we as a Trust are reinventing professional learning for our schools bringing leading-edge training, research and development in pedagogy and practice, curriculum and business school thinking into our schools through the ALT Institute of Teaching and Leadership.

The Active Learning Trust Institute of Teaching and Leadership is the central hub for professional development, leadership training and learning across the Trust. There are 8 strategic areas that form the hub that link directly into our models for school improvement and are designed to transform teaching, leading, and learning to make sure we fulfil our commitment to give our children, young people and communities the high-quality education they deserve.

Key Strategic Areas (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

Research and Development Hub Pedagogy, Best Practice and Innovation Programmes National, Regional and Cluster Conferences Trust Wide Projects and Initiatives Governor Support and Training Virtual Learning Zone Talent and Capacity Register Leadership and Professional Development Programmes

The hub is part of our People Strategy which is underpinned by four pillars: •

• • •

Work and Culture- ensuring that we have a culture in our schools that allows all staff to be highly effective and to be inspired, feel valued and be part of the Trust and school family; Grow and Develop- the opportunity for professional development and growth; Reward and Recognition- recognition of effort and commitment to the school and the Trust; Connect to the Trust- strategies and opportunities for all staff to contribute linked to the vision, values and culture of the Trust.

We’re here to inspire, empower and educate. And we’re here with the knowledge, guidance and resources so you can become the best you can be. Welcome to the ALT Institute.

Stephen Chamberlain, Chief Executive Officer & National Leader of Governance

We recognise the importance of being at the forefront of educational research.

Our hub will be developed in collaboration with leading researchers in schools across the Trust with the intention of looking to apply for research school status in due course. We are pleased to be partnered with Unity Research School, Ipswich Research School and the East Cambs and Fenland Research School to be able to share our work and network together.

Our aim is to provide school-led support for evidence-based practice across our family of schools. Through our hub, cluster structures as well as online in our ALT Newsletter and through our social media, our leading school researchers will share what they know about putting research into practice, and support schools within the Trust to make better use of evidence to inform their teaching and learning so that they really make a difference in the classroom. We will do this by encouraging schools in the Trust to: • make use of evidence-based programmes and practices through regular communication and events delivered by ALT staff identified in our Talent and Capacity Register; • provide training and professional development for senior and middle leaders and teachers on how to improve classroom practice based on the best available evidence; • support other schools in our family of schools and beyond to develop innovative ways of improving teaching and learning and providing them with the expertise to evaluate their impact; • capture and share best practice across the Active Learning Trust to help develop our other CPD strands such as our regional and national conferences, cross trust projects and initiatives and the development of our virtual learning zone; • develop research hubs in each of our clusters in North, South Suffolk and Cambridge.

Our schools have an enviable reputation for excellence in pedagogy, the development of ‘best practice’ and an agility and desire to be innovative in developing learning and the curriculum. That is why we are encouraging all of our schools to share this by developing their own programmes that can be shared across the research hubs, ALT regions and more widely. We will be asking colleagues in schools to work with our central team to create innovative training programmes delivered either at a school or central venue or via our Virtual Learning Zone via Webinars or training videos.

To support this, the Trust, in partnership with The Prince’s Teaching Institute (PTI) are piloting a primary subject development hub in North Suffolk – this is a local school network committed to securing subject knowledge and enrichment in selected areas based on school improvement priorities, through academic support, sharing expertise and creative collaboration and, in particular, focusing on pedagogy supported by challenging activities and supporting materials. The intention is to motivate teachers to consider how to develop engagement, enjoyment, curiosity and intellectual independence within and beyond the curriculum. The primary hub will complement the work of the highly successful curriculum development seminars already underway. Schools who successfully navigate this offer and are able to demonstrate impact will achieve a PTI Subject Leadership kitemark.

We recognise the importance of the work being undertaken on the Secondary Curriculum across our schools. So, alongside the Primary Hubs, the PTI will continue to work with ALT in offering the secondary leadership certificate in key subject areas – currently geography, Spanish and music – and will extend its residential offer at Downing College, University of Cambridge. This engagement leads to the award of a subject kitemark on presentation of impact evidence a year later.

As part of our commitment to professional development across the trust we operate a broad range of Curriculum Seminars and Conferences on areas identified for development. This year we have already delivered cross trust events on the Arts, Mathematics, Reading and SEND. These are delivered by nationally recognised experts in one of our schools or via our Virtual Learning Zone. These allow colleagues to participate and share best practice together and each session or webinar is recorded and can be shared right across the Trust.

Here is an example from our Reading Seminar from Red Oak Primary School and the presentations are also available via our ALT Website and Newsletter Our conferences will provide targeted school improvement support within a universal approach and are led in collaboration with some of our national partners – Ambition Institute, The PTI, NASEN, Whole School SEND and many others Led by a focus on issues driven by school data analysis, as well as providing exposure to highlyrespected national presenters, these conferences provide opportunities to share evidence-based effective practice across the Trust, facilitate the coaching of struggling schools by our more successful schools and learn from successful work being undertaken elsewhere including external to our MAT. The curriculum development seminars, offered so far have been – history, RE, The Arts, mathematics and reading. These are constantly revised and improved to meet school improvement priorities as they emerge as well as address key developments – locally, regionally and nationally. We engage fully with national events and initiatives such as our work on the arts with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation led by Sidegate Primary School for Teacher Development Work in the Arts

This strand of the Institute’s is designed flexibly to respond to emerging priorities – be they school, local, regional or national – in our relentless quest to support our schools in improvement and being in a strong position to respond at pace to developments as and when they occur, as they frequently do, in the world of education.

For the year 2019/2020 we have been engaged in a Trust-wide Oracy Development Programme led in partnership with Oracy@Cambridge, based at Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge led by Emeritus Professor of Education at Cambridge University, Professor Neil Mercer. We have a team of Oracy leaders from across our schools who are leading a wide range of initiatives to ensure that our children and young people know they have a voice and that it is authentic and valued.

We regularly record our workshops and events to ensure that these can be used and shared for professional development right across the Trust and with other schools and educational institutions.

You can find out more information on our Trust Wide Oracy Project here as well as presentations from five of our schools: Neale Wade Academy, Chantry Academy, Littleport and East Cambridgeshire Academy, Burrowmoor Primary School and Chesterton Primary School Another illustration of our commitment to working as a family of schools across the trust is the Culture & Arts Leaders in Schools & Academies (CALSA) regional programme, sponsored in partnership with The Festival Bridge, where funded CALSAs work across our hubs supporting arts leads in schools to achieve the nationally-acclaimed Artsmark.

As a Trust we are proud to have two special schools in our family. We believe that high quality Special Education Needs provision is key for all our schools and so our Trust Executive Leader for SEND and Executive Head of Highfield Littleport Academy and Highfield Ely Academy, Simon Bainbridge is leading SEND reviews across the Trust to ensure those with barriers to learning have the best possible opportunities to be successful.

Our team of local Governors are essential components in the success of our schools and the wider trust. We ensure they are fully trained and supported in their roles with our schools.

All Governors begin their term of office with a mentor initially appointed to support them. In addition, the Chair of the Local Governing Body (LGB) will meet as part of an induction package with the CEO and Trust Central Team.

Training includes updates and webinar briefings developed as the needs of governors become evident and in response to national or local priorities.

Focused sessions are tailored to the needs of the LBG supporting governors in understanding the nuances of the role and the way the educational system works – including educational jargon!

As part of our Virtual Learning Zone we have a series of online modules that are specific to governance that are available to all governors to complete.

The range spans from governor induction to expectations from Ofsted inspections and will give comprehensive guidance to all governors whatever their level of experience.

Our LGB specific training sessions are delivered by experienced practitioners and Trust staff provide bespoke training dependent on need with governors able to request guidance on specific areas. Experienced Trust staff also attend meetings to offer support as required. Examples of bespoke training include: Analysing Exam Data; How to Challenge Effectively; Pupil Premium Responsibilities and Preparing for Ofsted.

We provide each volunteer governor with access to the National Governance Association (NGA). This national organisation is devoted to representing and supporting school governors and trustees to improve educational standards and opportunities for all children and young people.

We know that the best outcomes for our children and young people are achieved through partnerships and collaboration. Our links across our family of schools and with other partners is fundamental to the improvement work that we do. As a Trust with 21 schools across two counties we also recognise the challenges of getting together to learn and collaborate.

We have now set up our Virtual Learning Zone which is designed to host targeted professional development for our teaching and support staff who have a keen interest in developing their skills and expertise through participation in our seminars and conferences, webinars or Trust-wide projects via the functionality of Microsoft Teams. This facility allows us to share, collaborate and record sessions on line wherever we are in the Trust.

We are developing the zone further to reflect a more blended learning approach to offer a range of accessible professional development to all staff via our professional pathways at the touch of a button. This includes a range of online professional development opportunities for example those supported by the National College of Education which, funded by the Trust through our Apprenticeship Levy, offers the Future Leaders Programme (Level 3: Team Leader), Education Management Diploma (Level 5), Senior Leadership MA Apprenticeship ( Level 7: Masters in School Leadership and Management) MA in Education Programme (Level 7) and MBA in Education Management (Level7) We recognise that all our support staff play a huge role in the success of our trust and that our teaching assistants are a vital part of our success in the classroom. We offer a range of blended learning modules as part of our Teaching Assistant Development Programme within the Virtual Learning Zone which allows our Teaching Assistants to develop their skills and expertise through the completion of online certificated modules which are jointly accredited by the Trust and the National Association of Professional Teaching Assistants (NAPTA).

At the Active Learning Trust, we know that the biggest asset we have in ensuring the chance for future success are our staff. We are fortunate to have a huge number of staff across the Trust in both teaching and support roles and we want to ensure that we create opportunities to grow and develop them from the moment they join us. To do this we have developed our own Talent Management programme led by our Talent Pathways Manager from the Central Team of the trust, Andrew Redman.

Talent management has been variously defined as a systematic and dynamic process of discovering, developing and sustaining talent. It is ‘…the systematic attraction, identification, development, engagement/retention and deployment of those individuals with high potential who are of particular value to an organisation’. (CIPD 2006.)

As our staff develop their skills and expertise they can be added to our Talent and Capacity Register. The register is designed to allow all our schools to identify areas of practice that could be shared with other academies within the Trust and beyond as part of our programme of school- to-school support, CPD and ALT Institute Programmes. It includes talented practitioners who have successfully completed any of our ALT professional development programmes and have led activities in their schools which have achieved significant impact on learning outcomes. Many colleagues have supported their schools in achieving kitemarks for outstanding work in key subject areas and importantly are recognised for excellent classroom practice. These colleagues are available to provide bespoke school improvement support on targeted areas emerging from school development plans in collaboration with the Trust and senior leaders and tracked and adjusted to ensure maximum impact. Inclusion in the register also opens out opportunities to progress to Lead Practitioner or Specialist Leader of Education accreditation through our Lead School, Cromwell Community College either to a role within the school or the Trust and on to our leadership and professional development programmes.

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”

Jack Welch, former GE chairman and CEO As a Trust we know we have excellent leaders at every level within the organisation in both teaching and support staff roles. We ensure that we have a broad range of professional and leadership development pathways because we also know that the best outcomes for children and young people will come about because all teachers and support staff are valued and have access to high quality professional development and growth.

We ensure that our Talent Management Pathways, Leadership and Professional Development Programmes (see overleaf) are closely aligned to our mission, vision and values as a Trust and the improvement priorities of our schools and can be delivered through our comprehensive school improvement model.

Our programmes and talent pathways cover a suite of national and other accredited qualification routes. For teaching colleagues, we have everything from our highly successful School Centred Initial Teacher Training Programme at Cromwell Community College and hubs in Suffolk through to the NQT experience and Early Career Framework, a wide range of middle and senior leadership programmes through to Headteacher, Executive Headteacher and beyond into school improvement and executive roles within the Trust. We aim to retain our best school leaders by offering opportunities only available in a large trust such as secondments to the Central School Improvement Team and ALT Institute, the Associate Headteacher Programme and Research and Leadership Fellowships. Throughout our programmes you will have the chance to reflect upon your role as leader and your place in a school community and Trust. You will emerge invigorated about leading your own school.

For support staff we also offer a range of training routes and pathways right through from housekeeping roles through to Chief Financial Officer and Directors of Data and Systems, Human Resources, Corporate Affairs and Digital Technologies.

Whatever pathway you take you will be coached, challenged and supported to candidly evaluate your own leadership qualities, areas where you will need to reach out for support and places where you will be able to lean in and support others in the ALT family.

National Professional Qualifications

ALT Leadership Roles

Leadership Apprenticeships

NQT RQT

NPQML

NPQSL

Leadership Matters Programme Supervisor Apprenticeship: Level 3 Diploma in the Principles of Leadership and Management from the Chartered Management Institute.

Middle Leader

Assistant Headteacher Deputy Headteacher

NPQH Head of School

Education Management Programme Operations/Departmental Manager Apprenticeship: CMI Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management

Senior Leadership Programme Masters in Educational Leadership (MEd) Level 7: Senior Leaders Masters Degree Apprenticeship

Associate Head Programme

Headteacher Early Headship Programme Executive Leaders Programme

Senior & Executive Leadership Programmes NPQEL

Executive Headteacher

Institute of Teaching & Leadership & Learning Commission In the Active Learning Trust we know that to be successful our children and young people must be #activelearners, #activeleaders and #activecitizens There are amazing opportunities in our Trust schools for them to experience a range of learning experiences that engage and inspire them to be curious and active learners; opportunities to develop themselves as active leaders of all kinds within their schools and grow the content of their characters and a strong track record of ensuring they play their part as active citizens in locally, nationally and as part of a global community. However, as a Trust we don’t have any vehicle for engaging them as the Leaders of Learning within the Trust and to enable them to thrive and be successful in their learning and to develop a broad range of skills combined with appropriate knowledge. As Active Learners we want them to take responsibility for their own education and how it is delivered – to ensure that it equips them with the aptitudes they need for the future.

To meet this aspiration, it is proposed that as of the ALT Institute of Teaching and Leadership we set up a Learning Commission as part of a research and development project to bring together hundreds of students and teachers from across our primary, secondary and special schools to create a new design for learning across the Active Learning Trust and to give them a voice on the important issue of their own learning.

The aims of the Commission are: • •

• •

to give students a real voice and influence in how learning is organised across the Trust and be fully engaged in our trust wide projects in partnership with our teachers and the Trust; to create opportunities for our children and young people and their teachers to work side by side to learn about strategies for active learning and then test out new approaches to see what works best for all of us at ALT in order to create significant and enduring changes to our learning; to create a step-change in student engagement, motivation and learning; to go beyond traditional ‘student voice’ work, helping students become active leaders of their own and others’ learning with a real stake in how education is organised and delivered.

We will be looking to recruit Learning Commissioners from across the Trust to help develop the aims of the Learning Commission. We will also be recruiting Trust Ambassadors, initially in the Arts and Sport to form Councils that will help direct the work of the Trust in these key areas and also to visit our schools to inspire our children and young people. We believe that these learning partnerships will bring the expertise of our teachers and other staff and the enthusiasm of our children and young people together in powerful and lasting ways.

Registered Office: Littleport and East Cambridgeshire Academy Camel Road Littleport Cambridgeshire CB6 1EW Tel: 01353 223300

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