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Michael Wilshaw: the characteristics of high performing MATs

In his latest commentary, Ofsted Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw reflects on the characteristics of high performing MATs. Using focused inspections of seven “stronger performers”, Sir Michael states that successful trusts tend to have the following as key characteristics:

  • ability to recruit and retain high quality executive leaders
  • a well-planned, broad and balanced curriculum
  • commitment to providing high quality education for all pupils
  • investment in professional development of teachers and sharing of expertise
  • high priority given to initial teacher training and leadership development
  • clear frameworks of governance, accountability and delegation
  • effective use of assessment information
  • and a cautious and considered approach to expansion

Source: NGA Newsletter 14/10/2016

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Evidence for the benefits of formal school collaborations

Reference: ‘Forming or Joining a Group of Schools: staying in control of your school’s destiny‘. National Governors Association. September 2015

The words below are largely direct quotes from the reference.

The Education Select Committee undertook two, large-scale enquiries into school partnerships and structures in 2015. These form a significant body of evidence for the benefits of strong collaborations and shared accountability between schools. Here are findings from the first report, School Partnerships and Cooperation:

Continue reading “Evidence for the benefits of formal school collaborations”

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Considerations when looking for MAT partners

Reference: ‘Forming or Joining a Group of Schools: staying in control of your school’s destiny‘. National Governors Association. September 2015

Vision and ethos. How successfully can the group of schools create a shared ethos?

School type. Only academies can form or join a MAT. Maintained schools wishing to form or join a MAT can convert to academy status and join the MAT at the same time.

Geographical proximity. There is no legal requirement for schools in a group to be in close geographical proximity and there are examples of successful MATs with schools many miles apart. Emerging evidence, however, suggests that the benefits of collaboration are much easier to realise when schools are physically close (Lord Nash, minister with responsibility for academies, suggested that groups should ideally consist of schools between which staff could travel in ‘half a lunch break’). MATs in which schools are geographically dispersed usually seek to introduce a tier of regional governance and oversight, through a regional executive role on the trust board and/or regional committees.

Phase. Groups can be primary-only, secondary-only or cross-phase and can include special schools. There is some evidence that cross-phase groups are more likely to be successful, although this is not universal.

Religious character. Schools with a designated religious character have some restrictions placed on them by their religious authority.

 

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Degree apprenticeships in Plymouth

Penny Hele – Inspiring Futures project officer at Plymouth University – writes on LinkedIn that Plymouth University now offers ‘degree apprenticeships’. The courses they have at present are a Chartered Manager programme run by the Business School and a four year degree in Digital & Technology Solutions.
http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/apprenticeships.

The idea of a Degree Apprenticeship is that:

  • businesses collaborate with universities and colleges in order to offer vocational degree courses which combine academic study with practical experience and wider employment skills;
  • apprentices split their time between university study and the workplace and are employed throughout;
  • they gain a full bachelor’s or master’s degree from a university while earning a wage and getting real on-the-job experience in their chosen profession;
  • the cost of course fees is shared between government and employers, meaning that the apprentice can obtain a full bachelors or even masters degree without paying any fees.

Continue reading “Degree apprenticeships in Plymouth”

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Paul Saffo on ‘the creator economy’

http://longnow.org/seminars/02015/mar/31/creator-economy/

“Mass participation became the new normal. Stuff is cheap; status comes from creation. Value is created by engagement.”

“Saffo advised recalling four warnings for revolutionaries. 1) There are winners and losers. 2) Don’t confuse early results with long-term outcomes. 3) Successful insurgents become over-powerful incumbents. 4) Technologies of freedom become technologies of control …. If we want privacy now, we have to pay extra for it. As with our smart phones, we will subscribe to self-driving cars, not own them. With our every move tracked, we are like radio-collared bears. Our jobs are being atomized, with ever more parts taken over by robots. We trade freedom for convenience.

Over the 30 or so years remaining in the Creator Economy, Saffo figures that we will redefine freedom in terms of interdependence, and he closed with Richard Brautigan’s poem about a ‘cybernetic ecology’ where we are all watched over by machines of loving grace.”

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EdTech

From The Times supplement on The Future of Learning

EdTechX-Europe – Europe’s biggest edtech conference, held in London

Emerge Education

  • tracks more than 23,000 edtech startups world-wide;
  • provides startups with up to £100,000 of investment;
  • provides dedicated co-working space and accelerator programme;
  • supports product testing and sales.

Gojimo – apps for revision and tutoring

Show My Homework – Set, track and grade homework digitally

Memrise – app to learn languages

VitalSource – electronic text books; tracking tools that allow for monitoring of usage and student progress; tools to help educators deliver content and monitor engagement to help ensure student success. Dr Phil Gee, Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Plymouth, says it “runs one of the largest UK eTextbook programmes“.

Pi-Top – software plus hardware based on Raspberry Pi to help teach across science, technology, engineering and maths.

Boolino – website where expert bloggers, booksellers, librarians and teachers help children find new books to read.

Fiction Express – interactive resource for literacy where primary school pupils take part in the story-writing process and can change the plot while the author is writing it.

Learning & Development research firm Ambient Insight divides Gamefied learning into four categories:

  • game-playing to achieve learning objectives;
  • simulations to teach skills in an immersive environment;
  • points, badges and leader boards as a means of motivation; and
  • gamification – the use of rewards to motivate behaviour in a non-game context.
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Teacher retention

Research published in a recent report from the National Foundation for Educational Research finds that the proportion of teachers who are considering leaving the profession has risen from 17% to 23% over the past year.

“Protective factors associated with retention include job satisfaction, having adequate resources, reward and recognition, and being well supported by management.”

why-are-teachers-disengaged

Interviews with a self-selecting sample of disengaged teachers indicate that “workload is at the centre of why teachers are considering leaving. This is often perceived to stem from two main drivers – policy and inspection. According to interviewees, a high workload is associated with
two other negative outcomes – poor health or feeling undervalued – which leads to teachers wanting to leave.”

The research found “no evidence of any influence of a school’s proportion of free school meal pupils, academy status or region on intent to leave the profession“.

“Maths teachers and senior leaders have high levels of engagement and are less likely to be considering leaving. Conversely, science teachers, and experienced male teachers have a heightened risk of leaving.”

What’s the problem in science? And why experienced male teachers? It’s a fact that we have only one male teacher.

Reference:
Lynch, S., Worth, J., Bamford, S. and Wespieser, K. (2016). Engaging Teachers: NFER Analysis of Teacher Retention.Slough: NFER.