Category: Schools

Chess in Schools and Communities (CSC) is a charity that delivers chess to state primary school, primarily in areas with a high index of multiple deprivation.

CSC is currently applying for funds to deliver chess to more schools in Haringey and also to see if they can establish community chess clubs in libraries. The model that has worked well in other boroughs and the service is either free to schools or subsidised from charitable funds.

If your school is interested in taking part, you can find out more in the attached brochure or by visiting the CSC website (external link)

If you would like to explore their work in more detail, please contact Malcolm Pein, email chessinschools@gmail.com

CSC_Brochure

SHINE is an education charity that gives children the opportunity to acquire the skills and confidence they need to turn their potential into success at school and beyond.

The charity is currently running its annual Let Teachers SHINE competition. In partnership with TES and Capita SIMS, Let Teachers SHINE seeks to find the next big idea in teaching. The competition closes at midday on 24 April, when SHINE will choose around 10 winning teachers to partner with on their projects.

Now in its sixth year, the Let Teachers SHINE competition aims to find innovative methods of teaching that inspire children to succeed both at school and beyond. The competition is for teacher-led projects that aim to benefit students who experience disadvantage, and try to improve their educational achievement in literacy, numeracy and/or science.

SHINE provides funding of up to £15,000 and other support to help get the projects off the ground, or to launch them to a wider audience. To date, SHINE has invested over £1.4 million into 54 teachers, benefitting thousands of children all over the country.

To find out more, visit Let Teachers SHINE (external link)  or contact teachers@shinetrust.org.uk.

LTS 2017 Flyer 2_A5

Assessment Review Group Report

The Assessment Review Group was established in May 2016 to consider the current system and to try to identify an alternative, better vision for the future. The Assessment Review Group Report published in January 2017 is the culmination of the discussions that took place within the group over a series of meetings. The report sets out a series of principles that should underpin any future assessment system.

Assessment Review Group report PDF (286KB)

 

EAL Assessment Framework for Schools (December 2016)

The EAL Assessment Framework for Schools was commissioned by The Bell Foundation to provide schools with a straightforward, easy-to-use assessment tool for assessing learners with English as an Additional Language. At its core are EAL assessment descriptors (one set for primary and one set for secondary) that teachers can use for both summative and formative assessment. The descriptors are designed specifically to support the teaching and learning of EAL pupils and to enable teachers to generate targets to guide progress. The framework is underpinned by robust academic research and expertise and has been prepared with busy teachers in mind. (See also Arnot, et al., 2013, Evans, et al. 2016.)

EAL Assessment Framework for Schools PDF (1,767KB)

 

School Workforce Planning

Published in January 2017, this publication provides non-statutory guidance from the Department for Education on reviewing school staff structures, following requests from school leaders and their representatives. The publication includes:

• a list of options for school leaders to consider;

• questions for school leaders to consider when reviewing their staff structures;

• an example timeline;

• links to advice, case studies and tools for school leaders to use.

School workforce planning guidance January 2017 PDF (247KB)

 

School Buying Strategy

The schools’ buying strategy (January 2017) is intended to support schools to save over £1 billion a year on their non-staff spend by 2019 – 20. It aims to help all schools improve how they buy goods and services – allowing them to maximise the resources they can invest in high-quality education for their pupils and supporting them in managing cost pressures. This strategy is aimed at:

• all financial staff in schools including school business managers (SBMs), finance directors and bursars;

• headteachers and other school leaders;

• academy trust and school governing bodies.

Schools buying strategy January 2017 PDF (518KB)

 

 

Schools in Haringey are in the top ten of the most improved in the country for progress between primary and secondary school, according to the Department for Education.

This is the first year that Progress 8 has been introduced, ranking schools across the country on pupils’ progress from the end of primary school to the end of secondary school across eight GCSE subjects. Statistics show that all of Haringey’s maintained schools had positive progress, well above the national average.

The data shows that the highest-performing local authority areas for Progress 8 are concentrated in London and the south, but Haringey beats both the London average (0.16) and national average (-0.03) with a score of 0.28.

This follows what has been an incredible year for Haringey schools with our best ever exam results in 2016, bucking the national trend, with a 10% increase in the number of students gaining 5 or more GCSEs A*-C.

Woodside High School was the top performing school with a Progress 8 score of 0.49 where each pupil achieved nearly half a grade better in each subject. In second and third place is Alexandra Park School (0.43) and Heartlands High School (0.42), respectively.

Well done to all our children for their outstanding progress and to their teachers, parents and school governors for their commitment and hard work.

 

From April 2017 the way apprenticeships are funded is changing as part of a series of wider reforms to the apprenticeship system in England.  These changes will impact both schools and academies, but in different ways and there are two key policies that we suggest you make sense of, to help you identify what impact, if any, these changes will have within your organisation and they are:

1. Apprenticeship Levy: all organisations with a pay bill or more than £3 million will be required to pay a 0.5% levy which will be collected by HRMC on a monthly basis

2. Apprenticeship Targets: all public organisations with more than 250 employees will be expected to designate 2.3% of its workforce roles as apprenticeships.

Your liability for either the targets or Levy will depend on a number of factors which are explained in more detail in the attached document. Apprenticeship Levy Targets Schools 30_01_17

For more information or advice contact: Maxine Sobers maxine.sobers@haringey.gov.uk