Ofsted have acted swiftly to remove a lead inspector after Academies Week presented damning evidence of whole report sections being identical or near identical.

The inspection reports shown to Ofsted were all written by David Marshall, an inspector working for the private contractor, Tribal.

Ofsted chief operating officer Matthew Coffey said they had raised concerns in 2012 with Tribal over the similarity of Mr Marshall’s inspections, but “as a result of the new evidence brought to our attention we have agreed with Tribal that the additional inspector concerned will no longer undertake

inspection work on behalf of Ofsted”.

Tribal’s website “pen portrait” from June 2014 says that Mr Marshall “has been the headteacher of two primary schools and has 13 years extensive experience of inspection. He has conducted a number of pieces of research, in leadership and management and special education, and has experience of teacher training.”

Analysis by Academies Week showed that Mr Marshall has carried out approximately 60 section five (full) inspections over the past three years across the south-east and south-west, though the evidence presented to Ofsted covered only a small selection of reports.

Mr Coffey added: “The professionalism of our workforce, and accuracy and quality of all Ofsted inspection reports is our highest priority. Ofsted takes very seriously any allegations of plagiarism or inappropriate copying and pasting in reports.

“Ofsted previously identified concerns about the similarities of a small number of inspection reports written by the same inspector in 2012.

“We ordered our contractor to review each report to ensure that the judgments were accurate. The contractor confirmed all judgments were robust and shared with us plans to monitor all subsequent inspections and reports written by this individual.”

A Tribal spokesperson said: “Tribal does not comment on individual disciplinary cases.

However, we have robust quality control measures in place and thoroughly investigate all complaints, taking action when appropriate.”

This is not the first time inspectors have been caught recycling passages in their reports.

In September it emerged that at least two inspectors had been dismissed over cut-and-pasting in recent years.

At the time, Ofsted schools director Mike Cladingbowl told Academies Week: “If it were true that there were inspectors out there who were routinely going from one inspection to the other, cutting and pasting in the way that one of the

ACADEMIESWEEK.CO.UK FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014 | EDITION 6

PHILIP NYE@PHILIPNYE

Exclusive

Ofsted ditches inspector who copied reports

continued on page 4

Grange Park School, inspected November 21–22, 2012All students receive a very good start on entry to the school as assessments of what they know and can do are rigorous and integration plans, with supportive care, are very well thought out. This means they settle quickly.

St Peter’s C of E Primary School, inspected January 11–12, 2012 In mathematics, pupils’ past work and work within lessons illustrates their growing confidence in basic and more advanced number calculations and problem solving.

Exeter House Special School, inspected May 15−16, 2013All pupils receive a very good start on entry to the school as assessments of what they know and can do are rigorous, and integration plans, with supportive care, are very well thought out. This means they settle quickly and make progress immediately.

St Philip’s Catholic Primary School, inspected Feb 1–2, 2012In mathematics, pupils’ past work and work within lessons illustrate their growing confidence in basic and more advanced number calculations and problem-solving.

The Mark Way School, inspected May 7−8, 2014All students receive a very good start on entry to the school as checks of what they know and can do are rigorous and integration plans, with supportive care, are very well thought out. This means they settle quickly.

Alfriston School, inspected March 7–8, 2012In mathematics, pupils’ past work and work within lessons illustrate their growing confidence in basic and more advanced number calculations and problem solving.

Ofsted takes very seriously any inappropriate copying and pasting

Sir Michael Wilshaw, Chief Inspector of Schools In England and head of Ofsted

EXAMPLES OF COPIED SECTIONS

HuntedWHEN LAURA MET TRISTRAM

Pages 10 and 11

ACADEMIES WEEK2 @ACADEMIESWEEK 3ACADEMIESWEEK.CO.UK EDITION 6FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014 FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014

Exam regulator Ofqual has published provisional data showing that the number of enquiries about results and appeals against results “has increased noticeably this year”.

The data, which follows this summer’s exams, shows that GCSE enquiries increased 56 per cent and A-level enquires were up 34 per cent.

However, grade changes increased by just over one percentage point overall. In the case of GCSEs, grades changed in 18.8 per cent of challenges, compared with 17.7 per cent in the previous year.

For A-levels, 19.6 per cent of challenges led to a regrade, an increase of 0.3 percentage points on the previous year.

“The impact of any wrong marking on students or schools is considerable, and marking mistakes undermine public confidence. Earlier this year we reported that the quality of marking is generally good, but could be improved,” Ofqual said.

“Nevertheless, teachers and the public remain concerned about marking and particularly those rare cases where grades

change to a baffling extent.”Russell Hobby, general secretary of the

National Association of Head Teachers, said: “The large increase in papers sent for remarking is a sign of falling confidence in exams following many rapid changes.

“The volume of grade changes is worrying. Not all schools can afford to challenge grades on a routine basis, so this opens up real inequities.

“NAHT welcomes the news that Ofqual is looking into marking – we need to get this area right as a matter of high priority. Politicians also need to plan their changes carefully and patiently in future, so that schools can cope.”

The fall in confidence on exam marking comes after allegations of unfair treatment over GCSE gradings in 2012, when Ofqual faced legal action from local authorities and teachers after the number of A*-C grades fell for the first time in 24 years.

At the time, students who took GCSE English and English language were offered special re-sits, even though Ofqual denied there was a problem with marking and the complaints were subsequently rejected at judicial review.

Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the

Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “There is already tremendous pressure on young people to achieve good grades as their futures depend on them.

“All the hard work that they, their parents,

teachers and support staff put into preparing them for exams can be undone by the uncertainty of the grades awarded. Not only are schools losing faith in the exam system, but so too are employers.”

New junior shadow education minister Yvonne Fovargue (pictured right) says she will “relish the chance” to take forward Labour’s education policies.

In what was described as a “mini” reshuffle by the Labour party this week, Fovargue replaced Rushanara Ali in the education team. Ms Ali stepped down on September 27 after refusing to take part in a vote on military action in Iraq.

This move makes Ms Fovargue the fifth junior shadow minister for education since 2010.

Speaking about her new role, she said: “It’s a real honour to have been appointed to this important position and to play a leading role in taking forward Labour’s plan for the forgotten 50 per cent

“Young people have been badly let down by this government. We have a huge programme of reform to oversee in technical and vocational education and I relish the chance to take this forward on behalf of Ed Miliband and Tristram Hunt.”

Since winning the Makerfield constituency in Wigan with a majority of 12,490 in May 2010, the new junior shadow has had an active role in Labour. Her last role was as shadow

minister for defence, a position she was appointed to in October last year.

Before that, she served as opposition whip between October 2011 and January 2013, and then as shadow minister for transport.

Parliament.uk describes Ms Fovargue’s political interests as being “third sector, consumer credit and debt, employment law and health”.

After graduating from Leeds University with a BA in English language, she began her career as a housing officer on the Moss Side estate in the early 1980s. She later became chief executive of St Helens Citizens Advice Bureau, working there for more than 20 years.

She was a Warrington councillor from 2004 to 2010 and has served as a school governor and charity trustee.

In a change of tone to her predecessor, Michael Gove, education secretary Nicky Morgan (pictured) this week announced that she was not looking to academise all schools and was categorically against for-profit schools.

In Wednesday’s final education select committee session on academies and free school, Ms Morgan was asked by chair Graham Stuart to describe her vision for the English school system.

She said: “My vision for the future is as we have now but to build on it.”

She also wanted “a high quality teaching workforce who are dedicated and hardworking” and “the best for all children, who are at the heart of the education sector”.

After Mr Stuart suggested this was a different tone to Mr Gove, Ms Morgan said: “Really? I don’t think so. Well perhaps I put it in different language, but I think we are all on the same page.”

Mr Stuart continued: “I can’t imagine asking your predecessor that question and the word academies not being used.”

Asked her view of how many schools

she would like to see become academies, Ms Morgan said: “I am a ‘carrot’ rather than a ‘stick’ politician and I like people to be persuaded of the case for conversion rather than me sitting in Whitehall setting either targets or compulsion.”

On the question of schools making profit, Ms Morgan also differed from Mr Gove.

In response to a question by Labour MP Alex Cunningham, Ms Morgan said: “I don’t think I can be any clearer. I don’t think that schools should be run for profit.”

The committee questioned Ms Morgan on a number of other pressing policy areas, including school place planning, teacher supply and incentives to encourage cross-school collaboration. In all cases, the education secretary confirmed that officials were addressing matters and that trusting the profession to deal with problems was the route to success.

When asked what “carrots” she would give to ensure that schools listened to parents’ complaints, Ms Morgan replied: “I would go back to trusting in the professionalism of the heads and teachers in the system”, adding

that she believed in “the power of individuals” over government intervention.

The committee also asked Ms Morgan about Ofsted’s powers to inspect the groups who operate multiple academies. Chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw had previously written to Ms Morgan stating that he did not have the power to inspect and report on the “overall effectiveness” of a multi-academy trust.

In committee Ms Morgan said she disagreed with Sir Michael, claiming: “[They] have the powers to inspect the support that a sponsor is giving to the schools within its chain. I am not in the business of producing more legislation to do something that the inspectorate can already do.”

Committee chair Graham Stuart asked that Ms Morgan write to Sir Michael to clarify the situation.

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Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah (pictured) wants more schools to “step up to the plate” and offer nursery provision.

In a speech at an event held by right-wing think-tank Policy Exchange in London on Tuesday, he said: “Joined-up nursery provision means parents may well be able to go back to work and children can access the help they need earlier on in life.

“Many schools already have most of the skills, the resources and the buildings they need to do this. And, as we know, parents trust schools.”

Mr Gyimah also claimed that children who went to pre-school were projected to earn “a staggering £27,000 more” during their careers than those who did not.

The “staggering £27,000” was included in a report by the Department for Education (DfE) based on the Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE) Project research project.

However, the report also warned: “These figures need to be considered with caution because of caveats such as the difficulty in predicting future earnings of the cohort.”

Mr Gyimah said he wanted schools to consider “teaming up with private, voluntary and independent nurseries, sharing the best ways to work between themselves”.

Under current rules, nurseries in maintained schools for children aged 3 or more must have at least one member

of staff for every 13 children. And at least one staff member must hold a relevant level 6 qualification – equivalent to postgraduate certification.

By contrast, private and voluntary nurseries must have one member of staff for every eight children, but the lead staff member only need hold a relevant level 3 qualification.

The Pre-school Learning Alliance, an early years organisation, raised concerns about the proposed partnership.

Chief executive Neil Leitch questioned how providers could work together without funding.

“If the minister wants to build a sector where maintained and non-maintained providers work together, he needs to make sure that they are on an even footing – but this is clearly not the case at present.

“We are extremely concerned that the government is still ignoring the fact that the free entitlement offer is severely underfunded. To suggest that providers can address this issue by simply being ‘more creative’, demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the severity of the problem.”

New legislation passing through parliament this week, however, could help schools to enrol more two-year-olds.

Proposals in the Small Enterprise Bill mean headteachers could register two-year-olds as pupils, in the same way as normal school-age children, and in doing so exempt the school from having to undertake separate Ofsted inspections for early years provision.

Speaking about the event, National Association of Head Teachers general secretary Russell Hobby said many primary schools did not offer early years provision partly because of the “distinct regulatory, funding and accountability frameworks that they need to navigate at this phase. It means they have to comply with a whole new set of requirements, inspections and regulations.

“The government is working to harmonise and minimise these differences, which we welcome.”

NEWS NEWS

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Two councils have launched separate High Court challenges over the location of a free school.

In the latest development in a long-running battle, South Buckinghamshire District Council and Stoke Poges Parish Council both announced on Tuesday that they were taking a planning decision by the Secretary of State for Local Government, Eric Pickles, to the High Court.

The legal action is the first time councils have taken such action in opposition to a free school site.

Khalsa Secondary Academy opened in Stoke Poges, a village near Slough, last September, but has faced opposition after concerns about noise.

The school was granted approval to open for one year in Pioneer House, a former office building, under a change to planning law brought in last year.

In an amendment to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995, education ministers can allow any building to be used as a state-funded school over one academic year without needing planning approval.

A change-of-use application submitted to the district council, which would have

allowed the school to remain on the site permanently, was turned down.

Following an appeal of this decision by the Department for Education (DfE), a central government planning inspector recommended that the application remain refused, but in September Eric Pickles over-ruled this and granted approval for the school to stay on the site.

The two councils have now said that they will be taking his decision to the High Court.

In a statement, the district council said: “We have taken counsel’s advice and his conclusion is that the decision to give approval was poorly reasoned and legally flawed on the noise aspects.

“We will be seeking to get the decision quashed, which would mean the appeal would have to be re-determined, with a fresh hearing or inquiry at which the comparative noise effects of the school and the previous business use of Pioneer House could be fully addressed.”

Cr Roger Reed said: “Eric Pickles has made a bad decision and we need to take action. The legal challenge is the best way of reversing the school’s adverse impact in terms of additional noise for our residents.”

Stoke Poges Parish Council also released a statement confirming that it had begun a High Court action.

“The council argues that this decision is unlawful on a number of grounds, and expects the challenge to be considered by the High Court late this year or early next,” it said.

The Department for Communities and Local Government was unavailable for comment.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said that they would be awaiting the outcome of the appeal with interest.

Fifth change in junior post since 2010 as Fovargue joins Labour’s education team

Councils take court action on free schoolPHILIP NYE@PHILIPNYE

Enquiries all

Qualification grade

challenged (all services)

Qualification grade changed (all

services)

% of qualification

grades challenged that were changed

GCSE 2013 196,100 143,050 25,300 17.7%

2014 305,400 156,800 29,500 18.8%

% change 55.7% 9.6% 16.7%

A Level 2013 108,150 74,400 14,350 19.3%

2014 145,150 81,750 16,000 19.6%

% change 34.2% 9.9% 11.4%

Total 2013 304,250 217,450 39,650 18.2%

2014 450,500 238,550 45,500 19.1%

% change 48.1% 9.7% 14.8%

Source: Ofqual Enquiries about Results for GCSE and A level: Summer 2014 Exam Series

Picture by Matt Smith / Policy Exchange

Previous junior shadow ministers since 2010

Karen BuckOct 2011-April 2013

Iain WrightJune 2010 – Oct 2011

Tristram HuntApril 2013-Oct 2013

Rushanara AliOct 2013- Sept 2014

ACADEMIES WEEK4 @ACADEMIESWEEK 5ACADEMIESWEEK.CO.UK EDITION 6FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014 FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014

An MP has spoken of her disappointment that as few as three MPs were present at an inquiry into making sex education compulsory in schools.

The education select committee heard from eight professionals in its first session on personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), and sex and relationship education (SRE).

For most of the two-hour hearing, only three MPs remained in the room – the least a committee can have and still be quorate.

A bill put forward by Green MP Caroline Lucas for statutory PSHE, and for SRE to be a mandated as part of those lessons, will today have its second reading in Parliament.

Ms Lucas said she was “disappointed” most members were unavailable to attend the Tuesday meeting.

Chairman Graham Stuart and Siobhain McDonagh stayed for the whole meeting, while Neil Carmichael attended the first session – in which four witnesses gave evidence – with Pat Glass arriving for the second. During the meeting, Mr Stuart told witnesses: “I should probably point out as we are being broadcast, and my colleague [Pat Glass] has just arrived from sitting on one bill committee, that colleagues are sitting on various bill committees right across the House since early today. That, and that alone,

is the reason why they are not sitting on the committee today.”

He said he wanted to clear up any misapprehension that “MPs are lying in their beds instead of working long and hard which is what they generally do.”

A day later seven MPs were present when Nicky Morgan gave evidence on academies and free schools.

An education committee spokesperson said: “In a given week for a main meeting, Wednesday would be the preferred day.

“Members will have to juggle and the meeting [on a Tuesday] is considered to be less of a priority for them. If they are on another committee, it is just a practical issue. If that committee only meets on that day and the education select committee meets twice, then they will make that decision.”

Ms Lucas said: “It’s disappointing that so few attended the meeting to hear the evidence. I’ve been hugely encouraged by the widespread support on this issue, including on my own Private Members’ Bill that aims to make PSHE a statutory requirement.

“It’s such an important debate to be having and I’m very pleased that it’s now happening across all parties. MPs can be incredibly busy, but it’s crucial they’re well informed on such important topics being discussed in Parliament.”

During the meeting there was overwhelming support from witnesses for PSHE to be statutory.

A secondary school in Suffolk has been inspected last week, despite most staff taking part in industrial action at the time.

NASUWT members were on strike at Lowestoft’s Benjamin Britten High School when inspectors visited last Wednesday.

The union said that most teachers at the school – about 30 – took part in the industrial action and almost all year groups were disrupted.

When the school was last inspected it was judged to require improvement.

Ofsted said it did not defer the inspection as there was no request from the school to do so, and at least 25 per cent of pupils were present.

The Department for Education tells schools on its website that before making a decision about deferring, Ofsted inspectors will “take a view” to see if there is “sufficient activity” at the school if there is a strike or severe weather, for example.

NASUWT’s national executive member for Suffolk, Dan McCarthy, said the strike was over a dispute over pay and conditions.

“I am unsure as to why the school did not ask to defer. There is no logic to that. The only group to have a full timetable were the Year 7s.

“There was no full capacity in the other years. The Year 11s, for example, had study periods and individual timetables.

“The changes to the system of Ofsted, where they are more interested in data than

seeing lessons, may explain why that was acceptable.”

Headteacher Andrew Hine said it was not the first time Benjamin Britten had been inspected without a majority of pupils in school. On its last inspection, when it was a 13-18 school, Years 13, 12 and 11 were on exam leave and Year 10 on work experience.

He said: “This situation is unusual but not unprecedented. In fact when this school was inspected in June 2011, only Year 9 were present.

“The inspection team were able to observe a number of Year 7 and Year 11 lessons over the two inspection days. Inspectors also held meetings with students in other year groups who came into school to talk to them during the inspection.

“Lesson observations are only part of the evidence base Ofsted use to make their judgments. Even with students out of school, the inspection team still had access to school data, students’ work and to the staff who are in school.”

Earlier this year, a school in Falmouth was inspected in March on one day of the last national teaching strike. On the second day of inspection, no children were in normal lessons as the whole school took part in activities off-site.

In its report, Ofsted said the inspectors attended events as part of the Big Dig Day at Marlborough School.

“Teachers make sure the learning is stimulating with a range of activities and resources. Pupils participated in a range of activities as part of ‘The Big Dig Day’. For

example, Year 4 visited Gyllyngdune Gardens with activities that included links to natural science and that included new vocabulary.

“One group of pupils made the link between thinning out and repotting the seedlings to a similar scene in the Harry Potter stories involving the Mandrake plants.”

The report did not mention the strike - and the school went on to move from “good” to “outstanding”.

In its guidance on deferrals, Ofsted says it should only happen in certain cases, including when “at least three-quarters of the pupils will not be at school – for example, owing to a school trip or a religious festival – for at least half of the period for which the inspection has been scheduled.”

An Ofsted spokesperson said: “Ofsted was made aware that some of the teachers in the school were striking during the first day of the inspection.

“However, in line with our policy, the inspection was not deferred because more than a quarter of the pupils were at school. The school did not request a deferral.”

The chairman of an academy trust alleged to have received tip-offs over the date of Ofsted inspections says that the trust is considering making a formal complaint about the claims.

Theodore Agnew (pictured below), chairman of the Inspiration Trust, also said that a new investigation into the allegations would be a “huge waste of time and money”.

At the weekend, the Observer newspaper carried further claims that schools in Norfolk with links to Dame Rachel de Souza (pictured right), now Inspiration Trust’s chief executive, had received prior notice of inspection dates. This followed its reports in August suggesting the schools therefore had received an unfair advantage.

Ofsted carried out an internal investigation into the allegations last month, but concluded there was no evidence to substantiate claims that the schools had received such an advantage.

Speaking to Academies Week this week, Mr Agnew said the inspection framework gave a newly-sponsored academy a good idea of when its first inspection would be.

“More importantly than that, because we are trying to build outstanding

schools, the rule to our heads is that you should be ready for

an Ofsted at any time.” On Sunday, Shadow

Education Minister Kevin Brennan called for a “transparent and forensic investigation”

into what the Observer reported, but when

contacted by Academies Week his office said he would not be

commenting further.Asked what he thought of the calls for a

new, independent investigation, Mr Agnew

said: “I certainly don’t think [an independent investigation] would be worthwhile, it would be a huge waste of time and money. It would be distracting for everyone involved.

“We have taken over four failing schools in two years. Every time you are spending time on these kinds of things, it just takes time away from educating the kids.”

Mr Agnew also said that the trust was looking into how a formal complaint could be made.

Following the Observer’s latest reporting,

Ofsted also put out a statement that said that it “strongly rejects the newspaper’s latest claim that it has produced ‘compelling evidence of advance knowledge’ by any of the three schools”.

The inspectorate said that it did not believe the article added “anything of substance” to the issues that had already been considered in an investigation that Ofsted’s director of quality and training, Sir Robin Bosher, carried out last month.

It said that it had interviewed 39 school leaders, staff and students.

Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw said: “Ofsted has

taken these allegations very seriously. That is why I had no hesitation in asking Sir Robin, a senior director at Ofsted, to lead an investigation.

“I am entirely satisfied with the thoroughness of

his investigation and the conclusions he reached, none of

which are undermined by [Sunday’s] claims.”

A spokesperson for the Observer said that a letter of complaint had been received from solicitors representing Dame Rachel and that they were “looking into [them] in the normal way”.

NEWSNEWS

MPs shun select committee hearing on PSHE

Agnew considers formal complaint against newspaper allegations

SOPHIE SCOTT@SOPH_E_SCOTT

Ofsted calls – when the teachers are on strikeSOPHIE SCOTT@SOPH_E_SCOTT

PHILIP NYE@PHILIPNYE

PHILIP NYE@PHILIPNYE

myths has it, then we would know about it.“It has happened in the past [and] we’ve

taken action. But I’m pretty confident it’s not routine.”

In May, Ofsted announced plans to stop using inspectors employed by outside contractors.

This followed comments by Ofsted’s chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, at the Association of School and College Leaders conference in March, where he said: “Inspection, as far as I’m concerned, is just too important for Ofsted to simply have oversight of third-party arrangements.”

Robert Peal, an honorary research fellow at the think-tank Civitas and author of a report into Ofsted published in July, said: “The most basic of computer programs could be set up to scan new reports, and ensure that this lazy, cynical behaviour by lead inspectors is caught out.

“The fact that this doesn’t happen just goes to show how contracting-out inspections to public service providers has led to a reduction in quality, and further vindicates Sir Michael’s decision to bring all inspectors back in house from next year.

“One can only hope that when this does happen, such instances of ‘cut-and-paste’ reporting will become a thing of the past.”

Ofsted ditches inspector who copied reports

Continued from front...

A Sikh-ethos free school that had its funding withdrawn five days before it was due to open in early September will begin lessons on Monday, after being given the final go-ahead from the Department for Education (DfE).

As previously reported by Academies Week, funding was withdrawn for Falcons Primary school in Leicester after two trustees stepped down and two others announced their intention to follow suit.

The Akaal Trust, which has been attempting to keep the project alive ever since, received confirmation of its funding at the end of last week.

Inderjit Singh Panesar, chair of the trust, said: “We had the good news on Thursday last week from the DfE to say that education minister Lord Nash had agreed to the new funding.”

He said that the trustees were “absolutely delighted and relieved”, although this was only the start of the trust’s work.

“I guess the real challenge starts now to get the school up and running and be an ‘outstanding’.”

Mr Panesar said that 40 children were on roll – down from the 70 expected to start in September – but that the trust was hoping the number would grow in January.

Since September, the school has appointed

a new headteacher and has brought in several new trustees and a new chair of governors. The trustees have also been in regular contact with the DfE, meeting Lord Nash earlier this term.

The school is opening in a former hospital building, though Mr Panesar said that only part of the building had been handed over, with the rest expected to be completed in early November.

In a letter to the trust, Lord Nash wrote: “I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the great commitment and energy which you and your colleagues have shown in reaching this point.

“Free schools form an integral part of the government’s education policy to improve choice and drive up standards. I am therefore delighted that Falcons will bring new opportunities for children in Leicester and will help deal with the need for school places in the area.”

A Department for Education spokesperson: “We have always supported the idea of a Sikh-ethos school in Leicester and we are pleased that Falcons will now be opening after half term.”

The school was not the first free school to have its funding pulled at short notice. In 2012, the One in a Million free school in Bradford was told it could not open nine days before the school year began – but went on to open the following September.

Sikh-ethos school opens two months late as funding restored

For the latest school jobs turn to page 20

or visit academiesweek.co.uk/jobs

Missing in actionAlex Cunningham – in the Childcare bill committeeBill Esterson – in the Small Business bill committeeIan Mearns – at a parliamentary debate about HS2

Caroline Nokes – at a parliamentary debate about familiesDominic Raab – no response when askedDavid Ward – chairing textile industry eventCraig Whittaker – in the Able Marine Energy Park committee

MPs (l-r)Siobhain McDonaghGraham StuartThe education committee specialist (not an MP)Pat Glass

Witnesses (l-r)Heather RobinsonLucy EmmersonJanet PalmerCarol Jones

MPs (l-r)Siobhain McDonaghGraham StuartThe education com-mittee specialist (not an MP)Neil Carmichael

Witnesses (l-r)Simon BlakeProfessor Roger InghamProfessor David PatonAlison Hardy

Strikers outside Benjamin Britten High School Pic from twitter @micklyons1

ACADEMIES WEEK6 @ACADEMIESWEEK 7ACADEMIESWEEK.CO.UK EDITION 6FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014 FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014

The UK’s 160,000 young carers do not do

as well as their peers at school. Giving

them the pupil premium is one way to

lower their barriers to learning

At the most recent party conference events, politicians were asked about the addition of young carers to the

pupil premium. Minister for schools David Laws said he would need to consider the evidence that being a young carer affected a young person’s achievement.

Let’s take this chance to explain.Young carers are children and young

people under the age of 18 who provide unpaid care to a family member or friend who is disabled, physically or mentally ill, or misuses substances. Young carers become vulnerable when their role puts their emotional or physical wellbeing, and their prospects in education and life, at risk.

There are 166,363 identified young carers under 18 (110,073 of them under 16), but we believe the figure to be significantly higher. Estimates suggest that one in 12 schoolchildren is a young carer – that is, two in every classroom.

Research shows clear correlations between caring responsibilities and attainment:* The most common grade in a survey of

young adult carers (aged 14 - 25) was a D at GCSE.

* Twenty-seven per cent of young carers of secondary school age have educational difficulties or miss school.

* More than a quarter have been bullied because of their caring role.

* Young carers aged 16 to 18 are twice as likely as their peers to not be in employment, education or training (NEET).

Carers Trust, the largest provider of comprehensive carers’ support services in the UK, reaching more than 25,500 young carers and young adult carers, often hears about the significant barriers that young carers face in education because of their caring role.

That is why we launched the Fair Start campaign, calling on the government to include young carers in the criteria for pupil premium.

The premium is a positive means of enabling schools to target appropriate support to this vulnerable group. Since its inception, the government has recognised that other vulnerable children who may not be eligible for free school meals still experience disadvantage and require additional support

at school to close the attainment gap.Research indicates that 40 per cent of young

carers are not eligible for free school meals and, for the remaining 60 per cent, the support that schools offer may not specifically address their needs. This means that inequalities in attainment are likely to remain.

A payment of £300 per young carer (as per the service pupil premium) would aid early identification of young carers, improve consistency in support, raise attainment and attendance, and enable schools to address issues such as bullying.

Young carers have told us that they want understanding about their roles and responsibilities, flexible school deadlines, opportunities to phone home and check on a parent, support such as homework clubs and mentoring, and support that takes into account their needs as a young carer – for example, homework support run at lunchtime. They also want someone to talk to, someone who will listen.

These are all low cost interventions that could be met by a teacher with lead responsibility for the group, and whole school training. At a minimum, this would cost about £2,800, which means that 10 young carers receiving pupil premium in one school would fund a whole school approach. Research suggests there could be as many as 20 young carers in a secondary school with only 250 pupils.

In total, including young carers within the criteria for pupil premium would cost the government a 0.58 to 0.87 per cent increase in the 2014-15 spend on pupil premium, and would make a positive difference to the attainment and wellbeing of young carers.To find out how your academy could get involved in the Fair Start campaign or Young Carers in School please contact Sophie Parr at Carers Trust sparr@carers.org

The transfer of initial teacher training

numbers to the School Direct programme

has all the makings of a crisis in future

teacher supply

There is no doubt that Michael Gove’s reforms to teacher education have left new Education Secretary Nicky

Morgan with a dilemma. On the one hand, some of her colleagues

still regard university education departments as hot-beds of left-wing extremists; on the other, all the evidence suggests that the transfer of initial teacher training numbers to the School Direct programme has all the makings of a crisis in future teacher supply.

The caricature of university providers bears little relation to reality. Universities have worked in partnership with schools for years, and not only on teacher training. As local authority advisers dwindle, universities have increasingly been a port of call for schools seeking to improve outcomes and for staff seeking professional development. These partnerships, which include joint interviews of trainees to initial teacher training (ITT) courses in universities, reflect the mutually beneficial relationships between schools and universities common in countries that perform well in pupil achievement and outcomes.

The announcement that 17,000 training places will be allocated to the School Direct programme in the next academic year defies common sense and evidence about the programme’s recruitment. The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) has admitted that School Direct does not recruit to target. This may be news to MPs who often refer to the number of applications rather than recruitment outcomes.

Questions about the reliability of School Direct came to the fore again this year. Having tried to reallocate training places that School Direct schools had relinquished to other schools in the programme, NCTL finally admitted defeat. In early July, universities were asked to bid for more places for the 2014-15 year, albeit that the latter was starting within weeks. This is hardly a confidence vote in School Direct and universities are likely to be cautious about coming to the rescue in the future.

It seems that the fall-back strategy is to over-allocate ITT numbers across all providers against the target number of teachers required. This is why NCTL has allocated 43,000 places, even though the

recruitment target for 2015-16 stands at only 29,787 trainees.

University education departments need to have enough ITT numbers to ensure sustainability and investment in the specialist staff and research upon which schools rely. The preference for some academy chains and schools to grow their own teachers is not surprising, but it is not the basis for a national teacher supply model that must serve all regions and schools.

The teacher education reforms risk breaking models of collaboration between universities and schools that are vital to providing the continuous professional development framework that many teachers crave and that is standard in other countries.

It is also worth asking how this is all plays out with aspiring teachers. The answer is “not well”. Potential recruits have more choices as the economy recovers and the supply of teaching assistants, who schools recruited from in the first wave of the School Direct programme, is coming to an end.

NCTL has reported that would-be teachers are confused about the different routes into the profession, as well as the qualifications that they are likely to obtain. In fact, as a standalone qualification, Qualified Teacher Status is not transferrable to many other countries, including those within the UK. We can therefore expect to see another teacher recruitment campaign in the autumn, with eye-watering bursaries offered in some subjects — despite there being little evidence that they will prove value for the taxpayer or improve retention in the long term.

The schools of tomorrow deserve teachers with academic and professional qualifications and in-service opportunities to reflect on their professional practice. This means a return to both respecting and valuing the contribution of universities to teacher education. It cannot come a moment too soon.

PAM TATLOW

Let’s give young carers the pupil premium

University-led teacher training should be valued, not derided

SOPHIE PARRPolicy and campaigns officer (young carers and young adult carers) at Carers Trust Chief executive of the university

think-tank, million+

EXPERTS

Estimates suggest that one in 12 schoolchildren is a young carer – that is, two in every classroom

The caricature of university providers bears little relation to reality

NEWS

A row has broken out between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats about whose idea it is to launch an initiative to reduce teacher workload.

On Wednesday, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg spoke at Belleville Primary school in Clapham, south London, to launch a workload challenge for teachers.

The scheme – which Mr Clegg said he hoped would stop the “runaway train of bureaucracy” – asks teachers to complete a survey to find solutions to unnecessary tasks. A panel will review the answers and will aim to put them into practice from early next year.

When asked who would run the initiative, a spokesperson for Mr Clegg said the Department for Education

(DfE) would manage it.However, he was keen to stress that it

was the Lib Dem leader who came up with the challenge, and that his team would continue to be involved with the DfE to “see it through”.

But the Conservative party has accused Mr Clegg of “claiming this as his own” after education secretary Nicky Morgan’s pledge at last month’s Tory party conference to reduce teacher workload.

A Conservative source contacted Academies Week on Wednesday and said: “Nicky Morgan has made tackling teacher workload her priority from day one. Nick Clegg has had four years to do something about this, but has done and said nothing.

“Then after Nicky makes a hugely popular speech on the issue, Nick Clegg claims it

as his own. I guess you can draw your own conclusions from that.”

A spokesperson for the deputy prime minister said: “Nick Clegg has always been a strong and vocal supporter of the teaching profession, and made clear his commitment to tackling their workload in an interview with The Times Educational Supplement in August.

“He is pleased to be working with the Secretary of State for Education on this crucial issue. Teachers want to see all politicians coming together to find new ways to improve their working lives.”

Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “There is obviously a tug of war going on between the Lib Dems and the Tories about who can take credit for noticing that

teachers have a high workload.“Workload is going through the roof; the

pressures are intolerable. In a way I don’t really care what motivated them but they are desperately trying to prove that they can say they did something after four years of a coalition which has seen pay stagnate and work increase.

“The proof in the pudding will be if they actually do anything after this consultation.”

The initiative will ask teachers to complete a survey on tesconnect.co.uk by November 21 and include questions such as: “What do you think should be done to tackle unnecessary workload – by government, by schools or by others?”

A new email address, workload.solutions@education.gsi.gov.uk, can be used to send extra comments.

Morgan and Clegg in ‘train of bureaucracy’ spat

After presenting Ofsted with irrefutable

evidence of recycled reports from

inspections less than six months ago,

they have sacked the inspector.

Additional [contracted] inspectors

have been caught doing this before

and have been sacked. But what is truly

shocking about this latest copy-and-

paste story is Ofsted knew he was doing

it in 2012.

Relying on the contractor to

“monitor all subsequent inspections

and reports” was clearly a weak and

insufficient response.

He continued doing it in 2013 and

2014, as our investigation and published

examples show.

Bringing inspectors in-house may

help stamp this out, but Ofsted will now

need to regain the trust of parents and

the profession.

So Sir Michael Wilshaw should take

Robert Peal’s advice and quality assure

reports using simple plagiarism software.

I’ll say this once: nobody wants this

story repeated.

@nicklinford | nick.linford@academiesweek.co.ukEDITOR’S COMMENT

Contact the team

To provide feedback and suggest stories please email news@academiesweek.co.uk and tweet

using @academiesweek

To inform the editor of any errors or issues of concern regarding this publication email nick.linford@academiesweek.co.uk with

Error/Concern in the subject line.

Please include the page number and story headline, and explain what the problem is.

Corrections

We got our sums wrong in the graphic accompanying

last week’s story “Gender salaries gap ‘widens’ in

academies” (page 5). We said that the average pay of

fully qualified women teachers in a state maintained

school was 2.2 per cent lower than for men. It should

have been 6.2 per cent.

SOPHIE SCOTT@SOPH_E_SCOTT

ACADEMIES WEEK8 @ACADEMIESWEEK 9ACADEMIESWEEK.CO.UK EDITION 6FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014 FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014

Our guest reviewer of the week is Harry Fletcher-Wood, a secondary history teacher and head of teacher professional development

A revolution in education is needed,

according to Dr Debra Kidd. But like

many revolutionaries, she is hazy

on what the educational world would look

like after she and her followers storm the

palaces of the mighty.

Perhaps this is because Kidd and her

ilk already inhabit those palaces. Kidd is

a teacher of 20 years, but also

a PGCE tutor at

Manchester

Metropolitan

University and

a consultant

for various

organisations such

as Independent

Thinking (which

has published her

book). Subtitled “notes

from the front line”,

her book is pretty much

that, a scattergun list of

anecdotes, vendettas, paeans

and lamentations. Along the

way, she takes on examinations,

PISA rankings, Teach First, Ofsted

and various other neo-liberal

conspiracies.

She starts by declaring that teachers must

“take control of the direction of education

policy” and calls for further professional

“activism”. However, she either ignores

or dismisses the many instances where

this is already taking place. Kidd calls for

teachers to start “networking, reading

and collaborating” but attacks the current

“manipulation of social media” by teachers

with whom she does not agree, making the

extraordinary claim that some individuals

hold several hundred Twitter accounts

to create the illusion of mass support for

unpopular ideas.

Such contradictions litter her book. She

praises Finland for selecting its teachers

from the top 10 per cent of university

graduates, but attacks Teach First, an

organisation designed to attract top

graduates. She hopes that teachers become

better versed in education research, but

lambasts the limits of “evidence” for only

showing success in tests.

Not that Kidd is averse to the odd citation.

At one point, she writes that teachers should

focus more upon “what makes learning

really memorable in the long term, that

is emotion, activity and narrative”. This

is a bold claim, which she backs up with

three references: a five-page article from

1994 (emotion); a conference talk by two

educationists in Florence (activity); and a

study of 209 pupils from a middle school

in the United States (narrative). On the

following page, she says: “People tend to

choose the research that best fits their world

view”. Quite.

And then there are the errors. She writes

that Finnish teachers teach 15.2 hours

a week, though the 2013 Teaching and

Learning International Survey report put

it at 20.6 (higher than in England). Twice

she repeats the canard that South Korea

has the highest child suicide rate in the

world. In fact, New Zealand, Ireland and

Finland top the OECD teen suicide table.

Kidd also argues that high stakes testing

has a disproportionately adverse effect

on children from ethnic minorities,

citing a study into Hispanic pupils

in America from 2005. Closer to

home, this year’s Commons

Select Committee report

showed that, amongst

free school meal pupils,

all ethnic groups

outperform white

British pupils at

GCSE.

I also fall victim

to her erroneous

pen. Attacking my book

Progressively Worse, she

describes me as a “Teach First

graduate who fled the classroom as soon

as his training was over” – even though

I teach history full-time at a London

comprehensive while Kidd (who refers to

herself as a teacher) has left the classroom.

She also classifies me as part of a group of

“right-wing writers”. I have never declared

any political allegiance, and a member of

the Labour party wrote the foreword to my

book.

Conspiracy theories are the last refuge

of those living through changes they can

neither accept nor comprehend. So, all that

Kidd opposes is deemed to emanate from an

evil nexus of big business, the Conservative

party and Rupert Murdoch.

Ultimately, I am left feeling sorry for

Kidd. She has suffered the fate of so

many of yesteryear’s radicals who call

for a revolution, only to find when it

finally comes that they are in the firing

line. Though it may claim to be a call to

revolution, this book is really a reactionary

squib.

In a week of Ministerial going-ons, David

Laws was first up.

Despite news stories highlighting problems

with the universal free school meals for

infants policy, Laws has maintained that it’s

a success.

One must

then

wonder

why last

Thursday

Laws wrote

to all local

authorities

asking

if they

needed more cash to cover costs. £20million

is up for grabs, but bids will be ‘prioritised’.

Let’s hope demand doesn’t outstrip supply

On Thursday evening, Nicky Morgan

spoke at the Oxford Union’s annual opener

debate – debating the motion ‘This House

Has No Confidence In Her Majesty’s

Government.’ A student journalist reported

that Morgan told of her youthful financial

woes when, as a student, she had to ring her

father to request the £80 needed to join the

Union. The world’s tiniest violin no doubt

played in the background.

The .gov.uk website is impossibly difficult to

use. But, good news!, Ofqual announced on

Friday that they are moving all their content

over to it within two weeks. We rang to

confirm that Ofqual will be following

the government’s “No Link Left Behind”

strategy, and re-directing old links to the

most appropriate new page as opposed to

sending you to the homepage. They are. So

gold star for that at least.

On Friday afternoon, school inspectorate

Ofsted put out a helpful ‘myth buster’

document. It clearly states that Ofsted aren’t

expecting to see particular lesson plan or

book marking formats during their visits.

So if a school leader wails “Ofsted said we

must use these”, feel free to wave the myth

buster at them. If, however, the leader says

“I am the one who wants you to fill in these

forms”, the guidance won’t help you.

As Hurricane Gonzalo swept our shores,

Alan Milburn revealed the Social Mobility

and Child Poverty Commission’s second

‘State of the Nation’ Annual report. Like

the weather, all was not well. Child poverty

is expected to go up – not down – in

the next few years. The report therefore

recommended greater focus on improving

the quality of primary schools and a 25% pay

uplift for teachers in ‘challenging schools’.

Early in the morning minister, Sam

Gyimah, gave a speech at think-tank, Policy

Exchange. During the speech he called for

schools to run more early years provision.

(See page two). Not only would this help

attainment but also ensure children are

school-ready – for example, by teaching

them to tie shoe-laces. One wry audience

member pointed out that a far easier

solution to this problem might be to give

out Velcro shoes.

Across the way, in Portcullis House, MPs

on the Education Select Committee lined

up to grill witnesses about a parliamentary

bill proposing compulsory sex ed. Or rather,

they didn’t line up - with only 3 MPs in

attendance for most of the meeting, leading

to the bizarre situation of Neil Carmichael

taking a phone call whilst still in the room,

simply to stay within quorate.

Thankfully, the Ed Select Committee MPs

found their way back to Committee for

Nicky Morgan’s second session on the

witness stand – this time defending the

academies and free schools. Morgan wore

her trademark bright blue and served a good

line in platitude and statistics. Complaining

that the committee were overly negative,

the chair pointed out to Morgan that

scrutiny is somewhat the point of their

existence. Morgan backed off, rapidly.

Meanwhile, across town in a South

London primary school, deputy prime

minister Nick Clegg introduced a “new way”

of doing policy. Over the next few weeks

teachers can submit ideas about how to

reduce their workload and a panel of experts

will pick the best ones to implement. Smart

idea, but I can’t help feeling it would be

better if accompanied with public voting

and a Saturday night timeslot. Policy

X-Factor anyone?

Why Girls Tend to Get Better Grades

Than Boys Do

by Enrico Gnaulati

“Teachers and parents need to be reminded of a well-kept secret,” Gnaulati begins. “Across all grade levels and academic subjects, girls earn higher grades than boys.” Why is this? What should be done? Compellingly summarising research on “conscientiousness”, the author notes that girls display a level of self-discipline on entering kindergarten a year ahead of that shown by boys. I found the diagnosis convincing, the proposed remedy, focusing on American grading practices, less so.

A plea for the return of complexity and

nuance to education policy

by @DisIdealist

From varied critiques of educational policy, the Disappointed Idealist identifies a theme: the absence of nuance, no matter who’s in charge. He examines the limitations and inconsistencies of Department for Education evaluations of effectiveness, how Ofsted rates schools and the division of pedagogy into “traditional” and “progressive”, highlighting the limitations of each. In concluding, he pleads for “the replacement of groundless assertion in education policy-making and debate, with what the A-level history syllabus would recognise as evaluation – the nuanced avoidance of simplistic conclusions”.

The Tragedy of Commons

by From the ‘Teaching-Personally’ blog

(anonymous)

A tragedy of commons occurs when people choose what’s best for them individually, but the effect of their choices makes society worse off. The author uses this to explain how the actions of a few teachers seeking to stand out from the crowd can raise the pressure on everyone. Arguing that changes start with teachers themselves, and resolving “to plough my own furrow”, the post is an important read for anyone struggling with workload.

How I Rewired My Brain to Become Fluent

in Math

by @barbaraoakley

Barbara Oakley, a professor of engineering, describes herself as a “textbook example of the potential for adult neural plasticity”. In this fascinating post, she explains how techniques that allowed her to master Russian – practising every conceivable tense of a verb, for example – helped her to retrain as an engineer. “Teachers,” she warns, “can inadvertently set their students up for failure as those students blunder in illusions of competence” by promoting understanding without fluency. What enabled her to succeed, in Russian and maths alike, was going beyond understanding to internalise what she learned.

This much I know about improving both my

teaching and my students’ learning

by @johntomsett

It’s always a delight to see headteachers model reflection and improvement of their teaching; John Tomsett is a past master. He explains how he has combined “a forensic analysis of our students’ results … our understanding of the combinations of flesh and blood that produced those results, and copious amounts of our own wisdom and judgment” to alter his A-level economics lessons this year. Focusing on helping students recognise the economic theories underlying superficially different questions, this post shares his presentation to colleagues and a video of his own teaching.

When the Going Gets Tough: Six Weeks In

by @cnell91

Honest blogs from new teachers open my eyes to aspects of school life I’ve lost sight of, or never noticed. Miss Nell’s gratitude note recounts what has kept her going during her first term. Perhaps we can take inspiration from the support that she’s received and her response: “I’ve got my mind set on getting through to half term, and I do honestly believe that things are going to get better.”

BOOK REVIEW

TOP BLOGS OF THE WEEK

To view individual blogs visit www.academiesweek.co.uk/reviews

A week in WestminsterYour regular guide to what’s going on in central government

FRIDAY:

MONDAY:

TUESDAY:

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REVIEWS REVIEWS

RESEARCH REVIEW

Research: Why do East Asian children perform so well in

PISA? An investigation of Western-born children of East

Asian descent

Publishers: John Jerrim, Institute of Education, London

www.ioe.ac.uk/research/departments/qss/35445.html

What is the East Asian “secret” to educational success? Tiger parents? Confucian beliefs? Dr John Jerrim’s study on Australian-born pupils

of East Asian heritage suggests that there is no straightforward magic formula. In fact, pupils from an “average” school system such as Australia (or the UK) can do just as well as young people in high-performing East Asian countries.

The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment, better known as PISA, is like an international league table. The three-yearly exercise produces international education rankings for more than 70 countries/regions based on tests in reading, maths and science taken by more than 500,000 15-year-olds.

The top places are dominated by Asian school systems, such as Shanghai, Singapore and South Korea. UK results have stagnated and remain among the middle-ranking countries in the most recent results from 2012.

British policymakers and educationists have been eager to learn from the success in East Asia and so boost standards

in UK schools. Jerrim’s study instead tries to find insights from Australia, which has a similar system to the UK. By analysing Australian PISA maths data from 2012, he explores how second-generation, Australian-born children of East Asian backgrounds do substantially better than their peers, who they outscore by more than 100 PISA test points, equivalent to two-and-a-half years of schooling. The findings also show that these pupils do better than almost everyone else in the world, despite being taught in an average ranking, Western school system.

The study suggests that there is no simple explanation, that it is a combination of inter-linked factors. East Asian heritage pupils tend to attend “better” schools, which significantly contributes to high achievement. This possibly reflects the high value placed on education by East Asian families in Australia, leading parents to select the best possible schools.

Yet, even after accounting for differences in family background and schools, the results from East Asian heritage pupils are still better than their peers. Jerrim suggests that out-of-school factors, such as home environment and culture, also play an important role, as East Asian heritage pupils receive more out-of-school tuition, do more maths-related activities, and have higher aspirations.

The limitations of PISA data for the UK and other countries does not currently allow examination of the results of children of East Asian descent in these societies.

However, looking at what is happening in Australia can be extremely insightful because of its similarities to the British system. The Australian evidence suggests that high achievement can be developed within a non-top ranking system, and that what happens outside school matters a great deal. I agree with Jerrim that the study shows that efforts from schools and teachers alone would not be enough to improve achievement significantly.

It is important to highlight that the analysis cannot draw firm causations. For example, out of high aspirations and high achievement, which comes first? Also, as Jerrim rightly points out, migrants are typically a self-selective group with stronger determination to improve their lives.

It is noteworthy that East Asian parents in the study were more highly educated than the Australian-born parents, but the East Asian parents actually had lower levels of household wealth and were not in more prestigious occupations. A similar pattern was seen for migrants from the Indian region.

The high value placed on education can be linked to East Asian culture, but it can also be a strategy, partially driven by the need to overcome potential barriers in the jobs market. Research on British Chinese shows that the “Chinese value of education” is a way to establish group identity within British society.

Hence, factors are complex and interlinked in and out of school, and more research is needed to help children from all backgrounds to do well.

Teaching: notes from the front lineAuthor: Debra Kidd

ISBN-10: 1781351317

ISBN-13: 978-1781351314

Publisher: Independent Thinking Press an

imprint of Crown House Publishing

Reviewer: Robert Peal, full-time history

teacher and honorary fellow at

think-tank Civitas

This week’s research reviewer is Dr Ada Mau, Post-doctoral researcher at King’s College London

The author of the book Debra Kidd

can be tweeted at via @debrakidd

ACADEMIES WEEK10 @ACADEMIESWEEK 11ACADEMIESWEEK.CO.UK EDITION 6FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014 FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014

talk on the economy was not matching the reality of what people were experiencing. On welfare reform he often talks in historical sweeps, his examples more likely to be of political debate than examples seen face-to-face.

After completing a PhD in history, Hunt was asked to screen test for a new TV series that a friend was working on. They needed a young historian for a programme about the English Civil War. Hunt was cast, and, through the experience, learned about “truth narratives”, and marrying visual messages with written and spoken ones.

He continued volunteering with the Labour party, working each election campaign from 1997 through to 2005 in an array of roles. In 2001, for example, he was the party’s “digital press officer, or something equally bizarre”. Did this require him to learn web coding? “No! People would phone up and I’d sort out an interview with David Blunkett for Yahoo.co.uk or something.”

After the 2005 election, and aged just 30, Hunt decided he wanted to be an MP. He began throwing his hand in for seats. In 2007 he lost out to Stephen Twigg for the safe Labour seat of Liverpool West Derby. In 2009 another slipped through his hands.

Finally, he stood for Stoke-on-Trent Central in 2010. Selected on the Thursday night, the general election was called on Monday morning. He was a prospective parliamentary candidate for all of three days.

Hunt’s wife and three children are all supportive of his career, and help to keep his feet on the ground: “The children are . . . well, it’s sort of beautiful, because it’s just a thing that you do. So they know that I work at Big Ben, and that’s nice, they know David Cameron is the prime minister, and they know Ed Miliband is the leader of the Labour party, and they know Stoke-on-Trent. That’s their sort of framing for it, basically.”

Do they allow him to act like an important politico at home?

“Absolutely not!” After just three and a half years as an MP, Hunt replaced Stephen

Twigg as shadow education secretary – a reversal of their 2007 fortunes.

How did he cope facing the formidable Michael Gove in the Commons?

“By that time Michael had been in an education role for six or seven years, and [he] enjoyed the theatre and form of it . . . but holding government to account in there is very, very important, and you also have to realise, as it were, that out of that world, things are very different.”

Has Hunt’s confidence grown now that Gove has stepped down, and he has been in position longer than new education secretary Nicky Morgan? “Well yes, and we’re right too – which always helps.”

At that juncture, Hunt breaks into political patter. He sticks cleanly to policy lines: Labour wants world-class teachers, no more free schools, to revive AS-levels and to focus on teacher quality.

Opponents who criticise him for not talking up teachers are wrong: he is desperate to do so. It’s clearly important to him, just as it is clearly a rehearsed spiel. His years of wondering about truth, and speaking in front of a camera, have made him aware that a few key messages, ruthlessly hammered home, are what makes the difference.

For those who like their politicians more earthy, he’s disappointingly anodyne. But Hunt isn’t afraid of that gap between what people might want him to be and what he actually is.

“I am who I am. I can’t do a very good, you know, repositioning of my accent or name or whatever.

“You’ve got a choice – you’re either authentic and you are who you are, or you’re trying to be what you’re not . . . I think people value authenticity more than trying to be what you’re not.”

Shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt is so tall he has to fold himself like an envelope when crawling into a chair in his Parliament Square office. Surrounded

by history books and speaking with a cut-glass accent, his manner lies somewhere between hipster academic and management consultant.

His name, voice and academic background aren’t stereotypically “Labour” – a point keenly brought home in David Cameron’s recent Tory party conference jibe that Tristram wasn’t a fit name for a politician of red hue.

Hunt is irked by the comments. “You know, the tactless: ‘I can’t believe he’s not a Tory’ . . . but I’ve never felt a Tory; I have always felt very at home and at ease in the Labour tribe.”

Despite the demeanour, the 40-year-old Hunt’s tribalism is no surprise. His father, Julian Hunt, a meteorologist and now life peer in the House of Lords, was a Labour councillor who led the Cambridge Labour Group just before Hunt’s birth.

Further back, Hunt’s great aunt Peggy sat on London’s local council and was instrumental in setting up the 10 o’clock and 1 o’clock clubs in London, an early version of SureStart.

It would therefore be easy to believe Hunt’s political charisma was an inevitability. But the description of his early years reveals a clunky former self. Tall from the age of 6 or 7 (he’s now over 6ft), the young Hunt was also

desperately short-sighted, and wore bottle-thick glasses. Matched with his long limbs and blonde hair, he acquired the nickname Milky Bar Kid.

“There was also that dreaded phrase, ‘lanky’,” he says, half-laughing, half-weary.

Terrible at sport, aged 11 he swapped his glasses for contact lenses in the hope that it might help. It didn’t. “I was terrible at all of them . . . rugby, football, cricket. I think ended up with badminton as my sport.”

He did, however, find solace in studies. Right from primary school some of his happiest memories involve lessons in lateral thinking (“there was a particular problem about if you removed all the seats from a bus and people would be able to stand up, would you get more in?”) and of history trips — to the Iron Bridge in Telford, and to his constituency area of Stoke-on-Trent.

Hunt focused on art subjects, and for A-level chose English, history and Latin. The first two were long-time passions; the latter chosen because of an encouraging teacher.

From University College School in north London, he then went to Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, with history the natural choice for his degree subject.

“I just enjoyed history more and more. I’d always enjoyed it, right from my early years, and then I did GCSE — and

that was sort of fine but not totally compelling — but then I greatly enjoyed the A-level, so went on with that.

“I luxuriated in the past and enjoyment of the past, but the

element of history I’ve always liked – which is why I’m in politics – is the political fight over representations and misrepresentations and historiography. One of the best papers I did was on the history battles in the late 16th/early 17th centuries. So all the Shakespeare, history plays, the sort of crafting of a notion of Albion and Englishness, and the fight about truth and legend and national identity.”

It is not the only time Hunt mentions big theoretical ideas in our talk. Speaking of his time studying in Chicago, he references economists and monetarist theorists as a prompt to his strong belief in social justice: after all, their tough

PROFILE

What is your favourite book? (And why?)

I think Anna Karenina - love, drama, history, death, marriage,

children, trauma. Brilliant.

If you could go back to one historical moment, when

would it be?

Elvis Presley at Madison Square Gardens

What was the best party you attended as a child?

My 9th birthday party playing football at Wandlebury

If you could have dinner with one person – living or dead-

who would you choose?

Fred Engels - lots of questions...

Where would you like to go on your next holiday?

I’d like to go to Cape Cod. But I will be going to Devon

IT’S A PERSONAL THING

TRISTRAM HUNT

“I’ve never felt a Tory; I have always felt very at home and at ease in the

Labour tribe”

Born: 31 May 1974

School: Milton Road Primary School

University College London

University: Trinity College, Cambridge

University of Chicago and King’s College,

Cambridge (PhD: Civic Thought In Britain,

1820-1860)

TV Series:Civil War (2001); Great Britons

(2002); British Middle Class (2005); The

Protestant Revolution (2007); The Joy of

Motoring (2009)

Politics: MP for Stoke-on-Trent, 6 May 2010;

Shadow secretary of state for education, 7

October 2013

Curriculum Vitae

Hot rod: In July pupils at the Co-operative Academy of Stoke-on-Trent showed Hunt their project. Pic: @STEMNET

College walkabout: Hunt on a tour at Walsall College last September Pic: FE Week

LAURA MCINERNEY@MISSMCINERNEY

Ping pong: Hunt in December 2013 at Stoke-on-Trent College’s new Sports Academy. Pic: Stoke Sentinel

ACADEMIES WEEK12 @ACADEMIESWEEK 13ACADEMIESWEEK.CO.UK EDITION 6FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014 FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014

Lancashire and west Yorkshire

Academy status should not be seen as the

preserve of large, urban schools, says Paul

Smith, the regional schools commissioner

for Lancashire and West Yorkshire.

In an interview with Academies Week, Mr

Smith said that the rural nature of his region

was one of the reasons why relatively few

schools in the north-west were academies

— but that he wanted to change perceptions

on this.

He said that he thought a “key message”

for the headteacher board (HTB) was that

high-performing schools in rural areas

could “create highly effective school

communities in the region, as an academy

MAT [multi-academy trust] or trust, to

work together, to share the costs — which

obviously make those things more viable –

but also to share their expertise so they can

continue to drive on the high standards.

“Primary schools will be a key focus for us,

and how we get those primary schools to

come together into high performing trusts

and MATs.”

Asked whether he thought concerns

about the potential costs in going it alone as

a small, rural school, outside local authority

control, had contributed to a hesitancy to

convert, he said this was “more a perceived

barrier than a real barrier”.

Mr Smith was previously executive

principal of Parbold Douglas Church of

England Academy and Teaching School

near Wigan, Greater Manchester – itself a

rural school that chose to convert – which

he said had shown him that the model could

work.

“My last school was a single-form entry

rural school, high-performing, and we

converted as a standalone academy and saw

our performance improve beyond our initial

targets.”

Mr Smith said that he took on his new role

because he believed “passionately” in the

academy movement. He also praised the

quality of leadership in the region.

“We’ve got some of the best system

leaders operating from the north-west and

they’re delivering fantastic outcomes for a

range of children in different schools.”

He said that his board had been able to tap

into this wider pool of experience, with the

heads of a number of outstanding and good

academies helping on short-term projects.

The HTB has co-opted Sir Rod Aldridge,

the founder and former chief executive of

outsourcing group Capita. Sir Rod is now

chairman of the Aldridge Foundation, which

runs five academies and one studio school.

“Sir Rod brings considerable experience in

the education sector and the private sector,

as both a sponsor and with his previous

roles in providing services to the education

system as a private provider,” Mr Smith said.

Boards can co-opt two members. Mr

Smith said his HTB was still deciding who

the second would be, but that the role

probably would be used to add further

breadth to the board.

No. Local authority Open school count* Open academies**

1 Blackburn with Darwen 73 10

2 Blackpool 41 19

3 Bolton 126 16

4 Bradford 205 38

5 Bury 83 3

6 Calderdale 103 28

7 Halton 62 8

8 Kirklees 181 21

9 Knowsley 62 5

10 Lancashire 610 28

11 Leeds 274 40

12 Liverpool 170 17

13 Manchester 175 44

14 Oldham 104 16

15 Rochdale 86 4

16 Salford 100 10

17 Sefton 104 8

18 St Helens 70 2

19 Stockport 111 9

20 Tameside 96 10

21 Trafford 94 19

22 Wakefield 142 56

23 Warrington 87 7

24 Wigan 129 10

25 Wirral 126 15

LANCASHIRE AND WEST YORKSHIRE

FEATURED: the new regional schools commissioners

WE’VE GOT SOME OF THE BEST SYSTEM LEADERS OPERATING FROM THE NORTH-WEST

Paul SmithRegional schools commissioner for the

Lancashire and West Yorkshire region

Paul Smith

Manchester

Jane Acklam - elected

Principal, Moor End Academy,

Huddersfield

Pamela Birch - elected

Principal, Hambleton Primary School,

Poulton-le-Fylde

Martin Shevill - elected

Principal, Ossett Academy and Sixth Form College,

Ossett

Alan Yellup - elected

CEO, Wakefield City Academy, Wakefield

Sir Iain Hall - appointed

Chair, Great Schools For All Children trust,

Warrington

Sir Michael Wilkins - appointed

Chief executive, Outwood Grange Academies Trust,

Wakefield

Sir Rod Aldridge - co-opted

Chairman, The Aldridge Foundation, London

A

C

E

B

D

F

Statistics provided by www.Watchsted.com

(@Watchsted), which is owned by Angel Solu-

tions Ltd based on data published by the Depart-

ment For Education in September 2014

The board

NORTH

WEST MIDLANDS

LANCASHIRE AND WEST

YORKSHIRE

SOUTH CENTRAL

ENGLAND AND NORTH-WEST

LONDON

SOUTH-EAST ENGLAND

AND SOUTH LONDONSOUTH WEST

EAST MIDLANDS

AND HUMBER

EAST OF ENGLAND AND NORTH-EAST

LONDON

RSC

13%open academies**

20% across england

PHILIP NYE@PHILIPNYE

Regional schools commissioners

(RSCs) are the government’s ‘middle

tier’, introduced as a new layer

between individual academy schools

and trusts, and the Department for

Education.

Announced in December last year,

RSCs have a remit of monitoring the

performance of the academies in

their area, making recommendations

on free school applications and of

supporting academisation. Each RSC

will be supported by a headteacher

board, made up of elected, appointed

and co-opted members.

Over eight weeks we

are profiling each of the

RSC regions.

TOTALLancashire and West Yorkshire 3,414 443

England 21,648 4,418

*The open schools total includes all types of state-funded school, including special schools and alternative provision schools.**The academies total includes all free schools and non-free school academies, including special schools and alternative provision schools.

G

2

G

25

17

12

18

2416

10

1

3 515

6

22

114

8

14

20

19

13

723

219

C

D F

A

B

E

RSC

The Aldridge Foundation are based in London

ACADEMIES WEEK14 @ACADEMIESWEEK 15ACADEMIESWEEK.CO.UK EDITION 6FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014 FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014

Pupils at a central London primary had a big say in the design of their new playground, opened recently by

newscaster Jon Snow.Christopher Hatton School welcomed

the Channel 4 news anchor to mark the completion of months of renovation work in the lower playground.

The new jungle-themed space was co-designed by pupils from the school, who worked with Artyface artists Maud Milton and Rebecca Sicardi.

Headteacher Gwen Lee said: “The new playground is great for the children. It has been transformed from a dark and gloomy space to a light and happy one. The children were part of the design process so they are especially excited about bringing their vision to life.

“It was great for the children to also have Jon Snow open the playground officially. It makes it an event and celebration for the pupils, especially after all their hard work and efforts.”

Pupils go wild with new playground

A Wellingborough primary is one of the first to be awarded accreditation as a storytelling school.

In an attempt to increase progress in writing, Warwick Primary vice-principals Sandra Appleby and Claire Head did storytelling training at The Storytelling School in Oxford last year.

All teaching staff were then trained on how to deliver the storytelling curriculum to build the students’ vocabulary, literacy and confidence.

It has been used throughout the past academic year and has had an immediate

impact on pupils’ creative development. Literacy standards have also risen with all Year 6 pupils meeting or exceeding their projected progress in writing.

Lizzie Rowe, deputy chief executive of The Education Fellowship which sponsors the school, said: “The simple joy and magic of storytelling is seen as a crucial part of an all-round education.

“Here it’s used as a core skill for learning, encouraging pupils to be language rich and better writers, and develops skills and confidence in speaking and performing.”

Veteran actor and gay activist Sir Ian McKellen discussed gay rights with a group of pupils at a Bristol school in

a day that headteacher Mark Mallet said no one “would ever forget”.

Sir Ian, whose career includes roles in X Men, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, also talked to Chew Valley School pupils about his own role in changing attitudes and legislation.

He couldn’t resist then visiting a drama

class where he offered a few hints.But the highlight of his visit came when

addressed pupils from a window. He asked: “If you don’t do your revision properly do you know what will happen?”

Not waiting for an answer, he roared the famous line from Lord of the Rings: “You. Shall. Not. Pass!”

Mr Mallet said: “Sir Ian was a gracious guest at the school and an impassioned evangelist for tolerance and equality.”

Pupils from The Weald School in

West Sussex sped to glory in an

international car racing competition

last week.

The school’s two teams in this year’s

Greenpower Car Challenge took first and

third place after engineering their own

electric cars “The Black Bullet” (pictured

below) and “The Purple Predator”.

Competing against students from

countries around the world, including the

US, South Africa and Ireland, the Weald

students claimed the school’s second title in

eight years – they last won in 2006.

Keith Russell, principal for the Black Bullet

team, which won the category IET Formula

F24 for 11-16-year-olds, said: “We lose as a

team and we win as a team.

“At the end of the event, all of

the kids will have gone home and

told their families that the team

won and that’s the important

thing about the Greenpower

initiative.

“Last year, at a rain affected

final, we gambled on our strategy.

We sat down with the kids and said

we’d gamble and they went with us,

but we lost and came fourth.”

A victorious Weald School driver, Lucy

Kirkby, 14, said: “Every part of doing

Greenpower has been fun – making the car

and designing it means we get familiarised

with machinery . . . plus the racing is really

fun.”

Headteacher Peter Woodman said: “This is

a magnificent result for our students and all

those involved.

“The team has worked hard over a period

of months to make very small improvements

that have given us marginal gains. It is these

improvements that resulted in the win. It has

been very much a team effort.”

The team has been supported by a group

of school staff and parents. One parent,

Simon Banks, said: “It has required a huge

commitment, but it has been fantastic to see

all the hard work pay off.”

The competition aims to teach young

engineers how to design, build and

race electric cars as part of a science,

technology, engineering, and

mathematics (STEM) education

initiative.

More than 500 cars

competed in a series of

heats on racetracks

up and down the

country last year.

The final was made up two 90-minute races

at Goodwood Motor Circuit in West Sussex.

Each car was allowed one set of batteries, but

had to use at least three drivers.

TV’s gadget guru Jason Bradbury was

among the thousands of spectators on finals

day, with patrons of the charity Lord March

and Sir David Richards.

Lord March said: “Greenpower Education

Trust plays a big part in not only building

interest and excitement in motorsport, but

also in bringing children and teams together

in a brilliant way to increase interest in

engineering.

“This competition is helping them to

develop a way of looking at engineering as a

career, a way forward in something that they

would actually like to do.”

SCHOOL ASSEMBLY Interested in being featured by School Assembly? Email us: news@academiesweek.co.uk

The Weald switches on the power to take chequered flag

Pupils at Warwick Primary celebrate becoming a ‘Storytelling’ school with-vice principal Sandra Appleby

BILLY CAMDEN@BILLYCAMDEN

FEATURE

Aspiring actors at an Essex academy were last week treated to a day’s masterclass by EastEnders actress

Gillian Wright.The actress, who plays Jean Slater in the

BBC soap, ran workshops for students in Years 8, 9 and 10 at Burnt Mill Academy.

She gave feedback on the students’ performances, helped them to develop their own characters and answered questions about her career and experiences.

Gillian, who recently returned briefly to EastEnders after stepping away a year ago to pursue other opportunities, said: “I have seen some great kids here today; they are so talented and full of character.

“I hope I have given them something a bit different and that it will mean something to them as they continue their work.”

The actress also attended the school’s after-school media club where budding journalists got the chance to interview her.

Eastenders actress Gillian Wright with students from Burnt Mill Academy

Sir Ian meets students from Chew Valley School

Sir Ian meets Chew Valley pupils

Soap star heads acting masterclass

Storytelling becomes a core skill

Jon Snow opens Christopher Hatton’s new playground with pupils Cassius, Year 4, Chace and Sadie, Year 5, Robert, Year 6, Sophia, Year 4, and headteacher Gwen Lee

The winning team from the Weald School with their car The Black Bullett. Inset: Jason Bradbury from The Gadget Show

Join us at the

SSAT National Conference 2014:The Learner4-5 December, Manchester Central

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Book now: www.ssatuk.co.uk/nationalconference2014Keep up to date with the latest conference news by following SSAT on Twitter @SSAT #SSATNC14

The conference for school leaders who believe that student outcomes are more than just exam results.

ACADEMIES WEEK16 @ACADEMIESWEEK 17ACADEMIESWEEK.CO.UK EDITION 6FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014 FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014

To advertise call us on: 020 81234 778

jobs

This is a unique opportunity to develop and lead a new school as part of the Hackney New School Trust. You’ll set the ethos, expectations and standards right from the very start. Our ideal candidate will be a talented and committed teacher with outstanding senior leadership experience and strong academic qualifications. Working alongside the board of governors, and engaging with local parents, you will use your expertise to build your own team and create a new, first-rate school for the area.

Our vision for Hackney New Primary School is to provide students with access to the widest range of opportunities in life by fostering academic excellence and instilling self-belief, intellectual curiosity and responsibility towards others in society.

At HNPS children will learn in smaller classes with a longer school day to help everyone to excel. Alongside English and mathematics, music will be at the heart of the school.

If your vision matches ours, visit www.hackneynewprimaryschool.org/careers for our headteacher information pack and application form.

Contact primarycareers@hackneynewschool.org or 020 3239 0490 for an informal conversation about the role.”

NOR: 50 in Reception on opening in September 2015, rising to 350 by 2021 Age range: 4-11 • Application closing date: 3 November • Interviews: 26 November

Hackney New Primary SchoolHeadteacherSalary: £Highly Competitive • Start date: April 2015

Hackney New School Trust is looking for an outstanding headteacher for our community primary school that will open in September 2015 in London.

The Education Village Academy Trust has an exciting opportunity to offer an outstanding

professional. We are looking for a dynamic and innovative individual who will provide both

strategic direction and leadership to the Academy Trust, in an all age, all ability context. The

right candidate will be exceptional at achieving good or outstanding outcomes and we would

welcome applications from leaders in primary, secondary or special educational settings.

Although the Chief Executive will hold statutory headship responsibility of the five schools

there is a high degree of autonomy for each academy leader and each school undergoes its

own Ofsted.

The candidate:

• will have proven leadership and management skills within diverse organisations;

• will be inspirational and credible, with well-developed interpersonal and influencing skills;

• will be strategically influential with the ability to translate vision into success;

• will have a successful track record of raising standards and meeting challenging targets;

• will be able to demonstrate inspirational leadership of talented teams.

If you share our passion for supporting schools on their journey to outstanding provision we

want to hear from you.

Visits to The Education Village, and the other academies in the Multi Academy Trust, are

welcome on the following dates: Thursday 23 October 12 noon, Wednesday 5 November

10am and Tuesday 11 November 12 noon. Please contact Judith Amerigo to book your place

by tel: 01325 248113 or email: jamerigo@educationvillage.org.uk.

Application packs are available from Jenn Austin at Avec Partnership Ltd, Tel 01325 281480

or email: jenn.austin@avec-partnership.com. Applications should be returned to Jenn Austin

via email or by post to Avec Partnership, Suite 9 Yarn, Lingfield House, Lingfield Point,

Darlington, DL1 1RW.

Closing Date: 14th November 2014

Chief Executive Salary: Circa £115k plus up to a maximum of a 5% gross salary bonus, depending upon performance

Hours: Full Time

Where learning has no limits…

The Education Village Academy Trust

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff to share this commitment. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check.

Full/Part TimeRequired January 2015

We are looking to appoint an exceptional professional who will join a highly successful, enthusiastic and talented team and work with us to inspire our students. We have a creative and energetic Science team who are well resourced and dedicated to developing the full potential of our students. The successful candidate will be someone who is visionary, innovative and committed to moving learning forward in an exciting and active way; someone who is prepared to go ‘beyond outstanding’.

At Debden Park High school “Classrooms are exciting places for young people, and teachers lead lessons skilfully and generate an enthusiasm for learning that is infectious.” (Ofsted 2009).

We lead a family of schools as part of the Kemnal Academies Trust, as a national teaching school we provide exceptional career progression and bespoke CPD experiences for our staff.

For further information or application pack please email Josie Wood jwood@dphs-tkat.org or call her direct on 02084181202.

Debden Park High School, Willingale Rd, Debden, Loughton, Essex IG10 2BQ Tel: 020 85082979

OUTSTANDING TEACHER OF SCIENCE

Headteacher: Mr Christian Cavanagh 11 – 16 Mixed Comprehensive On Roll: 900

A Specialist School in the performing arts Designated Teaching SchoolAcademy status Debden Park High School

Download an application form at:

www.latestvacancies.com/grimsby

Academy Headteacher 14-16 - Ref: G684TheAcademy Grimsby 14-16 yearsPermanentFull TimeCirca £55,000 to £60,000 per annumGrimsby Institute are looking for an experienced school leaderwho has a passion for education and has a commitment to theraising of standards, achievement and positive progression of14-16 year olds.This is a varied and challenging role which would require strongleadership, good networking skills and understanding of the needsof 14-16 learners, innovative curriculum delivery and thelocal/regional community.Along with having the responsibility for defining an appropriatecurriculum, having an understanding of KS4 curriculum planningand delivery, and ensuring that the Institute Group values areupheld at all times, the suitable candidate would also beresponsible for ensuring learners have an outstanding learningexperience and attain the highest personal and academicstandards of which they are capable.Closing date: 12th November 2014

Head of Maths and Science - Ref: G728TheAcademy Grimsby 14-16 yearsPermanantFull TimeCirca £45,000 per annumTheAcademy Grimsby is a new unique learning facility for KeyStage 4 students. Whilst being taught traditional GCSE subjects,students will also develop employment skills. Focusing onEngineering and Health Studies with support from localemployers, TheAcademy Grimsby offers a focused trainingpathway for aspiring learners.This is a new and exciting opportunity to join a quality focusedteam delivering in a newly refurbished and personalised learningenvironment. This leadership role will lead the development anddelivery of an effective curriculum, ensuring learners have anoutstanding experience and attain the highest standardsachievable.Prospective applicants should be experienced practitioners ideallywith some managerial experience, but more important is the driveand commitment needed for what will be a challenging andexciting opportunity.Closing date: 12th November 2014

ACADEMIES WEEK18 @ACADEMIESWEEK 19ACADEMIESWEEK.CO.UK EDITION 6FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014 FRIDAY, OCT 24, 2014

jobs

Saxlingham Nethergate V.C. Primary School, Church Hill, Saxlingham Nethergate, Norwich, NR15 1TD

Tel: 01508 499271

Email: office@saxlingham.norfolk.sch.uk

HeadteacherNOR: 46Age Range 4 – 11Salary: L6 – L11

Due to the planned retirement of our highly regarded Headteacher, the Governors are seeking to appoint a strong and effective leader for our Church of England school who will:• have a clear vision on how to lead our ‘good’ school into its next phase of development• build on our already high standards• inspire and work in partnership with pupils, staff, Governors, parents, other schools and the community• embrace the Christian ethos and values

We are proud to offer:• enthusiastic and well-behaved children• a highly dedicated staff team• a fully supportive and active governing body• a high quality building in a village setting• growing pupil numbers

We would be delighted to hear from you. Visits to the school are welcome and can be made by contacting Julie Jones on 01508 499271. Application forms can be downloaded from www.norfolk.gov.uk/schooljobs.

Please send completed forms, together with a covering letter to office@saxlingham.norfolk.sch.uk or directly to the school.

Closing Date: 4th November 2014 Interview Date: Early December

INSPIRE • ENCOURAGE • CREATE

Vice Principal – Flegg High SchoolLeadership range L17 to L21Exciting leadership opportunity at vibrant Norfolk Academy

As a result of the planned retirement of the current post-holder, Flegg High School is seeking to recruit an outstanding Vice-Principal from September 2015 to assist in leading the next phase of the Academy’s improvement journey. This role will provide an exceptional opportunity for an aspiring Principal to develop the full repertoire of school leadership skills.

Flegg High is a lively and vibrant 11-16 independent convertor academy of around 800 students located in the busy village hub of Martham, 25 minutes east of Norwich. The Academy works closely with a range of partners and local providers ensuring that as an institute it continues to grow and expand its influence in a range of areas. The school has moved on rapidly in the past two years and is looking for the successful applicant to help maintain this pace of improvement.

The Vice-Principal role is also critical to the successful operation of the Academy. The post-holder will support and assist the Principal with all aspects of school organisation at both management and strategic levels, including deputising for the Principal as required. They will lead on significant areas of the academy’s work such as school improvement, student achievement and safeguarding.The successful applicant will be an inspiring, optimistic and resilient school leader with a relentless commitment to raising the achievement of every learner.

Prospective applicants are welcome to visit the academy and meet the Principal in advance of submitting an application. Please contact the Principal’s PA Diane Spooner on 01493 749207 or email recruitment@flegg.norfolk.sch.uk

Closing date: 3pm Monday 24th November 2014

Interviews: Thursday 4th December / Friday 5th December 2014

Teacher of Creative Arts (1 year Maternity Cover)Salary: Main Scale/UPSLocation: EssexSchool: Harwich and Dovercourt High SchoolContract type: Full timeContract term: Temporary for 1 yearStart date: January 2015 or earlier

We are seeking to appoint an enthusiastic Creative Arts Teacher with a commitment to outstanding teaching and learning to join our Creative Arts Faculty. The successful candidate will be required to have a specialism in one of the subject areas of Drama/Performing Arts/ Dance/Music, with the ability and desire to deliver lessons in all 3 subject areas to KS3.

The successful candidate should:• Be a strong, engaging and well-organised classroom practitioner • Have good interpersonal skills with the ability to establish strong relationships with all stakeholders• Be enthusiastic, a team player, self-motivated and committed to further professional development• Be creative, innovative and experimental in classroom practices.

The school is a rapidly improving school. GCSE results and our recent OFSTED report reflect this. Harwich and Dovercourt High School is an 11-18 Academy with 1200 students. It belongs to the North East Essex Education Partnership Trust of 7 local independent academies committed to collegiate working and providing shared development. This is an attractive part of the country with excellent links to London and the Continent.

The school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our students and all posts are subject to enhanced DBS checks.

We reserve the right to close the post before the date stated above once sufficient applications have been received. We therefore advise that you submit your completed application form as soon as possible.

For further details and to download an application form please visit our website: http://hdhs.org.uk/staff/vacancies/

Deadline for applications: Thursday, 6 November 2014

Please submit your application to The Personnel Manager, Lindsey Clark by email to Lindsey.Clark@harwich.essex.sch.uk or by post to Harwich and Dovercourt High School, Hall Lane, Dovercourt, Harwich, Essex. CO12 3TG.

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