Attachment Behaviour Theory

We've updated our website with some recent training on attachment behaviours which we found very useful. The CPD is aimed at teachers but the principles behind it are applicable to anyone who has or works with children. Attachment is not something which only affects children, but all of us, throughout life and in all our relationships. The link is here.

The Future for Southampton....

With the DfE's recent proposals for academisation in mind, the local authority has been engaging with schools on what the future for education in the city may look like. Here are some models from other authorities that are being explored...

•Dorset
Partnership between LA and schools; focuses on vulnerable pupils. All schools are members. School Improvement system is owned and driven by schools. LA has statutory function in ensuring quality provision and facilitating improvement.

•Hertfordshire
Herts Learning – 520 shareholders – not for profit company that reinvests money to improve services. Offers teaching, learning, leadership & business support for schools. The council commissions core services from the firm and is its biggest customer.

•Wigan
Schools work together in 8 autonomous consortia to support self-improvement. A school improvement board monitors the work. Resources and expertise are pooled to improve teaching standards and learning. The council provides funding and works with the consortia to identify those who are under-performing.

•Durham
Educational Development Service (2002) merged with the LA’s School Improvement service to monitor, challenge and intervene in schools as well as provide consultancy, training & development and advisory work.

•Lincoln
Responsibility for improvement rests with local headteachers, based around peer review. Training for peer review funded by LA. Where peers don’t agree this leads to professional dialogue. Group of heads appointed as panel of experts to identify broader trends in the outcomes of the peer reviews/how lessons can be learnt. The panel then advises the LA on where to focus school improvement resources. Led by the area’s forum for governors and headteachers (LA funded). In addition, LA works with the 9 Teaching Schools through Lincolnshire Teaching Schools Together.

Connectives or Conjunctions...

We liked this image shared by a colleague in Southampton. We thought we might share is as it reveals some of the new expectations on pupils (..and staff!) to get to grips with grammatical terms in the new curriculum. Here's a really good example of one such change above - the use of connectives being replaced by conjunctions.

Southampton Inclusion Partnership Resources

The Southampton Inclusion Partnership website is a great resource for supporting pupils with SEND. They have recently put together some pre-key stage exemplifications for writing which are not currently available from the DfE. Each of the standards includes 6 pieces of evidence and they have included a checklist to help with evidencing. The link to the page is here and on the right.