Blog

Laura Burton, Senior Education Lead at SSAT and Head of the Primary network, reflects upon the important, yet unique role of the Subject Leader in a Primary School and considers the value of professional development to maximise the effectiveness and confidence of our teachers who undertake this role.

This week I am sharing what I have been doing with the ‘Thoughts and Crosses’ strategy in my Year 9 English lessons.

So, here we are: deep in Workshop 4 and trialling ways to make the EFA programme not just a programme but an adaptable programme that empowers staff and pushes people to move out of their comfort zones – not an easy task, I must say.

As school leaders you know that attention from the media and politicians about the ‘attendance crisis’ is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is good to know that you are not alone in meeting these challenges. On the other hand, such attention on school issues often generates more heat than light.

How should schools respond when faced with extreme views from pupils and parents? When views are expressed which go against the values of the school and make other members of the community feel unsafe, what should be done? This week, a group of school leaders met at Thomas Estley Community School to share experiences and ideas, in an event hosted by our partner organisation Life Lessons.

As schools face the ever more urgent challenges of ensuring wellbeing for their students, the value of including students in their planning should be recognised.

This week, The Guardian published an article which shared feedback from parents about why they were opting to home school. Data clearly shows that the number of children and young people being home-schooled has increased substantially and is continuing to rise.

We watched the speeches of Gillian Keegan, Secretary of State for Education, and Sir Martyn Oliver, Ofsted’s new Chief Inspector, at the ASCL 2024 conference with interest.

Today on World Book Day, SSAT Senior Education Lead, Laura Burton, reflects upon the power of reading for pleasure and shares how schools within the Primary Network promote a love of reading whilst ensuring accessibility for all pupils.

‘Just 4 in 10 teachers found their last Inset day useful’ so ran the headline from TES 24 January 2024 quoting a TeacherTapp survey of around 9,000 teachers in England during autumn 2023.