A whole year of independence!

It is almost a year now since I "retired" and dipped my toe into the independent consultancy pool and what a busy year it has been. I cannot believe the diversity of the work and the sheer pace of it all. I am supposed to be slowing down!! Next year promises to be equally busy from the look of the diary. I am already booked for INSET days in September and both ends of the Autumn half term. What with  staff meetings and the ever popular SEF AID that has supported head teachers in their preparations for OFSTED and left them smiling with a workable document at the end of the day I am having problems fitting in the planned holiday in Rhodes and the all important AAIA conference in Newcastle! Bear that in mind if you are planning to book me in 2010/11.

What price the new curriculum?

So...whatever happened to the Rose Reviewand all those glossy documents that everyone had such high hopes of for September 2011? Not included in the Education Bill in April- almost the last thing the government did before losing the election was to bin it. What a shambles! Don't panic though. I know the National Strategy people and QCDA have disappeared, or will do shortly, and all the websites have been highjacked so you can no longer find all the useful stuff that was there, but.... help IS at hand.

I have developed some work based upon the principles and aims of  the Cambridge Review and the schools that I have worked with are reassured and re motivated by the ideas  and the suggestions I am making. I believe it is well and truly "Gove proof" and helps you go on doing the things you believe in that you know are right for your pupils. It links well with the Curriculum Foundation stuff I recommended in the last Newsletter that I hope you have all had a look at and stops schools throwing the baby out with the bath water or doing nothing until Gove makes up his mind.

So... if you need more information just contact me. Half day and full day training available in curriculum development that does not have you reinvesting in slates and chalk and believing you have been transported back to an Enid Blyton world of the Famous Five with  you-know-who in charge as Julian!! Gove's is the "Dagenham solution"   (two stops short of Barking!)

 Better middle management and governance required?

My Subject Leader Handbooks have been fully revised  and redesigned and can be adapted for use with Areas of Learnig, Domains or any other variation on a theme that the new government expects you to lead. When used with the new  materials I am using to help governors understand and carry out their role in monitoring Every Child Matters outcomes, leaders engage in purposeful and useful activities that inform their thinking and give them a really good evidence base on which to base their action planning for improvement. What's more governors know what they are talking about and can hold their own with OFSTED if required. Really good stuff and surprisingly joined up thinking. Any model of training can be tailored to your needs-just give me a call!

Preparing for end of KS2 assessments 2011?

Well, we know that SATS will take place as usual in May next year (not June as threatened).   I am reliably informed that they will be in the same form as they have always been and presumably will be marked externally although thankfully not by secondary colleagues as also threatened.

I have no idea what plans there are for a further boycott, but my experience this year with schools that did, suggests that training in marking tests papers accurately and using the outcomes to inform teacher assessment alongside rigorous use of  APP materials  is urgently needed. To this end I am planning to book a venue locally in the Autumn term and invite schools to send their Y6 teachers for quality training that will increase their skills in moderation and their understanding of the need for reliable and valid assesments to be made. Please let me know via this site if it is something you would use and I shall get on with planning a useful day on the best use of assessment to enhance learning.

And finally......

I attended the SWGfL ICT conference yesterday and was blown away by the quality of the annual event that may well be threatened by the government cuts in funding for technology. With speakers such as Bob Geldolf (!) and Tanya Byron speaking so eloquently over the dangers to our future of the current proposals for Education, I was inspired to rattle off a couple of e mails about the insanity of it all. Tanya Byron has the ear of the Secretary of State and seems to have considerable influence. She needs information from professionals as ammunition to fire across their bows so if you get a chance to submit something don't miss it. Google her details and get typing.

I wish you all a restful summer and a pleasant end of term, and look forward to working with and for you in the next academic year.