Samuel Ward Research School Newsletter

Issue #2

Summer term

@hannahtyreman - online learning specialist@CharteredColl

@MargaretMulhol2 - Director of Development and Research, Swiss Cottage School

@missdcox - teacher, leader; T&L, RE, assessment, cognitive science

@robert_loe - founder and executive director of @RSchoolsProject

@TriciaTailored - teacher, leader; passionate about how the science of learning can help children learn

Two studies point to the power of teacher-student relationships to boost learning. Fascinating research on the importance of teacher-student relationships - particularly the benefits of “looping”: when a student keeps the same teacher for two years in a row.

Read More Here

Dual coding to suport inclusion. Oliver Caviglioli, @olivercavigliol, is a former special-school head of many years, who later on in his career turned to visualization. Oliver has worked with countless educationalists including the Learning Scientists and is a frequent dual coder of evidence based edu-books.

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The “marshmallow test” has intrigued a generation of parents and educationalists with its promise that a young child’s willpower and self-control holds a key to their success in later life.

But there is some good news for parents of pre-schoolers whose impulse control is nonexistent: the latest research suggests the claims of the marshmallow test are close to being a fluffy confection ...

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A guest post by David Weston and Brigit Clay on Dr Gary Jones's blogsite, Evidence Based Educational Leadership. Here, the authors of 'Unleashing Great Teaching: the secrets to the most effective teacher development', published in May 2018, share their insights in to what lies behind the most effectiove teacher development. While you are at it, download the stylish and invaluable dual-coded summary courtesy of Oliver Cavigliol linked below.

Read David and Brigit's Guest Blog here

In April Evidence Based Education co-organised with ASCL their “What Makes Great Assessment in the Classroom?” conference. From this, they created a free downloadable ebook to enjoy and share. It contains a brief guide to designing assessments, written by Stuart Kime, EBE Director of Education, and one or two resources submitted by each speaker as their “required reading”. Simply follow the link below and fill out the form in order to receive the ebook to your email.

Access the e-book here

Asking questions has always has been an essential ingredient of the craft of teaching. In his recent blog, teacher, Durrington Research School's Research Lead and author Andy Tharby shared insights on 'what does research evidence tell us about effective questioning?'

Read the blog here

In November 2017, Ofsted hosted an international seminar on lesson observation. This paper, released in May, reports on the observation models presented at the seminar and looks at how they may help Ofsted when developing future inspection frameworks.

Read the report here

• In his recent podcast, Marc Rowland, Rosendale Research School chats to inclusion expert Margaret Mulholland about how research evidence and good relationships can improve teaching and learning for pupils with SEND.
• UCL Institute of Education debate ICYMI: Rewatch or listen to this recent debate on how to better support SEND in schools, including an extra feature on the Warnock Report.

BRAND NEW GUIDANCE REPORT

Earlier today the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) published its latest guidance report.

Preparing for Literacy reviews the best available research to offer early years professionals practical recvommendations to make sure all children start school with the foundations they need to read and write well. This new report, which is free to download from the EEF’s website, presents seven evidence based recommendations to guide effective practice. 

Link to and Download 'preparing for literacy' here

THE FINAL ROUND OF IEE INNOVATION EVALUATION GRANTS CLOSES SOON
A reminder that the deadline for applications is Friday 15 June 2018. Applications for funding to carry out evaluations of innovative teaching and learning practices are invited from schools that are working with Research Schools.

Find out how to apply

NOW RECRUITING
The Education Endowment Foundation is recruiting early years settings, schools and colleges to take part in funded projects, including EAL in the Mainstream Classroom: Giving classroom teachers training in how to plan lessons with EAL pupils in mind, develop specific resources, and differentiate between pupils with different language skills.

Further details available on the EEF website

EEF GENERAL FUNDING ROUND OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS
The EEF's funding tests the impact of high-potential projects aiming to raise the attainment of 3- to 18-year-olds, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Their current General Round is open now and closes on the 5th July.

They are particularly interested in testing projects that focus on improving secondary school teaching, popular programmes in the system, and improving Level 2 outcomes for 16- to 18-year-olds in English and maths. 

Find out more

PARENTING APP HAS POSITIVE IMPACT ON CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT
A new trial of EasyPeasy, conducted by the University of Oxford’s Department of Education and published by the Sutton Trust, suggests that the app has moderate positive effects on children’s concentration levels, determination and ability to make their own decisions, as well as parents’ sense of control.

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BLOG: HAS A SOLUTION TO RETENTION BEEN FOUND?
Nikki Jones, Director of Shireland Research School, discusses the problem of retaining early career teachers in light of the EEF evaluation of RETAIN: a one-year professional development programme for early career teachers teaching in Key Stage 1.

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EEF BLOG: THE HARD LESSONS OF PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT
James Turner, the Education Endowment Foundation's deputy chief executive, takes a look at parental engagement in their children's education in the light of the publication of the EEF evaluation report of “Family Skills” and  the announcement by the Department for Education of a new £5 million Home Learning Environment Fund.

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2018/19 TRAINING PROGRAMME UPDATE

Our training calandar for 2018/19 is released soon. Drawing on the best available evidence, building on our highly successful programmes this year and combining expert insight with high quality facilitation our range of three day programmes, workshops and bespoke CPD offer great value and the potential for significant impact.

Three day programmes include:

• Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants - developed by Rob Webster (UCL) and Jonathan Sharples (EEF)
• Leading Learning - developed by Alex Quigley (RS Lead/EEF) and Llorwyn Randall (RS Lead)
• Improving Mathematics at KS2&3 - developed by Chris Dale (NCETM) and EEF development team
• Tackling the Literacy Challenge - developed by Alex Quigley (RS Lead/EEF) and EEF develpment team
• Enhancing Professional Judgement - developed with and facilitated by Dr Gary Jones

In-school training:

• Maximising the Practice of Teaching Assistants - developed and licensed by UCL Centre for Inclusive Education

Workshops will include:

• Metacognition - from Guidance Report to the classroom
• Implementation: putting evidence to work - utilising the Implementation Guidance report within school improvement
• NQT and Early Career Teacher Series' - supporting knowledge, skills and habits of evidence based practice

As ever, our programme will continue to evolve. If you wish to discuss how you might host elements of this training in your own venue please do contact us.

CTSN Research Conference 2018
Developing teaching and learning: creating a research-informed school

We are delighted to be contributing to this great annual conference alongside Catt Scutt, Dr Rob Loe, Tom Sherrington and Karen Spence-Thomas to name but four and the host of teachers sharing their own research reflections. Conference organisers are pleased to offer group discounts - 50% discount for 10+ members of staff (£10) and even further discounts can be negotiated to support larger gropups. There are also discounts available for small primaries that do not have 10+ staff. Contact Jane Catley at jcatley@swchs.net to secure your discounts.

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO THE CONFERENCE PAGE ON THE CTSN RESEARCH WEBSITE