Education Today Education Today Magazine
From time to time, all teachers and school leaders have the need to be inspired, to gather new ideas and training to add a refreshed perspective to their teaching. However, finding ways to achieve this in these ‘budget suppressed’ times has never been more challenging.
This year, you have two very good reasons to take a day away from school to soak up a broad range of free continuing professional development (CPD) and inspiration. In its 27th year, The Education Show (16-18 March 2017, NEC Birmingham) will be located alongside the new Bett Academies Show. So, if you haven’t already booked your free entry passes to these two exciting events, visit www.education-show.com and www.bettacademies.com to do so today.
Focusing on The Education Show, visit the website to view an outline of all the CPD sessions on offer, and decide which ones are ideal for your current needs. Here are a few examples:
Thursday 16 March
National treasure and retired ballerina, Darcey Bussell CBE, will be headlining the Central Feature Theatre at 11.50am. Her session, entitled ‘Advocating dance fitness within the P.E. curriculum of British schools’, will be based on the recent speech she made at the Houses of Parliament, advocating the performing arts, dance fitness and physical literacy in schools.
Following this session, at 2:30pm in the Early Years and SEN Theatre, Magali Ellis, Head of Trinity School, will be sharing her insights into the alternatives in teaching Modern Foreign Languages (MFL). In this 30-minute session, she will be explaining the most effective way to teach MFL in primary schools.
Former headteacher and director of SATs Companion, Nasir Qurashi, will be referencing his research conducted while at Cambridge University in a session entitled ‘Mastery or Mediocrity: How to overcome the challenges for the KS2 SATS’. He will be offering advice on how to ensure children obtain a full and rounded understanding of each topic, in order to build their confidence in their ability to be masters of their own learning.
Straight after this session at 3:30pm, the renowned and inspirational Miles Berry, principal at Roehampton University, will be helping school leaders with assessment, specifically in computing.
As senior lecturers in the Centre for Children and Families at the University of Worcester, Janet Harvell and Alison Prowle are acutely aware of the impact that the current refugee crisis is having on young children and their early years education. During their 3.50pm session, the pair will be offering invaluable advice to early years teachers to prepare them for the needs of these children when they arrive at UK schools.
Friday 17 March
The issue of staff recruitment is well documented, with 79 per cent of schools in a 2015 NAHT (National Association of Headteachers) survey reporting that they ‘found recruitment problematic’ and 56 per cent stating that they paid recruitment agencies between £1,000 and £10,000 per position. Mark Robinson, founder of FindEd, will be speaking at 11:20am to offer visitors advice on best practice recruitment and how to avoid making costly mistakes.
Following this session at 12:40pm, children’s author and poet (Children’s Laureate 2007-2009) Michael Rosen will be presenting on the role of the arts in education and ho inspiration can be gained from poetry. Delegates will hear his views on how the arts offer a particular kind of experience to young people: a chance to explore a medium or a material in ways that are usually collaborative, experimental and inventive. This is sure to be an inspiring session!
Saturday 18 March
Having been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome herself, and as an advisory teacher for children with special educational needs (SEN), Victoria Honeybourne is an advocate of the neurodiversity paradigm. Victoria will use her 10:00am session to explain the concept and why it is so important to create an inclusive learning experience for our children.
On a related theme, at 11:20am in the SEN and Early Years theatre, Joy Beaney and Kay Al Ghani, consultants for Autism Train, will be helping visitors make a positive difference to the lives of children with autism.
At 12:00pm on the Saturday of The Education Show, Andy Buck, managing director of Leadership Matters, will be sharing his incredible insight into a ‘holistic solution to issues facing headteachers today’. Former headteacher and a National Leader of Education in 2009, Andy will be offering advice on improving educational outcomes for pupils by supporting great leadership development.
This certainly isn’t the last session of the show and the presentations outlined here are just a few examples; there really is something for everyone on offer. There are so few opportunities to gather CPD free of charge, so register for The Education Show today!