research blog spotlight: tried and teachmeet midlands 2016 ... · teachmeet midlands 2016 booking...
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TeachMeet Midlands 2016
Booking is open for the Spring TeachMeet
Midlands in 2016. The free event will be
held at The National College, Learning &
Conference Centre in Nottingham (NG7
2TU), on Thursday 4th February from
6:00pm till 9:00pm.
TeachMeets are an informal way for teachers
and other people in education to get together
and share ideas from the classroom. With
short presentations of either 2 or 5 minutes
that anyone can sign up to present, and a
wide variety of ideas to share.
The keynote speaker has been announced
as Shonette Bason-Wood and the event is an
excellent CPD opportunity and chance to network
with educators from across the region.
There will be free parking and free food at the
event, with a cash bar open all evening. As with
previous events, tickets need to be bought
separately under the name of each attendee.
More information and tickets can be found at:
http://goo.gl/0AJYD1
Tried and Tested
FormTimeIdeas.com was designed and developed by Jonathan Hall, a secondary school maths
teacher in Leeds, and provides form tutors with an engaging and simple to use selection of
activities to use during tutor time.
You can refresh the page for a brand new set of randomly selected activities. Alternatively get
specific new ideas using the buttons provided.
The home page has a variety of activities, news and jokes, and there are separate pages for just
Literacy, Numeracy, News and ‘Name That Flag!’.
Pages can be displayed on the board for all pupils or printed as an A4 sheet. When tutor time is
over, click to reveal the answers!
Edited by Beth Greville-Giddings
Relay Issue 5,
December 2015
Westbury School Learning and Development Bulletin
Research
Focus:
“Effective
intervention for
school refusal
behaviour”
Blog Spotlight:
John Tomsett on
“The merits of
copying from the
board”
Tried and
Tested:
A selection of
engaging and
simple to use
activities for tutor
time
The concept of a ‘growth mindset’ was developed by Carol
Dweck in the 1960s from her research into motivation. This
centres on the idea that how people attribute the cause of
their success or failure, influences how much effort they apply
in the future.
Dweck theorised that that people have either a fixed mindset which
is set in performance goals – ability is static and inflexible; or a
growth mindset which is associated with learning goals –
something can be increased with effort and time .
Changing Mindsets
Have high
expectations - of all
pupils
Create a risk-tolerant
environment - value
effort, strategy and
progress
Praise wisely - focus
feedback on process,
not intellect or talent
A fixed mindset is reported to limit
achievement. Pupils will avoid challenges
and cheat rather than study. In addition
to this is a need for validation. By
promoting growth mindset in pupils they
can understand abilities can be improved
and see setbacks as opportunities.
The concept of mindsets has been
introduced in many schools, but how
strong is the evidence base ?
(continued inside)
INS
IDE
Mindsets continued... There are challenges in scaling up mindset
interventions as whole-school initiatives. There
has been a lot of research in this area in the
US, and earlier this year, the Education
Endowment Foundation (EEF) published the
results of its ’Changing Mindsets’ trial, the first
rigorous trial assessing the impact of the
growth mindset approach in the UK.
They reported positive progress in pupils who
had received training in mindset themselves,
however their results were non-significant. The
EEF are currently recruiting for a second trial
’Changing Mindset 2015’ .
The impact of feedback can be different for
different groups of pupils. There is evidence
that process praise has a positive impact on
pupils that are struggling; whereas those that
are succeeding respond well to all types of praise.
There are also indications that gender may have a
impact on the efficacy of different types of feedback.
Developing a ‘Growth Mindset’ can have a
significant impact in schools but there needs to be a
deeper understanding of the theory behind it, rather
than ‘one-off INSET’ training. Changing the way
teachers think about work can be difficult and
training is key.
The approach needs to be subtle rather than overt
and staff need to be careful not to over praise. There
may also be ethical and practical issues to consider
around the use of psychological interventions in
schools.
Whilst the scaling up of ‘growth mindset
interventions’ has proven difficult, on a local level,
with proper consideration, there is a lot of potential.
The EEF’s ‘Changing Mindset’ report (pdf) can be
found here: https://goo.gl/7evjpP
EdResearch Focus “Effective intervention for school refusal
behaviour”
Clare Nuttall & Kevin Woods (2013)
In this paper, Nuttall and Woods evaluate
successful professional interventions for two
case studies of adolescents’ school refusal
behaviour. Data gathered from the young
person, professionals and parents were
synthesised to propose a multi-level,
’Ecological Model of Successful Reintegration’.
Primary causes of school refusal that are cited
include: bullying/other threats to safety;
separation anxiety; coping ability; difficulties
with classroom routine; difficulties with peer/
teacher relationships; low academic self
concept; and exam pressure. These can be
influenced, or compounded by, secondary
causes that are included in the evaluation.
Key recommendations include promoting a
feeling of safety and belonging to increase
motivation and aspiration; provide
opportunities of responsibility to increase self-
esteem and motivation. Maintain a flexible
approach, recognising where pupils have
made a positive contribution to the community.
Family support is central to breaking the cycle of
school refusal and the authors note that comparison
with family members and previous experiences with
supporting agencies can have a negative impact, as
can talking about potential prosecution of parents. A
multi-agency role is vital, as is the presence of a key
adult. The study highlights the value of persistence
and resilience of professionals and their role in
adapting interventions to pupil needs.
The paper recognises the need for further research
in helping define areas to support successful
reintegration of pupils exhibiting school refusal
behaviour.
The article is available as Free Access until the end
of 2015 and can be downloaded here:
http://goo.gl/Xdq38w
Decoding the
Diary Sheet
Edu-Blog Spotlight
John Tomsett is Headteacher of Huntington School in
York. He blogs at http://johntomsett.com and he
tweets as @johntomsett
John Tomsett has recently written about the merits of
copying from the board. He suggests that 'writing and
thinking at speed is a skill which needs modelling' -
especially when it comes to preparing students, who may
not be used to writing for long periods of time under
pressure, for exams.
He describes using a visualiser to talk through writing a
model answer to an AS essay question, in the precise time
– 35 minutes – allowed in the examination. He spoke out
loud what he was thinking as well as what he was writing,
almost simultaneously. The students had the same
examination paper and they had to copy down from the
projector screen, in real time, exactly what he was writing.
The students had unique access to what was happening
in his brain as he was writing.
When comparing his students examination performance
against OCR’s Question Level Analysis data it suggested
that the visualiser/board copying lessons had a positive
impact. There was a clear difference between how pupils
performed on the shorter, un-modelled questions and the
longer, modelled questions.
Tomsett says it’s about 'teacher learning'. This year, as
they prepare for mock examinations, he will model how he
writes and thinks when attempting shorter questions too.
He reflects that, ‘people of a certain age have a lump of
hard skin on the top/side of the middle finger on their
writing hand, the result of writing intensely over hundreds
and hundreds of hours. When I wrote non-stop for 35
minutes and my students followed suit, they complained –
a lot – amidst a great deal of hand-shaking and grimacing.
The thing is, we might be onto something if we can get our
students to cultivate their own middle-finger writer’s
bump…’
Full post, with comments at: http://goo.gl/Szv6TM
You’ve been asked for some
information or a pupil report for a
meeting, but what do all those
letters mean?
PEP
A PEP, or Personal Education Plan, is
compulsory for all looked after children
of compulsory school age. Whether or
not they are currently in education.
It provides essential information to
ensure that appropriate support is in
place to enable the child to achieve the
targets set. It is also a record of the
child’s leisure interests and educational
achievement.
The first PEP should be in place within
the first 20 days of a child becoming
Looked After.
A PEP sets clear objectives and targets
for a child, covering:
Chronology of education and
progress;
Existing arrangements for
education and training, including
details of any special educational
provision;
Any planned changes to existing
arrangements and provision to
minimise disruption
The child’s leisure interests;
Role of the appropriate person and
any other person who cares for the
child in promoting the child’s
educational achievements and
leisure interests.