Welcome to this half term’s edition of the Red Rose Teaching School Alliance newsletter; we hope it will provide you with a quick snapshot of the alliance’s recent activities, as well as outlining a number of CPD and leadership opportunities available in the New Year.
Continued Professional Development
The alliance’s CPD twilight calendar has gone from strength to strength, with recent activities attracting a large number of participants from a growing network of schools-stretching across the Preston, South Ribble and Chorley area. A massive thank you to all those who have given their time, expertise and enthusiasm to make this programme such a success. In the spring term we have a total of 19 events, ranging from ‘How to conduct a PP Review’ by Paul Cowley (Bishop Rawstorne), to the ‘Effective use of New Technologies’ by Lindsey Dudaniec (Brownedge St Mary’s).
Events for the first half term are listed below:
The alliance will be establishing a CPD working party in the New Year to help us to review, evaluate and evolve our CPD offering. If your school has engaged with our CPD programme, either through presenting events or supporting activities through high staff participation, and you would like to be part of this development group, tasked with maintaining its relevance and effectiveness, please contact Ben Ward (PGHS Director of Teaching School) at for further details.
Training Opportunities with the Royal Geographical Society
We’re pleased to announce that Penwortham Girls’ High School has become the North West hub school for the Royal Geographical Society’s Data Champions project. Acknowledging that recent changes in geography curricula has resulted in geography teachers facing new data skills demands, this programmes has been designed to support geography teachers through the provision of bespoke training and resources. The programme aims to upskill the teachers of today and enhance the abilities of the geographers of tomorrow. Watch out for more information on RGS CDP opportunities in future newsletters.
Smart Collaborative Schools Programme
Does your school currently use SMART interactive whiteboards? Penwortham Girls’ is in the process of becoming an official Collaborative School partner with the educational hardware and software firm. This exciting development will lead to a range of training opportunities from Smart certified presenters and access to the most up-to-date software and equipment. The project will also lead to alliance members having the potential to apply to become SEEs (Smart Exemplary Educators). Any individual who has a genuine interest in using interactive whiteboard technology to advance their teaching will be able to apply.
Leadership Development
The Red Rose Alliance TSA, through the BBCL, is working in partnership with a number of TSAs from across the region to provide a range of nationally accredited leadership programmes. We are pleased to announce that funding has been secured for alliance members to attend these courses free of charge. However, due to changes in the way funding is being allocated to the NCTL, this is likely to be the last year that these leadership programmes will be available in their current format.
RQT: Leaders of Tomorrow– This course is designed to support RQTs (teachers in their 2nd, 3rd or 4th year of teaching) make the move to middle management. Please note, this is a potential leaders programme, the focus is management not teaching and learning.
Moving from Middle to Senior Leadership– This programme is part of the NCTL drive to secure succession planning for the school leaders of the future. This course is different from the NPQSL qualification so can complement previous study. It will be based on learning about the role and skills for being a senior leader. Participates must be a middle leader who has the aspiration to move on to senior leadership within the next 12-18months.
Aspirant Heads Programme- This programme is targeted towards Aspirant Headteachers i.e. experienced senior leaders who are deemed ready to step up to headship within 18 to 24 months. There is no pre-requisite for an NPQH qualification but you must have the desire and be deemed as ready to apply and secure your headship within 12 to 24 months.
If you have anyone you wish to send on these programmes, please email Helen Winter at Bishop Rawstorne () who can let you have the relevant booking forms.
School to School Support
We anticipate another busy year for our SLEs, with both Bishop Rawstorne and Penwortham Girls’ currently supporting a number of local schools. Our SLEs are providing a range of support services, from 1 day subject reviews to on-going packages of support covering several terms. Subjects that seem to be in particular demand are maths, science, history, geography and English. To help us to meet the needs of partner schools, we are looking to recruit more SLEs in these areas. If you are an experience middle or senior leader, with a proven track record of improving progress, and you would like more information about the role of an SLE please contact either Ben Ward () or Helen Winter () for further details.
Initial Teacher Training
Our current group of 16 School Direct trainees are now half way through their first placement in our cluster schools and all seem to be making good progress. Moreover, with UCAS now open, recruitment for our 2017/2018 cohort is in full swing. Our focus this year is on recruiting more trainees, in particular into the category 3 shortage areas – computing, maths, MFL, physics, geography and RE. If you are aware of anyone who is interested in a career in teaching, please ask them to contact Helen Winter at Bishop Rawstorne (), who can support with school experience days and any other general enquiries.
Finally, we appreciate any feedback we get from our partner schools, so if you have any comments or views, please feel free to contact us.
Helen Winter and Ben Ward
Bishop Rawstorne C of E Academy and Penwortham Girls’ High School