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Welcome to the Durham Teaching School Alliance Issue 10 September 2015

Welcome back everyone,

Values and Mission:

The Durham Teaching Schools Alliance aims to inspire learning for all through: support and collaboration, reflection and enquiry,sharing and dissemination, access to expertise and nurturing talent. Together we can shape the future of learning in Durham by: improving teaching, developing leaders, raising achievement and promoting positive attitudes to learning.

The Durham Teaching School Alliance is a Cohort 3 teaching school alliance.

Alliance Schools: The following schools have signed a Memorandum of Understanding underlining their commitment to the teaching school alliance and partnership working.

Aclet Close Nursery School, Bowburn Infant and Nursery School,Crook Nursery School, Tudhoe Moor Nursery School, Lumley Infant and Nursery School, Cockton Hill Junior School, Esh Winning Primary School, West Cornforth Primary School, North Park Primary School, Timothy Hackworth Primary School, Chilton Primary School, Ludworth Primary School, Peases West Primary School, Langley Moor Primary School, St Michael’s CE Primary School, Burnopfield Primary School, St Helens Primary School, St Mary’s RC Primary School, Evergreen Primary School, Vane Road Primary School, Deaf Hill Primary School, Shotley Bridge Infant School, Cockton Hill Infant School, Staindrop CE Primary School, Escomb Primary School,Woodhouse Community Primary School, Fishburn Primary School, Langley Park Primary School, Consett Infant School,Etherley Lane Primary School, Moorside Primary School, Blessed John Duckett RC Primary School, Horndale Infant and Nursery School, Sugar Hill Primary School, Oakley Cross Primary School and Nursery Unit, St Anne’s CE Primary School, Kirk Merrington Primary School, Durham Gilesgate Primary School, Easington Colliery Primary School,Wheatley Hill Primary School,St Mary’s RC Primary (South Moor),Gainford CE Primary School, Lumley Junior School, Catchgate Primary School, Ingleton CE Primary School, Copeland Road Primary School.

King James 1 Academy,Wolsingham School,The Oaks Secondary School, Seaham School of Technology,St John’s School and Sixth Form Collegeand Greenfield Community College(52)

Any school can be part of the Durham Teaching School Alliance and all are welcome. All schools have something to offer and there are significant benefits to being part of the Durham Teaching School Alliance. To find out more about joining the allianceplease contact Joe Sonnenfeld.

What does the Durham Teaching School Alliance offer?

  1. School to School Support
  2. Opportunities for CPD
  3. Succession Planning
  4. Research and Development
  5. Initial Teacher Training
  6. Access to Specialist Leaders in Education, SLEs, and National Leaders in Education, NLEs.

Many thanks to everyone who attended and supported three very successful conferences in June

  1. Eighty Teaching Assistants attended a conference for Teaching Assistants at the Durham Leadership Centre on Wednesday 17th June. The keynote speaker Dr Tom Robson was supported by John Abbott, HLTA North, and Susan Borsberry, HLTA Bishop Barrington and Vice Chair of HLTA Northern Partnership.
  2. Sixty Deputy Headteachers and aspirant leaders attended a conference at the Manor House Hotel on Thursday 18th June. Dr Tom Robson led the day and was supported by Lynn George, Headteacher/NLE- Prince Bishops Primary School and Rachel Brannan, Headteacher- Oakley Cross Primary School.
  3. Sixty delegates from all phases including Headteachers, governors, teachers and students attended the Creativity and Innovation in Learning Conference at Greenfield Community College on Friday 19th June. Speakers at the conference included: Katy Milne, Director of Arts and Creativity at Greenfield College, Leslie Patterson, Headteacher/NLE, Etherley Lane Nursery School, Mark Turner, Headteacher, Durham Gilesgate Primary School and Dr Tom Robson, Educational Consultant TRedu.

Watch this space for details of forthcoming conferences.

System Leaders- National Leaders of Education (NLEs), National Leaders of Governance (NLGs), Local Leaders of Education (LLEs), Specialist Leaders of Education (SLEs)

Name/Designation / School
NLEs
Mrs L. George / Prince Bishops Community Primary School
Mrs L. Patterson / Etherley Lane Nursery School
Mrs F. Gowland / Our Lady and St Thomas RC Primary School
Mrs A. Lupton / Crook Primary School
NLG
Mr J. Buckham / Prince Bishops Primary School
LLEs
Mr D. Brown / Ramshaw Primary & St Chads RC Primary
Mrs J. Sarsfield / West Cornforth Primary School
Mrs S. Taylor / Burnopfield Primary School
Mr S. Whelerton / Staindrop CE Primary School
Mr D. Eason / Fishburn Primary School
SLEs
Mrs K. Bushby / Crook Primary School,Curriculum/English
Miss A. Grayson / Chilton Primary School,Curriculum
Mrs E. Sturrock / Ramshaw Primary School,English
Mrs T. Kidd / St Andrew’s Primary School, Maths
Mr P. Atherton / Deaf Hill Primary School,Maths
Mrs L.Cooper / Sunnybrow Primary School,Maths
Miss R.Stanhope / Burnside Primary School,Attendance
Mrs K.Costello / Vane Road Primary School,ICT
Mrs K.A.Lee / Prince Bishops Primary School,ITT
Mrs J.Crosby / Ludworth Primary School,EYFS
Mrs C. Speight / Langley Park Primary School,EYFS
Mrs J. Madgwick / Etherley Lane Nursery School,EYFS
Mrs K. Lee / Hartside Primary School,SBM
Mrs R. Newbold / Glendene Arts Academy,Behaviour
Mr P. Robertson / St John’s School & 6th Form,MFL

To find out more about system leaders and how they can help your school contact Joe Sonnenfeld

National Leaders of Governance-

The Durham Teaching School Alliance is delighted to announce that Mr Joe Buckham, Chair of Governors at Prince Bishops Primary School, has been designated a National Leader of Governance. National Leaders of Governance (NLGs) are highly effective chairs of school/academy governing bodies who are selected, trained and designated by the National College for Teaching and Leadership to provide support to chairs of governors in other schools.There are twenty one NLGs designated in the North East of England. You can find out more about NLGs and how they can help your school on the NLG website. Having an NLG deployed to your governing body is usually free of charge, and NLGs can provide support in a number of different ways.

The Durham Teaching School Alliance has a directory of Lead Teachers

Lead Teachers are teachers whose practice is judged outstanding by their Headteacher and EDP. If you have a member of staff whose practice is consistently good or outstanding we want to hear from you. Simply download the application form from the website complete it and send it to me. I will request a reference from school and your EDP.Names will be added to the data base which can be accessed by all schools. Teachers from across the County will then be able to visit your school, subject to capacity, to observe excellent practice. If you currently have a Lead Teacher on the data base who is changing or has changed year groups or left your school please let me know so that I can keep the data base up to date. The Lead Teacher role does not involve any outreach work.

Please browse the Lead Teacher Directory on the teaching school website.

The Durham Teaching School Alliance is looking for Lead Practitioners

Do you have support staff in your school whose practice is exceptional or innovative?

We are looking for: School Business Managers, TAs, HLTAs, Learning Mentors, Attendance Officers, PSAs, Midday Supervisors, Caretakers…….. who are willing to share their practice with colleagues from other schools. Please encourage them to apply to be a Lead Practitioner. The application process is very simple. Application forms can be downloaded from the website.

Once completed you must endorse the application by providing a short reference and then return the form to me. Lead Practitioners are not expected to engage in any outreach work.

Please browse the Lead Practitioner Directory on the teaching school website.

Yoga Lessons Yoga Children North East tel: 07916107510

Are you looking for ways to develop pupil resilience, patience and self- belief,have you considered yoga? Contact Beth Hayward- yoga Instructor and find how yoga can bridge the gap between pupil wellbeing and attainment. Beth taught at Prince Bishops Primary School until July 2015 before embarking on this new and exciting venture.

Continuing Professional Development Diary Dates (these courses are full)

Course / Date / Venue
Read, Write Inc day 1 / Monday 21st September / Prince Bishops Primary
Read, Write, Inc day 2 / Thursday 22nd October / Prince Bishops Primary
HLTA Prep day 1 group 1 / Thursday 1st October / Prince Bishops Primary
HLTA Prep day 1 group 2 / Thursday 8th October / Prince Bishops Primary
HLTA Prep day 2 group 1 / Wednesday 21stOctober / Prince Bishops Primary
HLTA Prep day 2 group 2 / Thursday 5th November / Prince Bishops Primary
HLTA Prep day 3 group 1 / Thursday 19th November / Prince Bishops Primary
HLTA Prep day 3 group 2 / Thursday 26th November / Prince Bishops Primary

Face to face training for Teaching Assistants.

This is a bespoke programme designed and delivered by Durham Teaching School Alliance Specialist Leaders in Education. This programme is suitable for primary and secondary colleagues working in different settings and with different roles. . Cost £425

TA day 1 F2F
Planning, Professional Attributes / Monday 12th October / Prince Bishops Primary
TA day 2 F2F
Pupil Progress, Assessment / Tuesday 10th November / Prince Bishops Primary
TA day 3 F2F
SEN , Intervention, Equality / Wednesday 9th December / Prince Bishops Primary
TA day 4 F2F
Learning Styles / Monday 18th January 2016 / Prince Bishops Primary
TA day 5 F2F
Planning ICT / Thursday 11th February / Prince Bishops Primary

Read Write Inc Fresh Start Rescues children aged 9+ working below expected standards in reading

Read Write Inc. Fresh Start works because it:

  • Gets children reading and writing fluently in less than 33 weeks
  • Makes learning to read focused and fun using age-appropriate texts and anthologies
  • Boosts your children’s confidence by matching what they read with the sounds they know
  • Provides clear and cumulative writing activities to build vocabulary and punctuation
  • Uses simple and effective spelling strategies to increase confidence when writing.

When: Day 1 Monday 7th December 2015 Day 2 Tuesday 8th December 2015

Where:Prince Bishops Community Primary School, Gibson Street, Coundon Grange, Bishop Auckland, DL14 8DY

Cost: £145 per person- course materials and lunch provided

Charges for CPD

The Durham Teaching School Alliance will always endeavour to keep its charges for CPD as low as possible. Whenever we can we will pass on savings to you and keep you informed of funded places/ opportunities.

Charges for CPD will now be made directlyto your school budget, (except for Academies), following training events.You will not be sent an invoice unless you request one.

Cancellation Fees:

If a member of your staff cannot attend a training event no charge will be made to your school providing you give me a minimum of 5 days notice. You will incur a cancellation fee (50% of the cost of the course) if you withdraw from a course giving less than 5 days notice. Your school will be charged the full cost for non- attendance without prior warning unless there are mitigating circumstances.

Confirmation of CPD:

All bookings for training are made by email. Confirmation of places on training events are sent to all schools within 24 hours of a booking. The confirmation is sent to the person making the booking or to the email address given by the school. A reminder is sent to all schools a week to ten days before the training event. Please make sure that delegates booked on courses from your schools receive the necessary information.

Initial Teacher Training

The Durham Teaching School Alliance has 6 Primary School Direct trainees and 6 Early Years 0-5 School Direct trainees for 2015/16.

Applications for Primary ITT places for 2016/17 are made through UCAS. Please check the UCAS website to access programme details and find out when the application window for 2016-17 opens

Information about Early Years Teacher Status School Direct programme and application process can be found on the Durham Teaching School website.

FAQs:

How many teaching school alliances are there in the Northern Region?

  • There are now 40 teaching school alliances in the Northern Region (soon to be 600 nationally)

How many teaching school alliances are there in County Durham?

  • There are now 5 teaching school alliances operating in County Durham

Can I be part of more than one alliance?

  • Yes you can

Is the Memorandum of Understanding a contract or binding?

The MoU is an agreement NOT a contract and is not binding. It contains a short mission statement; explains the management structure and governance of the group and asks alliance schools to work collaboratively and inclusively.

What are the benefits to my school of joining the alliance?

  • You become part of a family of schools committed to collaborative endeavour.
  • You can engage in an increasing range of opportunities for CPD
  • Your staff can gain professional qualifications/accreditation inc: NPQML, NPQSL, HLTA status, MA…etc.
  • The alliance can design and deliver bespoke CPD for your school.
  • The alliance can provide or broker bespoke support for your school.
  • Your staff can become involved in the work of the alliance e.g as an SLE, School based Mentor, Lead Teacher, Lead Practitioner...etc
  • Your school can become involved in the work of the alliance e.g as a placement school for ITT.
  • Your school could be involved in a Research and Development project.

How can I find out more about the Durham Teaching SchoolAlliance?

  • Look on the website:
  • Contact Joe Sonnenfeld tel 01388 451278

Best wishes Joe Sonnenfeld