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Teachers promote enterprise education at Old Trafford L


eague-topping infant school teachers are teaming up with Manchester United and the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills to promote enterprise in education for pupils as young as four-years-old.


Rotherham’s Herringthorpe Infant School won an ‘outstanding’ rating from Ofsted after demonstrating the enterprise education approach originally developed by Ready Unlimited, a not for profit organisation set up to bridge the gap between education and the world of work. Herringthorpe Infant School, one of the first schools to adopt the approach 7 years ago, featured in a recent All Party Parliamentary Group report on enterprise education and has been praised for giving its young pupils an insight into the world of work and encouraging them to think creatively by linking core learning topics to local, regional and national industry and entrepreneurs. The school, which embeds enterprise teaching and learning through six thematic ‘pillars’ (resilience,


teamwork, creativity, reflection, problem solving and communication), will share its experiences on July 2nd when Head Teacher Lynne Pepper and pupils from the school take to the stage at the National Primary Enterprise Conference. The event is hosted by the Manchester United Foundation and organised by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the Enterprise in Schools Network and Ready Unlimited, the team behind the Rotherham education model. Ready Unlimited Managing Director Catherine Brentnall said: “Herringthorpe Infant School is a shining example of what can be achieved by promoting a gradual enterprise learning journey for pupils, embedding enterprise across all lessons and age groups and engaging local business and communities.


”The conference will explore what they have learned and show how Herringthorpe Infants staff, and colleagues at Hague Primary in Derbyshire, have transformed the culture of their schools through their approaches to enterprise education. “The long-awaited Enterprise Education Review by Lord Young will also have been published by then and the conference will focus on that as well.” The conference, targeted at school leaders and enterprise champions, will also highlight the support available to develop purposeful and enterprising curricula, reflect on existing provision, identify areas for improvement and develop meaningful networks and relationships with appropriate partners and schools.


‘Outstanding’ Headteacher solves problem of more frequent inspections


A headteacher with an 'Outstanding' Ofsted rating has solved the looming problem of the new shorter, more frequent Ofsted inspections with a unique way of recording evidence.


The National Union of Teachers (NUT) has described teachers as ‘overwhelmed’ by the expectations by Ofsted.


Last year, the notice period for inspections was reduced from 1 to 2 weeks to 1 to 2 days. This year, Ofsted have decided that inspections will be shorter but more frequent.


This added pressure on teachers has undoubtedly contributed to the teachers’ union’s recent decision to strike. Giles Storch; leadership speaker, schools advisor and Headteacher of Euxton CE Primary School recently rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, has found a way to beat the system.


Rather than waiting for the dreaded news ‘Ofsted are coming’, Storch took matters into his own hands and installed a system that meant that by regularly adding documents, images and even video to a timeline for each pupil as evidence of achievement, when Ofsted did turn up, his school was always ready. Ofsted are able to


May 2014


view a comprehensive timeline-based report for every class, pupil, subject or key stage - even every teacher.


Storch says; ‘What was needed was a fresh way to record evidence which encompasses documents, pictures, video and sound. This is it.’


Ofsted have described the system as ‘Very clever, very clear’.


Joe Ryan, Co-Founder of Earwig Academic says; ‘There is a huge dichotomy between tech-savvy teachers taking photos and videos with a tablet in the classroom and the extremely time consuming and rather primitive ‘print and display’ way of presenting this evidence for Ofsted – a practise still used by most schools. We founded Earwig specifically to save teachers’ precious time and we’re delighted by the overwhelmingly positive response from both teachers and school


administrators to this new educational tool.’


It will feature a range of workshops guiding staff through enterprising curriculum design, sharing learning from Herringthorpe Infants and other schools and meeting providers who can help enhance schools’ existing enterprise provision. It will culminate in a panel discussion with representatives from BIS, the Enterprise in Schools Network, Ofsted and Ready Unlimited. Conference details are available from Gary Durbin at gary.durbin@enterprisevillage.org.uk. The Manchester United Foundation is hosting the event as part of its commitment to educating, motivating and inspiring future generations to build better communities.


School children cultivate their future with new kitchen


gardens from Caterlink Twenty-four schools across the UK are benefitting from new kitchen gardens thanks to a £12,000 donation from Caterlink, the school education catering specialist. Each school is receiving £500 as part of the caterer’s School Kitchen Garden Project which helps educate pupils about the origins of fresh food and the benefits of growing your own fruit and vegetables. The donation from Caterlink’s charitable Foundation will go towards the construction of raised garden beds at the schools, within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Kent, Bedford, Camden, Park Federation, Pinkwell, Orpington, Hertfordshire, Tottenham, Maidenhead and Croydon. The investment in these schools will allow them to involve many more children in the cultivation of fruit and vegetables, and enhance their involvement in food related projects and learning. The kitchen gardens will enhance the focus on fresh food already in place at the schools through the work of Caterlink. Neil Fuller, Managing Director of Caterlink, said: “We are delighted to be supporting so many more school children this year through our Foundation’s School Kitchen Garden Project. By working closely with schools in this way, we hope to have a positive impact in reinforcing the importance of fresh food and provenance to local children.”


Caterlink, in conjunction with its parent company WSH, supports UK schools in setting up and maintaining kitchen gardens. The aim of the School Kitchen Garden Project is to help children to become more aware of how food is grown, how it should be nurtured through the growing process and the journey of “field to plate”. To date, the company’s Foundation has helped fund more than 64 kitchen gardens.


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