News
New app upskills teachers to improve performance T
he creators of i-WIGT, the pioneering teacher appraisal app, which helps schools uncover and nurture outstanding teaching practice, have this month launched the app onto the market. The i-WIGT is set to revolutionise education by enabling school leaders to carry out assessment on teachers’ practices as opposed to more widely used apps that assess student behaviour or attainment. The tool supports schools in quickly building up and analysing whole school data and assesses performance by teacher, year group or status of the teacher. It reports clearly, effectively and promptly which teachers’ standards have or have not been achieved and can therefore be used by a school’s leadership team to identify best practice, as well as where to channel resources and CPD spending.
In order to support teacher career goals, the app also facilitates self-reflection, feedback and appraisal. Teachers are able to reflect on their own performance, posting observations alongside photos and videos of their work to their personal performance management document. The app enables school leaders to appraise and mentor teachers based on the ‘What is Good Teaching?’ framework, helping to minimise
observer subjectivity. Developed over 10 years with help from teachers, and pulling in national and international research, national Ofsted criteria and information from the National Teachers Standards, this highly successful framework is currently used in more than 1,000 schools. Speaking of the benefits seen in his school, Nick Turvey head teacher at Upton Cross Primary School in London comments: “As a large and expanding school, we have found the i-WIGT invaluable in streamlining monitoring and evaluation. Not only is it kept up-to-date with the current Ofsted framework and enables observers to triangulate the quality of teaching with work scrutiny and performance data, but it allows schools to analyse performance by subject, Key Stage and career experience at the touch of a button. This ensures that strategic decisions about school improvement and accountability can be made on robust data that is immediately accessible.”
Heather Clements, the author of iWIGT adds: “With the i-WIGT, the difficult and often time- consuming task of whole school teacher assessment is made faster and more effective, and educators are provided with clear paths towards attaining outstanding, creative teaching.
Teachers are motivated by the knowledge that their excellent performance will be recognised by their peers and senior leadership teams, while schools can be rest assured that they have something concrete to show to Ofsted!”
Shakespeare Week aims to double participation F
ollowing the runaway success of the first ever Shakespeare Week in 2014, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has unveiled plans for an even bigger national celebration of the world’s greatest playwright, for one million primary school children and their families next March (16-22 March 2015). The charity is extending its online provision of free cross-curricular resources for all primary school children, including dedicated resources for KS1 and a new suite of KS2 resources for the autumn term. There will also be a new family area on the Shakespeare Week website and a nationwide programme of activities for schools and families.
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust estimates that the first Shakespeare Week in March this year gave half a million children the chance to be inspired by the stories, language and creative legacy of Britain’s greatest playwright. More than 3000 schools took part; 85% reported that it provided pupils with a ‘positive first encounter with Shakespeare’ and 95% said that it had resulted in ‘increased knowledge and understanding of Shakespeare and his world.’ More than a third of the participating schools have introduced Shakespeare in classes for the first time as a result of the campaign, and 98% of teachers said that they would recommend Shakespeare Week to a colleague. Jacqueline Green, Head of Learning and Participation at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust said, “Shakespeare Week has been a massive hit in primary schools. Between April and September a further 1,000 teachers have signed up for Shakespeare Week 2015. Many schools have adopted the national celebration as a whole school activity, and we have seen a marked demand for resources for younger children. As a result we are extending the scope of the campaign for all primary ages and accelerating our plans to give half of
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the UK’s primary school children a great first encounter with Shakespeare by 2016, when the world will be celebrating 400 years of Shakespeare’s legacy.” The Trust is inviting schools to sign up early for Shakespeare Week in 2015 so that teachers can start downloading resources and planning their Shakespearian adventures now and order Passports to Shakespeare for all their participating classes, so that every child can record their personal Shakespeare Week experiences.
The campaign is backed by more than 170 of the country’s leading arts and heritage venues, including the British Museum, English Heritage and the National Trust; that will once again provide resources and activities to encourage children to explore their cultural heritage both in schools and beyond the classroom.
Maggie Hayward, English co-ordinator at St Andrew’s Primary School, Cobham said, “I am thrilled with how successful the week has been. The staff embraced the idea and the children have responded so positively, I would love to see this as a permanent part of our curriculum.” “At Rochdale Central Library, Shakespeare Week 2014 was marked with a programme of exciting events for children and families. We received tremendous feedback from families, teachers and students who attended and we would love to build on this success in 2015,” said councillor Neil Emmott, cabinet member for corporate services and neighbourhoods. With funding from Arts Council England to support the campaign’s establishment over its first two years, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust aims to involve half of the UK’s primary schools and inspire three million children with Shakespeare Week by 2016.
October 2014
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