CONTENTS Dear Reader,


Welcome to the latest issue of Education Today. With Spring now upon us and the warmer weather (hopefully) just around the corner, we


take an in-depth look at outdoor learning this month. In our first feature, we are delighted to hear from Scott Wycherley, Head of education at the Field Studies Council, who celebrates the organisation’s eighty years this year and looks ahead to the next eighty, while in our second we hear from Natalie Argile, Head Teacher of Blackheath High School in London, who explains why children must be allowed to access the outdoors and learn to appreciate nature. Finally, Andrew Earnshaw, headmaster of Fairfield Prep School, part of Loughborough Schools Foundation, explains why, with the impact of Covid-19 still being felt by young people, outdoor and creative learning is an effective way to improve their wellbeing and help them develop leadership skills.


Elsewhere we have all our regulars on hand


to offer insight and advice, and two View from the classroom features this month. In the first we speak to Dave Goucher, Executive Headteacher across Oldfield Park Infant School and Oldfield Park Junior School, who explains how the two schools merged under the aegis of the Palladian Academy Trust; and in our second Katie Sarjeant, year 5 teacher and Maths lead at Wallace Fields Junior School in Epsom, tells us why it was so important to get involved in this year’s World Maths Day. Remember, we love to hear from you, you can get in touch with us via Twitter @ EdTodayMag, as well as by phone or email! Enjoy the issue!


Jonathan Swift Managing Editor


In this issue... 04-10 NEWS


Selected stories from the UK education scene this month


12 WELLBEING


With Mark Solomons, Founder of Welbee 14 VIEWS


With Jon Ford; and Charlotte Rowley on leadership


15 BESA CORNER


With BESA members Access Education GCSEPod and SAM Learning


16-17 VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM


We hear from Dave Goucher, Executive Headteacher across Oldfield Park Infant School and Oldfield Park Junior School


18-19 VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM


With Katie Sarjeant, year 5 teacher and Maths lead at Wallace Fields Junior School 20 SEND


With Jayne Foster and Katrina Brown


26-28 FEATURE FOCUS: OUTDOOR LEARNING


With Scott Wycherley, Head of education at the Field Studies Council


30-31 FEATURE FOCUS: OUTDOOR LEARNING


We hear from Natalie Argile, Head Teacher of Blackheath High School


32-33 FEATURE: OUTDOOR LEARNING


Featuring Andrew Earnshaw, headmaster of Fairfield Prep School 34-37 BUILDINGS, MAINTENANCE & REFURBISHMENT


36-41 COMPUTING & I.T 42 IN OTHER NEWS


21-25 VIEWS & OPINION


Featuring comment and insight from the UK education sector


Publication Manager: Carl Hearnden Publishing Director: Paul Ryder Managing Editor: Jonathan Swift Artwork Editor: Kirsty Hood Secretary: Tracey Ballard Published by:


Datateam Business Media Limited, London Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 8LY Tel: 01622 699128 (Advertising) Tel: 07969 141997 (Editorial) Fax: 01622 757646 Email: education@datateam.co.uk Circulation: Curwood CMS Ltd datateam@c-cms.com Tel: 01580 883844 Fax: 01580 883849 Subscription Prices 2020 Number of editions per year: 11 UK: £52 Overseas: £132


The Publishers cannot accept responsibility for any discrepancies either in copy or between products and/or services listed. Nor can they be responsible for illustrations and/or copy for products which lead to infringement of copyright


ON THE COVER....


Bromcom have been helping education providers to harness data, people and outcomes for over 35 years. Our cloud-based MIS, Finance and Vision products serve over 1.5 million users across the UK. With intuitive dashboards and the all new Bromcom AI, we’re helping everyone in the educational ecosystem fulfil their potential.


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