BESA CORNER
This month, in our ongoing feature highlighting the work of members of the UK education suppliers’ trade body BESA, we hear from BROADGREEN PRIMARY SCHOOL in Liverpool; and LAURA TYLER, Head of Primary Maths at Ark
Chasing the White Whale of interventions – it can be done!
Comment by LAURA TYLER, Head of Primary Maths, Ark Curriculum Plus
How putting evidence into practice can help us work towards our COVID recovery goals. Interventions can often feel like chasing a white
whale – we’re all trying to implement them effectively, but the intended impact can be hard to attain. Picture this. You’re a TA. Imagine you’re in a Y4
short division lesson. Then you’ve been on break-duty – conflict resolution between pupils. Next up, a Y6 revision lesson on grammar - semi-colons, passive verbs, perfect-form of verbs. Now, lunch- duty – helping manage hundreds of pupils through the canteen. Suddenly, you’re back in Y4 taking a group out to practice their short division. TAs can be the unsung heroes of schools but often get a tough deal
when it comes to interventions which must match what’s taught in the classroom. This can be challenging to execute without engaging in teacher training and ongoing subject-specific PD, in the same manner as classroom teachers. Having only been able to scratch the surface in this short article, this is
reality for, not all, but many schools and only intensified by COVID. But the EEF has magnified the need for ‘targeted academic support’ as a key strategy for COVID recovery. So the question now stands, how do we achieve this?
What does the evidence tell us? The EEF’s School Planning Guide 2021 celebrates interventions as a ‘powerful tool’. But high quality implementation relies on evidence-based approaches, including those outlined in their highly influential ‘Making best use of teaching assistants’ guidance report: • Brief, regular sessions over a sustained period • Extensive training, with TAs closely following the plan and structure • Structured supporting resources with clear objectives • Assessments ensuring the right support for the right child • Connections between learning within the intervention and classroom So, how do we go about putting this evidence into practice?
What’s the solution? These evidence-based approaches are at the heart of Mathematics Mastery’s ‘Ready to Progress interventions’. Introducing a brand new bank of video- supported interventions that will help schools to target specific areas for the recovery of learning after Covid, and for targeted interventions beyond: Each short video is watched by the adult and pupil together,
modelling the use of representations and language. Pause points are provided for discussion and exploration. The accompanying activities have easy-to-use ‘in the moment’ guidance
for the adult leading the session, including questions to ask - with desired answers, common misconceptions and how to address them, ideas for depth - discussion-based and practical activities. The activities offer flexibility to fit your school's intervention slots and the
needs of each pupil. Confident pupils may spend fewer sessions on a particular area, whereas others may need multiple sessions to understand and embed key learning. A diagnostic placement quiz informs intervention programme routes. What’s more, the interventions align with the DfE’s curriculum guidance for education recovery and the Ready-to-Progress Criteria.
What do teachers love about the Ready to Progress interventions? According to Hannah Parsons, Network Lead for Primary Maths at Ark Schools: “These resources enable our teachers to match the right learning opportunities and tasks to individual students. By replicating the language structures and representations used in lessons, students can seamlessly apply their new understanding and make accelerated progress. The real-time support for adults delivering the interventions has been crucial to ensure the quality of questioning and discussion seen in lessons is reflected in these sessions.” Join the hundreds of schools already using Mathematics Mastery Ready to
Progress Interventions, to chase your ‘white whale’ of interventions. Find out more at
https://www.arkcurriculumplus.org.uk/our- programmes/primary/mathematics-mastery/ready-to-progress- interventions
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www.education-today.co.uk
Health and Relationships: Teaching RSHE with Discovery Education at Broadgreen Primary School, Liverpool
Broadgreen Primary School uses Discovery Education’s Health and Relationships programme to deliver the new RSHE curriculum. Assistant Headteacher SUZANNE EVANS shares how the resources have helped teachers to prepare for curriculum change and deliver with confidence.
High quality resources Discovery Education Health and Relationships provides a complete package for teaching the new RSE curriculum and we’re very happy with it. The digital content is engaging and teachers find it easy to use. Each topic has a lesson plan, video and linked activities.
Teacher confidence, pupil progression Some of our teachers felt less confident to deliver the new curriculum, especially in terms of assessment. Health and Relationships helps us to assess skills and knowledge because it supports and tracks progress. The content is split into 6 channels Healthy and Happy Friendships, Families and Committed Relationships, Caring and Responsibility, Similarities and Differences, Healthy Bodies Healthy Minds and Coping With Change. Pupils revisit these each year and we love the spiral curriculum approach.
Real life learning The resources are designed with children in mind. Many of the clips are presented by children and the learning reflects their lives. They enjoy activities where they can put themselves in another person’s shoes. This promotes skills including active listening and reasoning. Health and Relationships also introduces children to key vocabulary in a contextual way, and there are lots of opportunities for collaboration and talking.
Diverse and inclusive One of the key aspects of this programme is that it teaches the importance of diversity and reflects Britain’s communities. It’s great to see lots of different children, families and relationships represented in the videos. It’s inclusive on every front.
Supporting pupil wellbeing PSHE has always been a priority for our school. During the pandemic, it’s become more important than ever. Health and Relationships is a key part of our recovery curriculum. Having been away from school, children might need help with building positive relationships and reminding about what a good friend is. They might also need support with healthy eating and better sleep routines. Health and Relationships covers all of these themes.
Families and relationships The programme explores the importance and diversity of families and the characteristics of positive family relationships. As a Stonewall school, this is something we champion, so it was great to find resources that look at different sizes of families, same sex families, intergenerational families, families where there are different faiths and so on. We really like how Health and Relationships covers this. It fits with the ethos of our school.
Reflecting pupils’ lives I’m really pleased with Health and Relationships and would definitely recommend it to other schools. The programme supports teachers and enables children to learn in a way that reflects their lives. The resources are engaging, easy to use and bring learning to life. It’s great when you find something that you know will make a difference and help pupils.
Explore Discovery Education Health and Relationships at :
www.discoveryeducation.co.uk/rse
October 2021
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