COMMUNITY

Andrew Moffat is a well-known and respected figure in education. This passionate assistant headteacher made headlines after resigning from a school following a backlash against his sexual orientation and “some of the resource books being used in literacy lessons”. Since then, Andrew has continued to inspire educators as a school leader, founder of Equalities Primary, a speaker and author (No Outsiders In Our School: Teaching The Equality Act In Primary Schools is available from Routledge now).

Everyone agrees: children do better when their parents show an interest in their school activities, help their learning, and praise their achievements. Attendance increases, children’s motivation is higher, and classroom behaviour, happiness and outcomes all improve. It’s no wonder that parent engagement is a key school priority, and a select intervention to help close the gap for disadvantaged children. So how are some schools getting it so wrong?

When your school buys from an education company, you do much more than engage in a simple sales transaction. Securing a new educational resource, whether it’s a piece of furniture or an edtech solution, can be the beginning of a great adventure. When it comes to the suppliers with whom you work, it’s well worth looking into why they do what they do.

Rushton Parish Council in Cheshire wanted to bring together a local school - Eaton Primary - with the Eaton village community. They ultimately decided that a large, open area was the best way forward; a place that would allow multiple children to play at one time, as well as boasting rustic features that would complement the bucolic surroundings. But with limited time and money, where to start? Furthermore, what would this area look like?

Many schools are looking for solutions to make their spaces - classrooms and playgrounds - stimulating areas for children. From my own areas of expertise, I frequently suggest zoning their playground and creating a performance zone, though this - as with many school improvements - can be costly. These benefits can be huge, though - just look at the below video of pupils dancing in their own outdoor performance area:

Fact: The more families talk positively about school, the better children do. Attendance increases, children’s motivation is higher, and classroom behaviour, happiness and outcomes improve.

Independent Thinking associate Lisa Ashes is part of a group of passionate educators who have just gotten back from their latest pedagogic trip to Nepal. Here, the Manglish author (Teacher in the Cupboard is out soon) tells us why she’s proud to be a part of Reach Out 2 Schools’ mission...

The Innovate My School community is warmly invited to the ITTE and MirandaNet 32nd International Annual Conference at Winchester University, to be held from the 7th-8th June. This exciting event’s proceedings will be based around the theme of ‘Raising Aspirations for Digital Education’. Find out why you need to attend below...

The library should be the beating heart of your school, and the most valuable resource in it is - of course - the librarian! Sadly, however, sometimes children need more encouragement to come into the library. They may be reluctant or struggling readers, or reading may not be seen as ‘cool’ by their friends. Here are five steps to change this.

Wilbury Primary School had been letting out its facilities to the local populace for some time, however their local authority-managed booking service was deactivated at short notice. This, as you might imagine, brought about a wave of new headaches for the SLT. It was clear that they would struggle to manage the bookings internally as they didn’t have the necessary resources, and therefore needed to find a system that could replace and improve upon the previous one. To solve this issue, the school looked for an alternative provider.

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