Schools and Academies Show – November 2019
Schools and Academies Show – 13th-14th November The education sector remains under pressure and faces both new and long-standing challenges. Funding remains tight, inspection frameworks are changing, rates of disadvantage and high needs are increasing, all of which places more work on teachers and school staff. But there is opportunity too, with more solutions, providers, talent and expertise within the sector than ever before. There is also a new Secretary of State, with a background as a Governor and a TA as a wife, promising extra money and support in the coming months. To address these challenges and make the most of the opportunities, the Schools and Academies Show returns to Birmingham’s NEC on 13th-14th November, with a renewed focus on the key things that are important to the sector. Funding and income generation; Wellbeing & mental health, for both learners and teachers; SEND and the Curriculum will be central to the agenda of sessions across the expanded two days. Supporting staff is more crucial than ever, with the extra burdens on their time and greater demands being made of many. To reflect this, we have several case studies on the subject, as well as bringing the Wellbeing Demo Area to Birmingham. This dedicated area on the exhibition floor will showcase a range of classes, mini-presentations, demonstrations and talks aimed at senior school and education leaders with the purpose of tackling the growing mental health crisis and wider pupil health issues within the education sector. Stonewall, Food for Life, and The Teen Yoga Foundation, among other organisations, will all provide practical, free workshops for staff on things that they can implement day today. With policymakers continuing to drive change across the sector, we are proud to host the Government Education Village, returning once more in partnership with the DfE and ESFA, which will include as a new offer for Birmingham, demo sessions running throughout both days. This means that you will be able to explore in detail specific policies and make the most of their expertise and advice, with representatives from Schools Resource Management, Academies Funding, Finance, Educate Against Hate and The Apprenticeship Service. Sharing best practice and innovation is important to you, as it is to us, so we have arranged case study seminars in the main agenda on topics such as Opportunity Areas, Private/Maintained School Partnerships, EdTech Implementation and many more. Minister for the School System, Lord Agnew, will be delivering a speech to open the Show and a representation of the political opposition with education spokespeople from Labour, the Lib Dems and the Green Party offering competing alternative futures for education on Day 2. The Business & Finance Theatre will be packed with offerings from the DfE and ESFA as well as specialist case studies in income generation and procurement advice. We have partnered with Nasen to bring you the biggest ever SEND Theatre, alongside talks from Dr Adam Boddison the government’s independent advisor and founder of research ED Tom Bennett. Panels will debate Ofsted, the future of work, the curriculum, technology in schools, optimum school resource management and the sad rise of youth violence. We have brought together Public Health England, the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, a former young offender and parents to discuss this life-changing issue. New this year is the Charity Village. We recognise the huge contribution charities are making and the good work they are conducting within education. This interactive village of key organisations will provide the perfect opportunity for third sector organisations to showcase their work to you and foster collaboration between the two sectors. We will also offer new opportunities for networking. Key to this is our MAT Matchmaking Area, where roundtables comprised of MAT leaders will share their knowledge on specific issues, with each 45-minute session chaired by an expert. All MAT leaders and wider senior leadership teams that register for the Show will be offered the option to upgrade free of charge to a VIP ticket which will give them access. As ever, we are solutions-focussed, with expert providers such as Sage’s finance software, CENTURY Tech’s ground-breaking AI-powered tools which can improve student performance by 30% and cut teacher workload by 6 hours per week. For schools struggling with staffing, Randstad and Smile Education will be on hand with their specialised recruitment systems designed to give top-class support both inside and outside of the classroom. If your school is looking to expand, look no further than Maun Funding and Arcadis, experts in securing funding and delivering high-quality facilities. Classroom resources abound too, with such successes as Mighty Writer: a brand new, innovative and multisensory resource that transforms children’s literacy almost overnight. Join us for this and more at the Schools and Academies Show Birmingham on 13th-14th November at the NEC. Click here for full agenda and speakers list Click here for 5 brand new features onsite You can register for free to attend by clicking here
What’s new at Bett 2020?
The 36th edition of Bett takes place on 22-25 January 2020 at the ExCeL London – and with an expanded offer of show features and content, it is an unmissable date in the global EdTech event calendar! Find out more about this year’s edition below. A bigger, better Bett event Advancing education is what Bett is all about. We’ll once again be providing a platform to push the sectoral conversation further. Over 34,000 educators and leaders from the UK and overseas will be there, ready to engage with more than 800 EdTech suppliers, SMEs, and start-ups. What’s more, we’ve arranged a line-up of 300 of the most influential figures in teaching and learning today. An unrivalled guest speaker agenda The educators, leaders, and EdTech pioneers you need to hear from are coming exclusively to Bett UK this year. We pride ourselves on giving our visitors the chance to hear from those changing the way we think about education and technology – and that’s exactly what we’re offering in 2020. The first wave of speakers includes globally recognised figures and finest educational minds in Britain, including: Linda Liukas- Author of “Hello Ruby” and Tech Evangelist Professor Daniel Muijs – Head of Research, Ofsted Arjana Blazic– Teacher Trainer, Croatian Ministry of Education Dr Sue Black- Professor of Computer Science and Technology Evangelist, Durham University Jos Finer- Head of Organisational & Staff Development, University of St. Andrews Carol Allen- Education Advisor for ICT and Inclusion, Hartlepool LA Bart Verswijvel- Senior Advisor, European Schoolnet Partnership Stay tuned for more speaker updates when they become available. The Education Show at Bett For the first time in Bett’s history, we will be integrating the Education Show fully inside the event in the North Hall. Hundreds of suppliers will be there, showcasing the products essential for the health and wealth of educational institutions around the world. We’ll also be offering accredited CPD-led sessions, covering a wide range of topics on educators’ needs in the brand-new Education Show Theatre, for a complete picture of modern education. Six new inspirational content themes We have introduced six new themes to structure the conference programme, ensuring every learner and educator can benefit from this year’s content. They include: Innovation Wellbeing Empowering Teaching & Learning Inclusion, Social Mobility and SEND Future Tech and Trends Skills Our newly appointed Advisory Board, made up of the industry experts, has steered our content in the right direction and to make sure our finger is firmly on the pulse when assessing the latest developments in the education industry. “Bett provides a hub to connect together like-minded and engaged educators around technology,” says Advisory Board member, Jon Audin of the University of Winchester. “Once a year, everything that you need around the field of EdTech and its use can be found under one roof. With talks, teachers, students and companies sharing the latest practise and ideas it encourages the searching questions of whether this technology will make a difference to students we teach.” Expanding Bett’s CPD offer Teacher and leader development is essential to what Bett is all about. With this in mind, the event’s programme of educator-led sessions has been expanded. In 2020, you’ll find more CPD driven content than ever before. Visitors will benefit from a diverse range of peer-to-peer learnings, insights and expertise. We have also invested in fresh CPD-focussed features, including the launch of the Professional Development Theatres, offering free workshops to educators of all levels. Better navigation for a higher return on time We know. Bett is busy. Very busy. Getting a strong return on your time is vitally important. It will be easy to navigate around Bett 2020. The floorplan has been simplified, making it simple to find the solutions, products and partners you want to see, have better, productive conversations, and take back better technology and learnings to your schools. The show is now split into six different events zones each with a different focus: The Education Show Equipment & hardware Management solutions Teaching Tech Learning Tech Global Showcase Further networking opportunities at Bett Bett 2020 will have more networking opportunities onsite, with a Staff Room for educators to have space to discuss the content sessions they’ve experienced and reflect upon what’s inspired them. On top of this, we have the Connect@Bett networking app, which will enable visitors to set up meetings with relevant exhibitors and fellow educators to help them maximise their time. Join us at Bett UK 2020 Bett 2020 is now open for visitor registration. Join us at the latest instalment on 22-25 January 2020 at the London ExCeL. For more information, visit bettshow.com or contact us at uk@bettshow.com
Cornerstones Education launches ‘Curriculum Maestro’
Cornerstones Education launches ‘Curriculum Maestro’, a new online curriculum management platform for primary schools, to meet changes to the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework. South Yorkshire based Cornerstones Education has launched a new online platform, Curriculum Maestro, designed specifically to meet the curriculum challenges faced by primary schools ahead of the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF) which launches on 1 September 2019. Curriculum Maestro has been created after extensive qualitative research with more than 150 primary headteachers, senior leaders, The Department for Education and Ofsted. The research included face-to-face interviews, focus groups and online surveys. When asked what their main challenges are when faced with the new EIF this autumn, the key issues raised were: Workload: Reducing teacher workload whilst still providing a broad, balanced and connected curriculum. Delivery against the new EIF: Teachers want to make sure their curriculum delivers everything the new EIF says it should. Subject coverage: Providing good coverage for all subjects through sequenced lessons, progressing covering both knowledge and skills. National curriculum coverage: Being able to track intended and actual national curriculum coverage across the whole school. Planning, teaching and assessment: Being able to link live planning, teaching and assessment across the whole curriculum. It was concluded from in-depth interviews with the Department for Education, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Amanda Spielman, and Deputy Director for Schools, Matthew Purves, that primary schools often have the harder job when it comes to providing a broad, balanced and connected curriculum. With 10 years’ experience of primary curriculum design, Cornerstones Education has developed Curriculum Maestro as a solution to these challenges. It provides a mix of pre-populated and editable options to help leaders quickly define their curriculum intent and measure whole-school and individual coverage and progression. Teachers can design or choose projects, activities and lesson resources that meet the needs of their classes and make instant, purposeful assessments. Simon Hickton, Managing Director of Cornerstones Education said: “With a renewed inspection focus on the curriculum and its “connectedness”, we know there are even more leaders looking to refresh or redesign their curriculum. Some schools have tried to do this alone, but for primary schools, in particular, the task can be a mammoth undertaking and has a significant impact on people’s workload. Creating a whole-school, coherent and connected curriculum is hard work and takes up a lot of time. I am all too aware of the pressure primary school teachers face with such high expectations on the levels of planning, marking and data management required. Maestro will revolutionise the way that schools can define and measure their curriculum intent, implementation and impact by giving them the tools to create a curriculum with appropriate coverage, content, structure and sequencing.” Curriculum Maestro has undergone extensive piloting as well as been showcased to more than 300 primary schools across the country who currently use the Cornerstones Curriculum. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive: Christian Hilton, Executive Headteacher at Shipston-on-Stour Primary School, has been trialling Cornerstones Maestro and said: “It’s a real game-changer for curriculum design, leadership at all levels, planning and assessment, all while improving workload and the quality of teaching and learning. The balance of strategic leadership and operational use at the chalk face is brilliant.” Lyn McNamara, Executive Principal, Probus Primary School, said: “It’s fantastic. For assessment of all subjects, including the foundation, to be integral and for us to be able to do it while we teach is a real answer for me. I also love the fact you can assess for impact and coverage. In terms of senior leadership being able to make use of it, I think it’s a fantastic tool to have.” Cornerstones Education was founded by Simon Hickton and Melanie Moore 10 years ago, both of whom have over 20 years of primary teaching and leadership experience. The foundation of the Cornerstones Curriculum is to provide a primary school curriculum that develops the skills and knowledge required by the national curriculum, as well as being creatively stimulating and allowing children to explore their own interests. It is currently taught in over 2000 schools to 500,000 children. A Cornerstones Curriculum yearly license gives access to over 80 themed projects and 1000s of lesson ideas mapped to the national curriculum. https://cornerstoneseducation.co.uk
Galloway Country Fair pledges support for local children’s charity cash for kids
Cash for Kids has been named as the official charity partner of Galloway Country Fair for the third year running. The Fair organisers have pledged to donate all of the takings from programme sales alongside any cash donations over the weekend, to raise vital funds to support the charity’s work throughout the local area. Representatives from Westsound Cash for Kids will also be on site at this year’s event providing activities and competitions for children to take part in throughout the weekend. Galloway Country Fair has raised nearly £4,000 for Cash for Kids in recent years thanks to programme sales and generous donations from visitors, and organisers are hoping to provide another welcome boost thanks to generous Fair attendees. Anna Fergusson, Drumlanrig Castle and Country Estate Manager, said: “We’re delighted to renew our partnership with Cash for Kids by naming it our official charity partner for the third consecutive year. I’m sure the charity activity will be a great addition to the Fair and we can raise a great sum for the cause.” Westsound Cash for Kids aims to support young people and children in Dumfries and Galloway by providing extra care and guidance to those disadvantaged in the community. Debbie Fraser, Regional Charity Manager said: “We are delighted to have been chosen as the charity partner of the Galloway Country Fair for another year. With poverty at its highest for years our applications for grants are at an all time high and all money raised from this great day will be distributed across Dumfries and Galloway to help support children living in the most disadvantaged areas throughout school holidays.” Set in the grounds of the stunning Drumlanrig Castle and Country Estate, Galloway Country Fair will take place on Saturday 17 August, from 10am to 6pm and Sunday 18 August, from 10am to 5pm. Tickets are available now online at www.gallowaycountryfair.co.uk, to book a camping spot please contact info@drumlanrigcastle.co.uk. Visit www.gallowaycountryfair.co.uk for further information and keep up to date with the latest news like cash for kids, or check out @GallowayCountryFair on Facebook and @GCF_Drumlanrig on Twitter.
FREE Safeguarding in September Webinar
Sign up to Educare’s FREE Safeguarding in September webinar today! When? Tuesday, June 25th at 4:00pm September always brings fresh challenges with children returning to school after the long summer break and new pupils and staff settling in. This year, there will be additional complexity due to the introduction of Ofsted’s new inspection framework and changes to PSHE guidelines. In this free webinar from EduCare, former Headteacher, Doug Watt, and Pastoral Care Specialist, Dawn Jotham, will cover key themes for safeguarding in September including mental health, staff wellbeing, and online safety. Find out more and book your place here
Essential School-Leaver Event Returns To Olympia London
With so many options available for school-leavers, deciding what to do next can be a daunting prospect. This autumn, What Career Live? and What University Live? returns to Olympia London to provide students, parents and teachers with the chance to explore over 100 apprenticeships and higher education options side-by-side. There will be expert advice at over 40 free presentations with topics ranging from degree apprenticeships and how to choose the right career path, to student finance and building positive mental health at university. Careers advisors will be on hand to give one-to-one advice to visitors and interactive features including a STEM Challenge, Buskers’ Corner and a Creative Hub will help to inspire students on their future career choices. Apprenticeships will be on offer from Warner Bros, Rothschild & Co, Deloitte, EY, Network Rail, Amazon, DSTL, Capgemini, Health Careers (NHS) and many more. Universities at the event include University of Liverpool, Brunel University, Aston University, Southampton University, University of Hull, Coventry University, University of Law and more. Amanda Knee, a parent and previous visitor comments: “This event was excellent for me as a parent who didn’t know what the next steps were for my 17 year old. There were so many different options to explore and investigate. Each one was well explained and very helpful to both myself and my son. I would recommend to every parent and child who doesn’t know what career path they wish to follow.” Entry is free for students, parents and school groups and tickets can be booked at www.whatcareerlive.co.uk
Sheffield Hallam Festival of Education set to breakdown barriers
Sheffield Hallam Festival of Education set to breakdown barriers, raise aspirations and start conversations A groundbreaking ground breaking new education conference, Hallam Festival of Education, is taking place on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th June at Sheffield Hallam University. Organised by South Yorkshire Futures, a social mobility partnership committed to improving education and raising aspiration for young people in South Yorkshire, the theme of the Festival is ‘Transformative Change’, and how education has the power to change lives of young people. Some of the biggest issues in education will be discussed, including the Ofsted’s new Education Inspection Framework, the curriculum and teacher workload. Schools are increasingly seeking support and advice on these topics as a result of Ofsted’s decision to make curriculum intent, implementation and impact a fundamental part of the new Framework, which launches in September. Primary curriculum expert, and director of South Yorkshire based Cornerstones Education, Simon Hickton will be speaking about how schools can create their curriculum, the process they need to go through, the strategic decisions they need to make to ensure they have a curriculum in place that is right for their school, and ways to reduce teacher workload. Simon Hickton, Director of Cornerstones Education, said: “I’m really excited about the Festival and the ideas and aims behind it. Raising childhood aspirations is a real issue, not only here in South Yorkshire but across the UK education system. As a former primary school headteacher myself, I know how difficult it can be to engage and motivate some children and I strongly believe that a broad and balanced curriculum can be the key to unlocking a child’s potential. When we recently spoke with Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Amanda Spielman, she said “laying the building blocks of a good curriculum can genuinely ‘level playing fields’. A rich and broad curriculum can enable less advantaged children to achieve as much as children who have been born with every possible advantage”, something we couldn’t agree more with.” In a podcast hosted by Cornerstones Education Curriculum Developer, Caroline Pudner, Festival Director, Sean Cavan and Senior Lecturer, Sarah Williams, talk about the ideas behind the festival and what senior leaders and teachers can expect to take away from it. They explain that whilst the roots of the festival are in South Yorkshire, the region does in fact act as a microcosm of the rest of the country and the issues which South Yorkshire is facing, are also being experienced in other areas, meaning the festival will benefit any education professional or employer working with children and young people. Sean Cavan, Festival Director and Head of Business Engagement at the Sheffield Institute of Education, said: “We are delighted that Cornerstones are one of our major partners for the Festival. They are completely aligned with our thinking that a solid educational experience can really make a difference to people no matter what socio-economic background they come from, which makes them the perfect partners. We want the festival to be full of debate, collaboration and vibrancy, sparking conversations about the really big questions and challenges within schools and education across the UK.” Festival-goers will be able to engage in meaningful debate about the exciting, challenging and impactful things happening in education and the talented and inspiring people who teach and work with them. Speakers will include Ofsted’s National Director of Education, Sean Harford; Baroness Estelle Morris; Children’s Commissioner, Anne Longfield, OBE; and inspirational education trainer, Hywel Roberts. There will also be learning and sharing zones, networking spaces, live performances and music from the region to create a real festival, celebratory atmosphere. The Cornerstones Curriculum is taught in over 2000 schools to 500,000 children. Written and developed by Melanie Moore, a former primary school teacher with 20 years teaching experience, Melanie wanted to create a primary school curriculum that would develop the skills and knowledge required by the national curriculum, as well as being creatively stimulating and allowing children to explore their own fascinations. Realising that writing a curriculum was going to be a full-time job, she left teaching and established Cornerstones Education in 2010.
The emotional brain of children and teenagers
Taking place on Saturday 15 June 2019 at The Child Centre for Mental Health London the latest conference hosted by CCMH will address ‘What children and teenagers need to know about life in order to live well’. Through fascinating film footage and deeply moving case material, teachers and parents can learn how to present science and psychology-informed key information to young people on vital topics such as living with your emotional brain, why love hurts, how to make up after a row and knowing your brain chemicals so you can calm down effectively after stressful emotions instead of self-harming or turning to drink or drugs. Other topics to be covered include what drugs do to your brain, the key causes of depression and anxiety, how to prevent mental illness, how to keep going when you want to give up, why people want to die and why they want to live, what you need to know about sexuality and gender, how to manage friendships well and how to be a great parent. Speakers – eminent psychologist and neuroscientist Dr Margot Sunderland, trauma informed practice and emotional health trainer Clare Williams and psychotherapist and transgender specialist Bob Withers – will present research evidence showing that supporting young people and parents with psycho-education such as the aforementioned topics can significantly reduce mental health problems and dramatically improve the ability of couples, families and friends to resolve conflict with dignity, and love in peace not torment. The aim of the conference is to help delegates understand who should impart this knowledge to young people (do-able training implications for non-psychologists) and how to move from the anxiety of ‘pseudo-competency’ to complete competence in delivering psychological and neuroscience-based PSHE-based mental health education in schools. They will also learn what aspects of prevention and alleviation of human suffering cannot be addressed effectively through didactic learning (providing students with the required theoretical knowledge) and require instead relational change through individual face-to-face contact time with an emotionally-available adult in the school or home environment. Presenters at the conference will highlight the need for mental health programmes in schools to draw on 50 years of peer-reviewed psychological studies about the human condition and over 30 years of research in affective neuroscience (the study of the neural mechanisms of emotion) if we are to see an improvement in the mental wellbeing of young people and PSHE in today’s schools. To download a booking form for the CCMH conference please follow the link: booking form. The cost per delegate is £183.
CISI Educational Trust awards totalling £23,000 announced
The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) is delighted to announce the 20 student winners of its 2019 Educational Trust Awards. The CISI Educational Trust Awards annually celebrate achievement amongst students studying CISI accredited courses around the UK, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. The winners received a combined total of £23,000. Each of the winners, 10 female and 10 male, were nominated by their university based on excellence in an item of work or examination. In addition to their nomination, each winner was invited to submit an essay of 400 words for the opportunity to attend an interview with the Educational Trust and a chance to achieve a further financial award based on interview performance, general knowledge test, and knowledge of the CISI. The essay title for 2019 was: “What is Green Finance? Discuss whether it is a passing trend or a fundamental change.” Following an intensive interview process, we are delighted to congratulate Akshat Vyas the top performing postgraduate who received an additional £3,000.00 and Luke Mulligan, top performing undergraduate, who received an additional award of £1,500.00. Josephat Loambo and Niccolò Carrara received £2,000.00 and £1,000.00 each in recognition of high interview standard. The top performing students were invited to attend the CISI Annual Awards Ceremony Tuesday 19th March at Mansion House to receive an Award. On receipt of his award Akshat Vyas ICMA Centre, University of Reading said: “It is a great honour to be CISI Educational Trust Award winner this year. Getting recognition from a premier professional body in the financial profession like CISI will certainly give me a competitive advantage in my future career. The entire process for Educational Trust Awards was very rewarding. The interview day provided me a great opportunity to interact with the Trustees and peers from other universities. The discussion on the essay topic of Green Finance and current events in finance was very enriching.” Luke Mulligan studying at University of Ulster said: “The CISI Educational Trust Award provided me with the opportunity to network with fellow students and to add a competitive edge to my professional portfolio.” Clare Gore Langton, Chartered FCSI(Hon), Chairman CISI Educational Trust, an investment director with over 25 years of experience of working with private client investment portfolios said: “This year’s essay topic was What is Green Finance? Discuss whether it is a passing trend or a fundamental change and the discussion subject was Tariffs and Trade Wars. The trustees enjoyed a thoroughly interesting morning of discussion with a strong group of candidates. The work submitted by both undergraduates and postgraduates was of a high calibre “Every year I say this, but the general knowledge area needs to improve significantly. The financial world does not exist in isolation, I think all future candidates should take this on board.” The following students, as CISI Educational Trust Award winners, each receive a financial award to support ambitions for a financial services career. Postgraduate winners receive £1,000 each and undergraduates £500 each. Aston University Raveer Mann £ 500.00 Bangor University Jesper Ipland £ 500.00 Birmingham City University Juliana Martika Binti Mansor £ 1,000.00 Coventry University Boglarka Dobas £ 500.00 De Montfort University Hao Chen £ 1,000.00 University of East London Ali Hassan £ 500.00 University of Exeter Abdulrahman Youssef £ 1,000.00 Glasgow Caledonian University Aoife Clifford £ 1,000.00 ICMA Centre, University of Reading Akshat Vyas £ 1,000.00 Liverpool John Moores University Josephat Loambo £ 1,000.00 University College London The Vinh Mai £ 1,000.00 Northumbria University Natalie Suchecki £ 500.00 University of Portsmouth Esther Msangi £ 1,000.00 Queen Mary University of London Han Bao £ 1,000.00 Sheffield Hallam University Michael Lofthouse £ 500.00 University of Sussex Molly Llewellyn £ 500.00 University of Sussex Natcha Kittiwongsophon £ 1,000.00 University of Ulster Luke Mulligan £ 500.00 University of Westminster Jamie Rasheed-Horsburgh £ 1,000.00 University of York Niccolò Carrara £ 500.00 For more information about the CISI Educational Awards click here