We believe that, through collaboration, our education system can be one of the best. Not only do we invest heavily in the professional learning of our own staff, we also work with local and national partners to share liberally. Over recent years we have hosted visits from more than 300 school leaders wishing to learn from our schools, and have contributed to the Early Career Framework and the drafting of the new standards for Headteachers and NLEs. We have organised and hosted conferences attended by hundreds of teachers focusing on the science of learning and curriculum, as well as networking events for school trusts. From Bedford Free School, we act as a lead secondary for the DfE’s Behaviour Hub programme and in addition, our staff regularly present at national education conferences.
We are proud to work with a range of excellent schools, trusts and Teaching School Hubs in order to bring exceptional quality professional development to Bedfordshire. Through our partnership work with Ambition Institute, the DRET Teaching School Hub, and the STEP Ahead Teaching School Hub we contribute to and facilitate programmes delivering the Early Career Framework and the new reformed suite of NPQs. In addition our staff act as expert tutors for the Exemplary Leadership Programme.
Below you will find some useful links and resources and recordings of some recent professional learning sessions. To find out more about upcoming professional development opportunities, please see our Advantage Schools Knowledge Exchange page and consider joining the network if you would like to stay up to date with our events and opportunities, or collaborate on future projects and professional learning opportunities.
ADVANTAGE SCHOOLS KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE TASTER SESSION 1
BEHIND THE BUZZWORDS: CURRICULUM
Intent, implementation, impact
Knowledge rich
Powerful knowledge
Cultural capital
Coherence
Sequencing
Knowledge organisers
Breadth and depth
Substantive and disciplinary knowledge, Interleaving
Threshold concepts
Genericism and subject specificity
So many buzzwords have been generated by the recent educational focus on curriculum, but what do they really mean? And how can you harness curricular thought and understanding to have impact where it really matters – on pupil learning?
Across Advantage Schools we view curriculum as a powerful lever in transforming pupil outcomes, but we also know curating a great curriculum is hard and requires careful thought.
Here we share insights from practice in our high achieving schools to explore curriculum design, implementation and leadership, whilst helping you understand some of the misconceptions and pitfalls you will want to avoid. This will support you in planning your next steps for curriculum development in your own school, department or classroom.
This session is delivered by:
Stuart Lock, CEO of Advantage Schools and editor of The ResearchEd Guide to Leadership
Sallie Stanton, Director of Education, Advantage Schools
This is the first of two taster sessions introducing our new free professional networking group, ASKE (Advantage Schools Knowledge Exchange). To access the resources mentioned in the webinar, please sign up to join ASKE.
ADVANTAGE SCHOOLS KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE TASTER SESSION 2
BEHIND THE BUZZWORDS: ASSESSMENT
There is no doubt getting assessment right is a crucial element of enabling pupils to succeed in their learning, but the terminology surrounding assessment is often confusing…
Curriculum as the progression model
Formative and Summative assessment
Responsive teaching
Data driven instruction
Domain
Sample
Validity
Reliability
What is more, some assessment practice is prone to generating teacher workload, yet doesn’t always tell us what we truly need to know.
At Advantage Schools, we believe we have established a form of assessment practice that involves minimal workload but maximum impact.
Watch our session if you want to hear how we:
Measure “progress” without resorting to flightpaths or other onerous pupil tracking methods
Ensure teaching focuses on meeting and responding to pupil needs
Drive effective, timely intervention
Reduce workload for teachers
Strengthen quality assurance without resorting to tickbox accountability
Develop understanding of assessment in our schools
This session is delivered by:
Stuart Lock, CEO of Advantage Schools and editor of The ResearchEd Guide to Leadership
Sallie Stanton, Director of Education, Advantage Schools
This is the second of two taster sessions introducing our new free professional networking group, ASKE (Advantage Schools Knowledge Exchange). To access the resources mentioned in the webinar, please sign up to join ASKE.
MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT MULTI-ACADEMY TRUSTS
April and May 2021, online
We are hosting a four-part information event about becoming part of a school trust, aimed at school governors and leaders.
Evidence shows that schools, staff, pupils and their communities benefit greatly from working together in a collaborative Trust.
However, joining a Trust is a strategic, long term decision that needs navigating carefully by both school leaders and governors.
Not only that, all Trusts offer different things.
So knowing how to start, and understanding the implications of such a change for your school can seem overwhelming.
We will explore the key issues involved, using three different Trusts that serve the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire areas (Advantage; HEART and the Diocese of St Albans Multi Academy Trust) to exemplify how Trust operate, but also how they can be different.
INTRODUCING EARLY CAREER TEACHERS
9th June, 4pm, online webinar
VIEW RECORDING HERE
At Advantage Schools, we can help you ensure your early career teachers receive high quality training and support. We have been selected as local delivery partners to deliver Ambition Institute’s Early Career Teacher programme in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Milton Keynes.
Ambition Institute’s programme offers a tried and tested two-year professional development package for early career teachers to increase their confidence in teaching effectively. Through the programme, extensive training and support is provided for early career teachers, their mentors, and the school induction coordinator. Our fully trained and extensively quality assured team are ready to deliver this fully funded support package to your school.
Join our webinar to find out more about the programme and the support we can provide. We will cover:
How the programme is structured
How we will support your early career teachers
How we will support and develop your mentors
How we support and develop your induction coordinator – with contributions from two coordinators with experience of the early rollout
How we plan to delivery the programme
How we have been trained and what quality assurance is in place to ensure your teacher get the best support
What you need to do next to benefit
PREPARING FOR OFSTED: ONLINE SEMINAR
Recording now available
In response to Ofsted resuming a full programme of graded school
inspections in Autumn 2021, and the resumption of monitoring visits to
schools in early May, we know many schools will be thinking about what
they can do to prepare.
Shortly before the first lockdown, schools in our trust managed two very successful
Ofsted inspections under the new framework, leading to gradings of Outstanding (Bedford Free School) and Good (Elstow School). Knowing how daunting the inspection process can be, we wanted to share our experience with you and answer any questions you may have.
The seminar will touch on the most recent updates to the inspection handbooks, before sharing our experience of inspection in detail, including the following:
• The telephone call including the education-focused conversation
• The changes to the Ofsted handbook since the Covid-19 pandemic
• The preparation, including our approach to the SEF
• Our preparation of colleagues, including our approach to curriculum
intent, implementation and impact
• Our approach to personal development
• Our approach to staff wellbeing and the staff survey
• The pupil experience and the pupil survey
• Our experience of deep dives
We will share details from our Advantage Schools Ofsted preparation handbook and
hear from our trust CEO, our Director of Education (responsible for the curriculum
and QA), the Chief Operating Officer (who oversaw safeguarding arrangements
including the SCR) and, crucially, both Principals.
YOU CAN VIEW A RECORDING HERE
YOU CAN ACCESS THE PRESENTATION SLIDES HERE
Implementing the Early Career Framework successfully in your schools
Recording now available
Statutory induction arrangements for NQTs are changing this September, with the introduction of a 2 year induction period that includes an enhanced entitlement to professional development, yet many schools and leaders remain unaware or unsure of the level of support their ECTs should receive.
Advantage Schools have this year been involved in the early rollout of the ECF with a national provider. In this event, the team from our schools talk about their experience from school lead level to NQT, explaining how it has impacted on their working life, what the benefits have been, and how to avoid any pitfalls.
We arranged for members of the expert group that proposed and wrote the Early Career Framework to explore the rationale and benefits of the reforms, before outlining your options as school leaders in how you implement the changes.
We finish with a Q&A session and hope you will leave with a better understanding of the ECF and more confidence as to how you can ensure you are ready for September.
We believe that world-class training of our teachers and support staff results in unrivalled experiences for pupils. We have a curriculum of professional learning for all our education staff, delivered through an extensive induction programme and supported through coaching and ongoing professional reading, that focuses on culture, curriculum and cognitive science . In addition, we encourage subject expertise by protecting time for department-led professional learning and funding membership of subject associations. We work closely with our family of schools to develop and deliver subject specific training, drawing on our extensive network of partnerships to ensure excellent quality.
We enable professionals to develop throughout their career. Our highly trained professional tutors and mentors support trainees and early career teachers and are delivering the early rollout of the Early Career Framework this year. We have a bespoke training programme for current and aspiring senior leaders as well as access to qualifications including NPQs. We value all our teachers highly, and ensure those who wish to stay in the classroom and hone their craft are supported in doing so. With this in mind we deliver regular trust training focused on enhancing classroom practice and provide funding for teachers to study for a Master’s degree.
When surveyed, our staff comment on their appreciation of our supportive culture and our respect for teachers as professionals.
For resources and support linked to the Coronavirus pandemic, including risk assessments and guides for remote education, see Our Response: Covid-19 Pandemic and Partial School Closures
Blog: Curriculum Matters Parts 1 and 2
Blog: How should we review our curriculum and why should we even try?
Blog: Curriculum Conversations: Secondary Art
Webinar: Reviewing our review: challenges of leading curriculum QA
Webinar: Curriculum The Three I’s
Online Event Recording: Ambition Institute, researchED & John Catt present: ‘The researchED Guide to Leadership’, edited by Stuart Lock, book launch
Blog: Sallie Stanton for Ambition Institute’s Leadership Series: Adapting Our Curriculum
Blog: A Sisyphean Edeavour – Leadership and school complexity
Conference: Lightbulb Moments With The Learning Scientists
At Advantage Schools we have a training programme in educational leadership. Here our CEO, Stuart Lock, introduces the principles of leadership at Advantage Schools and outlines the aims and content of the course:
To ensure high quality delivery of education remotely, in the case of self-isolation, bubble or school closure, we reviewed what research and writing was available carefully and consulted with an online tutor to put together a training and support package for our education staff. Here you can view some extracts, showcasing practical strategies for teaching online.
Frequently Asked Questions
