The Sheringham Primary National Teaching School Alliance Tim Groves Senior Teacher Sheringham CPS&N

"Teaching schools give outstanding schools a leading role in the training and professional development of teachers, support staff and headteachers, as well as contributing to the raising of standards through school-to-school support." NCSL School Improvement Raising Standards

On 1 st April 2012 the National College announced that Sheringham Community Primary School & Nursery was to be designated a National Teaching School. The Sheringham Primary National Teaching School Alliance (SPNTSA) comprises, at the moment, 30 partner schools across all phases, sizes and localities – together with the LA,UEA and SNITT. We project that we will grow to at least 100 schools by the end of yr2 in “TSs are our one and ONLY chance to shape our own destinies and to control what we do and where we go rather than being done to. All political parties are signed up to it. TSs will only succeed if most schools engage, support and work in partnership. TSs will fail if they can't secure partnerships and we will return to a system where people not in schools determine how and what we should do.” Dominic Cragoe.

The Sheringham National Teaching School Alliance has already found great benefits in working together and creating supporting partnerships. Experienced and outstanding leaders and teachers have been able to share and develop ideas and practices and in so doing co-ordinate expertise from the alliance, using the best leaders and teachers to: 1.Play a greater role in training new entrants to the profession – ITT 2.Lead peer-to-peer professional leadership and development – ITP & OTP 3.Identify and develop leadership potential 4.Provide school to school support 5.Designate and broker Specialist Leaders in Education (SLEs) 6.Engage in Research and Development. THE BIG 6

SPNTSA has shrunk the BIG 6 into 4 Key areas. 1.ITT/CPD 2.Leadership Development, Succession Planning & SLE Recruitment. The deployment of LLEs/SLEs – LA Talent Pool – Learning from the Middle etc. 3.School to School Support 4.Research & Development – Commissioned two projects – Maths – ICT. We have formed 4 sub-groups to work on these areas working on ACTION PLANS. We have started with what we are currently doing; identifying the expertise we have across the Alliance and then creating the vision of where we want to go.

ITT Initial Teacher Training Developing a close collaborative relationship with our Higher Education partners to provide high quality training for trainee teachers. We are working with:The UEA (PGCE) SNITT (SCITT) School Direct (GTP) As a teaching school, together with our strategic partners, it is important that we remain at the forefront of this training ensuring that ITT across our Alliance reaches the highest standards and therefore contributes to the raising of standards and pupil achievement. Led by Rachael Carter (Sheringham Primary) we have a clear plan and commitment to the training of trainee teachers, working with trained mentors that give the trainees access to outstanding lessons for observation and guide them in the development of their classroom practice. Frequent meetings with our HE partners, together with the goodwill and professional guidance they have given have made for a strong platform for this development.

Through our collaboration with our HE partners we have, as an alliance of schools, expressed an interest in the teacher training initiative School Direct, for the year 2013/14, bidding currently for 18 trainees. In offering places as an alliance of schools, we are perhaps better placed to vary the training experiences, and, just as importantly, to offer a NQT, to a partner school looking to appoint at the end of the training year. With this running through the Alliance we are well placed to negotiate the best deal with a university to complement our provision. As a Teaching School we go beyond just offering placements and can provide supplementary training for trainees in the Alliance in areas we have known expertise in: Early Years Maths English ICT Curriculum Leadership (the training of Middle Leaders)

CPD Continuing Professional Development As an Alliance we are currently looking at setting up cost effective courses supporting schools and teaching. Fiona Chant (John of Gaunt), Anne Stokes (Sheringham) and the colleagues from the Aylsham Trust are currently co-ordinating this and details will appear on the Teaching School Alliance website when ready. It must be stressed that there is a close working relationship in this with the LA and other CPD providers. Key Words: COST EFFECTIVE QUALITY SUPPORT FROM OUTSTANDING PRACTITIONERS

Know the key concepts underpinning ‘good’ practice in the classroom Understand the impact of these concepts on ‘good’ teaching and learning Be able to deliver these concepts through consistent practice Enable delegates to self assess and audit their own teaching and use this to deepen their understanding of effective teaching and learning through learning activities, lesson observations, facilitated debriefs and follow-up coaching. The programme will cover the following units: Planning lessons Starter activities Plenary sessions Questioning techniques Engaging in learning Challenging learning Assessment Differentiation ITP - Improving Teacher Programme

To develop the teacher to be outstanding in everything they do Further development of a common language to discuss teaching and learning Demonstrable high level understanding of teaching and learning A positive ethos in which the quality of teaching and learning is observed, discussed and enhanced The opportunity to develop coaching and mentoring skills to enable them to develop the practice of others. Target Audience: Teachers within schools that are currently ‘good’ or borderline ‘outstanding’ that have the capacity to develop into consistently ‘outstanding’ teachers. Experience – ideally at least three years teaching experience Performance – ability to demonstrate a consistent, highly developed commitment to teaching and learning Evaluation – consistent experience in using student feedback to evaluate their teaching, reflect and continually improve on current practice. OTP Outstanding Teacher Programme

So far through the Sheringham Alliance 192 teachers have undertaken the ITP from 100 schools (not including what has been provided by the Aylsham High School Trust). The first OTP cohort started at Sheringham last week. There has been extremely good feedback.

SCHOOL TO SCHOOL SUPPORT Schools learning from each other. Schools improve most when they challenge and support each other. Schools should not become independent but interdependent. The Teaching School effectively draws capacity from across its strategic partners to undertake school to school support work. Nationally School to School support work has been recognised as the most significant way of moving schools forward bringing measurable school improvement and a raising of standards. This support helps schools see their weaknesses and put into place support that will help move a school forward and avoid a potential Ofsted category. In other words: Supporting vulnerable schools before being forced into a category and pushing the panic button. The Local Authority has just commissioned SPNTSA to work with 42 schools across the county

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT Research & Development will build on that which already exists externally. Staff have been given time and support to look at and evaluate current evidence and then undertake Research & Development activities, that will involve collaboration across and outside the Alliance. Our Key Issues that form the focus of our R&D are: 1.To examine the benefit of practical maths in the primary phase. 2.The future use of effective ICT in the primary classroom 3.To work out a feasible cost model so that ICT in the classroom can be developed & most importantly sustained. The success criteria will be seen in papers that are to written giving clear guidance as to what works well and what could be improved, and over 3 years impacts positively on pupil achievement.

SLEs Specialist Leaders of Education Specialist Leaders of Education (SLE) are outstanding middle and senior leaders who have the skills to support individuals or teams in similar roles in other schools. They understand what outstanding leadership practice in their area of expertise looks like and are skilled in helping others to achieve it in their own context. It is important in this area that all those involved in leading this understand the importance of emotional intelligence in school to school support. In schools we have already worked in over the few years an understanding of the school environment, ethos…what makes that school tick? Or doesn’t! Pressures. Stresses. Self Esteem. We must take the word SUPPORT not just to mean giving a working model – a list of tasks etc. but also understanding how those we are supporting are acting/re- acting to the environment in which they are working. SPNTSA is looking to appoint 16 SLEs who will cover the specialist areas we have already mentioned. Early Years – Maths – English – ICT – Middle Leaders (Curriculum Leadership)

We live and work in exciting times! There is strong support for the concept of teaching schools and a clear belief that they should be drawn from the very best schools in the country. Dominic has said to us that we need to look not just at Outstanding & Good schools, but to appreciate that often schools put into Special Measures have areas of outstanding practice. We have experienced at Sheringham with schools we have worked with, that when they have problems – processes kick in – and we have seen schools become exemplary and themselves start sharing great practice. Always reaching for the highest standards.

Teaching Schools should be motivated by a desire to improve teaching and learning. Working in partnership with other schools. Collaboration is vital and a strength. We recognise and draw on the strengths of all the schools involved in the partnership. Our collaborative relationships with partner schools, the LA and HE providers is based upon trust and mutual respect. The outcome is substantial school improvement. To aim at consistently high levels of pupil performance To significantly impact on high quality teacher training Provide effective professional development for teaching and leadership To support underperforming schools Effective engagement in practitioner led research.

“Knowledge has boundaries ….. Imagination has none”