UPDATE NO 406 05 June 2020

LAC preparation for return to school video produced by Kent Virtual School Apprentices

Here is an animation Kent CC Virtual School apprentices made for Looked After Children returning to school – feel free to use.

The animation last 4m 23s and suitable for a wide range of audiences it is available here

EdTech Demonstrator Programme

Heather Hadfield (contact details below) of South East Grid for Learning writes:

“The EdTech Demonstrator Programme’s brief has changed due to COVID-19 and is now focused for now on supporting remote learning. It is currently aimed at supporting any schools wanting help. That could be with G-suite or Microsoft Teams or improving staff confidence, parent engagement or school strategy. It is all free, paid for by DfE so is worth letting schools know about it. 

“Here is the programme’s website“

The Programme will include:

• advice, guidance and training including a mix of group support through webinars, recorded content and peer to peer discussions. It will include content on the use of online learning platforms, digital safety, supporting the needs of pupils with SEND and how to promote pupil and teacher wellbeing during remote teaching.
• a universal offer of support, provided by the Delivery Partners and delivered through this website. This offer will draw on the work of the Demonstrator Schools and Colleges and will provide schools and colleges across the country with access to recorded tutorials, advice and guidance aimed at supporting effective remote working.

If you are interested in learning more about the EdTech Demonstrator Programme, please complete this form, they’d love to hear from you.”

Ofsted Visits Analysis

Please visit the Ofsted Visits Analysis pages on this website. We have just published the first five pages of analysis from our database of every Oftsed published report since the start of the SLAC programme in 2013. The current tally stands at 768.

The menu of pages is available in “Data Benchmarking” dropdown on the main navigation bar.

If you have any questions about this database, or want ask for a specific analysis, please contact Richard Tyndall (details below). 

Table 1: Distribution of visits by year and type (page 1)

Table 2: The time it takes for Ofsted to publish a report from the start of the inspection (page 2)

Table 3: Waiting times since any inspection – all authorities and south east authorities (page 3)

Table 4.1, 4.2: Waiting times since the start of last Ofsted full inspection visit with a published report (page 4)

Tables 5.1, 5.2, 5.3: Outcome of ILACS, SIF, SLAC inspections by region (page 5)

EEF’s evaluation of Achievement for All published today

On 29 May 2020 EEF has published an evaluation of Achievement for All (AfA), a programme that has been delivered in over 4,000 English schools. It funded an independent evaluation of the programme, conducting a randomised controlled trial in 134 primary schools to test its impact on children in Key Stage 2.

EEF says “The evaluation concluded that AfA did not improve KS2 pupils’ academic outcomes and had a detrimental effect on learning. On the basis of these highly secure findings, we recommend that schools think carefully before purchasing and using AfA. Schools currently delivering AfA should carefully monitor and evaluate whether it is having the intended impact.“

In this trial, Achievement for All resulted in negative impacts on academic outcomes for pupils, who received the programme during five terms of Years 5 and 6 (ages 9-11).

Achievement for All is a whole-school improvement programme that aims to improve the academic and social outcomes of primary school pupils. Trained Achievement for All coaches deliver a bespoke two-year programme to schools through monthly coaching sessions which focus on leadership, learning, parental engagement and wider outcomes, in addition to focusing on improving outcomes for a target group of children (which largely consists of the lowest 20% of attainers).

Achievement for All has published case studies of effective implementation

EEF’s evaluation of an Early Years Toolbox published today

On 29 May 2020, EEF published an evaluation of The Early Years Toolbox (EYT), which is a suite of iPad-based assessments suitable for use with young children by early years settings. It includes eight short, engaging and game-like assessment apps that aim to measure abilities that research has shown to be the most predictive of later academic, social, emotional, cognitive and life outcomes.

This evaluation explored whether using the EYT apps as part of a package of professional development can influence the knowledge and practice of early years staff, what information and level of support may be needed to act on the app-based assessments and whether this intervention is ready to be implemented at scale, and therefore its impact on child outcomes tested.

The independent evaluation found some evidence that the intervention had the potential to positively change practitioners’ practices. Those that reported no or limited change to their practice were settings that were satisfied with their existing methods of assessment, typically school-based nurseries. There was limited evidence on whether the intervention enhanced practitioners understanding of children’s development of skills and children’s current competencies. However, those that did report improved understanding of competencies found the numeracy app most useful.

The approach of the intervention was found to be feasible, but the evaluation highlighted several areas of development needed to ensure a future trial has the best chances of showing impact, such as consistency in the cascading of training and delivery of support visits, improved practitioner advice for how to act on the results of the assessments, and improvements to the output of the assessments so they are in a form that is more user-friendly for early years staff.

NHS Wessex Senate – Webinar on Trauma informed practice in post Covid-19 recovery

This webinar on trauma informed practice in post Covid-19 recovery is provided by South East Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism (MHLDA) Cell and the University of Oxford and is being made available to system leaders across the NHS South East region.

It is intended for a multi-professional audience of frontline staff working with children, young people and families in settings such as schools, early help, hospitals and GP surgeries, as well as voluntary, community and faith sector partners. It aims to build an understanding of how trauma informed practice might help us post Covid-19, in restoration and recovery.

The webinar features Andrea King, NHS Local Authority Advisor for Hampshire Thames Valley Clinical Delivery and Networks, and Mina Fazel, Associate Professor in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Oxford.

Also, these resources – Guidance for professionals: Impact of trauma on children and young people

CYP specific: Adversity and TI Practice Guide for Professionals; Childhood Adversity and Trauma

Women specific: Engaging with Complexity – providing effective TI care for women; TED talk on impact of Trauma throughout a lifetime; TI multi-professional guidance and training

Research informed practice (RIP) (log-in required for these links): Developing and Leading TI practice leaders; TI approaches with young people frontline

Guidance for schools: Practical advice for schools; TI Schools UK; Developing TI practices in inner London schools

Guidance for families: MindEd: Trauma and coping; Helping children and teens – Phoenix Australia

Academic articles: TI mental healthcare in the UK; NICE on TI approaches; The NHS Long Term Plan, Ch2

Peer Challenge Triads – Planning for 2020-2021

As we emerge from the react – recover – reset cycle of response to the Coranavirus pandemic, we have resumed SESLIP forward planning activity.

The Peer Challenge Triads (and one Quartet) will again meet in the forthcoming winter, see table for the dates of these sessions.

We are planning to support these days with two new pieces of work this summer/autumn (lockdown permitting):

• one with the quality assurance group, who will be developing mutual support activities in the triad/quartet groupings so that they can access some of the detailed evidence that will underpin the forthcoming self-assessments, and so support a more detailed peer challenge (more from Diane Williamson contact details below);
• another with Alison Michalska (contact details below) working with Lead Members to support appropriate scrutiny and challenge of self-assessments during each authority’s drafting process

For more details go to the 2020-2021 SE DCS Peer Challenge webpage