GFM Talks Colleagues share their practice, experiences and thoughts

Delivered by – Silas Bingley

I Do, We Do, You Do

This month the GFM Talk is around “I Do, We Do, You Do” – modelling instructions in the classroom.

In this GFM talk, we look at why children often like copying, or modelling, their work on given examples; why we should encourage this as a tool to use when teaching and how to effectively use “I Do, We Do, You Do” in lessons to ensure every pupil is able to access the learning.

Delivered by – Adele Deasy

Chimp Paradox

Your Chimp can be both your best friend and if poorly managed it is your worst enemy. This talk paraphrases the ideas from The Chimp Paradox by Prof Steve Peters and makes them relatable to the classroom. The ideas allow you to recognise when your Chimp hijacks a situation and this is a valuable lesson for effective behaviour management. The ideas can be extended to our relationships with colleagues, parents and students, giving us a common vocabulary and a vehicle to support each other.

Delivered by – Phil Royle, School Improvement Manager

Live Marking and Feedback

Marking and feedback is best when it is personal, specific and given in a timely manner that allows immediate response and progress to be made. In this GFM talk we will consider some strategies to make the most of these live interactions with pupils whilst they are engaged in the written or practical activities in the lesson.

It will build on the last GFM talk about AfL and the Look and Learns as we aim to get out amongst the learners and make really positive interventions on their learning.

Delivered by – Adrian Clarida, School Improvement Manager

DIRT

How do we balance teacher workload, whilst still ensuring our groups get the feedback they need to improve and ensuring we as teachers know what they don’t know?

We must think carefully about how we frame the feedback and what its main focus is if we truly want to ensure that it encourages the idea of moving learning—and consequently learners—forward. Additionally, how do we consistently ensure students have “acted upon it” and have been able to address their misconceptions or improved their work?

It’s a DIRTy job, but it must be done!

A practical approach to AFL

AFL is an essential part of all teaching & learning and in the following GFM talk we will share how some of the practical subjects are able to use AFL to give specific feedback to students when developing skills overtime.

In turn demonstrating how they evidence specific points of development that can be shared with students allowing them to continually improve as a result of this feedback.

John Hattie feels that used correctly, AFL makes the learning of knowledge ‘More Visible’.

AFL helps learners understand what excellence looks like and how they can develop their own work to reach that level.

School Improvement Managers – Silas Bingley, Phil Royle, Adrian Clarida

Harnessing the Power of Knowledge

In this talk we will consider two different types of knowledge; substantive and disciplinary. Both are crucial if we are going to enable learners to not just gain but to use knowledge effectively in their thinking, to inform their decision making, to focus and harness their creativity so that they develop into young adults who will be able to prosper. We will unpick what the key characteristics of these two types of knowledge and provide examples of how they can be developed and used in a range of subject areas.

Ryan Peet

Future of Learning

How do you learn in the 21st century and why is this different to learning at any other time? This session explores how learning has and continues to change along with how pedagogy and technology can continue to support our learners to flourish. Equity and access will be explored along with other challenges to understand and engage with including the blurring of the barrier between learning in school and at home.

Delivered by the Safeguarding Team

Tackling the thorny issue of abuse in schools.

The nature and scale of abuse in schools, highlighted in the June 2021 Ofsted review, allowed schools a deeper understanding of the complexity of the issues, and the myriad of approaches schools need to lead in order to start to tackle such deep rooted behaviours and issues.

This session starts to present the range of issues and challenges this agenda presents (and is a precursor to wider engagement and learning opportunities taking place across the GFM.) There are a series of short inputs / taster sessions on the following:

• what the review has taught us about the nature and extent of abuse in school
• how abuse has become normalised and how we have to tackle it
• the pressure on girls (healthy challenge to social constructs)
• the pressure on boys (celebrating tender masculinity)
• the explicit teaching of consent
• the complexity of abuse for young people identifying as LGBTQ+ and embracing the challenge to tackle it
• the role of the formal curriculum
• engaging all in addressing the challenge through the informal curriculum
  taking a collective stand and approach
• the GFM approach and response

and opportunity for all staff to engage with one or more of the next stage actions.

Why is this agenda crucial to engage with?

A review of sexual abuse in schools (June 2021) found that sexual harassment and online sexual abuse were the two issues most commonly experienced and talked about by children and young people and that incidences of sexual harassment, online sexual abuse and bullying behaviours were much higher than teachers and leaders were aware of.

The review found that online sexual harassment had a significant impact on the normalisation of harmful sexual behaviour and unhealthy cultures within school.

The vast majority of girls indicated that harmful sexual behaviours happened ‘sometimes’ or ‘a lot’ between people their age with most commonly reported behaviours: sexist name-calling and comments and being sent or coerced into sharing sexual images.

Children and young people talked about teachers not ‘knowing the reality’ of their lives, or being ‘out of date’. Some school leaders incorrectly defined online sexual harassment as ‘happening out of school’.

LGBTQ+ children and young people reported a particularly big gap between staff’s knowledge of incidents and their daily experience of harmful sexual behaviour.

There was a clear emotional impact on girls who experienced regular sexual harassment or other harmful sexual behaviour.

Dan Beck, Paul Candy, Alice Harlan, Faye Longden-Thurgood & Kerry Payne

Inclusion across the GFM

Using research and our knowledge of the learners in our schools, this session will support all colleagues in developing their understanding of how funding is used across the GFM to support learners; the role of all adults in achieving an inclusive culture and our next steps as a organisation.

Karen Digby, Georgina Mulhall, Luke Mulhall, Kelly Munro

The value of EHoM

Researchers at the University of Winchester’s Centre for Real World Learning have spent the past decade investigating ways in which learners can benefit from thinking like an engineer, whilst fostering an interest in subjects which may lead to future engineering education. Whether you consider yourself to be a teacher of a subject used within engineering or not, Bill Lucas, Janet Hanson and their extended team headed by Lynne Bianchi at Manchester University have identified the six most distinctive learning dispositions, which they have called the ‘Engineering Habits of Mind’ (EHoM).

In this session we will help viewers generate a deeper understanding of these signature pedagogies and explore how they can be applied in ALL areas of the curriculum to good effect. You will also learn what our learners think of EHoM and how they are being embedded across the GFM.

Kerry Bramley – Assistant Headteacher

The GFM Ateliers (art studio based intervention and support)

This GFM Talk will explain the Atelier journey, the inspiration and theory behind it, and how creative intervention is supporting individuals.

Associate Headteachers – Luke Adderley, Karen Digby, Georgina Mulhall, Kerry Sharpe, Seb Spall

The GFM Way

Our Associate Headteachers have worked through your responses and shared their first draft of The GFM Way with Schools’ Executive who are excited to have the first draft, as promised, shared with you. During the session you can provide some live feedback – just as we did on the INSET Day on November 1. Our colleagues will share the likely aesthetic presentation of The GFM Way and outline the timeline for its completion and related launch. Keen to communicate your say? Please do ensure you join the live stream.

Courtney Southam – ITT Manager & Teacher of Mathematics

What is the relationship between the nature of learner generated examples and pupils’ learning outcomes in the secondary classroom?

This GFM talk explores the importance of allowing learners to generate their own examples and ideas within the classroom to promote learner progress. It investigates how the dimensions and nature of changes in learner generated examples can impact their learning outcomes.

Stephen Shaw  – LEGO Academy Certified Trainer

Purposeful Play & Pedagogy – using LEGO Education to support Teaching & Learning

Ever wondered how LEGO Education can support your Teaching & Learning? How using open ended briefs (tasks) can enable learners to discover and understand basic STEAM principles through purposeful play (fun!)

In this GFM talk, Stephen G Shaw, LEGO Education Academy Certified Training, will demonstrate the opportunities to expand your teaching & learning resources with some “Hands on, Minds on” approaches.

Explore the links with Engineering Habits of Mind (Ehoms) and thinking like an Engineer with a range of activities mapped to the National Curriculum.

Helen Spencer – Local Historic Education Manager (London & South East), Historic England

Valuing Your Heritage

In this GFM Talk, Helen Spencer from Historic England, shares details of some of the wonderful heritage sites across Gosport and how Historic England are working in Gosport to help develop the area through its historic environment.

Georgina Mulhall, Kerry Payne, Stuart Tyreman, Geoff Walls – GFM Executive

Compassionate Candour

Care personally and just say what you think….! Based on the book ‘Radical Candour’ by former Google and Apple employee Kim Scott Georgina Mulhall, Kerry Payne, Stuart Tyreman and Geoff Walls share how Compassionate Candour can be used within the workplace and the keenness for this to be used by all GFM employees.

Laura Fry – Year 4 Teacher, Gomer Junior School

PSHE & Wellbeing in Schools

This GFM talk will look at the importance of PSHE and Wellbeing within school. We will discuss its importance in supporting our families during lockdown and key resources shared with our families will be signposted. There will be some discussion of the new curriculum requirements and how the primary and secondary phase have worked together to ensure the best delivery of this curriculum for our young people. We will reflect on how important this learning is for our young people to be ready for the challenges of tomorrow.

Useful websites for children (free):

https://www.childline.org.uk/toolbox/calm-zone/?fbclid=IwAR1-zfbmehWi3Tqpw99rbIu8A4RT4UirMA2VTLVhcq0vRhfmu-DkMwcAYG0 (mindfulness, yoga and breathing activities, games helpful videos)

https://www.gonoodle.com/ (mindfulness and movement at home)

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/ (online safety games/activities and info)

Useful websites/resources for teachers and parents and carers (free):

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

https://www.childnet.com/

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/

Luke Mulhall – Cross Mat Assistant Headteacher

Re-designing schools for hybrid teaching

This talk will explore ways we can adapt existing classroom spaces and design new ones to increase flexibility. Hybrid and online teaching can mean a blend of remote lessons or a classroom where some learners are in the rooms and some are accessing the lesson remotely. How do we design spaces that can improve this experience for all learners and ensure technology does not get in the way of teaching?

Alex Merrifield – Year 6 Teacher – Gomer Junior School

15 Online Teaching Tools

In this GFM Talk Alex Merrifield shares 15 online teaching tools that he wishes he had in the first lockdown. Back in March 2020 teachers were thrown into a digital age of remote learning with virtually no warning, meaning years of experience and training suddenly needed to be adapted. During this talk Alex will share how we can get a better grip on online teaching to own the digital age, as the more equipped the teacher, the easier it will become to adapt to lessons for remote learning.

Matthew Dacombe & Daniel Stancliffe – Bay House School & Sixth Form

Action Research in Education

Applying the TARGET Framework: Motivational Climate Theory and Education Pedagogy – Matthew Dacombe

Reflecting on the realities of trying to encourage a Mastery Motivational Climate in an educational setting. This talk discusses my personal action research on the implementation of motivational climate theory to challenge ego-orientated behaviours.

Mentoring in Schools: Theory to Practice – Daniel Stancliffe

A fundamental part of our careers as teachers is our training years. Our training years is where we learn our craft, utilising different pedagogical techniques to meet the individual needs of our pupils. This is all done under the watchful eye of a mentor whose job it is to steer us in the right direction. My piece of research analysed the effectiveness of a mentor implementing the ‘GROW model’ whilst mentoring a PGCE student teacher.

Ben Margetts

Teacher of Mathematics – Brune Park Community School

A Disembodied Classroom

The nature of the classroom is changing, just a year ago, on hearing the word classroom, most people would have conjured up the image of a physical space where all of the attendees were visible and the teacher/students could use visual cues to help navigate their way through the learning process. With the shift to blended learning and the introduction of Chromebooks into the classroom this has changed. The talk will explore the issues emerging from this.

Ryan Peet, Georgina Mulhall, Chris Willis, Deanne Coombs, Kerry Payne, Luke Adderley, Geoff Walls

The Learner Evaluation Working Group

What do students really think? 

Understanding what our learners think about their well-being, learning, progress, personal development and education is fundamental to us understanding what we need to improve as a learning organisation. The learner voice must sit at the heart of our learning, teaching, self-evaluation and school improvement planning.

In this GFM talk, which is split into two parts, we will look at the ‘learner voice’ work of the Student Evaluative Enquiry Team at Bay House and the Learner Evaluation Working Group which has developed approaches to engaging with learner voice across all phases of the GFM. 

David Higginbottom & Georgina Mulhall

Director of the GFM IOE & GFM Executive Head Teacher

A Reflection on GFM Talks

In this session of GFM Talks David and Georgina take the opportunity to reflect on the concept of GFM Talks and share their highlights and reflections from the talks delivered in previous years. Colleagues who have spoken at GFM Talks also share their reflections and motivations for presenting.

We look forward to welcoming colleagues to the GFM Talks during the course of the academic year.

Nigel Matthias
Head Teacher – Bay House School

Narrative as a machine to think with

An exploration of how narrative methods can be used as a vehicle for school improvement.

Kerry Payne & Emily Weaver
Head Teacher & Assistant Head Teacher – Rowner Junior School

Opening Doors to a Richer English Curriculum

Enabling access to challenging (often heritage) texts for ALL learners, building their confidence so that they can appreciate, enjoy and read a wide variety of texts is central to the Opening Doors approach which has been implemented at Rowner Junior School. Bob Cox, the author of the Opening Doors series and the founder of Searching for Excellence, visited Rowner – having explored the reading and writing evidence across the school he reported on ‘the excellence being achieved’. The journey to date has ensured learners are developing as readers and writers, immersing them in high quality literature, raising expectations, increase learner engagement and pride in their learning and ultimately improve standards in both reading and writing. As a MAT we have the exciting opportunity to work with Bob on a KS2/3 (involving the primary, secondary and special phrase) project over the coming months – this session will give some background the Opening Door approach and the impact it has had at Rowner.

Karen Digby & Georgina Mulhall
Assistant Head Teacher & Executive Head Teacher – Gomer Junior School

STEM

Engagement with STEM from primary is vital and an integrated continuum curriculum will engender a love of STEM learning and enable better uptake of STEM learning at +16. Furthermore, Engineering Habits of Mind support an integrated STEM approach so that our learners are equipped with the necessary skills for the 21st Workforce.

Stuart Tyreman
Head Teacher, LWS Academy

The new inspection framework – ‘a first hand experience’.

LWS Academy is the first GFM school to experience the new framework. A GFM talk that provides an insight to the reality of the process, considerations for future visits, what the new language really means and it’s application (deep dive, intent, systemic etc); must do’s and an opportunity to provide intelligence that will aid preparation and development.

Roy Haworth
Engineering Manager – Airbus

Apprenticeships: Are they a real alternative route to employment or just another political fad?

Employers face a multitude of challenges in recruiting their future workforce, increasing retirements, employability of early careers recruits, increasing technology in the workplace and the productivity pressures that require flexible and adaptable employee’s from day one.  In the vast array of routes into employment are Apprenticeships really a route that provides both students and companies added value, do they deliver the right kind of employee’s, are they competing with University routes and how do companies actually view the apprenticeship route? Roy is an Engineering Manager working for Airbus in Portsmouth and involved in their Early careers programmes and will provide an explanation of how apprenticeships work for Airbus.

Roy works with many schools and students across our area. The talk will promote thoughts around the different options the system provides for our students. Furthermore, with the new Education Inspection Framework in place, are our ‘Intentions and Implementations’ equipping our young people, in both primary and secondary,  with the skills required for the 21 century workplace?

Stuart Tyreman
Head Teacher, LWS Academy

Using digital technology to drive learning

Digital technology and its advancement is shaping our world at an ever increasing velocity. Algorithms, patterns and trends are all being used to shape the world around us in ‘real-time’. How are are we embracing this change and advancement in education? Should we be thinking differently about how we use technology to drive learning and shape our organisational strategy and leadership?

Luke Mulhall
Assistant Head Teacher, GFM

Teaching with someone else’s computer

Generation rent: Millennials rent everything in their lives – should we follow suit?” The Telegraph 29/3/19

“The future of gaming is not a box. It’s a place.” @GoogleStadia 19/3/19

Children in a GFM school today are given unlimited data storage with no charge to the family. They can access their files anywhere around the world, instantly. They can share work, music and videos around the globe in seconds. How can this enhance the learning experience and can we close the economic and digital divide?

Kebe Iwara
Head of Mathematics, Brune Park Community School

Mathematics VS Numeracy: The impact of numeracy on the school curriculum.

Numeracy is fundamental to the quality of student engagement within the school curriculum as well as our community at large. Student confidence and ability with numbers impacts them academically and socially, so exploring the difference in how we perceive numeracy and how this impacts students’ experience of our subjects may reveal strategies to integrate with our teaching.

Greg Whates
Teacher of Technology, Brune Park Community School

Resilience and The Importance of Positivity

Working in education can often place pressures on us that, if we allow them to, can then impact on how effective we are as classroom practitioners. This can often lead us to forget how lucky and privileged we are to work in this profession.

Kathryn Barnes & Rosie Ingram
Computing Leader & History Leader, Gomer Junior School

The use of ICT and computing across the curriculum

The use of ICT and computing across the curriculum should be embraced. A quote by George Couros describes this well; “technology will not replace great teachers but technology in the hands of great teachers can be transformational”. Through our talk, we shared some of the free, exciting apps that are out there that can enhance learning, grab student’s attention, make children want to learn and find out more for themselves. Children are growing up in a world full of technology and throughout our lessons and subjects, we can empower them to use technology to achieve really great things, model how to use social media platforms in a healthy way and inspire them to use technology to be self motivated and learn for themselves. It can also provide a much more efficient way to monitor, assess and evidence pupil’s progress for teachers.

Stacey Osborne
Senior Teacher, Social Sciences, Bay House School

Intervention Strategies

Responding to the specific needs of learners by implementing a range of intervention strategies, including the use of the Horsforth Quadrant, learning apps, diagnostic information and targeted interventions.

Mike Jones
Deputy Head Teacher, Brune Park Community School

Transition into and out of the secondary phase – including aiming high post-16

Transition is a significantly important time for schools. Whether we are focusing on a cohort of pupils coming into secondary school, or leaving to access post-16 courses, the efficiency of transition will ultimately mean greater outcomes for our young people. Aiming high and raising aspirations is vital if we are going to ensure our Gosport learners have the best chance to access the highest level of learning possible – at both ends of the secondary spectrum!!

Chris Willis
Executive Lead for Personal Development, GFM

How important is Careers education across the key stages?

Careers education has always been apart of the curriculum and in many cases in schools across the country often offers a low impact, ‘tick box’ type provision. The accountability for education and business to work closer together coupled with evolving views of a broad and balanced curriculum by central government; we will explore how a different type of Careers education across the key stages in the GFM will aim to raise aspiration and grow the life chances of all of our students in a much greater and more meaningful way.

David Higginbottom
Director of the GFM Institute of Education

Leadership Habits

David’s talk gives an insight into developing good leadership habits and why these are important. During the course of the talk, David reflects on his own leadership journey so far and shares questions for leaders at all levels to consider when reflecting on their own ‘habits’.

Ben Margetts
Teacher of Mathematics, Brune Park Community School

Pragmatism as an approach to classroom based research

Ben’s talk explores the importance of using evidence based approaches in the classroom. It introduces pragmatism as an approach to classroom research, and encourages teachers to undertake research with their pupils as a means to improve outcomes for their learners.

To be confirmed