SEND training
A number of free “train the trainer” CPD events are being hosting this term to help schools improve outcomes for SEND pupils. The Teaching for Neurodiversity courses are being funded by the Department for Education and free places are available for two staff from each school. Run by a coalition of organisations, the course will tackle identifying signs of speech and language difficulties, support strategies and how different difficulties overlap. Email: trainthetrainer@dyslexiaac on.org.uk
Work ex week
Work Experience Week, set to take place from October 10 to 14, has received backing from the government’s Apprenticeships advisor Nadhim Zahawi MP. Organised by the charity Fair Train, the week aims to raise the profile of the role of high-quality work experience and showcase best practice among schools and employers. A free toolkit is available online. Visit: www.fairtrain.org/work-experience-week
College CEO
Respected headteacher Professor Dame Alison Peacock has been appointed as the CEO of the Chartered College of Teaching. Dame Alison will take up her role from January 2017. She said: “It is time for a cohesive Chartered College of Teaching to emerge; an organisation that works in partnership with all associations, unions and learned societies to build on the best of practical pedagogy and leadership and combine this with existing and emerging research evidence. The Chartered College will be an organisation that stands above party politics, speaking with authority based on evidence about professional issues related to inclusive pedagogy, curriculum and assessment.”
Workload advice
Teachers are spending too much time on activities that do not improve their teaching, a new book on tackling workload says. Written by Nansi Ellis, assistant general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, Managing Teacher Workload aims to give practical advice on tackling workload and features the advice of 11 educationalists. The book comes after 80 per cent of ATL members, in a survey last year, said they had thought about quitting because of workload. Managing Teacher Workload is published by John Catt Educational.
In the Bank?
Investment banks have come under fire from the Social Mobility Commission for shunning talented youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds and only recruiting from a small pool of elite universities. A report from the Commission says the banks prefer to hire people who “fit in” with the culture. Banks still place as much importance on speech, accent, dress and behaviour as skills and qualifications, it warns, calling on employers to collect data on education background in order to better understand the “barriers to access”.