Following feedback from schools last term, Training Times has been rebranded over the summer, and is now The Exchange. The September/October edition of the paper is now in schools, with a spotlight on radicalisation, and September Ofsted changes alongside Hertfordshire schools’ and HfL news.
As you will notice, the paper is now slightly smaller, and has been redesigned by HfL’s graphic designer, Niall Hargrave. There are more news stories, more Hertfordshire schools’ stories, and you will now receive the paper folded to make it easier to handle in the staffroom.
This HfL monthly newspaper has something for governors and staff based in schools, whether looking for a little light reading on current educational news or for courses to further your professional development.
This edition also includes:
Hertfordshire’s success in Stonewall Equality Index 2015
the right to be forgotten!
Exchanging Excellence – Closing the gap and a Hemel schools’ Transition project
HfL’S maths fluency project
top ideas for use in the classroom
… and much more!
Do you have something you want us to cover? Get in touch!
If you or your chair of governors would like to receive extra copies for the governing body please get in touch. We welcome any feedback or content suggestions for future editions.
Hertfordshire Outstanding Governor Awards 2015 Nominations Open
Following the success of the 2014 awards the HASG are happy to announce that nominations have opened for the 2015 awards. We aim to celebrate outstanding and distinguished service by school governors in Hertfordshire. The winners of these awards will be announced at the Hertfordshire Governors’ Annual Conference in November 2015.
About the Awards
This is an award for an individual school governor’s work, service, or commitment and not that of a governing body as a whole. The submission therefore needs to make clear the specific role that was played by the school governor, as opposed to any other body or person involved in the school.
You may wish e.g. to nominate the governor who:
regularly goes above and beyond a school governor’s typical commitment,
has successfully dealt with a crisis or has been recently successful with a specific project or initiative, which was driven by the individual governor,
has contributed to improvement in the schools sector – for example, by supporting other governing bodies to improve.
These are only examples and should not be considered as entry categories – other ways of outstanding or distinguished service will be equally worthy of consideration.
Awards & Prizes
Each winning governor (total of three) will be awarded a £50 prize
Prizes of £500 will be awarded to the schools of the three winning governors, as given on the nomination form. The £500 is to be spent so it benefits directly the students; it is not to be spent on teaching or teachers as we would like the money to be spent on something the school has not included in its budget.
All nominators will be put into a prize draw and three will be drawn at random and be awarded a £25 prize.
Outstanding School Governors in Hertfordshire recognised
Outgoing & Incoming Chairs (Paul Rosen (l) & Mike Scandrett (r)) with the winners Lin Keen, Jacky Webby & John Sloan
The outstanding work of school governors in Hertfordshire has been recognised this weekend at the first Outstanding School Governors Awards 2014. The awards, run by Hertfordshire Association of School Governors (HASG) and the UK’s largest, not-for-profit School company, Herts for Learning, took place on Saturday 15th November at Hertfordshire Development Centre in Stevenage and formed part of the Hertfordshire Governors Annual Conference.
The awards, the first of their kind in Hertfordshire, have been established to publicly recognise, not only the contribution of individual school governors, but to celebrate the dedication and commitment of all governors in Hertfordshire’s 525 schools.
Schools across the county were asked to nominate a governor/s who they believe has really made a difference and helped to improve the educational outcomes of children in their school. Many nominations were received and reviewed by an independent panel of judges from HASG and Herts for Learning, and from these, a short-list of 38 governors was drawn up. After further review, eight finalists were selected, with three receiving the Outstanding Governor of the Year award; winning £500 for their school and a £50 individual prize.
Finalists selected from 38-strong short-list
The eight finalists represent schools in South Mimms, Hitchin, Berkhamsted, Stevenage, Watford, St Albans, Tring and Ware.
The three Outstanding Governor of the Year Awards went to:
Lin Keen, Sandringham School, St Albans
John Sloan, St Margaret Clitherow RC Primary School, Stevenage
Jacky Webby, Ashlyns School, Berkhamsted
The five runners-up were:
Rosemary Bolton, Presdales School Academy Trust, Ware,
Colin Minton, Hitchin Girls’ School Academy, Hitchin,
Paul Elley, Goldfield Infants’ and Nursery School, Tring,
Kevin Rylett, St Michael’s Catholic High School, Watford,
Canon Brenda Tipping, St Giles CoE Primary School, South Mimms.
What made the difference
The shortlisted candidates merited their selection through some glowing nominations some key elements of which are given below:
Lin Keen – for her role in guiding the school through its journey of improvement to that of an Outstanding school.
John Sloan – an ability to ask searching questions and raise the level of strategic thinking, built a strong team of experts to support the school and ensured Outstanding Ofsted.
Jacky Webby – taking over at a low-point her energy & enthusiasm has helped the school turn round, increasing pupil numbers by 50% and securing additional facilities.
Rosemary Bolton – leading the school through the conversion process from school to academy.
Colin Minton – highest levels of professional support leading the drive for change, canvassing for funding for much needed facilities and contributing to Outstanding Ofsted.
Paul Elley – strong leadership maintaining Outstanding Ofsted, managing major project replacing ICT.
Kevin Rylett – support to the wider community in his role as Trust Academy Director and as a National Leader of Governance.
Canon Brenda Tipping – unswerving support for her school over the past 9 years.
Celebrating Governors
Commenting on the Outstanding School Governor Awards 2014, Paul Rosen, Chair of Hertfordshire School Governors Association said:
We are delighted to be able to celebrate our governors in Hertfordshire for the efficient and dedicated work that they do within their schools to support children and young people in receiving the education they deserve. We had an overwhelming response from schools across the county to the awards, and whilst we chose three awards this year, we could have chosen 33 or 300 – it still wouldn’t be enough!
We value enormously the contribution made by governors in this vital role and thank all of them for willingly giving up their time, expertise and commitment to support our schools.
The Hertfordshire Association of School Governors is an independent organisation that supports and informs school governors, to ensure their views are heard and to promote high standards in school governance.
Herts for Learning Ltd, is the UK’s largest School company. Developed from Hertfordshire Local Authority’s education services, the company is 80% owned by schools (20% by Hertfordshire County Council), with 98% of Hertfordshire schools now owning a share of the company.
A not-for-profit organisation dedicated to raising standards and improving teaching and learning, Herts for Learning Ltd provides high quality teaching, learning, leadership and business support to schools and education settings in Hertfordshire and beyond.
Other short-listed nominees
In addition to the eight finalists, the other 30 short-listed governors were:
Adrian Jackson-Robbins, Roundwood Park School, Harpenden
Andrezej Gaudyn, Great Gaddesden CoE School, Great Gaddesden
Anita Parfitt, Kimpton Primary School, Kimpton
Barbara Whitford, Holtsmere End Junior School, Hemel Hempstead
Bernard White, Burleigh Primary School, Cheshunt
Brian Drummer, Howe Dell School & Children Centre, Hatfield
Taking place Monday 7th July 2014, 9.30am to 4.00pm at the Hertfordshire Development Centre, Robertson House, Stevenage, SG1 2FQ.
This evidence-based cross phase conference is a must for ALL Hertfordshire schools as we bring together and celebrate best practice that is having the most impact in Closing Gaps and improving outcomes for pupils both nationally and across the county.
National Pupil Premium Champion, John Dunford (pictured), will be our keynote speaker and delegates will be able to choose from a range of practical and inspirational workshops which will draw upon best practice uncovered through the research phase of the Closing Gaps project, led by David Birch and Marc Rowland.
A detailed programme for the day will follow shortly.
This conference will:
Provide you with effective, tried and tested strategies on how to close gaps for pupils eligible for pupil premium and improve outcomes for all pupils, both in Hertfordshire and nationally
Demonstrate the impact of projects that are already underway in Hertfordshire including the primary phase RANGe project (Raising Achievement Narrowing Gaps effectively)
Give you opportunities to engage with other Hertfordshire schools to hear what they are doing, exchange best practice and develop collaborations
Offer workshops from a range of schools in different circumstances and contexts that have discovered approaches that have really made a difference
Share our ideas and invite you to help shape Hertfordshire’s plans to take this learning to the next level
The subsidised cost of attending this conference for Hertfordshire schools is £50.00 per person (including all day catering). To book your place at this event please visit www.thegrid.org/schoolworkforce/training using course code: 14CON/001A
Herts for Learning
Exchanging Excellence® is our umbrella programme for all of the work we are doing and plan to do in the future, to find and share best practice and professional learning with our customers on a range of current and relevant topics. For further information:
Herts for Learning launch new best practice programme for Hertfordshire schools
Exchanging Excellence is an exciting new programme being run by Herts for Learning (HfL) for Hertfordshire schools. It is the umbrella programme for all of the work HfL are doing and plan to do in the future, to find and share best practice and professional learning with their customers on a range of current and relevant topics.
HfL are launching the programme with a cross phase project to find practice that is having most impact in improving outcomes for pupils eligible for pupil premium; whilst ensuring that other groups continue to be stretched and achieve at least expected progress.
This first project within the Exchanging Excellence programme is called “Closing Gaps” and will be taking place over the next few months.
The project is being led by David Birch and Marc Rowland. They will be working with the Teaching Alliances, other school leaders and HfL staff, identifying practice where there is evidence of most impact, in schools and settings in different circumstances and geographical areas across the county. They will draw upon work that is already taking place in specific phases, such as the primary phase RANGe project (Raising Achievement Narrowing Gaps effectively) and work being led by the Teaching Alliances; bringing all of the relevant professional learning together, identifying common themes and threads and supplementing that with evidence based research taking place nationally.
Information about the project and its findings will be shared and exchanged under the Exchanging Excellence section of the HfL website and regularly updated. There will be opportunities to attend conferences in the summer term to hear more about the findings and to examine the practice that might be most relevant and useful to your school or setting.
Training Times Relaunches as The Exchange
