Conference To Empower Teachers
4 March 2010
'Don't Fail Them In The Future' Conference' will be held for teachers across Derbyshire, facilitated by the University of Derby.
Teachers coming to this conference will have a unique opportunity to develop their ideas and practice
”Professor Dennis Hayes.
More than 160 teachers from Derbyshire schools are taking part in an education conference to share best practice helping children from disadvantaged backgrounds, minority groups or those with special learning needs. Derbyshire is the first shire county in the country to run an event with this particular focus.
The University of Derby is hosting the one-day conference on Friday March 5 entitled: Don't Fail Them In The Future - ensuring the attainment of vulnerable groups. The event has been organised by Derbyshire County Council's Children and Younger Adults Department.
As part of the exciting partnership between the University and the county council, delegates could be invited to take part in research activities to understand more about the issues facing such groups - and help identify potential solutions.
Mitch Moore, Programme Director for National Strategies, which leads the Government programme Narrowing The Gaps, is the headline speaker at the event to help empower teachers to support children from these groups across Derbyshire.
The conference will provide useful information and best practice case studies on helping raise attainment with children from ethnic minorities, children in care, Gypsy Roma travellers and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. There will also be a focus on children with special educational needs, and gifted and talented children in these groups.
One of the organisers, Andy Hunt, a school improvement adviser with the county council's Education Improvement Service, said: "National statistics show that many young people within these groups do not make as much progress as the rest of the cohort. We are determined to ensure that every child in Derbyshire receives the best possible education and support to allow them to make the most of their talents.
"It's all about promoting and supporting best practice ideas. We are extremely excited to be developing these links with the University of Derby and look forward to forging even closer relationships.
"Derbyshire's Education Improvement Service has a strong track record in identifying under-achieving groups and supporting the personalisation of learning required to raise their achievement. This renewed focus on vulnerable groups continues our work in developing teaching and learning in our schools, raising the aspirations of all our young people and developing links and support for families and local communities."
The conference will focus on areas which are especially important to Derbyshire schools in terms of raising achievement within these groups.
Discussion areas include:
- The use of personalised learning and teaching strategies in the classroom and at home
- Prioritising the early identification of Year Six pupils within the vulnerable groups and using learning mentors to support transition. This evolves into a Year Seven nurture group to support the progress of those children
- Reducing fixed term and permanent exclusions of children in these vulnerable groups, by developing innovative packages to ensure consistency in behaviour management and raise aspirations and interest in education
- Many schools have found ways of linking with their local communities and making parents feel welcome and connected with their child's learning
- The local authority strengthening the use of ICT to support personalised learning through the use of the Kaliedos Learning Platform in county schools.
During the event, the University is set to invite teachers to consider becoming research associates for its Research Centre for Education and Career Development (RCECD), and create a cluster of research activities within Derbyshire schools to further knowledge and inform practice.
Professor Dennis Hayes, who has helped facilitate the conference, and heads up the University research centre said: "Teachers coming to this conference will have a unique opportunity to develop their ideas and practice. But we will not end at 4pm when the conference ends.
The Education Improvement Service and RCECD hope to build networks of research active teachers throughout the region that can continue to build on the work they begin today."
During Friday's event, Mitch Moore will talk about how leadership can inspire raising attainment levels in the classroom and use good practice research examples.
The National Strategies are professional development programmes for early years, primary and secondary school teachers, practitioners and managers. They are one of the Government's principal vehicles for improving the quality of learning and teaching in schools and early years settings, and raising standards of attainment.
He will give an overview of the Narrowing the Gaps (NtG) focus area and promote the resources which are available free of charge to all schools and examples of effective practice in primary and secondary schools.
Another speaker is Tamba Roy, who will talk about the principles of racial equality and how it applies to schools. Tamba, previously a head teacher and now Director of Trident Solutions, uses NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) techniques to help teachers improve thinking skills in young people. He has also presented on the BBC documentary In Search of the Spirit of the Storyteller'
There will also be a series of workshops empowering delegates to address these issues as they return to their schools. Further events including the development of networks and interagency partnership working are planned for the future.
For more information about this news release, contact Deputy Head of Corporate Relations Simon Redfern on 01332 591942 or 07748 920038, or email s.redfern@derby.ac.uk
