Leadership and Policy

Spotting and tackling child sexual exploitation

Spotting potential child sexual exploitation is a key part of safeguarding work. Suzanne O’Connell provides a summary of what CSE refers to, how you and your staff might identify it, and what positive actions a primary school can take

Shared Education: A strong partnership

Catholic Mount St Michael’s and the controlled Randalstown Central Primary School have been working in partnership for 14 years, proving that the shared education movement in Northern Ireland can work. Fergus Cooper spoke to the schools’ principals about the partnership

ID verification in schools

ID verification for safer recruitment and to prevent other criminal activities is an essential responsibility in schools. Dave Verma offers some quick advice

School Profile: Opportunities for all…

Last November, Christ Church CE School was judged outstanding across all areas. Emma Lee-Potter looks at the school’s vision and values, the key aspects of their practice and their advice regarding Ofsted inspection

Coaching: More than just a queue of questions

Investing more time in coaching approaches to professional development could pay dividends for your schools, says assistant principal Laura Mackay. She offers some tenets of good practice

Parental participation and pupil outcomes

The importance of parental participation in primary education is clear, especially for those considered ‘hard-to-reach’. Yet how much of a priority does your school give to this agenda? Donna Chambers reports on her research into engaging with parents and the links to pupil outcomes

Making the most of your learning spaces

Cuddington Croft Primary has been working to make better use of the potential learning spaces around the school. Deputy head Alice Cunningham outlines the action research they undertook and how they developed their design for new learning environments

Case study: The power of coaching

Having both experienced significant challenges within their early days of headship, Louise Gohr and Helen Morris first connected through the power of coaching and spotted an opportunity to lead their schools using this life-changing approach

EAL: Supporting new arrivals in your primary school

Many primary schools will have new arrivals this September who have English as an additional language. Continuing our series on EAL, Emma Parsons recommends effective induction procedures, an EAL assessment tool, and differentiation strategies and resources for use in the classroom

Taking the long view of school leadership

Awakening the talents of the senior leadership team will unlock the long-term success of primary schools. Former primary executive headteacher Vin Osbaldeston speaks to Liam Donnison

Priority areas for your first weeks as headteacher

Are you embarking on your first term as a headteacher? National Leader of Education, Helen Frostick urges you to seek the support of an effective mentor and lists some of the areas you should focus on in the first weeks of your tenure...

Parental engagement: Building strong relations

A positive home-school relationship is an important part of helping your new pupils to settle in. The ethos and practice you establish now will be what your parents will come to expect. Suzanne O’Connell identifies some ways of getting these partnerships off to a good start in the new school year

Making the most of assessment data

Collecting assessment data is easy – but with so much data available, collecting the right information and ensuring you are using it effectively to support pupils’ learning can be more difficult. Emily Jones explains

More depth and detail: The new safeguarding guidance

Local Safeguarding Children Boards may be on their way out but schools will still be on the frontline when it comes to child protection. Suzanne O’Connell outlines the major changes and implications for schools of the new Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance

Supporting your EAL learners

In a new series focused on supporting pupils with English as an additional language (EAL), Nic Kidston and Katherine Solomon discuss how schools can learn more about who their EAL learners are and how they can be empowered and supported to fulfil their potential

Baseline Assessment: Where it will end?

Despite past failures, the DfE is still convinced that the best measure for pupil progress must begin in Reception. But with a long implementation timeframe, fierce opposition and unions threatening to boycott, the story is not finished...

Learning environments: Finding the Catch Zone...

How effective is your school’s learning environment? How do you organise your classroom and school displays for maximum impact on learning? Fiona Aubrey-Smith discusses the secrets to success and introduces the Catch Zone...

GDPR: How to support your data protection officer

The General Data Protection Regulation is now in effect and all schools must have a data protection officer in position. Beth Walton looks at how schools must now support their DPO to carry out their duties effectively

Lessons about community cohesion

Five years ago, a terrorist incident tested the strength of one primary school’s diverse community. Dr David Dixon discusses how his school’s focus on cohesion helped them to withstand the events of 2013 and remain united...

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Headteacher Update is the only magazine delivered directly to every primary school headteacher in the UK. It is published six times a year, at the beginning of each term and half-term, to keep headteachers up-to-date with everything going on in primary education.

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