Take time for a cuppa and a catch up

Your half termly newsletter from LKMCo

At LKMco we aim to keep people in touch with the debates happening in education today, especially the positive stuff. So whether you're in a school, charity, in policy or just want to keep up to date, here's a handy summary of recent news and projects.

Can you ever 'teach' character & resilience?

In his recent blog, Loic Menzies argues that character education needs to be lived, not taught. The debate around how to teach character and resilience has made headline news recently thanks to a report from the APPG on Social Mobility and Tristam Hunt's proposals, which is great news - now it's time to fine tune how potential policy becomes reality.

How are schools going to replace levels?
Well, if the NAHT report on assessment is anything to go by, potentially with more levels! In her recent blog, Eleanor Bernardes calls for less urgency and more clarity for schools as they develop 'life after levels'.

What are we up to?

Royal Society of Literature
We're pleased to announce that we are supporting the RSL as they develop their education strategy. They use their impressive Fellowship of authors to inspire a new generation of students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Please do get in touch if you're interested in hearing how your school could get involved!

London Schools Research

Following a detailed literature review and a series of 25 interviews with a fascinating group of Head Teachers, Local Authorities, Policy Makers and academics, we have identified a series of potential reasons for London schools' success as part of our project with CfL and CfBT. We are now investigating each of these as well as looking at 6 contrasting boroughs to see how the various factors played out in different places. We look forward to publishing our final report in May.

RSA and Careers Guidance
We're working with the RSA to consider how information, advice and guidance can be delivered more effectively in schools. We've already spoken to a range of careers professionals up and down the country, but if you're doing something innovative in IAG, we'd love to hear from you.

Jane Austen College
We've been supporting Jane Austen College right from its very inception so we were thrilled when they announced their impressive new premises right in the heart of Norwich city centre. Comprising part of the Inspiration Trust, JAC promises to offer high quality education for all from this September.

The LKMco team has grown!

We welcome to the team Eleanor Bernardes, who comes to us with a teaching and leadership background, and Sam Baars, who is completing his PhD into how young people's aspirations are shaped by the area they live in. We're very excited to have them on board - you can read more about our full team here.

The good and the bad news about Ofsted

The good: they are no longer grading individual lessons and they've gone all fluffy on us, asking those in the profession for their feedback, which is a great step in the right direction. The bad: our research suggests that almost half of Ofsted reports reference performance related pay, making explicit comments on how earnings are tied to pupil outcomes.

Interesting links:

How do you overcome the 'Berlin Wall' between private and state education?
In this New Statesman article, leading educationalists (including our very own Laura McInerney) offer their ideas on how to address the '7 per cent problem' - the issue of public school dominance in public life. And there's certainly some radical ideas in the mix... Read more here.

Have the tables turned?

Do affluent outer-urban areas always produce the strong educational outcomes we'd expect? As Sam Baars reveals in this blog, the data has highlighted some surprising patterns.

Am I too clever to be a primary teacher?
Is it all scraped knees, glitter and snotty noses as a primary teacher? Do you really need to be academic to do the job well? This TES article considers some of the myths and stereotypes associated with primary teaching and draws some very positive conclusions.

And lastly...
Keen to get your students to think on a more global scale? This week is the start of Fairtrade Fortnight. Handy resources and activities can be found here.