Any educational institution in the UK must have a strong understanding of legal rights and obligations in the education sector. This can be a complex landscape that is constantly changing, which can make it difficult for schools, colleges, and universities to keep up. Additionally, students should always be aware of the law and their rights to ensure that they are always protected. This post will explore legal rights in education looking at the latest updates and their implications for both students and institutions.

• Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom in Higher Education

The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 is designed to strengthen protections for free speech in universities, mandating policies that ensure open debate and protect students’ right to voice diverse views. This has an impact on universities by creating an obligation to create inclusive and balanced environments for discussion.

2. Safeguarding and Wellbeing Obligations for Institutions

Educational providers also have important safeguarding responsibilities, including measures to protect students’ physical and mental wellbeing. Bullying, mental health, and discrimination are key areas that all institutions need to address, particularly when it comes to young and vulnerable students.

3. Students as Consumers: Rights & Institutional Responsibilities

Updated guidance by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) sees students as consumers, with institutions required to be transparent when it comes to course content, fees, and contractual terms. This is important as it ensures that students know what they are committing to, which allows students to manage expectations and provides protection if courses do not live up to promised standards (this is important during a time when there are so many online courses available). Education solicitors can help institutions develop compliant terms and handle complex students complaints and disputes about service standards and contractual rights.

4. Discrimination & Equality in Education

The Equality Act 2010 establishes legal frameworks designed to protect students from discrimination based on gender, race, disability, and other protected characteristics. Institutions must ensure inclusive practices and equal opportunities in all areas, including admissions, accommodations, and classroom policies.

5. Contractual Rights & Course Delivery Commitments

Contractual rights and course delivery commitments have been a key area since the pandemic, which caused a huge amount of disruption and led to legal issues. Institutions must be transparent in terms of course delivery terms and outline formats and contingencies for course delivery in their contracts.

Legal rights in the education sector can be a complex area and one that is constantly changing. This makes it difficult for institutions to keep pace with the latest developments, while students should always be aware of their rights. The advice in this post covers the key areas of education law that all institutions and students should familiarize themselves with. Institutions must maintain compliance at all times in order to avoid legal issues as well as provide a fair, equal, and valuable learning experience to each and every student.

Aspiring teachers must craft CVs that catch the eye and resonate deeply within the developing educational sector. The old-school CV format is changing, allowing candidates to present their unique skills and experiences more meaningfully. So, let’s talk about some creative resume ideas for students aiming for careers in education because these can boost their chances of landing those dream teaching gigs. It’s all about striking that perfect balance between creativity and professionalism so qualifications shine through clearly and effectively.

Creative Layout Ideas for Teaching CVs

Modern teaching CVs should present more than the list of qualifications. They should reflect applicants’ style and creativity as well. For instance, integrating a layout that’s a bit out-of-the-box can make quite an impact. A two-column format might be just what you need:

• Display your educational background and work experience on one side.
• Highlight technical and soft skills, certifications, and notable achievements.

This kind of layout can get even better with a splash of colour that matches your personality while keeping things readable. A well-structured resume featuring elegant fonts and thoughtful design elements communicates professionalism while grabbing attention.

Infographics are super powerful tools when it comes to showcasing qualifications and experiences. Innovative CV ideas for students pursuing education careers like using bar graphs to illustrate proficiency in various teaching methods or pie charts breaking down experience across different subjects—these can really engage potential employers by providing quick overviews of essential information.

When using infographics, though, simplicity and relevance are key to ensuring they complement rather than overwhelm the written content. This blend of creativity with clarity could significantly enhance the overall impact of your resume.

Showcasing Educational Technology Proficiency

Nowadays, being tech-savvy is practically non-negotiable. Aspiring teachers should definitely highlight their experience with various educational technologies right up front. Detailing your familiarity with Learning Management Systems (LMS) shows you know how to navigate modern teaching platforms smoothly. Specific projects like developing interactive lesson plans using specialised software further illustrate competence and readiness for actual teaching roles.

This proficiency showcases adaptability and underscores a commitment to enhancing student learning through innovative methods (something schools look out for big time.) Pursuing certifications related to educational technology could set you apart from others vying for the same position.

Obtaining credentials in cloud-based productivity platforms or completing online courses centred around ed-tech tools can give your CV an extra edge as well. Such certifications reflect a proactive attitude towards professional development, a quality highly valued by future employers, and demonstrate willingness towards continuous learning which is crucial nowadays.

By articulating technology skills clearly on your resume, you enhance employability while presenting yourself as a forward-thinking educator ready to engage students digitally and create a positive learning environment both online and offline.

Using Portfolios To Complement CVs

Integrating an online teaching portfolio alongside your traditional resume could provide invaluable insights into one’s educational experience and effectiveness! This portfolio may include artefacts such as:

• Detailed lesson plan
• Samples showcasing student work.
• Reflections on different teaching practices tried out over time.

Creating sections titled “Lesson Planning,” where innovative lesson plans adhering strictly yet creatively align curriculum standards while catering to diversely styled learners’ needs, will showcase pedagogical knowledge.

Linking this portfolio directly via QR codes or hyperlinks within CVs directs potential employers straight onto these additional resources, allowing school administrators firsthand exploration beyond what’s listed under typical sections alone!

Such integration offers deeper looks into varied methodologies employed, thus leaving lasting impressions overall. Updating portfolios keeps them relevant, always reflecting new experiences plus fresh feedback gathered along the way, making sure everything stays current!

Blending Extracurricular Activities and Leadership Experiences

Extracurricular activities, in many respects, embody key skills that profoundly enrich a teaching career. Candidates really should spotlight their active participation in clubs, sports teams, or community service endeavours that highlight leadership qualities, collaborative efforts, and effective communication abilities.

For instance, taking on the role of president within a student organisation illustrates the development of organisational and leadership talents while orchestrating events or initiatives. This type of engagement shows a dedication to nurturing an encouraging learning atmosphere, which is important in education.

In addition to this, involvement in mentorship programmes or tutoring projects can further bolster one’s CV. Such experiences showcase interpersonal skills and signify a commitment to student achievement and community interaction. By elaborating on how peers were guided to enhance their academic performance, you actually emphasise the personal growth for both mentor and mentee.

Crafting a Unique Teaching Philosophy

A thoughtfully written teaching philosophy offers an engaging narrative to your CV that genuinely resonates with potential employers. This section allows candidates to reflect deeply on fundamental beliefs about education, learning, and student engagement.

For example, emphasising a commitment to inclusivity by detailing learning styles and methods used to create an inclusive and welcoming classroom environment for all students demonstrates a profound understanding of diverse classroom requirements.

Aligning your teaching philosophy with the mission and values of the desired school can make your application stronger. If applying to an institution that prioritises innovation and project-based learning approaches, critical thinking becomes very beneficial.

Moreover, incorporating action verbs along with specific examples, like implementing project-based learning from previous experiences, makes the philosophy much more tangible and relatable. Such alignment showcases genuine passion and indicates a proactive comprehension of what the institution values most.

Last year the National Memorial Arboretum welcomed 296 learning visits, offering 12,750 students the opportunity to explore the 150-acres of memorials, gardens, and woodlands, helping young people to discover incredible stories of service and sacrifice. From interactive Explorer Days, to tailored tours of our grounds or participation in an Act of Remembrance, the inspiring landscape at the National Memorial Arboretum and multi-functional classroom spaces is a perfect setting for workshops and activities for students in Key Stages 2-4.

“Our specialist on-site learning team has developed a wide range of cross-curricular activities for learning groups to discover inspirational stories about the people who have served the Nation, each with specific learning outcomes,” explains Rachel Smith, Head of Learning and Participation at the Arboretum. “We offer students activities and workshops that use our 150-acre site, rich natural landscape, breathtaking memorials, and multi-functional classroom spaces to develop an understanding of Remembrance and explore other subjects including science, literacy, and geography. The Arboretum really is a truly inspirational place to visit with your class.”

Free activity days taking place at the Arboretum this academic year include:

• National Poetry Day, 5 October 2023 (KS3-4) – working with the Arboretum’s poet in residence, students will draw upon inspiration from the Arboretum as well as the year’s chosen theme of ‘Refuge’ to create their own poetry masterpiece
• RAF STEAM takeover day, 17 October 2023 (upper KS2) – the Royal Air Force youth engagement team returns to the Arboretum with three different STEAM activities
• Black History Month activity day, 19 October 2023 (KS3-4) – students can take part in a selection of participatory activities exploring the Arboretum’s new exhibitions, exploring inter-generational stories and experiences through textiles and audio
• Remembrance activity week, 6-10 November 2023 (KS2) – giving students the opportunity to reflect on those who have served their country through arts-based workshops at the Arboretum and in schools
• Holocaust Memorial Day activity day, 26 January 2024 (Upper KS2) – students take part in workshops to learn more about the Holocaust, visit memorials and explore the importance of Remembrance
• World Book Day, 7 March 2024 (reception and lower KS1) – using Julia Donaldson’s ‘Stick Man’ as inspiration, younger students can explore the Stick Man trail around the Arboretum grounds and use natural materials to make their own stick characters
• International Women’s Day, 8 March 2024 (Years 6 and 7) – Students learn about some remarkable women by delving into the stories behind the memorials. Hands-on workshops and engaging discussions explore the attributes and aptitudes that defined these women and enabled them to identify their own skills and qualities.
• Earth Day, 22 April 2024 (KS2) – students discover the importance of protecting the natural world, create seedballs and bug hotels to increase biodiversity on their own green spaces
• Teaching Remembrance days, 2-3 July 2024 (KS2&3) – Together with the Royal British Legion, students will take part in a series of interactive indoor and outdoor activities before ending the day with a collective Act of Remembrance.

The Arboretum’s school’s activity days are free. There is a cost for other facilitated activities with the learning team and bursaries are available to help with transport costs, thanks to the Arboretum’s involvement in ‘The Great British School Trip’ initiative.

To book a school trip call, teachers can call 01283 245133 or email education@thenma.org.uk.

For more information about the school activity days, visit https://www.thenma.org.uk/visit-us/plan-your-visit/visiting-for-learning-and-training/learning-activity-days

This year’s show launch coincides with the beginning of British Science Week and takes pupils on a journey from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of outer space. Audiences participate in understanding our place in the solar system, how engineering will allow us to explore more of these unchartered areas and the science and technology needed to survive in these extreme environments.

The theatre show culminates in a five metre diameter inflatable model of the Sun next to a marble, as a scale representation of the Earth, to show just how huge the solar system is. These demonstrations bring science concepts to life for the students.

The 2023 schools roadshow kicked off at Court Moor School in Fleet, Hampshire (left) and is set to educate and entertain more than 100,000 pupils across the UK this year. Last October, the team reached the remarkable milestone of engaging with their one millionth pupil.

Paul Jenkins, Head Teacher at Court Moor School, said: “The BAE Systems STEM roadshow is one of the highlights of the year for our students. It manages to inspire them about both their lessons and their life beyond school. It’s particularly of great value to our female students who get to see young, cool and female scientists and engineers which challenges embedded stereotypes and opens their eyes to a world of excitement and possibility. A number of our children walk out of these sessions with a new perspective and start to imagine their future in STEM industries.”

Julian Cracknell, Chief Technology & Information Officer at BAE Systems, added: ‘’There’s never been a more exciting time for young people to be studying STEM subjects. Technology is developing at an unprecedented rate and the next generation of engineers, mathematicians and scientists will be at the forefront of shaping our world for the better. I hope this year’s STEM roadshow inspires our young people to dream big with ambitions such as exploring the solar system, creating pioneering clean energy solutions or developing life-changing medical cures.”

The event was supported by Marriage’s Flour, Ladies in Pigs, Vine House Farm, Co-op Central England, Thomas Beazley, Park Farm Thorney, and Schöffel Country – who came along as part of their new partnership with Kids Country, to be launched on ‘Black Friday’.

Folksworth C of E Primary school headteacher, Michelle Norbury, said: “We’ve worked with Kids Country many times over the years and know how exciting it is for the children to have this kind of hands-on learning experience brought to them in school. It is so important to get children excited about locally produced food and how it is grown – we are surrounded by farmland at our village school so for children to understand what that land produces, with activities like Farmer Luke’s ‘Metre Square’ is really engaging for our students.”

Children rotated around four activities – Pancake Making, Pig Zone (learning all about pig farming and tasting the difference between free range rare breed pork sausages and typical premium supermarket ones), Tractor Zone with Farmer James from Park Farm Thorney, and the Metre Square with Farmer Luke, where children learn exactly what can be grown in a metre square of farmland and the inputs required to do so.

Joining the Kids Country for the first time was award winning food writer, Jenny Jefferies. Jenny, author of the “For the Love of the Land” and “For the Love of the Sea” books, said: “It was a real privilege to come along to the Kids Country Breakfast Week today. It’s such a fantastic and inspiring initiative, and to see first-hand how school children are experiencing food provenance in an all-inclusive, enjoyable and informative way is both heartening and wonderful. This is what it’s all about!”

Alongside the usual team of Kids Country educators and volunteers, the event also welcomed Charlie Coups and Paul Tomson from Schöffel Country, who are partnering with Kids Country this year for a range of fundraising events – kicking off with their Black Friday event next week. Charlie said: “We were delighted to join the team at Kids Country for the start of Breakfast Week 2022. It was clear from the offset how passionate Sandra and her team are in helping to educate children about food, farming and the countryside. The children were excited to learn and engaged throughout the morning in a variety of hands-on tasks – it’s not every day you get the chance to see a tractor up close or do a taste test on rare breed vs supermarket sausages! I hope that over the next twelve months, Schöffel Country can help to shine a light on these countryside heroes and the incredible work they do in educating the next generation.”

The Kids Country team also took their Breakfast Week event to Fourfields Community Primary School, Yaxley, and Clough and Risegate Community Primary School, Spalding, in the same week, with a second Breakfast Week sold-out in January.

Kids Country education manager, Sandra Lauridsen, said: “Breakfast Week is always such a great event to bring to schools as children all eat breakfast in some form, so it’s really useful to engage them in not only how that breakfast is grown – whether it’s sausages, toast or cereal – but also about making healthy nutritional choices part of their decisions.”

“We are so grateful for all of our volunteers, educators, the companies donating produce and their time, and also to Jenny Jefferies, and Charlie and Paul from Schöffel Country – their engagement helps us to bring more events like Breakfast Week to more schools going forwards.”

To keep up to date with upcoming Kids Country events, please visit: https://www.kids-country.co.uk/events/

Led by Pembroke College, Oxford, Oxnet is an established initiative run collaboratively between participating colleges at the University of Oxford, Durham University, the University of Manchester, and Hub secondary schools and colleges in London, the North West and North East of England.

During her time on the course, Bethany undertook a Study Day at Pembroke College, completed six academic seminars, submitted an essay for the Easter Essay competition, and completed a summer school week as an Oxford undergraduate student, where she was singled out by Oxford tutors for her work, and given a coveted Goldsmith Scholar prize.

Speaking of her experience, Bethany said: ‘It was intense, but it was great to prove that I could do it. I really liked the seminar series, as it was good to talk to experts in their field. We also had a small tutor group so that we could get personal feedback and that really made me think differently about tutorials at Oxford.’

Following her studies at Cheshire College, Bethany hopes to go to university to study Archaeology and Ancient History.

Bethany’s academic aspirations have been supported by The Futures Programme at Cheshire College, a unique selection of pathways designed to support progression onto employment and university.

Commenting on the programme, Bethany said: ‘The Futures Programme supported me in making the application to Oxnet and some of the team came to the summer residential, so it was nice to see some familiar faces. The Scholars group are really friendly, and my teachers are all very supportive too.’

Fiona Massey, the Futures Programme Coordinator said: “We hope that Bethany is proud of her award as a Goldsmith Scholar. We wish Bethany the very best in her future plans and look forward to welcoming her back as an alumna of the Scholars Programme to talk to current pupils about her journey.”

Dhesi, Principal and CEO of Cheshire College, commented: “We are very proud of Bethany’s achievements with the Oxnet Programme. Not only has her hard work and determination paid dividends, but her success will also inspire the new cohort of Scholars at Cheshire College.”

Cheshire College are now accepting applications for September 2023 for those interested in studying a diverse range of A Level subjects, designed to provide students with combined skills and knowledge that will fully prepare them for the next exciting stage of their life.

www.ccsw.ac.uk

Tall Ships Youth Trust (TSYT) based in Portsmouth, is now a member of IOL, which champions safe activities and effective learning in the outdoors. Its mission is to increase participation in outdoor learning in the UK and to recognise and improve the quality of outdoor provision.

Alastair Floyd, Chief Executive Officer at TSYT, said: “We’re delighted to be a new member of the Institute for Outdoor Learning. As a professional provider of outdoor learning, our membership gives us the opportunity to enhance our provision for young people and to increase our reach nationally with young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. “We’re looking forward to learning and sharing new ideas and best practice with other member organisations within the sector.”

A TSYT voyage provides the perfect opportunity for young people aged 12-25 to get outdoors, take notice of the world around them and learn lessons for life at sea.

As the UK’s oldest and largest youth development sail training charity, TSYT has been providing young people with life-changing experiences at sea for 65 years.

During this time, more than 120,000 young people have experienced a life-changing adventure with the youth organisation, sailing over two million nautical miles — equivalent to sailing round the world 92 times.

As a charity, TSYT recognises the importance of outdoor education and the benefits of taking learning beyond the classroom.

Onboard a TSYT voyage, young people develop a range of skills, which can be transferred to their day-to-day lives to help them overcome any barriers and thrive. Working together as a team they grow in confidence and self-esteem and see a significant improvement in their communication and leadership skills.

For more information on the organisation’s youth voyages visit: www.tallships.org and to learn more about the Institute for Outdoor Learning at https://www.outdoor-learning.org/.

The national student voice initiative was created to bring students from across the Trust’s 43 academies together to encourage them to use their voices to drive change and make a difference.

This year marked the introduction of the first fully-fledged democratic elections, which gave the students the opportunity to take part in a 10-step election that included nominations, full in-person campaigning, ballot elections and an exciting results day.

The students campaigned on a range of issues that mattered the most to them and used their voices to effectively communicate their points and inspire others. Their campaigns have centred on issues such as mental health, championing diversity, and bolstering the voices of those who are disadvantaged.

The elections were split into OAT’s four regions, with academies electing up to 4 students, dependant on the size of their academy to represent their voices regionally. Now the regional student teams have been elected, they will nominate and elect 20 members to form the National Student Voice who will represent and act on behalf of OAT’s 33,000 students.

Each regional student leadership team selects three issues to focus region-wide projects and initiatives on. Last year, the student leadership team for the West highlighted LQBTQ+ campaigns as a salient issue and as a part of this commitment organised a pride campaign to celebrate diversity.

A crucial part of the Trust’s national student voice councils is their contributions to the #WeWill campaign, a national social action project. Through the campaign, the student councils have supported the creation of various projects that centre on health, recycling, the arts, eco-sustainability, and all share the same goal of making a difference in the communities in which the academies serve.

The student voice teams were also instrumental in organising the Trust’s Ukrainian humanitarian appeal which utilised the collective power and support of the community of academies. With the student network already in place, the national student voice team were able to quickly and effectively organise a Trust wide appeal that enabled them to raise over £15,000 for the Disasters Emergency Committee.

The final round of elections will take place over the next few weeks, where the incumbent regional student voice ambassadors will have the opportunity to put together pitches for their campaign to be part of the national council.

Holly Weaver, Former Chair of National Student Voice at Ormiston Academies Trust, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed my experience as Chair of National Student Voice, working closely with other passionate students to enact change and draw attention to the issues we really care about.

“It was good to see how our opinions were valued and were influential in deciding the #WeWill projects. It is important that these projects are shaped by pupils’ ideas as it will ensure they have the most impact on our community.”

Debbie Kinsella, Lead Practitioner for Enrichment at Ormiston Academies Trust, said: “This year’s student voice elections have been truly fantastic. Hearing the passion, thoughts and ideas of our students has been inspiring and I look forward to seeing the amazing work that they do in their time as ambassadors.

“We created our regional and national student voice as a way to bring our students together and to motivate them by showcasing how they can affect change and make a difference. It has been wonderful to see our students be so dedicated and enthusiastic about making the most of their positions.”

Ahead of last week’s launch in Paisley of UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK ( the free

Can you firstly tell us a bit more about About Us and the event itself?

It’s one of the 10 UNBOXED projects, a celebration of STEAM and of creativity across the UK. We’re bringing poetry and STEM together and showing how they complement each other. It just takes a bit of imagination (and some fantastic technical know-how) to bring these different disciplines together.

In its simplest terms it’s a light show, part of a collaboration between Stemettes, 59 Productions (who create productions like this), and The Poetry Society, who work on poetry and the promotion of poetry. It aims to engage with young people, and engage them with STEM and STEAM. The light show takes you on a 30 million year journey from The Big Bang to us here in Paisley, looking at civilization, what happens with cells and early human life and how we’ve ended up here, looking up at Paisley Abbey and how we all are connected to the universe. Technically we’re all made of star stuff, so that that’s what the whole event is about, it’s a celebration of Paisley and its place in the universe.

We’ve done a lot of work in the community and in local schools in the last couple of months, working through poetry workshops, working through STEM and coding workshops, and so what the children have created is a big part of the light show as well. We’re hearing their poetry and seeing it, we’re seeing the avatars that they’ve created in elements of their animations.

Awe was the key word that we had in mind when we were pulling this together, so that’s in essence what the show is about – awe and bright lights and a celebration of Paisley.

Can you elaborate on the STEAM acronym for those maybe unfamiliar with it?

STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts (and design), and maths – it represents a combination of all those disciplines. You can’t do STEM without art and design, without that creativity and expression. If you look at something like product design, it’s easy to see that the most impactful have that appreciation for the arts. All of them have leant into some of the skill sets that we have in the arts. Indeed, you’re much more likely to win a Nobel Prize in the sciences if you’ve engaged with the arts during your upbringing, which runs counter to the image people maybe have of scientists, that the best scientists have only ever done science and only ever do science. In fact, being able to recognise those softer artistic skill sets, combine them through collaboration and communication, that’s really where we solve problems properly.

So that’s the heart of STEAM and of course this About Us project and the whole of the UNBOXED Learning Programme.

Has asking schools to combine very different disciplines like this been a challenge?

When the proposition is explained clearly, and the benefits of this sort of cross-curricular work are articulated in a way that makes sense for schools, then we find buy-in comes pretty quickly. The resources that we’ve put together as part of this allow teachers to see for themselves how it can work in the classroom and benefit their pupils. Obviously, schools have been through a really tough time during the pandemic, and we’re now approaching exam season and all the stresses and demands that come with that, but fundamentally we’re aiming to build something here for the longer term and we really do hope, through the excitement of events like the light show, that we will inspire the younger generation to take their first steps on this great journey.

You are very passionate about this, where does your inspiration come from?

Creativity inspires me, curiosity about how things work and how the things we build create a legacy long after we’re gone. I took a VCR apart when I was younger, trying to understand how the cassette went into the machine, how the mechanism played the tape – basically breaking things down to understand how they fit together and how, once you understand that, you can solve problems with the knowledge you’ve gained.

Of course, once you talk about solving problems, then you can start working for the greater good – and that inspires me as well, the idea that things don’t always have to be harder, faster, stronger, bigger or whatever as an end in itself, rather that those attributes are really just a means to an end, and that the goal is using all of the resources at our disposal to make life better for all of us.

I’d also like to see us drawing on a much more diverse pool of talent than we do currently, and I’m inspired to realise that goal, because the more diverse the pool, the more diverse the voices we hear and the better the things we create will be.

How do you show children that STEAM is fun and not just “boring” technology?

Children like to play. If you give them the right environment to play and to create, who doesn’t want to express themselves?

Recently we were running a hack on Healthcare and getting young children to build apps. They loved it – I’m thinking of two little girls who spent the weekend building a house app because they had included talking fruit in their app and to them it was the most hilarious thing they’d ever seen. It’s one of those things where you don’t have to force them because they’ve made something, they’ve explored, they’ve played with the technology.

A couple of years ago we did a big data hack using Twitter and it was so interesting to see what interested the young people we had at the hack. One of them was obsessed with Chelsea Football Club and so that was what she dived into, analysing the Twitter feeds of Chelsea players at that point and generating infographics from them. Her little sister was obsessed with Build-a-Bear so she went around and collected some fantastic information on that. There was another girl who wanted to find  out the best member of One Direction.

Everyone has passions. Everyone sees problems that they’re very aware of, and they’re growing up with all of these, and so they’re really, really aware of what needs to be solved. They really care, and so I think it’s being able to show technology in that context, and allow people to get creative.

What age range are you targeting with the resources you mention?

Basically from 4 to 19, the gamut of primary and secondary education.

Knowing what you know about STEM in schools, do you think there’s enough collaboration between these disciplines in mainstream education, or do you think that there could be more focus on collaborating and skill sharing?

There could always be more. Collaboration is one of those things where the more you do, the more you learn, the better you get, so I think there’s definitely more that could be done. I do actually think it’s an interesting one. Teachers are between a rock and a hard place I think on this, because exams are not (for the most part) collaborative. Most SLTs have particular KPIs and metrics they look at to gauge how well their schools are doing, but I think with a bit of imagination these metrics can actually be made to work to provide a more collaborative setting in schools – for example, how can school leaders reward time that’s spent in collaboration? How can they reward this future skills work by teachers which is happening in their schools? Obviously, it does require investment, experimentation, and a little bit of thinking outside the box to give teachers agency to be able to try new things.

I think teachers do want to do this, but at the moment there’s a sense that there’s not enough positive reinforcement and support for those teachers when they do go a little bit outside the box, so we do certainly need more support and buy-in from SLTs to help build these core skills of collaboration – don’t forget, these skills are going to help close up the gaps that have been left by the pandemic and really address many of the issues around wellbeing and lost learning which we’re hearing so much about now.

UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK – funded by all four governments of the UK – is the biggest, most ambitious creative programme ever presented on these shores. The programme offers a once in a lifetime opportunity for pupils aged 4-19, to become immersed in science, technology, engineering, the arts and maths (STEAM), through a range of remarkable projects across the UK and FREE online learning experiences. Explore the free resources today https://unboxed2022.uk/learning-programme

SPOKEN WORD POWER is a 3 year national spoken word poetry programme for school age young people. SPOKEN WORD POWER embeds spoken word poetry teaching, practice, writing and performance skills into the nation’s school life. By first providing young people with the support to create and perform their own spoken word poetry, then supporting schools to provide a platform to showcase their work, SPOKEN WORD POWER will engage a whole new generation of primary and secondary school students with the spoken word art form.

Matt Lane, Eastside Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Director said: “Creative education in many schools across the nation continues to be threatened by Covid restrictions, demanding STEM targets and reduced budgets. At Eastside, we believe that training in the arts is more important than ever.

“The three year project that we are launching today, SPOKEN WORD POWER, will provide thousands of young people with exciting opportunities to use the spoken word to develop their creative thinking, unlock their imaginations, broaden their horizons and build up their confidence. The project will support young people to articulate their opinions and develop their voices, approaching key issues with a critical mind and a positive attitude.”

James Bridge, UKNC Chief Executive and Secretary-General, commented: “The UK Commission for UNESCO is delighted to work with Eastside Educational Trust and partners in supporting SPOKEN WORD POWER. The project and the young people’s poems are inspiring and help unlock creative potential. The SPOKEN WORD POWER poetry slams are a key contribution to UNESCO celebrations on World Poetry Day.”

Through participation, young people will develop the confidence, skills and creative acumen to write and perform their own spoken word poetry, showcased at over 180 school slam events, 15 major regional spoken word events (celebrating World Poetry Day) while becoming published in annual SPOKEN WORD POWER anthologies.

Matilda Thaddeus-Johns, Eastside Schools Programme Manager said: “We are excited by the potential of this project, and would like to encourage as many schools as possible to engage with our free classroom resources online to get their pupils writing and performing their very own original spoken word poetry.

“This year’s theme is Speaking My Truth and Eastside’s experience of running poetry programmes for schools has demonstrated just how effective spoken word poetry is in enabling young people to find their voice whilst accessing the English curriculum in new and exciting ways.”

By first providing young people with the support to create and perform their own spoken word poetry, then supporting schools to provide a platform to showcase their work, SPOKEN WORD POWER will engage a whole new generation of primary and secondary school students with the spoken word.

Find out more https://www.eastside.org.uk/eastside_programmes/spoken-word-power

World Poetry day is on 21 March https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldpoetryday