In this section
close secondary
Search

Curriculum Specialist Support

Computing, Nicky Gamlin at Francis Baily Primary School
I have a degree in Computing and Information Systems and prior to education I worked in the IT industry. In the last 13 years I have been in education and currently work at Francis Baily Primary School teaching in Year 5 and additionally the ICT and E-safety lead. Whilst taking on this role I have worked closely with the NCCE (National Centre for Computing Education) gaining a BSC accredited qualification in Primary Computing. I hope to help schools and their ICT leads to be able to deliver a fully progressive and interesting Curriculum which fits with their vision. 
 
History, Daisy Eva at Calcot Schools
I am the History Lead at Calcot Schools, as well as Team Lead for Year 4, and history is a true passion of mine, having studied Ancient History at The University of Birmingham for my Undergraduate Degree, and Egyptian and Near Eastern Archaeology at University College London, for my Masters Degree. I have written the curriculum plans from scratch for our schools and have provided support and guidance to other history subject leads in West Berkshire. I am also the BLDP History network leader which meets once a term. In terms of support, I am happy to provide flexible, bespoke support and training on all aspects of history subject leader support. The study of History encourages pupils to think. From there, pupils can begin to think critically and gain an understanding of cultures past and present, as well national and international traditions. History widens children’s experiences and enhances their perception and judgement of the world. Perhaps most importantly, History as a discipline promotes the value of scholarship and the power of knowledge.  As part of my support to schools, I can support you in your role of raising the profile of history in school through training and guidance on curriculum plans which will motivate and challenge your pupils.
 
MFL, Sarah Hall at Mortimer St. Mary’s Primary School 
Hello, bonjour and hola! I began my teaching career 31 years ago as a Secondary Modern Languages teacher, teaching French, German and Spanish. I have taught in many schools around Berkshire as well as managing MFL departments and holding senior positions in schools. In 2000 I became a School Improvement Consultant for both Reading and West Berkshire LEAs with responsibility for training primary teachers to teach Modern Foreign Languages. Since then, I have developed a passion for teaching younger children and am a great believer in capturing children’s interest early in order to enthuse them about language learning.  I am now a primary convert and a fully-fledged primary teacher! I am a Senior Teacher in one setting, but I also teach one day per week at Mortimer St. Mary’s Junior School, where I have taught Spanish since 2014. I have a wealth of experience working with primary teachers, identifying their MFL training and development needs and am well versed in helping subject leaders to design a bespoke MFL curriculum, writing sequential schemes of work and advising on assessing the 12 MFL objectives.
 
PSHE, Charlotte Martin at Compton CE Primary School 
My name is Charlotte Martin and I currently teach Year 1 at Compton CE Primary School. I completed my teacher training in 2013-14 and I have been PSHE lead at my current school since 2016. I am very passionate about this role as I feel that PSHE is vital in providing children with the social, emotional, mental and physical skills to take care of themselves and others throughout their life in education and beyond. Within my current school I have taught PSHE to both KS1 and KS2 classes, giving me an overview of teaching PSHE to different age groups. At my previous school, I taught PSHE to mixed-age classes.  As PSHE lead, I have developed our curriculum from scratch to ensure our pupils are better prepared for life in the modern world. To achieve this goal, I have supported staff with planning, teaching, training and signposting resources. I keep up to date with the latest guidance and regularly attend training, sharing important information from these with staff. Most recently, I have delivered training to teachers after attending SCARF’s course ‘Developing a school culture to prevent sexual harassment and sexual abuse’. I am happy to provide training opportunities to other schools on PSHE/RHE related content and I feel I am well placed to offer support and advice to anyone who is struggling to know where to start.  I am very pleased to be able to offer support to help other PSHE subject leaders improve their PSHE provision and raise the profile of PSHE/RHE in their school. 
 
 
 
Leadership, Assessment, English, Maths, Initial Teacher Education, Behaviour and Safety, Tristan Whiteman, Enborne CE Primary School
Tristan is a headteacher of Enborne CE Primary School with a wealth of experience in carrying out school-to school support in a variety of primary schools. 
 
Tristan is used to working with other schools and senior leaders to help them to recognise and utilise existing strengths.  Tristan recently worked with a primary school in special measures.  He began by analysing the school’s needs with senior staff and then, in collaboration, built new whole school approaches to raising standards.  Tristan has a proven track record of improving outcomes in literacy and numeracy.  As an outstanding practitioner, he draws on these skills to help others improve.  For example, he recently led on improving outcomes in grammar, punctuation and spelling.  He developed and introduced a knowledge and skills continuum, which he trained staff in.  As a result outcomes (at age related expectation) in one year group rose by over 40% and at above age related expectation by 70%.
 
Tristan is able to use a blend of well developed coaching skills, consultation and role modelling to rapidly build effective working relationships.  As a result senior staff schools he has worked said they were more confident to lead others and able to articulate their impact on outcomes.  The school is no longer in special measures.
 
Tristan is also able to provide coaching for senior staff in developing any aspect of their leadership role. 
 
  • Helping leaders to see how to hold others effectively to account.
  • Coaching and strategies to improve the quality of teaching
  • Support to other schools in developing approaches to assessment.
  • Raising standards (especially in English and maths) and closing the gap for inclusion groups.
  • CPD for support staff
  • Mentoring for Initial Teacher Education
 
Early Years and Phonics, Sarah Williams, Mrs Bland's Infant and Nursery School
Sarah is an experienced deputy headteacher of an Infant and Nursery School. Within 18 months of starting at this school, the Early Years moved from ‘Requires Improvement’ to ‘Outstanding’. To further improve progress, Sarah has since led her team in opening a successful pre nursery which offers provision for 2 year olds.  
 
Sarah has supported many colleagues throughout her career in her capacity as deputy head, EYFS Lead and English Lead, both in her own school and in other schools where colleagues have visited to look at outstanding practice in the Early Years. She has had extensive experience working with, coaching and mentoring teachers, subject leads and teaching assistants. 
 
Sarah also has much experience in the following areas:
 
  • Leading high quality teaching and learning across the school
  • Establishing new, innovative working practices
  • Identifying areas of school improvement 
  • Implementing systematic phonics teaching as the prime approach to early reading 
  • Improving outcomes for all pupils
  • Embedding positive interactions as a priority across the school
  • Developing consistent and efficient systems of planning
  • Implementing  effective assessment, monitoring and tracking and progress systems 
  • Raising the quality of indoor and outdoor provision 
  • Introducing and championing Achievement for All (AfA) in the Early Years 
 
English, Early Years and Phonics, Serraphina Robinson, Highwood Copse Primary School
Serraphina is Headteacher at Highwood Copse Primary School. Highwood is a brand-new school, and Serraphina has had a significant role in its opening. She has experience of working across all key stages, managing large numbers of support staff and teachers, and working with senior leadership. One of her greatest passions is designing and implementing improvements to the curriculum, sharing her vision with others and collaborating to raise standards.
 
Being most interested in English, Serraphina has led the way in the development of English/Phonics curriculums, especially with regards to the changes in Ofsted. Using a range of evidence, she has developed action plans which continue to have influence on the training and resources she provides and creates. She is experienced in policy-writing and tailoring curriculums to new national updates and new school settings. With a deep awareness that the children, culture and vision of the school, and parent community shape the way a curriculum is developed, she is confident in creating schemes of learning that resonate deeply with those in the setting.
 
Her skillset includes:
  • Writing and redesigning curriculums
  • Training and coaching staff
  • Implementation of new schemes
  • Creating reading lists, including books for diversity
  • Working in partnership with other schools to improve outcomes
  • Working with staff to ensure shared vision
  • Supporting and organising moderation
  • Consultation on policies and curriculum
  • Assessment evaluation and implementation
  • Budgeting and resourcing, including prioritisation and market research
  • Leading training for trainee teachers
  • Curriculum management
  • Some of the specific things Serraphina has implemented are:
  • New English, Phonics and RSE curriculums, tailored to the school
  • Increase to the quality and quantity of observation and evidence gathering, by training all EYFS support staff to support teachers in quality evidence collection; workshops for teachers; pupil voice activities
  • Weekly meetings to discuss pupil progress across all key stages, moderation of books and observations, spot checks on planning, and daily running of multiple year groups
  • Organisation of daily interventions and the training of support staff for the delivery of this intervention
  • Working with the SENCo to develop a “Good morning group” for those with SEN; training of staff in the running and delivery of this daily group
 
 
Maths, Louise Burridge, Battle Primary Academy
Louise is highly experienced in her specialism of Maths, as well as being Principle of Battle Primary Academy, with a number of years’ experience in Senior Leadership. 
 
She has also provided support as a Maths Specialist to other schools. This allows leaders to share best practice and harness the best resources that the system can offer, which in turn brings about improvement for all.
 
Louise has experience of using a number of techniques to significantly improve pupil progress such as:
 
  • The use of monitoring activities such as SWOT, observations, learning walks and book scrutiny.
  • Generating a progression map for all areas of the curriculum to allow staff to fully understand what learning has gone before, where their own teaching fits in within the schema for learning each area of maths and what will follow.
  • Data analysis to provide advice on interventions that need to be implemented for certain children and year groups, and to highlight groups of more able children that require more challenge.
  • An Assertive Mentoring Programme to ensure every pupil is challenged at the appropriate level.
  • The introduction of written calculation and mental skills policies to ensure all staff are teaching the same way.
  • Providing training for members of staff and assisted them in planning, best practice, pedagogy and developing their subject knowledge.
 
Navigation