Research School Network: Bradford Research School Launch

On Thursday we hosted the launch of Bradford Research School in the stunning ​‘heartspace’ of Dixons McMillan Academy.

Compered by Sir Nick Weller, CEO of Dixons Academies Trust, the first part of the evening was dedicated to painting a picture of the local and national context of research – in education and beyond. The evening started with two speakers proud of the role that research already plays in Bradford and the potential for an even greater impact.

First up was Michael Jameson, Bradford Council’s Strategic Director for Children’s Services, who spoke passionately about Bradford as the ​‘City of Research’. Bradford is already the home of cutting edge research – the city houses the world leading Bradford Institute of Health Research, home of Born in Bradford, and now the new Wolfson Centre.

Taking this theme of Bradford being a world leader in research, Mark Mon-Williams, Professor of Psychology at Bradford Institute of Health Research, and an integral member of the Born in Bradford team, offered an inspiring talk where he spoke about ​“the most remarkable features contained within the universe: research and schools.” (Which we of course agree with!)

Next, Sir Kevan Collins, CEO of the Education Endowment Foundation, shared the national context of research and the Research Schools Network. As someone who learnt to teach in Bradford, and whose children went to school here, he knows the local context well. Research has so much to offer schools, and yet it can never tell us exactly what to do. Sir Kevan said that it is better to start somewhere other than ​“our own whim and prejudice”. The EEF and the Research Schools Network – including Bradford Research School – aim to be the bridge between the evidence and the practice.

Following this, Judith Kidd, Head of Dixons Teaching School, spoke about what we do (and don’t do). A key message from Judith was that ​“engaging with evidence in education supplements expertise and decision making; it does not supplant it.” We will do the following:

• Filter out what’s useful, from what’s useless or just interesting.
• Summarise the key points for busy teachers.
• Help teachers to mobilise this into their classrooms.
• Help teachers to evaluate the impact of their work.
• Share effective practice from across the network.

Mark Miller, Head of Bradford Research School, then went into specifics and explained exactly what we will do and the three strands of our work: Communication, Training and Innovation. Communication will include blogs, newsletters, our regular ​‘research forums’, twitter and conferences. Our training will comprise of four courses, all designed using the best available evidence: ​‘Improving Literacy at KS2’, ​‘The Science of Learning and Maximising Memory’, ​‘Leading Learning’ and ​‘Leading Research in Schools’. Details of all these will be announced in the new year. Finally, we will support innovation bids from schools and signpost to opportunities for innovation.

The main presentations ended with a request for everyone present to work with us. This could be by accessing our training, reading our blogs etc, or it could be writing for us, sharing a case study, hosting an event. Michael Jameson started the evening with the idea of Bradford as a city of collaboration and innovation and, by working with schools and teachers across Bradford, we hope to build on his sentiment.

After a short break, we hosted two workshops, designed to explore the world of research. One was delivered by Vice Principal and Dixons Primary Lead Practitioner Aidan Severs. Read part one of his fascinating overview of the research into ​‘Why you might be getting feedback wrong’ here. Keep your eye out for the follow up and also the write up of ​‘Evidence Based Best Bets for Bradford’, the second workshop hosted by Mark Miller.

We want to thank everyone who attended, all of our speakers, and the wonderful staff at Dixons McMillan who hosted.