Research School Network: A warm welcome to our new Evidence Leads in Education We’ve appointed 6 new ELEs, working with the Teaching School Hub at Harris Academy Chafford Hundred and Unity Research School

Cate Peteers I am currently an AHT at Anglo European School, a non-selective comprehensive comprising a rich diversity ofstudents with different ethnic backgrounds, nationalitiesand abilities. M y particular responsibilities are forTeaching and Learning: ITT/NQT and CPD as well as Performance Management. Prior to taking up my position as AHT, I was Head of Department for Languages. I have led projects in other schools to support and enhance learning of languages. I have also participated in research conducted by Cambridge University to establish how teachers might boost languages learning, the findings of which suggested that encouraging students to form multi- lingual identities could help address a decline in language learning. AES also has links to UCL, and we have participated in their SWERL (Supporting Well-being, Emotional Resilience and Learning with Social Pedagogy) project which I have incorporated into our school CPD programme.

My NPQSL project entailed design, implementation and evaluation of an internal coaching scheme. This included data analysis to identify In School Variation and make comparison of AES student outcomes with other schools, training and development of a team of internal teacher coaches and compilation and promotion of a protocol for coaching within the school informed by research-based leadership and change management principles and coaching literature. Coaching is now firmly embedded in our school as a means to grow leadership capability and to achieve sustainable improvements within and through others.

I am delighted to have been accredited as an ELE as I regard this as a fantastic opportunity to enrich my own professional development as well as providing a wonderful opportunity to get to know and add value to teachers and leaders from other schools.

Debra Nemhara As an experienced senior leader and through my work as a Mastery Specialist with the London North-East Maths Hub over the past six years, I have seen the impact of using researchinformed approaches to drive improvements in the classroom and at a whole-school level. My areas of interest and expertise are the strategic leadership of mathematics, the effectiveness of teaching and professional development. My approach to school improvement is collaborative; I have supported teachers and leaders at all stages of their careers to identify what best practice looks like and how they might work to develop it in their own context. I am committed to supporting an improved professional culture in local schools, with the ultimate aim of improving children’s educational opportunities and outcomes.

I am incredibly appreciative that I can be part of this movement towards a more informed approach to education and I feel that the work of research schools will have a huge impact on the profession as a whole.

Katherine Parker For many years I have developed a teaching and learning community in the schools that I have led with a strong focus on research, more recently focusing on the Education Endowment Foundation Teaching and LearningToolkit and Guidance Reports. This has inspired others toenhance the education and life chances for the children in their care through high quality teaching and creating a culture of trust and curiosity, working collaboratively and driving change.

I have been fortunate to lead our local Teaching School for a number of years and have a passion for school led improvement, working with other schools through system leadership in order to mobilise innovation and action. I am very much looking forward to working as an ELE to widen my experiences and work with other schools and colleagues in different settings.

Kirsteen Newell I have a passion for supporting schools to attain the best outcomes for all pupils using methods underpinned by solid research. I have trained as a professional coach andhave completed a two-year study programme focussing onresearch in education with Graham Handscomb and the Institute of Education on best research practice in education.

I have led local projects focussing on bringing the Singapore style of maths into the UK – this involved training teachers, supporting leaders in purchasing resources and preparing resources to share with parents and carers. This has led to improved results within the schools I have worked with, and our own Maths results have always exceeded the national average. My research interests include using qualitative data focussing on children’s engagement with the new curriculum, knowledge acquisition and language development, debating, phonics, Maths Mastery and other programmes such as the OLEVI Outstanding Teacher Programme, Coaching facilitation and Hattie’s wort on Visible Learning.

Kingston has been awarded ​‘Outstanding’ by OFSTED twice.

Laura March High quality teaching and learning is deeply embedded in all we do, and the school ethos is one of aspiration.

Part of my senior role in school and as a NACE Associate is to explore the most suitable educational research, to assess the quality of these sources and apply the insights appropriately to meet the needs of colleagues, departments and schools. I was appointed a NACE Associate in Sep 2019 and have since worked with this organisation to plan and deliver workshops as part of their recent publication, Making Space for Able Learners, which features some ​‘best bets’ from a number of schools, including SHSB. We have delivered workshops in creating an ambitious curriculum, understanding cognitive science to support the sequencing of such a curriculum and using instructional models to highlight the gradual shift of responsibility from the expert teacher to pupils, supporting independent learning.

The key focus for classroom teachers who are extremely busy is finding ways to make the research applicable, easy to understand and highlighting how it can be used effectively. I am currently interested in the research around effective recall and revision by exploring the work of Roediger and Karpicke, Megan Smith & Yana Weinstein (Learning scientists) and the work of J. Dunlosky. I am motivated to continue to engage with educational research due to the impact it has had on my own teaching. I lead a successful and high achieving department, which has truly benefited from all the adaptions we have made to our delivery, resulting in even better outcomes for our students.

Nina Kemp Throughout my time as a Deputy and then as a Headteacher, I have always tried to root changes in evidence-based strategies that I have researched. I recognise theneed to pace myself and the school when implementingchange and have done this successfully as the Headteacher at Whitmore, moving the school from Inadequate to Good in just 3 years.

I recognise that identifying the change you want to make, reading widely around the topic and setting out a clear plan to implement the change is really important. This is something that needs the commitment of everyone involved to make it work. I believe strongly that collaboration is at the heart of successful change and that as an individual, you need to be the inspiration and lead the charge! I am excited about this role as I think it is a good opportunity to widen my expertise in research and the delivery of high-quality training to larger audiences, as well as being able to apply this new knowledge, skills and understanding in my own school and academy.