Research School Network: NATE North West and Meols Cop Research School Teachmeet

On Thursday 22^nd February, Meols Cop High School hosted a Teachmeet event, organised by the National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE). Teachers travelled from local schools (Deyes, Tarleton, Stanley), Blackpool (St. George’s, Montgomery) and Preston (Moor Park). Some dedicated visitors even ventured from the distant lands of Manchester, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Wales. The Teachmeet events are an exceptional opportunity for teachers to share practice, discuss strategies and generally engage with like-minded teachers from around the country.

First of all, the Chair of NATE, Peter Thomas, opened the event with a brief history of assessment in English, which illustrated the (sometimes slow) development of accurate assessment in GCSE English. Even when we arrived to the modern day, despite best efforts, the ​‘Holy Grail of Accurate Assessment’ has continued to elude the examination boards. However, Peter presented a plethora of useful practice, specifically the strategy of ​‘identifying writers’ attitudes and feelings, in order to develop students’ reading comprehension skills’.

Following Peter’s charismatic introduction, Leon Walker (Director of Research and Deputy Headteacher, MCHS) welcomed the audience with information about the recently published ​‘EEF implementation guides’. With a choice from a variety of educational topics, the guides present 7 research-supported strategies for improvement in the chosen area. Topics include: Improving Literacy, Effective Deployment of Teaching Assistants and Parental Engagement.

Sarah Cunliffe (FLASH Marking Co-ordinator and English Subject Leader, MCHS) provided an overview of the EEF funded project, FLASH Marking. Sarah summarised the marking initiative’s core values and its current (or rather, completed) recruitment drive. FLASH Marking removes grade marking and converts English GCSE ​‘skills’ into ​‘codes’, before being embedded into all aspects of teaching and learning. Key skills, such as using evidence (E) and zooming on specific words/​phrases (Z), are then assessed using the codes. This enables students to focus on their individual targets and develop their skills in a personalised, pro-active way. The FLASH Marking project also aims to reduce the infamous marking work-load in English, as teachers avoid writing lengthy comments, in favour for codes in the well-known ​‘WWW/EBI’ format.

Jordan Swainson (Research Lead and English Teacher, MCHS) was next to present, with her latest research on ​‘effectively using structure strips to develop transactional writing skills’. Jordan described her methodology, overall findings and displayed some striking examples of ​‘before’ and ​‘after’ work produced by students in her KS4 class.

The final presentation of research was delivered by Lewis Meadows (English Teacher, MCHS), who assisted a research trial within his English department. He described the use of ​‘Direct Instruction’, a fast-paced, teacher-led approach, to explicitly teach ambitious vocabulary to students. The research, led by Katie Gregory (Research Lead and Acting Head of English, MCHS), compared the results of an ambitious vocabulary assessment between two classes, one taught using Direct Instruction and the other taught using ​‘traditional’ strategies.

Finally, Catherine, from Eduqas, closed the Teachmeet by sharing a range of online resources. Since the recent changes to the English GCSE examination, Eduqas have stepped up their digital support with an array of useful programs and online booklets, that teachers (even those who use other examination boards) can download for free.

To conclude, the event at Meols Cop High School epitomised the high-quality of dedication, talent and resources that are showcased at Teachmeet conferences throughout the year. These events are invaluable for teachers who have a passion for their subject, their continued professional development and collaborating ideas with like-minded teachers from near and far.