Research School Network: Welcome to Norwich Research School

We are delighted and honoured to have been designated as a Research School, and we’re looking forward to working alongside teachers and leaders in Norwich schools. This article outlines who we are and what we plan to do.

Who are we?

The Norwich Research School is based at Notre Dame High School, and we aim to work with all Norwich schools alongside our own Teaching School (EASTA) and other Teaching Schools in the region. We will work with our Norwich Opportunity Area partners, the UEA School of Education and Lifelong Learning and (perhaps most importantly) with teachers themselves, to help improve the outcomes of young people within Norwich.

Key contacts for the Research School are:

• Niki Kaiser – Network Research Lead
• Roger Higgins – Assistant Headteacher: Research and Development
• Susi Waters – Teaching and Research School Manager
• Vicki Barnett – NDHS Research Lead

Why a network of schools?

Research use is a social process, and the expertise on how to apply evidence in schools lies with teachers. If ​“best bets” from research are to be fully integrated within the classroom, they need to be translated into practical approaches, and we believe that the people who will do this most effectively are the practitioners themselves.

At NDHS Norwich we use research to inform decisions at all levels, and we have solid experience of embedding educational research within the classroom. We have a practical and pragmatic approach, helping to ensure that evidence-based methods are integrated into everyday practice in a sustainable way.

What are our plans for supporting schools?

We plan to:

• Keep network members informed of our news, training opportunities and events via a monthly Research Bulletin (join here).
• Post regular articles about evidence-informed teaching on our website.
• Offer a range of training programmes focused on the Opportunity Area priorities.
• Offer bespoke support to schools, guiding them towards the most useful evidence.
• Offer training and mentoring to teachers within Opportunity Area schools to become more research-informed.
• Build a local support network for Research Leads.
• Host a variety of meetings to share best practice from within the Opportunity Area.
• Collaborate with schools and partners to organise larger, themed events (eg. ResearchEd, Cognition in Science).

What training is coming up?

Training programmes will begin in the new year, and are currently planned around the following areas:

• Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants
• Leading Learning (helping schools to become more research-informed).
• Long-term learning (improving memory, and applying Cognitive Science to teaching)

We will publish further details about these shortly.

What do we do? …and what don’t we do?

This excerpt from an article in Schools Week gives a good overview of the Research School aims:

The ​“research” part of [Research Schools’] names can be a little misleading, as these hubs are not primarily dedicated to conducting research.

Research schools have three key aims: communication, training and innovation.

Communication – They keep in regular contact with schools in their network, for example by sending out monthly newsletters – supported by content provided by IEE and EEF – detailing interventions that have been proven to work.

Training – They run conferences and provide training and professional development to teachers and senior leaders in their local areas.

Innovation – They support schools in developing new ways of improving teaching and learning, in evaluating the impact of these innovations – and in applying for research grants, such as the IEE innovation evaluation grants, which are awarded three times a year.

These slides were compiled by Durrington Research School to explain more about what we do, and to address some of the misconceptions Research Schools.

1.We won’t spend the majority of our time conducting our own research, and we don’t expect every single decision in network schools (or our own school) to be research-based.

2. Engaging with evidence will help schools to make more informed decisions, but this supplements the expertise that already exists within schools, it shouldn’t supplant it.

3. Our key purpose is to help schools access, translate and filter the vast quantity of research evidence that exists, and to support them in using it effectively.

4. The ethos behind the Research Schools Network is that the education of young people is too important to be left to chance. We aim to help schools make informed decisions through a process of collaboration and sharing expertise.

If you would like to know more, you can sign up for our newsletter or contact us directly.