9885posts
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Talking with Staff on GDPR
...data. Our early staff engagement focussed on three key areas. Raise awareness We talked about how the data world has changed in the 20 years since the Data Protection Act...
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Drawing the line on boundaries
Our Customer Policy Manager, Adam Hookway, shares the main questions he's asked about boundaries and why they tend to be some of the hardest to answer.
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British Standards Online
Deborah Brown from the British Standards Institute writes about their new offer for libraries.
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Quality, not quantity: how teacher workload has been reduced by focusing on quality
Last year, at Prince Henry’s Grammar School in Otley, West Yorkshire, the findings of the Marking, Planning and Data Workload Review groups were presented to colleagues in a whole-staff meeting. Everyone from classroom teachers to SLT was asked to think …
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What to do when a property owner dies
Adam Hookway, Customer Policy Manager, talks about some of the main issues that arise when a property owner dies.
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The latest on our deputy online reporting service
It’s been 18 months since we launched our online reporting service for lay deputies. Since then 6,000 reports have been submitted online, we’ve launched the service for public authorities and made changes to the design of the lay reporting service.
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The leadership equality and diversity fund is supporting diverse school leadership
We speak to participants taking part in school-led equality and diversity projects to find out more about the tools and techniques schools use to support teachers with leadership potential.
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Marking: Postmortem or Diagnosis?
Our staff survey in January 2016 showed us that workload was an issue at our school. Marking was one of the tasks our teachers were spending a large amount of time on, often over 20 hours a week - but …
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Using Curriculum Area Development Time to reduce teacher workload
Like many of the schools in this series of blog posts, our first point of call when looking to address teacher workload were the three independent review group reports on the topic. Staff forums and regular meetings provided our Senior …
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[Archived] Flu and flu vaccines: Expert interview
This blog post has now been archived. If you would like to see the content it is available on the website of The National Archives.
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Two great opportunities to shape social work's future
Have your say in improving the future of Social Work for Adults in England Are social workers making a positive difference in people’s lives and could they be even more effective in their work? And likewise, how do those who …
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Friday 15 December: Minister Coffey visits Cumbria and raptor persecution maps
On today's blog we have Minister Coffey visiting Cumbria to see how they recovered following storm Desmond and new raptor persecution maps to help tackle wildlife crime
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Thursday 23 November: Budget, flooding and animal sentience
...progress we want to see. It does not have direct effect in law – in practice its effect is very unclear and it has failed to prevent practices across the...
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Tuesday 21 November: Non-executive directors, Avian Flu, plastic pollution
On the blog today we address reports that lead non-executive director Steve Holliday is expected to hand in his notice, advice for backyard flock keepers to remain vigilant for signs of bird flu, and our pledge to tackle plastic pollution.
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Securing the potential benefits of local authority trading companies
...the local authority. The CMA did look at these, and related, issues in local authority waste collection, but found no evidence that authorities whose collection services are delivered in-house pay...
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Developing exceptional leaders
A dynamic professional development programme run by a teaching school alliance helps develop staff into leaders and drives school improvement in a large multi-academy trust in London.
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Educational psychology in a multi-academy trust
We meet 2 educational psychologists working at the Bright Futures multi-academy trust in the north-west, Dr Adam Rumble and Dr George Thomas.
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Flexible working: Putting our pupils at the heart of our flexible working policy
The first thing to note about our flexible working policy at Hearts Academy Trust is that it is about our pupils and not our staff – although it benefits them too, obviously.
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General Data Protection Regulation: Evolution or Revolution for Schools?
Like the DfE, many schools are increasingly talking about General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) - the beefing up of data protection, which will be written into law in May 2018.
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A PE Coordinator's guide to planning, monitoring and reporting PE & Sport premium spending
As PE Coordinator of Normanby Primary School, I want to tell you about how we plan, monitor and report on the impact of our PE and Sport Premium funding.
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Doing fewer things in greater depth: How we reduced teacher workload by restructuring our approach to planning.
At St Peter’s Primary school, North Somerset, we have long been looking into ways in which we can try to reduce teacher workload. We began our journey by reading the teacher workload review group paper 'Eliminating unnecessary workload around planning …
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[Archived] What healthcare workers need to know about the flu vaccine
This blog post has now been archived. If you would like to see the content it is available on the website of The National Archives.
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‘Mark however you think best’: A year in the life of a meaningful, manageable and motivating marking policy change
September 2017 Like many other schools around the country, we at Barr Beacon School found marking in a way that felt thorough and yet was not overly time consuming to be a significant challenge. A year ago, we reduced our …
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Making the change from project to delivery management
Agile delivery is relatively new to government, and a lot of teams and departments are still getting used to how it works. One of the essentials is that the team structure is right, and that you have the right people …
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Tackling Workload Reports: An ITT Provider’s Response
The University of Greenwich’s Primary Partnership is an outstanding provider of initial teacher training (Ofsted 2016). The partnership comprises over 200 maintained schools and academies across 19 local authorities in London, Kent, Essex and the southeast of England. Since the …
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Diabetic eye screening is exactly the same for people who have rarer forms of diabetes
The NHS Diabetic Eye Screening (DES) Programme helps prevent sight loss in people with diabetes. Screening can detect diabetic retinopathy early, when treatment is effective at reducing or preventing damage from the condition.
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Lasting powers of attorney: a powerful tool and an important choice
A lasting power of attorney (LPA) is the only way that someone can choose who they trust to manage their affairs if they lose mental capacity and aren’t able to do so themselves.
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Job alert: Chief Veterinary Officer UK
...is a great job! The advert is currently on Civil Service Jobs and further information can be found on the Veredus Recruitment site. Subscribe to the blog for email updates....
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On prototyping and putting something out there...
Prototyping might be worth a try. Just putting it out there…
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Robot revolution in a nuclear world
Robots are playing an increasing role in our lives with lawnmowers that drive themselves and drones that deliver parcels to your door. As we mark UK Robotics Week, NDA's Melanie Brownridge, explains how robots are helping us in the nuclear decommissioning industry.
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The social care debate: it’s not just about the money
‘Social care was, for perhaps the first time, a defining issue in a general election,’ reflects Alex Fox Chief Executive of Shared Lives Plus and Chair of the Joint voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) Review. The debates about social …
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Guerrilla statistics
Last year I was lucky enough to get on to the GDS Data Science Accelerator. On this scheme participants offer their enthusiasm to learn data science and their time to work on a project of potential value to their departments. …
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Theory to practice: diary of an interaction design intern
I joined the Home Office 4 months ago, after completing an intensive course in user experience design at General Assembly. The course was a mix of theory, workshops and projects, all designed to mirror industry practice.
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Putting research at the heart of your school
The Mead Academy Trust has put research and development at the very core of their work. They explain why research and development was chosen as a strategic priority and how it has been embedded across the alliance.
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Making marking work: Marking and feedback at Reinwood Junior School
The impetus for change Our school, a larger than average primary school located in the west of Huddersfield, had been reflecting on how we give feedback to pupils in light of the independent review group report on marking and reducing …
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Dragons’ Den series 14: Episode 12
A real mixed bag in tonight’s episode with drinks, dolls, beauty products and bicycle accessories all being pitched for that all important investment. It just goes to show that IP affects every area of business.
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(Un)designing for open government and enterprise
At the Open Data Institute's annual Summit at the BFI Southbank in London in November, Defra's Permanent Secretary, Clare Moriarty, spoke about open ways of working, open culture and open data. This is what she had to say about the …
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What’s it like to run a care home?
...way local authorities and the NHS buy services work well? How do local authorities and regulators affect outcomes in this sector, including through ‘market shaping’ activities? How do regulations in...
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Make your home more flood resilient
...is half the battle. How to protect your home Being told to ‘protect our own homes from being flooded’ is all very well, however, just how do we do this?...
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Making marking intelligent: feedback policy at Huntington School
Why do we mark? At the end of my first year of teaching I met with each of my students and discussed their progress. I was looking with Kate at her latest A level English literature essay. I had written …