David Rogers

I believe that the most important time in school is in the classroom and that teaching and learning is at the heart of all school decisions. However, I am also an advocate of extra-curricular provision and outdoor education, in particular the ability of expeditions to develop personal attributes in young people. Indeed, my own experience of education was shaped and saved through the Air Training Corps rather than anything that happened within the school's walls. It may not be fashionable not to champion a narrow range of research-backed teaching and learning methods, but I believe that schools are far more than teaching and learning factories. It's from this experience that I have never advocated that schools, individuals or government can teach character, nor grit, nor mindset. What we can do through is create the conditions in which grit can be grown. In other words, modelling grit and resilience ad providing opportunities for young people to overcome difficulty. Bearing ...

I enjoyed Shaun Allison's recent post around relationships, which really are at the centre of the school universe. It made me think about one of my areas of responsibility: the progress of disadvantaged students. Now, laying aside the fact that someone in an office someplace has decided that the 'gap' is now the 'difference' creating a mental agility workout and increasing workload, for me this is why I am committed to comprehensive education. Indeed, I am blessed to work with a team that are really wound up by educational inequality and aim to help get rid of it. I thought about my time at Exeter University. Each November the 5th we used to get a taxi to Ottery Saint Mary to watch the locals run around with beer barrels, coated in tar and straw and set alight.  As you do.  This seemed bonkers to me at the time. And I'm Welsh. The thing is, culture is strange. Decoding cultural behaviour needs an understanding of the context in which it sits; it strikes...

I enjoy assemblies but the empty seats trouble me.  As the year groups get older, the more empty seats there are. Drill down, and disadvantaged students are absent more often.  I agree with those who advocate that developing high quality teaching and learning is the main thing. Trouble is, we need to get young people in to the building and in to the right frame of mind to enable them to take full advantage of that. Indeed, as my mantra has gone this year: the best teachers in Brighton can't help you if you're not here.' Getting young people in to school is a major priority for schools, especially for children who may have parents who aren't able or willing to act as role models.  The statistics are frightening.  in 2013 a third of students eligible for Pupil Premium funding were absent for more than 15% of the time compared to less than 4% of their more affluent peers. This can create a post code lottery where schools who serve more affluent catchments needn't t...

Over the past three years, one of my accountabilities has concerned accelerating the progress of disadvantaged students. We've learned a lot, and this is the data (I took up post in September 2013): In a nutshell, our Pupil Premium students are making better progress and a greater proportion are attaining better grades. This is within a national picture where the attainment gap remains stubbornly static and the LA gap is increasing. Of course, this is a complicated area and it is difficult to say which interventions and changes have really made the most difference. If you'd like to read our evaluations, visit our website .  What is clear, however is that the following have contributed (in no particular order): 1. A relentless focus on the quality of teaching and learning in individual classrooms. Without a doubt, the biggest difference is made in classrooms. We trust teachers to identify students and support the core subjects with coaches. We don't believ...

This may get messy as thoughts run through my head. This post is about plans and reflections on twelve years of teaching and three years of senior leadership. This post is about the importance of grit and how schools could go about creating a culture of growing grit. It's not about teaching grit. That we can't do.  I'm sure to revisit and revise this post over time. I should start with a few pointers, heavily influenced by Angela Duckworth's 'Grit,' other readings and my own experience. Much may seem familiar to you because I am writing this to clear my own thoughts rather than influence the reader.  You may not agree about this stuff, I don't care, but would welcome feedback as without it, thoughts can't be shaped. (If you want to skip this stuff it's summarised in the video below) I'm a failure. I am happy about this. This year I've been going for deputy head jobs and failed to get one. I see this as a learning opportunity....

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go So make the best of this test, and don't ask why It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right, I hope you had the time of your life. So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time Tattoos and memories and dead skin on trial For what it's worth it was worth all the while It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right, I hope you had the time of your life. It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right, I hope you had the time of your life. It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right, I hope you had the time of your life. Sometimes it's important to put plans into action and theory into practice.  I'm using Staffrm here to voice some plans that are in progress. Time to get beyond the rhetoric (such as ...

Labels are interesting and a total pain in the arse.  According to the Government, I come from a disadvantaged background. This is me 1. What's my job title and where do I work? Assistant Headteacher and Geographer at Large at a high School in Brighton. 2. What am I currently working on? Lots that I won't write about but I line manage science, art and computing as well as the IT technical staff.  I look after the Pupil Premium spend, feedback, and am part of a three strong team driving CPD and the quality of teaching and learning.  One day I'll be able to write about the rest. 3. Where have I come from? I bumped into an old school friend at the GA conference last night.  Myself and my three siblings left without notice to live in one room a Women's Aid hostel to escape a physically and verbally abusive man. It's the first time I've seen him since then. As I like to say, I wasn't always a teacher and I've been a trainee pilot, outdoor instruc...

I sometimes look back at life and wonder how all of the little experiences and choices have all been directing me to where I find myself now.  Part of my role as a Teaching and Learning Assistant Head is to look after the Pupil Premium budget.  I can say without a doubt that I understand some of the barriers to learning that these young people experience as I myself have a ‘disadvantaged’ background – boy those RAISE people sure know how to make people happy…  This doesn’t mean though that I am any more equipped for this role and I’m always hungry for ideas. It was serendipitous then that I saw the Pupil Premium TeachMeet being held in Oxford coinciding with my journey back from an unrelated event in Birmingham.  I’ve been to many Pupil Premium events and it’s often the same – with a lack of practical ideas and access to leaders who are trying to make a difference.  The format of this TeachMeet was a little different in that it was chaired by Sir Tim Brighou...

I’ve been an Assistant Headteacher now for 18 months and it’s time to start sharing some of the stuff I’ve been up to. My job is varied.  Part of it is Pupil Premium Champion, trying to ensure the progress of disadvantaged children is accelerated so that they do at least as well as those from more advantageous backgrounds.  This is a mission and a half, but I believe that there is no magic bullet.  I’m planning on sharing some of what I’ve been exploring over the past 18 months in an attempt to reflect and share what works and what hasn’t.  I believe in high quality teaching and learning from lesson one of Year 7.  I believe that this can only be achieved through allowing staff freedom to adapt their teaching within structures of accountability.  For this to work, the progress of Pupil Premium Students are the responsibility of every adult involved with education. In order to support the small scale stuff and open a line of communication between myself a...

Pupil Premium from David Rogers Here are the slides to accompany my session this afternoon.