We hope that you, like us, are looking forward to a relaxing break over the Christmas holidays. If you fancy adding some excellent blogs to your festive reading, here are some that we've enjoyed this term.

Hard-hitting but necessary: Dr Nilufar Ahmed on The hypocrisy at the heart of racist riots. 

"People are conditioned to identify with their in-group – others who are like them on a range of markers such as race, gender, class or nationality. The maintenance of this shared identity largely requires “us” to be different (meaning better) than “them” by making negative inferences about them.”
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For World Mental Health day: Inspiring strategies from a local business.

"Applying a principle of kindness to our work is not a ‘soft’ or naïve action but rather a radical organisational shift. It presented a brilliant opportunity to work across teams to safely challenge, reshape our ways of working and celebrate."
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From Essex Research School: How Effective Teacher Development Elevates Opportunities for All.

"Michael, an experienced mathematics teacher, remembers standing in front of his class, feeling utterly powerless. ​“They looked to me for help,” he recalls, ​“and I just didn’t know how to give them what they needed.” Every day, he watched the same students fall further behind, dealing with issues he didn’t know how to address. Like many others, he hadn’t been given the tools to support them. ​“I felt like I was failing them,” he admits."
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Tackling disadvantage: Achieving Success for All Through the Pupil Premium.

"Managing a school with a larger than average pupil premium cohort means that embedding our pupil premium offer into our whole school approach is crucial.  

We have developed our pupil premium strategy in line with the DfE’s 5-step approach and resources. It focuses on 4 key elements..."
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Teaching Assistants: A Research-Informed Approach to SEND Support and Professional Development.

"Despite their importance, TAs often face barriers to role-specific CPD and are typically among the lowest-paid staff in schools. A September 2022 report by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) highlighted that over 275,000 TAs work in English schools, comprising 28% of the education workforce (Education Endowment Foundation, 2022). This underscores the urgent need to enhance support for TAs and recognise their significant contribution to education."
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ECF: Key findings for policymakers and school leaders from the early roll-out evaluation.

"Launched as part of the Conservative government’s Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, the ECF aims to increase teacher retention, improve the quality of teaching, and enhance teacher job satisfaction. A pilot programme known as the early roll-out (ERO) was introduced in 2020-21 in selected areas before the programme was expanded nationwide in 2021-22. 

NFER’s recently published evaluation of the ECF ERO, commissioned and funded by the Education Endowment Foundation, offers several key insights into the framework’s implementation, impact, and areas for improvement. These findings are particularly relevant for policymakers, school leaders, and teachers as they consider the implementation of the national roll-out of the ECF and the development of future strategies for teacher support and retention."
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And finally: we hope you don't need this, but if you do - Coping with loneliness during the festive season.

"We all experience loneliness from time to time. But while the festive season can be a time of joy and connection – it can sometimes also have the opposite effect – making us feel lonely and disconnected. The pressure to be part of festive fun and feel and act happy can be tough when we feel excluded from it."  
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