SCHOOLS NorthEast have enlisted the expert knowledge of School Fund Finder to run two free surgeries that will offer funding advice for your school.

National and regional funding organisations will be on hand with information on how to access trusts, grants and foundations, and get funding. You will also receive tips on how to complete funding application forms and write bidding
letters. There are two dates to choose from:
29 January – Burnside Business and Enterprise College, North Tyneside. Time: 8.00am for 8.30am start – 11.00am
12 February – Carmel RC College, Darlington. Time: 8.00am for 8.30am start – 11.00am
We will send you further information about these events later in the week. Please pass on to your school Business Manager or other relevant staff.

To reserve a place/s on one of the surgeries, contact us on – 0191 2805037 or email - info@schoolsnortheast.com.

Testing times: are schools made to measure of fit for purpose?
Professor Peter Tymms, director of Durham University’s Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, tackled the changing environment of testing and monitoring in the UK’s schools at the SCHOOLS NorthEast Heads Up event on Wednesday 26 November.

The event prompted a lively discussion of the abolition of the KS3 SATs, the proposed report card system and the future of testing. Professor Tymms called for increased diversity in both the curriculum and testing arrangements in the UK, and stressed the importance of a establishing a solid evidence base before the introduction of new initiatives and further reforms.
Highlighting the potential of recent advances in technology, Professor Tymms outlined a future for testing based on an individualised approach exploiting computer adaptive assessments.
Participants raised concerns over the simplicity of the report card model, the perverse incentives of high stake tests and the need to depoliticise education.

SCHOOLS North East are interested to hear your opinions on the subject of testing and monitoring, and if you would like to contribute to a response we will make to the government considerations on report cards, please contact us at – info@schoolsnortheast.com or call – 0191 2805037. Click here for a copy of Professor Peter Tymms presentation or to read the article in the Northern Echo featuring Professor Tymms and Jonathan Morris, Head Teacher of Moorside Community Technology College, both of whom were interviewed at the event, click here

SCHOOLS NorthEast is co-ordinating a response to the recommendations of the National Council for Educational Excellence. In the new year we will be holding an event to develop an action plan for the implementation of the Council’s ideas in the North East, working with Universities for the North East and regional business leaders.

Throughout this work, we want to showcase the fantastic activities already
happening in our region’s schools so please let us know if your school has any interesting case studies on how your school has:

• Worked with business or industry
• Worked with universities
• Worked with other providers, schools and/or colleges
• Demonstrated an innovative approach to engaging parents

Email us at info@schoolsnortheast.com or call 0191 2805037 if you want to shout about your success! (and make sure that lots of others hear about it too).

SCHOOLS NorthEast is delighted to be working in partnership with the CBI as part of the Future Leaders programme. The scheme identifies forty high fliers in business who are tipped for the top in the coming years.
The participants spend a year undertaking a range of activities to help them to devlop their leadership skills and gain an understand about how they can best contribute to the North East’s development.
Last year’s Future Leaders came from many of the North East’s most successful businesses including Northumbrian Water, Arriva, Dickinson Dees, Barclays and Price Water House Coopers. This year, participants will be tasked with applying their business knowledge and leadership skills to helping schools across the region in the SCHOOLS North Lead to Learn challenge.
If you have a issue that you would like the Future Leader’s to apply their brain power and skills to tackling or would like to find out more about how you can get involved contact Beccy – r.earnshaw@schoolsnortheast.com or call 0191 280 5037

Topping the tables of childhood wellbeing and achievement, in the last few years there has been a growing trend for policy makers to aspire to Scandanvian models of education.

Never wanting to be out of fashion, SCHOOLS NorthEast has also been inspired by ideas from our friends over the North Sea. Learning about your localities heritage, culture and development is a key element of the curriculum in Norway each area regionalising content.
Research has shown that increasing people’s sense of plave and understanding of their region can have significant impacts on economic development. With the need to raise aspirations of young people and the pressure to retain talented young people in the North East, well documented in the region’s economic strategy SCHOOLS Northeast is investigating the development of a North East curriculum.
The scope of this project is huge, so to stimulate thinking we will be holding a symposium in the late autumn to gather a wide range of ideas from across education, business, government, the cultural and creative sector and community leaders.

If you are interested in being involved please get in touch and please send us your examples of local learning resources and lesson ideas. Email info@schoolsnortheast.com

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is in the process of sharing the information it currently has about the new Vacancy Matching Service (which will be live in April 2009) and how it will help to truly engage young people, their influencers and employers in Apprenticeships. For more information see the apprenticeships website.

At the first Heads Up event, Mike Gibbons, Chief Executive of the Innovation Unit called on NorthEast Head Teachers to take a disciplined approach to imagination. Mike stressed that innovation is a non-negotiable priority for education to meet the challenges of the 21 Century and adapt to students who now inhabit a learner demand led, multicast, personalised and co-produced world. However, the discussion recognised the great pressure of balancing progress and change with meeting the pressing demands of testing, league tables and targets. Mike called on education professionals in the region to use their collective voice through SCHOOLS NorthEast to reframe the education debate and unleash their insight and imagination to enable us to collaboratively punch above our weight.

To see Mike Gibbons' presentation click here

Deliver more timely, personalised and schools-led programmes tailored to the specific requirements of the region, was the challenge set to NCSL from the SCHOOLS NorthEast Leadership Insight Seminar held on Tuesday 16th September.

The event was the first part of an ongoing project to increase the National College of School Leadership’s awareness and understanding of the needs and views the North East’s schools.

At the meeting, Head Teachers, Deputies and
Business Managers from the across the region came together to share experiences and shape the work of the NCSL for the future. Participants were particular keen for more opportunities for peer to peer collaboration and
greater flexibility in the design and delivery of activities.

A full report of the seminar will be available here shortly and if you have and if you have your own views and innovative ideas on ways to enable current and future school leaders to access appropriate support, we want to hear from you. email: insight@schoolsnortheast.com.

National figures for improvements in the number of young people achieving A and C grades show that the North East is making greater progress than other regions.

North East schools topped the league tables nationally in terms of the percentage increase in the number of young people achieving grade C at GCSE and were second in the percentage increase of those achieving grade As.

Commenting on the results David Pearmain, Chair of SCHOOLS NorthEast said

“The level of improvement in the region’s results over the last five years demonstrates the hard work and commitment of our schools and is great news for the North East. The future of our region is in schools; the nervous recipients of GCSE results today are the decision-makers, business leaders, workforce and parents of tomorrow. It is their skills, creativity and aspirations that will shape our success in achieving the vision of a vibrant, self reliant, ambitious and outward looking North East. Education should be everyone’s business. SCHOOLS NorthEast is working to enable schools across the North East to share their experience and expertise and to strengthen relationships with employers and decision makers to ensure that our young people have the greatest opportunity to realise their potential.”

Malcolm Page, One NorthEast Assistant Chief Executive (Resources), said: “These results are very encouraging for the North East’s future as the talent within our schools will drive the North East’s economy in the years to come.”

The region’s results also see a significant proportion of the 36 schools in the Government’s National Challenge exceed the 30% target of A*-Cs (incl. English and Maths) before the initiative has even started. The announcement in June that these schools were to improve or close was met with anger from Heads, Teachers, parents and pupils.

David Pearmain said

“The announcement of the National Challenge stuck a label of failure on some of our most dedicated teachers working in the region’s most challenging schools. In less than two months since the announcement many of these schools have risen above the arbitrary floor target set by the Government. The naming and shaming of these schools was unnecessary, avoidable and deeply damaging for the teachers, students and wider communities they serve. Whilst some schools have quickly moved beyond the target unfortunately the detrimental effects of the announcement may take longer to shake off.”

Notes to editors

1. Figures taken from the Joint Council for Qualifications data on improvement in GCSE pass rates by English region which can be found at: www.jcq.org.uk

2. SCHOOLS NorthEast is the regions network of Head Teachers. The organisation is led by a board of 26 Head Teachers representing primary, secondary, independent and special schools across the region and is chaired by David Pearmain, Head Teacher of Kenton School in Newcastle upon Tyne. Further information can be found at www.schoolsnortheast.com

3. SCHOOLS NorthEast can field Head Teachers for interviews or arrange media opportunities in schools – contact Beccy Earnshaw on 0191 280 5027 or 07789228957

For further information

Contact SCHOOLS NorthEast on 0191 280 5037/out of hours on 07789228957 or
email r.earnshaw@schoolsnortheast.com

SCHOOLS NorthEast is currently researching employer engagement in our schools. We have so far discovered some fantastic examples of innovative and sustained employer engagement. We will be showcasing some of these case studies on our website in the coming weeks.

If your school is doing interesting work with employers in your area please let us know – visit Get Involved.

We would also welcome your views on the barriers to effective employer engagement and ideas on how we can best meet these challenges.

Explore Renewables is an innovative new project working to bring renewable energy to life in schools across North East England. The ambitious project will give children a hands-on way of understanding renewable energy and encourages the real-life application of maths, science, engineering and geography.

Every public-funded middle and secondary school in the region has the opportunity to join the scheme which will be officially launched in April 2008. Explore Renewables which will provide all participating schools with their own specially designed renewable energy technology, complete with curriculum support materials and access to an interactive website.

The three-year project will build up a unique interactive network of children and teachers in schools across the North East who will be able to exchange and compare data and information gathered from their identical renewable energy units via the dedicated website.

Visit the Explore Renewables website.

Newly appointed Rebecca Earnshaw, is delighted at becoming SCHOOLS NorthEast's first Director. She will take up her new post on April 7th.

As a native of this region, Rebecca is passionate about the fantastic strengths it has to offer. She believes the aspirations and skills of the region's children and young people are central to ensuring the North East’s future success. "By facilitating the coordination and amplification of the voices of schools and educators, Schools North East can effectively influence and support economic and social development."

Read Rebecca's open letter to SCHOOLS NorthEast.

Rebecca looks forward to contacting schools and other organisations as soon as she is in post. If you would like to advance book her for events, please email Jane Mann at jane.mann01@googlemail.com

Lord Puttnam has agreed to be the Patron of SCHOOLS NorthEast. The announcement follows the successful launch of the network at Ramside Hall, Durham on 13th November.

At a recent meeting to confirm his patronage, board members heard Lord Puttnam describe his own schooling as a fairly dismal experience. However, this did not stop him responding to a call, in 1997, to advise the new Labour government on education policy. This resulted in an ongoing commitment to education, including a period as Vice Chancellor of Sunderland University and the establishment of the Teaching Awards.

Lord Puttnam recalled being largely invisible at school except when he was nine years old and thrashed for not completing his arithmetic properly. Careers advice given to him later wasn't much better: the best that was predicted for him was a career as a rep or if not that, then a van driver.

Despite this unpromising start, he went on to five years of night school, entered the world of advertising and enjoyed an enormously successful and fulfilling career as a film producer and latterly as a high profile and hardworking advocate for education and the environment - a subject about which he is passionate.

Lord Puttnam believes that his work on the Climate Commission had led him to conclude that modern politicians make too many decisions based on short term imperatives. He added: “Major global issues are not tackled as most politicians are afraid to make unpopular decisions. It is important that education prepares today’s young people for a future of great uncertainty resulting from our failure to tackle climate change and other challenges."

All present were deeply impressed by Lord Puttnam’s passion, modesty and obvious sincerity. His final message, that society should recapture a sense of moral purpose, was one with which headteachers could heartily concur.

Lord Puttnam is expected to return to the region in the new year to address SCHOOLS NorthEast’s annual general meeting and conference.

SCHOOLS NorthEast got off to a brilliant start at its launch conference held at Durham’s Ramside Hall on Tuesday Nov 13th. A large gathering of headteachers, employers and other key players in the region heard how this new network will give a voice to schools and enable them to engage more directly with regional development and regeneration.

Four headteachers, representing the full range of primary, secondary, special and independent schools in the northeast, were joined on the platform by ONE's Pat Richie and Chris Roberts of the Learning and Skills Council.

Following a wide range of perspectives raised from the platform, delegates spent some time discussing the future for SCHOOLS NorhEast. It was clear from the buzz in the room and the feedback, that there was general agreement that the idea was a good one and long overdue.

David Pearmain, Headteacher of Kenton school, Newcastle and chairman of SCHOOLS NorthEast was mindful that in a large region with strong local loyalties it was important to be impartial. He went on: "Our strong regional identity will help schools work together to make change happen."

Helen Clegg from Shiremoor Primary school enthusiastically endorsed the idea that primary schools could also have a role to play in regional development. She added: "I believe the SCHOOLS NorthEast will guarantee primary headteachers a voice on a par with secondary colleagues."

John Appleyard, Holmwood Special School in Middlesbrough made the important point that in areas of economic disadvantage, young people with special needs are doubly disadvantaged. He commented: "It is imperative to ensure special schools have a voice when it comes to making decisions about regional development."

Pat Richie and Chris Roberts were both able to provide a picture of the wider context in which SCHOOLS NorthEast will operate. Chris Roberts reminded delegates: "Current changes at the highest levels in government will inevitably impact on schools. SCHOOLS NorhEast will need to determine what, how and who it plans to influence in a complex political environment."

Pat Richie also welcomed the opportunity for schools to work more closely with government agencies and employers. "It will help us to raise young peoples’ attainment and aspirations as a way of helping to create a world class workforce here in the northeast. The direct involvement of schools in regeneration could make a real difference."

If you would like to become part of the SCHOOLS NorthEast initiative, please contact us through this website.

Three North East Head Teachers have been nominated, for the first time, by SCHOOLS NorthEast to sit on the newly formed 14-19 Commission.

Our representatives are:

• Gerard Moran, Durham Leadership Centre
• Jim O’Neill, Carmel RC College
• David Pearmain, Kenton School.

The 14-19 Commission brings together all key sectors (schools, colleges, training providers, employers and universities) into a joint strategic partnership with One NorthEast, the Learning and Skills Council and Government Office North East. It is chaired by Estelle Morris and is the first of its kind in England.

The Commission is set to take forward the Aspire agenda which aimed to foster a long-term impact on the lives of young people in the North East.