Children and staff at Pocklington Junior School were bursting with excitement as they officially opened their new school library. The theme for the library, Sir Bob’s Castle, was voted for by the children when Headteacher, Kelly Foxton led on creating a new library space to help improve the joy of reading for all pupils. Phase … Sir Bob’s Castle Library
What started as an idea on paper from the fabulous imagination of children has now become an incredible space to enhance learning and create a love of reading. The pupils and staff at Stamford Bridge Primary School are overjoyed with their new, purpose-built library which was officially opened by the school reading champions. The school … Forest of Knowledge
Kerry Murray, Catering Manager for Chartwells who provide the catering service to the school was nominated by Geraint Davies, Regional Manager for their ‘Be a Star’ Award following an email from Adele Pinder, Wonder Learning Partnership’s Trust Director of Estates and Compliance. Kerry was nominated for her ‘can do’ attitude, hard work, commitment and care … Catering Manager Wins Award
Wonder Learning Partnership’s journey with writing began with a learning walk in each primary. We identified the parts of the writing process that we really liked, identified gaps and planned a writing curriculum to address these areas. 18 months later, we are really proud of where we’ve come. However, we are acutely aware that writing … Wonder’s Writing Journey
To view or not to view; what is a distractor? I often participate in training sessions where the starting point is Willingham’s working memory model, and I am sure many of you will already have seen the diagram and heard colleagues’ comments on cognitive overload. So, for those of you who are well versed in this … Learning Distractors
Secondary School Transition – NASEN’s SEND conference. While the term “executive functioning” is no doubt familiar to early years practitioners, it may be less familiar to teachers of older pupils. The session was fascinating and cast a light on an area of transition that we arguably don’t focus on enough. As pupils move from primary … Executive Functioning
Pocklington Junior School has launched its myHappymind programme which is designed for schools to help prepare today’s children for tomorrow’s world by building resilient, balanced and happy minds at home and school. The newly appointed Happiness Heroes will help promote the use of the programme in school which is structured across 5 modules: 1. Meet … Happiness Heroes
As part of our Trust’s commitment to ‘living our values into being’ we start this year by thanking colleagues and our wider school family for the incredible contribution to our ongoing Big Conversation. In later issues we will provide an update on the progress of our three project groups created after the conversation about our … Empowering Feedback
Staff were delighted to celebrate with pupils, Sixth Form students and their families as this year’s A Level and GCSE examination results were released. There were exceptional performances across the range of subjects with many pupils achieving a succession of top grades. There were also notable individual stories, such as those who have overcome significant … Commendation for GCSE pupil
We are delighted and proud to announce an amazing set of results for our Year 13 students today with 80% of grades awarded A* to C. We are also very proud that 100% of our A Level Art & Design grades were A*, and 100% of our A Level French grades were awarded at least … Results Success!
As a Trust we have developed a proprietary data management system called Kingfisher. It began fundamentally as a data display system for teachers and throughout its evolution, the focus on providing the best data possible for classroom teachers has remained key. Kingfisher was designed to be distinct from other data management systems due to its … Kingfisher Data Management
We are delighted to share the new identity for Whitby School as we bring the school communities of Caedmon College, Eskdale School and Whitby Sixth Form together. The new identity highlights the rich heritage with a vibrant and modern design and a forward-thinking approach to education in Whitby. An Exciting Future During the last academic … Introducing Whitby School
The recent release of the NASEN Teacher Handbook: SEND makes this clear. Here, the importance of the role of the teacher is acknowledged: ‘The relationships you develop with your learners are key. You will be their champion and advocate, the person who believes that barriers can be overcome, and that good progress is possible. You … The difference an effective teacher makes
In September 2023, Trust primaries met for a full-day workshop on writing. The workshop represented a culmination of months of hard work from primary Trust writing leads and, while based on several different approaches, was led – in the main – by the Opening Doors approach to writing. What is Opening Doors? Bob Cox, who … Opening Doors with Effective Writing
Graham Stuart MP met pupils and staff at Longcroft School and Sixth Form to see for himself the amazing progress that the school has made over recent years with the support of the Wonder Learning Partnership Trust and show his support for the partnership’s exciting vision to secure sustained educational excellence in the locality. Graham … Sharing Success with Local MP
How do we empower our school communities? As the three project groups get underway from our Big Conversation about our Educate value, we now begin exploring our value of Empower. Feedback from across our family demonstrated the passion our colleagues have for our pupils and students to experience the wider world and to realise the … Empower Big Conversation
The benefits of play We believe that creativity, positive experiences of learning, independence, and challenge are best delivered through high quality play, and we are not alone in this. There has been a considerable amount of research into the benefits of play and the types of play that are most effective. Research reviews on the … The Wonder of Play
Through the creation of immersive, interactive environments that improve learning, simulate real-world scenarios, and enhance empathy, virtual reality is poised to play a significant role in shaping the future. It has the potential to transform how we work, communicate, and entertain ourselves. VR fires up students’ imagination, builds their sense of wonder, and plays a … Scientists experience Virtual Reality!
There is no such thing as a silver bullet in education, but effective feedback comes very close. The EEF places effective feedback as something that, when done well, adds six months to pupil progress. Only metacognition and self-regulation comes higher. The EEF also talks about it as a low-cost strategy. But is it? Is feedback … Effective Feedback
We hear from Jess and Elliott, two of our current Physical Education student teachers, about their experience. “From the initial application for the teaching course through the Wonder Institute of Education to the present, where I am actively engaged in teaching full lessons, the entire process has been nothing short of amazing. The support I’ve … Teach with Wonder
The Wonder Learning Partnership’s Estates and Compliance team work closely with our family of schools to support the extensive range of compliance matters across the full school estate. We have developed a suite of templates including risk assessments and procedures to support the Trust wide policies in place. Our local arrangements documents provide clear information … Achieving Compliance
In designing a curriculum – given its prevalence in the judgement of quality of education – much pre-eminence is rightly given to coverage of the national curriculum. We must, quite rightly, ensure that the statutory curriculum is followed. This is the base entitlement to an education that all children should enjoy. What gets me genuinely … Curriculum Intent & Curriculum Courage
Longcroft School and Sixth Form are celebrating the outcome of their recent Section 5 Ofsted Inspection, which has further validated the school’s exceptional progress over recent years. Inspectors were hugely complimentary about the school and effusive in their recognition of the journey it has travelled since previous inspections. They acknowledged the hard work of the … Ofsted outcome adds to national recognition for Longcroft School
Wittgenstein said that “the limits of my language mean the limits of my world”. While linguists now agree that concepts are not wholly bound by the constraints of our language, I’m sure we can all recount examples of pupils who have lacked the vocabulary to express their ideas. It’s important, therefore, that anyone planning a … Reading and Vocabulary
In the primary setting, as one teacher for the most part will deliver the full curriculum, interleaving within a year is a natural and logical part of practice. Last term, children in Years 3 and 4 across our schools learned about cams and mechanical motion in design and technology. This in turn informed their work … Curriculum Conversation: Making the Connection
So…you have drafted or revised your behaviour guidance? You are confident that it now links explicitly to your vision and values. Clear rewards and sanctions are in place. You have consulted with all stakeholders to ensure high levels of ‘buy in’. Governors or trustees approve, and it is launched to fanfare and applause. You sit … Behave Yourself: The critical role of the curriculum
The curriculum conversation starts with this contribution from Prime Minister James Callaghan – then Prime Minister – taken from a speech at Ruskin College, Oxford on 18 October 1976. “We spend £6bn a year on education,” he said, “so there will be discussion.” He started a conversation – the Great Debate – that would ultimately … The Curriculum Conversation
Ofsted’s School Inspection Handbook states that “inspectors will consider the extent to which the school’s curriculum sets out the knowledge and skills that pupils will gain at each stage”. This requirement, now commonly referred to in school as curriculum intent, is not a separate judgment. Instead, “inspectors will reach a single graded judgement for the … Curriculum Rationale