Rethinking together how we support learners identified as vulnerable to disadvantage

Thank you to everyone who participated in the webinar on Tuesday 23 March 2021. Over 350 school leaders from across the country joined us and our panellists to discuss and explore new ways to understand and support children who are vulnerable to educational disadvantage, using enquiry and peer review as a tool to improve our approach.

Led by SPP Associate Niki Thomas, we were joined by Assistant Director of Education Philippa Holliday, Headteacher Anita Fagan, Associate Headteacher Simon Ward, Headteacher Neil Stirrat, and Pupil Premium expert and Vulnerable Learners Adviser Marc Rowland. Many thanks to each of our panellists for bringing with them a diverse wealth of knowledge and experience.

For five years now, Schools Partnership Programme (SPP) has worked with almost 2,000 schools around the country to help them, not only to help each other, but to improve each other’s practice. SPP builds the skills in peer review, coaching, non-judgmental enquiry and creating a culture of feedback and support that transform more traditional approaches to school improvement into something school-led and empowering, putting power not only in the hands of school leaders but, in time, middle leaders and staff across the whole school.

During this session, we were able to:

+ collectively explore the experience and research that forms the bedrock of our Tackling disadvantage enquiry framework and how we might look in new ways at supporting children and young people who are at risk of underachievement

+ challenge ourselves to explore what we mean by disadvantage, how we understand some of the more common themes and levers from available research and to share lived experiences with colleagues around the country

Webinar recording and resources

If you weren't able to join us, or would like to share what you heard, you can watch the full session below.