NQT Conference

Come and join us for a selection of presentations, workshops and resources for primary and secondary new and recently qualified teachers.

With the emphasis on delegates receiving excellent professional development from leading practitioners, this conference offers the opportunity to take part in practical sessions, benefit from the latest ideas and resources, be inspired and have fun!

The conference will help you to:

  • Take care of yourself by better management of your workload, time and stress.
  • Develop your understanding of leadership roles in school.
  • Develop your understanding of classroom research .
  • Consider the Ofsted criteria for outstanding outcomes and provision and share examples of excellent practice.

Why should I attend?

This conference is for new and recently qualified (first, second or third year) primary and secondary teachers. It looks at how to prepare and deliver consistently outstanding lessons, with the focus firmly on effective techniques and motivating ideas. There are practical ideas for those early years and an honest look at the problems faced by new teachers and their solutions.

Agenda

9:30 - Arrival, registration and refreshments

9.40 - 11.15 - Workshop 1, choice of:

Learning behaviours to raise achievement - Philip Campagna

With effective behaviour management in your classroom, your learners will gain as a result and you’ll enjoy your teaching more. But what are the approaches to behaviour management that really work? In this workshop you will consider learning behaviours which support and develop effective learners and explore ways in which you can create a behaviour for learning environment that will improve outcomes for your students. You’ll be encouraged to reflect on your classroom practice, and share effective practice.

Developing resilience and promoting wellbeing - Ally Lascelle

This workshop will help NQTs to identify their strengths and what gives them life; what ‘fuels’ them in the classroom and beyond... To consider how to bring these aspects of themselves into their work life in order to empower and energise their practice as part of a healthy work-life balance.

Some areas we will cover, include:-

  • Managing yourself
  • Organising work-life balance
  • Emotional energy.

11:15 - Break

11:30 - 13:00 - Workshop 2, choice of:

Differentiation : how to facilitate personalised learning at KS3-4 (Secondary)- Philip Campagna

All learners need to be challenged and supported in order to make good progress. Whether they are taught in sets or in mixed-ability classes, they are likely to have a range of needs best addressed through personalised learning. This workshop focuses on planning for personalised learning in the classroom and helping learners to progress in their learning. It will enable delegates to consider a range of classroom approaches to differentiation at key stages 3 to 4 and take away strategies to help all learners in class achieve.

Exploring how visual literature can engage learners and secure progression (Primary) - Paul Richardson

This workshop for primary teachers is an interactive session which aims to inspire participants’ and raise their awareness to the power of comics and graphic novels. The session will introduce teaching approaches that will help learners experience these texts as readers and creative writers. We will also look at how these texts link to the National Curriculum and can provide contextualised learning opportunities for grammar, punctuation and spelling. The overall aim is to help teachers feel confident in using these types of texts, in order to inspire and include all children within their class.

Researching practice - Niamh McGrogan

Classroom research is becoming increasingly prominent, particularly as the number of teaching schools and research schools increases. An example of the effect of this is the publication of the new teaching standards for Wales which specify that teachers should have 'structured engagement in an action research community' with various aspects of these standards referring to research informing practice. That similar changes will come into the standards for England is not an unreasonable idea.

What does classroom research look like? How can it be accessible and manageable? This session will include an exploration of different aspects of classroom research and how it can be used. Classroom research in the context of the educational current climate will be examined alongside some of its strengths and challenges, and managing it alongside the existing demands of the teaching role will also be explored.

13:00 - Lunch and networking

13:30 - 15:30 - Workshop 3

What every teacher needs to know about Ofsted - David Didau

The good news is that Ofsted are no longer looking for a particular type of teaching or marking, and are no longer judging lessons. This sessions will discuss what teachers need to be aware of under the forthcoming 2019 framework. The session will cover the following:

  • Understanding what Ofsted will and won’t be looking for
  • The role of lesson observations
  • How much data should you collect and what should you do with it?
  • What’s the role of book scrutinies?
  • What do you need to know about curriculum?
  • What sort of behaviour is considered ‘good’?

15:30 - Plenary, evaluation and close

Presenter Profiles

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Nicola Brooks has over ten years’ experience of teaching in mainstream and SEND settings. An experienced middle leader and Women into Leadership Champion, Nicola has a strong interest in CPD and aiding others’ development. Nicola leads the Wiltshire Coaching Hub as part of the DfE Coaching Pledge and is also a Lead Advocate for the Chartered College of Teaching.

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David Didau has been a teacher for 15 years, and has run two English departments, as well as being an Assistant Head. He is an Associate of Independent Thinking and is renowned for his practical approach and commitment to sound pedagogy. His blog, The Learning Spy, is one of the most influential education blogs in the world. He is the author of ‘The Perfect English (Ofsted) Lesson’ and ‘The Secret of Literacy: making the implicit explicit’ as well as being a regular columnist with Teach Secondary magazine.

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Niamh McGrogan is a Senior Lecturer at Bath Spa University's Institute for Education. She teaches in the undergraduate Education Studies degree, the primary PGCE and is a Masters tutor. Prior to her role at BSU, she was a classroom teacher, Y5 lead and whole school maths lead in a large primary school in Kent. She is passionate about working with schools to engage in collaborative classroom research that empowers teachers and informs practice, and is working toward her PhD 'Teachers as Researchers: Investigating Research Capacity Building Through Collaborative Close-to-Practice Inquiry'.

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Allyson Lascelle is a Senior Lecturer at Bath Spa University's Institute for Education. She teaches within the primary PGCE and is doing a Masters in Educational Leadership. She has also taught in the Undergraduate Education Studies degree. Prior to her role at BSU, she was a classroom practitioner in a primary school in Bath where she was a subject lead in a variety of roles including English, RE, Humanities and ICT. She is passionate about supporting learning in schools, working with training teachers and training mentors so that training teachers are fully empowered, equipped, mentored and well - resourced in who they are so that they can fully flourish in the school environment.

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Philip Campagna is SW Regional and National Director for Network for Learning. He is a Senior Lecturer and PGCE Course Leader for Secondary MFL and PGCE Primary MFL Coordinator at Bath Spa University. Philip was, for six years, Head of the MFL Faculty at a large Wiltshire Community College. He worked for ten years as a Primary Languages Coordinator in Wiltshire. He regularly presents for Network for Learning, both in the South West and other regions. He has also presented at National and International Conferences.

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Paul Richardson is a senior lecturer at Bath Spa University who teaches English on the Primary PGCE and has additional responsibilities as a master's supervisor and tutor on the undergraduate Education Studies course. Prior to this, Paul was a classroom teacher and EFL teacher who has taught abroad in Vietnam and Thailand. He is keen to support teachers in developing their confidence in using visual texts to inspire and support learners in the classroom by conducting (and presenting) research on the use of comics and graphic novels to support learning at United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) conferences and previous NQT conferences.

Feedback from delegates on previous NQT conferences

I have found this conference invaluable because of the resources being shared and the experience of the speakers.
Really interesting day! The choice of workshops was great – we could attend the ones most relevant to our own development. I left with tools/techniques that I can use in the classroom on Monday.
Very useful day. More courses in other subjects please!
Excellent seminars – very interactive and engaging.
This conference was packed with inspirational ideas and expertise - I don't know which ones to implement first.
I really needed this day - to talk to other NQTs and to be inspired again by the presenters.
This conference was very practical with no 'talking shop' - everything could be implemented in the classroom. I just need time now to do it all.
A fabulous day - well worth giving up a precious Saturday.

Cost: £60 per delegate, including lunch and resources; £35 for ex Bath Spa University PGCE students

To book your place, please complete the form below:

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