Tackling Disadvantage in Buckinghamshire

At the heart of the Astra vision for teaching is a commitment to removing barriers to educational disadvantage. While Buckinghamshire is one of the most affluent counties in England, there are significant pockets of deprivation in towns such as Aylesbury, Chesham and High Wycombe.

Indeed, 10.1% of children in Buckinghamshire are in absolute low income families (compared with a figure of 15.3% for the whole of the England) and this can lead to, as this year's trainees recently learnt, poorer life opportunities, lower educational outcomes and worse long term health implications.

Yet teachers can have a life-changing role for pupils. And for over a century the centrality of every teacher developing pupils' English skills has been recognised. As George Sampson famously noted in his 1922 book English for the English, “Teachers always seem to think that it is always some other person’s work to look after English. But every teacher is a teacher of English because every teacher is a teacher in English.”

This week, Astra trainees have focused in Professional Studies on the importance of the teaching of literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum to raise pupils' educational outcomes, especially when supporting disadvantaged pupils.

Trainees also learnt about metacognition ('thinking about thinking') and self-regulation in learning, including strategies such as 'learning to learn'. Research by the Educational Endowment Fountation suggests metacognition can have a significant impact on the achievement of pupils.

Alongside an understanding of the research evidence around literacy, numeracy and metacognition, this week's training covered areas such as teachers' professional responsibilities, the creation of a culture of literacy within schools and practical strategies to develop pupils' literacy, numeracy and metacognition.

Led by Andrew Millar, Astra's Co-Principal (a secondary English specialist with over 25 years in the classroom) and held at Dr Challoner's Grammar School, the day blended both theory and practice.

When exploring such topics, Astra's school-centred model enables trainees to apply their learning almost immediately and receive further school-based and subject-focused training in these foundational elements of teaching.