At last week’s Camden Conversation, we were provided with a master class from Marc Rowland, who talked to us about, ‘Learning through the lens of disadvantaged pupils and maximising the impact of the Pupil Premium’. If you don’t know of Marc, he is the guru of research around disadvantage and pupil premium, and he works with the Education Endowment Foundation’s national Research School Network on a range of programmes. Marc is also currently working on a range of long-term programmes focussed on educational disadvantage nationally. Marc works with and advises the Department for Education on addressing educational disadvantage in schools. Had we all known it was Marc who wrote the DfE Pupil Premium Strategy Plan, rather than the DfE, we would have certainly rushed to complete it!

What Marc did achieve during the conversation, was to frankly remind us how to foster a sense of belonging for all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils to strengthen inclusivity and ensure that all pupils feel like they belong in the classroom. Marc challenged our own bias; the one phrase that resonated with me, was the notion that quality first teaching would be the panacea for all disadvantaged pupils, his analogy was that of rising ships with a rising tide, highlighting that some of our disadvantaged pupils, remain anchored without the right structures and high expectations. Marc also reminded us of the importance of ‘keeping’ with the basics of reading to support the development of children’s vocabulary, whatever their age or background. Shifting our thinking, by looking at life through the lens of our disadvantaged pupils leads us away from, ‘What are the problems with our disadvantaged pupils’ to ‘How can we all better include all our pupils in school life and challenging learning’. The link to the recording of Marc’s session is below and Marc has generously shared his slides, which can easily be adapted for a staff/ department training session.

Don’t forget-Governors and Headteachers will have received an invite to Camden Learning’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), on Zoom, which will take place on Tuesday, 1 February 2021, at 4pm. The AGM itself is unlikely to last longer than 15 minutes and I am delighted that Professor Qing Gu has agreed to give this year’s key note address; titled “Shaping futures of education: why leadership comes first”. I look forward to seeing you there.

Camden Conversation with Marc Rowland

Meeting Recording – Access Passcode: hAi5RQ+E

Jon Abbey

Managing Director of Camden Learning

Click here to download