By 
Connecting Learning Training Suite 2024-25
IN PERSON EVENTS
FREE FOR ALL SCHOOLS IN THE COVENTRY AREA
FULL PROGRAMME
Join us for a year of CPD exploring chow we make connections both inside and outside of the classroom, hosted in collaboration with the ‘Collaborative C’ group.
CONNECTING LEARNING Training Suite – Collaborative C and The Lion Alliance
SESSIONS
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AARON WILKES - University of Warwick
"Connecting with your subject specialism"
Wednesday 4th December 2024
3:30pm - 4:45pm
In person @ Finham Park school, Green Lane, Coventry, CV3 6EA
Suitable for: Primary & Secondary
HISTORY PEDAGOGY: “What does ‘good’ History teaching look like?”
Aaron brings over 20 years’ experience as a teacher, department and faculty leader in secondary education to his role as PGCE History Subject Lead and Personal Tutor at Warwick. He continues to work on a part-time basis in a large secondary school in the West Midlands.
Aaron will offer some practical, meaningful advice and suggestions to help make history lessons accessible, challenging and engaging. He will share several high impact, low-on-preparation strategies to help promote excellent practice.
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MARK ROBERTS
"Connecting with our learners"
Tuesday 14th January 2025
Day: 10am - 2:30pm*
Twilight: 3:30pm - 5pm*
In person @ Finham Park school, Green Lane, Coventry, CV3 6EA
*please choose which session suites you better – the full day OR the twilight
Suitable for: Secondary
Co- author of ‘Boys Don’t Try?’ and author of the newly released ”Behaviour Whisperer”, Mark links boys’ relative educational underachievement to mistaken attempts to aspire to an “outdated, but nonetheless widespread idea” about what it means to be a “real man” and “a brand of masculinity that leaves many boys floundering”.
Dealing with poor behaviour is exhausting and stressful. But it doesn’t have to be! Some teachers keep their students in line with apparent ease. They defuse tricky situations with discreet words and almost imperceptible gestures. They extract work from the most reticent students. Yet even experienced teachers are not immune to the impact of bad behaviour on both the classroom environment and their own well-being. In this exciting new book, bestselling author Mark Roberts shares the secrets of how behaviour whispering can improve 100 common classroom problems, from the student who is always late to the class that is unsettled by a wasp.
Blog: https://markrobertsteach.wordpress.com/
Twitter: @mr_englishteach
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CHRISTOPHER SUCH
"Connecting with reading"
Thursday 6th February 2025
3:30pm - 5:30pm
In person @ Finham Park school, Green Lane, Coventry, CV3 6EA
Suitable for: Primary & Secondary
Christopher Such is the author of The Art and Science of Teaching Primary Reading and Primary Reading Simplified. He is an experienced teacher, school leader and consultant, who delivers professional development for schools, trusts and ITT providers on the subject of evidence-informed reading and curriculum development. He also works part-time as a member of Ambition Institute’s learning design team where he co-designed their NPQ in Leading Literacy.
An astonishing wealth of relevant research exists on the subject of reading development. This is both a blessing and a curse. Navigating the evidence and using this to make better decisions in the classroom can be an overwhelming challenge for teachers and school leaders. This session is designed for anyone who wants to overcome this challenge and to better help all pupils become capable, confident readers. The session will address:
+ Frameworks for understanding reading
+ The nature of the English writing system and what this means for teaching word recognition
+ The importance of reading fluency and how it can be developed
+ The integrated bodies of knowledge behind language comprehension
+ Principles behind teaching reading comprehension in a meaningful fashion
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DR ALISON MORGAN - University of Warwick
"Connecting with your subject specialism"
Wednesday 26th February 2025
3:30pm - 4:45pm
In person @ Finham Park school, Green Lane, Coventry, CV3 6EA
Suitable for: Secondary
ENGLISH PEDAGOGY: TEACHING SHAKESPEARE
Dr Alison Morgan is the Head of Secondary Teacher Education at the University of Warwick and an English specialist. Her areas of research include Romanticism, labouring-class song and critical pedagogy. In this session, Alison will introduce the theories of critical pedagogy and critical literacy and consider how they can be used in English lessons to create greater agency in learners. Participants will then have the opportunity to apply the principles of critical literacy to support the teaching and learning of ‘Ozymandias’.
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EMMA TURNER
"Connecting with stages of learning"
Monday 17th March 2025
1:30pm - 4:30pm
In person @ Finham Park school, Green Lane, Coventry, CV3 6EA
Suitable for: Primary
Emma Turner has served in primary education for 25 years. She has been a class teacher, assistant headteacher, deputy headteacher and one half of one of the UK’s first and youngest all-female co headships. She has been a consultant for the National Strategies; Trust Research and CPD lead across 15 Leicestershire primary schools, and currently works part time as Deputy Director of Education for a West Midlands trust across 18 primary schools.
She has written four previous books on education – Simplicitus – The Interconnected primary curriculum and effective subject leadership; Simplicitus Altius – Leading the Interconnected Primary Curriculum; Be More Toddler; Let’s Talk about Flex; and co authored, “The Extended Mind In Action” with Oliver Caviglioli and David Goodwin. She Co hosts the John Catt Educational Podcast, “Mind the Gap” with Tom Sherrington and regularly speaks at national and international events about leadership, curriculum design and research informed practice. @Emma_Turner75
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AARON WILKES - University of Warwick
"Connecting with how students learn"
Wednesday 2nd April 2025
3:30pm - 4:45pm
In person @ Finham Park school, Green Lane, Coventry, CV3 6EA
Suitable for: Primary & Secondary
Metacognition
Aaron brings over 20 years’ experience as a teacher, department and faculty leader in secondary education to his role as PGCE History Subject Lead and Personal Tutor at Warwick. He continues to work on a part-time basis in a large secondary school in the West Midlands.
In this session, Aaron will outline how metacognition and self-regulation approaches to teaching support students to think about their own learning more explicitly. He will cover:
- What is metacognition?
- What is the research behind metacognition?
- What are the benefits of metacognition?
- Metacognition in practice
- Metacognition dos and don’ts?
- A metacognition checklist
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ROBIN LAUNDER (The Behaviour Buddy)
"Connecting with our learners"
Monday 7th April 2025
2pm - 5pm
In person @ Finham Park school, Green Lane, Coventry, CV3 6EA
Suitable for: Primary & Secondary
A prison officer for 17 years; an English teacher for 16 years Robin Launder now supports Primaries and Secondaries across the country with: evidenced-based behaviour management; evidenced-based teaching strategies; and evidenced-based methods to motivate students.
Robin presents for ResearchED, PiXL, the NEU, the NASUWT, various universities (Herts, Brighton, Warwick, Oxford, Cambridge etc), and countless schools, special schools and colleges across the UK and abroad. He also has articles featured in numerous publications including TES.
https://www.behaviourbuddy.co.uk/
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JOANNA PELLEREAU - University of Warwick
"Connecting with your subject specialism"
Wednesday 21st May 2025
3:30pm - 4:45pm
In person @ Finham Park school, Green Lane, Coventry, CV3 6EA
Suitable for: Secondary
SCIENCE PEDAGOGY: OVERCOMING MATHS ANXIETY IN SCIENCE LESSONS
Joanna is an experienced secondary school science teacher with more than eight years as a head of department and STEM co-ordinator. She now works for the National Institute of Teaching and Education (@NITE_org) as a university lead mentor. She has also written for Oxford University Press and is currently studying for her PhD in education.
Joanna has interests in teacher CPD and well-being. She is a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching (FCCT) and a Chartered Science Teacher (CSciTeach). She sits on the Education Group, Research Group and Regional Committee for the Association for Science Education which looks at strategic development and responses to the national education agenda for science.
Jo is also an avid blogger and her articles can be found here: https://physicsjo.science.blog/
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MARK FINNIS
"Connecting with our learners"
Wednesday 4th June 2025
2:15pm - 5pm
In person @ Finham Park school, Green Lane, Coventry, CV3 6EA
Suitable for: Primary & Secondary
Mark Finnis is an Independent Thinking Associate and one of the UK’s leading exponents of restorative practice. With many years’ experience working with schools, local government agencies and social services, he is in great demand as a speaker and trainer ‘ helping organisations adopt restorative practices in a way that is practical and achievable and that never loses sight of the children and young people they are all aiming to serve.
His book, Restorative Practice, offers a practical and inspiring introduction to the use of restorative practice in schools to improve behaviour, foster a more caring culture and forge relationships that work.
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JEAN GROSS (CBE)
"Connecting with families"
Tuesday 17th June 2025
2:15pm - 4:15pm
In person @ Finham Park school, Green Lane, Coventry, CV3 6EA
Suitable for: Primary & Secondary
Jean is national expert on children’s issues. She is passionate about achieving better life chances for disadvantaged children and young people and dedicates her time to trying to make a difference for this group. She has been a teacher, an educational psychologist, head of children’s services in a local authority, and a Visiting and Associate Fellow at three universities.
Jean has frequently acted in an advisory capacity to government on early years, wellbeing and special educational needs policy. Until 2011 she was the government’s Communication Champion for children and young people, responsible for promoting the importance of good language skills. Before this she led work on overcoming barriers to achievement as a Director of the government’s National Strategies, including developing the influential Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) programme. She recently co-authored the Education Endowment Foundation’s guidance ‘Improving social and emotional learning in primary schools’.
Jean’s interests are in the systematic application of evidence-based approaches to tackling disadvantage and under-achievement. She was awarded a CBE in the 2011 New Year’s honours list, for services to education.
https://www.jean-gross.com/about-us/biography/
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SUMMER TEACHMEET: CONNECTING LEARNING
Monday 7th July 2025
3:30pm - 5pm
In person @ Finham Park school, Green Lane, Coventry, CV3 6EA
Suitable for: Primary & Secondary
Schedule to be confirmed.
