I would like to draw your attention towards two work groups we are offering next academic year as unlike in previous years we are aiming to begin the work groups early in the school year and finish after Christmas.  With the first meetings planned for late September/October, we are asking for schools to sign up by the end of June.

Flyers and details are available here.

We are offering two post 16 work groups this year : A Level Pedagogy (online/face-to-face) and New to Core Maths (online). 

Feel free to sign up new members of your teams and, like many people are finding, hopefully this new timetable might make it easier to make taking part in a Boolean Work Group as part of your professional development targets for members of your maths departments.

As always, do get in touch if you have any questions with Ieuan Pearse at   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

All the best,

Ieuan
Boolean Work Group Lead and Assistant Maths Hub Lead (Level 3)

Plymouth Professional Learning Communities : Science

As we return to more practical work in our schools, this is a perfect opportunity to reflect on how effective our practical work is and to plan changes.

This session will consider the most recent research on practical work, along with the experiences and views of participants, allowing us to reflect on current practice.  We will consider whether we could improve learning through practical work for example by focusing more explicitly on the purpose of all practical work, reducing cognitive load and making the most of our demonstrations.

The session will be facilitated by Joe Lyons, Head of Science at Eggbuckland Community College, Dan Fleetwood, Head of Science at Stoke Damerel Community College and Tracey Baxter, Independent Consultant with roles within STEM Learning, AQA and Edexcel.

Book on the session here. 

£10 million for intensive support in four areas of the country to increase proportion of pupils in Good or Outstanding schools.

The government has today (Wednesday 19 May) reinforced its commitment to levelling up education across the country with new, locally targeted initiatives to make sure as many pupils as possible can benefit from being in a great school.

Chief Executive of Plymouth City Council, Tracey Lee, said:

"I am delighted that Plymouth is one of the first few areas to have been selected to take part in this significant national initiative."

"I am sure all education providers in the city share the excitement that Plymouth is recognised by the Government as an area that has good foundations with a place-based collaboration and is most likely to achieve success as a trailblazer of this national initiative.""There are many challenges in improving the educational achievements for all children and young people in Plymouth, and we do not underestimate these. This initiative will support us in facing these head on and achieving our vision that all children and young people in the city are able to aspire and achieve and have a bright future."

View the DfE's Press Release here. 

Our Plymouth Literacy Leads PLC will hold its next session on May 11th 4.15 - 5.15 pm and will feature input from Scott Davies West Country School Trust.

There will also be an opportunity for Literacy Leads to have some informal support from Rob on the intersessional tasks set as part of the EEF Leadership Programme.

Register for the event here.