Arbor, reporting to parents and drop down days
Questions on fellow school leaders' and teachers' minds.
Last week’s round up from the We Are In Beta community was described as a “great one stop shop for all your edu questions”1 Petty apt, I think. Thanks, David, if you’re reading.
This week’s highlights give you a chance to keep shopping for answers and an opportunity to give a little back if you can.
Topics include: LSAs, Arbor, Class Charts, pastoral team structures, literacy, PE, drop down days, reporting to parents and reading interventions making a big difference.
As always, the kindness and generosity from your fellow members in the threads below is humbling.
The conversations on team structures and reporting to parents, in particular, make the mind boggle, if you think about hard it is to find out how other schools approach them and how much impact getting them right can make.
If you can add to discussions by sharing your advice and experience, please do - it will make someone’s day.
We - schools - Are In Beta - always learning (when we shop around for answers and opportunities to provide them too).
This week
🤔📍8 questions you are asking
🔬✍️ Research and writing opportunities
💼 Jobs with members of the We Are In Beta Community.
🤔📍8 questions you are asking
⚙️ How to use this bulletin board.
To help you decide (before clicking into them):
which conversations you can add the most value to and
which ones you can learn the most from…
…I’ve divided them into 3 groups:
Newly posted questions - a bit more input needed, threads available to all (🤝🙏🌐)
Really helpful answers worth reading, threads only available in a private, paying members only space (💡👀🔐)
Really helpful answers worth reading, threads available to all (but will be moving to private, members only space soon (💡👀🌐🔜🔐 )
🧑🏫 1. LSAs: year group or Dept. based?
“Currently we assign LSAs to year groups, & are considering a shift to department/faculty based. I'd be interested to know peoples thoughts on pros and cons”
🤝🙏🌐
🖥️ 2. Class Charts to Arbor
“Transitioning from Class Charts to Arbor – Any Tips?”
🤝🙏🌐
🏫 3. Pastoral team structures
“Good Morning, Just wondering if anyone would share their school structures with me. I'm seeking comparisons for a piece of work. I'm most interested in the organisation of pastoral / year / house teams, with a view to making them more effective. Best Wishes Michael.”
💡👀🌐🔜🔐
📚 4. Literacy - consistency of key words in STEM subjects
“Hi all, I have been doing some work with the science department and am wanting to put together a crib sheet of similarities and differences in the way we teach or use key words. Does anyone know if something like this already exists?”
💡👀🌐🔜🔐
🥇5. Schools who do whole cohort PE
“Looking to connect with any schools who run whole cohort Sport/ PE entry as part of their core curriculum at KS4. Specifically, I'm interested in how much curriculum time is given and which specification is taught”.
👀🌐🔜🔐
🗓️ 6. Community drop down day
“I'm coordinating a 'drop down' or 'week off normal timetable' event for KS3 (Years 7, 8, and 9) that will take place the week before the February half term in 2026. The theme for all three year groups is 'community'. This is important for us, as it gives us the chance to organise a trip for each year group and to cover important PSHE topics. I'm currently working on revamping our programme to make sure it's coherent and purposeful."
“I'm reaching out to ask for your support, ideas, and resources. Specifically, I'm looking for:
Trips/Visits: Suggestions for trips that can accommodate 150 students and are suitable for the winter season.
Interactive/Engaging Lessons: Ideas for lessons, presentations, and assemblies that are both interactive and engaging.
PSHE Topics: Recommendations for relevant and statutory PSHE topics that would be well-suited for this week.
Community Projects/Charities: Opportunities to work with local community projects or charities.
“We structure the day so that each year group has five lessons.
“Any insights into what has worked well for you in similar events would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your help and support!”
👀🌐🔜🔐
👨👨👧 7. Reporting to parents
“Hello! We would like to take a look at our school reports. Parents feel that they want more information but we want to balance that with workload for our staff. Would you be willing to share your school reports? Or, even better, does anyone have a range of examples to share with me? Thank you!”
💡👀🔐
👀 8. Reading Interventions - Doing More on Less
“Last September, the numbers hit us hard. In Key Stage 3 alone, we had a staggering 120 students reading more than two years below where they should be. The question loomed large: how could we possibly make a meaningful difference for so many students with the limited resources at our disposal?”
💡👀🔐
Got a question? Ask the community.
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NB: due to the volume of questions asked, we now prioritise paying members of the
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🔬✍️ Research and writing opportunities - we’re hiring
Are you professionally nosey? Do you like learning how others achieve pastoral success? Do you like earning while you learn?
If yes, we have two opportunities that you’ll love:
MAT and School pastoral policy and practice research projects (spanning MAT leadership, pastoral, curriculum and recruitment and retention)
Pastoral and curriculum leadership article writing opportunities
In all cases, we’ll give you full access to all of our recordings, resources and research so you can glean new insights for your own CPD and share them with fellow members of the We Are In Beta Community so they can benefit too.
Feel free to reply to this email if you have any questions.
💼 Jobs with We Are In Beta community members.
If you want to get your vacancies seen by the 23k school leaders and teachers who receive We Are In Beta newsletters across curriculum, pastoral and more, let us know here and we’ll send more info.
System Leadership
Regional Director - The Co-operative Academies Trust (Manchester, Salford, Bradford, Leeds, Stoke-on-Trent). Apply here.
Director of Professional Learning - Astrea Academy Trust (South Yorks, Cambridgeshire). Apply here.
Trust Safeguarding Lead- Fairfax Multi Academy Trust (Birmingham, Solihull). Apply here.
Primary School Improvement Partner - Embark Federation (Derby). Apply here.
Trust Primary English Director - The Co-operative Academies Trust (Manchester, Salford, Bradford, Leeds, Stoke-on-Trent). Apply here.
Trust Director of Science The Co-operative Academies Trust (Manchester, Salford, Bradford, Leeds, Stoke-on-Trent). Apply here.
Trust Lead - Maths -Future Academies (Westminster). Apply here.
Trust Lead - Spanish- Future Academies (Westminster). Apply here.
Head of People - Manor Hall Academy Trust (Staffordshire, Cheshire East, Stoke-on-Trent, Knowsley, Solihull, Sandwell). Apply here.
Head of Local Governance- United Learning (National). Apply here.
Trustee- Stamford Park Trust )(Tameside). Apply here.
HR Business Intelligence Analyst - United Learning (National). Apply here.
Regional Manager - Property and Health & Safety - The Co-operative Academies Trust (Manchester, Salford, Bradford, Leeds, Stoke-on-Trent). Apply here.
Senior Leadership
Headteacher - Finham Park School (Finham Park MAT, Coventry). Apply here.
Middle Leadership
🌍 Assistant Curriculum Leader of Geography - Uxbridge High School (Hillingdon). Apply here.
🏰 Head of History - Gloucester Academy (Greenshaw Learning Trust, Gloucestershire). Apply here.
📊 Lead Practitioner Maths - Gloucester Academy (Greenshaw Learning Trust, Gloucestershire. Apply here.
Teaching
🎨 Art & Photography - Uxbridge High School (Hillingdon). Apply here.
🖥️ Computer Science - Uxbridge High School (Hillingdon). Apply here.
⚒️ DT- The King Alfred Academy (The Priory Learning Trust, Somerset. Apply here.
🌍 Geography - Uxbridge High School (Hillingdon). Apply here.
📊Maths - Gloucester Academy (Greenshaw Learning Trust, Gloucestershire). Apply here.
🏅PE - Uxbridge High School (Hillingdon). Apply here.
🧠 Social Science - Uxbridge High School (Hillingdon). Apply here.
Operations and support
Executive Assistant (School Development Team) Trust In Learning (Bristol). Apply here.
Data Protection Compliance Manager - Harris Federation (London). Apply here.
Senior Internal Auditor - Harris Federation, London. Apply here.
HR Resources Officer - Heartwood Learning Trust (North Yorkshire). Apply here.
Marketing and Communications Lead - Areté Learning Trust, North Yorkshire. Apply here.
Trust Data Manager (Secondary) - Wellspring Academy Trust (Bradford). Apply here.
Finance Officer - Learning Trust (Wiltshire). Apply here.
Contracts & Procurement Lead - Greenshaw Learning Trust (Gloucestershire). Apply here.
Financial Systems Accountant - Greenshaw Learning Trust (Sutton). Apply here.
Digital & MIS Lead - Greenshaw Learning Trust (Sutton). Apply here.
People Partner - Astrea Academy Trust (South Yorks, Cambridgeshire). Apply here.
On a personal note
Continuing the theme of gratitude during hard times from last week, here are three groups of people who make the We Are In Beta Community such a special place. Huge thanks to all of you.
Curious members, who are open to learning
This week, I want to thank the following for starting conversations inside the community: Michael Chapman, Ed Turner, Caroline Lowing, Daniel Snell, Tara McVey, Rehanna Clements, Adam Askin, Ben Walker.
Generous members, who are happy to share their learning
Huge thanks this week to the following for sharing experiences, advice and resources: Georgette Ayling, Nathan Smith-Rogers, Alex Wickson, Lee McLinden, Dan Thornton, Kelly Heaton, Lakshmi Vadali, Leanne Mills, Caroline Lowing, Jonathan Mountstevens, Kevin Wilson, Ellen Ashford-Kelleher, David Brown, Siobhan Nejman, Brotati Veraitch, Lisa Millington, Helen Kennedy, Emma Turner, Dave Potter, Alex Pett, Mike Baxter, Simon Phelps.
Supportive colleagues, who make their mission to connect the two groups above
Frances Ling, Tom Pattison, Kasia Borowczak, Jane Tayub, Fiona Flint, Vanessa Wright, Tom Killigrew and Julia Quick.
Thank you all for everything you do for the We Are In Beta Community.
Thanks for reading.
@NiallAlcock and the We Are In Beta team
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